372 AGRICULTURE. 



clothing, or would assist him in his labor. From this may 

 have come the origin of pasturage, and the industry of raising 

 stock. The invention of tilling the soil must have been coeval 

 with the discovery of the use of the cereal grasses, and may 

 be considered as the last step in the invention of husbandry, 

 as well as the most important. Such conclusions, while simply 

 conjectural, are nevertheless based upon sufficient reason to 

 warrant a respectful consideration. 



In the earlier stages of civilization, these branches of econ- 

 omy, in common with all the arts of life, would naturally be 

 practised by every family for itself ; but the great advantages 

 of separating the occupations would soon present themselves, 

 and the result, no doubt, is the present designations of farming, 

 gardening, grazing, etc. 



The importance of agriculture is obvious to every thinking 

 person, not only by its affording the direct supply of our 

 greatest wants, but as the parent of manufacture and com- 

 merce. Without agriculture, there can be neither civilization 

 nor population. It is not only the most universal of all the 

 arts, but the one which requires the greatest number of opera- 

 tors. The larger portion of the inhabitants, in every country, 

 are employed in agricultural pursuits ; and the most prosperous 

 and enlightened nation is the one whose agricultural population 

 are the best remunerated for their labor. 



In the earlier ages of the race, before tillage was invented, 

 doubtless the surface of the earth was held in common by all 

 the inhabitants, and every family pastured its flocks, pitched its 

 tent, or erected its hut where it seemed best ; but when tillage 

 came into use, it must have become necessary to assign to each 

 family or tribe a portion of territory, and of this portion that 

 family or tribe became the recognized proprietors and cultiva- 

 tors. From this, perhaps, came the beginning of property in 

 land ; of purchased cultivators, or slaves ; hired cultivators, or 

 laborers ; of farmers, or proprietors ; and the various laws and 

 customs, in regard to ownership and occupation 'of landed 

 property, which, in a modified or intensified form, obtain at 

 the present time. 



After a careful examination of numerous authors upon 

 ancient agriculture, I have selected the writings of Mr. J. C. 



