THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



389 



useful of arts, but that which requires the greatest num. 

 ber of operators. The early invention of tillage would 

 be coeval with the discovery of the uses of the cereal 

 grasses, and may thus be considered as the grand step 

 in the invention of ancient husbandry, and the most im- 

 portant as leading to the establishment of property in 

 territorial surface. The early practice of agriculture 

 was confined to men of humble station, who pursued it 

 as a matter of business for daily livelihood. In the last 

 century the occupation became more extended, and it 

 has been engaged in by men of rank and capital, to- 

 gether with some other amateur practitioners, as 

 a matter of taste and recreation. — It is both 

 curious and interesting to refer to some early 

 writers upon agricultural affairs, who, be it i-e- 

 membered, lived in the days of seclusion ; but 

 nevertheless they had their wits about them. In the 

 time of the Romans, we find Cato recommending a farm 

 and situation " where there are plenty of artificers and 

 good water ; which has a fortified town in its neighbour- 

 hood ; is near to the sea, or a navigable river, or where 

 the roads are easy and good." To these requisites Varro 

 adds — "a proper market for buying and selling ; se- 

 curity from thieves and robbers ; and boundaries planted 

 with useful hedgerow-trees." The arable land preferred 

 by Columella is the " fat and free, as producing the 

 greatest crops and requiring the least culture." Again : 

 the occupation preferred by Cato is that of "pasture, 

 meadow, and watei'ed grass-land, as yielding produce at 

 least expense." When speaking of plantations and 

 buildings, Cato recommends men "to plant in their 

 youth, but not to build till somewhat advanced in 

 years." Another author says — " Take care in the 

 making of your buildings that they are equal to the 

 farm, and the farm equal to the buildings." On the ar- 

 rival of the Anglo-Saxons, this island, according to 

 Fleury's history, abounded in numerous flocks and 

 herds, which these conquerors seized and pastured for 

 their own use. The rent of land in those times was 

 established by law, and not by the owners of the land ! 

 Very little is known of the implements or operators of 

 husbandry during that period. — In the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth centuries agriculture rallied to a considerable 

 extent, and was carried on with vigour. Sir John For- 

 tescue, in a work in praise of the English laws, mentions 

 the progress that had been made in the enclosure of lands, 

 the planting of hedges and hedgerow-trees, before the 

 end of the fourteenth century. During the greater part of 

 the fifteenth century England was engaged in civil wars, 

 and agriculture as well as other arts declined. Soon 

 after the beginning of the sixteenth century agriculture 

 partook of the general improvement which followed the 

 art of printing, the revival of literature, and the more 

 settled authority of Government. The first English 

 treatise on husbandry now appeared, being written by 

 Sir A. Fitzherbert; and it contains directions for drain- 

 ing, clearing, and enclosing a farm. Landlords are 

 therein advised to grant leases to farmers who will sur- 

 round their farms by hedges and improve the lands. 

 We have then a short information " for a yonge gentyl- 

 man that intends to thryve ;" and a prologue for the 



wives' occupation. Among other things, the wife is to 

 " make her husband and herself some clothes ;" and she 

 may have the " lockes of the shepe, either to make 

 blanketts and coverlettes, or both. Further, it is re- 

 corded that " it is the wives' occupation to wynowe all 

 manner of comes, to make malt, to go or ride to market, 

 to sell all manner of comes," 'and faithfully to bring 

 back the money to her " lord and master." The seven- 

 teenth century is distinguished by some important im- 

 provements in agriculture, among which are the intro- 

 duction of clovers and turnips in England. That the 

 agriculture and general prosperity of this country h; ve 

 been greatly benefited by the Revolution of 1688 is an 

 undisputed fact. But the general progress o( agricul- 

 ture in Britain from the Revolution to the eighteenth 

 century was by no means so considerable as from the 

 great exportation of corn we should be led to imagine. 

 The gradual advance in the price of land-produce soon 

 after the year 1760, occasioned by the increase of popu- 

 lation, and of wealth derived from manufactures and 

 commerce, gave a powerful stimulus to rural industry, 

 augmented agricultural capital in a greater degree, and 

 called forth a more skilful and enterprising race of culti- 

 vators. — A brief glance at a few of the early practices, be- 

 fore the eighteenth century, may be interesting, and pos- 

 sibly useful, as showing that, even in early times, many 

 good principles were laid down by the husbandman of old. 

 The modern rush for "things new" certainly creates a 

 lively interest, and leads men on to enterprises that their 

 forefathers thought not of; but have we not unfrequently 

 estimated too lightly ancient practices, and especially 

 those that relate to provincial waminfrs ? Amongst the 

 earliest subjects that claimed attention may be men- 

 tioned those of draining, irrigation, the effect of climate, 

 the trying of experiments, and so on. With regard to 

 draining, I find, on referring to some old authors, that 

 in the time of the Romans, Cato gives directions for 

 draining wet-bottomed sands: "To make drains four 

 feet deep ; to lay them with stones ; and if these cannot 

 be got, to lay them with willow rods." Columella 

 directs " that the drains be deep, and narrow at the 

 bottom." Pliny says that " flint or stones may be used 

 to form the water-way, filling the excavation to within 

 eighteen inches of the top." Of irrigation, Cato says, 

 " as much as in your power, make water-meadows." 

 Of climate, an early author writes : " Whoever would 

 be perfect in this science, must be well acquainted with 

 soils and plants; and must not be ignorant of the 

 various climates, that so he may know what is agreeable, 

 and what is repugnant, to e^ch." Varro writes : "The 

 ancient husbandmen, by making experiments, have estab- 

 lished many maxims; their posterity, for the most 

 part, imitate them." This saying is referred to by 

 Pliny, who says that " there were sent to Augustus, by 

 his factor, nearly 400 stalks, all from one grain ; and 

 to Nero 340 stalks." He says : " I have seen the soil 

 of this field, which when dry the stoutest oxen cannot 

 plough; after rain, I have seen it opened up by 

 a share, drawn by a wretched ass on the one side 

 and an old woman on the other." — Among the 

 leading features of practical agriculture during the 

 D D 2 



