appeared to me that there was an attempt to crowd too much instruction into too short a compass, for many of the pupils spend but one year in the institution, and thus only the foundation, and that a very slight one, can be laid in so short a space of time. It is however to be presumed, that the young men come here prepared with considerable previous knowledge, as they are mostly between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, and some few appeared to be still older."* Although the pupils are kept at Hofwyl for nine years, and are fined if they leave it sooner, it is obvious that the higher class of them bestow but little attention on farming, and most on classical literature. And the particulars given in the elaborate programme of the school of agriculture at Grignon, clearly evince that attention to minute discipline, such as marking down results, and to what are termed principles, which just mean vague theorizings, form a more important feature of tuition than the practice of husbandry. The working pupils may acquire some knowledge of practice by dint of participating in work, but the other class can derive very little benefit from all the practice they see. 7. OF THE EVILS ATTENDANT ON LANDOWNERS NEGLECTING TO LEARN PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. There would be no want of pupils of the highest class for institutions such as I have recommended for promoting agricultural education, did landed proprietors study their true interests, and learn practical agriculture. Besides the usual succession of young farmers to fill the places of those who retire, and these of themselves would afford the largest proportion of the pupils, were every son of a landowner, who has the most distant prospect of being a landed proprietor himself, to become an agricultural pupil, in order to qualify himself to fulfil all the onerous duties of his station, when required to occupy that important position in the country, that class of pupils would not only be raised in respectability, but the character of landed proprietors, as agriculturists, would also be much elevated. The expectant landlord should therefore Jacob's Travels in Germany, &c. p. 185. undergo that tuition, though he may intend to follow, or may have already followed, any other profession. The camp and the bar seem to be the especial favourite arenas upon which the young scions of the gentry are desirous of displaying their first acquirements. These professions are highly honourable, none more so, and they are, no doubt, conducive to the formation of the character of the gentleman; but, after all, are seldom followed out by the young squire. The moment he attains rank above a subaltern, or dons his gown and wig, he quits the public service, and assumes the functions of an incipient country gentleman. In the country he becomes at first enamoured of field sports, and the social qualities of sportsmen. Should these prove too rough for his taste, he travels abroad peradventure in search of sights, or to penetrate more deeply into the human breast. Now, all the while he is pursuing this course of life, quite unexceptionable in itself, he is neglecting a most important part of his duty, that of learning to become a good landlord. On the other hand, though he devote himself to the profession of arms or the law, either of which may confer distinction on its votaries; yet if either be preferred by him to agriculture, he is doing much to unfit himself from being an influential landlord. To become a soldier or a lawyer, he willingly undergoes initiatory drillings and examinations; but, to become a landlord, he considers it quite unnecessary, to judge by his conduct, to undergo any initiatory tuition. That is a business, he conceives, that can be learned at any time, and seems to forget that it is his profession, and does not consider that it is one as difficult of thorough attainment as ordinary soldiership or legal lore. No doubt, the army is an excellent school for confirming, in the young, principles of honour and habits of discipline; and the bar for giving clear insight into the principles upon which the rights of property are based, and into the true theory of the relation betwixt landlord and tenant; but whilst these matters may be attained, a knowledge of agriculture, the weightiest matter to a landlord, should not be neglected. The laws of honour and discipline are now well understood, and no army is required to inculcate their acceptableness on good society. A knowledge of law, to be made applicable to the occurrences of a country life, must be matured by long experience; for, perhaps, no sort of knowledge is so apt to render landed proprietors litigious and uncompromising with their tenants, as a smattering of law. Instances have come under my own notice, of the injurious propensities which a slight acquaintance with law engenders in landed proprietors, as exhibited on their own estates, and at county and parochial meetings. No class of persons require Pope's admonition regarding the evil tendency of a "little learning" to be more strongly inculcated on them, than the young barrister who doffs his legal garments, to assume in ignorance the part of the country squire: "A little learning is a dangerous thing! Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; I do not assert that a knowledge of military tactics, or of law, is inconsistent with agriculture. On the contrary, a competent knowledge of either, and particularly of the latter, confers a value on the character of a country gentleman versant with agriculture; but what I do assert most strongly is, that the most intimate acquaintance with either, will never serve as a substitute for ignorance of agriculture in a country gentleman. One evil arising from studying those exciting professions before agriculture is, that, however short the time spent in acquiring them, it is sufficiently long to create a distaste to learning agriculture practically, for such a task can only be undertaken, after the turn of life, by enthusiastic minds. But as farming is necessarily the profession of the country gentleman, for all have a farm, it should be learned, theoretically and practically, before his education should be considered finished. If he so incline, he can afterwards enter the tented field, or exercise his forensic eloquence, when the tendency which I have noticed in these professions will be unable to efface the knowledge of agriculture previously acquired. This is the proper course for every young man destined to become a landed proprietor to pursue, and who wishes to be otherwise employed as long as he cannot exercise the functions of a landlord. Were this course always pursued, the numerous engaging ties which a country life never fails to form, rendered more interesting by a knowledge of agriculture, would tend to extinguish the kindling desire for any other profession. Such a result would be most desirable for the country; for only contemplate the effects of the course pursued at present by landowners. Does it not strike every one as an incongruity for a country gentleman to be unacquainted with country affairs? Is it not "passing strange" that he should require inducements to learn his hereditary profession,-to know a business which alone can enable him to maintain the value of his estate, and secure his income? Does it not infer a species of infatuation to neglect becoming well acquainted with the true relation he stands to his tenants, and by which, if he did, he might confer happiness on many families; but to violate which, he might entail lasting misery on many more? In this way the moral obligations of the country gentleman are too frequently neglected. And no wonder, for these cannot be perfectly understood, or practised aright, but by tuition in early life, or by very diligent and irksome study in maturer years. And no wonder that great professional mistakes are frequently committed by proprietors of land. Descending from generalities to particulars, it would be no easy task to describe all the evils attendant on the neglect of farming by landowners; for though some are obvious enough, others can only be morally discerned. 1. One of the most obvious of those evils is, when country gentlemen take a prominent share in discussions on public measures connected with agriculture, and which, from the position they occupy, they are frequently called upon to do, it may be remarked that their speeches are usually introduced with apologies for not having sufficiently attended to agricultural matters. The avowal is candid, but it is any thing but creditable to the position they hold in the agricultural commonwealth. When, moreover, it is their lot or ambition to be elected members of the legis lature, it is deplorable to find so many so little acquainted with the questions which bear directly or indirectly on agriculture. On these accounts, the tenantry are left to fight their own battles on public questions. Were landowners practically acquainted with agriculture, such painful avowals would be spared, as a familiar acquaintance with it enables the man of cultivated mind at once to perceive its practical bearing on most public questions. 2. A still greater evil consists in their consigning the management of valuable estates to the care of men as little acquainted as themselves with practical agriculture. A factor or agent, in such a condition, always affects much zeal for the interest of his employer; but it is "a zeal not according to knowledge." Fired by this zeal, and undirected as it most probably is by sound judgment, he soon discovers something at fault among the poorer tenants. The rent perhaps is somewhat in arrear,the strict terms of the lease have been deviated from,-things appear to him to be going down hill. These are fruitful topics of contention. Instead of being "kindly affectioned," and thereby willing to interpret the terms of the lease in a generous spirit, the factor hints that the rent must be better secured, through the means of another tenant. Explanation of circumstances affecting the condition of the farmer, over which he has perhaps no control,-the inapplicability, perhaps, of the peculiar covenants of the lease to the particular circumstances of the farm,-the lease having perhaps been drawn up by himself, or some one as ignorant as himself,—are excuses unavailingly offered to one who is confessedly unacquainted with country affairs, and the result ensues in interminable disputes betwixt him and the tenants. With these the landlord is unwilling to interfere, in order to preserve intact the authority of the fac tor; or, what is still worse, is unable to interfere, because of his own unacquaintance with the actual relations subsisting betwixt himself and his tenants, and, of course, the settlement is left with the originator of the disputes. Hence originate actions at law,-criminations and recriminations,-much alienation of feeling; and at length a settlement of matters, at best perhaps unimportant, is left to the arbitration of practical men ;—in making which submission, the factor acknowledges as much as he himself was unable to settle the dispute. The tenants are glad to submit to arbitration to save their money. In all such disputes, they, being the weaker parties, suffer most in purse and character. The landlord, who should have been the natural protector, is thus converted into the unconscious oppressor, of his tenants. This is confessedly an instance of a bad factor; but have such instances of oppression never occurred, and from the same cause, that of ignorance in both landlord and factor? A factor acquainted with practical agriculture would conduct himself very differently in the same circumstances. He would endeavour to prevent legitimate differences of opinion on points of management terminating into disputes, by skilful investigation and well-timed compromise. He studies to uphold the honour of both landlord and tenants. He can see whether the terms of the lease are strictly applicable to prevailing circumstances, and judging thereby, checks every improper deviation from appropriate covenants, whilst he makes ample allowance for unforeseen contingencies. He can discover whether the condition of the tenants is influenced more by their own doings, than by the nature of the farms they occupy. He regulates his conduct towards them accordingly; encouraging the industrious and skilful, admonishing the indolent, and amending the unfavourable circumstances of the farms. Such a man is highly respected, and his opinion and judgment are greatly confided in by the tenantry. Mutual kindliness of intercourse always subsists betwixt them. No landlord, whether himself acquainted or unacquainted with farming, but especially the latter, should confide the management of his estate to any other kind of factor. 3. Another obvious evil is one which affects the landed proprietor's own comfort and interest, and which is the selection of a steward or grieve for conducting the home-farm. In all cases it is necessary for a landowner to have a home-farm, and to have a steward to conduct it. But the steward of a squire acquainted and unacquainted with farming, is placed in very dissimilar circumstances. The steward of a squire acquainted with farming, enjoying good wages, and holding a respectable and responsible situation, must conduct himself as an honest and skilful manager, for he |