LECOUTEUX (Édouard). - Lot 95

LECOUTEUX (Édouard). 1814-1894. Agronomist, agricultural journalist and editor-in-chief of the Journal d'agriculture pratique. L.A.S. "E. Lecouteux". Paris, March 27, 1868. 1 page in-8 on letterhead of Journal d'Agriculture pratique, 26 rue Jacob, Paris. Important letter concerning the founding of the Société des Agriculteurs de France and efforts to mobilize the French farming community under the Second Empire. Supported by contributors to the Journal d'agriculture pratique, Lecouteux outlines the project to "group the farmers of France into a powerful society that would summarize and promote their interests". He announced with satisfaction the rapid progress of the subscription: "more than 150 members have already subscribed to this project", while soliciting the active support of his correspondent to speed up the recruitment of future members. The letter reveals the methods used to set up the great agricultural networks of the 19th century: circulars, mobilization of regional correspondents and the search for influential members. Lecouteux insists on the urgency of collective action: "Please do not hesitate to send me the names and addresses of members you can rally". This document sheds light on the origins of the Société des Agriculteurs de France, founded in 1867 and destined to become one of the main representative institutions of the French farming world, in a spirit that is at once conservative, technical and corporative. A fine letter of agricultural propaganda and professional organization, testifying to the structuring of the French rural elite on the eve of the agricultural transformations of the late 19th century.