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   THE Keyline plan is a plan for the development of agricultural land based, first, on my own conception of what soil is, how it developed naturally and how it can be further developed, and, secondly, on the climate and the land shape of each individual property on which the plan is applied.

   It is based on a belief that the ordinary pursuits of farming and grazing are in themselves the means of inducing an ever-increasing fertility in the soil. The techniques of the Keyline plan have been developed to this end.

   The aim of the Keyline plan then is to improve all farming and grazing lands by reversing the tendency of land to deteriorate under man's occupancy--making it stable and permanent in a generally improving landscape. Its aim is to improve any agricultural soil, from. the poorer soils right through to the richest of soils, to far beyond that which originally developed naturally in the particular climatic environment. The development of soil in nature from dead earth and rock may have occupied considerable periods of time. Man, with little time, fortunately has many means or processes by which he can rapidly improve any natural soil. It. is considered that the most logical or fundamental approach to soil improvement is through processes which are aimed directly toward improving the effect which the general climate has on the soil climate. Every technique of the Keyline plan is designed to improve the soil's climate against the background of the general climatic conditions which affect it and which have largely created the soil.

   The Keyline plan was developed in New South Wales, Australia, and its development has probably been influenced by the general conditions as they apply to most of our agricultural land. Since Keyline is based upon a study of climate and land shape, it therefore fits in a practical manner any type of agricultural land. However, its various techniques will be employed on a wider scale in the broader aspects of agriculture embraced in the cereal crop, sheep and cattle country in Australia and other lands.

   While Keyline rejects the wholly or dominantly chemical or artificial fertiliser approach of generally orthodox agriculture, it finds great value in some artificials from a new or unorthodox approach. While Keyline is not classed as organic farming, it employs natural means of soil development with great benefit.

   The orthodox methods of pasture improvement are not Keyline. Keyline obtains accelerated and greater pasture improvement by an emphasis on soil improvement, using pasture and improving pasture in the process.

   It does not follow the approach or make use of the methods of soil conservation, because the Keyline technique has the effect of improving soil rapidly and curing and preventing soil erosion. It preserves and holds the natural shape of land by improving the climatic environment of the soil. It prevents fertility erosion of good soil by increasing soil fertility. Soil erosion then ceases to be a factor requiring special consideration.

   The plan aims generally at conserving as much water in the soil from each rainfall as the soil can use for its own improvement according to its particular state of development. If all the rain that falls is needed, then all is conserved, and techniques are provided to this end for the economical storage and profitable use of this water. All surplus run-off is conserved in farm dams of various kinds and for particular usages.

   When water flows beyond the conservation needs of the soil and the additional capacity of farm dams, it is allowed to follow natural flow lines. Waterflow which formed the valleys will not damage those valleys in a Keyline programme.

   When water is the limiting factor, storages are designed against maximum run-offs, and not the minimum annual run-off of orthodox recommendation.

   The Keyline plan, in common with many others, advocates tree planting, but provides a planned pattern for all plantings.

   Again, the plan makes soil deepen. It has been said that it may have taken centuries to develop an inch of natural soil. But man can so control the factors involved that he can develop many inches of good soil from decomposed rock and subsoil in about three years, while in many instances he can produce grass on such earths in one year.

   The Keyline plan stems primarily from an overall planning technique based on a new conception of land shape as a powerful aid to agricultural land development, and its planning background is the pattern taken by naturally flowing water. This can best be illustrated as follows: The farm headwater valleys of smooth, rounded shape, whether they are small, of a few acres, or large, of a few hundred acres, generally have two distinct slopes along the centre line of the valley; one, the first and steeper slope falling from the hill or ridge, and, second, a flatter slope below, which generally is constant to its junction with the watercourse below. The point of change between these two slopes--the point where the first steeper higher slope meets the flatter lower slope I named the keypoint of the valley in my earlier, book, "The Keyline Plan".

   A line through this point, extending to left and right, which may be either a true contour line or a line with a slight grade, according to the circumstances of climate and land shape which will affect the planning of each property, is the keyline of the valley. Now, these two slopes of the valley are a constant feature of land shape, and the valley with its immediate environment is the first or primary water catchment to be considered.

   The next and larger catchment area is that which includes two, three or many of these primary catchment areas. Within this second catchment area, in a region of uniform geological character, the keypoints of each primary valley have a relationship with each other; they have a rising relationship into the rising country. Therefore the general planning of Keyline is based, firstly, on these generally constant features of land shape, and, secondly, on the general subdivision of land that can be made according to these natural shapes and as disclosed by the various patterns of water flow.

   This general planning takes further pattern according to the water relationship of the farming enterprise. If water is scarce and the limiting factor, the plan provides the ultimate in efficiency in the conservation of water. If water in abundance is the general problem, then it provides the most efficient general pattern for drainage.

   From the background of a full appreciation of land shape and water movement, with other climatic features which include the effects of floods, droughts and bushfires, Keyline provides an orderly and symmetrical plan covering every item of land development.

   The Keyline plan is designed to be economical. The result of the full Keyline development of a farming and grazing property is to increase the fertility of all the land, bring useless land together with all other land into high productiveness, improve every aspect of the environment and hold it permanently and safely as an improving landscape.

   Planning not only protects land from floods, but turns flood water to advantage. Planning beats drought very easily. Planning protects land from fire. I have not seen any good property that Keyline would not improve threefold, with the exception of the smaller properties which sometimes reach close to the maximum of production by means other than the best or most economical. The general order of potential improvement on most grazing properties in Australia would be from three to ten fold and more.

   All agricultural land is contained in watersheds of varying sizes. These start with the smallest or primary valleys which flow into other larger valleys. Several primary valleys may flow to one larger or secondary valley; several of 'the secondary valleys--each with its several primary valleys--then flow into a small creek valley. Several small creek valleys, each with its several secondary valleys and each of these in turn with its series of primary valleys, may flow into a larger creek valley, and so on until the final valley, and its watershed includes all the land that flows water to the mouth of the river at the sea coast.

   The primary and secondary valleys are those of the farms and grazing properties. Of these two, the primary valley is of the greatest significance. If every problem of the primary valley can be solved, so too can every problem of the secondary valley. These two valleys make or solve all the problems of land; therefore, every major land problem can be approached and solved as a series of small agricultural problems.

   If a full Keyline development and management plan were applied on all the farm and grazing lands within a catchment area where the climatic conditions are of the general Australian pattern, then any former drought or flood problem of that area would disappear. It would also wipe out the danger of a major fire hazard.

   Any major flood danger is capable of being solved if there is sufficient will to do the job, coupled with the necessary finance, labour and materials; but no solution, based on flood damage as the problem, will pay. The cost will generally be greater than the accumulated flood damages of a century and more. The real problem in our Australian conditions is not flood damage, but the sheer waste of valuable water.

   When this factor is accepted as the problem, we immediately move the location of our work to the primary and secondary valleys of our farms, grazing properties and forest areas. Here, water storage structures can generally provide low-cost storage. Here, only, can the greatest profit and land advantage be secured from the stored water. Here, too, is the land below the highwater level of the storage, not waste land. But as well as the vast surface water storage potential of these dams there is the great potential of extra capacity of the soil and land itself. If farming techniques are followed which enable all the land to absorb sufficient extra water from each rainfall only for the development of the soil itself, the increased capacity would be more than all the huge storages of the big projects. It would, furthermore, be the cheapest and the most profitable storage.

   So the soil treatment techniques of the Keyline plan, including methods of cultivation, have just this effect on soil, namely, of storing and holding in the soil increased water for when and where it is needed.

   Again, if Keyline was instituted as a National development programme for all agriculture and applied as it fits the land shape and climate of each farm, it would have a profound effect on our major disadvantage--the lack of water.

   The flood waters from prolonged heavy rains, which now go to sea within a few days, would still be in the soil and in the farm dams months later. Some of the water would remain there for a year and more. During this time the increased soil moisture would be feeding ground water supplies which flow as springs to feed the creeks and rivers. Therefore, river flow would be more constant. Then the continuous but slow seepages from farm dams would be adding to these underground supplies. This water would be clean and clear, as well as constant. The present accelerated silting up of rivers would first cease and the constant flow of silt-free water would speedily regenerate them.

   There are wonderful things happening in agricultural science and research, but there is as yet no Government plan of overall development, nor indeed is there in private enterprise. There is too big a gap between the results of research and the practice on the farm.

   If six farmers or six agricultural scientists were to plan the agricultural development for the same enterprise of 1,000 acres of undeveloped land, it is certain that six different plans would emerge. They all would have differing .ideas on subdivision, house sites, trees, water conservation, soil treatment and pasture management. Again, if the same six men, with the experience of having developed such a property once, could be given the same job again, no doubt there would be a further six plans. But if such an area was handed over to six competent Keyline farmers they would independently look at the land in the same manner, have the same appreciation of land shape and climate, the same knowledge of the value of trees in relation to land shape, and the same ideas on water. The separate plan that each would produce would be identical. Further, if they were to do the job again after the experience of having done it once, the pattern and the development would be constant.

   What has struck me over the last few years is the deep-rooted pessimism of most people regarding soil. Even when they examine our deep fertile soil on a hillside which they had seen previously as subsoil or even yellow shale, they. are still apt to discuss agriculture shortly afterwards in such a way as to indicate that they have not really accepted the fact that such poor material can be changed quickly into rich soil. They have seen it, they have dug their hands into it, they have accepted it on an intellectual level, but they are still bound by the dogma of orthodox agriculture.

   As Keyline is based on climate, on land shape and on this particular theory of soil development, the details of the planning and the development techniques of Keyline will be preceded by a discussion on soil.