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How Romans looked at soil
HISTORY
THE ROMANS have long been accepted as
some of the worlds' greatest gardeners. Not
only did they experiment with the cultivation of
crops previously unknown to them before they
were discovered growing in other parts of the
Mediterranean and the Middle East, but their
knowledge of the need to nurture the soil with
manures was not only sound but extensive.
Though the Romans appear to have been
among the first to be concerned about soil quali
ty. referring to its colour or sweetness of taste
after mixing it with water, the use of manure has
been recorded in Egypt sincc the third millenium
BC. The Persians constructed gigantic dovecotes
in order to collect and distribute the droppings
upon the fields. Human "night soil" had been
ustd in China since ancient times.
By the days of the Romans, the exact amount
and types of manure were being recommended -
goat for olive trees, cattle, pigeon and urine for
vines - as well as advice on their storage to
retain the best qualities. They also advocated the
use of green manures like lupins to be turned in at
the first digging to enrich the soil.
? SOUTH AMERICAN Indians made use of
some of the enormous outcrops of guano found in
the tropics, while in the north the indigenous
people merely clcarcd new ground when the old
was exhausted. Those living on the coast, howev
er, made holes in the ground into which fish wfirc
dropped then topped with a few com husks.
By the 1800s, Americans were harvesting
shoals of white fish which they spread on the
fields, finding no other manure so cheap, so rich
in nutrients and so long-lasting. In the meantime,
English gardeners were employing all manner of
waste with varying results - shredded cloth, hair
from hides, hoof and horn shavings, lime, ashes,
sweepings, salt brines and soap suds from the
"laundery".
In 1842, the first patented process for the man
ufacture of superphosphate from bones treated
with sulphuric acid had been perfected. For near
ly 80 years thereafter until World War I, super
phosphate was the only manufactured fertiliser in
England.
Apart from the optional use of some chemical
activators which helped to speed up the process,
the composting of animal, garden and domestic
food wastes has remained unchanged since the
days of the Greeks and Romans.
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