of marl as being known by the Britons, and Diodorus Siculus describes their method of preserving grain, by laying it up in the ear, in caves or granaries. But the general spread of agriculture in Britain was no doubt effected by the Romans. The tribute of a certain quantity of grain, which they imposed on every part of the country, as it fell under their dominion, obliged the inhabitants to practise tillage. And from the example of the conquerors, and the richness of the soil, they soon not only produced a sufficient quantity of grain for their own use and that of the Roman troops, but afforded every year a very great surplus for exportation. The Emperor Julian, in the fourth century, built granaries to receive this grain, and on one occasion sent a fleet of eight hundred ships, "larger than common barks," to convey it to the mouth of the Rhine, where it was sent up the country for the support of the plundered inhabitants.

Agriculture among the Romans themselves had begun to decline in Varro's time, and was at a low ebb in the days of Pliny. Many of the great men in Rome, trusting to their revenues from the provinces, neglected the culture of their estates. in Italy. Others, in want of money to answer the demands of luxury, raised all they could upon credit or mortgage, and raised the rents of their tenants to an oppressive height to enable them to pay the interest. The farmer was in this manner deprived of his capital; his spirits were broken and he ceased to exert himself; or he became idle and rapacious, like his landlord. The civil wars in the end of the second century, the tyrannical conduct of the emperors in the third, and the removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople in the middle of that which followed, prepared the way for the entrance of the Goths, in the beginning of the fifth century, which completed the downfall of agriculture and every peaceful art. It declined at the same time in all the western provinces; in Africa and Spain, from the incursions of the Moors; in France, from the inroads of the Germans; in Germany and Helvetia, from the inhabitants leaving their country and preferring a predatory life in other states; and in Britain, from the invasions of the Saxons and the inroads of the Scots and Picts.

CHAPTER III.

AGRICULTURE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, OR FROM THE FIFTH TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

In the ages of anarchy and barbarism, which succeeded the fall of the Roman power in Europe, agriculture appears to have been abandoned, or at least extremely neglected. Pasturage, in troublesome times, is always preferred to tillage, because sheep or cattle may be concealed from an enemy, or driven away on his approach; but who would sow without a certainty of being able to reap? Happily, the weaknesses of mankind sometimes serve to mitigate the effects of their vices. Thus, the credulity of the barbarians of those times led them to respect the religious establishments, and in these were preserved such remains of letters and of arts as have escaped utter destruction. These institutions were at first very limited, both in their buildings and possessions, and the inhabitants were frugal and virtuous in their habits; but in a very few years, by the grants of the rich warriors, they acquired extensive possessions, erected the most magnificent buildings, and lived in abundance and luxury. Their lands were cultivated by servants, under the direction of the priests, who would have recourse for information to the Roman agricultural writers, which, in common with such other books as then existed, were to be found almost exclusively in their libraries. We know little of the progress of agriculture, under these circumstances, for nearly ten centuries, when it began to revive throughout Europe, among the lay proprietors.

Agriculture in Italy during the Middle Ages. Little is known of the agriculture of Italy from the time of Pliny till that of Crescenzio, a senator from Bologna, whose work, “In Commodum Ruralium,” written in 1300, was first printed at Florence, in 1478. From some records, however, it appears that irrigation had been practised in Italy before the year 1037. The monks of Chiarevalle had formed extensive works of this kind, and had become so celebrated as to be consulted and employed as

hydraulic engineers, by the Emperor Frederick I., in the thirteenth century. Silk-worms were imported from Greece into Sicily, by Roger, the first king of that island, in 1146, but they did not extend to the continental states for many years afterwards.

In the early part of the fourteenth century, the inhabitants of the south of Italy were strangers to many of the conveniences of life. They were ignorant of the proper cultivation of the vine, and the common people were just beginning to wear shirts. The Florentines were the only people of Italy who, at that time, traded with England and France. The works of Crescenzio are, in great part, a compilation from the Roman authors; but an edition published in Basle, in 1.548, and illustrated with figures, may probably be considered as indicating the implements then in use. The plow is drawn by only one ox, but different kinds, to be drawn by two and four oxen, are described in the text. A driver is also mentioned, which shows that the plowmen in those days were less expert than during the time of the Romans, who did not use drivers. A wagon is described, with a wooden axle and low wooden wheels, each wheel formed either of one piece or of four pieces joined together. Knives, scythes, and grafting-tools, as well as their use, are figured. Sowing was then performed exactly as it was among the Romans, and is still, in most parts of Europe, where a sowing-machine is not employed. The various hand tools for stirring and turning the soil are described and exhibited, and the Roman bidens shown as in use for cultivating the vine. All the agricultural and horticultural plants described by Pliny are treated of, but no others.

Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Torrello's "Ricordo d'Agriculture" was published. In 1584 Pope Sixtus, according to Harte, forced his subjects to work, that they might pay the heavy taxes imposed on them, and by this means rendered them contented and happy, and himself rich and powerful. He found them sunk in sloth, overrun with pride and poverty, and lost to all sense of civil duties; but he recovered them from that despicable state, first to industry, and next to plenty and regularity. Naples being at that period a Spanish province, the wars in which Spain was engaged obliged her to put a tax upon fruit; and as fruits were not only the chief delicacies but