Advanced search
Publication Cover
Annals of Science Volume 52, 1995 - Issue 5
Submit an article Journal homepage
141
Views
11
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Main articles

Agricultural research in Britain, 1850–1914: Failure, success and development

Paul Brassley Seale-Hayne Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Land Use, University of Plymouth, Newton Abbot, TQ12 6NQ, UK
Pages 465-480 | Received 10 Sep 1994, Published online: 23 Aug 2006

  • Olby , Robert . 1991 . Social Imperialism and State Support for Agricultural Research in Edwardian Britain . Annals of Science , 48 : 509 – 526 .
  • Wilmot , Sarah . 1990 . ‘The Business of Improvement’: Agriculture and Scientific Culture in Britain, c. 1700–c. 1870 , Historical Geography Research Series, No. 24 P. Palladino, ‘The Political Economy of Applied Research: Plant Breeding Research in Great Britain 1910–1940’, Minerva, 28 (1990), 446–68; P. Palladino, ‘Between Craft and Science: Plant Breeding, Mendelian Genetics, and British Universities, 1900–1920’, Technology and Culture, 34 (1993), 300–23; Robert Olby, ‘Scientists and Bureaucrats in the Establishment of the John Innes Horticultural Institution under William Bateson’, Annals of Science, 46 (1989), 497–510; Olby (note 1).
  • José Harris argues that this same period was one of significant change in many other ways, including demography, urban life, food production, retailing, finance, education, and culture, in Private Lives, Public Spirit: Britain 1870–1914 London 1994 252 253
  • Russell , E.J. 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain London J. D. Sykes, ‘Agriculture and Science’, in The Victorian Countryside, 2 vols, edited by G. E. Mingay (London, 1981), I, 260–72, and R. Brigden, Victorian Farms (Marlborough, 1986), 198–201, are among those who follow Russell.
  • Dyke , G.V. 1991 . John Bennet Lawes: The Record of his Genius Taunton idem, John Lawes of Rothamsted: Pioneer of Science, Farming and Industry (Harpenden, 1993).
  • Alter , Peter . 1987 . The Reluctant Patron: Science and the State in Britain 1850–1920 248 – 248 . Oxford
  • Grantham , G. 1984 . “ The Shifting Locus of Agricultural Innovation in Nineteenth-century Europe: The Case of the Agricultural Experiment Stations ” . In Technique, Spirit and Form in the Making of the Modern Economies. Essays in Honor of William N. Parker Edited by: Saxonhouse , G. and Wright , G. 191 – 214 . Greenwich in Research in Economic History, Supplement III (192); M. W. Rossiter, The Emergence of Agricultural Science: Justus Liebig and the Americans, 1840–1880 (New Haven and London, 1975).
  • Olby . 1991 . Social Imperialism and State Support for Agricultural Research in Edwardian Britain . Annals of Science , 48 : 510 – 511 . Alter (note 6)
  • Macdonald , S. 1981 . “ Model Farms ” . In The Victorian Countryside Edited by: Mingay , G.E. 214 – 226 . London in 2 vols argues persuasively that ‘At no time was the model farm of any great significance as a means of influencing even the effective innovation leaders, never mind the mass of the farming community’ (224).
  • Goddard , N. 1988 . Harvests of Change 96 – 96 . London
  • Lesser , W. and Lee , D.R. 1993 . “ Economics of Agricultural Research and Biotechnology ” . In Current Issues in Agricultural Economics Edited by: Rayner , A.J. and Colman , D. 179 – 179 . London
  • This has been the subject of a well-known controversy, some of the more significant work on which has been reprinted in British Agriculture, 1875–1914 Perry P.J. London 1973
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 97 – 100 . London It is commonly stated that Liebig's book was a report written at the request of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, but there is some doubt about whether this was in fact the case, according to W. H. Brock and S. Stark, ‘Liebig, Gregory, and the British Association, 1837–1842’, Ambix, 37 (1990), 134–47.
  • Russell , E.W. 1973 . Soil Conditions and Plant Growth , 10th edn 13 – 14 . London
  • This material was summarized in Hall A.D. The Book of the Rothamsted Experiments London 1905
  • This point is made in Dyke John Lawes of Rothamsted Harpenden 1993 74 74
  • Dyke . 1993 . John Lawes of Rothamsted 155 – 158 . Harpenden
  • Dyke . 1993 . John Lawes of Rothamsted 3 – 3 . Harpenden 6
  • Fussell , G.E. 1982 . James Finlay Weir Johnston, 1796–1855 . Agricultural Progress , 57 : 35 – 40 .
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 88 – 88 . London
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 116 – 122 . London I am grateful to an anonymous referee for this point.
  • Ordish , G. 1976 . The Constant Pest 153 – 153 . London
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 209 – 209 . London
  • Richards , S.A. 1982 . Agriculture Science in British Higher Education 1790–1914 , 117 – 122 . Unpublished MSc thesis, University of Kent at Canterbury .
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 244 – 246 . London 250, 392–94.
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 209 – 213 . London 260–63, 283–85; P. McDonald, R. A. Edwards and J. F. D. Greenhalgh, Animal Nutrition, 3rd edn (Edinburgh, 1981), 228–29.
  • Percival , J. 1900 . Agricultural Botany London W. Fream, ‘The Herbage of Pastures, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 3rd series, 1 (1890), 359–92.
  • Sheail , J. 1987 . Seventy-Five Years in Ecology: The British Ecological Society 54 – 55 . Oxford
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 219 – 219 . London
  • Hall , A.D. and Russell , E.J. 1911 . A Report on the Agriculture and Soils of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex , Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Miscellaneous Publication No. 12 London
  • Hudson , K. 1972 . Patriotism with Profit 119 – 119 . London
  • Whetham , E.H. 1981 . Agricultural Economists in Britain 1900–1940 1 – 40 . Oxford
  • See Russell E.J. A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain London 1966 and 5
  • Mepham , T.B. 1990 . The Emergence of Dairy Science in England . Paper presented to a conference on the history of agricultural science and education held at Rothamsted Experimental Station . May 12 1990 . Vol. 12 , I am grateful to Dr Mepham for supplying me with a copy of his paper.
  • Offer , A. 1991 . The First World War: An Agrarian Interpretation 101 – 101 . Oxford
  • Wilmot . 1990 . ‘The Business of Improvement’: Agriculture and Scientific Culture in Britain, c. 1700–c. 1870 , Historical Geography Research Series, No. 24 30 – 30 . similar conclusions for earlier and later periods are adduced by J. Lerner, ‘Science and Agricultural Progress: quantitative evidence from England 1660–1780’, Agricultural History, 66 (1992), 11–27 (12); and Palladino (note 2).
  • Ernle , Lord . 1961 . English Farming Past and Present , 6th edn London 364ff. The first edition of this work was published in 1912.
  • Anon. Science and Agriculture Nature 1879 20 189 190
  • Baldwin , T. 1875 . Scientific Agriculture . Nature , 13 : 101 – 101 . cf. Dyke's comment that his work on evaporation ‘did little to enhance Lawes’ reputation as a scientist’: Dyke John Lawes of Rothamsted (note 5), 45.
  • Caird , J. 1878 . General View of British Agriculture . Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England , 14 : 286 – 286 . 2nd series
  • Quoted in Sykes Agriculture and Science The Victorian Countryside Mingay G.E. London 1981 2 264 264 in
  • Ernle . 1961 . English Farming Past and Present , 6th edn 369 – 369 . London
  • Fisher , J.R. 1972 . Public Opinion and Agriculture 1875–1900 , 82 – 82 . University of Hull . PhD thesis Lawes's original replies may be found in c.3096, BPP xvii (1881), 950–53, questions 57646 and 57728.
  • Kloppenburg , J.R. 1988 . First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology, 1492–2000 59 – 59 . Cambridge
  • Caird . 1878 . General View of British Agriculture . Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England , 14 : 289 – 289 . 2nd series
  • Fisher . 1972 . Public Opinion and Agriculture 1875–1900 , 81 – 90 . University of Hull . PhD thesis
  • Fryer , J.C.F. 1939 . “ Plant Protection ” . In Agriculture in the Twentieth Century Edited by: Hall , A.D. 291 – 291 . Oxford in
  • Russell , E.J. 1939 . “ Soil Science in England 1894–1938 ” . In Agriculture in the Twentieth Century Edited by: Hall . 163 – 163 . Oxford in
  • Hall , A.D. 1904 . Agricultural Research in England . Contemporary Review , November : 14 – 14 . offprint (with some alterations) from
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 234 – 234 . London
  • Anon Agriculture in the United States Nature April 1877 15 525 526 19
  • von Wolff , Emil . 1895 . Farm Foods: Or, the Rational Feeding of Farm Animals Edited by: Cousins , H.H. vii – vii . London viii
  • Grantham . 1984 . “ The Shifting Locus of Agricultural Innovation in Nineteenth-century Europe: The Case of the Agricultural Experiment Stations ” . In Technique, Spirit and Form in the Making of the Modern Economies. Essays in Honor of William N. Parker Edited by: Saxonhouse , G. and Wright , G. 192 – 192 . Greenwich in Research in Economic History, Supplement III
  • Bowler , P.J. 1992 . The Fontana History of the Environmental Sciences 254 – 255 . London
  • Hall . 1904 . Agricultural Research in England . Contemporary Review , November : 21 – 22 . offprint (with some alterations) from
  • Dale , H.E. 1939 . “ Agriculture and the Civil Service ” . In Agriculture in the Twentieth Century Edited by: Hall . 7 – 7 . Oxford in
  • Schling-Brodersen , U. 1992 . Liebig's Role in the Establishment of Agricultural Chemistry . Ambix , 39 : 21 – 31 .
  • Finlay , M.R. 1988 . The German Agricultural Experiment Stations and the Beginnings of American Agricultural Research . Agricultural History , 62 : 41 – 50 .
  • Schling-Brodersen . 1992 . Liebig's Role in the Establishment of Agricultural Chemistry . Ambix , 39 : 26 – 26 .
  • Grantham . 1984 . “ The Shifting Locus of Agricultural Innovation in Nineteenth-century Europe: The Case of the Agricultural Experiment Stations ” . In Technique, Spirit and Form in the Making of the Modern Economies. Essays in Honor of William N. Parker Edited by: Saxonhouse , G. and Wright , G. 196 – 198 . Greenwich in Research in Economic History, Supplement III
  • Alter . 1987 . The Reluctant Patron: Science and the State in Britain 1850–1920 247 – 250 . Oxford D. S. Landes, Unbound Prometheus (Cambridge, 1972), 187, makes the same point.
  • Orwin , C.S. 1930 . The Future of Farming 66 – 66 . Oxford
  • Dale , H.E. 1956 . Daniel Hall: Pioneer in Scientific Agriculture 56 – 56 . London n.1.
  • Brigden . 1986 . Victorian Farms 203 – 203 . Marlborough although to be fair to the agricultural societies, the Bath and West of England Society's support for dairy research (see note 31) should be remembered. Conversely, although the Yorkshire Agricultural Society promoted some manuring experiments in the 1840s, it refused support for several scientific and educational projects, including a dairy school on the Bath and West model, between 1888 and 1896, according to Vance Hall, A History of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society 1837–1987 (London, 1987), 84, 125.
  • Russell . 1966 . A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 61 – 62 . London
  • Dyke . 1991 . John Bennet Lawes: The Record of his Genius 31 – 31 . Taunton
  • Board of Agriculture . 1908 . Report of the Departmental Committee on Agricultural Education in England and Wales Cd. 4206, (the Reay Committee), BPP 1908 xxi Minutes of Evidence, minute no. 13835.
  • Olby . 1991 . Social Imperialism and State Support for Agricultural Research in Edwardian Britain . Annals of Science , 48 : 521 – 521 . See also T. DeJager, ‘Pure Science and Practical Interests: The Origins of Agricultural Research Council, 1930–37’, Minerva, 31 (1993), 131.
  • Fryer . 1939 . “ Plant Protection ” . In Agriculture in the Twentieth Century Edited by: Hall , A.D. 292 – 292 . Oxford in
  • Olby . 1991 . Social Imperialism and State Support for Agricultural Research in Edwardian Britain . Annals of Science , 48 : 522 – 522 .
  • Board of Agriculture and Fisheries . 1914 . Annual Report of the Education Branch on the Distribution of Grants for Agricultural Education and Research, 1913–14 Vol. xi , 717 – 717 . (Cd. 7450), 7, BPP
  • 1905 . Editorial . Journal of Agricultural Science , 1
  • Olby . 1991 . Social Imperialism and State Support for Agricultural Research in Edwardian Britain . Annals of Science , 48 : 524 – 524 .
  • An adequate account of the reasons why the university agricultural departments expanded in the 1890s would require more space than is available here Brassley P. Developments in Agricultural Science, Research and Education The Agrarian History of England and Wales Collins E.J.T. Cambridge 1850–1914 VII in in press), argues that several factors were involved, including greater availability of Government funding, general expansion of technical education prompted by fears of German competition, Victorian respect for science, attempts to combat the effects of depression in agriculture, and the efforts of a few pro-education agricultural journalists. See also Richards (note 24), and S. Richards, ‘“Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Barley”: The Struggle for Agricultural Education in Mid-nineteenth-Century Britain’, History of Education, 12 (1983), 161–75.
  • The theory is explained in any economics text, such as Sloman J. Economics Hemel Hempstead 1991 62 67
  • Harvey , D.R. 1991 . “ Beneficiaries in the Human Food Chain ” . In Agricultural and Food Research—Who Benefits? , Edited by: Wise , T.E. 17 – 19 . Centre for Agricultural Strategy, University of Reading . in paper no. 23
  • Phillips , A.D.M. 1989 . The Underdraining of Farmland in England in the Nineteenth Century Cambridge
  • Palladino . 1990 . The Political Economy of Applied Research: Plant Breeding Research in Great Britain 1910–1940 . Minerva , 28 : 467 – 467 .
  • Prices are taken from Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Food A Century of Agricultural Statistics London 1966 81 81 and quantities from J. B. Lawes, ‘Home Production, Imports, Consumption, and the Price of Wheat for 40 Harvest Years, 1852–3 to 1891–2’, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 3rd series, 4 (1893).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.