Holkham, its agriculture, etc / [Edward Rigby].

  • Rigby, Edward, 1747-1821
Date:
1817
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Holkham, its agriculture, etc / [Edward Rigby]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    been, almost exclusively, practised on large farms “ and they who have witnessed the Holkham husban¬ dry cannot lightly appreciate them. It has been found that there are few branches of natural philosophy, chemistry, natural history, mechanics, &c. which may not be profitably applied on a large farm. To take advantage of these, the occupier, I say, ought to be a man of education: he should be competent to his own progressive scien¬ tific improvement, by reading, observation, and in¬ tercourse with intelligent men ; and few such men whose attention, for a series of years, is unremit¬ tingly directed to one agricultural object, improve¬ ment, will fail to add something to their art, will fail to discover some process, by which their own immediate profit, and the general interest, will be forwarded. I asked Mr. Blomfield, whose dis¬ covery of a prompt and effectual method of pro¬ ducing permanent pasture will almost immortalize him in Norfolk, whether he thought agriculture had attained perfection; he said, on looking back, he was surprized at the improvements effected in his time, but he had no doubt there was still much in store for future improvers. But I will, briefly, mention the principal objec¬ tions which have been brought against large farms, and endeavour to answer them by a refer¬ ence to the practice and results of the Holkham system. 1st. That a large extent of laud maintains only