At 12:37 AM 8/6/98 -0400, jeanne A. nye wrote:
>I am aware of some research on herbicide free no-till for vegetables at
>Virginia Tech. Not sure how it is going, but the first year or so it
>looked promising. Rolling down rye and vetch after a critical growth stage
>was used instead of herbicides. I think it is an interesting alternative,
>growing your own mulch in the spot, essentially.
>
>If this technology works consistently, then the compromise between soil
>conservation and use of chemicals could be alleviated.
>
>Jeanne Nye
>
>
>Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 12:41:24 -0800
>From: donald trotter <curly@mill.net>
>Subject: Re: No-Till Mania and American Gothic
>
>I have a topic for discussing that has me perplexed, which of course is not
>all that difficult. Is it no-till vs organic or "Can't we all just get
>along". Dale take the electrodes off of that seed and step back from the
>table. I think your insights on this topic would be valuable to all of us.
>I for one do not use conservation and chemical in the same thought. But
>then I've been accused of only having one thought. So here it is.
>
> A debate exists in mainstream agriculture that large commercial organic
>practices do less to conserve soil than No-Till operations where chemical
>herbicides and insecticides/fungicides are used as a tool. While it is true
>that No-Till does not employ the plow as do most organic operations, would
>it also true that these undisturbed soils are rife with residues from the
>chemistry used on them in the name of soil conservation.
>
>This parody may not necessarily be about allelopathy and the philosophies
>of "If nature can use untested herbicides why can't I use tested
>materials". Nor do I think it is as simple as Professor Dwayne Beck's
>argument about rattlesnakes and plows. Can a soil be sustainable if
>chemical fertilizers, herbicides and disease/insect controls are employed?
>I don't like to think that organic farming could be responsible for loss of
>topsoil, but it is. I like it less that No-Till is commonly combined with
>chemistry instead of a thoughtful policy of crop rotation to suppress
>unwanted biology (weeds,bugs, Pat Buchannon). I hear these No-Tillers use
>the word sustainable as if it were their own, is it? And if it is, when did
>Glyphosate, Chlorothalonil, and Parathion become sustainable compounds. I
>find it encouraging that the Rodale institute has been testing Chemistry
>No-Till at the Kutztown, Pa. facility to consider this philosophy. But I
>wonder if J.I. is not rolling over in his grave because of this heresy. The
>combination of new technologies and common sense does not frighten me until
>I remember the photograph in Feb. 1996 Nat. Geo. of the sunbathers at
>Jone's Beach being hosed down by this "Safe to Humans" miracle chemical
>called DDT. This parody brings me to a rather amusing parallel by author
>and scientist Dr. J. Glanz when he speaks of Grant Wood's painting:
>
>"On my latest excursion to Chicago's Art Institute, it occurred to me that
>one reason American Gothic leaves itself open to parody is that neither the
>disconcertingly direct stare of the farmer-preacher's brown eyes nor the
>vigor of his fist on the pitchfork, come across very well in reproductions.
>Par Contre, there is the intrinsic riddle of why the fellow has no tan line
>from his cap-a bald head like that would be deadly in the sun-and why the
>knuckles of the hand don't bear a warking man's scars and scabs. Outside
>the world of the painting, of course, none of these omissions is much of a
>shock, since the model was a dentist named Dr. McKeeby. The woman is a
>greater mystery (what's new). The disapproval on her face is intense enough
>to suggest a chronic emotional disturbance. She is looking past her father
>and out of the painting. What does she see approaching that vexes her so
>visibly? Is it just the neighbor's rattletrap coming up the lane, or the
>unacceptable future. "
>
>Perhaps the Dust Bowl is the claivoyant vision of this girl, and the coming
>of FDR, Henry Wallace, Mickey D's and Pop-Tarts. The debate of
>sustainability in the presence of modern chemistry does however pose a few
>questions.
>
>Looking forward to discussion
>Donald W. Trotter Ph.D.
>Organic Resources, Inc.
>"A tree will only hit a car in self defense"
>
>
>
>Donald Trotter
>The Organic Resource Centre
>295 Neptune Ave.
>Encinitas, CA. 92024
>curly@mill.net
>fax- 760.632.8175
>
>Jeanne A. Nye
>VABF Project Coordinator
>BuyGreen Virginia Partnership
>1715 Blair Street
>Christiansburg VA 24073
>540 633-6633 w & fax
>540 633-0089 h
>Buygreen@buygreen.org
><http://www.vvac.org/bgvp/>
><http://www.vvac.org/vabf/>
>
>
>To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
>To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
>"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".