The Soil and Health Book Reviews

The Soil and Health by Albert Howard & David Major Book Summary

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 Howard

CONTENTS

1 - Soil Fertility and Agriculture

1.1 The operations of Nature 
The life of the plantThe living soilThe significance of humusThe importance of minerals
1.2 Systems of agriculture
Primitive forms of agricultureShifting cultivationThe harnessing of the NileStaircase cultivationThe agriculture of ChinaThe agriculture of Greece and RomeFarming in the Middle Ages
1.3 Soil fertility in Great Britain
The Roman occupationThe Saxon conquestThe open-field systemThe depreciation of soil fertilityThe low yield of wheatThe Black DeathThe Industrial Revolution and soil fertilityThe Great Depression of 1879The Second World War
1.4 Industrialism and the profit motive

1.5 The intrusion of Science 

2 - Disease in Present-day Farming and Gardening

2.1 Diseases of the soil
Soil erosionThe formation of alkaline land
2.2 The diseases of crops

2.3 Disease and health in livestock

2.4 Soil fertility and human health

2.5 The nature of disease

3 - The Problem of Manuring

3.1 The origins and scope of the problem
The phosphate problem and its solutionThe reform of the manure heapSheet-composting and nitrogen fixationThe 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

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