E03 · 1500–1749
Early Modern Agricultural Revolution
Printed husbandry manuals, improved plows, forestry, drainage, rotations, fodder crops, and increasingly experimental farming.
Scope
The printing press transformed agricultural knowledge from monastic and aristocratic manuscripts into widely available printed manuals. This era covers the English agricultural revolution’s key innovations: systematic crop rotation, new fodder crops (turnips, clover), improved plows, drainage techniques, and the emergence of agricultural experimentation as a gentlemanly pursuit. Continental European developments in forestry, viticulture, and garden design also belong here.
Anchor Sources (4)
Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry
Thomas Tusser · 1557 (expanded 1573) · verse manual
Popular English farming calendar in verse covering monthly tasks, household management, and husbandry advice. Widely read for over a century.
The English Husbandman
Gervase Markham · 1613 · manual
Comprehensive English farming guide covering soils, tillage, crops, orchards, and pasture management. One of the first printed books to systematically address English farming practice.
Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees
John Evelyn · 1664 · treatise
Foundational English-language forestry text. Prompted widespread tree-planting and influenced forest management across the English-speaking world.
Horse-Hoeing Husbandry
Jethro Tull · 1731 · treatise
Described Tull’s seed drill and his theory of pulverized-soil cultivation. Controversial but hugely influential on mechanized agriculture and tillage philosophy.
Thematic Trails Through This Era
Soil & Fertility
Ancient flood silt → manure/fallow → rotations → soil chemistry → synthetic N → conservation → soil-health analytics
Plows & Tillage
Scratch plow → Roman implements → medieval plowing → Tull → Jefferson moldboard → steel plow → tractor tillage → no-till → robotic cultivation
Seeds & Genetics
Seed selection → nursery/grafting → scientific breeding → hybrids → Green Revolution → biotech → genomics/gene editing
Farm Power
Human power → draft animals → water/wind → steam → gasoline/diesel → electrification → GPS/autosteer → autonomous machines
Farm Information
Oral/calendar knowledge → manuscripts → printed husbandry → farm diaries → journals → Extension → radio/telephone → web → sensors/AI