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diflinguifhcd eminence in the practical parts of 

 hufbandry. He appears to have been the firft 

 Englifhman who ftudied the nature of foils, and 

 the laws of vegetation, with philofophical atten- 

 tion. On thefe he formed a theory confirmed by 

 experiments, and rendered the ftudy pleafing as 

 well as profitable, by realizing the principles of 

 the antients, to the honour and advantage of his 

 country. Accordingly, he publ idled two trea- 

 tifes on this fubjedl; the iirft, entitled " The Book 

 u of Hujbandry," appeared in 1534; and the fecond, 

 called " The Book of Surveying and Improvement s>" 

 in 1539. 



Thefe books, being written at a time when 

 philofophy and fcience were but juft emerging 

 from that gloom in which they had long been 

 buried, were doubtlcfs replete with many errors; 

 but they contained the rudiments of true know-* 

 ledge, and revived the ftudy and love of an art, 

 the advantages of which were obvio^fs to men of 

 the lead reflection. We therefore find that Fitz- 

 ii lkbert's books on Agriculture foon raifed I 

 fpirit of emulation in his countrymen, and many 

 treatifes of the fame kind fucceflively appeared, 

 which time has however deprived us of, or at leaft 

 they are become ib very fcarce as only to be found 

 in the libraries of the curious. 



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