INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS, 
Pointing out some Additional Measures, submitted to the 
Consideration of the Board of Agriculture. 
By Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, Bart. 
PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD. 
Numerous are tlie institutions, which, in this, and in 
many other countries, have been constituted, for the 
purpose of collecting information regarding various 
branches of human knowledge ; but the Board of Agri¬ 
culture, it is believed, is the first, either established by 
private individuals, or sanctioned by public authority, 
with a view, not only of collecting, but of digesting, 
the knowledge it has collected, and of forming it into 
a regular system for the general benefit of the public. 
It is not to be wondered at, that such an attempt 
should not hitherto have been made, considering the 
great time, labour, and expense, which such an under¬ 
taking requires, if it is intended to be executed in a 
proper manner. For instance, before it was possible 
to give a just view of the agricultural state of Great 
Britain, it was necessary to have repeated surveys of 
the different counties, with funds very inadequate to 
such an attempt. From these surveys, rvhich are at 
last on the eve of being completed, it is now proposed 
to draw up, under distinct heads, as Enclosures, Imple¬ 
ments, Management of Grass Lands, Cattle, &c. the 
result of the whole enquiry. Nay, after a report on 
any 
