Rich in artifactual value, the manuscripts of the early American period also provide uncommon resources for the study of American farmer's quest for improved farming practices. As the economy of the new nation became dependent on a scientific approach to farming that would develop agriculture into a strong basic economy, the records of the Society's correspondence and activities document the results of new methods of planting, fertilizing, harvesting, and care of livestock.

The international character of the Society's interests and correspondence is exemplified by the printed collection. Particularly represented is George Washington's connection with Arthur Young and Sir John Sinclair and the new Board of Agriculture of Grea t Britain. Dependent on European sources of agricultural knowledge, especially French and English, the Society not only purchased books from abroad, but many European authors sent copies of their works, especially pamphlet publications. American and Europ ean information can be found in the Library on contemporary fads like the Mangel wurzel or the merino sheep industry. And particularly because of the Society's interest in the spreading of agricultural knowledge, the collection is strong in nineteenth-cen tury American agricultural journals.

The University of Pennsylvania Library is pleased and privileged to be able to preserve, develop, and provide access to this singular collection. The Libraries and the Society have collaborated in a unique way to insure that the collection is well-managed and well maintained so that scholars now and in the future can turn to it as the valuable resource it is.

Michael T. Ryan, Director
Walter H. & Leonore Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Pennsylvania