PREFACE. 



The following Abstract is eminently a book of exper- 

 iments. " The publication of experiments," says Arthur 

 Young, " really made, faithfully related, and sufficiently 

 authenticated, is of great and important consequence to 

 the public good. But the very reverse is the case with 

 these books which are published under the title of Gen- 

 eral Treatises and Systems, comprehending more soils, 

 articles of culture, &c., than any one man can experimen- 

 tally have a knowledge of, consisting of the most hetero- 

 geneous parts, purloined out of former books on the same 

 subjects without a common knowledge to discover the 

 good from the bad. It has been said several times, and 

 with very great justice, that what we want is a Book of 

 Experiments. If any practical, intelligent husbandman, 

 who occupied a farm, would only keep an exact register 

 of all his business, such a collection would form, as far as 

 it extended, a complete set of experiments. What we 

 have are the author's reflections, instead of that which 

 enabled him to reflect, and from which we might draw 

 very different conclusions. The Experiment is truth itself; 

 the author's conclusions, matter of opinion which we 



