Agricultural History Review, Volume 46 Part 2 (1998), pp. 127–141

Historians have long debated the role of the lease in agricultural change during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This paper examines the development of the lease in East Anglia, and argues that it was probably not a crucial factor in the improvement of farming in the 'agricultural revolution' period. Husbandry prescriptions did not have a major role in encouraging the adoption of improved methods, and terms and conditions tell us as much about the changing relationship between landlord and tenant as they do about the development of farming practice. 

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