herbicides: a rant

I know I'm definitely in the minority, but I'd like to say a word about
herbicides.

My basic principle is--I'm agin 'em.

If you can't weed your garden by hand, maybe you have too much garden.

We have already seen how the creation of strong selective pressures through
the use of antibiotics have produced new strains of bacteria that are
resistant to just about everything we can throw at them.  This happened in
around 50 years.  Vancomycin is our last antibiotic defense against
Staphylococcus aureus, a major wound-infecting bacterium that causes
serious problems and many fatalities in hospitals (post-surgery).  Now
vancomycin-resistant Staph have been reported in Japan and North America,
just 8 years after the antibiotic was introduced.

Similarly, insects (whiteflies are a case in point) have developed
resistances to many of the most heavily-used insecticides.  Why? Because we
have saturated the environment with them, so it now becomes crucial to
their survival to have genetic resistance.  Charles Darwin would be ashamed
of our ignorance, but of course we hesitate to teach natural selection in
our schools because it is "controversial" for a few.  Turns out it might
have been helpful to know about it....

Bacteria multiply rapidly and have enormous populations, so they can
develop resistance fast.  Insects are a little slower, so they are next.
Weeds (and this is the point) are slower still, but from reports out of the
tropics and Europe, the super-weeds are on the way--resistant to pretty
much every herbicide.

Meanwhile, what do these substances, repeatedly applied, do to desirable
plants, to animals and to us?  Do we know what low concentrations of (yes)
Surflan and other similar compounds, in combination, and repeatedly
exposed, can do to animal or human life?  We are assured they are "safe,"
but these assurances come from an establishment that is bought and paid for
by the companies that make the chemicals.  The "revolving door" between
agribusiness, the ag schools, and the USDA is well documented.

We're now living Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring.'  My garden this month is
full of flowers.  Five years ago it would also have been full of bees.
This afternoon, a disturbing quietude...no eager buzzing.  Indiscriminate
application of insecticides nearly has wiped out our native bees (mason
bees and the like) which pollinated the native flora.  Bumblebees are
everywhere in decline.  And now our domestic companion, the honeybee, has
succumbed to parasites and disease.  The destruction of habitat and
wintering grounds in the tropics has cut deeply into songbird populations.
There are fewer species at our feeders, and fewer individuals of them.

The mill of nature grinds slowly, but it grinds exceeding fine.  The
momentum of our actions of a few decades ago is catching up to us.

It is my intention to use insecticides and fungicides only when absolutely
necessary, and never to use herbicides.  I'm into growing plants--why
should I spread about substances that destroy them?  Millions of pounds of
insecticides and other potentially harmful substances are dispensed
annually by home gardeners like us.

So let's get a grip on this.  Please limit your use of agricultural
chemicals to the minimum possible.  Each of us must take individual action
to save our common heritage--the natural world.

OK--that's off my chest.  Let the flaming begin!

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
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