Agricultural History Review, Volume 56 Part 2 (2008), p. 252

At a moment when global hunger threatens and policies such as the set-aside of farmland in western Europe are things of the past, this is undoubtedly a very timely book. Its focus is on ploughs and the ploughing of agricultural land especially in north-western France but also in other parts of the country and abroad. Specifically, it presents the proceedings of a colloquium held in 2006 as a continuation of an exhibition on ploughing that had been held at the château of Châteaubriant, to the north-east of Nantes, during 2005 and 2006. This event brought together a sample of the exhibits of ploughs, tractors and other farm implements found in eight local museums in the département of the Loire-Atlantique. Demonstrations of traditional ploughing techniques and visits to various agricultural localities complemented the presentation of formal papers at the colloquium. These extramural activities are captured on the CD-Rom that accompanies this volume. Participants included local enthusiasts as well as academics; as the images and affiliations indicate, many were retired.

After five introductory papers that describe the organizing body (the Centre International de Culture Paysanne et Rurale) and reflect on scholarly aspects of the history of ploughing and food production (François Sigaut), the text is arranged in six sections. In the first of these, six contributions trace ploughing activities in ancient Egypt, and in Gallo-Roman and medieval times, and the legacy of ridged fields in Germany. The diversity of ploughing practices in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries forms the substance of the second section, which includes case studies from Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique, the Lot-et-Garonne, the Haute- Marne and the Brie. Then, three essays widen the gaze to examine raised ploughing ridges in eighteenth-century Ireland, research into ploughs in Slovenia, and the complex vocabulary surrounding agricultural activities in Portugal. Indeed, this point of intricate and variable descriptive terminology permeates the whole volume with a multitude of words being used to characterize similar implements, field working processes and landscape features. In the fourth section, six papers examine ploughing in parts of ‘the South’, namely Ethiopia, Tunisia, the Cameroon, Peru and Bolivia, Nicaragua, and east Asia. Next comes a cluster of five historical pieces that trace how ploughs were improved from the latter years of the ancien régime to the early twentieth century. Case studies explore attempts to transfer ploughing techniques from the Paris basin to Bas-Poitou, and from England to Switzerland, and trace how Lorraine and Belgium were distinctive centres of innovation. A particularly interesting piece is devoted to the evolution of the Huard company, based at Châteaubriant, between 1863 and 1927 showing how a craft-based enterprise developed into a major industrial organization making ploughs and other forms of agricultural machinery. The two papers in section six discuss the controversial process of applying agricultural chemicals and reducing ploughing to a minimum.

These papers combine academic scholarship with local enthusiasm, some being supported by bibliographic references but others standing alone. An array of maps, diagrams, engravings and photographs provides valuable additional information. The editors use the concluding pages to take stock of what was discussed at the conference and to remind readers that the issue of working the soil, sowing seed and producing food is not just a matter of history but is also an urgent, pressing challenge at the present time and will continue to be so in the years ahead. A single regret must be that no contribution comes from the United Kingdom.