Chapter 15 Section 5: The Revolution in Agriculture

Chapter 15: Society and Economy Under
the Old Regime in the Eighteenth Century
Section 5: The Revolution in Agriculture
By Dallin F. Hardy

Bread Prices


18th century
Rose


Slowly
Steadily

Agricultural Revolution


18th century
Innovations in


Farm production
Agriculture became


Scientific
Mechanized
New Crops and New Methods

Land Owners

Active proponents of

Agricultural innovations

Dutch Agriculture



18th century
Netherlands
Most improvement

Dutch Agricultural Improvements


Better dikes
Drained the land


Thousands of acres
Experimented with new crops
Turnip
 Clover


Increased animal fodder and restored the soil

Jethro Tull

Conducted agricultural
experiments


Iron plow
Seed drill

Charles “Turnip” Townshend

Introduced in England


Crop rotation
Cultivation of turnips

Robert Bakewell

Pioneered new methods
in

Animal breeding

Tragedy of the Commons

Enclosures

Homesteading



Unused land
Better use of land
Greater profit

Impact of Enclosures

Turmoil



Increased


Economic
Social
Food production
Roaming/independent
farmers

Forced


Off commons
To live on own land
Expansion of the Population

European Population


1800
190 Million

Potato



New World food
Enabled more children to
survive into adulthood
1 acre of potatoes

Feed a family for an entire
year