The Emperor Has No Clothes A Practical Guide for Environmental and Social Transformation (9 page)

The most significant underlying factors
contributing to the dust storms, was the use of unsound traditional
plowing methods combined with periods of exposure of bare soil,
which amplified the effects of drought and high winds. No
techniques to retain soil moisture were practiced by the farmers
[24], instead they allowed the ground to be exposed by the practice
of burning off crop stubble. Stubble provides the organic materials
that produce humus. Humus is an essential component of soil
structure because it augments the soils capability to absorb and
retain moisture. After 5 – 7 years of burning stubble and plowing,
the soil was completely pulverized seriously degrading its
fertility. Pulverizing it to a fine powder also increases the
ability for the wind to lift it and carry it off. The results of
these unsound planting practices were aggravated by further
reductions of stubble and the formation of bare ground which was
produced by the practice of grazing excessively large herds of
animals in the fields.

24. The average precipitation in this area
is 45.7 cm (18 in) which is just on the margin required to produce
the kinds of crops that were commonly grown.

The crops that were the primary focus of
production were wheat, corn, and cotton , wheat being the most
favored. These crops did well during periods when the amount of
precipitation was high. However, during periods of low rainfall
they did not grow well and they were also susceptible to damage
from blown dust. After the onset of the drought cycle the farmers
persisted in planting these crops, gambling that adequate
precipitation would appear. These gambles were taken because these
were the most lucrative crops. The lower value more drought
resistant plants such as sorghum, sudan grass, and small grains
were not widely planted.

Another source of the poor agricultural
practices originated from the fact that many of the farms in this
area were not worked by the owners. The owners were often absentee
land lords or suit case farmers with other sources of income in
town. The tenant farmers and share croppers that actually worked
the land were interested in maximizing potential yearly earnings.
Little incentive existed for them to grow lower value drought
resistant crops that reduced soil erosion, or invest their time in
other measures of soil conservation. When you see pictures of the
“Okies” clearing out for California, these are almost all tenants
or share croppers who were let go by the owners. Few of the owners
actually lost or were forced to sell their land.

The owners were able to retain their property
because of numerous government programs that provided various kinds
of assistance. Large numbers of cattle were bought up by the
federal government and slaughtered to thin the excessively large
herds and provide a financial boost.

The meat was canned in 100# and 50# tins for
use in various other programs, such as school feeding and military
stockpiles. Train loads of hay and other animal feeds were shipped
in at nominal prices to support the remaining herds. Government
programs that provided subsidies and/or labor to install terraces,
Lister plowing [25], and shelter belts,[26] were widely available.
Shelter belts were wind breaks comprised of shrubs and trees that
were installed across fields and around farmstead buildings to
reduce wind speeds and soil drifting. A number of additional
restorative strategies and subsidies were implemented by the
federal and state governments such as strip cropping,[27] grazing
restrictions, and prescribed care for shelter belt vegetation.
Further government subsidies were granted to underwrite the use of
drought and wind resistant crops, in addition to replanting grass
lands. All of these measures were reinforced by financial
assistance programs.

25.. Lister plowing uses two plow blades
that roll the soil towards each other creating a central raised
ridge bordered with furrows. The rough ground surface reduced wind
velocity allowing blown soil to be captured in the furrows as well
as producing a “sink” that captured moisture and reduced
evaporation losses because the moisture was sheltered from
wind.

26. The shelter belt extended from Bismark
North Dakota to Amarillo Texas the western boundary was set at the
40.6 cm (16”) precipitation line and the eastern boundary at the
55.9 cm (22”) rainfall line. Each segment of the belt was 132' wide
and spaced at 1 mile increments oriented in an east – west
direction. It utilized red cedar, hack-berry, and green ash in the
center which was the highest portion with a number of progressively
lower growing shrubs out towards the edges to lift the wind. 18,600
miles were planted containing 217,378,352 trees, the survival rate
of trees varied, the average was 58%. The trees produced a wind
shadow that extended out 20 times their height.

27. Strip cropping is comprised
of alternating contoured crops composed of soil holding crops and
densely growing feed crops.

In 1938 the drought began to weaken and by
1940 the rain fall was up to the levels that were typical of the
wet part of the climatic cycle. The advent of World War II created
a strong and continuing demand for food, producing robust prices
for agricultural commodities. The farmers and ranchers were quick
to revert to their old habits of over expansion of livestock herds,
bringing submarginal lands into cultivation, and a focus on the
same three crops as before, in order to maximize and augment short
term profits. The younger farmers, tenants, and share croppers also
frequently removed the shelter belts and abandoned Lister plowing,
strip cropping, restricted grazing and other conservation measures.
The older farmers tended to retain many of the conservation
practices that were deployed in the 1930's. In 1950 a new drought
started and persisted through 1955. The effects of the drought upon
the agricultural community was similar to that in the 1930's. The
government restarted many of the old programs, buying up large
quantities of cattle and provided many of the same kinds of
assistance as already described above. The effects of the drought
on the agricultural community was not nearly as sever though. The
impact of the 1950's drought was attenuated because the government
acted quickly to rapidly implement the techniques that were
developed in the 1930's. Also the absence of the debilitating
effects of the great depression were not present.

Japan: In 1603 CE the Japanese shogunate was
established by Tokugawa Ieyasu the supreme general at that time,
and continued until Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned political authority
to the emperor in 1867. This period of Japanese history is referred
to as the Edo period (Edo was the original name of Tokyo) where the
showguns were headquartered. During this 265 year period the
Japanese operated a sustainable society.

The sustainable society was achieved by
utilizing things to their fullest extent. Durable goods such as
metal pots, pans, ceramics, and barrels were repaired. Not only
were durable items repaired but even such ephemeral objects as
clothing, umbrellas, footwear, etc., were maintained by a
comprehensive array of specialist repair people. Agricultural
amendments and fertilizers were also obtained from waste products.
These substances were produced by collecting the ash produced by
fuel wood and human waste (night soil), which were used in
combination to produce an excellent fertilizer.[28] Night soil in
urban areas was an important source of income for landlords who had
contracts with farmers and/or dealers. In fact there are historical
reports of friction between landlords and tenets about the owner
ship of night soil because of its high value. Thus, the consumers
of the crops were the producers of the fertilizers for the crops.
This system automatically adjusted fertilizer production to match
food requirements since it was regulated by population size. For
example, if the population expanded it produced proportionately
increasing amounts of fertilizer used to produce more food,
thereby, establishing a closed appropriately scaled self sustaining
system.xv

The other important factor for sustainability
was that the population remained relatively constant, its level did
not exceed the carrying capacity of the environment. The level of
population is known because the Japanese government started taking
population census in 1720. This initial census found that the
nation was comprised of 30 million people. In order to achieve
population stability the Japanese people employed a number of
strategies, they married later, nursed babies longer, practiced
abortion and infanticide as well as contraception. As a result of
these measures the population remained constant until the 1867
Meiji restoration. Part of the Meiji government reforms were
comprised of the establishment of a capitalist economic system
based upon the western model of extraction and expansion.

Between 600 CE – 850 CE Japanese forestry
practices were on a path of exploitation similar to those that took
place on Easter Island. Totman identified the driving forces and
status of forest usage as originating from the “demands by the
ruling elite for timber, to supply armies and build castles and
religious monuments, had caused serious deforestation.”xvi The
pattern that was followed was to severely deforest an area and
abandon it, then move to a new area which would be exploited in the
same way. The village populations welcomed this activity because it
cleared land that they would then use for agricultural purposes.
This practice worked in the initial stages of this period while
enough forested land remained to provide their needs for
agricultural supplements and other forest derived products.[29]

28.
In the United States
many municipalities produce compost whose principal ingredient is
sewage for application to non food producing plants. If night soil
is composted using the hot heap method which achieves temperatures
of 60 C (140 F) to 71 C (160 F) for several days the finished
compost is sterile. Unfortunately municipal sewage contains
industrial and other contaminants that usually make it undesirable
for crops. Recently I was chatting with a landscaper who told me it
was his “secret ingredient” for growing really lush plants. My
uncle and aunt used to use composted sewage and they had fantastic
gardens, this was back in the 1950's so this is nothing new but
definitely an underutilized resource. In Japan the use of night
soil for crop fertilizer is still a wide spread practice. It seems
unlikely that it is the origin of diseases since the Japanese enjoy
the longest life expectancy and best health in the world, perhaps,
we could learn about this from them it would definitely have an
impact on the amount of chemical fertilizers being used whose
manufacture produces large amounts of pollutants as well as
diminishing soil tilth.

29. The forest was a source of clean water
for rice field irrigation, household use, fuel wood and charcoal.
Forest leaf litter and organic material were composted to produce
fertilizer, and used for fodder. It required about 10 ha to support
1 ha of farmland.

In the medieval period the Japanese
population was sparse, by 1570 Japan's population is estimated to
have attained around 10 million. This population expansion
proportionally increased the demand for subsistence forest
products.xvii By around 1670 the deforestation had become pervasive
and was recognized as a problem. Up until the end of the Edo
period, there was no land ownership in the sense thought of in
western societies where one gains title to a parcel. It operated by
a system of tenure. Land ownership was prohibited in spirit by the
Tokugawa Shogunate, it was structured as follows: the Daimyo (a
lord) had tenure in his domain, communal tenure was the next level,
and the final level was individual tenure. These land usage rights
were granted on a long term basis which provided motivation to
conserve and improve these resources. Almost all Japanese forested
land was Daimyo tenure or communal tenure.xviii In this system the
farmers owned the things they produced which were comprised of
agricultural commodities, wood, and cottage industry products. They
were free to use or exchange these products after taxes were
deducted. The underlying driver for the development of silviculture
occurred in the 17th century. It was fueled by the rapid growth of
urban centers which continued unabated throughout the Edo period
and into post Edo times. The construction of the urban areas
required large quantities of wood. They were also subject to
periodic fires which produced additional wood requirements. All of
the materials were domestically produced as a result of the
isolationist policy of the shogunate which precluded imports,
thereby eliminating augmentation from off shore sources.[30] To
meet these needs tree plantations principally of the conifers
hinoki and sugi (Japanese Cedar, Cryptomeria japonica) were
established. Trees initially were planted by villagers on a part
time basis, and later larger plantings were also produced by
wealthy local merchants using local labor. It took until 1920 to
completely restore Japanese forests. In Diamonds excellent book
Collapse he identified some agricultural factors that supported the
Edo period ecological recovery as follows: The agricultural
advantages the islands possessed were young volcanic soil that was
rich in minerals that allowed a rapid recovery of fertility in
addition to high rainfall that supported rapid plant growth. These
natural advantages were not nullified by excessive grazing. There
were no goats, sheep, and a low numbers of horses all of which
denude the land of plant cover.

30. In 1543 the Portuguese
established contact and trade with Japan and 6 years later
Christian missionaries arrived and started to proselytize and
produced some converts. The Japanese gave the westerners a
hospitable reception. However the Christian doctrine which demanded
complete loyalty to a jealous god (1
^st
commandment) created
suspicion in the shogunate. It was also noted that the trade taking
place was closely associated with Christianity, the Portuguese
traders would only drop anchor in ports where the Daimyo would
accept Christianity and eventually was considered by the Shogunate
as a pernicious doctrine that taught people to contravene
government regulations. In 1578 Hideyoshi promulgated a decree
instructing all Jesuit missionaries to leave within 20 days, he did
not enforce the decree immediately giving them additional time to
go. The Roman Catholics did not go and persisted in proselytizing
in 1614 Ieyasu again ordered them to leave and they still persisted
their activities under cover. The Shogunate started to persecute
the Christians 1622 and eventually between 1633 and 1639 five
seclusion edicts were issued that totally proscribed Christianity,
banned Portuguese ships from entering Japanese harbors, and forbade
travel abroad. The 1641 edict confined the Dutch to Dejima an
artificial island in Nagasaki Bay and allowed only the Dutch and
Chinese to trade in Japan.