ABSTRACT
The erosion of agriculture's importance in the economy had social and political implications. For thirty years after that the loss of protection seemed to have few deleterious effects upon agriculture. Hence by the eve of the First World War, agriculture formed a minor part of the British economy. At the beginning of this period, agriculture was still in the throes of a period of relatively low prices which lasted for twenty years or so after the high-price period of the Napoleonic Wars. By the late 1830s, grain prices had improved, ushering in what is sometimes called the 'Golden Age' of British farming. The prosperity of agriculture in the third quarter of the century owed itself rather to its response to price signals and a continued improvement in efficiency. In the mid-nineteenth century, the continuation of agricultural prosperity had ensured that landowners continued to hold their position as the group with both the greatest collective wealth and also the highest status.
