George Boswell of Puddletown (1735-1815): progressive farmer and author.

This paper explores the career of an unusual eighteenth-century innovator. George Boswell was not only the author of the first detailed and practical guide to the creation, lay-out and management of water meadows, but is also a good example of a working farmer eager to incorporate new ideas, new crops and improved implements into his farming practice. His advice was sought and his expertise valued by several leading agriculturalists during the late eighteenth century, including Arthur Young and Robert Bakewell. His letters to George Culley provide a great deal of information about farming methods and conditions in Dorset, and his contributions to the Bath and West Agricultural Society give details of his construction of and experiments with ploughs, rakes, drills and threshing machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]