vi NTRODUCTIoN.

The Preſident ſtated to the Board, That he had requeſted the attendance of as many Members as poſſible, for the “¹purpoſe of ſubmitting to their conſideration what had oc- curred to him on the apprehended ſcarcity of grain: That “ from any information which either he or the Secretary of „the Board had been able to collect, it appeared, that though the crop had failed in ſome parts of the kingdom, or rather “¹did not yield what was expected from the very promiſing *appearance on the ground, yet that in other diſtricts it had “been nearly as abundant as ufual: That, on the whole, „there was no reafon to apprehend either famine or even * great ſcarcity; at the ſame time, as no ſurplus ſtock of grain „was likely to remain, precautions were neceſſary againſt "the riſk either of a late harveſt, or of any accident hap-

“pening to the crops now on thie ground: That the moſt

¹effectual remedy which had occurred to him Was, to encou-

¹rage, as much as poffible, an increaſed culture of potatoes, ¹which could be cultivated almoſt in any ground, and might „be planted where wheat could not be raiſed at all; or at „many rate was not likely to be ſown during the prefent ſea- “ſon: That if the next crop were deficient, potatoes would be a

*certain reſource as food for man; or if the crop were abun-

—.—