PLOWMAN'S FOLLY

In its particular field -- that of agriculture -- this is revolutionary. It has already been reviewed, so this is late. But many of you may have missed it. Here is the bomb -- ""Plowing is not correct"". And he proceeds to prove his case, basing his findings on years of personal experience, once he had begun to suspect that deep plowing was responsible for the ills of the land, for erosion, for need of commercial fertiliser, for successive floodings, for lowered water table, for vanishing wild life, for bad soil surfaces. He succeeded in seven years in restoring original conditions and resultant productiveness. He recommends substituting disk harrowing, surface firming, change in transplanting methods; he discourages the clean -- swept and garnished -- look of modern fields. He gives evidence to indicate that pests and weeds are decreased under these conditions. He warns of temporary maladjustments, but pleads for a trial in a world where economy of abundance is a possible future. Kentucky and Ohio are his own background, but he has years of practical and theoretical experience, as a county agent and a practical farmer.