Chemicals used to control agricultural diseases and pests have formed a significant aspect of rural life in Britain since at least the mid-eighteenth century. This paper argues that agricultural chemicals have long been subject to public health and environmental concern. Harnessing agricultural textbooks, periodicals and newspaper reports, this paper charts the use of arsenic and copper sulphate as means of preventing fungal disease in wheat over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During this time the dangers and benefits associated with chemical seed steeps – a mixture of water with arsenic or copper sulphate in which seeds were immersed – were thoroughly explored: landowners and agricultural improvers released their own recipes, suggested alternative remedies for fungal disease and even carried out crop trials to test the efficiency of chemical preventatives. Yet, by the mid-nineteenth century, seed steeps had become an issue of public health and government concern, as noxious substances poisoned game birds intended for human consumption. Embracing a ‘long-run’ history of agricultural chemicals enriches current debates on the use, regulation and impact of these products.

中文翻译：

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忧郁的后果：英国自 18 世纪中叶以来与农业化学品的长期关系

至少自 18 世纪中叶以来，用于控制农业病虫害的化学品已成为英国农村生活的一个重要方面。本文认为，农用化学品长期以来一直受到公众健康和环境的关注。本文利用农业教科书、期刊和报纸报道，描绘了 18 和 19 世纪期间使用砷和硫酸铜作为预防小麦真菌病害的手段。在此期间，彻底探索了与化学种子浸泡液（一种将种子浸入其中的水与砷或硫酸铜的混合物）相关的危险和益处：土地所有者和农业改良者发布了他们自己的配方，提出了真菌病的替代疗法，甚至进行了作物试验以测试化学预防剂的效率。然而，到 19 世纪中叶，种子浸泡已成为公共卫生和政府关注的问题，因为有毒物质毒害了供人类食用的野鸟。农业化学品的“长期”历史丰富了当前关于这些产品的使用、监管和影响的辩论。