xiv Sy7iopsis of Chapters. 



CHAPTER XIII, 



THE SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE OF THE PERIOD. 



PAGE 



The erroneous views of Bacon, Woodward, and Evelyn on ihe 

 nature of soils — Evelyn's recognition that soil is capable of 

 becoming sterile — The mj^steriousness displaj'ed by the early 

 chemists over the experiments of the laboratory — Bradley's 

 experiments with a new fertiliser on various species of vege- 

 tables — His study of the works of Dr. Agricola ; knowledge of 

 the circulation of sap; belief in stercoration, and manufac- 

 ture out of old rubbish of what he believed to be a valuable 

 manure — The views of the ancient chemists on " nitrous salt,"' 

 from the days of Columella to those of Boj^le — Bradley'u 

 chemical attainments shown to be verj? little in advance of 

 those of Pliny and Virgil — The absurd experiments of a 

 Parisian society of chemical experts — Homburg's efforts to use 

 as manures potassium and nitrogen, and Digby's preference for 

 rainwater over common water for a similar purpose, instanced 

 as gleams of coming light— Tull's application of Bradley's 

 theories to his own pi-actice — His advanced knowledge regard- 

 ing the uses of roots, stalks, and leaves in the vegetable economy 

 — His failure, however, to understand the phenomenon of chloro- 

 phyll — His fruitless attempt to explain his dislike to stercora- 

 tion on scientific grounds, and his belief that the mechanical 

 processes of cultivation are themselves fertilisers — A practical 

 farmer's narrative of his attempts to apply the results of a wide 

 search into the chemical works of the day to the wants and 

 defects of his every-day business — His subsequent abandonment 

 of the task in disgust, justified by a short description of the 

 defective chemical science of the times — His admirable sum- 

 ming up of the chemical wants of farmers, and Young's equally 

 forcible appeal to the mechanician — A detailed description of 

 the advance already made in the improvement of old imple- 

 ments and the invention of new 280-299 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE LABOUR QUESTION. 



Increased attention now devoted to the welfare of the rural popula- 

 tion — The legislation for the relief of the poor carried forward 

 from Tudor to Georgian times- — The various processes bj' which 

 the law of settlement came to be established — Its hardships 

 and drawbacks, and consequent alteration — Oppressive nature 

 of the poor laws on the ratepayer — Meanness and tyranny on 

 the part of the local executive — Especial hardships of the tax 

 on the Landed Interest — Young's championship of his class, 

 and the futility of his efforts to influence the public mind — 

 The gradual withdrawal of the poor law administration from 

 ecclesiastical control — The possibilities for seignorial oppression 

 from the plenary powers bestowed on the magistrates demon- 

 strated, and the situation summed up in the forcible language 

 of the late Professor Rogers — The various schemes for remedy- 

 ing these defects in the machinery of the poor laws examined 



