AGRICULTURE. 



AGRICULTURE. 



veral parts : the beam to which the yoke of the 

 oxen was fastened ; the tail or handle termi- 

 nated in a cross bar, with which the ploughman 

 guided the instrument; it had a ploughshare, 

 the share-beam to which it was fixed, and two 

 mould-boards, a coulter, and a plough-staff for 

 cleaning the ploughshare. (Ovid. Pont. i. 8, 

 57 ; Virg. G. i. 170 ; Pliny, xvii. 18, 19.) Some 

 of their ploughs had wheels, and some were 

 without coulters and earth-boards. Besides 

 this, they had spades, rakes, hoes, with plain 

 and with forked blades, harrows, mattocks, 

 and similar implements. 



7. Operations. Ploughing was usually per- 

 formed by two oxen, though three were some- 

 times employed. They were yoked abreast, 

 and trained when young to the employment. 

 (Cicero, in Verr. iii. 21 ; Col. vi. 2, 10 ; Pliny, 

 xviii. 18; Virg. G. iii. 163, &c.) They were 

 usually yoked by the neck, but sometimes by 

 the horns. {Pliny, viii. 45; Colnm. ii. 2.) 

 There was but one man to a plough, which he 

 guided, and managed the oxen with a goad. 

 (Pliny, Epist. viii. 17.) 



They sometimes ploughed in ridges, and 

 sometimes not. They did not take a circuit 

 when they came to the end of the field, as is 

 our practice, but returned close to the furrow. 

 They were very particular in drawing straight 

 and equal sized furrows. ( Pliny, xviii. 19,s.49.) 



They seem to have ploughed three times al- 

 ways before they sowed ( Vurro, i. 29) ; and to 

 stiff soils even as many as nine ploughings were 

 given. ( Virg. G. i. 47 ; Pliny, xviii. 20 ; Pliny, 

 Epist. v. 6.) The furrows in the first plough- 

 ing were usually nine inches deep. When the 

 soil was only stirred about three inches, it was 

 called scarification. {Pliny, xviii. 17 19.) 

 They usually fallowed their land every other 

 year. (Virg. G. i. 71.) 



Sowing was performed by hand, from a bas- 

 ket ; and that it might be performed regularly, 

 the hand moved with the steps. (Colum. ii. 9 ; 

 Pliny, xviii. 24.) The seed was either scat- 

 tered upon the land and covered by means of 

 rakes and harrows, or more commonly by sow- 

 ing it upon a plain surface, and covering by a 

 shallow ploughing, which caused it to come up 

 in rows, and facilitated the operation of hoeing. 

 (Pliny, xviii. 20.) They were particular as to 

 the time of sowing, the choice of seeds, and 

 the quantity sown. ( Varro, i. 44 ; Pliny, xviii. 

 24, s. 55 ; Virg. G. i. 193, &c.) 



Weeding was performed by hoes, hooks, and 

 by hand. 



In dry seasons the crops were watered. 

 (Virg. G. i. 106.) If they appeared too luxu- 

 riant they were fed off. (Ibid. 193.) 



Reaping and mowing were the usual modes 

 of cutting down the corn crops, but the 

 ears were sometimes taken off by a toothed 

 machine, called b'ttilivm, which seems to have 

 been a wheeled cart, pushed by oxen through 

 the corn, and catching the ears of corn between 

 a row of teeth fixed to it, upon the principle of 

 the'iaodern daisy rake. In Gaul, the corn was 

 cut wown by a machine drawn by two horses. 

 (Varro, i. 50; Virg. G. i. 317; Colum. ii. 21 ; 

 Pliny, xviii. 30.) They do not seem to have 

 ever bound their corn into sheaves. (Colum. 



Threshing was performed by the trampling 

 of oxen and horses, by flails, and by means of 

 sledges drawn over the corn. (Pliny, xvii. 30 ; 

 Colum. i. 6 ; Virg. G. iii. 132 ; Ti'bullus, i. 5, 

 22; Varro, i. 52.) The threshing-floor was 

 circular, placed near the house, on high 

 ground, and exposed on all sides to the winds. 

 It was highest in the centre, and paved with 

 stones, or more usually with clay, mixed with 

 the lees of the oil, and very carefully consoli- 

 dated. (Colum. i. 6; Varro, i. 2; Vtrg. G. i. 

 178 ; Cato, xci. and cxxix.) 



Dressing was performed by means of a seive 

 or van, and by a shovel, with which it was 

 thrown up and exposed to the wind. ( Varro, 

 i. 52 ; Colum. ii. 21.) It was finally stowed in 

 granaries or in pits, where it would keep fifty 

 years. (Pliny, xviii. 30 ; Varro, i. 57.) 



8. Animals. Oxen, horses, asses, mules, 

 sheep, goats, swine, hens, pigeons, pea-fowls, 

 pheasants, geese, ducks, swans, guinea-fowls, 

 and bees, are mentioned by various authors as 

 products of the Roman farms. Directions for 

 breeding many of these are given in the third 

 and fourth books of the Georgics. 



Such is an outline of the Roman agriculture ; 

 and in it our readers will doubtless find suffi- 

 cient evidence to warrant them, in agreeing 

 with us, that it was but little different from that 

 pursued by the present farmers of England. 

 We are superior to them in our implements, 

 and consequently in the facility of performing 

 the operation of tillage ; we perhaps have su- 

 perior varieties of corn, but we most excel 

 them in our rotation of crops, and in the ma- 

 nagement of stock. We differ from them, also, 

 in not practising the superstitious rites and 

 sacrifices which accompanied almost all their 

 operations (see Cato, cxxxiv. c.) ; but of the 

 fundamental practices of agriculture, they were 

 as fully aware as ourselves. No modern wri- 

 ter could lay down more correct and compre- 

 hensive axioms than Cato did in the following 

 words ; and whoever strictly obeys them will 

 never be ranked among the ignorant of the 

 art. " What is good tillage ?" says this oldest 

 of the Roman teachers of agriculture ; " to 

 plough. What is the second? to plough. The 

 third is to manure. The other part of tillage 

 is to sow plentifully, to choose your seed cau- 

 tiously, and to remove as many weeds as pos- 

 sible in the season." (Cato Ixi.) 



Such is an epitome of their agricultural 

 knowledge ; a knowledge which has since in- 

 creased, and can only in future be added to by 

 attending to this advice of another of their 

 writers. " Nature," he observes, " has shown, 

 to us two paths which lead to a knowledge of 

 agriculture experience and imitation. Pre- 

 ceding husbandmen, by making experiments, 

 have established many maxims ; their poste- 

 rity generally imitate them ; but we ought not 

 only to imitate others, but make experiments, 

 not directed by chance, but by reason." 

 ( Varro, i. 18.) 



IV. THE AGRICULTURE OF ENGLAND. 



The historian of English agriculture has not 

 the least trace of authority from which he can 

 obtain information of its state beyond the pe- 



