The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture

by Albert Howard

Book Overview

2022 Reprint of the 1947 Edition. Includes 15 illustrations (including plan and diagrams). Exact facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1684227356
• ISBN13: 9781684227358
• Release Date: August 2022
• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Why does soil matter? Read this first

Jared Diamond and others have written about how civilizations have destroyed themselves by exploiting their soils. Sir Albert Howard said the same thing, but he said it 100 years ago. Howard was the father of the modern organic, holistic farming movement. This book is incredibly readable and will change how you think about food, soil, and the fate of civilization.

Great Early Book on Organic Agriculture

The Soil and Health is a wonderful book that is equal parts agricultural science and environmental advocacy, with just a dash of kooky Nature worship thrown in. Howard was a conventionally trained agricultural scientist in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century who was employed by the British government to bring modern industrial agriculture, based on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides to Britain's tropical colonies. Soon, though, he realized the value of more traditional agricultural practices from India and China, especially in keeping the microbial, fungal and invertebrate life in the soil healthy. If you believe in the value of organic agriculture, it is somewhat sad to see how little has changed since 1945. Howard confidently predicts in his book that organic methods based on compost would soon sweep the globe. Things have changed some, though. We can now buy "organic" labeled products in most markets in America, and I believe that more people have an appreciation for the importance of treating the earth well. This book does an excellent job of establishing and reinforcing that appreciation.