Plantations of New England

Agricultural activity existed in New England before European settlers arrived in the region. By the time colonizers arrived, "Native American agriculture in southern New England had developed into a well-ordered system".[4] The majority of the civilian diet came from corn (maize), which was planted "in hills in clearings the Native cut in the woods". Relative to the role played by the agricultural sector in southern New England, agriculture was less well developed in northern New England due to the shorter growing season. As such, the majority of the diet in the north came from hunting, fishing, and "gathering wild berries and nuts".[4] Plantations in southern New England also included farming of beans, squash, and pumpkins, which were planted with the corn. Additionally, though the tobacco industry thrived to a much greater extent in Southern colonies, tobacco was also grown to a relatively lesser extent in New England. Other crops included melons and strawberries.[4]

By the time the colonizers settled, the agricultural system was cyclical in that fields were cleared of trees, then used for five or more years after which they naturally reverted to woodland as a consequence of how quickly forests regenerated in the New England area. With respect to relative male to female involvement in plantations, though farm work was mostly conducted by the women, men were more involved in tobacco cultivation.[4]

Though agricultural activity existed in New England before early colonial settlers arrived, land was barely touched relative to the massive plantation scales seen in England at the time. As such, early settlers were greeted with great opportunities to utilize the kinds of land use improvements previously implemented in England.[4] Up until the colonial time period, there was a significant amount of unused land that was characterized by undeveloped wilderness. The primary improvement that settlers brought about was thus the recreation of the English farming system that efficiently utilized the vast areas of untamed wilderness.[4] However, relative to the massive for-profit cash-crop plantations in the South, plantations in New England were small-scale, and meant mainly for subsistence purposes rather than profit making.[5]

With the improvements came a complication: the English methods of the time were unsustainable in the New England region, such that much of the land was worn out by the early 1800s. This paved the way for another improvement in the agricultural system, namely the use of applied science to make crop production more efficient and sustainable.[4]