THE OLD METHODS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 713, 13 December 1933, Page 2

THE OLD METHODS

OR&ANIC MATTER MAKES THE BEST (QF ALL MANURES. THE SIM1PLE W(AY. * "Few of us understand how much we have learned' and forgotten," ' states ia writer in an dverseas periodical in an article in which reference is made to the theories -of - crop and pasture fertility advaneed some years ago by Dr. (Rudolf Steiner, an eminent Austrian. Dr. Steiner's technique .is a reversion to older methods in the light of a highly trained mind. ' Dr. Steiner's methods are," however, more than a reversion to old and forgotten methods. They represent scien'tific improvements on these older me'thods which are now justified in the light of present-day research. It is ' stated that at present only two or three farmers and a consiedrable number of gardeners and orchardists follow Dr. Steiner's methods in Ehgland; hut on the Continent there are nearly a thousand farms run on the ! ' lines laid down hy Dr. Steiner. "Ehowledge that was lost with the growth of purely materialistic conceptions of the Universe has heen reeovered and extended," states the 1 writer. 3 - [Simplicity the Keynote. iSimplicity is the keynote in the Steiner principles of cultivation, and farmers who have been in the 'hahit "of making the greatest use of farm- " y,ard manure and stock droppings will 'realise that the systeni is ari elabora■tion of one of the oldest means of maintaining fertility in the soil. ' iFarmyatd manures from animals that are not fed on mineralised mixtures or grazed on mineralised pasture is admitted into the scheme, and the agriculturist also makes use of a natural compost. Leaves, grasses and all other vegetable matter that is ' available are made into heaps and allowed to decompose. These heaps are "then treated with a weak mixture of farmyard manure, and watered from time to time-. It is claimed for these dressings that they are the natural food of the plant, enabling it to thrive and to resist insect attack. Natural Affinities. Dr. Steiner also investigated what may be termed the natural affinities of plants. According to his theories, apples will thrive better if nasturtiums are planted around the trees, and woolly aphis will give no trouble. Potatoes were found to like the company of horse-radish, which can. be kept from spreading hy a trench filled with manure from the pigsty. The relation of the moon to growth may seem to be a theory bordering on superstition, but Dr. Steiner dediscovered the truth of an old faelief that the period of optimum growth corresponds with the full season of the moon's periods. As an instance of this it is pointed out that :by plant- ' ing half of a packet of seeds in the week before full moon and the remaining half a week before full month, the results will justify th'e theory. As far as the preceding paragraphs are concerned, these are not of genel'al interest, but the paragraphs relating- to the use of natural organic matter in the maintenance of soil fertility are important. The use of various ashes, farmyard manure and crop residues is a feature in farming th'al is too frequently neglected. Not only does the farm gain but the farmer gains, because these residues contain corisiderable amounts of valuahle fertilising iingr'edients — notably phosphate, nitrogen and potash and also have other valuahle effects as soil amendments. These soil amendments bring into use stores of otherwise unavaila-ble or slowly available plant foods which assist in increasihg plant and crop yields. In the light of Dr. Steiner's work a greater use of these materials is increasingly justified.