Right Use Of The Soil

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 165, 13 July 1940, Page 4 (Supplement)

Right Use Of The Soil

Books In Review

THE name of d Alma Baker, C.8.E., is chiefly associated in the public mind with the sport of salt-water angling and the capture of monster swordfish. Mr. Baker, however, is far more than a sportsman. He is an enthusiast in the science of agriculture and the right treatment of the soil, which is so little understood by the farming populations. His views are set forth in "Peace With The Soil," a book which is an amplification of an earlier work on the land and its working. In his opening he says: "In the twilight of a long and full life devoted to experiments in soil problems in outlying parts of the Empire, I have written these two works entirely from a sense of duty to my fellow men. They constitute an appeal for the establishment of health in the soil, health in plants and animals and health in man." In this spirit he presents the book free to the public. With considerable estates in Malaya and Xew Zealand, Mr. Alma Baker is of belief, based on long e: that to-day's methods of forced cultivation are robbing the earth of its fertility and bringing about a great increase of deficiency diseases. "Modern methods of mineral fertilising and 'money-mad' farming have led to the production of vast quantities of food that for all it«

outward appearance of excellence, is incapable of nourishing ua, and is the cause of all manner of comparatively new ailments in man and beast." Curiously Tenough, exactly the same conclusion, though expressed in a different way, was contained in' a Maori letter once quoted by the present reviewer in the "Star." It was written by an old farmer and fruit grower of the Tauranga district. This native son of the soil lamented the ruin of the land since the pakeha came to New Zealand in large numbers. Mr. Alma Baker believes that the land should be relieved from the burden of mineral dressings whkh, he contends, merely stimulate it. "If . we have robbed the soil it cannot possibly produce sound food.; quantity and appearance have nothing to do with quality." The author discusses the infertility of once productive farming areas in laml and elsewhere. He says that the stamina of the human material on which we must rely for the maintenance of the Empire is being steadily undermined through the consumption of denatured foods. He sums up the objects for which he is striving in his crusade for soil-treat-ment reform: "(a) To establish a natural living fertility in the soil; (to) to restore in the food products derived therefrom the natural nutritive and biological qualities; (c) to restore natural health in animal and man through these foodstuffs; (d) to protect the cultivation of the soil from losses in time and money through the pro-

duction of poor and unhealthy crops." It is the soil, in the first instance, and not the plants that must be fed, is a point that Mr. Baker emphasises repeatedly; and he proceeds to show what must be done to apply natural and beneficial elements to land under cultivation. Th» is a book of very great interest to all who have to do with the soil. There is also wisdom in his advice about the felling of bush and scrub; he thinks that the complete eradication of indigenous growths is a mistake; some portions of cultivated pastures should be allowed to remain in such native flora plants as are known to be edible for stock and have a medicinal value. In addition to these plants other herbs from other countries which are known to contain curative properties for stock should be grown with them.