Farming practices in England before the eighteenth century were
largely adaptations from other European countries. The Romans, about
the beginning of the Christian era, took their husbandry to the
British Isles. The Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century, brought in from
the mainland their farm practices. Likewise the Normans in the
eleventh century brought over their methods of tillage. Owing to the
close proximity to France, Flanders and Holland, agricultural
innovations in those countries were not long in gaining attention and
trial by the British farmers. The long hours of sunlight during short
summers, with the opposite conditions prevailing in the winters, have
influenced the development of plant species in all northern
latitudes. Such seasonal conditions have also made necessary a
distinct type of farming. Many crops of the Mediterranean region do
not survive in north European countries. People in the colder regions
also require a different diet than do those living in the warmer
climates. By the seventeenth century an agriculture adapted to
northern Europe had come into general practice. The implements used
in farm work were, by modern standards, very crude and were
customarily made by the local smith. A few hoes and mattocks,
scythes, reaping hooks, spades and wooden plows with iron points and
shares complete the list. The entire supply of tools for an average
sized farm could have been hauled in one load on one of their
two-wheeled carts.