The Farming Improvers

The Farming Improvers

In Leicestershire Robert Bakewell(1725-95) at Dishley Grange in Loughborough improved his cattle, sheep and pigs and extolled the value of the manure in improving the quality of the soil.

Leicestershire became a Green County rearing sheep, cattle and pigs.

Jethro Tull’s invention of the corn drill improved and speeded up the sowing of crops.

The Enclosure’s Acts enhanced and the continued the prosperity of farming.

Thomas Coke, later Earl of Leicester, increased the output from his Norfolk estate fourfold in fifteen years. He was helped in this by others such as Turnip Townshend, who introduced the growth of root crops enabling farmers to feed their stock and so avoid the Autumn Cull.

George the Third (1760-1820) showed interest in the Royal Estates. He considered himself to be a Farmer King.

Leicestershire had always been well farmed. The land in the Market Harborough area, in particular in later years, had a high reputation for the number of cows and sheep which could be fed per acre of grassland. It was said to compare with Kentucky Blue Grass in its feeding properties.