INTRODUCTION. vii 



This excellent condud never being prac- 

 tifed, I attribute to the unfuccefsfulners of 

 fo many (in requeft of profit) gentlemen 

 farmers : Parents are fearful that their chil- 

 drens fortunes fhould be quickly fquan- 

 dered upon a bufinefs in which the metho- 

 dical forms, fo highly advantageous to 

 trade, fuch as a regular apprenticefhip, 

 and accounts, arc totally overlooked. The 

 few that have applied to agriculture for 

 profit, having been quite devoid of all pre- 

 vious knowledge, have moftly failed: -— 

 Had they fo applied to law, phyfic, or 

 trade, would it not have been the fame ? — 

 Why is more to be expeded of agriculture 

 than of any other bufinefs in the known 

 "Vvorld ? 'VIZ, That its profeffors are in- 

 ftantaneoufly and by intuition to acquire a 

 complete knowledge of it. Hence it is 

 that no ridicule (and very juftly) is more 

 frequent in the country, than that upon un- 

 fuccefsful gentlemen farmers. 



It was the hope of preventing fuch ill 

 fuccefs in future, that partly animated me 

 to the following undertaking ; in which I 

 .flatter myfelf that I have proved hufbandry 

 to be a m,oil profitable employment, and 



for 



