DOI Artikel:
Editorial
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48999#0207
EDITORIAL
We have now reached the end of the second
volume of Tools and Tillage. In this fourth
number we range again over many parts of the
world, and though in its initial conception the
journal was intended to lay a primary emphasis
on Europe and areas influenced by Europe,
nevertheless, the material has taken its own
course. By a kind of natural evolutionary pro-
cess, the articles we have presented have, be-
cause of their basic nature, spread out beyond
the original territorial bounds. There can in-
deed be no geographical limits to- the search
for fresh knowledge and awareness of man’s
most fundamental economic activities, the cul-
tivation of the soil and the processing of the
crops grown on it, and we feel it appropriate
that the journal has itself taught us this elemen-
tary fact of common sense. If we had allowed
ourselves to be firmly bound by our original pre-
conceived notion - even though it was adopted
for practical rather than academic purposes -
we should have been guilty of a lack of that
kind of flexibility of approach which alone can
penetrate the realities of historical situations.
We are nevertheless conscious of the many
gaps that remain to be filled. Perhaps the gaps
are made more numerous by the throwing aside
of boundaries, but this should not lead to- dif-
ficulties if we strive to use the freedom of
range as a means of identifying further factors
that help to answer questions about the rela-
tionships between tools, the soil, and the people.
We can never be sufficiently aware of such
interaction. Factors like the care of the crop
may involve the wholesale destruction of sing-
ing birds, as in the Italian vineyards where
birds can cause much damage, so- that there is
an appreciable effect on the natural environ-
ment. The weeding of crops may have impor-
tance not only for cleaning, but also for fod-
dering livestock, for example geese and pigs, or
the carthorses that were kept in the stables of
South-East Scotland in the eighteenth century
and fed on thistles pulled from the growing
grain. Manuring with seaweed at the coasts can
affect the types of crops grown as well as the
yields, and the cutting of turf as manure can
have a deleterious effect on the amount of
grazing available for farm stock. The widths of
cultivation ridges are related to the types of
crops and methods of sowing and weeding,
and special tools and techniques evolve as a
result of the introduction of new crops - the
drill plough and the whole complex of drill
harrows and drill hoes, seed-sowing machines,
etc., followed the adoption of the turnip and
the potato as field crops. It is this kind of
interaction between technology, crops, the na-
tural environment, and the regional social si-
tuation, that we want to- examine, regardless
of political boundaries, without the application
of pre-conceived models, as a contribution to
the indigenous history of the human race, rather
than to the kind of history that is imposed on
peoples from above.
It is gratifying that there has been no shortage
of high-quality material offered for the journal.
This has, however, led to pressure on space, so
that relatively few reviews have been printed,
and our wish to- include a regular series of no-
tes on current topics or methods of approach
has not been fully realised. As costs of printing
increase, we must concentrate even more on
selecting only what is most important for print-
ing, and this may mean that reviews and notes
will continue to be sacrificed, unless the data
is of outstanding merit. There is no- end to- the
making of books, and the three editors are only
human. They cannot be omniscient. We would
ask for the help of all our readers in bringing
appropriate material to our attention for future
use in Tools and Tillage.
We have now reached the end of the second
volume of Tools and Tillage. In this fourth
number we range again over many parts of the
world, and though in its initial conception the
journal was intended to lay a primary emphasis
on Europe and areas influenced by Europe,
nevertheless, the material has taken its own
course. By a kind of natural evolutionary pro-
cess, the articles we have presented have, be-
cause of their basic nature, spread out beyond
the original territorial bounds. There can in-
deed be no geographical limits to- the search
for fresh knowledge and awareness of man’s
most fundamental economic activities, the cul-
tivation of the soil and the processing of the
crops grown on it, and we feel it appropriate
that the journal has itself taught us this elemen-
tary fact of common sense. If we had allowed
ourselves to be firmly bound by our original pre-
conceived notion - even though it was adopted
for practical rather than academic purposes -
we should have been guilty of a lack of that
kind of flexibility of approach which alone can
penetrate the realities of historical situations.
We are nevertheless conscious of the many
gaps that remain to be filled. Perhaps the gaps
are made more numerous by the throwing aside
of boundaries, but this should not lead to- dif-
ficulties if we strive to use the freedom of
range as a means of identifying further factors
that help to answer questions about the rela-
tionships between tools, the soil, and the people.
We can never be sufficiently aware of such
interaction. Factors like the care of the crop
may involve the wholesale destruction of sing-
ing birds, as in the Italian vineyards where
birds can cause much damage, so- that there is
an appreciable effect on the natural environ-
ment. The weeding of crops may have impor-
tance not only for cleaning, but also for fod-
dering livestock, for example geese and pigs, or
the carthorses that were kept in the stables of
South-East Scotland in the eighteenth century
and fed on thistles pulled from the growing
grain. Manuring with seaweed at the coasts can
affect the types of crops grown as well as the
yields, and the cutting of turf as manure can
have a deleterious effect on the amount of
grazing available for farm stock. The widths of
cultivation ridges are related to the types of
crops and methods of sowing and weeding,
and special tools and techniques evolve as a
result of the introduction of new crops - the
drill plough and the whole complex of drill
harrows and drill hoes, seed-sowing machines,
etc., followed the adoption of the turnip and
the potato as field crops. It is this kind of
interaction between technology, crops, the na-
tural environment, and the regional social si-
tuation, that we want to- examine, regardless
of political boundaries, without the application
of pre-conceived models, as a contribution to
the indigenous history of the human race, rather
than to the kind of history that is imposed on
peoples from above.
It is gratifying that there has been no shortage
of high-quality material offered for the journal.
This has, however, led to pressure on space, so
that relatively few reviews have been printed,
and our wish to- include a regular series of no-
tes on current topics or methods of approach
has not been fully realised. As costs of printing
increase, we must concentrate even more on
selecting only what is most important for print-
ing, and this may mean that reviews and notes
will continue to be sacrificed, unless the data
is of outstanding merit. There is no- end to- the
making of books, and the three editors are only
human. They cannot be omniscient. We would
ask for the help of all our readers in bringing
appropriate material to our attention for future
use in Tools and Tillage.