Guest guest Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 >Thanks to all involved for resurrecting Gerald Durrell's 1988 New Year >message..'However as I have finally allowed news of the productivity >of human altered 'terra preta' soils in the Amazon, and recent >papers about the effect of charcoal on soil fertility, to sink into >my consciousness' In other words, Gerald Durrell late in life learned that if one burns a forest down & then plows the sooty remnants into the soil, enough nutrients remain in the cinders to help grow things. The same can be said of burning the grass or post-harvest stubble off a field & then plowing. Even better is to plow the organic material into the soil without burning it first. Better than that is to combine the old vegetation with manure. When the manure supply runs short, as it inevitably will, except in political offices & on e-mail lists, mineral & chemical fertilizers can be used, especially to raise the nitrogen level of the soil, to help mycorrihizal fungi transfer nitrogen from the soil to the roots of crops in a form that they can use. Durrell obviously did not take into account the ecological effect of making charcoal, which is among the most destructive of all agricultural & energy-extracting processes. Even coal mining is comparatively benign, & J.R.R. Tolkien modeled Mordor on the coal mining regions of eastern Europe for good reason. -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 I hasten to add this is not Gerald Durrell's message. The message is a thread posted by someone responding a different message written by Gerald Durrell highlighting the importance of controlling population. The author of this message is Peter Salonius. On 1/5/09, Merritt Clifton <anmlpepl wrote: > > Thanks to all involved for resurrecting Gerald Durrell's 1988 New Year >> message..'However as I have finally allowed news of the productivity of >> human altered 'terra preta' soils in the Amazon, and recent papers about the >> effect of charcoal on soil fertility, to sink into my consciousness' >> > > > In other words, Gerald Durrell late in life learned that if one > burns a forest down & then plows the sooty remnants into the soil, enough > nutrients remain in the cinders to help grow things. > > The same can be said of burning the grass or post-harvest stubble > off a field & then plowing. > > Even better is to plow the organic material into the soil without > burning it first. > > Better than that is to combine the old vegetation with manure. > > When the manure supply runs short, as it inevitably will, except in > political offices & on e-mail lists, mineral & chemical fertilizers can be > used, especially to raise the nitrogen level of the soil, to help > mycorrihizal fungi transfer nitrogen from the soil to the roots of crops in > a form that they can use. > > Durrell obviously did not take into account the ecological effect of > making charcoal, which is among the most destructive of all agricultural & > energy-extracting processes. Even coal mining is comparatively benign, & > J.R.R. Tolkien modeled Mordor on the coal mining regions of eastern Europe > for good reason. > > > > > -- > Merritt Clifton > Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE > P.O. Box 960 > Clinton, WA 98236 > > Telephone: 360-579-2505 > Fax: 360-579-2575 > E-mail: anmlpepl > Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org > > [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original > investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our > readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 > animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with > any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.