Plantations of New England

The soil was also very rocky and wasn't good for farming Agricultural activity existed in New England before European settlers arrived in the region.

[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.

As such, early settlers were greeted with great opportunities to utilize the kinds of land use improvements previously implemented in England.

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.

Though demand was quick to change, supply remained fixed for a long period of time due to the "inherent inflexibility of the agricultural industry".

Farmers elsewhere in New England had to institute similar changes in capital to match the increase in competition by making farming in plantations more efficient and productive.