AGRICOLA-AGRICULTURE. appropriations of territory made by the victorious military leaders in the latter times of the republic, in order to reward their soldiers, and establish exclusively military colonies. In these the private rights of the previous occupants were often disregarded. AGRICOLA, GNAEUS or CNEIUS JULIUS, a Roman of the imperial times, distinguished not less by his great abilities as a statesman and a soldier than by the beauty of his private character, was born at Forum Julii (now Fréjus in Provence), 37 A.D. Having served with distinction in Britain, Asia, and Aquitania, and gone through the round of civil offices, he was, in 77 A.D., elected consul, and in the following year proceeded as governor to Britain-the scene of his military and civil administration during the next seven years. He was the first Roman general who effectually subdued the island, and the only one who displayed as much genius and success in training the inhabitants to the amenities of civilization as in breaking their rude force in war. In his seventh and last campaign (84 A.D.), his decisive victory over the Caledonians under Galgacus, at the foot of the Grampians, established the Roman dominion in Britain to that extent northward. At the close of this campaign, his fleet circumnavigated the coast, for the first time, discovering Britain to be an island. Among the works executed by A. during his administration, were a chain of forts between the Solway and the Tyne, and another between the Clyde and Forth. Numerous traces of his operations are still to be found in Anglesey and North Wales, and in Galloway, Fife, Perthshire, and Angus. The news of A.'s successes inflamed the jealousy of Domitian, and he was speedily recalled. Thenceforth he lived in retirement; and when the vacant proconsulships of Asia and Africa lay within his choice, he prudently declined promotion. The jealousy of the emperor, however, is supposed to have hastened his death, which took place at the early age of 55. His life, by his son-in-law, Tacitus, has always been regarded as one of the choicest specimens of biography in literature. name was AGRICOLA, JOHN (whose true Schnitter or Schneider, but who was also called Magister Islebius and John Eisleben, after the name of his native town), born 1492, was one of the most zealous founders of Protestantism. Having studied at Wittenberg and Leipsic, he was sent (1525) by Luther, who highly appreciated his talents and learning, to Frankfort-on-the-Main, to institute there, at the desire of the magistrates, the Protestant worship. On his return, he resided as a teacher and preacher in his native town of Eisleben, till 1536. In 1537, he became a professor at Wittenberg, where the Antinomian controversy, already begun between him and Luther and Melancthon, broke out openly. See ANTINOMIANISM. The troubles in which he was thus involved obliged him to withdraw (1538) to Berlin, where he was reduced to extreme want, and was thus induced to make a recantation never altogether sincere. He then found a protector in the Elector John of Brandenburg, who appointed him preacher to the court and general superintendent. He made great exertions for the spread of the Protestant doctrine in the Brandenburg states; but ere his death, which took place at Berlin, 22d September 1566, he had become as much hated for his share in the drawing up of the Augsburg Interim (q. v.), as he had formerly been for his Antinomian opinions. Besides his numerous theological writings, his country possesses a truly national work of his, entitled Die Gemeinen Deutschen Sprichwörter mit ihrer auslegung (Common German proverbs, with their explanation; Hagenau, 1592; and a very complete but somewhat altered edition at Wittenberg, 1592). The patriotic feelings, pure morals, and pithy language of this book, have procured for it one of the first places among the German works of that age. AGRICOLA, RUDOLPHUS, one of the most learned and remarkable men of the 15th c., and a chief instrument in transplanting the taste for literature, just revived in Italy, into his native country of Germany, was born, 1443, in the village of Baflo, near Gröningen. His name was properly Rolef Huysmann (i. e., houseman or husbandman), which was Latinised by him into A., after the usage of the time. He was also called Frisius, and Rudolf of Gröningen, from his native place; and sometimes Rudolf of Ziloha, from the monastery of Silo, where he spent some time. Having been first a disciple of Thomas à Kempis at Zwolle, he went to Louvain, then to Paris, and thence to Italy, where, during the years 1476 and 1477, he attended the lectures of the most celebrated men of his age. Here he entered into a close friendship with Dalberg, who afterwards became Bishop of Worms. He was the first German who distinguished himself in Italy in public speaking and lecturing, and this he did not only by his erudition, but by the elegance of his language and the correctness of his pronunciation. He likewise acquired reputation as an accomplished musician; and his pieces were popular throughout Italy. On his return to Germany, he endeavoured, in connection with several of his former co-disciples and friends, among whom were Alexander Hegius and Rudolphus Lange, to promote a taste for literature and eloquence in Germany. Several cities of Holland vainly strove with each other to obtain his presence, by offering him public functions; but not even the brilliant overtures made to him by the court of the emperor Maximilian I., to which he had repaired in connection with affairs of the town of Gröningen, could induce him to renounce his independence. At length yielding (1483) to the solicitations of Dalberg, who was now chancellor to the Elector Palatine, and Bishop of Worms, he established himself in the Palatinate, where he sojourned alternately at Heidelberg and Worms, dividing his time between private studies and public lectures, and enjoying high popuand at the age of 40 set with ardour to learn larity. He distinguished himself also as a painter; Hebrew, in order to study theology. He went again (1484) with Dalberg into Italy, and died shortly after his return to Germany (on the 28th October, 1485). His fame rests chiefly on the personal influence he exerted. His compositions, which are written in Latin, are neither so numerous nor so poraries. The first nearly complete edition of them important as those of many of his learned contemConsult Tresling, Vita et Merita R. A. (Gröningen, was that published by Alard (2 vols., Cologne, 1539). 1830). A'GRICULTURE (Lat. ager, a field, and colo, I till) is the art of rearing those plants and animals that are best suited to supply the wants of man. Man has found the earth, in almost every clime, covered with vegetation, yet this often yields little that he can use. The spontaneous growth of nature affording but a limited quantity of food, he at first attempts to supply the deficiency by capturing the wild animals, which often feed upon what is unsuited for his sustenance. Sometimes, however, the most fertile lands under luxuriant forests, or other natural vegetation, only support a small number of animals. In the most favourable circumstances, a given area of territory cannot maintain many of the human family, so long as they depend upon the natural vegetation or on the chase. It is only after those AGRICULTURE. plants which yield man an abundant supply of food are selected and made the objects of cultivation, that population augments, and civilisation takes its rise. Man has selected a great variety of plants for cultivation to afford him food and clothing. In northern latitudes, wheat, barley, oats, rye, and the potato form the chief plants from which he derives subsistence. These crops are most productive when grown in summer in the temperate climates of the earth, being unsuited to the beats of the torrid zone. Their geographical limits, however, are greatly extended by growing them as winter crops on the borders of, and even within the tropics. In these regions, however, rice, maize, millet, and other grains become far more productive of food than the already in our day, and the exportation of corn to other | has imbibed during the inundation is sufficient to nations, indicate an advanced state of the art of A. Rain is a rare phenomenon in Upper Egypt, and fertility is only maintained by the waters of the Nile, which are subject to annual floods. The risings and ebbings are as regular now as they were in the days of Herodotus; and the agricultural systems are also in a great measure the same. The inundation which, unless prevented by embankments, covers the whole land, occurs at the hottest seison. As the waters retire in October, the land is sown with what are there styled winter crops, consisting of wheat, barley, lentils, beans, fax, lupines, chick-pease, &c. All these crops require ao further watering, as the moisture which the soil bring them to maturity about the end of April, or even a month sooner in Upper Egypt. Only one crop in the year is grown upon most of the inundated lands. But on those lands which are protected from the inundation, three crops a year may be raised by means of artificial watering. Few of the plants used as winter crops can be grown in summer in Egypt. The plants adapted for summer consist of rice (largely grown in the Delta), durra, millet, maize, sesame, melons, onions; they are sown from April to August, and of several of them two crops in the season ripen under the cloudless sky of Egypt. A vast amount of manual labour and animal power is expended in watering the ground for the summer crops. AGRICULTURE. The peasants use the shadoof for the purpose, which | his small territory among his subjects, at the rate of is a simple contrivance, used in drawing water, over little more than an acre to each. This allotment, a large portion of the East. The Persian wheel, driven by oxen, is largely employed; so much so, that about 50,000 of these machines are at present in use in the valley of the Nile. Besides these crops, cotton, indigo, and sugar-cane are now cultivated to a small extent. When the waters rest long on the land, it answers all the ends of a fallow, by extirpating the land-weeds and disintegrating the soil. The ground, in such cases, requires no further culture than treading in the seed by animals, or slightly scratching the surface with bushes. On the other hand, the summer crops require a great deal of tending, both in cultivating and watering the soil. The diminution of the population in Egypt has in some measure deprived the country of the means of its former advanced state of A.; nor is its present political condition at all likely to lead to much improvement. Few historical records of the state of Babylonian A. have come down to us. We can only judge of its productiveness by the dense population that was supported in the plains bordering the Euphrates, where the summer climate is almost as arid as that of Egypt. That river also was subject to overflow, when the snows melted on the mountains of Armenia in summer. Further than this, however, we have no knowledge of the systems pursued or crops cultivated. The Scriptures are full of allusions to the operations of the husbandman in Palestine as well as in Egypt. The operations in the two countries necessarily formed striking contrasts-the crops in the former being chiefly dependent on the rains for growth; in the latter, on the inundations of the Nile. In the Holy Land, there are extensive plains of fertile soil which yielded the finest wheat. The hillsides were covered with vines and olives, often planted on terraces formed with much labour, to afford a larger mass of soil, in which the plants might flourish in the almost rainless summers. The valleys were well watered, and afforded pasture for numerous flocks. Of the smaller cultivated plants, millet was the chief summer crop, but was only cultivated to a limited extent, being confined to those spots that could be artificially watered. Wheat and barley were the chief cereals, as the winter rains were sufficient to bring them to maturity. The large number of inhabitants that Palestine supported under the Jews is the wonder of all modern travellers who are struck with the ruins of ancient cities and the desolation of the country. The means of cultivation, however, disappeared with the inhabitants; and the destruction of the wood has added to the aridity of the climate. Concurring testimony indicates that the systems of cultivation were somewhat similar in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, which are characterised by arid summers, and autumn and winter rains. Irrigation, therefore, was had recourse to wherever it was practicable. The A. of Italy in the present day exhibits great contrasts in its condition; for while a garden-like cultivation is seen in Lombardy, the utmost rudeness and backwardness prevail in the southern parts of the peninsula. Into the social causes that have led to these results our limits forbid us to enter. The literature of the A. of the ancient Romans, throws much light on the systems that then existed in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. As is well known, the wide-spread dominion of Rome rose out of a diminutive colony planted on the banks of the Tiber. In the time of the early kings, its original territory did not extend above five miles towards the Alban Hills, and still less in other direc tions. Romulus is said to have divided a portion of granted in perpetuity, was not liable to be taxed, and could be sold by its owner. The whole territory was not assigned to the citizens, but the larger part was kept as domain lands, which yielded a revenue to the state, by being let to the wealthy classes. These domain lands were either cultivated or allowed to remain in pasture. The common conditions were, that the occupants of the corn-land paid onetenth of the produce as rent; of vines and fruit-trees, one fifth; and a moderate rate a head for sheep or cattle pastured. The occupants were merely tenants at-will, and the state could resume and sell their lands at any time. A similar policy seems to have been pursued by the numerous states of ancient Italy. As these were all conquered in succession by the Romans, their lands became the property of the Roman state. Sometimes the inhabitants were wholly extirpated, or sold into slavery, and their lands were partly assigned to the poorer citizens engaged in the war; the remainder, which was always the much larger part, became domain lands. In other instances, only a portion of the lands was taken from the conquered nations; the former owners were allowed to retain them as tenants, paying the ordinary rent. Thus, from the earliest times, two classes of cultivators were in existence-the small proprietors and the wealthy tenants, holding the lands of the state. Betwixt the two, there was almost a perpetual strife-the one demanded the distribution of the state domains, while the others constantly resisted it. Even after the Romans became masters of the whole of Italy, the citizens had little more than four acres of land assigned to each; and the domain lands increased enormously. Attempts were constantly made to restrict the extent of domain held by the patricians, but generally without effect. See AGRARIAN LAWS. The great extent of domain lands gave rise to the employment of slave-labour in their cultivation by the wealthy citizens. This led to the discouragement of small proprietors, so that the free population engaged in A. diminished throughout Italy. The evil was further aggravated by the policy that the Romans pursued towards the inhabitants of the conquered provinces; there none of the land was held as freehold, but it was solely vested in the Roman people, being all let out for the benefit of the state. On the conquest of Sicily, the wealthy Romans flocked over, and farmed the rents, as well us cultivated the lands by means of slave labour. Indeed the chief supplies of grain sent to Rome from Sicily, Sardinia, and Carthage, were raised by means of slaves. A. was long the only source of wealth open to the patricians; and it was deemed the most honourable of occupations. Its operations were then directed by men of wealth and learning; and no wonder that its literature was so copious, and held in so high estimation. Cato, the first and most celebrated agricultural writer (who died aged 88, 150 B.c.), was in the middle period of life at the end of the second Punic war. The large farming system had been fully established; and he gives us not only the most minute particulars regarding the management of the slaves on his Sabine farm, but all the details of husbandry, from the ploughing of the fallows to the reaping and threshing of the crop. The chief grain cultivated by the Romans was wheat, but barley was also cultivated to a considerable extent. Land devoted to grain was fallowed for a whole year every alternate year; in other words, the rotation consisted of 1st, wheat, 2d, fallow. One third of the fallow was manured and sown with some green crop as cattle-food. Fallow received from four to five furrows before the wheat was sown in AGRICULTURE. where the land is irrigated, so that every valley is more or less under the productive influences of water. The melting of the snows in summer on the high ranges of mountains, affords a supply when it is most needed in the plains below. Vines, olives, and oranges find a genial climate for their growth in the southern parts, and are important objects of culture. autumn. The last ploughing left the land in narrow | year, as in Egypt. After wheat has been gathered ridges; and as the seed was sown broadcast, it came in June, a crop of maize or millet, or of vegetables, up in rows, which admitted of the crop being several is got. Maize is scarcely grown in Spain except times hand-hoed. The crops of wheat ripened about the middle of June, but the summers were too dry to allow of millet and other summer crops being raised with certainty. Rye, hemp, flax, beans, turnips, lupines, vetches, and lucerne are also mentioned as occasionally cultivated. Meadows were highly esteemed, and irrigation to some extent adopted. Cattle were fed in the plains in winter, and driven towards the Apennines as the snows melted in spring, and when the pastures below became parched by the heat. The greater proportion of the surface of Southern Italy consists of thin calcareous soils, ill adapted for the growth of grain or grass; and the vine, the olive, and the mulberry become the chief objects of culture. The principal districts for grow ing wheat are in the neighbourhood of Naples, and in the ancient Apulia, where Hannibal generally wintered when he overran Italy. Some of these rich plains are still held directly from the government, and cultivation is of the rudest character. One-third of the land is in pasture, and the other two-thirds in fallow and grain. Three or four crops are taken in succession, and the soil is then allowed to recruit its exhausted strength by remaining under pasture. In the great plain of Northern Italy watered by the Po, agriculture is now in a very advanced condition. A great part of it is of great natural fertility; it drew forth the praises of Polybius, who visited it about fifty years after it came into the hands of the Romans. The oak groves which he found scattered over the plain, fed the immense droves of swine that were then raised in Italy. Now, however, rich and poor soils are subjected to the fertilising influences of irrigation, and the region has become the best cultivated in Europe. No less than 1,600,000 acres of land are under irrigation, and the results are of the most striking character. The land is forced to produce a constant succession of grass and grain. The irrigated meadows, like the pastures of Ireland and Scotland, are made the corner-stone of the systems of rotation. In general, three years in meadow are succeeded by three years in rice; two years in Indian corn and flax; one year in wheat sown out with grass-seeds. Large numbers of cattle are kept on the farms of Lombardy, where the land is often a complete net-work of canals, with their smaller distributing channels. There is a large exportation both of grain and dairy produce. The vast ranges of snowy mountains that bound the plain to the north, afford a never-failing supply of water during the heats of summer. The vine and mulberry beautify the country, and also give employment to the dense population. The absence of forests gives to Spain a more arid summer climate than Italy. Rains commonly fall only during the autumn and winter, and the supply is scanty and irregular. This renders Spain a poor and unproductive country, excepting where the soil can be irrigated. For this reason, the resources of its agriculture are chiefly confined to its well-watered valleys, which are capable of being made to outstrip Egypt itself in productiveness. The Moors early introduced the art of irrigation in the south of Spain, and carried it to a high pitch in the kingdom of Granada. Before the conquest of that country by Ferdinand and Isabella, the valley of Granada was one well-cultivated garden. Though the undiminished powers of the land are still attested by a few spots in the vegas of Murcia and Granada, its present condition cannot be compared to its condition under the Moors. The high temperature admits of a succession of crops being raised in one France must be regarded as one of the richest agricultural countries in Europe. In the south, the climate is sufficiently hot for olives, maize, the mulberry, and the vine. The summer rains, too, are more abundant than in Spain, and permit maize to be extensively grown alternately with wheat, which forms a most productive course of crops. Irrigation has received considerable attention in the southern valleys, and the reclamation of the barren wastes of the Crau in Provence, testifies to its fertilising effects. Much of the soil is poor in the southern provinces, and not suited to the growth of grain; but such soil admits of the growth of the mulberry, the olive, or the vine. All these crops demand a large amount of labour in their culture, and sustain a dense population. Normandy is celebrated for its pastures. The north-west of France generally is the most fertile tract of land in Europe. In the less advanced districts, fallow, wheat, and oats is the rotation still followed. Clovers and lucerne are largely sown in the chaly districts. In the best cultivated districts in the north, wheat and beet-root or poppy are alternately. Beet forms a most important plant in the agriculture of France in the present day, as a large part of the sugar consumed in the country is derived from it. Much of France is divided into small properties, which is more especially the case in the less fertile provinces. This division of property is, so far, a necessity, as no other industrial occupation is open to the people. As soon as manufactures raise the standard of living in the town, it will influence the condition of the rural population, and lead to the enlargement of properties. sown In Austria, Hungary, and the countries on both sides of the Danube, the climate resembles that of the southern half of France. Maize and wheat are the chief products, but the agriculture labours under so many impediments to progress, that it is yet in a backward state. In Southern Russia, there are vast tracts of rich land bordering on the rivers flowing into the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, from which Western Europe derives large supplies of wheat and flax-seed, as well as some maize. The northern parts of Russia are less fertile, and as yet the means of transport are defective and limited. Oats, flax, skins, and tallow are the chief products sent to market. Rye forms the common bread-corn of the lower classes. Prussia, unless along the shores of the Baltic, has no great proportion of fertile land within her territory; the chief article expor ed is wheat from the Baltic provinces, which is of ne quality. The potato enters largely into the food of the common people in Prussia, and is also used in the manufacture of ardent spirits. Its agric dture, however, has no peculiarities deserving of special no pe in this cursory sketch. Flanders has long been celebrated for its farming, and its cultivators are generally supposed to have carried improved systems into the eastern counties of England. It is characterised by painstaking management, and, at the same time, liberal application of manure. The general size of the farms would be considered rather small in England, but considerable capitals are invested in stock and AGRICULTURE. implements, and several kinds of crops are raised unknown to British A. A large part of the stock is stabled throughout the year, the grass being cut and carried from the fields. The rearing and the feeding of cattle, as well as the dairy, are often combined on the same farm. Flax is a crop which receives a great deal of careful management. Hemp and beet-root require liberal treatment with respect to manure, and only enter into the rotation where high farming is followed. The crops are so arranged in the rotation, that two cereal crops do not succeed each other. In no country are the fields kept so free from weeds as they are in Flanders, and in none do the agriculturists suffer so little from fluctuations in the prices of grain, owing to the great variety of crops that are raised. England had made considerable advances in A. so far back as the 16th c. This fact may be gathered from the writings of Fitzherbert, Tusser, and others. At an earlier period, her chief article of export had been wool, which supplied the seats of manufacturing industry in Holland, but now she also exports a large quantity of wheat. The increasing prosperity of the country caused a demand for butcher-meat, which began to rise in price much sooner than it did in Scotland. By the middle of the 17th c., turnips and red clover were introduced as field-crops, and by the end of it, the two were extensively cultivated in many parts, in alternation with corn. In 1750, the four-course shift was not uncommon in many parts of Norfolk. Under this system of 1st, wheat; 2d, turnips; 3d, barley; 4th, grass, one half of the land was constantly under corn-crops, and the other under cattle-crops. Large numbers of sheep and cattle were fattened on the turnips and clover. In "the preparation of the land for turnips, it was well cultivated and weeded, and the consumption of the roots on the land increased the yield of the barley. The four-course shift has formed the basis upon which further improvements have been made in the southern and eastern parts of England. The strong soils of Suffolk and Essex yield good pasture, and about a century ago, they were mostly devoted to dairy-farming. The high price of corn, however, encouraged the conversion of these lands into arablefarms. The course followed was 1st, wheat; 2d, fallow; 3d, barley; 4th, clover. Instead of the fallow, mangel-wurzel is now largely substituted, which enables the farmers to feed large numbers of bullocks in the yards, without so large an expenditure in the purchase of oil-cake as was at one time thought necessary. In the western counties, where the climate is more suitable for grass, and less so for wheat, dairy and stock-rearing become greater objects of attention. The demand for dairy produce in the neighbourhood of the large manufacturing towns of the west, renders the land of much greater value under grass than under corn, more especially where the soil is tenacious. In the more friable soils of the north-western counties of England, the systems of A. resemble somewhat that of Scotland. Instead of the land lying one year under grass, it lies two, followed by oats, then turnips or potatoes, and the wheat-crop is taken after this green crop, and not after the grass. This is the characteristic which distinguishes the arable farming in the western from that in the eastern counties of England. A large portion of the surface of England is under permanent pasture, and the beauty of the meadows is unrivalled in any part of the world. The surface of England is very unequally farmed, for while A. has attained a great degree of perfection in such counties as Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincoln, it is in a comparatively primitive state in others. The causes which have led to this state of things are often difficult to trace. The spirit of improve ment DOW seems, however, far more generally diffused, and spirited farmers are everywhere springing up, who, before long, will fir.d many imitators. In Ireland, the want of manufactures has continued to act as a great hindrance to agricultural improvement. The competition that arose among a generally indigent population in taking small farms, led to extravagant rents, the payment of which involved the starvation of the tenants. The faithful pictures, which Arthur Young drew, towards the close of the last century, showed the workings of such a system. The general introduction of the potato, upon which the people chiefly subsisted, enabled rents to be paid by selling the scanty produce of grain, or the pigs that were reared. The failure of the potato-crop in 1846 produced the most heart-rending scenes of misery that have been witnessed in our times. When Young made his tour, it was the common practice, among the small farmers, to take from four to six crops of oats or barley in succession, after which the land was allowed to renovate its powers by the growth of the natural grasses. On the moderate-sized farms, the cultivation was better; but turnips had little place in a course of cropping for nearly a century after they were largely cultivated in Norfolk. The Protestant population in the north of Ireland introduced at an early period, the culture of flax, which still forms a peculiar feature in the A. of that part of the country. The large amount of manual labour which it requires in its preparation for market, has so far served to preserve the cultivators from descending so low in the scale of social existence as those in the south. As a general rule, it is found that the worst land is most densely peopled; the secondary descriptions are in moderatesized farms; while the best land has hitherto been devoted to pasture, for which the climate is admirably suited. The winters are so mild in the south, that cattle are often not stabled. In Young's time, the Irish graziers were the only class of agriculturists that were possessed of capital. The exodus which took place after the potato-failure, has relieved the country of a portion of the redundant population, but it is still too dense in many places. Scotland made comparatively little or no advance in A. for ages previous to the beginning of the 18th c. Donaldson, who published his Husbandry Anatomised ten years before the Union, aflords a pretty accurate picture of the art as then prac tised. The farms were small, and divided into outfield and infield land. On the former, which was furthest from the homestead, the rotation consisted of two years in grass, succeeded by two years in oats. On the infield land, barley, oats, and pease were sown in succession, and the whole manure was commonly applied to the barley-crop. The yield of corn was from three to four times the quantity of seed. Pastures were of the poorest description, as no artificial grasses were sown. Little encouragement was held out to rear cattle, for a heifer did not bring more than twenty shillings in the market—scarcely the price of two quarters of barley at that time. At the Union, however, Scotland gained free trade with her wealthier rival, from which fowed the happiest consequences. Every branch of industry shared in the new field opened up, and none more so than A. A large trade soon arose in sending the lean cattle and sheep that were reared on the mountainous wastes, as well as in the low country, to be fattened on the pastures and green crops in the south. A great rise in the prices of stock soon followed, which not only encouraged improved breeds, but enabled cultivators to devote a certain portion of the arable lands to the growth of artificial grasses and turnips. Neither of these were grown previous to the Union; but in little more than fifty years |