"You should've known better"
Granddad, great-granddad, and his father too,
when working their farms knew just what to do.
They mucked and they ploughed and they harrowed and sowed,
they watched and they tended, and then reaped and mowed,
And when they had finished, and harvest was in,
they held a thanksgiving, and gave praise to Him.
But along came the Chemist, a smart lad was he,
who said, "All you farmers, now listen to me...
You're all too old-fashioned and well out of date;
I can double the crops you've been getting of late".
He went on to prove that by using his wares,
he could fatten the crops and thin out the tares
The mechanical man was soon on the scene,
with his tractor and baler, where horses had been.
And the land became sated with chemicals and smog;
where once were green pastures, there now became bog.
The topsoil was powdered and flushed with the rain,
And deserts sprang up where there once had been grain.
"What shall we do?" cried the farmers aghast,
"Our crops get the wilt, and the grass will not last."
Whilst Granddad in heaven looked down, far from jolly,
and waggled his beard at this grandson's great folly.
His anger increased as he studied in wonder,
and he finally raised in his wrath like the thunder.
"Get horses you clots, and animals many..
You can't make a bob if you don't spend a penny..
And stop burning grass like a blithering fool;
you're burning the litter that keeps the roots cool.
And what about straw that aerates the land,
it looks like that I must take you in hand?
Where's your rake lad? I see none around;
you can't grow good crops if you don't feed the ground.
There's nothing like muck for giving land heart,
and there's always a use for a horse and a cart.
Put your animal droppings into a heap,
and fatten it up with straws from your wheat.
Then get some compost and mix it all in ------
spread your land with it, and not too thin.
And happen it comes to next harvest time,
you'll not need so much of your chemicals and lime.
And as for that tractor --- a smell and a din;
it's packing the land and the rain can't get in.
And where're all the earthworms that wriggled around?
Poisoned no doubt in that chemical ground..
You've gone against nature - that's what you've done.
You should've known better -- or never begun.
So take off your jacket and roll up your sleeves,
and gather your straw and muck and your leaves.
Then get your rake and belt it around
and happen, in time, you may build up the ground".
By S.C.W.
