Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan

Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan PDF Author: F. H. King
Publisher: Global Oriental
ISBN: 9004217908
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Book Description
First published in 1926, this classic survey, which includes nearly 250 photographs, examines the traditional farming methods of the densely populated lands of China, Korea and Japan and shows how fertility can be maintained over many centuries through conserving and utilizing natural resources. In the Introduction, the author notes: ‘The United States as yet a nation of but few people widely scattered over a broad virgin land with more than twenty acres to the support of every man, woman and child, while the people whose practices are to be considered are toiling in fields tilled more than three thousand years and who have scarcely more than two acres per capita, more than one-half of which is uncultivable land.’ Researchers and scholars in the fields of human geography, regional studies and earth sciences, as well as social and economic history will welcome this landmark study being returned to print.

The Soil and Health

The Soil and Health PDF Author: Albert Howard
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813132096
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Book Description
During his years as a scientist working for the British government in India, Sir Albert Howard conceived of and refined the principles of organic agriculture. Howard’s The Soil and Health became a seminal and inspirational text in the organic movement soon after its publication in 1945. The Soil and Health argues that industrial agriculture, emergent in Howard’s era and dominant today, disrupts the delicate balance of nature and irrevocably robs the soil of its fertility. Howard’s classic treatise links the burgeoning health crises facing crops, livestock, and humanity to this radical degradation of the Earth’s soil. His message—that we must respect and restore the health of the soil for the benefit of future generations—still resonates among those who are concerned about the effects of chemically enhanced agriculture.

Farmers of Forty Centuries

Farmers of Forty Centuries PDF Author: F.H King
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3752355719
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Book Description
Reproduction of the original: Farmers of Forty Centuries by F.H King

A Better Planet

A Better Planet PDF Author: Daniel C. Esty
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030024889X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
A practical, bipartisan call to action from the world’s leading thinkers on the environment and sustainability Sustainability has emerged as a global priority over the past several years. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the adoption of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals through the United Nations have highlighted the need to address critical challenges such as the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, water shortages, and air pollution. But in the United States, partisan divides, regional disputes, and deep disagreements over core principles have made it nearly impossible to chart a course toward a sustainable future. This timely new book, edited by celebrated scholar Daniel C. Esty, offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book’s forty essays cover such subjects as ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. The book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research.

An Agricultural Testament

An Agricultural Testament PDF Author: Albert Howard
Publisher: Distant Mirror
ISBN: 9780648870524
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Why is there a cow on the front cover of this book? This is a book about agriculture, and farm animals have become unfashionable in some quarters. Cows, it turns out, are responsible for global warming, climate change, and so, no doubt, rising sea levels and chemtrails. But any real farmer, from any time in history, knows that this is not true. Animals have been around forever. Animals are a vital part of an insanely complex living system. Anyone who knows the basics of regenerative agriculture understands this. Albert Howard spent years studying and using the methods of traditional Asian agriculture, and shows in this book that the fertility and health of the soil depend on humus, in the production of which animal materials play an vital role. A healthy soil needs animal inputs. Animals in agriculture are central; they're right in there with fungi. This message is not welcomed by those who would feed the modern world a diet of plant-based, lab-grown food substitutes that have lists of ingredients as long as your arm, and are going to save the planet using gene-spliced soybeans and 3D printed pizzas. So, the cow and her calf are on the cover to redress the balance, and also to feature as one of the stars of this book (along with sugar cane, waste pits, and public servants). She was the photogenic one. Albert Howard's text has been thoroughly re-edited in this new version of his book. The habit, common at the time, of using long paragraphs is not preferred by modern readers, so the text has been extensively 'reparagraphed'. Grammar has been tweaked, and styles have been adopted. Headings have been added, infinitives unsplit. The changes made have been to make things more comfortable for modern eyes and tastes. The sense and intention of the author has not been altered at all, of course. We hope that Albert Howard would approve of this reworking of his book. His ideas are more important than ever. Wendell Berry wrote in The Last Whole Earth Catalog "Howard's discoveries and methods, and their implications, are given in detail in An Agricultural Testament. They are of enormous usefulness to gardeners and farmers, and to anyone who may be interested in the history and the problems of land use. But aside from its practical worth, Howard's book is valuable for his ability to place his facts and insights within the perspective of history. This book is a critique of civilisations, judging them not by their artefacts and victories, but by their response to the sacred duty of handing over to the next generation, unimpaired, the heritage of a fertile soil."

Plowman's Folly

Plowman's Folly PDF Author: Edward H. Faulkner
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806148748
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Book Description
Mr. Faulkner’s masterpiece is recognized as the most important challenge to agricultural orthodoxy that has been advanced in this century. Its new philosophy of the soil, based on proven principles and completely opposed to age-old concepts, has had a strong impact upon theories of cultivation around the world. It was on July 5, 1943, when Plowman’s Folly was first issued, that the author startled a lethargic public, long bemused by the apparently insoluble problem of soil depletion, by saying, simply, “The fact is that no one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing.” With the key sentence, he opened a new era.For generations, our reasoning about the management of the soil has rested upon the use of the moldboard plow. Mr. Faulkner proved rather conclusively that soil impoverishment, erosion, decreasing crop yields, and many of the adverse effects following droughts or periods of excessive rainfall could be traced directly to the practice of plowing natural fertilizers deep into the soil. Through his own test-plot and field-scale experiments, in which he prepared the soil with a disk harrow, in emulation of nature’s way on the forest floor and in the natural meadow, by incorporating green manures into its surface, he transformed ordinary, even inferior, soils into extremely productive, high-yield croplands.Time magazine called this concept “one of the most revolutionary ideas in agriculture history.” The volume is being made available again not only because farmers, ranchers, gardeners, and agriculturists demanded it, but also because it details the kind of “revolution” which will aid those searching for the fruits of the earth in the emerging nations.

American Georgics

American Georgics PDF Author: Edwin C. Hagenstein
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300137095
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 428

Book Description
From Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to Michelle Obama's White House organic garden, the image of America as a nation of farmers has persisted from the beginnings of the American experiment. In this rich and evocative collection of agrarian writing from the past two centuries, writers from Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur to Wendell Berry reveal not only the great reach and durability of the American agrarian ideal, but also the ways in which society has contested and confronted its relationship to agriculture over the course of generations. Drawing inspiration from Virgil's agrarian epic poem, Georgics, this collection presents a complex historical portrait of the American character through its relationship to the land. From the first European settlers eager to cultivate new soil, to the Transcendentalist, utopian, and religious thinkers of the nineteenth century, American society has drawn upon the vision of a pure rural life for inspiration. Back-to-the-land movements have surged and retreated in the past centuries yet provided the agrarian roots for the environmental movement of the past forty years. Interpretative essays and a sprinkling of illustrations accompany excerpts from each of these periods of American agrarian thought, providing a framework for understanding the sweeping changes that have confronted the nation's landscape.

The One-Straw Revolution

The One-Straw Revolution PDF Author: Masanobu Fukuoka
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590173929
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
Call it “Zen and the Art of Farming” or a “Little Green Book,” Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book “is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture.” Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort. Whether you’re a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or simply looking to live a healthier life, you will find something here—you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.

Japanese Style Companion Planting

Japanese Style Companion Planting PDF Author: Toshio Kijima
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462921418
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Book Description
Japanese Style Companion Planting brings the techniques of a master farmer in Japan to home gardeners all over the world, with over 175 easy-to-follow color illustrations and detailed texts. Japanese gardeners typically work with small plots and are experts at making the most efficient use of available garden space. They have long understood that when compatible vegetables and fruits are grown together, the result is increased yields, healthier plants, fewer pest problems and better taste. Vegetables from small gardens are the mainstay of Japan's famously healthy cuisine and movement towards farm-to-table dining tradition. Author Toshio Kijima is head of the Biotechnology Department at Tochigi Agricultural Station in Japan and principal of the Nogyo Daigakko School of Natural Farming. In this book, he provides 88 different plant pairings, including common favorites such as: Tomato with basil Eggplant with green beans Carrots with edamame Iceberg lettuce with broccoli Strawberries with garlic Green beans with arugula Blueberry bushes with mint …and dozens of other pairings that yield tasty, nutritious vegetables and fruits, all grown without the need for pesticides or chemical fertilizers. This book also covers excellent combinations for relay planting, such as watermelon followed by spinach, spinach followed by broccoli, broccoli followed by potato, and many more. Clear and precise instructions are given for each combination--from planning and preparing your plot to planting depths and spacing--all accompanied by detailed color drawings and photographs. Information on the theory and basics of companion planting will ensure a smooth transition to sustainable gardening techniques that millions of home gardeners are using!
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