I've looked at a number of books on the subject printed recently and not one is a patch on this classic, written in the 1940s when self-sufficiency was the alternative to going hungry, not a middle-class hobby. As well as growing, propagating and preserving fruit and vegetables, it covers wild herbs, fruits and vegetables plus keeping poultry (both for eggs and the table), rearing rabbits for meat and the skins, and even has shorter sections on goats and on beekeeping. The information given is broad-ranging, detailed, and beautifully yet clearly illustrated with line-drawings in the text. Everything that might puzzle the beginner is made clear by a picture, ranging from simple diagrams to full-page drawings showing the task being carried out by sturdy-looking chaps in flat hats and braces. The range of fruit and vegetables covered includes many unusual varieties and I doubt of most readers would ever find the book lacking when they refer to it. The section on poultry is particularly go