The Book of the Farm: Detailing the Labors of the Farmer, Farm-steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Cattle-man, Field-worker, and Dairymaid, Volume 1Replete with instruction and knowledge honed with experience, The Book of the Farm remains one of the finest agricultural guidebooks ever produced. The 19th century saw the maturation of farming in Western Europe, with intensive methods and efficiencies achieved as never before. Published in the 1840s and successively revised over subsequent decades, this book is a summation of the ingenuity of large-scale agriculture. The production of ever-greater harvests required skill; no longer could any farm be maintained by rudimentary methods taught by example - farming had become a sophisticated, professional discipline reliant upon science and machinery. Aimed at informing prospective students of farming, this work makes no secret of the difficulty and wits required of the modern farmer. Over 100 illustrations depict the tools required, from hoes and ploughs to the traction steam engines that served as forerunners to the modern tractor. Over 80 charts detail all manner of records: animal and crop weights, their prices on the market, mineral levels present in soil and fertilizer, costs of machinery and day-to-day operations. In all, The Book of the Farm is both a superb agricultural history and guide, filled with insight and techniques useful even in the modern day. |
From inside the book
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... passing events . This is in his first year . As the operations of farming are all anticipatory , the second year may be fully employed in studying the progress of work in preparation of anticipated results . In the third year , when his ...
... pass before him , without notice . Reiterated occurrences will , in time , force themselves upon the attention of every class of pupils ; but unless their attention is purposely drawn to , and explications proffered of , the more hidden ...
... pass over ere the pupil can witness the course of the annual operations of the farm , his engagement at first should be made for a period of not less than a year ; and at the expiry of that period he will , most probably , find himself ...
... pass what may appear to him an unimportant particular , but which may be the very keystone of the whole operation to which they relate . With a tolerable memory on the part of the pupil , I feel pretty sure that an attentive perusal of ...
... pass very harshly over them , that the iron nails in the shoes of the work - people wear them down , and raise a dust upon them , —and that they are hurtful to the bare hands and lighter implements , when used in taking up the corn from ...