PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION. 



No better evidence of the value of the fanners' Handbook could be desired 

 than the demand with which cadi edition has been met. In the twelve 

 years that have elapsed since the first edition appeared in 1911, over 10,000 

 copies have been sold, and there are ample indications that the present 

 e lition is as eagerly anticipated as any of its predecessors. 



The Handbook lias proved an indispensable work of reference to thousands 



of fanners in this State, and has found its way into other States of Australia, 

 even creating a demand for itself in New Zealand and South Africa. 

 Indeed, it has found readers as far afield as Canada. India, the United 

 States, and Great Britain, and has become a text-hook of indisputable 

 authority in Agricultural Colleges and High Schools throughout Australasia 



This wide popularity may, no doubt, be attributed very largely to the 

 practical flavour that has always pervaded its pages, though each issue has 

 represented an effort to maintain the equilibrium between the suggestions of 

 in m! tii science and the limitations of field practice. None know better 

 thin the contributors to this Handbook that occasions arise when it is not 

 possible — not even desirable — to adopt the counsels of perfection, but that 

 does not deter the Department from urging upon farmers the methods that 

 experiment and research have demonstrated to be the most profitable under 

 average conditions. 



The First Edition, compiled by Mr. AN'. H Clarke, and piloted «hr< ugh 

 the press by his successor, Mr. J. E. O'Grady, immediately commanded 

 attention for its variety, comprehensiveness, and general soundness, and it 

 has prosed invaluable as a basis for later issues. The Second Edition, for 

 which Mr. P. G. Gilder was res| onsible, represented an extensive revision 

 and amplification of the earlier issue, while the Third .Edition, which also 

 bore Mr. Gilder's mime, chiefly differed from the second in a new ami more 

 complete statement about maize. 



For the present (the Fouith Edition), the whole of the matter has again 

 been thoroughly revised, every section being subjected to close criticism in 

 the light of the Department's latest experience. In fact, it may lie said that 

 no portion of the book has received more attention than another. It has 

 been found possible to omit or condense certain features of former issues and 

 to introduce others, while several sections have been appreciably amended 

 and enlarged. The space previously afforded grasses and native fodder 

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