___ _..
..
THE U ~ S • D • A, FLOOD CONTROL SURVEY OF TFE TR nn TY
RIVER, 1'EX.h.S , LND ITS PROGRESS
PJ.PBR PRESENTED BLFCRE Nlf1TJNG 0~ TRINITY IN.'PROVEMENT
J..SSOCIFl'ICN , FORT VIORTH , TEX/.S , OCTOBER 26, 1938
By
Louis P, Merri ll, RegionEl Conservctor,
Soi l Conservgtion Service , U. S . D. A.
~· _s.!. D._!·:.. ~c~p~n~i~i.!:_i !_i!s The U. S. Depertme nt of Agriculture is chr r gc.Gl with the
r esponsibility of he l ping c.griculturc to rnr. int~ i n pr oduction ct n
l eve l ndequ~:.te to mee t the nc.t5.on t s need for food end fiber to
achieve st~: bility of fDrm if'.COll'.e ct f l c.vel which will" fiVe the n~:. tion
n good r urr. l-urbrn bPlnnce end to str.bilize r E-sources . It dischc r ges
thet responsibility in JT',£•ny wrys - by dovclopir.g new end improved
f r rming methods , by pr e7e nting the sprec·d of pE-sts rnd disecs6 1 by
extending finoncirl r.id vnd credit to frrm0r s 1 r.nd so on , through r l ong
list of voried c.ctivities l ooki ng to the betterme nt of J,meric( n E·gri­culture
.
But none of the Dep[rtment ' s wor k is mon. brsicr.lly importc.nt
thnn conse- rving the pr oduct i ve s oi l upon ·,vhich the \"holo structure of
our agricultur r l industry is built.
Food , clothing , [nd sheltEr r re th e necessit ies of l ife ; they
come directly or indir ectly from the soil . Upon the soil 1 scontinued
ability to produce them depends much of' the v1elf'r. r e 1 not only of
o.gr iculture ~ but of the populction c.s o whole . Viuwed in this light , the
r uspons ibility of th~ Dcpr rtmont of Agriculture f er pr otecting the soil
r esource from depl etion D nd outright destr uction cssumes r singul.£> r c. nd
fr r-re r:ching importonce .
Unfortunately , our puo~ lc h~ve b&lieved that the soil r e sources
of this country were unlimited nnd in6xhrustible . This concept , mor e
then r nythir.g e lse , is r espons ible ~ or our h(·Ving wr sted s oil mor e
r cpidly thDn r. ny other c ountry in the history cf the wcrld , Only in
r ecent yeer s , with hr. l f of. the r·griculturtl lend of the c ountry c lreedy
aff ected , hus tho ser i ousness cf the prcblcm been r e c ognized .
- L