154, ENGLAND. 



Climate, soil, and agriculture. ...England, from its insular si- 

 tuation and its proximity to the continent, is liable to a great uncer- 

 tainty of weather ; in consequence of which, the inhabitants, espe- 

 cially on several parts of the sea-coast, frequently suffer by agues and 

 fevers. The air, in many places, is generally loaded with vapours 

 wafted from the Atlantic Ocean by westerly winds ; and the weather 

 is so excessively capricious, and unfavourable to certain constitutions, 

 that many of the inhabitants are induced to remove to a more l'egular 

 climate for the restoration of their health. It cannot, however, be 

 Considered as in general insalubrious, as appears from the various 

 instances of longevity which the country has afforded. 



In consequence of the mutability of the climate, the seasons are 

 very uncertain. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, succeed each 

 other ; but in what month their different appearances will take place 

 is very undetermined. The spring begins sometimes in February 

 and sometimes in April. In May, the face of the country is often, 

 covered with hoar-frost instead of blossoms. The beginning of June 

 is sometimes as cold as the middle of December ; yet at other times 

 the thermometer rises in that month as high as it does in Italy. Even 

 August has its vicissitudes of heat and cold ; and, upon an average, 

 September, and next to it October, are the two most agreeable 

 months in the year. The natives sometimes experience all the four 

 seasons within the compass of one day ; cold, temperate, hot, and 

 mild weather. This inconstancy, however, is not attended with the 

 effects that might be naturally apprehended. A fortnight, or at most 

 three weeks, generally make up the difference with regard to the 

 maturity of the fruits of the earth ; and it is hardly ever observed that 

 the inhabitants suffer by a hot summer. 



The soil of England and Wales differs in every county, not mere- 

 ly from the nature of the ground, though that must be admitted to 

 occasion a very considerable alteration, but from the progress made 

 in each in the cultivation of lands and gardens, the draining of 

 marshes, and many other local improvements, which are here car- 

 ried to a much greater degree of perfection than they are perhaps in. 

 any other part of the world, if we except China. In no country is 

 agriculture better understood, or prosecuted with greater zeal for 

 improvement and assiduity. Excellent institutions for the improve- 

 ment of agriculture are now common in England ; and their mem- 

 bers print periodical accounts of their discoveries and experiments. 

 The publications of the Bath Society upon the subject of agriculture 

 are well known ; and such has been the attention of the nation to 

 this important object, that his present majesty has been pleased, 

 August 31, 1793, by letters patent under the great seal, to constitute 

 a btyard for the encouragement of agriculture and internal improve- 

 ment. The proper cultivation of the soil is an object so peculiarly 

 interesting to the community at large, that those who most assidu- 

 ously attend to it are perhaps to be accounted the most meritorious 

 citizens of their country. The art of gardening is likewise cultivated 

 with great success in several places in the vicinity of the metropolis: 

 a single acre of land employed in the production of vegetables and 

 fruits, will yield 120/. annually; the ordinary consumption of such 

 commodities in the capital being computed at more than a million 

 sterling. 



VEGETABLES.-.England produces in abundance wheat, barley, rye ? 

 peas, beans, vetches, oats, and other grain. It is almost needless- to 



