Quote:
Originally Posted by FishermanTim
I hope I am remembering the facts correctly, but isn't the Delaware River suffering from this plight?
The fertilizer and animal waste are running off into the river, and has caused numerous fish kills and bacterial outbreaks in the fish populations where it enters the Chesapeake Bay area.
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Humus
without sufficient quantities of it (humus) in the soil
it cannot handle heavy rains
this is basically what comes out of the south end of an earthworm in the form of castings...and bacteria make it too...
just slower
without the earthworm burrows
there there's no freakin drainage holes
organic matter or
humus holds
ten times its weight in water
a virtual sponge...
chemical farming not only depletes the existing organic matter
but creates havoc....|LATER|
especially after the soil gets "
mined "of certain minerals that used to be there in abundance...
then weird diseases show up or bugs start finding the vegetation more appetizing due to these mineral deficiencies,,,
so the farmers have to spray even more insecticides or herbicides to get that big product that used to be easy to get originally.
a vicious circle 
now, ya take that same patch of ground and ya encourage worm growth and roto till in seaweed and compost and maple leaves real heavy along with grass clippings on top to keep it cool and weed free so that the worms thrive....and no chemical "run %$%$%$%$ fertilizer would even be required.
Run off would be drastically reduced and the soil wouldn't be laced with so many chemicals. Bugs hate seaweed spray and it gives the plants a special resistance to bug infestations.