ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 7 



to description, and it scarcely seems possible to give students 

 a just idea as to the theory of agriculture without giving 

 them an intelligent idea as to the processes employed. Take 

 for example the processes of the dairy, and the variations in 

 practice in such a matter as that of cheese- making. Instead 

 of confining himself to such chemical matters as the changes 

 which take place when rennet is added to milk, the size of 

 the fatty globules of milk, the serous fluids in which the 

 globules of casein, or of butter fat, are suspended, it would 

 seem necessary to go a step further and explain the processes 

 of cheese-making as practised in the districts which yield 

 us such excellent products as the Stilton, Cheshire, Gloucester, 

 or Cheddar cheeses, and, if necessary, to go further afield and 

 show the differences of manipulation requisite to produce the 

 soft cheeses of the Continent, such as Camembert and Brie. 

 By such a system of teaching he would lift his subject out 

 of the narrow groove into which it appears to have fallen. 



The process of the fattening of animals might similarly be 

 enlarged upon with great advantage without confining the 

 teaching to questions connected with the merits of nitro- 

 genous foods as contrasted with farinaceous foods, and without 

 considering the whole subject to be summed up in a treatise 

 upon flesh-formers, and fat-formers or heat-producers. The 

 dieting of farm stock, the times for feeding, the methods of 

 accommodation, the cost, and the return, are all of interest, 

 and if united with some instruction upon the nutrient 

 properties of various food constituents would tend to give the 

 subject a more practical aspect. 



Much might be said upon the advantage of giving sound 

 instruction upon the multifarious practices of the field and 

 the homestead, from the treatment of land in order to produce 

 the essential conditions for successful germination onwards 

 to the cultivation and after cultivation, the securing or har- 

 vesting, and the preparation of crops for market, or it may 



