PREFACE xxi 



by experienced practitioners ; therefore the work, in this 

 respect, is more or less a compilation a feature which, in 

 treating of many subjects and divers interests, can hardly be 

 avoided. The endeavour, however, has been to keep as far 

 from reference to authors of works on Natural History as justifi- 

 able ; indeed the only book at command for many years was 

 Wood's Illustrated Natural History, second edition, 1854, which, 

 with The Popular Encyclopedia, new edition, 1879, Blackie & 

 Son, London, and Farm Vermin, Rider & Son, London, represent 

 the measure of indebtedness. Excerpts from various periodicals 

 and treatises relative to the subjects treated are acknowledged 

 in the text, where reference is duly made to inventors and 

 manufacturers of appliances intended respectively for protec- 

 tive and repressive measures. 



And now the volume of The Balance of Nature and Modern 

 Conditions of Cultivation is committed to the careful scrutiny 

 of my fellow-countrymen, in the firm conviction of their verdict 

 being unanimous for the land and water of the British Islands 

 being devoted to all the cultures named herein, and regulated 

 in such manner as may be most conducive to the benefit of the 

 whole community of mankind. 



G.A. 



