agricultural revolution
, gradual
transformation
of the traditional agricultural system that began in
Britain
in the 18th century. Aspects of this complex transformation, which was not completed until the 19th century, included the reallocation of land ownership to make farms more compact and an increased investment in technical improvements, such as new machinery, better drainage, scientific methods of
breeding
, and experimentation with new crops and systems of
crop rotation
.
Among those new crop-rotation methods was the
Norfolk four-course system
, established in
Norfolk county
,
England
, which emphasized fodder crops and the absence of the theretofore conventionally employed fallow year.
Wheat
was grown in the first year and
turnips
in the second, followed by
barley
, with
clover
and
ryegrass
undersown in the third. The clover and ryegrass were cut for feed or grazed in the fourth year. In the winter, cattle and sheep were fed the turnips. The development of
Shorthorn
beef cattle through
selective breeding
of local cattle of the Teeswater district,
Durham county
, typified the advances brought about by scientific breeding.
The historiography of the period that emphasized the contributions of “great men” has lost much of its influence, but the names
Jethro Tull
and
Arthur Young
are still frequently
invoked
by those seeking to understand the significance of the agricultural revolution, which was an essential prelude to the
Industrial Revolution
.