|28 OhfifVations on the Lelcejter\ Nor. 



Modern Improvement of Farm Stock, and thofe that were in- 

 fertcd in anf^ver to It, as belonging more particularly to myfelf. 

 You fay. No. XIII. p. 37, that * I have certainly confidered 

 only one fide of the queftion, and even that, not in a true 

 farming point of view, ' adtiin^, * that they (the Leicefter Iheep) 

 are not fo agreeable to the Epicure's palate, we concede, though 

 we by no means allov/, this to be the criterion wliich fliould 

 determine the merits of the matter. ' 1 conceive the merits of 

 the matter and queflion to be. Whether or not the butcher 

 markets of the city of Edinburgh have ftood indebted to Mr 

 Brodie for introducing houfe-lanib and large mutton, fo ais to 

 have his name obtruded upon the public as a benefa£lor to his 

 country .'' I da not think the well-fupplied markets of Edinburgh 

 could ever ftand indebted to any individual, for the quantity 

 brought to market, fo as to hiive his name inferted in the nevvf^ 

 papers, like thofe iilultrious donors who fend a cart-load of 

 coals, or a fat Iheep, to warm and i^tdi the poor prifoners, in 

 the city jail, at ChriRmas. If, therefore, you coniider the fcope 

 and intention of my remarks, you mud allow that I have nofi 

 confidered the fubjeft I was treating about improperly. What 

 had Epicurus to do with proiit and iofs, or a true farming point 

 of view ? he occupied no fuch ground j therefore your obferva- 

 tions were not at ail in point- 

 In your remarks, No. XIV. p. 168, you (late, * That tlie New- 

 Leicefter, or improved breed of fliecp, are more profitable to the 

 farmer, in general cafes, than many other breeds, may almojl hr 

 received as a7i axiom. ^ But I beg leave again to refer you to your 

 remarks in the 9th page of No. XIII. wherein you fay, ' We 

 do not aflume the privilege of conveying information in a di- 

 da£lic manner. * In my opinion, however, the information giv- 

 en above is extremely dogmatical ; for where are the felf-evident 

 facls, on which you found this axiom ? Why have you not 

 conveyed to us the proofs on a matter of fuch general uti- 

 lity, in order that they may be examined with fcrutinizing 

 eyes, before they are fandioned by public opinion, and re- 

 ceived as the foundation of your axiom, which is a pro- 

 pofition certainly not evident at firfl fight } You know the 

 diihculty of drawing conclufions from experiments or prac- 

 tices in agriculture ; and are we to adopt as axioms, the af- 

 fcrtions of interefled perfons ^. In faying this, I difclaim all 

 perfonality, and only wifh to (hoot at folly as it flies j for 

 mankind every day deceive them.felves : and when- an im- 

 prover in agriculture mounts his hobby, and brings him to 

 market, he naturally thinks no price equivalent for fo valuable 

 an animal : But the purchafer muft be credulous in the extreme, 

 who, witliout a long and proper trial, attaches to all the parts 



