The first mention of agriculture is found in the writings of Moses. From them we learn that Cain was a "tiller of the ground;" that Abel sacrificed the "firstlings of his flock;" and that Noah "began to be a husbandman and planted a vineyard." The Chinese, Japanese, Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Phoenicians appear to have held husbandry in high estimation. The Egyptians were so sensi ble of its blessings that they ascribed its invention to superhuman agency, and even carried their gratitude to such an ex cess as to worship the ox, for his services as a laborer. The Carthaginians carried the art of agriculture to a higher degree than other nations, their contemporaries. Mago, one of their most famous generals, wrote no less than 28 books on agricul tural topics, which, according to Colum ella, were translated into Latin by an express decree of the Roman Senate. Hesiod, the Greek writer, supposed to be contemporary with Homer, wrote a poem on agriculture, entitled "Weeks and Days," which was so denominated because husbandry requires an exact observance of times and seasons. Other Greek writ ers wrote on rural economy, and Xeno phon, among the number, but their works have been lost in the lapse of ages. Co lumella, who flourished in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, wrote 12 books on husbandry, which constituted a complete treatise on rural affairs. Pliny ascribes the invention of manures to the Greek King Augeas, and Theophrastus not only mentions six kinds of manures, but declares that a mixture of soils produces the same effects as manures. Cato, the Roman censor, equally celebrated as a statesman, orator, and general, derived his highest and most durable honors from having written a voluminous work on agriculture. In the " Georgics " of Ver gil, the majesty of verse and the har mony of numbers add dignity and grace to the most useful of all topics. Varro, Pliny, and Palladius were likewise among the distinguished Romans who wrote on agricultural subjects.
It is interesting to note here that irri gation had an influential advocate as long ago as the time of Vergil, who in his "Georgics" advises husbandmen to "bring down the waters of a river upon the sown corn, and, when the field is parched and the plants drying, convey it from the brow of a hill in channels." To the credit of the Romans let it be remembered that, unlike many conquerors, instead of desolating they improved the countries which, they subdued, and first of all in agriculture.
Recent Progress.—From the details of primitive agricultural methods given in ancient writings and represented in mon umental inscriptions, it is evident that not till the 19th century had anything very material been done toward the cre ation of a distinctive agricultural science. The original arts of husbandry, prac ticed ages ago, have simply been adapted, with little improvement till very lately, to modify conditions. Most of the mechan ical appliances to which our ancestors were restricted—the plow, roller, hoe, sickle—are found pictured in the Egyp tian inscriptions and paintings. It is also known that the Egyptians were familiar with the advantages of rotation in crops, and that they were exceedingly intelligent and systematic in the administration of estates and the regulation of all rural concerns.
Within the last hundred years, how ever, the foundations of an entirely new agriculture have been securely laid. The two active agencies in this change have been chemical science and invention. Chemical science, as applied to agricul ture, is based on very simple elements. The arable surface soil becomes exhausted if grain is sown upon it in successive years, this exhaustion being occasioned by the removal of the mineral substances necessary to the life of the grain. By the system of rotation, a cereal crop is followed by a so-called green crop, the roots of which penetrate deep into the subsoil and extract from it a fresh supply of the needful minerals; thus the vigor of the surface soil is renewed and it again produces an abundant grain crop.
The fundamentals of the new rural economy are to secure maximum pro ductiveness on the agricultural lands, as a whole, by a comprehensive utilization of a great variety of fertilizers, and, by studying the needs of the soil, to apply to them the particular fertilizers best adapted to their nature. The demonstra tions of experimental chemistry in these directions have been so effective that agricultural science has become one of the leading subjects of practical in vestigation, receiving the actual encour agement of all civilized governments. The energetic spirit stimulated by the latest teachings of chemical science has reflected constant advance in all other departments of scientific agriculture, such as drainage, irrigation, the improvement of breeds and plants, meteorology, etc.
Agricultural Interests and the Govern ment.—The growth of agriculture and the evolution of enlightened governmental administration have uniformly gone hand in hand. The great distinguishing char acteristic of the Dark Ages in Europe was the crushing oppression of the rural population. The lifting of the arbitrary burdens resting on the agricultural class has in all countries marked the beginning of the era of enlarged civil liberty and of diffused intelligence. The marvelous progress of the United States is above all the result of the rapid absorption of lands by its own native citizens and by industrious immigrants from Europe. From the earliest period the Federal Gov ernment, having enormous tracts of un occupied lands at its disposal, pursued an extremely liberal policy to encourage settlement. Thus, in a brief time, every section of the country was peopled and the foundations of a great commonwealth were laid. With the vigorous revival of enterprise and thrift after the Civil War, and the steady advance of immigration, the epoch of abundant, fertile lands ob tainable for a nominal price was brought to its close; and the intense rivalry witnessed at the opening of Oklahoma Territory was a demonstration of the practical termination of the era of set tlement. In a new country, the soil of which has been accessible to all, the farm ers have not been prompt to turn their attention to the strictly scientific aspects of agriculture, yet the government has manifested appreciation of the spirit of the age and the needs of the future by its generous provisions for the founding of agricultural colleges, and by its ad mirable system of agricultural experi ment stations. The latter, like the agri cultural colleges, are modeled upon the technical institutions originated in Europe for scientific investigation concerning all the branches of agriculture. The Federal Government makes an annual grant for experiment station purposes to each State and Territory in which an agricultural college is in operation, and some of the States also contribute to the support of the stations. The Department of Agricul ture of the National Government is excel lently equipped for the promotion of agri cultural interests in both practical and experimental aspects. Its Weather Bu reau, Bureau of Animal Industries, and various divisions, are constantly perform ing work of much value, and a great vari ety of useful information is systemati cally disseminated.
The following tables give the acre age, value, and production (000 omitted) of the principal agricultural crops in 1919: Statistics of other products not in cluded in the tables above are as fol lows: peanuts, 1,251,400 acres, produc tion 33,263,000 bushels, value $79,839, 000; beans, 1,018,000 acres, production 11,488,000 bushels, value $49,181,000; sweet potatoes, 1,029,000 acres, produc tion 103,579,000 bushels, value $138,085, 000; hops, 23,900 acres, production 29, 346,000 pounds, value $22,656,000. The total value of thirteen crops in all the States in 1919 was $12,421,342,000. The total value of live stock on the farms in 1920 amounted to $8,566,813,000.