(3) Product substitution: competition from new sources of carbohydrates in Europe, especially potatoes, corn (maize), and rice. v) As evidence for a continued growth in grain production, we find that England itself had become a major net exporter of grain from later 17th century (perhaps as a consequence of prior enclosures), as the tables on the screen show: The Baltic and English Grain Export Trades Average Annual Exports in Quarters (of 8 bushels)* 1600-49 to 1700-49 PERIOD BALTIC** ENGLAND TOTAL 1600-59 719,250 ? ? 1650-99 585,900 26,250 612,150 1700-49 325,500 453,600 779,100 * 1 Quarter = 8 bushels = 64 gallons of grain = 480 lb. (1 bu. = 60 lb.; 6 x 80 = 480 lb.) * about 80% on the seaborne Baltic grain exports, on average, was carried in Dutch ships (a higher proportion in the earlier than in the later periods). Average Annual English Grain Exports in Quarters (of 8 bushels), 1700-09 to 1760-69 Decade Grain Exports in Quarters
Number of Workers per Acre 1.24 1.17 0.91 0.91 Output per Worker in lb. 2.05 2.97 3.83 4.30 Index of Labour Productivity 1600 = 1.00 1.00 1.45 1.87 2.10 Source: Robert C. Allen, ‘The Growth of Labor Productivity in Early Modern English Agriculture’, Explorations in Economic History, 25 (April 1988), 117-46. (2) Table on Revenues and Costs in Arable Farms by farm size, for the later 18th century (ca. 1770): with total costs and labour costs per acre, and the resulting ‘Ricardian Surplus:’ Revenues, costs, and ‘Ricardian Surplus’ (economic rent) of English farms: per acre, and by farm size Farm Size in Acres (50 a. increments) Total Revenue per Acre Total Costs per Acre Labour Costs per Acre Ricardian Surplus per Acre Number of Farms in Sample 0-50 4.0399 3.0615 1.5016 0.9783 8 50-100 4.3094 3.1146 1.3023 1.1948 45 100-150 3.7694 2.4290 1.0215 1.3404 16 150-200 4.4774 2.3931 0.9598 2.0842 22
Percentages of Total Populations Engaged in Agriculture England and France, 1500 to 1900 Year England France 1500 76% 73% 1600 55% 63% 1750 46% 61% 1800 36% 55% 1850 22% 52% 1900 7% 43% Sources: E. Anthony Wrigley, ‘Urban Growth and Agricultural Change: England and the Continent in the Early Modern Period’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 15 (Spring 1985), 683-728; and E. A. Wrigley, ‘Men on the Land and Men in the Countryside: Employment in Agriculture in Early Nineteenth-Century England’, in L. Bonfield et al, eds., The World We Have Gained (Oxford, 1985); Robert C. Allen, ‘The Growth of Labor Productivity in Early Modern English Agriculture’, Explorations in Economic History, 25 (April 1988), 117-46; Grantham, Land, Labour, and Productivity (1991); George Grantham, ‘The Growth of Labour Productivity in the Production of Wheat in the Cinq Grosses Fermes of France, 1750 - 1929’, in Bruce M. S. Campbell and Mark Overton, eds., Land, Labour and Livestock: Historical Studies in European Agricultural Productivity (Manchester and New York: Manchester
Assumption: Farm Operating on a Three-Field System with 2/3 in Crops and 1/3 Fallow (Uncultivated, Land at Rest) each Year Grass Area in Acres Grain Area in Acres Fallow Area (at Rest): Acres Manure Tons per Acre Arable Grain Yield: Bu. per Acre Total Grain Output Bu. Stock Output in Equiv Bu.* TOTAL IN BU. 100 0.0 0.0 1,000 1,000 80 13.3 6.7 >10.0 27.5 366 800 1,166 77 15.3 7.7 10.0 27.5 421 770 1,191 60 26.7 13.3 4.5 16.5 441 600 1,041 40 40.0 20.0 2.0 11.5 460 400 860 20 53.3 26.7 0.7 8.9 474 200 674 0 66.7 33.3 0.0 7.5 500 0 500 * Assumption: That the output of livestock products is equivalent to 10 bushels of grain per acre. Source: Robert Shiel, ‘Improving Soil Fertility in the Pre-Fertiliser Era’, in Bruce M. S. Campbell and Mark Overton, eds., Land, Labour, and Livestock: Historical Studies in European Agricultural Productivity (Manchester and New York, 1991), p. 71. Table 2: THE BALTIC AND ENGLISH GRAIN EXPORT TRADES AVERAGE ANNUAL EXPORTS IN QUARTERS (OF 8 BUSHELS)*
1710-19 369,000 1720-29 426,000 1730-39 531,000 1740-49 661,000 1750-59 655,000 1760-64 746,000 Table 4. MODEL OF A THREE-COURSE CROP ROTATION SYSTEM: ARABLE LANDS Year FIELDS: A FIELDS: B FIELDS: C I FALL (Winter) Wheat and/or Rye; and/or Winter Barley (‘berecorn’) SPRING (Summer) Oats, Barley Legumes (Peas and Beans) FALLOW Resting Uncultivated (Double Ploughed) Livestock graze on natural grasses
SECTION I: PASTURE LANDS FOR GRAZING LIVESTOCK 1) These lands, comprising about half of the farm holdings, are ‘laid down to grass’ for about five years, for pasturing livestock (sheep and/or cattle), allowing these lands to regain their fertility and store up large stocks of nitrogen. If the livestock are also ‘stall-fed’ -- i.e., from fodder crops outside the pasture -- their manure will add net amounts of nitrogen compounds to the soil 2) After five or so years, these pasture lands are ‘ploughed up for arable’, to follow the crop system indicated below for Section II (the other half of the farm holdings). After another five years, these lands, now arable, are again ‘laid down to grass’ to serve as pasture lands for the following five years. SECTION II: THE ARABLE FIELDS (with no fallow): comprising the other half. ARABLE FIELD A: WINTER GRAINS: Wheat and/or Rye grains ARABLE FIELD B: THE NEW LEGUMES: Clover, Alfalfa (Lucerne), and Sainfoin grasses (high nitrogen-fixing properties), as animal fodder crops ARABLE FIELD C: PULSES: Beans and Peas (low in nitrogen-fixing properties, for human consumption) ARABLE FIELD D: SUMMER GRAINS: Barley (for beer) and Oats (to feed both humans and horses) ARABLE FIELD E: OTHER NEW CROPS: Coleseed and Rapeseed (for both industrial oils and animal fodder); or Turnips (chiefly for animal fodder) ‘New’ Crops Grown Under Multiple Crop Rotations in Convertible Husbandry (or in ‘Norfolk Farming’): not new, but much more widely diffused in the 17th & 18th centuries.
LAND TYPE in 1700 in 1800 in 1850 Percentage Change Arable 11.00 11.60 14.60 32.72 Pasture/Meadow 10.00 17.50 16.00 14.40 Woodlands 3.00 1.60 1.50 -50.00 Wastelands/forests 13.00 6.50 3.00 -76.92 TOTAL 38.00 38.50 37.30 -1.84 TOTAL AGRICULTURAL 34.00 35.60 33.60 -1.18 INDEX OF LAND INPUT 1.00 1.35 1.37 37.00 Source: Robert Allen, ‘Agriculture During the Industrial Revolution’, in Roderick Floud and Donald McCloskey, eds., Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Vol. I: 1700 - 1860, 2nd edition (Cambridge, 1994), Table 5.2, p. 104. Table 11 EMPLOYMENT IN ENGLISH/WELSH AGRICULTURE, 1700 - 1851, in thousands
in millions of pounds sterling of 1851-60 values INVESTORS 1700 % 1750 % 1800 % 1850 % % 1850/ 1700 LANDLORDS Structures Roads, Fences, Enclosures 112 61 114 58 143 59 232 66 107% TENANTS: Implements, Farm Horses, Other Livestock 71 39 81 42 99 41 121 34 70% TOTAL INVESTED 183 100 195 100 242 100 353 100 93% Source: Robert Allen, ‘Agriculture During the Industrial Revolution’, in Roderick Floud and Donald McCloskey, eds., Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Vol. I: 1700 - 1860, 2nd edition (Cambridge, 1994), Table 5.4, p. 109. Table 13: UTILIZATION OF THE ARABLE LANDS: CROPS AND FALLOW, 1700 - 1850 in millions of acres
Index of Labour Productivity 1600 = 1.00 1.00 1.45 1.87 2.10 Source: Robert C. Allen, ‘The Growth of Labor Productivity in Early Modern English Agriculture’, Explorations in Economic History, 25 (April 1988), 117-46. Table 18: Revenues, costs, and ‘Ricardian surplus’ (economic rent) of English farms: per acre, and by farm size Farm Size in Acres (50 ac. increments) Total Revenue per Acre Total Costs per Acre Labour Costs per Acre Ricardian Surplus per Acre Number of Farms in Sample 0-50 4.0399 3.0615 1.5016 0.9783 8 50-100 4.3094 3.1146 1.3023 1.1948 45 100-150 3.7694 2.429 1.0215 1.3404 16 150-200 4.4774 2.3931 0.9598 2.0842 22 200-250 4.0605 2.5283 0.6228 1.5322 4 250-300 3.5078 2.0145 0.7641 1.4934 12
Year England France 1500 76% 73% 1600 55% 63% 1750 46% 61% 1800 36% 55% 1850 22% 52% 1900 7% 43% Sources: E. Anthony Wrigley, ‘Urban Growth and Agricultural Change: England and the Continent in the Early Modern Period’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 15 (Spring 1985), 683-728; and E. A. Wrigley, ‘Men on the Land and Men in the Countryside: Employment in Agriculture in Early Nineteenth-Century England’, in L. Bonfield et al, eds., The World We Have Gained (Oxford, 1985); Robert C. Allen, ‘The Growth of Labor Productivity in Early Modern English Agriculture’, Explorations in Economic History, 25 (April 1988), 117-46; Grantham, Land, Labour, and Productivity (1991); George Grantham, ‘The Growth of Labour Productivity in the Production of Wheat in the Cinq Grosses Fermes of France, 1750 - 1929’, in Bruce M. S. Campbell and Mark Overton, eds., Land, Labour and Livestock: Historical Studies in European Agricultural Productivity (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1991), pp. 340 - 63.