XV 
one subject is thus gone through, other branches con- 
nected with agriculture, will, from time to time, be 
explained, in a similar manner, and with equal care. 
It will then appear, how essential it is for the public 
prosperity, to have all the information which a great 
nation can furnish, regarding any branch of useful en¬ 
quiry, first collected, and then digested, into a regular 
system, so as to be easily accessible to all those, to 
whom the acquisition of such knowledge may be de¬ 
sirable. 
Is it possible for the public money to be better be¬ 
stowed, than in promoting such institutions, and effect¬ 
ing objects so essential for the general interest ? The 
foundation of national prosperity must rest, on the 
knowledge possessed by individuals, of Agriculture, 
and all the other useful arts; and where, by public en¬ 
couragement, that knowledge is in a double ratio ex¬ 
tensively spread, a country must be doubly prosperous. 
Much, for that purpose, has been already effected by 
the exertions of the Board of Agriculture, in the great 
department over which it presides; but if the measures 
above recommended, wmre completed; if the princi^ 
pies of every branch connected with Husbandry, were 
thoroughly explained, and digested ; and if, by judici¬ 
ous laws, all the most material obstacles to the im¬ 
provement of the country, were removed ; and if, in 
particular cases, even encouragement were given to 
promote great and useful exertions ; the prosperity of 
the British Empire would encrease with a rapidity 
beyond all former example, and even our present heavy 
burdens would scarcely be felt. 
Board of Agriculture, 
pt Aug. 180 T. 
JOHN SINCLAIR, 
PRELIMINARY 
