INTRODUCTION 35 



the Green Mountain Girls, no copy of which has been 

 found. 1 



Two works of importance on agriculture were forth- 

 coming during Robinson's residence in New York: a 

 pamphlet entitled Guano, A Treatise of Practical Infor- 

 mation for Farmers, published in 1853, and Facts for 

 Farmers, written in 1863 and published in 1864, a book 

 of encyclopedic character numbering over a thousand 

 pages. The information it contained represented an ac- 

 cumulation of data gathered by Robinson over a period 

 of twenty years, and was based upon his personal ex- 

 periences and observation of the operations of leading 

 farmers and planters throughout the country, covering 

 practically every phase of American agriculture. Over 

 five hundred agriculturists were quoted as authority for 

 the accuracy of his statements. This book was more than 

 an enduring monument to Robinson's industry ; it proved 

 to be a reference work so much in demand by agricultur- 

 ists of his day as to warrant a translation into the Ger- 

 man. 2 Hot Corn, One Dime a Day, Me-won-i-toc, and 

 Facts for Farmers passed through several editions — a 

 tribute to their popularity and value. Solon is said 

 to have used the nom de plume "Blythe Whyte, Jr." but 

 nothing has been found under that signature. 3 



The number of Solon Robinson's agricultural writings 

 in the Nevj-York Tribune, many of which were not 

 signed, are so numerous that only a few can be noted. 

 The titles "Failure of the Peach Crop," "Perils of Prairie 

 in Winter," "Cotton Gin and Presses," "Sugar Cane," 

 "Rice Culture," "Orange Growing in Florida," "Produc- 

 tion of Turpentine," "Home Grown Tea and Coffee," 

 "Tar Making and Felling Trees," "Oaks, Cypress and 



'Ball, Lake County, from 1834 to 1872, 282. 



* Thatsachen fur Landwirthe sowie fur den Familienkreis . . . 

 (New York, A. J. Johnson; Cleveland, 0. F. G. and A. C. Rowe, 

 1868). 



'Wingate, Charles F. (ed.), Views and Interviews on Journalism, 

 363 (New York, 1875). 



