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Show THE PLOW FRIEND OR ENEMY? Agricultural scientists and. dirt fanners are debating a revolutionary idea. The new proposal has the general approval ap-proval of the United States Department of Agriculture. Edward Ed-ward H. Faulkner, an Ohioan who enjoys experimenting, has recently published a report, "Plowman's Folly." His thesis is that the plow is an enemy of the fanner. His report is based on experiments which he has conducted conduct-ed and which tend to prove that harrowing the stubble, weeds, and general debris into the top two or three inches of soil produces a richer, better seed bed. He holds that discarding dis-carding the traditional moldboard plow will result in larger yields. It is significant that the nation's leading soil expert, Conservation Con-servation Director Hugh H. Bennett, agrees with Faulkner and points out that forward-looking, big farming interests and sugar growers have long used a system similar to Faulkner's. It is a fact, despite modern ways, our yield per acre is less than in many other countries. In the last half century soil erosion and fertility exhaustion have become a serious problem. If the fanner works with nature's laws instead, of against them, he will learn new ways of producing more food for mankind. Christian Science Monitor. |