Louis Bromfield (1896–1956)

When the approach of war forced bestselling novelist Louis Bromfield to leave France in the late thirties, he chose to settle with his family in the area where he had grown up, near Mansfield, Ohio. In this book he writes about the group of farms he bought to live on and work, and his approach to restoring the soil from the erosion and damage caused by the non-sustainable farming techniques of some of his predecessors there. There is a lot about mulch and legumes and water management and the show more evils of deep ploughing, but there are also Bromfield’s lyrical reflections on the nature of Ohio, and on some of his less destructive neighbours (plus some distinguished fore-runners, like the semi-legendary Johnny Appleseed), as well as some rather less measured reflections on the evils of mid-20th century American society (as compared to France, for instance).

Sometimes Bromfield seems to forget that he’s a wealthy and well-connected man who can afford to do experimental agriculture at a time of food and labour shortages, and sees himself as though he were some kind of peasant revolutionary, so the book can be a bit irritating, but elsewhere it is very interesting to see his way of working, always taking a close look at what might be going on when something they have done on the farm produces a surprisingly good or bad result. It’s not quite rigorous scientific testing, but obviously a worthwhile attempt at bringing scientific methods into everyday work. Bromfield’s key mantra seems to be about alertness to the specific local factors that often mean a textbook technique may not be the most appropriate for the place where you happen to be farming.

I’m not an expert on organic farming, but I found this very interesting, and I enjoyed sharing the great pleasure Bromfield obviously took in doing a good job in a lovely place. show less

Part author, part farmer Louis Bromfield was well known as a conservationist who won the Pulitzer Prize as well as pioneering innovative farming concepts. His short stories of Animals & Other People was originally published in 1955, and he often refers to growing up in the ealy part of the century. What shines through in this book is his love of his thousand acre farm in Ohio. The lush valley, deep woods and fertile farmland that is inhabited by rabbits, raccoons, foxes, skunks, deer and his show more own assorted animals, Boxers, spaniels, cats, chickens, cows and horses. This is writing at it’s finest, his descriptions are inviting and rich and each animal that he writes about has his own distinct personality.

The book opens with a story from his years of living in France. He describes the pets that his family had adopted and explains how the family turned from mostly having Scottie dogs to owning Boxers. At the same time this story introduces Rikky, a meercat that Bromfield brings home from India. Forced to leave France due to WW II, and leave Rikky behind, Bromfield, his family and many of his pets reestablished themselves at Malabar Farm.

This collection of stories about living the rural life is a delight for all ages. Wild and domestic animals fill the pages along with interesting characters who are “teched” as Bromfield labels people, himself included, who have a love of animals and an inner sense that makes them able to be one with nature.
A great book to pick up and put down, and pick up again. show less

The book is a mix of farm dairy passages during WWII and editorialized editions from a few years later. It’s interesting that many of the arguments made are still being made today (not abusing the land and soil, the struggles of small family farms to compete with large companies, etc). The political commentary is also interesting (lots of discussion about the New Deal). The comments about black folks not being stupid but just not having been ‘civilized’ properly might have sounded show more almost progressive to white northerners, but now just sound racist. Without the racism, I’d probably give the book four stars (I found the agriculture parts really engaging) but one can’t ignore parts of a work that we find reprehensible. As a piece of history, it’s worth reading, but only through a modernized lens. I’ve chosen not to rate it at all. show less

Bromfield wrote during the 1920-50's, much like Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald; although his style is much different. The book, The Green Bay Tree is the story of deep evocative change during the time period of 1880-WWI. One could read this story today and believe it was written about today's society; it's timeless. It's the story of an unnamed steel mill town (ostensibly Pittsburgh), the matron of Cypress Hill and her 2 daughters, one a societal flirt and the other a wanna be nun. Throw show more into the mix a Russian union agitator, the Governor of the State, a child born out of wedlock, and you have the makings of a great story and imho Bromfield serves it up well. The book does not even hint at the title, but other critics claim it was taken from Psalm 37:35 "I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree."

More on the author, he was one of the first environmentalists and wrote many agriculture books on farming and saving the soil. Both Hemmingway and Fitzgerald called him "Brommie" and said he wrote stories for their grandmothers.

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married on Bromfield's farm, Malabar, in front of the piano. Today the house is a museum and the piano is still there.

This was a timelessly-themed classic and a work of superior prose. I'm only giving it 4 1/2 stars because I could not figure out the reason for the title! 352 pages show less