SKETCH OF MODERN AGRICULTURE 31 



Asia and Europe, generally passed through a pastoral stage 

 of development before they became tillers of the soil. There- 

 fore the study of the development of agriculture as we know it 

 must include a study of the pastoral life and economy. The 

 life of the early Hebrew patriarchs, as described in the book of 

 Genesis, was distinctly pastoral. When Abraham left Ur of the 

 Chaldees and migrated westward into the country now called 

 Palestine, he was a herdsman, a cattle rancher, differing from 

 the cattle ranchers of our Far West in several particulars, but 

 mainly in that he had no settled abode, but dwelt in tents and 

 moved about with his flocks and herds seeking pasturage. In 

 this respect his life resembled very closely that of the modern 

 Bedouins, who are still in the pastoral stage. It was not until 

 the- sojourn in Egypt that the Hebrews became, perforce, tillers 

 of the soil. 



The colder climate of Europe would not have permitted 

 the precise style of life led by the Hebrew patriarchs and the 

 modern Bedouins. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that 

 the. European races in their early home, before the dawn 

 of recorded history, were primarily herdsmen. The earliest 

 Greek and Italian settlers in their respective peninsulas were 

 probably migrating herdsmen seeking pasturage for their flocks 

 and herds. They came driving their cattle before them, and 

 bringing their women, children, and such household goods as 

 they possessed, in rude carts drawn by oxen. At a much later 

 date the people of northern Europe were still subsisting on the 

 products of their herds, though in the time of Tacitus the Ger- 

 mans were beginning to practice a rude type of agriculture, as 

 were the Britons at the time of Caesar's invasion. It is almost 

 certain that Ireland remained a pastoral country until toward 

 the seventh century of our era. 



Origin of the domestication of animals. It is probable that 

 the practice of domesticating animals began with the keeping 



