G THE PRINCIPLES OF 



limits of agriculture as a subject, I should in the first place 

 begin with its history. The history of agriculture i? a record 

 of progress, and nothing could be a better incentive towards 

 further advancement than the appreciation of the fact that much 

 of what has been achieved has been done through intelligence 

 and a true spirit of observation. The changes which have 

 been wrought during the past two centuries are well worthy 

 of attention, and the fact that the producing powers of the 

 soil have been quadrupled through the efforts of agriculturists, 

 that new and improved races of domesticated animals have 

 been produced, that almost all of the crops which are culti- 

 vated in this country have been introduced from abroad, and 

 that within comparatively recent times, the improvement in 

 appliances of all sorts, the introduction of steam-power, and 

 the improvement of new varieties of cultivated plants, are all 

 important points in agricultural history, many of which are 

 associated with the names of pioneers in agricultural progress. 

 The history of agriculture is well calculated to stimulate to 

 further improvement, and with this end in view ought not to 

 be lost sight of, but on the contrary ought to be systematically 

 taught if agriculture is a subject worthy of the teacher's 

 attention. Another topic upon which much might be said, 

 but which appears to be neglected by those who undertake to 

 teach agriculture, may be spoken of as comparative agricul- 

 ture, or the comparison of the practices of different districts, 

 or even of different countries. The peculiarities noticeable in 

 the management of land and of live stock in the North, the 

 South, the East, and the West of England are worthy of 

 attention ; they are sometimes due to climate, sometimes to soil, 

 and sometimes can only be attributed to custom. But these 

 varieties of practice are exceedingly instructive, and their 

 study might well lead to the introduction of improved 

 methods, or the modification of old ones. 



The processes of agriculture are many of them reducible 



