INTRODUCTION. y - 



construction, or of the process of putting them together, we say at once, 

 that he appears not to be at home. The same would be our apprehensions 

 in every similar case that can be imagined ; and all would readily under- 

 stand such an use of language. There is no propriety in -saying a mer- 

 chant, or a mechanic, or a druggist, or a shopkeeper, is at home in his 

 business, unless he is familiar with all its details ; and the being familiar 

 with it is the foundation for success in it, and attachment to it. 



It may, therefore, emphatically, though figuratively, be said of the 

 farmer,, that in order to be at home in his vocation he must be conversant 

 with whatever contributes to his success. He must understand the 

 nature of soils and the means of improving them. He must understand 

 the elementary constituents of the vegetable creation in every variety, 

 and the means of providing them. He must understand the separate and 

 combined influence of light, of heat, of air, and of water in vegetable 

 development. He must understand the best modes of culture, including 

 all the implements used therein ; and especially the adaptation of par- 

 ticular soils and local metereological influences to the production of 

 particular crops. And he must on no account be ignorant of animal 

 physiology, and of the particular kinds and breeds of stock, generally 

 most productive of profit, or suited to his own individual circumstances. 

 If in these things the farmer is well skilled, he is at home in his vocation, 

 and he will be likely to render that vocation reputable and productive of 

 a fair remuneration for his labor and other capital required in it. 



The present volnme is designed to assist the farmer in being at home 

 in his vocation. The materials composing it are so arranged that he can 

 in the most ready and convenient mariner turn to any subject on which he 

 needs information. No time will be lost in ranging through a whole 

 chapter in pursuit of a fact described in a few lines. He will speedily 

 acquire the habit of opening to it with the facility of finding the definition 

 of any word in a common dictionary. This book, therefore, is not so 

 much intended for protracted study and elaborate investigation or for 

 amusement, as for occasional reference, and to make the farmer's fireside, 

 in short intervals of leisure, radiant with intelligence and enlivened 

 conversation, on topics relating to rural life and domestic economy. As 

 such it is compressed into a small compass. A large volume would not 

 be suited to the purpose contemplated. Such an one would bewilder 



