INTRODUCTION. XXXVU 



are wanting to cany French agriculture to perfection ; 

 the variety of the chmate, the nature of the soil, the in- 

 telligence of the inhabitants, all permit the cultivation of 

 nearly every thing which the wants of society require. 

 In regard to position, France enjoys a privilege which 

 no other nation can partake with her. 



I propose closing this work with two treatises; one 

 upon the extraction of indigo from woad, and the other 

 upon the manufacture of sugar from the beet root. 

 These two branches of industry can yield to the agricul- 

 tural interests of France an annual product of more than 

 a hundred millions of francs. I shall submit to the agri- 

 culturist the information which experience has afforded 

 in regard to these new sources of prosperity ; and I do 

 not doubt, if he will direct his attention to the subject, 

 that he will appropriate a portion of the time included 

 in his rotation of crops, to the cultivation of two such 

 important articles of importation. 



Whilst endeavouring to improve agriculture by applying 

 to it the physical sciences, I have striven to avoid those 

 stumblingblocks which would infallibly have turned me 

 aside from the end which I proposed to myself to attain. 

 I have endeavoured to keep in view, that I was writing 

 for the agriculturist ; and that consequently my work 

 ought to be clear, precise, and suited to his understand- 

 ing, his education, and his means. In order to effect 

 this, I have often borrowed his language, and I have 

 nearly always relied upon his experience for the truth of 

 the principles which I have advanced. Convinced that 

 a process, the results of which have been proved, is 

 at all times preferable to a purely theoretical statement, 

 I have uniformly respected the knowledge acquired by 



