Alfred Charles True

“ The discovery of the New World showed two grades of agriculture carried on by those who had never seen the horse and were practically without domestic animals. Even the careful tillage of the ancient Peruvian had no influence upon Europe and little upon the America of succeeding centuries. The great contribution of America to the world's agriculture was the three plants, the potato, tobacco, and Indian corn or maize. In the region north of Mexico the labor of planting and caring for the scanty crops was performed by the women, who broke the ground with the rudest possible implements. ”

“ Such occupations as breeding livestock, raising poultry, bee-keeping, and fish culture are also pursued independently of general agriculture. The term agriculture has, therefore, been gradually restricted to the production of a limited group of plants and animals, such as may be brought together on single farms in a system of mixed husbandry. The particular animals and plants included in agriculture in this narrower sense will vary with the region and a variety of circumstances. ”

“ The garden of Italy is the Lombard plain, with its more than 1,000,000 acres of irrigated land and its careful systems of cultivation. Besides large crops of wheat, maize, grapes, and olives, Italy produces great quantities of lemons and oranges, and has more than half a million people engaged in raising silkworms. In Spain, despite vines, oranges, olives, and the possibilities of irrigation and a succession of crops, agriculture looks backward to the time of the Moor. ”

“ Roman agriculture has received special attention because so much was written about it by the Romans themselves, and because they carried it into other countries, where it modified or dominated agricultural customs. ”

“ Of the world's wheat crop of about 2613 million bushels, the United States produces nearly one-fifth. The other chief wheat growing countries are Russia, France, Austria-Hungary, India, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Argentine Republic. The United States produces three-fourths of the world's maize crop of 2825 million bushels, and more than one-half of the crop of 753.3 million pounds of cotton. Russia leads the world in the piodnotion of rye, oats, and barley, and in the yield of potatoes it is surpassed by Germany only. ”

“ Scientific studies and experiments for the benefit of agriculture began with the development of agricultural chemistry early in the century. The most widespread practical result of the investigations in agricultural chemistry has been the extensive use of a large number of forms of commercial fertilizers. In more recent years a wide range of successful research on behalf of agriculture has been developed with the aid of the biological sciences, and in the closing years of the nineteenth century investigations in agricultural physics assumed great importance. ”

“ Egyptian Agriculture. In tracing the development of agriculture in historical times we naturally turn first to Egypt, the motherland of our civilization. The records preserved on ancient monuments allow us to trace the history of agriculture in Egypt back to at least 3000 B.C. At that early time various animals had already become domesticated, and the growing of crops for man and beast by a regular system of tillage and irrigation had been united with the feeding of large numbers of animals on the ranges. ”

“ Agriculture began in prehistoric times, when primitive man first began to select particular plants in his immediate environment as preferable to others for his use as food or for making his clothes, and when he first directed his efforts toward promoting the growth of plants. ”

“ The vital interest of the whole community in the success of agriculture as the great basal industry has been distinctly recognized during the nineteenth century by the widespread establishment of governmental agencies for its promotion. Agriculture has now a definite place in the ministries of almost all the civilized nations of the globe. In Great Britain the government fosters agricultural interests through a Board of Agriculture (q.v.) . In the United States the Federal Government maintains a Department of Agriculture (q.v.) ”

“ Canada and the United States have a profitable apple trade with England. The expenses of transportation have been reduced to a fraction of the previous cost, and thus the wheat lands of Dakota have been laid alongside those of both New England and old England, with gain for the one and with loss for the others. In dairying there has been one of the triumphs of recent agriculture. Specialization, with scientific method and improved machinery, has brought excellence without destruction of the market. ”

“ In the hay harvest, horse power is applied by means of the mowing-machine, the hay-tedder, the rake, and machines for loading and unloading the hay. Another class of machines, as, for example, the one for threshing, deal with the gathered crops. The use of a system of machinery like that applied to dairying has made great changes in certain lines of agriculture. From horse power, too, there has been a partial change to steam power. About the year 1850 the steam plow began to be used in England. ”

“ Egypt, under the guidance of England, is producing great amounts of sugar and a high grade cotton.
Australasia has already developed beyond the pastoral stage, and besides cattle and sheep is exporting dairy and other products. In South America, the Argentine Republic is an important factor in the world's agricultural market, with its wheat, wool, cattle, and wine; and Brazil holds a leading place in the production of coffee. In Central America, including Mexico, the raising of cattle and sheep has become a large industry, and the exports of coffee, cocoa, and bananas are important. ”

“ The practices of some aboriginal tribes at the present time indicate that efforts to promote the growth of useful plants by the removal of other plants growing among them antedates the planting of seeds. Similar evidence points to the beginning of agricultural implements in the use of pointed and forked sticks to scratch the soil or remove obnoxious vegetation. The union of two such sticks with a leathern thong made a rude mattock or hoe, and a larger implement of the same kind formed the primitive plow, which was drawn, very likely, at first by men and afterward by domesticated animals. ”

“ In Europe the cultivation of the sugar-beet has become a prominent industry in Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and Russia, and of some importance in Belgium and the Netherlands. Germany grows more than one-third of the product, and the four countries more than nine-tenths of it. The vine is of importance in all the Mediterranean region and in favored localities like those along the German Rhine, where vineyards have given an average net return of more than $100 per acre. ”

“ The storing of green crops in silos has become common. A great amount of intelligent work has been given to securing plants and trees suited to local conditions in different climates. Numerous varieties of all sorts of cultivated plants have been obtained through selection and otherwise, and in this way the areas devoted to different crops have been greatly extended. In the vicinity of the large cities market gardening has been a profitable branch of agriculture, and has been the culmination of careful cultivation. ”

“ China, with an agriculture unchanged from legendary times, and India are countries in which rude implements are overbalanced by irrigation and garden-like cultivation. With rice as a principal food product, they support a dense population, have a great variety of crops, and are increasing factors in computing the world's supply. ”

“ Italy gives to the vine 9,000,000 acres, and France, with lowest acreage in 1891, and larger before and since, gives on an average 5,000,000 acres. France, also dating its progress from the Revolution, has become one of the richest of agricultural countries, and previous to 1874 was the greatest wheat producing country of the world. It is noted for its small farms and thrifty agricultural class, more than half of whom are land owners. Germany, the greatest potato-producing country of the world, is also a country of varied agricultural production. ”

“ The small proprietors either sold their no longer profitable farms or were driven from them by the large land-holders. In Sicily, the first province, and in the others successively, the ownership of the land was vested in the Roman people. From these provinces came the tribute of grain that made grain-raising unprofitable in Italy. Hence, the large estates were gradually given over to the keeping of flocks and the raising of cattle. Among the Roman writers upon agriculture were Varro, Columella, and Pliny. ”

“ The great burden of agricultural labors was in those early ages undoubtedly thrown upon woman, as has been the case among the tribes of North American Indians, whose men have devoted themselves almost exclusively to the chase and to war. It is interesting to observe that severe military requirements still necessitate the employment of women in field labor on the continent of Europe. ”

“ Poultry culture was an elaborate industry, and included the raising of hens, geese, ducks, teals, pigeons, turtle-doves, swans, and peacocks. Much attention was also given to fish culture, and such animals as hares, snails, and dormice were raised in considerable numbers. Wheat was the most important cereal crop cultivated by the Romans, and both smooth and bearded varieties were raised. ”

“ One special advantage in the minds of English farmers was the depth to which the soil could be turned; moreover, the engine was utilized for many purposes on the large estates of that country. The great advantage of steam farm machinery in America has been for operations like that of threshing, but the use of steam for this purpose has not proved especially economical. ”

“ On the whole, the Crusades helped the agriculture of Western Europe. In the latter part of the Middle Ages the people of the low countries of Western Europe came to be as distinguished for their agriculture as for their commerce and manufactures. ”

“ There was a domain of public land, which was continually extended by the conquests of neighboring States and the partial confiscations that followed. Although land in the conquered territory was sometimes granted to the poorer citizens, there were large tracts of public lands that were either cultivated or allowed to remain in pasture. ”

“ According to a census bulletin, issued in 1891, in the United States, upward of $100,000,000 of capital is invested in this industry; 500,000 acres are given to it, more than 230,000 persons are employed, and the annual return is $76,000,000. The South Atlantic States are largely interested in “truck farming,” which, under favorable conditions, is generally very profitable. Other forms of special agricultural industries which have made great progress in recent years are the breeding of animals, fruit culture, poultry raising, and bee-keeping. ”

“ The land and livestock were very largely the property of the royal, priestly, and military classes; the care of animals and the performance of farming operations were in the hands of hired laborers or slaves. ”

“ Agriculture was, however, a more honorable occupation than trading or the mechanical arts. Herdsmen and fishermen were in the lowest class; swineherds especially were despised. Cattle, sheep, goats, and swine were kept, often in large herds and flocks. The cattle belonged to the same species as the present cattle of India. Both bulls and cows were used for labor, but the flesh of the males only was eaten. ”

“ In New England and New York, as well as farther south, barns were small, implements rude, and carts more common than wagons. In Georgia the hoe was more often used than the plow; in Virginia the poor whites thrashed their grain by driving their horses over it. ”

“ In the sixteenth century agriculture in England became more profitable, inclosures were made, and the rights of common were greatly restricted. Hops were introduced from Holland. Turned from the former wool exportation, the farmers began to raise wheat in large quantities to be sent out of the country. A law in the middle of the century practically prevented grain exportation and turned wheat lands into pasturage. ”

“ Even after the Romans became masters of all Italy, little more than four acres was assigned to each citizen, and the domain lands increased enormously. Attempts were constantly made to restrict the extent of land that could be occupied by the wealthy, but generally without effect. ”

“ They were thrashed with flails or with a board studded with iron spikes or sharp flints, which was drawn over the straw, or by trampling with cattle or horses. The Romans carried their agriculture into the ruder countries conquered by them. The vine growing wild in Sicily was carried into Gaul, where it was acclimated with difficulty. To the rude Britons the Romans taught agriculture so successfully that before the period of occupation was over they were exporting large quantities of grain. ”

“ For example: in some regions the sweet potato is raised in a small way in gardens and is there considered a horticultural plant, while in regions where it is raised in large fields it is considered an agricultural plant. ”

“ Other cultivated plants were the watermelon and castor-oil plant.
Babylonia. Of Babylonian agriculture there are few records. As in Egypt, it supported a dense population. The Euphrates overflowed, but did not do the work of the Nile. In all the region irrigation turns desert lands into fruitful fields. Of such fields Herodotus said: “This is of all lands with which we are familiar by far the best for growth of corn. When it produces its best it yields even three hundredfold. The blades of wheat and barley grow there to full four fingers in breadth ”

“ The canning industry has utilized fruits and vegetables and saved the agricultural balances in sections. Cold storage, rapid transportation, and the refrigerator car have reduced risks and shortened apparent distances. ”

“ It is, however, clear, that while the migratory habits of savage tribes must have tended to hinder anything like systematic cultivation of the soil, they probably did not prevent the domestication of animals. ”