1. Changes to agricultural techniques

Question 1

Which new crops were introduced into Britain in the 17th century?

Answer 1

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Clover

Question 2

What did the new crops in Britain lead to?

Answer 2

A revolution in eating habits and improvements in soil fertility - diets became more varied
- Among the poor - a heavily bread-based diet continued

Question 3

Why was a more effective agricultural output required?

Answer 3

Population growth together with the need to guarantee good harvests

Question 4

What were market gardens?

Answer 4

• A specialist producer of fruits and vegetables for sale
• Today the term refers to small-scale enterprise - but in 17th century could be extremely large and serve many thousands of people

Question 5

Why were market gardens important?

Answer 5

• They required more efficient agricultural techniques

Question 6

How did agricultural production evolve in the 17th century?

Answer 6

• By 1640s - agricultural production in Britain had exceeded that of all other European countries except Holland.
• In 1700 - average number of days worked per agricultural family was 405 - compared with 266 in 1450 - reflects both rise in pop. growth and the drive for efficiency that resulted from it

Question 7

What was enclosure?

Benefit?

Answer 7

• Involved consolidating scattered holdings into blocks of land - usually by fencing them off
• Enclosed land would be reserved for sole use of a single landowner or tenant
• Ensured that crop production was not unnecessarily duplicated as fewer rivals would exist in each region - could be combined with the upkeep of separate pastures for animals

Question 8

How was enclosure used prior to the 17th century?

Answer 8

• To enclose common land - to stimulate wool production - it intensified in the 17th century

Question 9

What was common land?

Answer 9

• Land owned by one person but over which other people have certain rights, such as the right to graze animals or collect firewood

Question 10

How did peasants view enclosure?

Answer 10

By 1650 - had come to accept that the only way they could break out of the cycle of subsistence farming was to accept enclosure.
- Protests against it - but it was hard for people to deny the benefits in terms of improved agricultural efficiency

Question 11

Most enclosure agreements were…

Answer 11

informal - with loose arrange between landowners, tenants and families.

Question 12

Why were the social conditions created by enclosure less than harmonious?

Answer 12

E.g. - at Sherrington in Buckinghamshire, where modest freeholders were driven out because of indebtedness after 1660 as a result of enclosure
- Were unable to compete w/ larger enclosed farms that had been created nearby

Also - number of counties where enclosure wasn’t widespread - such as Oxfordshire - also very successful centres of agricultural

Question 13

Increased literacy levels after 1600

Answer 13

• More yeomen and husbandmen able to make use of books

- Such as those written by Walter Blith - info about new agricultural techniques

Question 14

Yeomen

Answer 14

Farmers who owned their own land, often consisting of a large farm - although they could hold as much property as a member of the gentry

Question 15

Husbandmen

Answer 15

Tenant farmers or small landowners

Question 16

Growing awareness of importance of maximum utilisation of land

Answer 16

• For reducing the number of fields left fallow - crops should be chosen based on their sustainability for different soil types

Question 17

Traditionally, before enclosure, how did farm land work?

Answer 17

• 1 field in 3 would be left for pasture (fallow) each year in order for nutrients to be restored to the soil
• Led to lower yields because it didn’t allow enough time for soil improvements to take place

Question 18

Improved agricultural technique for farm land?

Answer 18

Field generally available for rotation - leading to better yields - new nitrogen-rich crops such as clover used to provide nutrients

In 1420 - just over 7 million acres being farmed - with 3 million fallow

By 1700 - 9 million acres farmed, with just under 2 million left fallow

Question 19

Walter Blith

Answer 19

1605-54:

• Son of Warwickshire yeomen
• Published writings on agricultural practices during Interregnum
• Concerned w/ improving agricultural output - naturally wary of enclosure - but accepted it was necessary to intensify production
• Advocated use of water meadows, improved drainage and use of manure as fertiliser

Question 20

Benefit of more efficient crop rotation

Answer 20

• New crops could be introduced - and more experimentation could take place
• Potatoes planted in some areas - but their use wasn’t yet widespread - as a new type of frost-resistant turnip had been imported from the Low Countries and was more economical

Question 21

Who carried out much of the work needed to improve irrigation and cultivate new crops?

Answer 21

• Dutch immigrants, many of whom settled in the South East

Question 22

Cornelius Vermuyden

Answer 22

• Knighted by Charles I for agricultural work in Lincolnshire - commissioned to drain the Fens of East Anglia

Question 23

Samuel Hartlib

Answer 23

German-born writer

• Responsible for promoting other Dutch innovations in Britain - e.g., nitrogen rich crops like clover and cabbage
• Crops that aided industry - such as flax for the manufacture of Linen, hemp for rope and hops for brewing beer

Question 24

Explain water meadows

Answer 24

• Not a new technique - its use extended after 1625

Water diverted from a stream or river by a network of gates and dams to moisten the soil in field and reduce the chances of frost in early spring - encouraged grass to grow quicker.

• Sheep and cattle feed on the grass in spring - before being moved in early summer to ordinary pasture - left the spring grass to grow and hay to be harvested - ensuring animals had good for winter

Question 25

Benefits of water meadows

Answer 25

• Allowed farmers to maintain more working and non-working animals

E.g. - estimated that the number of horses rose from 300,000 in 1600 to 630,000 in 1700, compared to 130,000 oxen

Individual breeds of sheep or cattle could be kept together in single enclosures and selective breeding could, for example, increase wool yields