1825.] 
refers chiefly to his own practice on a 
farm at Roville near Nancy, undertaken 
for the laudable purpose of shewing the 
most improved methods of cultivation 
to his countrymen: it may not be amiss 
to give a short outline of his plan. 
Some of the inhabitants of Roville 
(being fully aware of the superior state 
of agriculture in England), about: two 
years since, formed a joint-stock com- 
pany, for the patriotic purpose of esta- 
blishing a kind of pattern or model farm 
¢ ferme exemplaire). The capital, sub- 
scribed for this purpose, was, what would 
be considered small by an English farmer, 
only 45,000 fr. (about £2,000), divided 
into ninety shares. A long lease was 
granted by a liberal land-proprietor, at a 
fair average rent, and the land put under 
the superintendance of M. Dombasle. 
The situation, in which this gentleman 
stands, is that of a farmer who borrows 
all the capital that may be requisite; for 
which he pays 5 per cent. interest. It 
willno doubt excite the envy ofall those, 
who are disposed to view an enterprize 
of the kind as an interested speculation; 
but it will at least solve the question, 
still undetermined by most persons, 
whether, under a good system of manage- 
ment, in all its details, agriculture is 
capable of repaying the interest of the 
capital which it employs, and at the 
same time afford a tolerable profit to the 
cultivator. To determine this important 
problem, M. Dombasle (who is a man of 
fortune, talent, and also a member of 
the Academy) has agreed to devote the 
remainder of his life. It is his intention 
to publish an annual detailed report of 
his “model farm,’ comprehending the 
practice and theory of the art combined, 
Although this philanthropic scheme 
of Mr. D. is highly praiseworthy, and 
calculated, to have a beneficial result, to 
a certain extent, it is quite obvious to 
every one, who has witnessed the almost 
uniform obstinacy and disinclination of 
the ordinary labourer to adopt any new 
mode of practice, that its effects can be 
but very limited, unless education were 
at the same time extended to the pea- 
santry. If M. Dombasle could prevail 
on the French clergy and government 
to sanction the dissemination of instruc- 
tion throughout the population of 
France, as it is, at present, in Great Bri- 
tain, another generation would render 
their peasantry many grades higher, not 
only in agriculture, but in all the other 
useful arts. 
_ The fertility of the soil in France is, in 
the aggregate, much superior to that of 
Mr. Howell on Skeleton Towers. 
509 
England. And if a proper system were 
adopted, by the use of better agricultural 
implements, and the rotation of crops, 
according to the English plan, France 
might increase the produce of her soil 
from twenty to fifty per cent. in value. 
But the extreme ignorance of the French 
peasant, and the apathy of the greater 
portion of the land-owners, renders them 
equally insensible to the advantages 
which might be derived from a superior 
mode of cultivation. The English, and, 
more especially, the Scottish farmer, 
however humble in circumstances, knows 
something of the principles on which 
the science of agriculture depends; but 
the French farmer, owing to the total 
want of education, is utterly unconscious 
both of the principles and the practice 
of agriculture, excepting such modes of 
operation, as have been handed down 
from generation to generation, by his 
ferefathers, 
—=p—— 
Lo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sir: 
At an early period of life, I spent 
some time at Lyme Regis, in Dor- 
setshire. This, with other associations 
of having relations resident there, has 
rendered the late calamitous account 
in the public papers of the recent da- 
mage done to the town and cob by the 
late tempests quite interesting to me. 
Large sums of the public money have 
been, from time to time, liberally granted 
by Parliament, to render the harbour 
secure and commodious. I have viewed 
the erections for this purpose with 
some curiosity; and although it was the 
general opinion that the cob would 
have been capable of resisting the ut- 
most force of the sea, I always thought 
that it would not prove adequate to its 
intended purpose. As this opinion has 
proved to be too well founded, I will 
venture to give an idea to the next en- 
gineer that may be employed; and 
should he not think it applicable in this - 
particular situation, probably it may 
prove of some use at some other place. 
Experience has repeatedly proved, that 
solid, well connected, massy walls are 
quite inadequate to resist the force of a 
tempestuous sea: I therefore propose . 
the erection of skeleton towers or cones, 
constructed of cast-iron ribs, connected 
together by circular pieces of the’ same 
material, having their stone foundations 
upon a common level with the beach. 
Large masses of stone may be placed in 
the interstices round the foundation, by 
way of additional security. 
A suc- 
