Water erosion control - 5

working holds rainwater where it falls; as a result erosion is reduced, and the effectiveness of rainfall is increased. Contour working is the working of the land in such a way that a large proportion of the furrows are fairly close to the contour. In short, furrows are level and will hold water

Farm planning - 5. - Soil erosion control

In the previous four articles on the subject of farm planning there has not been very much discussion of soil erosion control. Earlier articles have put forward the fundamental ideas that fences should follow natural boundaries and be related to topography. This method of fencing helps in the prevention of erosion because attention is paid to over-stocking, gateway erosion, cultivation, tracks and firebreaks. As well as the prevention of erosion the cure of erosion should also be considered

Farm planning - 2. - Fences for efficent grazing.

Fences can last a lifetime; if they are badly placed they can be a source of frustration for a lifetime. Until they are replaced, they directly and indirectly cause soil erosion and they also obstruct the measures necessary to cure that erosion

Farm planning - 3. - Natural cultivation boundaries.

In Western Australian wheatbelt farming areas, cereal growing and stock grazing occur together; these two activities cannot go together without fencing, and the average farm may have 15 to 25 miles of internal fencing if it is adequately fenced. Usually these fences are not planned with any relation to the slopes or natural features. Farms are divided into many sections by a large mileage of natural features, such as creeks, gullies, rocky ridges and salty land, and also by a large mileage of fencing

Farm planning - 4. - Subdivision

A neat layout of straight fences and rectangular paddocks looks, on paper, to be economical, efficient and easy to understand. Transferred to typical wheatbelt country, the fences no longer appear straight; they curve in a vertical plane over the hills and ridges, across gullies, creeks and salt land. The straight fences ignore water supplies and make reticulation costly; they ignore the shape of the country and make cultivation inconvenient; they ignore the natural drainage of the country and make erosion control difficult. As the relation to the shape of the farm is only by measurement and direction and not by logic, the fence construction is accompanied by tedious sighting and measurement

Roads erode

There is no wheatbelt farm in this State without eroded roads or tracks! That might appear to be a sweeping statement—but pause a while and consider your own property. On how many chains of your farm roads are you controlling the water in a practical manner

Stop firebreak erosion

Though it is generally realised that ploughed firebreaks are an erosion hazard, many farmers are forced to use the plough due to the lack of other more suitable machinery, or due to the presence of to much trash for a tyne implement to handle. Erosion damage is commonly caused by concentration of water down a long furrow and if this flow can be interrupted and diverted the hazard is not so great. Also contains a book review for - Methods of surveying and measuring vegetation by Dorothy Brow

Farm planning - A new technique.

A new method for planning farm subdivision is described. Control and prevention of soil erosion, including the use of contour methods where needed, will be made easier on farms planned in this way. Often also, the farm road system will be better placed to give year-round access around the farm, gate sites are better, and usefulness of present watering places increased. The method is based on fencing along natural obstacles to cultivation, on the need to fence areas requiring different grazing management, and on the need to stabilise natural drainage lines

Farm planning - Fences and soil conservation.

On any wheatbelt farm it is easy to see the need for planning fences for future convenience. Without planning, fences can cause erosion, interfere with erosion control and prevent good stock management. A neat layout of straight fences on clean white paper can be transferred to hilly land to become a nightmare of narrow corners, eroding gateways, boggy and rutted wheeltracks, unsafe cultivation on paddocks which are either overgrazed or undergrazed. After 50 years of frustration waiting for the fence to fall down before it can be replaced, it is surely amazing that even now fences are being replaced along the old fence lines