Ibn Ba'al was an 11th century Andalusian agronomist born in Toledo, Spain. He traveled widely, visiting places like Egypt, Syria, Sicily, Yemen, Iraq, Persia, India and brought back new agricultural ideas. His most famous work was Kitab al-Filaha, a 16 chapter manual on farming practices. It covered topics like water, soils, manures, growing trees, grains, vegetables and more. The manual was practical, systematic and provided objective advice on cultivation techniques based on Ibn Ba'al's experiences. It served as an influential model for later Islamic agricultural writers in Spain.

1. Ibn Ba ālṣṣ
(11th
Century)
Abū ‘Abd Allāh Mu ammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ba āl al- ulay ulī, also known asḥ ṣṣ Ṭ ṭ
Mu ammad ibn Ba āl al-Andalūsī, born in the mid-11th century at Toledo,ḥ ṣṣ
He was a leading Andalusian agronomist.
Ibn Ba āl made the pilgrimage to the Hijaz, visiting Sicily, Egypt and Syria, andṣṣ
also, apparently, Abyssinia, Yemen, Iraq, Persia, northern India and Khorasan from
where he brought back new ideas on the cultivation of cotton.
We may surmise that he also brought back plants and seeds from his travels, to be
grown on in the botanical garden of Al-Ma’mūn at Toledo, where he most probably
served under and succeeded Ibn Wāfid as director.

2. Ibn Ba āl’s is thus, arguably, the most original and objective of all theṣṣ
Andalusi agronomists (Colin 1999, n.p.).
He mentions more than 180 cultivated plants and crops in his work.
His manual is practical, systematic and is organized on a pattern that is
more or less followed by later agronomists.
Here in Seville Ibn Ba āl created a new botanical garden,ṣṣ
where he experimented with the propagation and cultivation of blue lilies,
asparagus and jasmine, among others .
Ibn Ba āl died in Seville at the beginning of the 12th century.ṣṣ

3. Ibn Ba āl’s workṣṣ
Kitāb al-qa d wa’l-bayānṣ
comprises sixteen chapters.

4. Chapter 1 : On water
Chapter one examines water of different kinds, their various natures and
constitutions, and their effects on plants.
Four types are distinguished – rainwater, river water, spring water and well
water.
The best is rainwater, for it is the most beneficial to plants and leaves no
residual salts. It has a warm and moist constitution, resembling air in this
respect.
In contrast, river water is dry and sour by nature, and can even remove or
deplete the moisture in the ground by washing it out.
Water from springs and wells is heavy and earthy, unlike rainwater, but can
be warming in winter, benefiting plants suffering from the cold, and,
conversely, cooling in summer, reviving plants with its freshness.

5. Chapter 2 : On land and soils
The second chapter examines the different types of lands and soils,
their natures and properties, and how to distinguish good farmland from
poor.
Ten types of land/soil are distinguished:
soft, heavy, mountain, sandy, black manured land, white, yellow, red, rough
and stony land, and, finally, ‘alcadén’ (mukaddana) that is, reddish
sandstone land.
Each of these classes of land is examined in respect to its nature – whether
cold, warm, dry or moist, whether it is porous or permeable to the passage of
air and water, its agricultural advantages and disadvantages,
the type of manure required and the crops best suited to each.
The author draws attention to the varying productivity and workability of
the soil depending on the season in which it is cultivated.

6. Chapter 3 : On manures
Chapter three deals with manures of different kinds and their appropriate
uses. Ibn Ba āl distinguishes seven types of manure:ṣṣ
equine, human, sweepings and refuse, that from sheep, and pigeons, ashes
from bathhouse furnaces, and, lastly, artificial compost made from grasses,
weeds and dry leaves.
He makes no specific mention, however, of cattle manure, so important in
farming today. This may be because he classes it with manure from horses
and mules, or because the manure of free-ranging cattle was rarely
collected.
As always, he is careful to specify the nature and characteristics of each
type of manure, especially whether it is more or less wet or dry, cold or hot,
salty or viscous.
He pays particular attention to the degree of maturity of the manure, its
different reactions according to the type of soil in which it is incorporated,
and its varying effects on the plants that receive it.

7. Chapter 4 : On the choice of land and its preparation
Chapter four discusses the indicators, especially the natural vegetation,
by which the farmer can determine the quality of land.
Next Ibn Ba āl advises on the best way to prepare a piece of land and organize itṣṣ
for cultivation, and how to ensure that water circulates properly, if it is irrigated.
For this purpose an instrument of undoubted Christian or Mozarab origin, the
murchical, is used (calledalmarchaquel in the medieval Castilian translation – it
was a triangular level, with a plumb, similar to that used by masons today), along
with some other tools and equipment to level and flatten uneven ground.
Among farming operations, our author discusses in particular the long fallow, which
is equivalent to a good manuring in benefiting the crop.
The land is given four ploughings between mid January and late May or early June
in order to break up the clods, produce a fine tilth, and “lose its bad humours”.
Ibn Ba āl distinguishes between cultivated land, uncultivated wasteland which isṣṣ
‘asleep’ and has never been ploughed, and land which has been worked but still
carries the stubble of the previous crop. He extols the efficacy of good tillage in
increasing fertility – there is nothing, not even manure, that confers its benefits. He
studies the different effects of tillage according to the season and the weather
conditions when it is carried out.

8. Chapter 5 : On planting trees
The fifth chapter, comprising fifty-three sections, deals with arboriculture and
examines the species of trees, including fruit-trees, commonly grown in Muslim
Spain.
Different methods of propagation – by seed or stone, shoots, cuttings and grafts –
are explained.
Each species is treated in terms of propagation, preparation of the soil, care and
watering. It begins with the cultivation of the palm-tree, followed by the olive,
pomegranate, quince, apple, fig, pear, cherry, apricot, plum, peach, almond,
walnut, hazelnut, grape, citron, orange, pistachio, pine, cypress, chestnut, holm-
oak and deciduous oak, allohanta , tree of paradise, arbutus, elm and ash.
In this long and dense chapter the author includes some methods for combating
diseases of trees.
As well as orchard and garden trees, forest trees figure prominently, indicating
perhaps that Spain at this time was not as deforested as it is today.

9. Chapter 6 : On the different systems of propagation, especially
layering
A brief chapter six expands on some methods of propagating the trees
already mentioned.
Ibn Ba āl recommends, in particular, the technique of layering, especiallyṣṣ
for hard or heavy soil.
He also discusses propagation from cuttings taken from the parent tree,
and propagation by means of pips, seeds and stones, started in pots and
containers and transplanted into nursery beds.
Chapter 7 : On how to prune trees and improve their health
Chapter seven is also very short and deals with the pruning of trees.
It discusses the appropriate time for pruning in relation to the movement
of sap, the correct point at which a shoot should be pruned, and the right
way to prune old trees in order to rejuvenate them.

10. Chapter 8 : On how to graft various trees onto others and how to know
if they are compatible. Also concerning the seven climes, their weathers
and natures
The eighth chapter is devoted to the operation of grafting, which Ibn Ba ālṣṣ
examines in great detail.
As the success of the graft is closely related to climatic conditions, our author
begins by addressing the agricultural potential and constraints of the seven climes,
especially in relation to what is feasible in the way of grafting.
Then he turns to the four natures or constitutions of trees – oleaginous, viscous,
milky and aqueous – which determine the technique of grafting because only trees
with the same nature can be grafted, although there are exceptions.
There follows a classification of trees according to these four constitutions. After
this introduction to the subject, the five general types of graft are discussed: the
Roman graft (between bark and wood), cleft graft, tube graft (tarqīb al-qanūt),
shield graft, and drill or awl graft.
Detailed instructions are given on how to accomplish each type of graft, the tools
needed, the species suited to each type and those that support different types.

11. Chapter 9 : On certain types of graft, their secrets and marvels
The ninth chapter complements the previous chapter in discussing some
curiosities and wonders of grafting, especially in making grafts between
trees of very different natures, for example, between the olive and the fig
tree.
The Andalusi agronomists excelled in this technique.
They also made use of large clefts and hollows in the host tree, where they
placed pots and containers filled with soil in which were sown seeds or
stones of the plant to be grown.
With repeated watering, these seeds rooted in the hollow and the soil in
the host tree.
In truth, these were more like epiphytes than true grafts, but in this way
roses appeared to be grafted on vines, olives on laurels, and so on.

12. Chapter 10 : On the sowing of cereals and vegetables and their like in
the kitchen-garden
Chapter ten, very long, presents the other major area of plant science –
the cultivation of herbaceous plants, grains and vegetables.
The chapter begins with the cultivation of chickpeas and is followed by
beans, rice, peas, flax, henbane, sesame, cotton, safflower, saffron, poppies,
henna and artichoke.
Some crops, such as flax and cotton, are dealt with at much greater length
and include instructions on industrial processing such as the retting of flax.
On occasion Ibn Ba āl recalls agricultural knowledge and expertiseṣṣ
acquired in Egypt, Syria and Sicily during his pilgrimage to Mecca.
For each crop he gives the required method of cultivation and care,
manuring, time of planting, the recommended amount of seed per unit
area, irrigation, thinning and weeding, and of course, the appropriate soil.

13. Chapter 11 : On the cultivation of spices used to flavour dishes
The eleventh chapter continues with the cultivation of plants used as spices
and flavourings, such as cumin, caraway, fennel, anise, coriander, etc.,
following the same pattern as in the previous chapter.
Chapter 12 : On the cultivation of cucumbers, melons, pumpkins
and their like
Chapter twelve – which is missing from the manuscript of the medieval
Castilian translation – concerns the cultivation of cucumbers, melons,
mandrake, watermelons, pumpkins and squash, eggplant, asparagus, caper,
and colocynth, i.e. plants typical of larger gardens and irrigated land, hence
the importance given here to the waterings or irrigations required, noting
however that over-watering tends to reduce the sweetness of some, like the
melon.

14. Chapter 13 : On the cultivation of root vegetables
Chapter thirteen is devoted to bulbs and root plants, giving concise but
practical information on several of these. It begins with the cultivation of
turnips, distinguishing two types - the long and the round - followed by
carrots, radish, garlic, onion, leek, parsnip, the Sudanese pepper, and
madder, the latter absent from Ibn al-‘Awwām’s later treatise.
Chapter 14 : On various methods of cultivating vegetables
The fourteenth chapter is given over to the cultivation of leaf vegetables,
beginning with cabbage, of two types – the summer cabbage, which is
tender, with closed leaves, and the winter cabbage, with well-separated
leaves.
This is followed by the cultivation of cauliflower, the cabbage of the
Christians (baqla al-rūm), spinach, purslane, amaranth or the Yemeni
vegetable, and chard.
There is a somewhat extended treatment of lettuce, giving different
methods of cultivation, and the chapter ends with concise instructions of
the cultivation of chicory and the poppy.

15. Chapter 15 : On the cultivation of aromatic plants such as sweet basil
The fifteenth chapter deals with aromatic plants.
It begins with the rose, which Ibn Ba āl treats at some length.ṣṣ
The author explains how to achieve two flowerings, first in spring and again
in autumn, by ceasing to water during the hot season and resuming
repeated waterings from the beginning of August, thereby inducing
abundant blooms in autumn.
There follow some short paragraphs, sometimes only two or three lines, on
the wallflower and the violet, distinguishing the violet of the mountains,
with small leaves and very blue flowers, and the garden violet, which thrives
in soil containing debris from old mud-brick buildings, mixed with sand
from bath-houses.
The chapter continues with brief notes on the cultivation of the white lily,
chrysanthemum, narcissus, basil al-qarnafalī, which is the best and most
aromatic of its kind, followed by the aromatic herbs marjoram, lemon balm,
rue, mallow, chamomile and wormwood.

16. Chapter 16 : Concerning wonderful and useful knowledge about waters,
wells, the preservation of fruits and other beneficial things
indispensable to the farmer
The sixteenth chapter, the last, presents some useful knowledge, indispensable to
the farmer, concerning water, wells, the preservation of fruits, etc.
To protect plants from grubs in the soil and other similar pests, Ibn Ba ālṣṣ
recommends covering the ground with a layer of sand from the bath-house, to the
thickness of a finger, before manuring and sowing the field.
He discusses the acclimatization of wild plants in the garden, collecting their seed,
the importance of sowing it at the right time (in some cases thirty days before the
arrival of spring), and trying to replicate the soil and moisture conditions of their
natural habitat.
Much space is devoted to the sinking of wells - the advantage of siting them at a
height so that water can be led easily and quickly to all parts of the garden; the best
time to sink a well, which is about the month of August, when the water-table falls in
response to the sun and is at its deepest; the signs that indicate the amount of water
at a place, and its quality and taste; ways to raise the water in very deep wells; and
how to activate the water of a newly-dug well, etc.

17. Finally, there are some brief instructions on the conservation of fruit.
In the case of apples, these are picked when ripe, at night, being careful not to
bruise or damage them, then they are laid out loosely in a cool room and
inspected regularly every thirty days to remove any deteriorating fruit that may
affect others; in this way they should last until June.
The same procedure is followed with pomegranates.
As for nuts such as chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds, they should be
stored in holes after the manner of silos, in sand to keep them fresh.
Two short prescriptions for making beautiful bouquets of flowers and
unfermented wine with mustard (mosto amostazado) complete this chapter on
rural household economy.
In these last chapters Ibn Ba āl offers the same practical, objective advice basedṣṣ
on experience which is found throughout the whole work.
The plan and arrangement is organic and systematic, a pattern that is more or
less followed by later Hispano-Arab agronomists.