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Where theres Muck theres Brass The Market for Manure in the Industrial Revolution

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  • Liam Brunt

Abstract

Between 1700 and 1850, English grain yields were substantially higher than those attained in other countries. It is widely believed that yields were constrained by the availability of nitrogen, and that supplies of nitrogen were effectively limited to animal dung produced on the farm. This paper presents the first systematic analysis of off-farm sources of nitrogen, such as urban and industrial waste. We show that the use of off-farm nitrogen was both widespread and intensive by 1700, contrary to the received wisdom. We further argue that there was only modest growth in the use of off-farm nitrogen up to 1850. We explain this pattern of use of off-farm nitrogen by supply and demand factors. We use a new method of estimation to show that the overall impact was to raise wheat yields by a constant 20 per cent throughout the period.

Suggested Citation

  • Liam Brunt, 2000. "Where theres Muck theres Brass The Market for Manure in the Industrial Revolution," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _035, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_035
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    41. Oliver Grant, 1998. "The Diffusion of the Herringbone Parlour: A Case Study in the History of Agricultural Technology," Economics Series Working Papers 1998-W27, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
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    46. David M. Engstrom, 1997. "The Economic Determinants of Ethnic Segregation in Post-War Britain," Economics Series Working Papers 1997-W12, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
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    48. Charles Feinstein, 1996. "Conjectures and Contrivances: Economic Growth and the Standard of Living in Britain,During the Industrial Revolution," Economics Series Working Papers 1996-W09, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
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    55. Liam Brunt, 1999. "Estimating English Wheat Production in the Industrial Revolution," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _029, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    56. Philip Grover, 1996. "The Stroudwater Canal Company and its Role in the Mechanisation of the Gloucestershire Woollen Industry, 1779-1840," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _004, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
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    2. Alasdair  Crockett, 2000. "Variations in Churchgoing Rates in England in 1851: Supply-side Deficiency or Demand-led Decline?," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _036, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Jane Humphries & Tim Leunig, 2007. "Cities, Market Integration and Going to Sea: Stunting and the Standard of Living in Early Nineteenth-Century England and Wales," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _066, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Jacob Weisdorf & Paul Sharp, 2009. "From preventive to permissive checks: the changing nature of the Malthusian relationship between nuptiality and the price of provisions in the nineteenth century," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 3(1), pages 55-70, January.
    5. Walter  Eltis, 2001. "Lord Overstone and the Establishment of British Nineteenth-Century Monetary Orthodoxy," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _042, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Daudin, Guillaume, 2010. "Domestic Trade and Market Size in Late-Eighteenth-Century France," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 716-743, September.
    7. Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz, 2010. "Educational Disparity in East and West Pakistan, 1947-71: Was East Pakistan Discriminated Against?," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 33(3), pages 1-46, September.
    8. Alexandre Debs, 2003. "The Source of Walras`s Idealist Bias: A Review of Koppl`s Solution to the Walras Paradox," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _049, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Regina Grafe & Camilla Brautaset, 2006. "The Quiet Transport Revolution: Returns to Scale, Scope and Network Density in Norway`s Nineteenth-Century Sailing Fleet," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _062, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    10. Robert Dryburgh, 2003. "Individual, Illegal, and Unjust Purposes`: Overseers, Incentives, and the Old Poor Law in Bolton, 1820-1837," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _050, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    11. Natalia Mora-Sitja, 2006. "Exploring Changes in Earnings Inequality during Industrialization: Barcelona, 1856-1905," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _061, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    12. Regina Grafe, 2004. "Popish habits vs. nutritional need: Fasting and fish consumption in Iberia in the early modern period," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _055, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Richard H. Steckel, 2005. "Fluctuations in a Dreadful Childhood: Synthetic Longitudinal Height Data, Relative Prices, and Weather in the Short-Term Health of American Slaves," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _058, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    agriculture; renewable resources; extractive industries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation

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