AGRARIAN REVOLUTION

Between the 18th and 19th centuries,

agriculture remained the single
most important sector of the
economy.

Previous economic
and social situation in England:
Dependence on agriculture
Cope with unprecedented population
Farming became more profitable (rich
farmers investment in lands)
Open-fields
Clearances (replacing the clan lands with
sheep)
Lifestyles changes in the countryside

CHANGES
Enclosure of lands

Lands used for mixed animals and

cereals/houses destroyed on common
land

Done by Act of Parliament:

obtaining the Act, costs of the
commissioners fees & expenses of
surveying & valuing & cost of fencing.

Division of lands into three

sections:
Arable (suitable for growing crops)
Meadow (covered with grass and used
for hay)

Pasture (suitable for feeding animals)

New crops and rotations

Turnips
Swedes and manglewurzels
Trefoli
Rape
Clover
Water-meadows
Convertible husbandry

Improvement on soil - fertilising

methods:
Dung (it contains plant food, makes

humus & holds moisture)

Drainage (done by digging ditches at
either side of ploughed fields)
Marling (mixture of clay and sandy soil)
Lime and chalk (to improve the quality
of the soil; valuable mineral)

Improvement on the livestock

Sheep
Cattle (Hereford, Shorthorn, Middle horn
& Longhorn)

Other livestock: the horse (replacing

the ox) & pigs.

Suffolk Punch

Longhorn cattle

Shorthorn cattle

Hereford cow

Improvement on farm
machinery & tools

The seed drill by Jethro Tull (1700)

Rotherham plough (1730) Suffolk
plough (1770)
Threshing machine by Meikle (1786)
Horse hoe ( tool used for breaking up
soil & removing weeds)
Draught horses (used for pulling heavy
loads)

The seed drill

The horse hoe

The threshing machine

The efects of enclosure upon small

farmers
Forced to become a landless
labourer or a factory hand
Causes of the small farmers
decline: the rapid rate of enclosure in
the late 19th & the imposition of wartime
taxes (1688-1715)

The efects of the Agrarian

Revolution
People left their villages and found
work in the town, providing the
energy that made possible an even
greater revolution than changed the
face of Britain.

The end
History, 2012
Teacher, Daniela Garino
2do A INGLS
Paula Suarez
Deborah Prieto