Farming Summary

Labourers Numbers working on farms fell from 800,000 in 1831 to 180,000 by Some people were forced to leave farming because of technological change Some people were attracted to better jobs and living conditions in the towns.

Improvements Enclosures New methods e.g.; drainage, crop rotation New machinery Science of farming Selective breeding

Good times bad times Golden Age 1850s to 1870s: production up farmers’ wealth increases Depression 1875, free trade, foreign competition, wheat USA, lamb from New Zealand Poor weather, bad harvests, disease in animals Bankrupt farmers and labourers leaving the land in droves.

Boom and Bust First world war BOOM: wheat production up by 60% Women’s land army 1920s BUST:cheap imports and low prices for land. Improvements by 1930s: Marketing boards fixed prices, modernisation tractors replacing horses.