Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1853-10-01
AGRICULTURAL.
ART % OF CULTIVATION.

NO. l.
There is no art of so general inteses, as
that of vegetable cultivation which has re.
ceived so little attention. Until very recent.
lN comparatively speaking, no attempts
were made 10 systematic and reduce TO a
certainty the various discoveries of the
principles Of youth in the vegetable king.
dom. The ignorance and superstition of
many of the Ancient nations, together with
their warlike Characters, prevented them
from giving that attention to this important
branch Of domestic economy, and fruitful
source of national wealth and prosperity,
W hich it has received in more Modern times
The nations Of antiquity-the Romans, the
Athenans, tho Lacedemonians and the
Macedonians, although they had made con.
Siderable advances in the Arts and Scien.
ces, we're yet almost entirely ignorant ofthe
principles Of vegetable economy, owing no
doubt to the warlike propcnslies of the more
wealthy and respectable citizens, who let no
favorable opportunity for pilaging their
weaker neighbors pass unimproved. Thus
they obtained the necessary food for the
sustenance ofihemselvcs and their families,
partly from the plunder and subsidies re.
ceved from the vaaqulshed enemy, and
partly from the fruits of the earth at hom e
which was cultivated cnly by slaves or seris,
who cared no farther for the success Of their
labor than to be supplied themselves with
food. Thus il was that no progress was
made among tiose nations IN this most vsl-
liable and necessary of all Arts. The Egyp-
lang, though laying claims 10 some pro-
ficiency in the Sciences and Arts, gave no
attention TO the investigation Of the various
circumstances favorable 10 the full and per-
feet development of veg etable organizatioa.
And this at first sight mays strange,
when we look at the great number ofpopu.
lous aud powerful cities, fourishing almost
within sight on each other, and take into con.
sidcration the fact, that if the surface OF
Egyp, is a barren, irreclaimablc desert,
whose sands can never be clad with green,
excepthy those causes of Nature which are
silently st work 10 'cenv ert their barrcnncss
to fertility. 1t is true That the Egyp;ans
were more quiet people, and less given 10
war and plundcr than their contemporaries,
the Maccdonans and those nations before
alluded TO. II is also true that theyowere a
Iaborng people, as is clearly provenb by those
slnpendous ruins of ancient temples and
wasted cities, which so thickly dot either
side of the Nile from Upper TO Lower Egypt.
All this woulds seem to present an opporlu.
nifty 10 the inhabitants of that country to
cultivate and thoroughly understand the
principles Of vegetable physiology. hdeod,
the crowded state Of the population, the vast
number of cities and the ameunt 'ofpersons
engaged upon the Public Works, and who
must all be supported by the produc ito rs OF
their own soil, seems as tioughitmusi have
rendered it absolutely necessary that the
farmer should understand perfectly the ar
OF attaining the greatest possible quantity
of fnourisbmentfrom given space Of ground,
Yet when we come TO study the geographi-
cal and geological peculiarilies Of the coun
Try, we shall perceive al once, illa, Egypt
is the last country where the art of vogea-
bic cultivation needs TO be studied. The
productive portions of Egypt consist Of the
Nile and the sea board. The strip Of land
bordering upon and forming the coast of the.
Mediterranean Sea, has powerful soil,
which, when taken IN conhexion with the
fine effects ofthe sea breez and the natu-
raj luxurance Of the climate, renders un-
necessary any attempt TO increase the abun'
anceofrhe crop. But these apparently
great advantages which the sea coast ell.
Joys, sinks into insignifcance when compared
with the agricultural advantages which the
Creator has bestowed upon the valley of the
Nile. This garden OF the Earth, (and the
expression is by no means oxtravaganD ~
ing along upon either side of The Nile, and
following its meanderings from its mouth at
the Mediterranean for thousands of miles,
back into the deserts of interior Africa, be-
yond the bounds Of civilized acquaintance,
is, without doubt, the most productive coun-
try on the globe. But the portion with
which we have at present to do, and the one
BY far the most interesting, extends from
the Deltas ofthc Nile, back to the first cat
aract on the border of tho Kingdom Of Nu-
bia' and varying in width from ono and II
half TO twelve miles. This vast tract is IN
undated each year by the annual swelling of
the waters of the Nile, which commences
about the goth of June and continues TO in.
crease until about the ist of September, at
which time they reach their arme aud be-
gin TO fall The immense deposits created
upon the submerged lands, are left by the |