An Agricultural Testament - Albert Howard - ToC 12/17/10 8:59 PM

Small
farms

An
Agricultural
Testament
by

Sir Albert Howard, C.I.E.,

M.A.
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An Agricultural Testament - Albert Howard - ToC 12/17/10 8:59 PM

Formerly Director of the Institute of Plant

Industry
Indore, and Agricultural Adviser to States
in Central India and Rajputana

1943
Oxford University Press
New York and London

Copyright 1943 by Oxford University Press,

Inc.
First published in England, 1940
First American edition, 1945

To Gabrielle
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An Agricultural Testament - Albert Howard - ToC 12/17/10 8:59 PM

Who is no more

The Earth, that's Nature's Mother, is her tomb;

What is her burying grave, that is her womb.
Romeo and Juliet.

And Nature, the old nurse, took

The child upon her knee,
Saying: 'Here is a story-book
Thy Father has written for thee.'

'Come, wander with me,' she said,

'Into regions yet untrod;
And read what is still unread
In the manuscripts of God.'

Longfellow
The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz.

Contents
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Preface

1. Introduction
Nature's Methods of Soil Management
The Agriculture of the Nations Which Have
Passed Away
The Practices of the Orient
The Agricultural Methods of the Occident

Part I
The Part Played by Soil Fertility in
Agriculture
2. The Nature of Soil Fertility

3. The Restoration of Fertility

Part II
The Indore Process
4. The Indore Process
The Raw Materials Needed
Pits versus Heaps
Charging the Heaps or Pits
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Turning the Compost

The Storage of Humus
Output

5. Practical Applications of the Indore Process

Coffee
Tea
Sugar-cane

5. Practical Applications of the Indore Process

(cont.)
Cotton
Sisal
Maize
Rice
Vegetables
Vine

6. Developments of the Indore Process

Green-manuring
The Safeguarding of Nitrate Accumulations
The Production of Humus
The Safeguarding of Nitrates Followed by the
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Manufacture of Humus
The Reform of Green-manuring

7. Developments of the Indore Process, Cont.

Grass-land Management

8. Developments of the Indore Process, Cont.

The Utilization of Town Wastes

Part III
Health, Indisposition, and Disease in
Agriculture
9. Soil Aeration
The Soil Aeration Factor in Relation to Grass
and Trees
The Root System of Deciduous Trees
The Root System of Evergreens

9. Soil Aeration (cont.)

The Harmful Effect of Grass
The Effect of Aeration Trenches on Young
Trees Under Grass
The Cause of the Harmful Effect of Grass
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Forest Trees and Grass

The Aeration Of The Sub-soil

10. Some Diseases of the Soil

Soil Erosion
The Formation of Alkali Land

11. The Retreat of the Crop and the Animal

before the Parasite
Humus and Disease Resistance
The Mycorrhizal Association and Disease
The Investigations of Tomorrow

12. Soil Fertility and National Health

Part IV
Agricultural Research
13. A Criticism of Present-day Agricultural
Research

14. A Successful Example of Agricultural

Research

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Part V
Conclusions and Suggestions
15. A Final Survey

Appendixes
A. Compost Manufacture on a Tea Estate in
Bengal
B. Compost Making at Chipoli, Southern
Rhodesia
C. The Manufacture of Humus from the Wastes
of the Town and the Village

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