Agriculture Course translated
Agriculture In English
George Kaufman Adams translated the Agriculture course at Maurice Wood’s Sleights Farm near Huby in Yorkshire, England. The copies were typed out by Marna Pease with carbon copies and each copy was numbered and only given out to anthroposophists who promised not to share the contents. This continued beyond 1938 when Ehrenfried Pfeiffer published the existing research as ‘Biodynamic Farming and Gardening; Soil Fertility Renewal and Preservation‘. The lifting of this restriction was suggested from Dornach in 1946 – see below – but the lectures were not available to the public until 1963 – the year of George Adams‘ death.
” … it was at that time that George Kaufman translated Dr. Steiner’s Agricultural Course. He did it staying with the Woods at Huby Farm. Each day in the lunch hour when Maurice came in from the farm George would read to him what he had translated during the morning. In after years Maurice would tell how he came in each day with endless expectancy and how the reality always surpassed his expectations. Those he would say were the most golden days of his life.
These lectures were not freely available and were only given out to a few people. Each copy was numbered. They were typed; just the diagrams photographed, and were bound. About twenty years later George Corrin revised these lectures. He copied the diagrams from the originals when he was in Dornach. These were printed in colour. He took great care over the whole job. The lectures were properly printed and bound and were by that time freely available.”
Creeger & Gardner say that – “Until 1963 the text of this Course was reserved as internal working material for members of the Agricultural Experimental Circle” (p264 Note 8)
The UK Experimental Circle report dated 23-9-1946 noted:
“Since the last meeting was held and the 6th Report issued, Frau Marie Steiner and the Natural Science Section at the Goetheanum have decided to lift the restrictions hitherto imposed on the distribution of this Course and to make it available like other lecture Cycles. This decision will have important repercussion upon the future work of our Circle, and we shall have to discuss this very fully at the Conference in October.”