THE PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCEMENT. 



In presenting &quot; THE AMEEICAN FARMER &quot; to the general public, it is proper to state that 

 it has been the object and aim of the publishers to make it both comprehensive and exhaus 

 tive ; in brief, an authoritative standard work on general and scientific agriculture, in all its 

 departments and details, and the best work in this class of literature ever published in this 

 or any other country. To this end we have spared neither time nor expense, and natter our 

 selves that the &quot; well done &quot; of the American Public awaits us. 



The editor of this work, Hon. Chas. L. Flint, of Boston, Mass., needs no introduction 

 to the Agricultural World, nor does he need the encomiums of the publishers ; for his twenty- 

 seven annual reports on the &quot; Agriculture of Massachusetts,&quot; issued during twenty-eight con 

 secutive years of service as Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, his &quot;Grasses 

 and Forage Plants,&quot; &quot;Milch Cows and Dairy Farming,&quot; &quot;Manual of Agriculture,&quot; &quot;Harris 

 on Insects,&quot; and his numerous essays, lectures, and contributions to the press, all stamp him 

 as a practical man, and able authoi ity on all that pertains to advanced agriculture. 



Now when we add, that the youth and early manhood of Mr. Flint were passed upon 

 the home farm at Middleton, Mass., this work may be justly regarded as the choice fruitage 

 of a life devoted to the interests of Agriculture a union of practice and theory; a secure 

 guaranty, as to the entire trustworthiness, of the facts for farmers contained in this volume. 



This, his latest production, possibly his valedictory to the Agricultural World, will be 

 welcomed in many a farmer s home, not only for its fullness and completeness in every depart 

 ment of which it treats, but also for the plain and practical discussion of all subjects; the 

 reader understanding clearly the abundant facts, principles, and suggestions found herein, 

 touching the cultivation of the soil, which, when rightly understood and utilized by the intel 

 ligent, practical farmers of our country, becomes at once, not only the foundation of our 

 highest national prosperity and wealth, but the very keystone of our body politic. 



The publishers congratulate themselves that they have been so fortunate as to secure 

 the services of so high an authority on practical and scientific agriculture for the editor of 

 this work ; nor should they neglect to congratulate the American Public that they are to be 

 the recipients of Mr. Flint s valuable work, and able to avail themselves of the many advan 

 tages that such a volume as this affords. 



As might be anticipated, this work is very appropriately dedicated to the Hon. Marshall 

 P. Wilder, of Boston, the life-long friend of the farmer and the personal friend of Mr. Flint, 

 being officially associated with the latter in the Agriculture of Massachusetts and the country 

 for over thirty years. Col. Wilder, now in his eighty-fourth year, (of whom Mr. Flint gives 

 a brief memoir in connection with our Fruit Department,) was born at Rindge, New Hamp 

 shire, in 1798, and has taken an active interest in agricultural pursuits all his life, having been 

 one of the foremost in organizing the &quot;Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture,&quot; and also 

 the &quot;State Agricultural College ;&quot; besides being the President of the &quot;Massachusetts Horti 

 cultural Society&quot; from 1840 to 1848, and of the &quot;United States Agricultural Society&quot; from 

 1852 to 1858, and the President of the &quot;American Pomological Society&quot; since its formation 

 in 1848. In this connection it is proper to remark, that it was through the personal solicita- 



