author
L. W. (Leonard Wheeler) Kephart
1892–1988
A practical American agronomist, he wrote clear, useful books and bulletins that helped farmers tackle forage crops, weeds, and poisonous plants. His work reflects a hands-on approach to agriculture that still feels grounded and direct.
2 Audiobooks
Poison-ivy, poison-oak and poison sumac : Identification, precautions, eradication
by D. M. (Donald Mundell) Crooks, L. W. (Leonard Wheeler) Kephart
Growing Crimson Clover
by L. W. (Leonard Wheeler) Kephart
About the author
Born in Ithaca, New York, in 1892, Leonard Wheeler Kephart was the son of writer and outdoorsman Horace Kephart and Laura Mack Kephart. A surviving family record notes that he graduated from Cornell University in 1913 and studied agriculture there.
Kephart became known for agricultural writing that was meant to be useful in the field, not just on the shelf. He published works on crimson clover, quackgrass, sweetclover, hairy vetch, and poison-ivy, poison-oak, and poison sumac, and his name appears on a range of United States Department of Agriculture publications and related farming bulletins.
He lived a long life, dying in Rockville, Maryland, in 1988 at the age of 96. Today he is remembered less as a literary figure than as a steady, informative voice in early 20th-century American agriculture.