The Plowman’s Folly

[Stable-Man]

This book doesn’t appear to be up here, so I thought it’s worth mentioning as a good read. Faulkner employed a concept of adding organic matter through cover crops and flattening (incorporating) them into or onto the surface of the soil with a disc harrow and planting into the residue. His argument against plowing is that the organic matter, when plowed under, absorbes water from the soil above; when on top of the soil or near its surface, the organic matter captures water and releases nutrients where they are available for seeds or transplants. This is coming into play slowly with organic no-till and garden mulching.

If this method could work out on a larger scale using draft animals, the improvement for the farmer could be great.

Another possibility is winter killing the cover crops so they will absorb snow melt and the field could be disked for seedbed prep for a grain drill or whatever.

[Phil]

I’ve always liked Faulkner’s assertion that in nearly all inhabited areas of the world the subsoil contains all of the microminerals necessary for farming, and that they can be made available by adding humus to the soil.

[mother katherine]

Thanks, guys for mentioning this book. We were able get a used copy. I haven’t started it yet, but looking forward to it.
oxnun

[Author]

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