THE PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 53 



the agricultural side, the spirit of trading competition gave fresh 

 impulse to an old movement, which, in spite of a storm of protest, 

 continued in activity through the Tudor period, and, after a century 

 and a half of silent progress, became once more the center of literary 

 controversy before it triumphed at the close of the reign of George III. 

 That movement is described as enclosure. The word includes 

 various processes, but that special form of enclosure was prominent 

 which meant the break-up of the mediaeval agrarian partnerships and 

 the substitution of private enterprise for the collective efforts of 

 village associations. Agriculturally the period is one of transition 

 toward the modern spirit and form of land cultivation. 



12. ENCLOSURE AND BETTER FARMING 1 

 BY ARNOLD TOYNBEE 



There is no respect in which the agricultural England of today 

 differs more from that of the period which we are considering than in 

 the greatly reduced amount of common land. The enclosure of com- 

 mons had been going on for centuries before 1760, but with nothing 

 like the rapidity with which it has been going on since. It is known 

 that 334,974 acres were enclosed between 1710 and 1760, while nearly 

 7,000,000 were enclosed between 1760 and 1843. At the beginning 

 of the latter period a large proportion of this land, since enclosed, was 

 under the primitive tillage of the common fields. Throughout con- 

 siderable districts the agrarian system of the Middle Ages still existed 

 in full force. Some parishes had no common or waste lands belonging 

 to them, but where common lands were cultivated one and the same 

 plan was generally pursued. The arable land of each village was 

 divided into three great strips subdivided by "baulks" three yards 

 wide. Every farmer would own at least one piece of land in each 

 field, and all were bound to follow the customary tillage. One strip 

 was left fallow every year; on the other two were grown wheat and 

 barley; sometimes oats, pease, or tares were substituted for the latter. 

 The meadows were also held in common. Up to hay-harvest, indeed, 

 every man had his own plot, but, while in the arable land the plots 

 rarely changed hands, in the meadows the different shares were 

 apportioned by lot every year. After hay-harvest the fences in the 

 meadow land were thrown down, and all householders had common 

 rights of grazing on it. Similarly the stubbles were grazed, but here 



1 Adapted from The Industrial Revolution, pp. 38-46. 



