Occold - Heritage

Around two hundred years ago a new theory of man v nature took hold as a dogma. It became accepted by the scientific, political and religious establishment. It predicted, with mathematical certainty, a catastrophe for mankind due to his own sins. It may sound rather familiar again today. Not unlike the latest doom laden edict from the UEA (University of Environmental Armageddon?).

The dogma, the “Malthusian Principle of Population”, went something like this: because of human lust, population grows geometrically but, because of the limitations of available land, food production can only increase linearly; hence periodic mass world starvation will be visited upon our planet. It was a bit like simple & compound interest. If you saved £100 at say 2%, after 10 years there would only be pennies between the total amounts whether it was simple or compound interest. But after fifty eight years the difference between the two would be the original £100.

Not surprisingly Malthus didn’t get human lust wrong and sure enough world population did increase geometrically; indeed faster than he predicted more like the ‘hockey stick’ graph so beloved of today’s global alarmists. There was local starvation caused by politics and wars in various localities in the world, but no world wide mass starvation. Food production outstripped even the rapid growth of population.

And Suffolk was the cradle of the agricultural revolution that achieved that vast increase in agricultural productivity. The mechanisation of agriculture initiated by the likes of Garretts & Ransomes kick started this process but the realisation that crops needed certain key inorganic elements (Nitrogen, Phosphorous & Potassium) to be readily available to their roots in order to be productive, was the miracle that has fed the six billion.

The world’s first complete superphosphate works was built in Paper Mill Lane Bramford in 1854 and in 1929 a colossal works with its own deep water quay was built at Cliff Quay in Ipswich.

I grew up in its smelly shadow and spent many happy hours crawling through the broken fence and rolling around the empty (well nearly) acid carboys.

Artificial fertilizers became widely recognised as a great benefactor of mankind. Alfred Woods, of Red House Farm Occold (a farmhouse now under the restaurant at HLS), certainly, made headlines in 1901 when he won the world championship for malt barley at the Brewer’s Exhibition in London. A complementary dinner was given him at the Bell Hotel, Norwich, by Prentice Bros. of Stowmarket. In his speech, Mr. Woods

“attributed his success as a barley grower to the judicious manuring of the soil, and he eulogized the qualities of Messrs. Prentice Bros. fertilizer.” #

Prentice of Stowmarket joined up with Packard of Bramford, Fison of Ipswich and Fison of Thetford to become the giant Fisons plc which proceeded to gobble up most of the UK industry. Having provided the techniques which fed the world (and overfed the West) the striving risk-taking entrepreneurs of Fisons became tired risk-averse capitalists and in 1982 sold the massive fertilizer business (followed by the rest of the business) for a song.

Artificial fertilizers alone would not have put this huge increase in soil productivity into our mouths but for the subsequent development of crop protection chemicals which is the subject of part 2.

Andy Andrews

# Unpublished document THE WOOD’S OF EYE 1867-1902 by Mr P. Woods, 28 Rider Haggard Way, Ditchingham, Bungay, Suffolk and kindly provided by Mrs Pringle Snr