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[Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Wow....good article...
When I was growing up, I was deathly afraid of lightning and storms, and
my stepfather used to say that lightning was God's way of fertilizing
the plants and trees.  This is one of the few articles I have ever read
that supported that notion (by that notion, I don't mean that God is
doing it, just that lightning is Nature's way of creating a fertile
atmosphere for plant growth-whether or not Nature=God is a personal
belief choice and obviously my stepfather believed it was equivalent).
Anyway, this is definitely a thought provoking article in the
double-edged sword nature of agriculture and war.  I had never heard of
Fritz Haber or the Haber-Bosch process, and it was interesting to me to
read the history of how this whole fertilizer thing came to pass.  In my
mind, it goes to point out how interrelated things are that would
seemingly have no connection to other things...fertilizer, weather, war,
climate, forestation, food production, etc., and how differently things
would be now had things been slightly different 100 years ago.  It
always seems to be that anything intended for good has so many unseen
disadvantages....We could easily be on a different continuum, a
different plane of existence.  Our 'homestead' ways would be used in a
majority of agriculture instead of us being in the minority as we are
now.  I can't think of a good way to express myself on this one.  There
are two important things here, though, the first is the blurb about the
Chinese starving without the technology of fertilizers being introduced,
so it is more than just corn  affected-all grains, and all food in
general....and that brings up the question as to whether or not
'organic' is truly sustainable to a growing world population.
Population control is the key factor here, because for organic methods
to be truly sustainable, one needs animal manure and animals need water
and space, too.  It's all very cyclic.
I am sure someone like Don Bowen will comment more on all of this more
succinctly than I have been able to do because agricultural history is
his thing.  I simply don't have the skills to convey my thoughts in
writing, but I did enjoy the article and it has given me a LOT to think
about.  Thanks for posting it.....

Bev

Jerry W. Shepperd wrote:

> The Smithsonian magazine has a very good article on corn and chemical
>  fertilizer in the July 2006 issue:
>
> <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/july/presence.php?page=1>http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/july/presence.php?page=1
>
>
>
> I have been an advocate of corn as a food source in developing 
> countries.  However, this article shows another side of the corn
> story.


--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W