AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



stand better the present situation in the United 

 States. 



The beginners of American agriculture were 

 Englishmen, and the course which they first took 

 in the New World was greatly influenced by the 

 stage of industrial progress with which they were 

 familiar at home. In the Seventeenth Century, 

 the greater part of the land of England was di- 

 vided up into small holdings cultivated by tenant 

 or by landowning farmers who looked primarily 

 to the production of such crops as were needed in 

 their own households. In some parts of the 

 country, however, the organization of agriculture 

 had taken on a very different form. Large areas 

 of land in the southeastern part of England had 

 been made into sheep farms on which wool was 

 produced primarily for the market. 



Thus, in the Seventeenth Century, England 

 had two types of farmers. The peasant farmer 

 was a hard working, pains-taking tiller of the soil 

 who was able to live "unto himself." The wool 

 and flax which were gro\vn on his little farm were 

 manufactured by the farmer and his family into 

 the various articles which were desired for home 

 consumption. The peasant's house was usually 

 of simple construction, such as the farmer could 

 make for himself out of such materials as could 

 be found in the immediate neighborhood. Cot- 

 tages made of mud and straw were very com- 

 mon in the central and northern counties. This 



48 



