or, a Plain, Easy, and Demonstrative Method of speedily growing Rich: Proving, by undeniable Arguments, that every Land-Owner, in England may advance his Estate to a Double Value, in the Space of One Year's Time. Together with Several very curious Instructions, how to feed Oxen, Cows, and Sheep, to much greater Profit, than has ever yet been known in England. By a Country Gentleman.
240 pp. Small 8vo, cont. calf, double gilt fillet round sides, spine gilt. London: A. Millar, 1755.
Second edition; the first edition appeared earlier in the same year. This was clearly a very popular work with a Dublin edition also of 1755. “The first 100 pages of this book comprise an appeal to gentlemen to farm their estates as a reputable and profitable occupation, and not to leave the business to the meanest of the people who are not only unable to make improvements but unwilling even to hear of them. He appeals to classical authority and to many of the English farming writers who preceded him. To clinch the argument he proceeds to prove how profitable a business farming is, by giving specimen costings in which he estimates yields at 30 bushels wheat, 30 bushels barley, and 30 bushels peas, certainly much higher than the national average at that date, though possible in occasional years, and some situations. He mentions some of the new crops and a rather ingenious barrel churn, the use of which would give a larger proportion of butter for a given quantity of milk, and concludes with an exhortation to cleanliness in the dairy.”–Fussell, II, pp. 28-29.
Very fine copy.
Price: $1,250.00
Item ID: 2735
