Second Agricultural Revolution Timeline

  • Enclosure Act

    The Encloser act led to the privatization of common lands, transforming them into individually owned plots, which increased agricultural efficiency and productivity. However, it also displaced many peasant communities who relied on these shared lands for farming and grazing, forcing them to seek work in urban areas.
  • Jethro Tull and the Seed Drill

    Jethro Tull invents the seed drill. Prior to his invention, sowing seeds was done by hand, which he considered wasteful. The seed drill was a horse-drawn machine that planted seeds in neat rows and at a consistent depth, revolutionizing the process of planting seeds in agriculture.
  • Norfolk Four Course Crop Rotation

    The Norfolk four-course system is a method of crop rotation that originated in Norfolk, England, this system eliminated the fallow year allowing for different types of crops to be grown every year, specifically wheat, turnip, barley, and clover
  • Aurther Young

  • Land Conversion, Drainage, and Reclamation Programs

  • Robert Bakewell, Thomas Coke, and the development of Selective Breeding

  • Charles “Turnip” Townsend

  • The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge advocates the potato

  • Development of a National Market

  • Dutch and Rotherham swing (wheel-less) plough