Free Economics Dissertations - Grains Were Raised As Cash Crops And Were Tilled By The Plough. On The Other
Grains were raised as cash crops and were tilled by the plough. On the other hand potatoes were raised by the spade as a subsistence crop. The wheat growing region fell in the east while the western half tilled potatoes for their own consumption. When the potato crops failure spread, it was the western population which was hit the most as farmers of this region hardly invested in machineries or complex mills as those found in the east built for flour, corn, and meal production (Dudley and Williams 1957). AS a result the gap between the successful wheat farmers and those who grew potato crops widened creating class distinction between the two (Kohl 1844).
Age of Famine
Realizing the widespread impact of diseased potatoes on half of the population motivated legislators and agriculturalists to take steps to guard their own interests by passing a statute which imposed laws that prevent assistance to the poor farmers. This was based on the prevailing economic theory. The legislators were of the opinion that well off landowners can assist their counterparts by offering workhouses but this would in essence compromise their own position as the increase in the number of workers would result in increased labour and lesser productivity which compromised the level of expected income.
Instead the government decided to take measures to "cure" the potato disease through chemicals, pitting and storage but all efforts failed to yield the desired results. Similarly, the administration under Sir Robert Peel failed to bring the situation to normalcy when the poor law system could not make provisions for the impending disaster. The failure of government initiatives, poverty combined with no food forced many to flee the country even during the winter time. Between 1846 and 1847 millions of emigrants rushed to England, Australia, the United States, and Canada with the hope to find relatively better living conditions. These early migrants formed the urban bourgeoisies in the new land. Tradesmen, farmers, landlords as well as labour all comprised the new American colonies (Dudley and Williams 1957).
However, back home the gradual fall in population has created a new kind of society. The bottom class gradually took place of those in the upper class. Thus the poor became the well-to-do and so on and so forth. In the years to come the wave of mass migrants had created a gap in the labour force as less people were willing to "revive" the land for agriculture. Instead they preferred to go to neighbouring Britain or make trans-Atlantic journeys to better opportunities. Landowners now have foregone estates for urban living while cottiers did not have the courage to track the land for another season of failed crops. Many did not even attempt to go into agriculture again with the fear of disaster while others did not have much manpower to till the land.
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