not merely by cheapeniiifi; transit, and in some 

 instances creating new markets, but ebielly by 

 enabling the tillers of the soil to extend the 

 sphere of their ojjservations, of witnessing and 

 comparing different tsystems of culture, and of 

 obtaining valuable information of a reliable char- 

 acter from each other's observations and dilTerent 

 modes of practice. I can remember the time 

 when large numbers of English farmers seldom 

 went beyond the boundary of their own county ; 

 some even hardly passed the limits of their own 

 or adjoining parish. Wliat a change has been 

 effected since the introduction of the railway ! 

 Farmers may now be seen traveling hundreds 

 of miles to an Exhibition, or in company as mem- 

 bers of a Club, paying periodic visits to insjiect 

 the practices of distinguished individuals of their 

 craft in different parts of the countr3^ A little 

 perambulating of this sort has a most salutary 

 effect in enlarging the farmer's circle of obser- 

 vation, enabling him to gain new ideas, to bioak 

 loose from traditional prejudices, and to improve 

 his practice by adapting it to the new lights 

 which science and enlarged experience throw 

 across his path. 



Among the causes that have retarded the pro- 

 gress of husbandry may be mentioned the absence 



