IT is not an Hundred and Thirty Years since the first Settlement of New-England, and much less than that since the greater Part hath been Planted.

When we consider the small Number of the first Setlers, and coming from an old Cultiva­ted Country, to thick Woods, rough unim­proved Lands; where all their former Expe­rience and Knowlege was now of very little Service to them: They were destitute of Beasts of Burthen or Carriage; Unskill'd in every part of Service to be done: It may be said, That in a sort, they began the World a New.

Their unacquaintedness with the Country, led them to make choice of the worst Land for their Improvement, and the most expensive and chargeable Methods of Cultivation: They thôt themselves obliged to stubb all Staddle, and cut down or lop all great Trees; in which they expended much Cost and Time, to the [Page 2] prejudice of the Crop and impoverishing the Land.

When we consider these things, the Progress that hath been made in so short a Time is very wonderful.

There hath been great Improvements in Husbandry far and wide; besides various Trades and Manufactures, which are Yearly increasing.

Particularly,

1. There are considerable Advances made in the Linen and Woolen Trades. There are many alive at this Day, who remember since the Linen was Coarse, and what we call Tow Cloth; the other Cloth for outer Garments, Linsy-Woolsy; and for some time was worn without Fulling or any kind of Dressing: Af­ter they began to Full Cloth, for a time they used neither Tentering or Pressing; they only stretched and wound the Cloth hard upon a smooth log of Wood.

2. We have Improved in the Iron-mongers Trade. In the early Times of the Country, the most of the Iron made and in use, was Taunton Iron, made of Bog Oar, and so coarse and brittle as to break in the working, and when it was wrought, to the loss and vexation of the Smith and the Farmer.

This Metal, such as it was, was all the Iron then in use among us, except a little Spanish & [Page 3] Sweeds Iron for some special Uses; so that it is wonderful to think how that Generation did to Subsist.

After a while Bog Oar of a better sort and of a more kindly nature & temper was found, after that Mountain Oar was discovered, which being melted & refined makes excellent Iron.

We have further Improved upon it by con­verting it into Steel; which was entred upon without previous Skill, and wrought and beat out by frequent Experiments and by continued Practice.

3. We have also Increased in our Stocks of Cattel, and Improved our Breed of Horses. For some time after the Country was Setled, they had no Cattel at all; when some were brought over, what with the bad Hay they provided, it being cut upon Bog Meadow, the multitude of Wolves and other Beasts of Prey, for sundry Years they were kept so low and had so few Cattel, that the common Price for a grown Bullock was Twenty Pounds Ster­ling, which is Equal to Two Hundred Pounds Old Tenor.

I remember when I was a Boy, I heard a very ancient Woman of good Credit say, That she had seen Twenty broad Pieces paid down for a Two Year old Heifer, which is now Equal to Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds Old Tenor.

[Page 4]Although the Progress we have made be very Considerable, our Country yet needs and is capable of greater Improvement in the management of our Lands; of which I design to consider in several Sorts.

1. Those Coves and Swamps that are ad­joining to Salt Marsh, which ly so flat and low that they cannot be Dreined: I have seen sundry such places upon the Sea Coast. I have such a piece of Ground, which I am obliged to Fence in, in order to inclose some other Land; which put me upon thought of trying to make something of it, it being now wholly unprofitable.

Last Fall I began upon it and drew a Ditch of four Foot wide from a large Salt Creek, and carried it up in the middle of the Cove seventy Rods, in order to turn it into Salt Meadow, that being the best that I could do with it: It so far answers the design, that the Tide flows regularly into it, to the upper end of it; the Tide now flowing, where I suppose it never reach'd before. There must be smal­ler Ditches on each Side, to cut off the Fresh Springs, and small Grips cut from the great Ditch in sundry places, that so the Salt Water may be spread and communicated to all parts of it.

The lower part next the Salt Marsh is Rushes, the next are Reeds, then large Brakes [Page 5] and Bushes, and last of all a thick Swamp. If this Land can be converted into Salt Meadow, it will be much cheaper than to Purchase so much Salt Marsh, and will lie very convenient to my other Land.

Salt Water will effectually kill Trees and Bushes where it comes, both Root and Branch.

2. The second sort of Land that I shall con­sider, is, the low sunken Lands, which have no Communication with Salt Marsh: Of this sort there are three Kinds, viz. Thick Swamps, Boggy Meadow, and smooth, even, shaking Meadow; this last sort is called Cramberry Marsh: He that would do any thing to Effect with either of these Sorts, must in the first place see whe­ther there be deep Mire; if it be shallow and soon come to hard Sand, Clay or Gravel, it will be not worth while to expend Cost upon it.

Again, You must examine what Fall there is. If the Fall be apparent to the Eye, and this for ten or fifteen Rods, you may be satis­fied; if you are uncertain, try it with a water Level or spirit Level: If your Marsh be small, the Drein long, rocky and likely to be charge­able, it may be best to let it alone; but if it be a large Swamp or Meadow, althô the main Drein should be a considerable Charge, that should be no discouragement.

[Page 6]That low Ground which is thick with Wood and Brush, will be the most Chargeable; the Bog Meadow the next in Charge, because the Bogs must be cut up with a Bog Plough or with the Hoe; either way is Chargeable: The shaking Meadow has the best Surface, and is easiest to bring to Mowing.

Last August was Twelve Month I began to Drein a Pond that lies but a Mile from my House; it was not a natural Pond, but made so upon design. Our Record informs that it was granted to a Man to prevent the miring of Cattel; the Owner of it laid it under Water about Eighty Years ago: It was overgrown with Pond Lilly's; it was thought by most that to Drein it was impractible: Some said, That it was as unlikely as to Drein the Ocean. At the outlet there seemed to be little or no Fall; but trying it with a Level, my Son and I found that in forty Rod there was Fall suffi­cient: We therefore set about Dreining it, have succeeded so far that it bids fair to make a good piece of Land. It had been under Water so long, and was so full of Pond Lilly-Roots, that when the Water was drawn off and the Lilly-Roots dried and shrunk up, it grew to be Puffy, & did not for this Reason do so well as we expected: The Grass Seed did not come up well, nor stand so well as in Land that has lain open to the heat of the Sun.

[Page 7]The whole Pond was about Twenty Acres, and the Soyl is eight or ten Foot deep: There are in it many large Springs, which are fifteen Foot deep.

I began last March to Drein another Mea­dow of Forty Acres, up in Guilford Woods; this was a shaking Meadow; A Man standing upon it might shake the Ground several Rods round him. It seemed to be only a strong sword of Grass Roots laid over a soft Mud of the consistence of Pan-cake Batter: There was not abundance of Bushes in it, but abun­dance of Cramberry Vines, and a great burthen of poor wild Grass: The Meadow was deem'd so poor that none would take it up. I was pitied as being about to wast a great deal of Money; but they comforted themselves that if I spent it unprofitably, others that stood in need of it would get it: They are now of another opinion.

At the only Out-let of this Meadow there was Fall sufficient, but very Rocky; we must dig four or five Foot deep to get the Advan­tage of it.

In March when I went up to make the Out­let Drein, there was such a torrent of Water that we could do nothing; I ordered there­fore a Tree to be cut down a-cross the Brook, and prepared Flitches instead of Plank, which we set aslant, the upper end resting upon the [Page 8] Staddle that was fallen cross the Brook, laid them as close as we could, and stopped the Chinks and large Casms with top Tow, by which means we shut the Water into the Mea­dow, then wrôt at the Trench or main Drein in the Day & let it out at Night, till it was in a good measure accomplished. When I ordered the top Tow to be carried, the Men wondred what it was designed for, but when they saw how useful it was in making a cheap Dam they were pleased with it. I put them in mind of the Dutch Proverb, who say of things that are very mean, That somthing is always good for somthing.

When the Weather grew sufficiently warm and the Meadow a little setled, we began to Ditch. I cut a Ditch on each side and one in the middle: As far as we went it soon rendred the Meadow firm and dry: I then proceeded to sow Grass-Seed, such as red Clover, soul Meadow Grass, English Spear Grass, and Herd Grass: Of all the sorts of Grass Seed I sowed, none seemed to take hold and come up so well as red Clover; this I found to be the boldest and most hardy Grass.

Where the Sword was strong, althô the Clo­ver came up well, yet what with the toughness of the Ground and the over-topping growth of the wild natural Grass, the Clover made but slow progress till the Fall of the Year, and then [Page 9] it mended considerably. But where there happened to be no Sword to hinder it, the Clo­ver grew up to the height of mid Thigh, went to Seed and the Seed was ripe.

Of the other sorts of Grass came up but poorly: The Land I suppose was too new and too tough for it.

Some time in September I Ploughed up a piece of it where I had not Sowed any Grass Seed, it Ploughed very tough and the Cattel mired some, but we kept them upon the Grass as well as we could; after all we left many Baulks: About a Month after I set some Men to Hoe up the Baulks, and was agreeably sur­prized to find how easie it Hoed up. I find the Meadow rotted and mellowed more in one Month in the Fall than it had done in the whole Summer: The same I found by the Ditch Banks. If I had omitted my Ploughing till a Month later, it had been done with much more ease to Man and Beast.

In July I sowed a little piece of Turneps, they came up, but never grew till the Ground began to rot in the Fall of the Year, then grew well in the short time they had left: I expected they would have been Rank, but they were good and sweet.

Some are deterred from such an undertaking as that of Dreining their Land, by reason of the great Charge: They terrify themselves without [Page 10] Reason. When I was about to cut my main Drein, some thought it impossible, but at best it would cost an Hundred Pounds: It was a bad place of Rocks; some I dug up, some we broke up with Steel Wedges, and some we blew up with Powder: But after all it did not cost more than Twenty Pounds.

As to the great Charge of Ditching, they do not consider that the outside Ditches serve for Fence, as well as to cut off the Springs and drein the Meadow, and it is as cheap Fence as any we can make; so that there is none but the middle or intermediate Ditches, that are properly to be considered as a Charge in Dreining.

Some may think this long Hystory of two pieces of Meadow, this tedious Detail of so many minute Particulars to be needless, trifling and impertinent.

I have been particular in describing the main or out-let Drein of each Meadow, that it may be seen that the difficulty of Rocks is not insu­perable, nor the charge of a long Drein into­lerable.

I mentioned the cheap movable Dam, which may be made in a few Hours, that if they should be incumbred with Water to hinder their work, there is a Remedy at hand.

I informed you of the growth of one of the Meadows, that it was Moss and Pond Lillies, [Page 11] which will soon die when the Water is gone: The Moss creates the most trouble, but will burn when it is a dry Season.

I gave an account of the depth of the Soyl, because I was when I began uncertain whether by Ditches three Foot wide and two and half deep (such as mine are) would be sufficient to fix the shaking Meadow, and render the deep Mire firm and dry enough for Grass and Tillage. I think there is reason to believe that the shaking Meadows have been formerly Bever Ponds.

I described the extent and bigness of each Meadow, because I was uncertain whether the Ditches would draught well when they were very long.

Some of mine are an hundred and fifty Rods long, and must be yet much longer; yet as far as we have gone they draw well. In order to have them draw well and run free, it is abso­lutely needful, and a main point, to have your out-let Drein deep, so that the water run briskly.

If the Ditches draw well there is another Ad­vantage; in the Spring when there is much Water, by stopping one Ditch you may shift the Water into another to cleanse it, and so to a third: Hereby you will save the charge of the Yearly Scouring of them with the Shovel, which is a good saving: I find by Experience I have that Advantage.

[Page 12]I have insisted the longer upon this Article, it being an affair of Importance: If it should answer our Expectation, it will put us into the Improvement of Land of which as yet we have had no Benefit; nay, it has been rather hurt­ful. It opens to us a new Scene, and Time may possibly discover it to be the easiest of Tillage, the richest and best Land,

By the working of my own Mind I judge of others; however if I have been mistaken, and that which is uncertain to me, is clear & easie to others, and so have been longer upon this Particular than is needful or useful, I beg par­don of the Reader.

When I ingaged in this Affair, it was with some distrust and uncertainty: I am sure last Year I should have been glad of such an Hystory of Facts (as imperfect as it is) it would have afforded me Light, Courage and Instruction.

As to what remains farther to be done, I should be glad to meet with an experienced Person to give me Directions. Our Reasonings and Speculations without Experience are de­lusory and uncertain. It used to be the Say­ing of an old Man, That an Ounce of Experience is better than a Pound of Science.

In a Country where such like Dreining is become a common Practice, such an account as I have given would be needless.

[Page 13]I find by Experience, that such dreined Land must have one Summer to ferment and rot, so as to become proper Soyl, before it will be fit for Grain and every sort of Grass. If I had sowed red Clover instead of the other sorts of Grass, I had saved five Pound in Seed. Clo­ver out-did my Expectation, and the other sorts fell short of it: If others save where I lost, and mend wherein I was mistaken, it answers my design in Writing.

By a little Experience we have had of these dreined Lands, we find they will produce In­dian Corn, sixty or seventy Bushels to the Acre, and Flax. If Life & Health be continued, I design to try Liquorice Roots, Barley, Cape-Breton Wheat, Cotton, Indigo Seed, & Wood for dying, which I have sent for, as also water Melon Seed, which came originally from Arch Angel in Russia, which is said produces Melons which grow to a great Size. But what I have principally in view is Hemp. New-England doth not, I suppose, Expend less than several Hundred Thousand Pounds worth of Forein Hemp Yearly. If we can raise more than to supply our own Occasions, we may send it Home. I remember when I was Young, a Gentleman came from England, sent over by the King, to invite the Country into that Trade; he offered in the King's Name to find Seed to begin with, and Four-pence Sterling per [Page 14] Pound, let us Raise what we would (which is Three and Four-pence Old Tenor,) and if I remember right, Forty Shillings Bounty on every Ton.

England is possessed of the Woolen Trade, and Ireland of the Linen Trade; so that this Hemp Trade lies open to us, which may in time become our Staple for Returns Home; and so bring the Balance of Trade to be in our Favour, which has always as yet been against us.

A Staple Commodity is of great Importance to a Country: Such is the Woolen Manu­facture to Great-Britain, the Linen Trade to Ireland, Tobacco to Virginia, Rice to Carolina, and Sugars to our West-India Islands. The Herring Trade is of such Importance to the Dutch, that the Emperor Charles the Fifth coming into the Low Country's with the Queen of Hungaria, made a Journey to Bier Ulict, on purpose to see the Tomb of William Buckelsz, who first found out the method of Curing and Barrelling of Herring Fish. That great Prince and States Man, in paying such Regard to the Memory of that useful Man, thereby testified the Value he set upon that bene­ficial & extensive Trade, which is said to be worth Two Millions in a Year to the Dutch.

It is not a meer Conjecture that the dreined Lands will produce Hemp. I am informed [Page 15] by my worthy Friend Benjamin Franklin Esq of Philadelphia, that they Raise Hemp upon their dreined Lands.

Hemp requires such very strong Land to produce it, that it would consume all our Dung to Raise it in any great Quantities; so that we should not be able to raise Bread Corn: There­fore how Inviting fo ever the Trade is, and how great so ever the Encouragements have been, both from Home and by our own Go­vernments, we have not as yet engaged in that Affair: We have now a promising Prospect of Success in these dreined Lands; what may be the Issue, Time and Experience must de­termine.

The Books of Husbandry say, That a Thou­sand Weight to the Acre is an ordinary Crop of Hemp.

If a Man had a small Meadow of Dreined Land, that he could lay under Water and draw it off at his pleasure to Water his Hemp, it would, I fancy, be of great Value. I have heard that a Man in the Jersies, hath such a Meadow of half an Acre, which yields him as much Hemp Yearly, as fetches him Fifty Pounds York Money; but this seems incredi­ble.

Some think that it is good to lay their low Lands under Water in the Winter to inrich them, and practise accordingly: But this will [Page 16] kill your English Grass after a few Years: For English Grass will not subsist without a Winter. In the Southern Colonies the less Winter the less Grass. In Virginia, North & South Caroli­na, they have no English Grass at all. Where there is no English Grass, it is difficult to make Cattel truly fat; so that Winter brings its good as well as its evil Things.

3. The third sort of Land I would speak of is our old Land which we have worn out. This is a difficult Article without Dung, which can­not be had for Love nor Money: Where that is wanting, it may be supplied with other Ma­nure. Clay will mend Sandy Land, especially if the Clay be burnt; and Sand will mend Clay Ground: The Clay will fix the too loose con­texture of the Sand, and Sand will open the parts of Clay which is too close.

I found at my Farm at Guilford, a sort of Shell Sand, try'd it and found it equal to good Dung: Some that I ordered to be carried up on the Tilled Land, has produced five Crops, and is not yet spent; how long it will last we do not know: They begin to carry it up into the Town.

I have carted this Fall upon my Land at home some loads of Creek Mud, that had been laid up a rotting two Years: I also carted home one load from the dreined Pond; it looks like Dung: Also one load of Clay, one load of [Page 17] Sand, and a load of Loam: What all or any of these will do, Experience must inform.

Another way to help Worn-out Land is to sow it with Clover Seed; but if the Land be too poor it will not grow: Therefore if we can raise our Indian Corn upon our Dreined Land, then we may spare a sprinkling of Dung for our old poor Land: Then sow it with ten Pound of Clover Seed, which is five Quarts to the Acre; it might cause it to set very thick. Ten Pounds is not too much. He that raiseth Clover Hay, need not be afraid of the expence of Seed; for an Acre of Clover will yield Two Bushels of clean Seed: The second Crop of Clover is the best for Seed: So that in getting Seed, you have no need to spoil your best Crop of Hay; as we know what Threshing will do, it spoils the Hay in a great measure.

If you depend upon the second Crop of red Clover for your Seed, the Land must be very rich, and you must Mow your first Crop early. There is so much profit in Clover Grass, that it is strange it is so much neglected. As Seed sells now, that is Twelve Shillings a Quart, an Acre of good Clover will make Thirty Five Pounds, Old Tenor. There is no charge a­bout it but only the Price of the Seed,: Mow­ing & Cleansing the Seed, which is done with a great deal of ease, in a way that deserves to be made Publick.

[Page 18]If Seeding the Land with Clover will not make poor Land rich, yet it would prevent our better Land from being worn out; and by ploughing in a good Coat of white Clover, the Land would be prepared for a Crop of Wheat.

Seeding the Land when we lay it down is of so much importance for present Profit & future Advantage, that it is a setled Opinion at the Isle of Wight, That if they should fail but one Year to Seed their Land for Grass, it would be to their damage more than Twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling.

Another way of mending poor Land, is, by Feeding it close a few Years with Sheep, to de­stroy the Briars, Weeds & mangy Grass: This hath succeeded to bring in the English Grass and make a strong Sword.

It will be best to take out the Sheep at the latter end of August, that so what English Grass there is, may make coat for the Ground before Winter, and then shut it up that it may not be Fed: By the end of August the wild Trash has done growing.

In England, to recover their poor Land, they direct to sow their Land with Turneps, and at Winter put their Sheep upon it; and they will live a while upon the Tops and then scoop out the Turneps it self; by that time the Land with the Sheep Dung will be rich enough for Barley in the Spring: But our poor Land is [Page 19] so poor that it will not bear Turneps bigger than Buttons. This method looks likely, if tried, to make rich Land richer.

Some propose to sow Oats and when grown up Plough them in.

4. I designed to write somthing concerning our poor, rough, stony, uneven Land in the Woods, which is now of little Service to us: I would propose a way how it might be Improved so as to become useful and profitable Land, which I proposed to submit to the Readers better Judgment: But finding that I have already gone a greater Length than I at first designed, it must be omitted.

A better Breed of Sheep is what we want. The English Breed of Cots-wold Sheep cannot be obtained, or at least without great difficulty: For Wool and live Sheep are contra-band Goods, which all Strangers are prohibited from carrying out, on pain of having their right Hand cut off.

I have one Ram which is of a good Breed, in part, has had no better Keeping than our or­dinary Sheep (I was of the mind to see what he would do with mean Keeping) notwith­standing his poor Keeping two Years, he is very large & long, has fine Wool, and last Shearing time afforded a Fleece of six Pounds.

As the mixture of this Breed with our ordi­nary Sheep successively will run the Breed [Page 20] quite out, so putting the same Breed together, as they approach nearer to the Original, the true Breed may be recovered.

A Barrel of Cyder of sweet Apples when made into Melasses, will be worth Three Pounds, abating Five Shillings for the Making, when Cyder made of common Apples, a Barrel will be worth but Twenty Shillings, exclusive of the Barrel.

I have been told that half a Peck of the little round white Beans mix'd with a Bushel of Rye, will make Bread somthing like Wheat; I have never try'd it, but design to see what it will do.

I have been told that Summer Wheat sowed with Barley is not apt to Blast, and do well together; also Summer Rye and Oats: As also Oats and Peas produce a good Crop when sowed together; the Oats bearing up the Pea Vines prevent their falling to the Ground.

I find by Experience the best time to Fatten Swine, is to begin at the first of August, if you have old Corn: Hogs will fat slowly in very cold Weather: they will eat much and fatten but little: If you make a very warm House, they heat in Bed and catch cold when they come out into the cold Air.

To save Corn, steep it in Water or Swill till the Corn grow very soft; this opens the parts: Give them the Corn to eat and the Water to [Page 21] drink in which the Corn has been Steeped: The hard dry Corn, a great deal of it, passeth through them undigested; this is the hardest part of the Corn and that which principally makes the Flower. There is a Tradition, that if you feed one Hog with Corn, the Dung of the first Hog will fat another Hog, and his Dung a third. Althô I believe the Story to be Fabulous, yet it serves to shew that the sense of Mankind, is, that in the manner we feed Swine, there is a great deal of Loss.

I took the hint of steeping Corn, from the advantage I once found by some Corn I bought that had been Ship-wreck'd, had lain in the Water till it was grown soft.

Such is the difference in Corn and in Swine, that it is impossible to fix it absolutely and know certainly how much there is saved by this method. It is better than Grinding, be­sides what we save in the Toll and the time & charge of the Carriage: For it is found by Experience, that even Bran when steeped in Water a long time, is much the better.

I asked an honest judicious Neighbour of mine, who had leasure to try this Method of steeping Corn longer & with more exactness than I had done, How much he thought was saved by it? He said, At least one Bushel in seven; he believed more: But we will suppose it save but a Tenth part, then see how much it [Page 22] will save in the whole Colony? Suppose there are in this Colony, about Sixty Towns, great and small, new & old: We will suppose Two Hundred Families in each Town, one with an­other, and each Family to consume or spend as much Pork as will require one with another Twenty Bushels of Corn to make the Pork for each Family. Sixty Towns of Two Hundred Families each, makes Twelve Thousand Fa­milies, and Twenty Bushels of Corn to each Family makes Two Hundred Forty Thousand Bushels of Corn: The Tenth part of this is Twenty Four Thousand Bushels. If there be not so many Towns and Families as is supposed, there is much Pork fatted and sent away in Barrels, and many Herds of fat Swine drove away that are not consumed in the Govern­ment, enough to make it up: And surely the saving Twenty Four Thousand Bushels of Corn Yearly, is worthy of our Care and Considera­tion.

Since the foregoing was Written, a Person of good Credit informed me, That there being in his Neighbourhood a dealer in Horses, who was famous for skill in making Horses fat in a short Time; he desired the Jockey to tell him how he did it: The secret was to mix Indian Corn & Oats together and soak it in Water till it was soft; that in cold weather he steeped it in a Cellar that it might be kept from freezing.

[Page 23]My Informer told me, he had made tryal of it and found it did well, giving it to his Horse in the same proportion as he was wont to do of dry Provender.

An hand full of dry Ashes put upon each hill of Indian Corn, in some Land, has been found to do good equal to Dunging in the hole: Some say there ought to be half a pint of Ashes to each Hill, and it should be put on a little after the Corn is come up.

I was told by an experienc'd Farmer, that if you girdle Trees, or cut Brush in the Months of May, June & July, in the Old of the Moon, that day the Sign removes out of the Foot into the Head, especially if the Day be Cloudy, it will kill almost all before it: They will bleed, he said, more freely in a cloudy Day; for the hot Sun dries up the Sap. I have never tryed it. If this could be certainly found out, it would Expedite the clearing Land and save a great deal of Labour: But Experience is Au­thority, to whom we are to submit, I am not forward to believe without Trial.

Swamps that are full of Wood and Brush and covered with Moss, if they are deep Soil and can be well Dreined, Cleared & Ditched, will make good Land for Corn & Grass.

Elder Bushes are stubborn and hard to Sub­due, yet I know by Experience that Mowing them five times in a Year will kill them.

[Page 24]It might serve to increase useful Knowlege, if somthing of this Nature were Published every Year, giving a faithful account of the Success of all the Experiments & Trials that may be made on various sorts of Land, and of divers sorts of Grains, Roots, Grass & Fruits, not only such as we have in use, as also what we have not as yet introduced among us.

There are few Men of Business, Ingenuity & Observation, but what have found out things Valuable & Useful, but for want of some pro­per Method to communicate them, they die with the Discoverers & are lost to mankind.

Therefore who ever has made any Observa­tions or Discoveries, althô it be but a Hint, and looks like a small Matter, yet if pursued & improved, may be of publick Service. If they see cause to favour me with such Disco­veries & Experiments as they have or shall make, I shall Receive it with Thankfulness, & Publish it either with or without their Names to it, as they shall see fit: For if this Essay shoûd be thôt Useful, if GOD give Life & Health I purpose next Year to furnish you with an­other Winters Evening Entertainment: For I would be glad to do Good as far as lies in my power.

A Discovery of the Nature & Property of Things & Applying them to useful Purposes, is true Philosophy: A great deal of what has [Page 25] passed in the World for Learning, is Philoso­phy falsly so called.

A certain Person among the Greeks being a Candidate for some Office in the State, it was Objected against him, That he was no Scholar. True, saith he, according to your Notion of Lear­ning I am not; but I know how to make a poor City rich, and a small City great.

The World was a long time amused with the Learning of Aristotle, and the Arabians spun out of their own Brains & not founded in Truth: Yet among all this Trumpery, there was Two pieces of useful Knowlege, for which we are in­debted to them; One was the knowlege of the Nine Figures, so useful in Arithmetick; the o­ther was the first Rudiments of Algebra, now grown up to a great height. Experimental Philo­sophy being founded in nature & truth is obtain'd no way but by time & diligence: The Knowlege of things Useful are gained by little and little.

We are not to admire or despise things meer­ly because they are new; but value things or dis­regard them just so far as they are found (by Experience that faithful Instructor) to be useful or unprofitable. Wisdom is profitable to direct.

Wisdom is the principal Thing, therefore get Wisdom; especially that Wisdom that is from A­bove: It is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easie to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits; without partiality and without hypocrisie.