Letters
The stubble's for burning
Sir: I am somewhat irritated by Richard Ingrams and P.J. Kavanagh, who litly,e both recently had a moan about stubble burning when it is quite obvious that neither of them has a clue why it is carried out. Mr lngrams, you are wrong — stubble burning is not 'recent': my grandfather used it as standard agricultural practice before you were born. Mr Kavanagh, Y°tI are 'criticising what you don't understand', for you make no attempt to explain the function of stubble burning before objecting to it. Here's why it takes place. One we produce enough surplus straw per annuni t° make 5,500,000 bales, most of it wheat straw. Even assuming that we could fill° the labour, time and money to bale, stack, haul and.store these theoretical bales, v" would would we do with them? Wheat stray,' ls indigestible. Two: stubble burning is a veil' effective method of controlling weed sou populations. Three: when used with direct drilling and minimal cultivation systents' especially on heavy land, it is essential t° establishing a seed bed, as well as (1011 helping incalculably to build up arb' encourage good soil structure and texture, — i.e. good humus retention afiu earthworm populations, no plough Palls' no destruction of soil structure cultivating equipment, little or no oil compaction or deflocculation. Five: it is the best way of naturally controlling carrY-13ver, of fungal spores, especially of the cereal diseases septoria spp, net bIldew rhynchosporium, eyespot spp and mi spp, whose destructive effects on cereal crops should be known to everyone vl'it° eats. And so on and so on. The attitude of 'Yes, but it doesn't I ecik cl nice for us walkers' can, I'm sure, be trace._ right back to Wordsworth, who, althougdn he was a great observer of 'nature' an people, appears to have understood very little of rural industry: and there is onlY °rie piece of evidence of him ever having(1°41 any country work, or any work, in his h which I quote: 'I struck and with a single blow, The tangled root I severed, At which the poor old man so long And vainly had endeavoured.' Simon Lee, 1798 So please remember, gentlemen, that stubble burning is an essential means helping to establish next year's food suPp,'Y' a tirinrge Don't think it's fun, either: after harvest it's yet another job to do befor. starting to drill the winter corn in Septernbe Tom Thatcher
Buxbury Farmhouse, Sutton Mandeville, Salisbury, Wiltshire
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