Pesticides and Fertilisers in Farming ¦ Farming and the Environment

If you're confused between the Green Revolution and the Green Movement, Ron Taylor's introduction will demystify you before risking confusion again by rigging the definition of pests to include weeds! Actually this is a useful device as it allows all agri-poisons to be discussed together, and we get a brisk treatment of the 'need' for pesticides before the team turns trenchantly to their dangers and the benefits of employing natural predators. Fertilisers get the last seven pages of the 32, enough space to distinguish between artificial and natural and examine the pollution potential of both.

Simple text, helpful typography and clear diagrams make this easy to read and understand and useful for older children of lesser ability. But simple though it is, it spurs further thought with such observations as that although only one in every ten thousand insect species is a 'pest', 35% of all the pesticide used in the USA goes on just one species - the boll-weevil. No wonder they write songs about it!

More song topics - dustbowls and slurry (with a tinge on top) come in Lambert's addition to an already excellent series. A workmanlike treatment of the effects of mankind's over-intense intrusion on and manipulation of his surroundings is soberly presented, with plenty of examples of good management as well as bad. There's not a lot to get excited about here - organic farming, for instance, gets barely a page - but there are plenty of leads to follow up and a good bibliography and address list to help. A useful addition to a secondary school library.