Dictionaries and Co. in Agriculture
In the former libraries of the Ministry of Agriculture, which Inrae inherited, there were reference works on agriculture, the oldest dating from the 17th century.
Agricultural trades, the study of plant growth, how to breed animals and know their characteristics, how to diversify crops, how to fertilise them… All these subjects have been dealt with on numerous occasions by authors who wished to disseminate the most advanced knowledge of their time. Dictionaries and reference works are a type of document very often found in our collections. They all address the issues of their time, some of which are still relevant today.
As early as 1809, M. Pflûguer recommended that poultry [...] "should not be kept in a low, narrow and obscure place as is customary, but in a spacious, airy room exposed to the rising and midday sun, with suitable arrangements.
Moon phase gardening may be fashionable nowadays, but the lunar calendar was already recommended in 1678 in Pierre Morin's "Nouveau traité pour la culture des fleurs qui renseigne la manière de les cultiver, les multiplier et les conserver selon leurs espèces: avec leurs propriétés merveilleuses, et les vertus médicinales" [A new treatise for the cultivation of flowers which instructs the way to cultivate, multiply and preserve them according to their species: with their marvellous properties and medicinal virtues].