What I Know Of Farming: A Series Of Brief And Plain Expositions Of Practical Agriculture As An Art Based Upon Science

by Horace Greeley

What I Know Of A Series Of Brief And Plain Expositions Of Practical Agriculture As An Art Based Upon Science is a 19th-century collection of essays by Horace Greeley that argues farming can be profitable and intellectually respectable when guided by scientific principles. Through Preface and chapters on paying for farming, Good and Bad Husbandry, Where To Farm, Preparing To Farm, Buying A Farm, Laying Off A Farm, and topics ranging from planting trees to irrigation, draining, soils and fertilizers, and even sewage and wind power, Greeley advocates practical, affordable improvements for farmers of modest means. He emphasizes drainage and irrigation, timber planting, soil enrichment via gypsum, lime, muck, and bones, and criticizes wasteful practices such as indiscriminate pasturing. He urges a synthesis of labor and intellectual effort, the adoption of cooperation among farmers, and the use of science as a guide to better agriculture. The work blends moral philosophy, economic realism, and hands-on strategies to uplift American agriculture.

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1973

About the author

Horace Greeley was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, and a politician. His New York Tribune was America's most influential newspaper from the 1840s to the 1870s and "established Greeley's reputation as the greatest editor of his day."[1] Greeley used it to promote the Whig and Republican parties, as well as opposition to slavery and a host of reforms. Crusading against the corruption of Ulysses S. Grant's Republican administration, he was the new Liberal Republican Party's candidate in the 1872 U.S. presidential election. Despite having the additional support of the Democratic Party, he lost in a landslide. He is currently the only presidential candidate who has died during the electoral process.

Reviews

[Ronald Morton · Rating 3 out of 5]

No surprises here – you get what’s stated in the title.

That said, the reason this was not a completely dull read is in Greeley’s style of writing – he peppers his numerous instructions about farming with asides and anecdotes that are actually fairly interesting. They can also be amusing – for instance, did you know all African-Americans look the same to Europeans? In truth, the most fascinating part of the collection is the financial discussions. Greeley acknowledges early on that Astor was reported to have said that he’d have an easier time making his current fortune from $1000 than making that $1000 from having nothing. But, from there, Greeley than appears to write from a position of unacknowledged privilege. Almost everything he writes assumes the availability of ready money to his readers – he sneers at the thought of starting a farm with only 5 or 10 acres – and appears to be of the opinion that only the lazy or educated could not make money starting a farm.

Privilege aside, I will admit that Greeley – famed for his newspaper and “Go West Young Man”– is impressive in his knowledge of farming. There is almost nothing he does not touch on, almost all of it with sufficient depth.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really dug this. A man in his 70s sat down to write one essay a week in 1870 to record his knowledge of farming as he saw it. The bits of personal knowledge spread among the farming lore were gems.