Law's Elements of Practical Agriculture. 447 



Art. III. Elements of Practical Agriculture; comprehending the Cultivation of 

 Plants, the Husbandry of the Domestic Animals, and the Economy of the 

 Farm. By David Low, Esq. F.R.S.E., Professor of Agriculture in the 

 University of Edinburgh. 8vo, pp. 695. Edinburgh, 1834. 21s. 



The word agriculture is here taken in its strictest sense ; and the work is, 

 in consequence, confined to the subject of farming. It treats of, I. Soils; 

 II. Manures ; III. Implements of the Farm ; IV. Simple Operations of 

 Tillage; V. Preparation of Land for Crops; VI. Succession of Crops; 

 VII. Cultivation of Plants ; VIII. Weeds of Agriculture ; IX. Management 

 of Grass Land ; X. The Rearing and Feeding of Animals ; and XL The gene- 

 ral Economy of the Farm. In the preface, the author informs us that the 

 agriculture of a country is affected, in its general character, by climate, the fer- 

 tility of the soil, and the food and habits of the people ; and, consequently, 

 that, to treat of agriculture as a practical art, the treatise must have reference 

 to some given condition of climate and country. The following quotation 

 will convey an accurate idea of the author's opinion of the best mode of treat- 

 ing his subject : — 



" Agriculture, like every art, is founded on principles ; and a natural method 

 of studying it would seem to begin with principles, and from these to deduce 

 the rules of practice. The nature of the subject, however, or rather the state 

 of our knowledge, admits of this course being followed only to a limited 

 extent ; for the art founded on experience is often better understood than the 

 principles ; and while the science is in some degree incomplete, the art has, in 

 many things, been rendered very perfect by experience alone. Hence, it is 

 well to lay the foundation of the study of agriculture on a knowledge of 

 practice. In this case, the agriculturist, should he desire to extend the range 

 of his observations to the relations of the science with the practical art, will 

 do so with a more useful result and less hazard of error. In the following 

 work, which is designed in an especial manner for those who are to engage in 

 the study of agriculture for the first time, I propose to observe the plan of 

 instruction to which I have referred. One condition of climate and country is 

 assumed; and there is explained, in so far as the limits of an elementary work 

 will allow, a system of agriculture, which is conceived to be good, which is 

 founded on experience, and which is capable of being reduced to practice. It 

 does not, therefore, consist with the design of this work, to detail a number of 

 practices, or examine a number of opinions ; many of which may be good, and 

 yet not in accordance with the system to be explained. Farther, the attention 

 of the reader is mainly directed to the essential parts of practice; and, while the 

 connection of agriculture with other branches of knowledge is carefully pointed 

 out, this is, in most cases, done rather to show the relation between them than 

 to pursue the subject in detail. The application of science to agriculture affords 

 the materials of interesting and useful studj'. Chemistry ascertains the nature 

 and constitution of soils, the mode of action of manures, and the substances 

 fitted for the nutrition of plants ; botany and vegetable physiology treat of 

 the structure, the properties, and the uses of plants ; animal physiology and 

 medical science relate to the form of animals, their properties, and diseases; 

 and mechanics are applied to the construction of machines and rural works. 

 But there are branches of agriculture which may be separately studied : they 

 are not essential, as experience shows, to the knowledge of agriculture as an 

 economical art, and need be but partially treated of in an elementary work. 

 Notwithstanding, however, this limitation in the design of the present treatise, 

 it will appear that it is sufficiently extended for those who enter for the first 

 time on the study of agriculture; and that even a rudimental knowledge of 

 so many subjects as it embraces cannot be acquired without the labour of 

 patient study." (p. ix.) 



The reader will be prepared, by these remarks, to meet with a description 

 of the most approved practices employed in the agriculture of the best dis- 

 tricts in Scotland, unmixed with hypothetical speculations : and this is pre- 



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