378 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



It appears by the ancient mythology, that 

 agriculture was attended to in Egypt at a 

 very early period. Osiris, son of Jupiter and 

 Niobe, and king of Egypt, was regarded as 

 the inventor of this art ; and Isis, his queen, 

 as the discoverer of wheat and barley. 



That wheat was cultivated in Syria, as 

 well as other corn, more than 3000 years 

 back, we have distinctly stated in the book 

 of Ruth, where we find that Ruth gleaned 

 with the maidens of Boaz, unto the end of 

 barley-harvest, and of wheat-harvest. 



Happy is it for the poor that with the in- 

 troduction of wheat to this country, came 

 also the humane custom of the East, of allow- 

 ing the needy to gather the scattered ears ; 

 and happy are those farmers who, like Boaz, 

 join in the harvesters' rural repast ! 



" And Boaz said unto her, At meal-time 

 come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and 

 dip thy morsel in the vinegar: and she sat 

 beside the reapers : and he reached her 

 parched corn, and she did eat, and was suf- 

 ficed, and left." 



Pliny, speaking of the wonderful fruitful- 

 ness of wheat in Africa, remarks that Nature 

 has so gifted it, because it was intended to be 

 the principal nourishment of mankind. He 



