Page 9 - Introduction to Agriculture by: Aqleem Abbas

Introduction to Agriculture Notes prepared by: Aqleem Abbas

Leather was produced from the manor’s cattle. Horses and oxen were the beasts of burden; as heavier horses were bred and a new
kind of harness was developed, they became more important. A blacksmith, wheelwright, and carpenter made and maintained
crude agricultural tools.

The cultivation regime was rigidly prescribed. The arable land was divided into three fields: one sown in the autumn in wheat or
rye; a second sown in the spring in barley, rye, oats, beans, or peas; and the third left fallow. The fields were laid out in strips
distributed over the three fields, and without hedges or fences to separate one strip from another. Each male peasant head of
household was allotted about 30 strips. Helped by his family and a yoke of oxen, he worked under the direction of the lord’s
officials. When he worked on his own fields, if he had any, he followed village custom that was probably as rigid as the rule of an
overseer.

About the 8th century a four-year cycle of rotation of fallow appeared. The annual plowing routine on 400 hectares would be 100
hectares plowed in the autumn and 100 in the spring, and 200 hectares of fallow plowed in June. These three periods of plowing,
over the year, could produce two crops on 200 hectares, depending on the weather. Typically, ten or more oxen were hitched to
the tongue of the plow, often little more than a forked tree trunk. The oxen were no larger than modern heifers. At harvest time,
all the peasants, including women and children, were expected to work in the fields. After the harvest, the community’s animals
were let loose on the fields to forage.

Some manors used a strip system. Each strip, with an area of roughly 0.4 hectare (about 1 acre), measured about 200 m (about
220 yd) in length and from 1.2 to 5 m (4 to 16.5 ft) in width. The lord’s strips were similar to those of the peasants distributed
throughout good and bad field areas. The parish priest might have lands separate from the community fields or strips that he
worked himself or that were worked by the peasants.

In all systems, the lord’s fields and needs came first, but about three days a week might be left for work on the family strips and
garden plots. Wood and peat for fuel were gathered from the commonly held wood lots, and animals were pastured on village
meadows. When surpluses of grain, hides, and wool were produced, they were sent to market.

In about 1300 a tendency developed to enclose the common lands and to raise sheep for their wool alone. The rise of the textile
industry made sheep raising more profitable in England, Flanders (now in Belgium), Champagne (France), Tuscany and
Lombardy (Italy), and the Augsburg region of Germany. At the same time, regions about the medieval towns began to specialize
in garden produce and dairy products. Independent manorialism was also affected by the wars of 14th- and 15th-century Europe
and by the widespread plague outbreaks of the 14th century. Villages were wiped out, and much arable land was abandoned. The
remaining peasants were discontented and attempted to improve their conditions.

With the decline in the labor force, only the best land was kept in cultivation. In southern Italy, for instance, irrigation helped
increase production on the more fertile soils. The emphasis on grain was replaced by diversification, and items requiring more
care were produced, such as wine, oil, cheese, butter, and vegetables.

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE

By the 16th century, population was increasing in Europe, and agricultural production was again expanding.