LIFE OF A. N. COLE. 13 



years of persistent labor on the part of Mr. Cole, saving to the population of the Gene- 

 see Valley a magnificent property otherwise lost. The syndicate finally securing the grant, 

 mortgaged it for two millions of dollars, while the solitary individual (A. N. Cole) who practi- 

 cally did the work secured a merest fraction of the amount for labor and expense in securing 

 the grant. Twice in his life the author of the New Agriculture, worked down and out, has 

 succumbed for a few months at a time, and hia work has seemed at an end, the tax upon his 

 energies being such as to apparently break him down. 



About four years ago his neighbors were astonished by the growth of fruits and vegetables 

 of marveloxis size, beauty, profusion and perfection upon his grounds. He was understood at 

 first as making experiments in under drainage, nor did his nearest neighbors and most inti- 

 mate friends have an intelligent conception of the methods under which he was proceeding 

 those of subsurface, subterranean or underground irrigation, better known as " The New Agri- 

 culture." 



And so it is that, to a man who never had to exceed three years of education at school, has 

 been left the discovery of the fundamental laws governing the movements of the waters upon 

 and beneath the soil, which the writer of this brief biography, the publishers of this volume 

 and many others who have visited "The Home on the Hillside " unite in believing will effect 

 a revolution in the present systems of agriculture. J. H. SELKREO. 



ITHACA. N. Y.. October 15, 1885. 



