X PREFACE. 



the following passage in a powerful address by 

 Mr Biddle, chairman of an agricultural meet- 

 ing at Philadelphia. After enumerating the 

 many advantages possessed by the farmers of 

 Pennsylvania, he expresses himself in these 

 words : 



" Having thus spoken of the advantages 

 which we enjoy, I proceed to the less agree- 

 able but more profitable enquiry, why our farms 

 are not so productive as they ought to be 

 and I make the comparison between Penn- 

 sylvania and England, because I think Eng- 

 land, on the whole, the best farming country 

 in Europe ; and our English friends must un- 

 derstand, that while we amuse ourselves occa- 

 sionally with some of their peculiarities, * we 

 pay them the highest compliment we can, by 

 proposing them AS THE CONSTANT MODELS 



OF OUR FARMING." 



* Mr Biddle here, in some measure, compliments with 

 a banter, but does it very good naturedly, and it is pleas- 

 ing to understand from him, that the Americans find the 

 means of giving the English, " a Rowland for their Oli- 

 ver." 



3 



