Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/423

389&#93; AGR to tfiat proposed by the Rev. Mr. Close j an account of whose plan is inserted in the Qth vol. of the " Letters and Papers of the Bath and JVest of England Societt/." — By this praise- worthy institution, young men may, for a small premium, be qualified to undertake farms either on their own account, or to serve as bailiffs to landed proprietors ; for they will be instruded in the principles of Agriculture, especially those of the Drill-husbandry, and in all the necessary duties of a farm, relative to both rural and Economical affairs. 2. The impo- licy of continuing to grant ill-regu- lated leases, by which a certain, and generally erroneous, rotation of crops is enforced^ and 3. The burthen necessarily occasioned by the present system of IWies. Far- ther, extensive wastes or commons still remain to be cultivated j and the system of agricultural legisla- tion and police is so miserably defe6tive, that innumerable petty frauds and thefts are with impunity committed in the fields of indus- trious farmers ; because the trouble and expence of prosecuting depre- dators, are too great to be borne by persons who earn their bread by honest labour, and daily exertion. Such "shackles," Mr.MiDDiKxoS energetically observes, " cramp and paralyze every efix»rt which can be made towards the improve- ment of this science ; and, so long as the agriculture of this realm is compelled to endure them, any considerable improvement of the soil is utterly imprafticable." — For a more detailed account of these abuses, with appropriate remedies, we refer the reader to that Gentle- man's highly interesting " View of ■ the Agriculture of Middlesex" &c. k^yo. 17^8 5 and whichwas drawn up AIR [389 for the considerati(m of the Board of Agriculture. AIR. — In a late volume of the " Annates de Clmnie," we meet with a memoir by M. Deyeux, on the means of purifying infefti- ous air 3 and which is extracted from a work of M. Guyton de MoRVEAU, who made numerous experiments with different matters, in order to ascertain- those which were best calculated to prevent the diffusion of contagious atoms in the atmosphere. As, however, we cannot enter into an analysis of his experiments, we shall briefly state their results. According to these, common vinegar, possesses the pow- er of decomposing contagious par- ticles ; but it does not operate in a perceptible manner, unless the ia- feded substances be actually im- mersed in this acid, or be such as admit of being washed with large portions of it. — Radical vinegar, or the cce/icacic/, produces effedts suf- ficiently rapid and powerful ; but, on account of its high price, it can seldom be employed in consider- able quantities. — ^The nitric add is well calculated to destroy the pu- trid effluvia ; but, as it cannot without great difficulty be divested of nitrous gas, the a6tion of which is always prejudicial to the health of those who respire it, M. Mor- veau remarks, that the use of this remedy is still attended with great inconvenience. He is, therefore, of opinion, that the muriatic acrd affords very great advantages in dispelling contagion, by the un- common expansibility of its va- pours ; which thus penetrate every part of the substance on wiiich the operation may be performed. Ne- vertheless, he conceives the oxy' genated muriatic acid to be supe- rior to every other remedy, both C c 3 for