Foreword<br > OR MORE "HAN 205 YEARS~ Till! OID FARMER 5 AI，MANA~<br > has been writte a to be read on a daily basis in short snatches of<br > time. From nay perus，d of the early editions， 1 bave concluded<br > that these daily offerings of wisdom -- whether about the home，<br > cooking， gardening， or just plain living -- were thr shorter and<br > more concise than in recent years， and I think I know why.<br > The explanation stems from the fact that because the Almanac was<br > referred to every day throughout the year， it was usually hung on a nail with<br > a long piece of string. (These days， we provide a hole in the Ahnanac lbr<br > that very purpose，) And where do you suppose most people hung it? Let s<br > just say it was a place visited regularly by everyone in the household and<br > where a little reading could be helpful in many ways.<br > Now take into account that the early Almanac editors realized that<br > durhtg the cold winter mouths -- or， for that matter， during the halmy<br > mosquito season -- they would need to inform and entertain their readers<br > quiddB much like television producers think today. "Burn or sweep your<br > chimney; advised the 1793 edition for lanuary 31 of that year. That was a<br > qnick， snappB useful reminder ~ the 18th-ceutury version of a sound I~itc.<br > For l~0brtlary 9， 1793， the equally concise advice was "Get your tools in<br > order for spring work: <br > Witl~ the advent of indoor plmnbing in the 20th century， the<br > Alm~nac s editorial late became more relaxed. Many people continued to<br >