PART V.

MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS.

THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE.

BY N. C. MEEKER,

In the earliest ages men did not live by cultivating the soil. It is true that our first parents, for a limited period, engaged in this pursuit, but it was not in the sense we now speak of cultivation, for they were without experience, skill or implements. What their actual condition was is uncertain, and it can never be ascertained unless we reason from analogy and by the help of more light than we think we possess.

It is certain that their immediate descendants led a pastoral life, and their food was milk and flesh, and such vegetable productions as grow without cultivation. In'making the soil yield bread, decision of character and prophetic views are required which men cannot possess in a natural state, and, besides, to cultivate the soil requires some progress in the mechanic arts, for without implements for inverting and stirring the soil, bread cannot be grown. Mechanical skill and agriculture therefore must grow up together. In an uncivilized nation agriculture cannot be far advanced, nor, on the other hand, can civilization progress if agriculture is neglected. A more helpless being than man without tools cannot exist; with tools, none is more powerful. Naked, and with empty hands man was placed on this earth, and long dreary years must have elapsed before even rude implements for working the soil were constructed. Some have conveyed the idea that the early European race was more favored, but the contrary is proved by recent discoveries. Some lakes in Switzerland being drained, have brought to light rude hovels with articles of domestic nature, and the implements which were used for defence and for obtaining food were all of stone. In Denmark, also, discoveries of similar relics, have been made, all of which prove that the principal food was derived from the waters and the forests. This, the age of stone, dates back 4,000 years ago. Following, came the age of bronze, in which implements were made of copper and tin. Then came the age of iron, which in Central Europe was not much before the Christian Era.

Even after iron was discovered, whenever it might have been, a long period must have passed before much skill in forging and welding it was acquired. By inductive reasoning an account of the progress in working iron could be constructed which would be near the actual truth. Surprising as it may seem, it is a fact that during the classic and historic ages, and up to modern times, even, in some degree to our own age, the art of working iron was im

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partially understood unless in the making of deadly weapons, while casting hollow ware was unknown. This is to say, during a period of more than 3,000 years, scarcely any progress was made with regard to agricultural implements in which iron or steel was used, and so little had been done up to the time of our own Revolution, even by the most civilized nations, that they were at the time upon a level with the Turks and Hindoos.

In the Agricultural Rooms of the State Society at Albany, is a most remarkable collection of plows from different parts of the world. Among these are some which were in use in this country less than fifty years ago, and they show that our cultivation at the time could not have been much better than the cultivation of semi-barbarous nations. Within fifty years plows have been improved more than they had been improved for many thousand years before. It is noted also, that within this period there has been an equal improvement in all the mechanic arts.

The first progress of mechanism was undoubtedly in constructing some agricultural implement, for there must have been a stepping stone for a beginning. The use of the new implement resulted in making labor lighter, and in giving much more bread than by any other means, which freed some one from the necessity of constantly seeking for food, and it gave time and opportunity for a few to think. This prepared the way for another to construct, not perhaps an agricultural tool, for the list has been very small, but one for working wood, that there might be a better roof and closer walls to keep out the storms, giving dignity to the barbaric family.

When the first implement increased the supply of bread and permitted some one to think, civilization faintly dawned. This may seem an insignificant cause, but even now, complicated as society has become, it can be seen that mechanism is the right hand of agriculture, and that upon the two civilization is founded.

Originally, seeds of grain, vegetables, and fruit must have been preserved a long time in a few favored spots, in remote sunny valleys, in mountain glades, or on islands difficult to approach. It is true that in later ages many varieties have been derived by long and patient labors from those which were growing wild, but these had degenerated, for we must not say that the original were imperfect, since if this were so, the first people had no other food than barbarians. In passing from places where seeds had been preserved, into savage lands, they progressed slowly, and at the rate of ten or twenty miles a year, crossing rivers and mountains, and were received in rude hovels, or perhaps in the abode of a chieftain with wonder, and perhaps with suspicion. Tools of some kind, must have accompanied seeds; these might have been of stone or bronze, and after grain had been grown, domestic animals were introduced but not before, except in regions where the natural grasses furnished feed. This, however, could have only been in a semi-tropical climate, where feed for animals could be found in winter. In forests, domestic animals and iron were introduced about the same time. It is a singular historical fact, that when iron was introduced among the savages of Europe, it made its way slowly, for it was looked upon with suspicion. They who

protested most against its use were the priests, and it was a long time after the people adopted it before the priests would allow it to enter their places of worship, which were places also for the sacrifice, of human beings.

Why, after seeds and iron were introduced so many ages, and some of them so remote as to be buried in oblivion, passed without perceptible progress not only in Asia but in Europe, was due to political and religious tyranny, pressing upon the laboring people and wringing from their industry all but what was required to sustain life. To keep the laborer dependent, he was never allowed to be an owner of the soil; as a consequence, his occupation and all the industries connected with it were looked upon as degrading, and the only pursuits which were honored were those by which man was oppressed, defrauded or destroyed. It was not until America was discovered that a way was opened for the laborer to own land, and upon this basis free government and religious toleration have been established.

The first efforts in agriculture were made in alluvial valleys or on rich sandy soil, which were cropped until exhausted, when new grounds were sought and the exhaustion repeated. Only by degrees and at a considerable later period were the clays cultivated, for they were too stubborn, and man himself was too timorous, ignorant and weak, to make them yield a return for his labors. It was not until the ox and horse were brought into subjection and made to draw the plow that cultivation was extended beyond the alluvial soils. And yet, the advantages of an agricultural over a savage life in those early days were so few that progress was slow. Forced to abide near streams for the cultivation and protection of their crops, and living in dwellings which abounded with vermin; malarious diseases were common, and the miseries of the people must have been extreme. Ignorant, unclean and superstitious, subject to attacks from robbers, and oppressed by chieftains, a wild wandering life often must have presented greater attractions. Nothing could hold an agricultural community together but the bravery and skill of the chief, who, as the price of his protection demanded homage, and rent in kind, and thus kings and governments were established.

During the long periods in which man cultivated the soil and yet was a semi-barbarian, so little knowledge was gained of best methods of cultivation, and so insufficient were the implements that crops were taken only from the surface. Had cultivation been as deep as at the present day, population would have increased so much that the soil of the old world would have been exhausted long ago, and become a desert. Even now, on classic and historic ground the same superficial cultivation is continued, and a rich soil underneath has been preserved to be found by other and worthier races. The North American Indians belonged to the age of stone, and were preparing to enter the age of bronze, for to a slight extent they had begun to use copper. The Indians cultivated the soil only to a limited extent, and the labor was done by their women. Everywhere the weak have been forced to work for the strong. Their chief, and perhaps their only crops were corn and tobacco, growing on the bottoms of streams where grass does not naturally start. The sod of the rich prairies presented so many difficulties that

they did not undertake to subdue it. They had no animals of any kind, and it is to be noted that when Europeans introduced them the Indians saw no inducements to use them. Even now, after great efforts have been made to civilize some tribes, they take little advantage of animals, but seek rather, and in a natural order, a pastoral life, and they care for cattle that they may have their flesh. Nor do they attach much value to milk, as one might suppose, all of which shows that man will advance only by slow and progressive steps. The Indian race, then would appear to be so young as not yet to contain those accumulations of human effort which mark the European race, and they seem about equally advanced with the people who lived in Central Europe 2000 years before the Christian Era.

These things are said of man as a cultivator in a temperate climate and on favorable soil. In warm climates, food sufficient to sustain life is obtained with so little effort that he is not obliged to make the successive steps which lead to civilization. Hence, man's successive stages of development will be such, and only such, as the climate and soil compel him to make. A race may be very old in a warm climate, and yet not be so far advanced as a younger race in a cold one. When we speak of young and of old races, we refer to those periods of time when men became possessed of the peculiar characteristics which separate them into distinct bodies, which we call races, whatever may have been the cause, and whatever the periodism in which these causes operated. Besides, with reference to a warm climate, it is in few or no respects favorable for bringing the human race beyond a certain point, for the reason that the heat has such an effect upon the soil as to make it incapable of producing such food as contributes to develop the higher qualities. It does not produce grass which is more important than any other crop, and the small grains from which bread is made are grown with the greatest difficulty. Nor does it produce the more important vegetables, while it has no fruit of equal value with the apple.

The warm climate is simply favorable for the growth of man in the early stages, and at a time when he would perish if he were not assisted by nature; but after he outgrows such need, he must seek the regions of snow and ice to be scourged into activity through a long series of years. Dreadful as war is, it is as old as the race. Commencing among kinsmen and neighbors, with or without cause, spreading as nations spread, the weaker were pushed into forests, and across rivers and mountains where food was so scarce that multitudes perished, and only those survived who had strength and skill to discover new methods by which life could be sustained. Dark were the faces of the exiles with rage, as they thought of the warm valleys whence they were driven, but the frosts of the mountains and the ice in the rivers brought before them new enemies which they must conquer or die. Cruel as seemed the destiny, they led on the way to the discovery that the soil of a cold climate has greater capabilities of sustaining life than a warm one; that its food is more varied and nourishing; fruit is more sprightly and enduring, and that in grass is a greater value than all the productions ripened by a tropical sun.

The system of farming common among the people of Western Asia, and among the Greeks and Romans, was without change worthy of note, until after the age of King John who granted the Great Charter, when the small farm system began to be established, particularly in England. Afterwards, the influence of the Reformation was felt in giving the common people dignity, when farm productions became more varied, and food more abundant. By 1620 the middle class of England had become industrious and intelligent, and owned the land they worked. They were the noblest class England ever had. They were called Yeomen. From 1620 to 1820 there was little progress in farming, but there had been immense advance in religious liberty, in learning, and in the acquirement and investigation of the rights of the common people. These prepared the way for the discovery of many new methods for abbreviating labor, by means of inventions, and among these none has produced such powerful results as the introduction of the cast iron plow. This is generally considered an American invention, and it was quickly adopted in all civilized nations. Shortly after, two agricultural papers were published monthly, and though they were barely supported, they had immense influence upon the farming community and particularly upon legislators and leading men. Since then their number has steadily increased, and now a greater number of copies of agricultural papers are circulated than at the commencement of the century were circulated of all other kinds of papers then printed in the world. Combining, as most of them do, moral instruction, their influence upon the people is destined to produce the most important results. Meanwhile, agricultural machinery, in the greatest variety, has been invented and brought into use, and it may be said to perform as much labor as a million of able-bodied men. Through this means capital has rapidly accumulated among the common people; they have been enabled to build comfortable and even elegant dwellings, and to furnish them in good style, while the food of the family is abundant and often choice. There are also means for educating the young people, and at last, the distance between the laborer and a station of honor and profit is short. Perhaps nothing has contributed more to establish this condition, than the application of many inventions of the mechanic and machinist, as exhibited in the railway, by which means all kinds of farm products are transported great distances, and better prices are now obtained in the interior than formerly were received at the centers of commerce.

Fruit growing has kept full pace with all other pursuits, and there are in America more acres in nursery stock than were devoted to orchards in the whole world when Rome was in its greatest grandeur; for fruit then was little grown by the common people; it was seldom found except in the gardens of the wealthy; the quality was inferior and the varieties were few. Of grapes, however, the supplies were abundant, but only in limited regions, for the space within which this fruit flourishes is insignificant when compared with the space suited to producing bread. Fruit will not be grown in times of dissention and war; naturally, it is a product of peace, and in those countries only where labor is rewarded and the rights of indi