43 6
1771 47 2
1772 50 8
1773 51 0
1774 52 8
1775 48 4
1776 38 2
1777 45 6
1778 42 0
1779 33 8

These returns differ from those of the Board of Agriculture; see
Appendix III.

[498] _Annals of Agriculture_, iii. 366.

[499] Baker, _Seasons and Prices_, pp. 224 et seq.

[500] A. Stirling, _Coke of Holkham_, i. 249.

[501] But in other parts of it the cultivation of turnips was well
understood, for the _Complete Farmer_, s.v. _Turnips_ (ed. 3), says
that about 1750 Norfolk farmers boasted that turnips had doubled the
value of their holdings, and Norfolk men were famous for understanding
hoeing and thinning, which were little practised elsewhere. Further,
Young, _Southern Tour_, p. 273, says: 'the extensive use of turnips is
known but little of except in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. I found no
farmers but in these counties that understood anything of fatting
cattle with them; feeding lean sheep being the only use they put them
to.'

[502] A. Stirling, _op. cit._ i. 264.

[503] _R.A.S.E. Journal_ (1895), p. 12.

CHAPTER XVII

1793-1815

THE GREAT FRENCH WAR.--THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.--HIGH PRICES, AND
HEAVY TAXATION.

This period, that of the great war with France, was one generally of
high prices and prosperity for landowners and farmers. It was a
prosperity, however, that was largely fictitious, and when the high
prices of the war time were over, it was succeeded by many disastrous
years. The prosperity, too, was also largely neutralized by a crushing
weight of taxation and rates, while the labourer, although his wages
were increased, found prices grow at a much greater rate, and it was,
as Thorold Rogers has said, the most miserable period in his history.

Its commencement was marked by the foundation of the Board of
Agriculture. On May 15, 1793, Sir John Sinclair[504] moved in the
House of Commons, 'that His Majesty would take into his consideration
the advantages which might be derived from the establishment of such a
board, for though in some particular districts improved methods of
cultivating the soil were practised, yet in the greatest part of these
kingdoms the principles of agriculture are not sufficiently
understood, nor are the implements of husbandry or the stock of the
farmer brought to that perfection of which they are capable. His
Majesty's faithful Commons were persuaded that if it were founded a
spi