Chapin's Address. 
373 
corn to spare. She kept a seven years reserve on hand in case of 
“ war, pestilence or famine.” But how insignificant she appears. 
Temples, theatres, pyramids, canals, and all, when we consider that 
this wondrous land, this prosperous and productive Egypt, con¬ 
tained in square miles, square acres less than one-fourth the ter¬ 
ritory of Wisconsin. Her only farming implements were the yoke, 
a crotched stick or a pick for a plow, and the sickle. Although in 
some instances we read that the husbandman had only to scatter 
the seed, turn on a herd ot swine to tread it in the earth, and 
await an abundant harvest. Such was ancient Egypt—the agri¬ 
cultural garden of the world. Greece caught the spirit of agricul¬ 
ture from Egypt. Agriculture flourished in Greece a thousand 
years before Christ. Here agriculture gradually advanced until it 
attained a high degree of perfection. The Greeks had breeds of 
cattle, horses, sheep and swine unsurpassed by any nation of an¬ 
tiquity. They also raised the apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, 
grape and quince. They had many quaint or odd implements of 
husbandry. They had a form of plow which they considered an 
improvement on the crotched stick. Some of their farming imple¬ 
ments have been used as models to aid our American inventive 
genius. The Greeks of history were not agriculturists. The cul¬ 
tured Greeks took more pride in building cities, in music, science, 
painting, poetry and philosophy. The Greek farmers were a sub¬ 
dued menial race, slaves. They were looked on with contempt by 
the poets and philosophers, by the solonsor law-givers. The ancient 
Greeks were devoted to commerce. They could exchange other 
articles for grain, at a cheaper rate, or as they claimed with greater 
economy than their slaves could produce it from their thin, hard, 
intractable soil and hilly country, or to reclaim and till the swamps 
and morasses. 
Rome rose on the ruins of an ancient Greece. Agriculture be¬ 
came a source of pride with the Romans. For a long time agricul¬ 
ture was the favorite pursuit and fundamental idea with the wealthy 
and noble Romans. The greatest praise which could be bestowed 
upon the ancient Roman was, “he is a good husbandman.” For a 
century preceding the Christian era, the agricultural literature of 
Rome was unsurpassed by that of any other country, ancient or 
modern, except, perhaps, the present of the United States, France 
or Germany. Agriculture was reduced to a system. Farms were 
