British Agriculture

The Funk Library contains many items that relate to foreign agriculture. One of the most prevalent countries in our collection is the United Kingdom. The Funk Library houses many volumes on British agriculture, including subjects such as gardening, forestry, and livestock. The items displayed here concern British horticulture and agriculture in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries.

A History of Gardening in England.By Evelyn Cecil.London: B. Quaritch, 1896.634.0942 R59H1896 [ACES Closed Stacks]

“Any practical gardener, if asked the use of an orchard, would, doubtless, reply that the use is to ensure a sufficient supply of fruit; but Lawson tells us that no one can deny, ‘that the principal end of an orchard is the honest delight of one wearied with the works of his lawful calling.”

Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rosein A History of Gardening in

England.

Horticulture.By F. W. Burbidge. London: E. Stanford, 1877.634.1 B89H [ACES Closed Stacks]

English Forests and Forest Trees, Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive.London: Ingram, Cooke, and Co., 1853.634.9 EN36 [ACES Closed Stacks]

“The Yew is a tree that takes many years to reach maturity. It supplied the wood that formed the bows with which, before the introduction of fire-arms, the English soldiers gained many famous historical battles. About midway between Matlock and Chatsworth, in the churchyard of Darley, stands a venerable yew, stated to have existed 600 years.”

Glamorgan Cattle

The Cattle, Sheep and Pigs of Great Britain: Being a Series of Articles on the Various Breeds of the United Kingdom, Their History, Management, &c.By J. ColemanLondon: H. Cox, 1887.636 C67C [ACES Closed Stacks]

“Whoever travels through the length and breadth of this country cannot but be struck with the general quality of the cattle which everywhere meet his eye.”

Exmoor Sheep The Berkshire

Pig“Sheep occupy a prominent place in the history of British Agriculture. To the products of these valuable animals, and especially to their wool, were our progenitors indebted for much of their national prosperity.”

“In olden times, when the forests were principally in the hands of the Crown, the copyholders of surrounding land had the right, under certain restrictions, of fattening their swine in the woodlands.”

For more books and resources about British horticulture and agriculture, visit the Funk Library!