the commerce in these articles enriched the inhabitants, and enabled the proprietors to bestow increased attention to the cultivation of their estates. Lombardy excelled in the culture of corn and cattle as well as of the vine. The butter, cheese, and beef of the country, were esteemed the best in Italy. The pastures were at that time, and still are, more productive than any in Europe, or perhaps the world, having the three advantages of a climate so temperate in winter that the grass grows all the year; a soil naturally rich; and an abundant supply of river water for irrigation. The irrigation of Lombardy forms the chief feature of its culture. It was begun and carried to a considerable extent under the Romans, and in the period of which we speak extended and increased under the Lombard kings and wealthy religious establishments. Some idea may be formed of the comfort of the farmers in Lombardy in the thirteenth century, by the picture of a farm-house given by Crescenzio, who lived on its borders, which, as a French antiquarian (Paulinag) has observed, differ little from the best modern ones of Italy, but in being covered with thatch. SECT. II. History of Agriculture in France from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Century. 185. The nations who conquered France in the fifth century were the Goths, Vandals, and Franks. The two former nations claimed two-thirds of the conquered lands (Leges Burgundiorum, tit. 54.), and must of course have very much altered both the state of property, and the management of the affairs of husbandry. The claim of the Franks is more uncertain; they were so much a warlike people, that they probably dealt more favorably with those whom they subjected to their dominion. 186. All that is known of the agriculture of these nations and of France till the ninth century is derived from a perusal of their laws. These appear to have been favorable to cultivation, especially the laws of the Franks. Horses are frequently mentioned, and a distinction made between the war horse and farm horse, which shews that this animal was at that period more common in France than in Italy. Horses, cattle, and sheep, were pastured in the forests and commons, with bells about the necks of several of them, for their more ready discovery. The culture of vines and orchards was greatly encouraged by Charlemagne in the ninth century. He planted many vineyards on the crown lands which were situated in every part of the country, and left in his capitularies particular instructions for their culture.. One of his injunctions prohibits an ox and an ass from being yoked together in the same plough. civil 187. During great part of the ninth and tenth centuries, France was harassed by wars, and agriculture declined; but to what extent, scarcely any facts are left us to ascertain. A law, passed in that period respecting a farmer's tilling the lands of his superior, enacts that if the cattle are so weak that four could not go a whole day in the plough, he was to join these to the cattle of another and work two days instead of one. He who kept no cattle of his own was obliged to work for his superior three days as a laborer. 188. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the country enjoyed more tranquillity, and agriculture was improved. Judging from the Abbé Suger's account of the abbey lands of St. Dennis, better farm-houses were built, waste lands cultivated, and rents more than doubled. The church published several canons for the security of agriculture during this period, which must have had a beneficial effect, as the greatest proportion of the best lands in every country were then in the hands of the clergy. 189. In the thirteenth century little alteration took place; but the number of holidays were diminished, and mills for grinding corn driven by wind introduced. 190. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries agriculture suffered greatly by the English wars and conquests, and by political regulations relatively to the export and market price of corn. 191. About the middle of the sixteenth century the first agricultural work produced in France made its appearance. It was entitled, Les Moyens de devenir riche, and was written by Bernard de Pallisy, a potter, who had written on various subjects. It is a very short tract, composed of economical remarks on husbandry, or rural and domestic economy. Towards the end of this century, under Henry IV., and his virtuous minister Sully, considerable enterprise was displayed. Canals were projected and one begun, and according to Sally, France in his time abounded with corn, grain, pulse, wine, cider, flax, hemp, salt, wool, oil, dyeing drugs, cattle great and small, and every thing else, whether necessary or convenient for life, both for home consumption and exportation. (Mem. b. xvi. 225. Ranken's Hist. of France, i. 433.) Str. III. Of the Agriculture of Germany and other Northern States from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Century. 192. The nations north of the Rhine and the Danube, during the first half of these chiefly employed in making inroads or conquests on their southern neigh centuries, were bors; and during the whole period they were more or less engaged in attacking one another. Under such circumstances, agriculture must either have remained in the state which we have already described (178.), or it must have declined. In some states or kingdoms it may have been less neglected than in others, or may even have improved; but during the whole of this period, nothing was effected which demands particular attention. 193. The earliest German author on husbandry is Conradus Heresbachius, who was born in 1508, and died in 1576. His work, De Re Rustica, was published after his death. It is an avowed compilation from all the authors who had preceded him, and contains no information as to the state of agriculture around him. It is a dialogue in four books, and includes also gardening. The persons are Cono, a gentleman retired tothe country; Rigo, a courtier; Metelea, wife of Cono; and Hermes, a servant. The conversation is carried on in Cono's house, and on his farm, and the different speakers are made to deliver all that has been said by all the Greek and Roman writers, from Hesiod to Pliny, by Crescenzio and other Italians, and by various writers on general subjects: they converse on the advantages of agriculture as a pursuit; on its general maxims and practices; on the culture of particular plants, and the economy of the house and garden. 194. No other books on agriculture of any note appeared in Germany during the period under review. About the middle of the sixteenth century, the Elector of Saxony, Augustus II., is said to have encouraged agriculture, and to have planted the first vineyard in Saxony; but from the implements with which he worked in person, which are still preserved in the arsenal of Dresden, he appears to have been more a gardener than a farmer. It is to be regretted that the histories of the arts in the northern countries during the middle ages are very few, and so little known or accessible, that we cannot derive much advantage from them. SECT. IV. History of Agriculture in Britain from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Century. 195. Britain, on being quitted by the Romans, was invaded by the Saxons, a ferocious and ignorant people, by whom agriculture, and all other civilized arts, were neglected. In the eleventh century, when the Saxons had amalgamated with the natives, and constituted the main body of the English nation, the country was again invaded by the Normans, a much more civilized race, who introduced considerable improvement. These two events form two distinct periods in the history of British agriculture, and two others will bring it down to the seventeenth century. SUBSECT. 1. History of Agriculture in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon Dynasty, or from the Fifth to the Eleventh Century. 196. At the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons this island, according to Fleury, (History, vol. iv. p. 97.) abounded in numerous flocks and herds, which these conquerors seized, and pastured for their own use; and after their settlement they still continued to follow pasturage as one of the chief means of their subsistence. This is evident from the great number of laws that were made in the Anglo-Saxon times, for regulating the prices of all kiuds of tame cattle, directing the manner in which they were to be pastured, and for preserving them from thieves, robbers, and beasts of prey. (Wilkins, Leges Saxon, passim.) 197. The Welsh in this period, from the nature of their country, and other circumstances, depended still more on their flocks and herds for their support; hence their laws respecting pasturage were more numerous and minute than those of the Saxons. (Leges Wallica, passim.) From these laws we learn, among many other particulars, which need not be mentioned, that all the cattle of a village, though belonging to different owners, were pastured together in one herd, under the direction of one person (with proper assistants); whose oath, in all disputes about the cattle under his care, was decisive. 198. By one of these laws, they were prohibited to plough with horses, mares, or cows, but only with oxen. (Leges Wallicæ, p. 288.) Their ploughs seem to have been very slight and inartificial; for it was enacted, that no man should undertake to guide a plough who could not make one; and that the driver should make the ropes of twisted willows, with which it was drawn. (Id. p. 283.) But slight as these ploughs were, it was usual for six or eight persons to form themselves into a society for fitting out one of them, and providing it with oxen, and every thing necessary for ploughing; and many minute and curious laws were made for the regulation of such societies. This is a sufficient proof both of the poverty of the husbandmen, and of the imperfect state of agriculture among the ancient Britons in this period. 199. Certain privileges were allowed to any person who laid dung on a field, cut down a wood, or folded his cattle on another's land for a year. Such was the state of agriculture during this period in Wales; it was probably in a still more imperfect state among the Scots and Picts, but of this we have no means of ascertaining. 200. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors derived their origin and manners from the ancient Germans, who were not much addicted to agriculture, but depended chiefly on their flocks and herds for their subsistence. (Strabo, 1. vii. Cæsar de Bel. Gal. 1. vi.) These restless and haughty warriors esteemed the cultivation of their lands too ignoble and laborious an employment for themselves, and therefore committed it wholly to their women and slaves. (Tacit. de Morib. German. c. 15.) They were even at pains to contrive laws to prevent their contracting a taste for agriculture, lest it should render them less fond of arms and warlike expeditions. (Id. c. 26.) 201. The division of landed estates into what are called inlands and outlands, originated with the Saxon princes and great men, who, in the division of the conquered lands, obtained the largest shares, and are said to have subdivided their territory into two parts, which were so named. The inlands were those which lay most contiguous to the mansionbouse of their owner, which he kept in his own immediate possession, and cultivated by his slaves, under the direction of a bailiff, for the purpose of raising provisions for his family. The outlands were those which lay at a greater distance from the mansionhouse, and were let to the ceorls or farmers of those times at a certain rent, which was very moderate, and generally paid in kind. (Reliquæ Spelmanianæ, p. 12.) 202. The rent of land in these times was established by law, and not by the owners of the land. By the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who flourished in the end of the seventh and beginning of the eighth century, a farm consisting of ten hides or plough lands was to pay the following rent, viz. ten casks of honey, three hundred loaves of bread, twelve casks of strong ale, thirty casks of small ale, two oxen, ten wethers, ten geese, twenty hens, ten cheeses, one cask of butter, five salmon, twenty pounds of forage, and one hundred eels. (Wilkins, Leges Saxon, p. 25.) The greatest part of the crown lands in every county was farmed in this manner by ceorls or farmers, who in general appear to have been freemen and soldiers. 903. Very little is known of the implements er operations of husbandry during this period. In one of Strutt's plates of ancient dresses, entitled, Saron Rarities of the Eighth Centary, may be seen a picture of a plough and ploughman. (fig. 22.) This is sufficiently rude, though it has evidently undergone some improvement by the art of the delineator. The laborers were no doubt slaves, and the animals of draught, oxen. The lands belonging to the monasteries were by much the best cultivated; because the secular canons who possessed them, spent some part of their time in cultivating their own lands. 22 The venerable Bede, in his life of Easterwin Abbot of Weremouth, tells us, "That this abbot, being a strong man, and of a humble disposition, used to assist his monks in their rural labors, sometimes guiding the plough by its stilt or handle, sometimes winnowing corn, and sometimes forging instruments of husbandry with a hammer upon an anvil." (Bedæ, Hist. Abbat. Weremath. p. 296.) For in those times the husbandmen were under a necessity of making many implements of husbandry with their own hands. SECT. 2. Of the State of Agriculture in Britain after the Norman Conquest, or from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries. 204. That the conquest of England by the Normans contributed to the improvement of agriculture in Britain is undeniable. "For by that event many thousands of husbandmen, from the fertile and well cultivated plains of Flanders, France, and Normandy, settled in this island, obtained estates or farms, and employed the same methods in the cultivation of them that they had used in their native countries. Some of the Norman barons were great improvers of their lands, and are celebrated in history for their skill in agriculture." "Richard de Rulos, lord of Brunne and Deeping," says Ingulphus, was much addicted to agriculture, and delighted in breeding horses and cattle. Besides inclosing and draining a great extent of country, he imbanked the river Wielland (which used every year to overflow the neighboring fields) in a most substantial manner, building many houses and cottages upon the bank; which increased so much, that in a little time they formed a large town called Deeping, from its low situation. planted orchards, cultivated commons, converted deep lakes and impassable quagmires into fertile fields, rich meadows, and pastures; and, in a word, rendered the whole country about it a garden of delights." (Hist. Ingulphi. Oxon. edit. 1684, tom. i. p. 77, 78.) From the above description, it appears that this nobleman (who was chamberlain to William the Conqueror) was not only fond of agriculture, but also that he conducted his improvements with skill and success. Here he 205. The Norman clergy, and particularly the monks, were still greater improvers than the nobility; and the lands of the church, especially of the convents, were conspicuous for their superior cultivation. For the monks of every monastery retained such of their lands as lay most convenient in their own possession, which they cultivated with great care, under their own inspection, and frequently with their own hands. It was so much the custom of the monks of this period to assist in the cultivation of their lands, especially in seed-time, hay-time, and harvest, that the famous Thomas Becket, after he was Archbishop of Canterbury, used to go out to the field, with the monks of the monasteries where he happened to reside, and join with them in reaping their corn and making their hay. (Chron. Gervas. col. 1400.) This is indeed mentioned by the historian as an act of uncommon condescension in a person of his high station in the church; but it is sufficient proof that the monks of those times used to work with their own hands, at some seasons, in the labors of the field: and as many of them were men of genius and invention, they no doubt made various improvements in the art of agriculture. The twenty-sixth canon of the general council of Lateran, held A. D. 1179, affords a further proof that the protection and encouragement of all who were concerned in agriculture, was an object of attention to the church. For by that canon, it is decreed, "That all presbyters, clerks, monks, converts, pilgrims, and peasants, when they are engaged in the labors of husbandry, together with the cattle in their ploughs, and the seed which they carry into the field, shall enjoy perfect security; and that all who molest or interrupt them, if they do not desist when they have been admonished, shall be excommunicated." (Id. col. 1456.) 206. The implements of husbandry, in this period, were of the same kind with those that are employed at present; but some of them were less perfect in their construction. One sort of plough, for example, had but one stilt or handle, which 23 the ploughman guided with one hand, having in his other hand an instrument which served both for cleaning and mending his plough, (fig. 23.) and breaking the clods. This implement was probably intended for breaking up strong lands; for such a purpose the wheels would contribute much to its steadiness, which would render two handles unnecessary, and thus leave the holder with one hand at liberty to use his axelike instrument in clearing away roots and clods, or otherwise aiding the operation of the plough. Another plough (fig. 24.) seems to have been without wheels, and was probably intended for light soil. (See Strutt's Complete View of the Manners, &c. of England, vol. ii. p. 12.) The Norman plough had two wheels; and, in the light soil of Normandy, was commonly drawn by one ox, or two oxen; but in England a greater number, according to the nature of the soil, was often necessary. (M. Montfaucon, Monumens de Monarchie Francois, tom. i. plate 47. Girald. Cambrens. Descript. Cambriæ, c. 17.) In Wales, the person who conducted the oxen in the plough, walked backwards. 24 25 (Id. ibid.) Their carts, harrows, scythes, sickles, and flails, from the figures of them still remaining, appear to have been nearly of the same construction with those that are now used. (Strutt's View, vol. i. plate 26. 32. 33. and our fig. 25.) In Wales, they did not use a sickle in reaping their corn, but an instrument like the blade of a knife, with a wooden handle at each end. (Girald. Cam., ibid.) Water-mills for grinding corn were very common, but they had also a kind of mills turned by horses, which were chiefly used in their armies, and at sieges, or in places where running water was scarce. (Gaufrid Vinisauf. iter Hierosolymit. 1. i. c. 33. Paris. Vit. Abbot. p. 94. col. 2.) M. 207. The various operations of husbandry, as manuring, ploughing, sowing, harrowing, reaping, threshing, winnowing, &c. are incidentally mentioned by the writers of this period; but it is impossible to collect from them a distinct account of the manner in which these operations were performed. Marl seems to have been the chief manure next to dung, employed by the Anglo-Norman, as it had been by the Anglo-Saxon and British husbandmen. (M. Paris. Hist. p. 181. In Vit. Abbot. p. 101. col. 1.) Summerfallowing of lands designed for wheat, and ploughing them several times, appears to have been a common practice of the English farmers of this period. For Giraldus Cambrensis, in his description of Wales, takes notice of it as a great singularity in the husbandmen of that country, "that they ploughed their lands only once a-year, in March or April, in order to sow them with oats; but did not, like other farmers, plough them twice in summer, and once in winter, in order to prepare them for wheat." (Giral. Cambrens. Descript. Cambria, c. viii. p. 887.) On the border of one of the compartments in the famous tapestry of Bayeux, we see the figure of one man sowing with a sheet about his neck, containing the seed under his left arm, and scattering it with his right hand; and of another man harrowing with one harrow, drawn by one horse. (Montfaucon, Monumens de Monarchie Francois, tom. i. plate 47.) In two plates of Strutt's very curious and valuable work (figs. 26, 27.), we perceive the figures of several persons en gaged in mowing, reaping, threshing, and winnowing; in all which operations there appear to be little singular or different from modern practice. (Strutt's Complete View of the Manners, Customs, &c. of England, vol. i. plates 11, 12.) 208. Agriculture in Scotland seems to have been in a very imperfect state towards the end of this period. For in a parliament held at Scone, by king Alexander II. A.D. 1214, it was enacted, that such farmers as had four oxen or cows, or upwards, should labor their lands, by tilling them with a plough, and should begin to till fifteen days before Candlemas; and that such farmers as had not so many as four oxen, though they could not labor their lands by tilling, should delve as much with hand and foot as would produce a sufficient quantity of corn to support themselves and their families. (Regiam Majestatum, p. 307.) But this law was probably designed for the highlands, and most uncultivated parts of the kingdom. For in the same parliament a very severe law was made against those farmers who did not extirpate a pernicious weed called guilde (Chrysanthemum segetum, L.) out of their lands, which seems to indicate a more advanced state 23 of cultivation. (Id. p. 335.) Their agricul- 29 in that and in most countries. Such is the account of Henry. (History of Britain, vol. vi. p. 173.) 209. The field culture of the vine, which had been commenced by the monks for their own use, was more extensively spread by the William of Malmsbury, who florished in the early part of the twelfth century, says, there were a greater number of vineyards in the vale of Gloucester than Normans. |