SKETCH OF MODERN AGRICULTURE 47 



the riotive for reducing cost of production became much sharper. 

 Then it began to appear, as it had never appeared before, how 

 wasteful the old open-field system was, where each family culti- 

 vated a large number of acre and half -acre, strips scattered about 

 over the open fields. The movement began to make headway 

 toward the consolidation of these scattered holdings into more 

 compact forms. At first this was probably done by mutual con- 

 sent, though the lords seem to have been the leaders in the 

 movement. The demesne lands cultivated by the lords were the 

 first to be consolidated and inclosed, but, since they were some- 

 times scattered about also in acre strips among the holdings of 

 the villeins, these consolidations involved considerable rearrange- 

 ment of all the holdings. Again, the villeins were sometimes 

 persuaded to accept additional arable land, or some other advan- 

 tage, in place of their rights in the common pasture. Thus the 

 lords were enabled to convert portions of the pastureland into 

 arable land and to inclose the rest. In these and other ways 

 the process of inclosure went on, and the old open-field system 

 gradually disappeared. This change did not take place, however, 

 without a great deal of opposition, especially in the later stages, 

 and a certain amount of political and social controversy was 

 waged over the policy of inclosures. It is not improbable that 

 many injustices were done, and it is certain that evils frequently 

 resulted from this change ; but there is not the slightest doubt 

 that the change was in the direction of a more efficient agricul- 

 ture, and that it prepared the way for the improvements which 

 were to follow. Modern agriculture could have developed only 

 on consolidated farms, and not on scattered acre and half-acre 

 strips. It was now possible to vary the size of the holding 

 according to the capacity of the tenant and the needs of agri- 

 culture. It was also possible for superior farmers to profit by 

 their own intelligence, since they were no longer bound by the 

 fix( d rules of the community, and for new crops to be introduced 



