of the tenure, and the covenants contained in the lease; the capital to be invested by the farmer in its culture; and the expenses to which he is liable. 4791. The rent of poor land cannot possibly be the same as in the case of fertile lands. The labour of ploughing, harrowing, sowing, &c., when the land is in cultivation, is nearly the same, and yet the produce is greatly inferior, not only in quantity, but in quality. Indeed, where the produce is inconsiderable, or the quality much inferior, the whole, or nearly the whole, may be swallowed up by the expense of labour, and no rent whatever can be afforded, more especially in adverse seasons. 4792. The duration of the tenure must have a considerable effect in fixing the rent. No farmer can afford to pay the same sum for land on a short as if he held it on a long lease. The covenants, also, which are in fact a species of rent, must influence the money payments. 4793. Rent must also depend on the capital invested in the cultivation of the farm. Thus, if a farmer can lay out only 41. of capital per acre, he may not be able to afford for it a higher rent than 10s. per acre; if he lays out 77. he may pay 14s.; and with a capital of 107. per acre, he may be enabled to pay 18s. or 20s. of rent. 4794. The proportion of produce which should be paid as rent, is a question that has long been considered as abstruse, mysterious, and very difficult to resolve. Some have supposed that one fifth was a reasonable proportion, while others contend for a fourth, or even a third part of the produce of arable land. But all former calculations on this subject are rendered fallacious by the effects of modern improvements. The rent ought certainly to depend upon the amount of the disposable produce; and that produce in grain is greatly augmented, both by a diminution of the consumption on the farm, effected by improved implements, and a more correct arrangement of labour, and likewise a better culti vation of the land in tillage. Hence, while the price of wheat has greatly advanced during the last twenty years, above the average price of the preceding twenty, the rent of land has not only risen, but in a higher proportion. More grain, and that of a better quality, has been produced on the same extent of land, and a greater amount of disposable surplus has gone to market. Out of this surplus disposable produce, it is evident that the rent must be paid. But it is difficult to divide its amount between the landlord and tenant, as so much depends upon the seasons, and on the prices of the different articles which the farm produces. In bad seasons also, every deficiency of produce, in the acres set apart for supporting home population, must be made up from the disposable surplus; nor is it possible to apply the same rules to all situations, soils, and climates, in all the various districts of an extensive country. It may be proper, however, to give some general idea of the proportion of produce paid as rent in Scotland and in England. 4795. In Scotland, the following table states what is considered to be a fair proportion, where the land is cultivated. One of the most scientific agricultural writers, and, at the same time, one who has had much experience in farming, informs us that "this table is a statement of Sir John Sinclair, who wishes to subject every thing to petty regulation; and that there is no such proportion recognised in Scotland:" Per acre. Where land produces 107. 10s. per acre per annum, one third, or -£3 11 0 Where land produces 6. 12s. per acre per annum, one fourth, or 1 13 0 Where land produces only 47. 58. per acre per annum, one fifth, or - 0 17 0 4796. In regard to grazing farms, they are let on principles totally different from the arable; namely, according to the quantity of stock they can maintain; and as they are not liable to the same expense of management, both the landlord and the tenant receive larger shares of the produce than in the case of arable farms. 4797. In England, the tenant is allowed, on arable land, what is considered to be one moiety of the surplus, after defraying the expenses of cultivation, the taxes to which he is liable, and every other outgoing. Hay land requires much less of his attention; and for this he only obtains one third of the surplus. But the profits of grazing depending much on superior judgment in buying and selling stock, as well as skill in preventing or curing their diseases, the grazier is entitled to a share of the surplus, fully equal to that of his landlord. It has been contended, as a general principle, that as both the expense of cultivating land, and the value of its produce, are infinitely various, a farmer ought to calculate what profit he can make on his whole farm, without entering into details; it being of little consequence to him whether he pays at the rate of 107, or 10s. per acre, provided he makes an adequate interest on the capital invested. That is certainly a fair criterion on which a tenant may calculate what he ought to offer; but a landlord, in estimating the rent he ought to insist on, will necessarily take into his consideration the produce that his land is capable of yielding, and what proportion of it, or of its value, at a fair average, he has reason to expect, under all the circumstances of the case. 4798. Tithe. In Scotland there is no tithe. In England, compositions for tithes are computed as six is to twenty-two; so is the composition for tithe to the rent: so that land averaging 107. 10s. per acre would, according to Sir John Sinclair's calculation, be charged for £2 11 7 £3 11 0 4799. What the profits are to which a farmer is entitled, is a question much disputed. The proper answer is simply this: - The common profits of capital invested in other commercial undertakings. As the subject, however, will bear talking about, let us hear what is said in the Code on this subject. On the one hand it is contended, that the produce of land is of such universal and absolute necessity to the existence of mankind, that it is not reasonable it should yield to him who raises it more than a fair profit. On the other hand it is urged, that a farmer is entitled to be fully recompensed for the application of a considerable capital, exposed to the uncertainty of the seasons, when it is managed with economy, and conducted with industry and skill; and it has also been observed, that it is seldom more money is got by farming than an adequate interest for the capital invested. This is owing to competition, the articles produced being in numberless hands, who must bring them to market; and necessity, the goods of the farmer being in general of a perishable nature, on the sale of which he depends for the payments he has to make, and the subsistence of his family. To prove how moderate the profits of farming in general are, it appears from the most careful enquiries, that on arable farms they rarely exceed from ten to fifteen per cent. on the capital invested, which is little enough, considering that few employments are more subject to casualties than farming, or require more uniform attention. Some arable farmers, possessed of supe. rior skill and energy, and who have got leases on reasonable terms, may clear from fifteen to twenty per cent.; while others, who are deficient in these qualities, or pay too high rents, frequently become insolvent. Certain it is, that the great majority of farmers merely contrive to live and bring up their families; adding little or nothing to their capital, but that nominal addition which takes place in conse quence of the depreciation of the currency. 4800. In grazing farms the case is different; as they are attended with less expense of labour, and produce articles of a more luxurious description, for which a higher price will be given. Hence, in such farms, fifteen per cent, and upwards is not unusual. Besides, the grazier is more of a trader than the mere arable farmer; is frequently buying as well as selling stock; and sometimes makes money by judicious speculations, though occasionally, from a sudden fall of stock, his losses are considerable. The grazier who breeds superior stock, and thence incurs great expense, is certainly well entitled to more than common profit for his skill and attention. 4801. For the mode in which rent should be paid, and the terms of payment, we refer to the succeeding Book. SECT. XI. Taxes and other Burdens which affect the Farmer. 4802. Farmers are subjected to the payment of various taxes besides the rent paid to the landlord; some of them imposed for local purposes, and others for the general expenses of the state. The real amount of such burdens every careful tenant ought accurately to know before he bargains for his lease. They may be classed under the following heads: parochial, national, and miscellaneous. 4803. Parochial taxes are for the support of the clergyman, for the maintenance of the poor, and, in Scotland, for providing a parochial schoolmaster. The mode of supporting the clergy in England, by paying them a tenth part of the produce of the land in kind, is highly injurious to agriculture, and a bar to improvement. It is a great bar to improvement, because an improving farmer, one more enlightened or more spirited than his neighbours, would pay more tithe by means of his outlay and his exertions, but it is not certain that he would likewise receive more profit. The produce would be more, but the expense would be greater. Nothing can be more obnoxious than a law by which, when a person expends a large sum, either in reclaiming wastes, or augmenting the fertility of land already cultivated, he should be under the necessity of yielding up one tenth of its produce to a person who has been liable to no share of the expense, who has run none of the risk, and who has sustained none of the labour attending the improvement. A commutation of tithe, therefore, instead of its being exacted in kind, would be one of the greatest benefits that could be conferred on agriculture; and there is not the least difficulty in effect. ing it, by giving to the tithe-owner either a proportion of the land, or by converting the tithe into a perpetual corn rent. Both these plans have been adopted in a variety of cases, by local acts in England, and they ought now to be enforced as a general system. 4804. An assessment for the maintenance of the poor is another parochial burden, which is annually increasing, and which, if not speedily regulated upon proper principles, will inevitably absorb a very large proportion of rent in England. Indeed, there are instances where, between the years 1815 and 1822, it has absorbed the whole. This tax is the most dangerous of all for the farmer, on account of its fluctuation; and, indeed, it may be said that it never falls, but continually rises. During infancy, in sickness, and in old age, assistance may be necessary; but, as Malthus justly observes, the poor-laws hold out support to the vicious and idle, at the expense of the prudent and the industrious. These payments also destroy the spirit of independence, and those ideas of honest pride which stimulate a man to use his utmost exertions in support of himself and his family; and, on its present footing, the boon is administered by the parish officers with caution and reluctance, and received by the poor with dissatisfaction and ingratitude. 4805. The tithes and the poor-rates are charges upon the land, and in fact come from the landlord's pocket rather than from the tenant's; but in their operation are often oppressive to the tenant, by rising in the course of the lease much higher than they were at the commencement; and as a farmer's rent is always considered by the overseer to be his income, he is charged on that; while the tradesman, who realises three times the amount, is only charged to the poor on the amount of rent of his house. 4806 In Scotland, the poor are in general maintained by voluntary contributions; but when these are not found to be sufficient, the proprietors of the parish, with the clergyman and vestry, or kirk-session, are directed to make a list of the indigent persons in the parish, and then to impose an assessment for their relief, one half to be paid by the proprietors, and the other half by the tenantry. 4807. The national burdens in general, as the duties on houses and windows, and other assessed taxes, or assessments for the support of militia men's wives and families, for the conveyance of vagrants, or the prosecution of felons, fall no heavier upon the farmer than upon other classes of the community. 4808. There are various miscellaneous burdens affecting the farmer, as statute assessments for bridges, which are of such public utility, that moderate rates for their maintenance, properly applied, cannot be objected to: statute labour on the highways; constable dues, which are seldom of much moment; charges of the churchwardens, including the repairs of the church; and in some populous parishes, there is sometimes a burial-ground tax. All these are paid by the occupiers. In some places, also, there is a sewer tax, chargeable on the landlords, where it is not otherwise settled by express contract. 4809. The verations to which farmers in England are subjected, from various uncertain burdens, operate as a premium to Scottish agriculture. It is ingeniously and justly remarked, that physical circumstances are much more favourable to agriculture in England than in her sister country; but these advantages are counteracted by the accumulation of moral evils, which might be removed if the legislature were to bestow on matters connected with the internal improvement of the country, and the means for promoting it, a portion of that attention which it so frequently gives to the amelioration or improvement of our foreign possessions. It ought to have been the business of the late Board of Agriculture to endeavour to prevail on the legislature to relieve agriculture from its moral and political evils; but, instead of this, they set about procuring and distributing statistical and professional information, comparatively of very interior utility; and after receiving from government nearly 50,000, or, for any thing we know, more, left agricul ture where they found it. Even in the particular line which the Board adopted, Marshall was a much more effectual instrument of agricultural improvement. SECT. XII. Other Particulars requiring a Farmer's Attention, with a View to the Renting of Land. 4810. A variety of miscellaneous particulars require consideration before a prudent farmer will finally resolve to undertake the cultivation of a farm; as, the nature of the property on which the farm is situated; in particular, whether the estate is entailed, and to what extent the possessor of the estate is authorised to grant a lease; the character of the landlord, and, in case of his decease, that of his family, and of those whom they are likely to consult; the real condition of the farm in regard to the enclosures, drainage, buildings, &c.; the crops it has usually produced, and the manner in which it has been managed for some years preceding; the general state of the district, in regard to the price of labour, and the expense of living; the character of its inhabitants, in particular of the neighbouring farmers and labourers, and whether they are likely to promote or to discourage a spirit of improvement; the probability of subletting to advantage in case of not liking the situation, of finding a better bargain, or of death. The chances of settling one's family; as of marrying daughters, or of sons' making good marriages. The social tone of clergy, and lawyers; the game, and the chances of disputes concerning it; the morals of the serving class; schools, places of worship, &c. It is evident, that in hardly any one instance can all the circumstances above enumerated be favourably combined. But the active and intelligent farmer will not be discouraged by the obstacles he may have to surmount; but will strenuously endeavour, by exertion, industry, and perseverance, to overcome the difficulties he must unavoidably encounter. These are vague generalities, and may be thought too commonplace for a work of this description; but the young farmer on the look-out for a farm may not be the worse for having his memory refreshed by them. CHAP. II. Considerations respecting Himself, which a Farmer ought to keep in view in selecting and hiring a Farm. 4811. Whoever intends to embrace farming as a profession, will be less likely to meet with disappointment, if he previously examines a little into his own disposition and talents; and weighs his expectations against ordinary results. Nor is it less essential that he should estimate justly the extent to which his capital may be adequate, and keep regular accounts. SECT. I. Personal Character and Expectations of a professional Farmer. 4812. Every one who proposes to farm with success, Professor Thaer observes, ought to unite energy and activity, to reflection, to experience, and to all necessary knowledge. It is true, he says, farming has long been considered as an occupation fit for a young man incapable for any other, and such have sometimes succeeded; but this has always been chiefly owing to a fortunate concurrence of circumstances, which it is not now very easy to meet with. 4813. The practice of agriculture consists of an infinite number of particular operations, each of which appears easy in itself, but is often for that very reason the more difficult to execute to the precise extent required; one operation so often interferes with another. To regulate them according to the given time and strength, and in such a way that none is neglected, or causes the neglect of others, requires at once a great deal of attention and activity, without inquietude; of promptitude without precipitation; of general views, and yet with an extreme attention to details. 4814. To casualties and accidents no business is so much exposed as farming; and therefore, to enjoy an ordinary degree of happiness, Professor Thaer considers it essential that the farmer possess a certain tranquillity of mind. This, he says, may either be the result of a naturally phlegmatic habit of body, or of elevated views in religion or philosophy. These will enable him to bear with every misfortune arising from adverse seasons, or the death of live stock; and only permit him to regret accidents which result from his own neglect. 4815. The expectations of profit and happiness which a young farmer has formed ought to be well weighed against the profits and happiness of farmers in general. However superior a farmer may consider his own talents and abilities, he may rest assured there are a number as skilful and adroit as himself, and just as likely to realise extraordinary advantages. Let none therefore engage in farming, thinking to make more money than other farmers similarly circumstanced with himself. If from a happy concurrence of circumstances he is more than usually successful, so much the better, and let him consider it as partly owing to good fortune as well as good farming; but never let him set out on the supposition of gaining extraordinary advantages with only ordinary means. 4816. The profits of farming are much exaggerated by people in general; but it may be asserted as an unquestionable fact, that no capital affords less profit than that employed in farming, except that sunk in landed property. This is the natural result both of the universality of the business and of its nature. Farming is every where practised, and every one thinks he may easily become a farmer; hence high rents, which necessarily lessen the profits on capital. From the nature of farming, the capital employed is re. turned seldom. A tradesman may lay out and return his capital several times a year; but a farmer can never, generally speaking, grow more than one crop per annum. Suppose he succeeds in raising the best possible crops in his given circumstances, still his profits have an absolute limit: for if an ordinary crop be as five, and the best that can be grown be as seven, all that the most fortunate concurrence of circum. stances will give is not great, and is easily foreseen. It is hardly possible for a farmer, paying the market price for his land, to make much more than a living for himself and family. Those few who have exceeded this, will be found to have had leases at low rents; indulgent landlords; to have profited by accidental rises in the market, or depreciation of currency; or to have become dealers in corn and cattle; and rarely indeed to have realised any thing considerable by mere good culture of a farm at the market price. Very different is the case of a tradesman, who, with the properties which we have mentioned as requisite for a good farmer, seldom fails of realising an independency. 4517. Many persons, chagrined with a city life, or tired of their profession, fancy they will find profit and happiness by retiring to the country and commencing farming. Independently of the pecuniary losses attending such a change, none is more certain of being attended with disappointment to the generality of men. The activity required, and the privations that must be endured, are too painful to be submitted to; whilst the dull uniformity of a farmer's life to one accustomed to the bustle of cities, be comes intolerable to such as do not find resources in their fire-sides, their own minds, or, as Professor Thaer observes, in the study of nature. 4818. The most likely persons to engage in farming with success are the sons of farmers, or such others as have been regularly brought up to the practice of every part of agriculture. They must also have an inclination for the profession, as well as a competent understanding of its theory or principles. Books are to be found every where, from which the science of the art is to be obtained; and there are eminent farmers in the improved districts who take apprentices as pupils. 4819. In The Husbandry of Scotland, the case is mentioned of Walker, of Mellendean, an emineut farmer of Roxburghshire, renting about 2866 acres of arable land, and distinguished for his skill in agriculture, who takes young men under him as apprentices, and these, instead of receiving wages, have uniformly paid him ten pounds each. Some of them remain with him two years, but the greater number only one. They cat in his kitchen, where they have always plenty of plain wholesome food. He takes none who are above living in that way, or who will not put their hands to every thing going forward on the farm. He has sometimes been offered ten times the above sum, to take in young gentlemen to eat and associate with his own family; but that he has uniformly declined. These young men have an opportunity of attending to every operation of husbandry, as practised on Walker's farm; and are taught to hold the plough, to sow, to build stacks, &c. SECT. II. Capital required by the Farmer. 4820. The importance of capital in every branch of industry is universally acknowledged, and in none is it more requisite than in farming. When there is any deficiency in that important particular, the farmer cannot derive an adequate profit from his exertions, as he would necessarily be frequently obliged to dispose of his crops for less than their value, to procure ready money; and it would restrain him from making advantageous purchases, when even the most favourable opportunities occurred. An industrious, frugal, and intelligent farmer, who is punctual in his payments, and hence in good credit, will strive with many difficulties, and get on with less money than a man of a different character. But if he has not sufficient live stock to work his lands in the best manner, as well as to raise a sufficient quantity of manure; nor money to purchase the articles required for the farm; he must, under ordinary circumstances, live in a state of penury and hard labour; and the first unfavourable season, or other incidental misfortune, will probably sink him under the weight of his accumulated burdens. Farmers are too generally disposed to engage in larger farms than they have capital to stock and cultivate. This is a great error; for it makes many a person poor upon a large farm, who might live in comfort and acquire property upon one of less extent. No tenant can be secure without a surplus at command, not only for defraying the common expenses of labour, but those which may happen from any unexpected circumstance. When a farmer farms within his capital, he is enabled to embrace every favourable opportunity of buying when prices are low, and of selling when they are high. 4821. The amount of capital required must depend upon a variety of circumstances; as whether it is necessary for the farmer to expend any sum in the erection, or in the repair, of his farm-house and offices; what sum an in-coming tenant has to pay to his predecessor, for the straw of the crop, the dung left upon the farm, and other articles of similar nature; the condition of the farm at the commencement of the lease, and whether any sums must be laid out in drainage, enclosure, irrigation, levelling ridges, &c.; whether it is necessary to purchase lime, or other extraneous manures, and to what extent; on the period of entry, and the time at which the rent becomes payable, as this is sometimes exacted before there is any return from the lands, out of the actual produce of which it ought to be paid; and, lastly, on its being a grazing or an arable farm, or a mixture of both. 4822. In pasture districts, the common mode of estimating the amount of capital necessary is according to the amount of the rent; and it is calculated that, in ordinary pastures, every farmer ought to have at his command from three to five times the rent he has agreed to pay. But in the more fertile grazing districts, carrying stock worth from 20 to 301 and even upwards, per acre (as is the case in many parts of England), five rents are evidently insufficient. When prices are high, ten rents will frequently be required by those who breed superior stock, and enter with spirit into that new field of speculation and enterprise. 4823. The capital required by an arable farmer varies, according to circumstances, from 51. to 10%, or even 151. per acre. An ignorant, timid, and penurious farmer lays out the least sum he can possibly contrive; and consequently he obtains the smallest produce or profit from his farm. The profit, however, will always increase, when accompanied by spirit and industry, in proportion to the capital employed, if judiciously expended. At the same time, attention and economy cannot be dispensed with. It is ill-judged to purchase a horse at forty guineas, if one worth thirty can execute the labour of the farm; or to lay out sums unnecessarily upon expensive harness, loaded with useless ornaments. Prudent farmers also, who have not a large capital at command, when they commence business, often purchase some horses still fit for labour, though past their prime, and some breeding mares, or colts; and in five or six years, they are fully supplied with good stock, and can sometimes sell their old horses without much loss. In every case, such shifts must be resorted to, where there is any deficiency of capital. 4824. A mixture of arable and grass farming is, on the whole, the most profitable method of farming. Independently of the advantages to be derived from the alternate husbandry (which are always consi derable), the chances of profit are much more numerous from a varied system than where one object is exclusively followed. Where this mixed mode of farming is practised, the farmer will frequently rely on the purchase of lean stock, instead of breeding his own; and derives great advantage from the quickness with which capital thus employed is returned. But, in that case, much must depend upon judicious selection. In general it may be said, that to stock a turnip-land arable farm, will require, at this time (1830), 51. or 62. and a clay-land farm from 77. or 81. per acre, according to circumstances. 4825. This capital is necessarily divided into two parts. The one is partly expended on implements, or stock of a more or less perishable nature, and partly vested in the soil; for this the farmer is entitled to a certain annual gain, adequate to replace, within a given number of years, the sum thus laid out. The other is employed in defraying the charges of labour, &c. as they occur throughout the year; the whole of which, with the interest, should be replaced by the yearly produce. These two branches of expense on a farm are the first to be attended to, both in order of time, and in magnitude of amount. CHAP. III. Choice of Stock for a Farm. 4826. The stocking of a farm may be considered as including live stock, implements, servants, and seed. A considerable portion of a farmer's capital is employed in manures, tillages, labour, &c. ; but a farm being once engaged, the above are the only descriptions of stock which admit of a choice. 4827. The animals required by a farmer are of two kinds; such as are employed to assist in labour; and such as are used to convert the produce of the farm into food, or other disposable commodities. ox. SUBSECT. 1. Live Stock for the Purposes of Labour. 4828. The animals of labour used in British farming are exclusively the horse and the Much difference of opinion formerly prevailed, as to which of these two animals should be preferred; and the preference has generally been given by speculative writers to the ox, and by practical farmers to the horse. Lord Kaimes in the last century, and Lord Somerville in the present, may be considered the principal advocates for the ox. To their arguments, and to all others, the following objections have been stated by the able author of the supplement to the 6th edition of The Gentleman Farmer; and they may be considered as conveying the sentiments, and according with the practice, of all the best informed and most extensive British farmers. 4829. The first objection to ozen is, that they are unfit for the various labours of modern husbandry,for travelling on hard roads in particular, for all distant carriages, and generally for every kind of work which requires despatch: and what sort of work often does not in this variable climate? A great part of a farmer's work is indeed carried on at home; and it may still be thought that this may be done by oxen, while one or more horse teams are employed in carrying the produce to market, and bringing home manure and fuel. But it is unnecessary to appeal to the author of The Wealth of Nations, to prove the impracticability of this division of labour, unless upon very large farms; and even on these the advantages of such an arrangement are at best extremely problematical. The different kinds of farmwork do not proceed at the same time; but every season, and even every change of weather, demands the farmer's attention to some particular employment, rather than to others. When his teams are capable of performing every sort of work, he brings them all to bear for a time upon the most important labours of every season; and when that is despatched, or interrupted by unfavourable weather, the less urgent branches are speedily executed by the same means. This is one cause, more important perhaps than any other, why oxen have ceased to be employed; for even ploughing, which they can perform better than any other kind of work, is scarcely ever going forward all the year; and for some months in winter, the weather often prevents it altogether. 4830. Another objection is, that an ox team capable of performing the work of two horses, even such kind of work as they can perform, consumes the produce of considerably more land than the horses. If this be the case, it is of no great importance, either to the farmer or the community, whether the land be under oats, or under herbage and roots. The only circumstance to be attended to here is, the carcase of the ox: the value of this, in stating the consumption of produce, must be added to the value of his labour. He consumes, from his birth till he goes to the shambles, the produce of a certain number of acres of land; the return he makes for this is so much beef, and so many years' labour. The consumption of produce must therefore be divided between these two articles. To find the share that should be allotted to each, the first thing is to ascertain how many acres of grass and roots would produce the same weight of beef from an ox, bred and reared for beef alone, and slaughtered at three or four years old. What remains has been consumed in producing labour. The next thing is to compare this consumption with that of the horse, which produces nothing but labour. By this simple test, the question, viewing it upon a broad national ground, must evidently be determined. Every one may easily make such a calculation suited to the circumstances of his farm'; none that could be offered would apply to every situation. it will be found, that if even three oxen were able to do the work of two horses, the advantages in this point of view would still be on the side of the horses; and the first objection applies with undiminished force besides. But 4831. The money-price of the horse and or, it is evident, is merely a temporary and incidental circumstance, which depends upon the demand. A work ox may be got for less than half the price of a horse, because there is little or no demand for working oxen; while the demand for horses by manufactures, commerce, pleasure, and war, enhances the price of farm-horses, as well as of the food they consume. Those who wish to see horses banished from all sorts of agricultural labour, would do well to consider where they are to be reared for the numerous wants of the other classes of society. Besides, if two oxen must be kept for doing the work of one horse, it ought to be foreseen, that though beef may be more abundant than at present, there will be a corresponding deficiency in the production of mutton and wool. A greater portion of the arable land of the country must be withdrawn from yielding the food of man directly, and kept under cattle crops, which, however necessary to a certain extent for preserving the fertility of the soil, do not return human food, on a comparison with corn crops, in so great a proportion as that of one to six from any given extent of land of the same quality. 4832. The demand for oxen is confined almost every where to the shambles; and by the improvements of modern husbandry, they are brought to a state of profitable maturity at an early age. No difference in price at setting to work, -- no increase of weight while working, -no saving on the value of the food consumed, can ever make it the interest of tillage farmers generally to keep oxen as formerly, till they are eight or ten years old. They judiciously obtain the two products from different kinds of animals, each of them from the kind which is best fitted by nature to afford it, the labour from the horse, and the beef alone from the ox. And though the price of the horse is almost wholly sunk at last, during the period of his labour he has been paying a part of it every year to a fund, which, before his usual term expires, becomes sufficiently large to indemnify his owner. The ox, on the other hand, is changed three or four times during the same |