INTRODUCTION. 1& 



It has been the misfortune of the agricultural life that its literature 

 has not, as a rule, been worthy of the theme. For some reason, not 

 easy to discover, the works on agriculture and the raising of stock 

 have been pitched in so low a key, and executed with so little regard 

 to taste and refinement, that the reader has been injured rather thau 

 improved, misled rather than taught, by the work which he has 

 perused. For this reason it is a great relief to turn to a really meri- 

 torious and comprehensive treatise on the interests peculiar to the 

 farming life. Without intending to indulge in invidious compari- 

 sons it is safe and proper to say that the one great work of our day, 

 conforming to the high standard here indicated, is "The People's Farm 

 and Stock Cyclopedia," by the distinguished Waldo F. Brown, of 

 Ohio. Certain it is, that wherever there is a discerning public, this 

 work is destined to a hearty and universal appreciation. The author 

 has produced, indeed, the only standard book which has yet appeared 

 on those most important topics, the management of the farm and the 

 rearing of stock. 



Time would fail, in this brief introduction, to summarize all or even 

 the larger part of the merits which may be justly claimed for "The 

 People's Farm and Stock Cyclopedia." The author and the publishers 

 alike may well be complimented for the successful accomplishment of a 

 work which can but place the whole farming world under lasting obli- 

 gations of gratitude. 



It is the first peculiarity of the work in question that it is what the 

 name implies, a true, universal dictionary of knowledge as it relates to 

 all subjects covered by the title. Though prepared under the chief 

 editorial direction of Waldo F. Brown, it contains the best efforts 

 of no fewer than ten additional contributors, every one of whom is a 

 specialist in that department of the work which he has prepared. The 

 true plan has been followed, so that the public may now obtain in this 

 single volume the very best results of the study and observation of men- 

 who have been placed in such relations as to make their views a finality 

 on nearly every topic referred to in the volume. 



The present work is the perfected result of the study and devotion 

 of one who has been a farmer all his life. It is well known that 

 many books on agriculture and stock raising have been written and 

 foisted upon the public by men who have gathered their meager and 

 imperfect information at second hand, and whose views on the practical 

 work of farming have been, for this reason, utterly worthless. Such 

 authors are the quacks and charlatans of agriculture, and their works 

 are to be classified with pernicious pamphlets and flashy advertisements 



