XH PREFACE. 



haye loomed upon my vision when in their immediate pres- 

 ence. One achievement only of our age and country the 

 banishment of human chattelhood from our soil seems now 

 to have been worth all the requisite efforts, the agony and 

 bloody 8weat,^hrough which it was accomplished. But an- 

 other reform, not so palpably demanded by justice and hu- 

 manity, yet equally conducive to the well-being of our race, 

 presses hard on its heels, and insists that we shall accord it 

 instant and earnest consideration. It is the elevation of Labor 

 from the plane of drudgery and servility to one of self-respect, 

 self-guidance, and genuine independence, so as to render the 

 human worker no mere cog in a vast, revolving wheel, whose 

 motion he can neither modify nor arrest, but a partner in the 

 enterprise which his toil is freely contributed to promote, a 

 sharer in the outlay, the risk, the loss and gain, which it 

 involves. This end can be attained through the training of 

 the generation who are to succeed us to observe and reflect, 

 to live for other and higher ends than those of present sensual 

 gratification, and to feel that no achievement is beyond the 

 reach of their wisely combined and ably self-directed efforts. 

 To that part of the generation of farmers just coming upon the 

 stage of responsible action, who have intelligently resolved 

 that the future of American agriculture shall evince decided 

 and continuous improvement on its past, this little book is 

 respectfully commended. H. G. 



New York, fet>. 8, 1871. 



