INTRODUCTION. ' 9 



any age, and almost in any country but our own ; 

 and withal so successfully, as to turn barren and 

 hitherto sterile Wastes, Forests, and Moors, into 

 productive occupations while such an extraor- 

 dinary degree of ingenuity has been applied to the 

 invention and practical working of different im- 

 plements, as to render the operations of husbandry 

 comparatively simple and easy and while yet 

 once more, the attention which has been paid to 

 the breeding and rearing of the various kinds of 

 Stock, has raised them to a pitch of excellence 

 which our forefathers never contemplated, and 

 which scarcely leaves any room for ftirther effort- 

 while all this proves, I say, that the large landed 

 Proprietors of this country, stimulated and assisted 

 by the skill of the man of science, and by the 

 enterprize and persevering efforts of the Tenant 

 Farmer, have paid almost adequate attention to 

 one part of their estates, it is equally undeniable 

 that the present condition of a large proportion of 

 the Woods, Hedge-Rows, and Plantations, fur- 

 nishes proof of the grossest neglect, and a perfectly 

 unaccountable want of attention. To point out 

 wherein this neglect consists, and to prove this 



