The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-26
(Charlcs Winslow Hall in National,
MagaZine)

that common ancestor from other
types OF still lower creatures in the
chain of development. generally divide
me progress of civilization into several
cras OF social and economical advance.
ment. making man first a fisherman
and hunter. then an ag~riculturaiist
and lastly a manufacturing and scien-
.iic being. Those who believe in the
olbie as a practically accurate and
popular resume OF the history of man
before the delugc. believe that when
created by God in His own image"
snd with the varied and potent powers
pN. which the race has since been de-
Ncioped, the first man or men created
We're not only endowed with perfect
bodies and minds, but were sufficiently
instructed to avail themselves of the
muitltude OF good gifts with which the
creator had surrounded them. ANY
other belief presents innumerable DIFF.
nrultics 10 the student OF history. ira
ditlon and the remains of great king
doms and races, whose very ruins beg
gar the most tremendous structures Of
today ir grandeur of design ana titanic
masonry and sculpture.
Certainly the Mosaic account states
very positively that Adam, whether
one man or the principal man of
MANY. was put into the Garden of
Eden. Ito dress and keep it," and that
cam. the first born of men, was "A
~lilier OF the soils" but i. must be re-
menlhcred that until Il few centuries
dso' AT most. the aGriculturalist. herds.
man or hunter was also a manufact ur-
or. not only of the tools. and
Utensils needed in his own family and
ilIeIlhood. but nearly always of a GER
taln surplus for barter or trade. In
deed, the farmer of two short gen.
eratlons ago in New England raised,
made and manufactured the greater
Part or his w provisions, utensils
ana clothing. and in many localities, u
large proportion of the shoes, stock
ings, WOODEN and linen fabrics, twine.
YARN salt. potash, EPSON salts. boats.
barrels. shingles. and other commodi-
ties, then collected by countr MGR.
chants and sent to the cities or en-
ported. 1t is hardly too much to say.
that the farmer has been the original
source OF the development of our com
mon civilization.
vi the immense antiquity of his call
ing one ~stupendous fact bears testi-
inonN' and that is that Of all his cereal
not one can he said to have
ncen discovered and added to the list
OF staple products within the limits
OF recorded Or traditional history.
Even maize or Indian corn, which has
always been supposed to be a gift of
INC old world, is o declared to have
oecn onn in Egyptian tombs. of very
remote antiquity: n it may be that
Mexico n Virginia onlv gave back
to Europe. Asia and Africa the bread
maj some A:lantcan vo.ager had car
ried westward when the world was
Young and a chain of islands cached
from the Hcspcrides to the Lost An
titles. '
\ curious tradition of the TaImud
relates that the apple OF which Eve
ate was really a kernel OF wheat.
which in those days grew on "A won.
oerful tree whose trunk glowed like
s0,u. "hose branches cleaned like
silver. whose twigs. resplendent as
precious coral, We're covered with en-
erald leaves. and bore globes of ivory
the size and shape Of the egg of an
ostrich. al"
The story goes on to state that the
napless pair having gathered more
thar they could eat. were conducted
by the angel Gabriel beyond the boun-
daries OF Paradise, and given the re-
manning fruits of their trespass with
Instructions as to the proper methods
Of c~ultivating n using it. The pay
adisaical fruit has. however. never
thriNen since it's Punishment from
Eden. n in the days of the later
patriarcns had %shrunken to the size
OF an Egg. in Moses time to the iii.
mansions of a plum. and at the fall of
the Jewish sovereignty to the size Of
a small grape. thereby practically as
sertlng that the rae has been eating
the rcritable fruit OF the tree of
knowledge of god and ever ever since.
Among the Jews III private owner
snip Of land seems to have been cstab-
lished from the earliest times. as we
learn from the purchase Of land by
II n II n ~ NN-vS ~ ~,.- L- =
Macpelnh for a family tomb. and the
story of Ruth and Boaz. Assyrian. or
rather Babylonish cylinders of clay
stiH preserve the transfers of land, and
the names of humble grantors and
grantees. whose names and petty bar
gains haze survived for ages all record
OF h magnates whom they envied
and obeyed.
The hoe seems to have been the
first aid to the husbandman's labors
after the hands n s%harpened sticks
became insufficient: and in Egypt was
made of wood. The plough was pre-
ceded by a larger hoe. dragged and
operated by two or more men or wom-
en-. n pillow in many countries Ga
%sharpened BEAM. was at an early date
shod and strengthened by strips Of
iron, the share only being Of steel or
iron Single and double wheels are by
no means modern additions to this
ancient and characteristic lab~or-saving
implement.
Tho Egyptians. Hebrews and such
.Asiatics as were relatively a peaceful
people at an early date cultivated
beans. peas. lentils. leeks. onions, GU
foods in addition to the chief cereals.
n in the huge valleys OF the Eu-
pirates and Tigris developed a great
system of canals INT bitches. which,
with the astonishing fertility of the
soil. made Mesopotamia, If the am
ctent accounts are not utterly false.
the most fruitful agricultural territory
that the world has ever known. Har-
vests of grain yielding fifty, sixty and
even one hundred fold. are declared
by historians to have been secured in
this great granary of western Asia.
Egypt herself. Notwithstanding her
deep valley soil. yearly fortified by
the silt deposited by the Nile over
flow. appears to have taken second
place in the estimation of travellers
and historians. Certain it is that Alex.
ander in his great scheme of a world
empire located here his proposed capt.
tai. from which he and his SUCCESSORS
were to build up in peace a greater
empire in which prosperity and plenty
should replace the %dynasties which his
Macedonian phalanxes had ground
into the dust.
In ancient Egypt the land appears
to have been held for the king by a
kind of leasehold system. terminable
only for crime against the state or a
failure to pay the taxes, after due
warning and official action. The larger
estates Of course were bestowed on tho
monarch and his officers. including
the hierarchy az represented by tenn
pie lands. and the estates connected
With their colleges and charitable In.