Charles Walters was the founder and executive editor of Acres U.S.A, a magazine he started in 1971 to spread the word of eco-agriculture. A recognized leader in the field of raw materials-based economic research and sustainable food and farming systems, this confirmed maverick saw one of his missions as to rescue lost knowledge. Perhaps the most important were the papers of Dr. William A. Albrecht, whose low profile obscured decades of brilliant work in soil science. Albrecht’s papers, which Walters rescued from the historical dustbin and published in an initial four volumes, continue to provide a rock-solid foundation for the scientific approach to organic farming. Additional volumes of Albrecht’s papers were organized and edited by Walters for later publication—the result is shown here with this book. During his life, Walters penned thousands of article on the technologies of organic and sustainable agriculture and is the author of more than two dozen books (and co-author of several more), including Eco-Farm: An Acres U.S.A. Primer, Weeds—Control Without Poisons, A Farmer’s Guide to the Bottom Line, Dung Beetles, Mainline Farming for Century 21 and many more. Charles Walters generously shared his vision, energy and passion through his writing and public speaking for more than 35 years and made it his lifelong mission to save the family farm and give farmers an operating manual that they couldn’t live without. The Albrecht Papers are an important part of this message. Charles Walters passed on in January 2009 at the age of 83.

About the Albrecht Papers

When the first volume of these papers was issued, no one could foresee the possibility of recovering and publishing all the papers of this great scientist. For this reason the organization of these papers has not followed Dr. Albrecht’s work in a calendar sequence, meaning the order of study and investigation. Instead the papers have been organized into topic themes.

Here the papers have been grouped to best focus attention and allowed to reciprocate the values upon which all of Albrecht’s work.

A Special Note

William A. Albrecht’s biography is his work. A detailed recap of his personal life has never been accomplished largely because the published record of his scientific findings overshadow the quiet habits and even the extensive travels made necessary by his eminence. A chapter in A Life in the Day of an Editor, by the editor of this volume, enlarges the few geographical notes left on tape by Albrecht, a few paragraphs of which are repeated herein.