WHEAT. ST1 



after he left the ark, began to be an husband- 

 man. We also read* that Isaac sowed in the 

 land, and received in the same year an hun- 

 dred fold, which clearly proves, that men in 

 those early days found the necessity of at- 

 tending to agriculture, and that corn was not 

 to be procured without labour. 



Many authors aver that Egypt is the coun- 

 try from whence corn sprang ; and assure us 

 that it grows spontaneously in that part of 

 the world. This supposition is in all proba- 

 bility drawn from Homer : 



" Then the far country waves with golden corn; 

 The soil untill'd a ready harvest yields, 

 With wheat and barley wave the golden fields!" 



0(Il/SS. 



But we have better authority, which informs 

 us that corn was sown in Egypt as far back 

 as 3500 years ; for when Joseph had pur- 

 chased all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, 

 with the corn he had preserved, he made a 

 farther agreement with them, and said, " Lo! 

 here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the 

 land. And it shall come to pass in the in- 

 crease, that ye shall give the fifth part unto 

 Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, 

 for seed of the field, and for your food." -j- 



* Gen. chap. xxvi. f Gen. chap, xlvii. 23, 24. 



