ground, a kind of royal demesne. The same Glaucus informs us in another place,* that, in consequence of Bellerophon's services, in killing the chimæra, the king of Lycia bestowed on him onehalf of the royal honour; and the people of Lycia allotted him a district of land similar to the last.† This exactly resembles those instances, so frequent in our history, in which the king bestows a title for distinguished merit, and the representatives of the people an estate, or other permanent support. In like manner, Achilles asks Eneas, whether he expected, that the Trojans would grant him a tract of land superior to the rest,§ for killing him: and the elders of the Etolians, not neus the king, offered Meleager fifty acres, if he would assist them in their dis. tress. Peleus, on the contrary, being a despotic prince, assigned Phoenix a territory by his own authority; and Agamemnon offered a number of cities to Achilles,¶ as a portion with his daughter.

These lands or farms were tilled, for the most part, by free labourers,* for food, hire and clothes; sometimes by slaves. + Hesiod is very particular in the description of his ploughman. He was to be a stout man, forty years old, well fed on griddle bread, who

* Il. vi. 190. + Τεμενος. † Π. xx. 184. § Τεμενος. || Π. ix. 574. II. ix. 291. * Od. xviii. 356, &c.-ONTES. † Od. χχίν. 256: xvii. 299.—όμωες.

would attend to his work, and make a straight furrow; not looking about after his acquaintances, but keeping his mind fixed on his business. The sower should not be younger, that he may scatter the seed, and not sow the same spot twice; for a younger man is always longing for company.*

They were, first, a and a pestle three corn; an axle-tree

The implements of husbandry are mentioned by Hesiod, so far as they consisted of wood, in that pas saget where he desires the farmer to fell his timber at that season, when it is dead. mortar of wood three feet high, cubits long, for bruising their for a cart,|| seven feet long; a mallet of eight feet;¶ I suppose in the handle: the rim of a wheel of three spans, for a carriage of ten palms;+ I suppose in height. He next advises him to provide two ploughs, the complex and the simple. The parts of the complex were, first, a block of oak, which formed the share; second, the handle, a bent piece of timber, of ilex, holm oak, or holly, made fast to that by nails or wooden pegs:§ third, the beam, or pole, of laurel, bay, or elm, which passed between the oxen,, fastened to the first mentioned part. The

* Works and Days, 441. † Works and Days, 420. ‡ Oλμας. 11. xi. 147. § Υπερον. Ι Αιξων. Η Σφυρα. *Avis προσπιθαμος. + Δεκάδωρον. * Πηκίον: αυλόγυον. I. x. 353, xiii. 709. Odd xiii. 32. §. Δρυος, έλυμα, πρίνου, γυήν. -Works and Days, 436, || Ιστοβοευς, ενδρυον, 469. Η Ελυμα.

simple plough* was to be kept as a reserve, in case of accidents; and recommended, I presume, for this purpose, as being cheaper. It is not particularly described by Hesiod, but seems to have consisted of one piece of wood, bent; the lower extremity answering to the first part of the complex plough, in which the share, made of hard wood, was fixed; and the upper extremity answering to the handle. The handle is not mentioned in this place by Hesiod, his object being not to describe implements so well known, but only to remind the farmer, what description of wood he should provide, and at what season. It occurs afterwards,+ but without any description, or mention of the wood, of which it should be made: as also the yoke, and the goad:§ the traces or ropes between the oxen, fastening the yoke to the beam,|| and a kind of hoe¶ for covering the seed. The same kind of hoe is mentioned by Homer,* as an instrument for cleansing water courses. He also reminds the farmer of the great number of pieces+ necessary to make a cart, that he may provide accordingly. The other implements mentioned, are, the scythe, for mowing grass, which was bent;§ reaping hooks, for cutting corn;|| the pruning knife, ¶ or bill-hook;

* Auloyvov. + Works and Days, 467.-exerλn. ‡ Zuyor. § Ορπηξ. || Μεσσαίων Η Μακελλα. * II. xxi. 259, † Εκαλον δε τε δουρα αμαξης. + Δρεπανον.—Od. xviii. 367. 5 Ευκαμπες. || 11. xviii. 551.—δρεπάνη οξεια. Ο Αρπη.

the winnowing machine,* which is supposed to have been only a long pitchfork or grape of wood, with broad prongs, or a shovel. A word,† which when applied to Laertes,‡ means, I think, raking, smoothing the ground with a § rake or hoe, signifies in another passage of Homer,|| an instrument for sweeping or scraping a floor. The mill was wrought by women; but we have no description of it. Perhaps the mill was used by the rich, and the mortar by the farmer, for domestic use. I have not met with harrow, nor with spade or shovel, except these last be included in the¶ term translated a hoe.

It appears, that there were twelve querns or handmills in Ulysses' house, and that each was turned by one woman; for there were twelve women, and they had all finished their tasks and gone to sleep, except one, who continued to ply her mill. In Judea, two women were allowed to one mill.+

The metal used in implements of husbandry, was iron; but two generations before Hesiod, and one before the Trojan war, it appears, that there was not any iron in use: they tilled the ground with brass, and made all their other implements of the same metal. If, however, Homer does not ex

* Πλύον.—Il. xiii. 588. + Λιστευονία. † Od. xxiv. 226. § Aiorgov. Od. xxii. 455. ¶ Maxɛλλa. * Od. xx. 105, &c. + Matt. xxiv. 41. Works and Days, 387-150.

aggerate extravagantly, a small quantity of iron sufficed even in his days; for* a ball used in sport,† was sufficient for an extensive farmer for two years, being used, I suppose, only for small implements.

They began to plough at the cosmical setting of the Pleiades. They ploughed with two oxen or mules, of which the latter were speediest.§ They preferred oxen of nine years old, as strongest and most tractable; one of five years was preferred for sacrifice. The signal for beginning to plough was the cry of the crane in the clouds, on her departure (as appears by Aristophanes¶) to Africa. The second ploughing was in spring, and the third in summer: at the third ploughing, the seed seems to have been ploughed in, or sown immediately after the plough; and a boy followed with a hoe to cover the seed from the birds. They ploughed without a driver, the same man holding the plough, and managing the goad.†

There were sometimes several ploughs in the same

* H. xxiii. 832. Works and Days, 384. § II. x. 353. || Works and Days, 447. « Ορνιθες. * Works and Days, 467-470.

A practice similar to this still continues in the county of Cork. Barley and oats, as well as wheat, are sown under the plough, the grain being scattered on the ground, in whatever state it may be, previous to the ploughing. Oats are thrown on the stubble, and ploughed in, frequently without the application of the harrow. After the wheat and barley are sown, the common prac