In other ways, too, agriculture was very backward. Farmers
did not know how to enrich the soil by the use of fertilizers or how to provide
for a proper rotation of crops. Hence each year they cultivated only two-thirds
of the land, letting the other third lie "fallow" (uncultivated),
that it might recover its fertility. It is said that eight or nine bushels of
grain represented the average yield of an acre. Farm animals were small, for
scientific breeding had not yet begun. A full-grown ox reached a size scarcely
larger than a calf of to-day, and the fleece of a sheep often weighed less than
two ounces. Farm implements were few and clumsy. The wooden ploughs only
scratched the ground. Harrowing was done with a hand implement little better
than a large rake. Grain was cut with a sickle, and grass was mown with a
scythe. It took five men a day to reap and bind the harvest of two acres.
COMMON USE OF THE NON-ARABLE LAND
Besides his holding of farm land, which in England
averaged about thirty acres, each peasant had certain rights over the
non-arable land of the manor. He could cut a limited amount of hay from the
meadow. He could turn so many farm animals—cattle, geese, swine—on the waste.
He also enjoyed the privilege of taking so much wood from the forest for fuel
and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included a house in the
village, thus formed a complete outfit.
