FOREWORD 



The inception of the publication of writings of Solon 

 Robinson came about in 1926 at a meeting of the 

 American Historical Association at Rochester, New 

 York. In the session devoted to an "Agricultural Who's 

 Who in the Ante-Bellum Period," the statement of 

 Herbert A. Kellar that Robinson was the most impor- 

 tant agricultural writer of that period in the North met 

 with general acceptance. Robinson's extensive travels 

 in the South, also, his observations upon the plantation 

 system, and his efforts to work up common agricultural 

 interests in both sections were of national significance. 

 The late Ulrich B. Phillips, of Yale University, whose 

 judgment upon such matters commanded the greatest re- 

 spect, in expressing his agreement with Mr. Kellar, urged 

 the publication of Robinson's writings. His interest in 

 the project continued down to the time of his last illness. 

 There have also been recurrent suggestions in the Agri- 

 cultural History Society that such a publication would be 

 a valuable contribution to the history of agriculture in 

 the United States. 



These considerations, together with the fact that Rob- 

 inson was one of the leading pioneers of Indiana, led the 

 Indiana Historical Bureau to decide on the publication 

 of two volumes devoted to him and his writings. Mr. 

 Kellar, previous to the meeting already referred to, had 

 gathered together in the McCormick Historical Associa- 

 tion Library, at Chicago, a large collection of Robinson's 

 writings and was recognized as the leading authority 

 upon the subject. He was accordingly asked to under- 

 take the work. We are indebted to him for an important 

 contribution to the history of Indiana and to the history 

 of agriculture in the United States at large. 



Solon Robinson is not as well known in Indiana as he 

 should be. Timothy Ball, in his History of Lake County, 



ix 



