PREFACE 



This book is written for amateur as well as professional farmers and 

 will also be of interest to students of agriculture and prospective farmers. 

 It makes a popular appeal to all men engaged in farming and is designed 

 to be a handy reference work on soils, their classification and treatment 

 and the proper adaptation of crops with a view to preserving and increasing 

 the fertility of the soil and producing the largest and best yield in point of 

 quality. 



Ages of farm experience and a few generations of agricultural research 

 have given us a vast store of practical knowledge on tilling the soil and 

 raising crops. This knowledge is scattered through many different volumes 

 on different phases of the subject, in experiment station bulletins, agricul- 

 tural journals and encyclopedias. The important facts on which the most 

 successful farming is based are here brought together in orderly and 

 readable form. Not only are directions given for the management of the 

 soil but the best types of farm buildings and equipment are fully described 

 and illustrated, including farm machinery of the latest type, farm sanita- 

 tion, drainage and irrigation. 



The subject-matter is arranged in two parts of a number of chapters 

 each, and by referring to the Table of Contents any subject may be 

 quickly found. References are freely given at the close of each chapter. 

 Each chapter has been prepared by a specialist in the subject presented. 

 The name of the author appears at the beginning of each chapter. Those 

 unacknowledged have been prepared by myself. 



The illustrations have been secured from many sources. Due credit 

 has been given these. 



Special acknowledgment is due the publishers of this volume and the 

 other volumes in the series for their conception, and for many helpful 

 suggestions in the presentation of its subject-matter. 



Acknowledgment is also due Professor E. L. Worthen and Professor 

 R. S. Smith, both of The Pennsylvania State College, for helpful suggestions 

 and criticisms on soils and crop rotations. I wish also to especially acknowl- 

 edge the valuable editorial assistance of my wife in the preparation of the 

 manuscript. 



41 ' FRANK D. GARDNER. 



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