2 THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES 



that is until the settlement by the Court of Chancery 

 last year, the appointment has been so held ; and the 

 obligation was limited to giving one Public Lecture in 

 each term. The new arrangement, however, dissociates 

 the Chair of Rural Economy from that of Botany, and 

 requires that twelve lectures shall be given annually. 



Thus my responsibilities are somewhat defined, and 

 they are, at the same time, somewhat limited : — for, 

 how far from a complete system of instruction in all 

 that pertains to Rural Economy can be embodied in 

 a course of twelve lectures may be judged by reference 

 to the course of study laid down in Institutions 

 specially devoted to the training of Students in 

 Agriculture. Thus, the Syllabus of one Agricultural 

 College includes no less than thirty distinct subjects 

 of lecture or other instruction, and the Prospectus of 

 another enumerates sixteen main departments, cover- 

 ing much the same range of subjects as the other ; 

 whilst each Institution has a numerous staff of Pro- 

 fessors or Teachers. Again, in one London College a 

 course of forty lectures is annually given on Soils, 

 Manures, Crops, Live Stock, &c. ; and in another lectures 

 and laboratory instruction are given on Soils, Rota- 

 tion, Manures, Feeding and Feeding-stuffs, Seeds, &c. 



It is not then, I take it, expected of me that I 

 should undertake to impart that systematic instruc- 

 tion in the various branches of the art and the science 

 of Agriculture, which it is desirable the student who 

 intends to devote himself to the details of practical 

 farming, whether as agent or occupier, should receive. 

 I assume that those studying at this University will 

 for the most part be interested in land either as 

 Owners, or as Clergymen in rural districts, or it may 

 be as Statesmen, and that it should be my endeavour 

 so to inculcate general principles as to train the 



