This is a newly edited revision of Albert Howard's important text on organic farming and gardening, and the central role of humus in maintaining soil health and fertility.
THE SOIL AND HEALTH is a detailed analysis of the vital role of humus and compost in soil health - and the importance of soil health to the health of crops and the humans who eat them. The author is keenly aware of the dead end which awaits humanity if we insist on growing our food using artificial fertilisers and poisons.
Albert Howard (1873-1947) was one of the leaders of the British organics movement in the mid-twentieth century. He was the first westerner to document and publish research on traditional techniques of agriculture, including Indian and Chinese farming and management of the soil.
"Agriculture is the fundamental industry of the world and must be allowed to occupy the primary position in the economies of all countries." - Albert HowardCONTENTS
1 - Soil Fertility and Agriculture1.1 The operations of Nature The life of the plant
The living soil
The significance of humus
The importance of minerals
1.2 Systems of agriculturePrimitive forms of agriculture
Shifting cultivation
The harnessing of the Nile
Staircase cultivation
The agriculture of China
The agriculture of Greece and Rome
Farming in the Middle Ages
1.3 Soil fertility in Great BritainThe Roman occupation
The Saxon conquest
The open-field system
The depreciation of soil fertility
The low yield of wheat
The Black Death
The Industrial Revolution and soil fertility
The Great Depression of 1879
The Second World War
1.4 Industrialism and the profit motive1.5 The intrusion of Science
2 - Disease in Present-day Farming and Gardening2.1 Diseases of the soilSoil erosion
The formation of alkaline land
2.2 The diseases of crops2.3 Disease and health in livestock2.4 Soil fertility and human health2.5 The nature of disease
3 - The Problem of Manuring3.1 The origins and scope of the problemThe phosphate problem and its solution
The reform of the manure heap
Sheet-composting and nitrogen fixation
The utilisation of town wastes
3.2 The Indore Process - Some practical points
- The New Zealand compost box
- Mechanisation
- The spread of the Indore Process
3.3 The reception by scientists