224 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



But whence can e that knowledge of the system which the 

 Spaniards, in their conquests upon our own continent, found 

 in use by the ancient inhabitants of Peru, of "which Prescott 

 says : '* Canals and aqueducts were seen crossing the low- 

 lands in all directions and spreading over the country like a 

 vast net- work, diffusing fertility and beauty around them"? 



No doubt the labor of constructing these works was poorly 

 paid, judgmg from the American standpoint of service and 

 compensation ; but is there not here a hint of future possi- 

 bilities for the New England farmer who for the want of 

 water just at the right time, even for a few days, sometimes 

 loses the labor of a year ? 



The agriculture of Spain declined when, upon the expul- 

 sion of the Moors by Ferdinand and Isabella and the discov- 

 ery of America under them by Columbus, gold was rated of 

 more account than grain ; so that as one has said, " In the 

 days of Cortez and Pizarro this continent was ransacked for 

 gold from Oregon to Patagonia. The fertile slopes of the 

 Appalachians, the green prairies and rich bottom lands of 

 the Mississippi valle}^ now supporting tens of millions of 

 prosperous inhabitants, were marked upon the Spanish maps 

 'lands of no account' {tierras dp ningum provecho) because 

 they yielded no gold." 



Passing over from Spain to England, we find, early in the 

 fifth century, after four hundred years of occupancy by the 

 Romans, a country mainly of forests and marshes, with a 

 people intent, almost from necessity, upon getting a living 

 for the individual without regard to the consequences upon 

 others ; with a government so crude and inefficient as to 

 afford little protection to life or property and no encourage- 

 ment to advancement in agriculture, even if the people had 

 entertained an aspiring thought. 



Famines were of frequent occurrence, and farm stock which 

 could thrive durinor the summer months was so destitute of 

 food and shelter, especially in the northern portion of the 

 island, in winter, that a large proportion, estimated at one- 

 fifth of the whole number in the country, died annually from 

 exposure and want, and a fatal murrain often destroyed still 

 greater numbers. 



A few, only, of the standard grains were cultivated, and 



