Abstract

The deliberate use of rotted organic wastes-vegetable and animal-for th purpose of growing larger quantities of better crops seems to be as old as the ar of agriculture itself. It is conceivable that primitive man may have simulte neously (1) noticed the superiority of natural vegetation growing in virgin fores land rich in organic matter, and (2) discovered the possibility of artificial cult vation of some of the plant species suitable for his food. At any rate, the importance of farmyard manure to crop growth has bee stressed in ancient Indian and European literature on agriculture (Russell an Richards, 1917). Kind (1926) has described in detail how the Chinese peasants o old, took elaborate care to collect all available wastes and convert them systema tically into well-rotted composts. It is noteworthy that in every part of th world this system of returning its own waste material to land has maintained soil fertility in spite of continuous cropping through the ages. The crowde population of China is still being maintained on the produce of its soil after it agricultural use for over forty centuries. This is perhaps the most convincinį proof of the perfect balance of ancient systems of agriculture with their environ ment. It is very striking, indeed, that modern composting technique has vers little to add to the basic principles underlying the Chinese method of making manure from agricultural wastes.

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