At 08:13 PM 3/1/2000 +0000, you wrote:
>>
>>Don't know where this thinking leads... Maybe that the art
>>of farming usually precedes the science. Or that the bigger
>>issue is between those who want to dominate/constrain
>>agriculture and those who see it as a ever changing art form.
>>
>>jeff (starting to get spring fever)
>
>I suspect it leads to the best farmers being the ones who actually observe
>their farms right down to the tiniest details and learn to live with what
>they discover rather than being the ones who learn it out of books and
>think that if they do what it says in the book they will do as well as the
>person who wrote it - who probably did the observation thing, though
>frequently one wonders when you read some of the rubbish that gets repeated
>from one book to another. Which isn't to say throw away the book but is to
>say remember the guy who wrote the book was living on a different patch of
>earth
>
>kathryn
IMO, it takes a combination of observation, local tradition and book learning.
Miss any one of the above and you'll not do as well as you could. When
I've talked to peole who have tried various alternative ways of farming that
failed, the most common error was doing exactly what the book said.
The second was not doing exactly what the book said. ;-) What it takes
is a good understanding of the underlying facts so you know when not to
follow the book.
The ones who do the best are those that have enough book lernin' to know
what they are seeing as they closely observe what's going on and have
enough knowledge of past methods to be able to see the values (or lack
there of) in applying new ideas to their area.
==>paul
