book of the farm

Henry Stephens's Book of the Farm by Henry Stephens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating non-fiction book about farm life and living off the grid, back when everyone had to live like that in order to survive. The version I read was a newly printed, much cut book of the original.

This book is fascinating because it offers us a glimpse into what life was like back then, complete with sexist commentary. The text is rather dry and straightforward at times, but it's meant to be a manual on farm living, not a book you'd read at the beach.

There's lots of artwork included in the book, some fanciful drawings of farm scenes and others that just cracked me up, like a drawing of a milking stool (but was useful for such tools like a mattack, which I never heard of before).

I do admit to skimming much of this book, because though most of it is interesting, it's just much more detail than what I wanted to know - which is why this modern printing is cut as much as it is.

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