Agricultural History Revisited

Tom Allen (HI500010@brownvm.brown.edu)
Wed, 06 Mar 96 17:57:57 EST

Greetings Again, firstly, I apologise for the two similar postings. The first
was my original, and I thought that it hadn't made it to the list. Secondly, I
am very gratified by the responses I read. Clearly, there is some interest in
the precursors of the current sustainable agriculture movement. I have respon
ded directly to two posts, but thought that I would also spread a bit more brea
d on the waters of the list.
Those of you who had questions about the use of manures and composts du
ring America's early national period will be happy to know that our ancestors w
ere preoccupied by the subject. They wrote often about the virtues of silk cul
tivation, fallow crops, and the manglewurtzel, but nothing seems to have comman
ded so much interest as a good discussion about manure (this term, by the way,
described any soil ammendment, including lime). Yes, most contributors did rec
ommend composting as a means of expanding their manure supply. Since animal ma
nure was their primary source of nitrogen, farmers of this era generally found
themselves short of fertilizer. They had a number of ways of enlarging the sup
ply, one of which was to throw leaves and organic road debris in with their pig
s. The animals churned the leaves in with the mud, speeding decomposition. A
fragrant, but ingenious device.
As for the rhetoric of the period, I give you two good examples below.
"He that abuses the ordinary gifts of Providence, is held to be highly reprehen
sible, under every system of moral duty. What, then, shall be said of those wh
o abuse the greatest of all sublunary blessings bestowed by God upon man, a soi
l capable, under proper management, of supporting human beings in comfort for a
ll time to come. By one of the most distinguished agriculturalists of our coun
try, such persons have been denominated 'matricides,' murderers of the bountifu
l mother of us all." The Cultivator, Vol. 6, No. 2 (April 1839)

"We find one of the greatest charms of an agricultural life in its perfect inde
pendence. The farmer's prospects stand unaffected by the many fluctuating rela
tionships of society, and depend, in great measure, upon his single energy as d
irected to the operations of nature. His hopes and fears are not gauged by eve
ry breeze that blows in the mart, and the political arena. . . . And this great
independence of other pursuits cannot, we think, but create a corresponding in
dependence in the character of those engaged in agriculture. It must engender
a freedom of thought and action, so desireable for mental development, and whic
h is so often crushed in other callings, by their subserviency to each other."
The Cultivator, Vol. 6, No. 3 (May 1839)
I find such passages almost frightening in their modern relevance. The
latter, particularly, in its dismissal of the market and politics is very inter
esting, at least so I think.
I would like to be able to say more about why such ideals failed to per
suade contemporary farmers, and to cite some sources that discuss the problem.
Unfortunately I seem to be the first to take this particular approach, so ther
e is nothing published on the subject. Improvements in agriculture have, of co
urse been studied in detail. Those interested might look into the following:
* Danhoff, Clarence. Change in Agriculture. Harvard U. Press, 1969.
* Russell, Howard. A Long Deep Furrow. University Press of New England, 1976.
* Bidwell, Percy and John Falconer. History of Agriculture in the Northern
United States, 1620-1860. Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1925.
Equally interesting, I think, is a more recent discussion of the rural
economy and the role of farmers in the development of capitalism. Here again
are a few representative titles:
* Rothenberg, Winifred. From Market-Places to a Market Economy. University of
Chicago Press, 1992
* Kulikoff, allan. The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism. University
Press of Virginia, 1992.
I hope that this satisfies some questions, and piques some interest.
T. Allen