Page:Agricultural Notes on Hertfordshire.pdf/7



The agriculture of Herts has already been chronicled by Ellis of Little Gaddesden (quoted by A . Young), in 1732; by Walker, in his ‘Report prepared for the Board of Agriculture,’ in 1759; by Clutterbuck, in his History of this county (1815); but espcially by Arthur Young, in his ‘Report,’ published in 1804.

To that distinguished pioneer in agriculture we are indebted for our only reliable means of contrasting the agriculture of the 18th with that of the 19th century. Of him it has been well said: “If great zeal, indefatigable exertion, and an unsparing expense in making experiments can give a man a claim to the gratitude of agriculturists, Arthur Young deserved it more than most men. We will not assert that in all cases his conclusions were sound or his judgment unimpeachable, but even his blunders, if he committed any, have tended to the benefit of agriculture by exciting discussion and criticism.”

The above passage aptly characterises his ‘Report of Herts,’ which mainly embodies the opinions of the leading farmers,