Beginning of Modern Farming 53 



which the waters of a muddy river are caught in embanked 

 fields at high tide, and kept there until they deposit the mud 

 which they hold. A wide, open, warping drain is cut from the 

 river to the field, the level of which is to be raised* Sluices are 

 fitted to admit the waters of the flowing tide, and to keep them in 

 when it has reached its highest point. After the mud has been 

 deposited, the clear water is allowed to flow off. Each tide leaves 

 a layer of sand and clay only a fraction of an inch in thickness, 

 and it may take several years by using the tides when they are 

 suitable to raise the level two to three feet. 



7 

 Improvements in Farming 



ANOTHER revolt against enclosures took place in 1607. The 

 Levellers' or Diggers' movement in 1649 was an impracticable 

 attempt to adopt a different scheme of using land in common. 

 From the beginning of the seventeenth century there came a 

 time when the landlords and farmers who had carved out and 

 taken control of private estates and farms set about cultivating 

 them according to new methods. They found plenty to do, 

 and they did it generally in a creditable way. There is a common 

 belief that the period after this active burst of enclosure was one 

 of little progress in agriculture. If we apply the proper test to 

 a situation of the kind, we shall admit that little time was lost by 

 farmers. By 1760, which is a short interval as these things go, 

 they had built up a system of farming which was admirable in 

 many ways. 



The change from strips of land cultivated in common to 

 enclosed fields under the control of one man was a revolution. 

 This prepared 'the way for another revolution in the method of 

 growing crops and rearing live stock. Men were free to make 

 experiments in rendering their land more productive. They could 



