34.
Transformation Of A Farmer
Into A Bandit
By Sir Albert Howard, 1940
The wheel of life is made up of two processes—growth and decay. The one is the counterpart of the other. The processes of decay which round off and complete the wheel of life can be seen in operation on the floor of any woodland. It can be seen how the mixed animal and vegetable wastes are converted into humus and how the forest manures itself.
Such are the essential facts in the wheel of life. Growth on the one side: decay on the other. In Nature’s farming a balance is struck and maintained between these two complementary processes.
The only man-made systems of agriculture—those to be found in the East—which have stood the test of time have faithfully copied this rule in Nature. It follows therefore that the correct relation between the processes of growth and the processes of decay is the first principle of successful farming. Agriculture must always be balanced. If we speed up growth we must accelerate decay. If, on the other hand, the soil’s reserves are squandered, crop production ceases to be good farming: it becomes something very different.
The farmer is transformed into a bandit.
Such are the essential facts in the wheel of life. Growth on the one side: decay on the other. In Nature’s farming a balance is struck and maintained between these two complementary processes.
The only man-made systems of agriculture—those to be found in the East—which have stood the test of time have faithfully copied this rule in Nature. It follows therefore that the correct relation between the processes of growth and the processes of decay is the first principle of successful farming. Agriculture must always be balanced. If we speed up growth we must accelerate decay. If, on the other hand, the soil’s reserves are squandered, crop production ceases to be good farming: it becomes something very different.
The farmer is transformed into a bandit.
