WHAT THE HEBREWS KNEW OF FARMING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 12, 13 January 1872, Page 4

WHAT THE HEBREWS KNEW OF FARMING.

A "Village Parson" ha3 been giving attention to this topic, ami publishes the results of his researches in the Williamette Farmer, Salem, Oregon :— "In his laws, Moses made agriculture the basis of the State. According to this principle he apportioned to every citizen a certain portion of land marked by fixed boundaries. Land-grabbing speculations were prevented by the laVy, -which required nil lands in Ihe commonwealth to revert to the heirs of the original owner on the jubilee year. The occupation of the farmer was held iu houor from being thus protected by the fundamental law of the State. None were so rich or so noble as to disdain to put their hand to the plough. — 1 Kings xix, 19; 2 Chron. xxvi, 10. Various means were resorted to by the Hebrews to increase the fertility of lheir soil. The stones were gathered and built into walls, water was brought in aqueducts from great distances, and many kinds of manure were used. The hills were terraced to the very tops, and planted with vineyards ind gardens. The cultivated wheat, b»rley. millet, beans, and perhaps rice.— lm. xxviii, 25. — In agricultural implements the Hebrews were nofc so far behind the present age as we are prone to think. Isaiah lived 700 years before Christ, yet in his day iron ploughs were in use, for he prophesied of the time when swords should be turned to plough shares, and spears to pruning hooks. This passage shows, too, that they had instruments for pruning vines and trees. The animals used in ploughing were cattle and donkeys. Horses were not in common use among the Hebrews. The original method of harvesting grain was to pull up by the roots, but sickles were used among the Hebrews from the time of Joshua. Harvest among tbem was a time of rejoicing, cheerful songs being heard in every field. Threshing was effected by flails, the feet of animals, or by drags or rollers. Vineyards and olive groves were extensively and carefully cultivated. Culinary plants and fruit trees were among the first objects of attention. Palestine was said to flow with milk aud honey. Bees were' highly esteemed. Their hives were made of clay mixed with straw, but stores of honey were often found iu hoilow trees and fisures of fche rocks. — Psalm Ixxxi, 19. One remarkable provision: of the Mosaic law in regard to agriculture was the Sabbatic year. — Lev. xxv, 1-7. Every seventh year was a year of rest, not so much to the farmer as to the farm. Nothing was sown and nothing was reaped ; the vines were not pruned ; there was no gathering of fruit. The object of this regulation seems to have been to preserve the wild beasts aud to let the land recover strength, and to teach the people to be provident and to look out for the future. But the year was nofc spent in idleness. The people could hunt, fish, look after their bees and their flocks, repair their buildings or furniture, manufacture cloth, or carry on commerce ; and during this year the whole Mosaic law was to be read, and the people instructed in religious duty, and the history of God's dealings with their nation."