Farmers of Forty Centuries

Source data
Type	Book
Title	Farmers of Forty Centuries
Authors	F.H. King
Year	1909

In 1909, American agronomist F.H. King toured China, Korea and Japan for nine months, studying traditional fertilization, tillage and general farming practices. He wrote his observations and findings in Farmers of Forty Centuries, Or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan (1911, published shortly after his death by his wife, Carrie Baker King).^[1] King lived in an era preceding synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production and before the use of the internal combustion engine for farm machinery, yet he was profoundly interested in the challenge of farming the same soils in a 'permanent' manner, hence his interest in the agricultural practices of ancient cultures.

King's book has been influential on sustainable agriculture in the century since its publication.^[1] Lord Northbourne, an early advocate of organic agriculture, described it as a "classic" which "no student of farming or social science can afford to ignore".^[2] It is also one of the main works referenced in the early permaculture works by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison, and likely helped inspire the term "permaculture" itself.

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↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Paull, John (2011). The making of an agricultural classic: Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, 1911-2011. Agricultural Sciences 2 (3): 175–180
↑ Northbourne, L., 1940, Look to the land, J. M. Dent, London, p. 17, p. 55, apud Paull, John, "Permanent Agriculture: Precursor to Organic Farming", Elementals: Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, no.83, pp. 19–21, 2006.

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Page data
Keywords	farming, agriculture, sustainable agriculture, fertilizer, tillage
SDG	SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
Authors	Ethan
License	CC-BY-SA-3.0
Location	China Japan Korea
Language	English (en)
Related	8 subpages, 11 pages link here
Impact	495 page views
Created	September 27, 2015 by Ethan
Modified	December 6, 2023 by Felipe Schenone
Cite as	Ethan (2015–2023). "Farmers of Forty Centuries". Appropedia. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
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[King-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Paull, John (2011). The making of an agricultural classic: Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, 1911-2011. Agricultural Sciences 2 (3): 175–180

[2] Northbourne, L., 1940, Look to the land, J. M. Dent, London, p. 17, p. 55, apud Paull, John, "Permanent Agriculture: Precursor to Organic Farming", Elementals: Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, no.83, pp. 19–21, 2006.

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