he40p

AUG-SEPT 1983. No 35

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for those trying to live from the lan~-cac:: ...I..::lo••••••

, ,_Rural cO-OPS, reen .Dlanures,.~LIL _

HOMOEOPATHV.

In the U.K. and Ireland, hOloeopathy is perhapsthe lost widely known of the .any types oftreat.ent in the field of natural .edicine. In theU.K., hOloeopathic treatlent is available on theNational Health service. There are a considerablenu.ber of orthodox doctors who offer hOlOeopathictreat.ent as well as conventional treat.ent. Oneof the personal physicians to the Queen of Englandis a hOloeopath. (liedo not suggest that thi5 is arecollendationj but it does serve to illustratethat hOloeopathy is a widely accepted fori oftreataenti.

HOloeopathy is derived frol the Greek word'holoios", leaning "like". HOloeopathy is thepractice of treating like with like. Theprinciples on which hOloeopathy are based wereknown to Hippocrates and Paracelsus, as is apparentfrol their writings, but its present day use stelsfrol the work of Saluel Hahnelann, a doctor livingin Serlany during the last half of the 18thcentury. Although he was apparently well regardedamong his contelporaries for his ledical skill,Hahnemann becale discouraged by the prevailingmedical practices. He gradually withdrew frolactive practice and engaged hilself in translatingand writing on ledical and scientific subjects.While translating an article on the action of thechinchona bark, frol which quinine is derived, - in-the treatment of inter.ittent fevers, he beganexperilenting with the drug. He disfovered that, ina healthy person, the effects of the drug closelyresembled the SYlptOIS for which it is recollended.As a result, he suggested that the drug's efficacyin the treatlent of fever was due to the fact thatit could cause fever. This is now accepted as thefirst principle of hOloeopathy: like cures like.Thus, to cure a fever, a reledy is given that, inits crude fori, would cause fever.

Hahnelann and- his followers carried outexperiments on thelselves (called Provingsi inwhich they took slall doses of various substances,lany poisonous, over long periods of tile,carefully noting the SYlptols they produced.Patients suffering frol sililar SYlptOIS were thentreated with these substances. Hahnelann foundthat, although the treatlent proved ta beeffective, conventional doses of the reledies oftenproduced an initial aggravation of the SYlptOIS. Hebegan experilRentingwith ssaller doses to linilizethis effect, and found that, when the dilution wasdone in a specific lanner, the curative value wasenhanced by dilution. This tithod of dilution isreferred to as potentisation, and it represents thesecond law of hOloeopathy: the slaller the dose,the greater the effect. Hahnelann and otherhOloeopaths through the years have continued theproving of lany substances until today the relediesavailable nutber in the thousands.

HOloeopathy, like all forls of naturalledicine, is based on the prelise t~at the hUlan

Jack Eising and Nuala Hughes.

body has an inate capacity to heal itself. Theaction of a hOloeopathic reledy is to stilulate thebody's own curative powers. This is in directcontrast to the conventional forts of treatlent,which generally give drugs which are designed toelilinate certain organisls. In hOloeopathictreatlent, the body takes an active role in thecurative treatlent, whereas in orthodox treatlentthe body is regarded as little lore than abattlefield for a war between the drug and theinfective organisl.

The action of a hOloeopathic remedy isdialetrically opposite to the action of orthodoxdrugs. Illness is general!y the result of anilbalance in the body. For one reason or another,the body's natural healing power lay becoleblocked, 50 that the body seels to be incapable ofdealing with the illness. OrthodoK tedicines arebased on the principle of opposites cancelling. ForeXilple, in the case of a nervous co.plaint, acOllon orthodox treatlent would be valiul. Theeffect of this is to iapose an artificial iebalanceon top of the ilbalance that is already there. Inother words, the patient is given a chemicallyinduced illness in the hope of cancelling out theexisting illness. Since the effect of the valiul isstronger than the original complaint, the symptols

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of the original cOlplaint are suppressed and a'cure' is clailed.

If, however, hOloeopathic treatlent is used totreat the nervous condition, the patient would begiven a ·sililar· reledy. That is, a reaedy whichin a healthy person would produce SYlptOlS whichare sililar (but not necessarily identical) tothose exhibited by the patient. The effect on thebody is to stilulate the healing force, so that the.body elilinates. the effect of the retedy and theoriginal cOlplaint silultaneously. In other words,orthodox treatlent tends to suppress illness,while hOloeopathic treatlent ailS to force theillness outwards.

The hOloeopathic practitioner ailS to treat thepatient rather than the illness. It is thereforenecessary to learn soaething about the patient, andthe first session with a hOloeopath generallyconsists of a lengthy interview during which thepatient lay be asked what appear to be irrelevantquestions; perhaps unrelated to his or herillediate. coaplaint. These questions serve tocreate a picture in the hOloeopath's lind of thepatient in relation to the various' reledies, andwill thus enable the hOloeopath to prescribe thecorrect reledy. It is not uncollon that two peoplegoing to a hOloeopath with the sale cOlplaint willbe given different reledies. The person, ratherthan the cOlplaint, is treated.

At this point, a word of caution would be. appropriate regarding self-prescribing of reledies.

HOloeopathic reledies have'becole readily availablein the shops, often accolpanied by only scantyinforlation as to their use. It is contrary to thewhole concept of hOloeopathy to give reledies onthe basis of disease nales. Holoeopathicprescribing -is luch less well defined andconsequently luch lOre' difficult to apply.Indiscrilinate use of reledies can cause problelsfor the user. Also, the potency and the frequency'of the reledy given are very ilportant in thetreatlent, of the person, and require the knowledgeof an experienced practitioner. We would thereforecaution people when considering the use of a reledywithout referring to a hOloeopath.

The length of treatlent by hOloeopathic leanswill vary with the individual. Rapid results can beachieved in acute illnesses, but if the person issuffering frol a chronic condition, or if his orher vitality is low, the treatlent lay well be longterl.

HOloeopathy is not a cure-all , nor an elixir ·oflife. Rather it is a way of looking at people intheir surroundings and enabling thel to increasetheir harlony and well-being. It does not rejectthe great discoveries of lodern ledical science,but only their cOllerical abuse. In its presentfori, hOloeopathy has stood the test of 150 yearsand as good ledicine it is part of a healingtradition which extends over lany centuries to thepresent day•

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LETTERS

Independent Hostels. From Bernard Edwards, The Mountain Hut,Glencar, Co.Kerry.

COlplete self-sufficiency is an ilpossible dreal - thank goodness! "y wife and I have installed bunk beds in ourhOle and now use it as a hostel. Now we have a great tile leeting people frol lany parts of the world, chatting to thelabout their, and our, lifestyles, collecting fees, parting friends, and directing thel to other Independent Hostels.Unfortunately at present we have not sufficient privately owned hostels for visitors to Ireland to travel the wholelength of the 'country, and the North-West is particularly lacking.

This year for the first tile we published a booklet, which we sell for 20p, giving details of those of us who haveforaed this loosely knit association. Starting frol the south of Ireland we have one in Baltilore, Co. Cork. The nexttwo are in 6lencar, Co. Kerry, next is Dingle and Stradbally, 'and on to Co. Clare; - two in Liscannor, one in Doolin,and one in Fanore. Kinvara, Galway, Lieenane are all in Co. Galway. Lastly we have one in Co. "ayo, and two in Donegal.For those travelling back to Dublin a slall hostel is recollended there.

Since the booklet was printed a couple lore wish to be included in the next edition. Why not join us? Ideally, tosuit cyclists needs, each should be about 50 liles apart, and hostels on lain roads attract lany lore hitch-hikers.

Although I have not let lany owners I believe we're quite a lixed bunch consisting of Irish,' British, Alerican andContinentals. A few, owners do breakfast, IY wife and I do full leals, but other hostels provide a kitchen withstoves/utensils for travellers to prepare their own food. A dining rool and also showers are usual.

We are getting a long way towards pursuading the Irish Tourist Board to recognise us, and to provide plenty ofpublicity but An Oige, the official Youth Hostel Association is strongly opposed to us. Without the lany self i.posedrestrictions. the Irish Independent Hostels are likely to be the lore popular.

If you feel you would enjoy this extra source of incole either write to Patrick O'Donnell, at Booey Hostel,GlencolulbHlle, Co. Donegal, er te le anlri booklet will be sent on to you. But please include a couple of stalps!

4

IN AFRICA AND NORTH-WEST IRELAND

RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CO-OPERATION

Co-operative cOI.unity developlent is anentirely attractive idea: me.bers of a ruralcoe.unity cOling together to better their lotwithout loss of control of their own community.Such an attractive idea would seem to have morethan a good chance of working in practice. Butrarely is rural co-operative cOimunity developmentan unqual i+i ed success.Even when financially ormaterially the achieveeents are real, lore oftenthan not the ideal of ce-operati ve organisation andcontrol remains at best an unrealised ideal - thereality being that the development is dependentupon one or two dominant leaders.

The one-day seminar held in Kiltyclogher wasorganised in the hope that an exalination of anumber of co-operatives in the NW of Ireland and inAfrica light serve to indicate sOle factors thatcommonly determine the success or failure of ruralco-operatives, both in material and co-operative

terms. The five case studies, introduced and placedin a wider context of co-operative history by PatBolger, were both interesting and instructive, aswas the discussion that followed, but it cannot beclaimed that many significant generalisations werearrived at - perhaps partly because of theseemingly deep-seated dislike of dwelling onfailure and the causes thereof.

Self-help and commu~ity development are likelyto become increasingly important as State and EECpurses become lore evidently empty, 50 we felt itwas worthwhile to not only include a report of theseminar by Garreth Byrne, but also to print asummary of the papers relat~d to the co-operativesin the NNof Ireland. In this issue we include thepaper on the North Leitrim Vegetable Growers co-operative, and hope to have the other two papers inthe next issue of The Newsletter.

REPORT. Garreth Byrne.What are the problels of ilplementing projects

in relote rural areas? Is the task of surmountingdifficulties too great and would it be better toencourage dynamic young people to ligrate to the'cities and allow the older generation in thevillages to wallow in their helplessness and lackof enterprise?

I al a cautious optilist. I believe remoteregions should not be allowed to die. I think it isinviting demographic and ecological disaster toallow unchecked ligration frol the countryside tothe city. Yet I would not try to rOlanticise thestruggle to achieve viable cOlmunity in ruralsociety. Life in rural areas can be lonely,suspicious and sour. The hOlely social solidarity

of the old Irish ~~ttQ~!lsystem has died out inmost places - and was often counterbalanced byvicious falily antagonisms when it did operateseveral generations ago. The realities of life inthe North West have impressed themselves upon meduring the past year and a half I've spent livingin an isolated cottage in County Leitril.

Life in rural Africa also witnesses thecollision between rOlanticist and reality. I havelived in the Zambian bush as well as in the water-sodden wilderness of North Leitril. (See article inissue 32.)

So when letbers of North Leitril VegetableGrowers Association cale up with the idea of acomparative worKshop on co-op development efforts

in rural Africa and the NorthWest of Ireland, Isaid to lyself:·This lay be the synthesis I've beenlooking for." A grant of £300 was sought andobtained frol TROCAIRE to fund a one-day workshopat Kiltyclogher COllunity Centre early in June.

Bill Walsh was the first speaker and his co-opexperiences in Tanzania were ilpressive. He wassent there in 1981 by the Irish Foundation for Co-operative Developlent to help ilplelent analbitiou? .schfle in Kilosa district, funded by theEEC, the Irish Sovernlent and IFCD itself. Duringallost two years in an area containing 23,000inhabitants, the foundations of a self sustainingd~iry co-op were laid. (Clilatic and other factorsmilitate against dairy farling in lost parts ofrural Africa. African governlents recognize thevalue of laking fresh lilk available to.alnourished and unhealthy populations.) The alountof discussion at village level before the projectbegan was ilportant. A village asse.bly ofeverybody aged over Ib years leet~ twice yearly todeliver a progress report to the Village Council -this latter an elected body of 25 elders. Billwasn't too specific about the actual operation ofthe asselbly: I was curious to know to what extentthe deliberations were dOlinated by the old len.

African village society is very patriarchal:wOlen and adolescent boys do what they are told andleave .ajor econolic decisions to the elders.Training and continuing education of the villagersi~ also vital. Bill Malsh was assisted by aTanzanian counterpart who was expected to take overfrol hil. New skills like silage laking werelearned.on the spot by the villagers. "ore cOlplexskills were learned by selected individuals who.were sent to training colleges or dairy ranches.Bill taught several practical everyday farlingskills inforlally to individuals and slall groups.There were nUlerous se.inars and study groups atvillage level on co-operative theory and practice.I got the ilpres5ion that the Kilosa dairy 5chelehas a good future. Only tile will tell whether theother ailS of the project - developlent of inter-village fruit, vegetables and larketing activity -will be achieved.

Alice Davis worked for a year as an accountantwith a cattle co-operative in rural Nigeria. Shetold the inspiring story of an Irish nun whopersuaded villagers in an area devestated by theNigerian civil war to co.bine their efforts inreconstructing the agricultural econolY nf thepeople. I would have liked to know lore about thelevel of discussion and decision laking by thevillagers in the enterprise. I also .wonderedwhether the enterprise would ever have got off theground without the single linded efforts of therelarkable Irish sister. In Ireland as elsewheresale ilpressive scheles are conceived by dynalicindividuals. But proper co-operative venturesshould encourage laxilUl group participation in theevolution of ideas and the day to day running ofenterprises. Power sharing is sOletiles anathela tobrilliant individuals.

The co-op projects in Leitril and Donegal wereon a slaller scale than the two African ones andwere therefore lore to the point of the workshop -the role of slall enterprises in the developlent ofunderdeveloped areas. Tony Sallagher's story of theArranlore Island experience was to IY .ind the lOStheartening. Rod Alston's accouQt of NLVSA tells ussale ho.e truths about the seeling irrelevance ofofficial developlent agencies to slall scaleinnovative enterprise. But both Rod and Tony gavedue credit to the practical interest shown byCOlbat Poverty workers in their efforts. FinallyFrancis Walsh drew sOle salutary lessons fro. theco-op experience of Slencolulbkille.

The grand synthesis I looked for did notlaterialise at this workshop. But 27 individuals,lostly frol the North West and a few frol Wicklowand the lidlands, cale to the event and taught andlearned. If any of the participants were inspiredto continue with existing activities or to initiate

.new enterprises then frol .y point ofview the workshop will have been a success.

Irish readers wanting copies of Bill Walsh's paper,send s.a.e. 4" x b· to Sarreth At NW Deved Project,Icas HOUSE, Finisklin Road, Sligo.

LETTERS•

From Sarah Lewtas, MUlligans Farm, Dunlewey, Gweedore, Co. Donegal.

I've been thinking of writing this for so long, I thought I'd better. It concerns the article "low Cookery· in issue33. I don't think anything has got up Iy nose quite so luch for a good while.

I don't buy the Newsletter to hear peoples' loral stands on anything, aid I feel this article sets a dangerousprecedent. .

I bet quite a lot of your readers would disagree with parts of this article especially concerning abortion, andwould,also feel that a ~elf-sl1fficiency eanual is not the place for a political bitching ground.

&

CO-OPERATIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONNORTH LEITRIM. Rod Alston.

North leitril is a depressed area; it seels toa considerable extent to have been overlooked bythose concerned with developlent; the land islostly poor; sOle surveys have, lore or less,suggested that all it is good for is planting withSitka Spruce; depopulation has continued, 50 thatin the last census Co. leitril was the only countywhere population was still declining. It used tobe described as the poorest part of the poorestcounty, in the poorest region, the poorest countryin the EEC before recent admissions to the CO.lonMarket), Significant aspects of it being adepressed area are extrelely poor services, and agenerally hopeless attitude on the part of lostpeople in area with regard to likely localdevelopments.

Apart frol creameries and DevelopmentAssociations, co-operatives have not been a featureof the history of the area.

HI3TUR'{ n

In 1977 one or two people were growingvegetables on what was lIoreor less a ssall gardenseale, .whi1e over 90% of vegetables soldin theshops came frot other areas via Dublin WholesaleMarket. It was obvious that it was possible toproduce fruit and vegetables local!y, .that thereshould bean advantage for locally grown produceover i.ports to the area, and a couple of us badhad sale ·discu~sion of the possibility of co-operative growing. This coincided with theappearance of two cOlllmunityworkers funded by theCombat Poverty Programme, and they were largelyresponsible' for pushing the idea out into the open- organising a series of puhliteeettnqs.

Response was generally enthusiastic, and asteering committee was forled to research thepotential of a vegetable growers' co-operative.This involved discussions with lAOS regionaloffice, County Development Teal Officer, contactingother co-operatives (and melbers of defunct co-ops)where it appeared that their experience would berelevant. A point I would like to return to lateris that we received virtually no real assistancefrol those bodies/organisations that might havebeen eKpected to have offered it. The two CombatPoverty cOllunity workers lIIadethemselves and theiroffice available, but were as inexperienced asourselves.

The co-op was forlally launched at the end of1977, initially with 33 lelbers, around 20 of wholhad expressed the intention of growing thefollowing year.Our ai.s were

1) To lake it possible for lembers to lake aliving frol the production of fruit andvegetables, and to allow farlerssignificantly to increase their inco.e.

We were particularly concerned to offer anopportunity for young·people to remain inthe area with the prospect of laking aliving.

2) To make available fresh, high qualityproduce for the North Leitrim consumer.

3) To bring about a 1I0repositive attitude tothe potential of North Leitril land use.

It was also our aim that the co-op would be co-operative in practice: that mellbers would fullyparticipate in the management.

One of our first lessons was that SOIllEonesaying at a meeting that they intended putting inhalf an acre of cabbage did not mean that 2,000would be ready for sale the following autumn.

Over the first years of production the numberof growers reduced, the production graduallyincreased (unhappily with the proportion ofimmigrant growers also increasing), and theturnover slowly rose each year. Initially weattempted to sell through er.isting outlets, butfound this totally unsatisfactory. A street stallwas then set up, with co-op members manning tnestall, and fruit not produced in the area beingbought in fro; the wholesaler. We now trade theyear round, and have recently rented shop remisesin Manornamilton,

For the duration of the Combat PovertyProgramme, the coaeunity.workers continued to givesose organisational assistance, andsaal] financialassistance also was made available from CombatPoverty funds. We applied for management aid to theCounty Development Team, but found them ratherelusive to deal with, and the grant aid even moreelusive. Generally we met with considerablescepticism as to the likelihood of success for theco-op - vegetable co-ops in the West of Irelandhave not been notably successful.

For a while there was the hope that a number ofsIal1 co-operative ventures might be forled inNorth Leitrim, linked together and sharing somecosts. An Energy Co-op was forled, is still inexistence, but operates completely separately fromthe NlVGA. There were also abortive attellpts atsetting up a hale bakery and holiday hOlleco-op.

The state of the vegetable co-op now is thatthere are seven or eight growers who derive all ora Ilajor part of their income frail the co-op's

7

activities, and sale lore who produce on a veryslall scale. The future looks pretty secure: activelelbers have gained horticultural experience andexpertise and continue-to do so; local deland stillgreatly exceeds our present level of production;and, despite often having fairly basicdisagreelents, we have gone sOle way in learninghOIl to co-operate together.Although active lelbersare spread over too large an area, cOllunicationbetween lelbers is frequent due to involvelent inrunning the'shop; all active telbers attendmeetings (roughly tonthly) and participate fully inthe lanagelent of the CD-Op. FDrlal cD-operation islainly concerned with planning crops and withmarketingj infDr.al co-operation between letbersexists in a nUlber of different fDrls.

\

ABSESSMENT.At one level, NlVSA has been fairly successful.

Our second ail, that Df laking available to theNorth leitri. consuler high quality, fresh localproduce has certainly been letj indeed, I wouldilagine that "anorhalilton has a better supply Dfbetter quality vegetables than allost anywhere inIreland. And, in a sense, the ail of providing theDppDrtunity for peDple to lake a living, or asignificant part of their living frol vegetablegrDwing has been let - we do. But there are veryfell people WhD have taken up this oppDrtunity ofusing vegetable growing as a way of relaining inthe area. I don't think we can clail to have had avery 'significant ilpact on people's generalattitudes about what can be done with the land inNorth leitr'il, or Dn advancing thelselves throughco-operation.

Trying to quantify the achieve.ent tD date isdifficult. I believe the availability of freshvegetables is of significancet and is appreciated.The co-op is probably providing the equivalent ofJive or six full-tite jobs. All active lelbers haveconsiderably advanced their horticultural skillsjand by working together we have done things thatwould not have been possible for any of usindividually.

EVALUATION.If a slall group of growers can co-operate to

produce vegetables for the local fresh larket inNorth leitril and it be a viable proposition, itcould be done successfully allost anywhere in ruralIreland - particularly if the would-be growers wereto contact us and learn frOt our listakes!

The role of organisations, developlent bodies,and cOllunity workers is of ilportance. The NlY6Alight well have failed had it not been for thesupport (financial and lanpower) of the CotbatPoverty funded cOllunity workers. But we would havebeneH tted far lore frol perceptive and pertinentadvice than we wDuld have frol grants. Mhenstarting Dut, we approached leDS, the CDT, other

co-ops and ACOT, and I think it is not being undulyharsh to say we were pretty well brushed -off byeach.

North leitril is a depressed areaj farls aremostly run in a non-viable lanner; elploYlent is,to say the least, scarce. Yet we failed to attractor keep local far.ers, their sons or daughter inthe co-op. Mhy? Various theories have beenproduced: 1) that the style of land-use involvedwas too different frol the conventional singlesuckling/ranching stylej 2) that being lainlyinstigated by non-locals (including cOllunityworkers) the co-op had frol the beginning an ilageof being itself non-localj 3) that the "dole.entality· is sufficiently pervasive to dissuadelost; 4) that financial aid was not forthcolingj5) the lack of appropriate technicaladvice/assistance; and b) the very slall partrelevant vocational training plays in the existingeducation systel. I suspect that all these factorsplayed sale part in our failure to involve lanynon-illigrantsj and I suspect that they are, invarying degrees, all influential factors lilitingsuccess of allost any rural co-operativedeveloplent project.

Stress is generally laid on participation oflelbers in the lanagelent of any co-op. Me spentluch tile talking about this when we forled thevegetable co-op. In practice this has been achievedsilply because the nUlber of active lelbers isslall - they are all substantially affected by co-op decisions - and because, having no lanager, thetasks of lanagelent are shared between lelbers. Hadwe been successful in attracting aid keeping lorelelbers this light not have been the case.

One of the recurring lessons in our experiencehas been that difficulties are a serious andubiquitous accolpaniaent to a lelbership that doesnot have a real COllitlent for, and dependency onthe co-op.

NLVGA, co-op veget~bleand fruit shop,Manorhamilton,Co. Leitrim .

.8

GREEN MANURES_ Dirk F1a.k~_

In '92 two new books on green lanures werepublished 16 , " Probst:Praktische 6rundungung, andEll Farl: Green "anures) which I both find - usefulto reflect upon Iy own eKperience with greenlanures 16") during the last two years. On the onehand the boots give quite a lot of detailed figuresan~ tables, leaving the purely philosophical(soletiles religious) approach of lany continentalsbehind. On the other hand the writers !xaline eachactivity in terls of its effect on the wholesystel, not just in ter.s of directly obserVibleeffects as increased yield frol G" as a fertilizerapplication.

If you think 6" is a substitute for far.yardlanure ,and regard it isolated as a nitrogenapplication you lay be disappointed. BUT ••••••

2. Protection against erosion.There is already erosion and the danger of siltingup when you have a slope of 2I~There is especiallywater erosion in spring and early sUller inpotatoes, turnips, sugar beets and laize."ulching is good to avoid erosion. But a livingplant cover in the top soil is luch better. Theirroots i.prove the water infiltration. Theyencourage the earthworl population; they stopminerals and trace elelents frol leaching into thesubsoil as they get fixed into the 'growing 6".Crucifers are faster growing than legu.es andwithout risk of poor ger.ination. That's ilportantbecause the earlier you get the soil covered thebetter the protection against heavy rainfallbetween April and June. Only the living cover ofplants guarantees that the raindrops seep allayillediately after they strike the ground.As far aslIaterinfiltration is concerned, phacelia are best,IIhichlIasproved in lany cases in South Brazii.Although I have no slopes on ay land, I'e convincedthat I would have luvch higher iosses of mineralsduring the winter if I had not sOllnrye-grass andlustard.It's certainly true that crucifers are much easierto establish than legules. For example Iy vetch andthe bitter lupins failed cOlpletely last year.Vetch did not gereinate at all, because they weresown too deep. The lupins failed after gerlinationbecause there were no bacteria around lIith whichthey live in sYlbiotic relationship. ~eanwhile Igot a package of dried bacteria but have not triedthel yet. But establishlent depends a lot on yourlocation. Birds light like your lustard seed and Iwould not advise anyone to leave this seed on theopen ground. Mustard ger.inates tuch better if yourake it in. Living only 200 yards away frol theAtlantic ! found out that the ~rowth ,of lustard,spinach la very cheap seed on the continent) andeven faba beans (broad beans) are very poor when

1. Supplying the soil with orginic litter.The east obvious chiracteristic of i green linureis the provision of organic latter. A green linure"is supposed to produce an averige of "1.5 tonnes perhectare of dry latter {excluding rootsl. Ell FarlResearch Centre say it's even 4-5 tonnes~6reen lanures ilprove the regulation of the soil's'loisture regile. The rooting activity, whichbenefits of aeration and better 50il structure,facilitates easier drainage of excess loisture,whereas in dry conditions, shiding by 6" restrictssoil loisture evaporation."ost of the 6" are deep rooting. After cutting thelthe roots rot and becote an excellent subsoil-lanure and drainage-piping. G" breaks up difficultsoluble soil-nutrients and dislocates thel frol thesubsoi1.There is one part in IY garden which has verylight, sandy clay. Nice ind eisy to clein butcausing severe problels during the dry periods inApril and July '82. "ustard was certainly a helpalthough even the lustard suffered a lot. This yearI gave this patch an extra IOid of farl yard lanure

"

JUST:I:CEPARTY\ -one world

-one people-one god

,

EQb!I!~BbB!~§~ 1.The right to work2.The right to Home Ownership3.The right to a say and share at work

B~~Q§~I§~QLThat the foremost problem in the world is the threatof pollution to all Life on Earth

Apply to join: Ubi Dwyer~3 Gowrie Park~DunLaoghaire

~~!~~t~~tRtDependent childreR and working 10thers-FREEjothers £l;For those who can afford it:£S

3. Supplying the soil with·nutrients and traceelelents.Most ilportant for the supply of nutrients to ourcrops is the availability of nutrients in differentfertilizers at the ti.e the crop needs the. .ost.Experilents with root crops show that a co.binationof far. yard lanure and an interlediate greeneanure releases a .uch higher dose of M to thesubsequent crop during the lain growing period thanpure FVM or pure 6M does.6M MAKES THE BEST USE OF FARM YARD "AMURE.Through its rooting activity .any ilportant plantnutrients and linerals are absorbed into thetissues of green lanure. Following incorporationinto the soil and the subsequent deco'position,these nutrients beeole available to the next crop.One hectare of crucifers produces a .ini.uI of 1.5tonnes dry latter which contains 45 kilos oforganic fixed N.Legulinous crops fix hardly soluble lineralsespecially phosphate and trace ele.ents and -different to the erueifers and grasses - they dofix nitrogen frol the atlosphere through thesy.biotic relationship of their root nodules withrhizobia bacteria. The dry latter of 4 tonnes/perhectare faba beans contains 10fe than 150 kilos N,4S kilos phosphate,lS0 kilos potash, 96 kilos CaOand IS kilos "gO.Manuring faba beans would not i.prove theircapacities of fixing nutrients fro. soil and air.By the way, 100 kilos n/ha are sufficient toproduce 5 tonnes !ha rye or 4.5 tonnes /hectarewh.eat.

4. Ilproved soil cultivation.Seeds in our days produce only very shallow growingroots.They are not able to unlock nutrients incOlpacted so~ls or at depth. How different arelegules and crucifers which have lainly deeprooting systels (taproots).How does 6" effect the living conditions forearthworls, the lost ilportant natural gift forbreaking up the soiI? Best conditions for earthwor.s are·provided by clover covered soil, followedby crucifers and phacelia while grass cOles onlylist. Earthworls get killed by ultravioletradiation, IIhereasa lulch of green ••nures providefeed for thel and protects thel frol UVR.Research results show that it is of disadvantage toplough in a SK which is ready for 'harvesting'. Vouwill have a better subsequent lain crop when the 6Mis only raked into the surface. It is ilportantthat the 6" crop should not be allowed to becoletoo lature and woody, as this can considerably 51011

down deco.position. In such a case, the C:N ratioof the laterial becoles so wide that additional Nis required. This lay cause a telporary nitrogendeficiency in the soil affecting the subsequentcrop.I've never tried to sow any vegetable seed into a6"-lulch and I reckon it's nearly i.possible to getsuch a bed clean enough. But there is certainly nOproble. to transplant any brassica, tOlatoes,cuculber seedlings into a harvested 6" bed. ButIhlt,ytr yOI chtGtt I. IR inter.ediate green .anurecrop (Iustlrd, faba beans, spinach)you can't expect a sufficient height of 6" (S" atleast) before May lOth, which is late for a veryearly brassica crop.This year I left a band of lustard and broad beansbetween 2 rows of early brassicas, which I plantedin the first week of May. The lustard is a useful

they are sown before St. Patrick's Day or afterSeptelber 15th. (901 of this year's faba beansprouts were picked by crows, but ca.e again for asecond tile.)

~~r ~!if~~r~!45p each+26p postage. 10 for £3.50

100 for £30.00

~~~g!?!30p each+26p postage10 for £2.50 .100 for £20.00

HELP STOP NUCLEAR DUMPING

Order badges and~ar stickers,slogan 'CLEAN SEAS PLEASE'Fro.:HOPE, The Anchor, Bantry, Co. Cor k ,

10

wind shelter for the brassica seedlings as well asfor the broad beans, which hopefully fix somenitrogen before 1 cut them in June to make space

, for a row of broccoli.

5. Green lanures and weeds and pests.In general 6" are fast growers. Faster than weeds.And so 6" are reducing the opportunities weeds havefor establishing themselves. Crucifers and grassesare in the beginning faster than clovers andtrefoil. Crucifers consist of substances whichblock the growth of crucifer-weeds. There is avery remarkable relation between cultured grassesand weed grasses, especially scutch (quick grass,Agropyron repensJ. COlparing the yields ofdifferent grasses when sown together with scutchgrass, the.• annual 'Weidel-grass Billion' is noteffected at all by the cOlpetition of scutch and'Billion' blOCKS it to a very high extent.Pity that 1 didn't know it 2 years earlier. Couldhave had a nice tile watching Billion cOlbQttingscutch. Instead of that I found it extrelely labourintensive to keep the weed under control at a tilewhen the soil was full of these nice weeds, likeduck leaves and scutch grass and Iy mustard inbetween. So you can only use the advantage of theweed suppressing effect of 6M when the ~round isalready cultivated.Crucifers encourage nematodes when sown beforespinach or beetroot.

6. Green lanures and yields of the subsequent laincrop.There has been only very little research on theyield effects of G" to the subsequent crop. Thereare only a few reliable results: legules areincreasing the yields of wheat luch lore thancrucifers do. While less N-depending crops likeSUller barley respond luch lor-e positively tocrucifers.

7. 6" and costs.Nhen you are purely looking at M-fixation you canhardly win with crucifers when you think of thecosts for seed and extra labour for sowing.Vouspend twice as luch for seed and labour as what yougain as N-fertilizer. (labour costs based on 6erlanwages. JCOlparing the costs of 6" and the value offertilizer they produce, you gain £30/hectare withan undersowing of legules. The value of anintermediate crop of faba beans covers the costs.(Figures based on prices for artificialfertilizers~ J6" avoids to a certain extent ploughing, so yousave diesel and labour costs.I can't confirl the last point f·ora patch of landwhich was covered with·rye-grass during the last

winter. There was no other May of cleaning the landfor the following crop than by plouQhinQ. HarrowinQand rotovating (5hp rotivatorJ failed. But it's'true that there is never a necessity of digging orploughing in autuln, when you are sowing your G"after harvesting the lain crop. You'll always havea deep, loosened living soil in the next spring.

Ell Farls booklet 'Green "anures' is a lust foreveryone who is seriously interested in using G". Ithink it costs only Eng.£1.S0, Ell Fara ResearchCentre, Halstead Marshall, Nr. Newbury, BerkshireRG1S OHR, Great Britain. The booklet gives goodbasic inforaation as well as tables about thecharacteristics of various 6":

+ ease of establishment and growing+ speed of growth+ depth of rooting+ root productionigreen laterial production+ N-fixation+ resistance to drought+ ease of utilisation.

There are tables about seeding rates, sowing tile,sowing depths, production of N P K CA "g/per acre,residues of N P K after harvest, undersowing intunnels.

Unfortunately there doesn't exist an Irish seedmerchant who is dealing.with GM. I'll write toWyartt Seeds,Stone Cottage, Beyton, Bury St.Edlunds, Suffolk, for actual prices of various 6"to be published in the next Newsletter. I suggestto order in bulk through my address: Dirk Flake,Aughinish, Kinvara, Co. Galway.

THE LAWS OF CREATION'We are standing at the threshold of a new epoch in the spiritualdevelopment of man', The new insightsalone of technology and thefindings of parapsychology (PSI), with all the consequences arisingfrom them, compel us to change our view of the Universe and ofhuman life, and to lift our gaze beyond narrowly-drawn concepts.

'Questions as to the meaning of life, questions regarding the whenceand the whither ,questions concerning the active Laws of Crea tion,are.today more urgent then ever before!

'Leading scientists are agreed that behind the world of phenomenaknown to us there are vast forces at work which make Creationappear to man in new, undreamed-of dimensions. All this compelsus to review our conception of the Universe to correspond with thechanged realities, the new recognitions and manifold observations,'(From the booklet: How is it that we Live after Death available freefrom: The Grail Movement of Ireland, 20 Leeson Park Avenue,Dublin 6,

11

SMALLHOLDING with farmhouse,in sound basic condition,ESBand water,unmodernised on two and a half acres of woodedand arable land.For quick sale at £8,500.

P.Kilroy,Togher,Dunmanway,Co.Cork.

FOR SALE!'72 VW van,lefthand drive.Yellow(post),tow hinge.Contact:Reiner Marcinkowski,Derrycon-West,Shannon,Co.Clare.

I

DRYAD four shaft table loom (20 inches) for sale withsome yarn.Elaine O'Connor.Phone Boyle 579.

SMALLHOLDING. 4 bed bungalow on 1 acre. Kitchen-diner, sitting room, bathroom. Mod cons. Buildings suitablegoats-pigs. Garden, fruit trees. Reasonable. 7 milesWaterford.Molly Hall,Moonveen,Carrigeen,Waterford. Tel. 051 95194

WANTED: Small polythene tunnel (or frame) ;electricfencing unit;yard/pillar/council/roadside water pump forshallow well. Keating,Cloonduff,Rosenallis,Co.Laois.Phone 0502/28646

-DO YOU FANCY a working weekend on an organic farm?Opportunities exist on about 35 farms in Ireland to learnabout organic gardening and farming in your spare time.In exchange for work members receive free accomodationand food. Membership costs £2 and a stamped addressedenvelope.

Contact WWOOF-Gilly,Carrigleigh,Shanballymore,Mallow,Co:Cork.

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