AGRICULTURE. 



should be of a same what superior de- 

 scription to those whom he must be au- 

 thorized to command. The making- of 

 contracts, and receiving 1 money, which af- 

 ford agents great temptation to dishones- 

 ty and to excess, should, whenever prac- 

 ticable, be performed by the principal. 

 Of the inferior servants, the ploughmen 

 are of most consequence, and skill and do- 

 cility are their grand recommendations. 

 It is desirable that all the servants should 

 be under the master's eye. His constant 

 superintendance will have great effect in 

 promoting their sobriety and regularity, 

 and not only will their permanent happi- 

 ness be improved by this plan, a circum- 

 stance to a man of humanity of no light 

 consideration, but their greater tractabi- 

 lity and obedience will render the prac- 

 tice of this domesticating method, in a 

 selfish point of view, more useful to him, 

 than that, according- to which, on many 

 extended estates, the men and boys are 

 all committed to the boarding and ma- 

 nagement of the bailiff. It may be con- 

 sidered as in general preferable, to keep 

 many servants and few day-labourers in 

 the present times. The certainty of com- 

 manding hands at all seasons is an object 

 of prime importance, and the difficulty of 

 procuring additional ones, when they are 

 most wanted, is often upon the other 

 plan insuperable. 



It will be always eligible and expedient 

 to pursue a system of management, com- 

 prehending every department of business 

 and expenses. The carelessness of pro- 

 fusion and the sordidness of penury must 

 both be avoided with equal caution. A 

 fixed sum, formed upon calculations, re- 

 sulting from actual experiment, should 

 be allotted for the expenses of the house, 

 for personal expenses, for family dress, 

 and other necessary demands, to be by 

 no means exceeded ; and as casual de- 

 mands will always occur, a reserve should 

 always be provided for contingencies. 

 This methodical arrangement cannot be 

 too strongly enforced on the young prac- 

 titioner, who, without it, is in danger of 

 inextricable confusion and ruin. If the 

 investment on a farm be eight thousand 

 pounds, after clearing all expenses arising- 

 from regular or contingent demands, and 

 maintaining the establishment in liberal 

 but accurate economy, if a hundred a 

 year be not annually added to the occu- 

 pier's capital, the concern must decided- 

 ly be a bad one. The addition of one 

 hundred and fifty is very far from unrea- 

 sonable. Whatever it be, in general, it 

 cannot be better employed, than in prose- 



cuting ascertained modes of improve- 

 ment upon the farm, if itbe the property of 

 the occupier, or if he is in possession of a 

 long lease. 



Attendance at markets and fairs is an 

 indispensable part of the farmer's occupa- 

 tion, but in a young- man is attended with 

 various temptations, such as sanguine and 

 social temperaments find it difficult to 

 resist. Caution, therefore, to such is per- 

 petually requisite . Moreover, the society 

 of persons in a superior style or rank in 

 life, which, in consequence of establish- 

 ments for agricultural improvement, is ea- 

 sily accessible to the young man of viva- 

 city and spirit, cannot be cherished with- 

 out danger. His mind is thus alienated 

 from his regular, and comparatively very 

 laborious, and, as it may weakly be deem- 

 ed, humble occupation, and fastidious- 

 ness, discontent, and neglect, will usurp 

 the place of tranquil and active industry. 



Such intercourses are completely be- 

 set with temptation, and have often in- 

 duced imitation, and profusion, neglect- 

 ed business, and eventual, and indeed 

 speedy destruction. 



Impediments to Agricultural Improvements. 



The want of wise laws on this subject 

 has ever been a serious obstacle. The 

 produce of land, and the various manures 

 which are necessary for fertilizing it, can 

 be easily and cheaply conveyed only 

 along good roads and navigable canals, 

 and in proportion as a country is destitute 

 of these, it is deficient in a grand source of 

 national and agricultural prosperity. Ar- 

 rangements on these topics cannot easily 

 occupy too much of the attention, or at 

 least meet with too much of the encou- 

 ragement, of the wise statesman. And as 

 indefinite advantages might be derived 

 from positive regulation on these and oth- 

 er details, in behalf of husbandry, much 

 might also be done in many countries by 

 the removal, as well as by the enaction of 

 laws. Where the husbandman is preclud- 

 ed from the best markets, the art of cul- 

 tivation cannot possibly be pushed up to 

 that point of maturity which it would 

 otherwise acquire ; the attainable perfec- 

 tion of this, as well as every other art, 

 depending on the encouragement it finds, 

 or, in no less accurate, thoug-h perhaps 

 more harsh and grating language, on the 

 profit it produces. The most effectual 

 mode of procuring the growth of any ar- 

 ticle in abundance is to insure it a reason- 

 able price and a rapid sale. Freedom of 

 exportation from one country to another 



