Excerpt from Introduction to the Study of the Scientific Principles of Agriculture: Being the Inaugural Lecture, Delivered May 6, 1884, at the University Museum, Oxford The term Rural Economy, which gives the title to the Professorship to which I have been appointed, might be held to include such a variety of topics, that if I had no other guide in the selection of subjects to bring before you, I should be placed in a position of some difficulty. It would not be inappropriate to treat of the general management of landed property from the point of view of the Land-owner or the Land-agent of the practical details of farming, mechanical, economical, and commercial, such as are essential to be observed by the tenant or occupier, if his business is to be a profitable one or, lastly, attention might be confined to the elucidation of the scientific principles involved in successful practice, so far as the existing knowledge of the day permitted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.