The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-10-25
Aucteut A0rfnplt.,rc

An article III tne LONDON quarterly kfefttr
gives some facts which show that our modern
farmers have no reason to look upon the
aneients as bsrharians in agriculture, and
that more respect was then r2td to agricui-
turat hooks than at present, aud "a reliable
results derived from agricultural labors rs at
this time,
he Roman agricultural course, "ita par
tial exceptions, was If the simplest posslnie
descrption-a crop OF grash and failoW'--
Every wear one half CT the arabic land was In
grain one-hsis In iaiiow. OF the last, one
third was sown with some sort of grass, to
be moved for the cattle, and this portion of
the iallow alone was MANFRED once in six
years, and in that period bore three grain
crops and one grass crop The naked faiiow
received three or four plcUghings during the
summer, besides the seed farrow
In regard To wheat the following varieties
are mentioned white, red, black, bearded.
and shock, besides others. Some are said to be
suited to free and dry, others to strong and
moist land.
1.-THE mode of sowing Srain affords, perhaps, the
most marked distinction between Roman and
m"oeIn pfscuce Their sysien was twoiod.--
The land was well reduced by the trper, which
was our harrow, and WAS used both fer rnlveriz-
Ing and Tor drawing weeds to the surface. and by
the crates which was an implement for crushing
clod.. Botn these were worked by oxen. If the
land was naturally dry, It was next drawn into
ridge tsimilsT. probably to our ,urnIp ridges by
double mould board plough. The seed then
sown by hand broadcast on these rids es, aud the
meyor part Of course, settled into the burrows 1t
was then covered by hand with raSfrd-t. lakes,
and hshlly, Tor The ridges certainly were not ohlt
Grated 4 aev are always spoken of as q bcnehca
defence against drought to he corn growing on
dry land. Alter this covering oil the seed the land
renamed quiet TIL wheat had put out It's fourth
and barley its NTH blade. 1t then received It's rst
hoeing, (sarritol which III dry land included WIZ.
we should call earthlng up; IN moist land, where
q N nj nn
Many passages oec~r in the writer's, VIII CHI.
taken sIugly, appear to indicate strong opinion
on Their pat, that whereas some crops e1hsust
others m.roved the land. ! he cpinton that some
crops, even when gathered, improved the land,
did prsvail-for Coiumeila, who strongly advo-
Gates the p.oushng IN system thu ksI- Necessary
:. Soma tel US that crop Of beans stand in The
| place OF q manurins 10 the laud-wiLch opinion /
wouid interpret thu: not nat one can make the
| viii exhaust i less than some oihtrs. For OF
this am certain, That laLd which has had nothing
on X VIII produce more corn than that which has
borne these pulse IN the preceding year J"
Ia Roman harvesting, The ears OF the stand
| Ing corn were, III some cases, gathered by a
sort OF comb, cut off and carried to the thresh-
| ing fioor-the stalk being cut by subseq uent
| operation. The mode in which this vas done
| is accurately described by the writer's In
other cases the corn was cut low, and having
been gathered together, was passed through
| combs, which detained the ears. PLfNY de-
scribes a reaping machine which was used in
| large farms OF Gaul, but the directions for
| working could hardly apply TO one of MoCoR-
MICK's or HUssRY's reapers. The body of the
| machine is described as fixed on an axle which
| connected two wheels; to this axle was
| fixed pair of shafts, into which a yery
| steady working OK was harnessed, with his
| head where his tail should be, SO that when he
| walked on, instead Of pulling by the shafts, he
| pushed by them, and drove the implement in to
| the standing corn. II had machinery by which
| it collected ears of cCrn, cut them off and
dropped them into receptacle. The imple-
| ment is said to have answere we'll in open
| and even land, and some farmers in Gaul cut
| their whole harvest with 1T without employ
| ing any reapers.
! The thTeshing is said to have been done by
| lail, by treading ont, (for which horses aro
said to be better than oxen,) and latterIy by a
| machine drawn by cattle, described sometimes
rs having teeth, and sometimes role RS, which
was adopted from Carthage.
The same writer informs rs that the modes
OF using straw Were various, and the variations
were local. Ordinarily the upper half was
| usea as cattle food the lower as litter; but
when the former failed, the latter was bruised
on stones, and sprinkled with salt. to induce
tne cattle TO eat 1t.