Fea ay FA Coe Vil

imaginary fubftance, endowed with as imaginary quali- ties, modelled by his fancy, fo as exactly to fuit the hy- pothefis he had aflumed, gave it the name of /alt, oit, acid, or any other that. chanced firft to occur to his memory,—and then employed it on all occafions to ex- plain every difficulty that might occur with regard to the

Theory or Practice of Agriculture.

And as they for the moft part argued with a degree of confidence exactly proportioned to their own ignorance, he found that the influence of thefe dogmatic Theorifts had extended fo far as to pervert the minds of practical farmers to fuch a degree, as to render them in many cafes incapable of drawing impartial conclufions from the obfervations that their own experience afforded. Thus even practical: farmers were prevented from writ- ing intelligibly on almoft any fubject, they being con~ {tantly defirous of adapting facts to their own whimfical

and abfurd theories.

Tired, at length, with repeated fruitlefs endeavours to attain ufeful knowledge in this way, and difgufted with the nonfenfical jargon he was obliged to read,

a4 he;