Photograph of Claude Webb, and K.C. Bennett, SCS Representative, proudly display a few bees from the 70 bee hives on the Webb farm. Bees are a most important factor in the pollination of soil conservation legumes. This is a very economical way, according to K.C. Bennet, to get more and better returns from legumes in a planned soil and moisture program. Bees feed on vetch, sweet clover, peach and other blossoms on the Webb farm. Webb sold around $500.00 worth of honey last year.

Photograph of vetch and rye plowed under for green manure. Shown in picture, Left to Right, K. C. Bennett, WUC, Clyde Brown, district cooperator, and Elmo Goss, neighbor, Howard Rutledge, Vocational Agricultural Instructor, Fairland.

Photograph of left to right, Henery Heman, District cooperator, WUC, SCS K.C. Bennett, and Bart Brewster, neighbor. Brewster is shown admiring the extensive growth of vetch on the Heman farm, while Heman proudly looks on. The vetch is a common occurance now in Ottawa County with approxomately 60,000 acres grown annually. The vetch was practically not known before the beginning of the district in 1946.

Photograph of Black Locust cut for fence post. Harvested off of Mr. Joe Johnson farm.

Photograph of Claude Webb proudly displayes a few of the live bees from the 70 bee hives on his farm. Bees are the most important factor in the pollination of soil conservation legumes. This is a very economical way, K.C. Bennett, SCS technician, says to get more and better returns from legumes in a planned soil and moisture program. Bees feed on vetch, sweet clover, peach and other blossoms on the Webb farm. Webb sold $500.00 worth of honey last year.

Photograph of Field # 2, Series 7. Milo [i.e., sorghum] residues from plantings made on 5-11-67. These rows were fertilized with 200 pounds per year of 10-20-10 fertilizer (1st 4 rows left to right) and 400 pounds per year for the next two rows and 200 pounds per year for the next two rows. These rows were side-dressed with 50 pounds of 33-0-0 in 6-67 on all of two rows and two rows half way. On 3-25-68 a native grass mixture (Vinita harvest) was interseeded, hand broadcast and hand-raked to cover. The east half of these rows were broadcast fertilized with 200 pounds of 33-0-0 per year and the west half with 200 pounds of 10-20-10 per year. OK-3013-12.

Photograph of Field # 2, Series 6. Broomcorn [i.e., Sorghum bicolor] residues from plantings made on 5-11-67. These rows were fertilized with 200 pounds per year of 10-20-10 fertilizer (1st 4 rows left to right) and 400 pounds per year for the next two rows and 200 pounds per year for the next two rows. These rows were side-dressed with 50 pounds of 33-0-0 in 6-67 on all of two rows and two rows half way. On 3-25-68 a native grass mixture (Vinita harvest) was interseeded, hand broadcast and hand-raked to cover. The east half of these rows were broadcast fertilized with 200 pounds of 33-0-0 per year and the west half with 200 pounds of 10-20-10 per year. OK-3013-13.

Photograph of Field # 9 with hay mulch applied on 4-1-68. This 0.8 acre area was first seeded to a mixture of native grasses assembled by the Manhattan Plant Materials Center. It was then mulched with prairie hay at 3 tons per acre. This was anchored with an IMCO disc treader (mulch tiller) pulled from a farm row tractor. Note the water standing where tractor tires force the parched water table to the surface. 250 pound 10-20-10 fertilizer top-dressed immediately after mulching. OK-3013-16.

Photograph of the growth of Cottonwood trees in field six, south to north. Plantings made in 1967. Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. OK-3194-8.

Photograph of the growth of black locust trees in field six, south to north. Plantings made in February, 1967. Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. OK-3194-7.

Photograph of growth of giant reed (arundo donax) from sod, from the south side of field five. Plantings made in March, 1967. Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. OK-3194-10.

Photograph of the growth of Weeping Love Grass in the north end of field one and two, growing on drift area. Broadcast needed in March, 1967. Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma.OK-3194-15.

Photograph of Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Field # 2, Series 7. Milo [i.e., sorghum] residues from plantings made on 5-11-67. These rows were fertilized with 200 pounds per year of 10-20-10 fertilizer (1st 4 rows left to right) and 400 pounds per year for the next two rows and 200 pounds per year for the next two rows. These rows were side-dressed with 50 pounds of 33-0-0 in 6-67 on all of two rows and two rows half way. On 3-25-68 a native grass mixture (Vinita harvest) was interseeded, hand broadcast and hand-raked to cover. The east half of these rows were broadcast fertilized with 200 pounds of 33-0-0 per year and the west half with 200 pounds of 10-20-10 per year. OK-3013-12.

Photograph of Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Field # 2, Series 9. Haygrazer [i.e., Sorghum-Sudan grass] residues from plantings made on 5-11-67. These rows were fertilized with 200 pounds per year of 10-20-10 fertilizer (1st 4 rows left to right) and 400 pounds per year for the next two rows and 200 pounds per year for the next two rows. These rows were side-dressed with 50 pounds of 33-0-0 in 6-67 on all of two rows and two rows half way. On 3-25-68 a native grass mixture (Vinita harvest) was interseeded, hand broadcast and hand-raked to cover. The east half of these rows were broadcast fertilized with 200 pounds of 33-0-0 per year and the west half with 200 pounds of 10-20-10 per year. OK-3013-11.

Photograph of Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Field # 9 with hay mulch applied on 4-1-68. This 0.8 acre area was first seeded to a mixture of native grasses assembled by the Manhattan Plant Materials Center. It was then mulched with prairie hay at 3 tons per acre. This was anchored with an IMCO disc treader (mulch tiller) pulled from a farm row tractor. Note the water standing where tractor tires force the parched water table to the surface. 250 pound 10-20-10 fertilizer top-dressed immediately after mulching. OK-3013-16.

Photograph of Slimes Pond, Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Weeping Lovegrass broadcast seeded on 3-20-67 on blow drigt along snow fence north end of fields 1, 2, 3. Broadcast fertilized 400 pounds 10-20-10 per year at planting time. West end (foreground) top-dressed 300 pounds per year of 10-20-10 fertilizer on 10 August 1976. Overseeded with native grass mixture (Vinita harvest) 3-26-68. OK-3013-9.

Photograph of a chat pile, the rock waste remains after lead and zinc have been extracted from hard rock, during the grinding and flotation system. Note the erosion of the pile. This material covers some 5,000 acres in Ottawa County. Wind and water move this finely ground rock to adjacent areas. OK-2769-11.

Photograph of the area around the Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Slimes Pond Evaluation of plantings in Commerce, Oklahoma. This is a view of the IMCO mulch tiller manufactured by the Independent Manufacturing Company, Neodasha, Kansas, as used on the Eagle-Picher Slimes Pond hay mulching operation. Note the iron which weighs some 60 to 70 pounds each. These served to put pressure on the treader adequate to press hay into sand. Three tons of hay mulch per year were applied and anchored following the planting of a native grass seed mixture prepared by the Soil Conservation Service Plant Materials Center, Manhattan, Kansas. OK-3013-6.

Photograph of the Eagle-Pichers Mine, near Commerce, Oklahoma. Here showing the effects of snow fences in checking wind erosion. The coaser silica material has drifted high in the snow fences creating a series of deep drifts of coarser particles. Note the absence of vegetation even though this is located in approximately a 44 inch ppt. [parts per trillion?] zone. OK-2769-5.

Photograph of the Eagle-Pichers Mine area, at Picher, Oklahoma. Showing slimes ponds and chat piles. North view from roadway showing well-established vagetation on active slimes pond dam in Commerce, Oklahoma.. The principal grass is Bermuda. Chat pile in the background. OK-2769-7.

Photograph of the area around the Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Slimes Pond Evaluation of plantings in Commerce, Oklahoma. View facing northwest corner of planting area (Field no. 1). On March 17, 1967, 30 rows of grass and legume species were planted east-west. Note flagmarkers. Also in the background is a broadcast grass mixture plot. Prarie hay mulch at the rate of 3 tons per acre was hand spread over the whole area immediately after planting and anchored with a tandem disc. seedbed was compacted with the rubber-tired tractor after mulching. Snow fences are to protect study area from sand drifting. OK-2768-6.

Photograph of the area around the Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Slimes Pond Evaluation of plantings in Commerce, Oklahoma. View facing north showing eastern two-thirds and a glimpse of the northwestern portion of the planting area. Snow fences are for wind erosion and sand drift protection. In right foreground, are tree rows without mulch. Right background shows tree rows prairie hay mulched (3 tons per acre), hand-anchored. Tree species include cedar, button bush, sycamore, cottonwood, black locust, sand bar willow and Russian olive. In the left foreground are two plantings of grass selections followed by prairie hay mulch anchored with tandem discs and the seedbed compacted with a rubber-tired tractor. OK-2768-1.

Photograph of the area around the Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Slimes Pond Evaluation of plantings in Commerce, Oklahoma. View facing north-north central portion of planting area (Field no. 2). Cover crop plantings made and to be planted are to determine whether cover can be grown for eventual parennial vegetation plantings. Field borders are prairie hay mulched (3 tons per acre) and anchored with tandem discs. The tallest vegetation row is rye planted on 09-29-1966 and fertilized with 400 pounds per acre of 10-20-10 fertilizer. It was top dressed on 03-26-1967 with 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Summer cover crops are to be planted in the north portion of this filed. OK-2768-7.

Photograph of the area around the Eagle-Pichers Mine, Picher, Oklahoma. Slimes Pond Evaluation of plantings in Commerce, Oklahoma. View facing east along south portion of planting area (Field no. 4). This cheat grass (Bromus spp [= species pluralis]) was planted and fertilized in four rows in late September 1966. OK-2767-6.