1.1.3 Changes to agricultural techniques - Water Meadows

Question 1

How did water meadows work?

Answer 1

By diverting water from a nearby stream or river to a field.

Question 2

Water meadows, had been in existence for at least .. years before 1625

Answer 2

100 years

Question 3

What was the aim of water meadows?

Answer 3

To provide soil that was always damp, thus reducing chances of frost in early spring and encouraging grass to grow earlier.

Question 4

How did animal agriculture benefit from water meadows?

Answer 4

They ensured animals were well-fed throughout the next winter.

Question 5

Figures on the number of water meadows are difficult to… , although contemporaries noted that their use …… …. …… ..

Answer 5

come by

expanded dramatically in the 17th century

Question 6

Water meadows enabled farmers to maintain more… , and breeds of sheep that produced… , could now be… …… ….. . …. …… …..

Answer 6

animals
wool
selected and intensively bred for the cloth industry.