Tag: policy of agriculture, industry and foreign trade under british rule

The Agricultural Revolution began in Great Britain around the turn of the 18th century. In many ways, British agriculture advanced more rapidly than any other European nation. The increased agricultural production of the 18th century can be traced to four interrelated factors:

• The increased availability of farmland.
• A favorable climate.
• More livestock.
• Improved crop yield.

During the Napoleonic Wars, prices of foodgrains were high and farmers expanded production vigorously. Fearing a shortage of labour, they began buying the new threshing machines that had come into the market. They complained of the insolence of labourers, their drinking habits, and the difficulty of making them work. The machines, they thought, would help them reduce their dependence on labourers. 

 In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first mechanical reaper which could cut in one day as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles. 

 In 1785, about 15 million pounds of tea was being imported into England. By 1830, the figure had jumped to over 30 million pounds. In fact, the profits of the East India Company came to depend on the tea trade. England at this time produced nothing that could be easily sold in China. They could buy tea only by paying in silver coins or bullion. It was believed that a loss of treasure would impoverish the nation and deplete its wealth.  They searched for a commodity they could sell in China, something they could persuade the Chinese to buy. Opium was such a commodity. By the early 1820s, about 10,000 crates were being annually smuggled into China. 

In many parts of England, the farmers began to grow turnip as-

• Turnip improved the soil and made it fertile.
• Turnip was a good fodder crop and relished by the cattle.
• This crop had the capacity to increase nitrogen content of the soil.

Riots spread over southern England and about 387 threshing machines were broken. Through this period, farmers received threatening letters urging them to stop using machines that deprived workmen of their livelihood. 

The Enclosure Movement was most essential for planning crop rotation to improve the soil.

Western merchants in the mid-eighteenth century began an illegal trade in opium. It was unloaded in a number of sea ports of south-eastern China and carried by local agents to the interiors. By the early 1820s, about 10,000 crates were being annually smuggled into China. While the English cultivated a taste for Chinese tea, the Chinese became addicted to opium.