Week Objective: To determine why grains and animals had
gains and/or losses within designated time.
What I did: This week I read the remaining chapters
of The Transformation of Rural England: Farming and the Landscape, 1700-1870.
I received the books that I had ordered from the inter-library loan. So, I had
to go and pick them up. These are Images of the Past, Farming Industry
by Jon and Diane Sutherland and Sheep Farming in Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Century Lincolnshire by J.A. Perkins.
As a side note, I have to go into a certain area and pick up
inter-library loans from a human being, as apposed to just getting them off the
shelves if they are sent from within the library system. And, the lady thought
that I had more than these two because there had been four farming books, three
of which were on sheep farming. I live in a major suburb of Chicago, so there
are no farms anywhere nearby! This was pretty interesting to me. Two had been
for me, while two other sheep farming books for someone else. Weird!
Also, I have been making notes on British 18th
century farming within my France in the Age of Enlightenment’s text, and also
within an 18th century history book that I read for fun. I did
notice links for additional sources, but I have not had time to actually read
them yet. I hope to do so next week.
Discussion on this week’s text: I have noticed that
the authors of this text were looking at output as the indicator of change, and
not literal changes in farming techniques. So, I have had to really do a lot of
reading between their lines. Again, as mentioned last week, I believe this to
have been written to create a point-an argument, as in other history papers,
and not just for general research/documentation purposes. Their argument seems
to have been that the Farming Revolution occurred between the years 1800 to
1850.(1.) Although, again they had contradictions throughout their text, and
they used the eighteenth and the entire nineteenth centuries within their
studies. I am not disputing whether there had been more of a revolution at this
time, however, my time period of interest had the beginnings of this revolution
from which they indicate also. I believe that the many changes that occurred
influenced their thesis time and also the industrial revolution had been in
full blossom for their thesis time which also helped the Farming Revolution to
evolve quicker.
These authors even indicate the fact that farming declined
during the times of the French Revolution, and that output slowed. However,
they indicate, but do not wish to acknowledge, that farming practices had
slimmed time and input ratios. This occurred because of new forms of seeding
practices, the seed drill had started to be used which allowed for better
placement of seeds, and also for straight rows of crops that allowed for better
cultivation.(2.) Also, grains had started to be thought of as feeding stock,
not just for feeding people, and vice versa. In other words, barley had been
used primarily for beer, and had then started to have been used as a soup
additive. Oats had been grown for animal fodder, and then later for food. (3.)
The corn (maize) stalks (called straw) had been used for animal food after they
had matured, and then had started to be grown and cut before maturation to keep
nutrients within the straw for better nutrition to the livestock.(4.)
Animals began to be bred for a specific purpose. Before the
middle of the eighteenth century sheep had been kept primarily for manure.
However, with the growth of the woolen industry, more sheep had been bred for
wool. Also, the population began to increase dramatically, So, sheep had also
begun to be bred for food.(5.) Obviously the breeding industry began with
horses, for racing etc. However, the next, and first food animal to have been
bred was the pig. Pigs were a great food source for the average person. Also,
and the main point of this I believe, is that they are easy to breed and have a
short gestational period, and they also have large litters.(6.) So, taking this
into effect, this would certainly have been ideal for the person that wanted to
experiment in breeding animals.
Cattle had also been begun to be bred. These animals were
separated for milk and meet for breeding stock during this century. This is
interesting because as a farmer’s daughter, I didn’t realize that this wasn’t
always the case. Unfortunately, most farmers did not keep records of their
breeding habits (at least per our authors), and kept the records of death
weight upon sale. This, our authors used as a determining factor as to growth
of the animal industry. However, they even mention that this was the time where
the animals began to more of a meat product, as apposed to just an animal that
is eaten.(7.) In other words, the meat and fat content of each animal
increased, while the thickness of the hide and bones decreased.(8) This is
significant for animal farmers, but is just glossed over in this text. This may
be because our authors may not be farmers, or related to the farming industry.
I do not know.
As a side note in reading this text, I noticed the eating
habits of the Georgians. They really subsisted mostly on wheat, and VERY fat
animals. Lean meat had been for poor people. I thought that this was
interesting.
Terms:
Tartar (Tartarian) – (location 1799) influenced by tartars
of the central Asian peoples, a type of straw derived from corn crops,
principally from oats.
Wethers (2067) – A castrated ram.
Downland Farming (1662) – farming gently rolling hill
country, especially in southern England.
Footnotes:
1. M.E. Turner, J.V. Beckett and B. Afton. The
Transformation of Rural England: Farming and the Landscape, 1700-1870.
(Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001.), Location 2577, Kindle Edition.
2. Ibid, 2306.
3. Ibid, 1710
4. Ibid, 1804
5. Ibid, 2037, 2152.
6. Ibid, 2237.
7. Ibid,1966, 2167.
8. Ibid, 2181.
Originally written for class at American Military University.
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