AGRICULTURE. 
AGGREGATION, in chemistry, denotes their native spot all the requisites for easy 
the adhesion of parts of the same kind. 
Thus, pieces of sulphur united by fusion 
form an aggregate. 
AGIO, in commerce, a term chiefly used 
in Holland and at Venice, where it denotes 
the difference between the value of bank 
.stock and the current coin. Money in bank 
is commonly worth more than specie : thus, 
at Amsterdam, they give 103 or 104 florins 
for every 100 florins in bank. At Venice, the 
agio is fixed at 20 per cent. See Exchange. 
Agio is also used for the profit arising from 
the discounting a note, bill, &c. Agio of 
assurance, is the same with what we call 
policy of assurance. See Assurance. 
AGREEMENT, in law, signifies the 
consent of several persons to any thing done 
or to be done. 
There are three kinds of agreement: 
First, an agreement already executed at 
the beginning, as when money is paid, or 
other satisfaction made for the thing agreed 
to. Secondly, an agreement after an act 
done by another, to which a person agrees : 
this is also executed. Thirdly, an agree- 
ment executory, or to be executed in time to 
come. 
An agreement put in writing does not 
change its nature, but if it be sealed and 
delivered, it becomes still stronger, nay, 
any writing under hand and seal, or a pro- 
viso amounting to an agreement, is equiva- 
lent to a covenant. 
AGRICULTURE is the science which ex- 
plains the means of making tire ear sh produce, 
in plenty and perfection, those vegetables 
which are necessary to the subsistence or 
convenience of man. Its practice demands 
a considerable knowledge of the relations 
subsisting between the most important ob- 
jects of nature. It is eminently conducive 
to the advantage of those actively engaged 
in it, by its tendency to promote their health, 
and to cherish in them a manly and ingenuous 
character ; and every improvement made in 
the art must bd considered as of high utility, 
as it facilitates the subsistence of a greater 
proportion of rational and moral agents ; or, 
if we suppose the number to be unincreased, 
furnishes them with greater opportunities 
than could be possessed before, of obtaining 
that intellectual and moral enjoyment which 
is the most honourable characteristic of their 
nature. The strength of nations is in pro- 
portion to their skilful cultivation of the 
soil ; and their independence is secured, and 
their patriotism animated, by obtaining from 
and vigorous subsistence. 
Not only to raise vegetables for the use of 
man, but those animals also which are used 
for food, is obviously therefore part of the 
occupation of the husbandman; and to assist 
him in his operations, other animals are to 
be reared and fed by him, to relieve his 
labours by their strength and endurance of 
exertion. In cold and comparatively in- 
fertile climates the services of these crea- 
tures are particularly important, if not abso- 
lutely indispensable, and their health and 
multiplication become, consequently, objects 
of great and unremitted attention. 
The period of the introduction of agricul- 
ture into Britain is unknown. Pliny observes 
that at the time of the Roman invasion, 
the inhabitants were acquainted with certain 
manures, particularly marl. During the 
possession of the island by the Romans, great 
quantities of grain were exported from it, 
and it cannot be doubted that, as in various 
other respects, the rude inhabitants derived 
advantage from their enlightened conquer- 
ors ; they were eminently benefited by their 
agricultural experience. Amidst the series 
of contests and confusions which followed 
the final abandonment of Britain by the 
Romans, the art and practice of husbandry 
must be presumed to have become retro- 
grade. From the Norman conquest, how- 
ever, it derived fresh vigour, as a consider- 
able number of Flemish farmers, by this 
revolution, became proprietors of British 
estates, and introduced that knowledge of 
the means of cultivation for which their own 
country had been long distinguished. 
Before the sixteenth century few data 
are afforded with respect to the details of 
agricultural practice in this island. At this 
period it derived a valuable impulse from 
the exertions of Fitzherbert, a judge of the 
common pleas, whose treatises on the sub- 
ject were read with avidity, and, while they 
abounded in instruction, excited a taste and 
emulation for the pursuits of husbandly. 
Sir Hugh Platt followed this path of genuine 
patriotism with great assiduity, modesty, and 
public advantage, treating particularly on the 
subject of manuring. Gabriel Plattes held 
out to his countrymen the light of genius, 
guided by experience. Capt. Blyth, in 1652, 
published a judicious treatise, containing 
directions for watering lands. And Hartlib, 
the friend of Millan, in a work called the 
Legacy, suggested the establishment of a 
national institution for the encouragement 
