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15 A FINAL SURVEY THE NATURAL REACTION to failure is to think again. Perhaps the best known and most vividly expressed example of the ruin which results from choosing the wrong road is that of the Prodigal Son. To-day the realization that there must be something very much amiss somewhere with a civilization which has led us, within twenty years or so, into a second and greater world war, to win which we must pour out all our resources, has produced plan after plan to guide our progress in the future into the paths of sanity and common sense. We are living in an age of planning, in other words in a phase of acute contrition for the blunders of the past. Why has civilization proved such a disastrous failure? The answer is simple. Our industries, our trade, and our way of life generally have been based first on the exploitation of the earth's surface and then on the oppression of one another-on banditry pure and simple. The inevitable result is now upon us. The unsuccessful bandits are trying to despoil their more successful competitors. The world is divided into two hostile camps: at the root of this vast conflict lies the evil of spoliation which has destroyed the moral integrity of our generation. While this contest marches to its inevitable conclusion, it will not be amiss to draw attention to a forgotten factor which may perhaps help to restore peace and harmony to a tortured world. We must in our future planning pay great attention to food-the product of sun, soil, plant, and livestockin other words, to farming and gardening. What is the place of farming and gardening in human affairs? We can best answer this question if we bear in mind what are the essentials needed by mankind. They are five in number and in order of importance they are: air, water, food, warmth, and shelter. Without a supply of air Hfe lasts but a few minutes; without water, only a few days; without food it is only possible for the human body to exist on compensation for a few weeks. We can, to a large extent, control the warmth factor by making the fullest use of our own animal heaL The 257 question of shelter, often described as the housing problem and to which most attention is now being paid by the planners, is the least important of the Big Five, which must always be at the basis of all our future schemes. Our food is produced for the most part by farmers and gardeners. It has been sadly neglected in the past, as will be clear to anyone who studies this book and its many implications. The essential things about food are three: (I) it must be grown in fertile soil, that is to say in soil well supplied with freshly prepared, high quality humus; (2) it must be fresh; (3) its cost must be stabilized in such a manner as to put an end to the constant fluctuations and steady rise in prices. All these things are possible once we increase the efficiency of the earth's green carpet-the machinery furnished by Nature for producing food. The sun provides the energy for running this mechanism, so our power problem has been solved for us. The sole food producing machine is the green leaf. This, again, is the gift of Providence. Mankind can increase the efficiency and output of this green carpet at least threefold by (1) the restoration and maintenance of the fertility of the soil on which it rests and (2) by providing varieties of crops which make the most of the sun's rays and the improved soil conditions. The former can be achieved by converting into humus the vast stores of vegetable and animal residues now largely running to waste: the latter by modern plant-breeding methods. Once we do this, all goes well. The roots are provided with a favourable climate and ample living space. The yield and quality of the produce go up by leaps and bounds: the danger of any shortage of food in the world disappears: tHe problem of price regulation is automatically solved. How can the increased efficiency of the green carpet help in stabilizing prices? In a very simple way. Every article we purchase, every amenity we enjoy-such as those connected with defence, transport, the heating and lighting of buildings, the various services connected with news and so forth-all...

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