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tonio, while he called out, in vain, on God and man for help, and complained of the breach of the laws of hofpitality and friendship, forgetting that he himself had firft violated thole facred laws. However, he fent the body to his relations.

He had ordered his fecretary to fet A down in writing the interrogatories and the depofitions of the witnesses, (which he obliged every one concerned to fubfcribe) and, in fhort, the whole procefs. After this, not doubting but the affair would foon reach B the king's ear, he fent him an authentic copy of the tryal, (keeping the original for himself) and begged him, in a letter, to pardon bis prefumption, that, in circumstances fo extraor dinary, and where his honour was fo deeply wounded, he had, neglecting the common courfe of law, done himfelf justice with his own hands. The king astonished at fo daring an acti on, and fearing that if he thould reFufe his requeft, a man of fuch an inpetuous temper might commit fome farther outrage, fent him a pardon; but at the fame time difpatched an officer, in whom lie could confide, to fucceed him as governor.

Baleine readily refigned his authori ty and, with his family, and fome felect friends, retired into a strong caltle of his own, at no great distance from Leftoure.

Some Account of a new Work lately published,entitled, an Effay on Husbandry.

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the

judgment; who, to thefe advantages,
has added, a series of obfervations, ‹madę
in travelling through most parts of Europe,
the chief of which feem to have been di-
rected to the views of agriculture. All
that has been written on this fubject, by
antients and moderns, he appears to have
read and digefted; and, he has collected
with rather, if we may be permitted
'make the remark, a too great display of
Jearning for the fubject, the most siriking
paffages from those authors whom he holds
in most esteem, with a view to cherish in
which men of the greatest genius in all
his countrymen, that love of agriculture

ages have difcovered in the decline of life. His principal intentions in writing the two Effays he has now prefented to the public were, as he tells us, fir, to exhort the inhabitants of his native country, to maintain that fuperiority in husbandry, which Cval, and continue to advance it in proporthey have hitherto poffeffed without a rition, as our busy, neighbours the French are emulous to overtake us. Secondly, to try, if it were poffible, to enrich the poor honeft industrious husbandman, and that particularly in the culture of Lucerne ; though, he acknowledges, at the same time, that his attempts, in this respect, have not Danswered the earnestness of his wishes;

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HE first Efay confifts of a general introduction, fhewing that agriculture is the bafts and fupport of all flourishing communities; antient and prefent fate of that useful Cart; --- agriculture, manufa&tures, F trade, and commerce justly harmonised of the right cultivation of our colonies together with the defeats, omissions, and poffible improvements in English husbandry.

The fecond gives an account of fome experiments tending to improve the culture of Lucerne by transplantation: Being the first experiments of the kind made and publifeed in England From whence it appears, that Lucerne is an article of great importance in English husbandry,

The work before us is a matterly per formance, and, we may venture to pronounce, wid continue to be read as a clathical book on agriculture as long as any book on the fubject in the Englifp language. The writer, who has thought ht to conceal his name, appears to be of the fit ciaís; a person of found! ring, extenfite reading, and foud

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for after various trials, he concludes, from the very nature of the plant, that more expence and industry are required in the cultivation of it than ordinary farmers are willing or able to bestow. He hopes, however, that fome abler cultivators may happily hit upon fome expedient, which may effectuate with cheapness and facility, what hitherto he has fought for in vain.

Among the many oeconomical remarks of this judicious writer, one is very firikIng. There is no doubt, fays he, but commerce and manufactures have made 'glorious advances within thefe forty years, but it is much to be feared, that the cul“ture of the field has been proportionably neglected, and that our populoufnels has diminished rather than increafed, during this period; an encrease of luxury in rich and poor, together with an unlimited abufe of fpiritous liquors, and tea, among the com produce the depopulation complained of, mon people, are of themfelves fufficient to without having recourfe to the accidents of war, which are common to all times; or the numberlefs lives that must be loft in an extenfive navigation, for which there can be no remedy; But the pernicious ef fects of tea, which, in another refpec abated by a tax founded on moral prulikewife are very alarming, may be greatly dence, and parental kindnefs, which should incapacitate the bulk of the people from the immoderate ufe of it, for certain it is, that as much fuperfluous money is yearly expended on tea and fugar in England only

at would maintain four millions of fubjects more in bread.

To revive, therefore, the culture of the field,and to infpire his countrymen with the love of bufbandry the writer lays it down as a point incontestable, that the art occupation

of mankind, was that of agriculture. As far backward, fays he, as prophane hiftory can afford us any light, the wife and fober heathens directed the employment of their lives by the patriarchal example and model, paffing their days in fimplicity and industry. The prince, the rich man, and the peasant, with a fall difference of more and lefs, pursued the fame end by the fame means. But now, as an ingenious and fenfible author laments*, a confiderable number of the great and opulent, not only abandon their fellow creatures in the country, but confider them almost as interior beings of another fpecies, as beavers of wood and drawers of water, whom they partly neg lect, and partly defpife; when, at the fame time, they feaft upon the animals that thefe poor laborious people have nourished, riot in wines that their ruftic hands have preffed, and fleep at eate upon that very down which came first from fome miferable cottage.

He therefore addreffes himself to ano

ther clafs of men, the fenfible, reflecting, and compaffionate, poffeffors of large tracts of lands, who have many tenants and labouring men dependant upon them, and recommends to their particular attention, a more correct and accurate fort of agriculture, zban what is now commonly practifed; laying

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countrymen, Gabriel Plattes ; who, though confelfedly the greatest genius in agriculture, that any age has produced, the pdblic fuffered him to drop down dead in London (treets with hunger only, nor had he friend of his, in a letter to Samuel Hartlib fhirt upon his back, when he died;

a

celebrated cotemporary writer on huf bandry, gives this character of him: "Certainly that man had as excellent a genius in agriculture as any that ever lived in this nation before him, and was the most faithful feeker of his ungrateful country's good. I never think of the great judgment, pure zeal, and faithful intentions of that man, and withall of his Strange futterings, and manner of death, but am ftruck with amazement that fuch a man should be fuffered to fall down dead in the streets for want of food, whofe studies tended to no less than providing and preferving food for whole nations, and that too as with much skill and industry, fo without pride or arrogance towards

God or man.

"

Having fhewn the advantages derived to England, from the improvements in agriculture, during the long period already Doentioned, the writer continues its hiltory, from the restoration to the prefent time, and, among the authors of eminence in latter times, takes occafion to mention our countryman, Jethro Tull, who, though an enthusiast in his way, gave great proofs of an extraordinary original genius. It is true, fays he, fancy and judgment, mat

it down, as a general maxim, that in everyter of fact and fpeculation, make the r

Country where there is full confumption at home, or commerce for exportation, the beft je the land can be put to is, to cultivate THAT crop, quba'ever it be, which produces the greatest profit valued in money; adding, by way of illuftration, that lie has known an acre of carraways equal in profit to five acres of wheat.

In the husbandry, however, that he recommends, contrary to the advocates of the new husbandry of Tull, Du Hamel, and M. de Chattercaux, he advifes to multiply manures in quantity, as well as to enhance their qualities, fince all thofe who have cultivated the earth, in all ages, have looked upon them as the folid foundation of good agriculture.

The author, in his firft effay, has enlivened his fubject with the history of agriculture, from the times of Varro and Collumella, till the middle of Henry the VIIIth's reign; and from thence has traced the revival of it in haly, England, France and -Flanders, and continued its progrefs to the year 1760; in the recital of which, he has taken occafion to fpeak of the various authors who wrote on the fubject during that time, and, among the rest of our

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appearance alternately throughout his work; yet he had fund fufficient to hazard much, and leave plentiful remains for pofterity. Hence the du Hamels, and de Chateauvienxs, have derived their know ledge; improving fome things, altering fome, and expunging others: So that at prefent, from their example, all the civi Ized nations in Europe are attempting to light their torches from an English taper. Tuil, therefore, upon the whole, feems to be the perfon, according to Varro, cui hoftra ætasdefert rerum rufticarum omnium palmam.

The author proceeds in the next place to confider the prefent ftate of agriculture in Savoy, Sardinia, Poland, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Wertemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Spain, all which countries he appears to have traverfed, and perhaps a great part of our American settlements; a: leaft, he seems, to be well acquainted with the geography of that remote country, its climates and productions, as he has fugested many valuable hints for recipro cal improvements, by the transplantation of various trees, plants, graffes, and even animals, from one country to the other. In this refpe&t he has fhewn himself a true chizen of the world, and has fuggeflet many

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many ufeful improvements to the curious
in other countries as well as his own; and
has extended his remarks to the various
focietes that have been established in this
and other countries, for the advancement
of agriculture, which, he fays, has receiv- A
ed fewer improvements in the prefent
-century than is commonly imagined.,
"Tull, he adds, has no right, or even
pretention, of laying claim to the drill-
plough, which had heen used in feveral
European countries, almost half a century
before he fet pen to paper, and even our
ingenious countryman Gabriel Plattes feems
to have had fome idea of an inftrument of
a fimilar nature, as early as James the
firft's reign; nay, all good husbandmen,
in all ages, had a notion that wheat should
be fown at equal distances, and thofe con-
fiderable ones: The main perfection of fow
ang, fays Pling, is, to disperje the feeds equally,
and this notion he received from Xeno- C
plon." That the Spanish sembrador was
ufed before Mr Tall invented his drill-
plough is indifputable; that Mr Worlidge
invented a drill-plough was known and
acknowledged by Mr Tull himself; that
Gabriel Plattes might conceive an idea of

fun dial, he urged to deprive the mechanic of the merit of inventing the watch, the Spanifb fembrador, to deprive Mr Tull of the merit of inventing his drillplough.

The many useful hints and fenfible obfervations that abound, in this judicious performance, make ample amends, however, for the few inaccuracies that are to be found in it. The author, among the many reafons, juftly urged for the revival of the art of cutting on wood, adds, that the lines may be retouched with greater fourmnes, and the engravings restored swith less pains and more correctness than any engravings on copper can: Whereas the contrary is the fact; the lines once injured on a wooden cut can never be retouched, because the lines once broken or worn down can never be raised, nor is it possible to restore a wooden cut when it is once defaced; it is the furrow made by the gra ver, that gives the impreffion on copper, and that may be deepened and restored; but it is the ridge that appears when cut on wood, and that can never be raised when once defaced. The cuts in Mattbioli's

fuch an inftrument, may likewife be ad D Diofcorides, fo highly prized, were not cut

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mitted, and that all good husbandmen in all ages might be fenfible of the advantages of difperfing the feeds equally cannot be denied ; but that these facts should be urged to deprive Mr Tall of the honour of his invention of an inftrument to do that which the best husbandmen in all ages only wished to have done, and of whom fome had conceived an idea might be done, is not reasoning with this author's ufual candour. The Spanish fembrador was a rude inftrument totally different in every respect from Mr Tull's drill-plough and no instrument like Tull's fubfifted in the whole habitable world, not even in China, at the time he invented and improved his drill-plough, MrTull has himfelf given a candid account (fee V. xxxiv. p. 623.) of the manner in which he first formed his ideas of a drill- plough, and of the difficulties he met with in fitting it for prac tice, and no inftrument that ever was used for the like purpose afforded him a fingle hint, either in the discovery or improvement of it. It is therefore, much to be regretted, that an author of fuch credit, who must always fand among the foremost of thofe who have written on the fubject of agriculture should take fo much pains, in more places than one of his book, to deprive his countryman of the honour fo juftly his due, of being the inventor of the first practical drill-plough H that ever performed with exacinefs, the three operations of ploughing, fowing,and harrowing, at the fame time. As well

ht the idea of measuring time by a

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on wood, but on mettle; as were the cuts in Crexall's fop; but being cut with theknife after the manner of the first cutters on wood, they took the name of wooden cuts, and still retain that name. By thus fubftituting metal instead of wood, the cutter has been enabled to introduce another improvement, and make use of the graver instead of a knife, fo that many of the fineft ftrokes, for which thofe cuts have been justly admired, are not the ef fect of the tracings of the knife, but the actual delicacy of the graver.

Among the various forts of herbage pro pofed by this author to be introduced for. the more plentiful fupport of cattle, the fucculent plants that draw their nourishment more from the influences of the atmosphere, than from the earth, deserve moft to be considered and attended to ; to ¿ which may be added the culture of the.. aphernoulli, and larch trees, branches of which he has finely reprefented on copper plates, which we have taken the liberty. to copy, as we have done feveral of the inftruments of husbandry, which he recommends as ufeful. It were indeed to be wished that this able writer had collected into one view the various forts of trees, fhrubs, plants, and herbage which he may think of advantage to introduce into his native country with the proper methods of procuring them, directions for preferving the cuttings, plants, cones, or feeds, in their transportation, and the best methods of cultivating them when im ported. This would be a real fervice to his country, and would open a way to

Improvements infinitely more than learned
differtations, which few bufbandmen, or
cultivators of land have time or inclination
to perufe. Were fuch a tract as this com-
pofed, with the addition of a full and
accurate reprefentation of the beft inftru-
ments hitherto introduced into practice,
and a plain defcription, by which any or-
dinary mechanic might be enabled to make
them, it is not to be doubted but the prin-
cipal intentions of the author might be,
anfwered; for among the infinite variety
of improvements offered to the public by
fpeculative men, who reafon only from
the clofet, the husbandman is bewildered,
and knows not what to choofe. The au- B
thor himfelf,among the many, feems to have
felected only one, of which he has given
fó ample an account, that no perfon can.
be mistaken, who fhall think proper to
attend to his directions. Let us prefume,
therefore, to request him to shorten the
catalogue which he has fubjoined to his
book, and beftow the fame attention
upon a few of the most promising fpecies
in it, which he has already done on Lucern,
and he will merit the thanks of every
husbandman in England; for then every
husbandman may proceed with certainty,
provided he proceeds with caution.

The fecond effay, which this author has

defign to raise your crop; and this, too, like the former, must be well dunged, cleanfed, deeply and nicely plowed, the weeds killed by a fummer fallow, and the ground made fine by every method the cultivator may think proper for that purpofe. About the middle of Auguft he A fixes for the proper time of tranfplantation, against which time the ground must be fresh fired, a number of hands prepared in proportion to the number of acres intended to be planted,for no time must be loft in that operation; all things thus pre pared, your young plants must be carefully loofened with fome proper inftrument, and pulled up with as little injury to the plants as poffible, the tap-roots cut off at the depth of from fix to ten inches, and thei tops cropt off as reprefented between the dotted lines in the plate, and then plunged in water, and carried to the place appointed for their reception: Rows are then to be ranged in regular order at the diftance of three feet four inches apart, and the plants are to be put into the ground with a dible at the distance of one. foot from each other in the rows; the rows after this transplantation should be well watered; and, when the weeds begin to appear, horse-hoed and hand-hoed be tween the plants; this operation must be

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thought fit to lay before the public, is, D performed as often as neceffary till the

chiefly the refult of the experiments he
has made on the cultivation of Lucerne al-
ready mentioned, and tho' in point of pro-
fit he feems hitherto to have failed, yet he
has by his experience pointed out what
may be of infinite advantage to others;
and that is that Lucerne requires no par-
ticular foil to make it flourish; with care
and proper cultivation it will thrive on al-
moft any foil; but that good manure, and
a careful and laborious attention to keep ›
it free from weeds, and other obstructions,
are abfolutely necessary to make it pro-
fitable. The method of management,
which he recommends is, first to prepare F
a proper fpot for railing from feed a fuf-
ficient number of plants for transplanta-
tion, fixteen perches to an acre, he thinks
quite fufficient. This fhould be well
dunged, cleanfed, and pulverifed during
the winter; and if deeply trenched, and
expofed to the action of the air and frofts
fo much the better. In the beginning of G
April, he propoles to fow the feeds, in
order to procure plants for tranfplantation
the Auguft following; but, he adds, that i
feeds may be fown till the latter end of
June, for the fame purpose, the fpring fol-
lowing; four ounces of feed to a perch
is the exact quantity he prefcribes, and
thefe must be lightly covered, raked, and
fparingly watered, Being thus prepared
with a nursery for plants, you are to di-
rect your attention to the field in which you

fpring following, when the plants will
have acquired førprifing vigour, and will
be early ready to cut. A plantation thus
managed was five times cut in one fum-
mer; after every cutting fresh hoeing muft
be repeated; and the writer advises ones
or twice a year, a dreffing of foot, peat-
ah, foap,ah, malt-duft, or any other
light manure, which will preferve the plants
in full vigour for many years. An acre of
lucerne thus managed, will produce greca,
food fufficient for two horfes, and one
cutting fet a-part for kay befides. This
however, the author is cautious in recom.
mending, as lucerne is a flow dryer, and
a quick grower; fo that the plants un-
derneath the cut lucerne are often blanch-
ed, and even rotted before the hay is fuf-
ficiently made, unless removed to an ad-
joining Geld, which is fometimes imprac-
teable, often inconvenient, and at best
very troublesome. It is therefore, most ad.
vifcable to proportion your quantity of
lucerne to the number of cattle you have
to feed, A remedy, however, is propofed
for this inconvenience, and that is, be-
tween every other row of transplanted lo◄
cerne, to leave an interval of Gx feet in-
ftead of three feet four inches, which will
give fufficient room to turn and make it
into hay; but fill, fays the author, wa
difficulties remain to be struggled with,
first to make it properly, and next pre-
ferve it when it is made. As lucerne is

not.

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