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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... quantity of professional information , and have greater confidence in its accuracy , than he could possibly obtain for himself in that anxious period of his novitiate . Such a monitor would best be an experienced and intelligent farmer ...
... quantity of work that can be performed in a given time by all the instruments of labour , animal and mechanical , usually employed . It is the duty of the young farmer to acquire this knowledge with all diligence and dispatch ; for a ...
... quantity of work which each should perform , the acci- dents to which each is liable , and the precautions which should be used to avoid accidents . With our united efforts , I have confidence of giving such an exposé of farm implements ...
... quantity of their secretions in a given condition from an increased given quantity of ma- nure . Thus may the increased quantities of mucilage , farina , gluten , in the various cultivated plants , be observed . It is of little moment ...
... quantity warranted the more profuse and less exact , though more satisfactory , culture of the field . On ridges in the fallow field , with different kinds and quantities of manure , and different modes of working the soil and sowing ...