Agricultural change 1812-32

Question 1

What was agriculture transforming into by 1812?

Answer 1

An industry, with large tenant farms set up as businesses and well organised tenant farmers hiring labourers for seasonal work and producing goods for a commercial market

Question 2

What facilitated this transformation of agriculture?

Answer 2

The Enclosure Acts throughout the wars with France and the 1820s which allowed farm land to be reorganised

Question 3

What development quickened the pace of agricultural change?

Answer 3

Enclosure

Question 4

Give an indicator that enclosure worked?

Answer 4

Rent for enclosed land was charged at a higher rate

Question 5

Why was enclosed land better?

Answer 5

Crops gave a higher yield, there was less wastage of land, more control over soil fertilisation and more protection from hedging

Question 6

What did enclosure encourage?

Answer 6

Improved systems of crop rotation

Question 7

What did crop rotation allow?

Answer 7

More mixed farming - with plants and livestock on the same farm - as a greater variety of cattle fodder could be produced and manure could be spread to improve soil quality

Question 8

Why was the transition to mixed farming so beneficial for farmers?

Answer 8

It gave farmers greater security, as even if heavy rain spoilt the harvest, the cattle would thrive. This gave them higher profits for expansion and confidence to invest in the latest farming techniques and experiments

Question 9

What was agriculture stimulated by at this time?

Answer 9

The war, as it pushed wheat prices up

Question 10

What did many farmers do to capitalise on the war as much as possible?

Answer 10

Planted their less fertile land with crops

Question 11

Describe the negative impact the end of the war had on agriculture

Answer 11

Demand fell and so did the price of wheat, meaning the cultivation of such large amounts of land no longer made economic sense. The lifting of the wartime restrictions allowed cheap foreign corn to enter the market. Tenant farmers who had taken out long leased on land during the war when rents were high saw their profits fall and responded by slashing wages and jobs

Question 12

What did landowners and tenant farmers do in response to the problems at this time?

Answer 12

They put pressure on the government to protect them to the point that the corn laws were passed

Question 13

Why can the case be made that the corn laws failed to shield the agricultural industry from depression?

Answer 13

• There were constant price fluctuations, even in the years where harvests were good
• Landowners who had taken out large loans to pay for enclosures were overwhelmed with debt repayments
• There were many farming bankruptcies during the 1820s
• The plight of agricultural labourers was much worse

Question 14

Why were there concerns about agricultural depopulation at this time?

Answer 14

Because many labourers were moving to the industrial areas

Question 15

Why were these concerns misplaced?

Answer 15

Because the general increase in population meant that there was never a shortage of labour on the land, even if wages were low

Question 16

When did agricultural improvements start?

Answer 16

They had started in the early 18th century and had continued into the 19th century

Question 17

Why was progress very slow in agriculture?

Answer 17

Innovation would occur in one region, but it might be years before it was taken up in another

Question 18

What is the invention of the threshing machine a good example of?

Answer 18

The lack of uniformity in agricultural developments across the country, as despite being invented in 1778, it was not until the 1820s that they came into general use throughout the country

Question 19

What did the threshing machine do?

Answer 19

Separated the husk from the grain mechanically

Question 20

When was the threshing machine first invented?

Answer 20

In 1778 by Andrew Meikle

Question 21

What happened when threshing machines were finally brought into farms?

Answer 21

They were destroyed by labourers fearful of being replaced

Question 22

What happened on many farms in the 1820s?

Answer 22

Crop rotation became more commonplace, having previously only taken place on large estates

Question 23

What does Briggs say about agricultural improvement at this time?

Answer 23

That relatively small local improvements produced immediate results long before the new technical practises were generally adopted

Question 24

What does Briggs say held back revolutionary advances at this time?

Answer 24

The slow movement of ideas, the lack of basic techniques and the unsatisfactory system of leases and tenures

Question 25

When does Briggs say crop rotation properly took off?

Answer 25

After proper methods of drainage were developed in the 1830s, as this allowed it to take place on the intractable clay soils of the midlands