STEPHENS S BOOK OF THE FARM. 



Extracts from the Critical Notices published in England during the jmblicalion 

 of the work tn London. 



From the London Timeit. 



" The first part or number of this work has just been published by Messrs. Blackwood. It is written by 

 Mr. Henry Stephens, a gentleman already known to the public in his editorial character in the Quarterly 

 Journal of Agriculture. The tcreat merit of the work, as far as it has yet gone, is the intelUeible manner in 

 which it is written, and the strong good sen?e wiih which it is distinguished. The proposed arrangement, 

 set forth in the plan of the work, is clear and satisfactory ; and the whole number is valuable as beinj the 

 result of practical experience and competent theoretic knowledge. It is a book which will be received with 

 gratitude by those who are really anxious to profit b/ instruction, and whoso anxiety for improvement is 

 not impeded by prejudice." ..." The plan of the work, it may again be observed, is very good— the 

 reasoniug is logical — the assertions are the results of accurate examination and repeated expenence. Id 

 addition to the information conveyed in the letter-press, the book is ornamented by accurate and handsome 

 plates of agricullunU animals, implements of farming, plans of farming, &c. &c." 



From the Newcastle Conrant. 



" Mr. Plephens's work is divided into three portions. In the first, the pupil is shown the difficulties he has 

 to encounter in acquiring a competent knowledge of farming as a profession, and the most easy and effect- 

 ual methods of overcoming these. The second portion details the various kinds of farming practiced in the 

 country, and points out that which the Author reckons the best for adoption under given circumstances. — 

 The third and concluding portion accompanies the young farmer into the world, where it acquaints him 

 how to look about for a proper farm for himself" 



From Felix Farley's Bristol Journal. 



•■ When we say that the Author is Mr. Heiii-y .-tephens, we are safe in expressing ovu con".iction that the 

 results of his penetration, judgment, and experience, so placed before the public, will confer an advantage 

 on the agricultural interest of no commoa order. We therefore predict a large measure of success 'o the 

 intended work." 



From Tlie Argus. 



"We regard It as a national work; and, from the masterly manner In which Mr. Stephens handles tiis 

 subjects, we feel assured it must become a standard one. His thorough practical knowledge, backed by his 

 scientific acquirements, makes the Author's fitness for the task conspicuous ; and the unpresuming manner 

 in which his talent is displayed enhances its value still more hi our eyes." 

 From the Midland Counties Herald. 



"The entirely practical nature of this work, and the evident care with which it is produced, will, we 

 think, render it one of the most usefiil publications for the farmer which has yet appeared." 



Fron The Times. 



" The great merit of the work, as far as it has yet gone, is the intelligible manner in which it is written, 

 and the strong good sense with which it is distinguislied. It is a book which will be received with grati- 

 tude by those who are really anxious to profit by instruction, and whose anxiety for improvement is not 

 impeded by prejudice. 



From the Birmiv gham Advertiser. 



" The fanners of England would do well to possess themselves of this work, for the variety of useful in- 

 formation, and the many practical suggestions it contains." 



From The Britannia. 



" The two parts now before us are models of clear, sensible composition, and form such an introduction 

 to the practice of farming as has never been publi.'-hed before. The author brings to his task a large store 

 ot unowledge, sound sense and a lucid style." "We are quite sure that never was any work more called 

 for, by the intelligence of the age than this ' Book of the Farm,' and believe that it could not have been 

 entrusted to more competent hands, or produced in better style. We strongly recommend it to all classes 

 of agriculturists as a publication of decided utility, and likely to be most serviceable to them in the suc- 

 cessful prosecution of their labors." 



From the Sporting Review. 



" The work before us is one of the most practical results of so patriotic a spirit. It is a most wel- 

 come addition to our rural Uterature. As it proceeds, we hope to transfer some of its good things to 

 our pages. 



From the Tfew Farmers' Journal. 



"On all these important points, no one is better qualified to fill the office of a mentor than Mr. Stephens, 

 of which the well-arranged plan, and judicious execution, of the book before us, att'ord irrefragable 

 testimony." 



The Concluding Paragraph. 



Mr. Stephens, the Author of the above named work, was engaged for several years in writing 

 it. Its publication was coniinenced in London in Januai-y, 1842, and concluded in August, 1844. 

 The Author clo.ses the ■work in the following words: 



" I have now brottirht to a termination the ta.sk I had imposed upon myself in writing this work. 

 If you will but follow the prescriptions I have given in it, for conducting the larger operations of 

 the field, and for treating the various aniraal.s of the fann : and — not to mention the proper plovv- 

 ing and manuring of the soil — as the practice of every fanner demonstrates the necessity of afford- 

 ing due attention to those mo.st important because fundamental operations, if you finish oft' your 

 fields in a manner indicating care and neatness — plowing round their mar^fins, and turning over 

 the corners ; if you keep your fences clean and in a state of repair— your fields free of weeds ; if 

 you give your stock abundance of fresh food at regular intervals in winter, and supply them with 

 plenty of clean water on fresh pastures in summer; if you have the farm roads always in a ser- 

 viceable state, and everything about the steading neat and orderly ; if you exhibit skill and taste 

 in all these matters, and put what is called a fine, skin on your farm, you will not fail to earn for 

 yourself the appellation of a good and exemplary farmer: and when you have everything about 

 you 'thus well disposed,' you will find, with Heaiod of old, that profitably, as well as creditably, 

 for you ' shall glide away thy r^iatic year.' '" 



