John Young (September 1, 1773 – October 6, 1837) was a Scottish-born merchant, author, agronomist, and agricultural reformer in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. He represented Sydney County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1824 to 1837. He supported the Royal Acadian School. He was born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, the son of William Young, and studied theology at

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

but did not graduate. He entered business at Falkirk and then

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Young married Agnes Renny. In 1814, he came to Halifax with his wife and sons and set up in business as a dry goods merchant there. Believing that there was room for improvement in the state of agriculture in the province, Young wrote a number of letters to the ''Acadian Recorder'' under the name Agricola. This led to the creation of a provincial agricultural society in 1818. From this society a Central Board of Agriculture was formed in 1819, Young became secretary and treasurer. Young ran unsuccessfully for the Halifax Township seat in the provincial assembly in 1823 before being elected for Sydney County in an 1824 by-election. He died in office in Halifax at the age of 64. His sons

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and George also served in the Nova Scotia assembly and his son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

was colonial administrator for Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotian artist William Valentine painted Young's portrait.

''Letters of Agricola''

John Young, under the pseudonym of Agricola, wrote 38 letters in the ''Acadian Recorder'' from 1818 to 1819. These letters, would prove to be the basis of establishment and communication with a number of different agricultural societies throughout the province, as well as provide the basis for the subsequent development of the Central Board of Agriculture in 1819 and Young's appointment to the Central Board of Agriculture following Young revealing his identity to the public in 1819. Following this, Young would establish his own experimental farm before writing publicly under his own name again in 1821. These letters, published as a group in 1822, are structured as such: *Climate *Soil *Agricultural Machinery *The Plough *The Harrow *Manures *Correspondence *Sherbooke Agricultural Society *Provincial Agricultural Society *Natural Obstructions in the Soil *Prizes Awarded *Digby Agricultural Society These letters are often recognized as one of the earliest basis for the agricultural sciences and devoted attention to agricultural improvement in Canada.

Legacy

* Namesake of Agricola Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia * Namesake of the Agricola Collections of the MacRae Library of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture

''Letters of Agricola''

Legacy

References

Further reading