INTRODUCTION. IN drawing up the following View of the Agriculture of the North Riding of the County of York, it has been my particular object to adhere as much as possible to facts; to avoid theory, or touching on disputable or doubtful opinions or experiments; to detail at length, and with as much perspicuity as possible, every circumstance of the Agriculture and Husbandry of the Riding, which was peculiar to it, if thought to be meritorious; and to pass over in silence, or slightly to notice, such circumstances as were common to other districts, and which had been fully detailed in Reports already published: attention to these, would only have swelled this Report, without adding to the utility of it. Several circumstances of a local nature, but which might in practice prove extensively useful, I have pointed out; and others may have escaped notice; but such as have occurred, are sufficient to vindicate the expence bestowed upon the Survey, and to shew the great benefit the Public will certainly derive from the extensive circulation of agricultural facts and knowledge, of which they may take advantage, when that arduous undertaking, a Survey of the Whole Kingdom, shall have been accomplished, and submitted in its corrected state to them. It will be sufficiently clear, from the great addition made to the Original Report, that I have received much assistance from many intelligent Gentlemen and Farmers, and that the intentions of the BOARD of AGRICULTURE, in circulating that Report, have been fulfilled, by that circulation having excited a very extensive attention to the subject in the district under survey. Much of the information received, has been incorporated with this Report; other matter, which could not well come in; which those who communicated it, wished to continue in the form of notes, or which did not perfectly accord with my sentiments, still remains as notes. It is here proper to remark, that free use has been made of the Rural Economy of Yorkshire, the Survey of my predecessor MARSHALL, but never without acknowledgment, by marking what has been taken from that work, as quotations. MARSHALL is a native of the district under survey, and having spent much of his life in it, is well acquainted with every local circumstance: these he has so fully and so perspicuously detailed, that it would prove a vain attempt in another to describe the same circumstances in other words; for they could not be rendered equally satisfactory to the public: his words words have, therefore, been made use of; and, it is hoped, in a way that may not prove injurious to his valuable publication. I cannot conclude, without expressing the pleasure I experience, in reflecting on the willing assistance I received from those on whom I called in the course of my Survey, and the ready communication with which they, and many others to whom I sent copies of the Original Report, were pleased to favour me, and further the views of the Honourable Board in whose service I was engaged they have left with me a lasting impres sion of gratitude and respect. Sensible as I am, of my own inability to do justice to the subject, I submit, with deference, this Survey to the candid judgment of the Board and the Public, trusting that they will receive with indulgence, this humble attempt at promoting the improvement and cultivation of the country; to which, should I have contributed in the smallest degree, or come up to the expectation of the Honourable Board, I shall feel much recompensed for the labour, the time, and the pains bestowed on the subject. JOHN TUKE. Lingcroft, near York, 2d Month, 1799. } CON |