soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM

and tresspassers, rather than as
crosion protection structures.)
Trials and Demonstrations
Nature has given us two routes to
agriculture - experiment and
imitation. The most- ancient farmers
determined many of their practices by
experiment. thcir descendants n~ostly
imitated their practices. We ought to
do both but should follow some
system (Harrison has commented
"Here in a few words is the whole
doctrine of intelligent agriculture").
As for instance, if we plough a second
time or more or less deeply than
others, to see what effect this will
have. This is the method (of
experimentation and observation)
used in weeding a second and third
time and by those who put off
grafting figs from spring to summer.
We must observe what parts of the
land must be manured, how the
manure is to be applied and the best
manure to use, for there are several
kinds. Cassius states that the best
manure is that of birds, except marsh
and sea-fowl. The best bird manure is
that of pigeons, because it has most
heat and causes the soil to ferment. It
should be broadcast on the land and
not placed in piles like cattle dung.
Next to pigeon dung, Cassius states
that human excrement is best, and in
third place is goat, sheep and ass
dung. Horse dung is least valuable
but good on grain land. The dung of
animals fed on barley is best for
meadows because it produces much
grass.
Stock and Stocking Rate
Concerning the number of animals
(stocking rate), the man who is
founding a herd must decide on the
size of the herd and the pasture, so
that his pasturage will not run short
and so that he will not have idle
pasturage and hence lose his profit. In
the matter of feeding, if too many
young are born, you should follow
the practice of some breeders, and
wean some of them, the reason
usually being "that the rest grow
better".
There is a remarkable thing about
goats: some shepherds who have
watched quite closely claim that goats
do not breathe through their nostrils
as other animals do, but through their
ears. The goat prefers wooded glades
to meadows and eats eagerly the field
bushes, and crops the undergrowth
on cultivated land. Indeed, their name
"capra" is derived from "carpere, to
crop". It is because of this fact that in
a contract for the lease of a farm, the
exception is usually made that the
renter may not pasture the offspring
of a goat on the place. For their teeth
are injurious to all forms of @lant)
growth.
Landowners keep womcn in thcir
herdsmen's huts in the winter ranges
(grazing lands) and some even have
them in the summer, thinking that
this is worthwhile in order to more
easily keep the hcrdsmen with their
herds.
Postscript
We can gauge from this original
account that many of the latter-day
truths about organic farming and land
management have been accepted as
good practice for at least 20 centuries.
Clearly the ancients did not
understand why certain practices
were beneficial, nor did they always
observe accurately (as in goats'
breathng methods!). As the author's
professor at Nottingham University
noted in 1966: "Before we can
determine what is new, we must first
decide to whom it is new."
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to Anthony and Iona
Green of Karara, Queensland, for
introducing me to the Latin texts of
Cato and Varro.
Reference
Hooper, W. D. and Ash, H. B.
1934. Cato and Varro, De Re Rustica.
Latin with English translation.
Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, Mass., USA.
LAW OF
Now this is the Law of t h w , son -
as old and as true as 4% hi&.
And the farmer that keeps ?t may
- -
prosper,
but the farmer that break it, it kills.
Unlike the Law of Man, son,
this law it never runs slack,
What you take from the landfor your
own, son,
you've damn well got to put back.
Now we of the old generation
took land on the cheap and made good;
We stocked, we burnt and we reaped,
son;
we took whatever we could.
But erosion came creeping slowly,
then hastened on with a nrsh;
Our bluegrass went to glory,
and we don't relish wiregrass much.
The good old days are gone, son,
when those slopes were white with
lambs;
40
Now the lambs lie thin and starved, son
and the silt has choked our dams.
Did I say that those days were past, son?
For me they're us good as gone.
But to you they will come again son,
When the job I set you is done.
I have paid for this farm and fenced it,
I have robbed it and now I unmask;
You've got to put it back, son,
and yours is the harder task.
Stock all your paddocks wisely,
rotate them a11 you can;
Block all the loose storm water,
and spread 'em out like a fan.
Tramp all your straw to compost,
and feed it to the soil;
Contour your lands where they need it,
there's vidue in sweat and toil.
We don't really own the land, son,
we hold it and pass away;
The land belongs to the nation,
till the dawn ofludgment Day.
Now the nation holds you worthy,
and you'll see, ij you're straight and
just;
That to rob the soil you hold son,
is forsaking a nation's trust. .
Don't ask of your farm a fortune;
true pride ranks higher than gold;
To farm is a way of living,-
learn it before you grow old.
Now this is the Law ofthe Land, son,
to take out you've got to put back;
And you'llfind that your life was full,
son,
when it's time to shoulder your pack.
'The Law of the Land', -
taken from The Stellerlander
Newspaper, Vryburg, Cape
Province, South Africa.
author unknown. Adapted by
Dr Brian Roberts and
Published in his book 'Soil
Conservation' - DDIAE 1983
A ustralian~ournal qf Soil and Warn Consewation Vol. 2 No. 4 November, 1989