Robert Bakewell

Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) was a British agriculturalist, now recognized as one of the most important figures in the British Agricultural Revolution. In addition to work in agronomy, Bakewell is particularly notable as the first to implement systematic selective breeding of livestock. His advancements not only led to specific improvements in sheep, cattle and horses, but contributed to general knowledge of artificial selection.
		Bakewell's portairt by John Boultbee, circa 1775

Early life

Robert Bakewell, son of Robert and Rebecca Bakewell, was born in 1725 at Dishley Grange, near Loughborough in Leicestershire. As a young man, he traveled throughout Europe considerably, studying agriculture on the continent, especially that of Holland and Flanders. In 1760, upon his father's death, Bakewell inherited the Dishley farm, which was about 440 acres (1.8 km2) in size, a quarter of which were ploughed fields and the rest pasture.

Agricultural innovations

Bakewell used experimental plots of land to test methods of irrigation, fertilization and crop rotation which were already part of the ongoing British Agricultural Revolution, but his most remembered innovations were in the realm of livestock breeding. Until Bakewell, distinct strains developed primarily through regional geographical isolation; such early breed types are known as landraces. Using a system he called "in-and-in", Bakewell was the first to separate males from females with the intention of controlling which traits were passed on to subsequent generations (this was accomplished without any modern knowledge of genetics). He supported his revolutionary new breeding techniques with grassland irrigation, flooding and fertilizing pasturelands to improve grazing. He taught these practices to many farmers, and in 1783 formed The Dishley Society to promote them and to advance the interests of livestock breeders. His apprentices and contemporaries, especially Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, used his methods to continue improvements to British livestock long after his death in October of 1795.

Sheep
Arguably the most influential of Bakewell's breeding programs was with sheep. Using native stock, he was able to quickly select for large yet fine-boned sheep with long, lustrous wool. The subsequent breed, named the New (or Dishley) Leicester, was polled and had a square, meaty body with straight top lines. These sheep were exported widely, including to Australia and North America, and have contributed to numerous modern breeds, despite that fact that they fell quickly out of favor as market preferences in meat and textiles changed. Bloodlines of these original New Leicesters survive today as the English Leicester (or Leicester Longwool), which is primarily kept for wool production.

Cattle
Robert Bakewell was the first to breed cattle to be used primarily for beef. Previously, cattle were first and foremost kept for pulling ploughs as oxen, but he crossed long horned heifers and a Westmoreland bull to eventually create the Dishley Longhorn. He made this possible by allowing only the best animals to breed, increasing the weight of his sheep and also greatly improving the taste of mutton. As more and more farmers followed his lead, farm animals increased dramatically in size and quality. In 1700, the average weight of abull sold for slaughter was 370 pounds (168 kg). By 1786, that weight had more than doubled to 840 pounds (381 kg). However, after his death, the Dishley Longhorn was replaced with short horn versions.

Horses
Robert Bakewell bred the Improved Black Cart horse, which later became the Shire horse. This horse would become valuable throughout the country side as a way to increase water income to the farm.

Influence on Darwin

Selective breeding, which Charles Darwin described as artificial selection, was an inspiration for his theory of natural selection. In On the Origin of Species he cited Bakewell's work as demonstrating variation under domestication, in which methodical breeding during Bakewell's lifetime led to considerable modification of the forms and qualities of his cattle, and the unconscious production of two distinct strains when two flocks of Leicester sheep were kept by Mr. Buckley and Mr. Burgess, "purely bred from the original stock of Mr. Bakewell for upwards of fifty years" with the unanticipated result that "the difference between the sheep possessed by these two gentlemen is so great that they have the appearance of being quite different varieties."

New Dishley Society

The New Dishley Society has been created to promote the memory of Robert Bakewell and of his contemporaries and students of his methods. The society aims to disseminate knowledge of his work and appreciation of his pioneering legacy in the breeding of improved farm livestock and better crop management. It supports research into the revolutionary agricultural techniques of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and into the men who developed these techniques.