The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-08-25
CBy Alex Del Mar. NJ E, in Scientific


lions Of the Romans, whether origin
al with themselves or borrowed from
the nations they conquered, were so
numerous that, in order to describe
them, first with the object to note 4
how largely we are indebted to anti I
guilty for the devices now in common /
use, and second, TO derive from these |
inventions such practical advantages
as they may suggest-fOr some OF ]
them yet await adOptiOn-it is nee
essary to divide and classify them In /
this arrangement the inventions per |
tanning to agriculture naturally take |
precedence over ali others
Pliny's boast that the Roman peO-
adopt all useful arts is not without |
a substantial basis OF truth. The na-
ton which has been advanced is mod |
ern times, that the Romans were
stepped in blood shed, tyranny, and
vOluptuOusness, is altogether errOne-
GUS They were a warlike and pleas
ure-lOving people; but they were also
Woodworking industrious, and inven-
tive. The number and prominence OF
their agriculture publications alone
afford ample evidences Of their indus
try. After twenty centuries Of social
cataclysms, we still possess the treat
ises OF Cato, VSrrO, COlumellas and
Pliny, to say nothing OF the bucOlic
almanacs Of Ovid, Virgil, Nautilus,
and others
One Of the most important inven-
tons or adaptations Of the Romans
was the two-course system begun
with cUltivating the land and letting
il lie fallOw in alternate years, and
ended with sowing it alternately with
cereal and root crops. The SPECIALIZE
70,
value the manure Of thrushes, pigeons
and domestic fowls and other animals
in the order named. The sowing ma
chine or seed drill is dOubtfully cred
tied by Beckmann to TheOphrastus; at
all events, is is plainly described by
Pliny, who also mentions the Rhae-
tan (Swiss wheel plOw- His measure
Of a fair days work for a yoke Of
oxen for the first blowing, nine inches
deep, is an acre, and for the second
blowing, an acre and a half; with the
wheel pillow, about two acres. The ma
chine reaper was another Roman in
ventfOn. With the scythe, an acre Of
grass was a fair days work; with tlie
scythe-chaTiOt, or reaping machine,
four times as much. The grain har-
vester was a Frankish invention III
the vast domains of GaUl, a large hOI-
low frame, armed with teeth and SUI
ported on two wheels, is driven
through the standing corn, the beasts
being yOked behind it; the result be-
ing that the ears are cut off and fall
within the frame" The wine press,
which anciently was worked by lev
ers, was much improved by the Greeks
during the AugUstan period, by adOp-
ting the screw. About A. D. so this
press was still further improved by
the Romans, who used thicker plank,
reduced the size OF the press boards
and the height Of the screw, and gave
the latter more threads
The city Of Rome was supplied
with no less than fourteen aqueducts,
not necessarily for drinking purposes,
| because it always had the river, which
afforded a cOpiOus flood OF fresh wa
ter, but for the sake of convenience,
and especially to supply the baths
and drive the water mills, most Of
which were located under Mount jan
iculum. 1t was these water mills
which made Rome a great manufac-
turing city They were employed in
/ innumerabIe arts, and gave rise to
| endless mechanical inventions and
| improvements. When, in the sixth
century, the Goths laid siege to Rome
and cut of the aqUeduct water, Bell
Il sarius established a series OF floating
Il
driven by the current, enabled the ac-
custOmed industries to be resumed.
Grist mills driven by streams, or the
wind, were common in the rural dis
tricts; the more ancient ones pound
| ing the corn in gigantic mOrtars, the
| improved ones grinding it between re-
I volving stones. Not only was flour
produced in these mills, but also vari-
Gus cereal preparations, ike our
IL. h.
Among these was one that yea re-
mains TO be reinvented- This was
aiiCa, Il PREPARATION Ot Spelt. which
the Roman writer's aIlude to as a great
delicacy.
II is not many years since the yeas
cake was introduced into America as
novelty; yet it is an invention at
least two thousand years old Here
are the words Of the Roman enCyclO-
pedist on the subject: ''Miilet is more
especially employed to make yeast If
kneaded with must (grape juice it
will keep d whole year. The same is
done, too, with fine wheat bran Of the
best quality. 1t is kneaded with white
must three days old, and then dried
in the sun, after which it is made into
small cakes
The cultivation of alfalfa, which
has made the fortunes OF some Of our
Tar western farmers, Is another an
tiquity." It was brought from Media
into Persia in the time OF Darius ana
afterfward into Greece and italy.
8Iedica was its Persian, lucerne IS
Italian, and alfalfa its arabian iaT-e-
AmphilOcus. an graicultural writer OF
Athens. devoted almost an entire
work TO the culture OF this valuable
grass; and the Roman writers were
scarcely less enthusiastic on the sub
jet.
The silo for preserving gram in the
eartn. is evidentaly an Oriental inver
| ton which, before the Augustan age,
made its way westward through BAG
| tria- POntus. and Thrace to Egypt
| Greece, Italy and Spain The POntic
name was siri- varrO says that wheat.
/ properly stored in dry soil, viii keep
/ for fifty years. and millet, hundred
He mentions an actual instance OF
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