to keep the best of the mold still toward the surface, and leaving the open trench on the ridge eight or nine inches wide, and four or five inches deep, and nearly level; the end toward the stream being made somewhat higher and rather wider than the other, that the water may flow evenly over every part of the ridge. Return the turf, being careful to lay it evenly and firmly along the sides of the trench, and cut a drain on either side of the ridge thus formed, with proper outlets to carry away the waste water. Finally, raise a channel between the trial ground and the source of the water, to conduct it into the watering trench, and continue to adjust the ground, until the water will flow evenly over every part of it."

In many cases it is essential to economise water: on this account it is generally necessary that the declivity of the land, if artificial, should be made gentle; and if naturally rapid, that it should be counteracted by checks. If the water which is conducted upon grass land passes with a rapid current, the deposit of whatever fertilizing matter it may contain will be carried away by the stream; on the other hand, if the water remains stagnant, the natural herbage becomes languid, and yields to aquatics. The superfluent water then should pass in a thin, an even, but a languid current, and it is of the highest importance, that after it has performed its duty it should be made capable of being drawn off without delay. For the mechanical part of irrigation we must refer to the volume, or rather to the grass lands themselves (and they are numerously scattered over the country), which have received its benefit. 7.Watering live stock." There are different ways of supplying domestic animals with water, by conducting a stream, collecting rain water, by sinking a well, and by artificial springs.

"Seeing the formation of natural springs, and observing the effect of subsoil drains, and being, at the same time, aware of an objection to roof water, which though more wholesome, is seldom so well tasted as spring water, I have been led to the idea of forming artificial land springs, to supply farmsteads with water in dry situations, namely, by arresting the rain water that has filtered through the soil of a grass ground, situated on the upper side of the buildings, in covered drains, clayed and dished at the bottom, and partially filled with pebbles or other open materials, thus conveying it into a well or cistern, in the manner of roof water, and by this mean uniting, it is probable, the palatableness of spring water with the wholesomeness of that which is collected immediately from the atmosphere."

8. "Improving homestalls." Hints concerning the reparation of walls, houses, &c. 9. "Improving roads." Here we division of roads into public roads, priare plagued with a long and tedious. vate roads, carriage tracks, horse tracks, toll roads, free roads, foot paths, and the Lord knows what! Oh! if Mr. Marshall had but considered that we poor bare-footed reviewers must travel and toil a wearisome pilgrimage over all his crinckum-cranckum roads, he would surely, in mercy, have put by a few of them. This subdivision will afford some useful instruction to the surveyors. "Improving markets."

10.

Section viii. On the improvement of wood-lands; on which subject we are referred, as indeed we are at every other page, to some former publication of Mr. Marshall.

waters. Our author suggests some reSection ix. On the improvement of gulations in the salmon fishery, which might probably render it more productive; a sufficient number of grown salmon should certainly be allowed to pass to their spawning ground, and the young fish ought likewise to be protected in their passage to the sea. We are not for multiplying penal statutes, but perhaps in the present case a national advantage might be produced without individual hardship. The subject of decoys and water-mills is touched upon in this section.

Section x. On the improvement of mines and quarries. The remarks here are few and insignificant. The section is closed with some plain and homely advice to inexperienced proprietors of provement, suggesting the importance estates respecting the business of imof mature deliberation, and of a careful and accurate comparison between the immediate and certain expence of alterations on a large scale, and the remote and precarious profit, &c.

We are now come to the third prin cipal division of this work, which treats "on the management of landed estates." Here again, in his rage for a tiresome and petty classification, Mr. Marshall has given us half a dozen sections, with sub-sections and subter-sub-sections with out end. Is this to impress the public with an idea of the author's powers for close reasoning and accurate investiga tion? Indeed it is very true that nothing is too trifling and contemptible to escape him. The whole of this third division,

except some remarks on leases, and some hints which may be serviceable to the manager of an estate, on the registering and auditing accounts, &c. is the mere idle prate which one would expect from an old woman. We have a stupid longwinded section on an executive establish ment for the superintendence of estates! Managers are divided into acting managers, assistants, and the Lord knows what. We are told with a serious face, that the acting manager of an estate ought to be acquainted with the principles of agriculture, that he ought to be able to keep accounts, and that he ought to have a good character! A man of fortune ought to ride over his estates now and then, and inspect them with his own eye. Belonging to a large estate there ought to be a business room, a small anti-room, and a strong room, &c.! Mr. Marshall has told us what the furniture of this room should be, such as general maps, pocket maps, ten inches by eight-admirable accuracy! rentals, books of accounts, &c. By a strange and very unusual oversight, however, he has forgotten to give directions for the size of the table, and concerning the chairs, whether they should be of mahogany or only walnut. A Rumford stove would be advisable: 1. it would save coals; II. it would encourage an enterprising spirit of experiment; III. it would set alaudable example of economy. These main branches of the subject might have put forth a hundred tendrils. I. § 1. wear and tear of horses and waggons would be diminish. ed; 2. chimney sweeping; § 3. hearth brushes, &c. &c. Mr. Marshall has been guilty of an unexpected negligence also in omitting to state what aspect the room ought to have: he might have hinted, too, that there ought to be pins wooden ones are the cheapest-inserted into the walls of the lobby for farmers to hang their great coats on; as to their Thats, pins of half the length, and about two-thirds of the diameter, would do for them. There should be two scrapers at the door, and moveable ones are perhaps better than fixtures; for, in the first place, the former are usually of castiron; secondly, they catch the dirt as it drops from the boot; thirdly, they are easily lifted about, so that the dirt (noticed in f 2.) may be conveyed with very little trouble to the dung heap; in the fourth place, they are durable; and, in the fifth place, they are cheap.

We stated just now, that on the subjest of the duration of leases there were some remarks which, though not very new, were yet very good. The value of money has been so much depreciated within the last twenty years, that men of fortune are reluctant to grant long leases; farmers, on the other hand, we all know, are very reluctant to take short ones, and Mr. Marshall has endeavoured to split the difference, by recommending leases for six years certain, with a condition, that if neither party gives notice to quit before the expiration of the first three years, then the term should be prolonged to nine years, and so on from three years to three years, until three years after notice has been duly given by either party to the other.

years

It appears to us that a tenant cannot be expected to engage in any large and expensive system of improvement on the assurance of so short a term of that which is here proposed. The only objection of any consequence against long leases is the apprehended deprecia tion of money during the term of it: and this objection, surely, is of all other the most readily removed. If two-third of the rental only was made payable in money, and the other third in corn ( any other proportion which might be deemed eligible), the difficulty vanishe The landlord would thus have his rest rise or decline with the rise or declensica of corn, and he might grant a one and twenty years lease with security and ad vantage both to himself and his tenant.

Mr. Marshall has closed his volum with three appendices: the first on the "disposal and harvesting of woodland produce;" the second on the "manag ment of demesne lands;" and the third is a re-publication of "proposals for & rural institute, or college of rural ec nomy."

On the whole we think Mr. Marshal work a valuable one, and such as mat safely be recommended to the attentio of country gentlemen. It is avowedly an elementary book, and every gram mar must have its a, b, c. It is written quite in the magisterial manner, and grea care is taken to inform readers that the author has had very good schools different parts of the kingdom, and that the rules now laid down for the manage ment of rural affairs are those which long experience has shewn to be service able to his scholars in general.

minous, that such a comprehensive system of agriculture as that which Dr. Dickson has here presented us, is become valuable, not to say absolutely neces sary.

In the present instance, however, the task imposed upon us is not so arduous, nor is the duty so delicate as might be imagined. A system of practical agriculture is not like an epic poem, where the author is responsible for all the machinery (if we may be allowed the use of an equivocal word, without suspicion of a pun), its structure, application, and advantages; a small proportion probably of the present work is the original production, using the words in their strict sense, of Dr. Dickson, who may rather be considered as the annalist of modern agriculture than the professor of it. Although the name of Dr. Dickson, how ever, may not, like the Tulls, the Elkingtons, the Bakewells, the Kents, and the Marshalls, be familiar to every ear as an agricultural experimentalist, we are assur. ed that his practice in the art has been extensive, and his observation, as well in other countries as in this, still more so. Groaning, as the agricultural world does, under its numerous and heavy volumes of "Reports," "Surveys," "Letters," "Communications," "Economies," "Calendars," "Magazines," &c. &c. without mercy and without end! it will, at first sight, seem to many that the present work is an additional load which might very well have been dispensed with. Upon further considera. tion, however, it may possibly appear to others as it does to us, that the very circumstance which obtruded itself superficially as an objection, is its real recom, mendation and advantage. It is because the works which treat on the different branches of rural economy are so volu

the verbose and involved accounts which, in various publications, practical unedu cated farmers give of their own operations, it is incumbent on us to grant the author every indulgence,

The present work is doubtless bulky— very bulky; but, after a patient and attentive perusal of it ourselves, we feel entitled to advise no one who is interested in the subject on which it treats, and who is desirous of becoming acquainted with its improved practice, and the scientific principles on which that practice is founded, to be discouraged by the formidable appearance it assumes. Although Dr. Dickson may be occasionally redundant, he is never defective; that indeed would have been unpardonable. So that the reader may turn to these pages with much confidence of obtaining information on whatever subject, connected with agriculture, either as a science or an art, he may seek it.

It is a great merit belonging to this work that the style is generally plain, fluent, and correct; alike remote from vulgarity on the one hand, and a hypercritical refinement on the other; it may be read by men of science without dis, pleasure, and the most obtuse-headed farmer will rarely be at a loss to com prehend the author's meaning. Dr. Dick son has borrowed very freely from works of established reputation, referring to them at the bottom of his page; and in very many instances, where facts and operations could not be more clearly or succinctly stated, has, with great pro priety, adopted the words of his several authorities. The engravings which illus trate the different implements of husbandry, sorts of stock, farm-buildings.

cottages, fences, &c. &c. are very numerous, and executed with great neatness and accuracy. The drawings of the natural British grasses are by Mr. Salisbury, the able successor to Mr. Curtis at the botanic garden, Brompton.

Dr. Dickson has contented himself with dividing his work into two parts, the former of which is sub-divided into five sections, and the latter into eight. This is quite a relief to us, after having read Mr. Marshall's very expensive volume, where that gentleman has given about as many sections and sub-sections as his printer has pages. Dr. Dickson had taste enough, when he had finished his building, to take away the scaffold.

An idea of the arrangement which is adopted, will be given by a transcript of the heads of the sections. PART I. Section I. Implements of husbandry. 2. Farm-houses and offices. 3. Farm cottages. 4. Enclosing of land. 5. Construction of roads. PART II. Section 6. Soil. 7. Manures. 8. Draining of land. 9. Paring and burning. 10. Fallowing of land. 11. Cultivation of arable land. 12. Cultivation of grass land. 13. Live stock.

It appears from this arrangement that the first part is devoted to what may be called, in general terms, the machinery of farming. In the first section all the implements of husbandry which are in general or local use, simple and complex, from the hand-hoe to the threshing machine, are enumerated; whilst their construction and principles are explained, and illustrated by neatly executed plates. · Plans and elevations, together with estimates of expence, are subjoined to the second and third sections, on farmhouses, &c. as well as engravings of the implements necessary for the dairy and other offices. After some preliminary observations on the general improvement which follows the enclosing of land, the different sorts of fences which are best adapted to different soils and situations are treated of, and illustrated by dia. grams. The fifth section, on the construction of roads, is a very useful one: the subject, strange as it may appear, is comparatively new. Formerly, if one may judge from the obliquity of direction, disregard to level, and carelessness about form, materials, &c. &c. which are so obvious in old roads, there could have been no general and leading principles of construction. Much light has been thrown upon this subject by Mr. Beat

son, in the first volume of Communications to the Board of Agriculture, and Dr. Dickson has very judiciously made ample use of that gentleman's ingenious paper. Roads, in order to give an easy current to superficial water, must either be formed with a convex surface, or hav ing a level surface, with an inclined plane. When the road is necessarily narrow, the convexity, in order to effect its pur pose of preserving the road dry, must be very considerable, and therefore incon venient. Indeed, if we consider the ele vated position of the centre of gravity in a waggon which is loaded high, with hay, wool, &c. and in stage-coaches which are loaded bigh with passengers and packages, the danger of overturning, where two such carriages are obliged to pass on a narrow convex road, is imminent, In such roads, therefore, the gently, inclined plane is surely preferable, grooves being cut at the bottom of the declivity for conveying superfluous water into the ditches on either side. Where roads are of the statute turnpike width, the conver surface is in every respect to be preferred. Mr. Wilkes, in communications to the board, has recommended concave roads: the advantages and disadvantages of each of these forms are fairly estimated, and the effects of wheels of various forms and sizes, cylindrical, conical, narrow, broad, &c. are considered in this useful section. Mr. Cummings, from whose communication to the board of agricul ture this latter part is borrowed, decides in favour of the cylindrical, as having a constant tendency to proceed in a straight direction, whilst the conical rims have a natural tendency to revolve in a circular direction round their conical centres; thus requiring a constant force to coun teract this tendency, and consequently presenting greater resistance, greater friction at the axle, &c.

The second part of this work embraces at once, and exhibits the connection be tween the theory and practice of agricul ture. In the sixth section Dr. Dickson has endeavoured to classify the different sorts of soils: soils, however, are so infinitely diversified, not by their compo nent substances merely, but by the pro portions of those substances, and the dif ferent degrees of combination which take place among them, that the subject must ever baffle the most careful arrangement; so long, therefore, as chalky soils, clayey soils, loamy soils, and so on, are incapable of distinct and discriminative de