14 INTRODUCTION. 



of patent nostrums. Waldo F. Brown, the author of " The People's 

 Farm and Stock Cyclopedia," has been a farmer for more than forty years, 

 and his great work is the matured fruit of observation and experience 

 extending to every topic relative to the care of the home, the garden, 

 the orchard, and the field. He writes of what he knows, and his coun- 

 sels are those of an old and tried friend giving advice to the tyro of 

 the farm. He takes the hand of the inexperienced, and says to 

 him, "This is the way to success." The same is true of all those who 

 have assisted the author in the preparation of the work. Every one 

 of them has added to his theoretical knowledge the higher wisdom 

 ot experience. 



He who peruses the following pages will be strikingly impressed 

 with the comprehensiveness of the work. In respect to its scope, the 

 variety of subjects treated, and the care with which the topics are dis- 

 cussed, the book is without a rival. Many agricultural works have been 

 published so partial and incomplete in character as to be practically 

 valueless. It has remained for the author of " The People's Farm and 

 Stock Cyclopedia" to traverse all the fields of interest and to elucidate 

 every difficult question relative to the successful management and 

 improvement of the farm. He has not left unnoticed any single prac- 

 tical point relating to the success of the farmer. The beginner in agri- 

 culture may be sure of finding in this one volume every topic discussed 

 to which his attention will be practically called in a whole lifetime on 

 the farm. 



Another prominent feature of "The People's Farm and Stock 

 Cyclopedia " is the great prominence given in the work to the mat- 

 ter of breeding and raising stock. In this respect the treatise is 

 exhaustive. All kinds of domestic animals, from cattle and horses to 

 poultry and bees, have received a faithful consideration at the hands 

 of the authors. It is well known that many works on farming have 

 stopped short with the discussion of a few of the more obvious and 

 easy topics of agriculture while the more difficult and important mat- 

 ter of the breeding and rearing of animals has been neglected. This 

 defect in previous publications has been completely remedied in " The 

 People's Farm and Stock Cyclopedia." Every question of informa- 

 tion and management of interest to the live stock grower has been 

 handled in a way so masterly and admirable as to make the present 

 work incomparably superior to any of its predecessors. 



It is, however, in the treatment ol specialties that the following 

 pages will be found of pre-eminent value. This great merit has been 

 secured in the work by extending the list of contributors so as to 



