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plantation. William of Malmesbury boasts of the fertility 

 of the valley of Gloucester in wheat, in fruits, and in vine- 

 yards, adding that the wines of this province are the best in 

 England and scarcely yield in quality to the wines of France. 

 The best vineyards of Germany not only belonged to the 

 monasteries, but had been planted by them, and we are 

 forced to recognize the judgment with which these first 

 planters selected their grounds. Tradition tells us that the 

 monks of St. Peter in the Black Forest planted the first vines 

 in the neighborhood of Weilheim and Bissingen, and the 

 wine of this latter place is still the best in the whole country. 

 The monks of Lorsch planted the vineyards of Bergstrasse 

 and those along the banks of the Rhine. Epicures when 

 drinking the delicious wine of Johannisberg still recall with 

 gratitude the monastery of Fulda. In every country of 

 Europe the monks stimulated the progress of agriculture as 

 much by their personal efforts as by the example they gave 

 to others. It was fortunate for the world that the first 

 founders of the religious orders enjoined upon their dis- 

 ciples manual labor rather than spiritual, and that the first 

 monasteries were founded not in the cities, as those which 

 were founded later, but in the wildest and most unfre- 

 quented spots, which were transformed by their activity 

 and labors into the homes of thousands of peaceful and in- 

 dustrious men. 



What I have said of the monks of Europe is equally true 

 of the missions of this country. There was the same evolu- 

 tion, and at their dissolution the same fate. 



When Father Junipero Serra and his followers came as 

 Franciscan missionaries and established the chain of mis- 

 sions at San Diego, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Monterey, 



