no other Reporter to the Board of Agriculture, I believe, can arrogate. He is, legitimately (to use the fashionable slang of the day) an agricultural Writer; being the Son of the celebrated "ARTHUR YOUNG." Had the younger Young been initiated in the practice of the sovereign art, on which he has been induced to write, while his mind was sensible to practical impressions; instead of being, reluctantly perhaps, led into the labyrinth of imagination, by the study of "dead tongues,"-the bane of active life and practical knowledge, he might, by a Survey and Report of the Agriculture of Sussex, "have done the State some service." The mistake, however, lies with the choice; not with the chosen ;-who appears to have performed his task to the extent of his education; and better, be it put, than an unpractised "man of letters" could well have been supposed to be able to accomplish. Regarding the MODE of SURVEY that was pursued by this Reporter, we have no direct information. The materials would seem, from what appears in the work at large, to have been collected during repeated visits, at the residencies of some men of rank and fortune, who have paid much attention, as amateurs of the first class, to practical agriculture; and the general improvement of rural affairs. I mention, particularly, the EARLS of EGremont and SHEFFIELD.-Some professional occupiers, of ability, have likewise contributed their share of information. And, beside the materials thus collected by the Reporter, many notes, some of them of length, which were written, or supposed to have been written, on the broad margins of the original Report,-are inserted ;-with replies to some of them. Touching the composition of the Work before me, it is such as might have been looked for, from a man, writing on a practical subject, without previously possessing some length of experience and consideration, concerning it. A want of due discrimination, regarding the subjects proper for particular notice and explanation, is evident throughout:-points that are obvious to practical men, and subjects worn bare in closet husbandry, and, now, But when the octavo edition, which is now before me, was printed and published does not, in any part of it appear. Certainly not in 1813! What is of more consideration, the time when the additional materials were collected is not declared. The latest date which incidentally appears, in the body of the Work, is 1799. (See the article Grass Land, ensuing.) But that does not fix the time of publication.-For see the article Societies, ensuing. now, require not the labor of discussion,-are dwelt upon while matters of importance, to practitioners as well as students, are viewed askance, or passed by unnoticed. Even the language of the learned divine is not always sufficiently intelligible; frequently diffuse and loose in its construction; and, be it whispered, is seldom decently dressed. In very truth, a more "slovenly" written book I have rarely read: not even in toiling through the learned and unlearned Reports to the Board of Agriculture. A want of appropriate arrangement of ideas, and of clearness, ease, and simplicity of expression, is observable in every part of the body of the work --one instance excepted. The Appendir, and a few of the Notes, are exemplarily written are such as a practical man may understand, at sight. The number of pages four hundred and eightyone. And a base daubing of the "soil of Sussex." SUBJECT THE FIRST. NATURAL ECONOMY. EXTENT XTENT.-P. 1. "It contains, according to the mensuration in Templeman's Tables, 1416 square miles, and 1,140,000 acres." SURFACE. See Soils, ensuing. CLIMATURE.-P. 2. "The climate in the western part of the maritime district is very warm, and highly favourable to the powers of vegetation. But upon the bleak situation of the South Downs hills, exposed to the southwest, the winds have been known to strip the thatch off corn-stacks, and the covering from all thatched buildings; and it has sometimes happened, that farmers have suffered considerable losses by the violence of these westerly gales in harvest, blowing the standing corn out of the ear, and doing other damage." P. 3. "The consequence of this has been, that the greatest part of the buildings in the district are situated in hollow protected situations, in order to shelter them from these distressing consequences." P. 89. "The wheat-harvest commences, in forward seasons, about the latter end of July; in late seasons, about ten days or a fortnight after." WATERS. WATERS.-P. 15. "The chief rivers are, the Ouse, the Adur, and the Arun; they rise in the northern parts of the county, and after dividing the chalk-hills into four or five parts, empty themselves into the Channel; the first at Newhaven, the second near Shoreham, and the third at Little Hampton. Although comparatively small, they render the greatest benefit to the county at large, by furnishing points of connexion for the canals already finished, or in agitation." SOILS.-Chalk Hills.-P. 5. "The soil of the South Downs varies according to its situation. On the summit is usually found (more especially in the eastern parts) a very fleet earth; the substratum chalk, and over that a surface of chalk rubble, covered with a light stratum of vegetable calcareous mould. Sometimes along the summit of the Downs there is merely a covering of flints, upon which the turf spontaneously grows. Advancing down the hills, the soil becomes of a deeper staple, and at the bottom is every where a surface of very good depth for ploughing. Here the loam is excellent, nine or ten inches in depth, and the chalk hardish and broken, and mixed with loam in the interstices, to the depth of some feet, which must make it admirable land for sainfoin. "West of the river Arun, the soil above the chalk is very gravelly, intermixed with large flints. Between the rivers Adur and Ouse, a substratum of reddish sand is discovered; the usual depth of the soil above the chalk, varies in almost every acre of land, from one inch to a foot. The general average between Eastbourne and Shoreham, does not exceed five inches. West of Shoreham the staple is deeper, and between Arundel and Hampshire the soil is deeper still." P. 6. At the northern extremity of these chalk hills, and usually extending the same length as the Downs, is a slip of very rich and stiff arable land, but of very inconsiderable breadth: it runs for some distance into the vale, before it meets the clay. The soil of this narrow slip is an excessively stiff calcareous loam on a clay bottom: it adheres so much to the share, and is so very difficult to plough, that it is not an unusual sight to observe ten or a dozen stout oxen, and sometimes more, at work upon it." This is the "maam" of Sussex-the "black land" of Surrey-the "coom" of Kent, &c.; and is probably an adjunct-the base-of every chalk hill in the island. Soils of the Sea-coast of Sussex. (See p. 453, aforegoing.)-P. 6. "South of these hills is an extensive arable vale of singular fertility. This maritime district, extend now, require not the labor of discussion,-are dwelt upon while matters of importance, to practitioners as well as students, are viewed askance, or passed by unnoticed. Even the language of the learned divine is not always sufficiently intelligible; frequently diffuse and loose in its construction; and, be it whispered, is seldom decently dressed. In very truth, a more "slovenly" written book I have rarely read: not even in toiling through the learned and unlearned Reports to the Board of Agriculture. A want of appropriate arrangement of ideas, and of clearness, ease, and simplicity of expression, is observable in every part of the body of the work --one instance excepted. The Appendir, and a few of the Notes, are exemplarily written are such as a practical man may understand, at sight. The number of pages four hundred and eightyone. And a base daubing of the "soil of Sussex." SUBJECT THE FIRST. NATURAL ECONOMY. EXTENT.-P. XTENT.-P. 1. "It contains, according to the mensuration in Templeman's Tables, 1416 square miles, and 1,140,000 acres.' SURFACE.-See Soils, ensuing. CLIMATURE.-P. 2. "The climate in the western part of the maritime district is very warm, and highly favourable to the powers of vegetation. But upon the bleak situation of the South Downs hills, exposed to the southwest, the winds have been known to strip the thatch off corn-stacks, and the covering from all thatched buildings; and it has sometimes happened, that farmers have suffered considerable losses by the violence of these westerly gales in harvest, blowing the standing corn out of the ear, and doing other damage." P. 3. "The consequence of this has been, that the greatest part of the buildings in the district are situated in hollow protected situations, in order to shelter them from these distressing consequences." P. 89. "The wheat-harvest commences, in forward seasons, about the latter end of July; in late seasons, about ten days or a fortnight after." WATERS. WATERS.-P. 15. "The chief rivers are, the Ouse, the Adur, and the Arun; they rise in the northern parts of the county, and after dividing the chalk-hills into four or five parts, empty themselves into the Channel; the first at Newhaven, the second near Shoreham, and the third at Little Hampton. Although comparatively small, they render the greatest benefit to the county at large, by furnishing points of connexion for the canals already finished, or in agitation." SOILS.-Chalk Hills.-P. 5. "The soil of the South Downs varies according to its situation. On the summit is usually found (more especially in the eastern parts) a very fleet earth; the substratum chalk, and over that a surface of chalk rubble, covered with a light stratum of vegetable calcareous mould. Sometimes along the summit of the Downs there is merely a covering of flints, upon which the turf spontaneously grows. Advancing down the hills, the soil becomes of a deeper staple, and at the bottom is every where a surface of very good depth for ploughing. Here the loam is excellent, nine or ten inches in depth, and the chalk hardish and broken, and mixed with loam in the interstices, to the depth of some feet, which must make it admirable land for sainfoin. "West of the river Arun, the soil above the chalk is very gravelly, intermixed with large flints. Between the rivers Adur and Ouse, a substratum of reddish sand is discovered; the usual depth of the soil above the chalk, varies in almost every acre of land, from one inch to a foot. The general average between Eastbourne and Shoreham, does not exceed five inches. West of Shoreham the staple is deeper, and between Arundel and Hampshire the soil is deeper still." P. 6. At the northern extremity of these chalk hills, and usually extending the same length as the Downs, is a slip of very rich and stiff arable land, but of very inconsiderable breadth: it runs for some distance into the vale, before it meets the clay. The soil of this narrow slip is an excessively stiff calcareous loam on a clay bottom: it adheres so much to the share, and is so very difficult to plough, that it is not an unusual sight to observe ten or a dozen stout oxen, and sometimes more, at work upon it." This is the "maam" of Sussex-the "black land" of Surrey-the "coom" of Kent, &c.; and is probably an adjunct-the base-of every chalk hill in the island. Soils of the Sea-coast of Sussex. (See p. 453, aforegoing.)-P. 6. "South of these hills is an extensive arable vale of singular fertility. This maritime district, extend |