AGR 



AGR 



aho used for the profit arising from the 

 discounting a note, bill, &c. Agio of as- 

 surance, is tin- same with \vli:it \\e cull 

 polirv of assurance. > .NCE. 



\(;i!KKMK\T, in U\ . signifies the 

 consent of several persons to any thing 

 loin-, or to IK- done. 



There are three kinds of agreement. 

 First, an agreement already executed at 

 the beginning, as \vhcn money is paid, or 

 other satisfaction made for the thing 

 agreed to. Secondly, an agreement after 

 ;mart done by another, to which a person 

 agrees : this is also executed. Thirdly, 

 an agreement executory, ortobe execut- 

 ed in time to come. 



An agreement put in writing does not 

 change its nature ; but if it be sealed and 

 rleli\ < red, it becomes still stronger; nay, 

 any writing under hand and seal, or a 

 proviso amounting to an agreement, is 

 equivalent to a covenant. 



AGRICULTURE, is the science which 

 explains the means of making the earth 

 produce, in plenty and perfection, those 

 M-gcahles, which are necessary to the 

 subsistence or convenience of man. Its 

 practice demands a considerable know- 

 ledge of the relations subsisting between 

 the most important objects of nature. It 

 is eminently conducive to the advantage 

 of those actively engaged in it, by its 

 tendency to promote their health, and to 

 cherish in them a manly and ingenuous 

 character ; and every improvement made 

 in the art must be considered as of high 

 utility, as it facilitates the subsistence oca 

 greater proportion of rational and moral 

 : or, if we suppose the number to 

 I" iimncrcusrd, furnishes them with 

 greater opportunities than could be pos- 

 'icfnre, of obtaining that intellcc- 

 tn-il und inord enjoyment, which is the 

 most honourable characteristic of their 

 The strength of nations is in 

 proportion to their skilful cultivation of 

 the soil; and their independence is se- 

 cured, and the'r patrotism animated, In 1 

 obtaining fram their native spot all the 

 r easy and vigorous subsist- 

 ence. 



Not only to raise vegetables for the 



use of man, but those animals also which 



d for food, is obviously therefore 



part of the occupation of the husband- 



him in his operations, 



other animals are to be reared and fed by 



him, to relieve lys labours by their 



strength awl endnr.'.nce of exertion. In 



rold and comparatively infertile climates, 



'e par- 

 ticularly important, if not absolutely in- 



dispensable, and their health and multi- 

 plication become, consequently, objects 

 of great ami uuremitted attention. 



The period of the introduction of 

 agriculture into Britain is unknown. 

 Pliny observes that, at the time of the 

 Roman invasion, the inhabitants were ac- 

 quainted with certain manures, p 

 larly marl. During the possession of 'he 

 island by the Romans, great quantities of 

 grain were exported from it, and it can- 

 not be doubted that, as in various other 

 respects, the rude inhabitants derived ad- 

 vantage from their enlightened conquer- 

 ors; they were eminently benefited by 

 their agricultural experience. Amidst the 

 series of contests and confusions which fol- 

 lowed the final abandonment of Britain by 

 the Romans, the art and practice of hus- 

 bandry must be presumed to have become 

 retrograde. From the Norman conquest, 

 however, it derived fresh vigour, as a con- 

 siderable number of Flemish farmers, by 

 this revolution, became proprietors of 

 British estates, and introduced that know- 

 ledge of the means of cultivation, for 

 which their own country had been long 

 distinguished. 



Before the sixteenth century few data 

 are afforded, with respect to the details of 

 agricultural practice in this island. At 

 this period it derived a valuable impulse 

 from the exertions of Fitzherbert, n _ judge 

 of the common pleas, whose trea';- 

 the subject were read with avidity, and, 

 while they abounded in instruction, ex- 

 cited a taste and emulation for the pur- 

 suits of husbandry. Sir H':gh I 1 ' 

 lowed this path of genuine patriotism 

 with great assiduity, modrs'y, and public 

 advantage, treating particularly on the 

 subject of manuring. (Jabriel Plattes 

 held out to his countrymen <hc light ot" 



lauds. And Martlib, the friend ot 

 Millan, in a work called the 1 



gested the establishment of a national in- 

 stitution tor the encouragement of hus- 

 bandry, and -timulated to the practice t.t 

 it a number of country gentlemen, whom 

 i he v'olence and changes of the times 

 had reduced to a situation, in which they 

 found it requisite to avail thems 

 all means and i 'rirato 



'.om comparative impoverish- 



:, and lethro T'." 



sor.u-u da' later period, of enr 



in diivcting the attention of '' 



- from the icros-; .n-ss ai 



of voluptuousness, to this n 



