PEEFACE 



Portions of the following pages have already appeared 

 within the last three years, in the Edinburgh and Quar- 

 terly Reviews, and my thanks are due to the Publishers 

 for their permission to utilise the material which has 

 been previously published in these periodicals. The re- 

 cent appearance of two of the Articles on which I have 

 relied will, I hope, excuse the seeming conceit of my 

 references to ' Rural France ' (Edinburgh Review, October 

 1887) and 'The Tithe Question' (Edinburgh Review, 

 January 1888). 



The first part of the volume contains a brief sketch 

 of Agricultural Progress, derived from sources so scat- 

 tered or so obscure that its presentation in a connected 

 form may prove of interest. In the second part, I have 

 endeavoured to apply the results of history to the pre- 

 sent conditions of English farming. I am fully conscious 

 that the task is difficult, and that it is inadequately 

 performed ; but the fact that in any Session of Parlia- 

 ment, which is mainly devoted to British interests, 

 Agriculture necessarily holds a prominent place, explains, 

 though it may not justify, the attempt. 



R. E. Prothero. 



