Agricultural History Review, Volume 38 Part 2 (1990), pp. 117–126

Two separate and distinct farming systems developed on the chalk wolds of Lincolnshire and east Yorkshire, and the downlands of South Wiltshire, East Dorset, Berkshire and Hampshire during the French Revolutionary Wars period and in the years immediately afterwards. This is rather surprising in view of the broad similarity of the 'sheep and corn' systems practised in the two areas before about 1770, the relatively minor differences in geology and climate, and the general availability of information about innovatory farming practices at the time. The characteristics of a high-input system of farming which developed on the northern wolds, and a low-input one which evolved on the Wessex downlands, are defined. The link between the high-input system and High Farming is described, as is the efficiency of the low-input system in giving farmers an acceptable income with rather less capital outlay and running costs. 

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