King (1848-1911) reminded Americans that their prosperity rested on a low population density and soil that had only begun to be tilled, but that long-term prosperity needs rest on maintaining the fertility of the soil. In the Pacific Asian countries he found not so much specific techniques as approaches and principles for doing so that he thought could be applied in America before the soil was depleted. His own photographs punctuate the text. He speaks of an earlier edition, but the first cited edition was published by his wife in Madison, Wisconsin in 1911. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
