Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/41

Rh to the cultivation of the soil. , one of their first kings, was distinguished as much for his skill in agriculture, as for his exemplary piety and such was the amiable simplicity of those times, that their greatest warriors and legislators, were often called from the active labours of the field to the higher, but not more dignified, offices of the state. , the censor, who had governed and subdued many warlike nations, did not consider it beneath him to write a treatise on agriculture; and several valuable works upon this subject, appeared at various periods of the Roman empire.

The Athenians first taught the use of corn to the rest of Greece; and after tasting bread, returned public thanks to the gods for such an unexpected and valuable blessing. By continued applications, they brought rural economy to a high degree of perfection, and soon reduced it to an art. The most eminent Greek writers upon agriculture were, and.

Previous to the establishment of the Romans in this country, the art agriculture was but little known in Britain. By their assistance, however, it experienced considerable improvements, insomuch that they were enabled annually to export large quantities of grain from this island. Subsequent to this period, it has been continually advancing in its progress; and, by the great encouragement it has of late experienced from the more enlightened classes of society, more especially from cur present gracious Sovereign, who has in an eminent degree devoted him-self to its study and improvement, it bids fair to attain a high degree of perfection. Societies have lately been formed for the purpose of encouraging this, and other useful arts; and a plan has been proposed for introducing the study of agriculture into our schools, and making it a necessary part of national education.

In the year 1756, a period of difficulty and distress, France began to pay particular attention to this important subject. Prize questions were annually proposed by the academies of Lyons, Bourdeaux, and by the society instituted for the improvement of agriculture in Brittany. About this time, also, it was greatly encouraged in Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Italy; in the last mentioned country, a private gentleman, about 40 years ago, left his whole fortune, to the establishment and support of an agricultural academy. The Dutch seem to be the only nation in Europe, by which rural economy is treated with apparent neglect; for, with the single exception of draining their fens and morasses, they have scarcely deemed it an object worthy of public support.

Whether we consider agriculture as a means of procuring as well the necessaries as luxuries of life; of providing a security against the aggregated calamities of scarcity, fa- mine, and disease; or of engaging the mind in active and extensive pursuits of general knowledge, it is one of the most useful and important of all the arts which have employed the attention of mankind. Its theory is, in a great measure, dependent on several branches of science; such as natural history, chemistry, experimental philosophy, and mechanics, all of which may be successively applied to its advancement; and without a competent knowledge of these, it cannot be properly understood. Its practical Rh