Fertility Farming explores an approach to farming that makes minimal use of plowing, eschews chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and encourages cover cropping and manure application. Newman Turner holds that the foundation of the effectiveness of a fertile soil - and the measure of a fertile soil - is its content of organic matter, ultimately, its humus. Upon a basis of humus, nature builds a complete structure of healthy life - without need for disease control of any kind.
In fact, disease treatment is unnecessary in nature, as disease is the outcome of the unbalancing or perversion of the natural order - and serves as a warning that something is wrong. The avoidance of disease is therefore the simple practice of natural law.
Much more than theory, this book was written to serve as a practical guide for farmers. Newman Turner's advice for building a productive, profitable organic farming system rings as true today as it did sixty years ago when it was written.
