''An Agricultural Testament'' is

Sir Albert Howard Sir Albert Howard (8 December 187320 October 1947) was an England, English botanist. His academic background might have been botany. While working in India he was generally considered a pathologist; this more than likely being the reason for h ...

's best-known publication, and remains one of the seminal works in the history of

organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

. pdf per Special

Rodale Press Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

Edition, 1976. See cover note on significance of book. ebook Dedicated to his first wife and co-worker Gabrielle, herself a plant physiologist, it focuses on the nature and management of

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

, and notably explores

composting Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...

. At a time when modern,

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

-based

industrialized Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for the ...

agriculture was just beginning to radically alter food production, it advocated natural processes rather than man-made inputs as the superior approach to farming. It was first

published Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in England in 1940, with the first American edition in 1943.

Notes

References

External links

*
An Agricultural Testament
' - full text online *
An Agricultural Testament
' - 2010 Edition published by Benediction Classics 1940 non-fiction books Agriculture books Composting {{agriculture-book-stub