510 On promoting Useful Knowledge. 



The advantages that may be derived, from the result of 

 inquiries carried on by the Board of Agriculture, in so far as 

 regards the culture of arable land, may thus be briefly sta- 

 ted. 1. The means have been explained, by which, in fer- 

 tile districts, and in propitious seasons, the farmer may, on 

 an average, confidently expect to reap, from 32 to 40 bushels 

 of wheat ; from 42 to 50 bushels of barley ; from 52 to 64 

 bushels of oats ; and from 28 to 32 bushels of beans, Win- 

 chester measure, per statute acre. 2. In regard to green 

 crops, 30 tons of turnips, 3 tons of clover-hay, and from 

 8 to 10 tons of potatoes, per statute acre, may be con- 

 fidently relied on. In favourable seasons indeed, the crops 

 may be still more abundant ; but even these average ones, 

 spread over a large proportion of the united kingdom, are 

 sufficient to produce more solid wealth, than can be furnish- 

 ed by the greatest extent of foreign commerce ( l? ). 



The various means, by which useful information may be 

 collected and diffused, are, 1. Forming institutions for that 

 purpose ; 2. Establishing experimental farms; 3. Insti- 

 tuting agricultural professorships ; and, 4. Improving ve- 

 terinary knowledge. 



1. Institutions for collecting and diffusing Agricultural In- 

 formation. The establishment of a Board of Agriculture 

 in Great Britain, scanty and circumscribed as its means 

 were, while it continued in existence, always produced the 

 happiest effects ( l8 ), and will probably in future be consi- 

 dered as an era in the history of the art. Notwithstanding 

 the limited powers of that institution, the most distant parts 

 of the country were soon made acquainted with each other's 

 useful practices ; and the knowledge of beneficial inventions, 

 which, from the insulated state of farmers, might for centu- 

 ries have been confined to the place of their origin, were at 

 once rendered generally accessible. The publication of the 

 County Reports in particular, proved of peculiar impor- 

 tance, from the discussions which they occasioned ; the 

 spirit of emulation which they excited ; the knowlege which 

 they were the means of circulating ; the truths which they 

 established ; and the errors which they contributed to over- 

 turn ( I9 ). Animated by the example of that Board, a much 

 greater number of agricultural societies were soon constitu- 

 ted, than had ever before existed in this, or any other coun- 

 try; there being hardly an extensive district in the united 

 kingdom, in which one, and sometimes more of such asso- 

 ciations, were not established ( zo ). A zeal for the improve- 

 ment of husbandry, was thus cherished and kept up ; and 



