Can Farming Be The Salvation That Civilization - 1743 Words

Can Farming Be the Salvation That Civilization Is Looking For Farming has been around as far back as anyone can remember. Civilization began with farming. About 10,000 years ago, we began to domesticate plants and animals as a way to make our food supply more accessible and predictable. In many ways, the beginning of farming can be defined as the moment we stopped chasing our food and started growing it. As humans advanced the way they farmed, agriculture has reshaped human civilization. For the most part, these changes have been good ones. But as we enter a new era of human history, agriculture faces new challenges and new responsibilities. It seems that in today’s world, many in the urban areas have forgotten this fundamental connection†¦show more content†¦Each year the farmer would sow two of the fields with crops while one was left unused. This allowed the third field time to rest and recover. Farmers soon came to realized that this type of crop rotation helped t o improve soil fertility and helped control insects and diseases. In the 17th century farmers near water transportation grew cash crops for trade. While farmers inland emphasized subsistence farming. Farming changed very little from early times until about 1700. In the 1700 s an agriculture revolution took place which led to a large increase in the production of crops. Improvements in technology made it easier to farm more land with fewer people. Such improvements included horse drawn plows that could plow three rows at a time versus a single row. In the 18th century northern farmers produced a variety of crops and livestock. Southern plantation agriculture concentrated on export crops. During this time period oxen and horses were used for power, cultivating was done by hoe, and hay and grain were cut with scythes and sickles. Perhaps one of the most important innovations in agriculture came in 1701 when an Englishman named Jethro Tull invented the world’s first seed drill. A seed drill was a sowing device that allowed seeds to be planted quickly in neat, straight rows at specific depths. Before this invention farmers planted the seeds by carrying them in a bag and walking up and down the field