AGRICUUURE FOR BEGINNERS BURKETT STEVENS AND HILL BCOMP'\?Q \l Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/agricultureforbOOburl< AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS BV CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT Editor of the Amer/c.4X Acr/clltlr/st formerlv director of agriclltiral experiment station K.\NSAs State Agriclltlral College FRANK LINCOLN STEVENS Professor of Plant Pathoijogv, University of Illinois FORMERLY TeACHER OF SCIENCE IN HlC.H ScHOOL CoLiMBis, Ohio AND DANIEL HARVEY HILL President of the North Carolina College of Agricvlti're and Mechanic Arts REVISED EDITIOX GIXX AND COMPANY BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON Ccii-VRK,IIT, 1903, 1904, igi4, HY Charles William Uurkett, Frank Lincoln Stevens AND Daniel Harvey Hill ALL KKIHIS RESERVED 214.2 i;lNN AND lUMl'AiW • I'KU- PKIHTOKS • UOSTUN • U.S.A. PREFACE Since its first publication "Agriculture for Beginners" has found a welcome in thousands of schools and homes. Naturally many suggestions as to changes, additions, and other improvements have reached its authors. Naturally, too, the authors have busied themselves in devising methods to add to the effectiveness of the book. Some additions have been made almost ever)- year since the book was published. To embodv all these changes and helpful suggestions into a stricth- unified volume ; to add some further topics and sec- tions ; to bring all farm practices up to the ideals of to-day ; to include the most recent teaching of scientific investigators — these were the objects sought in the thorough revision which has just been given the book. The authors hope and think that the remaking of the book has added to its usefulness and attractiveness. They believe now, as they believed before, that there is no line of separation between the science of agriculture and the practical art of agriculture. They are assured by the success of this book that agriculture is eminently a teachable subject. They see no difference. bet\veen teaching the child the funda- mental principles of farming and teaching the same child the fundamental truths of arithmetic, geography, or grammar. The)' hold that a youth should be trained for the farm just as carefully as he is trained for any other occupation, and that it is unreasonable to expect him to succeed without training. iv AGRICULTIRE FOR BEGIXXERS If they are right in these views, the training must begin in the public schools. This is true for t^vo reasons : 1. It is universally admitted that aptitudes are devel- oped, tastes acquired, and life habits formed during the years that a child is in the public school. Hence, during these important years ever\- child intended for the farm should be taught to know and love nature, should be led to form habits of obser\ation, and should be required to begin a study of those great laws upon which agricultiu-e is based. A training like this goes far toward making his life-work profitable and delightful. 2. Most boys and girls reared on a farm get no educa- tional training except that given in the public schools. If, then, the truths that unlock the doors of nature are not taught in the public schools, nature and nature's laws will always be hid in night to a majorit}- of our bread-winners. They must still in ignorance and hopeless drudgers- tear their bread from a reluctant soil. The authors return hearty thanks to Professor Thomas F. Hunt. Universit)- of California ; Professor Augustine D. Selby, Ohio Experiment Station ; Professor W". F. Massey, horticulturist and agricultural writer ; and Professor Franklin Sherman, Jr.. State Entomologist of North Carolina, for aid in proofreading and in the preparation of some of the material. CONTEXTS CHAPTER I. THE SOIL SECTION PAGE I. Origin of the Soil i II. Tillage of the Soil 6 III. The MoisTiRE of the Soil 9 IV. How THE Water rise.s in the Soil 13 V. Draining the Soil 14 VI. Improving the Soil 17 VII. Manlring the Soil 21 CHAPTER II. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT VIII. R00T.S 25 IX. How the Plant feeds from the Soil 29 X. Root-Tlbercles 30 XI. The Rot.\tion of Crops ^^ CHAPTER III. THE PLANT XII. How the Plant feeds from the Air 39 XIII. The Sap Current 40 XIV. The Flower and the Seed 42 XV. Pollination 46 XVI. Crosses, Hybrids, and Cross-Pollin.\tion 48 XVII. PROP.A.GATION BY BiTDs 51 XVIII. Plant Seeding 59 XIX. Selecting Seed Corn 66 XX. Weeds 69 XXI. Seed Pcrity and Vitality 72 vi AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS CHAPTER IV. HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE SECTION PAGE XXII. Gr.\ftixg 78 XXIII. Budding Si XXIV. Plaxting and Pruning S3 CHAPTER V. HORTICULTURE XXV. Market-g.\rdening 89 XXVI. Flower-g.\rdening loS CHAPTER VI. THE DISEASES OF PLANTS XXVII. The Cause and Nature of Plant Disease .... 122 XXVIII. Yeast and Bacteria 127 XXIX. Prevention of Plant Disease 129 XXX. Some Special Plant Diseases 130 CHAPTER VII. ORCHARD, GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS XXXI. Insects in Gener.\l 144 XXXII. Orchard Insects 132 XXXIII. Garden .\nd Field Insects 165 XXXIV. The Cotton-Boll Weevil 173 CHAPTER VIII. FARM CROPS XXXV. Cotton 180 XXXVI. ToB.\cco 1S9 XXXVII. Whe.\t 192 XXXVIII. Corn 197 XXXIX. Peanuts 202 XL. Sweet Pot.\toes 204 XLI. White, or Irish. Potatoes 206 XLII. O.ATS 209 CONTENTS vii SECTION PA«^ XLIII. Rye 213 XLIV. Uarley -'5 XLV. Sugar Plants 217 XLVI. Hemp and Flax --^ XLVII. Buckwheat ^-9 XLVIII. Rkt. -3' XLIX. The Timber CRf)i" -3- L. The Farm Garden -35 CHAPTER IX. FEED STUFFS - EI. Grasses -3^ LIE Eegumes -44 CHAPTER X. DOMESTIC AXIMAES EIIE Horses 262 EIV. Cattle -7° EV. Sheep 276 lAI. Swine -79 EVIE Farm Poiltrv -^- E\'III. Pee CuLTiRE -S6 EE\. Why we feed Animals 290 CHAPTER XI. FARM DAIRVIXG EX. The Dairy Cow 293 l.Xl. Mii.K, Cream, Churning, and Butter 297 EXn. Hi)W Milk sours 302 EX in. The Bahcock Milk-Tester 304 CHAPTER XII. MISCEEEAXEOUS EX IV. Growing Feed Stuffs on the Farm 309 EXV. Farm Tools and M.achines 313 LXVI. Liming the Land 3^5 viii AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION PAGE LXVII. Birds 31S LXVIII. Farming on Dry Land 323 LXIX. Irrigation 326 LXX. Life in the Country 330 APPEXDLX 339 GLOSSARY 342 IXDEX 351 TO THE TEACHER An earnest teaching of this book will add to the attractive- ness of your course of study. Do not hesitate to enter very heartily into the subject. To teach agriculture you need not feel that you must be an authority on all questions arising in this broad field. To teach the elements of agriculture one need not be an expert in agricultural science. A farm prac- tice based on the fundamental principles of science will make life on the farm easier and will make the farm more beautiful, more productive, and more profitable. Any earnest teacher can easily learn these principles and then teach them with success. When it is possible, lead the pupils out into the field, make simple experiments before them, and have them also perform experiments. Let them learn directly from nature ; a fact gained at first hand will linger in the mind long after mere second-hand book-knowledge has departed. Teach by observation and experiment. The young mind grasps the concrete but wearies with the abstract. You will find in the practical exercises many suggestions as to experiments that you can make with your class. Do not neglect these. They will be the life of your work. In many cases it will be best to perform the experimental or observational work first, and turn later to the text to amplify the pupil's knowledge. Although the authors have arranged this book in a logical order, they hope that teachers will feel free to teach each X AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS topic in the season best suited to its study. Omit any chapter or section that does not deal with conditions in your state or with your crops. Tr}- to get for your school library ever)- farm bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agriculture and as many bulletins as possible from different state experiment stations. These bulletins cost nothing and are mines of practical and interesting information. TO THE PUPIL Consult the glossar\- in the back of this book for the meanings of all hard words. Perform all the suggested experiments for yourself. Do not be content to watch your teacher or your fellow-students perform the experiments. First-hand work gives expertness, accuracy, interest, knowledge, and power. Above all, learn of nature. At first she is a shy and silent teacher, but on better acquaintance she will talk to you in many tongues. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS CHAPTER I the' soil section i. origin' of the soil The word soil occurs many times in this Httle book. In agriculture this word is used to describe the thin layer of surface earth that, like some great blanket, is tucked around the wrinkled and age-beaten form of our globe. The harder and colder earth under this surface layer is called the subsoil. It should be noted, however, that in waterless and sun-dried regions there seems little difference between the soil and the subsoil. Plants, insects, birds, beasts, men, — all alike are fed on what grows in this thin layer of soil. If some wild flood in sudden wrath could sweep into the ocean this earth-wrapping soil, food would soon become as scarce as it was in Samaria when mothers ate their sons. The face of the earth as we now see it, daintily robed in grass, or uplifting waving acres of com, or even naked, water-scarred, and disfigured by man's neglect, is ver)- different from what it was in its earliest davs. How was it then } How was the soil formed } Learned men think that at first the surface of the earth was solid rock. How was this rock changed into workable soil } Occasionally a curious boy picks up a rotten stone, squeezes it, and finds his hands filled with dirt, or soil. Now, I 2 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS just as the boy crumbled with his fingers this single stone, the great forces of nature with boundless patience crumbled, or, as it is called, disintegrated, the early rock mass. The simple but giant-strong agents that beat the rocks into pow- der with a clublike force a millionfold more powerful than the club force of Hercules were chiefly (i) heat and cold; (2) water, frost, and ice; (3; a ven- low form of vegetable life; and (4) tiny animals — if such minute bodies can be called animals. In some cases these forces acted singly ; in others, all acted together to rend and crumble the unbroken stretch of rock. Let us glance at some of the methods used by these skilled soil-makers. Heat and cold are working partners. You already know that most hot bodies shrink, or contract, on cooling. The early rocks were hot. As the outside shell of rock cooled from exposure to air and moisture it contracted. This shrink- age of the rigid rim of course broke mam* of the rocks, and here and there left cracks, or fissures. In these fissures water collected and froze. As freezing water expands with irre- sistible power, the expansion still further broke the rocks to pieces. The smaller pieces again, in the same wa}, were acted on by frost and ice and again crumbled. This process is still a means of soil-formation. Running water was another giant soil-former. If you would understand its action, obser\'e some usually sparkling stream just after a washing rain. The clear waters are discolored by mud washed in from the surrounding hills. As though dis- liking their muddy burden, the waters strive to throw it off. Here, as low banks offer chance, they run out into shallows and drop some of it. Here, as they pass a quiet pool, they deposit more. At last they reach the still water at the mouth of the stream, and there they leave behind the last of their THE SOIL 3 mud load, and often form of it little three-sided islands called deltas. In the same way mighty rivers like the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Hudson, when they are swollen by rain, bear great quantities of soil in their sweep to the seas. Some of the soil they scatter over the lowlands as they whirl sea- ward ; the rest they deposit in deltas at their mouths. It is Fig. I. Rock marked by the ScRAriNc of a C^laciek over it estimated that the Mississippi carries to the ocean each year enough soil to cover a square mile of surface to a depth of two hundred and sixty-eight feet. The early brooks and rivers, instead of bearing mud, ran oceanward either bearing ground stone that they themselves had worn from the rocks by ceaseless fretting, or bearing stones that other forces had already dislodged. The large pieces were whirled from side to side and beaten against one another or against bedrock until they were ground into smaller and smaller pieces. The rivers distributed this rock 4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS soil just as the later rivers distribute mudd\- soil. For ages the mo\"ing waters ground against the rocks. \'ast were the waters ; vast the number of years ; vast the results. Glaciers were another soil-producing agent. Glaciers are streams " frozen and mo\"ing slowly but irresistibly onwards, down well-defined valleys, grinding and pulverizing the rock masses detached by the force and weight of their attack." Where and how were these glaciers formed ? Once a great part of upper North America was a \-ast sheet of ice. Whatever moisture fell from the sky feU as snow. No one knows what made this long winter of snow, but we do know that snows piled on snows until mountains of white were built up. The lower snow was by the pres- sure of that above it packed into ice masses. By and by some change of climate caused the masses of ice to break up somewhat and to move south and west. These mo\ing masses, carr\-ing rock and frozen earth, ground them to powder. King thus describes the stately movement of these snow mountains : " Beneath the bottom of this slowly moxing sheet of ice, which with more or less difficultA* kept itself conformable with the face of the land over which it was riding, the sharper outstanding points were cut away and the deeper river canons filled in. Desolate and rugged rocky wastes were thrown down and spread over with rich soil." The joint action of air, moisture, and frost was still another agent of soil-making. This action is called u'cathcriug. When- ever you have noticed the outside stones of a spring-house, 3^ou have noticed that tiny bits are crumbling from the face of the stones, and adding little by little to the soil. This is a slow way of making additions to the soil. It is estimated that it would take 728,000 years to wear aw^y limestone rock to THE SOIL 5 a depth of thirty-nine inches. But when you recall the count- less years through which the weather has striven against the rocks, you can readily understand that its never-wear)ing actixity has added immensely to the soil. In the rock soil formed in these various ways, and indeed on the rocks themselves, tiny plants that live on food taken from the air began to grow. They grew just as )-ou now see mosses and lichens grow on the surface of rocks. The decay Fig. 2. Ground Rock at End of a Glacier of these plants added some fertility to the newly formed soil. The life and death of each succeeding generation of these lowly plants added to the soil matter accumulating on the rocks. Slowly but unceasingly the soil increased in depth until higher vegetable forms could flourish and add their dead bodies to it. This vegetable addition to the soil is generally known as Imunts. In due course of time low forms of animal life came to live on these plants, and in turn by their work and their death to aid in making a soil fit for the plowman. 6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Thus with a dehberation that fills man with awe, the pow- erful forces of nature splintered the rocks, ciTimbled them, filled them with plant food, and turned their flinty grains into a soft, snug home for vegetable life. SECTION II. TILLAGE OF THE SOIL A good many years ago a man hv the name of Jethro Tull lived in England. He was a farmer and a most successful man in every way. He first taught the English people and the world the value of thorough tillage of the soil. Before and during his time farmers did not till the soil veiy intel- ligently. They simply prepared the seed-bed in a careless manner, as a great many farmers do to-day, and when the crops were gathered the fields were not large. Jethro Tull centered attention on the important fact that careful and thorough tillage increases the available plant food in the soil. He did not know why his crops were better when the ground was frequently and thoroughly tilled, but he knew that such tillage did increase his yield. He ex- plained the fact by saying, " Tillage is manure." We have since learned the reason for the truth that Tull taught, and, while his explanation was incorrect, the practice that he was following was excellent. The stirring of the soil enables the air to circulate through it freely, and permits a breaking down of the compounds that contain the elements necessar}' to plant growth. You have seen how the air helps to crumble the stone and brick in old buildings. It does the same with soil if permitted to circulate freely through it. The agent of the air that chiefly performs this work is called carbonic acid gas, and this gas . is one of the greatest helpers the farmer has in cariy-ing on THE SOIL 7 his work. We must not forget that in soil preparation the air is just as important as any of the tools and implements used in cultivation. If the soil is fertile and if deep plowing has always been done, good crops will result, other conditions being favorable. Fig. 3. Sloi'e to Water shows Soil weathered from Face of Cliff If, however, the tillage is poor, scanty har\'ests will always result. For most soils a two-horse plow is necessary to break up and pulverize the land. A shallow soil can always be improved by properlv deepen- ing it. The principle of greatest importance in soil-preparation 8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS is the gradual deepening of the soO in order that plant-roots mav have more comfortable homes. If tlie farmer has been accustomed to plow but four inches deep, he should adjust the plow so as to turn live inches at the next plowing, then sLx, and so on until the seed-bed is nine or ten inches deep. This gradual deepening \\ill not injure the soil but will put it quickly in good condition. If to good tillage Fig. 4. Mixed Grasses gruwn fur Forage rotation of crops be added, tlie soil will become more fertile \\ith each succeeding year. The plow, harrow, and roller are all necessary to good tillage and to a proper preparation of the seed-bed. The soil must be made compact and clods of all sizes must be crushed. Then the air circulates freely, and pa>ing crops are the rule and not the exception. Tillage does these things: it increases the plant-food supplv, destroys weeds, and influences the moisture content of the soil. THE SOIL 9 EXERCISE 1. What tools are used in tillage? 2. How should a poor and shallow soil be treated? 3. Whv should a poor and shallow soil be well compacted before sowing the crop ? 4. Explain the value of a circulation of air in the soil. 5. What causes iron to rust? 6. Why is a two-horse turning-plow better than a one-horse plow ? 7. Where will clods do the least harm — on top of the soil or below the surface ? 8. Do plant roots penetrate clods ? 9. Are earthworms a benefit or an injun,' to the soil? 10. Name three things that tillage does. SECTION III. THE MOISTURE OF THE SOIL Did any one ever explain to you how important water is to the soil, or tell you why it is so important .'' Often, as you know, crops entirely fail because there is not enough water in the soil for the plants to drink. How necessar}' is it, then, that the soil be kept in the best possible condition to catch and hold enough water to carr\' the plant through dr}-, hot spells ! Perhaps you are ready to ask, " How does the mouth- less plant drink its stored-up water ? " The plant gets all its water through its roots. You have seen the tiny thread-like roots of a plant spreading all about in fine soil; they are down in the ground taking up plant food and water for the stalk and leaves above. The water, carrying plant food with it, rises in a simple but peculiar way through the roots and stems. The plants use the food for building new tissue, that is, for growth. The water passes out through the leaves into the air. When the summers are dry and hot and there is lO AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS but little water in the soil, the leaves shrink up. This is simpU' a method they have of keeping the water from pass- ing too rapidly off into the air. I am sure you have seen the corn blades all shriveled on ver\- hot days. This shrink- age is nature's way of diminishing the current of water that is steadily passing through the plant. A thrifty farmer will tr)- to keep his soil in such good con- dition that it will have a supply of water in it for growing crops when dr)- and hot weather comes. He can do this by deep plowing, by subsoiling, by add- ing any kind of decaying vegetable matter to the soil, and by growing crops that can be tilled frequently. The soil is a great storehouse for moisture. After the clouds have emptied their waters into this store- house, the water of the soil comes to the surface, where it is evaporated into the air. The water comes to the surface in just the same way that oil rises in a lamp-wick. This rising of the water is called capillarity. It is necessar)- to understand what is meant by this big word. If into a pan of water you dip a glass tube, the water inside the tube rises above the level of the water in the pan. The smaller the tube the higher will the water rise. The greater rise inside is perhaps due to the fact that the glass attracts the particles of water more than the particles of water attract one another. Now apply this principle to the soil. The soil particles have small spaces between them, and the spaces act just as the tube does. When the water at the sur- face is carried away by drying winds and warmth, the water -^m^- Fig. 5. Ax Enlarged View of a Section of Moist Soil, showing Air Spaces and Soil Particles 12 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS deeper in the soil rises through the soil spaces. In this way water is brought from its soil storehouse as plants need it. Of course when the underground water reaches the sur- face it evaporates. If we want to keep it for our crops, we must prepare a trap to hold it. Nature has shown us how this can be done. Pick up a plank as it lies on the ground. Under the plank the soil is wet, while the soil not covered by the Fig. 7. Apparatus for testing the Holding of Water by Different Soils plank is dr}-. Why ? Capillarit}- brought the water to the sur- face, and the plank, b\- keeping away wind and warmth, acted as a trap to hold the moisture. Now of course a farmer can- not set a trap of planks over his fields, but he can make a trap of dry earth, and that will do just as well. When a crop like corn or cotton or potatoes is cultivated, the fine, loose dirt stirred by the cultivating-plow will make a mulch that ser\-es to keep water in the soil in the same way THE SOIL 13 that the plank kept moisture under it. The mulch also helps to absorb the rains and prevents the water from running off the surface. Frequent cultivation, then, is one of the best pos- sible ways of saving moisture. Hence the farmer who most frequently stirs his soil in the growing season, and especially in seasons of drought, reaps, other things being equal, a more abundant harvest than if tillage were neglected. EXERCISE 1 . Why is the soil wet under a board or under straw ? 2. Will a soil that is fine and compact produce better crops than one that is loose and cloddy ? Why ? 3. Since the water which a plant uses comes through the roots, can the morning dew afford any assistance ? 4. Why are weeds objectionable in a growing crop ? 5. Why does the farmer cultivate growing com and cotton? SECTION IV. HOW THE WATER RISES IX THE SOIL When the hot. dn.- days of summer come, the soil depends upon the subsoil, or undersoil, for the moisture that it must furnish its growing plants. The water was stored in the soil during the fall, winter, and spring months when there was plenty of rain. If you dig down into the soil when every- thing is dr\- and hot, you will soon reach a cool, moist under- soil. The moisture increases as vou dig J . ', ., Fig. 8. Using Lamp-Chimnevs to show deeper mto the soil. ^„^ c^ ^^ „. ^ ^ THE Rise of u ater in Soil 14 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Now the roots of plants go down into the soil for this moisture, because they need the water to carr\- the plant food up into the stems and leaves. You can see how the water rises in the soil by performing a simple experiment. EXPERIMENT Take a lamp-chimney and fill it with fine, drj' dirt. The dirt from a road or a field will do. Tie over the smaller end of the lamp-chimney a piece of cloth or a pocket handkerchief, and place this end in a shallow pan of water. If the soil in the lamp-chimney is clay and well packed, the water will quickly rise to the top. By filling three or four lamp-chimneys with as many different soils, the pupil will see that the water rises more slowly in some than in others. Now take the water pan away, and the water in the lamp-chimneys will gradually evaporate. Study for a few days the effect of evaporation on the several soils. SECTION V. DRAINING THE SOIL A wise man was once asked, "What is the most valuable improvement ever made in agriculture?" He answered, " Drainage." Often soils unfit for crop-production because they contain too much water are by drainage rendered the most valuable of farming lands. Drainage benefits land in the following ways : 1. It deepens the subsoil by removing unnecessary water from the spaces between the soil particles. This admits air. Then the oxygen which is in the air, by aiding decay, pre- pares plant food for vegetation. 2. It makes the surface soil, or topsoil, deeper. It stands to reason that the deeper the soil the more plant food be- comes available for plant use. THE SOIL 15 3. It improves the texture of the soil. Wet soil is sticky. Drainage makes this sticky soil crumble and fall apart. 4. It prevents \\-ashing. 5. It increases the porosit)- of soils and permits roots to go deeper into the soil for food and moisture. 6. It increases the warmth of the soil. 7. It oermits earlier working in spring and after rains. Fig. 9. Laying .\ Tile Dr.\ix 8. It favors the growth of germs which change the unavailable nitrogen of the soil into nitrates ; that is, into the form of nitrogen most useful to plants. 9. It enables plants to resist drought better because the roots go into the ground deeper early in the season. A soil that is hard and wet will not grow good crops. The nitrogen-gathering crops will store the greatest quan- tit}- of nitrogen in the soil when the soil is open to the free i6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS circulation of the air. These \:aluable crops cannot do this when the soil is wet and cold. Sandy soils vi"ith sand}' subsoils do not often need drainage ; such soils are natiu^ally drained. With claj' soils it is different. It is ven* important to remove the stagnant water in them and to let the air in. \\'hen land has been properly drained the other steps in improvement are easily taken. After soil has been dried and Fig. io. A Tile ix Posmox mellowed by proper drainage, then commercial fertilizers, barnyard manure, cowpeas, and clover can most readily do their great work of impro\ing the texture of the soil and of making it fitter for plant growth. Tile Drains. Tile drains are the best and cheapest that can be used. It would not be too strong to say that drain- ing by tiles is the most perfect drainage. Thousands of practical tests in this countn,^ have proved the superiorit\- of tile draining for the foUovi-ing reasons : THE SOIL 17 1 . Good tile drains properly laid last for years and do not fill up. 2. They furnish the cheapest possible means of removing too much water from the soil. 3. They are out of reach of all cultivating tools. 4. Surface water in filtering through the tiles leaves its nutritious elements for plant growth. EXPERIMENTS To show the Efiect of Drainage. Take two tomato cans and fill both with the same kind of soil. Punch several holes in the bottom of one to drain the soil above and to admit air circulation. Leave the other unpunctured. Plant seeds of any kind in both cans and keep in a warm place. Add every third day equal quantities of water. Let seeds grow in both cans and observe the difference in growth for two or three weeks. To show the Effect of Air in Soils. Take two tomato cans ; fill one with soil that is loose and warm, and the other \\-ith wet clay or muck from a swampy field. Plant a few seeds of the same kind in each and observe how much better the dr}*, warm, open soil is for growing farm crops. SECTION VI. IMPROVING THE SOIL We hear a great deal about the exhaustion or wearing out of the soil. Many uncomfortable people are always declaring that our lands will no longer produce profitable crops, and hence that farming will no longer pav. Now it is true, unfortunately, that much land has been robbed of its fertility, and, because this is true, we should be most deeply interested in ever)thing that leads to the improvement of our soils. When our countn,' was first discovered and trees were growing ever\where, we had virgin soils, or new soils that iS AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS xeae rich and jHoductive because they were filled with vegetable matter and plant food. There are not many virgin soils now because the trees have been cut from the best lands, and these lands have been :^rmed so carelessly that the vegetable matter and available plant f c-.od have been laigeH" used up. Xow that fresh land is scarce it is ver\' oecessaiy to restore fertility' to these exhausted lands. \\'hat are some of the wa}-s in which this can be done ? There are several things to be done in tning to reclaim wMn-out land. One of the first of these is to till the land wdL Many of you may have heard the stor\' of the dying father who called his sons about him and whispered feebly, " Thoe is great treasure hidden in the garden." The sons could hardly wait to bun- their dead father before, thud, THE SOIL 19 thud, thud, their picks were going in the garden. Day after day they dug ; they dug deep ; they dug wide. Not a foot of the crop-worn garden escaped the probing of the pick as the sons feverishly searched for the expected treasure. But no treasure was found. Their work seemed entirely useless. Fig. 12. Increasing the Prodictive Power of the Soil Second crop of cowpeas on old, abandoned land " Let US not lose ever\' whit of our labor ; let us plant diis pick-scarred garden," said the eldest. So the garden was planted. In the fall the hitherto neglected garden yielded a har\-est so bountiful, so unexpected, that the meaning of their father's words dawned upon them. " Truly," they said, " a treasure was hidden there. Let us seek it in all our fields." 20 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The ston^ applies as well to-day as it did when it was first told. Thorough culture of the soil, frequent and intelligent tillage — these are the foundations of soil-restoration. Along with good tillage must go crop-rotation and good drainage. A supply of organic matter will prevent hea\y rains from washing the soil and carr}'ing away plant food. Drainage will aid good tillage in allowing air to circulate between the soil particles and in arranging plant food so that plants can use it. But we must add humus, or vegetable matter, to the soil. You remember that the virgin soils contained a great deal of vegetable matter and plant food, but by the continuous growing of crops like wheat, corn, and cotton, and by con- stant shallow tillage, both humus and plant food ha\e been used up. Consequently much of our cultivated soil to-day is hard and dead. There are three ways of adding humus and plant food to this lifeless land : the first way is to appl}' barnyard manure (to adopt this method means that livestock raising must be a part of all farming) ; the second way is to adopt rotation of crops, and frequently to plow under crops like clover and cowpeas ; the third way is to apply commercial fertilizers. To summarize : if we want to make our soil better \ear by year, we must cultivate well, drain well, and m the most economical way add humus and plant food. EXPERIMENT Select a small area of ground at your home and di\-ide it into four sections, as shown in the following sketch : On Section A apply barnyard manure ; on Section B apply com- mercial fertilizers ; on Section C applj? nothing, but till well : on Section D apply nothing, and till verj? poorly. THE SOIL 21 A, B, and C should all be thoroughly plowed and harrowed. Then add barnyard manure to .4. commercial fertilizers to B, and harrow A, B, and C at least four times until the soil is mellow and fine. D will most likely be cloddy, like many fields that we often see. Now plant on each plat some crop like cotton, corn, or wheat. When the plats are ready to harvest, measure the yield of each and determine whether the increased yield of the best plats has paid for the outlay for tillage and manure. The pupil will be much inter- ested in the results obtained from the first crop. Now follow a system of crop-rotation on the plats. Clover can follow corn or cotton or wheat ; and cowpeas, wheat. Then determine the yield of each plat for the second crop. By following these plats for several years, and in- creasing the number, the pupils will learn many things of greatest value. .1 B c 1) Fk; SECTION VII. MANURING THE SOIL In the early days of our histor)-, when the soil was new and rich, we were not compelled to use large amounts of manures and fertilizers. Yet our histories speak of an Indian named Squanto who came into one of the New England colonies and showed the first settlers how, by putting a fish in each hill of corn, they could obtain larger yields. If people in those days, with new and fertile soils, could use manures profitably, how much niore ought we to use them in our time, when soils have lost their virgin fertility, and when the plant food in the soil has been exhausted by \ears and years of cropping ! 22 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS To sell year after year all the produce grown on land is a sure way to ruin it. If, for example, the richest land is planted eveiy year in com, and no stable or farm}^ard manure or other fertilizer returned to the soil, the land so treated will of course soon become too poor to grow anj^ crop. If, on the other hand, clover or alfaLEa or com or cotton-seed meal is fed to stock, and the manure from the stock returned to the soil, the land will be kept rich. Hence those farmers who do not sell such raw products as cotton, com, wheat, oats, and clover, but who market articles made from these raw products, find it easier to keep their land fertile. For illustra- tion : if instead of selling hay, farmers feed it to sheep and sell meat and wool 4 if instead of sell- ing cotton seed, they feed its meal to cows, and seU milk and butter; if instead of sell- ing stover, they feed it to beef cattle, they get a good price for products and in addition have all themanure needed to keep their land productive and increase its \^ue each 3ear. If we wish to keep up the ietbhty of our lands we should not allow anjthing to be lost from our farms. All the ma- nures, straw, roots, stubble, healthy vines — in fact eventhing decomposable — should be plowed imder or used as a top- dressing. Especial care should be taken in storing manure. It should be watchfully protected from sun and rain. If a farmer has no shed under which to keep his manure, he should scatter it on his fields as fast as it is made. Fig. 14. RjELATiox of HrMis to Growth of Cors I, dlay siAsofl ; 2, same, wbb feitOiaer ; 3, gami»^ widi hiimiin THE SOIL 23 He should understand also that liquid manure is of more value than solid, because that important plant food, nitrogen, is found almost wholly in the liquid portion. Some of the phosphoric acid and considerable amounts of the potash are also found in the liquid manure. Hence economy requires that P'iG. 15. The Cotton Plant with and without Food In left top pot, no plant food : in left bottom pot, plant food scant)- ; in both right pots, all elements of plant food present none of this escape either by leakage or b\- fermentation. Sometimes one can detect the smell of ammonia in the stable. This ammonia is formed by the decomposition of the liquid manure, and its loss should be checked by sprinkling some floats, acid phosphate, or muck over the stable floor. 24 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Manv farmers find it desirable to buy fertilizers to use with the manure made on the farm. In this case it is helpful to understand the composition, source, and availability of the various substances composing commercial fertilizers. The three most valuable things in commercial fertilizers are nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid. The nitrogen is obtained from (i) nitrate of soda mined in Chile, (2) ammonium sulphate, a by-product of the gas works, (3) dried blood and other by-products of the slaughter- houses, and (4) cotton-seed meal. Nitrate of soda is soluble in water and may therefore be washed away before being used by plants. For this reason it should be applied in small quantities and at intervals of a few weeks. Potash is obtained in Germany, where it is found in sev- eral forms. It is put on the market as muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, kainite, which contains salt as an im- puritv', and in other impure forms. Potash is found also in unhachcd wood ashes. Phosphoric acid is found in various rocks of Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina, and also to a large extent in bones. The rocks or bones are usually treated with sulphuric acid. This treatment changes the phosphoric acid into a form ready for plant use. These three kinds of plant food are ordinaril}" all that we need to supply. In some cases, however, lime has to be added. Besides being a plant food itself, lime helps most soils by impro^■ing the structure of the grains ; by sweetening the soil, thereby aiding the little li^•ing germs called bacteria; by hastening the decay of organic matter ; and b\- setting free the potash that is locked up in the soil. CHAPTER II THE SOIL AND THE PLANT SECTIOxN VIII. ROOTS You have perhaps observed the regularity of arrangement in the twigs and branches of trees. Now pull up the roots of a plant, as, for example, sheep sorrel, J imson weed, or some other plant. Note the branching of the roots. In these there is no such regularity as is seen in the twig. Trace the rootlets to their finest tips. How small, slender, and delicate they are ! Still we do not see the finest of them, for in taking the plant from the ground we tore the most delicate away. In order to see the real construction of a root we must grow one so that we may examine it unin- jured. To do this, sprout some oats in a germinator or in any box in which one glass side has been arranged and allow the oats to grow till the}- are two or more inches high. Now examine the roots and you will see very fine hairs, similar to those shown in the accompanying figure, forming a fuzz over the surface of the roots near the tips. This fuzz is made of small hairs standing so close together that there are often as many as 38,200 on a single square inch. 25 Fig. 16. Root-Hairs ON A Radish 26 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS / Fig. 17. A Slicx of A Root Fig. 17 shows how a root looks when it has been cut cross- wise into what is known as a cross section. The figure is much increased in size. You can see how the root-hairs extend from the root in every direction. Fig. 18 shows a single root-hair very greatl)- en- krged, with particles of sand stick- ing to it. These hairs are the feeding-organs of the roots, and the\' are formed only near the tips of the finest roots. You see that the large, coarse roots that 3'ou are familiar with have noth- H«biT magnified ing to do with absorbing plant food from the soil. They serve merely to conduct the sap and nourishment from the root-hairs to the tree. WTien you apply manure or other fertilizer to a tree, remember that it is far better to supply the fertilizer to the roots that are at some dis- tance from the trunk, for such roots are the real feeders. The plant food in the manure soaks into the soil and immediately reaches the root-hairs. You can understand this better b\- studxing the distribution of the roots of an orchard tree, shown in Fig. 19. There you can see that the fine tips are found at a long distance from the main trunk. You can now readily see why it is that plants usually wilt when they are trans- planted. The fine, dehcate root-hairs are then broken oif, and the plant can but poorly keep up its food aiKi water supply untQ new hairs have been formed. Fig. iS. A Root- ELaik with Par- tici.es of Soil STICKIXG TO it THE SOIL AXD THE PLANT 27 While these are forming, water has been evaporating from the leaves, and consequently the plant does not get enough moisture and therefore droops. Would you not conclude that it is ver\- poor farming to till deeply anv crop after the roots have extended between Clay and Gravel Groundwater Fig. 19. UisTRiBiTioN of Apple-Trek Roots the rows far enough to be cut by the plow or cultivator.? In cultivating between corn rows, for example, if you find that you are disturbing fine roots, you may be sure that you are breaking off millions of root-hairs from each plant and hence are doing harm rather than good. Fig. 20 shows how the roots from one com row intertangle with those of another. You see at a glance how many of these roots would be 2S AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS destroyed by deep culri^"ation. Stirring the upper inch of soil when the plants are well grovm is sufficient tillage and does no injun- to the roots. A deep soil is much better than a shallow !^'-:], ?■- :''r^ ^^erth rr:akes "'■74'- Fig. 20. Row TO Row h ' -: : sier for the roots ::. c.:^.. wci^ ;^^d. Fig. 21 illus- tiates well how far down into the soil the alfalfa roots go. EXERCISE Dig up the roots of several cuhivaied plants and tsieeds and compare dieni. Do Tou find smne that are fine or filKVius? scHnelfle^y like the carrot? ThedanddioD is a good example of a tap-rooL Tap-roots are deep feeders. Examine veiy carefuMy the roots of a medium-sized com plant. Sift the dirt away gently so as to loosen as few roots as possible. How do the roots com- pare in area with the part above the ground? Try to trace a single root of the corn plant bxnm the stalk to its ven- tip. How long are the roots of mature plants? Are they deep t-hair is bathed in solutions rich in nourishment. The nourishment passes from the out- side to the inside through the deUcate membrane of the root- hair. Thus does food enter the plant-root. From the root-hairs, foods are carried to the inside of the rooL From diis you can see how important it is for a plant to have fine, loose soil for its root-hairs ; also how necessai}- is the water in the soil, since the food can be used onl}- when it is dissolved in water. This passage of liquids from one side of a membrane to another is called osntosis. It has man}' uses in the plant kingdom. We sa}' a root takes nourishment b\' osmosis. SECTION X- ROOT-TL'BERCLES Tubercle is a big word, but \ou ought to know how to pro- noimce it and what is meant b\- root-tubercles. We are going to tell you what a root-tubercle is and somrthing about its importance to agriculture. WTien wu have learned this, we are sure you will want to examine some plants for 5"ourself in order that you may see just what tubercles look like on a real root. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 31 Root-tubercles do not form on all kinds of plants that farmers grow. They are formed only on those kinds that botanists call hginucs. The clovers, cowpeas, vetches, soy beans, and alfalfa are all legumes. The tubercles are little knotty, wart-like growths on the roots of the plants just named. These tubercles are caused by tiny forms of life called, as you perhaps already know, bacteria, or germs. Fig. 23. TiBERCLES on Clover Roots The specimen at the right was grown in soU inoculated with soil from an old clover field. The one at the left was grown in soil not inoculated Instead of living in nests in trees like birds or in the ground like moles and worms, these tiny germs, less than one twenty-fi\e thousandth of an inch long, make their homes on the roots of legumes. Nestling snugly together, they live, grow, and multiply in their sunless homes. Through their activit}- the soil is enriched by the addition of much nitro- gen from the air. They are the good fairies of the farmer, 32 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS and no magician's wand ever blessed a land so much as these im-isible folk bless the land that they live in. Just as bees gather hone\' from the flowers and carr}- it to the hives, where they prepare it for their own future use and for the use of others, so do these root-tubercles gather nitro- gen from the air and fix it in their root honies, where it can be used by other crops. In the earlier pages of this book }-ou were told something about the food of plants. One of the main elements of plant food, perhaps you remember, is nitro- gen. Just as soon as the roots of the legu- minous plants begin to push down into the soil, the bacteria, or germs that make the tuber- cles, begin to build their homes on the roots, and in so doing they add nitrogen to the soil. You now see the importance of grow- ing such crops as peas and clover on your land, for b\- their tubercles you can constantly add plant food to the soil. Xow this much-needed nitrogen is the most costly part of the fer- tilizers that farmers buy every year. If even^ farmer, then, would grow these tubercle-bearing crops, he would rapidly add to the richness of his land and at the same time escape the necessit}' of buying so much expensive fertilizer. Mi' Fig. 24. Soy Beans and Cowpeas, Two Great Soil-Improvers THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 33 EXPERIMENT Take a spade or shovel and dig carefully around the roots of a cowpea and a clover plant ; loosen the earth thoroughly and then pull the plants up, being careful not to break off any of the roots. Now wash the roots, and after they become dry count the nodules, or tubercles, on them. Observe the difference in size. How are they arranged.'' Do all legumi- nous plants have equal numbers of nodules? How do these nodules help the farmer.'' SECTION XL THE ROTATION OF CROPS Doubtless you know what is meant by rotation, for your teacher has explained to you already how the earth rotates, or turns, on its axis and revolves around the sun. When we speak of crop-rotation we mean not only that the same crop should not be planted on the same land for two successive years but that crops should follow one another in a regular order. Many farmers do not follow a system of farming that in- volves a change of crops. In some parts of the country the same fields are planted to corn or wheat or cotton year after year. This is not a good practice and sooner or later will wear out the soil completely, because the soil-elements that furnish the food of that constant crop are soon exhausted and good crop-production is no longer possible. Why is crop-rotation so necessary ? There are different kinds of plant food in the soil. If any one of these is used up, the soil of course loses its power to feed plants properly. Now each crop uses more of some of the different kinds of foods than others do, just as you like some kinds of food better than others. But the crop cannot, as you can, learn to use the kinds of food it does not like ; it must use the kind that nature fitted it to use. Not only do different crops feed upon different soil foods, but they use different quan- tities of these foods. 34 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS Now if a farmer plant the same crop in the same field each year, that crop soon uses up all of the available plant food that it likes. Hence the soil can no longer properly nourish the crop that has been year by year robbing it. If that crop is to be successfully grown again on the land, the exhausted element must be restored. This can be done in two ways : first, by finding out what element has here been exhausted, and then restoring this Fig. 25. Gr.\ss following Corn element by means either of commercial fertilizers or manure ; second, b)- planting on the land crops that feed on different food and that will allow or assist kind Mother Nature " to repair her waste places." An illustration may help you to remember this fact. Nitrogen is, as already explained, one of the commonest plant foods. It may almost be called plant bread. The wheat crop uses up a good deal of nitrogen. Suppose a field were planted in wheat year after year. ]\Iost of the a\:ailable nitrogen would be taken out of the soil after THE SOIL ANJ) THE PLANT 35 a while, and a new wheat erop, If planted on the field, would not ^et enough of its proper food to yield a paying' harvest. This same land, however, that could not grow wheat could produce other crops that do not require so much nitrogen. For example, it could grow cowpeas. Cowpeas, aided by their root-tubercles, are able to gather from the air a great Fig. 26. Cowpeas and Corn — August part of the nitrogen needed for their growth. Thus a good crop of peas can be obtained even if there is little available nitrogen in the soil. On the other hand wheat and corn and cotton canncjt use the free nitrogen of the air, and they suffer if there is an insufflcient quantity present in the soil ; hence the necessity of growing legumes to supply what is lacking. Let us now see how easily plant food may be sa\-ed by the rotation of crops. 36 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS If you sow wheat in the autumn it is ready to be han-ested in time for planting cowpeas. Plow or disk the wheat stubble, and sow the same field to cowpeas. If the wheat crop has exhausted the gi'eater part of the nitrogen of the soil, it makes no difference to the cowpea ; for the cowpea will get its nitro- gen from the air and not only provide for its own gro\Uh Fig. CliWI'EAS and C(.)K.N OCTOKLK but \\-ill leave quantities of nitrogen in the queer nodules of its roots for the crops coming after it in the rotation. If com be planted, there should be a rotation in just the same way. The com plant, a summer grower, of course uses a certain portion of the plant food stored in the soil. In order that the crop following the corn may feed on what the corn did not use, this crop should be one that requires a some- what different food. Moreover, it should be one that fits in well with corn so as to make a winter crop. We find just THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 37 such a plant in clover or wheat. Like the cowpea, all the varieties of clover have on their roots tubercles that add the important element, nitrogen, to the soil. From these facts is it not clear that if you wish to im- prove vour land quickly and keep it always fruitful you must practice crop-rotation } An Ii.iastratiox of Crop-Rotation Here are two svstems of crop-rotation as practiced at one or more agricultural experiment stations. Each furnishes an ideal plan for keeping up land. First Veak Second Year Third Year Summer Winter | Summer Winter j Summer Winter „ Crimson i „ ,,., i| „ Com ' , Cotton \\ heat Cowpeas clover ' i , 1 Rye for pasture or Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Com ,,., Clover ^^ heat and grass Clover and grass Grass Grass for pasture or meadow In these rotations the cowpeas and clovers are nitrogen- gathering crops. They not only furnish ha}- but the\' enrich the soil. The wheat, corn, and cotton are money crops, but in addition they are culti\ated crops ; hence they improve the physical condition of the soil and give opportunity to kill weeds. The grasses and clovers are of course used for pas- turage and hay. This is only a suggested rotation. Work out one that will meet your home need. 38 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS EXERCISE Let the pupils each present a system of rotation that includes the crops raised at home. The system presented should as nearly as possible meet the f ollo-wing requirements : 1 . Legumes for gathering nitrogen. 2. Mone\- crops for cash income. 3. Cultivated crops for tillage and weed-destruction. 4. Food crops for feeding live stock. CHAPTER III THE PLANT SECTION XII. HOW A PLANT FEEDS FROM THE AIR If you partly burn a match you will see that it becomes black. This black substance into which the match changes is called carboti. Examine a fresh stick of charcoal, which is, as you no doubt know, burnt wood. You see in the charcoal every fiber that you saw in the wood itself. This means that every part of the plant contains carbon. How important, then, is this substance to the plant ! You \\ill be surprised to know that the total amount of carbon in plants comes from the air. All the carbon that a plant gets is taken in by the leaves of the plant ; not a particle is gathered by the roots. A large tree, weighing perhaps ii.ooo pounds, requires in its growth carbon from 16,000,000 cubic yards of air. Perhaps, after these statements, you may think there is danger that the carbon of the air may sometime become exhausted. The air of the whole world contains about 1.760,- 000,000.000 pounds of carbon. Moreover, this is continually being added to by our fires and by the breath of animals. When wood or coal is used for fuel the carbon of the burn- ing substance is returned to the air in the form of gas. Some large factories burn great quantities of coal and thus turn much carbon back to the air. A single factor)- in Germany 39 40 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS is estimated to give back to the air daih' about 5,28o,ocx) pounds of carbon. You see, then, that carbon is constantly being put back into the air to replace that which is used by growing plants. The carbon of the air can be used by none but green plants, and by them only in the sunlight. We may compare the green coloring matter of the leaf to a machine, and the sunlight to the power, or energy, which keeps the machine in motion. By means, then, of sunlight and the green col- oring matter of the leaves, the plant secures carbon. The carbon passes into the plant and is there made into t\vo foods ver)- necessan,' to the plant ; namely, starch and sugar. Sometimes the plant uses the starch and sugar immedi- ately. At other times it stores both away, as it does in the Irish and the sweet potato and in beets, cabbage, peas, and beans. These plants are used as food by man because they contain so much nourishment ; that is, starch and sugar which were stored awa\' by the plant for its own future use. EXERCISE Examine some charcoal. Can you see the rings of growth ? Slightly' char paper, cloth, meat, sugar, starch, etc. WTiat does the turning black prove .' WTiat per cent of these substances do 30U think is pure carbon ? SECTION XIII. THE SAP CURRENT The root-hairs take nourishment from the soil. The leaves manufacture starch and sugar. These manufactured foods must be carried to all parts of the plant. There are two currents to earn* them. One passes from the roots through the young wood to the leaves, and one, a downward current, passes through the bark, earning needed food to the roots (see Fig. 28). THE PLANT 41 If you should injure the roots the water supply to the leaves would be cut off and the leaves would immediately wither. On the other hand, if you remove the bark, that is, girdle the tree, vou in no way interfere with the water supply and the leaves do not wither. Girdling does, however, inter- fere with the downward food current through the bark. If the tree be girdled the roots sooner or later suffer from lack of food supplv from the leaves. Owing to this food stoppage the roots will cease to grow and will soon be unable to take in sufficient water, and then the leaves will begin to droop. This, however, may not happen un- til several months after the girdling. Sometimes a partly girdled branch grows much in thickness just above the gir- dle, as is shown in Fig. 29. This extra growth seems to be due to a stoppage of the rich supply of food which was on its way to the roots through the bark. It pig ,„ ^ Thicken- could go no farther and was therefore ing above the Wire used by the tree to make an unnatural '^^■^'^ caused the , , . . ,- .,, , Girdling growth at this pomt, 1 ou will now under- stand how and why trees die when they are girdled to clear new ground. 1 Fig. 28. Movement of THE Sap Current 42 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS It is. then, the general law of sap-movement that the up- u-ard current from the roots passes through the wood)- portion of the trunk, and that the current bearing the food made by the leaves passes downward through the bark. EXERCISE Let the teacher see that these and all other experiments are performed by the pupils. Do not allow them to guess, but make them see. Girdle valueless trees or saplings of several kinds, cutting the bark away in a complete circle around the tree. Do not cut into the wood. How long before the tree shows signs of injur}? Girdle a single small limb on a tree. What hapf>ens ? Explain. stiff.-a> sty.- — SECTION XIV. THE FLOWER AND THE SEED Some people think that the flowers b\- the wa}side are for the purpose of beautifying the world and increasing man's enjo\-ment. Do you think this is true .' Undoubtedly a flower is beautiful, and to be beautiful is one of the uses of man}- flowers ; but it is not the chief use of a flower. You know that when peach or apple blos- soms are nipped by the spring frost the fruit crop is in danger. The fruit of the plant bears the seed, and the flower produces the fruit. That is its chief dut)-. Do you know any plant that produces seed without flowers .' Some one answers, ' ' The com, the elm. and the maple all produce seed, but have no flower." Xo, that is not correct. If you look closely you will find in the spring xexy small flowers on the elm and on the maple, while the ear and the tassel are really the blossoms of the com plant. Ever)- plant that produces Fig. 30. Parts of THE Pistil THE PLANT 43 seed has flowers, although they may sometimes seem ven' curious flowers. Let us see what a flower really is. Take, for example, a buttercup cotton, tobacco, or plum blossom (see Figs. 31 Pistil Pistil Stamen Petal Stamen Fig. 31. A Buttercup and 32). You will find on the outside a row of green leaves inclosing the flower when it is still a bud. These leaves are the sc/>als. Next on the inside is a row of colored Stigma leaves, or petals. Ar- ranged inside of the petals are some threadlike parts, each with a knob on the end. These are the sta- mens. Examine one sta- men closely (Fig. 33). On the knob at its tip you should find, if the flower is fully open, some fine grains, or powder. In the lily this powder is so abundant that in smelling the flower you often brush a quantity' of it off on your nose. This substance is called pollen, and the knob on the end of the stamen, on which the pollen is borne, is the anther. Fir.. A Plum Blossom 44 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS f^ iSlajiDeEii The pollen is of very great importance to the flower. Without it there could be no seeds. The stamens as pollen- bearers, then, are very important. But there is another part to each flower that is of equal value. This part 370U will find in the centCT of the flower, inside the circle of stamens. It is called the pistil (Fig. 32). The swollen tip of the pistil is the stigma. The swollen base of the pistil forms the (n^ary. If you careful!}^ cut open this ovary j'ou will find in it very small immature seeds. Some plants bear all these parts in the same flower; that is, each blossom has stamens, pistil, petals, and sepals. The pear blossom and the tomato blossom represent such flowers. Other plants bear their stamens and pistils in separate blossoms. Stamens and pistils may even occur in separate plants, and some blossoms have no sepals or petals at all. Look at the com plant. Here the tasse! :? a cluster of man}' flc' ■ rr~. each of which bears : stamens. The ear is wise a cluster of i,;^;._, flowers, each of which bears only a pistiL The dust that you see falling fiXHn the tassel is the pollen, and the long silky threads of the ear are the stigmas. Fig. 34- A Tomato Blossom THE PLANT 45 -h b: Now no plant can bear seeds unless the pollen of the stamen falls on the stigma. Corn cannot therefore form seed unless the dust of the tassel falls upon the silk. Did you ever notice how poorly the cob is filled on a single corn- stalk standing alone in a field .? Do you see why ? It is because when a plant stands alone the wind blows the pollen away from the tassel, and little or none is received on the stigmas below. In the corn plant the stamens and pistils are separate ; that is, they do not occur on the same flower, although they are on the same plant. This is also true of the cucumber (see Fig. 35). In many plants, however, such as the hemp, hop, sassafras, willow, and others, the staminate parts are on one plant and the pistillate parts are on another. This is also true in several other cultivated plants. For example, in some strawberries the stamens are absent or useless ; that is, they bear no good pollen. In such cases the grower must see to it that near by are strawberry plants that bear stamens, in order that those plants which do not bear j^oUen may become pollinated ; that is, may have pollen carried to them. After the stigma has been supplied with pollen, a single pollen grain sends a threadlike sprout down through the stigma into the ovary. This process, if successfully completed, is called fertilization. Fig. 35. Cucumher Blossoms 46 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Examine several flowers and identify the parts named in the last section. Try in the proper season to find the pollen on the maple, willow, alder, and pine, and on wheat, cotton, and the morning-glory. How fast does the ovary of the apple blossom enlarge? Measure one and watch it closely from day to day. Can you find any plants that have their stamens and ovaries on separate individuals ? SECTION XV. POLLINATION Nature has several interesting ways of bringing about pol- lination. In the corn, willow, and pine the pollen is picked up by the wind and carried away. Much of it is lost, but some reaches the stigmas, or receptive parts, of other corn, willow, or pine flowers. This is a very wasteful method, and all plants using it must provide much pollen. Many plants employ a much better method. They have learned how to make insects bear their pollen. In plants of this type the parts of the blossom are so shaped and so placed as to deposit pollen from the stamen on the insect and to receive pollen from the insect on the stigmas. When you see the clumsy bumblebee clambering over and pushing his way into a clover blossom, you may be sure that he is getting well dusted with pollen and that the next blossom which he visits will secure a full share on its stigmas. When flowers fit themselves to be pollinated by insects they can no longer use the wind and are helpless if insects do not visit them. They therefore cunningly plan two ways to invite the visits of insects. First, they provide a sweet nectar as a repast for the insect visitor. The nectar is a sugary solu- tion found in the bottom of the flower and is used by the visitor as food or to make honey. Second, flowers advertise THE PLANT 47 to let each insect know that they have something for it. The advertising is done either by showy colors or by per- fume. Insects have wonderful powers of smell. When you see showy flowers or smell fragrant ones, you will know that such flowers are advertising the presence either of nectar or of pollen (to make beebread) and that such flowers depend on insects for pollination. Fig. 36. Bkks carrying Pollen \ •. A season of heavy, cold rains during blossoming-time may often injure the fruit crop by preventing insects from carry- ing pollen from flower to flower. You now also understand why plants often fail to produce seeds indoors. Since they are shut in. they cannot receive proper insect visits. Plants such as tomatoes or other garden fruits dependent upon insect pollination must, if raised in the greenhouse where insects cannot visit them, be pollinated by liand. 48 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Exclude insect \isirors from some flower or flower cluster, for example, clover, by covering with a paper bag. and see whether the flower can produce seeds that are capable of growing. Compare as to number and \-itaht)- the seeds of such a flower with those of an uncovered flower. Obser\-e insects closely. Do j'ou ever find pollen on them.' What kinds of insects \-isit the clover ? the cowpea ? the sourwood ? the flax ? Is wheat pollinated by insects or by the wind or by some other means? Do bees fly in rainy weather? How will a long rainy season at blossoming-time affect the apple crop? "^^^ly? Should bees be kept in an orchard? \\'hy? SECTION XVI. CROSSES. HYBRIDS. AND CROSS- POLLINATION In our study of flowers and their pollination we have seen that the seed is usually the descendant of two parents, or at least of two organs — one the ovar\-, producing the seed ; the other the pollen, which is necessarj' to fertilize the o\^ary. It happens that sometimes the pollen of one blossom fer- tilizes the ovan* of its own flower, but more often the pollen from one plant fertilizes the ovan.- of another plant. This latter method is called cross-pollination. As a rule cross- pollination makes seed that \\\\\ produce a better plant than simple pollination would. Cross-pollination by hand is often used by plant-breeders when, for purposes of seed-selection, a specially strong plant is desired. The steps in hand pollina- tion are as follows : ( i ) remove the anthers before they open, to prevent them from pollinating the stigma (the steps in this process are illustrated in Figs. 17, 38-39) ; (2) cover the flower thus treated with a paper bag to prevent stray pollen from getting on it (see Fig. 40) ; (3) when the ovar\- is suffi- ciently developed, carr)' poUen to the stigma by hand from the THE PLANT 49 anthers of another plant which you have selected to furnish it, and rebag to keep out any stray pollen which might acci- dentally get in ; (4) collect the seeds when they are mature and label them properly. Hand pollination has this advantage — you know both parents of \our seed. If pollination occur naturally you know the maternal but have ■•• no means of judging the ^ paternal parent. You can readilv see, therefore, how •' /. hand pollination enables you to secure seed derived from two well-behaved parents. Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on an- other. The result of such cross-breeding is known as a hybnd. In the animal kingdom the mule is a com- mon example of this cross- breeding. Plant hybrids were formerly called mules also, but this suggestive term is almost out of use. It is only when plants of two distinct kinds are crossed that the result is called a hybrid ; for example, a blackjack oak on a white oak, an apple on a pear. If the parent plants are closely related, for example, two kinds of apples, the resulting plant is known simply as a cross. Hybrids and crosses are valuable in that they usually differ from both parents and yet combine some qualities of each. P"lG. 37 The bud on right at top is in proper con- dition for removal of anthers ; the anthers have been removed from the buds below Fig. 3S. Orange Blossom irefared ec'R crossing First, bud ; second, antiiei^ nnremoved ; tiiird. anthers reiric>ved Fig. 39. Tomato Blossom ril^dy to cross First, bud : second, anthers uni^esDoved ; duid, enlfaers lemoved Fig. 40 First, blossom bagged to keep out stray pollen : second, fruit bagged for jHX>tectkaj 50 THE PLANT 51 They often leave off some of the quahties of the parent plants and at other times have such qualities more markedly than did their parents. Thus they often produce an interesting new kind of plant. Sometimes we are able by hybridization to combine in one plant the good qualities of two other plants and thus make a great advance in agriculture. The new forms brought about by hybridization may be fixed, or made perma- nent, by such selection as is mentioned in Section XVIII. Hybridization is of great aid in originating new plants. It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated by one variet}' than by some other variety. This is well illustrated in Fig.' 41. A fruit-grower or farmer should know much about these subjects before selecting varieties for his orchard, vineyard, etc. EXERCISE With the help of your teacher try to cross some plants. Such an ex- periment will take time, but will be most interesting. You must remem- ber that many crosses must be attempted in order to gain success with even a few. SECTION XVII. PROPAGATION BY BUDS It is the business of the farmer to make plants grow, or, as it is generally called, to propagate plants. This he does in one of two ways : by buds (that is, by small pieces cut from parent plants), or by seeds. The chief aim in both methods should be to secure in the most convenient manner the best- paying plants. Many plants are most easily and quickly propagated by buds ; for example, the grape, red raspberrj^ fig, and many others that we cultivate for the flower only, such as the carnation, geranium, rose, and begonia. Fig. 41 Brighton pollinated by i, Salem ; 2, Creveling : 3, Lindley ; 4, Brighton ; 5, Self-poUinated ; 6, Nectar ; ;, Jefferson ; S, Niagara 5- THE PLANT 53 j^V- ./"' ■\' In growing plants from cuttings, a piece is taken from the kind of plant that one wishes to grow. The greatest care must be exercised in order to get a healthy cutting. If we take a cutting from a poor plant, what can we expect but to grow a poor plant like the one from which our cutting was taken ? On the other hand, if a fine, strong, vigorous, fruitful plant be selected, we shall expect to grow- just such a fine, healthy, fruitful plant. We expect the cutting to make exactly the same variety of plant as the parent stock. W'e must therefore decide on the variety of berr}', grape, fig, carnation, or rose that we wish to propagate, and then look for the strongest and most promising plants of this variety within our reach. The utmost care will not produce a fine plant if we start from poor stock. What qualities are most desirable in a plant from which cuttings are to be taken ? First, it should be productive, liardy, and suited to your climate and your needs ; second, it should be healthy. Do not take cuttings from a diseased plant, since the cutting may carry the disease. Fig. 42. Gkraxium Cutting Dotted line shows depth to which cutting should be planted 54 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Fig. 43 Grape Cutting Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant, sometimes even from parts of the leaf, as in the begonia (Fig. 46). More often, however, they are drawn from parts of the stem (Figs. 43-45). As to the age of the twig from which the cutting is to be taken. Professor Bailey says : " For most plants the proper age or maturity of wood for the making of cuttings may be determined by giving the twig a quick bend ; if it snaps and hangs by the bark, it is in proper condition. If it bends Showing depth to which cutting without breaking, it is too young and should be planted ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^j^^ j^ -^ SpUntCrS, it is too old and woody." Some plants, as the geranium (Fig. 42), succeed best if the cuttings from which they are grown are taken from soft, young parts of the plant ; others, for example, the grape or rose, do better when the cutting is made from more mature wood. Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds. After a hardy, vigorous cutting is made, insert it about one half or one third of its length in soil. A soil free from organic matter is much the best, since in such soil the cuttings are •"jmmWM Y/MW/mz/v- Fig. 44. Carxatiox Cutting much less liable to disease. A fine, clean sand is com- monly used by professional gardeners. When cuttings have THE PLANT 55 rooted well — this may require a nionth or more — they may be transplanted to larger pots. Sometimes, instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it, portions of branches are made to root before they are sepa- rated from the parent plant. This method is often followed, and is known as laycri?ig-. It is a simple process. Just bend the tip of a bough down and buiy it in the earth (see Fig. 47). The black raspbeny forms layers naturally, but gardeners often ^"^^^^ ly-. , /'■;^~^ aid it by bur}ing the over- -' [ '\y^- ) hanging tips in the earth, so that more >^ tips may eas- ^"^ ily take root. Strawberries develop runners that root themselves in a similar fashion. Grafts and buds are really cuttings which, in- stead of being buried in sand to produce roots of their own, are set on the roots of other plants. Grafting and budding are practiced when these methods are more convenient than cuttings or when the gardener thinks there is danger of failure to get plants to take root as cuttings. Neither grafting nor budding is, however, neces- san,- for the raspberry or the grape, for these propagate most readily from cuttings. It is often the case that a budded or grafted plant is more fruitful than a plant on its own roots. In cases of this kind, of course, grafts or buds are used. The white, or Irish, potato is usually propagated from pieces of the potato itself. Each piece used for planting bears one eye or more. The potato itself is really an underground Fig. 45. Rose Cutting 56 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS stem and the eyes are buds. This method of propagation is therefore realh' a peculiar kind of cutting. Since the eye is a bud and our potato plant for next year is to develop from this bud, it is of much importance, as we have seen, to know exactly what kirid of plant our potato comes from. If the potato is taken from a small plant that had but a few poor potatoes in the hill, we may expect the bud to produce a similar plant and a correspondingly poor crop. We must see to it, then, that our seed pota- toes are drawn from vines that were good producers, because new potato plants are like the plants from which they were grown. Of course when our pota- toes are in the bin we can- not tell from what kind of plants they came. We must therefore select our seed potatoes in the field. Seed potatoes should al- ways be selected from those hills that produce most bounti- fully. Be assured that the increased }'ield will richly repay this care in selecting. It matters not so much whether the seed potato be large or small ; it must, however, come from a hill bearing a large yield of fine potatoes. Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots, or growing buds, taken from the potato itself, so that in their case too the piece that we use in propagating is a part of the original plant, and will therefore be like it under similar conditions. Just as with the Irish potato, it is important to know how Fig. 46. Begoxia-Leaf Cutting THE PLANT 57 good a yielder you are planting. You should watch during harvest and select for propagation for the next }ear only such plants as yield best. We should exercise fully as much care in selecting proper individuals from which to make a cutting or a layer as we do in selecting a proper animal to breed from. Just as we select the finest Jersey in the herd for breeding purposes, so we should choose first the variety of plant we desire and then the finest individual plant of that variety. If the variety of the potato that we desire to raise be Early Rose, it is not enough to select any Early Rose plants, but the ver)^ best Early Rose plants, to furnish our seed. It is not enough to select large, fine potatoes for cuttings. A large potato may not produce a bountifully yielding plant. It xi'lll produce a plant like the one that produced it. It may be that this one large potato was the only one produced by the original plant. If so, the plant that grows from it will tend to be similarly unproductive. Thus you see the impor- tance of selecting in the field a plant that has exactly the qualities desi?rd in the new plant. One of the main reasons why gardeners raise plants from buds instead of from seeds is that the seed of many plants will not produce plants like the parent. This failure to "come true," as it is called, is sometimes of value, for it occasionally leads to improvement. For example, suppose that a thousand apple or other fruit or flower seeds from plants usually prop- agated by cuttings be planted ; it may be that one out of Fig. 47. Layering 58 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS a thousand or a million will be a very valuable plant. If a valuable plant be so produced, it should be most carefully guarded, multiplied by cuttings or grafts, and introduced far and wide. It is in this way that new varieties of fruits and flowers are produced from time to time. Sometimes, too, a single bud on a tree will differ from the other buds and will produce a branch different from the other branches. This is known as bud variation. When there is thus developed a branch which happens to be of a superior kind, it should be propagated by cuttings just as you would propagate it if it had originated from a seed. Mr. Gideon of Minnesota planted many apple seeds, and from them all raised one tree that was very fruitful, finely flavored, and able to withstand the cold ^Minnesota winter. This tree he multiplied by grafts and named the Wealthy apple. It is said that in giving this one apple to the world he benefited mankind to the value of more than one million dollars. It will be well to watch for any valuable bud or seed variant and never let a promising one be lost. Plants grown in this way from seeds are usually spoken of as seedlings. Fig. 48. Currant Cutting Plants to be propagated from Buds The following list gives the names and methods by which our common garden fruits and flowers are propagated : Figs : use cuttings 8 to 10 inches long or layer. Grapes : use long cuttings, layer, or graft upon old vines. A LUSCIOL;; AND EASILY GROWN BERRV THE PLANT 59 Apples: graft upon seedlings, usually crab seedlings one year old. Pears : bud upon pear seedlings. Cherries : bud upon cherry stock. Plums : bud upon peach stock. Peaehes : bud upon peach or plum seedlings. Quinces : use cuttings or layer. Blackbejries : propagate by suckers; cut from parent stem. Blaek raspberries : layer; remove old stem. Red raspberries : propagate by root-cuttings or suckers. Strawberries : propagate by runners. Currants sxid goosebenies : use long cuttings (these plants grow well only in cool climates; if attempted in warm climates, set in cold exposure). Carnations, geraniums, jvses, begonias, etc. : propagate by cuttings rooted in sand and then transplanted to small pots. EXERCISE Propagate fruits (grape, fig. strawberry) of various kinds : also orna- mental plants. How long does it take them to root? Geraniums rooted in the spring will bloom in the fall. Do you know any one who selects seed potatoes properly? Make a careful selection of seed at the next harv'est-time. SECTION XVIII. PLANT SEEDING In propagating by seed, as in reproducing by buds, we select a portion of the parent plant — for a seed is surely a part of the parent plant — and place it in the ground. There is, however, one great difference between a seed and a bud. The bud is really a piece of the parent plant, but a piece of one plant only, while a seed comes from the parts of two plants. 6o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS You will understand this fuUy if you read carefully Sec- tions XI\'-X\'I. Since the seed is made of twro plants, the plant that springs from a seed is much more likely to differ from its modier plant, that is, from the plant that pro- duces the seed, than is a plant produced merely by buds. In some cases plants " come true to seed " vet}- accurately. In others they \^ary greatly. For example, when we plant the seed of wheat, turnips, r)?^e, onions, tomatoes, tobacco, or cot- ton, we get plants that are in most respects like the parent planL On the other hand the seed of a Crawford peach or a Bald^iin apple or a Bartlett p>ear will not produce plants like its parent, but will rather resemble its wild forefathers. These seedlings, thus taking after their ancestors, are always far inferior to our present cultivated forms. In such cases seeding is not praddcable, and we must resort to bud propa- gation of one sort or another. While in a few plants like those just mentioned the seed does not " come true," most plants, for example, cotton, tobacco, and others, do '' come true." WTien we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton. There will be, however, as ever\- one knows, some or even considerable \:ari- ation in the field. Some plants, even in exactly the same soil, will be better than the average, and some will be poorer. Now we see this variation in the plants of our field, and we beheve that the plant will be in the main like its parent. WTiat should we learn from this ? Surely that if we wish to produce sturdy, healthy, productive plants we must go into our fields and pick aiit just such plants to seatre seed from as we wish to produce another year. If we wait untfl the seed is separated from the plant that produced it before we select our cotton seed, we shall be planting seed from poor as well as from good plants, and must be content with a crop of just such stock Figs. 49 and 50. Chkvsanthkmums and Asparagus 61 62 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS as we have planted. By selecting seed from the most pro- ductive plants /;/ the field and by repeating the selection each year, vou can continually improve the breed of the plant you are raising. In selecting seed for cotton you may follow the plan suggested below for wheat. The difference that you see bet\veen the wild and the culti- vated chiA'santhemums and between the samples of aspara- gus shown in Figs. 49 and 50 was brought about by just such continuous seed-selection from the kind of plant wanted. Fig. 51. Two Varieties of Fl.\x from One Parent Stock By the careful selection of seed from the longest flax plants the increase in length shown in the accompanying figure was gained. The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed, regardless of the height of the plant, has produced flax like that to the right in the illustration. These two kinds of flax are from the same parent stock, but slight differences have been emphasized by continued seed- selection, until we now have really two varieties of flax, one a hea\T seed-bearer, the other producing a long fiber. You can in a similar way improve your cotton or an}- other seed crop. Sugar beets have been made by seed-selection to produce aix)ut double the percentage of sugar that the}- did THE PLANT 63 a few years ago. Preparing and tilling land costs too much in money and work to allow the land to be planted with poor seed. When you are tr}-ing by seed-selection to increase the yield of cotton, there are two principles that should be borne in mind : first, seed should be chosen only from plants that bear many well-filled bolls of long-staple cotton ; second, seed should be taken from no plant that does not by its healthy condition show hardihood in resisting disease and drouth. The plan of choosing seeds from selected plants may be applied to wheat ; but it would of course be too time- consuming to se- lect enough single wheat plants to furnish all of the, seed wheat for the next year. In this case adopt the following plan : In Fig. 52 let A represent the total size of your wheat field and let B represent a plat large enough to furnish seed for the whole field. At harvest-time go into section A and select the best plants you can find. Pick the heads of these and thresh them by hand. The seed so obtained must be carefully saved for your next sowing. In the fall sow these selected seeds in area B. This area should produce the best wheat. At the next har\'est cull not from the whole field but from the finest plants of plat B, and again save these as seed for plat /?. Use the unculled seed from plat B to sow your crop. By following this plan continuously Fig. 64 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS you will even- year have seed from several generations of choice plants, and each year you \\i\\ improve your seed. / It is of course advisable to move your seed plat £ ever)- year or two. For the new plat select land that has recently been planted in legumes. Always give this plat unwean-ing care. In the selection of plants from which to get seed, you must know what kind of plants are really the best seed plants. First, jw/ 7;iust not regard single heads or grams, but vmst select seed from the most perfect plant, looking at the plant as a whole and not at any single part of it. A first consideration is yield. Select the plants that )-ield best and are at the same time resistant to drouth, resistant to rust and to winter, early to ripen, plump of grain, and nonshattering. What a fine thing it would be to find even one plant free from rust in the midst of a rusted field ! It would mean a rust-resistant plant. Its offspring also would probabl}- be rust- resistant. If you should ever find such a plant, be sure to save its seed and plant it in a plat by itself. The next \-ear again save seed from those plants least rusted. Possibly you can develop a rust-proof race of wheat ! Keep your eyes open. In England the average \-ield of wheat is thirt}- bushels an acre, in the United States it is less than fifteen bushels ! In some states the yield is even less than nine bushels an acre. Let us select our seed ^^-ith care, as the English people do, and then we can increase our \-ield. By careful seed-selection a plant-breeder in ^linnesota increased the \-ield of his wheat by one fourth. Think what it would mean if twent}--five per cent were added to the world's supply of wheat at comparatively no cost : that is, at the mere cost of careful seed-selection. This would mean an addition to the world's income of about S500,cxx),ooo each year. The United States would get about one fifth of this profit. THE PLANT 65 It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn, cotton, or wheat will be far superior to all others in the field. Such a plant deser\-es special care. Do not use it merely as a seed plant, but carefully plant its seeds apart and tend care- fully. The following season select the best of its offspring as favorites again. Repeat this selection and culture for several )ears until you fix the variety. This is the way new \arieties are originated from plants propagated by seed. In 1862 Mr. Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania, while pass- ing through a field of bearded wheat, found three heads of beardless, or bald, wheat. These he sowed by themselves that year, and as they turned out specially productive he continued to sow this new variety. Soon he had enough seed to distribute over the country. It became known as the P^ultz wheat and is to-day one of the best varieties in the United States and in a number of foreign countries. Think how manv bushels of wheat have been added to the world's annual supplv by a few moments of intelligent observ^ation and action on the part of this one man ! He saw his opportunity and used it. How many similar opportunities do you think are lost ? How much does your state or country lose thereby ? EXERCISE Select one hundred seeds from a good, and one hundred from a poor, plant of the same variety. Sow them in two plats far enough apart to avoid cross-pollination, yet try to have soil conditions about the same. Give each the same care and compare the yield. Try this with corn, cot- ton, and wheat. Select seeds from the best plant in your good plat and from the poorest in your poor plat and repeat the experiment. This will require but a few feet of ground, and the good plat will pay for itself in yield, while the poor plat will more than pay in the lesson that it will teach you. Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., and to your state experiment station for bulletins concerning seed-selection and methods of plant-improvement. 66 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION XIX. SELECTING SEED CORN If a fanner would raise good crops he must, as already stated, select good seed Many of the farmer's disappoint- ments in the quantity and quality' of his cropys — disappoint- moits often thought to oome from other causes — are the result of planting poor seed. Seeds not full}- ripened, if they " grow at all, produce imperfect plants. Good seed, therefore, is the first thing necessary' for a good crop. The seed of perfect plants onl}' should be saved. By wise and i>ersistent selection, made in the field before the crop is fully ma- tured, com can be improved in size and made to mature earher. Gather ears onl}- from the most productive plants and save i-nly the largest and best kernels. You have no doubt seen the common American blackbirds that usually migrate and feed in such large numbers. They all look alike in eveiy vtclx. Xow, has it Fig. ^^. The Kind ever occurred to you to ask why all black- OF Eae to Select ^^^^ ^^ ^lack .? The blackbirds are black sunjdy because their parents are black. Now in the same way that the \-oung blackbirds resemble dieir paients, com will resemble its parent stock. How many ears of com do you find on a stalk ? One, two. sometimes three or four. You find two ears of com on a stalk because it is the nature of that particular stalk to produce two ears. In the same way the nature of some stalks is to produce but one ear, whfle it is the nature of others sometimes to produce two or more. THE PLANT ^7 This resemblance of offspring to parent is known to scien- tists as heredity, or as '" Hke producing Hke." Some Southern corn-breeders take advantage of this law to improve their corn crop. If a stalk can be made to produce two ears of corn just as large as the single ear that most stalks bear, we shall get twice as much corn from a field in which the " two-eared " variety is planted. In the North and West the best varieties of corn have been selected to make but one ear to the stalk. It is generally believed that this is the best practice for the shorter growing seasons of the colder states. These facts ought to be ver}- helpful to us next year when our fathers are planting corn. We should get them to plant seed se- cured only from stalks that produced the most corn, whether the stalk had two or more ears or onl\' one. If we follow this plan year by year, each acre of land will be made to produce more kernels and hence a larger crop of corn, and }et no more work will be required to raise the crop. In addition to enlarging the yield of corn, you can, bv proper selection of the best and most productive plants in the field, grow a new \'ariet\- of seed corn. To do this \-ou need Fig. 54. Select Seed from a Stalk ' LIKE THAT ON LeFT 63 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS only take the largest and best kernels from stalks bearing two ears ; plant these, and at the next harvest again save the best kernels from stalks bearing the best ears. If you keep up this practice with great care for several )'ears, you will get a vigor- ous, fruitful variet}- that will command a high price for seed. EXPERIMENT Even^ school boy and girl can make this experiment at leisure. From your own field get two ears of corn, one from a stalk bearing only one ear and the other from a stalk bearing two well-grown ears. Plant the Fig. 55. Improvemext of Corn by Selectiox Boone Count)' white com on left, and original tj^pe, from which it was developed by selection, on right grains from one ear in one plat, and the grains from the- other in a plat of equal size. Use for both the same soil and the same fertilizer. Cultivate both plats in the same way. When the crop is ready to har\-est, husk the corn, count the ears, and weigh the corn. Then write a short essay on your work and on the results and get your teacher to correct the story for your home paper. THE PLANT 69 SECTION XX. WEEDS Have you ever noticed that some weeds are killed by one particular method, but that this same method ma\' entirely fail to kill other kinds of weeds ? If we wish to free our fields of weeds with the greatest ease, we must know the nature of each kind of weed and then attack it in the way in which we can most readily destroy it. The ordinary pigweed (Fig. 56) differs from many other weeds in that it lives for only one year. When winter comes, it must die. Each plant, however, bears a great number of seeds. If we can pre- \-ent the plant from bearing seed in its first year, there will not be man}' seeds to come up the next season. In fact, only those seeds that were too deeply buried in the soil to come up the previous spring will be left, and of these two-year- old seeds many will not germinate. During the next season some old seeds will |)roduce plants, but the number will be very much dimin- ished. If care be exercised to prevent the pigweed from seeding again, and the same watchfulness be continued for a few seasons, this weed will be almost entirely driven from our fields. A plant like the pigweed, which lives only one year, is called an annual and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy. Fig. 56. PicwKKi) 70 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Mustard, plantain, chess, dodder, cockle, crab grass, and Jimson weed are a few of our most disagreeable annual weeds. The best time to kill any weed is when it is ver}- small ; therefore the ground in early spring should be constantly stirred in order to kill the young weeds before they grow to be strong and hardy. The wild carrot dif- ^rtj^ "-:- '-^■- -r^^'^:ii^^ f ers from an annual in this way : it lives throughout one whole year without produc- ing seeds. During its first year it accumu- lates a quantity of nourishment in the root, then rests in the winter. Throughout the following sum- ^^2L T.^^^ I ^ mer it uses this nour- ishment rapidly to produce its flowers and seeds. Then the plant dies. Plants that live through two Fig. 57. Wild Carrot ^^^^^^^ .^^ ^^-^ ^^.^^ are called biennials. Weeds of this kind may be destroyed by cutting the roots below the leaves with a grubbing-hoe or spud. A spud may be described as a chisel on a long handle (see Fig. 58). If biennials are not cut low enough they will branch out anew and make many seeds. Among the most common biennials are the thistle, moth mullein, wild carrot, wild parsnip, and burdock. THE PLANT 71 A third group of weeds consists of those that live for more than two years. These weeds are usually most difficult to kill. They propagate by means of running rootstocks as well as by seeds. Plants that live more than two seasons are known as perennials and Fig. 58. A Spud Fig. 59. Hoi'ND's Tongue include, for example, many grasses, dock, Canada thistle, poison i\y, passion flower, horse nettle, etc. There are many methods of destroying perennial weeds. They may be dug entirely out and removed. Sometimes in small areas they may be killed by crude sulphuric acid or may be starved by covering them with boards or a straw stack or in some other convenient way. A method that is very- effective is 72 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS to smother the weeds by a dense gro\\th of some other plant, for example, cowpeas or buckwheat. Co\^-peas are to be preferred, since they also enrich the soil by the nitrogen that the root-tubercles gather. \\'eeds do injur}- in numerous ways ; they shade the crop, steal its nourishment, and waste its moisture. Perhaps their only serv- ice is to make lazy people till their crops. EXERCISE You should learn to know by name the twenty worst weeds of your \-i- cinitA' and to recognize their seeds. If there are any weeds you are not Fig. 6o. Canada Thistle ii ^ • j able to recognize, send a sample of each to your state experiment station. Make a collection, properl)^ labeled, of weeds and weed seeds for your school. SECTION XXI. SEED PURITY AND YITALITY Seeds produce plants. The difference between a large and a small yield ma)^ depend upon the kind of plants we raise, and the kind of plant in turn is dependent upon the seeds that we sow. Two things are important in the selection of seeds — purity and \-italit}\ Seeds should he pure; that is, when sown THE PLANT 73 they should produce no other plant than the one that we wish to raise. They should be able to grow. The ability of a seed to grow is termed its vitality. Good seed should be nearly or quite pure and should possess high vitality. The vitality of seeds is expressed as a per cent ; for example, if 97 seeds out of 100 germinate, or sprout, the vitality is said to be 97. The older the seed the less is its vitality, except in a few rare instances in which seeds cannot germinate under two or three years. Cucumber seeds may show 90 per cent vitality when they are one year old, 75 per cent when two years old, and 70 per cent when three years old — the per cent of vitality diminishing with increase of years. The average length of life of the seeds of cultivated plants is short : for example, the tomato lives four years ; corn, two years ; the onion, two years ; the radish, five years. The cucumber seed may retain life after ten years ; but the seeds of this plant too lose their vitality with an increase in years. It is important when buying seeds to test them for purity and vitality. Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds, although they know that seeds decrease in value with age. Sometimes, however, to cloak dishonesty they mix some new seeds with the old, or bleach old and yellow seeds in order to make them resemble fresh ones. It is important, therefore, that all seeds bought of dealers should be thoroughly examined and tested ; for if they do not grow, we not only pay for that which is useless but we are also in great danger of producing so few plants in our fields that we shall not get full use of the land, and thus we may suffer a more serious loss than merely paying for a few dead seeds. It will therefore be both interesting and profit- able to learn how to test the vitality of seeds. 74 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS To test vitalit}- plant one hundred seeds in a pot of earth or in damp sand, or place them between moist pieces of flan- nel, and take care to keep them moist and warm. Count those that germinate and thus determine the percentage of \itality. Germinating between flannel is much quicker than planting in earth. Care should be used to keep mice away from ger- minating seeds. (See Fig. 6i.) Sometimes the appearance of a package wall show- whether the seed has been kept in stock a long time. It is, however, much more difficult to find out whether the seeds are pure. You can of course easily distinguish seeds that differ much from those you wish to plant, but often certain weed seeds A B Fig. 6i. A Seed-Germinator Consisting of two soup plates, some sand, and a piece of cloth are so nearly like certain crop seeds as not to be easily recog- nized by the eye. Thus the dodder or " love vine," which so often ruins the clover crop, has seeds closely resembling clover seeds. The chess, or cheat, has seeds so nearly like oats that only a close observer can tell them apart. However, if you watch the seeds that you buv, and study the appear- ance of crop seeds, you may become expert in recognizing those that have no place in your planting. One case is reported in which a seed-dealer intentionally allowed an impurit)' of 30 per cent to remain in the crop seeds, and this impurit}^ was mainly of weed seeds. There were 450,000 of one kind and 288,000 of another in each THE PLANT 75 pound of seed. Think of planting weeds at that rate ! Some- times three fourths of the seeds you buy are weed seeds. In purchasing seeds the only safe plan is to buy of dealers whose reputation can be relied upon. It not seldom happens that seeds, like corn, are stored in open cribs or barns before the moisture is entirely dried out of the seeds. Such seeds are liable to be frozen during a severe winter, and of course if this happens they will not sprout the following spring. The only way to tell whether such seeds have been killed is to test samples of them for vitality. Testing is easy ; replanting is costly and often results in a short crop. Impurities in Seeds EXERCISE 1 2 Examine seeds both for Fig. 62 vitality and purity. Write for farmers' bulletins on both these subjects. What would be the loss to a farmer who planted a ten- acre clover field with seeds that were 80 per cent bad t Can you recognize the seeds of the prin- cipal cultivated plants.? Germinate some beet seeds. What per cent comes up ? Can you explain ? Collect for your school as many kinds of wild and cultivated seeds as you can. Tube I represents one pound of redtop grass as bought ; Tube 2, amount of pure redtop grass seeds in Tube i ; Tube 3, amount of chaff and dirt in Tube I ; Tube 4, amount of weed seeds in Tube i ; Tube 5, amount of total waste in Tube i ; Tube 6, amount of pure germinable seeds in Tube i CHAPTER IV HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE Let each pupil grow an apple tree this year and attempt to make it the best in his neighborhood. In your attempt suppose you tr\' the following plan. In the fall take the seed of an apple — a crab-apple is good — and keep it in a cool place during the winter. The simplest way to do this is* to bun- it in damp sand. In the spring plant it in a rich, loose soil. Great care must be taken of the young shoot as soon as it appears above the ground. You want to make it grow as tall and as straight as possible during this first 3'ear of its life, hence vou should give it rich soil and protect it from animals. Before the ground freezes in the fall take up the young tree with the soil that was around it and keep it all winter in a cool, damp place. Now when spring comes it will not do to set out the carefully tended tree, for an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent, but will tend to resemble a more distant ancestor. The distant ancestor that the 3-oung apple tree is most likely to take after is the wild apple, which is small, sour, and otherwise far inferior to the fruit we wish to grow. It makes little difference, therefore, what kind of apple seed we plant, since in any event we cannot be sure that the tree grown from it will bear fruit worth ha\-ing unless we force it to do so. 76 Fig. 6;. A Vuu.ng Fklu-Gkowkk 77 78 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION XXII. GR.\FTIXG By a process known as grafting you can force your tree to produce whatever variety of apple you desire. Many people raise fmit trees directly from seed without grafting. Thus they often produce really worthless trees. By grafting they would make sure not only of ha\'ing good trees rather than poor ones but also of having the particular kind of fruit that they wish. Hence you must now graft your tree. First you must decide what va- riet}' of apple you want to grow on the tree. The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple. The Wlnesap is a good winter apple, while the Red Astrachan is a profit- able early apple, especially in the lowland of the coast region. The Northern Spy, ^sop, and Spitz- enburg are also admirable kinds. Possibly some other apple that you know may suit your taste and needs better than any of these varieties. If vou have decided to raise an ^-Esop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap, you must now cut a twig from the tree of your choice and graft it upon the little tree that you have raised. Choose a twig that is about the thickness of the young tree at the point where you wish to graft. Be careful to take the shoot from a vigorous, healthy part of the tree. There are many ways in which you may join the chosen shoot or twig upon the young tree, but perhaps the best Fig. 64. Tongue Grafting HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE 79 Fig. 65 A Completed Graft one for you to use is known as tongue grafting. This is illustrated in Fig. 64. The upper part, b, which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree, is known as the scion; the lower part, a, which is the original tree, is called the stock. Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig. 64. Join the cut end of the scion to the cut end of the stock. When you join them, notice that under the bark of each there is a thin layer of soft, juicy tissue. This is called the canibinm. To make a successful graft the cambium in the scion must exactly join the cambium in the stock. Be careful, then, to see that cambium meets cambium. You now see Showing scion and stock ^^.j-jy grafting cau be more successfully from which it was made done if you select a scion and stock of nearly the same size. After fitting the parts closely together, bind them with cotton yam (see Fig. 65) that has been coated with grafting wax. This wax is made of equal parts of tallow, beeswax, and linseed oil. Smear the wax thoroughly over the whole joint, and make sure that the joint is completely air-tight. The best time to make this graft is when scion and stock are dormant, that is, when they are not in leaf. During the winter. To make a root graft, cut say in Februan,', is the best time to graft ^ °"s ' ^ ^ ^"""s the tree. Set the grafted tree away again in damp sand until spring, then plant it in loose, rich soil. 8o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Since all parts growing above the graft will be of the same kind as the scion, while all branches below it will be like the stock, it is well to graft low on the stock or even upon the root itself. The slanting double line in Fig. 66 shows the proper place to cut off for such grafting. If you like you may sometime make the interesting and valuable experiment of grafting scions from various kinds of apple trees on the branches of one stock. In this way you can secure a tree bearing a number of kinds of fruit. You may thus raise the l^onum. Red Astrachan, Wlnesap, and as many other varieties of apples as you wish, upon one tree. For this experiment, however, you will find it better to resort to cleft grafting, which is illustrated in Fig. 68. Luther Burbank, the originator of the Burbank potato, in attempting to find a variety of apple suited to the climate Fig. 67. A Com- I'LETED Root Graft h V f Fig. 6S. Clf.ft Grafting HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE 8i of California, grafted more than five hundred kinds of apple scions on one tree, so that he might watch them side by side and find out which kind was best suited to that state. SECTION XXIII. BUDDING If, instead of an apple tree, you were raising a plum or a peach tree, a form of propagation known as budding would be better than grafting. Occa- sionally budding is also employed for apples, pears, cherries, oranges, and lemons. Budding is done in the fol- lowing manner, A single bud is cut F'^'- 69- How to cut a from the scion and is then inserted ^'"'^ ''^''^' -^ ^^''''^' under the bark of a one-year-old peach seedling, so that the cambium of the bud and stock may grow together. Cut scions of the kind of fruit tree you desire from a one- year-old twig of the same variet}-. \\>ap them in a clean, B D Fig. 70. The Steps in Blddixg 82 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS moist cloth until you are ready to use them. Just before using cut the bud from the scion, as shown in Fig. 69, I This bud is now ready to be inserted on the north side of the stock, just two or three inches above the ground. The north side is selected to avoid the sun. Xow, as shown at a in Fig. 70, make a cross and an up-and- dowa incision, or cut, on the stock ; pull the bark back carefully, as shown in B\ insert the bud C as shown in D ; then fold the bark back and wrap with yam or raffia, as shown in E. As soon as the bud and branches have united, remove the \ATapping to prevent its cutting the bark and cut the tree back Fig. 71 close to the bud, as in Fig. 71, so as to force Sloping line shows nourishment into the inserted bud. where to cut tree Budding is donc in the field ^nthout disturbing the tree as it stands in the ground. The best time to do budding is during the summer or fall months, when the bark is loose enough to allow the buds to be easily inserted. Trees may be budded or grafted on one another only when they are nearly related. Thus the apple, crab-apple, ha\\thorn, and quince are all related closely enough to graft or bud on one another ; the pear grows on some hawthorns, but not well on p-j^ _, an apple ; some chestnuts will unite with Lines show where some kinds of oaks. to trim By using any of these methods you can succeed in getting with certaintv the kind of tree that vou desire. BOTH liLsV :>iuKlNo All Li-ci HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE 83 SECTION XXIV. PLAXTIXG AXD PRUXIXG The apple tree that you grafted should be set out in the spring. Dig a hole three or four feet in diameter where you wish the tree to grow. Place the tree in the hole and be ver)- careful to preserxe all the fine roots. Spread the roots out fully, water them, and pack fine, rich soil firmly about them. Place stakes about the voung tree to protect it from injury. If the spot selected is in a windy loca- tion, incline the tree slightly toward the prevailing wind. You must prune the tree as it grows. The object of prun- ing is to give the tree proper shape and to promote fruit- bearing:. If the bud at the end vV :il ,N*^Vi Fig. 73 Present shape comes from pruning of the main shoot grows, you will have a tall, cone-shaped tree. If, however, the end of the }oung tree be cut or " headed back " to the lines shown in Fig. 72. the buds below this point will be forced to grow and make a tree like that shown m Fig. 73. The proper height of heading for different fruits varies. For the apple tree a heio;ht of tvvo or three feet is best. *^c^*i^i Fig. 74 Correct shape 84 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Cutting an end bud of a shoot or branch ahvays sends the nourishment and growth into the side buds. Trimming or pinching off the side buds throws the growth into the end bud. You can therefore cause your tree to take almost any shape you desire. The difference between the trees shown in Figs. T^ and 74 is entirely the result of pruning. Fig. 74 illustrates in general a correctly shaped tree. It is evenly balanced, admits light freely, and yet has enough foliage to Fig. 75 Unthinned w|tdl*fc¥;;;:' Fig. 76 Properly thinned prevent sun-scald. Figs, 75 and y^ show the effect of wisel}' thinning the branches. The best time to prune is either in the winter or be- fore the buds start in the spring. Winter pruning tends to favor wood-production, while summer pruning lessens wood- production and induces fruitage. Each particular kind of fruit requires special pruning ; for example, the peach should be made to assume the shape illustrated in Fig. ']']. This is done by successive trim- mings, following the plan illustrated in Figs. 71, 78, 79. You will gain several advantages from these trimmings. First, HOW TO R_\ISE A FRUIT TREE 85 nourishment will be forced into the peach bud that you set on vour stock. This will secure a \igorous growth of the scion. By a second trimming take off the "heel " (Fig. 78, //) close to the tree, and thus prevent decay at this point. One year after budding you should reduce the tree to a '"whip," as in Fig. 79, by trimming at the dotted line in Fig. 78. This establishes the " head '" of the tree, which in the case of the peach should be ver}- low, — about Fig. 77. The Customary Way of pruning .\ i*e.\ch Fig. 7S. Two-Vear- Old Tree Cut off heel, h sixteen inches from the ground, — in order that a low foliage may lessen the danger of sun-scald to the main trunk. In pruning never leave a stump such as is shown in Fig. 78, //, Such a stump, ha\-ing no source of nourishment, will heal ver\- slowly and with great danger of decay. If this heel is cleanly cut on the line ch (Fig. 78), the wound 86 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS .J >j.' Fig. 79. Three- Year-Old Tree CUT BACK will heal rapidly and with little danger of decay. Leaving such a stump endangers the soundness of the whole tree. Fig. 80 shows the results of good and poor pruning on a large tree. When large limbs are removed it is best to paint the cut sur- face. The paint will ward off fungous disease and thus keep the tree from rotting where it was cut. Pruning that leaves large limbs branch- ing, as in Fig. 74, a, is not to be recom- mended, since the limbs when loaded with fruit or when beaten by heavy winds are liable to break. Decay is apt to set in at the point of breakage. The entrance of decay-fungi through some such wound or through a tiny crevice at such a crotch is the beginning of the end of many a fruitful tree. Sometimes a tree will go too much to wood and too little to fruit. This often happens in rich soil and may be remedied by another kind of pruning known as root-p7-u7iing. This consists in cutting off a few of the roots in order to limit the food supply of the plant. You ought to learn more about root-pruning, however, before you attempt it. Fig. So Refuses to heal Heals promptly How is a peach tree made? First, the blossom appears. Then pol- lination and fertilization occur. The fruit ripens. The pit. or seed, is saved. In the spring of the next year the seed is planted. The young HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE 87 tree, known as the stock, comes up quickly. In August of that year a bud of the variety which is wanted is inserted in the little stock, near the ground. One year later, in the spring, the stock is cut off just above the bud. The bud throws out a shoot, which grows to a height of about six feet, and in the fall this little peach tree is sold as a one-year-old tree. However, as is seen, the root is two years old. How is an apple tree made.' The seeds are saved in the fall of one year and planted the following year. The seedlings of the apple do not g^row so rapidlv as those of the peach. .At the end of the vear thev are K;i.. 51. ReAI'V 10 BEAK taken up and sorted, and in the following spring they are planted. In July or August they are budded. In the spring of the ne.xt year the stock is cut off above the bud. and the bud-shoot grows three or four feet. One year later the shoot branches and the top begins to form ; and in the fall of the following year the tree may be sold as a two-year-old, although most persons prefer to buy it a year later as a three-year-old. In some parts of the country, particularly in the West, the litde seedling is grafted in the second winter, in a grafdng room, and the young grafts are set in the nursery row in the spring to complete their growth. The planting in the orchard of the young peach and the young apple tree is done in practically the same way. After the hole for the tree has been dug and after proper soil has been provided, the roots should be spread and the soil carefully packed around them. 88 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Do you know an)' trees in your neighborhood that bear both wild and budded or grafted fruit? What are the chief varieties of apples grown in your neighborhood ? grapes ? currants ? plums ? cherries ? figs ? What is a good apple tree worth ? Is there any land near by that could support a tree and is not now doing so ? Examine several orchards and see whether the trees have the proper shape. Do you see any evidence of poor pruning? Do )'OU find any heels? Can you see any place where heels have resulted in rotten or hollow trees? How could you have prevented this? Has the removal of branches ever resulted in serious decay? How is this to be prevented? If your home is not well stocked with all the principal kinds of fruit, do you not want to propagate and attend to some of each kind? You will be surprised to find how quickly trees will bear and how soon you will be eating fruit from your own planting. Growing your own trees will make you feel proud of your skill. CHAPTER V HORTICULTURE SECTION XXV. MARKET-GARDENING The word Jiojiicnltiirc is one of those broad words under which much is grouped. It includes the cultivation of orchard fruits, such as apples and plums ; of small fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries ; of garden vegetables for the table ; of flowers of all sorts, including shrubbery and orna- mental trees and their arrangement into beautiful landscape effects around our homes. Horticulture then is a name for an art that is both far-reaching and important. The word gardciiing is generally given to that part of horticulture which has for its chief aim the raising of vege- tables for our tables. Flower-gardening, or the cultivation of plants valued for their bloom in making ornamental beds and borders and fur- nishing flowers for the decoration of the home, is generally called jJoricnlturc. Landscape-gardening is the art of so arranging flower-beds, grass, shrubber}-, and trees as to pro- duce pleasing effects in the grounds surrounding our homes and in great public parks and pleasure grounds. Landscape-gardening, like architecture, has developed into a great art and is now regarded as one of the so-called " fine arts," that is, arts that require taste, education, and refine- ment. The landscape-gardener forms pictures in nature just as the artist makes them on canvas, but uses natural objects in his pictures instead of paint and canvas. 89 90 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Market-Gardening. Formerly market-gardening was done on small tracts of land in the immediate vicinity of large cities, where supplies of stable manure could be used from the city stables. But with the great increase in the popula- tion of the cities, these small areas could no longer supply the demand, and the introduction of commercial fertilizers and the building of railroads enabled gardeners at great Fig. 82. Strawberry-Growing is an Art distances from city markets to grow and ship their products. Hence the markets, even in winter, are now supplied with fresh vegetables from regions where there is no frost. Then, as spring opens, fruits and vegetables are shipped from more temperate regions. Later vegetables and fruits come from the sections nearer the great cities. This gradual nearing of the supply fields continues until the gardens near the cities can furnish what is needed. HORTICULTURE 91 The market-gardeners around the great Northern cities, finding that winter products were coming from the South and from warmer regions, began to build hothouses and b\- means of steam and hot-water pipes to make warm cUmates in these glass houses. Many acres of land in the colder sections of the country- are covered with heated glass houses, and in them during the \\"inter are produced fine crops of tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, cauliflowers, eggplants, and other vegetables. The degree of perfec- tion which these attain in spite of ha\ing such arti- ficial culture, and their freshness as compared to the products brought from a great dis- tance, have made winter gardening under glass a ver\- profitable business. But it is a busi- ness that calls for the highest skill and the closest attention, Xo garden, even for home use, is complete without some glass sashes, and the garden will be all the more successful if there is a small heated greenhouse for starting plants that are afterwards to be set in the garden. Hotbeds. If there is no greenhouse, a hotbed is an important help in the garden. The bed is made bv dig- ging a pit two feet deep, seven feet wide, and as long as necessar)-. Fig. S3. Setiing Plants in a Cold-Fr.\me 92 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The material for the hotbed is fresh horse manure mixed with leaves. This is thrown into a heap to heat. As soon as steam is seen coming from the heap the manure is turned over and piled again so that the outer part is thrown inside. When the whole is uniformly heated and has been turned two or three times, it is packed firmly into the pit already dug. A frame six feet wide, twelve inches high on the north side and eight inches on the south side and as long as the bed is to be, is now made of plank. This is set upon the heated manure, thus leaving six inches on each side outside the frame. More manure is then banked all around it, and three or four inches of fine light and rich soil are placed in- F,G. 84. The Gladiolus ^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^^_ The frame is then covered with hotbed sashes six feet long and three feet wide. These slide up and down on strips of wood let into the sides of the frame. A thermometer is stuck into the soil and closely watched, for there will be too much heat at first for sowing seed. When the heat in the early morning is about 85°, seeds may be sowed. The HORTICULTURE 93 hotbed is used for starting tomato plants, eggplants, cabbage plants, and other vegetables that cannot stand exposure. It should be made about eight or ten weeks before the tender plants can be set out in the localit}\ In the South and South- west it should be started earlier than in the North. For growing the best tomato plants, and for such hardv plants as lettuce and cabbage, it \^^ll be better to have cold-frames in addition to the hotbed ; these need not be more than t\^o or three sashes. Cold-Frames. A cold-frame is like the frame used for a hotbed, but it is placed on well-manured soil in a sheltered spot. It is covered \\-ith the same kind of sashes and is used Fig. 85. : - ; for hardening the plants sowed in the hotbed. The frame must be well banked with earth on the outside, and the glass must be covered on cold nights \\ith straw, mats, or old carpets to keep out frost. Care of Hotbed and Cold-Frame. If the sun be allowed to shine brightly on the glass of a cold-frame or hotbed, it will soon raise the temperature in the hotbed to a point that will destroy the plants. It is necessan.-, then, to pay close atten- tion to the bed and, when the sun shines, to slip the sashes down or raise them and place a block under the upper end to allow the steam to pass off. The cold-frame also must be aired when the sun shines, and the sashes must be gradually 94 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS slipped douTi in mild weather. Finally, they may be re- moved entirely on sunshin}^ days, so as to accustom the plants to the open air, but they must be replaced at night. For a while before setting the plants in the open gardens, leave the sashes off night and day. While the hotbed may be used for starting plants, it is much better and more convenient to have a little greenhouse with fire heat for this purpose. A little house with but four Fig. S6. Greenhouse and Cold-Frames sashes on each side will be enough to start a great many plants, and will also give room for some flowers in pots. With such a house a student can learn to manage a more extensive structure if he gives close attention to airing, watering, and keeping out insects. Sowing. The time for sowing the different kinds of seeds is an important matter. Seeds vary greatly in their require- ments. All need three conditions — a proper degree of heat, moisture, and air. Some seeds, like English peas, parsnips. HORTICULTURE 95 beets, and radishes, will germinate and grow when the soil is still cool in the early spring, and peas will stand quite a frost after they are up. Therefore we plant English peas as early as the ground can be worked. But if we should plant seeds like corn, string (or snap) beans, squashes, and other tender plants before the ground is warm enough, they would decay. Seeds cannot germinate in soil that is perfectly dr)-, for there must be moisture to swell them and to start growth. Fig. Sj. Gathkring and shipping Celery The oxygen of the air is also necessar}^, and if seeds are buried so deeply that the air cannot reach them, they will not grow, even if they are warm and moist. The depth of planting must var}^ with the character and size of the seed. English peas may be covered six inches deep and will be all the better for such covering, but if corn be covered so deep, it hardly gets above the ground. In planting small seeds like those of the radish, cabbage, turnip, lettuce, etc., a good rule is to cover them three times the thickness of the seed. 96 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In sowing seeds when the ground is rather dty, it is a good plan, after covering them, to tramp on the row so as to press the soil closely to the seeds and to help it to retain moisture for germination, but do not pack the soil if it is damp. In spring never dig or plow the garden while it is still wet, but alwavs wait until the soil is dr)' enough to crumble freely. What Crops to grow. The crops to be raised will of course depend upon each gardener's climate, surroundings, and markets. Some- times it may pay a grower, if his soil and climate are particularly suited to one crop, to expend most of his time and energy on this crop ; for ex- ample, in some sections of New York, on pota- toes ; in parts of ]Michigan, on celery ; in Georgia, on watermelons ; in west- em North Carolina, on cabbage. If circumstances allow this sort of gardening, it has many advantages, for of course it is much easier to acquire skill in growing one crop than in growing many. On the other hand, it often happens that a gardener's situation requires him to grow most of the crops known to gardening. Each gardener then must be guided in his selec- tion of crops by his surroundings. A Large Yield of Cabbages HORTICULTURE 97 Care of Crops. The gardener who wishes to attain the greatest success in his art must do four things : First, he must make his land rich and keep it rich. Much of his success depends on getting his crops on the market ahead of other growers. To do this, his crops must grow rapidly, and crops grow rapidly only in rich soil. Then, too, land conveniently situated for market-gardening is nearly always costly. Hence the successful market-gardener must plan to secure the largest possible yield from as small an area as is practicable. The largest yield can of course be secured from the richest land. Second, the gardener must cultivate his rich land most carefully and economically. He crowds his land with prod- ucts that must grow apace. Therefore he, least of all growers, can afford to have any of his soil go to feed weeds, to have his land wash, or to have his growing crops suffer for lack of timely and wise cultivation. To cultivate his land economi- cally the gardener must use the best tools and machines and the best methods of soil management. Third, to get the best results he must grow perfect vege- tables. To do this, he must add to good tillage a knowledge of the common plant diseases and of the ways of insects and bacterial pests ; he must know how and when to spray, how and when to treat his seed, how and when to poison, how and when to trap his insect foes and to destroy their hiding-places. Fourth, not only must the gardener grow perfect vegetables, but he must put them on the market in perfect condition and in attractive shape. Who cares to buy wilted, bruised, spoiling vegetables ? Gathering, bundling, crating, and shipping are all to be watched carefully. Baskets should be neat and attractive, crates clean and snug, barrels well packed and well headed. Careful attention to all these details brings a rich return. 98 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Among the gardener's important crops are the follovring : Asparagus. This is a hard}- plant. Its seed may be sowed either earl\- in the spring or late in the fall. The seeds should be planted in rows. If the plants are well cultix-ated during the spring and summer, they will make vigorous roots for transplanting in the autumn. In the fall prepare a piece of land by breaking it unusually deep and bv manuring it heavily. After the land is thor- oughly prepared, make in it furrows for the aspara- gus roots. These fur- rows should be six inches deep and three feet apart. Then remove the roots from the rows in which thev have been gro\nng during the summer, and set them t^vo feet apart in the prepared furrows. Cover carefully at once. In the follo\A"ing spring the vouns: shoots must be 59. A Crate of Asfak well cultivated. In order to economize space, beets or lettuce may be grown between the asparagus rows during this first season. With the coming of cold weather the asparagus must again be freely manured and all dead tops cut off. Some plants will be ready for market the second spring. If the bed is kept free from weeds and well manured, it will increase in productiveness from year to year. Beans. The most generally planted beans are those known as string, or snap, beans. Of the manv varieties, all are sensi- tive to cold and hence must not be planted until frost is over. HORTICULTURE 99 Another widely grown kind of bean is the Hma, or butter, bean. There are two \-arieties of the lima bean. One is large and generally grows on poles. This kind does best in the Xonhem states. The other is a small bean and may be grown without poles. This kind is best suited to the warmer climates of the Southern states. Cabbage. In comparatively warm clim.ates the first crop of cabbage is generally grown in the following way. The seeds are sowed in beds in September, and the plants grown from this sowing are in November trans- planted to ground laid off in sharp ridges. The young plants are set on the south side of the ridges in order that they may be some- what protected from the cold of winter. As spring comes on, the ridge is partly cut down at each working until the field is leveled, and thereafter the cultivation should be level. Early cabbages need hea\y applications of manure. In the spring, nitrate of soda applied in the rows is \er\- helpful. Seeds for the crop following this early crop should be sowed in March. Of course these seeds should be of a later varien- than the first used. The young plants should be trans- planted as soon as they are large enough. Early cabbages are set in rows three feet apart, the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. As the later \-arieties grow larger than the earlier ones, the plants should be set two feet apart in the row. Fig. 90. Cabbage ready for Shipment lOO AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In growing late fall and winter cabbage the time of sowing varies with the climate. For the Northern and middle states, seeding should be done during the last of March and in April. South of a line passing west from \'irginia it is hard to carr}^ cabbages through the heat of summer and get them to head in the fall. However, if the seeds are sowed about the first of August in rich and moist soil and the plants set in the same sort of soil in September, large heads can be secured for the December market. Celery. In the extreme northern part of our coun- tr}', celer}- seeds are often sowed in a greenhouse or hotbed. This is done in order to secure plants early enough for summer blanch- ing. This plan, however, suits only ver}" cool climates. In the middle states the seeds are usually sowed in a well-prepared bed about April. The young plants are moved to other beds as soon as they need room. Generally they are transplanted in July to rows prepared for them. These should be four feet apart, and the plants should be set six inches apart in the row. The celer}- bed should be carefully cultivated during the summer. In the fall, hill the stalks up enough to keep them erect. After the growing season is over dig them and set them in trenches. The trenches should be as deep as the celer\' is tall, and after the celery is put in them they should be covered with boards and straw. iii f ^"^^'^ Fig. 91. Celery trimmed, washed, and bunched HORTICULTURE loi In the more southern states, celer)- is usually grown in beds. The beds are generally made six feet wide, and rows a foot apart are run crosswise. The plants are set six inches apart, in September, and the whole bed is earthed up as the season ad- vances. Finally, when uinter comes the beds are covered with leaves or straw to prevent the plants from freezing. The celer\' is dug and bunched for market at any time during the winter. By means of cold-frames a profitable crop of spring celen^ may be raised. Have the plants ready to go into the cold- frames late in October or early in November. The soil in the frame should be made ver\' deep. The plants should make only a moderately rapid grouth during the winter. In the early spring they will grow rapidly and so crowd one another as to blanch well. As celery grown in this way comes on the market at a time when no other celers- can be had, it commands a good price. In climates as warm as that of Florida, beds of celer\' can be raised in this way without the protection of cold-frames. A slight freeze does not hurt celer\-, but a long-continued freezing spell will destroy it. Some kinds of celer\- seem to turn white naturallv. These are called self-blanching kinds. Other kinds need to be banked with earth in order to make the stalks whiten. This kind usually gives the best and crispest stalks. Cucumbers and Cantaloupes. Although cucumbers and cantaloupes are ver\' different plants, they are grown in pre- cisely the same way. Some gardeners plant them in hills. However, this is perhaps not the best plan. It is better to lay the land off in furrows six feet apart. After filling these with well-rotted stable manure, throw soil over them. Then make the top flat and plant the seeds. After the plants are up thin them out, leaving them a foot or more apart in the I02 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS rows. Cultivate regularly and carefully until the vines cover the entire ground. It is a good plan to sow cowpeas at the last working of cantaloupes, in order to furnish some shade for the melons. As both cucumbers and cantaloupes are easily hurt by cold, they should not be planted until the soil is warm and all danger of frost is past. Cucumbers are always cut while they are green. They should never be pulled from the vine, but should always be cut with a piece of ■^Y ''v^^ ^-- \^^^' the stem attached. Cantaloupes should be gathered before they turn yellow and should be rip- ened in the house. In some sec- tions of the countr)^ the little striped '^ '^ Sdi cucumber-beetle at- FiG. 92. Striped CrcrMBER Beetle and Larva |^(-1^s tJig melons •^" '"^^s^ifi^d and cucumbers as soon as they come up. These beetles are ver\' active, and if their attacks are not prevented they will destroy the tender plants. Bone dust and tobacco dust applied just as the plants appear above the ground will prevent these attacks. This treatment not only keeps off the beetle, but also helps the growth of the plants. Eggplants. Eggplants are so tender that they cannot be transplanted like tomatoes to cold-frames and gradually hardened to stand the cold spring air. These plants, started in a warm place, must be kept there until the soil to which HORTICULTURE 103 thev are to be transplanted is well warmed by the advance of spring. After the warm weather has fully set in, trans- plant them to rich soil, setting them three feet apart each way. This plant needs much manure. If large, perfect fruit is expected, the ground can hardly be made too rich. Eggplants are subject to the same bacterial blight that is so destructive to tomatoes. The only way to prevent this disease is to plant in ground not lately used for tomatoes or potatoes. Fig. 93. An Omun Harvest Onions. The method of growing onions varies with the use to which it is intended to put them. To make the early sorts, which are eaten green in the spring, little onions called sfts are planted. These are grown from seeds sowed late in the spring. The seeds are sowed thickly in rows in rather poor land. The object of selecting poor land is that the growth of the sets may be slow. When the sets have reached the size of small marbles, they are ready for the fall planting. In the South the sets may be planted in September. Plant them in rows in rich and well-fertilized soil. They I04 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS wiU be ready for market in March or April. In the more northerlv states the sets are to be planted as early as possible in the spring. To grow ripe onions the seeds must be sowed as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. The plants are thinned to a stand of three inches in the rows. As they grow, the soil is drawn away from them so that the onions sit on top of the soil \iith only their roots in the earth. As soon as the tops rif)en pull the onions and let them lie in the sun until the tops are dr\\ Then put them under shelter. As onions keep best with their tops attached, do not remove these until it is time for marketing. Peas. The English pea. is about the first vegetable of the season to be planted. It may be planted as soon as the ground is in workable condition. Peas are planted in rows, and it is a good plan to stretch wire netting for them to climb on. How- ever, where peas are extensively cultivated they are allowed to fall on the ground- HORTICULTLRE 105 There are many sorts of peas, differing both in quaht)' and in time of production. The first to be planted are the extra- early varieties. These are not so fine as the later, wrinkled sorts, but the seeds are less apt to rot in cold ground. Fol- lowing these, some of the fine, wrinkled sorts are to be planted in regular succession. Peas do not need much manure and do best in a light, warm soil. Tomatoes. There is no vegetable grown that is more widely used than the tomato. \\'hether fresh or canned it is a staple article of food that can be sen-ed in manv wavs. By careful selection and breeding, the fruit of the tomato has in recent years been much improved. There are now- many varieties that produce perfectly smooth and solid fruit, and the grower can hardly go amiss in his selection of seeds if he bears his climate and his particular needs in mind. Early tomatoes are started in the greenhouse or in the hotbed about ten weeks before the time for setting the plants in the open ground. They are transplanted to cold- frames as soon as they are large enough to handle. This is done to harden the plants and to give them room to grow- strong before the final transplanting. In kitchen gardens tomatoes are planted in row-s four feet apart with the plants two feet apart in the rows. Thev are generally trained to stakes with but one stalk to a stake. When there is plent}- of space, however, the plants are allow-ed to grow- at will and to tumble on the ground. In this way they bear large crops. During the winter the mar- kets are supplied with tomatoes either from tropical sections or from hothouses. As those grown in the hothouses are superior in flavor to those shipped from Florida and from the West Indies, and as they command good prices, great quantities are grown in this way. io6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In the South the bacterial blight which attacks the plants of this family is a serious drawback to tomato culture. The only way to escape this disease is to avoid planting tomatoes on land in w-hich eggplants, tomatoes, or potatoes have been blighted. Lime spread around the plants seems to prevent the blight for one season on some soils. At the approach of frost in the fall, green tomatoes can easily be preserved by wrapping them in paper. Gather them carefully and wrap each separately. Pack them in boxes and store in a cellar that is close enough to prevent the freezing of the fruit. A few da^"s before the tomatoes are wanted for the table unpack as many as are needed, re- move the paper, and allow them to ripen in a warm room. Tomatoes require a rich soil. Scattering a small quantity of nitrate of soda around their roots promotes rapid growth. Watermelons. As watermelons need more room than can usually be spared in a garden, the\' are commonly grown as a field crop. A \-er}- light, sandy soil suits watermelons best. They can be grown on \er\- poor soil if a good supply of compost be placed in each hill. The land for the melons should be laid off in about ten-foot checks ; that is, the furrows should cross one another at right angles about ever)' ten feet. A wide hole should be dug where the furrows cross, and into this composted manure should be put. The best manure for watermelons is a compost of stable manure and wood-mold from the forest. Pile the manure and wood-mold in alternate layers for some time before the planting-season. During the winter cut through the pile several times until the two are thoroughly mixed and finely pulverized. Be sure to keep the compost heap under shelter. Compost will lose in value if it is exposed to rains. HORTICULTURE lO/ At planting-time, put two or three shovelfuls of this com- post into each of the prepared holes, and over the top of the manure scatter a handful of any high-grade complete fertil- izer. Then cover fertilizer and manure with soil, and plant the seeds in this soil. In cultivating, plow both ways of the checked rows and throw the earth toward the plants. Some growers pinch off the vines when they have grown about three feet long. This is done to make them branch more freely, but the pinching is not necessar)-. A serious disease, the watermelon wilt, is rapidl}- spreading through melon-growing sections. This disease is caused by germs in the soil, and the germs are hard to kill. If the wilt should appear in your neighborhood, do not allow any stable manure to be used on your melon land, for the germs are easily scattered by means of stable manure. The germs also cling to the seeds of diseased melons, and these seeds bear the disease to other fields. If you treat melon seeds as you are directed on page 1 3 5 to treat oat seeds, the germs on the seeds will be destroyed. By crossing the watermelon on the citron melon, a watermelon that is resistant to wilt has recently been developed and successfully grown in soils in which wilt is present. The new melon, inferior in flavor at first, is being improved from season to season and bids fair to rival other melons in flavor. Flu. 93. Dewuerries io8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION XXVI. FLOWER GARDENING The comforts and joys of life depend largely upon small things. Of these small things perhaps none holds a position of greater importance in countr}' life than the adornment of the home, indoors and outdoors, with flowers tastefullv ar- ranged. Their selection and planting furnish pleasant recrea- tion ; their care is a pleasing employment ; and each little Fig. 96. Ax Easy Way to beautify the Hume plant, as it sprouts and grows and develops, may become as much a pet as creatures of the sister animal kingdom. A beautiful, well-kept yard adds greatly to the pleasure and attractiveness of a countr}- home. If a beautiful yard and home give joy to the mere passer-by, how^ much more must their beaut)' appeal to the owners. The decorating of the home shows ambition, pride, and energ}' — important ele- ments in a successful life. HORTICULTURE 109 Plant trees and shrubs in your yard and border your masses of shrubben- with flower-beds. Do not disfigure a lawn by placing a bed of flowers in it. Use the flowers rather to decorate the shrubben-, and for borders along walks, and in the comers near steps, or against foundations. If you wish to raise flowers for the sake of flowers, not as decorations, make the flower-beds in the back }ard or at the side of the house. Plants may be grown from seeds or from bulbs or from cuttings. The root- ing of cuttings is an interesting task to all who are fond of flowers. Those who have no greenhouse and who wish to root cuttings of ge- raniums, roses, and other plants may do so in the following way. Take a shallow pan, an old-fashioned milk pan for instance, fill it nearly full of clean sand, and then wet the sand thoroughly. Stick the cuttings thickly into this wet sand, set the pan in a warm, sunny window, and keep the sand in the same water-soaked condition. Most cuttings will root well in a few weeks and may then be set into small flower-pots. Cuttings of tea roses should have two Fig. 97. A Back Yard to refine the Children of the Family no AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS or three joints and be taken from a stem that has just made a flower. Allow one of the rose leaves to remain at the top of the cutting. Stick this cutting into the sand and it will r:*ot in about four weeks. Cuttings of Cape jasmine ma}" i in the same way. Some geraniums, the rose _ r. for example, may be growTi from cuttings of '.':.. : :s. J- ;g. o?. Kei'l'TTIn - Bulbs are simply the lower ends of the leaves of a plant wrapped tightly around one another and inclosing the bud that makes the future flower-stalk. The h}-acinth, the narcis- sus, and the common garden onion are examples of bulbous plants. The flat part at the bottom of the bulb is the stem of the plant reduced to a flat disk, and betv^-een each tn-o adjacent leaves on this flat stem there is a bud, just as above- ground there is a bud at the base of a leaf. These buds on the stem of the bulb rarely grow, however, unless fcnred to HORTICULTURE III do so artificially. The number of bulbs may be greatly in- creased by making these buds grow and form other bulbs. In increasing hyacinths the matured bulbs are dug in the spring, and the under part of the flat stem is carefully scraped awav to expose the base of the buds. The bulbs are then put in heaps and covered with sand. In a few weeks each bud has formed a little bulb. The gardener plants the whole together to grow one season, after which the little bulbs are sepa- rated and grown into full-sized bulbs for sale. Other bulbs, like the narcissus or the daffodil, form new bulbs that separate without being scraped. There are some other plants which have under- ground parts that are corfimonly called bulbs but which are not bulbs at all ; for example, the gladiolus and the caladium. or elephant's ear. Their under- ground parts are bulblike in shape, but are reallv solid flat- tened stems with eyes like the underground stem of the Irish potato. These parts are called conns. Thev mav be cut into pieces like the potato and each part will grow. The dahlia makes a mass of roots that look greatly like sweet potatoes, but there are no eyes on them as there are on the sweet potato. The only eyes are on the base of the Fig. 99. A Clematis 112 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS stem to which they are joined. They may be sprouted Hke sweet potatoes and then soft cuttings made of the green shoots, after which they may be rooted in the greenhouse and later planted in pots. There are many perennial plants that will bloom the first season when grown from the seed, though such seedlings are seldom so good as the plants from which they came. They are generally used to originate new varieties. Seeds of the dahlia, for instance, can be sowed in a box in a warm room in earlv March, potted as soon as the plants are large I'lG. loo. Outdoor-Grown Chrysanthemums enough to handle, and finally planted in the garden when the weather is warm. They will bloom nearly as soon as plants grown by dividing the roots or from cuttings. In growing annual plants from seed, there is little difficulty if the grower has a greenhouse or a hotbed with a glass sash. Even without these the plants may be grown in shallow boxes in a warm room. The best boxes are about four inches deep with bottoms made of slats nailed a quarter of an inch apart to give proper drainage. Some moss is laid over the bottom to prevent the soil from sifting through. The boxes should then be filled with light, rich soil. Fine black forest mold, thoroughly mixed with one fourth its bulk of well-rotted HORTICULTURE 113 manure, makes the best soil for filling the seed-boxes. If this soil be placed in an oven and heated very hot, the heat will destroy many weeds that would otherwise give trouble. After the soil is put in the boxes it should be well packed by pressing it with a flat wooden block. Sow the seeds in straight rows, and at the ends of the rows put little wooden labels with the names of the flowers on them. Seeds sowed in the same box should be of the same general size in order that they may be properly cov- ered, for seeds need to be covered accord- ing to their size. After sowing the seed, sift the fine soil over the surface of the box. The best soil for covering small seeds is made by rub- bing dry moss and leaf-mold through a sieve together. This makes a light cover that will not bake and will retain moisture. After covering the seeds, press the soil firm and smooth with a wooden block. Now sprinkle the covering soil lightly with a watering- pot until it is fairly moistened. Lay some panes of glass over the box to retain the moisture, and avoid further water- ing until moisture becomes absolutely necessary. Too much watering makes the soil too compact and rots the seed. Fig. ioi. Thk Carnation (Eldokauu) 114 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXNERS As soon as the seedlings have made a second pair of leaves, take them up with the point of a knife and transplant them into other boxes filled in the same way. They should be set two inches apart so as to give them room to grow strong. They may be transplanted from the boxes to the flower-garden by taking an old knife-blade and cut- ting the earth into squares, and then lifting the entire square with the plant and setting it where it is wanted. There are many flower-seeds which are so small that they must not be covered at all. In this class we find begonias, petunias, and Chinese primroses. To sow these prepare boxes as for the other -eeds, and press the earth smooth. Then scatter some fine, dry- moss ihinly over the surface of the soil. Sprinkle this with water until it is /i B^^^^^l well moistened, and at once scatter W^ |BH^^^HI the seeds thinly over the surface [ i M 11 1 ^nd cover the boxes with panes of glass until the seeds germinate. Transplant as soon as the young plants can be lifted out separately on the blade of a penknife. Many kinds of flower-seeds may be sowed directly in the open ground where they are to remain. The sweet pea is one of the most popular flowers grown in this way. The seeds should be sowed rather thickly in rows and covered fully four inches Fig. I02. The Poet's Narcissus HORTICULTURE "S Fig. A Cyclamen deep. The sowing should be varied in time according to the climate. From North Carolina southward, sweet peas may be sowed in the fall or in Januar)% as they are ver}' hardy and should be forced to bloom before the weather becomes hot. Late spring sowing will not give fine flow- ers in the South. From North Caro- lina northward the seeds should be sowed just as early in the spring as the ground can be easily worked. When the plants appear, stakes should be set along the rows and a strip of woven-wire fence stretched for the plants to climb on. Moming- glor\- seeds are also sowed where they are to grow. The seeds of the moonflower are large and hard and will fail to grow unless they are slightly cut. To start their growth make a slight cut just through the hard outer coat of the seed so as to expose i-ig. 104. a MoutKN Swlli ptA ii6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS the white inside. In this way they will grow very readily. The seeds of the canna, or Indian-shot plant, are treated in a similar way to start them growing. The canna makes large fleshy roots which in the North are taken up, covered with damp moss, and stored under the benches of the greenhouse or in a cellar. If allowed to get too dry, they will wither. From central North Carolina south it is best to cover them up thickly with dead leaves and let them stay in the ground where they grew. In the early spring take them up and divide for replanting. Perennial plants, such as our flowering shrubs, are grown from cuttings of the ripe wood after the leaves have fallen in autumn. From North Fig. 105. Dahlias Carolina southward these cuttings should be set in rows in the fall. Cuttings ten inches long are set so that the tops are just even with the ground. A light cover of pine leaves will prevent damage from frost. Farther north the cuttings should be tied in bundles and well buried in the ground with earth heaped over them. In the spring set them in rows for rooting. In the South all the hardy hybrid perpetual roses can be grown HORTICULTURE 117 in this way, and in any section the cuttings of most of the spring-flowering shrubs will grow in the same manner. The Japanese quince, which makes such a show of its scarlet flowers in early spring, can be best grown from three-inch cuttings made of the roots and planted in rows in the fall. Manv of our ornamental evergreen trees, such as the arbor vitae. can be grown in the spring from seeds sowed in a frame. d- A .^ a»i^_. H^r- A-^^W— ^.,I^^MHH||| f^^^^l^% )^^^A ^E ^^^^^^^^^^^^^BIH^n^^DBB^AHE^^^D^Bii Fli.. 100. FOUR-O'CLOCKS SET I.N" A GOOU I'LACK Cotton cloth should be stretched over the trees while they are young, to prevent the sun from scorching them. When a year old they may be set in nurser\' rows to develop until they are large enough to plant. Arbor vita? may also be grown from cuttings made by setting young tips in boxes of sand in the fall and keeping them warm and moist through the winter. Most of them will be rooted by spring. The kinds of flowers that you can grow are almost count- less. You can hardly make a mistake in selecting, as all are ii8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS interesting. Start this year with a few and gradually increase the number under your care year by year, and aim always to make your plants the choicest of their kind. Of annuals there are over four hundred kinds cultivated. You may select from the following list : phlox, petunias, China asters, California poppies, sweet peas, pinks, double Fig. 107. A Window Box and single sunflowers, hibiscus, candytuft, balsams, morning- glories, stocks, nasturtiums, verbenas, mignonette. Of perennials select bleeding-hearts, pinks, bluebells, holly- hocks, perennial phlox, perennial hibiscus, wild asters, and goldenrods. From bulbs choose crocus, tulip, daffodil, nar- cissus, lily of the valley, and lily. Some climbers are cobaea, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, English ivy, Boston i\y, cypress vine, hyacinth bean, climbing nasturtiums, and roses. HORTICULTURE 119 To make your plants do best, cultivate them carefully. Allow no weeds to grow among them and do not let the sur- face of the soil dry into a hard crust. Beware, however, of stirring the soil too deep. Loosening the soil about the roots interrupts the feeding of the plant and does harm. Climbing plants may be trained to advantage on low woven-wire fences. These are especially serviceable for sweet peas and climbing nasturtiums. Do not let the plants go to seed, since seeding is a heavy drain on nourishment. Moreover, the plant has served its end when it seeds and is ready then to stop blossoming. You should therefore pick off the old flowers to pre- vent their developing seeds. This will cause many plants which would otherwise soon stop blossoming to continue bearing flowers for a longer period. Window-Gardening. Growing plants indoors in the win- dow possesses many of the attractions of outdoor flower- gardening, and is a means of beautifying the room at very small expense. Especially do window-gardens give delight during the barren winter time. They are a source of culture and pleasure to thousands who cannot afford extended and expensive ornamentation. The window-garden may var)^ in size from an eggshell holding a minute plant to boxes filling all the available space about the window. The soil may be in pots for individual Fig. ioS. A Window-Garde.n I20 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS Fig. 109. Ax Inside Window Box in its Full Glory plants or groups of plants or in boxes for collections of plants. You may raise your flowers inside of the window on shelves or stands, or you may have a set of shelves built outside of the win- dow and inclosed in glazed sashes. The illustration on page 1 19 gives an idea of such an external window- garden. The soil must be rich and loose. The best contains some undecayed organic matter such as leaf-mold or partly decayed sods and some sand. Raise your plants from bulbs, cuttings, or seed, just as in outdoor gardens. Some plants do bet- ter in cool rooms, others in a warmer temperature. If the tempera- ture ranges from 3 5 '^ to 70°, averaging about 55°, azaleas, daisies, carnations, cand\tuft, alyssum, dusty miller, chrv^s- anthemums, cine- rarias, camellias, daphnes, geraniums, petunias, \-iolets, prim- roses, and verbenas make especially good growths. Fig. 11c. WlNLiOW BLOOil A LL.v. HORTICULTURE 121 If the temperature is from 50° to 90", averaging 70°, trv' abutilon, begonia, bouvardia, caladium, canna, Cape jasmine, coleus, fuchsia, gloxinia, heUotrope, lantana, lobelia, roses, and smilax. If your box or window is shaded a good part of the time, raise begonias, camellias, ferns, and Asparagus Sprengeri. Fig. III. Fekns for 13uth Lndooks and Outdoors When the soil is dr)-, water it ; then apply no more water until it again becomes dr\'. Beware of too much water. The plants should be washed occasionally with soapsuds and then rinsed. If red spiders are present, sponge them off with water as hot as can be borne comfortably by the hand. Newspapers afford a good means of keeping off the cold. CHAPTER VI THE DISEASES OF PLANTS SECTION XXVII. THE CAUSE AND NATURE OF PLANT DISEASE Plants have diseases just as animals do ; not the same diseases, to be sure, but just as serious for the plant. Some of them are so dangerous that they kill the plant ; others partly or wholly destroy its usefulness or its beauty. Some diseases are found oftenest on very young plants, others prey on the middle-aged tree, while still others attack merely the fruit. Whenever a farmer or fruit-grower has disease on his plants, he is sure to lose much profit. You have all seen rotten fruit. This is diseased fruit. Fruit rot is a plant disease. It costs farmers millions of dollars annually. A fruit-grower recently lost sixty carloads of peaches in a single year through rot which could have been largeh' prevented if he had known how. Manv of the yellowish or discolored spots on leaves are the result of disease, as is also the smut of wheat, corn, and oats, the blight of the pear, and the wilt of cotton. Many of these diseases are contagious, or, as we often hear said of measles, " catching." This is true, among others, of the apple and peach rots. A healthy apple can catch this dis- ease from a sick apple. You often see evidence of this in the apple bin. So, too, many of the diseases found in the field or garden are contagious. THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 123 Sometimes when the skin of a rotten apple has been broken you will find in the broken place a blue mold. It was this that caused the apple to decay. This mold is a living plant ; very small, certainly, but nevertheless a plant. Let us learn a little about molds, in order that we may better under- stand our apple and potato rots, as well as other plant diseases. If you cut a lemon and let it stand for a day or tw^o, there will probably appear a blue mold like that you have seen on the surface of canned fruit. Bread also some- times has this blue mold ; at other times bread has a black mold, and yet again a pink or a yellow mold. These and all other molds are tiny living plants. Instead of seeds they produce many vers- small bod- ies that serve the purpose of seeds and reproduce the mold. These are called spores. Fig. 112 shows how they are borne on the parent plant. It is also of great importance to decide whether by keep- ing the spores away we may prevent mold. Possibly this experiment will help us. Moisten a piece of bread, then dip a match or a pin into the blue mold on a lemon, and draw the match across the moist bread. Vou will thus plant the spores in a row, though they are so small that perhaps you may not see any of them. Place the bread in a damp place Fig. 112. Taxgleo Threads of Blue Mold The single stalk on the left shows how spores are borne 124 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Fig. ii^. Magnified Rose Mildew for a few" da\s and watch it. Does the mold grow where \ou planted it ? Does it grow elsewhere ? This experiment should prove to you that molds \ - v^-v,^? , -y are li\"ing things and can be planted. If you find spots elsewhere, you must bear in mind that these spores are ven* small and light and that some of them were probably blown about when you made your sowing. When you touch the moldy portion of a dr\- lemon, you see a cloud of dust rise. This dust is made of miUions of sp)ores. If you plant many other kinds of mold you will find that the molds come true to the kind that is planted ; that like produces like even among molds. You can prove, also, that the mold is caused only by other mold. To do this, put some wet bread in a wide- mouthed bottle and plug the mouth of the bottle with cot- ton. Kill all the spores that may be in this bottle by steaming it an hour in a cooking-steamer. This bread will not mold until you allow live mold from the outside to enter. If. however, at anv time Fig. 114. A Mildewed Rose THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 125 you open the bottle and allow spores to enter, or if you plant spores therein, and if there be moisture enough, mold will immediately set in. The little plants which make up these molds are called fungi. Some fungi, such as the toadstools, puffballs, and Fig. 115. A Highly Magnified Section of Diseased Pear Leaf Showing how spores are borne dexil's snuff-box. are quite large ; others, namely the molds, are ver)' small ; and others are even smaller than the molds. Fungi never have the green color of ordinar\- plants, always repro- duce by spores, and feed on li\ing matter or matter that was once alive. Puffballs, for example, are found on rotting wood or dead twigs or roots. Some fungi grow on li\ing plants, 126 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS and these produce plant disease by taking their nourishment from the plant on which they grow ; the latter plant is called the host. The same blue mold that grows on bread often attacks apples that have been slightly bruised ; it cannot pierce healthy apple skin. You can plant the mold in the bruised apple just as you did on bread and watch its rapid spread through the apple. You learn from this the need of prevent- ing bruised or decayed apples from coming in contact with health}- fruit. f\ 1— H Just as the fun- gus studied above lives in the apple or bread, so other ^"arieties Hac on leaves, bark, etc. Fig. 1 1 3 represents the surface of a mildewed rose leaf greatly magnified. This mildew is a fungus. You can see its creeping stems, its upright stalk, and numerous spores readv to fall off and spread the disease A^th the first breath of wind. You must remember that this figure is greatly magnified, and that the whole portion shown in the figure is only about one tenth of an inch across. Fig. 114 shows the general appearance of a twig affected by this disease. Mildew on the rose or on any other plant may be killed by spraying the leaves with a solution of liver of sulphur ; to make this solution, use one ounce of the liver of sulphur to tAvo gallons of water. Fig. 116. Spores of the Pear Scab The spores are borne on stalks THE DISEL\SES OF PLANTS 12/ The fungus that causes the pear-leaf spots has its spores in little pits (Fig. 115). The spores of some fungi also grow on stalks, as shown in Fig. 1 16. This figure represents an en- larged view of the pear scab, which causes so much destruction. You see, then, that fungi are li\ing plants that grow at the expense of other plants and cause disease. Now if you can cover the leaf with a poison that will kill the spore when it comes, you can prevent the disease. One such poison is the Bordeaux {bor-do') mixture, which has proved of great value to farmers. Since the fungus in most cases lives within the leaves, the poison on the outside does no good after the fungus is estab- lished. The treatment can be used only to frci'cnt attack, not to cure, except in the case of a few mildews that live on the outside of the leaf, as does the rose mildew. EXERCISE Why do things mold more readily in damp places? Do you now understand why fruit is heated before it is canned ? Tr^- to grow several kinds of mold. Do you know any fungi which may be eaten .'' Transfer disease from a rotten apple to a healthy one and note the rapidity of decay. How many really healthy leaves can you find on a strawberry plant ? Do you find any sp>ots with reddish borders and white centers? Do. you know that this is a serious disease of the strawberry? What damage does fruit mold do to peaches, plums, or strawberries? Write to your experiment station for bulletins on plant diseases and methods for making and using spraying mixtures. SECTIOX XXVni. YEAST AND BACTERIA Can you imagine a plant so small that it would take one hun- dred plants lying side by side to equal the thickness of a sheet of writing-paper } There are plants that are so small. Moreover, these same plants are of the utmost importance to man. Some of them do him great injur)-, while others aid him ven- much. 128 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS You will see their importance when you are told that certain of them in their habits of life cause great change in the substances in which they live. For example, when living in a sugar)^ substance they change the sugar into a gas and an alcohol. Do you remember the bright bubbles of gas you have seen rising in sweet cider or in \\-ine as it soured ? These bubbles are caused by one of these small plants — the yeast plant. As the yeast plant grows in the sweet fruit juice, alcohol is made and a gas is given off at the same time, and this gas makes the bubbles. Later, other kinds of plants equally small will grow and change the alcohol into an acid which you will recognize as vinegar by its sour taste and peculiar odor. Thus vine- gar is made bv the action of FIG. 1,7. Yeast Plants ^^.^ different kinds of little A, a single plant: B, group of two bud- ,. . , ^ . ^, ■ ■, ding cells :C, group of several cells ll^^g plants in the Cider. That these are living beings you can prove by heating the cider and keeping it tightly sealed so that nothing can enter it. You will find that because the li\-ing germs have been killed by the heat, the cider will not ferment or sour as it did before. The germs could of course be killed by poisons, but then the cider would be unfit for use. It is this same little yeast plant that causes bread to rise. When you see any decaying matter you may know that in it minute plants much like the yeast plant are at work. Since decay is due to them, we take advantage of the fact that they cannot grow in strong brine or smoke ; and we prepare meat for keeping by salting it or by smoking it or by both of these methods. THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 129 You see that some of the yeast plants and bactfria, as manv of these forms are called, are ver}- friendly to us. while others do us great harm. Some bacteria grow within the bodies of men and other animals or in plants. When they do so they may produce disease. Typhoid fever, diphtheria, consumption, and many other serious diseases are caused by bacteria. Fig. 118, e, shows the bacterium that causes typhoid fever. In the pic- ture, of course, it is ver\' greatly magnified. In reality these bacteria are so small that about twenty-five thousand of them side by side would extend only one inch. These ^s' small beings produce their , ^ great effects bv ver\- rapid ^ „ ^ * ' ' . Fig. iiS. Forms of Bacteria multiplication and by giv- . a. grippe : b, bubonic plague : c, diphtheria: ing off powerful poisons. J^ tuberculosis : e, tj-phoid fever Bacteria are so small that they are readily borne on the dust particles of the air and are often taken into the body through the breath and also through water or milk. You can therefore see how care- ful vou should be to prevent germs from getting into the air or into water or milk when there is disease about your home. You should heed carefully all instructions of your physician on this point, so that you may not spread disease. SECTION XXIX. PREVENTION OF PLANT DISEASE In the last two sections you have learned something of the nature of those fungi and bacteria that cause disease in animals and plants. Now let us see how we can use this knowledge to lessen the diseases of our crops. Farmers lose through plant diseases much that could be saved by proper precaution. I30 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS First, you must remember that every diseased fruit, twig, or leaf bears millions of spores. These must be destroyed by burning. They must not be allowed to lie about and spread the disease in the spring. See that decayed fruit in the bin or on the trees is destroyed in the same manner. Never throw decayed fruit into the garden or orchard, as it may cause disease the following year. Second, you can often kill spores on seeds before they are planted and thus prevent the development of the fungus (see pp. 134-137). Third, often the foliage of the plant can be sprayed with a poison that will prevent the germination of the spores (see pp. 138-140). Fourth, some varieties of plants resist disease much more stoutly than others. We may often select the resistant form to great advantage (see Fig. 119). Fifth, after big limbs are pruned off, decay often sets in at the wound. This decay may be prevented by coating the cut surface with paint, tar, or some other substance that will not allow spores to enter the wound or to germinate there. Sixth, it frequently happens that the spore or fungus remains in the soil. This is true in the cotton wilt, and the remedy is so to rotate crops that the diseased land is not used again for this crop until the spores or fungi have died. SECTION XXX. SOME SPECIAL PLANT DISEASES Fire-Blight of the Pear and Apple. You have perhaps heard your father speak of the " fire-blight " of pear and apple trees. This is one of the most injurious and most widely known of fruit diseases. Do you want to know the cause of this disease and how to prevent it ? THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 1 31 First, how will you recognize this disease ? If the diseased bough at which you are looking has true fire-blight, \ou will see a blackened twig with withered, blackened leaves. Dur- ing winter the leaves do not fall from blighted twigs as they do from healthy ones. The leaves wither because of the dis- eased twig, not because they are themselves diseased. Only rarely does the blight really enter the leaf. Sometimes a sharp line separates the blighted from the healthy part of the twig. This disease is caused by bacteria, of which you have read in another section. The fire-blight bacteria grow in the juicy part of the stem, between the wood and the bark. This tender, fresh layer (as explained on page 79) is called the ca)nbiitm, and is the part that breaks awa\- and allows }0u to slip the bark off when }ou make your bark whistle in the spring. The growth of new wood takes place in the cambium, and this part of the twig is therefore full of nourishment. If this nourishment is stolen the plant of course soon suffers. The bacteria causing fire-blight are readily carried from flower to flower and from twig to twig by insects ; therefore to keep these and other bacteria away from your trees you must see to it that all the trees in the neighborhood of your orchard are kept free from mischievous enemies. If harm- ful bacteria exist in near-by trees, insects will caxxy them to \"0ur orchard. You must therefore watch all the relatives of the pear ; namely, the apple, hawthorn, crab, quince, and mountain ash, for any of these trees may harbor the germs. When any tree shows blight, ever)' diseased twig on it must be cut off and burned in order to kill the germs, and you must cut low enough on the t\vig to get all the bacteria. It is best to cut a foot below the blackened portion. If by chance vour knife should cut into wood containinir the living; ^3- THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 133 germs, and then you should cut into healthy wood with the same knife, you yourself would spread the disease. It is therefore best after each cutting to dip your knife into a solu- tion of carbolic acid. This will kill all bacteria clinging to the knife-blade. The surest time to do complete trimming is after the leaves fall in the autumn, as diseased twigs are most easily recognized at that time, but the orchard should be care- fully watched in the spring also. If a large limb shows the blight, it is perhaps best to cut the tree entirely down. There is little hope for such a tree. A large pear-grower once said that no man with a sharp knife need fear the fire-blight. Yet our country loses greatly by this disease each year. It may be added that winter pruning tends to make the tree form much new wood and thus favors the disease. Rich soil and fertilizers make it much easier in a similar way for the tree to become a prey to blight. Fig. 120. Fire-Blight Bacteria Magnified EXERCISE Ask your teacher to show you a case of fire-blight on a pear or apple tree. Can you distinguish between healthy and diseased wood ? Cut the twig open lengthwise and see how deep into the wood and how far down the stem the disease extends. Can you tell surely from the outside how far the twig is diseased ? Can you find any twig that does not show a distinct line of separation between diseased and healthy wood.'' If so, the bacteria are still living in the cambium. Cut out a small bit of the diseased portion and insert it under the bark of a healthy, juicy twig within a few inches of its tip and watch it from day to day. Does the 134 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS tree catch the disease? This experiment may prove to you how easily the disease spreads. If you should see any drops like dew hanging from diseased twigs, touch a little of this moisture to a healthy flower and watch for results. Cut and bum aU diseased tnigs that you can find. Estimate the damage done by fire-blight. Farmers' bulletins on orchard enemies are published by the Depart- ment of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.. and can be had by writing for them. They ■will help your father much in treating fire-blight. Oat Smuts. Let us go out into a near-by oat field and look for all the blackened heads of grain that we can find. How many are there ? To count accurately let us select an area one foot square. \\q must look carefully, for many of these blackened heads are so low that we shall not see them at the first glance. You will be surprised to find as many as thirt}- or fort}- heads in ever\- hundred so blackened. These blackened heads are due to a plant disease called svint. When threshing-time comes you will notice a great quantit)' of black dust com- ing from the grain as it passes through the machine. The air is full of it. This black dust consists of the spores of a tiny fun- The glumes at a more gous plant. The fungous smut plant grows nearly destroyed than u|x)n the oat plant, ripcns its sporcs in the glumes at 3 ■,-,■, i ■ ■, ii ii the head, and is ready to be thoroughly scattered among the grains of the oats as they come from the threshing-machine. These spores cling to the grain and at the next planting are ready to attack the sprouting plantlet. A curious thing about the smut is that it can gain a foothold only on ver)- Fig. 121. Lx>osE Smut of Oats THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 135 young oat plants ; that is, on plants about an inch long or of the age shown in Fig. 121. When grain covered with smut spores is planted, the spores develop with the sprouting seeds and are ready to attack the young plant as it breaks through the seed-coat. You see, then, how important it is to have seed grain free from smut. A substance has been found that will, without injur- ing the seeds, kill all the smut spores clinging to the grain. This substance is called for- mal i)i. Enough seed to plant a whole acre can be treated with formalin at a cost of onl\- a few cents. Such treatment insures a full crop and clean seed for future planting. Try it if you have any smut. Fig. 122 illustrates what mav be gained by using seeds treated Fig. 122. A Crop from Oats TREATED WITH FORMALIN to prevent smut. The annual loss to the farmers of the United States from smut on oats amounts to several millions of dollars. All that is needed to prevent this loss is a little care in the treatment of seed and a proper rotation of crops. EXERCISE Count the smutted heads on a patch three feet square and estimate the percentage of smut in all the wheat and oat fields near your home. On which is it most abundant.' Do you know of any fields that have 136 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS been treated for smut? If so, look for smut in these fields. Ask how they were treated. Do you know of any one who uses bluestone for wheat smut ? Can oats be treated with bluestone ? At planting time get an ounce of formalin at your drug store or from the state experiment station. Mix this with three gallons of water. This amount will treat three bushels of seeds. Spread the seeds thinly on the barn floor and sprinkle them with the mixture, being careful that all the seeds are thoroughly moistened. Cover closely with blankets for a few hours and plant very soon after treatment. Try this and esti- mate the per cent of smut at next harvest-time. Write to your experi- ment station for a bulletin on smut treatment. Potato Scab. The scab of the white, or Irish, potato is one of the commonest and at the same time most easily pre- vented of plant diseases. Yet this disease diminishes the Fig. 123. A Scabby Seed Fig. 134. A Healthy Seed Potato Potato profits of the potato-grower very materially. Fig. 1 2 3 shows a very scabby potato, while Fig. 124 represents a healthy one. This scab is caused by a fungous growth on the surface of the potato. Of course it lessens the selling-price of the potatoes. If seed potatoes be treated to a bath of formalin just before they are planted, the formalin will kill the fungi on the potatoes and greatly diminish the amount of scab at the next harvest. Therefore before they are planted, seed potatoes should be soaked in a weak solution of formalin for about two hours. One-half pint of formalin to fifteen gallons of water makes a proper solution. Fig. 125 From a scabby potato, like the one in Fig. 123, this yield was obtained Fig. 126 From a healthy potato, like the one in Fig. 124, this peld was obtained Fig. 127. Effect of Spr.a.yixg Sprayed potatoes on left ; unsprayed on right 137 138 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS One pint of formalin, or enough for thirty gallons of water, will cost but thirty-five cents. Since this solution can be used repeated!}", it will do for many bushels of seed potatoes. Late Potato Blight. The blight is another serious disease of the potato. This is quite a different disease from the scab and so requires different treatment. The blight is caused by another fungus, which attacks the foliage of the potato plant. When the blight seriously attacks a crop, it generally destroys Fig. 128. Yield from Two Fields of the Same Size The one at the top was sprayed : the one at the bottom was unsprayed the crop completely. In the year 1845 a potato famine ex- tending over all the United States and Europe was caused by this disease. Spraying is the remedy for potato blight. Fig. 128 shows the effect of spraying upon the yield. In this case the sprayed field yielded three hundred and twenty-four bushels an acre, while the unsprayed yielded only one hundred bushels to an acre. Fig. 127 shows the result of three applications of the spraying mixture on the diseased field. Figs. 129 and 130 show how the spraying is done. Vn:. i2i). Si'kWiNi; Machixk Fig. 130. Straw... :ii . uine '39 I40 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Watch the potatoes at the next han-est and estimate the number that is damaged by scab. You will remember that formalin is the substance used to prevent grain smuts. Write to your state experiment station for a bulletin telling how to use formalin, as well as for information regarding other potato diseases. Give the treatment a fair trial in a por- tion of your field this j-ear and watch carefully for results. Make an estimate of the cost of treatment and of the profits. How does the scab injure the value of the potato .' The late blight can often be recognized b}' its odor. Did you ever smell it as j-ou passed an affected field ? Fjg. 131. Club Root \ Club Root. Club root is a disease of the cabbage, turnip, cauliflower, etc. Its general effect is shown in the illustra- tion (Fig. 131). Sometimes this disease does great damage. It can be prevented by using from eight}- to ninet}' bushels of lime to an acre. Black Knot. Black knot is a serious disease of the plum and of the cherr%- tree. It attacks the branches of the THE DISEASES OF PLANTS 141 tree; it is well illustrated in Fig. 132. Since it is a con- tagious disease, great care should be exercised to destroy all diseased branches of either wild or cultivated plums or cherries. In many states its destruction is enforced by law. Fig. 132. Black K.nut All black knot should be cut out and burned some time before February of each year. This will cost litde and save much. Peach Leaf Curl. Peach leaf curl does damage amount- ing to about $3,000,000 yearly in the United States. It can be almost entirely prevented by spraying the tree with Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur wash before the buds 142 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS open in the spring. It is not safe to use strong Bordeaux mixture on peach trees when they are in leaf. Cotton Wilt. Cotton wilt when it once estab- lishes itself in the soil completely destroys the crop. The fungus re- mains in the soil, and no amount of spraying will kill it. The only known remedy is to cultivate a Fig. 133. Moldy Peaches resistant variety of cotton or to rotate the crop. Fruit Mold. F"ruit mold, or brown rot, often attacks the un- ripe fruit on the tree, and turns it soft and brown and finally fuzz\- with a coat of mildew. Fig. 133 shows some peaches thus attacked. Often the fruits do not fall from the trees but shrivel up and be- come "mummies" (Fig. 134). This rot is one of the most serious diseases of plums and peaches. It probably diminishes the value of the peach har\'est from 50 to 75 per cent. Spraying accord- ing to the directions in the Appendix will kill the disease. Fig. 134. Peach Mummies d->al I'lo. 135. IlALi Ti.Li: si RAVED To I'KHVEN T PE.\CU ClRL Note the difference in foliage and fruit on the sprayed and unsprayed halves of the tree, and the difference in yield showTi below 143 CHAPTER VII ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS SECTION XXXI. INSECTS IN GENERAL The farmer who has fought "bugs" on crop after crop needs no argument to convince him that insects are serious enemies to agriculture. Yet even he may be surprised to learn that the damage done by them, as esti- mated by good authorit}-, amounts to millions and millions of dollars yearly in the United States and Canada. Even,- one thinks he knows what an insect is. If, however, we are will- ing in this matter to make our notion agree with that of the people who have studied insects most and know them best, we must include among the true insects only such air-breathing animals as have six legs, no more, and have the body divided into three parts — head, thorax, and abdomen. These parts are clearly shown in Fig. 136, which represents the ant, a true insect. All insects do not show the divisions of the body so 144 Fig. 136. Ants ORCHARD. GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS US clearly as this figure shows them, but on careful examination you can usually make them out. The head bears one pair of ■Antennae Orqan /k^j^ya : Beetle . adult : (/. burrow 148 AGRICULTURE F^I'R BEGINNERS From this you can see that it is especially important to know all you can about the life of injurious insects, since it is often easier to kill these pests at one stage of their life than at another. Often it is bdtter to aim at destroying the Fig. 14Z. MoTM aso Cocoos the lar\^ that hatch from its eggs, although, as you must remember, it is generaUy the larvae that do the most harm. Larvae grow ven- rapidly; therefore the food supply must be great to meet the needs of the insect Some insects, the grasshopper for example, do not com- pletely change their form. Fig. 147 represents some \x>ung grasshoppers, w^hich vei>' closely resemble their parents. Fig. 143. BlTTERFLY Abdomen, of Bioiterfl.ij Tkora.c of Butterfly / "~ ^ -^^- ^ ' True Legs Spimcle Prole'gs- I'Bufter/lijXegs) (Ternpomrij CaierpiUa,r Structures ) Fig. 144. Structure of the Caterpill.vr 149 ISO AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Insects lay many eggs and reproduce with remarkable rapidity. Their number therefore makes them a foe to be much dreaded. The queen hone}^bee often la\-s as many as 4(xx> eggs in twent\'-four hours. A singie house fly lays between loo and 150 eggs in one day. The mosquito lays eggs in quantities of from 200 to 400. The white ant often lays 80,000 in a day, and so continues for two years, probably lajing no less than 40,000,000 eggs. In one sunmier the bludxitde fly could have 500,000,000 de- scendants if they all Uved. The plant louse, at the end of the fifth brood, has laid in a single year enough e^s to ORCHARD. GARDEN'. AND FIELD INSECTS 151 produce 300,000,000 young. Of course ever)- one knows that, owing to enemies and diseases (for the insects have enemies which prey on them just as they prey on plants) comparatively few of the in- sects hatched from these eggs lixe till they are grown. The number of insects which are hurtful to crops, gardens, flowers, and forests seems to be increasing each season. Therefore farm bo\"s and girls should learn to recognize these harmful in- sects and to know how they live and how they may be destroyed. Those who know the forms and habits of these enemies of plants and trees are far better prepared to fight them than are those who strike in the dark. Moreover such knowledge is always a source of interest and pleasure. If you begin to studv in- sects, vou will soon Fig. 146. -1 ^ -KFLY Pupa N'ote outline of the butterflv Tf^^ iV /. :-\-^ ^':Tm^- Fig. 147. The Growth of a Grasshopper find }our love for the stud)- growing. EXERCISE Collect cocoons and pupae of insects and ^ ^ hatch them in a breeding- cage similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 149. Make several cages of this kind. Collect lar\-ae of several kinds : supply them with food from plants upon which you 1^2 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXNERS found them. Find out the time it takes them to change into another stage. Write a description of this process. The plaijt louse could produce in its twelfth brood lo.ooo.ooo.ooo,- 000,000.000.000 offspring. Each louse is about one tenth of an inch long. If all should live and be arranged in single file, how many miles long would such a procession be.^ Fig. 149. C.^vGE ix which TO BREED Insects nower-pot, lamp-chimnej', and cloth SECTION XXXII. ORCHARD INSECTS The San Jose Scale. The San Jose scale is one of the most dreaded enemies of fnait trees. It is in fact an outlaw in many states. It is an unlavi-ful act to sell fruit trees affected by it. Fig. 150 shows a view of a branch nearly covered with this pest. Although this scale is a ver\' minute animal, }"et ORCHARD. GARDEN. AND FIELD IX.SECiS 1^3 SO rapidly does it multiply that it is very dangerous to the tree. Never allow new trees to be brought into your orchard until you feel certain that they are free from the San Jose scale. If, however, it should in any way gain access to your orchard, you can prevent its spreading by thorough spraving with what is known as the lime-sulphur mixture. This mix- ture has long been used on the Pacific coast as a remedy for various scale insects. W'^hen it was first tried in other parts of the United States the results were not satisfacton^ and its use was abandoned. However, later experiments with it have proved that the mixture is thoroughly effective in kill- ing this scale and that it is perfectly harmless to the trees. Until the lime-sulphur mixture proved to be successful the San Jose scale was a most dreaded nurser}- and orchard foe. It was even thought necessar)- to destroy infected trees. The lime-sulphur mixture and some other sulphur washes not onlv kill the San Jose scale but are also useful in reducing- fungous injur}-. 154 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS There are several ways of making the lime-sulphur mixture. It is generally best to buy a prepared mixture from some trustworthy dealer. If you find the scale on your trees, write to your state experiment station for directions for combating it. The Codling Moth. The codling moth attacks the apple and often causes a loss of from t^venty-five to seventy-five per cent of the crop. In the state of Xew York this insect is causing an annual loss of about three million dollars. The effect it has on the fruit is most clearly seen in Fig. 152. The moth lays its egg upon the young leaves just after the falling of the blossom. She flies on from apple to apple, depositing an egg each time until from fift)- to seventy-five eggs are deposited. The larva, or " worm," soon hatches and eats its way into the apple. Many affected apples ripen too soon and drop as " windfalls." Others remain on the tree and become the common wormy apples so familiar to growers. The lar\'a that emerges from the windfalls moves generally to a tree, crawls up the trunk, and spins its cocoon under a ridge in the bark. From the cocoon the moth comes Fig. 152. The Codling Moth a, burrow of worm in apple : i. place where worm enters : c, place where worm leaves ; e, the larva ; d. the pupa : /. the cocoon : _/ and g; moths : /i, magnified head of lar\-a •55 1^6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS ready to start a new generation. The last generation of the lar\'as spends the winter in the cocoon. Trcatinctit. Destroy orchard trash which may serve as a winter home. Scrape all loose bark from the tree. Spray the tree with arsenate of lead as soon as the flowers fall. A former method of fighting this pest was as follows : bands of burlap four inches wide tied around the tree furnished a hiding-place for larvae that came from windfalls or crawled from wormy ap- pies on the tree. The lan^ae caught under the bands were killed every five or six days. W'e know now, however, that a thorough spray- ing just after the blossoms fall kills the worms and renders the bands unnecessary. Furthermore, spraying pre- vents wormy apples, while banding does not. Follow the first spraying by a second two weeks later. It is best to use lime-sulphur mixture or the Bordeaux mixture with arsenate of lead for a spray. Thus one spray- ing serves against both fungi and insects. The Plum Curculio. The plum curculio, sometimes called the plum weevil, is a little creature about one fifth of an inch long. In spite of its small size the curculio does, if neglected, great damage to our fruit crop. It injures peaches, plums, and cherries by stinging the fruit as soon as it is formed. The word " stinging " when applied to insects — and this case is Fig. 154. Plum Curculio Lana, pupa, adult, and mark on the fruit. (Enlarged) ORCHARD. GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 157 no exception — means piercing the object with the egg-layer (ovipositor) and depositing the egg. Some insects occasion- ally use the ovipositor merely for defense. The curculio has an especially interesting method of laying her egg. First she digs a hole, in which she places the egg and pushes it well down. Then with her snout she makes a crescent-shaped cut in the skin of the plum, around the egg. This mark is shown in Fig. 1 54. As this peculiar cut is followed by a flow of gum, you will always be able to recognize the work of the curculio. Having finished with one plum, this indus- trious worker makes her way to other plums until her eggs are all laid. The maggotlike larva soon hatches, burrows through the fruit, and causes it to drop before ripening. The larva then enters the ground to a depth of several inches. There it becomes a pupa, and later, as a mature beetle, emerges and winters in cracks and crevices. Treatment. Burn orchard trash which mav serve as winter quarters. Spraying with arsenate of lead, using two pounds of the mixture to fifty gallons of water, is the only successful treatment for the curculio. For plums and peaches, sprav first when the fruit is free from the calyx caps, or dried flower- buds. Repeat the spraying two weeks later. For late peaches spray a third time two weeks after the second spraving. This poisonous spray will kill the beetles while they are feeding or cutting holes in which to lay their eggs. I t^ Fig. 155. Leaf Galls of Phylloxera ON Clintox Grape Leaf 158 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS r'r -.. ^ ■- ti^. Fig. 156. The Cankerworm Fowls in the orchard do good by capturing the larvae before they can burrow, while hogs will destroy the fallen fruit before the larvae can escape. The Grape Phylloxera. The grape phyl- loxera is a serious pest. You have no doubt seen its galls upon the grape leaf. These galls are caused by a small louse, the phylloxera. Each gall contains a female, which soon fills the gall with eggs. These hatch into more females, which emerge and form new galls, and so the phylloxera spreads (see Fig. 155). Treatment. The Clinton grape is most liable to in- juiy from this pest. Hence it is better to grow other more resistant kinds. Sometimes the lice attack the roots of the grape vines. In many sections where irrigation is practiced the grape rows are flooded when the lice are thickest. The water drowns the lice and does no harm to the vines. ORCHARD, GARDEx\, AND FIELD INSECTS 159 The Cankerworm. The cankerworm is the larva of a moth. Because of its pecuHar mode of crawhng, by looping its body, it is often called the looping worm or measuring worm (Fig. 157, r). These worms are such greedy eaters that in a short time they can so cut the leaves of an orchard as to give it a scorched appearance. Such an attack practi- cally destroys the crop and does lasting injury to the tree. The worms are green or brown and are striped lengthwise. If the tree is jarred, the worm has a peculiar habit of dropping toward the ground on a silken thread of its own making (Fig. 156). In early sum- mer the larvae burrow within the earth and pupate there ; later they emerge as adults (Fig. i 57, c/ and r). You observe the peculiar difference between the wingless female, d, and the winged male, r. It is the habit of this wingless female to crawl up the trimk of some near-by tree in order to deposit her eggs upon the twigs. These eggs (shown at a and ^) hatch into the greedy lar\-as that do so much damage to our orchards. Nearly all the common birds feed freely upon the canker- worm, and benefit the orchard in so doing. The chickadee Fig. 157. The Spring Cankerworm a, egg mass : fi, egg, magnified ; c, larva ; (/, female moth ; ^, male moth i6o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS is perhaps the most useful. A recent writer is ver}- positive that each chickadee will devour on an average thirty female cankenvorm moths a day ; and that if the average number of eggs laid by each female is one hundred and eighty-five, one chickadee would thus destroy in one day five thousand five hundred and fift}' eggs, and, in the twenty-five days in which the cankenvorm moths crawl up the tree, would rid the orchard of one hundred and thirt}'-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty. These birds also eat im- mense numbers of cankerworm eggs before they hatch into worms. Treatment. The inability of the female to fly gives us an easy way to prevent the larval offspring from getting to the foliage of our trees, for we know that the only highway open to her or her larvae leads up the trunk. We must obstruct this highway so that no crawling creature may pass. This is readily done by smoothing the bark and fitting close to it a band of paper, and making sure that it is tight enough to prevent an)thing from crawling underneath. Then smear over the paper something so sticky that any moth or lar\'a that attempts to pass will be entangled. Printer's ink will do very well, or you can buy either dendrolene or tanglefoot. Fig. 158. Eggs of the Fall Cankerworm Fig. 159. Aitle-Tree Tent Caterpillar a, eggs : d. cocoon : i. caterpillar 161 1 62 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Encourage the chickadee and all other birds, except the English sparrow, to sta\- in your orchard. This is easily done bv feeding and protecting them in their times of need. The Apple-Tree Tent Caterpillar. The apple-tree tent caterpillar is a lar\a so well known that you only need to be told how to guard against it. The mother of this caterpillar is a reddish moth. This insect passes the winter in the egg state securely fas- tened on the twigs as sho\Mi in Fig. 1 59, «. Tiratincnt. There are three principal methods, (i) Destroy the eggs. The egg masses are readily seen in winter and may easily be collected and burned by boys. The chickadee eats great quantities of these eggs. (2) With torches bum the nests at dusk when all the worms are within. You must be ven- careful in burn- ing or you will harm the young branches with their tender bark. (3) Encourage the residence of birds. Urge your neigh- bors to make war on the lar\"ae, too, since the pest spreads rapidly from farm to farm. Regularly spra\-ed orchards are rarely troubled by this pest. The Twig Girdler. The t\vig girdler la\"s her eggs in the twigs of pear, pecan, apple, and other trees. It is necessarx- that the lanae develop in dead wood. This the mother pro- vides by girdling the twig so deeply that it will die and fall to the ground. Treatvioit. Since the larvae spend the winter in the dead twigs, burn these tvvigs in autumn or early spring and thus destroy the pest. Fig. 160. The Twig Girdler at its De- structive Work rt, the girdler; b, the egg- hole : r, the groove cut by girdler ; e, the egg ORCHARD, GARDEN'. AND FIELD INSECTS 163 The Peach-Tree Borer. In Fig. 161 you see the effect of the peach-tree borer's acti\-it}-. These borers often girdle and thereby kill a tree. Fig. 162 shows the adult state of the insect. The eggs are laid on peach or plum trees near the ground. As soon as the lana emerges, it bores into the bark Fig. 161. Borer Sig.xs .\ruixd Base of Pe.\ch Tree and remains there for months, passing through the pupa stage before it comes out to lay eggs for another generation. Treatment. If there are only a few trees in the orchard, digging the worms out \nth a knife is the best way of destroy- ing them. You can know of the borer's presence by the exuding gum often seen on the tree-trunk. If you pile earth around the roots early in the spring and remove it in the late fall, the winter freezing and thawing will kill many of the lanas. 164 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE How many apples per hundred do you find injured by the codling^ moth ? Collect some cocoons from a pear or an apple tree in winter, place in a breeding-cage, and watch for the moths that come out. Do you ever see the woodpecker hunting for these same cocoons ? Can you find cocoons that have been emptied by this bird ? Estimate how many he considers a day's ration. How many apples does he thus save? Fig. 16::. Pe.a.ch-Tree Borers, Male and Female Female with broad yellow band across abdomen Watch the curculio lay her eggs in the plums, peaches, or cherries. What per cent of fruit is thus injured? Estimate the damage. Let the school offer a prize for the greatest number of tent-caterpillar eggs. Watch such trees as the apple, the wild and the cultivated cherr)', the oak. and many others. Make a collection of insects injurious to orchard fruits, showing in each case the whole life history of the insect, that is. eggs, larva, pupa, and the mature insects. THE TROLlW.E-MtME CHINCH BUG (ENLARGED; I, bugs on plant; 2, eggs; 3, young bug; 4 and 5, older bugs; 6, long- winged bug ; 7 and 8, short-winged bug ORCHARD. GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS 16 = SECTION XXXIII. GARDEN AND FIELD INSECTS The Cabbage Worm. The cabbage worm of the early spring garden is a familiar object, but you may not know that the innocent-looking little white butterflies hovering about the cabbage patch are laying eggs which are soon to hatch and make the dreaded cabbage worms. In Fig. 164 a and b show the common cabbage butterfly, c shows several examples of the caterpillar, and d shows the pupa case. In the pupa stage the insects pass the winter among the remains of old plants or in near-by fences or in weeds or bushes. Cleaning up and burning all trash will destroy many pupae and thus prevent many cabbage worms. In Fig. 1 64 c and / show the moth and zebra caterpillar ; g represents a moth which is the parent of the small green worm shown at //. This worm is a common foe of the cabbage plant. Trcatvicnt. Birds aid in the destruction of this pest. Paris green mixed with air-slaked lime will also kill many lar\ae. After the cabbage has headed, it is ver}- difficult to destroy the worm, but pyrethrum insect powder used freely is helpful. The Chinch Bug. The chinch bug, attacking as it does such important crops as wheat, corn, and grasses, is a well- known pest. It probably causes more money loss than any other garden or field enemy. In Orange county, North Caro- lina, farmers were once obliged to suspend wheat-growing for two years on account of the chinch bug. In one year in the state of Illinois this bug caused a loss of four million dollars. Fir. 163. The Dreaded Chinch Bug Fig. 164. Cabbage Worms and Butterflies 166 ORCHARD, GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS 167 Treatment. Unfortunately we cannot prevent all of the damage done by chinch bugs, but we can diminish it some- what by good clean agriculture. Destroy the winter homes of the insect by burning drv- grass, leaves, and rubbish in fields and fence rows. Although the insect has wings, it seldom or never uses them, usually traveling on foot ; therefore a deep furrow around the field to be protected will hinder or stop the progress of an invasion. The bugs fall into the bottom of the fur- row, and may there be killed by drag- ging a log up and down the furrow. Write to the Division of Entomolog}-. Washington, for bulletins on the chinch bug. Other methods of preven- tion are to be found in these bulletins. The Plant Louse. The plant louse is ver)- small, but it multiplies with ver}- great rapidit}-. During the sum- mer the young are bom alive, and it^ is only toward fall that eggs are laid. The individuals that hatch from eggs are generally wingless females, and their young, bom alive, are both winged and wingless. The winged forms fl}- to other plants and start new colonies. Plant lice mature in from eight to fourteen da}s. The plant louse gives off a sweetish fluid of which some ants are ver\- fond. You mav often see the ants stroking: these lice to induce them to give off a freer flow of the "honey dew." This is really a method of milking. However friendly and useful these " cows " may be to the ant, they are enemies to man in destroying so many of his plants. Fig. 165. A Plant LoisE i68 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS Treatment. These are sucking insects. Poisons therefore do not avail. Thev may be killed by spraying with kerosene emulsion or a strong soap solution or with tobacco water. Lice on cabbages are easily killed by a mix- ture of one pound of lye soap in four gallons of warm water. The Squash Bug. The squash bug does its great- est damage to young plants. To such its attack is often fatal. On larger plants single leaves may die. This insect is a seri- ous enemy to a crop and is particularly difficult to get rid of, since it belongs to the class of sucking insects, not to the biting insects. For this reason poisons are useless. Fig. i66. A Cheap Spr-\yixg Oitfit V Treatvient. About the only practicable remedy is to pick these insects by hand. We can, how- ever, protect our young plants by small nettings and thus tide them over the most dangerous period of their lives . T hese bugs greatly prefer the squash as food. You can therefore dimin- ish their attack on your melons, cucumbers, etc. by planting among the melons an occasional squash plant as a "trap plant." Fig. 167. A Squash Big ORCHARD. GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS 169 Hand picking will be easier on a few trap plants than over the whole field. A small board or large leaf laid beside the young plant often furnishes night shelter for the bugs. The bugs collected under the board may easily be killed everv' morning. The Flea-Beetle. The flea-beetle inflicts much damage on the potato, tomato, eggplant, and other garden plants. The accompanying figure shows the common striped flea-beede which lives on the tomato. The lana of this beetle lives in- side of the leaves, mining its way through the leaf in a real tunnel. Any substance disagreeable to the beetle, such as plaster, soot, ashes, or tobacco, \\-ill repel its at- tacks on the garden crops. i The Weevil. The weevil is com- ^ monlv found among seeds. Its at- tacks are serious, but the insect may easily be destroyed. Treatment. Put the infected seeds fig. 16S. FllvBeetle in an air-tight box or bin, placing and l.a.rva on the top of the pile a dish con- •'• l^n^ : b, adult. Unes on sides . . , 1 ■ 1 1 • 1 1 , show real length of insects tammg carbon disulphide, a table- spoonful to a bushel of seeds. The fumes of this substance are hea\y and will pass through the mass of seeds below and kill all the weevils and other animals there. The bin should be closely covered with canvas or hea\y cloth to prevent the fumes from being carried away by the air. Let the seeds remain thus from two to five days. Rep)eat the treatment if any weevils are found alive. Fumigate when the temperature is 70° Fahrenheit or above. In cold weather or in a loose bin the treatment is not successful. Caution : Do not approach the bin with a light, since the fumes of the chemical used are highly inflammable. I/O AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The Hessian Fly. The Hessian fly does more damage to the wheat crop than all other insects combined, and probably ranks next to the chinch bug as the second worst insect enemy of the farmer. It was probably introduced into this countr\- by the Hessian troops in the War of the Revolution. In autumn the insect lays its eggs in the leaves of the wheat. These hatch into the lan'ae, which move dovMi into the crown of the plant, where they pass the winter. There they cause on the plant a slight gall formation, which injures or kills the plant. In the spring adult flies emerge and lay eggs. The larvae that hatch feed in the lower joints of the growing w^heat and prevent its proper growth. These lar\ae ^^ pupate and remain as Fig. i6q. The Hessian i j : • i i pupae m the wheat stubble during the summer. The fall brood of flies appears shortly before the first hea\y frost. Treatment. Bum all stubble and trash during July and August. If the fly is ver\- bad, it is well to leave the stubble unusually high to insure a rapid spread of the fire. Burn refuse from the threshing-machine, since this often harbors many larxae or pupae. Follow the burning by deep plowing, be- cause the burning cannot reach the insects that are in the base of the plants. Delay the fall planting until time for heavy frosts. The Potato Beetle ; Tobacco Worm. The potato beetle, tobacco worm, etc., are too well known to need description. Suffice it to say that no good farmer will neglect to protect his crop from any pest that threatens it. ORCHARD. GARDEN. AND FIELD INSECTS ijl The increase, owing to various causes, of insects, of fungi, of bacterial diseases, makes a study of these pests, of their origin, and of their prevention a necessar\- part of a successful farmer's training. Tillage alone will no longer render orchard, \-ineyard, and garden fruitful. Protection from even- form of plant enemies must be added to tillage. r iL.. 170. :?iKA\i.N'-. int. <^'t\i, ii-AMj One wav of increasing the \-ield of fruit In dealing with plants, as with human beings, the great object should be not the cure but the prevention of disease. If disease can be prevented, it is far too costly to wait for it to develop and then to attempt its cure. Men of science are studying the new forms of diseases and new insects as fast as they appear. These men are finding ways of fighting old and new enemies. Young people who expect to farm should earlv learn to follow their adnce. 172 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS EXERCISE How does the squash bug resemble the plant louse? Is this a true bug? Gather some eggs and watch the development of the insects in a breeding- ness to enter and de- stroy the bolls. This life-round continues un- til cold weather drives the insects to their %\-in- ter quarters. By- that time they have increased so rapidly that there is often one for ever)- boll in the field. This weevil is prov- ing very hard to destroy. s to fitfht it. One is to K: ,. I-' . \ i>v Cotton-Boll Weevil kkom Aiit>vE and below Greatly enlarged Fig. 177. The PiPA OK THE CoTTo.N-BoLL Weevil in a Square 1/6 AGRICULTLRE FOR BEGINNERS The places best adapted for a winter home for the weevil are trash piles, rubbish, driftwood, rotten wood, weeds, moss on trees, etc. A further help, therefore, in destroying the weevil is to cut down and burn all cotton-stalks as soon as the cotton is harvested. Fig. 178. A Cotton Boll with Feeding-Hole-s of Weevil, and BEARING Three Specimens of the Insect Fig. 179. The Mexican Cotton-Boll \Veevil, showing Stricttre This destroys countless numbers of lar\^ae and pupae in the bolls and orreatlv reduces the number of weevils. In addition. Fk;. iSo. A Series of Fill-Grown Wekvils. showing Variations in Size all cornstalks, all trash, all large clumps of grass in neigh- boring fields, should be burned, so as to destroy these winter homes of the weevil. Also avoid planting cotton near trees. The bark, moss, and fallen leaves of the. tree furnish a winter shelter for the weevils. ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 177 A third help in destroying the weevil is to rotate crops. If cotton does not follow cotton, the weevil has nothing on which to feed the second year. In adopting the first method mentioned the cotton growers have found that bv the careful selection of seed, bv earlv COL. K A X S. L ^ T OF f3 "1 Til /l^'^'/ W.VA/ /^^^l ^'-%^^ ^■EAr 0 K L A . J-—- fla\ H \kf G U L F 0 F \ 0\ VJ^18« M E X I C 0 \J Fig. iSi. Map showing Distrihltion of the Cotton-Boll Weevil in 1913 planting, by a free use of fertilizers containing phosphoric acid, and by frequent plowing, they can mature a crop about thirty days earlier than they usually do. In this way a good crop can be harvested before the weevils are ready to be most destructive. CHAPTER VIII FARM CROPS Even' crop of the farm has been changed and improved in many ways since its forefathers were wild plants. Those plants that best serve the needs of the farmer and of farm animals have undergone the most changes and have received also the greatest care and attention in their production and improvement. While we have many different kinds of farm crops, the cultivated soil of the world is occupied by a ver}- few. In our country the crop that is most valuable and that occupies the greatest land area is generally known as the ^rass crop. Included in the general term " grass crop " are the grasses and clovers that are used for pasturage as well as for hay. Xext to grass in value come the great cereal, corn, and the most important fiber crop, cotton, closely followed by the great bread crop, wheat. Oats rank fifth in value, potatoes sixth, and tobacco seventh. (These figures are for 191 3.) Success in growing any crop is largely due to the suit- ableness of soil and climate to that crop. When the planter selects both the most suitable soil and the most suitable climate for each crop, he gets not only the most bountiful yield from the crop but, in addition, he gets the most desir- able quality of product. A little careful obser\-ation and study soon teach what kinds of soil produce crops of the highest excellence. This learned, the planter is able to grow in each field the several crops best adapted to that special type of soil. 178 FARM CROPS 179 Thus we have tobacco soils, trucking soils, wheat and corn soils. Dairying can be most profitably followed in sections where crops like cowpeas, clover, alfalfa, and corn are pecul- iarly at home. Xo one should try to grow a new crop in his section until he has found out whether the crop which he wants to grow is adapted to his soil and his climate. Fig. 1S2. Alfalfa in the Stack This is the second cutting of the season The figures below give the average amount of money made annually an acre on our chief crops : Flowers and plants, S1911; nursery products, $261; onions, Si 40; sugar cane, S55 ; small fruits, Si 10; hops, $175 ; vegetables, S78 ; tobacco, $80; sweet potatoes, S55 ; hemp. S53 ; potatoes, S78 ; sugar beets, S54 ; sorghum cane, S22 ; cotton, S22 ; orchard fruits. Si 10; peanuts, S21; fla.x- seed, S14 ; cereals, S14 ; hay and forage, Si i ; castor beans, $6 (United States Census Report). l8o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION XXXV. COTTON Although cotton was cultivated on the Eastern continent before America was discovered, this crop owes its present kingly place in the business world to the zeal and intelli- gence of its American growers. So great an influence does it wield in modern industrial life that it is often called King Cotton. Thousands upon thousands of people scan the news- papers each day to see what price its staple is bringing. From its bount}' a vast army of toilers, who plant its seed, who pick its bolls, who gin its staple, who spin and weave its lint, who grind its seed, who refine its oil, draw daily bread. Does not its proper production desen-e the best thought that can be given it.? In the cotton belt almost any well-drained soil will produce cotton. The following kinds of soil are admirably suited to this plant : red and gray loams with good clay subsoil ; sandy soils over clay and sandstone and limestone ; rich, well- drained bottom-lands. The safest soils are medium loams. Cotton land must always be well drained. Cotton was originally a tropical plant, but, strange to say, it seems to thrive best in temperate zones. The cotton plant does best, according to Newman, in climates which have (I) six months of freedom from frost; (2) a moderate, well-distributed rainfall during the plant's growing period ; and (3) abundant sunshine and little rain during the plant's maturing period. In America the Southern states from \'irginia to Texas have these climatic qualities, and it is in these states that the cotton industn," has been developed until it is one of the giant industries of the world. This development has been very rapid. As late as 1736 the cotton plant was grown as an •■ "^ ^ - j> THE V. AY TC> A 1-ACTXjKY are richer in sugar than the immature, therefOTe they should not be harvested too soon. They may remain in the ground without injury for some time after the^- are ripe. Cold weather does not injure the roots unless it is accompanied by freezing and thawing. The beets are harvested by sugar-beet pullers or by hand. If the roots are to be gathered by hand the\- are usualty loosened by plowing on each side of them. If the roots are stored they should be put in long, narrow pfles and covered FARM CROPS 221 with straw and earth to protect them from frost. A ventilator placed at the top of the pile will enable the heat and moisture to escape. If the beets get too warm they will ferment and some of their sugar will be lost. Sugar-Cane. Sugar- cane is grown along the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic coast. In Mississippi, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Caro- lina, northern Louisi- ana, and in northern Texas it is generally made into sirup. In southern Louisiana and southern Texas the cane is usually crushed for sugar or for molasses. The sugar-cane is a huge grass. The stalk, which is round, is from one to two inches in thickness. Fig. 213. Stalk of Sugar-Caxe A-B, joints of cane showing roots : B-C. stem : C-D, leaves 222 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS D The stalks vary in color. Some are white, some yellow, some green, some red, some purple, and some black, while others are a mixture of two or three of these colors. As shown in Fig. 214 the stalk has joints at distances of from two to six inches. These joints are called nodes, and the sections be- tween the nodes are known as internodes. The internodes ripen from the roots upward, and as each ripens it casts its leaves. The stalk, when ready for har- vesting, has only a few leaves on the top. Under each leaf and on alternate sides of the cane a bud, or "' eye," forms. From this eye the cane is usually propa- gated ; for, while in tropical countries the cane forms seeds, yet these seeds are rarely fertile. When the cane is ripe it is stripped of leaves, topped, and cut at the ground with a knife. The sugar is con- tained in solution in the pith of the cane. Cane requires an enormous amount of water for its best growth, and where the rainfall is not great enough, the plants ^, buds, or eyes ; c, nodes; are irrigated. It requires from seventy- five to one hundred gallons of water to make a pound of sugar. Cane does best where there is a rainfall of two inches a week. At the same time a well-drained soil is necessary to make vigorous canes. The soils suited to this plant are those which contain large amounts of fertilizing material and which can hold much water. In southern Louisiana alluvial loams and loamy clay soils are cultivated. In Georgia, Alabama, and Florida light, sandy soils, when properly fertilized and worked, make good crops. D D x--fe^ Fig. 214. Stick of Sugar-Cane D, internodes ; X, semi- transparent dots in rows i 223 i ^^" yi -Jfc ^ ^3r f^0^- 1 i •'*i^p*j^j 1^ ^^i^r^^r R^^S wV •< ^■'5 ' JJ-»; s-!C m J24 FARM CROPS 225 Cane is usually planted in rows from five to six feet apart. A trench is opened in the center of the row with a plow and in this open furrow is placed a continuous line of stalks which are carefully covered with plow, culti\ator, or hoe. From one to three continuous lines of stalks are placed in the fur- row. From two to six tons of seed cane are needed for an acre. 1 1 1,1-^ /^ Jl^ ^m\. Fig. 217. A Common Tvi'E ok Sirup Factory In favorable weather the cane soon sprouts and cultivation begins. Cane should be cultivated at short intervals until the plants are large enough to shade the soil. In Louisiana one planting of cane usually gives two crops. The first is called plant cane ; the second is known as first-year stubble, or ratoon. Sometimes second-year stubble is grown. In Louisiana large quantities of tankage, cotton-seed meal, and acid phosphate are used to fertilize cane-fields. Each 226 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS country has its own time for planting and harvesting. In Louisiana, for example, canes are planted from October to April. In the L'nited States cane is harxested each year because of frost, but in tropical countries the stalks are per- mitted to grow from fifteen to twent)^four months. On many farms a small mill, the rollers of which are turned b)^ horses, is used for crushing the juice out of the cane. The juice is then evaporated in a k^tle or pan. This equip- ment is ver\' cheap and can easily be operated bj" a small family. While these mills rarely extract more than one half of the juice in the cane, the sirup made by them is ven* pal- atable and usually commands a good price. Cosdy machinei}' which saves most of the juice is used in the large commercial sugar houses. SECTION XLVL HEMP ANT) FLAX In the early^ ages of the world, mankind is supposed to have worn very litde or no clothing. Then leaves and the inner bark of trees were fashioned into a protection from the weather. These flimsy garments were later replaced by skins and furs. As man advanced in knowledge, he learned how to twist wool and hairs into threads and to weave these into durable garments. Still later, perhaps, he discovered that some plants conceal under their outer bark soft, tough fibers that can be changed into excellent cloth. Flax and hemp were doubtless among the first plants to furnish this fiber. Flax. Among the fiber crops of the world, flax ranks next to cottoiL It is the material from which is woven the linen for sheets, towels, tablecloths, shirts, collars, dresses, and a host of other articles. Fortunately for man, flax will thrive in many countries and in many climates. The fiber from FARM CROPS 22\ which these useful articles are made, unlike cotton fiber, does not come from the fruit, but from the stem. It is the soft, silky lining of the bark which lies between the woody outside and the pith cells of the stem. The Old World engages largely in flax culture and flax manufacture, but in our countr)- flax is grown principally for its seed. From the seeds we make linseed oil, linseed-oil cake, and linseed meal. Flax grows best on deep, loamy soils, but also makes a profitable growth on clay soils. With sufficient fertilizing mate- rial it can be grown on sandy lands. Nitrogen is especially needed by this plant and should be liberally supplied. To meet this demand for nitrogen, it pays to plant a leguminous crop im- mediately before flax. After a mellow seed-bed has been made ready and after the weather is fairly warm, sow, if a seed crop is desired, at the rate of from two to three pecks an acre. A good seed crop will not be harvested if the plants are too thick. On the other hand, if a fiber crop is to be raised, it is desirable to plant more thickly, so that the stalks may not branch, but run up into a single stem. From a bushel to two bushels of seed is in this case used to an acre. Flax requires care and work from start to finish. When the seeds are full and plump the flax is ready for harvesting. In America a binder is generally used for Flax 228 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS cutting the stalks. Our average yield of flax is from eight to fifteen bushels an acre. Hemp. Like flax, hemp adapts itself wonderfully to many countries and many climates. However, in America most of our hemp is grown in Kentucky. Hemp needs soil rich enough to give the young plants a very rapid growth in their early days so that they may form Fig. •ig. Cutting Hemp long fibers To give this crop abundant nitrogen without great cost, it should be grown in a rotation which includes one of the legumes. Rich, well-drained bottom-lands produce the largest yields of hemp, but uplands which have been heavily manured make profitable yields. The ground for hemp is prepared as for other grain crops. The seed is generally broadcasted for a fiber crop and then harrowed in. No cultivation is required after seeding. FARM CROPS 229 If hemp is grown for seed, it is best to plant with a drill so that the crop ma\' be culti\'ated. The stalks after being cut are put in shocks until they are dr}\ Then the seeds are threshed. Large amounts of hemp seed are sold for caged birds and for poultr}- ; it is also used for paint-oils. SECTION XLVII. BUCKWHEAT Buckwheat shares with r)-e and cowpeas the power to make a fairly good crop on poor land. At the same time, of course, a full crop can be expected only from fertile land. The three varieties most grown in America are the com- mon gray, the silver-hull, and the Japanese. The seeds of the common gray are larger than the silver-hull, but not so large as the Japanese. The seeds from the gray variety are generally regarded as inferior to the other two. This crop is grown to best advantage in climates where the nights are cool and moist. It matures more quickly than any other grain crop and is remarkably free from disease. The yield varies from ten to forty bushels an acre. Buckwheat does not seem to draw plant food heavily from the soil and can be grown on the same land from year to year. In fertilizing buckwheat land, green manures and rich nitrogenous fertilizers should be avoided. These cause such a luxuriant growth that the stalks lodge badly. The time of seeding will have to be settled by the height of the land and bv the climate. In northern climates and in high altitudes the seeding is generally done in May or June. In southern climates and in low altitudes the planting may wait until July or August. The plant usually matures in about seventy days. It cannot stand warm weather at blooming- time, and must always be planted so that it may escape 2:;o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS waim weather in its U[cx>inmg period and cold weather in its matniing season. The seeds are commonly broadcasted at an average rate erf four pecks to the acre. If the land is loose and pulverized, it should be ndled. Bodndieat ripens unevenly and -nill continue to bloom finosL Harvesting: "usuallv besir- "v~t ;;f^::- ^^e :^r=-t ?rop of seeds have matured. To keep the grains from shattering, the harvesting is best done during damp or cloudv da3-s or earl}' in the monaing while the dew is still on the grain. The grain shooild be threshed as soon as it is dr\" enough to go through the thresher. Biickwheat is girown largely for table use. The grain is crushed into a dark iflomr that makes most palatable break- fast cakes. The grain, e^>ecMly when mixed with com, is becoming pc^jukr for poeMij^ food. The middlings, which are rich in fais and protein, are prized for dairy cows. FARM CROPS 2^1 SECTION XLVIII. RICE The United States produces only about one half of the rice that it consumes. There is no satisfactory reason for our not raising more of this staple crop, for five great states along the Gulf of Mexico are well adapted to its culture. There are two distinct kinds of rice, upland rice and low- land rice. Upland rice demands in general the same methods of culture that are required bv other cereals, for example, Fig. 221. Threshing Rice oats or wheat. The growing of lowland rice is considerably more difficult and includes the necessit}- of flooding the fields with water at proper times. A stiff, half-clay soil with some loam is best suited to this crop. The soil should have a clay subsoil to retain water and to give stiffness enough to allow the use of harvesting- machinen-. Some good rice soils are so stiff that thev must be flooded to soften them enough to admit of plowing. Plow deeply to give the roots ample feeding-space. Good tillage, which is too often neglected, is valuable. Careful seed-selection is perhaps even more needed for rice than for any other crop. Consumers want kernels of the same size. Be sure that nouf seed is free from red rice and 2 32 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS other weeds. Drilling is much better than broadcasting, as it secures a more even distribution of the seed. The notion generally prevails that flooding returns to the soil the needed fertilit}-. This may be true if the flooding- water deposits much silt, but if the water be clear it is untrue, and fertilizers or leguminous crops are needed to keep up fertilitv. Cowpeas replace the lost soil-elements and keep down weeds, grasses, and red rice. Red rice is a weed close kin to rice, but the seed of one will not produce the other. Do not allow it to get mixed and sowed with your rice seed or to go to seed in vour field. SECTION XLIX. THE TIMBER CROP Forest trees are not usually regarded as a crop, but they are certainly one of the most important crops. We should accustom ourselves to look on our trees as needing and as deserx-ing the same care and thought that we give to our other field crops. The total number of acres given to the growth of forest trees js still enormous, but we should each year add to this acreage. Unfortunately ver\- few forests are so managed as to add yearly to their value and to preser\-e a model stand of trees. Axmen generally fell the great trees without thought of the young trees that should at once begin to fill the places left vacant b\- the fallen giants. 0\\*ners rarely study their wood- lands to be sure that the trees are thick enough, or to find out whether the saplings are ruinously crowding one another. Disease is often allowed to slip in unchecked. Old trees stand long after they have outlived their usefulness. The farm wood-lot, too. is often neglected. As forests are being swept away, fuel is of course becoming scarcer and FARM CROPS 233 more costly. Even- farmer ought to plant trees enough on his waste land to make sure of a constant supply of fuel. The land saved for the wood-lot should be selected from land unfit for cultivation. Steep hillsides, rocky slopes, ravines, banks of streams — these can, without much expense or labor, be set in trees and insure a never-ending fuel supply. Fig. 222. Wood Lot Before proper treatment The most common enemies of the forest crop are : First, forest fires. The waste from forest fires in the United States is most startling. Many of these fires are the result of carelessness or ignorance. Most of the states have made or are now making laws to prevent and to control such fires. Second, fungous diseases. The timber loss from these diseases is exceedingly great. Third, insects of many kinds prey on the trees. Some strip all the leaves from the branches. Others bore into the 2 34 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS roots, trunk, or branches. Some lead to a slow death ; others are more quickly fatal. Fourth, improper grazing. Turning animals into young woods may lead to serious loss. The animals frequently ruin young trees by eating all the foliage. Hogs often unearth and consume most of the seeds needed for a good growth. 'fclS Mt^ :^Sa.f^^il^ im^^^^ Fig. 223. Wood Lot After proper treatment The handling of forests is a business just as the growing of corn is a business. In old forests, dead and dying trees should be cut. Trees that occupy space and yet have little commercial value should- give way to more valuable trees. A quick-growing tree, if it is equally desirable, should be preferred to a slow grower. An even distribution of the trees should be secured. In all there are about five hundred species of trees which are natives of the United States. Probably not over seventy FARM CROPS 235 of these are desirable for forests. In selecting trees to plant or to allow to grow from their own seeding, pick those that make a quick growth, that have a steady market value, and that suit the soil, the place of growth, and the climate. SECTION L. THE FARM GARDEN Every farmer needs a garden in which to grow not only vegetables but small fruits for the home table. The garden should always be within convenient distance of the farmhouse. If possible, the spot selected should have a soil of mixed loam and clay. Every foot of soil in the gar- den should be made rich and mellow by manure and cultiva- tion. The worst soils for the home garden are light, sandy soils, or stiff, clayey soils ; but any soil, by judicious and intelligent culture, can be made suitable. In laying out the garden we should bear in mind that hand labor is the most expensive kind of labor. Hence we should not, as is commonly done, lay off the garden spot in the form of a square, but we should mark off for our purpose a long, narrow piece of land, so that the cultivating tools may all be conveniontlv drawn by a horse or a mule. The use of the plow and the horse cultivator enables the cultivation of the garden to be done quickly, easily, and cheaply. Each vegetable or fruit should be planted in rows, and not in little patches. Beginning with one side of the garden the following plan of arrangement is simple and complete : two rows to corn for table use ; two to cabbages, beets, radishes, and eggplants ; two to onions, peas, and beans ; two to oyster- plants, okra, parsley, and turnips ; two to tomatoes ; then four on the other side can be used for strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries. 2^6 FARM CROPS 237 The garden, when so arranged, can be tilled in the spring and tended throughout the growing season with little labor and little loss of time. In return for this odd-hour work, the farmer's family will have throughout the year an abundance of fresh, palatable, and health-giving vegetables and small fruits. The keynote of successful gardening is to stir the soil. Stir it often with four objects in view : 1. To destroy weeds. 2. To let air enter the soil. 3. To enrich the soil by the action of the air. 4. To retain the moisture by preventing its evaporation. corn corn cabbage beets radish es ' cabbage beets ^ss-i> ants 1 onions peas beans onions peas beans oyster-plants okra parsley parsnips ovster-plants okra parsJev parsnips to niatoes tomatoes strawberries currants 1 raspberries blackberries | strawberries currants raspl)erries 1 blackberries strawberries currants raspberries blackberries 1 strawberries 1 currants raspberries blackberries | Fig. 225. How to lav out the Garden ' This illustration shows that practically even,- garden vege- table and all the small fruits can be included in the farm garden, and all the work be done by horse-drawn tools. ^ The number of rows and arrangement of the vegetables in the outline above are merely suggestive. They should be changed to meet the needs and the tastes of each particular family. CHAPTER IX FEED STUFFS SECTIOX LI. GIL\SSES Under usual conditions no farmer expects to grow live stock successful!}- and economically without setting apan a large part of his land for the gro\Ath of mowing and pasture crops. Therefore to the grower of stock the management of grass crops is all-important. In planting either for a meadow or for a pasture, the farmer should mix different ^'arieties of grass seeds. Nature mixes them when she plants, and Nature is always a trust\vorth3' teacher. In planting for a pasture the aim should be to sow such seeds as will give green grass from early spring to latest fall. In seeding for a meadow such varieties should be sowed together as ripen about the same time. Even in those sections of the countn- where it grows sparingly and where it is easily crowded out, clover should be mixed \nth all grasses sowed, for it leaves in the soil a wealth of plant food for the grasses coming after it to feed on. Nearly ever)^ part of our countn' has some clover that experience shows to be exactly suited to its soil and cli- mate. Study these clovers carefully and mix them with your grass seed. The reason for mixing clover and grass is at once seen. The true grasses, so far as science now shows, get all their 238 FEED STUFFS 239 nitrogen from the soil ; hence they more or less exhaust the soil. But, as several times explained in this book, the clovers are legumes, and all legumes are able by means of the bac- teria that live on their roots to use the free nitrogen of the air. Hence without cost to the farmer these clovers help the soil to feed their neighbors, the true grasses. For this reason some light peren- nial legume should always be added to grass seed. It is not possible for grasses to do well in a soil that is full of weeds. For this reason it is always best to sow grass in fields from which culti- vated crops have just been taken. Soil which is to have grass sowed in it should have its particles pressed together. The small grass seeds cannot take root and grow well in land that has just been plowed and which, consequently, has its particles loose and comparatively far apart. On the other hand, land from which a crop of com or cotton has just been har\-ested is in a compact condition. The soil particles are pressed well together. Such land when mellowed by harrowing makes a splendid bed for grass seeds. A firm soil draws moisture up Fig. 226. Single Plant uk Gl\m Millet 240 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS to the seeds, while a mellow soil acts as a blanket to keep moisture from wasting into the air, and at the same time allows the heated air to circulate in the soil. In case land has to be plowed for grass-seeding, the plow- ing should be done as far as possible in advance of the seeding. Then the plowed land should be harrowed several times to get the land in a soft, mellow condition. If the seed-bed be carefully prepared, little work on the ground is necessar)' after the seeds are sowed. One light harrowing is sufficient to cover the broadcast seeds. This harrowing should always be done as soon as the seeds are scattered, for if there be moisture in the soil the tiny seeds will soon sprout, and if the harrowing be done after germi- nation is somewhat advanced, the tender grass plants will be injured. There are manv kinds of pasture and meadow grasses. In New England, timothv, red clover, and redtop are gen- erallv used for the mowing crop. For permanent pasture, in addition to those mentioned, there should be added white clover and either Kentucky or Canadian blue grass. In the Southern states a good meadow or pasture can be made of orchard grass, red clover, and redtop. For a permanent pasture in the South, Japan clover, Bennuda, and such other local grasses as have been found to adapt themselves readily to the climate should be added. In the Middle States tem- porar}' meadows and pastures are generally made of timothy and red clover, while for permanent pastures white clover and blue grass thrive well. In the more western states the grasses previouslv suggested are readily at home. Alfalfa is proving its adaptability to nearly all sections and climates, and is in many respects the most promising grass crop of America. 241 242 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS It hardlv ever pays to pasture meadows, except slightly, the first season, and then only when the soil is dr}-. It is also poor policy to pasture any kind of grass land early in the spring when the soil is \vet, because the tramping of animals crushes and destroys the crowns of the plants. After the first year the sward becomes thicker and tougher, and the grass is not at all injured if it is grazed wisely. Fig. 228. Alfalfa the Wonderful The first crop of the season is being cut and stored for winter The state of maturity at which grass should be harvested to make hay of the best qualit}' varies somewhat with the different grasses and with the use which is to be made of the hay. Generally speaking, it is a good rule to cut grass for hay just as it is beginning to bloom or just after the bloom has fallen. All grasses become less palatable to stock as they mature and form seed. If grass be allowed to go to seed, most of the nutrition in the stalk is used to form the seed. 243 ^44 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Hence a good deal of food is lost b\- waiting to cut hay until the seeds are formed. Pasture lands and meadow lands are often greatly improved b\' replowing and harrowing in order to break up the turf that forms and to admit air more freely into the soil. The plant-roots that are destroyed by the plowing or harrowing make quickly a\^able plant food by their decay, and the physical improvement of the soil leads to a thicker and better stand. In the older sections of the country- commercial fer- tilizer can be used to ad\:antage in producing hay and pastur- age. If, however, clover has just been grown on grass land or if it is growing well with the grass, there is no need to add nitrogen. If the grass seems to lack sufficient nourish- ment, add phosphoric acid and potash. However, grass not grown in company wnth clover often needs dried blood, nitrate of soda, or some other nitrogen-suppl\-ing agent. Of course it is understood that no better fertilizer can be applied to grass than bamj-ard manure. SECTION LIT. LEGUMES Often land which was once thought excellent is left to grow up in weeds. The owner sa\-s that the land is worn out, and that it will not pay to plant it. What does " worn out " mean ? Simply that constant cropping has used up the plant food in the land. Therefore, plants on worn-out land are too nearlv staned to \-ield bountifully. Such wearing out is so easily prevented that no owner ought e\-er to allow his land to become poverh,--stricken. But in case this misfortune has happened, how can the land be again made fertile ? On page 24 you learned that phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen are the foods most needed by plants. " Worn out," 245 246 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS then, to put it in another \ra3-, usually means that a soil has been robbed of one of these plant necessities, or of two or of all three. To make the land once more fruitful it is neces- san- to restore the missing food or foods. How can this be done? Two of these plant foods, namely, phosphoric acid and potash, are minerals. If either of these is lacking, it can be supphed only bj' putting on the land some fertilizer containing the missing food. Fortunately, however, nitrogen, the most costly- of the plant foods, can be readily and cheaply returned to poor land. As explained on page 32 the leguminous crops have the power of drawing nitrogen from the air and, by means of their root-tubercles, of storing it in the sol. Hence by growing these crops on poor land the expensive nitrogen is quickly restored to the soil, and only the two cheaper plant foods need be bought How important it is then to grow these l^uminous plants ! Every farmer should so rotate his planting that at least once ever\- two «" three years a crop of l^;umes may add to the fruitfulness of his fields. Moreover these crops help land in another wa)' . They send a multitude of roots deep into the ground. These roots loosen and pulverize the soil, and their decay, at the end of the grow- ing season, leaves much humus in the soil. Land will rarely become worn out if l^^umes are regularly and wisely grown. From the fact that they do well in so many different sec- tions and in so many different cUmates, the following are the most useful legumes : alfalfa, clovers, cowpeas, vetches, and soy beans. Alfalfa. Alfalfa is primarily a hay crop. It thrives in the Far West, in the Middle West, in the North, and in the South. In fact, it will do well wherever the soil is rich, moist, deep, and imderlaid by an open subsoil. The \^ast areas given FEED STUFFS 247 to this valuable crop are yearly increasing in ever\^ section of the United States. Alfalfa, however, unlike the covvpea, does not take to poor land. For its cultivation, therefore, sood fertile land that is moist but not water-soaked should be selected. Good farmers are partial to alfalfa for three reasons. First, it yields a heavy crop of forage or hay. Second, being a legume, it improves the soil. Third, one seeding lasts a long time. This length of life may, how- ever, be destroyed by pasturing or abus- ing the alfalfa. Alfalfa is differ- ent from most plants in this respect : the soil in which it grows must have certain kinds of bacteria in it. These cause the growth of tubercles on the roots. These bacteria, however, are not always pres- ent in land that has not been planted in alfalfa. Hence if this plant is to be grown successfully these helpful bacteria must sometimes be supplied artificially. There are t\vo ver}' easy ways of supplying the germs. First, fine soil from an alfalfa field may be scattered broad- cast over the fields to be seeded. Second, a small mass of alfalfa tubercle germs may be put into a liquid containing proper food to make these germs multiply and grow ; then Fig. sii. Sheep eattening on Aleaeea Stubble 248 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS the seeds to be planted are soaked in this hquid in order that the germs may fasten on the seeds. Before the seeds are sowed the soU should be mellowed. Over this well-prepared land about twent\- pounds of seed to the acre should be scattered. The seed may be scattered by hand or by a seed-sower. Cover ^^-ith a hght harrow. The time of planting \-aries somewhat with the climate. Except where the winters are too severe the seed may be sowed either in the spring or in the fall. In the Sov.th sow onlv in the fall. Fig. 232. Herd of Dairy Cattle gr-azixg ox Alf-axfa Stubble During the first season one mowing, perhaps more, is necessan" to insure a good stand and also to keep down the weeds. \\'hen the first blossoms appear in the early summer, it is time to start the mower. After this the alfalfa should be cut even- two, three, or four weeks. The number of times depends on the rapidit)" of growth. This crop rarely makes a good \-ield the first year, but if a good stand be secured, the peld steadily increases. After a good stand has been secured, a top-dressing of either commer- cial fertilizer or stable manure wiU be ver}- helpful. An occa- sional cutting-up of the sod with a disk harrow does much good. FEED STUFFS 249 Clovers. The different kinds of clovers will sometimes grow on hard or poor soil, but they do far better if the soil is enriched and properly prepared before the seed is sowed. In many parts of our countr)' it has been the practice for generations to sow clover seed with some of the grain crops. Barley, wheat, oats, and r)-e are the crops with which clover is usually planted, but many good farmers now prefer to sow the seed only with other grass seed. Circumstances must largely determine the manner of seeding. Crimson clover, which is a winter legume, usually does best when seeded alone, although r\-e or some other grain often seems helpful to it. This kind of clover is an excel- lent crop with which to follow cotton or corn. It is most conveniently sowed at the last culti\ation of these crops. Common red clover, which is the standard clover over most of the countr}-, is usually seeded with timothy or with orchard grass or with some other of the grasses. In sowing both crimson and red clover, about ten to fifteen pounds of seed for each acre are generally used. To make good pastures, white and Japan clover are favor- ites. White clover does well in most parts of America, and Japan clover is especially valuable in warm Southern climates. Both will do well even when the soil is partly shaded, but they do best in land fully open to the sun. Careful attention is required to cure clover hay well. The clover should always be cut before it forms seed. The best time to cut is when the plants are in full bloom. Let the mower be started in the morning. Then a few hours later nm over the field with the tedder. This will loosen the hay and let in air and sunshine. If the weather be fair let the hay lie until the next day, and then rake it into rows for further drying. After being raked, the hay may either be left « Fig. 233. Crimson Clover 250 FEED STUFFS 251 in the rows for final curing or it may be put in cocks. If the weather be unsettled, it is best to cock the hay. Many farmers have cloth covers to protect the cocks and these often aid greatly in saving the hay crop in a rainy season. In case the hay is put in cocks, it should be opened for a final drying before it is housed. Cowpeas. The cowpea is an excellent soil-enricher. It supplies more fertilizing material to turn into the soil, in a short time and at small cost, than any other crop. Moreover, bv good tillage and by the use of a very small amount of fer- tilizer, the cowpea can be grown on land too poor to produce any other crop. Its roots go deep into the soil. Hence they gather plant food and moisture that shallow-rooted plants fail to reach. These qualities make it an invaluable help in bringing worn-out lands back to fertility. The cowpea is a warm-weather legume. In the United States it succeeds best in the south and southwest. It has, however, in recent years been grown as far north as Massa- chusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota, but in these cold climates other legumes are more useful. Cowpeas should never be planted until all danger of frost is past. Some varieties make their full growth in two months ; others need four months. There are about two hundred varieties of cowpeas. These varieties differ in form, in the size of seed and of pod, in the color of seed and of pod, and in the time of ripening. They differ, too, in the manner of growth. Some grow erect; others sprawl on the ground. In selecting varieties it is well to choose those that grow straight up, those that are hardy, those that fruit early and abundantly, and those that hold their leaves. The variety selected for seed should also suit the land and the climate. 252 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The cowpea will grow in almost any soil. It thrives best and \-ields most bountifully on well-drained sandy loams. The plant also does well on clay soils. On light, sandy soils a fairlv good crop may be made, but on such soils, wilt and root-knot are dangerous foes. A warm, moist, well-pulverized seed-bed should always be pro\"ided. Few plants equal the cowoea in repavins: careful Dreoaration. If this crop is grown for hay. the method of seeding and cultivating will differ somewhat from the method used when a seed crop is desired. When cowpeas are planted for hay the seeds should be drilled or broadcasted. If the seeds are small and the land somewhat rich, about four pecks should be sowed on each acre. If the seeds are com para ti\ely large and the soil not so fertile, about six pecks should be sowed to the acre. It is safer to disk in the seeds when they are sowed broadcast than it is to relv on a harrow to cover them. In FEED STUFFS 253 sowing merely for a hay crop, it is a good practice to mix sorghum, com, soy beans, or millet with the cowpeas. The mixed hay is more easily harvested and more easily cured than unmixed cowpea hay. Shortly after seeding, it pays to run over the land lightly with a harrow^ or a weeder in order to break any crust that may form. Mowing should begin as soon as the stalks and the pods have finished growing and some of the lower leaves have begun to turn yellow. An ordinar)^ mower is perhaps the best machine for cutting the vines. If possible, select only a bright day for mowing and do not start the machine until the dew on the vines is dried. Allow the vines to remain as they fell from the mower till they are wilted ; then rake them into windrows. The vines should generally stay in the windrows for two or three days and be turned on the last day. They should then be put in small, airy piles or piled around a stake that has crosspieces nailed to it. The drying vines should never be packed ; air must circulate freely if good hay is to be made. As piling the vines around stakes is somewhat laborious, some growers watch the curing care- fully and succeed in getting the vines dry enough to haul directly from the windrows to the barns. Never allow the vines to stay exposed to too much sunshine when thev are first cut. If the sun strikes them too strongly, the leaves will become brittle and shatter when they are moved. When cowpeas are grown for their pods to ripen, the seeds should be planted in rows about a yard apart. From two to three pecks of seeds to an acre should be sufficient. The growing plants should be cultivated two or three times with a good cultivator. Cowpeas were formerly gathered by hand, but such a method is of course slow and expensive. Pickers are now commonlv used. 254 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS S:~.e fsuTr.ers use the covq>tz crop only as a soil-enricher. Hence mev neither gather the seeds nor cut the hay, but plow the whole crop into the soil. There is an average of about foit>'-seven pounds of nitrogen in each ton of cowjjea vines. Most of this valuable nitrogen is drawn by the plants from the air. This amount of nitrogen is equal to that con- tained in 9300 pounds of stable manure. In addition each ton of cowpea vines contains ten pounds of phosphoric acid and twenty-nine pounds of potash. There is danger in plowing into the soil at one time any bountiful green crop like cowpeas. As alread\' explained on page 10, a process called capillarity enables moisture to rise in the soil as plants need iL Now if a heavy cowpea crop or any other similar crop be at one plowing turned into the soil, the soil particles will be so separated as to destroy capillarity. Too much vegetation turned under at once mav also, if the weather be warm, cause fermentation to set in and "sour the land." Both of these troubles may be avoided bj- cutting up the \Tnes with a disk harrow or other implement before covering them. The custom of planting cowpeas between the rows at the last working of com is a good one, and wherever the climate permits this custom should be followed. Vetches. The vetches hax'e been rapidly growing in favor for some }^ears. Stock eat vetch hay greedily, and this hay increases the flow of milk in dairy animals and helps to keep animals fat and sleek. Only two species of vetch are widely grown. These are the tare, or spring vetch, and the winter, or hairj^ vetch. Spring vetch is grown in comparatively few sections of our countr}-, It is, however, grown widely in England and northern continental Europe. What we say here wiH be confined to hair}^ vetch. FEED STUFFS 255 After a soil has been supplied with the germs needed by this plant, the hairy vetch is productive on many different kinds of soil. The plant is most vigorous on fertile loams. By good tillage and proper fertilization it may be forced to grow rather bountifully on poor sandy and clay loams. Acid or wet soils are not suited to vetch. Lands that are too poor to produce clovers will frequently yield fair crops of vetch. If Fiu. 235. Vetch this is borne in mind, many poor soils may be wonderfully improved by growing on them this \aluable legume. Vetch needs a fine well-compacted seed-bed, but it is often sowed with good results on stubble lands and between cotton and corn rows, where it is covered by a cultivator or a weeder. The seeds of the vetch are costly and are brought chiefly from Germany, where this crop is much prized. The pods ripen so irregularly that they have to be picked by hand. 2 56 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In northern climates early spring sowing is found most sat- isfactory. In southern climates the seeding is best done in the late summer or early fall. As the vetch vines have a tendency to trail on the ground, it is wisest to plant with the vetch some crop like oats, barley, r)-e, or wheat. These plants will support the vetch and keep its vines from being injured by falling on the ground. Do not use r}-e with vetch in the South. It ripens too early to be of much assistance. If sowed with oats the seeding should be at the rate of about twenty or thirty pounds of vetch and about one and a half or t^vo bushels of oats to the acre. \'etch is covered in the same way as wheat and ne. Few crops enrich soil more rapidly than vetch if the whole plant is turned in. It of course adds nitrogen to the soil and at the same time supplies the soil with a large amount of organic matter to decay and change to humus. As the crop grows during the winter, it makes an excellent cover to pre- vent washing. IMany orchard-growers of the Northwest find vetch the best winter crop for the orchards as well as for the fields. Soy, or Soja, Bean. In China and Japan the soy bean is grown largelv as food for man. In the United States it is used as a forage plant and as a soil-improver. It bids fair to become one of the most popular of the legumes. Like the cowpea, this bean is at home only in a warm climate. Some of the earlv-ripening varieties have, however, been planted with fair success in cold climates. While there are a large number of varieties of the so)- bean, only about a dozen are commonly grown. They differ mainly in the color, size, and shape of the seeds, and in the time needed for ripening. Some of the varieties are more hair}- than others. FEED STUFFS 257 Soy beans may take many places in good crop-rotations, but they are unusually valuable in short rotations with small grains. The grains can be cut in time for the beans to follow them, and in turn the beans can be harx'ested in the early fall and make way for another grain crop. It should always be remembered that soy beans will not thrive unless the land on which they are to grow is already sup- plied, or is supplied at the time of sowing, with bean bacteria. Fig. 236. Chinese Soy Beans The plant will grow on many different kinds of soil, but it needs a richer soil than the cowpea does. As the crop can gather most of its own nitrogen, it generally requires only the addition of phosphoric acid and potash for its growth on poor land. When the first crop is seeded, apply to each acre four hundred pounds of a fertilizing mixture which contains about ten per cent of phosphoric acid, four per cent of potash, and from one to two per cent of nitrogen. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS ^:.nted for hay or for grazing, mellow the ::-. broadcast or drill in closety about one -T - : - r^ to each acre. Cover from one to : allow a crust to form over the ; : .: : : reak through a crust well. When -"; ■ : : — fds. a half bushel of seed to the ^-- ; ^-~ _:j;'.:. Trie plants sh'i'uld stand in the rows from four to six ir.: ws should be from thirty to forty indhc.:> i;.,.iij ^.mjl a-ii...:i.... Never plant until the sun has thoroughly warmed the land. The bean may be sowed, however, earlier than cowpeas. A most convenient time is just after com is planted. The rows should be culti- vated often enough to ke^ out weeds and grass and to keep a good dust muldi, but the cultivation must be shallow. As soy beans are grown for hay and also for seed, the har- vesting will, as with the other l^;ume5, be controlled by the FEED STUFFS 259 purpose for which the crop was planted. In harvesting for a hay crop it is desirable to cut the beans after the pods are well formed but before they are fully grown. If the cut- ting is delayed until the pods are ripe, the fruit will shatter badly. There is a loss, too, in the food value of the stems if the cutting is late. The ordinary mowing-machine with a rake attached is generally the machine used for cuttins: the Fig. 23S. Sov Beans in Corn Stalks. The leaves should be most carefully preserved, for they contain much nourishment for stock. Whenever the beans are grown for seeds, harvesting should begin when three fourths of the leaves have fallen and most of the pods are ripe. Do not wait, however, until the pods are so dr\- that they have begun to split and drop their seeds. A slight amount of dampness on the plants aids the cutting. The threshing mav be done with a flail, with pea-hullers, or with a grain-threshing machine. 26o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS The beans produce more seed to the acre than cowpeas do. Fort\- bushels is a high \ield. The average }"ield is between twenty and thirty- bushels. Descriptive Table C;.:; L;rx Rz VA- :<; Alfalfa Hay Perennial AD animals like ii: hogs eat it even when itisdrv. Red clover Hay and pastore Perennial Best of the clovers for hav. Alsike clover Haj^ and pasture Perennial Seeds itself for twenty- years. This clover is a great favorite with bees. Mammoth clover Hay and pasture Perennial Best for green manure: White clover Pastnre Perennial Excellent for lawns and bees. Japan clover Pasture Perennial ExceDent for forest and old soils. Cowpea Hay and grain Annual Used for hay, green manure, and pastures. Sov bean Hay and grain Annual Often put in sUo with com. Vetches Hay and soiling Annual Pasture for sheep and swine. With cereals it makes excellent hav and soiling-food. CHAPTER X DOMESTIC ANIMALS The progress that a nation is making can with reasonable accuracy be measured by the kind of Hve stock it raises. The general mle is, poor stock, poor people. All the prosperous nations of the globe, especially the grain-growing nations, get a large share of their wealth from raising improved stock. The stock bred by these nations is now, however, verv' dif- erent from the stock raised by the same nations years ago. As soon as man began to progress in the art of agriculture he became dissatisfied with inferior stock. He therefore bent his energies to raise the standard of excellence in domestic animals. By slow stages of animal improvement the ugly, thin- flanked wild boar of early times has been transformed into the sleek Berkshire or the well-rounded Poland-China. In the same manner the wild sheep of the Old World ha\e been developed into wool and mutton breeds of the finest excel- lence. By constant care, attention, and selection the thin, long-legged wild ox has been bred into the bounteous milk- producing Jerseys and Holsteins or into the Shorthorn moun- tains of flesh. From the small, bony, coarse, and shaggy horse of ancient times have descended the hea\y Norman, or Percheron, draft horse and the fleet Arab courser. The matter of meat-production is one of vital importance to the human race, for animal food must always supply a large part of man's ration. R 261 262 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Live stock of various kinds consume the coarser foods, like the grasses, hays, and grains, which man cannot use. As a result of this consumption they store in their bodies the exact substances required for building up the tissues of man's body. When the animal is used b}" man for food, one class of foods stored away in the animal's body produces muscle ; another produces fat, heat, and energ}-. The food furnished by the slaughter of animals seems necessar}- to the full devel- opment of man. It is true that the flesh of an animal v^ill not support human life so long as would the grain that the animal ate while growing, but it is also true that animal food does not require so much of man's force to digest it. Hence the use of meat forces a part of man's life- struggle on the lower animal. When men feed grain to stock, the animals receive in return power and food in their most a\*ailable forms. Men strengthen the animal that they themselves may be strengthened. One of the great questions, tlien, for the stock- grower's considera- tion is how to make the least amount of food fed to animals produce the most power and flesh. SECTION LIII. HORSES While we have a great many kinds of horses in America, horses are not natives of this countn*. Just where wild horses were first tamed and used is not certainly kno\ATi. It is be- lieved that in earlv ages the horse was a much smaller animal than it now is, and tliat it gradually attained its present size. Where food was abundant and nutritious and the climate mild and healthful, the early horses developed large frames and hc2Lxy limbs and muscles ; on the other hand, where food DOMESTIC ANIMALS 263 was scarce and the climate cold and bleak, the animals re- mained as dwarfed as the ponies of the Shetland Islands One of the first records concerning the horse is found in Genesis xlix, 17, where Jacob speaks of "an adder that biteth the horse heels." Pharaoh took "six hundred chosen chariots" and "with all the horses and chariots" Fig. z^g. The Family Pti pursued the Israelites. The Greeks at first drove the horse fastened to a rude chariot ; later they rode on its back, learn- ing to manage the animal with voice or switch and without either saddle or bridle. This thinking people soon invented the snaffle bit, and both rode and drove with its aid. The curb bit was a Roman invention. Shoeing was not practiced by either Greeks or Romans. Saddles and harnesses were at first made of skins and sometimes of cloth. 264 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS Among the Tartars of middle and northern Asia and also among some other nations, mare's jnilk and the flesh of the horse are used for food. Old and otherwise worthless horses are regularly fattened for the meat markets of France and Germanv. \'arious uses are made of the different parts of a horse's bodv. The mane and tail are used in the manufacture Fig. 240. Perchekon Horse (a Draft Type) of mattresses, and also furnish a haircloth for upholstering ; the skin is tanned into leather ; the hoofs are used for glue, and the bones for making fertilizer. Climate, food, and natural surroundings have all aided in producing changes in the horse's form, size, and appearance. The \-ar\ing circumstances under which horses have been raised ha\-e given rise to the different breeds. In addition, the DOMESTIC ANIMALS 265 masters' needs had much to do in developing the t\pe of horses wanted. Some masters desired work horses, and kept the heavy, muscular, stout-limbed animals ; others desired riding and driving horses, so they saved for their use the light-limbed. Fig. 241 Diagram shows the proper shape of the fore and hind legs of a horse, ^^■hen the straight lines divide the legs equally, the leg action is straight and regular angular horses that had endurance and mettle. The follow- ing table gives some of the different breeds and the places of their development : I. Draft, or Heavy, Breeds 1. Percheron. from the province of Perche, France. 2. French Draft, developed in France. 3. Belgian Draft, developed by Belgian farmers. 4. Clydesdale, the draft horse of Scotland. 5. Suffolk Punch, from the eastern part of England. 6. English Shire, also from the eastern part of England. 266 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS II. Carriage, or Coach, Breeds 1. Cleveland Bay. developed in England. 2. French Coach, the gentleman's horse of France. 3. German Coach, from Germany. 4. Oldenburg Coach. Oldenburg. Germany. 5. Hackney, the English high-stepper. III. Light, or Roadster. Breeds 1 . American Trotter, developed in America. 2. Thoroughbred, the English running horse. 3. American Saddle Horse, from Kentucky and Mrginia. There is a marked difference in the form and type of these horses, and on this difference their usefulness depends. Fig. 242. Wide Hock This horse stands great strains and is not fatigued easily Fig. 243. Narrow Hock This horse becomes exhausted verv easily The draft breeds have short legs, and hence their bodies are comparatively close to the ground. The depth of the body should be about the same as the length of leg. All draft horses should have upright shoulders, so as to pro\ide an easy support for the collar. The hock should be wide, so that DOMESTIC ANIMALS 267 the animal shall have great leverage of muscle for pulling. A horse ha\-ing a narrow hock is not able to draw a hea\y load and is easily exhausted and liable to curb-diseases (see Figs. 242 and 243). The legs of all kinds of horses should be straight ; a line dropped from the point of the shoulder to the ground should divide the knees, canon, fetlock, and foot into two equal parts. u ^ *g^ k'lf^ ^^3B^^'^' ' —^ ■HMMMH^- fSk .T . !-^C'. in ^^^^r ^^|H^^|h w^r irif i-^^^■ ■'.■ -i . 1 y imm ^M If ' sB g^ijg^ *^"ti^^^^mm m ■Bb-JK n -11111711 1WM j> r t^ iM' IW1I 1 1 IflflfWM'lllSMlMil Fig. The Roadster Type When the animal is formed in this way the feet have room to be straight and square, with just the breadth of a hoof between them (Fig. 241). Roadsters are lighter in bone and less heavily muscled ; their legs are longer than those of the draft horses and, as horsemen say, more "daylight" can be seen under the body. The neck is long and thin, but fits nicely into the shoulders. The shoulders are sloping and long and give the roadster abilit\- to reach well out in his stride. The 268 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS head is set gracefully on the neck and should be carried with ease and erectness. Every man who is to deal with horses ought to become, by observation and study, an expert judge of forms, qualities, types, defects, and excellences. Fig. 245. Side View of Legs The diagram shows how the straight Hnes ought to cross the legs of a properly shaped horse The horse's foot makes an interesting study. The horny outside protects the foot from mud, ice, and stones. Inside the hoof are the bones and gristle that serve as cushions to diminish the shock received while walking or running on hard roads or streets. When shoeing the horse the frog should not be touched with the knife. It is very seldom that any cutting need be done. Many blacksmiths do not know this and often greatly injure the foot. DOMESTIC ANIMALS 269 Since the horse has but a small stomach, the food given should not be too bulky. In proportion to the horse's size, its grain ration should be larger than that of other animals. Draft horses and mules, however, can be fed a more bulky ration than other horses, because they have larger stomachs and consequently have more room to store food. 2. 1 7 Fig. 246. How to measure a Horse The horse should be groomed ever)' day. This keeps the pores of the skin open and the hair bright and glossy. When horses are working hard, the harness sliould be removed during the noon hour. During the cool seasons of the year, whenever a horse is wet with sweat, it should on stopping work, or when standing for awhile, be blanketed, for the animal is as liable as man to get cold in a draft or from moisture evaporating rapidly from its skin. 270 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE If the pupil will take an ordinary tape measure, he can make some meas- urements of the horse that will be very interesting as well as profitable. Let him measure : 1. The height of the horse at the withers, i to i. 2. The height of the horse at croup, 2 to 2. 3. Length of shoulder, i to 3. 4. Length of back, 4. 5. Length of head. 5. 6. Depth of body, 6 to 6. 7. Daylight under body, 7 to 7. 8. Distance from point of shoulder to quarter. 3 to 3. 9. Width of forehead. 10. Width between hips. Note. Man}- interesting comparisons can be made (i) by measuring several horses; (2) by studying the proportion between parts of the same horse. Proportions of a Horse 1. How many times longer is the body than the head? Do you get the same result from different horses ? 2. How does the height at the withers compare with the height at the croup .' 3. How do these compare with the distance from quarter to shoulder .'' 4. How does the length of the head compare with the thickness of the body and with the open space, or " daylight,"' under the body? SECTION LIV. CATTLE All farm animals were once called cattle ; now, this term applies only to beef and dair}' animals — neat cattle. Our improved breeds are descended from the wild ox of Europe and Asia, and have attained their size and usefulness DOMESTIC ANIMALS 271 bv care, food, and selection. The uses of cattle are so familiar that we need scarcely mention them. Their flesh is a part of man's daily food ; their milk, cream, butter, and cheese are on most tables ; their hides go to make leather, and their hair for plas- ter ; their hoofs are used for glue, and their bones for fer- tilizers, ornaments, buttons, and many other purposes. There are two main classes of cat- tle — beef breeds and dair}- breeds. The principal breeds of each class are as follows : Fig. 247. A Pkize-Winner I. Bec-f Bn-c'ds Aberdeen-Angus, bred in Scotland, and often called doddies. Galloway, from Scotland. Shonhom. an English breed of cattle. Hereford, also an English breed. Sussex, from the county of Sussex. England. II. Dairy Breeds 1. Jersey, from the Isle of Jersey. 2. Guernsey, from the Isle of Guernsey. 3. A\Tshire. from Scotland. 4. Holstein-Frisian. from Holland and Denmark. 5. Brow-n Swiss, from Switzerland. 272 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Other breeds of cattle are Devon, Dutch Belted, Red- Polled, Kerr\', and West Highland. In general structure there is a marked difference between the beef and dair)- breeds. This is shown in Figs. 248, 249. The beef cow is square, full over the back and loins, and straight in the back. The hips are covered evenly with flesh, the legs full and thick, the under line, or stomach line, parallel to the back line, and the neck full and short. Fig. 248. Aberdeex-Angus Cow (a Beef Type) The eye should be bright, the face short, the bones of fine texture, and the skin soft and pliable. The dair\' cow- is widely different from the beef cow. She shows a decided wedge shape when you look at her from front, side, or rear. The back line is crooked, the hip bones and tail bone are prominent, the thighs thin and poorly fleshed ; there is no breadth to the back, as in the beef cow, and little flesh covers the shoulders ; the neck is Ions: and thin. DOMESTIC ANIMALS 273 The udder of the dairy cow is most important. It should be full but not fleshy, be well attached behind, and extend well forward. The larger the udder the more milk will be given. The skin of the dairy cow, like that of the beef breeds, should be soft and pliable and the bones fine-textured. The Dairy Type. Because of lack of flesh on the back, loins, and thighs, the cow of the dairy type is not profitably raised for beef, nor is the beef so good as that of the beef Fig. 249. Jersey Cow (a Dairy Type) tvpes. This is because in the dair)--animal food goes to produce milk rather than beef. In the same way the beef cow gives little milk, since her food goes rather to fat than to milk. For the same reasons that you do not expect a plow horse to win on the race track, you do not expect a cow of the beef type to win premiums as a milker. " Scrub " cattle are not profitable. They mature slowly and consequently consume much food before they are able to give any return for it. Even when fattened, the fat and 274 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS lean portions are not evenly distributed, and "choice cuts" are few and small. By far the cheapest method of securing a healthy and profitable herd of dair}- or beef cattle is to save only the calves whose sires are pure-bred animals and whose mothers are native cows. In this way farmers of even little means can soon build up an excellent herd. Improving Cattle. The fact that it is not possible for ever}- farmer to possess pure-bred cattle is no reason why he should not improve the stock he has. He can do this by using pure-bred sires that possess the qual- ities most to be desired. Scrub stock can be quickly improved by the continu- ous use of good sires. It is never wise to use grade, or cross-bred, sires, since the best qualities are not fixed in them. Fig. 250. He.\d of a Galluwav Cow . . ^Moreover, it is possible for ever}- farmer to determine exactly the producing-power of his dair}- cows. When the cows are milked, the milk should be weighed and a record kept. If this be done, it will be found that some cows produce as much as five hundred, and some as much as ten hundred, gallons a year, while others produce not more than two or three hundred gallons. If a farmer kills or sells his poor cow-s and keeps his best ones, he will soon have a herd of only hea\-}- milkers. Ask your father to tn.' this plan. Read eventhing you can find about taking care of cows and impro\-ing them, and then start a herd of your own. DOMESTIC ANIMALS 275 Conclusions, (i) A cow with a tendency to get fat is not profitable for the dair\'. (2) A thin, open, angular cow will make expensive beef, (3) "The sire is half the herd." This means that a good sire is necessary to improve a herd of cattle. The improvement from scrubs upward is as follows : the first generation is one-half pure ; the second is three- fourths pure ; the third is seven-eighths pure ; the fourth is fifteen-sixteenths pure, etc. (4) By keeping a record of Fig. 251. HoLSTEiN Cow the quantity and quality of milk each cow gives you can tell which are profitable to raise from and which are not. (5) Good food, clean water, kindness, and care are necessary to successful cattle-raising. The ownership of a well-bred animal usually arouses so much pride in the owner that the animal receives all the care that it merits. The watchful care given to such an ani- mal leads to more thought of the other animals on the farm, and often brings about the upbuilding of an entire herd. 276 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS SECTION LV. SHEEP The sheep was perhaps the first animal domesticated by man, and to-day the domesticated sheep is found wherever man hves. It is found domesticated or wild m almost evety climate, and finds means to thrive where other animals can scarcely live ; it pro\ides man with meat and clothing, and is one of the most profitable and most easilv cared- for of animals. Fig. A \ Sheep increase so rapidly, mature at such an early age, and have flesh so wholesome for food that nearly eveiy- farm should have its flock. Another consideration that may be urged in favor of sheep-raising is that sheep improve the land on which they are pastured. Sheep are docile and easily handled, and they five on a greater diversit}' of food and require less grain than any other kind of Hve stock. In mixed farming there is enough food wasted on most farms to maintain a small flock of sHeep. -77 2/8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Sheep may be divided into three classes : I . Fine- J I 'ooled Breeds 1. American Merino. 2. Delaine Merino. 3. Rambouillets. 1 1 . Medium- 1 J 'ooled Breeds 1. Southdown. 2. Shropshire. 3. Horned Dorset. 4. Hampshire Down. 5. Oxford Down. 6. Cheviot. III. Long- J I 'ooled Breeds 1 . Leicester. 2. Lincohi. 3. Cotswold. The first group is grown principally for wool, and mutton is secondary ; in the second group, mutton comes first and Fig. 254. In the Pasture wool second ; in the third group both are important con- siderations. Wool is nature's protection for the sheep. Have you ever opened the fleece and observed the clean skin in which the fibers grow } These fibers, or hairs, are so DOMESTIC ANIMALS 279 roughened that they push all dirt away from the skin toward the outside of the fleece. Wool is valuable in proportion to the length and evenness of the fiber and the density of the fleece. EXERCISE 1. How many pounds ought a fleece of wool to weigh ? 2. Which makes the better clothing, coarse or fine wool .'' 3. Why are sheep washed before being sheared .-* 4. Does cold weather trouble sheep ? wet weather ? SECTIOX LVI. SWIXE The wild boar is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The wild hogs are the parents from which all our domestic breeds have sprung. In many parts of the world the wild boar is still found. These animals are active and powerful, Fig. 255. Which will you raise? and as they grow older are fierce and dangerous. In their wild state they seek moist, sandy, and well-wooded places, close to streams of water. Their favorite foods are fruits, grass, and roots, but when pressed by hunger they will eat snakes, worms, and even higher animals, like birds, fowls, and fish, Man captured some of these wild animals, fed them abun- dant and nutritious food, accustomed them to domestic life, 28o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS selected the best of them to raise from, and in the course of generations developed our present breeds of hogs. The main changes brought about in hogs were these : the legs became shorter, the snout and neck likewise shortened, the shoulders and hams increased their power to take on flesh, and the frame was strengthened to carry the added burden of flesh. As the animal grew heavier it roamed less widely, and as it grew accustomed to man its temper became less fierce. Fig. 256. A Pair of Pokkers Meat can be more cheaply obtained from hogs than from any other animal. W^hen a hog is properly fed and cared for it vdW make the farmer more money in proportion to cost than any other animal on the farm. The most profitable t}-pe of hog has short legs, small bones, straight back and under line, hea^y hams, small well-dished head, and hea\y shoulders. The scrub and " razorback " hogs are ven- unprofitable, and require an undue amount of food to produce a pound of gain. It requires two years to get DOMESTIC ANIMALS 281 the scrub to weigh what a well-bred pig will weigh when nine months old. Scrub hogs can be quickly changed in form and type by the use of a pure-bred sire. A boy whose parents were too poor to send him to college once decided to make his own money and get an education. He bought a sow and began to raise pigs. He earned the food for the mother and her pigs. His hogs increased so rap- idly that he had to work hard to keep them in food. By saving the money he received from the sale of his hogs he had enough to keep him two years in college. Suppose you try his plan, and let the hog show you how fast it can make money. We have several breeds of swine. The important ones are : Fig. 257. A Good Type I. Large Breeds 1. Chester White. 2. Improved Yorkshire. 3. Tamworth. II. Medium Breeds 1. Berkshire. 2. Poland-China. 3. Duroc-Jersey. 4. Cheshire. III. Small Breeds 1. \'ictoria. 2. Suffolk. 3. Essex. 4. Small Yorkshire. Hogs will be most successfully raised when kept as little as possible in pens. They like the fields and the pasture grass, the open air and the sunshine. Almost any kind of food can be given them. Unlike other stock, they will devour greedily and tirelessly the richest feeding-stuffs. 282 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINXERS The most desirable h<^ to raise is one that will produce a more or less even mixture of fat and lean. WTiere only com is fed. the bodv becomes ven- fat and is r.?: s" desirable Fig. 2^S. DoiXER is over for food as when middlings, tankage, cowpeas, or soy beans are added as a part of the ration. When hogs are kept in pens, cleanliness is most important, for only by cleanliness can disease be avoided. SECTION LVII. FAIO.I POULTRY Our geese, ducks, turke37S, and domestic hens are all descendants of wild fowls, and are more or less similar to them in appearance. The earhest recorded uses of fowls were for food, for fighting, and for sacrifice. To-da\' the domestic fowl has foin- well-defined uses — ^g-production, meat-production, feather^roduodon, and pest-destruction. Hens of course produce most of our eg^. Some duck e^s are sold for table use. Goose and duck bod\-feathers bring good prices. As pest-destroyers turke}^ and chickens are most useful. They eat large numbers of bugs and worms sTANDAKU-UKED FUWLo DOMESTIC ANIMALS 283 that are harmful to crops. A Uttle proper attention would very largely increase the already handsome sum derived from our fowls. They need dr}-, warm, well-lighted, and tidily kept houses. They must have, if we want the best returns, an abundant supply of pure water and a variet\- of nutritious foods. In cold, rainy, or snowy weather they should have a sheltered yard, and in good weather should be allowed a range wide enough to give them exercise. Their bodies and their nests must be protected from ever\- form of vermin. For eggs, the Leghorn vari- eties are popular. Some hens of this breed have been known to lay more than two hundred eggs in a year. Specially cared- for flocks have averaged eleven or even twelve dozen eggs a year. Farm flocks of ordinarv' breeds average less than eight dozen. Other excellent egg breeds are the Spanish, Anda- lusian, and Minorca. The principal so-called meat breeds are the Brahma, Cochin, and Langshan. These are ver)- large, but rather slow-growing fowls, and are not noted as layers. They are far less popular in America, even as meat-producers, than the general-purpose breeds. The Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, and Orpington are the leading general-purpose breeds. They are favorites because they are at once good-sized, good layers, tame, and good mothers. The chicks of these breeds are Fig. 259. Cock 284 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS hardv and thrift}-. In addition to these breeds, there are many so-called fancy breeds that are prized for their looks rather than for their value. Among these are the Hamburg, Polish, Sultan, Silkie, and the many Bantam breeds. The leading duck breeds are the Pekin, Aylesbur)-, In- dian Runner, Musco\y, Rouen, and Cayuga. The principal varieties of geese are the Toulouse, Emden, Chinese, and African. Among the best breeds of turkeys are the Bronze, White Holland, Xarragan- sett, Bourbon, Slate, and Buff. Geese, ducks, and turkeys are not so generall}' raised as hens, but there is a constant demand at good prices for these fowls. The varieties of the domestic- hen are as follows : I. Fig. 260. BruuLier II. Egg Breeds III. General-Purpose Breeds I. Leghorn. I. Plymouth Rock. 2. Minorca. 2. Wyandotte. 3. Spanish. 3. Rhode Island Red. 4. Blue Andalusian. 4. Orpington. 5. Anconas. Meat Breeds 1. Brahma. 2. Cochin. 3. Langshan. 4. Dorking. IV. Fancy Breeds 1. Polish. 2. Game. 3. Sultan. 4. Bantam. 5. Cornish. Fig. 261. Breeding Yards Fig. 262. IxciBAToR 2S5 286 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS As the price of both eggs and fowls is steadily advancing, a great many people are now raising fowls by means of an incubator for hatching, and a brooder as a substitute for the mother hen. The use of the incubator is extending each year and is now almost universal where any considerable number of chicks are to be hatched. Doubtless it will continue to be used wherever poultr^^-production is engaged in on a large scale. The brooder is employed to take care of the chickens as soon as thev leave the incubator. SECTION LVIII. BEE CULTURE Stock-raisers select breeds that are best adapted to their needs. Plant-growers exercise great care in their choice of plants, selecting for each planting those best suited to the conditions under which they are to be grown. Undoubtedly a larger yield of honey could be had each vear if similar care were exercised in the selection of the breed of bees. To prove this, one has only to compare the yield of two different Fig. 263. A Carmolan kinds. The common East Indian honey bee rarely produces more than ten or twelve pounds to a hive, while the Cyprian bee, which is a most industrious worker, has a record of one thousand pounds in one season from a single colony. This bee, be- sides being industrious when honey material is plentiful, is also ver)- persevering when such material is hard to find. The Cyprians have two other ver}- desirable qualities. They DOMESTIC ANIMALS 287 Stand the cold of winter well and stoutly defend their hives against robber bees and other enemies. The Italian is another good bee. This variet)- was brought into the United States in i860. While the yield from the Italian is somewhat less than from the Cyprian, the Italian bees produce a whiter comb and are a trifle more easily managed. The common black or brown bee is found wild and domes- ticated throughout the countr}^ When honey material is abundant, these bees equal the Italians in honey-production, but when the season is poor, they fall far short in the amount of honey produced. The purchase of a good Cyprian or Italian hive will richly repay the buver. Such a N.^ Fig. 264. A Cakmulan Drone colony will cost more at the outset than an ordinan,- colony, but will soon pay for its higher cost by greater production. A beehive in the spring contains one queen, several hun- dred drones, and from thirty-five to forty thousand workers. The duty of the queen is to lay all the eggs that are to hatch the future bees. This she does with untiring industr)-, often laying as many as four thousand in twent\--four hours. The worker bees do all the work. Some of them visit the flowers, take up the nectar into the honey-sac, located in their abdomens, and earn' it to the hive. They also gather pollen in basketlike cavities in their hind legs. Pollen and nectar are needed to prepare food for the young bees. In 288 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS the hive other workers create a breeze by buzzing with their wings and produce heat by their activit}- — all to cause the water to evaporate from the nectar and to convert it into honey before it is sealed up in the comb. After a success- ful day's gathering you may often hear these tireless workers buzzing till late into the night or even all through the night. You know that the bees get nectar from the flowers of various plants. Some of the chief honey plants are alfalfa, buckwheat, horsemint, sourwood, white sage, wild penny- royal, black gum, holly, chestnut, magnolia, and the tulip tree. The }-ield of honey mav often be increased by pro\"iding special pasturage for the bees. The linden tree, for example, besides being ornamental and valuable for timber, produces a most bee-inviting flower. Vetch, clover, and most of the leg- umes and mints are valuable plants to furnish pasture for bees. Catnip may be cultivated for the bees and sold as an herb as well. In spraying fruit trees to prevent disease you should always avoid sprapng when the trees are in bloom, since the poison of the sprav seriously endangers the lives of bees. The eggs laid by the queen, if they are to produce workers, require about t^vent^'-one days to bring forth the perfect bee. The newly hatched bee commences life as a nurse. A\'hen about ten days old it b'egins to tr\' its wings in short flights, and a few days later it begins active work. The life of a worker bee in the busy season is only about six weeks. You may distinguish voung exercising bees from real workers by the fact that they do not fly directly away on emerging Fig. :65. A Cakniolax QUEEX DOMESTIC ANIMALS J89 Fig. 266. Good Form of Hive from the hive, but circle around a bit in order to make sure that they can recognise home again, since they would receive no cordial welcome if they should attempt to enter another hive. They hesitate upon returning from even these short flights, to make sure that they are in front of their own door. There are several kinds of enemies of the bee which all beekeepers should know. One of these is the robber bee, that is, a bee from another colony attempting to steal honey from the rightful owners, an attempt often resulting in frightful slaughter. Much robben- can be avoided by clean handling ; that is, by leaving no honey about to cultivate a taste for stolen sweets. The bee moth is another serious enemy. The lan-a of the moth feeds on the wax. Keep the colonies of bees strong so that they may be able to overcome this moth. Oueenless or other\\-ise weak colonies should be protected by a narrow entrance that admits only one bee at a time, for such a pass may be easily guarded. Fig. 267 shows a good anti-robber}- entrance which mav be readily pro^•ided for even- weak colonv. Mice mav be Fig. 267. AxTi-RoBBixG Entrance sf. stationan- piece : s, slide : /. pin, or stop kept out by tin-lined entrances. The widespread fear of the kingbird seems unfounded. He rarely eats anything but drones, and few of them. This is also true of the swallow. Toads, lizards, and spiders are, however, true enemies of the honevbee. 290 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Can you recognize drones, workers, and queens? Do bees usuall}' fimit thdr visits to one kind of blossom on an}- one trip ? What effect has the kind of flowo" on the flavor of the honey produced? What kinds of flowers should the beekeeper pro%'ide for his bees? Is the kingbird reall}- an enemy to the bee? SECTION LIX. WHY WE FEED ANIMALS In the first place, we give various kinds of feed stuffs to our animals that they may live. The heart beats all the time, the lungs contract and expand, digestion is taking place, the blood circulates through the body — something must supply force for these acts or the animal dies. This force is derived from food. In the next place, food is required to keep the body warm. Food in this respect is fuel, and acts in the same way that wood or coal does in the stove. Our bodies are warm all the time, and they are kept warm by the food we eat at mealtime. Then, in the third place, food is required to enable the body to enlarge — to grow. If you feed a colt just enough to keep it ahve and warm, there wiU be no material present to enable it to grow ; hence you must add enough food to form bone and flesh and muscle and hair and fat. In the fourth place, we feed to produce strength for work. An animal poorly fed cannot do so much work at the plow or on the road as one that receives all the food needed. Both food and the force produced by it result from the activity^ of plants. B}- means of sunlight and moisture a sprouting seed, taking out of the air and soil different ele- ments, grows into a plant. Then, just as the plant feeds on the air and soil to get its growth, so the animal feeds DOMESTIC ANIMALS 291 on the plant, to get its growth. Hence, since our animals feed upon plants, we must find out what is in plants in order to know what animal food consists of. What, we are now ready to ask, are plants made of .-' Chemists have found that in studying plants there are five important groups of substances to be considered. These are protein, carbohydrates, fat, mineral matter, and water. What is each of these, and what use does the animal make of each ? First, protein, the most important, must be considered. The animal food called by this queer name is not unknown to you. You have all your lives seen it in compounds like the white of an egg, lean meat, or the gluten of wheat. It is made of three gases (oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen) and two solid bodies (carbon and sulphur). The bodies of plants do not contain very much protein. Roots, grass, hay, and straw have a ven*- small amount of it. On the other hand, all seeds contain a great deal of this substance. What use do the animals make of protein ? Animals form their new blood, their muscles, and their lean meat from protein food. It is easy, then, to see the value of protein. In addition, this substance rebuilds largely the waste of the body. This is harder to understand. Probably every boy has made a snow man, and knows that unless he can add new snow regularly, the body of the snow man will soon waste away. All animal bodies are daily using up the materials of the body. If this waste is not made up, the bodies of animals, like the body of the snow man, soon waste away. Now, just as the boy in cold climates supplies new snow to his snow man's body to keep it whole, so nature uses protein to build up the wasted materials of animal bodies. Let us next consider the carbohydrates. Sometimes the words starchy foods are used to describe the carbohydrates. 2^2 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS You have long known forms of these in the w hite material of cx)m and of potatoes. The carbohydrates are formed of three elements — carbon, ox\gen, and hydrogen. The use of these carbohydrates is to furnish to animal bodies either heat or energ\^ or to enable them to store fat. In the next place, let us look at the fat in plant food. This consists of the oil stored up in the seeds and other parts of the plant. The grains contain most of the oil. Fat is used by the animal to make heat and energ\- or to be stored aw^y in the body. The next animal food in the plant that we are to think about is the mineral matter. The ashes of a burnt plant fur- nish a common example of this mineral matter. The animal uses this material of the plant to make bone, teeth, and tissue. The last thing that the plant furxdshes the animal is water — just common water. Young plants contain comparatively large quantities of water. This is one reason why they are soft, juicv, and palatable. But, since animals get their water chiefly in another wa)% the water in feed stuffs is not important. What these Coinocxos do ix the Body Protein I'.:: 1. Forms flesh, bone, blood, i. Furnishes body heat, internal CHrgans, hair, and milk. 2. Furnishes energy. 2. Maj- be used to make faL 3. Furnishes body faL 3. Ma\' be used for heaL 4. May be used to produce yfineral yfattcr energ\\ Furnishes mineral matter for the Carbohydrates bones in the body. 1 . Furnish bodj- heaL 2. Furnish eneigy. '^^'^'^ 3. Make fat. Supplies water in the body. CHAPTER XI FARM DAIRYING SECTION LX. THE DAIRY COW Success in dain,- farming depends largely upon the proper feeding of stock. There are two questions that the dair\' farmer should always ask himself : Am I feeding as cheaply as I can ? and. Am I feeding the best rations for milk and Fi. IkS. MlI,KIN>.- I'lMl- butter production ? Of course cows can be kept alive and in fairly good milk flow on many different kinds of food, but in feeding, as in everything else, there is an ideal to be sought. R 293 294 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXER5 What, then, is an ideal ration for a dair\- cow ? Before trj-ing to answer this question the word 7'ation needs to be explained. By ration is meant a sufficient quantit}' of food to support prop- erlv an animal for one day. If the animal is to have a proper ration, we must bear in mind what the animal needs in order to be best nourished. To get material for muscle, for blood, for milk, and for some other things, the animal needs, in the first Fig. 269. A Dairy place, food that contains protein. To keep warm and fat, the animal must, in the second place, have food containing carbohy- drates and fats. These foods must be mixed in right proportions. With these facts in mind we are prepared for an answer to the question, What is an ideal ration } First, it is a ration that, without waste, furnishes both in weight and bulk of dr\- matter a sufficient amount of digestible, nutritious food. FARM DAIRYING 295 Second, it is a fation that is comparatively cheap. Third, it is a ration in which the milk-forming food (protein) is rightly proportioned to the heat-making and fat- making food (carbohydrates and fat). Any ration in which this proportion is neglected is badly balanced. Xow test one or two commonly used rations b\- these rules. Would a ration of cotton-seed meal and cotton-seed hulls be a model ration ? No. Such a ration, since the seeds are grown at home, would be cheap enough. However, it is badlv balanced, for it is too rich in protein ; hence it is a wasteful ration. Would a ration of com meal and com stover be a desirable ration } This, too, since the com is home-grown, would be cheap for the farmer ; but, like the other, it is badly balanced, for it contains too much carbohydrate food and is therefore a wasteful ration. A badly balanced ration does harm in t^vo wa)s : first, the milk flow of the cow is lessened by such a ration ; second, the cow does not profitably use the food that she eats. The following table gives an excellent dair\- ration for the farmer who has a silo. If he does not have a silo, some other food can be used in place of the ensilage. The table also shows what each food contains. As you grow older, it will pay you to study such tables most carefully. Digestible M.\TTER Feed Stiffs Dry matter Protein Carbo- hydrates Fat Cowpea hay = 15 pounds ^ . . . Corn stover = 10 pounds . . . Corn ensilage = 30 pounds . . . Cotton-seed meal = 2 pounds . . i3^5o 5^95 6.27 I. S3 1.62 •17 •27 •74 579 1 3-24 3-39 •33 .16 .07 .21 .24 Total = 57 pounds .... -7^55 2. So 12.75 .6S ^ Alfalfa or clover hay may take the place of cowpea hay. 296 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Care of the Cow. As the cow is one of the best money- makers on the farm, she should, for this reason, if for no other, be comfortably housed, well fed and watered, and most kindly treated. In your thoughts for her well-being, bear the follo\A"ing directions in mind : 1. If you are not following a balanced ration, feed each day several different kinds of food. In this way you will be least likely to waste food. 2. Feed at regular hours. ' Cows, like people, thrive best when their hves are orderly. 3. Milk at regular hours. 4. Brush the udder carefully with a moist cloth before you begin to milk. Cleanliness in handling makes the milk keep longer. 5. Always milk in buckets or cups that have been scalded since the last using. The hot water kills the bacteria that collect in the dents or cracks of the utensil. 6. Never let the milk pail remain in the stable. Milk rapidly absorbs impurities. These spoil the flavor and cause the milk to sour. 7. Xever scold or strike the cow. She is a ner\-ous animal, and rough usage checks the milk flow. ^ FARM DAIRYING 297 SECTION LXI. MILK, CREAM, CHURNING, AND BUTTER Milk. ]\Iilk is, as you know, nature's first food for mam- mals. This is because milk is a model food — it contains water to slake thirst, ash to make bone, protein to make flesh and muscle, and fat and sugar to keep the body warm and to furnish energy. The Different Kinds of Milk. Whole, or unskimmed, milk, skimmed milk, and buttermilk are too familiar to need description. When a cow is just fresh, her milk is called colostJiim. Colostrum is rich in the ver\' food that the baby calf needs. After the calf is a few days old, colostrum changes to what is commonly known as milk. The following table shows the composition of each of the different forms of milk : Composition of Milk Digestible Matter in 100 Pounds Dry matter Protein Carbo- hydrates Fat Colostrum Milk (unskimmed) Skimmed milk . Buttermilk . . 25.4 12.8 94 9.9 17.6 3-6 2.9 3-9 2-7 4.9 5-2 4.0 3-6 37 1-3 A noticeable fact in this table is that skimmed milk differs from unskimmed mainly in the withdrawal of the fat. Hence, if calves are fed on skimmed milk, they should have in addi- tion some food like corn meal to take the place of the fat withdrawn. A calf cannot thrive on skimmed milk alone. The amount of nourishing fat that a calf gets out of enough milk to make a pound of butter can be bought, in the form of lin- seed or corn meal, for one or two cents, while the butter-fat 298 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS is worth, for table use, thirtj-five cents. Of course, then, it is not economical to allow calves to use unskimmed milk. Some people undervalue skimmed milk ; with the addition of some fatty food, it makes an excellent ration for calves, pigs, and fowls. Cieam. Cream is simply a mixture of butter-fat and milk. The butter-fat floats in the milk in little dobe-shaued bodies. or globules. Since these glolniles are lighter than milk, they rise to the surface. Skimming the milk is a mere gathering tc^ether of these butter-fat globules. As most of the butter- fat is contained in the cream, pains should be taken to get all the cream from the nulk at skimming time. After the cream has been collected, it must be allowed to " ripen " or to " sour " in order that it may be more easily churned- Churning is only a second step to collect in a compact shape the fat globules. It often happens that at chuming-time FARM DAIRYING 299 the cream is too warm for successful separation of the glob- ules. Whenever this is the case the cream must be cooled. The Churn. Revolving churns without inside fixtures are best. Hence, in buying, select a barrel or a square box churn. (^ \ Fic. 271. A Hand Skpakator This kind of churn '" brings the butter " by the falling of the cream from side to side as the churn is revolved. Never fill the churn more than one-third or one-half full of cream. A small churn is always to be avoided. Churning. The proper temperature for churning ranges from 58° to 62° Fahrenheit. Test the cream when it is put 300 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS into the churn. If it be too cold, add warm water until the proper temperature is reached ; if too warm, add cold water or ice until the temperature is brought down to 62°. Do not churn too long, for this spoils butter. As soon as the granules of butter are somewhat smaller than grains of wheat, stop the churn. Then draw off the buttermilk and at a temper- ature as low as 50° wash the butter in the churn. This washing with cold water so hardens the granules that they do not mass too solidly and thus de- stroy the grain. Butter. The butter so churned is now ready to be salted. Use good fine daity salt. Coarse barrel salt is not fit for butter. The salt can be added while the butter is still in the churn or after it is put upon the butter- worker. Never work by hand. The object of work- ing is to get the salt evenly distributed and to drive out some of the brine. It is usually best to work butter twice. The two workings bring about a more even mixture of the salt with the butter and drive off mpre water. But one cannot be too particular not to overwork butter. Delicate coloring, attractive stamping with the dair}- owner's special stamp, and proper covering with paper cost little and of course add to the ready and profitable sale of butter. Fig. 2: A Power Churn FARM DAIRYING 301 Dairv Rules Stable and Cows 1 . Whitewash the stable once or twice each year : use land plaster, muck, or loam daily in the manure-gutters. 2. On their way to pasture or milking-place, do not allow the cows to be driven at a faster gait than a comfortable walk. 3. Give abundance of pure water. 4. Do not change feed suddenly. 1;. Keep salt always within reach of each cow. Milking 1. Milk with dr}- hands. 2. Never allow the milk to touch the milker's hands. 3. Require the milker to be clean in person and dress. 4. ^lilk quietly, quickly, thoroughly. Never leave a drop of milk in the cow's udder. 5. Do not allow cats, dogs, or other animals around at milking-time. L 'tensils 1. Use only tin or metal cans and pails. 2. See that all utensils are thoroughly clean and free from rust. 3. Require all cans and pails to be scalded immediately after they are used. < 4. After milking, keep the utensils inverted in pure air, and sun them, if possible, until they are wanted for use. 5. Always sterilize the churn with steam or boiling water before and after churning. This prevents any odors or bad flavors from affecting the butter. All cans, pails, and bottles should also be sterilized daily. n 302 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS SECTION LXII. HOW MILK SOURS On another page you have been told how the yeast plant grows in cider and causes it to sour, and how bacteria some- times cause disease in animals and plants. Now you must learn what these same living fomis have to do \nth tlie souring of milk, and maybe \ou will not forget how you can prevent your milk from souring. In the first place, milk sours because bacteria from the air fall into the milk, begin r o M-vo ^n " o ou O OQ o Fig. 27^. Microscopic ArrEAR.A.NCE of Pure and Impure Milk At the left, pure milk : at the right, milk after standing in a \rarm room for a few- hours in a dirty dish, showing, besides the fat-globules, many fonns of bacteria to grow, and ven- shortlv change the sugar of the milk to an acid. When this acid becomes abundant, the milk begins to curdle. As vou know, the bacteria are in air, in water, and in bam dust ; they stick on bits of hay and stick to the cow. They are most plentiful, however, in milk that has soured ; hence, if we pour a little sour milk into a pail of fresh milk, the fresh milk \nll sour ver\- quickly, because we have, so to speak, "'seeded'" or "planted"" the fresh milk with the souring germs. No one, of course, ever does this purposely in the dair\-, vet people sometimes do what amounts to die same thing — that is, put fresh mOk into poorly cleaned FARM DAIRYING 303 pails or pans, the cracks and corners of which are cozv homes for miUions of germs left from the last sour milk contained in the vessel. It follows, then, that all utensils used in the dair}- should be thoroughly scalded so as to kill all germs present, and particular care should be taken to clean the cracks and crevices, for in them the germs lurk. In addition to this thorough cleansing with hot water, we should be careful never to stir up the dust of the bam just before milking. Such dust}- work as pitching hay or stover or arranging bedding should be done either after or long before milking-time, for more germs fall into the milk if the air be full of dust. To further avoid germs the milker should wear clean overalls, should have clean hands, and, above all, should never wet his hands with milk. This last habit, in addition to being filthy, lessens the keeping power of the milk. The milker should also moisten the parts of the cow which are nearest him, so that dust from the cow's sides mav not fall into the milker's pail. For greater cleanliness and safetv manv milkmen curr\- their cows. The first few streams from each teat should be thrown away, because the teat at its mouth is filled with milk which, haWng been exposed to the air, is full of germs, and will do much toward souring the other milk in the pail. Barely a gill will be lost by thro\^•ing the first drawings away, and this of the poorest milk too. The increase in the keeping quality of the milk will much more than repay the small loss. If these precautions are taken, the milk will keep several hours or even several days longer than milk carelessly handled. By taking these steps to prevent germs from fall- ing into the milk, a can of milk was once kept sweet for thirts'-one davs. 304 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The work of the germ in the dmry is not, however, con- fined to souring the milk. Certain kinds of germs give to the different sorts of cheeses their marked flavors and to butter its flavor. If the right germ is present, cheese or butter gets a proper flavor. Sometimes undesirable germs gain entrance and give flavors that we do not like. Such germs produce cheese or butter diseases. " Bitter butter " is one of these diseases. To keep out all unpleasant meddlers, thoroughly cleanse and scald ever}^ utensil. EXERCISE \Miat causes milk to sour ? WTiy do unclean utensils affect the milk ? How should milk be cared for to preA^ent its souring.' Prepare two samples, one carefully, the other carelessly. Place them side by side. Which keeps longer? Why? SECTION LXIII. THE BABCOCK MILK-TESTER It is not sufficient for a farmer or a dair\-man to know how much milk each of his c'ows yields. He should also know how rich the milk is in butter-fat. \\'ide-awake makers of butter and cheese now buy milk, not by the pound or bv the gallon, but b}- the amount of butter-fat contained in each pound or gallon of milk. A gallon of milk containing four and a half per cent of fat will consequently be worth more than a gallon containing only three per cent of fat. So it mav happen that a cow gi^"ing only two gallons of milk may pay a butter-maker more than a cow giving three gallons of milk. Of course it is easy to weigh or measure the quantit}' of milk given by a cow, and most milkers keep this record ; but until recent years there was no way to find out the amount of fat in a cow's milk except by a slow and costly chemical test. Dain'men could only guess at the richness of milk. FARM DAIRYING 305 In 1890 Dr. S. M. Babcock of the Wisconsin Experi- ment Station invented a wonderful little machine that quickly and cheaply measures the fat in milk. Few machines are more useful. So desirous was Dr. Babcock of helping the farmers that he would not add to the cost of his machine by taking out a patent on his invention. His only reward has been the fame won by the invention of the machine, which bears his name. This most useful tester is now made in vari- ous sizes so that ever}' handler of milk may buy one suited to his needs and do his own testing at very little cost. The operation of the machine is very simple. Suppose that the members of the class studying this book have been asked to take a Babcock machine and test the milk of a small herd of cows. They can readily do so by following these directions : While the milk is still warm from the first cow to be tested, mix it thoroughly by pouring it at least four times from one vessel to another. A few ounces of this mixed milk is then taken for a sample, and carefully marked with the name of the cow. A number is also put on the sample, and both the cow's name and the number entered in a notebook. A small glass instrument, called a pipette, comes with each machine. Put one end of the pipette into the milk sample and the other end into the mouth. Suck milk into the pipette until the milk comes up to the mark on the side of the pipette. As soon as the mark is reached, withdraw the pipette from the mouth and quickly press the forefinger on the mouth end. The pressure of the finger will keep the milk from running out. Then put the lower end of the pipette into one of the small long-necked bottles of the machine, and, lifting the finger, allow the milk to flow gently into the bottle. Expel all the milk by blowing through the pipette. 3o6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The next step is to add a strong, biting acid known as sulphuric acid to the test-bottle into which you have just put the milk. A glass marked to show just how much acid to use also comes with the machine. Fill this glass measure to the mark. Then pour the acid carefully into the test- bottle. Be sure not to drop any of the acid on your hands or vour clothes. As the acid is heavier than the milk, it will sink to the bottom of the bottle. With a gentle whirling motion, shake the bottle until the two fluids are thoroughly mixed. The mixture will turn a dark bro\Mi and become ven- warm. Xow fill the other bottles in the same way with samples drawn from different cows. Treat all the samples precisely as you did the first. Do not forget to put on each sample the name of the cow giving the milk and on each test-bottle a number corresponding to the name of the cow. You are now ready to put the test-bottles in the sockets of the machine. Arrange the bottles in the sockets so that the whirling frame of the machine will be balanced. Fit the cover on the machine and turn the handle slowly. Gradually gain in speed until the machine is whirled rapidly. Continue the turning for about seven minutes at the speed stated in the book of directions. After this first turning is finished, pour enough hot water into each test-bottle to cause the fat to rise to the neck of the bottle. Re-cover the machine and turn for one minute. Again add hot water to each bottle until all the fat rises into the neck of the bottle and again turn one minute. There remains now only the reading of the record. On the neck of each bottle there are marks to measure the amount of fat. If the fat inside the tube reaches only from the low- est mark to the second mark, then there is only one per cent of fat in this cow's milk. This means that the owner of the FARM DAIRYING 307 cow gets only one pound of butter-fat from each hundred pounds of her milk. Such a cow would not be at all profit- able to a butter-seller. If the fat in another test-bottle reaches from the lowest mark to the fourth mark, then you put in your record-book that this cow's milk contains four per cent of butter-fat. This record shows that the second cow's milk F:c,. zjj^. l;.v;_u^K Tl^ilk and how to use n The tester, acid, acid measure, test-bottle, and thermometer at bottom : filling the pipette on right : adding the acid and measuring the fat at top }ields four pounds of fat to ever}- hundred pounds of milk. This cow is three times more valuable to a butter-maker than the first cow. In the same way add one more per cent for each higher mark reached by the fat. Four and one-half per cent is a good record for a cow to make. Some cows vield as high as five or six per cent, but they do not generally keep up this record all the year. 3o8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The Babcock tester shows only the amount of pure butter- fat in the milk. It does not tell the exact amount of finished butter which is made from lOO pounds of milk. This is because butter contains a few other things in addition to pure butter-fat. Finished and salted butter weighs on an average about one sbcth more than the fat shown by the tester. Hence to get the exact amount of butter in every lOO pounds of milk, you wiU have to add one sixth to the record shown by the tester. Suppose, for example, you took one sample from 600 pounds of mUk and that your test showed 4 per cent of fat in ever)' 100 pounds of milk. Then, as you had 600 pounds of milk, you would have 24 pounds of butter-fat. This fat, after it has been salted and after it has absorbed moisture as butter does, will gain one sixth in weight. As one sixth of 24 is 4, this new 4 pounds must be added to the weight of the butter-fat. Hence the 600 pounds of milk would produce about 28 pounds of butter. EXERCISE 1. Find the number of pounds of butter in 1200 pounds of milk that tests 3 per cent of butter-fat. 2. A cow yields 4800 pounds of milk in a year. Her milk tests 4 per cent of butter-fat. Find the total amount of butter-fat she jields. Find also the total amount of butter. 3. The milk of two cows was tested : one jnelded in a year 6000 pounds of mUk that tested 3 per cent of fat: the other yielded 5000 p>ounds that tested 4 per cent. Which cow \-ielded the more butter- fat? What was the money value of the butter produced by each if butter-fat is worth twent)--five cents a pound.' CHAPTER XII MISCELLANEOUS SECTION LXIV. GROWING FEED STUFFS ON THE FARM Economy in raising live stock demands the production of all '■ roughness " or roughage materials on the farm. By roughness, or roughage, of course }ou understand that bulky food, like hay, grass, clover, stover, etc., is meant. It is possible to purchase all roughage materials and yet make a financial success of growing farm animals, but this certainly is not the surest way to succeed. Ever\- farm should raise all its feed stuffs. In deciding what forage and grain crops to grow we should decide : 1. The crops best suited to our soil and climate. 2. The crops best suited to our line of business. 3. The crops that will give us the most protein. 4. The crops that produce the most. 5. The crops that ^^^ll keep our soil in the best condition. I. The crops best suited to our soil and climate. Farm crops, as ever}- child of the farm knows, are not equallv adapted to all soils and climates. Cotton cannot be produced where the climate is cool and the seasons short. Timothy and blue grass are most productive on cool, limestone soils. Cowpeas demand warm, dr)' soils. But in spite of climatic limitations, Nature has been generous in the wide variet}' of forage she has given us. •^ 309 ,IO AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Our aim should be to make the best use of what we have, to improve by selection and care those kinds best adapted to our soil and climate, and to secure, by better methods of grow- ing and curing, the greatest yields at the least possible cost, 2. The crops best suited to our line of business. A farmer necessarily becomes more or less of a specialist ; he gathers those kinds of live stock about him which he likes best and which he finds the most profitable. He should, on his farm, select for his main crops those that he can grow with the greatest pleasure and with the greatest profit. 4^^^T Filling the Barn Farm The successful railroad manager determines by practical experience what distances his engines and crews ought to run in a day, what coal is most economical for his engines, what schedules best suit the needs of his road, what trains pay him best. These and a thousand and one other matters are settled by the special needs of his road. Ought the man who wants to make his farm pay be less prudent and less far-sighted ? Should not his past failures MISCELLANEOUS 31 1 and his past triumphs decide his future ? If he be a dair)' farmer, ought he not by practical tests to settle for himself not only what crops are most at home on his land but also what crops in his circumstances yield him the largest returns in milk and butter ? If swine-raising be his business, how long ought he to guess what crop on his land yields him the greatest amount of hog food ? Should a colt be fed on one kind of forage when the land that produced that forage would produce twice as much equally good forage of another kind ? All these questions the prudent farmer should answer promptly and in the light of wise experiments. 3. The crops that li- ill give us the most protein. It is the farmer's business to grow all the grass and forage tliat his farm animals need. He ought never to be obliged to purchase a bale of forage. ^Moreover, he should grow mainly those crops that are rich in protein materials, for example, cowpeas, alfalfa, and clover. If such crops are produced on the farm, there will be little need of buying so much cotton-seed meal, corn, and bran for feeding purposes. 4. TJie erops that produce the most. We often call a crop a crop without considering how much it yields. This is a mistake. We ought to grow, when we have choice of two crops, the one that is the best and the most productive on the farm. Average corn, for instance, yields on an acre at least twice the quantity of feeding-material that timothy does. 5. Tiic crops that loill keep our soil in the best conditioji. A good farmer should always be thinking of how to improve his soil. He wants his land to support him and to maintain his children after he is dead. Since coupeas, clover, and alfalfa add atmospheric nitrogen to the soil and at the same time are the best feeding-materials, it follows that these crops should hold an important place in 312 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS even- system of crop-rotation. By proper rotating, by proper terracing, and by proper drainage, land may be made to retain its fertilit\- for generations. EXERCISE 1. Wliy are cowpeas, clover, and aifalfa so important to the fanner? 2. A\~hat is meant by the protein of a food? 3. Why is it better to feed the farm crops to animals on the farm rather than to sell these crops ? SECTION LXV. FAR:^I TOOLS -\ND MACHINES The drudgen- of farm life is being lessened from year to year by the invention or improvement of farm tools and machines. Perhaps some of you knovF how tiresome was the old uj>-and-down chum dasher that has now generall}' given place to the " quick-coming " chums. The toothed, horse-drawn culti^^tor has nearly displaced " the man with the hoe," while the scj-the, slow and back-breaking, is everv- where getting out of the way of the mowing-machine and the horserake. The old heavy, sweat-drawing grain-cradle is slinking into the backwoods, and in its place we have the horse-drawn or steam-drawn har\-ester that cuts and binds the grain, and even threshes and measures it at one opera- tion. Instead of the plowman's wearily making one furrow at a time, the gang-plows of the plains cut many furrows at one time, and instead of walking the plowman rides. The shredder and busker turns the hitherto useless cornstalk into food, and at the same time husks, or shucks, the com. The farmer of the futiu-e must know three things well : first, what machines he can profitably use ; second, how to man- age these machines ; third, how to care for these machines. 313 Fig. 27S. The Harvester at Work Fig. 279. In Need uf Impkuvemext 314 MISCELLANEOUS 315 The machinerv' that makes farming so much more eco- nomical and that makes the farmer's Hfe so much easier and more comfortable is too complicated to be put into the hands of bunglers who will soon destroy it, and it is too costly to be left in the fields or under trees to rust and rot. If it is not convenient for ever}' farmer to have a separate tool-house, he should at least set apart a room in his bam, or a shed for storing his tools and machines. As soon as a plow, harrow, cultivator — indeed any tool or machine — has finished its share of work for the season, it should receive whatever attention it needs to prevent rusting, and should be carefully housed. Such care, which is neither costly nor burdensome, will add many years to the life of a machine. SECTION LXVL LIMING THE LAND Occasionall}-, when a cook puts too much vinegar in a salad, the dish becomes so sour that it is unfit to eat. The vinegar which the cook uses belongs to a large group of compounds known as acids. The acids are common in nature. They have the power not only of making salads sour but also of making land sour. Frequently land becomes so sour from acids forming in it that it will not bear its usual crops. The acids must then be removed or the land will become useless. The land may be soured in several ways. Whenever a large amount of vegetable matter decays in land, acids are formed, and at times sourness of the soil results. Often soils sour because they are not well drained or because, from lack of proper tillage, air cannot make its way into the soil. Some- times all these causes may combine to produce sourness. 3i6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Since most crops cannot thrive on very sour soil, the farmer must find some method of making his land sweet again. So far as we now know, liming the land is the cheapest and surest way of overcoming the sourness. In addition to sweetening the soil by overcoming the acids, lime aids the land in other ways : it quickens the growth of helpful bac- teria ; it loosens stiff, heavy clay soils and thereby fits them for easier tillage ; it indirectly sets free the potash and phosphoric acid so much needed by plants ; and it increases the capillarity of soils. However, too much must not be expected of lime. Often a farmer's yield is so increased after he has scattered lime over his fields that he thinks that lime alone will keep his land fertile. This belief explains the saying, " Lime enriches the father but beggars the son." The continued use of lime without other fertilization will indeed leave poor land for the son. Lime is just as necessary to plant growth as the potash and nitrogen and phosphoric acid about which we hear so much, but it cannot take the place of these plant foods. Its duty is to aid, not to displace them. We can tell by the taste when salads are too sour ; it is more difficult to find out whether land is sour. There are, however, some methods that will help to determine the sourness of the soil. In the first place, if land is unusually sour, you can deter- mine this fact by a simple test. Buy a pennyworth of blue litmus paper from a drug store. Mix some of the suspected soil with a little water and bury the litmus paper in the mixture. If the paper turns red the soil is sour. In the second place, the leguminous crops are fond of lime. Clover and vetch remove so much lime from the soil that they are often called lime plants. If clover and vetch refuse MISCELLANEOUS 317 to grow on land on which they formerly flourished, it is gen- erall}-, though not always, a sign that the land needs lime. In the third place, when water grasses and certain weeds spring up on land, that land is usually acid, and lime will be helpful. Moreover, fields adjoining land on which cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, or gallberries are growing wild, may always be suspected of more or less sourness. Four forms of lime are used on land. These, each called by different names, are as follows : First, quicklime, which is also called burnt lime, caustic lime, builders' lime, rock lime, and unslaked lime. Second, air-slaked lime, which is also known as carbonate of lime, agricultural lime, marl, and limestone. Third, water-slaked, or hydrated, lime. Fourth, land plaster, or g}-psum. This form of lime is known to the chemists as sulphate of lime. Do not forget that this last form is never to be used on sour lands. We shall therefore not consider it further. Air-slaked lime is simply quicklime which has taken from the air a gas called carbon dioxide. This is the same gas that you breathe out from your lungs. Water-slaked lime is quicklime to which water has been added. In other words, both of these are merely weakened forms of quicklime. One hundred pounds of quicklime is equal in richness to 132 pounds of water-slaked lime and to 17S pounds of air-slaked lime. These figures should be remembered by a farmer when he is buying lime. If he can buy a fair grade of quicklime delivered at his railway station for S5.00 a ton, he cannot afford to pay more than S3. 7 5 a ton for water-slaked lime, nor more than $2.75 for air-slaked lime of equal grade. Quicklime should always be slaked before it is applied to the soil. 3l8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS As a rule lime should be spread broadcast and then har- rowed or disked thoroughly into the soil. This is best done after the ground has been plowed. For pastures or meadows air-slaked lime is used as a top-dressing. When air-slaked lime is used it may be spread broadcast in the spring ; the other forms should be apphed in the fall or in the early winter. SECTION LX\'II. BIRDS What do birds do in the world .' is an important question for us to think about. First, we must gain by observation and by personal acquaintance with the U\-ing birds a knowl- edge of their work and their way of doing it. In getting this knowledge, let us also consider what we can do for our birds to render their work as complete and effective as possible. Think of what the birds are doing on even* farm, in even- garden, and about even- home in the land. Think of the milhons of beautiful wings, of the graceful and attractive figures, of the cunning nests, and of the singing throats! Do you think that the whole senice of the birds is to be beautiful, to sing charmingly, and to rear their Utde ones ? By no means is this their chief service to man. Aside from these services the greatest work of birds is to destroy insects. It is one of the wise provisions of nature that many of the most brilliandy winged and most enchanting songsters are our most practical friends. Not all birds feed on insects and animals ; but even those that eat but a small amount of insect food may still destroy insects that would have damaged fruit and crops much more than the birds themselves do. As to their food, birds are divided into three general classes. First, those that live whoUy or almost whoUv on MISCELLANEOUS 319 insects. These are called insectivorous birds. Chief among these are the warblers, cuckoos, swallows, martins, flycatchers, nighthawks. whippoorwills, swifts, and humming-birds. W'e cannot have too many of these birds. They should be encouraged and protected. They should be supplied with shelter and water. Birds of the second class feed by preference on fruits, nuts, and grain. The blue- bird, robin, wood thrush, mocking-bird, catbird, chick- adee, cedar-bird, meadow lark, oriole, jay, crow, and wood- pecker belong to this group. These birds never fail to per- form a service for us by de- vouring many weed seeds. The third class is knoun as the hard-billed birds. It includes those birds which live principally on seeds and grain — the canan,-, goldfinch, sparrow, and some others. Birds that come early, like the bluebird, robin, and red- wing, are of special service in destroying insects before the insects lay their eggs for the season. The robins on the lawn search out the caterpillars and cut- worms. The chipping sparrow and the wren in the shrubber\^ look out for all kinds of insects. They watch over the orchard and feed freely on the enemies of the apple and other fruit trees. The trunks of these trees are often attacked bv borers, which gnaw holes in the bark and wood, and often cause the death of the trees. The woodpeckers hunt for these Fig. 2S0. A Kingbird !20 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS appetizing borers and by means of their barbed tongues bring them from their hiding-places. On the outside of the bark of the trunk and branches the bark hce work. These are devoured by the nuthatches, creepers, and chickadees. During the winter the bark is the hiding-place for hiber- nating insects, which, like plant lice, feed in summer on the leaves. Throughout the winter a single chickadee will destroy great num- bers of the eggs of tlie cankerworm moth and of the plant louse. The blackbirds, meadow larks, crows, quail, and sparrows are the gi'eat protectors of the meadow and field crops. These birds feed on the army wonns and cutworms that do so much injury to the young shoots ; thev also destroy the chinch bug and the grasshopper, both of which feed on cultivated plants. A count of all the different kinds of animals shows that insects make up nine tenths of them. Hence it is easy to see that if something did not check their increase they would soon almost overrun the earth. Our forests and orchards furnish homes and breeding-places for most of these insects. Suppose the injurious insects were allowed to multiply unchecked in the forests, their numbers would so increase that they would invade our fields and create as much terror among the farmers as they did in Pharaoh's Eg^;pt. The birds are the only direct Fig. 2S1. A Warbler MISCELLANEOUS 321 friends man has to destroy these harmful insects. What benefactors, then, these Httle feathered neighbors are ! It has been estimated that a bird will devour thirty insects daily. Even in a widely extended forest region a very few birds to the acre, if they kept up this rate, would daily destroy many bushels of insects that would play havoc with the neighboring orchards and fields. Do not imagine, however, that to de- stroy insects is the only use of birds. The da)- is far more delightful when the birds sing, and when we see them flit in and out, giving us a glimpse now and then of their pretty coats and quaint ways. By giving them a home we can suiTound our- selves with many birds, sweet of song and brilliant of plumage. If the birds felt that man were a friend and not a foe, they would often turn to him for protection. During times of severe storm, extreme drought, or scarcity of food, if the birds were sufficiently tamed to come to man as their friend, as they do in rare cases now, a little food and shelter might tide them over the hard time and their service afterwards would repay the outlay a thousandfold. If the boys in your families would build bird-houses about the house and barn and in shade trees, they might save yearly a great number of birds. In building these places of shelter and comfort, due Fig. 282. The Hairy Woodpecker 322 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS care must be taken to keep them clear of English sparrows and out of the reach of cats and bird-dogs. Whatever we do to attract the birds to make homes on the premises must be done at the right time and in the right wa\-. Think out carefully what materials to pro\'ide for them. Bits of string, linen, cotton, }am, tow and other waste material, all help to induce a pair to build in the garden. Fig. ::S3. Protecting oir Friends It is an interesting study — the preparation of homes for the birds. Trees mav be pruned to make in\iting crotches. A tangled, overgro\\Ti comer in the garden will in\-ite some birds to nest. Wrens, bluebirds, chickadees, martins, and some other varieties are all glad to set up housekeeping in man-made houses. The proper size for a bird-room is easily remem- bered. Give each room six square inches of floor space and make it eight inches high. Old, weathered boards should be used ; or, if paint is employed, a dull color to resemble an MISCELLANEOUS 323 old tree-trunk will be most inviting. A single opening near the top should be made two inches in diameter for the larger birds ; but if the house is to be headquarters for the wren, a one-inch opening is quite large enough, and the small door ser\'es all the better to keep out English sparrows. The barn attic should be turned over to the swallows. Small holes may be cut high up in the gables and left open during the time that the swallows remain with us. They will more than pay for shelter by the good work they do in ridding the barn of flies, gnats, and mosquitoes. SECTION LXVIII. FARMING ON DRY LANDS Almost in the center of the western half of our continent there is a vast area in which very little rain falls. This sec- tion includes nearly three hundred million acres of land. It stretches from Canada on the north into Texas on the south, and from the Missouri River (including the Dakotas and western Minnesota) on the east to the Rocky Mountains on the west. In this great area farming has to be done with little water. This sort of farming is therefore called "dry-farming." The soil in this section is as a rule very fertile. There- fore the difference between farming in this dry belt and farming in most of the other sections of our country is a difference mainly due to a lack of moisture. As water is so scarce in this region two things are of the utmost importance : first, to save all the rain as it falls ; second, to save all the water after it has fallen. To save the falling rain it is necessary for the ground to be in such a condition that none of the much-needed rain may mn off. Every drop should go into the soil. Hence the farmer should never allow his top soil to harden into a crust. 324 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Such a crust will keep the rain from sinking into the thirsty soil. Moreover the soil should be deeply plowed. The deeper the soil the more water it can hold. The land should also be kept as porous as possible, for water enters a porous soil freely. The addition of humus in the form of vegetable manures will keep the soil in the porous condition needed. Second, after the water has entered the soil it is important to hold it there so that it may supply the gro\dng crops. If Fig. 2S4. The Disk Harrow the land is allowed to remain untilled after a rain or during a hot spell, the water in it will evaporate too rapidly and thus the soil, like a well, vsill go dr)' too soon. To prevent this the top soil should be stirred frequently \\"ith a disk or smoothing harrow. This stirring will form a mulch of dr}' soil on the surface, and this will hold the water. Other forms of mulch have been suggested, but the soil mulch is the only practical one. It must be borne in mind that this surface cultivation must be regular!}- kept up if the moisture is to be retained. MISCELLANEOUS 325 Some experiments in wheat-growing have shown how readily water might be saved if plowing were done at the right time. Wheat sowed on land that was plowed as soon as the summer crops were taken off yielded a very much larger return than wheat sowed on land that remained untilled for some time after the summer crops were gathered. This Fig. 2S5. Red Kafir Corn in Shock difference in yield on lands of the same fertility was due to the fact that the early plowing enabled the land to take up a sufficient quantity of moisture. In addition to a vigilant catching and saving of water, the farmer in these dr)' climates must give his land the same careful attention that lands in other regions need. The seed- bed should be most carefully prepared. It should be deep, porous, and excellent in tilth. During the growing season all crops should be frequently cultivated. The harrow, the 326 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS cultivator, and the plow should be kept busy. The soil should be kept abundantly supplied with humus. Some crops need a little different management in dry- farming. Com, for example, does best when it is listed ; that is, planted so that it will come up three or four inches beneath the surface. If planted in this way, it roots better, stands up better, and requires less work. Just as breeders study what animals are best for their climates, so farmers in the dr\' belt should study what crops are best suited to their lands. Some crops, like the sorghums and Kafir com, are peculiarly at home in scantily watered lands. Others do not thrive. Experience is the only sure guide to the proper selection. To sum up, then, farmers can grow good crops in these lands only when four things are done : first, the land must be thoroughly tilled so that water can freel}' enter the soil ; second, the land must be frequently cultivated so that the water \\i\\ be kept in the soil ; third, the crops must be properly rotated so as to use to best advantage the food and water supply ; fourth, humus must be freely supplied so as to keep the soil in the best possible condition. SECTION LXIX. IRRIGATION Irrigation is the name given to the plan of supplying water in large quantities to gi'owing crops. Since the dawn of his- tOR- this practice has been more or less followed in Asia, in Africa, and in Europe. The Spanish settlers in the south- western part of America were probably the first to introduce this custom into our countn\ In New ^lexico there is an irrigating trench that has been in constant use for three hundred vears. MISCELLANEOUS )27 The most common source of water for irrigating purposes is a river or a smaller stream. Artesian wells are used in some parts of the country. Windmills are sometimes used when only a small supply of water is needed. Engines, hydraulic rams, and water-wheels are also employed. The water-wheel is one of the oldest and one of the most useful methods of raising water from streams. There are thousands of these in use in the dw regions of the West. Small Fig. 2S6. I'uMi'iNG Water fuk Ikkigahon buckets are fastened to a large wheel, which is turned by the current of a stream. As the wheel turns, the buckets are filled, raised, and then emptied into a trough called a flume. The water flows through the flume into the irrigating ditches, which distribute it as it is needed in the fields. In some parts of California and other comparatively dry sections, wells are sunk in or near the beds of underground streams, and then the water is pumped into ditches which convey it to the fields to be irrigated. 328 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Engines are often used for pumping water from streams and transferring it to ditches or canals. The canals distribute the w^ter over the land or over the growing crops. None of these methods, however, can be used for watering ver}^ large areas of land. Hence, as the value of farm lands increased other methods were sought. Shrewd men began to turn longing eyes on the wide stretches of barren land in the West. They knew that these waste lands, seemingly so Fig. 2S-. The Main Ditch of an Irrigation Plant unfertile, would become most fruitful as soon as water was turned on them. Could water enough be found ? New plans to pen up floods of water were prepared, and immense sums were spent in carr}dng out these plans. Enormous dams of cemented stone were thro^^•n across the gorges in the foot- hills of the mountains. Behind these solid dams the water from the rains and the melting snow of the mountains was backed for miles, and was at once ready to chaiige barrenness into fruitfulness. The stored water is led bv means of main MISCELLANEOUS 329 canals and cross ditches wherever it is needed, and countless acres have been brought under cultivation. Water is generally applied either by making furrows for its passage through the fields or by flooding the land. The latter plan is the cheaper, but it can be used only on level lands. Where the land is somewhat irregular a checking system, as it is called, is used to distribute the water. It is taken from check to check until the entire field has been irrigated. Fiw. :■ illt: ^Rl'CE^^ ul IRRIGATING CoRN The furrow method is usually employed for fruits and for farm and garden crops. In many places the grass and grain crops are now supplied with water by furrows instead of by flooding. Irrigated lands should be carefully and thoroughly tilled. The water for irrigation is costly, and should be made to go as far as possible. Good tillage saves the water. Moreover, all cultivated crops like corn, potatoes, and orchard and tmck crops ought to be cultivated frequently to save the moisture. 330 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS to keep the soil in fit condition, and to aid the bacteria in the soil. It was a wise farmer who said, " One does not need to grow crops many years in order to leani that nothing can take the place of stirring the soil." Methods of Irrigating Crops Tree fruits. Water is conducted through veiy narrow fur- rows from three to five feet apart, and allowed to sink about four feet deep, and to spread under the ground. Then the supply is cut off. The object is to wet the soil deeply, and then by tillage to hold the moisture in the soil. Small fniits. The common practice is to run water on each side of the row until the rows are soaked. Potatoes. A thorough soaking is given the land before planting-time, and then no more than is absolutely necessar}- until blossoming-time. After the blossoms appear keep the soil moist until the crop ripens. Garden crops. Any method may be employed, but the vital point is to cultivate the ground as early as it can be worked after it has been irrigated. Meadoii's and alfalfa. Flooding is the most common method in use. The first irrigation comes early in the spring before gro\\th has advanced much, and the successive water- ings after the har\-esting of each crop. SECTION LXX. LIFE IN THE COUNTRY As ours is a countr}- in which the people rule, even* boy and even,- girl ought to be trained to take a wide-awake interest in public affairs. This training cannot begin too early in life. A wise old man once said, " In a republic you ought to begin to train a child for good citizenship on the day of its birth." Fu;. 2S9. Beauty from Flowers amj Grass Fig. 2yo. .V Col.nirv Roau in Mh( kel.nhurg CuUiNiv, North Carolina 33^ 332 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXNERS Happ}' would it be for our nation if all the young people who live in the country could begin their training in good citizenship by becoming workers for these four things : First, attractive country homes. Second, attractive countr}- schoolhouses and school grounds. Third, good country schools. Fourth, good roads. If the thousands on thousands of pupils in our schools would become active workers for these things and continue their work through life, then, in less than half a centur\-, life in the country would be an unending delight. One of the problems of our day is how to keep bright, thoughtful, sociable, ambitious boys and girls contented on the farm. Every step taken to make the country home more attractive, to make the school and its grounds more enjoyable, to make the way easy to the homes of neighbors, to school, to post-office, and to church, is a step taken toward keeping on the farm the ver}- boys and girls who are most apt to succeed there. Not even- man who lives in the countn- can have a showy or costly home, but as long as grass and flowers and vines and trees grow, an\' man who wishes can haxe an attractive house. Not ever)^ woman who is to spend a lifetime at the head of a rural home can have a luxuriously furnished home, but any woman who is \A-illing to take a little trouble can have a cozy, tastefully furnished home — a home fitted with the conveniences that diminish household drudgery. Even in this day of cheap literature, all parents cannot fill their children's home with papers, magazines, and books, but by means of school and Sunday-school libraries, by means of circulating book clubs, and by a little self-denial, earnest parents can feed hungr\- minds just as they feed hungrj- bodies. THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS FOR THE HOME 333 oo4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Agricultural papers that arouse the interest and quicken the thought of farm bovs bv discussing the best, easiest, and Fig. 292. Ax Unimproved Schoolhouse cheapest ways of farming ; journals full of dainty suggestions for household adornment and comfort ; illustrated papers and magazines that amuse and cheer ever\- member of the famil}- ; books that rest tired bodies and open and strengthen CV»'Hij- "- Fig. 293. An Improved Schoolhouse growing minds — all of these are so cheap that the money reser\-ed from the sale of one hog will keep a family fairly supplied for a year. Fig. 294. The Same Road aeter and ueeoke Imtkuvement 335 336 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS If the parents, teachers, and pupils of a school join hands, an unsightly, ill-furnished, ill-lighted, and ill-ventilated school- house can at small cost be changed into one of comfort and beaut}'. In many places pupils have persuaded their parents to form clubs to beautify the school grounds. Each father sends a man or a man with a plow once or twice a year to work a day on the grounds. Stumps are removed, trees trimmed, drains put in, grass sowed, flowers, shrubben,', \ines. Fig. 293. Washington's Country Home and trees planted, and the grounds tastefully laid off. Thus at scarcelv noticeable money cost a rough and unsightly school ground gives place to a charming school yard. Cannot the pupils in ever}' school in which this book is studied get their parents to form such a club, and make their school ground a silent teacher of neatness and beaut}- ? Life in the countr}- wiW never be as attractive as it ought to be until all the roads are improved. Winter-washed roads, MISCELLANEOUS 337 penning young people in their own homes for many months each year and destroying so many of the innocent pleasures of youth, build towns and cities out of the wreck of country homes. Can young people who love their country and their country homes engage in a nobler crusade than a crusade for improved highways ? APPENDIX SPRAYING MIXTURES FOR BITING INSECTS Dry Paris Greex Wet Paris (tReex Paris green .... i lb. Paris green . . i to 2 lb. Lime or flour . 4 to i6 lb. Lime . . . . i to 1 lb. Water .... 50 gal. FOR SOFT-BODIED SUCKING INSECTS Kerosene E.mulsiox Hard soap (in fine shavings) -i^ lb. Soft water i gal. Kerosene 2 gal. Dissolve soap in boiling water, add kerosene to the hot water, churn with spraying pump for at least ten minutes, until the mixture changes to a creamy, then to a soft, butterlike, mass. This gives three gallons of 66-per-cent oil emulsion, which may be diluted to the strength desired. To get 15-per-cent oil emulsion add ten and one-half gallons of water. FOR FUNGOUS DISEASES Cori'ER SULFH.VTE Copper sulphate i lb. Water 18 to 25 gal. Use only before foliage opens, to kill wintering spores. Bordeaux Mi.xtlre Copper sulphate (bluestone) 4 to 5 lb. Lime (good, unslaked) 5 to 6 lb. Water 50 gal. 339 340 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Dissolve the copper sulphate (bluestone; in t\venr\--five gallons of water. Slake the lime slowly so as to get a smooth, thick cream. Never cover the lime with too much water. After thorough slaking add twenty-five gallons of water. When the lime and the bluestone have dissolved, pour the two liquids into a third vessel. Be sure that each stream mixes with the other before either enters the vessel. Strain through a coarse cloth. Mix fresh for each time. Use for molds and fungi generally. Apply in fine spray with a good nozzle. Bordeavx-Paris-Greex Mixture Ordinar)- Bordeaux mixture 50 gal. Paris green 4 oz. to 2 lb. Use for both fungi and insects on apple, potato, etc. Bordeaux-Arsenate-of-Lead Mixture Ordinar}' Bordeaux mixture 50 gal. Arsenate of lead 2 to 3 lb. Used for fungous and insect enemies of the potato, and of the apple when bitter rot is troublesome. Commercial Lime-Sulphur Arsenate of Lead Commercial lime-sulphur i^ gal. Arsenate of lead 2 to 3 lb. Water 5° gal. L"se for spraying apples. Ammoxiacal Copper Carbonate Copper carbonate 5 o^- Ammonia (26° Baume; about 3 pt. Water 5° gal- Dissolve the copper carbonate in the smallest possible amount of ammonia. This solution may be kept in stock and diluted to the proper strength as needed. Use this instead of the Bordeaux mixture after the fruit has reached half or two thirds of the mature size. It leaves no spots as does the lime-sulphur wash or the Bordeaux mixture. APPENDIX 341 SPRAYS FOR BOTH FUNGOUS AND INSECT PESTS Home-Made Lime-Sulphur Wash Lime 20 lb. Sulphur 15 lb. Water 50 gal. The lime, the sulphur, and about half of the water required are boiled together for forty-five minutes in a kettle over a fire, or in a barrel or other suitable tank by steam, strained, and then diluted to 50 gallons. This is the wash regularly used against the San Jose scale. It may be substituted for Bordeaux mixture when spraying trees in the dormant state. Commercial lime-sulphur may also be used in place of this home- made wash. Use one gallon of the commercial lime-sulphur to nine gallons of water in the dormant season. Self-Boiled Lime-Sulphur Wash The self-boiled lime-sulphur wash is a combination of lime and sulphur boiled only by the heat of the slaking lime, and is used chiefly for summer spraying on peaches, plums, cherries, etc. as a substitute for the Bordeaux mixture. Lime 8 lb. Sulphur 6 to 8 lb. Water 50 gal. The lime should be placed in a barrel and enough water poured on it to start it slaking and to keep the sulphur off the bottom of the barrel. The sulphur, which should first be worked through a sieve to break up the lumps, may then be added, and, finally, enough water to slake the lime into a paste. Considerable stirring is necessary to prevent caking on the bottom. After the violent boiling which accompanies the slaking of the lime is over, the mixture should be diluted ready for use, or at least enough cold water added to stop the cooking. From five to fifteen minutes are required for the process. If the hot mass is permitted to stand undiluted as a thick paste, a liquid is produced that is injurious to peach foliage and, in some cases, to apple foliage. The mixture should be strained through a sieve of twenty meshes to the inch in order to remove the coarse particles of lime, but all the sulphur should be worked through the strainer. GLOSSARY To enable young readers to understand the technical words necessarily used in the text only popular definitions are given. Abdomen : the part of an insect lying behind the thorax. Acid : a chemical name given to many sour substances, ^'inegar and lemon juice owe their sour taste to the acid in them. Adult : a person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength. Ammonia (amjiiotiiiim) : a compound of nitrogen readily usable as a plant food. It is one of the products of decay. Annual : a plant that bears seed during the first year of its existence and then dies. Anther : the part of a stamen that bears the pollen. Atmospheric nitrogen : nitrogen in the air. Great quantities of this valuable plant food are in the air : but, strange to say, most plants cannot use it directly from the air, but must take it in other forms, as nitrates, etc. The legumes are an exception, as they can use atmospheric nitrogen. Available plant food : food in such condition that plants can use it. Bacteria : a name applied to a number of kinds of very small living beings, some beneficial, some harmful, some disease-producing. They average about one twenty-thousandth of an inch in length. Balanced ration : a ration made up of the proper amounts of carbo- hydrates, fats, and protein, as explained in text. Such a ration avoids all waste of food. Biennial : a plant that produces seed during the second year of its existence and then dies. Blight : a diseased condition in plants in which the whole or a part of a plant withers or dries up. Bluestone : a chemical; copper sulphate. It is used to kill fungi, etc. 342 GLOSSARY 343 Bordeaux Mixture : a mixture invented in Bordeaux, France, to destroy disease-producing fungi. Bud (noun) : an undeveloped branch. Bud (verb) : to insert a bud from tlie scion upon the stock to insure better fruit. Bud variation : occasionally one bud on a plant will produce a branch differing in some ways from the rest of the branches ; this is bud variation. The shoot that is produced by bud variation is called a sport. Calyx : the outermost row of leaves in a flower. Cambium: the growing layer lying between the wood and the bark. Canon : the shank bone above the fetlock in the fore and hind legs of a horse. Carbohydrates : carbohydrates are foods free from, nitrogen. They make up the largest part of all vegetables. Examples are sugar, starch, and cellulose. Carbolic acid : a chemical often used to kill or prevent the growth of germs, bacteria, fungi, etc. Carbon : a chemical element. Charcoal is nearly pure carbon. Carbon disulphide : a chemical used to kill insects. Carbonic acid gas : a gas consisting of carbon and oxygen. It is pro- duced by breathing, and whenever carbon is burned. It is the source of the carbon in plants. Cereal : the name given to grasses that are raised for the food con- tained in their seeds, such as corn, wheat, rice. Cobalt : a poisonous chemical used to kill insects. Cocoon : the case made by an insect to contain its lar\-a or pupa. Commercial fertilizer : an enriching plant food bought to improve soil. Compact : a soil is said to be compact when the particles are closely packed. Concentrated : when applied to food the word means that it contains much feeding value in small bulk. Contagious : a disease is said to be contagious when it can be spread or carried from one individual to another. Cross : the result of breeding two varieties of plant together. Cross pollination : the pollination of a flower by pollen brought from a flower on some other plant 344 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Croup : the top of the hips. Culture: the art of preparing ground for seed and raising crops by tillage. Curb disease : a swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse just behind the lowest part of the hock joint. It generally causes lameness. Curculio : a kind of beetle or weevil. Dendrolene : a patented substance used for catching cankerworms. Digestion: the act by which food is prepared by the juices of the body to be used by the blood. Dormant : a word used to describe sleeping or resting bodies, — bodies not in a state of activity. Drainage : the process by which an excess of water is removed from the land by ditches, terraces, or tiles. Element : a substance that cannot be divided into simpler sub- stances. Ensilage : green foods preserved in a silo. Evaporate : to pass off in vapor, as a fluid often does ; to change from a solid or liquid state into vapor, usually by heat. Exhaustion: the state in which strength, power, and force have been lost. When applied to land, the word means that land has lost its power to produce well. Fermentation : a chemical change produced by bacteria, yeast, etc. A common example of fermentation is the change of cider into vinegar. Fertility : the state of being fruitful. Land is said to be fertile when it produces well. Fertilization : the act which follows pollination and enables a flower to produce seed. Fetlock: the long-haired cushion on the back side of a horse's leg just above the hoof. Fiber : any fine, slender thread or threadlike substance, as the rootlets of plants or the lint of cotton. Filter : to purify a liquid, as water, by causing it to pass througli some substance, as paper, cloth, screens, etc. Formalin : a forty per cent solution of a chemical known as formal- dehyde. Formalin is used to kill fungi, bacteria, etc. GLOSSARY 345 Formula : a recipe for the making of a compound ; for example, fer- tilizer or spraying compounds. Fungicide : a substance used to kill or prevent the growth of fungi ; for example, Bordeaux Mixture or copper sulphate. Fungous : belonging to or caused by fungi. Fungus (plural fungi) : a low kind of plant life lacking in green color. Molds and toadstools are examples. Germ : that from which anything springs. The term is often applied to any very small organism or living thing, particularly if it causes great effects such as disease, fermentation, etc. Germinate : to sprout. A seed germinates when it begins to grow. Girdle : to make a cut or groove around a limb or tree. Glacier : an immense field or stream of ice formed in the region of constant snow and moving slowly down a slope or valley. Globule : a small particle of matter shaped like a globe. Glucose : a kind of sugar very common in plants. The sugar from grapes, honey, etc. is glucose. That from the sugar cane is not. Gluten : a vegetable form of protein found in cereals. Graft : to place a living branch or stem on another living stem so that it may grow there. It insures the growth of the desired kind of plant. Granule : a little grain. Gypsum : land plaster. " Head back " : to cut or prune a tree so as to form its head, that is, the place where the main trunk first gives off its branches. Heredity : the resemblance of offspring to parent. Hibernating : to pass the winter in a torpid or inactive state in close quarters. Hock : the joint in the hind leg of ciuadrupeds between the leg and the shank. It corresponds to the ankle in man. Host : the plant upon which a fungus or insect is preying. Humus : the portion of the soil caused by the decay of animal or vegetable matter. Hybrid : the result of breeding two different kinds of plants together. Hydrogen: a chemical element. It is present in water and in all living things. Individual : a single person, plant, animal, or thing of any kind. 34<5 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Inoculate : to give a disease by inserting the germ that causes it in a healthy being. Insectivorous : anj-thing that eats insects. Kainit : salts of potash used in making fertilizers. Kernel : a single seed or grain, as a kernel of corn. Kerosene emulsion : see Appendix. Larva (plural larvae) : the young or immature form of an insect. Larval: belonging to lan-a. Layer : to propagate plants by a method similar to cutting, but differ- ing from cutting in that the young plant takes root before it is separated from the parent plant. Legume : a plant belonging to the family of the pea, clover, and bean ; that is. having a flower of similar structure. Lichen : a kind of flowerless plant that grows on stones, trees, boards, etc. Loam : an earthy mixture of clay and sand with organic matter. Magnesia : an earth}- white substance somewhat similar to lime. Magnify : to make a thing larger in fact or in appearance ; to enlarge the appearance of a thing so that the parts may be seen more easily. Membrane : a thin layer or fold of animal or vegetable matter. Mildew : a cobw^ebby growth of fungi on diseased or decaying things. Mold : see wZ/^^zt'. Mulch : a covering of straw, leaves, or like substances over the roots of plants to protect them from heat drought etc., and to preser\-e moisture. Nectar : a sweetish substance in blossoms of flowers from which bees make honey. Nitrate : a readilv usable form of nitrogen. The most common nitrate is saltpeter. Nitrogen : a chemical element, one of the most important and most expensive plant foods. It exists in fertilizers, in ammonia, in nitrates, and in organic matter. Nodule : a little knot or bump. Nutrient : anv substance which nourishes or promotes growth. Organic matter : substances made through the growth of plants or animals. Ovary : the particular part of the pistil that bears the immature seed. GLOSSARY 347 Ovipositor : the organ with which an insect deposits its eggs. Oxygen : a gas present in the air and necessary to breathing. Particle : any very small part of a body. Perennial : living through several years. All trees are perennial. Petal : a single leaf of the corolla. Phosphoric acid : an important plant food occurring in bones and rock phosphates. Pistil : the part of the blossom that contains the immature seeds. Pollen : the powdery substance borne by the stamen of the flower. It is necessary to seed production. Pollination : the act of carrying pollen from stamens to pistils. It is usually done by the wind or by insects. Porosity : tlie state of having small openings or passages between the particles of matter. Potash : an important part of plant foods. The chief source of potash is kainit, muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, wood ashes, and cotton-hull ashes. Propagate : to cause plants or animals to increase in number. Protein: the name of a group of substances containing nitrogen. It is one of the most important of feeding stuffs. Pruning : trimming or cutting parts that are not needed or that are injurious. Pulverize : to reduce to a dustlike state. Pupa : an insect in the stage of its life that comes just before the adult condition. Purity (of seed) : seeds are pure when they contain only one kind of seed and no foreign matter. Ration : a fixed daily allowance of food for an animal. Raupenleim : a patented sticky substance used to catch the cankerworm. Resistant : a plant is resistant to disease when it can ward off attacks of the disease ; for example, some varieties of the grape are resist- ant to the phylloxera. Rotation (of crops) : a well-arranged succession of different crops on the same land. Scion : a shoot, sprout, or branch taken to graft or bud upon another plant. Seed bed : the laver of earth in which seeds are sown. 34S AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINXERS Seed selection : tze caxefol selection of seed from particular plants with the object of keeping or increasing some desirable quality. Seedling : a young tt'Is^t ^ -st from the seed- Sepal : one of the ^r: t- :. die calyx. Set: ayoungplan: ::r :- i^\:::n. Silo: a house or pi: ;.:■ _ avay green food fM" winter use so as to exclude air and moisture. Sire: father. Smut : a disease of plants, pardculariy of cereals, which causes die plant or some part of it to become a powdery mass. Spike : a lengthened flower cluster widi staUdess floweis. Spiracle : an air opening in the body of an insect. Spore : a small body formed by a fungus to reproduce the fungus. It serves the same use as seeds do for flowering plants. Spray : to apply a liquid in the form of a Tery fine mist by the aid of a spraying pump tor the purpose of killing fungi or insects. Stamen : the part of the flower that bears the poUen. Stamina: endurance. Sterilize: to destroy all the germs or spores in or on anjihing. Sterilizing is often done by heat cm- chonicals. Stigma : the part of the pistil that receives the pdlen. Stock : the stem or main part of a tree or plant. In grafting or bud- ding the scion is insoted upon the stock. Sbarex : as used in diis book die word means the dry stalks of com from which the ears have been removed. Sabscil : the sofl undo- the topsoil. Sulrh-T : a yellowish chemical element; twimstone. lai:: :: r. i'- root of a plant, which runs direcdy down into the -s^derable depth without dividing. TerriTr , r:h run on a level around a slope or hillside to j;;ei : ; : : . :.cni washing. Thorax : : r r : i'.t part of the body of an insect The thwax lies ' : -nen and the head. T 1 1 : - - t -. T : - : -imeat for measuring heat. T:..i 7 . : 'rr'iri-5 land for seec. 2^1 ktezir-g the ground .-. _ .__:: ;-.^:= i_: .le growth of crops. GLOSSARY 349 Transplant : a plant grown in a bed with a view to being removed to other soil; a technical term used by gardeners. Tubercle : a small, wartlike growth on the roots of legumes. Udder : the milk vessel of a cow. Utensil : a vessel used lor household purposes. Variety : a particular kind. For example, the Winesap, Bonum,yEsop, etc., are different varieties of apples. Ventilate : to open to the free passage of air. Virgin soil : a soil which has never been cultivated. Vitality (of seed) : vitality is the ability- to grow. Seed are of good vitalit}- if a large per cent of them will sprout. Weathering : the action of moisture, air, frost, etc. upon rocks. Weed : a plant out of place. A wheat plant in a rose bed or a rose in the wheat field would be regarded as a weed, as would any plant growing in a place in which it is not wanted. Wilt (of cotton) : a disease of cotton in which the whole plant droops or wilts. Withers : the ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. Yeast : a preparation containing the yeast plant used to make bread rise. etc. INDEX Acid phosphate, 23, 214, 225 Alfalfa, 28, 179, 187, 242, 244, 245, 246-248 Alfalfa root, 28 Animals, domestic, 261-292 why we feed, 290 Annual, 69, 112, 118, 260 Ant, 144, 150 Anther, 43 Apple, 42, 59, 76, 78, 83-85, 123 fire-blight of, 130 Apple-tree tent caterpillar, 161, 162 Arsenate of lead, 156, 157 Ashes, 207 Asparagus, 98 Babcock milk-tester, 304 Bacteria, 24, 127, 128, 129, 131, 133 Balanced ration, 294-295 Barley, 215-217 Beans, 95, 98 Bee, 286-290 Beehive, anti-robbing entrance of, 289 • Beet, 95, 96 sugar-, 2 1 8-2 2 1 Beet sugar, 218 Beetle, 146, 148 cucumber, 102 potato, 170 Biennials, 70 Bird homes, 322 Birds, 31^-32^3 Black knot, 140 Blackberry, 59 Blight, 106 eggplant, 103 pear and apple, 130 potato, 138, 209 tomato, 106 Bordeaux mixture, 127, 141, 142, 156, 209 Borer, peach, 163, 164 Breeding-cage, insect, 152 Buckwheat, 229-230 Bud variation, 58 Budding, 55, 81-82 Buds, 51, 59 Bug, 147 Bulbs, 109, I ID, III Burbank, Luther, 80 Butter, 297, 300 Butterfly, 146, 14S, 149 Cabbage, 93, 95, 96, 99 Cabbage worm, 165, 166 Caladium, 1 1 1 Cambium, 79, 131 Cankerworm, 159, 160 Canna, 1 16 Cantaloupes, loi Cape jasmine, 1 10 Capillarity, 10 Carbohydrates, 291, 292, 295 Carbon, 39, 40, 291 Carbon disulphide, 169 Carbonic acid gas, 6, 317 Caterpillar, 147, 149, 161 Cattle, 270-275 beef type of, 272 dairy type of, 273 improving of, 274 Cauliflower, 91, 140 Celery, 100, loi Cherries, 59. 81, 164 Chinch bug, 165, 167 Churn, the, 297, 299, 300 Churning, 299 Cleft grafting, 80 Clover, 187, 249-251 Club root, 140 Cocoon, 147, 148, 150. 151 Codling moth, 154, 156, 164 Cold-frame, 93-97, 101 35' 352 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Colostrum, 297 Consumprion, germ of, 129 Corms, III Com, 197-202 blossom of, 45 freezing of seed, 75 roots of, 27, 28 selection of seed, 66, 67, 68 Cotton. 180-188 resistant variet)' of, 132 Sea Island, 132, 182 short-stapled, 182 Cotton w"ilt, 142 Cotton-boU wee\-il, 173 Cotton-seed meal, 24, 225, 295 Cow- Aberdeen Angus, 272 Galloway, 274 Holstein, 275 Jersey, 273 care of, 296 the dairy, 293-296 Cowpeas, 251-254 Cream, 297, 298 Crop-rotation, 33-37 Crops, 178-237 rotation of, 20, 33, 1S9, 211, 217, 219, 228 value of, per acre, 179 Cross section, 26 Crosses, 49 Cross-pollination, 48 Cucumber, 73. 10 1 Cucumber beetle, 102 Curculio, plum, 156 Currant, 59 Cuttings. 52, 53, 54, 55. 109 Cyclamen, 1 1 3 Dahlia, in, 112, 116 Dair>- rules, 301 Dairying, 297-301 Dendrolene, 160 Diphtheria, germ of, 129 Diseases of plants, 122-143 Domestic animals, 261-292 Drainage, benefits of, 15 Dr)- farming, 323-326 Ducks, 282 Eggplants. 102, 103 Ensilage, 295 Farm crops, 17S-237 Farm garden, 235-237 Farm tools, 315-315 Farming on dr)- lands, 323-330 Fats, 291, 292, 295 Feed stuffs, 238-260 digestible nutrients in, 290-292 growing, on the farm, 309-313 Feeding animals, 290 reasons for, 290, 292 Fertilization, 45 Fertilizers, 22-24 Field insects, 144-177 Figs. 51. 59 Fire-blight, 130 Flax. 226-229 Flea-beetle, 169, 172, 209 Floriculture, 89, 108 Flower, the, 42, 43 Flower box, 112 Flower gardening, 108— 121 Fly, 146, 150 Formalin, 135. 136. 138 Fowls, 282-286 Fruit mold, 126, 142 Fruit rot, 122 Fruit tree, how to raise a, 76-87 Fultz. Abraham, 65 Fungi, 125, 126, 127 Garden, 235-237 Garden insects, 165-177 Gardening, market-, 89-90 Geese, 284 Geranium, 52, 54, 109, no Germs, 24, 127, 129, 131, 135; see also Bacteria Girdler, 162 Girdling, 41 Glacier, 3, 4, 5 Gladiolus, 92, in Gooseberries, 59 Grafting, 55. 78-81 cleft. 80 root, 79 time for, 79 tongue, 79, 80 Grafting wax, 79 Grape, 51, 53. 58. 59 Grape cutting, 54 Grape phylloxera, 157, 158 Grape pollination, 52. 53 INDEX :>Do Grasses. 23S-244 Grasshopper. 14S. 151 Greenhouse, 91-94 Heading back. S3 Hemp. 226-229 Hens. 2S2-2S6 Herediu". 67 Hessian fly, 170 Homes, counm-. 330-337 Hone\- dew. 167 Horse. 262-270 diasrrams bv which to judge. 265-269 ' Percheron. 264 proportions of. 270 roadster. 267 Horticulture. S9-121 Host, 126 Hotbed. 91-97 How to raise a fruit tree. 76-S7 Humus. 5. 20, 21. 22. 193. 207 Husker and shredder. 201 Hybrids. 49. 50, 51, 1 S3 Insects, cage for breeding, 1 52 classes of. 146 eggs of. 1 50 eyes of. 145 field. 144. 165 garden. 144-177 general. 144 how thev feed. 146. 147 orchard. 144 parts of, 145 Irish, or white, potato. 206-209 propagation of, 56, 57 Irrigation, 326-330 method of, 330 Kafir com. 325. 326 Kainite. 214 Kerosene emulsion. 16S Land, improvement of. 17, 21, 31, 34- -44 Landscape-gardening. S9 Larva. 147. 14S Layering. 55, 57 Legumes. 31. 207. 244-260 Lettuce. 91. 93. 95 Life in the country, 330-337 Lime, 140 Lime-sulphur wash, 141, 142. 153, 154. 156 Liming land, 315-31S Louse, plant, 150, 151. 152, 167 Machines, farm, 313-315 Maize. 197 Manures, 20, 21-24 Maple sugar, 217 Market-gardening. S9. 90 Meadows. 240. 242 Melons. loi. 106 Mildew. 124 how to prevent, 126 Milk, 297 sours, how. 302 Milk-tester. Babcock. 304 Mineral matter, 291. 292 Moisture. 9 Mold. 123. 124, 125 Moonflower, 1 1 5 Moming-glon,-, 1 1 5 Moth, 1 48 codling. 154. 156. 164 mosquito. 150 Mulch. 12 Narcissus, 114 Nectar, 46, 47 Nitrate of soda. 24. 99. 211. 214 Nitrogen. 15. 2^. 24. 31. 32. 34. 35. 36, 37. iSS. 246 Nitrogen-gathering crops, 15, iS, 244-260 Nodules, 36 Oats, 209-215 Oat smut, 134 Onion. 103. 104 Orchard insects. 143 Osmosis, 30 Ovan.-, 44 Ovipositor, 157 Paris green, 165, 209 Parsnips, 94 Pasture grasses, 23S-244 Peach. 42. 59. Si, 84, S5, S7, 141. 142 Peach curl. 141, 143 Peach mold, 142 Peach mummies, 142 354 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Peach tree, how made, 86-87 Peach-tree borer, 163, 164 Peanuts, 202-203 Pear, 44, 49, 59, 81, 130 Pear fire-blight, 1 30 Peas, 95, 104, 251-254 Perennials, 71, 112, 116, 118, 260 Petal, 43 Phosphoric acid, 23, 24, 186, 188, 196. 216, 244, 254 Phylloxera, 157, 158 Pipette, 305 Pistil, 43, 44 Plant, the, 25, 39 Plant disease, cause of, 122 nature of, 122 prevention of, 122, 129 Plant food, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24 from air, 39 from soil, 29 kinds of, 33 Plant louse, 150, 152, 167, 16S Plant seeding, 59, 109 Planting a tree, 76-S7 Plant-propagation, 51-59 by buds, 51 Plants grown from seed, 109 from bulbs, 109 Plow, right way to, 1 1 Plum curculio, 156, 157 Plums, 43, 59, 81, 164 Pollen, 43, 47, 48 Pollination, 45-48 by hand, 49 cross-, 49, 50 grape, 52, 53 Potash, 23, 24, 1S6, 188, 196, 207, 216, 244, 246, 254 Potato, sweet, 204, 205 white, or Irish, 56, 57, 206-209 Potato beetle, 170, 209 Potato blight, 138, 209 Potato scab, 136, 205, 209 Potato seed, 56, 57 Poultry, 282-286 Prevention of plant diseases, 129, 130 Propagation of plants by buds, 58 by cuttings, 52 Protein, 212, 291, 294, 295, 297 Pruning, 83, 84-87 root, 85, 86 Pupa, 147, 150, 151 Purity of seed, 72-75 Pyrethrum powder, 165 Quince, 59 Radish, 95 Raspberry, 59 Ration, balanced, 294, 295 Ratoon, 225 Red raspberry, 59 Rice, 231-232 Roads, 332, 337 Root-hairs, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32 Root-pruning, 86 Roots, 25, 26, 27, 28 Root-tubercles, 30, 37 Rose, 109, 121, 124 Rot of fruit, 122 Rotation of crops, 8, 20, 21, 33-37 189, 211, 217, 219, 228 Rye, 213-215 San Jose scale, 152, 153 Sap current, the, 40 Scab, 136, 209 Schoolhouses, 334 Scion, 79, 81, 82 Seed, 42 Seed purity, 72-75 Seed vitality, 72-75 Seed-germination, 74 Seed-germinator, 74 Seeding, 60, 1 14 Seed-selection, 56, 62, 64, 66 in the field, 56, 62, 68 of corn, 66 of cotton. 60, 61 of potatoes, 56, 57 of wheat, 64, 65 Seed-selection plat, 63, 64 Selection of seed. See Seed-selec- tion Sepal, 43 Sheep, 276-279 Silo, 295 Smuts, 134, 135 Soil, I bacteria in, 24 deepening of, 8 definition of, i drainage of, 14 INDEX 355 Soil, how formed. 2. 3 how water rises in, 13 impro\ing, 17 manuring of, 21 moisture of, 9 origin of. i particles of, magnified, 10 and plant, 25 retention of water by, 1 2 tillage of. 6 virgin. 17. iS Sowing seed. 94 .Soy beans. 236-260 Spiders, red. 121 Spiracles, 145 Spores. 123. 124. 125, 130, 135 prevention of, 130 Spraying. 137, 138, 139, 155, 156, 157,209 Spra\-ing outfit, 13S, 155, 16S, 171 Squanto. 21 Squash, 45. 95 Squash bug. 16S Stamen. 43-4S Starch. 40 Starchy food. 291 Stigma, 44-45 Stock. 79. S2 Strawberry 4;. ;:. ;9, 90 St)-le, 43 Subsoil. I Subsoiling, 10 Sugar, 40 Sugar plants, 217 Sugar-beet, 21S-221 Sugar-cane. 221 Sugar-maple. 217 Sulphate of ammonia. 211 Sun-scald. 84 Sweet pea. 114, 115 Sweet potato, 56, 57, 1 1 1 , 204-205 Swine. 279-282 Tent caterpillar, 162 Tile drain. 15. 16 benefits of, 14 Tillage, 6-9, 19. 28, 200 Timber, 232-235 enemies of, 233 Tobacco, 1 89- 1 92 Tobacco worm. 170, 172 Tomato, 40, 105 Tongue grafting, 79, So Tools, 313 Topping tobacco, 191 Trap plant, 16S Tree, manuring of. 26 Truck crops, 98- 107 Tubercle, 30, 32 TuU, Tethro, 6 quoted. 6 Turkeys, 282 Tiumip, 95 Twig girdler. 1 62 Typhoid fever, germ of, 129 Vetches, 255-257 Vitality- of seed, 72-75 Wasp. 146 Water. 10 absorption of. by plants, 10 retention of. by soil, 9 rise of, in soil. 13 saved by plants, 10 saved by soils. 12 Watermelons, 106 Wax. 79 Weathering. 4, 7 Weeds, 69, 74 annual. 69 biennial, 70 perennial, 71 Weevil. 169 cotton-boll, 173-177 plum, 156 Wheat. 192-197 selection of seed, 63 peld of, 64 Why feed animals, 290 Wilt cotton. 142 watermelon. 107 Window box. 1 1 8 Window-garden. 119-121 Window-gardening. 1 19 Worn-out land, reclaiming of, 19, 244 Yeast, 127, 128