202 AGRICULTURE decline. But there is every reason to suppose that the art had reached a greater degree of perfection in countries east of the Mediterra- nean and in Egypt, than in Italy. It is certain that the inhabitants of the East were familiar with many mechanical appliances unknown to the Romans, and probably their agricultural systems were more complete. Rome herself, in the later days of her greatness, was sup- plied to a certain extent with the agricultural products of her conquered provinces. Then set in that vast tide of conquest from the north, pouring over Italy, France, aid Spain a race of barbarians, who gradually became absolute masters of nearly every country into which they penetrated. Agriculture was ex- tremely depressed, and the condition of the serf to whom the tillage of the soil was left was in some cases even more hopeless and piti- able than that of the Roman slave who had tilled the soil before him. Scarcely a gleam of sunshine in the shape of improved culture lights up the gloom of this period, with the important exception of the introduction of an extensive system of irrigation in Spain, under the Saracens. These eastern invaders from the well-watered lands of western Asia and Egypt established in the peninsula what has been termed the southern system of agricul- ture, in distinction from the more peculiarly northern system of drainage, and developed the agricultural resources of Spain to an ex- tent wholly unparalleled at that time in Eu- rope, building reservoirs, canals, and aqueducts with immense labor and skill, and raising the annual revenues of that part of Spain under their dominion to nearly $30,000,000 "a sum," as Gibbon says, "which in the 10th century probably surpassed the united reve- nues of all the Christian monarchs." The traces of these gigantic works still remain. Bruges and Ghent were important manufactur- ing and commercial towns as early as the llth century, and agriculture and manufactures there grew up together, even before a large part of Europe had risen from a state of bar- barism ; but the agriculture of Belgium and Holland was long in attaining the perfection to which it has now arrived. In Britain, the Romans had made many alterations for the bet- ter during their 400 years of occupation, as they were accustomed to do in all their provinces; but the agriculture of the island was extremely rude even when they left it, by far the greater part being covered with forests and marshes. Then the Saxons overran the country, subsist- ing mainly by the chase and by keeping large numbers of cattle, sheep, and especially swine, which readily fattened on the mast of the oak and the beech. In general, the only grains raised were wheat, barley, and oats, and they had but small quantities of these. The results of their labor were so uncertain and insecure, on account of the inability of the government to protect property ajid life, that all attempts at improved agriculture would have been in vain, even if individuals had been disposed to engage in them. The suifering among the peo- ple was often intense, famines frequently oc- curred, and so little was done to furnish suita- ble winter food and shelter for the stock, that a large part of the cattle perished every winter, especially in the more northerly parts of the island. The proportion thus dying annually has been estimated at one fifth of the whole number in the country, while frequently the most terrible murrain swept off a far larger proportion. No hoed crops or edible vegeta- bles were cultivated, and even as late as the reign of Henry VIII. Queen Catharine was obliged to send to Flanders or Holland for salad to supply her table. Neither Indian corn, nor potatoes, nor squashes, nor carrots, nor cab- bages, nor turnips were known in England till after the beginning of the 16th century. The peasants subsisted chiefly upon bread made of barley, ground in the quern or hand mill, and baked by themselves. The tenant peasantry had no security for their property till after the middle of the 15th century. If the estate was sold by the landlord, they were obliged to quit all, giving up even their standing crops without compensation. They were liable for the debts of the landlord to an amount equal to their whole property, and it was not till after that time that they were held only for the amount of rent due from them. This picture of the misery and suffering which prevailed in Britain will give a fair idea of the state of things in Europe generally at the same time. Rather more attention, however, was paid to the cul- ture of the soil in the religious establishments, whose tenancy was more secure. Under the direction of the monks extensive improvements were made in draining swamps and reclaiming extensive tracts from the sea. The feudal sys- tem, introduced into England soon after the Norman conquest in the latter part of the llth century, checked progress in agricultural im- provement. The crusades elevated the condi- tion of the peasant in some degree, by increas- ing the value and importance of his labor, by making the acquisition of land somewhat easier, and by withdrawing from the country many ignorant and despotic nobles, some of whom returned with a profitable recollection of the far higher culture and fertility of the East. But the agriculture of this whole period was generally as low as was possible in an age making any pretension to civilization. We may fix upon the 16th century as the time when Europe awoke from its long slumber. From that time to the present, the gradual elevation of the middle and lower classes has continued, and agriculture has steadily advanced. The first work on agriculture published in England was the " Boke of Husbandrie,." in 1523, by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, who styles himself "a farmer of 40 years' standing." This was followed by another volume by the same au- thor on land surveying. In these works Fitz- herbert points out the prevailing practices of
