Agriculture was dissolved in 1819, but left in its statistical
account, county surveys and other documents much interesting
and valuable information regarding the agriculture of the
period. In 1800 the original Farmer's Magazine came into
existence under the editorship of Robert Brown of Markle,
the author of the well-known treatise on Rural Affairs.
The Highland Society having early extended its operations
to the whole of Scotland, by and by made a corresponding
addition to its title, and as the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland gradually extended its operations. In
1828, shortly after the discontinuance of the Farmers'
Magazine, its Prize Essays and Transactions began to be
issued statedly in connexion with the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture. This society early began to hold a great show
of live stock, implements, &c. In 1842 certain Midlothian
tenant-farmers had the merit of originating an Agricultural
Chemistry Association (the first of its kind), by which funds
were raised for the purpose of conducting such investigations
as the title of the society implies. After a successful trial
of a few years this association was dissolved, transferring
its functions to the Highland and Agricultural Society.
In England the Agricultural Society was founded in 1838, with
the motto ``Practice with Science,'' and shortly afterwards
incorporated by royal charter. In 1845 the Royal Agricultural
College at Cirencester was incorporated. This era of revival
was not, however, without its calamities. The foot-and-mouth
disease first appeared about 1840, having been introduced,
as is supposed, by foreign cattle. It spread rapidly over
the country, affecting all domesticated animals except
horses, and although seldom attended by fatal results, caused
everywhere great alarm and loss. It was soon followed by the
more terrible lung-disease, or pleuro-pneumonia. In 1865 the
rinderpest, or steppe murrain, originating amongst the vast
herds of the Russian steppes, had spread westward over Europe,
until it was brought to London by foreign cattle. Several
weeks elapsed before the true character of the disease was
known, and in this brief space it had already been carried
by animals purchased in Smithfield market to all parts of the
country. After causing the most frightful losses, it
was at last stamped out by the resolute slaughter of all
affected animals and of all that had been in contact with
them. Severe as were the losses in flocks and herds from
these imported diseases, they were eclipsed by the ravages
of the mysterious potato blight, which, first appearing
in 1845, pervaded the whole of Europe, and in Ireland
especially proved the precursor of famine and pestilence.
A short period of low prices followed the repeal of the Corn
Laws, wheat averaging only 38s. 6d. a quarter in 1851, but
the years from 1852 to 1875 were the most prosperous of the
century. The letters written by Sir James Caird to The
Times during 1850, and republished in 1852 under the title
English Agriculture in 1850-1851, give a general review of
English agriculture at the time. The scientific and mechanical
improvements of the first half of the century were widely
adopted, while the prices of the protectionist period showed
little decline. Amelioration in all breeds of domesticated
animals was manifested, not so much in the production of
individual specimens of high merit as in the diffusion of
these and other good breeds over the country, and in the
improved quality of live stock as a whole. The fattening of
animals was conducted on more scientific principles. Increased
attention was successfully bestowed on the improvement of field
crops. Improved varieties, obtained by cross-impregnation
either naturally or artificially brought about, were carefully
propagated and generally adopted, and increased attention was
bestowed on the cultivation of the natural grasses. The most
important additions to the list of field crops were Italian
rye-grass, winter beans, white Belgian carrot and alsike clover.
Agriculture since 1875.
The last quarter of the 19th century proved, however, a
fateful period for British agriculture. The great future
that seemed to await the application of steam power to the
tillage of the soil proved illusory. The clay soils of
England, the latent fertility of which was to be brought into
play in a fashion that should mightily augment the home-grown
supplies of food, remained intractable, and the extent of
land devoted to the cultivation of corn crops, instead of
expanding, diminished in a marked degree. British farmers of
long experience look back to 1874 as the last of the really
good years, and consider that the palmy days of British
agriculture began to dwindle at about that time. The shadow
of the approaching depression had already fallen upon the
land before the year 1875 had run its course, and the outlook
became ominous as the decade of the 'seventies neared its
close. One memorable feature was associated with 1877 in
that this was the last year in which the dreaded cattle plague
(rinderpest) made its appearance in England. The same year,
1877, was the last also in which the annual average price of
English wheat (then 56s. 9d.) exceeded 50s. a quarter. With
declining prices for farm produce came that year of unhappy
memory, 1879, when persistent rains and an almost sunless
summer ruined the crops and reduced many farmers to a state of
destitution. Much of the grain was never harvested, whilst
owing mainly to the excessive floods there commenced an
outbreak of liver-rot in sheep, due to the ravages of the
fluke parasite. This continued for several years, and the
mortality was so great that its adverse effects upon the ovine
population of the country were still perceptible ten years
afterwards. A fall in rents was the necessary sequel of
the agricultural distress, to inquire into which a royal
commission was appointed in 1879, under the chairmanship
of the duke of Richmond and Gordon. Its report, published
in 1882, testified to ``the great extent and intensity
of the distress which has fallen upon the agricultural
community. Owners and occupiers have alike suffered from
it. No description of estate or tenure has been exempted.
The owner in fee and life tenant, the occupier, whether of
large or of small holding, whether under lease, or custom, or
agreement, or the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings
Act--all without distinction have been involved in a general
calamity.'' The two most prominent causes assigned for the
depression were bad seasons and foreign competition, aggravated
by the increased cost of production and the heavy losses of live
stock. Abundant evidence was forthcoming as to the extent
to which agriculture had been injuriously affected ``by an
unprecedented succession of bad seasons.'' As regards the
pressure of foreign competition, it was stated to be greatly
in excess of the anticipations of the supporters, and of the
apprehensions of the opponents of the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Whereas formerly the farmer was to some extent compensated by
a higher price for a smaller yield, in recent years he had had
to compete with an unusually large supply at greatly reduced
prices. On the other hand, he had enjoyed the advantage of an
extended supply of feeding-stuffs---such as maize, linseedcake
and cotton-cake---and of artificial manures imported from
abroad. The low price of agricultural produce, beneficial
though it might be to the general community, had lessened the
ability of the land to bear the proportion of taxation which
had heretofore been imposed upon it. The legislative outcome
of the findings of this royal commission was the Agricultural
Holdings Act 1883, a measure which continued in force in
its entirety till 1901, when a new act came into operation.
The apparently hopeless outlook for corn-growing compelled
farmers to cast about for some other means of subsistence, and to
rely more than they had hitherto done upon the possibilities of
stock-breeding. It was in particular the misfortunes of the
later 'seventies that gave the needed fillip to that branch of
stock-farming concerned with the production of milk, butter and
cheese, and from this period may be said to date the revival of
the dairying industry, which received a powerful impetus through
the introduction of the centrifugal cream separator, and was
fostered by the British Dairy Farmers' Association (formed in
1875). The generally wet character of the seasons in 1879
and the two or three years following was mainly responsible
for the high prices of meat, so that the supplies of fresh
beef and mutton from Australia which now began to arrive found
a ready market, and the trade in imported fresh meat which
was thus commenced has practically continued to expand ever
since. The great losses arising from spoilt hay crops served
to stimulate experimental inquiry into the method of preserving
green fodder known as ensilage, with the result that the
system eventually became successfully incorporated in the
ordinary routine of agricultural practice. A contemporaneous
effort in the direction of drying hay by artificial means
led to nothing of practical importance. By 1882 the cry as
to land going out of cultivation became loud and general,
and the migration of the rural population into the towns in
search of work continued unchecked (see below, Agricultural
Population) . In 1883 foot-and-mouth disease was terribly
rampant amongst the herds and flocks of Great Britain, and
was far more prevalent than it has ever been since. It was
about this time that the first experiments were made (in
Germany) with basic slag, a material which had hitherto been
regarded as a worthless by-product of steel manufacture. A
year or two later field trials were begun in England, with
the final result that basic slag has become recognized as a
valuable source of phosphorus for growing crops, and is now in
constant demand for application to the soil as a fertilizer.
In 1883 the veterinary department of the Privy Council--which
had been constituted in 1865 when the country was ravaged by
cattle plague---was abolished by order in council, and the
``Agricultural Department'' was substituted, but no alteration was
effected in the work of the department, so far as it related to
animals. In 1889 the Board of Agriculture (for Great Britain)
was formed under an act of parliament of that year (see
AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF). The election took place in the same
year (1889) of the first county councils, and the allotment to
them of various sums of money under the Local Taxation (Customs
and Excise) Act 1890 enabled local provision to be made for
the promotion of technical instruction in agriculture (see
below, Agricultural Education.) It was about this time that
the value of a mixture of lime and sulphate of copper (bouillie
bordelaise), sprayed in solution upon the growing plants, came
to be recognized as a check upon the ravages of potato disease.
The general experience of the decade of the 'eighties
was that of disappointing summers, harsh winters, falling
prices, declining rents and the shrinkage of land values.
It is true that one season of the series, that of 1887, was
hot and droughty, but the following summer was exceedingly
wet. Nevertheless, the decade closed more hopefully than it
opened, and found farmers taking a keener interest in grass
land, in live stock and in dairying. Cattle-breeders did
well in 1889, but sheep-breeders fared better; on the other
hand, owing to receding prices, corn growers were more
