in 1755 mills had started translation "the history of the roman emperors, from augustus to constantine" by jean-baptiste louis crévier from the french, and in 1763 mills continued and completed the "memoirs of the court of augustus," by thomas blackwell the younger. in the 1760s he found his true vocation as a writer on agriculture, which started with his translation in 1762 of duhamel du monceau's "practical treatise of husbandry." in 1766 he published an "essay on the management of bees." the "a new system of practical husbandry," (1767) treated all branches of agriculture, and contains the first mention of the potato as grown in fields. in 1770 appeared a translation from the latin of g.a. gyllenberg's "natural and chemical elements of agriculture;" in 1772 an "essay on the weather" (translated into dutch in 1772), and "essays, moral, philosophical, and political" (anonymous, but advertised under his name); and in 1776 a "treatise on cattle."