Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
211 
cient agriculture to attract our attention until we reach Roman his¬ 
tory. The ancient Greeks excelled in the cultivation of the grape, 
and some other fruits, but they were never famous for the produc¬ 
tion of grain; and being much devoted to commerce, they exchang¬ 
ed other articles for grain at a cheaper rate than they could produce 
it from their naturally thin soil and hilly country. The land of 
Palestine once supported an immense population, although their 
agricultural implements, as well as their modes of cultivation were 
of an exceedingly primitive and simple character. The first account 
that I have found of any regular, systematic mode of cultivation as 
we now understand it, is given by Cato, who died 150 years before 
Christ. At that time, a large farming system was fully established 
in Italy. A rotation of crops was fairly understood, also plowing 
under green crops for manure, as well as summer fallowing. Fora 
long time agriculture was the favorite pursuit of the wealthy and 
aristocratic classes of Romans. The labor was entirely performed 
by slaves. Slavery existed in its most terrible form. It included 
not only all the evils of modern slavery, but in addition, the life 
of the slave was simply at the mercy of the master, without any 
reservation whatever; and their slaves were so cheap that the loss 
of one or of a dozen was no object. The price of a slave in the 
market often being but little more than the price of a sheep or 
a goat. 
There we see that although the system of Roman agriculture 
seemed to combine much of what is now deemed good practical cul¬ 
tivation, still it contained a system of slavery so horrible that we 
shudder as we contemplate its results. The larger portion of the 
country was originally cut up into small farms and cultivated 
principally by the owners of the land; but after the introduction 
of slavery and slave-labor upon farms, the more wealthy owners 
gradually absorbed the smaller farms, and the landed estates finally 
fell into the hands of comparatively a few of the more wealthy of the 
Roman citizens. 
For a long time, bread was plenty and cheap throughout Italy; 
but the system by which it was produced, assisted very much in 
bringing on the final overthrow and destruction of that immense 
empire. The Emperor Cladius during his reign mitigated some¬ 
what the horrors of slavery. This was well for the slaves, though 
it was too late to save the masters, who had previous to this time 
