Developments in Agricultural Science: During the Antebellum Times

The University of Georgia

History 4000

By: Kimberly McClellan

            Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and raising livestock; farming.  Science is the study of natural phenomena or the knowledge so acquired.  Science is any branch of knowledge.  It is an activity requiring study and method.  These two fields are not inherently linked.  By joining the two you have a study/activity that brings new innovations and revolutionary adaptations to the farming community.  These innovations were slow to catch on, yet highly benefital to all.  When the knowledge and practice of the agricultural science hit an all-time high in the 1800s, developments in all fields of agricultural boomed.

            Agricultural has deep roots in the world as well as in local communities.  Agricultural Societies were pertinent even to the great thinkers like Plato and Aristotle.  The presences of agricultural societies and communities have always been relevant, but in the days of these great thinkers, it started to become recognized as something that needed regulations and rules.  Therefore, putting more importance on the subject of agricultural growth as a whole. 

            Another book, The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective, by David Rindos, looks at the development of agriculture in a more “here and now” way.  Rindos writes about agriculture often being the determinate of population.  It is also stated that domestication is in-part adapted following agricultural developments in areas. All of these statements come together to give the reader the overall view of how important it is to develop a system of maintaining and upgrading agricultural societies.  “Agriculture as practiced today involves various techniques that affect the environment in which a cultivated plant grows: plowing weeding harvesting, storage and planting.  It is clear the origin of agriculture is in part the origin of these techniques of environmental manipulation.”[1]  Overall, the importance of the development of a system of upkeep is impetrative to the advancement of cultures and societies. 

Throughout time, different societies have formed their own means of agricultural science.  Farmers did things they felt produced the best crops for food and survival purposes.  When examining the rest of the world there are many failures and successes to recognize.  All of those were taken into account when the “free world” started its rapid growth and expansion.  Agricultural potential was one of the greatest benefits to the new world.  The amount of land was endless.  The fields were beautiful and plentiful.  Unfortunately, many soon realized their knowledge of land management was not so plentiful.  Agriculture was used out of necessity in the early years.  You grew what you needed to eat.  Then agriculture adapted into a trading tool as the new world continued to grow at such a fast pace.

European agriculturalist that settled in the New World showed the benefits of agricultural science.  They used and taught methods that some planters had never seen before.  They discovered what plants were composed of and therefore what they needed to grow and thrive.  Through their research of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, they created a highly successful form of fertilizer.  Their discoveries and methods helped agricultural science to grow in the new world into everyday knowledge.

By the 18^th and 19^th century agriculture had taken on a whole new meaning in the United States.  “Colonial agriculture was intended not only to feed the colonists but also to produce cash crops and to supply food for the home country.”[2]  As the nation changed so did the people.  “…in agriculture as in so many areas has been the century of greatest change.”[3]  Even Thomas Jefferson was a student of agricultural science.  Most well-established men and big land farmers were interested in the system of managing their land to the fullest of its potential. Farmers want for knowledge  was fueled by their need for it.

           At this point, new tools were essential to the growth of this agricultural movement.  “John Deere, another American blacksmith, further improved the plow in the 1830s and manufactured it in steel. Other notable inventions included the seed drill of English farmer Jethro Tull, developed in the early 1700s and progressively improved for more than a century; the reaper of American Cyrus McCormick in 1831; and numerous new horse-drawn threshers, cultivators, grain and grass cutters, rakes, and corn shellers.”[4]  Now more people could grow their crops at a faster, more efficient rate. 

            There were many types of farmers.  Some were wealthy men who, by societies measures, should own a good amount of property and be able to manage it.  These men did not make their living off of these properties.  They had other careers and sources of income.  Others were wealthy landowners. These men did indeed make their living off their land.  They often had slaves to manage the land.  To make sure none of the land was going to waist, they often practiced the newest ways of managing their property.  Other farming groups included squatters and small land owning farmers.  Squatters lived off a piece of land in which they did not legally own.  They raped the land and moved on to a new untouched area. The small farmers were independent men who lived in small towns across the countryside and produced only what they needed to trade and live off.  Some may have had a few slaves, but only for additional help in the fields.  For the most part, these farmers didn’t own enough land or have enough money to need much outside help.  In Georgia there was a sort of “pyramid” scale of measuring the farmers.  At the bottom were the “poor whites”, the “little people” these people owned about 100 acres each.  Moving up the “pyramid” is the “middle class” who owned 500+ acres an owned one to thirty slaves.  At the top are the “planters”.  They can be divided into three groups, the small, medium, and large planters.  Most were in the medium category.  These men owned from 500 to 1,000 acres and on average owned 30 to 100 slaves.

            All of these people equally needed to develop better more efficient ways of maintaining their fields.  During the early 19^th century, a few men started to come up with real scientific data to support their theories on agricultural improvements.  Agricultural chemistry was the bases of most of their conclusions.  Rapidly, they started finding new innovative measures of managing land.  Unfortunately, many were skeptical of this new development.  “…the public’s reaction to agricultural chemistry was ambivalent and changeable.”[5].  “During this period, scientific bases of production were developed which were not realized until the next century”[6]  “Although farmers as a group may have been generally reluctant to change, competitive pressures in the 1830s and after made many of them increasingly receptive to new ideas.”[7]  During this time (1830s) there was a decline in agriculture in the eastern United States.  Poor soil and western competition were overwhelming the eastern farmers.  This in fact may have made them listen and take part in the agricultural science movements. 

            Agricultural chemistry taught more than just how to maintain and get the most out of the land.  It also stressed the importance of long-term improvements such as crop rotation. People who subscribed to this theory would follow it traditionally.  Most of these people were upper class.  The lower classes were more reluctant to change.  This occurred for many reasons, one being economic and another being simple ignorance.  “Herefore, only “gentlemen farmers” had been inclined to break loose from the one-crop system and to experiment with new methods.”[8]  Agricultural chemistry criticized squatters who used the land then moved on. “Nowhere, not even in New England, could one find what a French or Irish peasant or tenant farmer would call small holding.  Throughout every part of the South appeared the squatter looking for land.”[9]  Squatters were everywhere.  They used the land and moved on when they were done or when someone forced them to move.  Squatters were poor travelers who moved from place to place farming land that they did not have ownership of.  When the use of the land was fulfilled, they abandoned it leaving the land ravaged and weakened.  “A general weakness of American agriculture that showed itself markedly in Georgia was tendency of farmers and planters, after years, to sell and move on to other locations.”[10]  Some tried to rationalize the rapping of the land by the squatters, but in the end the poor treatment of the land was proven by agricultural science to be hurtful to the land and the stability of the area.  Finally, the notion to stay and manage the land caught on, and thus, starting a new era of agriculture and the use of agricultural science. 

            Large plantations started to maintain their property in such a way that generations could live off the same land, which brought about bigger and more elaborate plantations especially in Georgia.  People felt more comfortable “settling” and staying. With the new developments in the field of agricultural science, farmers could maintain their property much more efficiently. 

            At this point, the main crops produced were sugar, cotton, tobacco, and tea, and production of animal products such as wool and hides.  The main producing regions were the Southeast, Mid West, and the Northeast.  The South mainly focused on cotton, rice, and a small amount on wheat (moving into the Western states), tobacco (North Carolina and Virginia areas), and sugar cane (in tropical areas such as Southern Louisiana and Florida).  The Mid West produced corn, wheat, and tobacco.  The Northeast focused on it’s production of cattle, corn, and, wheat.  Some places produced so much of one product that it drove prices down and caused a negative effect on the local economy.  One example of this is the production problems associated with cotton in the South.  “Cotton planters faced many problems” “(1) diminishing fertility of the land; (2) rising costs of production; (3) emigration of planters to virgin lands, which provided increasing competition for markets; (4) declining prices resulting from overproduction; and (5) rationalization of planting methods in the older regions and subsequently in the newer planting communities.”[11]  Cotton was a large part of Southern life.  The cotton industry in itself was a great topic of interest to all southern planters. Many have noted the price problem of cotton associated with the over production and production boom of cotton and textile mills in the Southern areas.  Michael J. Gagnon noted the issue in his dissertation for Emory University.  Noting, “…Athens, Georgia, transformed its small industrial base of three cotton textile factories from an experiment in political economy to the prototypical Southern mill town.”[12]  The boom of certain crops due to popularity and improvements in means of production had positive and negative effects, which were often intertwined with one another.  Scientific and economic studies now show us not to deplete resources as quickly as displayed during this time period.

            With the new ease of production, the improvements now needed to be made in the field of transportation.  Transportation had a vast effect on the numerous dynamics of agriculture and agricultural science breakthroughs.  Improvements in transportation improve agriculture. Roads, canals, and rail lines enabled farmers to obtain needed supplies from remote suppliers and market their produce over a wider area. Food could be protected during transport more economically than before as the result of rail, ship, and refrigeration developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Efficient use of these developments led to increasing specialization and eventual changes in the location of agricultural suppliers. By the late 1800s, steam power was frequently used to replace animal power in drawing plows and in operating threshing machinery.  All of these innovations gave agricultural science a firm backing and gave purpose to its advancements.

            The need and want of further innovations in agricultural science spread quickly throughout the large farming areas.  Athens, Georgia was not excluded.  Agriculture was such an enormous part of life that it is shocking that the relevance of agricultural science was so slow to catch on.  Finally, in 1842 Athens decides to get on the band wagon and join the others across the Eastern states that had decided to form groups and committees for the sole reason of agricultural advancement in the fields of science.  “…Northern agricultural reforms understood the impediments to southern scientific progress.”[13]  In Athens, “A number of the friends of agriculture assemble at the Town Hall in Athens…” “It was resolved to form an Agricultural Society…”.[14]  This is something that was much needed and much anticipated.  Of course there was still resistance and misunderstandings about the Society and the field in general, but the “friends” of agriculture understood the full need for advancements in agricultural science. “This measure has been long talked of and once or twice attempted…”[15] After the creation of the Agricultural Society the member began the long task of appointing officers and creating topics for future meetings.  “…the following constitution for such a Society was submitted and adopted.

                                            CONSTITUTION

     1. This Society shall be known as the Clark County Agricultural Society, and shall hold a meeting at least once a year, on the Thursday after the first Wednesday in August; but be at all times subject to be called together by the President.

    2. The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, two Vice Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer, who shall be elected at the annual meeting by a majority of the members present, and constitute the Executive Committee of the Society for the transaction of all business in the recess of the Society.

      3. All the citizens of this county are entitled to membership, by subscribing this constitution, or authorizing it to be done, and pledging themselves to promote, according to their several ability, an improved state of Agriculture within the same.

_________________________

After the adoption of the constitution, the members of the Society proceeded to the election of officers, when the following gentlemen were chosen: Col. John Billups, President: Hon. Asbury Hull and William L. Mitchell, Esq. Vice Presidents; Albon Chase, Secretary; Doct. E. R. Ware, Treasurer.”[16]

            From there, the Society was on its way.  They planed meetings and guest speakers.  Athens was establishing its presence as a forward moving agricultural community.  They began a rotational paper to inform readers of the advancements and developments of the sciences.  The agricultural paper was created by Doct. Tinsely shortly after the formation of the Society. 

            Not long after, people of all parts of the Eastern coast pushed for all of their Societies to be backed and furthered by the government.  In 1849, plans started on the creation of a separate bureau of agriculture in the Department of the Interior.  This movement ran into much opposition, yet they were granted their request, and the new Department of the Interior was formed in 1849.  By 1860, the Agriculture Department of the Patent Office was finally receiving the attention and status it deserved.  The Department had the authority to hire chemists, botanists, entomologists, and many more scientists skilled in the new modern agricultural field.  Now farmers were well respected and politically recognized.  In fact, farmers were some of the most influential members of the community and government.  Planters of crops such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco ranked among the highest of the influential pressure groups. 

           From there, many pushed to setup educational programs in the field of scientifically improving farming practices.  Its existence and importance is still present today.  Schools and divisions of schools were created to support the new want to further advancements in the field of agricultural science.  Franklin College of Arts and Sciences (UGA) was established in 1801.  The next two colleges/schools to be formed were the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and The School of Law.  Both of these educational resources were formed in 1859.  The foundation of the Agricultural College was a big step in the advancement of the agricultural community.  This allowed for young students to partake in the research and development of further advancements in the field of agricultural scientific studies.

          Between the years of 1815 and 1860 the advances in the filed of agricultural science were phenomenal.  Departments were created, awareness reached an all time high, and the overall respect and appreciation of the field grew to levels unfathomable.  The acknowledgement of agricultural science as an important part of a society was a break through for Athens, along with the rest of the Eastern coast.  The slow process of the development of agricultural advances took off and is still a highly impactful practice in the studies of environmental and developmental issues.  In just over 5 decades the advancements in agricultural science and agricultural awareness grew throughout the world.  Athens, Georgia was ready and quick to adapt to theses advancements.  Athens, was then, and is still a Mecca for agricultural developments.