labour--without which record he will not be able to contribute, as
he may hereafter do, to the extension of agricultural knowledge--he
is taught next, in an able chapter "upon soils and sub-soils,"
to study the nature of his farm more thoroughly; to ascertain
its natural capabilities--the improvements of which it is
susceptible--the simplest, most efficacious, and most economical
means by which this improvement may be effected--and the kind of
implements which it will be most prudent in him to purchase for
tilling the kind of land of which his farm consists, or for bringing
it into a more fertile condition. This chapter also draws largely,
especially upon geological and chemical science, and affords another
illustration of what, I trust, Mr. Stephens's book will more and
more impress upon our working farmers, that _skilful practice is
applied science_. We have not room for any extracts, but when we
mention that in the chemical part of it the author has been assisted
by Dr. Madden, readers of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_
will be able to form an estimate of the way in which this chapter
has been got up.

Having now satisfied himself of the nature of his farm as to soil
and capabilities, he sees that new enclosures and shelter will be
necessary--that some fields must be subdivided, others laid out
anew--that old hedge-rows must be rooted out or straightened, and
new ones planted in their room. Of what all this may be made to
accomplish for his farm, and of how the work itself may be done,
even to the minutest details, the chapters on "enclosures and shelter,"
and on "planting of farm hedges," will fully inform him. The
benefits of shelter on our elevated lands, are not half understood.
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lying in comparative barrenness,
which, by adequate shelter, might be converted into productive fields.