They are thought to have single-handedly, in a few years, transformed English agriculture from a peasant subsistence economy to a thriving capitalist agricultural system, capable of feeding the teeming millions in the new industrial cities.Īll these details are in some dispute, but there is general agreement that the role of the 'Great Men' as pioneers and innovators has been exaggerated. These men are seen as having triumphed over a conservative mass of country bumpkins. All this was thought to have been due to a group of heroic individuals, who, according to one account, are 'a band of men whose names are, or ought to be, household words with English farmers: Jethro Tull, Lord Townshend, Arthur Young, Bakewell, Coke of Holkham and the Collings.' For many years the agricultural revolution in England was thought to have occurred because of three major changes: the selective breeding of livestock the removal of common property rights to land and new systems of cropping, involving turnips and clover.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |