38 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH RURAL HISTORY 



and dairy produce. These observations were recorded and 

 published in a number of books. Landowners were thus 

 incited to try new methods. From all parts of England 

 and the Continent the opinion of Arthur Young was sought. 

 King George III, " Farmer George " as he was called, took 

 great interest in the cultivation of his estates and contri- 

 buted to the historic " Annals " of Arthur Young. 



The lives of the men here mentioned unfold the story 

 of the " new agriculture." A great service was rendered 

 by such pioneers to all future generations. To them we 

 owe the introduction of labour-saving machinery, the 

 increased use of clover and turnips, the development of 

 the four-course rotation, the noteworthy improvement in 

 the quality of stock, and the habit of research without 

 which little progress is possible. 



But great as were the services of such leaders, there were 

 other important factors contributing to the revolutionary 

 changes here outlined. Under the old " open-field " system 

 of agriculture, these improvements would have been im- 

 possible. In the next chapter a brief outline will be given 

 of the movement which rendered possible the improve- 

 ments herein noted, but which inflicted at the same time 

 gross injustice upon the mass of the labourers of those days. 



