XXVI INTRODUCTION. 



of large farms through the country might not give due fcopc 

 to a defirable increafe of fober, induftrious, hardy, and va- 

 luable heads of families, in ftations which may be frequently 

 attainable by an induftrious labourer, and of courfe be con- 

 fidered as the publick reward of active, unafluming ufeful- 

 nefs ; but fuch an addition, as being abundantly more pro^- 

 dui5tive, and as calling for a more numerous peafantry, would 

 be infinitely better than the prefent ftatc of things. It would ' 

 be, at any rate, a grand addition to our means of increafmg 

 the quantity of farming produce — and the immenfe addi- 

 tional ftore muft inevitably tend to the countera£tion of 

 monopoly: for beyond certain moderate limits, fuch mo- 

 nopoly could not go, but at the hazard, not only of lofs, 

 but of ruin to the parties concerned. This principle is 

 clear, and its effeil certain, as any mathematical demon - 

 ftration ! 



Taking it for granted, that for reafons affigned, and from 

 the refleitions of the intelligent reader, an alteration in 

 the general face of this countr)^ will appear defirable, and 

 indeed necefTary; I may, perhaps, be indulged in enlarging 

 a little further on my favourite part of the fchemc — a part 

 on which too much has never been faid, or can be faid, till 

 experiment (hall have fuperfeded the ufe of argument: 1 

 mean the improvement of cottage-buildings and the building of 

 convenient houfes and offices for pmdl farmer s. T hefe have been 

 .topicks of the Society's continued notice, and indeed of its 

 folicitude. The plans already given in for cottages and gar- 

 dens — and the premiums offered for plans of fmall as well 

 as large farm-houfes and offices, fpeak this. And it is with 

 plcafure 1 can remark, that in my intercourfes with the pub- 

 lick I have found thofe objeils generally applauded., however 

 -xconfiderable the further effefts have been. 



Coftly 



