PREFACE 



TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



SINCE the publication of the second edition 

 much valuable experience has been gained, 

 and, as the second edition of 1000 copies is nearly 

 exhausted, I beg to offer the present edition to 

 the agricultural world, and this Preface to every 

 Englishman who feels any interest in our national 

 welfare. This book shows how vast sums now 

 spent on imported manures and feeding stuffs 

 may be saved, how crops may be successfully 

 grown on land that has become almost derelict, 

 how the decline of employment in our rural 

 districts may be arrested, and, further, how it 

 may be gradually increased. The proofs of these 

 statements are open to anyone who chooses to 

 visit the Clifton-on-Bowmont farm, which has 

 been visited by many hundreds of practical 

 farmers from many parts of these islands. The 

 valuable confirmatory opinions I have received 

 have amply compensated me for the time and 

 labour I have expended on this subject. For 

 many years past we have been doing what ought 

 to have been the work of an agricultural de- 



