PREFACE. 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



THE Philadelphia Society for promoting Agri- 

 culture, was formed in the year one thousand seven hun- 

 dred and eighty f^ve^ by some citizens, only a tew of whom 

 were actually engaged m husbandry, but who were convmced 

 of its' necessity ; and ol the assistance which such an associ^ 

 ation, properly attended to, would afford to the interests of 

 agriculture. The socetv continued to meet regularly, iof 

 several years ; — and publ'.shed numerous communications from 

 practical men, in the news papers of the day, on various in- 

 tetesting subjects ; and thereby contributed to diffuse the 

 knowledge of many improvements in agriculture ; the general 

 adoption whereof, has visibly tended to increase the product, 

 and to improve the qualities of the soil ot Pennsylvania* 



The continuance of a long war with Great Britain had ef- 

 fectually precluded all friendly intercourse, and prevented the 

 receipt of all information from that country, (in a language ge- 

 nerally understood here) not only of the improvements in agri- 

 culture there existing, but of those in other European coun- 

 tries, wherein the practice and principles of good husbandry 

 are universally attended to. The system generally pursued 

 here at that time, was bad in the extreme. It cons'sted in 

 a series of exhaust ng grain crops, with scarcely any inter- 

 CD ruption, for several years ; aiter which, the land was abandon- 

 ' — ed to weeds and natural grass, under the fallacious idea of 

 rest ; and, when completely worn out, new land was cleared, 



