Five Acres and Independence [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION When Five Acres and Independence was first written, in 1935, it promised its readers financial independence through the judicious planning and marketing of a variety of farm produce. In the context of today's complex agribusiness, the independence is more likely to be philosophical than fiscal, but it ofiFers still timely and factual advice to those who wish to escape, even for a time, from the artificial life of the cities and get back to the land. Much of the book is just good, sound common sense, which is timeless, and it was written by an author who so obviously knew what he was writing about, and believed in it, that it makes interesting and easy reading. It is only to be expected, however, that changes will have occurred in the more than a third of a century since the book's original pubhcation. To cite a few examples, the varieties and strains of many of the crop plants recommended in 1935 have been superseded by new and improved ones today. Advances in both plant and animal breeding have made many of the old varieties obsolete and some are virtually extinct. Although nostalgically there may be some desire to return to the old, the reasons for discontinuing them are usually persuasive, including the important item of susceptibility to disease which has been efiFectively "bred out" of many modern types. In some cases broad cultural and sociological changes have so altered the scene that some réévaluation is necessary. A case in point, which obviously harks back to the draft-horse era, is the statement, "The pleasure horse . . . has no place on the small farm." Today's recreation and environment-conscious citizenry have brought about a