Altogether it has been estimated that erosion is responsible for
an annual loss in this country of approximately $100,000,000. To
the farmer it means money out of pocket from start to finish. It
impairs the fertility and decreases the productivity of his land,
and may even ruin it altogether; it renders irrigation more
difficult and more costly; by reducing the possibilities of cheap
water power development it tends to keep up the price and check
the more extended use of electricity; and by interfering with
navigation it helps to prevent the development of a comprehensive
system of cheap inland water transportation. But the farmer is not
the only sufferer. The entire community is directly affected by
the loss and is justified in taking heroic measures to remedy the
evil.

If the problem is to be solved we must cease to accelerate surface
run-off by burning the forests and brush fields, overgrazing the
range, clearing steep slopes for agriculture, and practicing
antiquated methods of cultivation. On the contrary, the farmer,
the forester, and the stockman must cooperate in seeing that the
land is so used that surface run-off, particularly at the higher
elevations, is reduced to a minimum.

Children in particular should have their interest actively aroused
and their support enlisted. In one state, "gully clubs" have been
organized by the state forester. These are composed largely of
school children who take an active part in the work of gully
reclamation and particularly in finding and checking incipient
gullies before it is too late. Why could not such organizations as
boy scouts, girl scouts, and campfire girls be used in the same
way? [Footnote: "Farms, Forests, and Erosion," YEAR BOOK of the