Your cart
There are no more items in your cart
The Agricultural Association of Turin (born with the name of Associazione Agraria Subalpina and later known as the Agricultural Association of the Sardinian States and the Agricultural Association of the Kingdom), was founded on 31 May 1842 - with the consent of King Carlo Alberto of Savoy granted for the first time to an association initiative - by a group of thirty-six intellectuals, landowners and politicians, belonging to the Piedmontese nobility and bourgeoisie, including: Camillo Benso di Cavour, Carlo Ilarione Petitti di Roreto, Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno (who he was the first president) and Giovenale Vegezzi Ruscalla (who was the first secretary).
The Association intended to improve the conditions of agriculture and to promote the spread of agricultural techniques and the cultural growth of farmers. It was located in the Palazzo Alfieri in Turin and soon acquired a rich library (also for the merit of the Pomba Publisher of Turin) in which it was possible to consult books on science, economics and as many as five hundred periodicals and publications published in various languages.
The Association was joined from the beginning, in addition to King Charles Albert of Savoy and the entire Royal Family, by the great officials of the court and the administration, the holders of the greatest positions in the Kingdom, prominent personalities or directly interested in agriculture , as owners and technicians, or simply lovers of agricultural things. From the approximately 2,000 members of the first year of activity, they passed at the end of 1844 to 2,700 and in 1848 to 3,371. In many localities representative working groups of the Association called Agricultural Commissions were established and by the end of 1847 almost all the municipalities of the Kingdom were associated.
In 1843 the first congress of agriculture was held, on the occasion of which the Royal Estate of Pollenzo was opened to the public - which today houses the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
Of great importance was also the activity in the political field, in vain opposed by the most conservative environments, especially in the annual Congresses. The congress of 1847, held in Casale Monferrato, was of particular importance. Lanza organized a collection of signatures for an address to King Carlo Alberto to ask for reforms. The liberal orientation found its expression in the Journal of the Agricultural Association, published in Turin in two editions, Italian and French, the first number of which was published on 6 April 1843 and the last on 29 December 1848. From 1850 to 1856 it resumed publications as Agricultural Journal of the Sardinian States. Later (1856-1857) it became the Repertoire of Economic and Industrial Sciences and lastly (1858) the monthly magazine Il Tecnico.
