The theory of agriculture, which we lay down, is therefore built upon the following fundamental prin ciples ; and with one or other of them every part of rural practice is more or less connected :—First, That the soil ought to be kept dry ; or, in other words, free of all superfluous moisture. .Secondly, That it ought to be kept clean ; or, in other words, free of noxious weeds. Third/q, That it ought to be kept rich ; or, in other words, that every particle of manure, which can be col lected, ought to be applied, so that the soil may be kept in a state capable of yielding good crops. Every per son, possessed of a sufficient capital stock, may act ac cording to the first and second principles ; but it is only where local circumstances are favourable, that the last can be carried completely into effect. No more, however, being required of the farmer, than that he shall make the most of his situation, the principle ap plies equally to all ; and, in like manner, is equally cor rect and beneficial in all situations and circumstances.
Holding these principles in view, and assuming them as the basis of what is meant to be inculcated, we pro ceed to illustrate them in a more particular manner.
In the first place, the utility, nay the necessity, of keeping land dry, and preserving it from being inun elated or with water, is so obvious, that few a r guments will be required hi support of this primary principle. When land is allowed to remain in a state of wetness, which may either be occasioned by spouts, or springs, in the under soil, or by rain-water stagnating on the surface, the earth gets into a sour state, which afterwards is detrimental to the growth of plants ; and often, in the first instance, prevents either ploughing or harrowing from being successfully effected. Under such circumstances, the young plants, either of corn or grass, get yellow and sickly, and never assume that vigorous thriving aspect, they maintain upon fields differently circumstanced. Besides, manure has not the same effect when the earth is drowned, or even injured with wetness, as when it is kept dry and free from superfluous moisture. Under-draining is the only method of correcting the evils arising from spouts, or springs, as will afterwards be more distinctly stated, and digging out the head-land, and what are provincially cal led gau furrows, the only preventive against surface-wa ter, when heavy falls of rain or snow storms ensue. In fact, without attention to these important operations, arable land can neither he perfectly managed, nor full crops reaped. Perhaps, the goodness or badness of farm-management may be as correctly estimated by the attention shown to drainage, as by any other mark what ever. Where drainage is neglected, a sure proof is furnished, that many other branches of the art are im perfectly executed. Unless this branch of rural eco nomy is assiduously attended to, the advantages arising from ploughing and manuring are only partially ob tained.
In the second place, the benefit arising front keeping the land clean is sufficiently discernible. Weeds, wheth er of the annual or perennial sorts, may be regarded as preferable creditors of the soil, who will rtap the first advantage of manure, if allowed to remain in pos session : their removal therefore forms an important object of the husbandman's attention. Without detail
ing, in this place, the most suitable means of removing them, it may be stated. that, according to the degree of success, that follows the means employed, so will the goodness or badness of the husbandman's crops be re gulated. If the strength, or nutritive powers, of the soil be exhausted or drawn forth by weeds, or such plants as the soil naturally produces, it is impossible that artificial plants can prosper. It rarely happens, to be sure, that the aborigines are altogether extirpated; but upon the smallness of their number depends the re turn which the soil can make to man, foe the labour be stowed upon its cultivation.
In the third place, the necessity of restoring to the soil, in the shape of manure, the powers drawn from it by artificial crops, is acknowledged by almost every person. No doubt, some heretical opinions have, at different times, been broached, concerning the utility of feeding land by generous manures ; but these never had many votaries, and are now become so obsolete, that it would only he a waste of time to notice them. 'Manure, in fact, is the most powerful agent in the hands of the farmer, and the attention bestowed upon collecting, pre paring, and applying it, constitutes an important branch of the art, which he practises. Perhaps agriculturists are more behind, in the points connected with this third general principle, than in the others ; and here the uti lity of chemical knowledge may, in some respects, be estimated and recognised.
These three fundamental principles hang or fall to gether. Without laying land dry, neither the advanta ges of good ploughing, nor the benefits arising from manure, can he hilly obtain«l. When ally of the other principles are neglected, similar defects w ill necessarily ensue. But when they are all acted upon ; when the land is kept dry, clean, and in good heart, the husband moan may expect a suitable reward for the trouble and expense hi stowed on its cultivation. An agricultural code of this kind is nut only a tulle one, but has the par ticular merit of being simple and distinct; nay, it has an advantage NS hiCh few creeds possess ; it may be under stood by the dullest capacity. Were it carried into ex ecution, were the operations of farmers regulated by its tenets, were their endeavours constantly directed to keep the lands in their possession dry and clean, and as rich as possible, then the country would be progressively im proved. In a word, these arc the fundamental princi ples of agriculture, though several other things, such as rotations of crops mid the like, may be regarded as minor or inferior ones. All of them however, are de pendent upon the principles already noticed, because were. the fundamental principk s neglected, the minor or dependent ones could never be successfully carried into execution.