HUSBANDRY. 
lhained the fame. Two millions and a half might have 
been fived, had the fuggeftion of the board been adopted 
in time. 
On occalion of the firft fcarcity, the board had ample 
reafon to be convinced of the great importance of pota¬ 
toes, as a remedy for that deficiency under which the na¬ 
tion laboured. It waspropofed, at one of their meetings, 
to offer a premium of one thoufand pounds to the perfon 
who ihould make the greateft exertions in that branch of 
cultivation; but, the hum being found too great for the 
finances of the board, the fcheme dropped, not however 
without fome effeft; for a newfpaper erroneoufiy report¬ 
ing that the board had aftually made the offer, occafioned 
exertions in various parts of the kingdom, as we after¬ 
wards found, by applications from individuals for infor¬ 
mation relative to the mode of reporting the experiments; 
and the meetings at that time were convinced, that, had 
fuch a premium been offered, the effeft of it would have 
been very confiderable. 
Another effort tending to the fame end, was that of of¬ 
fering premiums, in the year 1805, for encouraging the 
culture of fpring-wheat; thefe were widely claimed, and, 
having been followed by many others fince, have proved 
that the article is well eftablilhed in many diftricls. 
I come now to bring to your recollection, the method 
and fuccefs with which this inftitution obeyed a requifi- 
tion from the houfie of lords, to inquire into, and report, 
the means of breaking up certain portions of grafs-land, 
as a remedy for fcarcity,-and laying them down again 
without injury to the proprietors. The board deliberated 
with great attention upon this important objeCt, and de¬ 
termined, by offering confiderable premiums, to call to 
its affiftance the information of practical men in every 
part of the kingdom. The plan was attended with all the 
l'uccefs that could be defired ; three hundred and fifty me¬ 
moirs were lent in claim of the premiums; the bell of 
them were printed at full length, and extracts from many 
others, forming, on the whole, a mafs of full and complete 
information, derived from the practice and experience of 
men known to have been highly fuccefsful in their agri¬ 
cultural exertions. No fubjedl in the whole range of 
agriculture was ever fo fully elucidated. Thefe memoirs 
further contain much other incidental matter of confider¬ 
able importance; and they have, in various parts of the 
kingdom, been fuccefsfully added upon. 
I come now to the more active exertions of the board ; 
in which the principal feature that demands your atten¬ 
tion, is the immenfe undertaking of furveying fourfcore 
provinces; that is to fay, an empire in which no diltridl 
was to be omitted from the Land’s End to the Orkneys. 
The Reports which have been already printed, from among 
thofe written ones which this meal'ure produced, detail 
many particulars relating to the extent, foil, and climate, 
of each county ; the rivers, navigations, roads, and what¬ 
ever contributes to internal communication ; the tenures 
by which landed property is poffeffed and occupied, in¬ 
cluding the effedd of long and fliort leafes; they defcribe 
thofe circumftances which demand attention in the build¬ 
ings neceffary to the occupation of land; they note the 
payments to which it is fubjedded'in rent, tithe, and pa¬ 
rochial taxes ; they give the fize of farms, and the confe- 
quences of both large and fmall occupations; they prelent 
a detail of enclofures, whether by private exertion or by 
public authority, and the confequences which have flow¬ 
ed from them; they defcribe the implements of hufban- 
dry, and mark fuch as merit removal from a confined difi- 
tridd to a more general application; they enter into all 
the minutise of the cultivation of arable land, and are 
equally attentive to the paldurage and meadows of the 
kingdom; they give the particulars of woods and plan¬ 
tations; they enter largely into the detail of wafte-lands 
of the kingdom, their foil, climate, and value, the im¬ 
provements which have been made upon them, and others 
of which they are fui'ceptible; they report upon the means 
tiled for the improvement of ail the various foils, whe¬ 
509 
ther by draining, irrigation, paring and burning, manur¬ 
ing, or embanking; they defcribe the live-flock of the 
kingdom, and the great improvements which have been 
made in that important department; they note the price, 
and various other circumftances, reipedting rural labour, 
the ftate of the poor, and the various efforts which have 
been made for ameliorating their condition ; and they 
give fuch particulars relating to manufactures and com¬ 
merce, as connedt them with rural economy. From this 
detail, which does not however include the whole of the 
inquiries directed by the board, it muff be fufficiently 
obvious, that thefe works mull neceffarily lay fuch a 
foundation for a fcientific knowledge in every branch of 
agriculture, as cannot fail of diffufing a fpiritof improve¬ 
ment through every part of the realm; this is their diredt 
tendency; and, if they fhould fail of effedting that objedt, 
it is not fo much the fault of the works themlelves, as of 
the neglect of thofe who do not fufficiently examine them. 
It may be aflerted with equal lafety, that no inquirer into 
the fadts on which the fcience of political economy ought 
to be founded, can negiedt confulting thefe works with¬ 
out manifefting an ignorance proportioned to fuch negiedt; 
in fact, they may be-as uleful to a member of the legifla- 
ture as they ought to be to a practical farmer; and I do 
not found this afl'ertion on a reference to a few of the 
belt of thefe produdtions, but am juftified in the opinion 
by a perufal of the worft. It muff be in the recolledtion 
of many members of the houfe of commons, that Mr. Pitt 
founded many of his calculations, that were brought for¬ 
ward in a budget, on the information derived from one of 
thefe reports. 
That I do not eftimate this undertaking of furveying 
the whole kingdom too highly, will appear from the eager- 
nefs with which it was imitated in other countries. In 
France it was begun by the Directory, and finiflied under 
the immediate orders of Bonaparte; in Ruffia a beginning 
has been made, by a report for the province of Mofcow, 
executed by one of the reporters originally employed by 
this board, and in the carrying on of which no expence 
has been fpared. General Waihington, in a letter to the 
prefident, thus ftates his opinion of the county reports: 
“ I have read with pleafure and approbation the work you 
patronife, fo much to your own honour, and the utility 
of the public. Such a general view of the agriculture in 
the leveral counties of Great Britain, is extremely inte- 
refting, and cannot fail of being very beneficial to the 
agricultural concerns of your country, and to thofe of 
every other wherein they are read, and muff entitle you 
to their warmelt thanks for having fet fuch a plan on foot, 
and for profecuting it with the zeal and intelligence you 
do. I am fo much- pleafed with the plan and execution 
myfelf, as to pray you to have the goodnefs to direCt your 
bookfeller to continue to forward them to me. When the 
whole are received, I will promote, as far as in me lies, the 
reprinting of them here. The accounts given to the Bri- 
tifh board of agriculture, appear in general to be drawn 
up in a mafterly manner, fo as fully to anfwer the expec¬ 
tations formed in the excellent plan which produced them; 
affording at the fame time a fund of inforrfTation, ufeful 
in political economy, and ferviceable in all countries.” 
Mr. Young then fpecifies fome of the beneficial prac¬ 
tices in hufbandry, which, from being confined to parti¬ 
cular diftriels, or even to the operations of individuals, 
have been brought into general knowledge and adop¬ 
tion, by means of the printed agricultural reports. As 
inffances of thefe he mentions warping; fogging cer¬ 
tain deicriptions of grafs-lands ; fowing winter-tares 
on bad grafs-lands, as a litre means of improving 
them; putting in all forts of fpring-corn, without any 
fpring-ploughing, upon ftrong or wet foils ; and the Vile, 
of long frefli dung, in preference to that which is rotten. 
He adds alfo the clear illuftration which they have given, 
to the advantages of drill-hulbandry ; and points out in- 
ltances in which even the agriculture of both the Fait 
and the Weft Indies has received vaft benefits from the- 
exertions 
