Agriculture

Abstract

During the wars against France, British farmers had enjoyed considerable prosperity. Population, and with it the demand for foodstuffs, was growing rapidly, but at the same time the Napoleonic blockade (the Continental System) reduced imports appreciably. During the eighteenth century the acreage of land under wheat cultivation was increased by about one-third, and the yield of seed increased by almost 10 per cent. Until the 1760s, Britain had been, on balance, an exporter of corn. After that decade, demand from the growing population turned the trade in favour of grain imports.