1. The development of specialised farming and the growth of employment

Question 1

Benefit of new techniques

Answer 1

New appreciation for the fact that different regions could specialise in types of farming more suited to local conditions

No national markets for agricultural products before 17th century - farmers generally produced what was needed for their local community

Question 2

Long-known regional differences for agriculture

Answer 2

• The warmer, drier South East more suited for arable rather than pastoral farming
• Geography of the North and West was more suited to the rearing of livestock - much of the terrain more rugged and hilly, with higher levels of rainfall

Question 3

How did opportunities to develop national markets present themselves?

Answer 3

As transport infrastructure improved - and farmers could concentrate on farming products that suite local conditions

Question 4

South East - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 4

Conditions - Deep soil, dry, warm

Specialised produce - Wheat, oats, hops, hemp

Question 5

East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire) - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 5

Conditions - dry, flat, chalk soil

Produce - wheat, barley, rue, flax

Question 6

Yorkshire - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 6

Conditions - mixture of fertile, deep soil and hills

Produce - mixed sheep farming and some arable

Question 7

Midlands - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 7

Conditions - damp, heavy soil, some fertile plains

Produce - cattle, sheep, some crops

Question 8

Chesire - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 8

Conditions - damp soil

Produce - Cattle (cheese)

Question 9

Scotland - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 9

Condition - hills, higher rainfall

Produce - cattle, sheep

Question 10

Wiltshire and Somerset - local conditions - specialised produce

Answer 10

Conditions - Damp, heavy soil, warm

Produce - dairy products (milk, cheese)

Question 11

How did specialised farming help to improve economic conditions for many farmers?

Particularly yeomen

Answer 11

Those from the yeomanry class - owned a large amount of land and were generally sheltered from the possibility of poor harvests
- Were able to experiment w/ new techniques and crops - but couldn’t always afford large-scale changes

Question 12

How did specialised farming benefit husbandmen?

Answer 12

• Husbandmen grew in number
• They farmed land that usually covered less than 40 acres - were actually at an advantage if they were shrewd enough to farm produce that was in demand and suited to local conditions
• They could dedicate their entire farm to one product

Question 13

Drawbacks of specialised farming for husbandmen?

Answer 13

• Were less able to exploit opportunities as - regardless of where they focused their energies - would often produce too little to make a substantial profit

According to contemporary commentators -Husbandmen were slow to take up specialisation and new techniques - they had to be sure they would benefit from changing the way they organised their farms

Question 14

Who suffered as a result of encloser?

Who gained at their expense?

Answer 14

Small tenants - smallholding became an unsustainable employment for many

The number of wage-dependent agricultural labourers grew - though inflation reduced the real value of their wages for much of the 17th century

Question 15

Employment on farms of larger landowners?

Answer 15

Relatively secure - but many also had to work in the small-scale cloth industry in order to feed their families - w/ 240,000 people involved in skilled crafts by the end of the period

Question 16

After the Settlement Act in 1662

Answer 16

• Was easier for landowners to hire labourers from other parishes - and let them go when the harvest ended - as these workers were officially ‘settled’ in other areas
• Employers didn’t have to contribute to the Poor Rates for them

Question 17

The growth of towns, particularly ports led to…

Answer 17

more stable employment - but job security was poor for those who hadn’t served a 7-year apprenticeship

Question 18

In 1688, what is the estimated number of families of labourers?

Answer 18

364,000 - meaning over 1 million people must have been employed in this way

The proportion of labourers to small farmers increased throughout the century.

Question 19

Example of how changes to a pattern of life in the countryside had existed for hundreds of years naturally resulted in opposition

Answer 19

Complaint contained in a petition by the commoners of Wooton Bassett, 1650

Question 20

Enclosure by 1727

Answer 20

Enclosure - followed by the inevitable employment of the local poor on large farms - was well established.