The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 4

PAGE FOUR THE DES MOINES REGISTER TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 4. 1937. onn New 'Pioneers' Struggle Stoically Against 'Desert' of Dust in Nation's No. 1 Problem Area ran 0) 0) around the edpes. the area ran be grazed again, he believes.

Incidentally, Reinholdt expects to graze more than head of Hereford3 this By J. S. Russell. (The Register's Farm Editor.) (Copyright, 19S7.) DALHART, TEX. This is the dust bowl.

There can be no doubt' of it as you g-lance about. Sun and sky overcast by drifting: dust. year. But just to show the! carrying capacity or iacK or it of the range here, he and Jack Craig, another cattle it' 11 man, said they intended to 30 acres. This is about 10 Fields brown and dusty as far as the eye can see.

The "eye can see but a short distance, however, in this driving- wind that swirls dust and times the amount needed on good pasture land. A frequent Inquiry is whether ft 5 the government is "doing any thing about it?" In reply is the report of the re sand and leaves it in great drifts. You eat dust, breathe dust, claw dust from your eyes, empty sand from your shoes. This must be the dust bowl. It was to learn the where, the what, the why of this area gional office of the soil conserva tion service at Amarillo.

26 Projects. Working on denionstrational that the "dust bowl expedition" set out from Des Moines in Good News VI headed for the panhandle plains of Texas' I projects (28 of them In the region an the oldest one is here near Dalhart) similar to our watershed projects in Iowa, the soil conservation service has 768.838 and Oklahoma. Charlie Gatschet was at the plane's controls and George Yates was as usual loaded down with cameras. We took along Lowell Gee of the Des Moines I acres under agreement for hand ling in a soil and moisture con regional office of the soil conservation service. We hoped we might learn first hand just what a real serving manner.

School rhlldrpn In the dreary dut bowl country ruhh out to play at we time the name a other uuoi siurra is ue. we were not disappointed, hoiks here children. Clambering over drifts of riutt, an Iowa children would wade drifts of snow, thev limb said it wasn't one Of the major Variety, but it Was plenty i a merry-go-round at this rural school near Dalhart, Tex. In return the eminent help farmers with their problems of terracing and leveling hummocks In the field. B'ter Staff Ptiot Thi i.

rf list bowl river. It is fh rimarron whirh flow lor the tenderfeet from Iowa. This is a strange country. After a clear morning with; only a mild breeze and no more dust in the air than usual a haze seems to fill the air most of the time afternoon are struggling along trying to save their farms from the ravages of the wind. Not Black Now i I The government reports also in the area that on two and one-half million acres outside of the demonstrational projects, fanners have put! into effect soil and moisture' thrnugh Oklahoma panhandle and southwestern Kansas and has It source in northeastern New Mexico.

This picture, taken by Staff 1'hntographer George Yates from The Register and Tribune plane north of Liberal, shows a wide riverbed with a mere trickle of Hater running along one side of It. They have a Pioneer or Last Man's club here in Dalhart. brought a real duster. No weather to fly in, these dust storms. Instead I Club's Motto.

It was started by a former Gatschet and Yates bought rope, rustled stakes, borrowed a spade to dig holes for wheels of the plane, and so Good operated by E. R. Lovelace. The method of crop rotation for soil newspaper editor here who now conservation practices News was bedded down safely lives in Amarillo. Their motto Terraces total 3,492 miles pro- land belongs to the federal land conservation is to seed to legumes res.

Grazing has bank. Lovelace is being aided by such as clover and alfalfa. That zing tecting 80,012 ac for the night. was to the effect: the resettlement administration to system wont work here. Clover been restricted on There are no more black blizzards in the dust bowl.

'The reason is that the black topsoil is gone. The present day blizzards are grayish yellow in color dust colored. Neither docs a dust storm arise in the spectacular method that has been pictured so often. Small local dust storms similar to Iowa twisters do swirl up from the horizon but after the storm gets started in earnest, the wind blows and blows and with it comes more and more dust. 189,856 acres.

Too windy and dusty to fly! carry on his farming operations, jean be grown in this country. the 75 miles or so by air to Amarillo. And so we stayed 'Suit rase" farmers may pull out but us settlers Hill stick because we have faith in the country." The pioneers held a meeting in Dalhart. How do folks live and what 0a here the night before our expedi First Aid Business is brisk on cough drops in the dust bowl. Drug stores have prominent displays of cough drops and many folks carry a box with them.

The soil conservation service is. It isn't possible to harvest building terraces on his land. This buffao grass geed A machine latter work is done on a co-op- erative basis with the farmer has been invented, however, agreeing to handle the land in a to pick Up strips of buffalo (manner calculated to prevent wind tfa 1 erosion in return for aid from the 'government. where is is desired to get a I Then farmers who follow start. of this pasture grass.

I soil erosiort practices receive With plenty of moisture, the do they use for money? I can't answer that one. A generation ago, a Rrnup of i hardy pioneers developed this tion arrived. Actually it was 'staged for the benefit of the March Time cameramen who have ibeen in the vicinity for a month filming a sequence for early lease. and Guymon in the Oklahoma pan V--V Jj-Y yE1AJ contour furrows have been put on 'checks from the AAA on 15 plant reseeds itself if the area CLAYTON I -Z. of the health hazard from the dust and there have been deaths but I feel that the stories of fatalities from dust have left a false Impression.

Farming in this section of the dust bowl can scarcely be called commercial agriculture. Rather it was described by a man inti 111,387 acres of pasture. pnr fhoir hase crou is not erazed too heavilv. mocks have been leveled on handle in the bad section. Dust storms are current over a much wider area, of course, much of eastern Colorado and western Kansas being subject to wind erosion.

SOIL Ml ST BE ANCHORED In I SOME SETTLERS ARE WEAKENING Some of the settlers are weakening, however. Orval Blades, who 484 acres of cultivated land. Tree Planted. i MEXl country. Heartbreaking Odd.

Today tha "pioneers" are atnig-Rling in the face of heartbreaking odds, fighting to bring back this area and check the ravages of depression, drought, dust. Their task to the outsider seems almost hopeless in the face of what seems to him an almost certain trend to desert. But the "settlers" are acreage aiiu iniauy nic tint-: gency AAA dust bowl pro- '-vested and planted during the 3 last two years but it takes mois- gram calls for benefit pay- ture t0 produce much of this seed. ment3 for planting of cover tietting this area back to Crops and for contour Kra Is easier said than done. Trees have been planted on mately acquainted with conditions livea northeast of here and south as tniyH to in-t from of Stratford, told us about it the 942 acres, 172.000 acres are beine U.

This soil is a light sandy the soil to make a living and'othpr day- jfarmed on the contour to con- I used to run three sections serve an possible moisture and loam Which Won't Stay put have enough to eat. iit-K plaining is anotner meinoa a section is 640 acres but times avoid wind erosion. RESPECTER got so hard in this country that) The government is showing Qp combatting wind erosion by providing a shield from the wind and GOVERNMENT NOT BUYING UP LAND i in uuwii lj une Bctuon, ne saiu. -uafc ion uc uuue. slowing down its velocity.

DanniiB. ilnol 4a unl raenal nr Trees will grow here. The THE DUST BOWL. The area in uhich wind eroninn caused damage is shown ithin the outer hue. The inner oval-shaped line, taking in the cornere of lie states, circumscribes the area covered in the dust boul proper.

TERRACES BUILT nf hcano rtnt Contrary to reports, the "Time to Pull Out," government isn't buying Upj "I let one section go back and unless it is anchored down. Tears ago it waa anchored by grass but the range was plowed up, at the start of the mechanical farming era, and put In wheat. One sees no horses in the dust bowl only tractor. Then came dry years and high land in the dust bowl. Neither brother helping me out with TO HOLD WATER I from this area might settle in soil conservation service has Terraces are being built, not to some urban resident's eyes a thou- a number of plantings that facilitate the orderly runoff of sand miles away and because the surviving- evpn trip ahnnr water from land as is the case indust bowl if unchecked might ex- 41 ule dunur the other.

have great hordes of farmers! abandoned their land. Iowa, but to hold the moisture. tend to an ever widening area. rainiail. These terraces have no outlet imany folks believe control of dust winds.

Some farmers have left the vvo. But care must be exercised. Planted Along Koads. they are blind terraces. is a federal problem Dust storms resulted.

area, others probably would go if NEB. they knew where to go or what A landowner in this area I Trees won't grow on the hilltops. Only Sand Ieft. fighting here in the nation's No. 1 problem area.

They are fighting with the aid of the federal government and there is considerable clamor even for more federal help to check the dust, which not only covers and permeates everything here but settles on the window sills of Des Moines and Chicago and Detroit to annoy good housewives. Discouraging was the snuffing out within the last month of the hopes for a good winter wheat crop. That is all history now. to do but many hang on in hope The next step is the contour listing of the land. This means the running of furrows along the contour, or on the level, around the ivtah: The humus was taRen from ine 0f better davs.

might take every precaution Neither will they grow unless they against letting his farm blow get more than their share of away. If, however, another man moisture. The regular practice is on a neighboring farm, or in an- to plant trees along a roadside soil or blown out in the form or blown otn in r. i--: hillsides. The double purpose of checking wind erosion and catching and holding moisture is served.

other countv, or even in another wnere were is at least a nominal RZ. xl)7 OKLAi bit of drainage. "Jnst give us a year or two of moisture and you'll see this country come hack in a hurry." You hear this over and over again. "All we need to stop this dust is moisture." Pastures, Too. state, is neglectful, the good farmer might find his fields covered with dust.

of dust. Then nothing was left but sand and it is blowing and drifting. Everyone agrees that probably much of this area should go back to grass. Rut nr nn a tr know TEXAS "Guess it's about time I pulled out before I lose any more but I don't know where to go or what to do." Five-year-old Alton, his motherless son, played about the farm where the government was helping Blades by building terraces and leveling off sand hummocks in the field so that the land again could be brought into cultivation. "Yep.

Alton and I batch. His mother died of dust pneumonia. Guess its about time we was getting out of here." The hummocks in Blades' fields Pastures are treated in the same; Northwest of here several rows of trees were planted alongside a field that gained nationwide fame in the resettlement ariminixtra. way with contour furrowing of A meeting recently in Boise The area shaded on this viap Tl I i But the moisture has been sadly just how it can be done with-llackinK out a "break" in the farm of Not since irm has a wheat jCity, recommended a co-or- controversial movie "The idinated control over dust bowl ag- Plow That Broke the plainR riculture. A group at Guymon, Thig field wa, ag th, last week petitioned Presi-worst damaged agricultural field dent Roosevelt to enforce proper Texas.

ui is thu birth plnre of tut lnrm.i. wheat will be harvested in Dallam then it en pasture land. "Pastures handled in this way yielded 2'2 times as much grass by weight last year as did the untreated land," said l. A. Dnbkins, information agent for the soil conservation service in the regional office at Amarillo as we flew over some pastures in the vicinity of Vega, Tex.

centrated damage from wind moisture, and even and even county, here in the northwest corner of Texas' panhandle. Up In the Oklahoma panhandle the outlook is little better. soil conservation methods in the' area, suggested martial law if nec-' "Is the climate changing? Is this area destined to he added permanently to the great Amer- erosion shifts from year to will take a long time, year. 1 The settlers linger on probably 'many of them in the hope that Roughly it is about 10 to jone good crop will pay the cost essary. Many share that view al Iran desert B.

H. Hopkins, manager of the In the Dalhart Droiect area an iof the land. Much of this land ts example of what the government to resort to military law. are from 15 to 30 inches in height, 'held at $10 to $12 an acre, with federal government's soil conser- the better land higher and thelvation service project here, an- is doing waa presented on the farm In Iowa, the most practical caused by dust blowing. A tractor with an ordinary road grader in this iworst damaged land lower in swered these questions in swered these questions FIGHT NOW TO CHECK DUST The fight now is not to save the wheat but to check the dust.

Each man tries first to hold his own field from wandering away, and next to keep But just to prove that all hope is not gone for this distressed country, the soil conservation service terraced the field and it was brought back into agricultural production. New trees are growing alongside it, although dust fills the ditch at the side of the road. The dust bowl presents many followed by an Iron similar to a price. 11 million acres in a dozen counties in the corner of five states Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. (The area of Iowa is 35 million railroad rail is being used to pull down the hummocks.

And for your information, hummocks, after they get to be some 4 to 10 feet high or even way: "We are inclined to believe that we are in a dry cycle. "Last year we got but 52 per cent of normal rainfall here 9.37 inches instead of the normal 18.50. The speculative urge, hope of hig money in a bumper wheat crop anil low production costs, still keeps the settlers in the dust howl after six long years of drought and dust storms. problems. Road graders clear the acres.) Dalhart.

county seat of Dsllam county, isn't exactly in the center of the area but some of the worst damage is in the area north and Good Food, Beds Are there hotels and comfortable places to stay in the dust bowl? Certainly. You may scoop up dust from the floor of the lobby of your hotel, but the rooms and beds are clean and comfortable, the food good and well cooked. Of course, you enjoy your meals more once you are able to get the dust taste out of your mouth and at least a part of the dust out of your eyes, ears, hair and a coating or two off your face. "To date this year moisture his neighbor's topsoil from being swept over into his field. Farmers are disking and listing wheat fields in an emergency effort to check the dust storms.

They turn up clods and some moist dirt; they roughen the surface to ward off the wind erosion. 30 to 30, like those 10 miles northwest of here, aren't hummocks any more. They are sand dunes. To me, an outsider, this sand dune area appeared to be an approach to desert conditions. Expects Grass.

Yet Milt Reinholdt, manager of The weaklings don't stay in has been ahead of last year northeast of here, with Boise City 'this country. There are instances highways of dust in much the same manner that Iowa roads were cleared of snow last winter. Sometimes it is necessary ta take to the fields when drift block the highway. More than once we had to give drifts a wide berth as we drove north from here to the sand dun but still below normal. "If we get some moisture during the next 60 days, our grain Texas Terraces sorgnums and olfier row crops Mfttinri, Ronch exrects; There is moisture Just below the some day to get grass growing oni the dune area.

With vegetation surface. It came in a half inch rainfall last week, too late to save the wheat. Still ot Enough. Still there is not enough mois Dust Caused This Not Rust will be off to a good start. "Come at Worst Time." "This country probably looks bad to you.

Some of it is bad but not quite so bad as it looks. "You have come at the worst possible time. We'd like to have you come back to the panhandle ,1 -'7'jV area. The dunes looked more Im-pressive more ominous to be exactfrom the ground than they did from the air. They tower as high as 40 feet.

The area is bare of vegetation. Clear again and we fly back to fields of eastern Kansas, Missouri and Iowa fields that look lusher and pastures greener than ture now to warrant planting the grain sorghums, milomaize, kaffir. hegaii, broom corn. Sudan grass. plains in August; we believe you'd find a much more optimistic pic millet and other crops that will ture." Placing the Blame, i A) The settlers here blame some of 1 'e 't- j- i their troubles on the "suit case" farmers and absentee landlords, in ever because of the contrast.

The future of the dust bowl? None can answer that question but you may be sure that folks here in the dust bowl be put in. But the always-hopeful settlers confidently expect enough rainfall this month to warrant planting these cover crops. Thfir purpose is twofold. One Is that a grain and feed crop is possible with favorable weather The other is that the stubble p-o-vifips an effective cover on tne ground and thus checks erosion. The Location.

But to clear up the question as to the location of the dust bowl. No one can tell exactly what area comprises the dust bowl. The area of con-- cluding insurance companies and the federal land bank. A "suit rase" farmer Is one who farms a large acreage, sometimes from a distance, maintaining a residence except during the crop season In Amarillo, Dallas or San Antonio. When the going gets tough, the "suit case" farmer fades i haven't given up.

They've got what it takes to win a tough battle. Weaklings don't stay here maybe that accounts for the courage of the settlers who haven't out of the picture, leaves his Rmlitrr Staff Photo. Here is a eloMMip of terracing by the government's soil conservation service near Stratford, Tel. Terraces are made around the ruoes in this dust ept field in the hope that rains will be caught to oak intu the soil along the terraces instead of running right off. land idle and it blows, often to the detriment of the resident owncr-oj)crators who, jlltsr Staff Photo.

No, Ihls isn't rn out farm nim-hlnery. The reason It has hern Irft standing where It Is to be coirrrd ith drifting dust and sand is because the fields where the machinery was used are bow idle- yet lost faith in their country..