The Progress of British Agriculture 13 



Parks and ornamental grounds -were then unknown, 

 and the land was ploughed up to the noble's castle and 

 the farmer's homestead. On the South Downs there 

 are traces of former cultivation still to be seen in 

 the ridges and furrows on lands that have not been 

 ploughed for centuries. Wheat was also grown with 

 some success in the northern counties of Northumber- 

 land and Durham, where a century ago it was sup- 

 posed that such a thing was" impossible north of the 

 Humber. 



One of the chief characteristics of this period is 

 that the processes of cultivation varied little through- 

 out the country ; the same kinds of grain were 

 sown, the same kinds of stock kept, and the same sort 

 of labour was required both in the north and the 

 south. The reason for this was that the landowners 

 wished to make each manor as self-supporting as 

 possible. Such articles as iron for tools and horse- 

 shoes, or salt for curing, had, in most districts, to be 

 obtained from outside ; but, as a rule, everything was 

 done to make the home production sufficient for all the 

 requirements of the simple style of living the cus- 

 tomary. 



Nowadays we attach great importance to the 

 division of labour, but then its advantages were hardly 

 appreciated. Thus we find that, though some districts 

 must have been best adapted for pasturage, and others 

 for rye or oat-growing, yet there were hardly any parts 

 of the country used for farming on which barley and 

 wheat were not produced, and where all kinds of stock 

 were not kept. In a later chapter it will be evident 

 how differently we manage these things at the present 

 time, and how much greater is our success. 



