Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
In July 2007 I acquired
some
volumes of this publication. It is my intention to
simply pick
appropriate articles from the volumes. In this way I hope to provide
an interesting collection of material on Agriculture in Scotland from the
last half of the 19th century.
The Society was founded in 1784 to
promote the regeneration of rural Scotland, as well as the preservation of
its poetry, language and music. Today, in the 21st century, the Society
is for people who value the rural areas of Scotland. It is for people who
enjoy the finest products of our land-based and allied industries. And it
is for everyone who supports the very best standards in agriculture,
forestry and stewardship of the countryside, which are such an essential
part of our heritage - and our future.
History of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland By Alexander Ramsay (1879)
PREFACE
The Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland, which has now existed for nearly a century, having been from a
very early period national in its aims and operations, it seemed that a
history of its proceedings might be so presented as to illustrate the
progress of agricultural improvement in the country. A narrative of this
nature would at least possess the quality of authenticity. The Society's
proceedings have been recorded with great care; and for the perfect
freedom of access afforded to its archives, the author has to express
his most cordial acknowledgments to the Directors. The Society mainly
sought to effect its purposes by the bestowal of premiums in
competition; and in those offered, and in the awards made, there is
evidence at once of the wants and the capabilities of the country at
successive periods, as well as a record of those whose individual
efforts were contributing towards the general advance.
While account has been taken of the
improvements in tillage and the crops of the farm, special attention
has, in the following pages, been bestowed on the illustration of the
changes occurring in the character of the live stock, a course
recommended alike by the nature of the subject, and the great importance
now so justly attached to this department of rural economy. There will
be found notices of the gradual spread over Scotland of the Shorthorn
cattle, and the relative positions in successive years of the
distinctive Scotch breeds. The reader curious in such matters will find
an interest in tracing the decline and extinction of such breeds as the
Fifeshire and Aberdeenshire Horned; and in the advance and definite
development of the Ayrshire and the two Polled races. Information of
kindred nature is supplied with respect to sheep and horses. Dairy
husbandry is also illustrated to a considerable extent.
The Society has not confined its attention
to affairs purely agricultural. That a scheme or proposal was likely to
benefit Scotland in general, and the Highlands in particular, was in its
earlier years recommendation sufficient to ensure the Society's support.
Efforts in various independent directions, from Gaelic dictionaries and
the poetry of the Highlands, to the patronage and promotion of piping
competitions, are duly described. It seemed fitting to prefix to the
History of the Highland and Agricultural Society some notice of the
proceedings of two earlier Associations for the promotion of Scottish
agriculture, which aspired to a national character. The account of the
Society of Improvers is of course based on the work of Mr Maxwell of
Arkland, published in 1743. The narrative of the proceedings of the
Edinburgh Society is drawn up entirely from fragmentary references
scattered through the Scottish newspapers of the period.
It appeared to be equally desirable to
furnish a sketch of the agricultural condition of Scotland about the
time the Highland Society began its active perations, as a review of
that nature offered a means of measuring the advance made in the
interval. In Chapter II., there will be found an outline of this
character, drawn from trust worthy contemporary sources. As affording a
further means of estimating the changes in the agricultural condition of
Scotland within the past ninety years, some statistics are printed in
the Appendix.
The preparation of the work has entailed
very considerable labour; but it has been cheerfully undertaken, in the
belief that the book may be found useful to a circle of readers, that
will probably become wider, as there are many evidences that increased
attention is being bestowed by the nation on questions relating to
agriculture. The Author has to thank various gentlemen who kindly aided
his inquiries. Very special thanks are due to Mr Fletcher Norton Menzies,
the Secretary to the Society, and Mr Thomas Duncan, the Principal Clerk,
without whose combined cordial and effective assistance the work could
not have appeared in its present form. Care and attention have been
bestowed in order to ensure accuracy, all statements of fact, names, and
dates relating to the Society having been collated with the original
authorities.
Fourth Series, Vol. XV
1883 [It should be noted that in each issue there is a list of some 2,500
members and so anyone into genealogy might find it useful to check these
volumes]
Fifth Series, Vol XI, 1899 Catch-Cropping in Scotland, Dairy-Buildings, State Model Forest
for Scotland, The Past and Future of Scottish Agriculture,
Agricultural Credit Banks, Reclamation of Bog-Land in Ayrshire,
Insect Pests of Domesticated Animals, Pure Cultures for Cheddar
Cheese-making, Lime and its Uses in Agriculture, The Bark-Beetles of
the Ash, Pigs on the Farm, The Cereal and other Crops of Scotland
for 1898, and Meteorology of the Year relative thereto.
Prize Essays and Transactions
of the Highland Society of Scotland
Transactions of the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland Agriculture of Orkney
By Robert Smith, Binscarth, Finatown, Orkney, and Gordon Watt, B
Sc., County Organiser for Orkney, North of Scotland College of
Agriculture, Aberdeen (1939) (pdf)
Book of the Landed
Estate
Containing directions for the management and development of landed property by
Robert E. Brown (1869) (pdf)
Agricultural Labourers
As they were, are, and should be in their social condition by The Rev. Harry
Stuart, A.M., Minister of Oathlaw; being an address, delivered to a general
meeting of the Forfarshire Agricultural Association, June 1853, and published at
the request of the Association (1853) (pdf)
The commission was set up as a response
to crofter and cottar demonstrations against excessively high rents, lack
of security of tenure on land that had been in families for generations
and the forced evictions of crofters.
The demonstrations started in Wester
Ross and Lewis in the 1870's, and by the early 1880's had moved to Skye.
Local police forces were called upon by the landlords to enforce what they
believed to be their rights. However, with limited resources, the police
found it difficult to cope with the increasing demands put upon them.
Therefore, it became an issue needing the attention of Prime Minister
Gladstone’s government and he ordered the appointment of the commission.
Under the orders of William Gladstone,
and backed by Royal approval, the commission was appointed in 1883, by the
Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt. Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier,
was selected as chairman, with five other members - Sir Donald
Cameron of Locheil; Sir Kenneth MacKenzie of Gairloch; Charles
Fraser – MacIntosh MP; Sheriff Alexander Nicolson of Kicudbright and
Professor Donald MacKinnon of Edinburgh university – making up the panel.
The commission began its work in Braes
on the Island of Skye and travelled the length and breadth of the
Highlands and Islands (including Orkney and Shetland) gathering evidence
from crofters, landlords and others who were familiar with the plight of
the indigenous population.
The Napier’s Report is a valuable piece
of documentary evidence from the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney
and Shetland) in 1883, presenting facts and information on the population,
as well as the political, historical and social climate of the time.
State of Scotland
On the Improvements in the State of Scotland since
the end of the seventeenth century (pdf)
Rural Scotland during the War
By David T. Jones, C.B.E., Joseph F. Duncan, H. M. Conacher, W. R.
Scott, with an appendix by J. P. Day and an Introduction by W. R.
Scott (1926) (pdf)
The Industries of the Clyde
Valley during the War
By W. R. Scott, M.A., D.Phil., Litt.D., LL.D., Adam Smith Professor
of Political Economy in the University of Glasgow and Fellow of the
British Academy and J. Gunnison, M.A. (1924) (pdf)
Scotland's Native Woodlands
An introduction to the native woodlands of Scotland, presented by
naturalist Nick Baker. Native woodlands have played an important
part in Scottish culture, having been used for wood, shelter,
hunting and forage throughout our history. They are also important
for biodiversity and nature conservation, and provide numerous other
economic and cultural benefits.
On the Forest and other
Trees of Aberdeenshire
By G. Dickie, M. D., Lecturer on Botany in the University and King’s
College of Aberdeen (From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for
March 1843) (pdf)
Forestry in Scotland
Report of Deputation received at the Scottish Office, Edinburgh, by the Right
Hon. W. H. Long, M.P., President of the Board of Agriculture, Etc., Etc. from
the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, 23rd October 1895 (pdf)
The Forester
A Practical Treatise on British Forestry and Arboriculture for Landowners, and
Foresters by John Nisbet, in two volumes (1905)
Farm
Workers in Scottish Agriculture
Case Studies in the International Seasonal Migrant Labour Market.
Commissioned report for the Scottish Government Project No.
CR2016/25 (2018) (pdf)
The Planter's Guide (pdf)
Or A Practical Essay on the Best Method of Giving immediate effect to
Wood, by the Removal of Large Trees and Underwood; Being an Attempt to
Place the Art, and that of General Arboriculure, on Fixed and
Phycological Principles; Interspersed with Observations on General
Planting, and the Improvement of Real Landscape. Originally Intended for
the Climate of Scotland. By Sir Henry Steuart
The Potato
Its Culture, Uses, History and Classification by William Stuart
(1923) (pdf)
To make potato powder at home,
follow these steps:
Peel and grate potatoes into a bowl and cover with water.
Soak for 10-15 minutes.
Strain potatoes through cheesecloth or fine-mesh strainer to remove
liquid.
Spread strained potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 3-4 hours
until completely dry and crispy.
Let the potatoes cool and grind into a fine powder using a blender
or food processor.
Keep in mind it’s difficult to get homemade potato flour as finely
ground as store-bought potato flour.
Also note it’s important to make sure the potato mixture is
completely dry before grinding it into flour, as any remaining
moisture can cause the flour to clump and spoil more quickly. For
store-bought potato flour, it’s best to store it in an airtight
container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.
A Seed Saving Guide for Gardeners
and Farmers
Learn how to plant the best varieties, maintain your crop
"genetics", cultivate, harvest, process and store seed. Plus a crop
specific chart and resources for gaining more seed growing knowledge
from the Organic Seed Alliance (2010) (pdf)
The Farmer's Magazine
Remarks on the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire
By Thomas Sullivan No. III Farm
Servants (1846) (pdf)
Remarks on the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire
By Thomas Sullivan No. IV Implements
(1846) (pdf)
Remarks on the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire
By Thomas Sullivan No. VI Drainage
(1846) (pdf)
Seed to Seed
Food Gardens in Schools by Jude Fanton and Jo Immig (pdf)
Woodland Trust
This web site provides information on the
native trees of Britain. [External Link]
Crofting Agriculture
Its practice in the West
Highlands and Islands by F. Fraser Darling (1945)
The Breed that Beats the Record
And wins in the race for supremacy as the most economical producer
of the primest meat for the million. A demonstration - properties,
prepotence, pre-eminence and prestige. Aberdeen Angus - the Polled
Cattle with an introduction by Judge J. S. Goodwin, A. M., Belott,
Kansas. (1886) (pdf)
To the knowing ones it is enough to say
in conclusion, that the Scotch cattle are as good and true as Scotch
hospitality and more than that pen cannot write.
Supremacy of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle
A decade of merits. Results of Leading Fat Stock Shows During Past
Decade in Great Britain and America. Classification of Special
Premiums and American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association Sales for
the Year 1909 Edited by Chas. Gray, Secretary
Aberdeen-Angus Cattle
An Historical Sketch by James H. Barclay, Aberdeen-Angus Cattle
Society (1921) (pdf)
History of the Clydesdale Horse
The following pages will be found the articles,
reports, and correspondence which have appeared from time to time in
the public press, during the last decade, on the important question
of the improvement of the breed of horses of the Clydesdale type.
(1884)
Ayrshire
Breeders' Year Book
Containing the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting for 1898, with a
History of the Breed, Recent Milk and Butter Records and General
Infomation about AvrsNres and the Ayrshire Breeders' Association.
(1898) (pdf)
Five
acres and independence
A Practical Guide to the Selection and Management of the Small Farm
by M. G. Kains, B.S , M.S., Special Crop Culturist, U S Department
of Agriculture, Formerly Head of Horticulture Department,
Pennsylvania State College, Hornculture, Agriculture and Botany
Editor, New International Encyclopedia, Garden Editor Pictorial
Review and other National Magazines, Lecturer on Horticulture,
Columbia University, Author of Modern Guide to Successful Gardening,
Plant Propagation, Principles and Practice of Pruning Culinary
Herbs, etc, etc., New and Enlarged Edition. (1935) (pdf)
Appendix to The
General Report of the Agricultural State, and Political Circumstances of
Scotland (1814).
Drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal
Improvement under the directions of The Right Hon. Sir John Sinclair,
Bart., The President.
These volumes contain a
great deal of general information about Scotland and are well worth
browsing for their subject content.
A
Treatise on Practical Store Farming
As Applicable to the Mountainous Region of Etterick Forest and the
Pasoral District of Scotland in General by the Honourable William
John Napier, E.R.S. Edin. Post-Captain in the Royal Navy and a Vice
President of the Pastoral Society of Selkirkshire (1822) (pdf)
The Keeper's Book
A Guide to the Duties of a Gamekeeper, Seventh edition, rewritten
and enlarged by P. Jeffrey Mackie (1910) (pdf)
The
Forester
Plain and Practical Directions for the Planting, Rearing, and
General Management of Forest Trees by James Brown, Forester,
Armiston (1847) (pdf)
Handy Book of the Flower Garden
Being practical directions for the propagation, culture, and
arrangement of plants in flower garden all the year around by David
Thomson, gardener to Lady Mary C. Nisbet Hamilton, Archerfield and
Dirleton Gardens (1868) (pdf)
I am personally interested in how to manage small tracts
of land that can lead to making yourself self sufficient by growing your
own vegetables, fruit, crops as well as animals. There is an old
series of books...
Preserving Food Without (Canning)
Refrigeration with Kelley Wilkinson
Canning 101: Start Here
Curing Meat for Storage
Intro To Charcuterie with Meredith
Leigh
Charcuterie Intensive & Building A
Charcuterie Cabinet
Storing Potatoes Long Term On The
Homestead
Water glassing is a long-standing
historical method that is very easy and very effective! Here we show
you how to preserve eggs.
Remember those eggs we preserved eight months ago?
Let's see what
they look like today!
BBC Harvest Series 1 of 3 The East
2015
In this episode, the team reports
from the east of the UK, where pioneering sweetcorn farmer Peter
Barfoot has spent decades turning exotic veg into regular British
fridge fillers, growing vegetables that many thought couldn't be
grown here in Britain. This region's sunny climate and fertile soils
has earned it a reputation as the bread-basket of Britain. Also in
this episode, Gregg helps out with the winter sugar beet harvest and
reveals just how much sugar is produced from our home soil. Philippa
finds chillies so hot they need a health warning and visits the
Tiptree strawberry fields to try a sweet treat - the Little Scarlet
strawberry, used for making a very special jam, a favourite with
James Bond. And newcomer to the harvest family, dairy and fruit
farmer James Manning, visits a futuristic lettuce farm controlled by
robots to see a cutting edge drilling machine that plants seedlings
faster than the eye can see.
BBC Harvest Series 2 of 3 The North
2015
In this second episode, the team
report from the north of the UK, where the Hay family in Perthshire,
Scotland, are anxiously awaiting a dry spell to roll out their
combine harvesters. Having recently pulled their last ever potato
harvest, the Hays have now switched to cereals, in particular oats,
the rising star of British grains. The climate and landscape can
make this region notoriously difficult to farm, yet well-watered
soil and long daylight hours also help make world-class produce.
Gregg visits fruit grower Ross Mitchell, who is taking advantage of
Scotland's long summer days to produce world-class blueberries.
Philippa meets Robert Doig, a seed potato grower, and learns why
Scotland's seed potatoes sell all over the globe. And James Manning
visits Robert Craig, a Cumbrian dairy farmer who believes that
meticulous attention to the growth of his rye grass can yield
premium quality milk.
BBC Harvest Series 3 of 3 The West
2015
In this episode, the team reports from the west,
where three generations of the Thatcher family are about to begin
harvesting their cider apples. The rolling countryside of the west
of Britain gets more rainfall than the east, which is why these
undulating hills and sweeping valleys are so lush - perfect for
growing world-famous cider apples. The west is also a land of
ingenuity and farming innovation. Gregg meets mushroom mogul Ronnie
Monaghan at the largest mushroom farm in Europe where 30 tons are
harvested every day. Philippa visits Gloucestershire farmer Jake
Freestone's fields of blooming oilseed rape to witness the army of
hungry insects he has to contend with. Finally James Manning heads
to Shropshire, where Stephen Jones has been painting the countryside
vivid yellow - this time with Quinoa, the latest super food to hit
Britain.
See the Quiet Beauty of Farm Life on the Scottish Isles
10 Acres Enough
What Jethro Tull did to
improve tillage, the author of "Ten Acres Enough" did to prove that
intensified agriculture on small areas could be made not only to support a
family, but to yield a handsome profit, and health, freedom and happiness
as well. It has taken two centuries for the most advanced farmers to
appreciate Tull and his teachings. It has taken nearly half a century in
this progressive age to appreciate and to put in practice, in a feeble
way, the fundamental principles which underlie all our dealings with
Mother Earth as set forth in this modest volume of two hundred pages.
The
Book of the Farm Detailing the Labours of the Farmer, Farm-Steward, Ploughman, Shepherd,
Hedger, Farm-Labourer, Field-Worker, and Cattle-Man by Henry Stephens,
4th Edition (1889)
The
Book of the Garden
By Charles M'Intosh corresponding member of the London Horticultural
Society, the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, and the Royal
Caledonian Horticultural Society, etc. Late curator of the Royal
Gardens of his Majesty the King of the Belgians at Claremont and
Brussels, and now of those of his Grace, the Duke of Buccleuch at
Dalkeith Palace, in two volumes (1853).
The Forester
Being Plain and Practical Directions for the Planting, Rearing, and
General Management of Forest Trees by James Brown, Forester, Arniston
(1847)
Woodworking
Instructions on how to do wood working, carpentry and joinery.
The Grocers Encyclopedia A compendium of useful information concerning foods of all kinds. How
they are raised, prepared and marketed. How to care for them in the
store and home. How best to use and enjoy them and other valuable
information for Grocers and General Storekeepers. By Artemas Ward (1911)
Stable
Economy
A Treatise on the Management of Horses in relation to Stabling,
Grooming, Feeding, Watering and Working by John Stewart (second
edition) (1838) (pdf)
Advice to Purchasers of Horses
Being a short and familiar treatise on the external conformation of
the Horse; the nature of soundness & unsoundness and the Laws
relating to Sale and Warranty; with copious directions for
discovering prior to purchasing by J. Stewart, Vetinary Surgeon and
Professor of Vetinary surgery in the Andereonian University (Fourth
edition) (1836) (pdf)
Tudor Monastery Farm Season 1 The first
episode finds the farm team arriving at Weald & Downland in West Sussex.
There are domestic tasks to tackle, from lighting fires with flint,
making meals with depleted crops during the Hunger Gap and using a tread
wheel to fetch water from the well. Peter and Tom's first job is to move
the sheep to fresh grass. Wool at this time was known as 'the jewel in
the realm', because it generated much of the nation's wealth.
This Farming Life
In Armadale, a hill farmer prepares for
one of Europe's biggest sheep sales, while in Haweswater, a couple
take on the biggest gamble of their lives by moving to a larger farm
10 miles north. An Aberdeenshire couple who began farming four years
ago plan to raise baby ostriches, and a Northumberland shepherd
prepares for the National English Sheepdog trials, and new farmers
hatch ostriches. Follow 6 families during their life on the farm. A
BBC series on YouTube.
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