CONTROLLING EROSION

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The best time to plant a permanent vegetation is just as soon as the temporary vegetation has stabilized things — usually toward the end of the first rainy season.

CONQUERING THE SPLATTER

It may sound silly and quixotic to you, but if you are going to control erosion, you must begin by fighting raindrops. Raindrops hammer insistently at your land, and to prevent damage there are two things you must do. First, you've got to make sure there is something waiting to intercept the raindrops before they hit bare soil: vegetation, if possible, or some sort of mulch. Secondly, once the raindrops fall, you've got to stop them; corral them, and let them sink into the ground. If, perhaps with trenches, brush mats, or wattles, you can get the raindrops to sink into the ground wherever they fall, there will be no runoff, and thus no erosion.

How to recognize sheet erosion. Sheet erosion, according to the people who measure such things, causes 80% of all topsoil losses. Gullies cause only about 20%. Yet a gully stands out like a wound, screaming for attention, while sheet erosion happens so gradually, almost invisibly, that it's hard to detect. You think everything is all right until one day you wake up and realize that your topsoil is gone. Sheet erosion is very insidious.

Is your land suffering from sheet erosion? Looking for sheet erosion is a little bit like searching for a snake. If you merely walk around, sniffing flowers and lackadaisically enjoying whatever strikes your eye, you are unlikely to see a snake. But if you make a special effort to find one, turning over logs and stones, looking hard between the blades of grass and around bushes, you will probably find several snakes in a few hours.

The same is true of sheet erosion. You have to go out into your fields with nothing else on your mind except looking for sheet erosion. Don't get waylaid by flowers, butterflies, or ripe strawberries. Keep your mind on your task. Climb to the top of a hill, forget about the view, and look down at the soil. Here is what you should be looking for.

BALD SPOTS on the hilltops and slopes, often with a buildup of fertile soil down below.

EXPOSED ROOTS Roots of trees, shrubs, and other plants do not grow out of the ground. If the roots are exposed, it is because the soil has been washed away.

STAINS ON OLD FENCE POSTS These sometimes show that the soil was once deeper than it now is.

EXPOSED ROCK If you feel that your meadows have been getting rockier and rockier each year, unless your land is a gathering spot for meteorites, this is a sign that the soil is being washed away.

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