Historic Soil Conservation at Malabar Farm, 1939-1972 THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with Honors Research Distinction in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University By Anneliese Marie Abbott Undergraduate Research in Horticulture and Crop Science The Ohio State University 2016 Dr. James Metzger, Advisor Copyrighted by Anneliese Marie Abbott 2016 Abstract The soil conservation movement of the 1940s and ‘50s was one of the most important historical events in the 20th century, yet is often overlooked in discussions about future sustainability. A wealth of information was written about soil conservation during this time which is not readily available to the general public today. The goal of this research was to compile some of this underutilized information about historic soil conservation, focused specifically on Malabar Farm in northeast Ohio, and to emphasize the importance of this history in current sustainability discussions. Archival research was conducted primarily in the Louis Bromfield Collection at the OSU Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, with additional archival research at the Ohio History Center and a site visit to Malabar Farm State Park. Pulitzer prize-winning author Louis Bromfield established Malabar Farm in 1939, experimented with new soil conservation methods, and demonstrated how these innovative techniques could make worn-out land productive once more. By giving tours of Malabar Farm and writing several books about it, Bromfield used his literary fame and fortune to inform the general public about conservation agriculture in a way that could not be done by university experiment stations. After Bromfield died in 1956, the farm was managed by non-profit organizations until it became an Ohio State Park in 1972, which it remains to this day. This historic soil conservation movement had such a profound effect on modern agriculture that today its results are often taken for granted. Many farmers do not understand the importance of soil conservation and are beginning to revert to the unsustainable practices that caused catastrophic soil degradation in the past. It is critical to remember the lesson learned at Malabar Farm: to give soil health top priority in farming in order to maintain productivity and prevent collapse of the agricultural system. ii Acknowledgements A research project of this magnitude could not be accomplished alone, and I am very grateful to the numerous individuals who helped make this research a reality. I would like to thank everyone in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Room at OSU for being so helpful and teaching me how to do research with archived materials. This includes Dr. Geoffrey Smith, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, who was the first one to tell me about the Louis Bromfield Collection and helped me get started; Rebecca Jewett, Assistant Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, who helped me find materials and gave me information on copyright rules and citations; and the students working in the Rare Book Room who were always very helpful and efficient in finding materials, checking them out to me, and guiding me through the paperwork involved in examining the manuscripts. I would also like to thank the staff at the Ohio History Center for helping me find information on Friends of the Land. This research really came alive to me when I had the opportunity to actually visit Malabar Farm State Park. I would like to thank Tom Bachelder, “retired” park guide and historian, for spending an entire day with me, giving me a behind-the-scenes tour of the Big House, answering all my questions about obscure historical facts, and commenting on my manuscript. I am also very grateful to Korre Boyer, the manager of Malabar Farm State Park, for taking over half a day out of his busy schedule to give us a private Gator tour of the park and for opening up all the buildings that were locked for me. The generous support of many scholarship donors enabled me to attend OSU and conduct this research. I would like to thank the Roy M. Kottman Scholars Program, the Wilhelm and Eleanor Beckert scholarship Fund, the Thomas B. Kyle Scholarship Fund, the Roy O. Becker Crop Science Scholarship Fund, and the other donors whose contributions made my education and this project possible. I am very grateful to my advisor, Dr. James Metzger, for giving me the flexibility to do a project that is a little atypical for the Horticulture and Crop Science Department, and for agreeing to be my undergraduate research advisor in addition to my academic advisor. I am also grateful to Dr. Pat Whittington, the CFAES Honors Program Coordinator, for being flexible with the research requirements and approving this project, and for Dr. Peg McMahon for her comments on the manuscript. Lastly, I would like to thank my mother, Caroline Abbott, for accompanying me on my trip to Malabar Farm and also for encouraging me that it was all right to be different and do what I really wanted to do for my undergraduate research project. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 5 Vanishing Land: The Soil Conservation Crisis of the 1930s-‘40s .............................................. 13 Louis Bromfield ............................................................................................................................ 23 The Restoration Years: Malabar From 1940-1945 ...................................................................... 30 Friends of the Land ....................................................................................................................... 36 The Golden Age of Malabar: 1946-1955 ..................................................................................... 47 Sadness Comes to Malabar: The Death of Louis Bromfield ....................................................... 58 Malabar is Saved: The Friends of the Land Purchase Malabar ................................................... 62 Bright Hopes for Malabar: Friends of the Land Operate Malabar, 1957-1958 ........................... 68 A Controversial Decision: Formation of the Louis Bromfield Malabar Farm Foundation ......... 73 The End of Friends of the Land .................................................................................................... 80 Malabar under Dr. Floyd Chapman: 1959-1962 .......................................................................... 86 The Years of Neglect: 1963-1971 ................................................................................................ 91 A New Beginning: The State Takes Over Malabar Farm, 1972 .................................................. 98 Preserving Bromfield’s Legacy: Malabar Farm State Park Today and Tomorrow ................... 104 Why Did Malabar Farm Always Struggle Financially? ............................................................. 117 Conservation Then and Now ...................................................................................................... 124 Bromfield’s Farming Practices: Still Relevant Today ............................................................... 131 Conclusion: The Importance of Malabar Today ........................................................................ 138 Appendix A: Manifesto of Friends of the Land ......................................................................... 140 Appendix B: The Saginaw FFA and Farmers’ Trip to Malabar Farm ....................................... 143 Appendix C: Letters From Louis Bromfield About Establishing an Ecological Center ........... 153 Appendix D: “What about Malabar?” by Paul B. Sears ............................................................ 159 iv Appendix E: Letter from Dr. Jonathan Forman to Ollie Fink .................................................... 163 Appendix F: Report to FOL Board of Directors by Ollie Fink .................................................. 166 References ................................................................................................................................... 170 v Table of Figures Figure 1: Map of Ohio showing the location of Malabar Farm. .................................................... 3 Figure 2: Timeline of major events at Malabar Farm from 1939-1972 ......................................... 4 Figure 3: Typical page of notes taken in Gregg Shorthand ........................................................... 7 Figure 4: The author in one of Bromfield's Jeeps at Malabar Farm .............................................. 8 Figure 5: The famous spring that still supplies water to the roadside vegetable stand .................