104 Agriculture. [Chap. VIII. 



John Sinclair, and many others, of Great Britain ; 

 and to Messrs. dii I lamei, Chateauvieux, Tourbilly, 

 Rozier, Tessier, Broussonet, Tillet, and Parmentier, 

 of France; beside others, entitled to notice, in dif- 

 ferent parts of Europe. 



Probably the most complete and scientific work 

 on this subject now in possession of the public, is 

 Pliytologia, or the Philosophij of AgrkuUiire and 

 Gardening, by Dr. Darwin. In this work the 

 learned and ingenious author has introduced a 

 great amount of curious information, and of ju- 

 dicious principles and precepts; but its value is, 

 doubtJess, diminished by the whimsical opinions, 

 on a varietj^ of subjects, which he so frequently 

 displays. Perhaps the fault most worthy of no- 

 tice is, the ridiculous extreme to which the au- 

 thor presses the analogy between the animal and 

 vegetable tribes, and the principles of vegetation 

 thence deduced. In a poem this would be ex- 

 cusable ; lience the Loves of the Plants may be 

 defended ; but in a sober, didactic, philosophical 

 work, it is much better calculated to amuse than 

 to instruct. 



While tiic princi])les of tillage have been better 

 understood, and tlic knowledge of them more ex- 

 tensively diffused within a fisw years, numerous 

 and very ini[)ortant im[)rovements have taken 

 place in the art of selecting and rearing cattle, 

 and other animals which fall under the care of the 

 husbandman. The attention paid to the breed, 

 health, growth, and general oecononiy of the va- 

 rious kiinl of stock, wilhin the last half century, 

 in many |«arls of Europe, and particularly in Great 



