40 TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c, 



that such a rotation would, in a great measure, secure potatoes 

 against the ravages of the caterpillar. 



Wha|; eminent advantages does the whole of this easy system 

 of management hold out ! I am firmly resolved to pursue it ; for 

 I have often seriously reflected on the great losses that have been 

 sustained here by the planters. I have endeavoured to discover 

 the causes, which I cannot but ascribe, almost entirely, to impro- 

 vident management. No care whatever is taken to guard against 

 evils similar to what have frequently visited this remote spot on 

 the globe. In 1738 the planters lost 555 head of cattle, and the 

 Company 132. The total number that perished at that time, 

 from the extreme dryness of the weather, was 687. This is a 

 dreadful warning. What a blow would such a season give to the 

 landholders of the present day ! For there is absolutely not the 

 smallest precaution taken to avert it. I cannot behold this pic- 

 ture without apprehension ; for the value of the number of cattle 

 that died in 1738, (and a far greater number in 1791 and 1792) 

 at the present market price, may be fairly rated at 6 to 8000 

 pounds, sterling. 



To excite a serious attention in the minds of the landholders, 

 who have almost the whole of their property in cattle, and more 

 strongly to impress them with the dreadful consequences of trust- 

 ing wholly to pasture lands, and in the hope also they will pay 

 some attention to the facts and hints I now set before them, I 

 shall conclude these remarks with a brief statement of every notice 

 I can find on record, that relates to the visitations of unfavourable 

 seasons, and to the calamities which have been experienced by 

 preceding generations. 



