Green cloth binding with black title on the spine.

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• Note: This book carries a £5.00 discount to those that subscribe to the F.B.A. mailing list

This is a ‘must’ for all farmers’ basic understanding.

F.H. Billington’s Compost for Garden Plot or Thousand-Acre Farm, published by Faber & Faber in 1942 (and revised/reprinted in later years), is a seminal, practical guide focused on organic soil management and composting techniques. It provided early, actionable, and scalable methods for building humus to improve soil health on both small and large scales, often cited in agricultural history.

Context: Written during World War II, the book aligns with the organic farming movement, focusing on self-sufficiency and restoring soil fertility without chemical fertilizers.
Key Themes: The book offers practical instructions for composting materials, including methods for handling large quantities for farm use. It highlights the role of humus in soil ecology, including observations on fungal activity in soil decomposition.
Significance: It is noted for providing practical advice rather than just theory and was sometimes recommended for its summary of essential composting principles.

The book is sometimes misattributed, but primary references indicate it was written by F.H. Billington, not Ben Easey.

NOTE: This is an original  book from the library gathered by the famous Cambridge Don, computer scientist, food and wine connoisseur, Jack Arnold LANG. Note: Jack founded the Michelin Guide ‘Midsummer House’- Cambridge’s paramount restaurant. This dining experience is hidden amongst the grassy pastures and grazing cattle of Midsummer Common and perched on the banks of the River Cam. 

In 2008, Jack was one of the co-founders of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, alongside other members of the Department, and acted as the Foundation’s Chair. The project’s original goals were modest: to build and distribute low-cost computers for prospective applicants to our Computer Science degree. Initially the project was a “success disaster”, as Jack would say, as demand far outstripped the low-scale manufacturing plans. Ultimately the Raspberry Pi became the UK’s most successful computer with more than 60 million sold to date. Jack was drawn to the educational possibilities of the Raspberry Pi, its potential uses in emerging economies and the way it could support self-directed learning.