2o8 Histoiy of the English Landed Interest. 



great universities for its advancement. Switzerland, Sweden, 

 Denmark, and Germany followed the French king's lead. 

 Husbandry was recognised as a science, and taught publicly 

 in all the principal States of Europe.^ Why England did not 

 at this time endow a chair of agriculture at one or both of 

 her great universities it is hard to say, though no harder than 

 to say why she does not do so now ; but there is no doubt that 

 the example of their neighbours across the Channel inspired 

 our native farmers with fresh energy.- Indeed, it is doubt- 

 ful whether the valuable information communicated to the 

 foreigner by the writings of TuU and the visits of Young were 

 not fully repaid by the good effects on this nation of this out- 

 burst of agricultural energy abroad. If Bakewell had been in- 

 strumental in showing the Continental farmer how he could 

 improve the breeds of his livestock, the foreigner in the 

 person of Linnseus was showing Bakewell how he could im- 

 prove his feeding stuffs. In fact, the art of agriculture 

 tended to weld together into one great mutual benefit society 

 all the European nationalities, which a long period of war had 

 broken up into hostile and jealous factions. 



The attention of the British public once focussed on the 

 agricultural industry was fruitful in much immediate good. 

 But in order to realise the extent to which our husbandry ad- 

 vanced during the later period of the century, we must draw a 

 comparison between that of its first fifty years and that of its 

 last fifty. And firstly the immense strides made after 1750 

 dwarf the decided advance made prior to that date, thus tend- 

 ing to lead a superficial reader to infer that farming was at a 

 standstill throughout the first five decades of the century. But 

 during this earlier period a fall in prices, notwithstanding the 

 existence of the bounty, set in, which can only be attributed 



* Even the bigoted and backward Spaniard was at this time inviting 

 Linnseus to preside over a college of agriculture. — Rees, Cycl.^ suh voc. 

 " Agriculture." 



" Mr. Temple, of Trowbridge, in 1772 left a legacy to establish a pro- 

 fessorship of agricvilture at Gresliam College, London ; but his will was 

 litigated, and no appointment took place. — Annalu of A(/riculture, vol. vii. 

 p. 473. 



