Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

AGRICULTURE (from Lat. ages, field, a...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 389 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

AGRICULTURE (from See also:Lat. ages, See also:field, and colere, to cultivate) , the See also:science, See also:art and See also:industry of utilizing the See also:soil so as to produce the means of human subsistence, embracing in its widest sense the rearing of live-stock as well as the raising of crops. The See also:history of agriculture is the history of See also:man in his most See also:primitive, and most permanent aspect. Hence the nations of antiquity ascribed to it a divine origin; Brahma in Hindustan, See also:Isis in See also:Egypt, See also:Demeter in See also:Greece, and See also:Ceres in See also:Italy, were its founders. The simplest See also:form of agriculture is that in which crops are raised from one patch of ground till it is exhausted, when it is allowed to go See also:wild and abandoned for another. This " extensive " husbandry is found in See also:combination with a .nomadic or semi-nomadic and See also:pastoral organization, such as that of the See also:German tribes described by See also:Caesar and See also:Tacitus (see especially Germania, 26). The See also:discovery of the uses of the See also:bare See also:fallow and of manure, by mating it possible to raise crops from the same See also:area for an indefinite See also:period, marks a See also:stage of progress. This " intensive " culture in a more or less See also:developed form was practised by the See also:great nations of antiquity, and little decided advance was made till after the See also:middle ages. The introduction of new See also:plants, which made it possible to dispense with the bare fallow, and still later the application to husbandry of scientific discoveries as to soils, plant constituents and See also:manures, brought about a revolution in farming. But the progress of husbandry, evidenced by the See also:production of larger and better crops with more certainty, is due to that rationalizing of agricultural practices which is the See also:work of See also:modern times. What before was done in the See also:light of experience is nowadays done in the light of knowledge. Even the earliest forms of intensive cultivation demand the practice of the fundamental processes of husbandry—ploughing, manuring, See also:sowing, weeding, See also:reaping. It is the improvements in methods, implements and materials, brought about by the application of science, that distinguish the husbandry of the loth See also:century from that of See also:medieval and See also:ancient times.

Ancient Husbandry.—The monumental records of Egypt are the source of the earliest See also:

information on farming. The Egypt Bgspt• of the Pharaohs was a See also:country of great estates farmed either by tenants or by slaves or labourers under the superintendence of stewards. It owed its fertility to the See also:Nile, which, inundating the See also:land near its See also:banks, was distributed by means of canals over more distant portions of its valley. The autumnal subsidence of the See also:river was followed by shallow ploughing performed by oxen yoked to clumsy wooden ploughs, the clods being afterwards levelled with wooden hoes by See also:hand. Next came the sowing, the See also:seed being pressed into the soil by the feet of See also:sheep which were driven over the See also:fields. At See also:harvest the See also:corn was cut high on the stalk with See also:short See also:sickles and put up in sheaves, after which it was carried to the threshing-See also:floor and there trodden out by the hoofs of oxen. Winnowing was done by See also:women, who tossed the See also:grain into the See also:air with small wooden boards, the See also:chaff being blown away by the winds. See also:Wheat and See also:barley were the See also:chief crops, and another plant, perhaps identical with the See also:durra, i.e. See also:millet, of modern Egypt, was also cultivated. The latter, when ripe, was pulled up by the roots, and the grain was separated by means of an See also:implement resembling a See also:comb. To these crops may be added peas, beans and many herbs and esculent roots. Oxen were much prized, and breeding was carried on with a careful See also:eye to selection. Immense See also:numbers of ducks and geese were reared.

Diodorus Siculus, See also:

writing of later times, says that See also:cattle were sent during a portion of each See also:year to the marshy pastures ofthe See also:delta, where they roamed under the care of herdsmen. They were fed with See also:hay during the See also:annual inundation, and at other times tethered in meadows of See also:green See also:clover. The flocks were shorn twice annually (a practice See also:common to several See also:Asiatic countries), and the ewes yeaned twice a year. (See also EGYPT.) The agriculture of the region bordering the See also:Tigris and See also:Euphrates, like that of Egypt, depended largely on See also:irrigation, and traces of ancient canals are still to be seen in Babylonia. But beyond the fact that both Babylonia and See also:Assyria were large producers of cereals, little is known of their husbandry. The nomads of the patriarchal ages, whilst mainly dependent upon their flocks and herds, practised also agriculture proper. The tracts over which they roamed were in See also:ordinary Biblical circumstances common to all shepherds alike. During accounts the summer they frequented the mountainous districts, among and retired to the valleys to See also:winter. Vast flocks of the sraelites. sheep and of See also:goat constituted their See also:wealth, although they also possessed oxen. When the last were abundant, it seems to be an indication that tillage was practised. See also:Job, besides immense possessions in flocks and herds, had Soo yoke of oxen, which he employed in ploughing, and a " very great husbandry." See also:Isaac, too, conjoined tillage with pastoral husbandry, and that with success, for " he sowed in the land Gerar, and reaped an See also:hundred-See also:fold "—a return which, it would appear, in some favoured regions, occasionally rewarded the labour of the husbandman.

In the See also:

parable of the sower, Jesus See also:Christ mentions an increase of See also:thirty, sixty and an hundred fold. Along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and See also:Romans, the Israelites are classed as one of the great agricultural nations of antiquity. The See also:Mosaic See also:Institute contained an agrarian See also:law, based upon an equal See also:division of the soil amongst the adult See also:males, a See also:census of whom was taken just before their entrance into See also:Canaan. See also:Provision was thus made for 600,000 yeomen, assigning (according to different calculations) from sixteen to twenty-five acres of land to each. This land, held in See also:direct See also:tenure from See also:Jehovah, their See also:sovereign, was in theory inalienable. The See also:accumulation of See also:debt upon it was prevented by the See also:prohibition of See also:interest, the See also:release of debts every seventh year, and the reversion of the land to the proprietor, or his heirs, at each return of the year of See also:jubilee. The owners of these small farms cultivated them with much care, and rendered them highly productive. They were favoured with a soil extremely fertile, and one which their skill and See also:diligence kept in See also:good See also:condition. The stones were carefully cleared from the fields, which were also watered from canals and conduits, communicating with the See also:brooks and streams with which the country " was well watered everywhere," and enriched by the application of manures. The seventh year's fallow prevented the exhaustion of the soil, which was further enriched by the burning of the weeds and spontaneous growth of the Sabbatical year. The crops chiefly cultivated were wheat, millet, barley, beans and lentils; to which it is supposed, on grounds not improbable, may be added See also:rice and See also:cotton. The chief implements were a wooden plough of See also:simple and light construction, a See also:hoe or See also:mattock, and a light See also:harrow.

The ox and the See also:

ass were used for labour. The word " oxen," which occurs in our version of the Scriptures, as well as in the See also:Septuagint and See also:Vulgate, denotes the See also:species, rather than the See also:sex. As the See also:Hebrews did not mutilate any of their animals, bulls were in common use. The quantity of land ploughed by a yoke of oxen in. one See also:day was called a yoke or See also:acre. Towards the end of See also:October, with which See also:month the See also:rainy See also:season begins, seed-See also:time commenced, and of course does so still. The seedtime, begun in October, extends, for wheat and some other See also:white crops, through See also:November and See also:December; and barley continues to be sown until about the middle of See also:February. The seed appears to have been sometimes ploughed in, and at other times to have been covered by harrowing. The See also:cold winds which prevail in See also:January and February frequently injured the crops in the more exposed and higher districts. The rainy season extends from October to See also:April, during which time refreshing showers fall, chiefly during the See also:night, and generally at intervals of a few days. The harvest was earlier or later as the rains towards the end of the season were more or less copious. It, however, generally began in April, and continued through May for the different crops in See also:succession. In the See also:south, and in the plains, the harvest, as might be expected, commenced some See also:weeks earlier than in the See also:northern and mountainous districts.

The slopes of the hills were carefully terraced and irrigated wherever practicable, and on these slopes the See also:

vine and See also:olive were cultivated with great success. At the same time the See also:hill districts and neighbouring deserts afforded pasturage for numerous flocks and herds, and thus admitted of the benefits of a mixed husbandry. Not by a figure of speech but literally, every Israelite sat under the See also:shadow of his own vine and fig-See also:tree; whilst the country as a whole is described (2 See also:Kings xviii. 32) as " a land of corn and See also:wine, a land of See also:bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of See also:honey." The earliest known forms of intensive husbandry were based chiefly upon the proximity of See also:rivers and irrigation. The agriareece culture of classical ages was slightly more developed in so far as the husbandman of Greece and See also:Rome was less able to leave to nature the fertilization of the soil. Greece being a mountainous land was favourable to the culture of the vine rather than to that of cereals. Scanty information on its agriculture is to be derived from the See also:Works and Days of See also:Hesiod (about the 8th century B.C.), the 0econonticus of See also:Xenophon (4th century B.C.), the History of Plants and the Origin of Plants of See also:Theophrastus (4th century B.C.). The latter is the first writer on See also:botany, and his works also contain interesting remarks on manures, the mixing of soils and other agricultural topics (see also See also:GEOPONICI). See also:Greek husbandry had no salient characteristics. The summer fallow with repeated ploughing was its basis. The See also:young See also:crop was hoed, reaping was performed with a sickle, and a high stubble See also:left on the ground as manure. The methods of threshing and winnowing were the same as those in use in ancient Egypt.

Wheat, barley and spelt were the leading crops. Meadows were pastured rather than mown. See also:

Attica was famous for its See also:olives and See also:figs, but See also:general agriculture excelled in See also:Peloponnesus, where, by means of irrigation and drainage, all the available land was utilized. In the See also:early days of the See also:Roman See also:republic land in Italy was held largely by small proprietors, and agriculture was highly esteemed Rome. and classed with See also:war as an occupation becoming a See also:free man. The See also:story of See also:Cincinnatus, twice summoned from the plough to the highest offices in the See also:state, illustrates the status of the Roman husbandman. The later tendency was towards the absorption of smaller holdings into large estates. As wealth increased the See also:peasant-See also:farmer gave way before the large land-owner, who cultivated his See also:property by means of slave-labour, superintended by slave-bailiffs. The See also:low See also:price of grain, which was imported in huge quantitiefrom See also:Sicily and other Roman provinces, operated to crush the small holder, at the same time as it made arable farming unremunerative. Sheep-raising, involving larger holdings, less supervision and less labour, was preferred by the capitalist land-holder to the cultivation of the wheat, spelt, vines or olives which were the chief crops of the country. See also:Lupine, beans, peas and vetches were grown for See also:fodder, and meadows, often artificially watered, supplied hay. See also:Swine and poultry were used for See also:food to a greater extent than oxen, which were bred chiefly for ploughing. The following See also:epitome of See also:Virgil's See also:advice to the husbandman in the first See also:book of the Georgics suggests the outline of Roman husbandry: " First learn the peculiarities of your soil and See also:climate.

Plough the fallow in early See also:

spring, and plough frequently—twice in winter, twice in summer unless your land is poor, when a light ploughing in See also:September will do. Either let the land See also:lie fallow every other year or else let spelt follow See also:pulse, vetches or lupine. Repetition of one crop exhausts the ground; rotation will lighten the See also:strain, only the exhausted soil must be copiously dressed with manure or ashes. It often does good to See also:burn the stubble on the ground. Harrow down the clods, level the ridges by See also:cross ploughing, work the land thoroughly. Irrigation benefits a sandy soil, draining a marshy soil. It is well to feed down a luxuriant crop when the plants are level with the See also:ridge tops. Geese andcranes, See also:chicory, See also:mildew, thistles, See also:cleavers, caltrops, darnel and shade are farmer's enemies. Scare off the birds, harrow up the weeds, cut down all that shades the crop. Ploughs, waggons, threshing-sledges, harrows, baskets, hurdles, winnowing-fans are the farmer's implements. The plough consists of several parts made of seasoned See also:wood. The threshing-floor must be smooth and rammed hard to leave no crevices for weeds and small animals to get through.

Some steep seed in soda and oil lees to get a larger produce. Careful annual selection by hand of the best seed is the only way to prevent degeneration. It is best to See also:

mow stubble and hay at night when they are moist." In addition to the use of several kinds of See also:animal and other manures, green crops were sometimes ploughed in by the Romans. The shrewdness which, more than inventiveness, characterized their husbandry comes out well in the following See also:quotation from the 18th book of the Natural History of See also:Pliny:—" See also:Cato would have this point especially to be considered, that the soil of a See also:farm be good and fertile; also, that near it there be plenty of labourers and that it be not far from a large See also:town; moreover, that it have sufficient means for transporting its produce, either by See also:water or land. Also that the See also:house be well built, and the land about it as well managed. They are in See also:error who hold the See also:opinion that the See also:negligence and See also:bad husbandry of the former owner is good for his successor. Now, I say there is nothing more dangerous and disadvantageous to the buyer than land so left See also:waste and out of See also:heart; and therefore Cato counsels well to See also:purchase land of one who has managed it well, and not rashly to despise and make light of the skill and knowledge of another." Roman writers on agriculture (see GEOPONICI) are rrtore numerous than those of Greece. The earliest important See also:treatises are the De re Rustica of Cato (234–149 B.C.) and the Rerum Rusticarum Libri of See also:Varro. More famous than either are the Georgics of Virgil, published about 30 B.C., and treating of tillage, See also:horticulture, cattle-breeding and See also:bee-keeping. The works of See also:Columella (1st century A.D.) and of See also:Palladius (4th century A.D.) are exhaustive treatises, and the Natural History of the See also:elder Pliny (A.D. 23–7o) contains considerable information on husbandry. Under the later See also:empire agriculture sank into a condition of neglect, in which it remained throughout the Dark Ages.

In See also:

Spain its revival was due to the See also:Saracens, and by them, and their successors the See also:Moors, agriculture was carried to a high See also:pitch of excellence. The work on agriculture' of See also:Ibn-al-Awam, who lived in the 12th century A.D., treats of the varieties of soils, manuring, irrigation, ploughing, sowing, harvesting, stock, horticulture, See also:arboriculture and plant diseases, and is a lasting See also:record of their skill and industry. - The subsequent history of agriculture is treated in the following pages primarily from the See also:British standpoint. Doubtless See also:Flanders may claim to be the See also:pioneer of " high farming " in medieval times, other countries following her See also:lead in many respects. It is not, however, necessary to See also:deal with the agricultural See also:evolution of See also:continental See also:Europe, the See also:gradual progress of agriculture as a whole being well enough typified in the story of its development in See also:England, which indeed has led the way in modern times. After sections on the history and chief modern features of British agriculture, a See also:separate See also:account is given of the general features of See also:American agriculture.

End of Article: AGRICULTURE (from Lat. ages, field, and colere, to cultivate)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
AGRICULTURE 		[next]
AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED

Site © 2006 - Net Industries