A Growing Discipline.

Only about 10 percent of the American population lived in towns or cities during this period; the rest lived and worked on farms. Agriculture was by far the primary American employment, but it was in dire need of improvement. Whether the crop was for export like tobacco, or for home consumption, like corn, American farmers tended to work the same land over and over again until it was exhausted and then clear new lands. In England, where farmers did not have extensive land to use in the American manner, gentleman farmers experimented with techniques for getting the most out of their land for as long as possible: crop rotation, soil enhancement by fertilizing, more efficient use of cattle and employing new and better farming implements. They discovered that agriculture could benefit a great deal from more scientific farming methods.

American Application.