The Agricultural Revolution The major impetus for the Agricultural Revolution was to grow more food But not only did they want to grow more food, they wanted to use less people to do it They wanted to free people from the land so they could go to the cities and work in industry And this is how the Agricultural Revolution inevitably led to the Industrial Revolution

Old School Farming So it was out with the old and in with the new The “old” was during the Middle Ages Peasant farmers would rent small strips of land and grow a variety of different crops Their goal was to feed their families and pay their landlords Any crop left over would be used to buy other amenities It was subsistence farming at best

New School Farming But the “new” involved getting rid of the small farms and small farmers Small farms were consolidated into large productive farms Instead of a variety of crops these new farms would grow one or two crops and do it very well In other words, they specialized

New Type of Farm – New Type of Farmer In fact, this new farmer was not worried about putting food on the table He was worried about making a profit He would use all the modern technology available He was an entrepreneur and he had money He was willing to experiment and invest money so he could make even more money

Jethro Tull One of the major innovators or agricultural pioneers during this period was Jethro Tull Tull’s methods were adopted by many large landowners and have essentially helped to form the basis for modern agriculture Tull found that when soil was well broken up, or cultivated, and enriched with manure or fertilizer, crops grew much better He also came up with a better method of planting seed

Out with Broadcasting Because the old method of planting called “broadcasting” was not effective Farmers would scatter seeds over a large area by hand The disadvantage was that many seeds were lost due to wind or birds Furthermore the farmer ended up with an unruly mass of crop mixed with weeds

The Seed Drill Tull came up with an more efficient system of sowing seeds He invented the seed drill It would bury the seed neatly in rows It was faster and much less wasteful than broadcasting And now, rather than an unruly mass of weeds and crop, the farmer had neat rows that were easier to maintain

Horse Drawn Hoe Tull also advocated the use of horses instead of oxen to cultivate the land He created a horse-drawn hoe for clearing weeds He found that if the soil was adequately pulverized, it would release nutrients from the soil, and help crops grow better Using the Horse Drawn Hoe help to pulverize the soil to the point where fertilizer was not as necessary as in the past

Charles Townshend Another major agricultural innovator during this period was Charles Townshend He was a large land owner and member of Parliament Former Secretary of State directing British Foreign Policy This alone would have afforded him at least a foot note in history But his claim to fame really came after he retired and devoted himself entirely to farming

Turnip Townshend In fact he is most famously known as “Turnip Townsend” This was because turnips and clover were the key to his success Using the above crops, he was able to develop a more efficient field system that replaced the …

Three Field System Which was the system of crop rotation used in the Middle Ages Two fields would be utilized to grow crops while a third would be left fallow to allow the soil to rest and restore its nutrients The following year a new field would be left fallow

Four Field System Turnip Townshend, however, came up with a four field system that avoided the waste of a fallow field He would grow four crops: - Turnips (Year One) - Barley (Year Two) - Clover ( Year Three) - Wheat (Year Four) After this the cycle would be repeated

The Beauty of Turnips and Clover The key to the four field system involved the use of turnips and clover These crops naturally release nitrogen into the soil This nitrogen release meant that it was no longer necessary to have a wasted fallow field Suddenly, due to the four field system, farmers could produce up to four times the crop they produced before Turnips and clover also had the added advantage that they could be used as inexpensive fodder to feed animals over the winter

It’s time for a BBQ Prior to the Agricultural Revolution people did not eat much meat Herds were only culled because there was not enough fodder to keep the whole herd alive The use of the four field system now allowed farmers to feed and entire herd year round This led to enormous year round herds of cattle and sheep This, in turn, lowered the price of meat Suddenly because of affordability, meat became an everyday part of everyone’s diet Adding protein to everyone’s diet meant a healthier, more robust population

Summary of Productive Farming Advances during the Agricultural Revolution Farm Consolidation Specialization Improved cultivation methods (Seed Drill/Horse Drawn Hoe) Fertilization Four field crop rotation Use of fodder crops such as turnips and clover Improved animal breeding All the above led to a vastly improved agricultural system Hence, England was growing more food and needed fewer people to do it Furthermore, these unemployed farmers could now move to fill the employment needs in the growing industrial cities And this is how the Agricultural Revolution inevitably led to the Industrial Revolution