English Farming, Past and Present

Published in 1912, this classic historical survey of English farming tells the story of agriculture since the middle ages.

Rowland E. Prothero (Author)

9781108062480, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

524 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.76 kg

The author and politician Rowland Edmund Prothero (1851–1937), an expert on British agricultural history, held the post of President of the Board of Agriculture in David Lloyd George's cabinet between 1916 and 1919. In 1885 he had written an article for the Quarterly Review in which he traced the progress of English agriculture since the middle ages. This was expanded into a book, published in 1888 as The Pioneers and Progress of English Farming. Then, in 1912, Prothero revised and greatly expanded it under its current title, bringing the story up to date. This classic work charts the development of farming from the medieval manorial system up to the Corn Laws in the nineteenth century and the agricultural crises that confronted administrators at the beginning of the twentieth. The appendices include a chronological list of agricultural writers as well as data on the Corn Laws, tithes, acreage and wages.

Preface
1. The manorial system of farming
2. The break-up of the manor
3. Farming for profit
4. The reign of Elizabeth
5. From James I to the restoration
6. The later Stewarts and the revolution
7. Jethro Tull and Lord Townshend
8. The stock-breeder's art and Robert Bakewell
9. Arthur Young and the diffusion of knowledge
10. Large farms and capitalist farmers
11. Open-field farms and pasture commons
12. The English corn laws
13. Highways
14. The rural population
15. Agricultural depression and the poor law
16. Tithes
17. High farming
18. Adversity
19. Conclusion
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]