Hello to all...

While perusing a book titled Fauna in soil ecosystems: recycling processes, nutrient fluxes and agricultural production (edited by Gero Benckiser, Marcel Dekker, 1997, ISBN 0-8247-9786-8) I encountered a very interesting quote attributed to an individual somewhat infamous in sustainable ag circles. In 1855, Justus Von Liebig wrote:

"Unfortunately the true beauty of agriculture with its intellectual and animating principles is almost unrecognized. The art of agriculture will be lost when ignorant, unscientific and short sighted teachers persuade the farmer to put all his hopes in universal remedies, which don't exist in nature. Following their advice, bedazzled by an ephemeral success, the farmer will forget the soil and lose sight of his inherent values and their influence."

The original source of this quote is Liebig von, J. (1855) Die Grundsatze der Agriculturchemie mit Rucksicht auf die in England angestellten Untersuchungen. Braunschweig.

Those are some interesting words to ponder in this age of biotech promises of "universal remedies"...

Joel Gruver
Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment
Tufts University

P.S. I have the original German if anyone is interested.