INTRODUCTION 3 



order to secure one copy each of such documents from the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents and from the numerous Experiment Stations, 

 he will have to pay according to careful estimates, over $1,000. He 

 will then have in his possession hundreds of separate documents with- 

 out classification or index and will be, figuratively, in the shoes of the 

 person who looked so diligently for the proverbial needle in a hay- 

 stack. "The Farmer's Cyclopedia" gives the best parts of all these 

 bulletins, with a perfect index, with numerous illustrations and at a 

 price trifling in comparison to the approximate $1,000 which the 

 farmer would have to pay for a complete set of separate unindexed 

 documents. Thus these volumes select for the farmer the best in ex- 

 istence on any subject and by indexing it perfectly place it within 

 his instant reach and use. The "Farmer's Cyclopedia" is just as 

 necessary for the modern, successful and money-making farmer as the 

 libraries of professors, scientists, ministers, doctors, lawyers, etc., are 

 to them. The time is here when a farmer, in order to succeed and 

 in order to compete with other up-to-date farmers, must have a library. 

 The "Farmer's Cyclopedia" perfectly meets the requirements. 



The illustrations in these volumes were all taken from the docu- 

 ments of the Departments of Agriculture and the Experiment Sta- 

 tions of the United States and Canada. Many of the plates (Illus- 

 trations) were originally prepared for insertion in documents of 

 different sizes, the paper of which was little better than that of modern 

 newspapers; others were prepared with mesh for grades of paper 

 ranging up to the finest enamel and in varying shapes, sizes and cita- 

 tion arrangements. These wide variations will account for the 

 differences in size and quality shown in the illustration of these vol- 

 umes, where all plain cuts are printed on the same kind of paper. 

 The Publishers, having at the outset announced that all matter, 

 printed and illustrated, would be taken solely and wholly from agri- 

 cultural documents, were obliged to confine their selections to the 

 cuts found in the bulletins, circulars, year books, annual reports, 

 and other documents of the Agricultural Departments and the Ex- 

 periment Stations of the two countries. 



Owing to the fact that the illustrations available varied greatly 

 in the numbers devoted to the different subjects treated in this series, 

 it was found necessary, in order to prevent massing top many in one 

 place, to insert many elsewhere than in connection with the matter 

 to which they related. Thus they were inserted at regular intervals 

 throughout the seven volumes, in order to make the books well- 

 balanced and symmetrical. Approximately, 400 different cuts, repre- 

 senting all phases of farm operations, will be found in the books. 



In view of the above facts it will thus be seen that almost every 

 line of the seven volumes, though now slightly changed to meet the 

 new surroundings, was originally prepared by experts of the Depart- 

 ments of Agriculture and the Experiment Stations of Canada and the 

 United States. In the preparation of these volumes the abridgments 

 were made by practical farmers, experienced agricultural writers, 

 graduates of agriculture and domestic science, professors of farming 

 specialties at Agricultural Colleges and experts connected at present 

 with Experiment Stations. Thus practically all the matter in these 



