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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-07-20, Page 3•• • • 1 .4 People in Profile: Londesboro mart into drains by Shelley McPhee Some people have called it a one man crusade, others have called it a crack- pot idea, some simply couldn't care less and others just don't understand the whole concept, but Norman Alexander pays little attention to all the comments and for the past four years has been studying and con- ducting experiments with soil erosion caused from poor drainage. Despite the fact that Mr. Alexander has a rather unusual hobby, this Londesboro man has spent hours and hundreds of dollars trying to resolvean often ignored problem. A retired farmer and former seed dealer in Londesboro, Mr. Alexander, 67, became interested in soil erosion and drainage problems when he was appointed drainage commissioner for Hullett Township in 1974. Although the actual job as com- missioner takes only a few days a week he saw that grants were given to farm drains with little concern about sediment removal, soil erosion or water runoff. He now deals with such terms as • velocity control and sediment counts in his efforts to control present erosion problems that could effect the future of our land. "We'd never heard of these terms at our ditch commissioners school," he explained. "Very few people are aware of erosion problems. There is no soil conservation service in Canada," he added. Mr. Alexander explained that the government has a lot of meetings about this problem but not much has come of their discussions. He said that the United States has a number of organizations to deal with this problem but the only Canadian group is the Ontario Soil „Management Research Committee. There are so many different departments involved' in this with our government that there's too much talk and not enough done right in the field," he claimed. The key word in the control of soil erosion is good farm management. Poor management has resulted in •such problems as flooded farmland, sediment collecting in the rivers and at the mouth of Lake Huron, water. pollution through fertilizer residue being carried with the excessive water run off and heavy snow collection due to the fact that too many trees have been cut down. Although the immediate effects of this erosion are not often seen Mr. Alexander said that, "future generations will. parlor this van- dalism." "The Western farmers are so careful about how they manage their soil, they learned their lesson with wind erosion during the dust bowl years," he ex- plained. He explained that more land that was once productive soil has now become desert, in Asia for instance. "Look at the Garden of Eden," he went on, "it was once- good land and now it's desert." - Although North America is faced with different conditions than Asian countries this does not mean that erosion will not occur. "Our land's in cold storage during the winter months so our erosion is minimal, but we have a heavy ac- cumulation with the snow and rain run off all at once in the spring so we're not free," he stressed. Immediate effects of erosion can been seen in a slide presentation that Mr. Alexander has put together. Heca.n..,. easily name a number of instances as well, like the flooding problems in Listowel and Wingham, or the fact that dams now only have a life span of 20 years because of the build up of sediments, when they used to last 80 to 100 years. He also explained that it takes millions of dollars to keep the seaways and harbors cleaned out, also because of the farm sediment that accumulated. "It's a shame to see number one land being washed away," he explaihed. The cause and prevention of soil erosion is a major part of Mr. Alexander's studies. • . "Water run off is caused by changes in the crdp," he explained. "When it rains, there isn't enough grass 0J' tree cover." One farmer's bare field, sitting above another's field planted in wheat, for example is a condition that could have serious consequences. Velocity control, is another im- portbnt area that Mr. Alexander is studying. He is presently building a large scale -model, valued at some $2,000 to show a poor drainage system and a controlled one. According to Mr. Alexander the first thing that should be done is to get rid of round culverts and ditches with high sides arid bare banks. The round culverts cause a jet nozzle action and as a result the water pours out to9 quickly to be absorbed into the soil. "Tile endings exiting into an open (stuck in the middle A heart has stopped beating, a famous career has suddenly ended and one of North America's best known celebrities has died. Sounds tragic doesn't it? Well I suppose it is sad, and I'm a little touched, but I don't plan to go into mourning because Morris, the finicky 9 -Lives cat on television commercials has died. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not cold hearted or cruel, in fact I love animals and adore cats, but I often think that too much emphasis is put on the animals in our society and not the people. Just think Morris' nameand biography will probably be' included in almanacs, year books and en- cyclopedias - as the 17- year-old, orange cat who for 10 years made some 40 commercials for cat food. ditch is one pf our greatest disasters," he said. "Having a bare bank is like building a house without a roof," he added. By seeding the bank and putting it on a greater slope less soil will be washed away and by using oblong or square culverts the water yelocity can be controlled. As well beds of crushed rock along the bottom and sides of the ditch can slow down the rate at which the water runs out of the ditch. Although Mr. Alexander seetn,s to have the possible solutions to many soil erosion problems, his scale models do not actually show the real outcome. "I want demonstration areas in the county," he stated. Already some farmers are becoming For Huron interested and aware of the possible dangers of soil and land erosion andzare listening to Mr. Alexander's proposals. Meetings are now becoming more and more prevelarit and some farmers have suggested setting up their own demonstration areas on their land. "We need more experiments and if the public demands them then we might have some luck," he added. "It's coming more into the public eye. "I have little confidence that our generation will do much," he con- tinued. "Our soil has always been called dirt and our ditches have always been put down. There's an old saying that says if you don't do your work you'll end up digging ditches," he said, New Crown Attorney his swearing in on Tuesday, he received words of welcome to the county from both Judge Cochrane and. Judge Carter .and from Dan Murphy, vice-president of the Huron. Law Association and MacEwan Egener, secretary of the same Association. Judge Carter said Hunter, at age. 34, is bringing youth to the office of Crown attorney. BY JOANNE WALTERS Garry Hunter,' Huron County's newly -appointed Crown attorney, was sworn in at an official ceremony at the Huron County Court House in Goderich on Tuesday morning by Huron County Court Judge F.G. Carter and Provincial Court Judge William Cochrane. As a former policeman, both in Metropolitan Toronto and in England, Hunter has moved from being a law enforcer on the street to being one in the courtroom. Hunter, a native of Scotland, came to Canada at the age of 21 in 1968. After serving briefly with the Metro police force, he enrolled in Osgoode Hall. For the past three years he has worked as an assistant Crown attorney in Windsor. He is presently living Amherstburg with his wife, five -ye r - old daughter and the newest additis to, his family, a daughter born on iiif of this year. He plans on moving his family to Goderich within -the next few months. Hunter began his new job/ in Huron County on Monday, July 3. The county had been without its own Crown at- torney since the promotion of Mr. Cochrane to provincial court judge in January. Crowns from other counties had been filling in. Hunter, who won over four other applicants for the job, said he is pleased to be in Huron County. After by shelley mcphee He died, Friday, July 14 from car- diac complications related to old age. Future generations will also be able to read about one of Hollywood's most loved stars Benji the dog and the gala celebration that was held for,hirn. • I hope they destroyed the tape of that television show. I'm a little embarrassed of what future generations .maY have thought of our society's preoccupation with animals while people throughout the world were starving and poverty was so evident. Now, that's my major complaint with fanatical animal lovers., How can they spend so much money and time on their pets while fellow humans are living in such horrible conditions? Don't theylave a guilty conscience? • .41.1 = <04 I company for lonely people and , provide great pleasure and hap- piness for many people, but I cannot appreciate the fact that so much money is spent on animal grooming and food. Even more distressing is the fact that special events, like the one honoring Benji are accepted and allowed. I watched the program for about five minutes before my stomach completely turned over; here was this mutt, walking down an elegant staircase on the stage to the ap- plause of hundreds. Then to top it all off his film clips were shown and well known entertainers sang to the dog. Maybe it is only one example but somehow I have the feeling that our society is really going to the cats and dogs. • TWO FUN FILLED DAYS-, • • • UMMERFEST'78 FRIDAY&SATURDAY,JULY 21 & 22 at the SOUTH HUROWREC CENTRE EXETER FEATURING THE POPULAR GROUP •" THE TOPPERS" DANCING 9 p.m. - 1 am. • Also, please fool free to visit 'us Saturday afternoon at The Stec Centre. (No admission charged for the afternoon). ADMISSION TO DANCES - $2.00 PFRPERSON FOOD IS AVAILABLE Advance tickets available from any Kinsmen member, Exeter C0.00, (lord's Variety andtho l'imet.Advatalte. PROCIpS FOR COMMUNITY StRVICE Dryness may.... •.from page 1 Light rain shower occurred for a short period in Bayfield this morning. "Any amount of rain Would help," he said, "but we need over an inch of rain before it will do much good." While the corn and white bean crops will need the rain, the blooms on the soybeans last about a month, so they don't need rain as badly. . Some local farmers 'are considering irrigating their fields, but Mr. Miller pointed out that this procedure is costly and takes too much time. , He said that farmers should hold off on the irrigation plans as yet. The fact that the skies are overcast and the weather has been on the cool side is aiding the growth of the plants. Mr. Miller said that if the tem- peratures were extremely hot and the sun was shining strongly, the crops would be much further behind than they are now. Vanastra land... Trom page 1 • comments on/the housing area and Mr. Russo replied that the majority of residents e starting to clean up their propertie He said only some cause all the prob ems putting up shacks. Coun 11 agreed to put pressure on owner, elean up, using its by-law to fore people to remove 'hazardous rubble. After due notice, council can clean up the property and charge it on the owner's taxes if he does not, co- operate. Absentee landlords and owners were blamed for some of the unsightly properties. - Council decided topay for the .new tractor lawnmower bought for Vanastra Recreation, a new 14 hor- sepower Massey Harris machine bought from Boyes Farm Supply RR4 Seaforth, for $1,900 plus four per cent sales tax and plus $700 for the old lawn mower. To compensate the Recreation Committee for its old lawn mower the council will provide 40 hours of free tractor use and after that $5.00 per hour for use. CLII*TON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, JULY 20, 1978—:PAGE 3 To some people these objects may be no more than slabs of cement with pieces of stone stuck In them. In actuality these scale models drain endings may ef- fect the future of our land. Norman Alexander of Londesboro is making and testing different culverts on a small scale in hopes to control the serious problem of soil erosion. (News -Record Photo) Egmondville to cut down water by Wilma Oke Egmondville residents are being asked by Tuckersmith council. to cut down on the amount of water they use by not watering their gardens and lawns. • Allan Nicholson, road superintendent, informed council at a meeting in Brucefield Tuesday night that the two wells that supply the hamlet are Idw at the present time. He was authorized to put an advertisement in the Huron Expositor this week to warn the residents of the need to. conserve water. The water situation is the result of no rainfall in the area these past weeks. Reeve Ervin Sillery presented Mr. Nicholson with a certificate awarded by the C. S. Anderson Road School which is sponsored by the Ontario Good Roads Association for suc- cessfully passing the three-day course given at the University of Guelph last May. Tuckersmith will pay an additional $14 to the Huron County Board of Education following the successful appeal of the Village of Bayfield Ron's Sunoco - celebrating our THIRD * \ * • * II . . 0 • e ' ,..) ..0'&.*.t,c1,.."444: • ;....::3•A., '..... •::,,..:4::.: <SitDCO> Sunoco Gas Bar & Variety As We complete our third year and enter our fourth year in business in Clinton, we take this opportunity of saying "thank you" to you, the citizens of Clinton and the surrounding community, for the very wonderful support you have given us during this past year. We all look forward to continue being of service to you. Ron, Clark, Wilmer Terry and Jeff 192 HURON STREET, CLINTON , against the .school levy which Bayfield con- sidered excessive. The tax levy was reduced by $800 resulting in the remaining municipalities having to share in paying the $800 to the school board. Applications for building permits were approved for: Edward Roberts, part Lot 1, concession 13, Huron Road- Survey, alterations to house; John Segeren, Lot 23, concession 1, HRs, pig barn and earth line tank; Tom Workman, Lot 11 and 12, concession 9, 1 -IRS, two granaries; Art McNaughton, Lot 17, plan 16, Egmondville, house; James Devereaux, E1/2 lot 1, concession 1 N.R.S., two granaries. A demolition permit will be granted Allan Geddes to demolish a house at Lot 13, plan 10, Egmondville, subject to posting $200 bond and guaranteeing to clean up the property by October 31. A tile drain loan for $14,800 was approved. The engineer's report on the O'Brien Drainage Works was received from Henry Uderstadt, an Orangeville engineer. The repair work, on the drain is estimated to cost about $9,000. The report will be discussed at next meeting of council. Smile Noticed how quiet elections have been recently? Politicians seem to be running out of issues to sidestep. a a a a a a 7 a a a a a 1a a a a .1 1 1 3 1r a •••• 1A1 VW liblbd W11101 We will be CLOSED for holidays on the following days... TUESDAY, JULY 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9 ramona humphrey sue murray heather marshal!" IWe Carry REDKEN Products • Edith Anne Hair Fashions CORNER OF GIBDINGS & RATTENBURY STS. CLINTON MOM 4$2a7697 Writs OPEN ALL DAY TUESDAY 10 FRIDAY PLUS TUESDAY AND THURSDAY EVENINGS AND SATURDAY MORNINGS fik oplan n AA A PIA 01,A00 AO A ign An A An A P11% nil 01 ot a