The  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
679 
The  Be^innin^s  of  Agriculture  in  America 
Part  I. 
IIIS  book,  by  Prof.  Lyman  Carrier,  is 
a  notable  achievement  in  historical 
research.  Ten  years  ago  we  read 
Prothero’s  “English  Farming,  Past 
and  Present.”  and  at  that  time  we 
said  that  someone  well  qualified 
should  write  a  similar  history  of  New  England 
agriculture.  It  seemed  to  us  that  the  entire  field 
of  American  farming  was  too  big  to  be  covered 
in  one  discussion.  Professor  Carrier  tells  us  that 
this  suggestion  led  him  to  study  the  subject  and 
prepare  this  volume.  He  has  been  highly  successful, 
for  it  is  no  small  task  to  gather  the  records  of  300 
years  into  300  pages.  Most  writers  seem  to  think 
fessor  Carrier  shows  how  plant  culture  and  selection 
were  probably  the  first  start  toward  civilization. 
Primeval  man  doubtless  first  obtained  his  food  from 
wild  plants  or  animals.  Just  how  he  learned  that 
artificial  planting  and  cultivation  would  give  more 
and  better  seeds  or  fruits,  we  do  not  know.  In  some 
way  he  did  learn  the  fact,  and  also  that  some  seeds 
produced  better  plants  than  others,  and  that  some 
locations  and  soils  were  superior.  These  discoveries 
led  to  several  steps  in  civilization.  When  man  began 
to  cultivate  plants,  of  course  he  learned  that  he 
must  live  close  to  his  garden  or  farm  in  order  to 
work  and  protect  it.  Thus  he  was  forced  to  erect 
some  sort  of  permanent  dwelling  near  by.  That 
stincts  worked  out  in  the  immigration  to  this  coun¬ 
try.  Europe  became  crowded,  both  as  regards  the 
land  end  the  human  mind.  The  peasant  could  not 
easily  become  a  freeholder,  foy  most  of  the  land  was 
held  by  the  rich  or  privileged  classes.  The  patriot 
who  saw  the  injustice  of  European  social  life  could 
not  be  free,  for  the  very  thought  and  conscience  of 
lhe  people  were  restricted  or  compromised.  Thus 
there  came  stirring  in  the  minds  of  men  and  women 
the  old  instinct  of  primeval  man  to  move  to  some 
newer  and  freer  place,  which  at  the  time  meant 
America.  Professor  Carrier  describes  the  agricul¬ 
ture  of  the  Old  World  and  then  tells  what  is  known 
of  the  American  Indians  and  their  farming,  and 
Preparing  for  tlic  Chicken  Parade  in  Petaluma ,  California 
The  above  picture  and  the  one  on  page  GS1  show  how  seriously  the  California  people  take  the  poultry  business.  These  girls  are  preparing  a  “float”  for  a  poultry  parade. 
They  owe  living,  home  and  education  to  the  White  Leghorn  hen,  and  they  are  quite  willing  to  tell  the  world  all  about  it.  The  annual  poultry  parades  at  Petaluma  and 
other  poultry  centers  are  said  to  be  remarkable.  When  our  Eastern  girls  get  ready  to  take  such  an  interest  in  any  line  of  farm  work  its  success  will  be  assured.  We 
should  like  to  see  such  a  hen  figure  and  its  girl  attendants  parade  down  Fifth  Avenue  in  New  York. 
that  any  history  of  agricultural  development  must 
of  necessity  be  dry  and  tedious.  That  seems  to  be 
why  the  romance  of  other  industries  has  been  writ¬ 
ten  so  that  the  story  has  entered  the  public  imagina¬ 
tion.  Most  historians  seems  to  think  that  farming 
is  a  business  for  rather  plodding,  matter-of-fact 
people,  who  have  little  care  for  the  romantic  beauty 
of  life.  That,  is  one  reason  why  farming  as  a  pro¬ 
fession  has  fallen  behind  other  industries  in  its 
appeal  to  young  people.  It  has  never  had  an  equal 
place  in  literature.  Professor  Carrier’s  book  is  no¬ 
table  because  it  gets  away  from  this  old  theory  and 
discusses  the  beginnings  of  farming  as  interestingly 
as  one  would  discuss  the  beginnings  of  music  or  lit¬ 
erature  or  science.  This  book  ought  to  be  put  every¬ 
where  that  students  gather,  or  where  young  minds 
are  trained. 
It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  give  anything  like 
a  full  synopsis  of  such  a  book  in  an  ordinary  review. 
From  a  discussion  of  the  origin  of  food  plants  Pro- 
meant  a  home — probably  the  first  in  history.  Then 
he  learned  that  when  the  country  around  his  home 
became  crowded  food  became  scarce,  and  he  must 
move  on  to  some  place  where  land  was  free  and 
empty.  When  he  got  to  this  new  place  he  found  that 
he  must  often  plant  new  kinds  of  seeds  and  care  for 
them  in  new  ways.  A  different  time  of  frost,  variety 
in  rainfall  or  in  soil  made  such  changes  necessary. 
Then  came  the  domestication  of  animals.  After  a 
time  the  wild  animals  began  to  disappear.  Man 
learned  that  by  giving  them  artificial  care  he  could 
increase  their  number  and  make  them  work  and 
otherwise  provide  for  him.  Thus  civilization  devel¬ 
oped  along  the  line  of  plant  and  animal  domestica¬ 
tion.  The  original  savage  man  was  tamed  and 
trained  by  agriculture  .  All  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  modern  life  havo  come  from  farming  as  a  result 
of  man’s  efforts  to  produce  food  and  beautify  his 
home. 
Professor  Carrier  shows  how  these  primeval  in- 
tlieir  social  relations.  For  example,  he  says  that 
their  domestic  life  was  not  unhappy.  The  men  did 
the  hunting,  fishing  and  fighting,  while  the  women 
cooked,  farmed  and  carried  burdens.  This  division 
of  labor  seems  to  have  been  cheerfully  accepted  by 
both  sexes.  When  the  white  men  came  here  they 
were  forced  to  abandon  most  of  their  Old  World 
methods  of  farming  and  pick  up  fhe  seeds  and  meth¬ 
ods  of  the  Indians.  For  instance,  that  meant  the 
substitution  of  corn  for  wheat,  oats  and  barley,  and 
the  use  of  beans  and  squash.  Most  people  seem  to 
think  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  proceeded  at  once 
to  grow  and  eat  potatoes.  It  was  many  years  before 
potatoes  were  largely  grown  and  eaten  in  the  North¬ 
ern  States.  They  were  first  carried  to  England, 
and  their  use  slowly  grew  in  that  country  and  in 
Europe,  until  finally  they  were  brought  back  to 
America,  where  they  became  a  staple  crop.  The 
early  settlers  were  forced  to  learn  from  the  Indians 
and  entirely  change  their  methods  of  farming  in 
