vi EDITOR'S PREFACE 



throe volumes of the Board of Agriculture, 1821, 

 1823, 1826; and the reports of the State Agricul- 

 tural Society 1841 to 1871, with subsequent less reg- 

 ular reports until 1899 and tlie semi-centennial 

 volume of 1890, as well as the journal once published 

 by the society. Historical matter is brought to- 

 gether in the " Cyclopedia of American Agriculture," 

 particularly in Volume IV on education and institu- 

 tions and very briefly in Volume I on John John- 

 ston's work in tile-drainage; also in the editor's 

 "York State Rural Problems," Volumes I and II, 

 1913, 1915 (J. B. Lyon Co., Albany). The files of 

 the agricultural journals also afford invaluable 

 material. 



Unfortunately, the personal human documents are 

 yet largely to be written. The reader will be inter- 

 ested in Roberts' delightful " Autobiography of a 

 Farm Boy " (1916), published by the J. B. Lyon Co. 



So these books go forth, the children of a long 

 desire. I am grateful to the skilful authors who 

 put the faith into the substance of the written word. 



L. H. Bailey. 

 Ithaca, N. Y. 



Sept. 1, 1920. 



