To advocate, on the other hand, the restoration of the vegetative cover like unto that of the pre-human period or even the general reforestaof the hills and mountains is to overlook the most important control ug factor; namely, that the hill and mountain areas are inhabited and generally over inhabited. The with. drawal of these millions of feeble, with their. daily and incessant demands on the soil underfoot for food land for the fuel which is neeled to render food products edible is an utter impossible remedy. The r: ident population must derive its food supply from the land underfoot due partly to the inadequate means, of, transportation and even more 10 to low economic status of the rural ple. The level Lauds of the woefully inadequate and ity drives the hardy farmer with his long bladed mattock until gradients of 100 per cent are actually cultivated. The consequences are soil wash on a greatly accelerated scale, reduced absorptive capacity of the slope lands, more rapid surface run-off the small tributaries, and the choking of the river channels in the nains with silt, The large populations of the mountain regions with their constant demands on the local soils for food and fuel render the task of conserving soil and water a complex ne, The complexity of the pro-Dlems requires for each section, detailed studies of the rainfall, ite Jamount and distribution; the reginen of runoff; the amount and tages of the stream flow in the tthe condition of the watershed cover and its effect upon the absorption of the rainfall the amount of erosion and soil I ways of correcting erosion; of the extent and availability -of the—surface underground waters' for irrigation; und methods of correcting the waste of soil and water The problems of application. are more dificult than those of methods. The understanding and ce-operation ie: the resident ion is the key widespread application Terracing of slope lands is resorted to in the more productive regions and proves the only" recourse where slopes must be cultivated. 'But unfortunately because of the nearness of the country rock or of low returns great areas of slopes ore not terraced, or imperfectly <0, and are farmed' only temporarily and soon abandoned. Such sites fare critically in need of protection and improved treatment, For, not nly are the soils soon washed away, but the denuded condition favours the formation of gullies and torrents which eat through and destroy the terraced soils of the lower slopes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.