this part of the united kingdom. Thefe materials are chiefly reports from the magiftrates of the royal boroughs of Scotland, or from the fheriffs of the feveral counties, or from other learned and judicious perfons. They are, however, far from being complete; and though confiderable pains have been taken, it is probable," from the nature and difficulty of the thing, that there may be feveral mistakes. It is well known, that in many counties there is no fixed ftandard practifed, particularly in corn-measures; no two firlots are exactly the fame; yet every man will fay that his measure is the right one, and that every other perfon's measure is too large or too little. In fuch counties alfo the accounts given by farmers are different from the accounts given by perfons employed to buy corn upon commiffion for exportation; a thing eafily underitood. In fuch cafes the medium was the only thing that could be taken, though probably it will be cenfured by both these claffes of people.

There is befides a fource of error which could not eafily be avoided; and that is the diversity of the pint measure, as to which the. reports were not always precife. Where no difference was expreffed, it must be fuppofed that the standard-pint was meant.

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• With regard to the tables, they are divided into two fets. The first contains the standards of England and Scotland, with their portions to each other, and tables of converfion for applying these proportions, with fome other general tables which may be of ufe.

The fecond fet contains the customary weights and measures of the feveral counties and boroughs in Scotland.

• Confiderable pains have been taken to make the calculations exact. This was the work of an able and ingenious accomptant, who gave his affittance to that part.'

As

The Conjectures concerning the ancient Standards of Weights and Measures in Scotland,' are founded on the affize of King David I. made at Newcastle upon Tyne, on that of Robert I. and on those of Robert III. James I. II. and VI. objects of curiofity, they deferve the attention of the antiquary; but when we confider that they are of much ufe in explaining the law and history of Scotland, we muft difcover their real importance.

Amidst the mafs of frivolous productions we are obliged to turn over, now and then a work of this kind comes to our relief; we are then happy in being able to congratulate the author for having written fomething worthy of a man and a citizen.

ART. IV. Practical Essays on Agriculture; containing an Account of Soils, and the Manner of correcting them. An Account of the Culture of all Field Plants, including the artificial Graffes, according to the old and the new Modes of Hufbandry, with every Improvement down to the prefent Period. Alfo an Account of the Culture and Management of Grafs Lands; together with Obfervations on Enclosures, Fens, Farms, and Farm Houses, &c. Carefully collected and digefted from the most eminent Authors, with experimental Remarks. By James Adam, Efq. 8vo. 2 vols. 12s. boards. Cadell. London, 1789.

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MEO fum pauper in are, was the boaft of an ancient philo

fopher; and it will not be denied that if a book contains but little information, it will be the more valuable if that little is original, rather than a collection of old ftories with which the world had been already acquainted. This remark occurred to us on the perufal of the work before us, perhaps more forcibly than will happen to most others; because from our office we are obliged to read more of the publications that iffue from the prefs than most other perfons have occafion to do: and therefore we are in danger of recognifing old doctrines, however they may chance to be difguifed, more readily than other men, and will be of courfe more apt to be difgufted with a repetition of them.

The author of thefe Effays feems not to have felt that strong kind of difguft which we experience on being long detained with explanations of facts and opinions already fufficiently known. His mind feems not to be of that active fort which is fitted to ftrike out new ideas, but is rather of that patient kind which delights in going over the fmooth, beaten track, the afperities of which have been removed by those who have gone before him. It follows, however, that if in his progrefs he is not able to difplay any of thofe bewitching beauties that enchant and tranfport the reader by their novelty or peculiar brilliancy; fo neither does he deviate often into the land of chimeras which abounds with monftrous productions and abfurd combinations, that lead the bewildered mind into the intricate mazes of error. To be plain, the performance is marked by a feebleness of thought, and an indecifivenefs of inquiry. Numerous facts are produced, without carefulness of felection, which point to oppofite, and frequently contradictory conclufions, which our author leaves in the fame kind of uncertainty he found them, as he feems frequently to adopt the different opinions of the author he copies at the time, though thefe be directly contradictory to the opinions he holds in other parts of the work.

Mr.

Mr. Adam feems to have had himself fome little experience in certain departments of agriculture; but it is not on these fubjects he chooses moft to enlarge. He delights most in detailing the practice recommended by others on those branches of agriculture with which he has had the finalleft acquaintance. The improvement of bogs, heaths, and uncultivated foils, in which department it is very evident he has had little experience, if any, are favourite fubjects, on which he enlarges with great fluency. We do not mention this as a diftinguifhing peculiarity of our author; for it is, unfortunately for the caufe of fcience, a tendency that is but too prevalent among mankind.

Various fubjects relating to agriculture have attracted the attention of our author, which he has treated in a rambling, defultory manner, in twelve feparate effays. Thefe treat of foils, of manures, of the method of cultivating land, of the culture of grain, viz. wheat, rye, fpelt, barley, oats, macher, millet, buck-wheat; pulfe, viz. beans, peas, vetches, lentils, lupines; cabbage plants; and roots, viz. potatoes, turnips, carrots, mangel wurzel, madder; of the enemies to corn, and the means of preferving it; of the culture of various ufeful plants, viz. hops, hemp, flax, woad, weld, lavender, muftard; of artificial graffes, viz. lucerne, faintfoin, burnet, clover, rye-grafs, favory; the management of grafs lands; and, finally, of farms and farm

houses.

But although the subjects are arranged under feparate heads, the author by no means thinks it necellary to confine himself to treat only of the fubject announced in the title of the fection, but frequently gives long differtations on other fubjects, which are perhaps omitted under their own proper title. For example: in treating of light foils, our author does not content himfel f with recommending the ufe of marle for improving them, but gives a long differtation on the different kinds of marle; though, under the title of foffil fubfiances as manures, we fcarcely find this valuable manure mentioned, but, in its ftead, a long account is given of the manner of conftructing kilns for burning lime. Indeed, on the fubject of calcareous manures, Mr. Adam feems not as yet to have formed any distinct notions himself, and therefore cannot be expected to convey clear information to his readers. Dr. George Fordyce, who was unfortunately ftill lefs acquainted with the practice of agriculture than Mr. Adam, is the perfon from whom he chiefly borrows his notions on this fubject. Nor does he feem either to have read Higgins's treatife on cements, which might have ferved, in fome degree, to have enlarged his chemical ideas, or the more practical treatife of calcareous fubftances as a manure, publifhed in the fecond edition of Anderfon's Eflays. Had he done this, he would not have

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have been in danger of falling into the furprising blunder of afferting that all foft ftones of a tolerably clofe texture, and flate and flints, will burn to lime *. Indeed, the reading of Mr. Adam on agricultural fubjects feems either not to be fo extensive as it ought to have been, or his prejudices are ftrong; for a great many of the most respectable writers on this fubject are not once mentioned in this performance; nor has he, in many instances, availed himself of the lights they have thrown upon many departments of this important fcience.

Neither does the author seem to have been at due pains to inform himself fufficiently on fubjects that could not have come within the reach of his own obfervation, fo as to avoid recommending projects that could, not be carried into practice with fuccefs in general. For example: when he treats of the method of improving barren, uncultivated foils, he recommends, in the warmest terms, the mixing of one kind of earth with another as the best kind of manure, and more efficacious than dung itfelf; even where the two kinds of earth to be mixed with each other were both of them naturally unproductive. And he produces examples on record, where it is faid that a barren field of a fandy nature, and a barren field of clay, which lay contiguous to each other, were both converted into fertile fields merely by driving part of the one upon the other, and mixing them together. That this experiment is upon record we cannot doubt, and that the fact might have been as is here stated, we do not pretend to deny, whatever doubts we may entertain on that head; but we have no hesitation in saying that if ever such a fact took place, it ought to have been confidered as a particular exception to a very general rule, and not at all as an authority for grounding a rule fo contrary to the univerfal experience of mankind; for we will venture to fay that for once that the practical farmer would get the expence incurred by this operation repaid by the fuperior product of his field in confequence of it, he would be five hundred times out of pocket by the experiment. When fuch chimerical projects as this are recommended by a perfon who lays claim to experimental knowledge himself, they deserve to be feverely reprehended, as they are apt to mislead the young, fanguine, and unwary adventurer in the agricultural walk to their utter undoing. More than one inftance has fallen under our own obfervation where a hopeful young man, mifled by bad counsel, has been brought into embarrassments that have blafted

*His words are, • All foft ftones, of a tolerable close texture, will burn to lime; as will alfo marble, flate, fea fhells, corals, and flints; but this laft requires a reverboratory furnace, because it is otherwife apt to vetirify. Vol. I. p. 146.

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all his rifing hopes, and made the latter end of his life extremely unpleafing to himself, and distressful to his family. It is to prevent, as far as in us lies, fuch evils in future that we hold it incompatible with the office we here occupy not to take notice of this fault in our author. And we are fo much convinced of his own philanthropy and rectitude of mind, as to be fatisfied that, had he been as converfant on this fubject as he ought to have been, he never could have been prevailed on, by any temptation, to have given this, and fome other equally reprehensible articles, the fanction of his authority. Why did he enlarge fo much on the improvement of bogs and uncultivated grounds! Subjects that he evidently fhould have avoided to handle at all.

On the subject of manures we meet with nothing lucid or decifive, but many hints, picked up from various authors, fome of them good, others of little value, others erroneous. On plowing he retails Mr. Arbuthnot and Ducket's remarks, and gives drawings of their ploughs. On fowing, he recommends drill fowing, without fufficiently discriminating the cases in which wide drills for horfe-hoeing, and narrow drills for hand-hoeing only, are of greateft utility. He commends much Cooke's drill machine, and gives a drawing of it. On the culture of corn crops we meet with little decifive; but a great deal too much from Miller, Du Hamel, Chateauvieux, and others of thirty or forty years ftanding, without proper corrections from later experience. Nearly the fame remarks will apply to his obfervations on the culture of pulfe and cabbages. Refpecting the culture of roots, the potatce occupies a reasonable share of room, in proportion to its importance; but it is evident Mr. Adam has had very little experience himself in the culture of this valuable plant, and has not been able to select the best things that have been written on it from other publications. The mode of

culture he himself recommends is too little fufceptible of being carried into practice in the usual state of our climate and foils, that we avoid expofing it to our readers. On turnips and other roots nothing new occurs.

The effay on the enemies of corn, &c. is a philofophical cento on the structure of vegetables, which has been collected from various authors with much labour. Our author has a great propenfity to philofophical difquifitions. Among the various ufeful plants whofe culture he describes to the British farmer, lavender is one. We wonder how he has omitted to mention alfo fweet violets, as there is an article on that fubject in the French Memoirs of Agriculture. Chamomyle, peppermint, and ftrawberries, were articles in greater requeft than lavender, and equally befitting the farmer's attention. His mode of cultivating weld in particular is highly defective. On the subject of artificial