-
1 Bakewell, Robert
SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology[br]b. 23 May 1725 Loughborough, Englandd. 1 October 1795 Loughborough, England[br]English livestock breeder who pioneered the practice of progeny testing for selecting breeding stock; he is particularly associated with the development of the Improved Leicester breed of sheep.[br]Robert Bakewell was the son of the tenant farming the 500-acre (200 hectare) Dishley Grange Farm, near Loughborough, where he was born. The family was sufficiently wealthy to allow Robert to travel, which he began to do at an early age, exploring the farming methods of the West Country, Norfolk, Ireland and Holland. On taking over the farm he continued the development of the irrigation scheme begun by his father. Arthur Young visited the farm during his tour of east England in 1771. At that time it consisted of 440 acres (178 hectares), 110 acres (45 hectares) of which were arable, and carried a stock of 60 horses, 400 sheep and 150 other assorted beasts. Of the arable land, 30 acres (12 hectares) were under root crops, mainly turnips.Bakewell was not the first to pioneer selective breeding, but he was the first successfully to apply selection to both the efficiency with which an animal utilized its food, and its physical appearance. He always had a clear idea of the animal he wanted, travelled extensively to collect a range of animals possessing the characteristics he sought, and then bred from these towards his goal. He was aware of the dangers of inbreeding, but would often use it to gain the qualities he wanted. His early experiments were with Longhorn cattle, which he developed as a meat rather than a draught animal, but his most famous achievement was the development of the Improved Leicester breed of sheep. He set out to produce an animal that would put on the most meat in the least time and with the least feeding. As his base he chose the Old Leicester, but there is still doubt as to which other breeds he may have introduced to produce the desired results. The Improved Leicester was smaller than its ancestor, with poorer wool quality but with greatly improved meat-production capacity.Bakewell let out his sires to other farms and was therefore able to study their development under differing conditions. However, he made stringent rules for those who hired these animals, requiring the exclusive use of his rams on the farms concerned and requiring particular dietary conditions to be met. To achieve this control he established the Dishley Society in 1783. Although his policies led to accusations of closed access to his stock, they enabled him to keep a close control of all offspring. He thereby pioneered the process now recognized as "progeny testing".Bakewell's fame and that of his farm spread throughout the country and overseas. He engaged in an extensive correspondence and acted as host to all of influence in British and overseas agriculture, but it would appear that he was an over-generous host, since he is known to have been in financial difficulties in about 1789. He was saved from bankruptcy by a public subscription raised to allow him to continue with his breeding experiments; this experience may well have been the reason why he was such a staunch advocate of State funding of agricultural research.[br]Further ReadingWilliam Houseman, 1894, biography, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. 1–31. H.C.Parsons, 1957, Robert Bakewell (contains a more detailed account).R.Trow Smith, 1957, A History of British Livestock Husbandry to 1700, London: Routledge \& Kegan Paul.—A History of British Livestock Husbandry 1700 to 1900 (places Bakewell within the context of overall developments).M.L.Ryder, 1983, Sheep and Man, Duckworth (a scientifically detailed account which deals with Bakewell within the context of its particular subject).AP
См. также в других словарях:
Ireland national rugby union team — Not to be confused with Ireland national rugby league team. Ireland Union Irish Rugby Football Union Emblem(s) the Shamrock Ground(s) … Wikipedia
Matches of Republic of Ireland national football team — This is a sortable list of all association football matches played by the Republic of Ireland national football team since 1924. Following the Irish War of Independence from the United Kingdom, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was… … Wikipedia
Ireland — • Ireland lies in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain . . . Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ireland Ireland † … Catholic encyclopedia
First Council of Constantinople — For the church council of Constantinople in 359, see First Council of Constantinople (360). 9th century Byzantine manuscript illumination of I Constantinople Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus, 879 882 … Wikipedia
Ireland — Irelander, n. /uyeur leuhnd/, n. 1. John, 1838 1918, U.S. Roman Catholic clergyman and social reformer, born in Ireland: archbishop of St. Paul, Minn., 1888 1918. 2. Also called Emerald Isle. Latin, Hibernia. a large western island of the British … Universalium
Ireland Shakespeare Forgeries — The Ireland Shakespeare Forgeries were a cause célèbre in 1790s’ London, when author and engraver Samuel Ireland announced the discovery of a treasure trove of Shakespearean manuscripts by his son William Henry. Among them were the manuscripts of … Wikipedia
Young Ireland — (Irish: Éire Óg ) was a political, cultural and social movement, which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived as a political force in Irish society. From its beginnings in the late 1830s, its influence was to extend… … Wikipedia
Settlement of Great Britain and Ireland — The British Isles have a long history of migration from across Europe, starting in the Palaeolithic period. Over the millennia successive waves of immigrants have come to the Isles, a process that is continuing today. The ancient migrations have… … Wikipedia
Constitution of Ireland — Ireland This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Republic of Ireland … Wikipedia
EastEnders episodes in Ireland — In 1997, the BBC soap opera EastEnders broadcast three singular transmissions that were filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland. The episodes involved the Fowler and Beale family travelling from London to the Emerald Isle , to meet their long lost… … Wikipedia
Waiting for Godot — Infobox Play name = Waiting for Godot image size = 200px writer = Samuel Beckett characters = Estragon Vladimir Lucky Pozzo Boy date of premiere = January 5th, 1953 Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for… … Wikipedia
