BIG HUGH: The Father of Soil Conservation

A tribute to crusading, evangelical Hugh Hammond Bennett, who pioneered for a lifetime toward the theory and practical initiation of soil conservation. Plantation born, Bennett worked his way through college, was signed up by the Bureau of Soils of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where for twenty- five years he wrote about, spoke about the need for a soil erosion program. Finally in 1933 the Soil Erosion Service was set up- with Bennett as its head, and in 1935, with the object lesson of the Dust Bowl, legislation was effected, farms were face-lifted, and in the years to follow Bennett and his methods were to draw international recognition and imitation ... A deserved enthusiasm here still will not carry this beyond a special market based on a particular interest and concern.