Last Ditch

After a recent re-watch of ‘Victorian Farm,’ I am reading a crusty old Victorian book on the minutiae of farming so you don’t have to. Victorian England (1837-1901, coinciding with Queen Victoria’s reign) was not dissimilar to the times we now find ourselves. Economies, technology, and society were changing and farming alongside them. As innovations, contraptions, and modern farming methods flooded the English countryside, Victorian farms became a great mixing of the new and the old, and not always peacefully.

The British agricultural classic ‘The Book of the Farm’ by Henry Stephens enjoyed something of a reprisal in modern times with the popularity of the show ‘Victorian Farm.’ The book was conceived as a way of guiding and instructing young British men in the ways of a modern working farm, with plenty of tips on etiquette and Victorian ideals. There’s a particularly good part in the early part of the book that argues you shouldn’t get your young farmhand a horse right away, otherwise he’ll be off chasing “friends” across town. The show is only marginally less stuffy than the actual Victorian era but is a fun watch.

“Both foresight and experience can only be acquired by observation, and though observation is open to all farmers, all do not profit by it. Every farmer may acquire, in time, sufficient experience to conduct a farm in a passable manner; but many farmers never acquire foresight, because they never reflect, and therefore never derive the greatest advantage from their experience. Conducting a farm by foresight is a higher acquirement than the most intimate knowledge of the minutiae of labour.”

Book of the Farm. Henry Stephens. 19

Though the book is very much of its time (and Victorian England being a particular time and place), I do appreciate a good early soapbox rant about observation. So much of what I see in popular conversations about permaculture and sustainability have heavy trucks and grand plans overlaid onto “barren” or “empty” homestead lots. I see far less conversation about observing a piece of land and the geography and climate to understand its many ecological functions before ever beginning so much as a loose sketch.

While Henry Stephens is only advocating for observation on a working Victorian farm, he does specifically mention that a full year of observation of all farm cycles, processes, and labour is essential before really beginning to farm yourself. This observation is also done hand-in-hand with the physical labour of the farm, suggesting Stephens doesn’t see observation as purely passive and might have been an early advocate for experiential learning.

It’s an interesting book and for a farm and history nerd, I have been appreciating learning about the specific contexts and history of farming methods. Even if many of these practices have been harmful or have gone out of date, I think we can’t imagine new worlds, especially changing ones like the Victorian world, unless we know what we are coming from. There are always bits of wisdom along the way that could only be acquired in that time and place that still remain relevant over a century later.