The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility
rests on possession and use of land.

The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility
rests on possession and use of land.

Our rural ancestors with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulg'd the day read more

Our rural ancestors with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulg'd the day that hous'd their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.

Ye rigid Ploughman! bear in mind
Your labor is for future hours.
Advance! spare not! nor look read more

Ye rigid Ploughman! bear in mind
Your labor is for future hours.
Advance! spare not! nor look behind!
Plough deep and straight with all your powers!

He who owns the soil, owns up to the sky.
[Lat., Cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum.]

He who owns the soil, owns up to the sky.
[Lat., Cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum.]

Adam, well may we labour, still to dress
This garden, still to tend plant, herb, and flower.

Adam, well may we labour, still to dress
This garden, still to tend plant, herb, and flower.

Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect stand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand.

Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect stand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand.

He was a very inferior farmer when he first begun . . . and he is
now fast rising read more

He was a very inferior farmer when he first begun . . . and he is
now fast rising from affluence to poverty.

Where grows?--where grows it not? If vain our toil,
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.

Where grows?--where grows it not? If vain our toil,
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she
laughs with a harvest.

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she
laughs with a harvest.