I 



PREFACE 



' A HUSBANDMAN ', said Markham, ' is the master of 

 the earth, turning barrenness into fruitfulness, whereby 

 all commonwealths are maintained and upheld. His 

 labour giveth liberty to all vocations, arts, and trades 

 to follow their several functions with peace and In- 

 dustrie. What can we say in this world is profitable 

 where husbandry is wanting, it being the great nerve 

 and sinew which holdeth together all the joints of a 

 monarchy ? ' And he is confirmed by Young : ' Agri- 

 culture is, beyond all doubt, the foundation of every 

 other art, business, and profession, and it has there- 

 fore been the ideal policy of every wise and prudent 

 people to encourage it to the utmost.' Yet of this 

 important industry, still the greatest in England, there 

 is no history covering the whole period. 



It is to remedy this defect that this book is offered, 

 with much diffidence, and with many thanks to 

 Mr. C. R. L. Fletcher of Magdalen College, Oxford, 

 for his valuable assistance in revising the proof 

 sheets, and to the Rev. A. H. Johnson of All Souls 

 for some very useful information. 



As the agriculture of the Middle Ages has often 

 been ably described, I have devoted the greater part 

 of this work to the agricultural history of the subse- 

 quent period, especially the seventeenth, eighteenth, 

 and nineteenth centuries. 



W. H. R. CURTLER. 



May 2 2, 1909. 



