Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes Chapter 12: Topic 5.4 Flashcards
Began in the 1700s, it used the advances of the Industrial Revolution to increase food supplies and support population growth. Agriculture benefited from mechanization and improved knowledge of fertilizers, soils, and selective breeding practices for plants and animals.
Second Agricultural Revolution
A series of laws enacted by the British government that enabled landowners to purchase and enclose land for their own use. This land had previously been common land shared by peasant farmers. These movements occurred throughout Europe, this allowed for larger farms, more efficient production, and crops sold for profit rather than personal consumption.
Enclosure Movement
Better diets, longer life expectancies, and increased population. These factors, combined with many displaced farmers due to the Enclosure Acts, led to a larger potential workforce for growing factories.
2nd Revolution Advances
The technique of planting different crops in a specific sequence on the same plot of land in order to restore nutrients back into the soil. Grains usually extract nitrogen from the soil, which alfalfa puts nitrogen into the soil. A fallow period (ground left unseeded) that allows the land to rest, is also a common technique.
Crop Rotation
The process of applying controlled amounts of water to crops using canals, pipes, sprinkler systems, or other human-made devices rather than to rely on just rainfall.
Irrigation
The Second Agricultural Revolution resulted in fewer, larger and much more productive farms. There was a decrease in the number of farm owners and an even greater drop-off in the need for agricultural laborers. Displaced farm laborers migrated to US urban centers and for the first time in US history, more people lived in urban areas than in rural areas. 30% of the labor force worked in agriculture, less than half of what it was in 1840.
2nd Revolution Impact on Demographics
