<P> Legislation regulating middlemen required registration, addressed weights and measures, fixing of prices and collection of tolls by the government . Market regulations were eased in 1663 when people were allowed some self - regulation to hold inventory, but it was forbidden to withhold commodities from the market in an effort to increase prices . In the late 18th century, the idea of self - regulation was gaining acceptance . </P> <P> The lack of internal tariffs, customs barriers and feudal tolls made Britain "the largest coherent market in Europe". </P> <P> High wagon transportation costs made it uneconomical to ship commodities very far outside the market radius by road, generally limiting shipment to less than 20 or 30 miles to market or to a navigable waterway . Water transport was, and in some cases still is, much more efficient than land transport . In the early 19th century it cost as much to transport a ton of freight 32 miles by wagon over an unimproved road as it did to ship it 3000 miles across the Atlantic . A horse could pull at most one ton of freight on a Macadam road, which was multi-layer stone covered and crowned, with side drainage . But a single horse could pull a barge weighing over 30 tons . </P> <P> Commerce was aided by the expansion of roads and inland waterways . Road transport capacity grew from threefold to fourfold from 1500 to 1700 . </P>

What kinds of tools did early farmers develop to increase their crop yields