V PREFACE. 



offspring. It would not be strange, therefore, if they had 

 become incorporated in the mass of agricultural principles, 

 without any indication of their origin. The same or similar 

 discoveries and improvements, are also not unfrequently 

 made without any interchange, by different minds and at 

 remote distances. If any omissions of proper acknowledg- 

 ment have occurred, the writer will be happy to correct 

 them hereafter. 



To the experienced and scientific, this work may appear 

 too commonplace to the uninstructed, too enlarged or 

 abtruse. It was ndt intended to reconcile impossibilities. 

 The first must look to elaborate or complete treatises for the 

 fullest information on the various subjects comprehended in 

 this general summary. To the last, it must be answered, 

 that what is here communicated, is important to be known ; 

 that modern agriculture, like all other progressive modern 

 sciences and arts, has necessarily introduced new terms for 

 the explanation of new principles and new practices ; and 

 the former must be learned before the latter can be compre- 

 hended. 



