PREFACE. v 



paratively fmall, and the writer who 

 aims limply at utility, muft expect his 

 productions to give place to thofe of a 

 more amufing turn. When a long 

 courfe of years has proved the impor- 

 tance of the facts he has collected, his 

 labours will probably have their due ef- 

 timation. 



The details of common management 

 are dry and unentertaining ; nor is it 

 eafy to render them intereftlng by or- 

 naments of ftyle. The tillage with 

 which the peafant prepares the ground; 

 the manure with which he fertilizes it; 

 the quantities of the feed of the feve- 

 ral fpecies of grain which he commits 

 to it ; and the products that repay his 

 induftry, neceflarily in the recital run 

 into chains of repetition, which tire the 

 ear, and fatigue the imagination. Great 

 however is the ftructure raifed oil this 

 foundation : it may be dry, but it is im- 

 portant, for thefe are the circumftances 

 upon which depend the wealth, prof- 

 peri ty ? and power of nations. The 



minutiae 



