ABSTRACT
The great inventions of the agricultural revolution were made not at one fell swoop, but step by step and country by country. In any particular country inventions were made that dovetailed in with the existing specialism; and all the inventions were extensions and amplifications of the division of labour already set up. One of the most widespread innovations was the construction of capital farms out of petty ones. Vaughan’s invention proved so profitable that the farmers and landowners roundabout made haste to imitate it. The innovations in agriculture set the tone and beat the tempo of business life in the countryside and, indirectly, elsewhere also. The period between 1560-85 was one of booming agricultural prosperity thanks largely to the innovation of up-and-down husbandry. 1620 and thereabouts was clearly a time of difficulty and depression, due to an avalanche of farm goods glutting the markets and forcing down prices; farm rents, and corn, cattle and wool prices all took a tumble’.
