Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-05-18

Woman In Agriculture.
Saws a European chropiclcr:s The per-
| fectj6n which Agriculture, The first and
most important OF ell industrial pursuits,
| IA a1fSined. has not been confined TO
man alone in thisEhe has been assisted
| by that partner which the Eternal in the
| height OF His bcnefcence has given him
| 10 share his labors, 10 alleviate his pains,
and to embellish his life. Indeed. by
opening the annals OF the world, and by
reverting to the most Distant periods Of
time, we shall perceive through the glim-
| mering light which succeeds the darkness
OF unknown countries, that woman, so
well designated by Nine. Boardie in her
epistle 10 the men, a. . The lower Of the
human species, y has had in all ages direct
share in the progress OF agriculture.
BY raising up the veil which fiction
and heathenism have placed between US
and truth, we shall see, in q very remote
background, history polnting 10 Isis and
saying, 'tShe gasQueen d Egypt"
| While Osiris was debating laws 10 the
Egyptians, Isis, bis wife, was giving them
mis- precepts oil agriculture which rem
IJered his dcminiOns the richest in the
1 universe. Isis had chosen the OK az her
/
| in agriculture; from hence the Egyptians
faDcied that the SOIL Of that Princess had,
after death, animated the OK; and impelled
| by this idea, they exalted that useful ami
| NAL TO the rank Of deity.
| There are still extant several statues of
| Isis, which represent her with the body of
| a woman and the head Of an OK 4 and we
know Of several mon Sments, ON which
I - xtyitn hat
| an idea those people who had adopted
the worship Of Isis, entertained Of their
lsdeity.
| If we continue in our attempts TO dis
| pei the clouds which fable and supersti-
| ton have raised around truth, we shall
| find in Sicily Queen, who conferred tie
| greatest benefits on mankind by giving
| them lessons Of agriculture, by making
them acquainted with the use of corn,
and with the mode of cultivating II.
That Queen Is Ceres, whom the ancicnts,
| by an allegory equally just and inge-
NOUS, have represented as the mother Of
Plutus meaning, unquestionably, that ag-
riculture is the source OF all riches.
The Greeks, who persoDified all re-
ceiyed favors, as they deified all virtues,
wishing 10 perpetuate their gratitude to the
Queen of Sicily, made her the goddess Of
agriculture ana harvest.
These facts, purified from the dross of
fable and mythology, prove that the two
best cultivated countries, whose fruitful
ness was envied by all others, was in
deDted TO women for their fertility. How
many more instances could be here ad.
duced! We might name Minerva, Queen
Of Athens, who brought her subjects
acquainted with the olive tree, and the use
Of its fruit, and who made them cultivate.
the land, instead OF following piracy,
which she suppressed. The honors of
apotheOsis conferred on Flora, on Pomona,
on Pales, Pcrenna, Bubona, Mellona,
Vellonia, etc, afford just ground TO be-
lieve that all these women rendered serV-
ices TO agriculture. ~
In Spain, when the men were fighting
for their country, the women were cult
yating the soil. In the Isle-Dyeux, or
Isle. Dieu, belonging to the department of
La Vendec, the men are exclusively en-
ployed In navigation, fisheries, etc. and
the women from time out Of mind, have
taken upon themselves all the agricultural
labors Of the island. II
Among almost all savage nations, the
men have enjoyed the pleasures of hunting,
while the women were performing all the
business OF agriculture
In the first centuries Of the Roman Re
public, the care Of the kitchen garden
was entrusted TO the mother Of the family.
IL Is 10 an Empress Of China that we are
indebted for the culture of the mulberry
tree, and the rearing of silk worms. !
Isabella, sister 10 Charles ", marriea
10 the unfortunate Christian, King of
Denmark, made the Danes adopt the use
OF garden vegetables, and taught them that
mode OF culture by her own example.
Marie Sybille de Merriam brayed the
dangers OF long and disagreeable voy.
age, 10 study botany in 6urinam, from
whence she brought a figured herbal,
forming large quarto volume.
Mile. Linneus, daughter 10 the cele-
bratcd professor Of the Upsal University,
assisted her father in his immortal work.
The charming Hydrangea, so well
known under the nssIc oi Hortensia, is a
new tribute paid by Commerson to the
talents and memory of Mile. Hortense de
Paute.
Elizabeth Blackwall has published
figured plants, which IL held in great es-
timation by the learned.
Nine. Victorine de Chatenay has pub.
lished work In three volumes, entitled
lie Calendrier de Flore" (Flora's calen.
dar), in which are united correctness as
TO facts with that peculiar grace OF episto-
larry style which Is so peculiar TO the sex
Mae. de Genlis, whose name is above
all praise, has written, with her usual ell
oquence, several articles on botany.
The charming garden AT Kew, one of
the first, one Of the handsomest, and one
OF the most luyuriant of those Landscape
gardens which the English have initiated
from the Chinese, was created by Prin.
cess Of Wales. E