Explore "An Agricultural Testament" by Albert Howard on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
In the last chapter the retreat of the crop and the animal before the parasite was discussed. Disease was regarded as Nature's verdict on systems of agriculture in which the soil is deprived of its manurial rights. When the store of humus is used up and not replenished, both crops and animals first cease to thrive and then often fall a prey to disease. In other words, one of the chief causes of disease on the farm is bad soil management.
How does the produce of an impoverished soil affect the men and women who have to consume it? This is the theme of the present chapter. It is discussed, not on the basis of complete results, but from the point of view of a very promising hypothesis for future work. No other presentation is possible because of the paucity, for the moment, of direct evidence and the natural difficulties of the subject.