But whatee er this quantity of land may be thought to be, differing certainly in re lation to different individuals, the im portance of adequately stocking and pre paring what is actually occupied is ex tretne. To unite the portion of land ne cessary to occupy the time of the experi enced farmer, with the complete means of its fertility and improvement, affords the most suspicious foundation for the hope of success. For frequent and fine tillage, and abundant manure, which are essential to the perfection of husbandry-, consider able expense is demanded. The most skilful servants, the most correct imple ments, the most robust cattle, are neces sary to produce that improved tilth, which is the most productive cultivation, and will amply repay the extraordinary ex pense incurred in obtaining them. The procuring of manure in abundance, to re pair the exhaustion of the soil, and not only keep it in heart, but carry it towards that point of fertility, beyond which ad ditional expense will be incapable of re turning proportional produce, is also a matter often of extreme difficulty and cost. The importance indeed of adequate means is so obvious, that it might perhaps by some be scarcely thoughtexcusable to insist upon the subject But the frequent and ruinous neglect of this consideration will, by others, be regarded as an ample justification of enforcing most emphatical ly and repeatedly the idea, that the per fection of agriculture can never be attain ed without an unembarrassed and abun dant capital. With an inadequate capital, on a large extent of land, the same conse quences will take place, which formed the most strikingand decided objection to those little farms, which, however strange it may now app ear, were formerly thought the grand foundation for national plenty and perfect lausbandry. The produce must be carried to tnarket, not at the sea son most advantageous, but almost im mediately after the harvest, in order to enable the farmer to extricate himself from immediate embarrassment, and pre pare the soil, inadequately as it must be done in these circumstances, for fresh cultivation. Commercial monopoly is con sidera.bly favoured by this compulsion upon the farmer for selling at whatever price is offered, and. artihcial scarcity, though now not much to be dreaded ill this country, is more likely to originate from this cimusastance than any other. Those grand operations of spreading marl over large districts, at the mte of one hun dred and fifty tons per acre, of conveying immense quantities of dung from towns at the distance of twenty miles, of floating meadows at the cost of five pounds per acre, of dmining lands at the expense of three, of' paying persons to reside in dis tant shires, or even countries, to acquire superior practical information, or of im proving the breeds of sheep and cattle, by giving for the use of a single animal, for a season, a price at which our ances tors would have been absolutely astonish ed and confounded ; practices, which, happily, have been far from lincommon in the British empire, and are claily adding, perhaps more than any other OROS; tO ItS stability and prosperity, have depend ed entirely upon abundant capital. Such p roeesses for improvement might as easily be expected in the management of those small farms, formerly so highly extolled, and now so justly in theory exploded, as in the conduct of large tracts occupied only by men of embsrra.ssed means. The supply of present exigencies preclude those comprehensive and remote vie ws, which the success of the art most materi ally depends, and unthrifty savings and corroding cams are substituted fur the li bend expenses and delighted hopes, which must attend the skilful application of comparative opulence.
Finally, as the art of husbandry is par ticularly intriEste aml coinprehensixe, and those engagedin it are generally personsof slight education, secluded in a great de grce from mutual intercourse and coinpa ratire observation, ignorance may very justly- be considered as an obstacle to its improvement, perhaps the most operative of all. Instead of being collecteddike ar tists in cities, and possessing opportuni ties for animating curiosity, alai benefiting by communication, they are scattered over the surface of the country, and have culthated generally the same lauds. and the same prejudices, as their ancestors, for a series of generations. Unless theta be among the number of those engaged in this art, a certain proportion of persona of i ntelligent and educated mi nds, capable of turning the experience of themselves and others to advantage, and deriving as sistance to itgriculture, from the discove ries of other sciences or arts, it would be vain in any country to expect its rapid ap proach towards that perfect standard, to which every human effort should be re ferred. l'hat the pmportion of such cha
racters Itaii considerably increased of late years in this country, is an obsenration no less true thatt pleasing; and in the class of posons engaged in agricultural pur suits, it may be safely affirmed there ex ists much less tenacity of prejudice, a far greater disposition to research, and openness to convictio», than were to be found in any former age. Even though, in some instances, old and absurd rou tines of practice may have been maintain ed with more constancy, through the has ty projects and absurd expenses of some innovaters, whose failure has checked the spirit of improvement, and uojustly invol ved in one common ridicule all deviations from ancient custom ; these effects, how ever much to be regretted, are only par tial, and information is still making its way into the most remote recesses, and the most stubborn minds. With a vietv to lessen the darkness aud intricacy yet connected with the subject, to prevent, random speculations and ruinous pro jects, with their ill consequences of every ' kind, it may be observed, that it is of the very first importance, that persons enga ged, particularly on a large scale, in the. profession of agricelture, should keep correct accounts of all their transactions, and of' all their profits and losses. The advantages of clear accounts are obvious in every other occupation of life. Per sons who are engaged in speculations of merchandize, to any extent, and who are known not to attend to this department, are always supposed to be in dangerous circumstances. Agricuhure seems by ma ny to be considered an exception to all other species of business ; that it may be engaged 111 without preliminary study, and is capable of being properly con ducted, even to a large extent, with out any ret.yular accounts, necessary as these are admitted to be in other situa tions. With respect to experimental ag-riculture, no correct conclusions are to be deceit but from correct and minute details. Suppositions draw n front gent cal observation are of no utility, or de ceive rather than inform. The difficulty of keeping accounts, which, however commonly neglected, it is allowed never ought to be so, is certainly not inconsi derable. The mode must often be regu lated. by the nature of the ,farm. The possessor of open fields, where scraps of land belonging to others are intermingled with his own, can, with extreme difficul ty only, keep an account of every part, which, however, it is justly thought of the first importance to do in general, as the knowledge of what every field has paid, in certain circumstances, is the only basis for correct decision on its applica tion. Small fields are from this, as well as from other causes, extremely inconve nient. They are not only inconvenient in preparation, and attended with much loss in borders and ditches, but they de range the accuracy of accounts, if they are not fully noticed, and occupy a great portion of the time of the farmer, if they are. When all the produce of several fields is thrown together, which Is far from an uncommon case, some objects, very interesting to be ascertained, must be left entirely to conjecture ; and when a comparison is made by guesses, the con clusion formed must be totally invalidated as authority. The separation of crops is therefore an important object, with a view to accounts, and is essential, indeed, to their being kept-with accuracy. For the rent, tithes, and parochial rates, three se parate accounts thould be kept, but the amount of all should be divided on every field, for which an account should he kept according to the real contents of it. A distinctioit mustbe drawn between the gross and net contents of the field; as, otherwise, in the comparison of husban dry, that field might be concluded the most advantageous, which had the least border, and merely for that reason, the cultivation practised in the other being, in fact, more profitable. But detail on this subject is here impracticable, and we must be satisfied with observing that, without correctness of data for a compa rison, the conclusions formed will consti tute only a catalogue of errors: The ar ticle of sundry expenses must universally have place in a well regulated account, and should include whatever payments concern the farm in general, (and are not included in any distinct article) and not any object or field in particular. With respect to the article of wear and tear, the arable lands will swallow sip by far titureater proportion of these expenses.