became much more extensive.
The raising of turnips and other root crops spread from experimental
to ordinary farms so that a fallow year with no crop at all in the
ground came to be almost unknown. Clover and artificial grasses for
hay came to be raised generally, so that the supply of forage for the
winter was abundant. New breeds of sheep and cattle were obtained by
careful crossing and plentiful feeding, so that the average size was
almost doubled, while the meat, and in some cases the wool, was
improved in quality in even greater proportion. The names of such men
as Jethro Tull, who introduced the "drill husbandry," Bakewell, the
great improver of the breeds of cattle, and Arthur Young, the greatest
agricultural observer and writer of the century, have become almost as
familiar as those of Crompton, Arkwright, Watt, and other pioneers of
the factory system. The general improvement in agricultural methods
was due, not so much to new discoveries or inventions, as it was to
the large amount of capital which was introduced into their practice.
Expensive schemes of draining, marling, and other forms of fertilizing
were carried out, long and careful investigations were entered upon,
and managers of large farms were trained in special processes by
landlords and farmers who had the command of large sums of money; and
with the high prices prevalent they were abundantly remunerated for
the outlay. Great numbers of "gentlemen farmers," such as Lord
Townshend, the duke of Bedford, and George III himself, who wrote
articles for the agricultural papers signed "Farmer George," were
leaders in this agricultural progress. In 1793 a government Board of
Agriculture was established, and through the whole latter part of the
century numerous societies for the encouragement of scientific tillage
and breeding were organized.

In the early years of the eighteenth century there had been signs of a
revival of the old process of enclosures, which had been suspended for
more than a hundred years. This was brought about by private acts of
Parliament. An act would be passed by Parliament giving legal
authority to the inhabitants of some parish to throw together the
scattered strips, and to redivide these and the common meadows and
pastures in such a way that each person with any claim on the land
should receive a proportionate share, and should have it separated
from all others and entirely in his own control. It was the usual
procedure for the