Writing to you today from Vermont, where I’m studiously attending this years Environmental Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf. There’s a lot to do here and not a lot of time to write, so this week I’ll leave you with a pictorial excerpt from the widely-beloved volume “Farmers of Forty Centuries,” by F.H. King. These particular images (Chapter 9, “The Utilization of Waste”) are of obvious particular interest to me, but the entire volume—including text—is available online for free if you are interested in further exploration. I recommend it, what a joy. More soon.
Fig. 115.— Father and children returning from genya lands with herbage for use as green manure or for making compost. The daughter carries the tea kettle to supply their safe, sanitary drink.
Fig. 109.—Receptacles for human waste.
Fig. 108.—Type of conveyance extensively used in Japan for the removal of city and village waste. Such carts are even more frequently drawn by men than by cattle or horses, and tightly covered casks supported on saddles are borne on the backs of both cattle and horses, while men carry pails long distances on their shoulders, using the carrying pole.
Fig. 110.—Japanese sheltered cement-lined storage pits for liquid manure.
Fig. 111.—Six carrying pails such as are used in distributing liquid manure to the fields.
Fig. 112.—Applying of liquid manure from carrying pails, using the long-handle dipper.
Fig. 113.—Where the yield is the product of brain, brawn and utilized waste.
Fig. 114.—Japanese farmer tramping green herbage for fertilizer into the water and mud between rows of rice.
Fig. 116.—Section of chart issued by the Nara Experiment Station, illustrating construction of compost house; upper section shows elevation; middle portion is a cross section and the lower shows floor plan.
Fig. 117. — Exterior view of compost house at Nara Experiment Station.
