that no one of them progressed uniformly. 
The large shrinkage at slaughter is accounted 
for by the fact that the home weight was 
after eating and drinking ; the slaughter 
weight after fasting. 
W hile no one of the steers was excessively 
fat, the percentage of carcass to live weight 
is satisfactory. The Short horns stand first 
in this respect, one Hereford next. The com¬ 
mittee complimented all the carcasses as being 
more profitable for consumption than those of 
the excessively fat animals slaughtered with 
them. The highest percentage of carcass 
among the latter was (57.50. The showing 
made by the Ayrshire steer is very creditable 
for an animal belonging to a distinctively 
milk breed. It happens that the order of 
merits of tho carcasses is placed in the same 
order as the proportion of *• improved blood” 
in the different animals. Singularly enough, 
the carcass px-onounced best had, relatively, 
the lightest hindquarters. This steer was 
the favorite of almost all who saw the cattle 
when alive. The steer with largest percent¬ 
age of tallow was placed last in merit of car¬ 
cass ; the next to him in tallow were placed 
first and second in merit of carcass. The 
grade Herefordsbad heaviest hides in propor¬ 
tion to live weight. 
It is expected to continue like experiments. 
The results of one must not be considered 
conclusive. 
-- 
THE FARM DIARY. 
Under the above head, on page 7113, W. F, 
Brown presents an article that ought to be 
read by every farmer in the land. It is 
strange, not to say unwise, that so many 
persons allow their years to pass by without 
a semblance of a record to which they might 
often refer with both pleasure and profit. 001 ' 
passing life is of too much importance to be 
left behind forgotten and unrecorded, and it 
seems to me that every person should keep 
some other record of his passing life than the 
feeble and inaccurate one which naturally 
impresses itself upon the memory. 
But I believe there is a slight practical error 
in the article referred to. Experience has 
proven to me that to keep an accurate daily 
record of one’s passing years, giving each day 
an account of the weather and the work done, 
requires more time and trouble than most 
farmers are willing to give to the work; 
besides, such a record kept up for a time, 
though of much use in tho way described by 
Mr. Brown, becomes somewhat monotonous. I 
have frequently in former years undertaken 
to keep a diary upon the general plan of this 
correspondent; but after a time the work was 
always given up, not, however, without sor¬ 
row; for l was always fully impressed with 
the importance of keeping some kind of a 
record of my doings. I think my experience in 
diary keeping has not been an exception; if 
it has, my writing here is out of place. 
Being unwilling to keep no account of my 
passing time, I thought upon the plan of keep- 
iog a weekly record—a sort of a weekly 
retrospect, which I immediately put into 
practice aud which I have since continued. 
I fiud little difiieulty in recalling, once a week, 
the incidents worthy of record, including the 
character of the weather and kind of work 
I have been doing, and the exercise of such re¬ 
calling has strengthened my memory and thus 
benefited me. 
Such a record or retrospect kept through 
a term of years, and containing, besides 
tho valuable practical information which 
every farm record should contain, many 
ittle incidents and reminiscences of one's puss- 
ng years, cannot be re-read without interest. 
My own plan of writing is to make each 
weekly record a little essay in itself, giving 
therein the tone of my thoughts, and the 
principal kind of work performed during the 
week. Any happenings of personal interest 
or of general importance are recorded, and it 
is sometimes my lot to note the death of a 
dear friend or relative. 
It is good for a person to stop the wheel of 
business once a week and review the work and 
note the happenings of the time. Ouee in 
a year it lias been my custom to review the 
year’s record, and make a yearly retrospect, 
embracing tho important incidents of the year 
past, together with a record of the results of 
the farm, mid the general character of the 
season, whether favorable or otherwise. The 
prices of the important farm products are 
recorded frequently during the year and all 
experiments with their results are carefully 
noted. 
Such a record, I believe, is a means of great 
improvement to all young men. The work, 
if carefully performed, teaches one by the 
practice it gi ves in the art of penmanship 
and composition. 
| Plow can we estimate the value of such a 
record carefully kept and preserved through 
the working period of one’s life? What pleas, 
ure and interest could be taken in retracing 
the pages and noting the incidents of years 
long past, and the record of one’s life’s doings ? 
Aside from the pleasure aud comfort which 
might be derived from such a record, a great 
deal of practical information could be 
gathered from the pages. One’s future is 
shaped largely by past experiences and if the 
experiences have been recorded they are much 
less likely to be forgotten. 
1 have usually chosen as a time for writing 
my little weekly retrospects, the quiet and 
leisure of Sunday afternoon or evening. 
Those who may think this an inappropriate 
pastime for the Habbath could substitute an¬ 
other time, and devote the day of rest to 
more satisfactory occupation. 
it is well for us to look back occasionally 
aud review the experiences and incidents of 
past years, to see wherein we have erred in 
judgment or missed golden opportunities. A 
record of the past is a partial guide for the 
future. g. a. g. jk. 
-- 
EARLY HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 
LESTER A, ROBERTS. 
Agriculture may be defined as the work¬ 
ing of the ground in such manner as to fit it 
for the producti n of articles necessary or 
desirable for the food of man. 
The earliest want of man or animal is 
food. In the primeval ages of human exis¬ 
tence, before the dawn of intellect, the race 
doubtless existed on the spontaneous pro¬ 
ducts of tho country in which they lived. 
Fruits, herbs, berries and roots each con¬ 
tributed tbeir share. As the race improved, 
the braiu increased in size, and thought, rea¬ 
son, contrivance and invention gradually as¬ 
sumed their places. Eating, besides being 
merely a life-sustaining operation, came to be 
a pleasure. What was before a need grew to 
be a want—a desire, to gratify which Man 
gave his time and labor, and before the pe¬ 
riod to which even traditional history extends, 
we may reasonably suppose thero were many 
Cuius who were husbandmen aud Abels who 
were shepherds. 
.Although it is doubtless true that the histori¬ 
cal traditions of Eastern Asia, extend much fur¬ 
ther into the days of antiquity than do ours, 
we learn but little from them relative to the 
pursuits and occupations of the people. We 
may reasonably inter, however, that the early 
history of one nation is iu most respects the 
same as that of another. Probably Moses, 
who wrote more than 3,fiUQ years ago, is the 
earliest authority in agricultural literature. 
From him we learn that more ware engaged 
in pastoral pursuits thau iu tillage. But in 
one or the other all took part. Industry, or 
perhaps occupation would be the better w ord, 
seems to have been expected of all. Noah 
planted a vineyard, Abraham had great num¬ 
bers of cattle, while his brother Lot had flocks 
and herds. Gideon is mentioned as having 
been found thrashing, and Saul, a king, as 
driving the cuttle home from pasture. David 
fed his ewes, and Elisha plowed with 12 
pairs of cattle. Moses himself was a shepherd. 
The laud of Canaan was better adapted to 
grazing than to tillage, while the fertile lands 
of Egypt gave back to the planter better re- 
wanls for his labor. It is supposed that wheat 
was first raised in the valley of the Nile, and 
we may readily believe the invention of agri¬ 
cultural implements was the work of the 
Egyptians, the first of which, the plow, seems 
to have been evolved from something like a 
pick—the earliest instrument used in tillage. 
Representations of the primitive plows are 
found on some ancient sculptures. 
There is no doubt that the Egyptians car¬ 
ried agriculture nearer perfection than any 
others of the ancients. True, the country bor¬ 
dering on the Nile four or five miles in width 
and as uiauy hundreds in length, needed no 
culture. To scatter seed at the time of the 
overflow aud reap the harvest when the wa¬ 
ters subsided, were in some cases ail that was 
required. But the immense works construct¬ 
ed for irrigating large tracts of country at a 
distance, leinaius of w hich still exist, are 
proofs of tho enterprise aud energy of these 
early farmers. Hundreds of canals of great 
length served to carry the flood waters of the 
Nile to immense reservoirs hi the midst of uu- 
watered plains, which were thereby made 
fertile aud productive. Hydraulic works of 
ingenuity and power were constructed by 
means of which the water was carried to the 
very hill tops to lie distributed at will among 
the fields and gardens below. 
But the race that once inhabited Egypt has 
gone. Barbarians overran the country. Great 
winds from the desert bore on their wings 
clouds of sand which covered thousands of 
square miles that were once cultivated fields, 
aud the Genius of Agriculture took her way to 
other lands. 
More than a thousand years before the 
Christian Era the Greeks had made consider¬ 
able progress in agriculture. It had doubtless 
been introduced to them, as were many of 
the arts and sciences, by immigrants from 
Egypt. Not naturally well adapted for agri¬ 
cultural purposes, the working of the soil pre¬ 
sented many obstacles to be overcome, but 
persistent effort won the victory, and the 
most uninviting places w r ere converted into 
productive fields. 
The fullest account of Grecian agri¬ 
culture is probably to be found in the 
writings of Hesiod. A poem entitled 
“ Works and Days” contains not only 
a treatise on agriculture, but is intended to 
cover the whole domestic economy as well. 
culture in Greece in their times from the writ¬ 
ings of Xenophon, Herodotus, Theophrastus 
and others. Uf these named those of Theo¬ 
phrastus were the most extensive, embracing 
a work on natural history wonderful consid¬ 
ering the time in which it was written, and 
instructive on many points to students of the 
present time. 
The Greeks understood and practiced the 
application of manure, the use of w hich Fliny 
ascribes to a king named Augeas. Theo¬ 
phrastus gives a list of six different manures, 
and adds that a mixture of soils will produce 
the same effect as the application of manure 
thereto, as, for instance, the application of 
sand to clay soils, or of clay to sandy ones. 
It is true that the strongest love of the Greek 
w r as for art rather than agriculture; for 
building up cities rather than improving 
fields. But, nevertheless, great improvement 
was made in agriculture. We know’ they had 
fine breeds of cattle and horses, aud raised 
most of the grains and legumes at present iu 
cultivation as well as the viue, fig, olive, ap¬ 
ple, date and other fruits at the time when 
Greece became a. Roman colony—about B. 0. 
lUt). During all these years other nations 
were, w-e know, making some progress iu ag¬ 
riculture, but history gives us little that is 
definite concerniug them. 
The Jews took with them from Egypt many 
ideas that were valuable, and followed them 
so far as they w’ere applicable in a country so 
different. Babylon had a rich soil that was 
cultivated to a considerable extent. Cyrus, 
King of Persia, is recorded as having distrib¬ 
uted with his own hands prizes for excellence 
iu agricultural results. The Phoenicians gave 
more attention to manufactures than to til¬ 
lage. The Carthaginians were among the ear¬ 
liest agriculturists, aud their example spread 
into Spain, France and Southern Italy. But as 
Egypt may be said to be the cradle of the 
Sciences and Greece of the Arts, so is Rome 
of Agriculture. 
Aiuong the earl} - Romans farming was 
fashionabla The lands were occupied and 
cultivated by their proprietors. This was un¬ 
doubtedly one reason of success, but another 
doubtless was that the amount ot land each 
one could occupy was limited to a few acres. 
Commerce was i bought degrading. War and 
agriculture were the chief pursuits, and when 
the warrior returned to his farm he brought 
with him some of the habits of the camp. 
Pliny says “they plowed their fields with the 
same diligence as they pitched their camps, 
and sowed their corn with much the same 
care as they formed their armies in battle.” 
Small farms w ell w orked w ill ensure success 
in any age. 
But this state of things did not always con¬ 
tinue. When the victorious armies of the 
Romans made extensive conquests and be¬ 
came possessed of large territories, the rich 
among them purchased large estates, the cul¬ 
tivation of which was entrusted to farmers, 
but still under the direct super v ision of the pro- 
prietor. Cato gives us an illustration of what 
isthedutyof a landlord on visiting his villa 
from his city resid nee, in which he supposes 
him to be not only perfectly acquainted with 
all the work necessary to be done on a farm, 
but the time and manner hi which it should 
be done. 
Varro complains that in his time, B. C. 50, 
the strict supervision of former times was 
wanting, and that the proprietors employed 
themselves too much with the circus and thea¬ 
ter, and too little w ith corn-fields and vine¬ 
yards. 
Columella, who wrote iu the first century 
of the Christiau era, complains that in his 
time agriculture was almost entirely neglected. 
He says that while there are professors of al¬ 
most everything else, even of gluttony, there 
are no professors of Husbandry. But it seems 
from the minute and valuable directions he 
gave he believed there were some loft who 
would profit by instruction. 
Of the many voluminous writers on agri¬ 
cultural subjects in early Roman times, the 
productions of uone have come down to us 
save some of the works of Cato, Varro, Vir¬ 
gil, Columella, Pliny aud Palladius. But these 
are sufficient to instruct us relative to tiie gen¬ 
eral management of lauds, and of the pro¬ 
gress of invention and discovery in agricul¬ 
tural implements and appliances. Anabridge- 
ment or compilation of the works of all these 
writers was made by a Scotch clergyman 
named Adam Dickson, and published in 17S8 
under the title of “The Husbandry of the An¬ 
cients.” 
Whatever improvement, if any, w’as made 
in agricultural processes by the Romans, it 
was probably in the early years of the Em¬ 
pire, ami it is doubtful if iu its best days it 
was much further advanced than with the 
Jew's, the Babylonians, Egyptians and other 
ancient nations. The conquests of the Ro¬ 
mans, however, opened new fields and intro¬ 
duced to uew peoples agricultural processes 
that were readily received and greatly im¬ 
proved upon.—To be continued. 
farm Cconomi), 
ACCOUNTS WITH FARM CROPS. 
WALDO P. BROWN. 
The keeping of a farm diary will be a good 
preparation for beginning a system of farm 
book-keeping, for the greatest difficulty in the 
way of keeping accounts with crops is the 
want of a regular habit of writing, and this 
tiie farmer who keeps a diary will soon ac¬ 
quire. I have for five yeai’s past kept an 
itemized account with each field on w'hich I 
have grown wheat, and have found the matter 
so easy and requiring so little labor, that I 
propose extending it to all the crops grown 
on the farm. A very few’ moments’ time, 
and less tlian a page of space iu an orilinary 
account book, will keep the account for a year 
with any field. I think it better to keep the 
account with each field than with the crop, 
because there will be items to charge to the 
field occasionally, which ought not to be de¬ 
ducted from tho crop of that particular year. 
For example, if you grow a crop of wheat, 
you ought always to sow clover with it, but it 
would not t>e just to add the cost of seed and 
sowing to the expense of the wheat crop 
which it does not benefit, but it should be 
added to the cost of the succeeding ci\_p of 
wheat or corn grown on the clover stubble. 
If not put down at the time it is sown, how¬ 
ever, it is likely to be forgotten, and so I 
charge it to the field at the time, and then in 
striking a balance to see w hat the wheat costs, 
1 omit this item and add it when I strike a bal¬ 
ance on the crop grown on the clover stubble. 
The first tiling to be done when you deter¬ 
mine to begin keeping farm accounts, is to put 
a value on each field, for it would not be 
equitable to value all the fields alike. If a 
farm of 100 acres costs $0,000—which would 
be $0(1 per acre—I should expect some fields on 
it to be valued at but little more then half 
this. The buildings, orchard and garden I 
would call uumber one, and on many farms 
the value of four or five' acres here would be 
$2*000. ^Then 50 acres of the best plow land 
might be valued at $50 per acre, $2,500, and 
the remaining 45 acres at $38.3$)£ would 
make the $0,000, This estimate would, of 
course, vary with different farms; but the in¬ 
telligent farmer would have no trouble in 
putting a fair value on each field. At the 
head of each page on which an account with 
a field is kept, euter the name or number of 
the field with the number ol‘ acres and its val¬ 
uation. I have adopted the rule of charging 
each field with eight per cent, interest on its 
valuation, this including taxes, and I charge 
all labor at one dollar per day for each man 
and horse, and let this include boatd of hands 
and keep of horses. In harvesting I charge by 
the acre for cutting the grain the same as it 
would cost to hire a reaper with hand and 
team, aud iu drilling the wheat the same plan 
is followed. I think this simplifies the keep- 
of accounts, as it saves separate items for 
board, wear of machinery, etc. I practice a 
three-year rotation—wheat, clover and corn— 
and the account begins with a wheat crop. 
With a field running through these three years 
I would begin after the com was cut up in the 
Fall, for I never sow wheat in standing com. 
I use the disc harrow to prepare this com 
laud for wheat, as the use of it makes just the 
seed-bed I want, and is a cheap M ay of pre¬ 
paring the seed-bed. 1 will now give the ac¬ 
count with a ten-acre field running through 
this rotation. 
1373. Account with rteld No. 5. ten acres, valued at 
*5ou. Crop wheat. 
To interest on capital.$40.00 
" t wice Harrowing with disc harrow. sioo 
“ rolling or smoothing with plank drag. 3.00 
" in loads of stable manure. 30.00 
" i,i>A! ms bone meal at $30 h ton ...1. ly’oo 
“ la bush, seed wheat at $1.35... 12.50 
•• drilling at a 1 cents V aero . 5.00 
" bushel clover seed. o.oo 
“ sowing clover seed. 1.00 
" harvesting, total expense. 20.00 
" cost of wheal In shook.. .$136.50 
By 250 bush, wheat at $1.10.$375.00 
Net profit.. $188.50 
Cost of wheat 4* bushel. 56 1-5 ceuts 
This wheat cost per acre $13.85, and if, 
through poor preparation of the soil and 
withholding the $38 of fertilizers which are 
charged, t he crop had been reduced to twelve 
bushels an acre, the cost of the wheat would 
have heen more than doubled, and this is 
what is done by a majority of farmers who 
sow wheat in corn; if the yield of this wheat 
should reach 35 bushels per acre the cost would 
be less thau 40 cents a bushel. The reader 
