greater part of it; yet no one will deny that bread and animal food are more nutritious than water in its simple state. Salt may possibly be beneficial in stimulating the roots to absorb a greater quantity of food, which may account for the different and contradictory results from its application in Cheshire; as when applied to land already abounding with vegetable substance it would be beneficial; but if applied to land exhausted by repeated cropping, would be useless. Mr. H.'s observations on marl are by no means satisfactory. He supposes, that as it contains a portion of all the simple earths, it can only be beneficial in increasing the bulk of the soil, or in affording a more solid footing for the plants, so long as it is unincorporated with the soil; it being the prevailing opinion in Cheshire, that its effect ceases in seven or eight years. But this he directly contradicts in another place, as he says, that the effect of mari, if ploughed in before it is pulverized by the operation of the atmosphere, is not seen till it is mixed with the soil by repeated plowings. The good effect produced by marl in Cheshire, even on all soils, we conceive to arise in a great measure from the climate of the county, which, as before observed, is extremely favourable to the growth of grass; and from the practice of suffering the land to r main from 4 to 6 years in grass. Hence, when land is sown only with clover and rye grass, the natural grasses soon become so predominant as to form a complete turf; therefore when it is again plowed for corn the quantity of vegetable matter is so abundant, and the soil of such a peat-like consistence, that however great the bulk of straw, it would be unproductive of corn unless the texture of the soil was rendered more solid by the application of marl or line, and which requires repetition as often as the land is laid with grass. Cattle. As the dairy is the principal object in Cheshire, but little attention is paid to the grazing qualities of the cattle, and there are so many different crosses, that it is difficult to ascertain the breed. Mr. H. has very properly given a detailed account of the Cheshire dairy management; but our limits not allowing us to insert it, we must refer those interested in the subject, to the work itseif, which we can do with an assurance that they will not be disappointed. In consequence of the superior profit of the dairy, the number of sheep kept is very trifling, and their management of these few but indifferent. Commerce. The principal articles of commerce are salt and cheese; the former is manufactured to the amount of 156,000 tons, of which nearly 140,000 are sent down the Weaver to Liverpool for exportation. Population. The population of the county amounted, according to the last returns, to about 191,750 persons. There are three appendixes to the volume; the first on the forma. tion of mari, and the second on that of rock salt, according to the Neptunian and Huttonian systems of geology; but being rather foreign to the nature of the publication we shall pass them over. The third is on the use of sea sludge as a manure, which is said to be one of the most powerful that is used, and which we believe to be its general character. In our review, both of this report and that of Sussex in the next article, we have omitted noticing many of the sections, in which there was nothing peculiar to the respective counties. ART. III. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Sussex, drawn up for the Board of Agriculture and internal Improvement, by the Rev. ARTHUR YOUNG. 8vo. Pp. 147. THE opinion we gave of the writings of the Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, whilst reviewing his reports of Essex, are so applicable to the author before us, who we believe is his son, as to obviate the necessity of any prefatory remarks; we shall proceed therefore immediately to an examination of the most interesting parts of the volume before us. Sussex "Situation and extent." is a maritime county, extending in length 76 miles, and in breadth nearly 20, and contains about 933,360 acres. Climate. The climate is warm and favourable to vegetation, except on the south down hills, where, in situations exposed to the southwest, the wind is frequently so violent as to strip buildings of their thatch, and do considerable injury to the standing corn. It is also a generally received opinion, that trees and hedges are frequently destroyed, and even buildings very much injured, by the spray of the sea, beating against the beach, although it is very much doubted by Mr. Y. and apparently with a great degree of probability, whether the injury really arises from that circumstance. Soil and surface. A map of the soil is prefixed to the report, by which it appears that the downs consists almost entirely of chalk, with some rich strong land in the vallies, that clay is predominent in the weald, which is also frequently impregnated with ferruginous particles, and that there is a margin of loam extending along the coast from Emsworth to Shoreham, with a vein of gravel between this and the chalk hills. The minerals consist of different kinds of limestone, (one of which is called Sussex marble) sandstone, and ironstone, with a small quantity of fullers' earth at Fullington, and of red ochre at Graffham. The chief rivers are, the Ouse, the Adur, and the Arum, which rise in the northern parts of the county, and empty themselves into the channel. Mode of occupation. The size of the farms in the weald is unusually small; not averaging, at the time this report was written, in 1797, more than one hundred pounds a year, and scarcely any exceeding two hundred. In the downs they are larger, it being no uncommon circumstance for a person to occupy a whole parish, containing from a thousand to fifteen hundred acres. Mr. Y. has a great number of tables of the profits of farming, which might very well have been spared, as, however carefully made, they can never be sufficiently correct to warrant any reliance upon them ; and these carry with them a most convincing proof of their fallibility, as by them it appears that the profits in the weald do not amount to more than 10 per cent, on the capital employed, whilst in the more fertile districts they exceed forty; and that a loss of seven pounds fourteen shillings and threepence an acre is sustained in the culture of hops without diminishing the number of hop plantations. Enclosing fences, &c. The enclosures of the lowlands are generally small, and surrounded by belts of coppice and timber provincially termed shaws, a practice justly deprecated by Mr. Y., as nothing can more strongly mark the low state of agriculture. Arable land. Eight oxen, or three or four horses are generally used in a plough. On some of the strongest soils perhaps this number may be necessary; but we have no hesitation in saying, that the great er part of the county may be plowed with two horses or four oxen. Of this some farmers are beginning to be sensible, and have accordingly reduced the number. The practice of fallowing, which prevails almost generally on the strong soils, is another evidence of bad farming. Woods. The soil of Sussex is peculiarly adapted to the growth of timber; but by Mr. Y.'s calculation it appears, that notwithstanding its high price, the profit of woods is not equal to that of corn. As they are managed at present we think this not at all improbable: at any rate they must be more profitable in large plantations than on the borders of the arable fields. He doubts the policy of encouraging the growth of oak, and if he had included that of every other kind of timber, we should have entirely agreed with him. Wastes. These contain 110,000 acres; above a ninth part of the county; nor does there appear any great disposition among the proprietors to inclose them. Improvements. The operation of draining is but imperfectly understood, and consequently not practised to any great extent, although on the strong wet soil of the weald it would effect an astonishing improvement. On paring and burning we are fully of Mr. Y.'s opinion, that it is the abuse of the practice which has brought it into disrepute; and that upon old grass lands particularly, it is an excellent practice. Manuring. The most prevailing manures are lime and chalk, to which the Sussex farmers are so attached, as to apply them to soils in which chalk already predomi nates! Live Stock. The reputation of the Sussex cattle for grazing and the yoke stands deservedly high, being only inferior to that of the Herefords and Devons. Mr. Y. is inclined to doubt their inferiority to the latter; but any competent: judge in the habit of attending Smithfield market, must be satisfied that in grazing at least the Devons are superior. As the Sussex cattle are principally bred for grazing and working, it cannot perhaps be expected that they should be good milkers, and though Mr. Y. is of opinion, that the superior quality of their milk partly atones for its deficiency in quantity; yet from the account of the produce of the Duke of Richmond's dairy, it is evident, that as milkers they must be very unprofitable, the average produce of each cow not exceeding three pounds of butter a week, whilst that of a Suffolk cow is not less than four, although it is a much smaller animal, and we should suppose must consequently eat less. Our opinion is contrary to that of Mr. Y. who thinks that the larger the animal is, the less he eats in proportion to his weight. Thais question has already been the cause of much discussion, without producing any satisfactory result, which must always be the case where a number of accurate experiments are required, and which are perhaps more requisite to determine this question, than any other connected with farming, as the shape, constitution, and habits of animals are so various, that it is only by selecting those perfectly similar in all these particulars, and by repeated trials that a conclusive result can be obtained. According to Mr. Young's theory, a highland scot and a south down sheep must be the most unprofitable stock; but if we may judge from the general opinion, the fact is directly the reverse; as those stock sell when lean for more money than any other. The question of the propriety of using horses or oxen for draught is discussed by Mr. Young at consi } derable length, whose opinion is decidedly in favour of the latter; and if his statement is correct, that an ox will do as much work as a horse, and will draw three sacks of wheat to market, there cannot be a doubt entertained on the subject. But these assertions we are disposed to doubt, particularly as the use of boxen has lately rather declined. Whatever doubt may be enter zined of the superiority of the Sussex cattle, there can be none of their sheep, as their merit is so generally acknowledged, and the demand for them so great in every part of the kingdom, that there cannot be a question of their excellence. The only breed which can come in competition with them is the Spanish, or a cross from it, during the present price of fine Wool. Whether it be possible to combine the fleece of the, Merino with the carcase of the south down, I must be left to time to determine. We are surprised to see Mr. Y. adhering to the old prejudice against breeding for many years from the same stock, when he has been so C onstantly in the habit of seeing the flocks of the Duke of Bedford and Mr. Coke, who have always been in th e habit of breeding from their own ra ms, and the unrivalled excellence ot whose flocks are a compleat re tation of his opinion. In the management of their sheep the Sussex firmers do not appear to have any ting peculiar to themselves. Political economy, as connected with agriculture. The turnpike roads and the cross roads on the coast are good, whilst those on the clayey soils are scarcely passable for a car tiage of any description in winter; and which, as Mr. Y. observes just y, must be the case, so long as the ountry remains in its present forestke state. This county has derived onsiderable benefit from the comlet on of the navigation of the run and Rother. There were for merly cousiderable iron works in the weald, but which are now neglect ed; and the only manufactures of any consequence at present in Sussex, are those of charcoal and gun. powder. About twenty pages of this vo lume are devoted to the poor, whose earnings are stated to be insufficient to support them in a manner which every humane person would wish to see, but which desirable object we are satisfied can never be obtained without a complete and radical reform of our poor laws. Mr. Y.'s favourite system is, to allow all the lower classes a sufficient quantity of land to support a cow, some pigs, &c. Our limits will not allow us to enter into the merits of this system. Mr. Y. is also partial to the plan of supporting the poor in large bodies in a house of industry; but though it may at first sight appear the most economical method, the greater part of the poor will generally be satistied with a smaller sum at their own houses, than it costs to support them in the cheapest method that can be adopted. Of the earnings of the poor in houses of industry Mr. Y. has given a specimen in that of Eastbourn, where the whole earnings of 159 persons, in 11 mombs, amounted to no more than 341. ald We believe this specimen is applicable to most other poor houses as well as the one selected. Means of improvement. The twa grand improvements required are in Mr. Y.'s opinion the inclosure of waste lands, and abolition of common rights, and a better distribution of arable and gra-s land in the weald, with a more extended culti vation of saintoin on the downs, and the aunatilation of the fallowing system. Is dir ctions for the manner of breaking up commons alo appear judicious. He has added an appendix, con taining a statement of Lord Shef field's system of farming. His Lordship appears to be a very intel- his example generally followed ligent farmer, and we hope to see throughout the county. ART. IV. A Treatise on 1 lemp, including a comprehensive Account of the best Modes of Cultivation and Preparation, as practised in Europe, Asia, and America; with Observations on the Sunn Plant of India, &c. By ROBERT WISSET, Esq. F.R.S. und F. A. S. 4to. pp. 290 i. MR. Wisset's treati e on hemp is a compilation fro: n numerous publications, and conta jus considerable information on the culture and management of tl at article so important to the na al concerns of this kingdom. But from the defective arrangement of the materials collected from a those va rious sources, the work more resembles a collection of notes from which a treatise was afterwards to be formed, than a perfect treatise itself. At first examination it appears rudis indigestaque moles, but on farther search, when we discover at last the plan, we ar e inclined to wish it had been so, as much preferable to a mode of arrangement, which is one of the most wasteful of the time of the reader and of paper, that we have ever witnessed. It has been computed that a grain of gold may be so drawn out by art on the surface of a silver wire as to extend nany miles: a similar ingenuity se ems to have been studied by the a uthor in the composition of this treatise, his materials appear to have been extended to the utmost tenuity of which connection is capable; and the art of making the largest possible book out of a gi ven quantity of matter, seems to have received the most considerable accession, both in theory and practice from this treatise on hemp. The whole of our expressed by the co 24 letters, and many reason, that those of less number would be the same purpose. language is abinations of think, with considerably sufficient for This fact may give some idea how, by multiplying divisions of any subject, and on each division repeating what all the books that could be collected any way relating to it, can each individually furnish, and by combining these materials in various modes, a volume of a large size may be formed without containing much useful matter. We find in looking over Mr. Wisset's treatise no less than twenty-seven principal divisions of the subject, besides others of an inferior nature; on each of these subjects is repeated what each of thinyone former publications contains any way connected with it, in succession, with large breaks and intervals between each quotation, and on some heads sixteen or more of these quotations, each of considerable length, follow each other. Besides this, on each division is given an account of the manage ment of hemp, and of two or three varieties of the sunn plant, in a considerable proportion of twentysix different places in India, in that part of the operations relative to these articles of which the division professes to treat; each of which accounts forms a separate paragraph, with a considerable interval between it and the next. In this manner every opportunity is taken to make the materials occupy the greatest quantity of paper possible, after multiplying them to the utmost by the means described. Repetitions of the same directions, and tautologies of other kinds occur in all parts of the treatise, as may be expected from the method used in its compilation; this defect |