442) 
would of itself have been sufficient 
to have occupied the full attention 
of many societies. The perfecét:on 
to which the manufa¢turing of bar- 
ley flour has been carried under the 
auspices of this institution, is a 
discovery of great importance, as it 
4s thus ascertained, that from the 
meal of pear! or pot barley, bread 
may be made in taste and colour, 
and probably in nourishment, little 
Jnferior to that of wheaten flour ; 
and that in the proportion of at 
least one-third, such meal may be 
mixed with the produce of wheat, 
so as hardly to -be distinguished. 
A very genera! correspondence has 
been established, for the purpose 
of ascertaining the price of stock, 
both lean and faiteneds Experi- 
ments on a great scale, under the 
direction of that able chymist, Dr. 
Fordyce, are now carrying on at 
Gubbins, Hertfordshire, the seat 
of Mr. Hunter, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the principles of vege- 
tation and the effects of manures ; 
and steps are now taking, in order 
to procure such information re- 
specting the various sorts of live 
stock in the kingdom, as will ena- 
ble us to give, in the course of 
Next year, complete information to 
the public upon that important 
subject. 
I have ever considered it to be 
a wise principle for the Board to 
adopt, not to print books for re. 
ference, but books for use; net 
massy volumes on a variety of dif. 
ferent subjects, beyond the income 
of the generality of the pcople to 
purchase, or their time to peruse ; 
but, if possible, distiné& publica. 
ticns, each of them on one article, 
exclusively of every other, avoid. 
ing the intermixture of various 
topics, and distri€ts in the same 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1706. 
work. It would aiso be desirable, 
that no paper should be published 
by the Board, until it has been 
before. it is printed, circulated 
among all those who are likely to 
correct and improve it,. and thus 
brought to some cegree of perf-c. 
tion previous to its publication, 
Agriculture, though often treared 
of, has hitherto never been dis- 
cussed ; and it can never be much 
improved, until information re. 
specting it has been colleéted from 
all quarters, has been afterwards 
thoroughly canvassed; and has 
ultimately been condensed, and 
systematized. Such, however, has 
een the great number of comma. 
nications transmitted to the Board 
upon various important. subj-¢ts, 
in particular, farm buildings, cot- 
tages, and the state of the poor, 
embankments, roads, the construc- 
tion of mills, and of hand-mills in 
particular; together.with a varies: 
ty of interesting papers: respecting 
the agriculture of foreign countries, 
that the Board has resolved to 
print a specimen of those papers 
in one volume quarto, in order to 
ascertain the optnton of the public 
respecting that mode of laying bes 
fore it the papers we have received, 
in addition to the county reports 
now publishing. 
The business gone through by the 
Board of Agriculture is certainly 
more than could possibly be ex. 
pected from an institution possessed 
of such. limited powers, and ,of so 
confined an income. The ‘time, 
however, it is to be hoped, is not 
far distant, when it will be pnt on 
a better and more respectable foot- 
ing ;—-when the superior an pty 
ance of such inquiries, the su- 
perior value of agricultural te: 
sources, and dreadful ha inos Seo 
ta 
