a short history of agricultural education and research

A Chronology of Agricultural Education and Research1669 John Worlidge (1640–1700), a pioneering Hampshire agriculturalist, publishedhis Systema Agriculturæ, or the Mystery of Husbandry Discovered which was thefirst systematic treatment of farming, both arable and livestock, which drew onand considerably developed the somewhat vague works of the previous century.The chapter on cider was later expanded as a separate work, VinetumBritannicum, or, A Treatise of Cider. He was one of the first to discuss theimportance of farming as an industry and developed designs for a seed drillwhich Jethro Tull (see 1731) developed and put into practice.1723 Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in ScotlandThis society gained its impetus largely from one Robert Maxwell (1695-1765)and was concerned with the spread of knowledge to allow farmers to better theiragricultural practices. Few publications were released and in later years Maxwellswitched his attention over to the Edinburgh Society for the Encouragement ofArts, Sciences, Manufactures, and Agriculture (see 1737).1745 Dissolved.1730sViscount Charles Townshend (1674-1738) introduced the four-year croprotation system (wheat, barley, turnips and clover) to his estate at Raynham Hall,Norfolk, and to Britain, at some point between his retirement from nationalpolitics in 1730 and his death. It should be noted that he did not invent thissystem, it having been used in Europe, probably first in the Waasland area ofFlanders, since the 16 th century. Nor did he introduce the turnip, from which hegained his widely known nickname, Turnip Townshend. He did, however,popularise its widespread planting as a key element of the four-year system.1731 The New Horse-hoeing Husbandry, or an Essay on the Principles of Tillage andVegetation by Jethro Tull (1674-1741) must be mentioned as one of the earliestagricultural publications to gain relatively wide coverage and for the fame of itsauthor, but its theory that ploughing without fertilisation could produce the bestsoil did not stand long without detractors (see Dickson, 1762). Berkshire bornTull, who farmed in Oxfordshire after his marriage, also developed andpopularised the use of the seed drill, although almost certainly did not invent itfrom scratch (see John Worlidge, 1669).1737 Edinburgh Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Sciences, Manufacturesand AgricultureEstablished as a subsidiary of the Select Society, this group was set up by AllanRamsay (1713-1784) to encourage all aspects of debate ‘apart from revealedreligion and Jacobitism’.11