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Olivier de Serres (; 1539–1619) was a French author and
* Sugar beet
* Sarasson
''Le Théâtre d'Agriculture'', third edition, 1605
at Gallica 1539 births 1619 deaths People from Villeneuve-de-Berg Soil scientists French agronomists French gardeners Writers from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French male writers French Protestants 17th-century agronomists 16th-century agronomists {{France-scientist-stub
soil scientist
Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to th ...
whose '' Théâtre d'Agriculture'' (1600) was the accepted textbook of French agriculture in the 17th century.
Biography
Serres was born in 1539 at Villeneuve-de-Berg, Ardèche. His brother,Jean de Serres
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Jean de Serres (; la, Joannes Serranus; 1540–1598) was a major French historian and an advisor to King Henry IV during the Wars of Religion that marred the French Reformation in the second half of the Sixteenth Century. As a refugee from reli ...
, was a well-known French humanist and translated the complete works of Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
.
His book was notable for recommending winegrowers to plant 5 to 6 varieties in their vineyards to balance the risk of a crop failing, an early advocacy of crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...
.
It also recommended ''métayage
The metayage ; es, mediería ; it, mezzadria . system is the cultivation of land for a proprietor by one who receives a proportion of the produce, as a kind of sharecropping. Another class of land tenancy in France is named , whereby the rent is ...
'' (sharecropping
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
) so that cash tenants would take all the risks and thus demand lower rent, as hired labour is expensive to manage. Sharecroppers administer themselves and risks are divided with the landlord. According to him, only large landowners should take the risk of hiring labourers and running the estate themselves.The Economic Theory of Sharecropping in Early Modern France, Philip Hoffman, The Journal of Economic History 1984, page 312
See also
* Sugar beet
* Sarasson
Notes
External links
''Le Théâtre d'Agriculture'', third edition, 1605
at Gallica 1539 births 1619 deaths People from Villeneuve-de-Berg Soil scientists French agronomists French gardeners Writers from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French male writers French Protestants 17th-century agronomists 16th-century agronomists {{France-scientist-stub