Agriculture

Question 1

What were some changes to agricultural techniques?

Answer 1

• 1640s – agricultural production had exceeded all other European countries except Holland
• 1700 – average number of days worked per agricultural family was 405, compared with 266 in 1450
• Population growth meant there was more of a requirement for effective agricultural output

Question 2

what were some successes of enclosure?

Answer 2

• Larger plots of land, more produced
• Prevented duplication of crops
• Seperate pasteurs for animals
• Improved agricultural efficiency

Question 3

What were the limitations of enclosure?

Answer 3

• Enclosure agreements were informal - no legal safeguards
• Protests from small landowners
• Created social issues - freeholders were forced off land due to being in debt, could not compete due to creation of enclosure

Question 4

What are some successes of farming techniques?

Answer 4

• Books taught farmers new techniques
• 1 in 3 fields were left for fallow each year to restore nutrients
• Better yields
• Nitrogen rich crops - better nutrition
• Frost resistant turnip
• The amount of acres farmed increased to 9 million, increase of 2 million

Question 5

Limitations of farming techniques

Answer 5

• As 3 fields were being rotated at any one time, soil was not given enough time to return to its most productive level

Question 6

Successes of water meadows

Answer 6

• Increase in water meadows led to more working animals - 630,000 used in 1700 compared to 300,000 a hundred years before
• Animals were well bed- better health, increased productivity
• Breeds of sheep that produced the most wool could now be selected and bred for the cloth industry

Question 7

limitations of water meadows

Answer 7

• No numbers - no proof of success
• 130,000 working oxen used, even though horses were quicker

Question 8

successes of specialised farming

Answer 8

• As transport improved, farmers could concentrated on producing products that suited local conditions
• Economic conditions for farmers improved
  Yeomanry were able to experiment with new techniques and crops due to the large amount of land they owed
• Husbandmen benefitted if they managed to chnage what was produced on their land to suit local demands

Question 9

limitations of specialised farming

Answer 9

• Large scale changes were often not afforded
• Husbandmen would produce too little to make any substatial profit
• Husbandmen were slow to take up specialisation and new techniques

Question 10

successes of the growth of employment

Answer 10

• Employment on large farms was secure
• After settlement act, landowners were able to employ workers from other parishes - did not have to worry about paying poor rates
• 364,000 labourers- meaning 1 million were employed this way

Question 11

limitations of growth of employment

Answer 11

• Small tenants suffered
• Inflation reduced the value of wages in 17th century
• Jobs security was uncertain

Question 12

successes of capital investment

Answer 12

• Higher gentry and nobility invested in modernisation
• Large farms flourished
• Large landowners could improve their estates cheaply
• Farmers could sell goods in high demand at large markerts rather than local ones
• Land rented out for tenants to work
• Production improved
• Landlords gave tenants loans to help them modernse

Question 13

limitations of capital investment

Answer 13

• Most yeoman and husbandmen were unable to afford much investment
• Tenants were expected to maintain buildings they rented at their own expense
• Landlord loans - tenants getting into debt
• Tenants had to specialise and produce what was most suited to local conditions

Question 14

successes of national markets

Answer 14

• Improved roads and infastructure due to the demand for goods
• Creation of specialist merchants who would source stock to be taken to markets
• Market gardend developed
• Turnpike act 1663 - allows for creation of new toll roads, the toll paid for the upkeep of the roads
• First road atlas published in 1675
• Widening of rivers meant goods could be transportted
• More food was produced
• Improved standard of living for most people

Question 15

limitations of national markets

Answer 15

• Dominance of London market did not benefit the economy as a whole as the demand for food drained the resources of other communiities leading to poor living standards
• Prices of agricultural equipment was 6times higher than they were in 1500
• London brewwers outbid those from other towns, destroying the brewing industry in other towns
• National markets did not develop as clearly in Scotland and Ireland as transport was inadequate and government were unwilling to invest