European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850:
experimenting and disseminating scientific ‘progress’.

Nadine Vivier

► To cite this version:

Nadine Vivier. European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850: experimenting and disseminating scientific 'progress'. Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France, 2017, 5 (1), pp.1-13. 10.58630/pubac.not.a144685. hal-04812963

HAL Id: hal-04812963

https://hal.science/hal-04812963v1

Submitted on 1 Dec 2024

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# Notes Académiques
de l'Académie d'agriculture de France

## Academic Notes
of the French Academy of agriculture

### Authors

Nadine Vivier

### Title of the work

European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850: experimenting and disseminating scientific 'progress'

Year 2017, Volume 3, Number 5, pp. 1-13.

### Published online:

8 April 2017,

https://www.academie-agriculture.fr/publications/notes-academiques/n3af-2017-5-acte-de-colloque-european-agricultural

European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850: experimenting and disseminating scientific 'progress'

© 2017 by Nadine Vivier is licensed under Attribution 4.0 International

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
# European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850: experimenting and disseminating scientific 'progress'

Nadine Vivier¹

¹ Professeur émérite des universités de l'Université du Maine (Histoire contemporaine), membre de l'Académie d'agriculture de France.

Correspondance :
Nadine.Vivier@univ-lemans.fr

Cet article est le texte d'une intervention effectuée lors du Colloque de l'Union européenne des académies d'agriculture UEAA (présidence française) « Science in agriculture : historical perspectives and prospective insights - Science en agriculture, perspectives historiques et prospective », Académie d'agriculture de France, Paris, 12 octobre 2016.

## Résumé

Quand agriculture et science furent-elles associées ? Cet article pose l'hypothèse d'une implication de la recherche scientifique dans le progrès agricole à partir du dix-huitième siècle, lorsque les nouvelles théories économiques ont donné à l'agriculture un rôle primordial. Les gouvernements ont demandé aux scientifiques de résoudre les problèmes pour accroître la production agricole. La création de sociétés d'agriculture fut encouragée afin qu'elles diffusent les connaissances. Les premiers membres de ces sociétés appartenaient à l'aristocratie foncière ; progressivement furent recrutés des scientifiques, souvent membres d'académies des sciences. Les sociétés

d'agriculture ont d'abord consacré leurs travaux aux réformes des structures agraires comme voie du progrès. Une fois ces réformes acquises avec la Révolution française, leurs travaux se tournèrent vers les instruments agraires et la fertilité du sol. Ce fut l'époque des expériences faites par de grands propriétaires, qui souvent diffusaient aussi leurs résultats. Dans les années 1840, la chimie s'imposa progressivement à l'agronomie, et les sociétés d'agriculture purent prétendre diffuser les acquis de la recherche scientifique en agronomie.

## Abstract

When did Science and Agriculture begin to be linked together? This paper posits that scientific research was first involved in agricultural progress in the eighteenth century when a new context increased the value of agriculture which, beyond its source of vital supplies to the population, became also the main source of wealth for a nation. Hence governments asked for scientific methods to solve agricultural problems and encouraged the creation of
agricultural societies aiming at the dissemination of achievements. At the beginning members of agricultural societies were mainly noble landowners; progressively scientists who were also members of academies of sciences were enrolled. Agricultural societies first thought about changing agrarian structures as the way to progress. After the French Revolution that achieved reforms, their works were dedicated to improving tools efficiency and soil fertility. It was the time of experiments by landowners who also tried to disseminate their results. In the 1840s, chemistry gradually subjected agronomy to its authority. From that time on, agricultural academies could claim to be a relay in disseminating scientific research.

### Keywords

agricultural societies, academy, agronomy, Europe 18th century

### Mots clés

sociétés d'agriculture, chimie, agronomie, Europe 18e siècle

When did science and agriculture begin to be linked together? An initial spontaneous answer is: since the agricultural revolution. But when did this revolution occur? And how should agricultural science be defined and differentiated from experiments? From Columella to Olivier de Serres<fnref n="1" />, agronomists were landowners who conducted experiments on their domain and compared their results to those from other farms: they did not use a scientific method in the way we understand it today; nonetheless they thought about the results of their experiments and recorded them in books. Recognized scientists were gradually asked to study soils, crops and their pests. My contention here is that scientific research was first involved in agricultural progress in the eighteenth century when a new context

increased the value of agriculture that, beyond its source of vital supplies to the population, became also the main source of wealth for a nation (section 1). This new concern led to the creation of agricultural societies, all over Europe. Studying their members and their actions in the years following their creation and during the revolutionary wars (1792-1815) gives clues about their aims and the role of scientific research (section 2). Then, a look at the years 1830-1850 will show how scientists were increasingly trusted; farmers readily put their results into practice, adapting them to local conditions (section 3).

## 1. Links between science and agriculture in the 18th century: using science to increase agricultural efficiency

Until the 18th century large landowners in Europe conducted experiments to improve their production and they exchanged sometimes with some acquaintances, but in a sense their own experiments were a kind of secret, since having a beautiful estate was a proof of superiority (Vivier, 2009). A completely new approach arose with new economic theories. As early as the beginning of the eighteenth century, mercantilist doctrines were at the centre of the debates. According to mercantilists<fnref n="2" /> (Colbert and William Petty), the wealth of a state emanated from its holdings of precious metal. Boisguilbert in France, and Cantillon<fnref n="3" /> in England, challenged this theory and saw wealth derived from both land and work. Then from the 1740's onwards in European countries the conjuncture (bad harvests and wars...) brought about the simultaneous appearance of new ideas and

<footnote n="2">2 Colbert (Reims, 1619-Paris, 1683), one of the principal ministers of Louis XIV".</footnote>

<footnote>William Petty (Romsey, 1623-London, 1687), a British polymath and a pioneer of econometry.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">3 Boisguilbert (Rouen, 1646-Rouen, 1714), a French writer and economist, one of the important precursors of modern economic science.</footnote>

<footnote>Cantillon (Ireland, 1680-London, 1734) one of the most significant authors who marked the transition from mercantilism to classical economics.</footnote>

<footnote n="1">¹ Columella (4 AD-nearly 70 AD) was the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman empire; Olivier de Serres (1539-1619) was considered in France as the father of modern agronomy.</footnote>
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)
Acte de colloque

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1. Planche from Duhamel du Monceau and Tillet, 1762. Description of the insect that ate grains in Angoumois. This shows what was a scientific description of the insect and its reproduction.</figcaption></figure>

theories: kameralists in Germany, much concerned with economy and finances, illustrados, the liberal agrarians in Spain, physiocrats in France who gained a wide audience across Europe and America between 1755 and 1770 (Steiner, 1998; Vardi, 2012). The physiocrats' theory was also philosophical and put forward the idea of a "natural order", which enjoined governments to respect liberty and

property. Whatever the theory, physiocrats thought that the fundamental wealth of society flowed from the consumption elements of production, which could only – or mainly- be provided by agriculture. To the extent that as the wealth of the nation was at stake, a patriotic issue was implied.

These favorable conditions gave rise to the introduction of a scientific approach to
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)
Acte de colloque

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2. Planche by Duhamel Du Monceau and Tillet (1762) : Microscopic description of the insect, its eggs and larvae, their damage in wheat grains.</figcaption></figure>

agriculture. Governments, aware of the need to increase production, set scientists to work. Let us take the French example. Two kinds of governmental measures led to thinking about the definition of science: the first one was the request to scientists to work on agricultural matters. The second one was the creation of agricultural societies. After the beginning of the eighteenth

century, the abbé Bignon (Paris, 1662-1743), chairman and secretary of the Académie des Sciences from 1699 to 1743, asked scientists to study botanical taxonomy, animal breeds, diseases, pests, and forestry (Bléchet, 2002). Agronomy formally became in 1753 a section of the Académie des sciences. King Louis XV (1715-1774) initiated experiments on clover,
lucerne and wheat bunt on his Versailles estate (Trianon), and in 1760 he sent Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (Paris, 1700-1782) and Mathieu Tillet (Bordeaux, 1714-1791)<fnref n="4" /> to the Angoumois to study the preservation of grains.

Following Antoine Ferchault<fnref n="5" /> de Réaumur's methods (Réaumur, 1734), they identified the insect responsible for wheat bunt and looked for means to eradicate it (washing grain in lime water). Local agronomists were stimulated to further research and the King asked for public demonstrations of steaming spoiled wheat.

The King's concerns also focused on animals. Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton sought to improve sheep breeds, and Louis XVI (1774-1792) asked abbé Henri-Alexandre Tessier, a physician, to create an experimental farm in Rambouillet. Claude Bourgelat and Félix Vicq d'Azyr taught in the newly created veterinary schools of Lyons and Alfort (Bléchet, 2002; Sciences et curiosités à Versailles, 2010)<fnref n="6" />.

At the same time Henri Léonard Bertin (Périgueux, 1720-Spa, 1792), one of the five Louis XV's secretaries, was entrusted of many economic issues including agriculture (1763-1780). He created agricultural societies in France. In 1761, the statutes of the Agricultural Society of Paris specified: "Agriculture will be its unique occupation. It will aim at educating its countrymen mainly through example, [...] at studying by

constant practice all that could contribute to a flourishing agriculture [...]. The Society will be driven only by the love of the country" (Statutes in Passy, 1912). The first appointed members were distinguished landowners concerned with an increase of production. They ought to exchange their observations and diffuse them to the public.

These examples highlight two new features: involvement in agricultural research of famous scientists and a will of dissemination to a wide audience. To meet these goals, results of scientists members of the Académie des sciences had to be completed by the work of the newly created provincial or local agricultural societies devoted to agronomy that can be defined as "the living process of a science, not a sound, accurate, demonstrative and abstract science but a meeting place of the various sciences." It strives towards description, explanation and improvement of agricultural techniques (Bourde, 1967). Division and complementarity of missions were clear in the title of the *Annales de l'agriculture française*. Paris agricultural society's 1798 publication: "containing observations and dissertations on agriculture, on plants, animals, epizootic diseases, the destruction of pests, transactions of fertilizers".

## 2. Agricultural societies, 1760-1790: experimentation and dissemination

### 2.1 Proliferation of economic societies

A recent collective research (Stapelbroek and Marjanen, 2012) tries to identify all over Europe those societies that aimed promoting economic development to increase the wealth of the nation. Hence, they often deserved the name of 'patriotic societies', all the more that economic rivalry between European countries amplified. Nonetheless there was a true will of international cooperation. The American politician and agronomist Thomas Jefferson (Shadwell, 1743-Monticello, 1826) highlighted this idea: "These societies are always in peace; however their

<footnote n="4">4 Duhamel du Monceau (Paris, 1700 - 1782), a French physician, naval engineer and botanist; he was member of the Agricultural Society of Paris as soon as April 1761; Mathieu Tillet (Bordeaux, 1714-1791), a French botanist, agronomist and metallurgist; he was associated to the same society in 1761.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">5 Réaumur (La Rochelle, 1683 - 1757) was an active member of the Académie des sciences. His works included the study of insects and he introduced the Réaumur temperature scale.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">6 Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton (Montbard, 1716- Paris, 1799), a naturalist and contributor to the Encyclopédie.</footnote>

<footnote>Abbé Henri-Alexandre Tessier (Angerville, 1761-Paris, 1837), doctor and agronomist.</footnote>

<footnote>Claude Bourgelat (Lyon, 1712-Paris, 1779) a veterinary surgeon.</footnote>

<footnote>Félix Vicq d'Azyr (Valognes, 1748-Paris, 1794), a physician, anatomist and naturalist.</footnote>
nations may be at war. Like the republic of letters,
they form a great fraternity spreading over the
whole earth" (Jones, 2016).

The rise of these economic societies, mainly
devoted to agriculture, began with the Honorable
Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of
Agriculture in Scotland (1723), the Dublin Society
of Improvement of Husbandry, Agriculture and
other useful Arts (1731), the Royal Academy of
Sciences and Arts of Prussia (1744), the Société
d'agriculture et du commerce de Rennes (1757),
the Bern Economic Society and the Accademia
dei Georgofili in Tuscany (1753), which were the
main models. In this period almost every province
had its own society and they devoted
considerable energy to the great agricultural
concerns of the time.

Up to 562 societies were busy in the promotion of
economic improvement in Europe and overseas.
This number included:

- Great-Britain and Ireland: 82 agricultural societies

- France: 20 regional + 29 local branches

- Spain: 70 +14 in Spanish colonies

- German speaking countries : at least 71

- United Provinces: 57 (created in 1777)

- Denmark + Norway: 57

- Sweden 7

- Russia: 1

(Stapelbroek and Marjanen, 2012; Frängsmyr,
1989; Ballesteros, 2004).

All over Europe these societies followed similar
patterns of activity. They held regular discussion
sessions, and offered annual prizes for essays on
a special question of social importance or on
agricultural techniques. Information was
exchanged between societies at an intense rate.
Each had its own correspondents in other
provinces and abroad and used them as
consultants.

For example, Duhamel du Monceau was a
member of agricultural societies of Paris, Leyden,
London, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm, Edinburgh,
Palermo and Padua. So was it for Arthur Young
(Suffolk, 1741-1820), John Sainclair (Scotland,
1754-1835), Giovanni Fabbroni (Tuscany,
1783-1872) and Attilio Zuccagni (Florence,

1754-1807), etc.<fnref n="7" /> Their writings (letters and
books) indicate how active were knowledge
networks all over Europe, leading to the
dissemination of publications, and debates about
scientific findings and agricultural practices. The
European knowledge network was
supplemented by secondary national networks.
The fascination for agricultural science in this
period reached also small provincial societies
(not included in the count above): members of
such societies kept abreast of the most recent
research by reading and discussing the
agricultural journal publications they received.
Some of these societies followed the model of
an academy of science: the Royal Society of
Sciences and Literature in Nancy elected a
botanist, three economists, in order to create an
agricultural section in 1766. And when a
separate agricultural society was founded in
Nancy in 1820, it was chaired by Christophe
Mathieu de Dombasle (Nancy, 1777-1843) who
created Roville and had outstanding
correspondents: the Scottish John Sinclair, the
German Albrecht Daniel Thaër (Möglin,
1752-1828) and the Swiss Philipp Emanuel von
Fellenberg (Bern, 1771-1844)<fnref n="8" />. Some other
societies were "rustic societies", like the
Thesmophores in Anjou who claimed in 1776 to
be "simple and true men of the countryside"
(Follain, 2010; Knittel, 2010). They read books
and experimented. Midway between these two
cases, the Academy of Arras had an important
French correspondence network, under the
direction from 1785 to 1792 of its secretary,

<footnote n="7">7 Arthur Young, an English writer on agriculture, economics, social statistics, famous as soon as 1790 for his agricultural travels in Europe.</footnote>

<footnote>John Sainclair, a Scottish politician, writer on
finance and agriculture and the first person to use
the word statistics in the English langage.</footnote>

<footnote>Giovanni Fabbroni, a Tuscan physicist, chemist,
agronomist and parliamentarian.</footnote>

<footnote>Attilio Zuccagni, a Florentine botanist, secretary of
the Accademia de Giorgofili.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">8 Three agronomists who created an experimental agricultural school: Mathieu de Dombasle, in Roville near Nancy; Thaer in Möglin (Brandenbourg) and the Swiss Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg in Hofwyl near Bern.</footnote>
Philippe-Ferdinand Dubois de Fosseux (1749 - 1789) (Berthe, 1969).

As this model spread across Europe, the publication of economic books and pamphlets expanded. The quantity of printed reading matter related to agriculture dramatically increased in the second half of the eighteenth century. Journals were the forum to which farming experiments were sent (e.g. *Observations*, 1771 published by Abbé Rozier, an agronomist). The highly active European network meant a buoyant translation industry. English and Scottish works were rapidly translated at least in German and French. The interest in thirds was English was a growing fashion.

Let us mention two kinds of those books. English agricultural writings could be adapted. One of the most influential translations was Jethro Tull's work (Berkshire, 1674-1741). During his tour in Europe, Tull compared the agriculture of France and Italy with that of his own country, and returning home he experimented on his estate some improvements. He described his achievements in 1733 in Horse-hoeing husbandry. He recommended a new more productive system based on the introduction of clover and sainfoin. The author criticized the use of dung and believed that dispensing with fallows and fertilizing the soil by continuous ploughing would produce more wheat. When Duhamel du Monceau was asked to translate the book, he decided to experiment with these principles himself and the result was his *Traité de la culture des terres* (1750) that further popularized Tull's ideas. Even though they became the subject of a long controversy and were subsequently shown to be completely wrong, they were received by a growing audience. (Bourde, 1967)

The "Grand Tour" across the Channel was in great vogue after 1750. Many travelers' accounts - this is a second kind of famous publications - praised the "Norfolk system" because it improved wheat yields. Its success was based on a system of large landed estates let out to farmers on leases; it introduced new methods such as marling to improve the soil and new crops such as turnips, and above all it brought about enclosure and the reduction of communal rights and practices.

These criteria seemed to be the prerequisite all the more in that Arthur Young judged every system in the light of the Norfolk. His works gained rapid popularity: *A six months tour through the North of England* published in 1770 was translated in German and in French in 1772-1775; then the *Tour of Ireland* was translated in 1780, the same year of publication (Müller, 1975). *Travels during the years 1787, 1788 and 1789, undertaken more particularly with a view of ascertaining the cultivation, wealth, resources and national prosperity of the kingdom of France*, published in 1792, were translated in French in 1793 and in Italian in 1794. Young was the forerunner of agronomic travels, which became the vogue during the Napoleonic Empire (Brassart, 2016).

## 2.2. First members and associated members elected: growing importance of scientists

Who was involved in this quest for agricultural progress? At the highest level those most renowned for their scientific work on agriculture became members of agricultural societies, and often they were also members of an academy of sciences. They were joined by senior clerics, administrative officers and large landowners who aimed at experimenting with new practices and testing their adaptation to local conditions of soil and climate (Stapelbroek and Marjanen, 2012). Did these societies admit practicing farmers and craftsmen in their ranks? At the very local level, "rustic societies" were composed of well-to-do farmers and smallholders. Some of the great societies did not admit farmers like the Bern Economic Society; some others tried to do so as the Leipzig Agricultural Society. In the Agricultural Society of Paris the first members in 1761 were chosen as representatives of the clergy and the nobility; as soon as the following year were also chosen Pépin, farmer in Montreuil near Paris, and the Duke of Noailles who managed a beautiful estate in Saint Germain and his gardener Claude Richard (Saint Germain-en-Laye, 1705-Versailles, 1784) became the chief gardener of Versailles (Stenzel, 2002). Then in 1783 entered scientists,
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)

Acte de colloque

also members of the French Academy of Sciences (Daubenton, Thouin, Perronet, Lavoisier, La Rochefoucault, Angivillier, Fougeroux and Abbé Tessier). They were joined in 1784-1785 by five other scientists, a few physicians and postmasters (usually large farmers who had to breed and provide post horses). In 1786, Broussonet, secretary of the Agricultural Society of Paris urged that "chemists be enlisted to better understand plant nutrition, [...] naturalists to enhance stock-raising and botanists". Whether such an evolution can be seen in every society has to be determined. It was probably the case and it would justify their desire of assuming the word Science in their name (Passy, 1912).

3. 1800-1850: scientific research stand out in agronomy

3.1 Until the 1830s, experiments carried out by large landowners

In the 1780s, agricultural thinkers wanted to maximize the area of land under cereals cultivation and they were infatuated with the Norfolk system. This included a reform of agrarian structures: sharing out commons and suppression of collective rights was a process that induced in depth changes and that had heavy social consequences. Politicians were well aware of it: in Spain Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811) and Pedro Rodriguez de Campomanes (1723-1802)<fnref n="9" /> understood it and wondered whether it was possible to reform agrarian structures without changing the structure of social domination (Luna, 2012). After the revolutionary period, either land reform was undertaken (Denmark, Sweden, France...) or governments strove to avoid it (Prussia, Austria, Russia) (Jessenne and Vivier, 2016). It seemed better to improve cultivation than to plough up waste land for cereals. Greater attention was paid to other

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Figure 3. The moto of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.</figcaption></figure>

crops, fodder crops, potatoes... So agricultural societies moved away from an interest in changing agrarian structures and concentrated on improving tools, manures and soil fertility. The questions set for their competitions no longer addressed great theoretical issues but practical problems. After 1800, the new generation of agricultural scientists had to support their theories with successful examples that could be replicated elsewhere. Pioneers of this method included John Sinclair, Albrecht Thaer, Emanuel von Fellenberg and Christophe Mathieu de Dombasle (Knittel, 2009). So did Cosimo Ridolfi (Tuscany, 1794-1865) who achieved agronomic experiments on his estate in Meleto and disseminated through the Accademia de Georgofili and the first agronomic institute in Italy (Pazzagli, 2008). They managed an estate, carrying out experiments on manures, on

<footnote n="9">9 Jovellanos and Campomanes were both Spanish statesmen and economists, major figures of the Illustrados. Jovellanos wrote in 1784 and it was published in 1795: *Informe sobre la ley agraria* (A report on the dossier of the Agrarian Law).</footnote>
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)
Acte de colloque

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>Figure 4. Monument to Jean-Baptiste Boussingault by Jules Dalou (1895), in the courtyard of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris (CNAM: National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts). The monument is now in the garden of CNAM in la Plaine Saint Denis. Chemistry, teaching the farmer, is embodied in its two ways of dissemination: research and publication (book), experimentation (retorts).</figcaption></figure>

ploughing, crop rotations and methods of storing grain. Of course, scientific research was taken into account. The agronomist Adrien de Gasparin (Orange, 1783-1862) compared the farm with "a factory, a manufacture of organic products, supplied with capital and aiming at transforming the capital in order to increase it". For this, different means were to be used: science like

chemistry, agricultural practice and observation in order to adapt cultivation to climate and soils (Gasparin, 1843). They also welcomed pupils for a vocational agricultural education. All these agronomists exchanged views on the results obtained on their model farms. They quickly rallied to their methods some large landowners and farmers called "practical farmers". They aimed at disseminating their knowledge in a wide variety of books: farmers' magazines, almanacs, calendars. Agricultural societies encouraged writing manuals for primary schools and for small farmers. Generally speaking, the ambition of such books was to popularise knowledge considered necessary to agricultural progress. They offered knowledge, techniques, and rhetorical strategies that helped train small- and medium-sized landowners (Depecker and Joly, 2015a, b).

### 3.2. 1830-1850: the rise of chemistry?

What changed between 1830 and 1850? Three figures and three moments highlight the increasing role played by chemistry in agronomy. In 1836 appeared an early alliance of farm and research laboratory. On his estate of Pechelbronn in Alsace, the chemist Jean-Baptiste Boussingault (Paris, 1801-1887) set up a laboratory to analyse soil, fertilizers and plants. He published in 1843 his results in a bulky report: *L'Économie rurale considérée dans ces rapports avec la chimie, la physique et la météorologie*. This influential book comforted the influence of French agronomy in Europe in the 1840s and 1850s. John Bennet Lawes (Harpenden, 1814-1900) adopted the same method on his estate of Rothamsted in Hertfordshire; he created an experimental farm employing analytical chemistry (Jas, 2001). Lawes discovered and patented a manure formed by treating phosphates with sulfuric acid and thus initiated the artificial manure industry; he enlisted the services of a chemist, Joseph Henri Gilbert (1817-1901). Boussingault was the pioneer and great discoverer of many advances in soil and plant chemistry. He discovered that plant growth is proportional to the amount of
available assimilatory nitrogen, which in practical
terms allows greater plant growth from the
simultaneous application of phosphorus and
nitrogen (Boussingault, 1843). Boussingault is a
symbol of this period 1840-1850 when chemistry
submitted agronomy to its authority.

Second key character, Justus von Liebig
(Darmstadt, 1803-München, 1873) published in
1840 *Organic Chemistry in its Application to
Agriculture and Physiology*, a book widely
translated, highly influential but much criticized.
While Liebig was not the discoverer of plant
mineral nutrition (due to the German botanist Carl
Sprengel, 1787-1859), he drew attention of the
agronomists on the “Law of the Minimum”, stating
that plant growth is not determined by the total
resources available, but by the scarcest available
resource. A plant's development is limited by the
one essential mineral that is in the relatively
shortest supply (Brock, 1997). Lawes and Gilbert
took part in the debate with Liebig who asserted
that nitrogen was of little value in fertilizers, only
minerals mattered. Based on Boussingault's
paintaking experiments, Lawes proved that the
proportion of nitrogen in fertilizer determined its
value (Jas, 2001).

Last significant moment was Boussingault's
appointment to the chair of agriculture of the
Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris. The
chair was previously held by Leclerc-Thouin
(1798-1845)<fnref n="10" /> who wanted to improve agricultural
practice by various means and not only
experimental sciences. This appointment showed
that the time of “practical farmers”, of “empiricism”
was over. But there was no rupture because those
chemists never neglected the practical farmers’
achievements. *A contrario*, Liebig in Germany had
no regard for farmers’ knowledge, he only trusted
work in the laboratory and this can explain the
opposition of the German population to chemists’
power and the necessity or the experimental
stations that were created after 1850.

The use of the term “science” by the agricultural
societies reflected this evolution. It was clear at
first that they were devoted to agronomy, i.e.
practical knowledge. But the *Annales de*

l'agriculture française changed its title in 1830 to
*Annales administratives et scientifiques*. They
returned to the previous title in the following
year, without any justification. Nonetheless, a
paper included in the 1831 issue asserted:
"Science is not yet arrived to always claim that
practice must be humble before it"<fnref n="11" />. It was too
early to show pretensions to scientific activity. In
1840 the Royal Agricultural Society of London
adopted a moto: "Practice with Science"
(Brassley, 2008).

From this time onwards, sciences and agriculture could be officially associated and no more be separated, probably thanks to the place seized by chemistry. Science percolated to farmers via local farm-schools, a few high agricultural schools and experimental stations, books, comics (Marache, 2005). Farm-schools and scientific books did not reach a broad audience, only a small proportion of farmers. Comics, local associations in link with the agricultural societies, could more widely disseminate new findings. They often tried new fertilizers, the same way they had encouraged the crossbreeding of cows and sheep. The results were offered publicity during the annual contest, when the best farmers, successful with new methods, were rewarded (Vivier, 2011). The multiplication of institutions aiming at disseminating agricultural 'progress' led to a reform of some of the missions assigned to agricultural societies and turned them to a new role from the 1850s onwards.

Références

Annales de l'agriculture française. An IX-1812.
Contenant des observations et des mémoires
sur l'agriculture en général... Par une société
d'agriculteurs; rédigées par le c. Tessier, de la
Société d'agriculture du département de la
Seine, etc. 1831.

<footnote n="11">11 « La science n’est pas encore venue à pouvoir
toujours prétendre que la pratique doit s’humilier
devant elle »</footnote>

<footnote n="10">10 He also was secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society in Paris, 1843-1845.</footnote>
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)

Acte de colloque

Annales administratives et scientifiques. 1831. Huzard, Serie 3 8(49) 21.

Ballesteros AL. 2004. Entre en vapor y el arado romano: élites, instituciones y difusión del cambio, técnico en la agricultura, Córdoba, 1780-1870. Cordoba, Grupo Historia social agraria, 171 p.

Berthe L. 1969. Dubois de Fosseux, secrétaire de l'Académie d'Arras, 1785-1792, et son bureau de correspondance. Chez l'auteur, Arras, 460 p.

Bléchet F. 2002. L'abbé Bignon, président de l'Académie royale des Sciences: un demi-siècle de direction scientifique. In Demeulenaere-Douyère C, Brian É (eds), Règlement, usages et science dans la France de l'absolutisme, à l'occasion du troisième centenaire du règlement instituant l'Académie royale de sciences (26 janvier 1699). Éd. Tec & doc, Paris, 548 p.

Bourde A-J. 1967. Agronomie et agronomes en France au XVIIIe siècle. S.E.V.P.E.N, Paris, 3 vol, 1743 p.

Boussingault J-B. 1843. Économie rurale considérée dans ses rapports avec la chimie, la physique et la météorologie, Béchet jeune, Paris, 1843-1844, 2 vol; 2e éd, 1851, 2 vol; traduit en allemand et en anglais.

Brassart L. 2016. Les enfants d'Arthur Young. Voyageurs et voyages agronomiques dans la France impériale. Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 3, 109-131.

Brassley P. 2008. Agricultural Education, training and advice in the UK, 1850-2000. In Vivier N (ed) The State and Rural societies. Policy and Education in Europe, 1750-2000. Turnhout, Brepols, 259-278.

Brock WH. 1997. Justus von Liebig, The Chemical Gatekeeper. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (second edition 2002), 394 p.

Depecker T., Joly N. 2015a. Agronomists and accounting. The beginnings of capitalist rationalisation on the farm (1800-1850). *Historia Agraria*, 65, 75-94.

Depecker T Joly N. 2015b. La terre et ses manufacturiers. L'introduction d'une raison gestionnaire dans les domaines agricoles (1800-1850). *Entreprises et Histoire*, 65, 12-23.

Duhamel du Monceau H. 1750. *Traité de la culture des terres, suivant les principes de M. Tull, anglois*. H.-L. Guérin et L.-F. Delatour, Paris. Nouvelle édition corrigée et augmentée, 6 vol. publiés de 1753 à 1761.

Duhamel du Monceau H, Tillet M. 1762. Histoire d'un insecte qui dévore les grains de l'Angoumois; avec les moyens que l'on peut employer pour le détruire. H.-L. Guérin et L.-F. Delatour, Paris, 314 p.

Follain A (ed). 2010. Une société agronomique au XVIIIe siècle. Les Thesmophores de Blaison en Anjou. Editions Universitaires de Dijon, Dijon, 280 p.

Frängsmyr T (éd). 1989. *Science in Sweden: the Royal Swedish Academy of sciences: 1739-1989*. Science History Publications (Watson), Canton, MA. viii, 291 pages.

Gasparin A. 1843. Cours d'agriculture,. Bureau de la Maison rustique, Paris, 1843-1851 en 5 volumes; puis Dusacq, Paris (1850-1863), 6 vol.

Greffe F, Griset P. 2015. 350 ans de l'Académie des Sciences: une Compagnie en son siècle. Le Cherche midi, Paris, 255p.

Jas N. 2001. Au carrefour de la chimie et de l'agriculture: les sciences agronomiques en France et en Allemagne, 1850-1914. Éditions des Archives contemporaines, Paris, 433 p.

Jessenne J-P, Vivier N. 2016. Libérer la terre !
Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France
Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture
(N3AF)

Acte de colloque

Une Europe des réformes agraires (vers 1750-1850) ? In Les réformes agraires dans le monde. *Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine*, 2016/4-4bis (64-4/4 bis), 27-65.

Jones PM. 2016. *Agricultural enlightenment, knowledge, technology, and nature, 1750-1840*. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 72.

Knittel F. 2009. *Agronomie et innovation. Le cas Mathieu de Dombasle (1777-1843)*. Presses Universitaires de Nancy, Nancy, coll. « Histoire des Institutions Scientifiques », 517 p.

Knittel F. 2010. *Agronomie et sociétés savantes. In Follain A (éd) Une société agronomique au XVIIIe siècle. Les Thesmophores de Blaison en Anjou*. Éditions Universitaires de Dijon, Dijon, 251-266.

Liebig J. 1840. *Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie*. F. Vieweg und Sohn, Braunschweig, XII-353 p.

Luna PF. 2012. La propiedad y el trabajo en la reflexion de Jovellanos. *Revista Asturiana de Economia*, 45, 75-95.

Marache C. 2005. Encourager plus que l'agriculture. Le rôle du comice central agricole de la Double dans le développement rural local. *Ruralia*, 16-17, 75-99.

Müller HH. 1975. *Akademie und Wirtschaft in 18. Jahrhundert*. Akademie-Verlag Berlin, Berlin, Studien zur Geschichte der Wissenschaften der DDR, 3, 298.

Observations sur la physique, sur l'histoire naturelle et sur les arts. 1771 to 1793. Journal published by abbé Rozier, Le Jai, Paris.

Passy L. 1912. *Histoire de la société nationale d'agriculture de France, 1761-93*. Reynouard, Paris, 475 p.

Pazzagli R. 2008. *From private initiative to*

state intervention: the origine of public agricultural education in Italy. In Vivier N (ed) *The State and Rural societies. Policy and education in Europe, 1750-2000*. Turnhout, Brepols, 231-246.

Réaumur R-A. 1734-1742. *Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes*. Imprimerie royale, Paris, 6 vol.

Saule B, Arminjon C. 2010. *Sciences et curiosités à la cour de Versailles*. RMN, Paris. « Versailles et l'essor de l'agronomie », 155-156.

Stapelbroek K, Marjanen J. 2012. *The rise of economic societies in the eighteenth century: patriotic reform in Europe and North America*. Basingstoke (GB). Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 388 p.

Steiner P. 1998. *La science nouvelle de l'économie*, Presses universitaires de France, Paris, 127 p.

Stenzel J. 2003. *Les jardins de Saint Germain-en-Laye*. Université Paris 1, mémoire de maîtrise, 2 vol, 177 et 112 p.

Tull J. 1733. *Horse-hoeing husbandry, or an Essay on the principles of vegetation and tillage designed to introduce a new method of culture*. G. Strahan (the author), London, X-269 p.

Vardi L. 2012. *The physiocrats and the world of the Enlightenment*. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 315 p.

Vivier N. 2009. *European agricultural networks, 1750-1850: a view from France*. In Broad J (ed) *A common agricultural heritage? Revising French and British divergence*. Agricultural History Review Supplement, 5, 23-34.

Vivier N. 2011. *Les comices agricoles et la Société d'Agriculture de la Sarthe*. Bulletin de
Acte de colloque

la Société d'agriculture, sciences et arts de la
Sarthe (Les 250 ans de la Société d'Agriculture
de la Sarthe), 873, 135-148.

Edité par

Hervé This, AgroParisTech-Inra International
Centre for Molecular Gatronomy, membre de
l'Académie d'agriculture de France.

Rapporteurs

Peter Jones, Emeritus Professor of French
History University of Birmingham.

Corinne Marache est Maître de conférences en
histoire contemporaine, UFR Humanités,
Université Bordeaux Montaigne.

Malcolm Hadley, membre de l'Académie d'agriculture de France.

Paul Vialle, membre de l'Académie d'agriculture de France.

Rubrique

Cet article a été publié dans la rubrique «Actes de colloques» des *Notes académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France*.

Reçu

12 décembre 2016

Accepté

16 mars 2017

Publié

6 avril 2017

Citation

Vivier N. 2017. European Agricultural Societies, 1750-1850: experimenting and disseminating scientific 'progress'. *Notes Académiques de l'Académie d'agriculture de France / Academic Notes from the French Academy of Agriculture (N3AF)*, 2017, 5, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.58630/pubac.not.a144685.

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

Nadine Vivier est professeur émérite des
universités de l'Université du Maine
(Histoire contemporaine), membre de
l'Académie d'agriculture de France.