20 The Development of British Agriculture 



While the ploughman near at hand 



Whistles o'er the furrow' d land, 



And the milkmaid singeth blithe, 



And the mower whets his scythe, 



And every shepherd tells his tale, 



Under the hawthorn in the dale. 



Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures 



Whilst the landscape round it measures: 



Russet lawns and fallows gray, 



Where the nibbling flocks do stray, 



Meadows trim with daisies pied, 

 Shallow brooks, and rivers wide. 



Further on in the same poem we get some idea of the 

 lighter side of rural life : 



Sometimes with secure delight 



The upland hamlets will invite, 



When the merry bells ring round, 



And the jocund rebceks sound 



To many a youth, and many a maid, 



Dancing in the chequer' d shade; 



And young and old come forth to play 



On a sunshine holiday. 



When we come to the eighteenth century we find 

 improvement in every direction. Farmers began to 

 grow turnips in rows and afterwards swedes as field 

 crops. They had learnt from the Dutch the value of 

 improved winter crops, arid it was soon found that the 

 turnip had doubled the productiveness of land. The 

 Dutchmen were then the seedsmen of western Europe, 

 and English agriculturists learned from them not only 

 the value of winter roots but also the policy of culti- 

 vating clover and artificial grasses. The effect of all 

 these improvements was that the numbers and quality 

 of cattle and sheep increased, for the agriculturists 



