ag·ri·cul·ture /ˈægrɪˌkʌlʧɚ/
 U農業
 Ag·ri·cul·ture n.  The art or science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of live stock; tillage; husbandry; farming.
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 agriculture
      n 1: a large-scale farming enterprise [syn: agribusiness, factory
           farm]
      2: the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock [syn:
         farming, husbandry]
      3: the federal department that administers programs that
         provide services to farmers (including research and soil
         conservation and efforts to stabilize the farming
         economy); created in 1862 [syn: Department of Agriculture,
          Agriculture Department, USDA]
      4: the class of people engaged in growing food
 Agriculture
    Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle
    were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians
    excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into
    the possession of the Promised Land, their circumstances
    favoured in the highest degree a remarkable development of this
    art. Agriculture became indeed the basis of the Mosaic
    commonwealth.
      The year in Palestine was divided into six agricultural
    periods:-
      I. SOWING TIME.
      Tisri, latter half
      (beginning about the autumnal equinox.)
      Marchesvan.
      Kisleu, former half.
      Early rain due = first showers of autumn.
      II. UNRIPE TIME.
      Kisleu, latter half.
      Tebet.
      Sebat, former half.
      III. COLD SEASON.
      Sebat, latter half.
      Adar.
      [Veadar.]
      Nisan, former half.
      Latter rain due (Deut. 11:14; Jer. 5:24; Hos. 6:3; Zech. 10:1;
      James 5:7; Job 29:23).
      IV. HARVEST TIME.
      Nisan, latter half.
      (Beginning about vernal equinox. Barley green. Passover.)
      Ijar.
      Sivan, former half., Wheat ripe. Pentecost.
      V. SUMMER (total absence of rain)
      Sivan, latter half.
      Tammuz.
      Ab, former half.
      VI. SULTRY SEASON
      Ab, latter half.
      Elul.
      Tisri, former half., Ingathering of fruits.
      The six months from the middle of Tisri to the middle of Nisan
    were occupied with the work of cultivation, and the rest of the
    year mainly with the gathering in of the fruits. The extensive
    and easily-arranged system of irrigation from the rills and
    streams from the mountains made the soil in every part of
    Palestine richly productive (Ps. 1:3; 65:10; Prov. 21:1; Isa.
    30:25; 32:2, 20; Hos. 12:11), and the appliances of careful
    cultivation and of manure increased its fertility to such an
    extent that in the days of Solomon, when there was an abundant
    population, "20,000 measures of wheat year by year" were sent to
    Hiram in exchange for timber (1 Kings 5:11), and in large
    quantities also wheat was sent to the Tyrians for the
    merchandise in which they traded (Ezek. 27:17). The wheat
    sometimes produced an hundredfold (Gen. 26:12; Matt. 13:23).
    Figs and pomegranates were very plentiful (Num. 13:23), and the
    vine and the olive grew luxuriantly and produced abundant fruit
    (Deut. 33:24).
      Lest the productiveness of the soil should be exhausted, it
    was enjoined that the whole land should rest every seventh year,
    when all agricultural labour would entirely cease (Lev. 25:1-7;
    Deut. 15:1-10).
      It was forbidden to sow a field with divers seeds (Deut.
    22:9). A passer-by was at liberty to eat any quantity of corn or
    grapes, but he was not permitted to carry away any (Deut. 23:24,
    25; Matt. 12:1). The poor were permitted to claim the corners of
    the fields and the gleanings. A forgotten sheaf in the field was
    to be left also for the poor. (See Lev. 19:9, 10; Deut. 24:19.)
    Agricultural implements and operations.
      The sculptured monuments and painted tombs of Egypt and
    Assyria throw much light on this subject, and on the general
    operations of agriculture. Ploughs of a simple construction were
    known in the time of Moses (Deut. 22:10; comp. Job 1:14). They
    were very light, and required great attention to keep them in
    the ground (Luke 9:62). They were drawn by oxen (Job 1:14), cows
    (1 Sam. 6:7), and asses (Isa. 30:24); but an ox and an ass must
    not be yoked together in the same plough (Deut. 22:10). Men
    sometimes followed the plough with a hoe to break the clods
    (Isa. 28:24). The oxen were urged on by a "goad," or long staff
    pointed at the end, so that if occasion arose it could be used
    as a spear also (Judg. 3:31; 1 Sam. 13:21).
      When the soil was prepared, the seed was sown broadcast over
    the field (Matt. 13:3-8). The "harrow" mentioned in Job 39:10
    was not used to cover the seeds, but to break the clods, being
    little more than a thick block of wood. In highly irrigated
    spots the seed was trampled in by cattle (Isa. 32:20); but
    doubtless there was some kind of harrow also for covering in the
    seed scattered in the furrows of the field.
      The reaping of the corn was performed either by pulling it up
    by the roots, or cutting it with a species of sickle, according
    to circumstances. The corn when cut was generally put up in
    sheaves (Gen. 37:7; Lev. 23:10-15; Ruth 2:7, 15; Job 24:10; Jer.
    9:22; Micah 4:12), which were afterwards gathered to the
    threshing-floor or stored in barns (Matt. 6:26).
      The process of threshing was performed generally by spreading
    the sheaves on the threshing-floor and causing oxen and cattle
    to tread repeatedly over them (Deut. 25:4; Isa. 28:28). On
    occasions flails or sticks were used for this purpose (Ruth
    2:17; Isa. 28:27). There was also a "threshing instrument" (Isa.
    41:15; Amos 1:3) which was drawn over the corn. It was called by
    the Hebrews a moreg, a threshing roller or sledge (2 Sam. 24:22;
    1 Chr. 21:23; Isa. 3:15). It was somewhat like the Roman
    tribulum, or threshing instrument.
      When the grain was threshed, it was winnowed by being thrown
    up against the wind (Jer. 4:11), and afterwards tossed with
    wooden scoops (Isa. 30:24). The shovel and the fan for winnowing
    are mentioned in Ps. 35:5, Job 21:18, Isa. 17:13. The refuse of
    straw and chaff was burned (Isa. 5:24). Freed from impurities,
    the grain was then laid up in granaries till used (Deut. 28:8;
    Prov. 3:10; Matt. 6:26; 13:30; Luke 12:18).