C. L. (Charles Landon) Goodrich

Charles Landon Goodrich, usually listed as C. L. Goodrich, was an American writer on agriculture born in 1859. Project Gutenberg identifies him as the author of The First Book of Farming, and the book itself was presented as an accessible guide for farmers, students, and teachers.

His best-known work explains farming through simple principles, experiments, and close observation, with special attention to plants, roots, soil, moisture, and nutrients. That practical teaching style suggests he wrote for readers who wanted to understand the basics of agriculture in a useful, everyday way rather than through abstract theory.

Reliable biographical detail beyond his birth year is limited in the sources I could confirm here. Some catalog and bookseller records also connect him with other agricultural writing, including work related to farm management in the American South, but the clearest confirmed picture is of an author dedicated to straightforward agricultural education.