effect in the agriculture of their districts. The inability 

 of Government to effect all these improvements single- 

 handed, and the necessity for the co-operation of an 

 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



AGRICULTURE, as practised in Europe, has always 

 been considered a noble art, and Kings and Caesars 

 have mounted the throne from*the plough, and have 

 laid aside the cares of State for an agricultural life. 

 The ancient Romans, especially, held Agriculture in 

 very high estimation, their greatest men having 

 practised it before and after filling the highest 

 State appointments and earning the most distin- 

 guished honours. Consequently, the improvements 

 effected in Europe in the mode of cultivation, as 

 well as in the implements used, have been great, 

 and in keeping with the general advance of educa- 

 tion and civilization. 



In Eastern countries, on the contrary, we find 

 that Agriculture, as an art, has been entirely 

 neglected, it being carried on very much in the 

 same way now as it was two to three thousand 

 years ago ; and the backward state of this most 

 important of all arts is prominently apparent in 

 India. No advancement, no improvement, has been 

 effected during several ages ; the implements of 

 husbandry are the same as before, and so is the 

 mode of cultivation ; thus reducing a land of once 

 boundless wealth to comparative poverty. For 

 there can be no doubt that the wealth of India lies 



