found: 14 books |
"Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), an emerging new methodology, is a distinctive 'process of learning about rural conditions in an intensive, iterative and expeditious manner.' Specifically designed to improve quality and timeliness and to reduce the cost of rural development research" [From the rear wrap copy]. Very good .
First edition. Good .
Daniel Jenifer of Maryland, Philip Triplett of Kentucky and Benjamin Jones of Virginia were appointed by the convention of tobacco planters held in Washington on May 1 and 2, 1840 "to memorialize Congress in relation to the high duties and restrictions upon the staple of tobacco in foreign countries". Pages 9-13 consist of a section of tobacco statistics. Good .
A note is penciled along the top of the first page: "Not for presentation to Congress but please read!"
The four engravings of reapers are signed "Miller-Mix", that is John Miller and Lucius C. Mix.
A group of New York citizens protests to Congress against the renewal of Cyrus McCormick's patent for improvements to his reaping machine. The citizens claim that improvements to the machine for which McCormick claims credit were the work of others, in particular of Obed Hussey whose reaping machine was agreed to perform much better than McCormick's. "Mr. Hussey is a modest man, as well as a man of genius, and consequently the public ear has not been deafened with bombastic accounts of his success. Probably very few persons in this country have ever heard of this final trial between his machine and that of McCormick."
Behind this conclusion to the Remonstrance lies the sad story of Obed Hussey [1790-1860], born in Maine to Quaker parents, who was the inventor of a reaping machine. Hussey tested and patented his reaper in 1833, which placed him in competition with the formidable Cyrus H. McCormick of Chicago, Illinois. Both men made several patented improvements to the reaper, until Hussey was finally driven out of business. He sold the rights in his reaper to McCormick in 1858. Two years later, while attempting to board a train in Exeter, NH, he fell beneath the cars and died.
Rare. WorldCat locates three copies. Very good .
Attempts to introduce sericulture to the United States had been sporadic and largely unsuccessful. In 1831 a manual on sericulture by J. H. Cobb was distributed to members of Congress. A determined effort to establish silk culture then led to the "Mormus multicaulis craze". Thousands of individuals bought and planted mulberry plants of this species on large areas of valuable land. The investments far exceeded possible returns and when heavy frosts destroyed plantations of the trees, the many failures and disappointments led to silk culture being more or less abandoned in the States. A later attempt to develop a hardy race of silk-producing insects by crossing the gypsy moth with the silkworm moth resulted in the gypsy moth becoming one of North America's most serious forest pests.
On pages 16-17 McLean suggests that silk farming will offer employment to "indigent females and children" who are suffering as a result of the industrial revolution.
Scarce. Good .
James W. Patterson, Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College, addresses the question of how to achieve the full development of America's agricultural resources. Good .
The book is an argument supporting the long held assertion that Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper. Good .
Second edition.
From the library of geographer Vincent Kotschar with his book label on the front pastedown. Good .
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