(^108) an environmenTal hisTory of Wildlife in england
The pattern of farming
Wildlife was affected by developments in the practice of farming as much as
by changes in the physical landscape. As Shrubb has emphasized, the most
important of these was the way in which arable fields were cropped, under
rotations featuring turnips and other roots, and clover.^78 It is often said that
these ensured that land was no longer left fallow for a whole year, something
which would have had a serious impact on birds like greenfinch, goldfinch,
linnet and chaffinch, which fed off fallow weeds like groundsel and thistles,
and on those like the corncrake which nested in the stubbles.^79 It is important
to note, however, that in most forms of the new rotations a course of wheat,
harvested in the late summer, was followed by one of turnips, sown in the
middle of the following summer. In some cases, especially in areas of light
land, this may have ensured that weeds and stubbles remained intact until at
least late spring, although more usually – and especially on heavier ground
- the soil was repeatedly ploughed and harrowed from late February, and
sometimes during the previous autumn, to prepare the fine tilth required for
the turnip seed. In some circumstances, in other words, birds dependent on the
fallows may have been less affected by the change in rotations than is usually
assumed. But for the most part the new rotations did shorten the duration of
fallows, thus reducing their opportunities severely. More importantly, birds
of all kinds suffered from the increasing intensity with which crops were now
weeded, as we have seen in the case of the great bustard. Turnips were drilled
or – more usually – planted in rows, and then regularly hoed until the leaves
were large enough to shade out competitors. Wheat was also increasingly
‘dibbled’ rather than sown broadcast, or even drilled mechanically. It, too,
could now be weeded, leading to the destruction of the nests of birds like the
skylark, and to a further reduction in feeding opportunities for those which
relied on the seeds from cereal weeds or the invertebrates associated with
them. Not surprisingly, county avifaunas show that the goldfinch – a bird
largely dependent on the seeds from thistles – declined steadily throughout
England in the course of the nineteenth century.^80
Yet at the same time turnips, vetches and other fodder crops provided a
much-needed source of nutrition for some species.^81 Turnips were rich in
invertebrates, such as the turnip moth Agrostis and the turnip sawfly or
jigger, now extinct, and these would have been devoured eagerly by birds
like plovers and larks.^82 Clover also brought a number of benefits, providing
winter food for skylarks and doves, and – in the spring – opportunities
for ground-nesting birds like the corncrake and corn bunting.^83 Undersown
with the previous barley course, and thus already well grown when this
was harvested, clover provided a habitat particularly rich in sawflies and
other invertebrates.^84 It is also probable that invertebrate populations were
enhanced by the large loads of dung brought into the fields in the spring
from the cattle over-wintered in yards. The increased volume of grain