And Agricultural Writings of the Rev Dr John Walker (I73 I-I8o3) by CHARLES W J WITHERS

Home , Agriculture in Scotland

A Neglected Scottish Agriculturalist: the 'Georgical Lectures' and Agricultural Writings of the Rev Dr John Walker (I73 I-I8o3) By CHARLES W J WITHERS

HE eighteenth century witnessed important and prestigious Highland and many changes in Scottish agricul- Agricultural Society, founded in I784, T ture. Several related components of epitomize the close links between insti- change may be identified. New ways of tutionalized scientific enterprise and the managing and working the land -- for development of Scotland's rural economy example, the more widespread adoption of in this period. ~- enclosure and use of lime, and changing Published works on agriculture likewise practices of rotation ~ occurred alongside mirrored the widespread interest in the a variety of shifts in Scottish rural society local and national improvement of the involving such things as the passing of the land. Books and pamphlets outlining the 'fermtoun' and the move from single to established methods of husbandry or multiple tenancies. These changes were urging the adoption of new practices and paralleled by, and were, in part, the result better principles had appeared before I7oo, of the active involvement of forward- but it was in the eighteenth century in thinking 'improving' landowners and particular, and in concert with these other farmers. These themes occurred together elements, that changes in rural society and with an increase in the number of scientific, on the land were increasingly reflected in predominantly agricultural, 'improve- papers in societies' transactions and in ment' societies, and a growth in the published books. 3 literature on Scotland's agriculture and Important as these trends are, any ap- rural economy. ' preciation of the advances made in agricul- The improving movement in agriculture ture in eighteenth-century Scotland should found its first institutional expression in also consider the role played by prominent The Honourable the Society of Improvers individuals whose membership of im- in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scot- proving societies, practical involvement in land, begun in I723 . Other bodies con- land management and authorship of agri- cerned with agricultural topics such as the cultural texts marks them as key figures in Edinburgh Society for Encouraging Art, :S Shapi,~, 'The audience for science in eighteenth century Science, Manufactures and Agriculture, the Edinburgh' HistoryofSciellce, Xll, 1974, pp 9~..v-Io4. Edinburgh Philosophical Society and the •~ A number of important works may be noted in this regard: Lord Belhaven's Tilt, Countryman's Rudiments, Edinburgh, 1699; W Mackintosh, An Essay on Wal,s and Means for lnclosimb Fallowing, ' There are a number of general works on agricultural improvement Planting etc, Edinburgh, 1729; F Home, The Principlesqf Agriculture in eighteenth-century Scotland, several of which are footnoted atld l/egetation, Edinburgh, 1757; Dickson's two volume Treatise of throughout the text. Recent works include M L Parry and T P, Slater Agriadmre, Edinburgh, 177o; H Home (Lord Kames), The (eds), The Makillg of the Scottish Countryside, 198o; D Turnock, The Gentleman Farmer, Edinburgh, x776; A Wight's six volume Present Historical Geography of Scotland sillce 17o7, Cambridge, 1982 (esp ch State qfHusbandr), in Scotland;and not least, J Sinclair (ed), Statistical 4); G W Whittington and 1 D Whyte, An Historical Geo.~raph), of Account qfScotland, published in twenty-one volumes between 179 l Scotland, t983. and 1799. I32 A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST 133 this period. Henry Home, Lord Kames, Manufactures and Agriculture for an essay author of The Gentlemen Farmer (I776), and on marls and of the Highland and Agricul- The progress of flax-husbandry in Scotland tural Society for an essay on peat. 7 His (W76), a committee member of the man- lecture notes also reveal his appreciation, agers of the Forfeited Annexed Estates and shared by other writers, of the practices of of the Board of Trustees for Fisheries, plantation and woodland management. Manufactures, and Improvements in Scot- Walker may also lay claim to be the land, and himself an improving landlord is principal agent behind the establishment, perhaps the best example. Less known to in 1783, of the Royal Society of Edinburgh us now, but much involved at the time in which, in its intended plans at least, consid- all the areas mentioned above, was the Rev ered agricultural improvement part of their Dr John Walker. scheme for 'extending useful knowledge'. 8 John Walker was born in Edinburgh in As a teacher, Walker tutored Robert Dar- I73I and died there in I8O3. He was, at win (Charles Darwin's father), Tobias various times of his life, a mineralogist, Smollett and Robert Jameson and several botanist, a parish minister and Moderator men who rose to prominence in American of the General Assembly of the Church of science in the late eighteenth and early Scotland, and, from I779 to I8O3, Profes- nineteenth centuries. Among his corres- sor of Natural History in the University of pondents were Linnaeus, Arthur Young Edinburgh. 4 Throughout his life, and and William Cullen. In addition, Walker during this quarter-century in particular, carried on an extensive correspondence he was also greatly concerned with the with improving landowners and farmers improvement of Scottish agriculture. This throughout Scotland and with several involvement is apparent in a number of like-minded men in England. Some, like ways. Walker was the first person in an Archibald Bruce, who was both a corres- English-speaking university to give lec- pondent and a student of Walker's, were tures on agricultural topics as part of his themselves to produce texts upon agricul- natural history course, s He was a candidate ture; 9 others, like George Drummond of for the Chair of Agriculture in Edinburgh Kincardine, put what they learnt from in 179o. Several of his essays on the Walker to more practical use. Prominent agriculture and natural productions of among his contacts was Henry Home, Scotland appear in the early Transactions of Lord Kames. the Highland mtd Agricnlt.ral Society.c' He Both Kames and Walker shared a deep was a medal winner of the Edinburgh interest in the improvement of Scotland's Society for Encouraging Art, Science, agriculture through the establishment of better principles of management and the 4 Biographical sources i"or Walker include: FI Scott (ed),John l.Valker: promotion of practical advances: both were Lectures on geo(ogy , htdltding hydrogl"al.,hy, mim'raiogy and meh,oroh~y , Chicago, 1966, pp xvii-xlvi; (; Taylor, 'John Walker, 13D, FP,SE, part of that scientific community in late 1731-18o3 ', Transacrhms of the Botanical Society qf Edinbu13,h, eighteenth-century Scotland for whom XXXVIII, 1959, pp 18o--2o3; DictiomW of National Biography; W hmcs Addison, .q Roll ql'tlu' Gr, lduates o.f ihe University qf Gla.,.eow agricultural improvement was the basis of 17..'7-1,¢97, Glasgow. 1898, p 625; M M McKay (cd), Thr Rrv. Dr. national prosperity. Kames was both friend John 114~lker's Report on the Hebrides qf 1764 aml 1771, Edinburgh, 198o, pp 1-3o. ~I-1 W Scott, 'john Walker's lecnlres in agriculture 079o) at the "~ l/,amsay, op tit, p 35: H Mackenzie, Prize Essays and Transactions ofthe University of Edinburgh', Agricultural History, XLIII, 1969, pp Highhmd Society of Scothmd, Edinburgh, 18o 3, 11, pp t-137. 439--45. William Cullen, himselfa farmer on a small scale, had given x S Shapin, q~ropcrty, Patronage, and the Politics of Science: the some lectures o11 agricultural topics o11 a private basis in 1758; see i"ounding of the Royal Society of Edinburgh', British Journal for the Shapin, op tit, p 1o 3. Histoe), of Science, 25, 1974, p 25: N Campbell and R Martin S " A P, anlsay, History qfthe HighhlM,lnd A.ericultltral Society o.l'ScMand, Smcllic, The Ro},al Soeiet), o.f Edillblmlh (1783-1983), Edinburglt, Edinburgh, 1879, pp 35, 46, 449. Curiously for one m involved in t983, pp41,1o3,113, 116, 118. agricultural affairs, Walker was not an original ha,ember of this v A Bruce, A General View of the Agriculture qfBerwick, Edinburgh, society. t 794. ~i ii:~i¸

'J ::i i! I34 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW and patron to Walker. io In his capacity as a eighteenth-century Scotland; the extent commissioner to the Forfeited Annexed and nature of his correspondence on Estates and member of the Board of Trus- agrarian topics; and his friendship with tees, Kames, in I764, directed Walker to Lord Kames. To understand the man and tour and report on the Scottish Highlands. his significance as an agriculturalist, how- Walker made six trips to the Highlands ever, it is necessary to set Walker and his from W64 to I786, the most important ideas in the wider context of scientific being those of r764 and I77I. The obser- enterprise and agricultural knowledge in vations made and the material collected that period. were important in the improvement of those areas as well as being of value to Walker as a botanist and geologist. ~ I Moreover, the information formed the The improvement of agriculture in the basis to Walker's two published works, eighteenth century was part and parcel of both of which appeared posthumously, i'- broader changes affecting Scotland at that Walker's reputation as a scientist and his time. In literature, chemistry and belles observations upon Scotland's rural lettres, in manners as much as on the land, economy made him a valuable source of Scotland was embracing a whole variety of information. Several letters to Kames show new 'ways of doing': ideas of 'cultivation' Walker advising his patron on a variety of and 'improvement' meant modifying the agricultural topics: on the siting and grow- native Scots language as well as bettering ing of fruit trees, for example, and on the yields. Yet changes in farming were climatic limitations to plant growth. perhaps the most dramatic of all: as Fenton The inclusion of agricultural topics in his has noted, 'The net effect.., of the gen- lecture syllabus, his correspondence on eral creation of farms with enclosed fields agricultural matters and his friendship with and new buildings was to give Lowland Kames and others suggest Walker to have Scotland a face-lift that was probably more been an important figure in agricultural thorough-going than in any other country circles in eighteenth-century Scotland. Yet of Europe in the course of the eighteenth apart from brief mention of his lectures,'3 century'. Is and an edition of his Hebridean reports, 14 Though Lord Belhaven had written as little attention has been paid to Walker and early as I699 how 'There needs no Rhetor- his agricultural work. It is the purpose of ick to illustrate the many and great Advan- this paper to draw to the notice of a wider tages that accresce [sic] to a Nation by the audience the agricultural writings and diligent Practice and due Incouragement of work of the Rev Dr John Walker. Three Husbandry', 16 the transformation of Scot- related themes are examined in this respect: land's agriculture and rural landscape was the agricultural content of his Natural particularly apparent in the second half of History lecture course and its relationship the century. Donaldson, writing in I795, with contemporary agricultural writing in expresses an opinion that had increasingly

,o It is uncertain when the two men were first acquainted. Walker's found favour during the century: 'By early essay on marls would have drawn him to Kamcs's attention. agriculture, barren deserts are converted McKay, 198o, op cit, p t has suggested they met when Walker was at Glencorse as a minister from 1758, and there is no reason to doubt into fertile fields, covered with innumer- this. able herds and luxuriant crops, or are " McKay, 198o, op cir. clothed with stately timber. The indus- z~j Walker, An Economical Historl, of the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2 vols, 18o8; h'ssays on Natln'al History and trious husbandman not only enriches him- Rural Econonty, Edinburgh, 2 vols, 18 ~2. ,3 Scott, 1969, op cir. '~ A Fenton, Scottish Country L!li', Edinburgh, t976, p 16. "~ McKay, 198o, op cie. '¢' Lord Belhaven (J Hamihon), 1699, otl tit, p 1.

ii; A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST 135 self, but also advances the general pros- the works of creation contained in the perity of the community'.I7 This terrageous globe'. ~° The subject was 'utilitarian impulse' to agricultural divided into six branches; Meteorology, advancement was itself part of the Hydrography, Geology, Mineralogy, expansion of scientific enterprise in Botany and Zoology: 'The three first, Scotland, most notably the development of constitute the History of the Terrageous a Scottish earth science tradition embracing Globe in general: that is, of the Atmosphere, geology, chemistry, mineral discovery and of the Waters, and of the Earth. The three natural history. '8 The universities, with last, contain the History of what are called the development of a lecturing tradition the three Kingdoms of Nature: the Fossile, and the undoubted ability of men such as the Vegetable, and the Animal Kingdom'. = .Joseph Black, William Cullen and John Walker's agricultural sections fall within Walker, were an important influence 'Botany' in the 'Vegetable Kingdom'. behind the development of a scientific Underlying all of Walker's work and his foundation to the improvement of Scottish remarks on botany, the 'vegetable king- culture and economy. And societies and dom' and agriculture in particular is the cultural institutions such as the Highland utilitarian philosophy of the eighteenth- and Agricultural Society and the Royal century improver. Walker noted that 'The Society of Edinburgh were important enquiries respecting the vegetable King- agencies by which new knowledge and dora in general will be concluded with a new techniques I in ploughing, crops, specific account of such plants as are pos- methods of nutrition and rotation I were sessed of any rare or remarkable properties mediated through an elite group of land- or are useful or noxious to Mankind'. ~= His owning gentry and disseminated into treatment of natural history and, in turn, of principles and practice for the benefit of the agriculture was explicitly utilitarian. His nation. Shapin has pointed to a common lectures aimed at a specific audience and interest in the themes of horticulture, were set within a social and cultural con- agricultural chemistry and the scientific text geared to improvement and economic basis to agriculture held by those advancement. improving individuals dominating My leading idea in Natural History is to render it scientific societies in Edinburgh. ''J As so- subservient to the Purposes of Life; to which great ciety member and university professor, End, it is indeed eminently adapted. With this View, Walker holds a position of special interest. when I first drew out the general Plata, I was to Walker was elected to the Chair of follow in teaching; I engrossed in it three favourite Natural History in Edinburgh in Novem- Subjects; Agriculture, Plantation, and Gardening • . . 1 had Experimented and written to a consider- ber 1779, a position he held until his death. able Extent, upon these Subjects and wished greatly Natural history at that time was not as we to teach them .... I have for some time proposed; know it. The subject was based upon a to give a Course of Georgical Lectures upon Agricul- strict system of order, classification, and ture .... 1 expected, that among the Gentlemen of practical observation; themes likewise the Parliament House, the Landed Gentlemen re- siding in Edinburgh, their Sons pursuing a general apparent in Walker's works in mineralogy Education, and among the IntelligentFarmers in this and botany as well as on agriculture. Walker understood natural history to be 'the arrangement, description & history of "° Institutes qf Natural History containing the Heads of the Lectures in , r j Donaldson, Moeh'rlt Agrictiltlirt'; or, the Present State oJ'bll~sbandryin Natm'al History J Walker, Edinburgh, 1792 MS in tbe Walker Great Britain, Edinburgh, 179~. p 4. Collection, Special Collections Room of the Library of tile ,s R Porter, The Makin.e, o.]'(Jt,oh~[~},:Earth Sciellce bl Bri,ain 166o-1815, University of Edinburgb. Cambridge, i977, pp i47-56. 2, Ibid. ,v Shapin, 1974, op tit. -'-" Edinburgh University Library (herdnafter EUL), Ms De. Io.33. I36 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW neighbourhood, I might find an Audience that propagation & destruction of weeds. Of pasture & would reward my Labour. aa meddow lands, of the culture of Artificial grounds. Of the discovery of some grounds & other plants Walker appreciated that he could not treat not now in use, but which are fltt to be tried as Green of all agricultural themes equally. or Dry forage. Of the reclaiming of wild land, & to these we shall The Topics in this Syllabus are so numerous, that add a review of those obstacles which obstruct the they must necessarily vary much, in their Degree of improvement of Agriculture in Scotland. Importance. Some of them perhaps, might be There is another Agrestic Art which is nearly entirely omitted; and many of them may require to allied to Husbandry as depending on the Natural be only slightly touched. But those certainly are History of plants viz' Gardening. entitled to the fullest Illustration, which are most material to the Interest of the Country. -'~ Here we will begin with observing the effects of cuhivation on plants which in consequence of the The following section, quoted at length variation of climate & the course of ages exhibit to us from Walker's manuscripts, illustrates the that vast variety & considerable improvement which material covered by Walker in his 'Georgi- nature may be brought to when assisted by art. [Gardening to include] the stiles of gardening; the cal Lectures' and the utilitarian emphasis he Kitchen & flower Garden; the management of the gav~ it. ~s The Syllabus of a Course of Lectures fruit Garden; the construction of Fruit Walls & the on Rural Oeconomy "-6 affords a more different sorts of shelter for Fruit Trees: the Orchard, detailed picture of the structure and content the Shrubery, & the Botanic Garden; the Green of Walker's lectures (see Appendix). house, the dry & Cork stoves & other conservatories for tender plants. & the propagation of valuable As a course of Lectures of this kind should be of fruits. public as well as private utility every opportunity We shall then bestow some observations on that should be embraced that can in any way be applied to higher species of Gardening the laying out of the advantage and improvement of the useful arts -- pleasure ground, an Art that not only requires an and such an opportunity occurs here. extensive knowledge of natural history but of the The observations to be made & the principles to be human heart established from the several subjects now enumer- Lastly, we shall come to the art of planting, & this ated may be of great use in the several arts dependent requires particular attention in a Country which like on Georgics. this is advancing & give way to fields & pastures We These consist of two parts shall attempt a history of the rise and progress of ist The Cultivation of Plants plantations in Scotland with remarks on its present 2d The managenlent of domestic Animals state, & the means of its further advancement. -'v Of Georgics the first & most important branch is Agriculture, which tho only an art in its practise may Given the importance of these lectures and be justly considered a science in its Theory and the social and scientific context in which Principles . . . they were given, it is pertinent to examine their relationship with the work and ideas We shall treat of the nature of soils in general & of of contemporary agricultural writers. these in Scotland in particular, with their particular properties and names & distinguishing marks, & the particular plants each of them is fitted to rear. Of the operation of Natural and Artificial Manures II especially of Quicklime. Of the effects of Tillage. There is no doubt that Walker's lectures Of the differences between Horse and other were highly regarded. The Caledonian Mer- methods of husbandry. cury carried the passage below Oll 3 April Of the structure of Roots. Of the change of Species & rotation of Crops. Of the comparative I79o. merit of the different grains & other profitable crops. LECTURES ON AGRICULTURE Of their different effects on the soil & of the nature On Thursday last, 1)r. Walker, Professor of Natural :J EUL, MS Lalll 352/3. History in the University here, concluded the first .-4 Ibid. course of lectures on Agriculture, which has ever ~ For a general review of Walker's utilitarian views in the broader field ofeartb sciences, see 1orter, 1977, op tit. : :(' Aberdeen University Library, MS 56. :7 EUL, MS, I)c. lo.33. A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST I37 been delivered in Britain as a branch of Academical of artificial manures and fertilizers was education. The gentlemen who attended that class becoming increasingly common in the invited him afterwards to an entertainment, that they might have an opportunity of expressing to him latter half of the century: 3° Donaldson in collectively their acknowledgements and thanks for his Modern Agriculture of 1795 noted that the instruction they had received; and at that meeting the subject of manures was 'of the greatest an Agricultural Society was projected, which under importance; for on a thorough knowledge his patronage and direction, may prove essential of it depends, in no small degree, the service to the practical farmer, and tend to the general diffusion of Georgical science over the further extension of agricultural improve- country. ments'.3t Lord Kames, perhaps more than anyone else, was concerned with the scien- The Edinburgh Agricultural Society was tific underpinnings of agriculture. 32 Like established that year and it is through his Francis Home, Hutton, Donaldson, involvement in this body that Walker Wight, Ure (to name only a few), and engaged in correspondence with Scottish Walker, Kames recognized the virtues of farmers (see below). But Walker was far what may be termed agricultural chemis- from being the sole source of knowledge try: 'To be an expert farmer, it is not on 'Georgical science'. In his emphasis necessary that a gentleman be a profound upon the 'Chymical Principles of Plants' chymist. There are however certain chymi- and the 'Chymical Analyses of Soils' and cal principles relative to agriculture, that no on manures, Walker is of significance for farmer of education ought to be ignorant his advocacy of a scientific approach to of'. 33 Kames's The Gentleman Farmer agriculture and the search for principles reveals the author to be conversant with behind the practice, but he is also agricultural subjects through years of prac- mirroring the work of others. tical involvement and as a theorist. In his Francis Home's The Principles of Agricul- preface, Kames writes 'I have not men- ture and Vegetation (1757) was a pmneer tioned a single article as certain, but what I work in the scientific study of agriculture. have practised many years with success: the His book considers a number of topics instructions contained in this book, are shared by Walker: the natural and artificial founded on repeated experiments and dili- methods of providing manure and veg- gent observation'. 34 His aim, 'of com- etable food, the effects of climate and plant bining deep philosophy with useful diseases, farming instruments, and types of practice' in agriculture was also assisted by crop in relation to soil. Though the limited the scientific knowledge of men such as nature of contemporary knowledge on William Cullen and Joseph Black, both chemistry and plant physiology prevented professors of Chemistry, and Walker. him from a detailed understanding of the (Kames even tried to persuade Black to scientific basis to agriculture, Home's ~o See, for example, R A Dodgshon, 'Land improvement in Scottish work is nonetheless of great importance in farming: Marl and Lime in Roxburghshire and Berwickshire in the Eighteenth Century', Ag Hist Rev, XXVI, 1978, pp 1-14. the history of Scottish agriculture. -~8 The l)odgshon cites several authors contemporary with Walker, topics of soil fertility and sterility, the including Kames; see, for example D Ure General View of the Ae. "iculm " in the County of Roxbuli~h Edinburgh 1794 p 26." virtues of particular plough types and the .~' Donaldson, 1795, op tit, p 202. chemical basis to artificial manures, par- •;: On Kames's significance as an agriculturalist and in the wider context of improvement in eighteenth-ce,ltury Scotland, see G ticularly marls, are also important topics in Bryson, Man amt Society: the Scottish Inquiry of the E(t?hteenth the agricultural manuscripts of James Hut- Cam,ry, Princeton, 1945, pp 33-77; Handley, 1953, 0p dr, pp 14o-1;J E Handley, The A gria,lmral Revolution in Scotl,md, Oxford, ton. 29 Liming and the regular application 1963, pp 39-49; W C Lehmann, Henry Home, Lord Kames, and the '~J E Handley, Sconish Farmin.~ in the E(~htecnth Ccntur),, Oxford, Scottish Enlightemncnt, The Hague, '971; I S Ross, Lord Kames and 1953, p 129. the Scodand of his da},, Oxford, 1972. :'~ J Hutton, 2 vols MS Principh's qfAgriculll,'e, The P,oyal Society of .u Home [Kames], 1776, op tit, p 292. Edinburgh. J~ lbid, p ix. I38 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW include agricultural topics in the latter's cance as an agriculturalist must also focus chemistry course: '... the principles of upon other facets of his work, principally agriculture will in your hands be one of the his status as a scientist, his travels to the most interesting articles of a course in Highlands of Scotland and remarks on the chemistry'.) 35 Kames cites Walker on the rural economy of that region, and his question of climatic influences on the correspondence with landowners and far- growth and flowering of plants in The mers. In all these areas, he was skilled and Gentleman Farmer and in correspondence conscientious. He himself noted that 'more between the two, Kames more than once knowledge may be obtained by the eye seeks Walker's advice on horticultural than can be convey'd by the ear'; 37 his matters. 36 detailed observations on husbandry in the Given the common interest in agricultu- Highlands reveal the truth of this remark. ral matters, it is not surprising that such Much of this material is collected in writings exhibit common themes. In this Walker's An Economical History of the respect, the Syllabus of a Course of Lectures Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland, on Rural Oeconomy is perhaps less import- published in two volumes in Edinburgh in ant "for what it reveals on the content of I8o8, and dedicated, by his executors, to Walker's lectures than as a summation of the Highland Society of Scotland and to the the views held by like-minded agricultural Board of Agriculture. This work, and writers. As we have seen, Walker was part Walker's other major published work, of an intellectual community in late Essays on Natural History and Rural eighteenth-century Scotland, centred in Economy, were the result of several trips to Edinburgh around the university and Scotland's north and west under Kames's scientific societies: a community whose patronage. These areas of Scotland were to membership was very largely made up of be improved in matters of industry and landowning gentry and for whom trade as well as in agriculture, and several agricultural improvement, itself part of the of Walker's manuscripts record the detailed extension of scientific enterprise, was of way he enquired into aspects of society and particular concern. Walker's agricultural culture as well as agrarian traditions and lectures may thus be considered as a review practices. of agricultural knowledge and practice in His Queries concernitlg the North of Scot- contemporary Scotland; a consensus of larld, record thirty-eight questions on the those topics to be considered in the agriculture of the Highlands. 3'~ Walker improvement of Scotland's rural economy enquired into such topics as 'the present and a guide to the wider audience of the manner of tillage and the succession of enlightened landowning and farming crops', the advantages arising from the use classes as to the best way to proceed. of the spade or cas chrom in the Highlands as opposed to the plough, the rents of different kinds of land, and what parts of the country might be improved by draining. III His travels in the Highlands provided him Though his Syllabus also represents the with material for several of his essays on culmination and synthesis of Walker's agricultural work, assessment of his signifi-

.w Lcctures on Natm'al Histor), gim,n in Edilthm~h Uttiversit}, 179z, 12 vols MSS, in tile care of the Library of the Royal College of Physicians, •~-~ EUL, MS Gen 873/1/83-4: see also Gen 875/t/79F-82F. Edinburgh. a~, EUL, MS La Ill 352/4. -~ EUL, MS Dc 2.16, lois 1.1-45. / A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST 139 agricultural topics: on kelp, a9 on peat, 4° on noted that 'Exact observations are much cattle and corn in the Highlands 4~ and on wanted, for ascertaining the Plants w ch the scarcity of grain. 4-" The Highlands had serve as wholesome Forage, to the different been badly affected by crop failure in kinds of Cattle'. 47 He corresponded on the I783, 43 and, in I800, much of Scotland was topic with Linnaeus who had been engaged likewise affected by a scarcity of grain. in 'Observations of this sort'. 48 Plants were Walker's conclusion, put forward in a of particular interest to Walker; 'I have paper dated 26 December I80044 was that been from my cradle fond of vegetable the increase of pasture land for grazing at life': 49 the opportunity to put his botanical the expense of arable for grain was the chief knowledge to practical use was of double cause of scarcity. importance. Walker's Highland trips pro- In his Queries concerning the North of duced plenty of material: he refers in one Scotland, two topics were considered of letter to '... a Harvest of Plants I had particular relevance to those parts: enclos- never before seen, many of which have not ure and artificial grasses. as yet been viewed by Botanick Eyes. I have augmented my Collection of Plants In what Tracts of the Country would Inclosures be most advantageous? Where they should be begun & even beyond what I expected', s° Though encourag'd, and in what manner they should be much of what Walker collected and ob- executed. served probably had little practical value, In what parts should Fallowing, and the cultivation there is no doubt that his scientific back- of Artificial Grasses be introduced? ground sought utilitarian ends where pos- Note. These are the two leading steps of hnprove- ment, in the uncultivated parts of Scotland, & yet are sible: 'It is the task of a Botanist to discover unknown in many places, where they might be unknown plants with a view to their future beneficially practis'd. They arc introductory to every usefulness... It is the business of a natu- Sort of polishd Culture, & urge the Farmer to ralist to discover useful qualities in those inclose; not only from Interest, but through Neces- sity. 4s that are already known'. 5' Whilst observations 'obtained by the His search for the most effectual methods eye' were an important source of infor- of improvement, in the Highlands and mation to him, so too were the landowners elsewhere, was made easier by his detailed and farmers of his audience and with scientific knowledge, particularly of whom he corresponded, before and after botany. 46 In the matter of pasture grass, he his lecture course. Walker's correspondence shows him as an important central '" 'An Essay on Kelp: containing the rise and progress of that figure within the community of scientifi- manufacture in the north of Scotland; its present state; and the cally-minded agricultural writers and means of carrying it to a greater extent', Priz.c l£ssa),s .utd Transactions qf the Hi¢hhmd Societ}, of Scothmd, t 799, pp t-3 I. (This improvers: to some persons imparting paper was delivered to the Society in 1788.) knowledge and counsel (disseminating '"' 'An Essay on Peat, containing an account of its origin, of its chymical principles, and general properties. Its properties as a principles of management) while enquiring manure, and ;is a manured soil. The different methods of its and asking advice of others (accumulating cultivation. Its usefulness in plantation and gardening, and as a soil', Prize Essays .... 11, 18o3, pp I-137. "' 'On the cattle and corn of the Highlands', Prize Essays .... 11, 18o3, pp 164-2o3. one letter, terms Linnaeus ' . . . a famous gentleman and Golden '~-' EUL, MS l)c t 57, fol I OI {'1 srq; see also 'Concerning the Present Knight', EUL MS La [11352] l, letters of 22 Feb 1762; 12 Oct 1762; Scarcity of Grain in Scotland', Essays, 1812. pp 617-29. 2o June 1763. For Walker's anticipatory advances in tl~e a.~ l)ocuments rdative to the Distress and Famine iz~ Scotland in the classification of algae, see R K Greville, Alyae Britannicae, year t783, BPP 1846, XXXVII. Edinburgh, t83o, p iii. 4.~ Essays, 1812, pp 6t7-29. 4v EUL, MS l)e 2 36, p 33. 4s EUL, MS De2 36, p t9. 4x See note 46 above. 4,, Linnaeus hdd Walker's ability as a botanist in particular in high 4,~ Quoted in his entry in tbe Dictionar), of National Biography, XX, p regard; several letters to Walker from Linnaeus ask tbr Walker's 531. hdp in securing plant specimens from the Highlands: Walker, in ~' EUL, MS Lall1352/I. turn, was a devotee of the Limlaean system ofdassification and, in s' EUL, MS Dc IO33. I40 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW information based on the practical experi- Distinction sake [I] shall call N ~- I & 2 ence of others). resolving to have Potatoes & Wheat upon In January I792, for example, the Jed- them alternately, and always to doung burgh Farmer Society asked Walker's [dung] to the Pottatos Crop the preceding advice on the sort of topics 'to be taken year'. He writes to Walker of how the yield under Consideration by a Society of increased, then, despite rotation, declined Country Farmers who meet here Monthly dramatically when the land was to Communicate to one another such insufficiently dunged or kept in one crop Observations as Cast up to them in the too long: 'Thus [writes Scott] I found that Course of their practice', s-~ To a request for what will appear very promising in advice from the Presbytery of Shetland in Theory, may turn out Very Differently in May I79O on behalf of farmers there practice', s7 Scott's letter shows Walker as concerning the prevalence and treatment of the gatherer of information, adding to his sheepscab, Walker took the time to reply in own experience through detailed corres- two letters: the first a series of twelve pondence. More usually, Walker was the questions enquiring as to the exact nature source of knowledge, a role he owed to his of fhe disease in those areas and the reputation as lecturer and scientist. remedies that were currently practised; the George Henderson of Craigtoun near second a recommendation to smear the Kirkliston in Midlothian, an important sheep with tar and butter. Such a practice farmer in the area, wrote to Walker in was, according to Walker, then unknown April 179I over the matter of his son, in Shetland; 'But I well know from long Peter, attending Walker's lectures in the Observation, that in the South Country, its following year: 'Your fame for Knowledge chief if not sole use is to preserve the sheep in Natural History, One of the more from Diseases, & especially from the usefull and Entertaining Studies, Draws on Scab'.Ss you this Trouble'. s8 George Drummond, Walker's surviving correspondence also actively involved in the draining of Kincar- contains letters on the draining and man- dine Moss, wrote to Walker expressing agement of moorlands,S4 the most efficient disappointment and surprise at the news of method of weeding, ss and the rotation of an appointment of a professor of agricul- crops, s6 On this last topic, Walker com- ture: 'If unfortunately this should put a municated with several farmers and Stop to the delivery of your Lectures; I improvers. One lengthy letter from Tho- flatter myself, at least, that it will not do so mas Scott, a farmer in Midlothian, docu- the Publication of them ~ And in all ments the way Scott had, since the I75OS, Events I trust, it will not interfere with varied crops to increase the yield over his your new Agricultural Society'.5') William farm. Scott records the annual rotations he Matthews, secretary to Bath Agricultural tried, from I752 on, in the growing of Society, wrote to Walker in June I79O to potatoes, oats, barley, hay, and wheat in a praise the Highland Society's work and to field divided into two plots 'which for make Walker an honorary member of their institution given the 'high sense this So- -sa EUL, MS La 111 35213, 4January 1792. .s.~ lbid, 12 May 179o. ciety entertains of your Abilities'. a° To s4 Ibid, 26 April 179o (from George l)rummond on the progress of Kincardine Moss); 9 May 179o (from John Buchanan of Captain Charles Williamson, who had Cambusmae on the state of his improvements); 7July 1790 (from been corresponding with Walker on the Alix Blackadder on Blair I)rummond Moss). ss Ibid, 25 February 1791 (from William Brodie, Upper Raith). .~r, lbid, see especially the letters from P Nelson (2 April 1789); David s7 Ibid, Letter from Thomas Scott (5 Mat' x79o). Wight (5 May t79o); A Bruce (3 November t 79o);J Fell (2 March ss lbid, Letter t'rom George Henderson (El April 1791). t791); Fell in his letter addresses Walker as 'Professor of s,~ Ibid, Letter from George l)rummond (26 April 179o). Agriculture'. "' lbid, Letter t'rom William Matthcws (7June 179o). A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST I4I relative merits of reaping with sickle or Scotland; his university position, particu- scythe, Walker's advice and comments larly his curatorship of the museum; and were likewise highly regarded: 'The other scientific work. To these may be scheme you mention for advancing the added his involvement in the Church of knowledge of agriculture [his lecture Scotland and failure to gain the professor- course] is certainly the best that can be ship of agriculture in the very year he gave adopted'. 6' These letters should be seen as lectures in the subject. an indication of the high regard in which Walker's Highland journeys were costly Walker was held by the audience for in time and energy. In a letter of IO scientific improvement: as an agricultural December I764, Walker informed Kames scientist of the first importance whose that he had sailed 1263 miles, 'rowd in prestige depended both upon his own open boats 280', ridden lO87 miles and intellectual abilities and upon the social walked a further 528. 62 Much of the group and utilitarian context of which he material collected was for the benefit of the was part. By the early years of the nine- Board of Trustees and the Commissioners teenth century, however, Walker was of the Forfeited Annexed Estates in their worn out by his labours. By 18o3, his sight management of the Highlands, but Walker was '... so far gone I can neither Read noted also in the letter that he had '... nor Write', and, on 31 December that year, materials also for a separate treatise upon he died. agriculture, fisheries and the linen manufacture of the North, in which these subjects would be considered upon more IV general principles'. 63 The sheer amount of Given his involvement in Scottish agricul- information, collected over a trip of seven tural affairs -- as a lecturer, and practical to eight months, presented difficulties: he scientist of considerable reputation, as an wrote thus to Kames; experienced observer in the field and as a The Hardships I met with, were greater indeed than I correspondent on agrarian topics -- the would have chosen, but they were what I expected, question may be asked why Walker is not & were in most Cases unavoidable. The rich entertainment l had from the Business I was engaged in, better known to us today. No single reason & the surveying a sort of new World, made me even may be advanced, but several clues are bear them with Pleasure, & I expect still more in available which, taken together, suggest reflecting upon them. l am now employed in that despite being so active in agricultural preparing for the View of the annexd Board, what I and other affairs (and perhaps as a result of have written upon nay Expedition, which is a great being so involved), Walker was dilatory in Quantity, but it lies in great Disorder'. 64 the publication and dissemination of his Despite this workload, Walker could be an results and ideas outside of his lectures. In amusing as well as informative correspon- an age and social environment when pub- dent: Kames notes, in one letter of I776, lished essays and works on agrarian topics how 'Doctor Walker is so delightful as a were crucial sources of information, and literary correspondent that I could scarce conferred status on the author, Walker's wish him so near as to make writing failure to put words and notes into print unnecessary'. 6s was a major hindrance to any !ong-term But Walker could be indifferent and recognition. Several influences combined neglectful in his correspondence and in the to deflect Walker from publication during his lifetime: his travels in the north of ¢': EUL, MS La Ill 352/t, Letter to Kames (lo December 1764). ".~ Ibid. '"~ EUL, MS La Ill 352/t; see also EUL, MS l)c I 18/5. r,, lbid, Letter from Captain Charles Williamson (~ 2Junc .!79o). r,~ EUL, MS La Ill 332/4, Letter from Kames (29July t776).

m 142 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW publication of material. In a letter of I782, World'. TM This work was doubtless useful William Cullen noted how Walker seemed to his natural history lectures, but drew '... to be obstinately resolved against him away from his agricultural writings: answering letters'. 6e Kames, in a letter of 'The Preparation and Preservation of the I778, chastises Walker in similar fashion: Bodies in this Collection, and recording 'you are dilatory in the affairs of other them in a Register has for Six Years people, as well as in your own'. °7 The employed much of my Time'. 7' clearest indication of Walker's tardiness in Moreover, his early years in the profes- the matter of publication appears later in sorship were spent while still a parish this same letter, in regard to the chair in minister in the village of Moffat in Dum- natural history then still held by the first friesshire. Walker had been ordained as a incumbent, Robert Ramsay. In Kames's minister in the Church of Scotland in I754 view, Walker's delay in publishing would and given the charge of Glencorse near stand against him: 'If you are disappointed, Penicuik in I758. From I762 until I783 he which I am afraid will be the case, blame was minister at Moffat and it was as parish none but yourself. Had you announced the minister that he made his journeys to the natural history of Scotland [see note I2], Highlands. In I783 he was moved to and published part of it, according to my Colinton parish near Edinburgh. His repeated solicitations, all the world would church duties -- he was, in addition, have been for you; you would not have had moderator of the General Assembly of the a single competitor. Take a hint to what is Church of Scotland in I79o -- do not seem past: proceed to your publication; and then to have been hampered by his absence in you will be prepared for what may cast the Highlands or the long periods he spent up'. 6~ But Walker did not thus proceed while in Moffat walking the local hills to during his lifetime; even his plans to pro- search for plant specimens. His parishion- duce a general text on the botany of ers considered him a picaresque figure: his Scotland were laid aside, after much field frequent botanical excursions earned him work and thought, following the publi- the sobriquet 'the mad minister of cation, in I777, of Lightfoot's Flora Scotica. Moffat'. 72 But his twin involvement as His position as university professor church man and utilitarian scientist, the involved lecturing and curatorship. The one role demanding local residence and the university museum had been begun in I697 other necessitating lengthy absences from with material from Sir Robert Sibbald's parish or notebooks, ineant that Walker collection. By I78O, there was, in Walker's had little time in which to pull together his words ' . . . really nothing to keep'. ~'') 'By manuscripts into publishable form. attention and many personal Applications', Even allowing for these commitnaents, it as he put it in a letter of I793, Walker is difficult to know why he was not elected sorted and improved the collection. Doing to the professorship in agriculture in so necessitated correspondence with con- i79o. 73 His lectures were well-received; he tacts in many countries. 'The new Profes- sorship in which I am placed here, oblidges r,, National Library of Scotland. MS 5,540. f34, letter frmn Walker m me indeed to intrude upon every Acquain- R Liston, Minister l;lenipotcntiary, Madrid (24January t 7s4). v, EUL, MS La 111 352/2, lbid (see IlOte (1()). tance I have in distant parts of the 7: j Kay. Or(@lal Pore'airs. 11, Edinburgh. 1842, p 179. r.~ The Chair was endowed by Sir William Pultency. The first incumbent was Andrevc Coventry who held the position until oo EUL, MS La 111352/4. 1841: Coventry's two works arc themselves valuable sources for ov EUL, MS ka 111 352/4, Letter from Kames (2 February 1778). the agricultural history of early nineteenth-century Scotland; o8 l/rid. Discom'ses exphmawry ql'fl"' h'alm,s o11 a i.,ric.h.re and IJIIl'll/ ('{'tlHtlllly, 0~ EUL, MS La 111 352/2, Letter from Walker to Robert l)tmdas (2 Edinburgh, tSoS; ,X'ous on flw cubm'c and cnv~pht,i ,, ql'aral, h' land, September 1793). Edinburgh, t g I t. A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST r43 had considerable status within the dlite Present State of Husbandry in Scotland is and cultured circles of Edinburgh and a valuable for the picture it reveals at a reputation as a scientist. His age probably crucial stage in the evolution of Scotland's stood against him and his failure to pro- agriculture. duce a text on the agriculture of Scotland It is, of course, difficult to know or the rural economy of the Highlands whether any involvement by Walker in this despite the knowledge and experience project and the resultant publication would almost certainly did. One further reason have secured for him the professorship in may be put forward in regard to Walker's 179o and whether that in turn would have failure to secure the chair of agriculture in guaranteed a more lasting place in Scot- 179o and to his being little known in the land's agricultural history. That Walker is longer term. In the I76OS and I77OS, Lord not more widely known may stem quite Kames had set in motion a project to simply from his own breadth of interests survey the state of agriculture throughout and laxness in preparing work for publi- Scotland. Perhaps because he was absent cation despite the patronage of Kames and during the planning, or engaged in other the support of important cultural and work or because Kames was trying to scientific institutions. What cannot be reduce the commitments upon his friend, doubted is that such work as Walker has Walker was not selected to undertake this left us -- both published and in manuscript work. The person who was, Andrew form -- reveals him to have been, as Wight, himself a successful and enthusias- lecturer and agricultural scientist, tic farmer, was initially instructed to utilitarian philosopher and tutor to the enquire into the state of agriculture on the 'improving classes', a figure of farms of the forfeited and annexed estates. considerable significance in an important The survey was later extended to include period in the history of Scottish the remainder of Scotland. Though pub- agriculture. lished over a period of years, Wight's 74 Handlcy, 1953, op tit. p 143; 1963, 0p tit, p 39.

APPENDIX

Syllabus of A Course of Lectures on Rural Oeconomy

I Io Nutrition of Plants II Vegetable Oeconomy Vegetation 1 OrganicalPartsofPlants Their constituent Parts 2 The Chymical Principles of Plants Agriculture 2 Seeds 3 Roots Introduction 4 Stems Leases 5 BarkandWood Farm Buildings 6 Pith Instruments 7 Leaves a Ploughs 8 Fructification b Harrows 9 Sexes c Roller I44 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW d Fanner c Turnip Cabbage e Semoirs F Roots f Thresher G Flax and Hemp g Farm Carriages H Crops for Manufacture& 4 Inclosures Medicine a Walls I Crops for Thatch, Litter &c b Hedges K Diseases of Crops c Draining 9 Weeds Soils ~o Rotations a Staple dearth a Fallowing b ChymicalAnalyses of Soils b Horse Hoeing c General Division of Soils c Meliorating& Deteriorating d Causes of Sterility Crops e Means to procure Fertility d Succession of Crops 6 Manures II Husbandry oftheRomans a Animal Manures I2 The Old and New Husbandry • b Vegetable Manures I3 Sowing c Fossile Manures a Choice of Seed d Water b ChangeofSeed e Composts c Steeps f Operation of Manures d Season 7 Tillage e Quantity a Ridges f Depth b Deep & Shallow Ploughing I4 Reaping c Ribbing I5 Qualities of Grain d Bouting I6 Preservation of Grain e Procission f Sarrition Crops 3 A White Crops a Wheat Management of Grass Grounds, b Barley and of Cattle c Oats I Hay d Rye 2 Pasture B Green Crops ofGrain a Pasture Plants a Beans b Pasture Grounds b Peas c Summer& Winter Feeding c Buckwheat 3 Black Cattle C Green Crops for Summer Forage a Breed & Hay b Fattening a Red Clover c Stall Feeding b Rye Grass d Diseases c Lucern 4 Dairy d Sainfoin 5 Sheep D Grass Crops to be introduced a Breed E Green Crops for Forage in Winter b Food a Turnips c Stock b Coleworts d Summer& Winter Feeding [

A NEGLECTED SCOTTISH AGRICULTURALIST I45 e Smearing 5 f Wool Gardening g Diseases 6 Horses History 7 Hogs I Situation-- Soil-- Manures 8 Goats 2 Operations in Gardening 9 Plants poisonous to Cattle a Slipping :o Rabbits b Laying : i Poultry c Grafting I2 Bees d Inoculation :3 Fish Ponds e Marching :4 Animals to be introduced into 3 Pruning Scotland a Its Uses b General Principles c Season 4 d Practical Directions Plantation 4 Caprification 5 Transplanting Introduction 6 Diseases of Garden Plants I Plantation in General 7 PreservationoftenderExoticks 2 CultureofTrees 8 The different Styles of Gardens a Seminary a Kitchin Garden b Nursery b Flower Garden c Transplanting c Shrubbery 3 Pruning 9 Fruit Garden 4 Evergreens & Perdifols a Standards 5 ProgressofTrees b Espaliers a Age c Walls b Size IO Hot Houses c Growth a Peach House 6 Qualities of Timber b Vinery a Felling c Pine Stove b Duration d Muschrome Bed c Mechanical Properties II Botanick Garden 7 Products from Forest Trees I2 Policy a Bark a Style of Places b Charcoal b Characters of Places c Potashes c Disposition d Resin d Grass e Tar e Walks 8 Management of the Forest Trees in f Water Scotland g Trees 9 Fruit Trees in Plantations h Buildings IO Underwood 13 Idea of an Ornamented Farm I I The Culture of Willows 14 The Formation of a Village 12 Forest Trees to be introduced into Scotland I3 The Cyder Orchard 146 THE AGRICULTURALHISTORY REVIEW ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For permission to quote from manuscripts the University of Edinburgh; and the in their care, I am grateful to the Librarian Keeper of the Manuscripts in the Univer- of the Royal College of Physicians, Edin- sity of Aberdeen. burgh; the Keeper of the Manuscripts in

Notes and Comments (contbmed fi'om page UI ) ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND AGM, I985 on 7 Decelnber and the I986 Spring Conference was to The Spring Conference saw a return to the College of be at Seale-Hayne College, Newton Abbot, from 7-9 Ripon and York St John at Ripon from I-3 April 1985. April. On Tuesday Mr Richard Hoyle examined the The Treasurer presented the audited accounts of the Pilgrimage of Grace in some detail, discussing whether Society to the meeting which demonstrated that or not it could be classed as a peasant movelnent; Dr finances were satisfactory in that income roughly John Chapman reported some of the results of his equalled expenditure. Sales of the volume on Horses i, analysis of a Io per cent sample of parliamentary European Economic History had gonc very well as had enclosure awards while later in the day Dr Brian the bibliography, Farm tools, implements, aud machines i, Outhwaite speculated on notions of progress and Britain. The accounts were adopted and the meeting backwardness in English agriculture during Tawney's congratulated the Treasurer on his skilful handling of century in a paper which succeeded in provoking its the Society's finances. after-dinner audience. Mrs Christine Hallas led a most l)r Chartres reported that the healthy state of the successful excursion into Wensleydale aim Swaledale balances enabled the sizc of the Review to be maintained which she prefaced by a paper on Monday evening at 1 I2 pages for Volume 33 part 2. The flow of articles describing agricultural change in the two dales during continued at a satisfactory rate and the Society would the nineteenth century. Finally, on Wednesday, Dr be publishing a supplement to the Review in due Cormac 0 Gr.~da continued his explorations of Irish course. demographic history with a paper on farmers and At the conclusion of the meeting thanks were demographic adjustment after the famine, and l)rJolm expressed to the staffat the College of Ripon and York Perkins demonstrated how commentators are con- St John tbr their hospitality and to 1)r Chartres ~br ditioned by their own experiences in a discussion of organizing a most successful conference. German views of British farlning before 19I 4. The thirty-third AGM was held on 2 April 1985. Dr Thirsk was re-elected as President of the Society, l)r WINTER CONFERENCE, 1985 Collins re-elected as Treasurer aim I)r Overton Booking forms for the I985 Winter Confe,'ence to be re-elected as Secretary. Dr Chartres was re-appointed held jointly with the Historical Geography Research as Editor of the Review. The four vacancies on the Group of the Institute of British Geographers on 7 Executive Committee were filled by the retiring l)ecember 1985 at the Institute of Historical Research, members; Dr Baker, Mr Havinden, Professor Senate House, Malet Strect, London WCIE 7HU, Mingay, and Dr Phillips. should be inserted in this issue of the Review. The The Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr theme of the Conference is 'Rcgionalism in agricul- Havinden, presented the Committee's report. Mem- tural practice and agrarian society'. Additional bership of the Society stood at 845 on i January 1985, a booking forms may be obtained froln Dr A 1) M net decrease of 2 over the year during which 40 new Phillips, l)epartment of Geography, The University membersjoined the Society. The Executive Commit- ofKeele, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG. tee had decided that Dr George Fussell aim Miss Gillian Beazley be made the first Honorary Members of the Society. Once again the Society's finances were in a WINTER CONFERENCE, I986 healthy state and no increase in subscription was From I986 Winter Conferences will be organized by necessary, Some 20,0o0 copies of a leaflet advertising 1)r M E Turuer, Departinent of Economic and Social the Society were to be distributed with History Today in History, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX. The exchange for an advertisement in the Revie:v. The next 1986 Conference will again be a ]oiut one with the Winter Conference was again to be held jointly with Historical Geography Research Group oll the theme of the Historical Geography Research Group in London 'Agricultural statistics'.