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practice. A return to pasture, whilst the
most permanent and reliable solution, would
not make sense economically to the farmer.
A reduction in field size, even if only by
leaving unploughed strips across the large
fields, would do much to check the water
flow and so reduce erosion. So also would
ploughing across the slope rather than up and
down it. A move from winter- to spring-sown
wheat would help, obviating the problem of
leaving a field clear of vegetation at the
time of greatest rainfall. A change away
from intensive cereal production would also
help as, locally, the organic content of
the soils is going down. This reduction is
causing a greater need for artificial
fertilizers, which are increasing in price,
and also reducing the cohesiveness of the
soil, making it more liable to erosion,
including removal by the wind, which is able
to blow more strongly in the larger fields.
Such soil erosion is not restricted to the
South Downs. It is also occurring on chalk
soils in eastern Kent, on the light soils of
the Trias of the Midlands, Somerset and Dorse
and on the sandy soils of Bedfordshire and
of the Weald.
Wych Cross, Forest Row, Ashdown Forest
Soil erosion occurs not only as a result of
agricultural practices. At Wych Cross,
part of the heath was cleared during the
war for a grass runway for a temporary air-
field. The grassed area has been kept
clear of bushes and trees ever since, for
recreational purposes. Although the former
runway is grassed, the soil is very light
and silty and where the grass cover has been