Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Trial and Error, 1878-1893 -- 3. Cooperation and Success, 1893-1902 -- 4. "The Nation's Future," 1902-1907 -- 5. Conflict and Disillusion, 1907-1912 -- 6. Isolation and Expertise, 1907-1912 -- 7. Retirement and Retreat, 1912-1916 --...

During the 1850s, land in U.S. farms surged by more than 100 million acres while almost 50 million acres of land were transformed from their raw, natural state into productive farmland. The time and expense of transforming this land into a productive resource represented a significant fraction...