Vlll PREFACE, 



In the following pages will be found record- 

 ed, the facts he ascertained and the observa- 

 tions they elicited ; and he will feel amply 

 gratified if the result of his labours, in this 

 respect, prove interesting to agriculturists at 

 home, or, if these pages reach the hands of 

 any of his Transatlantic friends, be deemed 

 worthy of their consideration. 



An acquaintance with the soils and seasons 

 of a country, with its laws and customs, and 

 the habits and even the prejudices of its people, 

 more intimate and extensive than can be ac- 

 quired by a stranger in a passing visit, may 

 be thought necessary to authorise and give 

 effect to the proposal of material changes in 

 the practice of its agriculture. 



But such an observation admits of great 

 qualification : For in the practical agricul- 

 ture of a country, there may be defects which 

 are obvious at first sight to the agriculturist 

 of any other country, even where local circum- 

 stances are of the utmost dissimilarity. But 

 when there is proposed, a comparison of the 

 rural economy of two countries, in which the 



