PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 



In this edition I have made considerable changes in 

 the section on Fertilisers and Manures so as to bring in 

 the new materials and the new points of view that the 

 War has forced upon us. It is more important than ever 

 that the young farmer should have clear ideas as to the 

 why and wherefore of his cultivations and manurings: 

 if he does not realise exactly what he is doing he can 

 neither extract the utmost from his soil nor make the 

 best use of restricted supplies of labour and fertilisers. 

 No one can dogmatise in agriculture, and no single 

 method of treatment is always correct. The fundamen- 

 tal laws of Nature, however, hold good everywhere : it 

 is the use we make of them that varies. I have dealt 

 here with these laws ; the more fully the student under- 

 stands them the better he will be able to use them in 

 his great work of controlling Nature and making the 

 earth yield her increase. 



E. J. R. 



1919. 



