This book is prepared primarily for the family that is inexperienced in country living and in soil culture. Such a family should know about the nature of the soil on which it lives, how to make it serve the family’s needs and purposes, what to do, and what to avoid in order that success may be attained and failure averted. Students of agriculture as a vocation and practical farmers may find, beyond the elementary facts presented, information of value and help to them. To know and to understand the science and practice of agriculture is to have power to cope with and to enjoy soil culture and animal husbandry. If this little volume helps to answer clearly and definitely the many inquiries that are in the minds of prospective and active homesteaders, it will have served its purpose.
The knowledge of many practical people and the resources of agricultural institutions and agencies have been drawn upon for this book. Grateful acknowledgment is made to those who have contributed constructive criticism and have helped in the preparation of material. Especial credit is due to the personnel of the New Jersey and New York colleges of agriculture and to my associates in the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
William B. Duryee.
Trenton, N. J.,
December, 1933.
CONTENTS
| Page | ||
| Preface | [ix] | |
| Chapter | ||
| [I.] | Turning from the City to the Country | [3] |
| [II.] | Getting Established in the Country | [12] |
| [III.] | Financing and Protecting the Investment | [26] |
| [IV.] | Attributes of a House in the Country | [40] |
| [V.] | Servicing the Home | [54] |
| [VI.] | Making the Soil Produce Crops | [73] |
| [VII.] | Food from the Garden | [95] |
| [VIII.] | Home Fruits and Bees | [110] |
| [IX.] | Poultry as a Source of Income | [123] |
| [X.] | Successful Management of Poultry | [138] |
| [XI.] | The Family Milk Supply | [159] |
| [XII.] | Marketing Farm Products | [170] |