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The thesis statement is often (but not always) the last sentence of the introductio- n. The thesis is a clear position that you will support and develop throughout your paper. This sentence guides your paper.
E. L. Angeli
Professor Patricia Sullivan
English 624
12 February 2012
Toward a Recovery of Nineteenth Century Farming Handbooks
While researching texts written about nineteenth century farming, I found a few
authors who published books about the literature of nineteenth century farming,
particularly agricultural journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures. These authors
often placed the farming literature they were studying into an historical context by
discussing the important events in agriculture of the year in which the literature was
published (see Demaree, for example). However, while these authors discuss journals,
newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures, I could not find much discussion about another
important source of farming knowledge: farming handbooks. My goal in this paper is to
bring this source into the agricultural literature discussion by connecting three
agricultural handbooks from the nineteenth century with nineteenth century agricultural
history.
To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper into four main sections, two of
which have sub-sections. In the first section, I provide an account of three important
events in nineteenth century agricultural history: population and technological changes,
the distribution of scientific new knowledge, and farming’s influence on education. In the
second section, I discuss three nineteenth century farming handbooks in
connection with the important events described in the first section. Special
attention is paid to the role that these handbooks played in the dissemination of
agricultural knowledge (and the creation of genuinely new knowledge). I end
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The introduc- tory paragraph, should set the context for the rest of the paper. Tell your readers why you are writing and why your topic is important.
Use personal pronouns (I, we, us, etc.) at your instructor’s discretion.
When using headings in MLA, title the main sections (Level 2 headers) in a different style font than the paper’s title, e.g., in small caps.
The headings used here follow a three- level system to break the text into smaller sections. The different levels help organize the paper and maintain consistency in the paper’s organization. You may use your own format for headings as long as they are consistent.
with a third section that offers research questions that could be answered in future
versions of this paper and conclude with a fourth section that discusses the importance of
expanding this particular project. I also include an appendix after the Works Cited that
contains images of the three handbooks I examined. Before I can begin the examination
of the three handbooks, however, I need to provide an historical context in which the
books were written, and it is to this that I now turn.
H ISTORICAL C ONTEXT
The nineteenth century saw many changes to daily American life with an increase in
population, improved methods of transportation, developments in technology, and the
rise in the importance of science. These events impacted all aspects of nineteenth century
American life (most significantly, those involved in slavery and the Civil War).
However, one part of American life was affected that is quite often taken for granted: the
life of the American farmer.
Population and Technological Changes. One of the biggest changes, as seen in
nineteenth century America’s census reports, is the dramatic increase in population. The
1820 census reported that over 10 million people were living in America; of those 10
million, over 2 million were engaged in agriculture. Ten years prior to that, the 1810
census reported over 7 million people were living in the states; there was no category for
people engaged in agriculture. In this ten-year time span, then, agriculture experienced
significant improvements and changes that enhanced its importance in American life.
One of these improvements was the development of canals and steamboats,
which allowed farmers to “sell what has previously been unsalable [sic]” and resulted in a
If there is a gramma- tical, mechanical, or spelling error in the text you are citing, type the quote as it appears. Follow the error with “[sic].”
The paragraph after the Level 2 headers starts flush left.
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Headings, though not required by MLA style, can help the overall structure and organization of a paper. Use them at your instructor’s discretion to help your reader follow your ideas.
Titles of published works (books, journals, films, etc.) are now italicized instead of underlined.
in experiments to obtain results and learn from the results. 2 Agricultural organizations
were then formed to “encourage... experimentation, hear reports, observe results, and
exchange critical comments” (Danhof 53). Thus, new knowledge was transmitted orally
from farmer to farmer, immigrant to farmer, and traveler to farmer, which could result in
the miscommunication of this new scientific knowledge. Therefore, developments were
made for knowledge to be transmitted and recorded in a more permanent, credible way:
by print.
The Distribution of New Knowledge. Before 1820 and prior to the new knowledge
farmers were creating, farmers who wanted print information about agriculture had their
choice of agricultural almanacs and even local newspapers to receive information
(Danhof 54). After 1820, however, agricultural writing took more forms than almanacs
and newspapers. From 1820 to 1870, agricultural periodicals were responsible for
spreading new knowledge among farmers. In his published dissertation The American
Agricultural Press 1819-1860 , Albert Lowther Demaree presents a “description of the
general content of [agricultural journals]” (xi). These journals began in 1819 and were
written for farmers, with topics devoted to “farming, stock raising, [and] horticulture”
(12). The suggested “birthdate” of American agricultural journalism is April 2, 1819
when John S. Skinner published his periodical American Farmer in Baltimore. Demaree
writes that Skinner’s periodical was the “first continuous, successful agricultural
periodical in the United States” and “served as a model for hundreds of journals that
succeeded it” (19). In the midst of the development of the journal, farmers began writing
handbooks. Not much has been written on the handbooks’ history, aside from the fact that
C.M. Saxton & Co. in New York was the major handbook publisher. Despite the lack of
If you delete words from the original quotation, insert an ellipsis, three periods with a space between and after each one.
Notice how this paragraph begins with a transition. The topic sentence follows the transition, and it tells readers what the paragraph is about. Direct quotes are used to support this topic sentence.
Notice how this paragraph ends with a brief mention of print sources and the next paragraph begins with a discussion of print informa- tion.
Transitions connect paragraphs and unify writing.
Body paragraphs often (but don’t always) have these four elements: a transition, a topic sentence, evidence, and a brief wrap-up sentence.
information about handbooks, and as can be seen in my discussion below, these
handbooks played a significant role in distributing knowledge among farmers and in
educating young farmers, as I now discuss.
Farming’s Influence on Education. One result of the newly circulating print information
was the “need for acquiring scientific information upon which could be based a rational
technology” that could “be substituted for the current diverse, empirical practices”
(Danhof 69). In his 1825 book Nature and Reason Harmonized in the Practice of
Husbandry , John Lorain begins his first chapter by stating that “[v]ery erroneous theories
have been propagated” resulting in faulty farming methods (1). His words here create a
framework for the rest of his book, as he offers his readers narratives of his own trials and
errors and even dismisses foreign, time-tested techniques farmers had held on to: “The
knowledge we have of that very ancient and numerous nation the Chinese, as well as the
very located habits and costumes of this very singular people, is in itself insufficient to
teach us.. .” (75). His book captures the call and need for scientific experiments to
develop new knowledge meant to be used in/on/with American soil, which reflects some
farmers’ thinking of the day.
By the 1860s, the need for this knowledge was strong enough to affect education.
John Nicholson anticipated this effect in 1820 in the “Experiments” section of his book
The Farmer’s Assistant; Being a Digest of All That Relates to Agriculture and the
Conducting of Rural Affairs; Alphabetically Arranged and Adapted for the United States :
Perhaps it would be well, if some institution were devised, and supported at the
expense of the State, which would be so organized as would tend most effectually
to produce a due degree of emulation among Farmers, by rewards and honorary
distinctions conferred by those who, by their successful experimental efforts and
improvements, should render themselves duly entitled to them. 3 (92)
The paragraph ends with a wrap-up sentence, “Despite the lack.. .”, while transi- tioning to the next thought.
Use block quotations when quoted text runs longer than four lines once typed in your paper.
Block quotations begin on a new line, are double- spaced, and are indented half an inch from the margin. Do not add quotation marks not present in the original. The citation information (author name and page number) follows the quote’s end punctua- tion.
These objectives were a response to farmers’ needs at the time, mainly to the need for
experiments, printed distribution of new farming knowledge, and education. Isaac
Newton, the first Commissioner of Agriculture, ensured these objectives would be
realized by stressing research and education with the ultimate goal of helping farmers
improve their operations (Hurt 190).
Before the USDA assisted in the circulation of knowledge, however, farmers
wrote about their own farming methods. This brings me to my next section in which I
examine three handbooks written by farmers and connect my observations of the texts
with the discussion of agricultural history I have presented above.
Note: Sections of this paper have been omitted for the purpose of this sample.
CONCLUSION
From examining Drown’s, Allen’s, and Crozier and Henderson’s handbooks in light of
nineteenth century agricultural history, I can say that science and education seem to have
had a strong influence on how and why these handbooks were written. The authors’ ethos
is created by how they align themselves as farmers with science and education either by
supporting or by criticizing them. Regardless of their stance, the authors needed to create
an ethos to gain an audience, and they did this by including tables of information,
illustrations of animals and buildings, reasons for educational reform, and pieces of
advice to young farmers in their texts. It would be interesting to see if other farming
handbooks of the same century also convey a similar ethos concerning science and
education in agriculture. Recovering more handbooks in this way could lead to a better,
more complete understanding of farming education, science’s role in farming and
education, and perhaps even an understanding of the rhetoric of farming handbooks in
the nineteenth century.
The conclusion “wraps up” what you have been discussing in your paper.
Because this is a Level 2 header, the paragraph is not indented.
Notes
1. Danhof includes “Delaware, Maryland, all states north of the Potomac and Ohio
rivers, Missouri, and states to its north” when referring to the northern states (11).
2. For the purposes of this paper, “science” is defined as it was in nineteenth
century agriculture: conducting experiments and engaging in research.
3. Please note that any direct quotes from the nineteenth century texts are written
in their original form, which may contain grammar mistakes according to twenty-first
century grammar rules.
Endnotes begin on a new page after the paper but before the Works Cited. Double- space all entries and indent each entry 0.5” from the margin. Use size 12 Times New Roman font.
Center the title “Notes,” using 12-point Times New Roman font.
Nicholson, John. The Farmer’s Assistant; Being a Digest of All That Relates to
Agriculture and the Conducting of Rural Affairs; Alphabetically Arranged and
Adapted for the United States. Warner, 1820.
