692 
and annually give in the ftate of agricul- 
ture to the general meeting heldin Lon- 
don, or wherever appointed to be held: 
and from London, as the centre, every 
information fhould be fent back into the 
country, for the inftruétion of every fub- 
ordinate fociety. This, fir, is my idea 
of a board of agriculture, upon the broad 
bafis of public utility. 
; Jed: 
Yealand, near Lancafter, 
Sept. 24, 1796. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
F the Englifhmen who have of late 
years repaired to Afia, many have de- 
dicated their lives to literary and fcientifie 
purfuits. Some, like the amiable and 
accomplifhed Sir W. Jones, after attain- 
ing a confiderable proficiency in the Ori- 
ental lancuages, have extended the boun- 
daries of human knowledge, and darted 
a gleam of light on the infancy of na- 
tions, and the early and interefting, but 
hitherto obfcure, hiftory of the world 
itfelf. Others, by the introduction of 
foreign productions, and the improve- 
ment of old, or eftablifhment of new ma- 
nufaGtures, at leaft afford the mhabitants 
fome fmall indemnification for the op- 
preifions they have experienced from the 
mercantile conquerors, who fubjugated 
their country, and monopolifed their 
wealth. 
The late Sir A. Campbell, who had 
been fome time lieutenant-governor of 
Jamaica, by the introduétion of 
Guinea- orals from that ifland, fpread 
fertility around Madras, and afforded a 
refrefhing verdure to lands formerly dif- 
eufting to the eye, and ufually feorched 
into barrennefs during great part of the 
‘year. 
In the Baramahi, and, indeed, through- 
eut many parts of Afia, the /ugar-caxe of 
the Weft Indies is cultivated with great 
fuccefs (an inferior kind had been long 
familiar) and the ryots are enabled to ma- 
nufaéture its produce at an expence infi- 
nitely fmaller than that attendant on the 
blood-ftained labours of African flaves. 
The Mauritius cotion, lately introduced 
from the French ifland of the fame name, 
is deemed far fuperior to the indigenéus 
fhrub ; and from repeated trials of the 
indigo plant, it isto be hoped, that it will 
afford a dye equal to that of South Caro- 
lina. 
Agriculture and Economy of Afia. 
the 
[OS 
The daffard cedar, now cultivated to 
confiderable extent, is confidered as ex- 
cellent fodder for cattle, and the Cina 
paper mulberry for the nourifhment of the 
filk-worm. ‘The company’s plantation, 
under the management of Mr. Black- 
adder, at Penniwaddy, has not, indeed, 
been attended with all the fuccefs that 
might have been expected; but, on the 
other hand, the white and yellow month- 
ly filk-worm has been reared m fuch 
plenty, at Samulcottah, and Mafulipa- 
tam, as to hold out the moft rational 
profpeét of ultimate advantage. It muft 
not here be omitted, that the /oxba has 
offered a reward of 20,000 rupees to the 
firft perfon who manufaétures a fkain of 
filk in his dominions. Indeed, many of 
the natives of deh caf, laying afide 
their ancient prejudices, begin to ftudy 
our policy, encourage our manufactures, 
and even converfe and write in our lan- 
guage, as may be feen by the letters of 
Mobarik a Dowla Cuttub Mulk, fon of 
Haffan Ally Cuttub a Dowla, late nabob 
of the Circars ; and the learned Teroo- 
vercaudoo Mootiah Moodellier, or Nel- 
fore. 
But the cochineal infeét, lately brought 
to Madras by a Brazil fhip, and which 
breeds on the nopal, or prickly pear, pro- 
mifes to be one of the moft valuable pre- 
fents that part of Afia coald have pof- 
fibly received. Raynal, and the French 
Encyclopediits, contend, that it pro- 
duces only once in two months in the 
Spanifh colonies, while it is afcertained, 
beyond a doubt, that it propagates here 
once in every twenty-two, ortwenty-four 
days. As this new and interefting branch 
of commerce has been entrufted by the 
company to James Anderfon, M.D. and 
A.M. phyfician-general to the prefi- 
dency, I beg leave to tranfmit you a copy 
of His letter, on this fubjeét, to the go- 
vernor and council; and alfo another 
letter to fir J. Sinclair, which willthrow 
a confiderable degree of light on theagri- — 
culture and economy of Afia. 
To the Right Honcurable Lord Hobart; Go 
vernor it Council, Se. Se. Se. ” 
MY LORD, 
Ir with the greateft pleafure I now 
forward pieces of kerfeymere cloth, and. 
flannel, dyed with the cochineal reared 
here, which in brightnefs and colour 
equal the beft. fearlets; and having 
thus eftablifhed the goodnefs of the 
dye, Ihave alfo much pleafure im ac- 
quainting your lordthip, that in com- 
paring 
