Cultivation and Drainage 



55 



Metropolitan Museum of Art 



FIG. 36. Egyptian agriculture. (Picture from an ancient tomb at 

 Nakht, Egypt.) 



in order to pack the loose soil somewhat against the 

 wet subsoil and thus aid capillary action in bringing 

 water up to the seeds or roots. Such a roller as that 

 shown in Figure 39 is better than a solid one, for it 

 leaves a dirt mulch on the surface. 



It is less than two hundred years since machinery Thebegin- 

 began to be much employed in the cultivation of crops. 



Tethro Tull, an Englishman, is known as the father of methods of 



TTT , ., ,. . cultivation 



the modern system of cultivation. While traveling in 



southern France he saw that the farmers were planting 

 their crops in rows, and cultivating them with a kind of 

 plow drawn by horses. Returning to England, he en- 

 thusiastically recommended the method, and published 

 a book called Horse-hoeing Husbandry. 



Instead of using horses to draw farm machinery, 



