The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-26
the FARMER OF ANCIENT TIMES

I pounds Of delicious and easily pre-
served fruit. A considerable variety
of excellent roots and leaves grew wild
in most sections of the Nile valley
and greatly benefited the common peo-
pie.
His grain when ripe was cut, or
rather headed" with the sickle and
the ears carried in sacks to the little
threshing floor. where it was threshc1.
and the grain %winnowed by pouring it
from a sieve and letting the wind blow
the chan away. after which the grain
was poured into q granary of Il conical
shape, and closely sealed at the tol;.
to be drawn off when needed through
a small door at the bottom.
The larger and weather. proprietors
had strong and handsome villas. some
OF them on the borders being verita-
Bile fortresses. but nearly always sur
rounded by orchards. vineyards. ve.
nues of palms. water tanks fed by
canals. and great farm yards. presses
for wine and oil, and the quarters of
a host of dependents.
Cattle and horses, tanned %antelopes
and fat sheep. goats. swine. geese and
fowls thronged the enclosures and pas
lures. Great farm wagons n plows
drawn by oxen enabled the steward
TO sow and harvest the immense fields.
which he traversed in his elegant
chariot. or paced on foot while his
chariotcer followed behind him.
While Il great amount OF grain was
exported from Egypt. the culture of
haX. and its manufacture into all
kinds Of textile fabrics was A source o.
great revenue. n nearly every fam
lily could. if its members chose, take
some share therein. for the distaf:
and spindle. the Oldest and simplest
of inn N ~ MT 0n,aan~ ~, 1n.A frr
nishcd the multitudinous looms and
dyeing watts Of Egypt with all the
varied and often eXquisitely fine warp
and wool. which made the linens OF
the Nile valley famous for all time.
The wines of Egypt. although not OF
the first Importance. had a reputation
for special flavor and peculiar quail
ties that made their export of consid-
cradle value: and the beer made and
consumed by the masses of the people
is said to have been of unsurpassed
quality.
Slavery existed. but the cruelty and
suffering eNtant in Greece and Italy
appear to have been far less prevalent
here. The stick was used freely, as
1t has been in Egypt throughout the
but cruelty and murder were not
allowed to go unpublished.
Ihe irrigation systems. which creat-
ed miles OF anal and acres of tanks.
seem to have evolved no more ingen-
lous methods of distributing the water
provided than the ''shadof," worked
by men. and the even more primitive
water carrier with his yoke and buck
cts. The inventive and engineering
genius of Egypt seems to have failed
to carry agricultural development be-
Nond a point reached forty centuries
ago
The Cartha genians. like the Phoen,-
cans from which they were derived,
and the Egyptians. their allies. gave
when Carthage was destroyed. the
itoman victors saved from the general
%struct as u prize of e%Xtraordin.
airy value, a great work on husban-
dry. by Mage. the great general, of
which only ii few fragments have been
preserved for posteritv.
II Greeks seem to have drawn
their agricultural knowledge from the
same source. but the soil does not
seem to have been favorable to the
Growth of grain crops. and the con-
slant 1euds and wars between the sew
eraI Grecian' states. and with Persia
and Macedonia. often laid waste to the
countries and made it desirable to live
in walled cities. and leave the culti-
waited lands without settled inhabi-
tants. While some progr So was made
- ~ Wv w j -, uIdlIltSc, HOY
ticulturc and Horticulture. the growth
OF the vine, olive and nstree. and the
Improvement of cattle. and horses.
~bee-kecping. ETC.. were the distinctive
characteristics of Grecian farming.
The literature Of this subject was
sparse. and certain verses of Hesiod
and chapters of Zcnophon are about
all mat is worthy of notice in all the
ocean of Grecian letters.
Zenophon in his Anabasis. among
the incidents Of a banquet given by
the commanders of the Greek mercen-
aries of the army of Cyrus to The
MOBILES OF Corylas. ruler of Paphla.
gonia. thus describes the Carpaean
dance. as executed by certain Thessa-
liam spearmen attircd in full armor of
tneir phalanX: While the panto-
the music of the flutes, one Of the
dancers advances to the front in the
character of a husbandman. and Law.
ing aside his arms. pretends to SOW
MIS- field and to drive his oxen looking
around now and then as IL in fear.
mother soldier. in the character Of a
robber. approaches him. the farmer
runs Tor his arms and they fight un-
til the robber overcomes and binds the
farmer N drives off his cattle. Then
the dance is varied. the husbandman
is victorious, binds the robbers hands
behind him. yokes him with the oxen
and drives them homeward together"
Banditti and pirates. LAND rats and
water rats" have been in all ges the
pests or Greece. and in ancient times
varied the bloodshed and desolation
OF war with the casual assassinations
and blackmail. eXacted and
reviving OF generations of robbers.
Agriculture has ley thriven where
public or private war left few. local..
ties unvisited for a year at a time.
Furthermore. the laborers in the more
powerful states We're so largely he'll
Gus or slaves that comparatively few
independent. intelligent landholders
worked on their own farms and gave
their energies to the DEVELOPMENT of
agriculture.
The first and most prominent of
many Romans who treated Of agricul-
ture was that Marcus Portius Cato.
whose fierce %eloquence in the Roman
senate numbered against many men
ana Things. but especially against the
great African rival of the Seven Hill
ed city. insomuch that it is recorded
mat Tor years he ended every speech
IN the Forum with a single, fiery, re.
lentless sentence: "Delenda est Car.
tago" c"Carthage must be DESTROY
ed").
Born about the year 234 and dying
In l49 b. c.. at the age Of eighty
three years. the general consensus OF
succeeding ages has given him great
prominence as a patriot and exacting
censor OF the failings of others but
nave declared him avaricious. jealous
OF other Romans. selfish and mean
in the ordinary walks of life. and
colby inhuman in his dealings with
his dependents. ~