[Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
ed somers
list-regia-na@lig.net
Mon, 03 Mar 2003 09:54:56 -0500
I get the impression that there are many interpretations here and many
different periods on which the interpretations are based.
Most of what we know about the crop rotation is based on Medieval sources
and archaeology. I know of no true Anglo Saxon crop rotation evidence. That
said I have been out of touch of this material for 12 years so my memory
may not be completely accurate and recent scholarship may be available (if
so please pass on a reference)
Starting at the beginning. The Celts and Romans had a light plow which
could not handle the heavy valley bottom soils so Celto-Roman farms tended
to be on higher lighter soils. When the AS arrived they brought a heavy
plow which enabled them to settle in the lower valleys. This is one source
of the argument that the AS didnot displace, forcibly or otherwise, as much
of the Romano-Celtic population as had been previously thought. AS I said
before I am not aware of the rotation practiced by the AS but early on with
little population pressure and little awareness of fertility slash and burn
farming in one location until the fertility was gone and moving to the next
area was probably pretty common.
As we move into the Medieval period and population increases, the demand
for more land increases and settlements move out into marginal areas. By
this time they are practicing a two field rotation with one field fallow
for a year and crops on the other. Because different crops have different
fertility requirements, by choosing the order of the crops planted in one
place carefully the impact of monoculture can be minimized and field
productivity can be improved. At this time different fertilizers, ie
manure, chalk, marl, swamp muck, etc were being discovered and used in some
areas.
While this was going on fields were being plowed and planted in common.
Strips were chosen in fields by using lottery or some other system of
sharing, where each family has a chance at good or marginal land. Fields
closer to the settlement are generally seen as more intensively cultivated
and fields farther from the settlement are used for grazing and lighter use.
As the need for land increased with population pressure, the three field
system evolved. I cant remember if it was imported or if it developed
natively but I would be surprised if there werent some combination of the
two. The three field system was important because it allowed two thirds of
the land to be in use rather trhan just half. It also allowed different
crop rotoations which turn out to be more beneficial to the land than just
lying fallow. Just as Charlotte mentioned in her notes, except that clover
was a much later introduction and fields were generally left fallow. During
this time increased demand for manure led to improved method of managing it
evolved. Keeping it covered so the rain did not wash out the nitrogen was a
major step. Also keeping cattle in barns or yards allowed the manure to be
concentrated so it could be collected and later spread. As in many other
fields, increased literacy and cheap printed books allowed the dispersal of
knowledge in a fraction of the time previously required and books about
estate management of this period (early Renaissance) became very popular.
I cant remember the title, but there is a really good book on Danish
farming, but applicable to Europe as a whole about the growing use of
Clover around the 17th century. his theory was that Europe was entering a
period of land infertlity and griowing concern about food production. At
the same time wood was being overused as fuel and building material leading
to stripping the land of wood for new fertile land, and for the wood. This
led to erosion and a further decline of the productivity of the land.
Fortunately clover which traps nitrogen from the air and makes it available
to plants, was discovered and widely spread. This coincided with a growing
use of coal as a heat source and increased use of iron as a structural
material. This all took pressure off the trees and the clearing of the land
which combined wiht increased fertility from the clover allowed the
population and industrial expansion to continue.
I wont go into more recent development such as Jethro Tull and his soil
pulverising theories because that is a little of the time period.
Regarding the S curves, my impression was that they were primarily
following the curve of the land on the hillside so the field doesn't erode
away. The sharp doglegs in villages are indeed following old fields or
possibly buildings, but they were not necessarily the Lord's fields.
At 09:22 AM 02/20/2003 -0000, J. Kim Siddorn wrote:
>That's what I mean. You'll find one in many an English village.
>
>Regards,
>
>
>Kim Siddorn
>
>When I go forward, follow me:
>When I falter, support me:
>When I retreat - RUN!
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Phil" <phils@clara.net>
>To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 6:05 PM
>Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
>
>
>> Don't know about not being able to complain about working on the Lord's
>> land, but usually when roads go around things there's a good reason for
>it.
>> The best thing to look out for are where a road snakes in a reversed 's'
>> profile, this is usually the consequence of following the edge of a field.
>>
>> Phil
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "J. Kim Siddorn" <kim.siddorn@blueyonder.co.uk>
>> To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 12:14 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
>>
>>
>> > Best recorded nation in the world Phil.
>> >
>> > I can see strip field boundaries from my front door as the side of
>Dundry
>> > hill faces me and as the sun sets, you can see them still - along with
>> their
>> > enormous headlands required to turn an ox team as distinct from the much
>> > shorter headland needed to turn a horse powered plough.
>> >
>> > Speaking of field boundaries, in the middle of many small English
>> villages,
>> > the road makes a curious - and very characteristic - left-right-left
>> dogleg
>> > (or 'tother way around). I understand that you are driving around one of
>> the
>> > corners of the Lord's field around which the village was built, thus
>> no-one
>> > could complain they had a long way to go to do their work on the Lord's
>> > land.
>> >
>> > Any comments on this?
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> >
>> > Kim Siddorn
>> >
>> > When I go forward, follow me:
>> > When I falter, support me:
>> > When I retreat - RUN!
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: "Phil" <phils@clara.net>
>> > To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 11:42 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
>> >
>> >
>> > I would totally contradict this. 3 field rotation would seem to date to
>> the
>> > middle Saxon period when as far as we can tell the practice of
>subdivided
>> > open fields came in to being.
>> >
>> > The idea it came to Britain in the C17 is patently fallacious. There is
>a
>> > village, in Gloucestershire from memory, which still has a set of
>'balls'
>> > for allocating the strips (furlongs), while the amount of extant ridge
>and
>> > furrow across the UK is enormous. There are also extant 'field books'
>> which
>> > detail who held furlongs and the rotation of crops from many parts of
>> > Britain. For example there is a famous C14 book which covers the fields
>in
>> > the West of Cambridge. It is possible to piece together very detailed
>> > histories of these field systems and the ways in which they were used.
>> >
>> > Phil
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: crmayhew@hotmail.com
>> > To: list-regia-na@lig.net
>> > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 12:23 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
>> >
>> >
>> > I think it's provenanceable, though not in Regia's time period.
>> >
>> > According to Brian Fagan, in his book "The Little Ice Age: How
>Climate
>> > Made History," a slow agricultural revolution took place in Europe. It
>> > started in the Low Countries in the 16th century, moved to Britain in
>the
>> > 17th-18th centuries and eventually made it to France in the 19th
>century.
>> > The adherence to tradition and the slowness of its adoption in France
>> helped
>> > cause food shortages which contributed to the French Revolution.
>> >
>> > The major innovations came about as a result of the plague, which
>> cleared
>> > many small farms of tenants and resulted in fewer people to work the
>land.
>> > At the same time, the little ice age was starting and average
>temperatures
>> > were lower--thus, some crops that had always been grown failed
>repeatedly.
>> > The adaptations made in the Low Countries were great successes and
>slowly
>> > spread to other countries.
>> >
>> > Essentially, someone figured out that a system of 3 fields--one
>growing
>> > grain, the other growing turnips or other tubers, then the third growing
>> > clover upon which cattle grazed-- produced better yields from all 3.
>The
>> 3
>> > crops were rotated through the 3 fields--first grain, then tubers (which
>> > returned nitrogen to the soil), then clover & cows (clover allowed the
>> soil
>> > to rest and fed the cows, while the cows' manure got added to the soil
>the
>> > following year when the field was ploughed for planting grain).
>> >
>> > This is a simple summary of a topic that takes chapters to explain,
>but
>> > you get the idea. What I find fascinating is that this thing that we
>> assume
>> > is old is, in fact, very new. The best example I can think of of folks
>> > *not* adapting and continuing to try to grow the same thing on the same
>> land
>> > is in Greenland.
>> >
>> > --charlotte mayhew
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: Cuthwyn@aol.com
>> > To: list-regia-na@lig.net ; regia@yahoogroups.com
>> > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 2:22 AM
>> > Subject: [Regia-NA] Crop Rotation
>> >
>> >
>> > Since I've been in Regia I've become inclined to distrust what I
>> learned
>> > in school - but I was taught that the strip system of cultivation
>> included
>> > crop rotation - each person had strips in each of three big fields -
>which
>> > were part of an overall rotation. Now - was that a "horned helmet" - or
>is
>> > it provenanceable?
>> >
>> > Aly
>> >
>> > "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly"
>> > GK Chesterton
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>>
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