The Home Acre

by Edward Payson Roe

The Home Acre, first published in 1886, is equal parts guide to crop management and horticultural journey into the past. Edward P. Roe sets out to instruct readers on how to maximize the land at their disposal, whether grasslands or wooded areas, with a unique period writing style filled with subtle wit. Lovers of heirloom seeds will delight in the descriptive lists of seed varieties best suited to the different climes of North America from over 125 years ago. Likewise, viticulturists will find the narrative on vineyard management, to include a contemporary description of the phylloxera plague, noteworthy. The author’s writing conveys a respect for ‘Nature’, and hints at the early days of the conservation movement gaining momentum through late 1800s. The Home Acre is perfect for lovers of gardens, horticulture, and history. This Grove Classic Edition comes fully annotated for today’s reader with footnotes on historical references.

Genres: Classics

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Reverend Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888) was an American novelist born in Moodna, Orange County, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S. V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he moved to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals. Amongst his works are Barriers Burned Away (1872), What Can She Do? (1873), Opening a Chestnut Burr (1874), Near to Nature's Heart (1876), A Face Illumined (1878), Success with Small Fruits (1880), A Day of Fate (1880), Without a Home (1881), An Unexpected Result (1883), His Sombre Rivals (1884), A Young Girl's Wooing (1884), An Original Belle (1885), He Fell in Love with His Wife (1886), Driven Back to Eden (1886) and The Earth Trembled (1887).