Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/355

 AGRICULTURAL LIFE 343 a preface to the second edition in 1483, entitled ' The Virtue of Plants.' By far the most important agricul- tural work was the already mentioned ' Book of Fruits, Trees, and Eoots,' which appeared in Mentz in 1498. It describes, among other things, the different kinds of grain and how it should be treated in different soils, the best season to sow it, what kind of manure, &c. ; it teaches the best way to plant and propagate trees, and shows a predilection for fruit trees and vines. The latter were always favoured by the Germans, ' because the vine is so valuable, and is so much praised in the Holy Scriptures.' The author adds, jestingly, ' In Ger- many wine drinking is practised by all pious, Bible- loving people.' There are extant reports on the state of agricultural science at the close of the Middle Ages by contemporary authority, coming from two widely different sections, the Ehine Provinces and Pomerania. ' On German soil,' says the ' Book of Fruits, Trees, and Vegetables,' ' there is no more beautiful or produc- tive land than the Ehine Province ; there one finds such an abundance of wine that even the poor man may satisfy his thirst, there grow wheat, rye, barley, and fruit of all kinds in plenty. The country between Bingen and Mentz is thickly populated on both sides of the river ; there farm touches farm and village suc- ceeds village, and that land shows what can be produced by a good soil and the industry of man. There poverty is seldom to be found among those who are willing to work. There also the bee culture is prosperous.' The Englishman, Brother Bartolomeus of the Minor- ite order, writes as follows : ' The Ehine Province is a narrow stretch of country extending along the banks of the Ehine between the mountains from Bingen to