SCIENCE WITH PRACTICE, 1812 TO 1845 95 



were enormously increased. Farmers on light lands suffered 

 comparatively little. Prices were low ; but the spread of 

 drill husbandry, artificial manures, better rotations of crop- 

 ping, and improvements in the breed both of cattle and 

 sheep enabled them to farm with profit. A good machine 

 was driving out a bad one. Fifty years before, clay lands 

 were the corn and beef producing districts of the country, 

 while the light soils of Norfolk lay uncultivated. Now the 

 parts were reversed. This revolution in farming had been 

 mainly effected by turnips, and only drainage could enable 

 clay farmers to hold their own against their rivals. The 

 Commission which was appointed in 1836 received evidence 

 upon the condition of the landed interests. They made 

 no report, but the majority of the witnesses confined the 

 distress to clay farmers. Signs of returning prosperity 

 became faintly visible. Manufacturing progress began to 

 tell upon agriculture ; the new system of poor laws had 

 already reduced the rates ; wool, mutton, and beef had 

 risen in price ; barley and oats were selling briskly and 

 at higher rates ; wheat was low, but the price resulted 

 partly from defective harvests in 1838 and 1839, partly 

 from improved and extended cultivation. The ' rebellion 

 of the belly' at Birmingham and Newport (Mon.) in 1839 

 and at Sheffield in 1840 was the result of the rise in prices 

 by which the farmers profited. 



The drainage of clay farms was the crying need of the 

 day, and the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 encouraged 

 landlords and tenants to expend capital without fear that 

 tithe-owners would share the profits. At the nick of time 

 science provided the necessary means. 



Drainage bad been ably discussed by Walter Blith in 

 1641, and it had been insisted upon by Young as a 

 necessary preliminary to agricultural improvement. But 



