THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION (1750-1900)

Farming= Inefficient

• Waste time walking between fields
• Have to leave one field fallow 
• Need lots of fences
• Lots of strip farming
• Farmers wanted to improve crop yields by growing fodder crops (e.g. turnips, cloves)-> restore soil's fertility-> no need to leave field fallow

ENCLOSURE->BIGGER FIELDS->SELECTIVE BREEDING

Enclosure= prevents spread of disease from one herd to another

• Animals kept in seperate fields, controlled breeding could be achieved
• Larger animals helped produce more meat and wool
• Before 1750-> most people= subsistence farmers, produced only what THEY needed to survive

• Farming done by hand before 1750 with horses pulling ploughs and carts
• Heavy duty tools= mass produced 
• Machines invented for activities (e.g. threshing corn)
• 1850's-> steam-powered traction engines- powered ploughs, chaff-cutters and other machines
• One or two men could operate steam tractor which could do the work of 10 men

• Four Course Rotation-> involved four different fields for growing four different crops over a period of four years
• WHEAT, BREAD, CLOVER, BARLEY/OATS (FOR BEER), TURNIPS, SWEDE
• Each of these crops- rotated around the fields every year and swapped-> CROP ROTATION
• Therefore, no fields left fallow (clover, swede and turnip replaced nutrients that wheat, barley an oats had utilised)
• BIGGER HARVESTS EACH YEAR

• Agricultural Rev. reduced inefficiencies associated with old farming methods as better machinery- developed to increase productivity
• Greater crop yields->allowed food demands of growing population
• Farmers improved their livelihoods, provided employment, innovation and inventions introduced to farming