THE OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC SAMPLER

A generous selection from the various departments of the Almanac over its 165 continuous years of publication give this its plainspoken, sturdy appeal. For the long reputation this annual has had, its weather predictions, its rhymed seasonal headings, its calendar columns, its anecdotes and pleasantries, and its useful and entertaining entries (these are the divisions of the book) have made many friends. The preface provides a short history of almanacs in general and this almanac in particular and comments on its development through the years, famous events and famous uses of it in its long life, and the intense reader interest in its familiar sections. Current day users will have their curiosity delighted with the inclusions from the earliest years (1793), and the definite feeling of changing times is seen in admonitions about health, sanitation, cooking, food and drink, and in the reflection of household ways, social customs, politics, marriage, etc., etc. Each entry is marked with the year's date; there are recipes, jokes, reforms, farm management, stories and verse; and the illustrations are to be line drawings taken from the publication. An excellent gift book for the country (and the city) house; for the bedside table as well as the living room bookshelves.