Agriculture, 387 



introduced a great amount of curious Information, 

 and of judicious principles and precepts; but its 

 value is, doubtless, diminished by the whimsical 

 opinions, on a variety of subjects, which he so fre- 

 quently displays. Perhaps the fault most worrliy 

 of notice is, the ridiculous extreme to which the 

 author presses the analogy between the animal and 

 vegetable tribes, and the principles of vegetation 

 thence deduced. In a poem this would be ex- 

 cusable; hence the Lox'es of the Plants may be 

 defended; but in a sober, didactic, philosophical 

 work, it is much better calculated to amuse than 

 to instruct. 



While the principles of tillage have been better 

 understood, and the knowledge of them more ex- 

 tensively diffused, within a few years past, numer- 

 ous and very important improvements have taken 

 place in the art of selecting and rearing Cattle y 

 and other animals which fall under the care of the 

 husbandmen. The attention paid to the breed, 

 health, growth, and general economy of the va- 

 rious kinds of stock, v/ithin the last half century, 

 in many parts of Europe, and particularly in Great- 

 Britain, has not only been greater than ever be- 

 fore, but has also been crowned with a degree of 

 success v/hich would once have been thouii^ht 

 scarcely possible. 



Connected with the improvements in the rear- 

 ing of cattle above stated, are the new articles of 

 Prove?ider for cattle, which have been added, 

 within the last half century, to those formerly in 

 use. For this addition mankind are, prcjbably, in- 

 debted to none more than to Linn.^us, and his 

 disciples in Sweden ; the Abbe Tessiek, of France ; 

 and jMr. Anderson, of Great-Britain, whose 

 writings on the subject are among the most learned, 

 judicious, and useful extant. 



Besides the v/ritings of individual authors on 



