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by kennedywm 1266 days ago
Your original statement focused on fertilizer and didn't mention the rotation system. This person pointing out that he didn't invent fertilizer is correct. It's not a big deal.
1 comments

No, I was being light-hearted, but "taking detailed notes about every poop" is the essence of what made the 4 crop system different. His focus on different kinds of poop lead to his focus on turnips, which is what made his system unique. Turnips, poop, crops: a revolution. I didn't think any level of detail was necessary since it was a light-hearted but good example of what the title mentions: "New industries come from crazy people."
Is your claim that the fertilizer industry came from Townshend?
I believe their claim is that a particular way of using fertilizer came from Townshend.
Yet it isn't explained anywhere in his comments what this "particular way" exactly is. I guess it's supposed to be common knowledge, but I'm as clueless on that matter as the downvoted commentators in this thread are. Neither does Wikipedia on "Norfolk four-course system" (which it claims Townshend popularized, not invented) mention anything about the fertilizer, simply claiming that inclusion of a turnip as the fodder crop allowed livestock to be bred year-round.