The Agricultural Revolution
...poor, but it also benefited landowners and wealthier peasants. When the richer food producers had this increase in lifestyle, they worked to maximize their productivity. This goal led to a commercialization of the agricultural business. Technologies sprung up that made all sorts of crop production easier. People started to build dikes and drain land. With these inventions, more extensive areas could be farmed. Then there was the creation of the iron plows to turn the earth more deeply and planting wheat by a drill rather than casting. Land could be cultivated for longer periods of time. Later, soil cultivation was refined. Dutch use of fertilizers was adopted, crop rotation was instituted, and nutrients in soil were increased. When the soil yielded better stock, animals could have a year-round supply of food. The larger population of animals created more fertilizer. The food supply perpetually enlarged itself. Politically, all of these technological contributions led to a gateway of parliamentary control by the aristocrats. The political system of the time catered mainly to the rich and was run by the rich. The landlords that rested on parliament worked to legalize the enclosure of land. This enclosure act streamlined th...