6 INTRODUCTIO^r. 



no equally complete and extensive body of new and interesting fact? 

 has ever before been presented in a collected form to the agricultural 

 world. 



It will be observed that the capital, the all-important subject of 

 Draining, as the great master-engine of agricultural improvement, 

 is merely touched upon by our Author in a cursory way ; she ild 

 this incite a feeling of disappointment, it must be borne in mind that 

 he has accomplished all, and more than all, that he nroposed to him- 

 self, which was not to write a complete work on practical tillage, 

 but rather, as his title implies, on " Rural Economy," i. e., the eco- 

 nomic production and application of the produce of the soil under 

 the guidance of chemistry. 



Among the faults of execution for which the Translator ventures 

 to solicit the agricultural reader's indulgence, is the occasional adop- 

 tion of terms which are rather French than English. Many of 

 these words are, in the original, not merely technical, but local and 

 provincial, and are not inserted in any of the dictionaries. IMore- 

 over, in the description of certain processes and operations, the 

 Author has occasionally employed terms (ov which there is no Eng- 

 lish equivalent ; and the Translator had frequently no other choice 

 than that of either leaving the sense of the passage obscure and 

 defective, or, on the other hand, of adopting the barbarisms in ques- 

 tion, which not only deform the English of the construction, but 

 cannot fail to be offensive to the taste and professional preposses- 

 sions of the agricultural reader. 



With reference to the weights and measures made use of in the 

 original, it majj^ be proper lo state, that (against strong temptation 

 to let them stand as in the French, merely adding a table of eijuivii- 

 lents) they have, at the instance of the Publisher, been reduced info 

 their corresponding quantities in the English standard. Grammes, 

 in the more delicate experiments, have been reduced into grains 

 troy, assuming the gramme as equal to 15.138 grains; in less deli- 

 cate experiments, grammes have been converted into pennyweights 

 (dvvts.) and ounces troy. Kilogrammes are given in lbs. avoir- 

 dupois ; and where the quantity was large, they are often brought 

 into tons, cwts., qrs., &c., taking the French kilogramme at 2.2 

 lbs. avoirdupois. The Litre, or present French measure of liquids, 

 has been reduced into pints, calculating the French measure at 1.76 

 pints English imperial measure. The Hectolitre employed in mea- 

 suring grain, is rendered into bushels, estimating it at 22 gaUons 

 English dry measure. The old French Quintal is also sometimes 

 employed : this measure of weight has been either reduced to its 

 proper corresponding quantity, 1 cwt. 3 qrs. '24 lbs. English, or 

 where odd numbers migljt be disreuarded, it has been called 2 cwis. 

 The Are, or French superficial measure of quantity, has been cal- 

 culated throughout a» 120 square yards English : the Hectare at 

 2.4 acres English. 



The labor of reducing these measures into their English equiva- 

 lents has been immense ; and errors, in spite of the best care which 

 could be exerted, have doubtless in various instances crept into the 



