THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION

 

THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION

Agrarian Revolution implies the great changes that took place in the agricultural methods of England in the second half of the seventeenth century.

Causes of the revolution

i) Open-field system was followed in the early days. There were no fences. It caused disputes among the farmers.

ii) The owners possessed small strips of land. The small size of the holding made scientific methods of cultivation impossible

iii) The three field system was followed in earlier ages. In this system, land was divided into three parts. Every year one of the three fields was to be out of cultivation. 

In the eighteenth century population was increasing and so more food was needed. But the yield was insufficient. Owing to the scarcity of food materials there was a rise in price.

Remarkable Changes

 To solve the problem, a number of land Enclosure Acts were passed in the reign of George II and George III. George tried to help farmers. He established a model farm at Windsor. For his genuine interest in the welfare of the farmers, people called him as ‘Farmer George’.

 Charles Townshend replaced the three field system by the four-field rotation system. In this system, crops were grown in rotation in the order of turnips, barley, cloves and rye-grass and wheat. This system helped the farmers in all the ways. As Townshend stressed the usefulness of turnip, farmers called him as ‘Turnip Townshend’.

Jethro Tull was the inventor of a drill for sowing seeds. Tull’s drill made channels, sowed seeds into them and covered them at the same time. Arthur Young’s books taught innovative agricultural methods. He also set up a Board of Agricultural to give practical lessons in farming technology to farmers

Robert Bakewell of Leicestershire was the first to turn his attention to the production of meat. Through his experiment he succeeded in producing a new breed of sheep which fattened quickly and weighted heavy.  Other contributors in this field were George Culley, Charles Colling and John Ellman.

The harm done by the Agrarian Revolution was that the enclosure of fields resulted in the eviction of small farmers. They were forced sell their small strips to the wealthy land lords. There was an exodus of small owners into cities to get jobs.