Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-02-23

then country, which flas pteseated \ scene vi
agricultural prosperity, such as was never be-
fore given TO the hopes Of men. These are
natural and gratifying reflections. It will,
however. better accord with the unassuming
and practical character OF the Society, il in
stead ot INDUCING in personal feelings, we
endeavour TO make even this meeting not
wholly unprofitabe by an attempt, necessarily
nasty and imperfect TO compare the situation
of the best cultivated parts of Europe with
our own--tO observe the means of improve
ment which the examination presents-and
10 suggest such topics as may recommend
the pursuit of agriculture in Pennsylvania
la thus inquiry oar curiosity is naturally
first attracted towards those distinguished ma
tons in the south of Europe, who after filing
the world with their fame, have passed away,
beqtieathlng to posterity some oi the noblest
works ofgenlus, and the purest examples of
human character. Undoubtedly in all that re-
mains OF them, we may trace the evidences of
strong attachment To rural life, and AN exqui-
site perception OF its enjoyments. Undoubt-
eddy the culiivators of the soil were among
the most distinguished citizens and the pur-
suits ofaSriculture have rarely been embeish-
Ell ny SO much cloquence, or sung with so
much enthusiasm, as by the great writers OF
antiquity. But this intellectual enioyment of
the country may well consist with AN mpcr-
feet condition of husbandry. The natural feel
lnSs belong to all times, but science is neces-
sarIly progressive nor does it detract in any
degree from the merits of the farmers of an
cient days, that in an era of comparative in
fancy, IN the physical sciences, they were not
advanced beyond the knowledge of their age.
incline TO think then that our natural rever-
ence for ancient nations, has exaggerated the
! value OF their agriculture, and that deliberate
examination of their history and their writ
in5s, Is calculated To lower the general esti-
mate OF the scientific management of their
lands.
Thus the most distinguished people of an
tiquity, the Athenans, were extremely attach
ed TO the country life yet their agriculture
must have been imperfect Attica is Il small
ridgy poor district of land, about one third us
large as the neighbouring county of Bucks,
with a very light cacareous soil, so dry, that
would not yield pasture to support the ca
valry employed in its defence, and so unpro-
ductive, that it did not afford grain enough for
the Subsistence of the farmers themselves
It's supplies of grain We're annually imported,
and ITS chief produce then was, as it is now,
the honey from its hills, and the olive which
delights insits thin dry soil
| Their great rivals occupied larger, and ra-
Their better country, but their habits and
| their Institutions, estranged them totally FROM
the cultivation of it. The territory of Sparta
was divided into small lots, each yielding
about 40 bushels of grain, with proportion of
WINE and oil and these were cultivated, not
by the owners themselves, who disdained the
pacific labours OF husbandry, but by a class of
people, half slaves and half tenants, who gave
a fixed proportion ofthe produce to the land
lords. Such state of things must he inaus-
| piclous To agriculture; the lrugality of the
owner beIns satisfied by very moderate pro-
ducton, and the depressed condition of the
tenant, rarely giving him the means or the
wish of improving his farm. The rest of the
Greek states seem to have supplied their own
consumption but the observation of one of
their best farmers, XenophOn, that agricul-
ture is Tie easiest of all the arts, and readily
acquired by IL little attention to the execution.
reveals better than any collection of facts.
the true state Of Greek husbandry particu-
larry as it is confirmed by the remains of all
the georgcal writer's fGrecce, which have
! reached us.
We have ampler information with regard
to the ancient state of Italy, The institutions
and the manners of the early Romans must
have been sihguIarly favourable to agricuI-
ture. The extreme subdivision of the soil
cultivated by the proprietor HIMSELF seems to
present the strongest incentive of necessity
and interest Ia good husbandry. Thus the
first allotment to each individual was two
across How long this limitation continued,
is unknown but, on the establishment of the
republic, 2i5 years afterwards, the limit was
fixed at seven acres.f This, like all unnatural
arrangements which restrict human industry,
gave way before the progress of wealth and
inequality; for, IN about IA century aud half,
| n law prohibited the possession by any indivi-
dual of more than five hundred. But the
change of manners, the infatuaton of power,
above all the introduction of slavery, render
ed 1t difficult TO enforce these restraints, and
the career of this inequality did not stop till,
as Is confessed by Pliny, the extensive estates
had destroyed Rome aud the provinces, and
one half of Africa was owned by six Roman
families whom Nero destroyed. In the pro-
| gress of these changes, the best remembrances
| OF the Roman power, as well as the highest
| advancement of its agriculture, are connected
with the period Immediately succeeding the
formation of the republic, when the allotment
| OF seven acres continued to be generally
maintained, and it was deemed wrong in a
senator To possess more than fifty. Ii was
during this period that the farm of Cincinnatus
consisted Of four acres, the other three having
been lost By his becoming security for a
friend. Ii was then that GURUS, OH his return
from sue cessful campaign, refused from the
people grant of fifty acres, declaring, that he
was Il bad citizen who could not be contented
with the old allowance of seven. We cannot
doubt that this subdivision Of the soil required
good cultivation to satisfy the wants even Of
the most frugal. But in the days which are
cited as the most distinguished in her history,
when Rome spread over Italy and almost all
the ancient world-the substitution of slaves
for free abourcrs had given a new character
to agriculture. In that period almost all TIA
ly was cultivated by sayes-not like that uD-