<P> Some farmers obtained land grants to create farms in undeveloped land in Massachusetts and Connecticut or bought plots of land from speculators in New Hampshire and what later became Vermont . Other farmers became agricultural innovators . They planted nutritious English grass such as red clover and timothy - grass, which provided more feed for livestock, and potatoes, which provided a high production rate that was an advantage for small farms . Families increased their productivity by exchanging goods and labor with each other . They lent livestock and grazing land to one another and worked together to spin yarn, sew quilts, and shuck corn . Migration, agricultural innovation, and economic cooperation were creative measures that preserved New England's yeoman society until the 19th century . </P> <P> By the mid-18th century in New England, shipbuilding was a staple, particularly as the North American wilderness offered a seemingly endless supply of timber . (By comparison, Europe's forests had been depleted, and most timber had to be purchased from Scandinavia .) The British crown often turned to the inexpensive yet strongly built American ships . There was a shipyard at the mouth of almost every river in New England . </P> <P> By 1750, a variety of artisans, shopkeepers, and merchants provided services to the growing farming population . Blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and furniture makers set up shops in rural villages . There they built and repaired goods needed by farm families . Stores were set up by traders selling English manufactures such as cloth, iron utensils, and window glass, as well as West Indian products such as sugar and molasses . The storekeepers of these shops sold their imported goods in exchange for crops and other local products, including roof shingles, potash, and barrel staves . These local goods were shipped to towns and cities all along the Atlantic Coast . Enterprising men set up stables and taverns along wagon roads to serve this transportation system . </P> <P> These products were delivered to port towns such as Boston and Salem in Massachusetts, New Haven in Connecticut, and Newport and Providence in Rhode Island . Merchants then exported them to the West Indies, where they were traded for molasses, sugar, gold coins, and bills of exchange (credit slips). They carried the West Indian products to New England factories, where the raw sugar was turned into granulated sugar and the molasses distilled into rum . The gold and credit slips were sent to England where they were exchanged for manufactures, which were shipped back to the colonies and sold along with the sugar and rum to farmers . </P>

Where did the need for england to tax the colonies come from