AUTHOE'S PEEFACE 



The aim of the author in preparing this volume 

 is to present a bird's-eye view of the agricultural as- 

 pects of New York. He has endeavored not only 

 to describe conditions as they are, but, when possible, 

 to point out the underlying reasons for particular 

 lines of development in agricultural production and 

 rural affairs. 



On the descriptive side, the book is the outgrowth 

 of fifteen years of intensive study of the agricultural 

 resources and development of the State. The ap- 

 proach has been made from the side of the soil. In 

 the making of detailed soil surveys of different coun- 

 ties, in the continuous supervision of the surveys in 

 close cooperation with the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, in the giving of course of instruction 

 in the New York State College of Agriculture on the 

 soils and agricultural development of the State, and 

 finally in almost continuous travel that has reached 

 into all parts of the State, in by-paths and outlying 

 regions as well as main paths of travel, these mat- 

 ters in all their interrelations have been the subject 

 of continuous observation and study. Finally, 

 through contact with a large part of the correspon- 

 dence that has come over the greater part of this 



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