Vlll PREFACE. 



might be much improved by a careful examination of all the County 

 Reports, and other recent agricultural publications. The report* should 

 be specifically referred to, when quoted, by the page. I will trouble 

 you to procure from the author, or by any other channel, the names of 

 the principal feeders of poultry, in and about London, and their places 

 of abode. 



(Signed) JOHN SINCLAIR. 



With the Third Edition, in the hope of rendering these pages addi- 

 tionally useful, the reader is presented with the results of the Author's 

 observation and practice in the Family Dairy. The convenience of milk, 

 butter, and cream, in 'an English Country House, is indispensable; 

 and the object is to obtain those in sufficient plenty, in an appropriate 

 husband- like style, and within the fair line of expense. An attention 

 to the rules herein recommended, the author has no reason to doubt, 

 will not fail to assure such desirable effects. 



March 1, 1819. 



The FOUUTH EDITION contains an addition on the Nature and Ma- 

 nagement of Bees ; a subject on which there has ever been a notable 

 disagreement amongst Economists, some advocating it as a matter de- 

 serving universal attention, others decrying it as a thing of the meanest 

 consequence. The Author has endeavoured to reconcile this difference, 

 and trusts he has succeeded. The Fowls and Animals exhibited in the 

 Frontispiece, were selected individuals, drawn from the life by Mr. 

 Webb. 



The Pir. is a most correct likeness. It was bred in Bucks, but is of 

 the Oxfordshire dairy breed. Those breeds were originally, although 

 light in the ear, yet, in general, lop-eared, with a few, as is usual 

 up-cured ; and that form of the ear has, of late years, become more 

 common, the feeders, as I believe, esteeming the upright, or prick-eared 

 pigs, as the speediest thrivers and best travellers. The arched or roach- 

 back, also, is preferred, as consisting of the best part of the carcass to 



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