Industrial Revolution - Agriculture
Many people had moved from farms to the city to seek work in the factories. This yielded in a smaller percentage of the population left that had to provide for the entire rest of the areas with the foods (vegetables, meats).
England found the most trouble with providing food for its growing cities. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most people were peasant farmers. By 1800, thirty-six percent was involved in agriculture, and by 1900 the number was less than seven percent. While England experienced this issue the most, other nations found a similar pattern to be true.
New technologies and practices increased agriculture production and also reduced the need for farm workers. New laws (in England at least) changed the way that land was distributed among the population. The farmers who ended up with a larger amount of land ended up being more helpful in bringing "modern" practices. For example, they encouraged the use of new crops (turnips and potatoes). New breeds of cattle and sheep produced more meat; also these methods gave way to less disease among the animals. Horses replaced oxen to pull machines such as plows. The practice of using animal manure to fertile fields and using crop rotation methods because common. Farmers found that by changing which crops were grown yearly, the soil could faster recover its fertility. New drainage techniques allowed for swamps and marshes to be used for production as well.
New inventions were made to help agriculture, which decreased the need for human labor and increase the number of people who could work in factories:
Agriculture also helped supply factories with the raw materials needed to create products. Cotton was needed in the textile mills in England, and the United States had preferable climate conditions for raising cotton. As such, England tended to import much of its cotton from the United States, which raised the need for labor in the US.