the Royal Agricultural Society. 
51 
sufficed ; and all that is now possible is to " report progress," 
and ask leave to write again in order to complete the plan 
originally chalked out. He would lain hope, however, that suf- 
ficient has been done to show that the improvements introduced 
into farming practice within the last twenty-five years are greater 
than in any similar period on record. It is true that direct proof 
is rarely to be had ; there are no data in existence which make 
it possible to state the ultimate result of these improvements in 
bushels of corn or tons of meat ; but the chain of circumstantial 
evidence is so complete that no reasonable doubt can be enter- 
tained of the fact that, since 1839, a very large addition has 
been made to the food of both man and beast in these islands. 
The most striking feature, however, of the period on which 
we have been engaged, which both gives a satisfactory aspect to 
the past, and warrants the most cheering anticipations for the 
future, is the improvement which has been effected in the position 
of the agriculturist, whether measured by the extent of his material 
resources or by the soundness and variety of the knowledge at his 
command. What was his position at the commencement of the 
period ? It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the thorough- 
bred British farmer of that day despised science as much as he 
feared Free-trade, and that the only things which commanded 
his entire confidence were his father's experience and his own 
skill. Mr. Pusey was undoubtedly far in advance of his genera- 
tion when he adopted the motto, " Practice with Science," and 
even he considered it rather as an expression of what was desirable 
than of what was probable. The first attempts of the farmer and 
the philosopher to run in couples were certainly not encouraging. 
They conversed with one another in unknown tongues, and many 
of the early specimens of scientific practice, such as irrigation with 
the drainage from farmyards, artificial silicates to stiffen straw, &c. 
&c, were decided failures. 
The Schoolmaster, however, was abroad ; and farmers' sons, in 
common with those of all other classes, received a better educa- 
tion. It was considered necessary to teach them, at any rate, the 
alphabet of science. Scientific men were also found, who were 
willing to devote their time to agricultural investigations, and 
they saw the necessity for making themselves acquainted with 
the rudiments of practice, so that the votaries of science and of 
practice began to understand each other better, and their mutual 
distrust gradually wore off. 
The difficulties attendant on the introduction of Free-trade 
have also been happily surmounted. That great change in our 
fiscal policy caused such a sudden influx of the agricultural pro- 
ducts of other countries that prices were ruinously depressed, 
until the natural, but more tardy, effects of the change were shown 
E 2 
