Soil Erosion and Drainage

Abstract

The luxuriance which is a feature of the vegetation of large tracts of tropical and sub-tropical countries suggests that the soils of these areas are rich, and capable of bearing crops for an almost indefinite time. This view is commonly held but is for the most part entirely illusory. Closer consideration shows why this is so. Conditions of temperature and rainfall are such that rapid growth is possible, given other suitable circumstances, and this rankness lends colour to the superficial but uninstructed view just mentioned.