Ylll PREFACE. 



But to return to this Essay, had I not feared to 

 increase needlessly the bulk of the volume, I would have 

 quoted the numerous authorities from whence I have 

 drawn information. I confine myself, however, to remark- 

 ing here, that, independently of my own personal observa- 

 tions during the four visits which I have paid to England 

 since 1848, I have consulted principally the Letters upon 

 English Agriculture in 1851, by Mr Caird, Commissioner 

 for the Times (the best work of the kind which has ap- 

 peared since Arthur Young), the excellent works of Messrs 

 Porter and M'Culloch, and the English periodical Maga- 

 zines devoted to subjects of economy and agriculture. 



I cannot close this preface without also rendering my 

 public acknowledgments to M. le Comte de Gasparin, 

 who, during two years, fulfilled the duties of Director- 

 General of the Agricultural National Institute, and who, 

 in that capacity, sought to encourage in every way the 

 labours of myself and colleagues. I could wish that this 

 testimony of acknowledgment and respect from one of his 

 most devoted coadjutors might soften this severe dis- 

 appointment, which has come upon him in his old age, 

 after a life so nobly consecrated to the public good, and 

 particularly to the advancement of national agriculture. 



L. L. 



PARIS, \ttih March 1854. 



