CONVENTION—Agriculture in ATibble Ages. 205 
They should be grouped in masses with reference to their varie¬ 
gated colors. 
Adjourned to 7^ P. M. 
Evening Sessiori. 
AGRICULTURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 
BY WILLIAM F. ALLEN, A. M., 
Professor of Latin and History, University of Wisconsin. 
When I first received an invitation to read a paper at this meet¬ 
ing, I hesitated, not seeing what I could say that would be of in¬ 
terest or profit to you. I was, to be sure, brought up in a farming 
community, and learned all the routine of farm operations in my 
youth by such constant practice as a boy in a New England country 
town is pretty sure to get. Neither have I ever lost my fondness 
for out-of-door employments, and never feel more contented than 
when I am at work among my vines and flower-beds. Neverthe¬ 
less I did not feel that I had any experience — and I certainly had 
no scientific knowledge — that would qualify me to instruct or even 
to give suggestions upon any point of husbandry to persons whose 
business this is. 
It occurred to me, however, that my studies had led me inci¬ 
dentally to take some note of the history of agriculture, both in an¬ 
cient and modern times, and that perhaps I could find something in 
this field which, if not directly instructive, yet might at any rate 
possess some interest, in the way of showing the contrast between 
present and former modes of cultivation. I am far from feeling 
competent to relate the history of agriculture; an imperfect sketch 
of its condition in England, five hundred years ago, is all that I 
shall attempt. 
It should be observed in general, that when we speak of the pro¬ 
gress of agriculture during the five hundred years that have elapsed 
since the period which I am about to describe, the progress must 
be understood to consist rather in improved methods and a greater 
variety of crojis, than in care and thoroughness of cultivation. The 
English estates in the fourteenth century were devoted to the pro- 
