PREFACE. 



THE AUTHOR TO EIS READERS. 



"Facts for Farmers?" "What facts?" "What new theories 

 have we here in a ponderous volume ? Is it filled with dry dis- 

 sertations about what farmers should or should not do?" "What 

 does this author know about farming ?" 



The author asks the reader of this book to judge- for himself 

 He does not advance new theories. He only collects old ones. 

 He Artf made a ponderous volume, not of dry dissertations, but 

 of short, crisp facts. The book is fall of Httle things ; glean- 

 ings from many fields ; from all reliable authority ; from conver- 

 sations of farmers ; from talks at farmers' clubs ; from books a 

 little ; from personal experience much ; — from the memory of a long 

 life devoted to the practice and study of agriculture, this volume is 

 born. It is the fruit of years of labor in a great and good field. 

 It certainly contains much that will be useful to all classes wlio 

 till the earth, or live in farmers'- houses. It should be in every 

 rural home, as a work of reference. It is arranged in the most con- 

 venient form for this purpose. Each chapter comprises one general 

 subject. Each section embraces a separate branch. Each num- 

 bered paragraph is complete in itself, and conveys an item of infor- 

 mation. Each subject is completely indexed. As a whole, though 

 containing much, it is not an encylopedia of agriculture. It does 

 not pretend to teach all that a farmer should know. That must be 

 learned by reading, thinking, and acting. 



