The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture

Title Page, Copyright

The Soil and Health A Study of Organic Agriculture SIR ALBERT HOWARD With a New Introduction by Wendell Berry THE UNNJRRSJTY PRFSS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 1947 by The Devin-Adair Company New Introduction copyright © 2006 by Wendell Berry Published in 2006 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editor;,al and Sales OffiCI's: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Howard, Albert, Sir, 1873-1947. The soil and health: a study of organic agriculture / Sir Albert Howard. p. cm. - (Culture of the land: a series in the new agrarianism) Originally published in 1947 by The Devin-Adair Company. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-9171-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-lO: 0-8131-9171-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) I. Organic farming. 2. Organic gardening. 3. Plant diseases. 1. Title. 11. Series. S605.5.H67 2007 631.5'84--dc22 2006025168 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.§® Manufactured in the United States of America. ~•••' . ~ Member of the Association of 'IA:! _ American University Presses "The civilized nations-Greece, Rome, Englandhave been sustained by the primitive forests which anciently rotted where they stood. They survive as long as the soil is not exhausted." -Thoreau, Walking and the Wild "The staple foods may not contain the same nutritive substances as in former times.... Chemical fertilizers, by increasing the abundance of the crops without replacing all the exhausted elements of the soil, have indirectly contributed to change the nutritive value of cereal grains and of vegetables.... Hygienists have not paid sufficient attention to the genesis of diseases. Their studies of conditions of life and diet, and of their effects on the physiological and mental state of modern man, are superficial, incomplete, and of too short duration. They have, thus, contributed to the weakening of our body and our soul." -Alexis Carrel, Man the Unknown "The preservation of fertility is the first duty of all that live by the land.... There is only one rule of good husbandry-leave the land far better than you found it." -George Henderson, The Farming Ladder ...