THE PKINCIPLES OF 



ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 



CHAPTER I. 



Narrow and Incomprehensive Methods of Teaching Agriculture Bearings of 

 Various Branches of Science on Agriculture The Boundaries and Limits 

 of Agriculture Proper Its History "Comparative Agriculture" Pro- 

 cesses of Agriculture Rules and Axioms of Agriculturists Statistical 

 Aspect Rotations of Crops Designing of Buildings Tillage Imple- 

 ments Labour Costs Dairying Breeding and Management of Animals 

 Origin and Distribution of Soils Fertility Manuring Misleading 

 Teaching The Best Guides for Teachers Journals of the Societies 

 Syllabus of the Science and Art Department. 



THE object of this short treatise is to show that the 

 principles of agriculture are capable of being taught in the 

 lecture-hall or the school-room, fully bearing in mind that 

 agriculture is an occupation requiring experience for its 

 successful prosecution. A disposition has been exhibited on 

 the part of those who have undertaken the explanation of 

 matters agricultural to treat them in a somewhat narrow and 

 incomprehensive manner. Sufficient prominence has not been 

 allowed to the fact that agriculture is itself a subject. The 

 various natural sciences shed a glorious light upon the prac- 

 tice of agriculture, but we must be careful to discriminate 

 between them and Agriculture herself. There is a danger of 

 presenting the subject as though it were a patchwork or 



