lBo4« Agncultural IntelUgence, 3^9 



vatcd hind, it \\H1 not give furprifc when tlic change, wliich has l)cen 

 progrc'ffively going on in our corn trade, is difcovcred. If agriculture 

 had r.ot been executed upon more corrc6l princi])les thaii formerly, it 

 is plain that a great part of the people would either have been flarvcd 

 at home, or forced to emigrate toother couiilries. 



An enemy apj;reatfd on the turnip fields this feafon, whofe prtTencc 

 has not been recognifcii for ninetefn or twenty years. This was a black 

 wo'-m or caterpillitr, al-out one Incli in length, that ravaged the fields 

 with fuch uncommon rapidity, as for ftvcral days to render it a proble- 

 maiical point in many dilirifls, whether a fi ngic turnip wotild remain 

 ■undcfl'oyed. If the prcgrefs of this infecl wis rapid and unexpe6ted, 

 its departure was equally fo ; and though much damage has been fnf- 

 taintd, yet we believe that a good deal of the lofs proceeded froTi the 

 delay ther'jby occafioned in the cleaning procef*, many people judi^ing 

 It unnerefTary to thin or hoc a crop, which, in their opinion, could not 

 "be faved from thefe hoftiic- Invaders. 



A confiderable declenfion in the value of lerm /lock, both cattle 

 and flieep, but chiefly of the latter, has taken place this year, tliough 

 fat ftill maintains a good price, or rather is more in unifon witli 

 the price of lean flock than in the former year. Still, after all, the 

 produce of grafs and efculerit roots is infinitely higher priced than thai 

 of corn fields. V\\ fonr.cr times, a poiind of beef rarely fold for more 

 than the value of tv/o pounds of bread ; but jiovv the former is triple 

 the price of the 'latter, and lately the difference was confidcrably 

 greater. If we take into account the incieafed value of labour, little 

 of which falls either upon the breeding or the feeding fanner, and 

 tlie public burdens affeiSiing the corn famier, (inllance, the horfe-tax), 

 it mufl be acknowledged that a greater incentive is held out to l:iy land 

 into grafs, than to cultivate it with the plougli. After all, it appears 

 that the quantity of grafs land, at leaft what is ufed in feeding, is un- 

 dcqual to the demaisd, othcrwife the vakie of produce would dmiinirtu 

 Whenever tliere is an overplus, the difeafe will inftantly work its own 

 cure, mankind being rema:-kably Iharn-fighted \\\ the afcertainment of 

 uch ro.atters. 

 AVe have already alluded to tlie er»couragemcnt beftov.'ed by the Le- 

 giflature upon home agriculture, in raifing the prices at which cor;*, 

 can be imported at a nominal duty fiom foreign coun^tries ; which, 

 if our -jrinciples are correct, will raife the price of corn at home 

 in a piXiportionable manner- In the firfl Branch of tl-iis Num.ber, 

 a copy of the Report made to the floufe of Commons by the Coin- 

 mittee appointed to invefligale the bufinefs, is given, together with 

 the fchedulcs, agreeable to which the bounty upon -export, and the 

 duties upon import, ai-e to be regulated. We underftand that fome 

 tilterations have been made in tliefe fchedules, the precife extent of 

 which we are not fufliciently inform.ed of to Hate coircdly at this 

 time. If the bill has received the Royal affejit, and is co)nmunicated 

 to us before the concluding part of this Number goes to prefs, we 

 il^aU prcfent the fubllance of it to our renflrv: in r po^lfcnpt ; other- 



A a 4 w^Pr 



