03. From the collection of the I f d 7 n _ z m o Prelinger u ve JJibrary c t p San Francisco, California 2007 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS BY CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT EDITOR OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST FORMERLY DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FRANK LINCOLN STEVENS PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS DANIEL HARVEY HILL PRESIDENT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL COPYRIGHT, 1903, 1904, BY CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT, FRANK LINCOLN STEVENS AND DANIEL HARVEY HILL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 29.10 tEfle gtftenacum pregg GINN & COMPANY • PRO- PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. PREFACE The authors of this little book believe that there is no line of separation between the science of agriculture and the practical art of agriculture. They are assured by expe- rience that agriculture is eminently a teachable subject. They are convinced that the theory and practice of agricul- ture can be taught at one and the same time. They see no difference between teaching the child the fundamental principles of farming and teaching the same child the fundamental truths of arithmetic, geography, or grammar. They hold that a youth should be trained for the farm just as he is trained for any other occupation. If they are right in these views, the training must begin in the public schools. This is true for two reasons : I. It is universally admitted that aptitudes are devel- oped, tastes acquired, life habits formed during the years that a child is in the public school. Hence, during these important years, every child intended for the farm should be taught to know and love nature, should be led to form habits of observation, and should be required to begin a study of those great laws upon which agriculture is based. A training like this would go far towards making his life- work profitable and delightful. iv PREFACE 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 majority of our bread winners. They must still in ignorance and hopeless drudgery tear their bread from a reluctant soil. The authors return hearty thanks to Professor Thomas F. Hunt, Ohio State University ; Professor Augustine D. Selby, Ohio Experiment Station ; Professor W. F. Massey, North Carolina Experiment Station ; and Professor Franklin Sherman, Jr., State Entomologist of North Carolina, for aid in proof-reading. For valuable assistance in securing illus- trations grateful acknowledgment is made to the German Kali Works, New York ; Mr. Alexis Everett Frye, Cam- bridge, Mass.; Professor Byron D. Halsted, New Brunswick, N. J. ; Director R. J. Redding, Experiment, Ga. ; Director I. P. Roberts, Cornell University; Vermont Farm Machine Company, Bellows Falls; the Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion, Cornell University; the Indiana Experiment Station, Lafayette; Mr. H. L. Bolley, North Dakota Agricultural Col- lege ; Mr. J. F. Kemp, Columbia University ; Mr. Clarence M. Weed, New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts ; and the United States Department of Agri- culture. Detailed credit is given in connection with many of the illustrations. JUNE, 1903. PREFACE TO SUPPLEMENT In preparing AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS, the authors purposely refrained from treating in detail many subjects of agricultural importance. This was done for two reasons : first, schools are, in general, just beginning to teach agri- culture, hence the authors wanted to present, as far as possible, only fundamental principles; second, they did not want to put too large a book into the hands of school children. There has, however, been a demand from several states for a more extended treatment of some topics, and this supplement is prepared to meet that demand. Professor W. F. Massey, horticulturist of the North Carolina Experiment Station and editor of the Practical Farmer, has rendered much kindly aid in the preparation of the Supplement. Thanks are also due to the Bowker Fertilizer Company for the loan of several interesting and attractive photographs. MAY, 1904. CONTENTS CHAPTER I — THE SOIL PAGE Section i. Origin of the soil I 2. Tillage of the soil ... .6 3. The moisture of the soil . . . .10 4. How the water rises in the soil . . .14 5. Draining the soil 15 6. Improving the soil 18 7. Manuring the soil 22 CHAPTER II— THE SOIL AND THE PLANT Section 8. Roots 27 9. How a plant feeds from the soil . . .31 10. Root tubercles ... -33 11. The rotation of crops . • • 35 CHAPTER III— THE PLANT Section 12. How a plant feeds from the air . . . 41 13. The sap current ...... 42 14. The flower and the seed . . . -44 15. Pollination 48 1 6. Crosses, hybrids, and cross-pollination . . 50 17. Plant propagation by buds . . . -54 1 8. Plant seeding: cotton; wheat . . .62 19. Selecting seed corn 69 20. Weeds 73 21. Seed purity and vitality . . . -77 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER IV — HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE PAGE Section 22. Grafting 83 23. Budding 86 24. Planting and pruning 88 CHAPTER V — THE DISEASES OF PLANTS Section 25. The cause and nature of plant disease . . 94 26. Yeast and bacteria 100 27. Prevention of plant diseases . . . .102 28. Some special plant diseases . . . .103 Fire blight of the pear and apple . .103 Oat and wheat smuts . . . .107 The potato scab . . . . .109 Late potato blight . . . . . 1 1 1 The club root . . . . . .114 The black knot . . . . .114 The peach curl . . . . . 1 1 5 The cotton wilt 115 The fruit mold .116 CHAPTER VI — ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS Section 29. Insects in general 118 30. Orchard insects : San Josd scale ; codling moth ; plum curculio ; grape phylloxera ; cankerworm ; apple-tree tent caterpillar ; pear-tree girdler; peach borer . . .126 31. Garden and field insects: cabbage worm; chinch bug; plant louse ; squash bug ; flea- beetle ; weevil ; Hessian fly ; potato beetle ; tobacco worm . . . . . .140 CONTENTS IX CHAPTER VII — FARM CROPS ANIMALS 150 159 163 1 68 173 175 177 179 . 183 . 192 . 197 . 200 . 204 . 207 . 211 CHAPTER IX — FARM DAIRYING Section 47. The dairy cow : care of the cow . . . .216 48. Milk, cream, churning, and butter : milk ; the different kinds of milk ; cream ; the churn ; churning ; butter ..... 220 49. How milk sours . . . . . .225 CHAPTER X — MISCELLANEOUS Section 50. Growing feeding stuffs on the farm . . 228 51. Farm tools and machines .... 232 52. Birds . . . ... . . 234 53. Life in the country 240 Section 32. Cotton . 33- Tobacco 34- Wheat . 35- Corn 36. Peanuts . 37- Sweet potatoes 38. Rice 39- The farm garden CHAPTER VIII -DOMESTIC I Section 40. Horses . 41. Cattle . 42. Sheep . 43- Swine 44- Farm poultry . 45- Bee culture . 46. Why we feed . CONTENTS CHAPTER XI — SUPPLEMENT PAGB Section 54. Horticulture: Market Gardening; Hotbeds; Cold Frames ; Sowing ; Care of Crops . 248 Asparagus 257 Beans 258 Cabbage 258 Celery 259 Cucumbers 261 Cantaloupes 261 Egg plants 262 Onions ....... 263 Peas . . . . . . . 264 Tomatoes 265 Watermelons . . . . . . 266 55. Flower and Window Gardening . . . 268 56. Forage ........ 284 Grasses ....... 284 Alfalfa 290 Clovers ....... 294 57. Cotton-Boll Weevil 298 58. Farming on Dry Lands ..... 305 59. Irrigation ....... 309 60. Sugar Cane 314 APPENDIX — REFERENCES AND TABLES 327 GLOSSARY 335 INDEX 343 TO THE TEACHER An earnest teaching of this book will, we believe, add to the attractiveness of your course of study. Do not hesi- tate to enter heartily into the new subject. To teach agri- culture you need not feel that you must be an authority on all questions arising in this broad field. To teach some agriculture one need not know all agriculture. If you know even a few valuable facts, methods, or principles that will make life on the farm easier, that will make the farm more beautiful, more productive, and more profitable, you will be doing good by imparting these methods and these principles. Lead the pupils out into the field, make simple experi- ments 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 sugges- tions 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 to the text later to amplify the pupil's knowledge. xii TO THE PUPIL Although the authors have arranged this book in a logical order, they hope that teachers will feel free to teach each topic in the season best suited to its study. TO THE PUPIL Consult the glossary in the back of this book for the meanings of all hard words. Try to get for your school library every 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. Perform all the suggested experiments for yourself. Do not be content to watch your teacher or your fellow- students perform these experiments. First-hand work gives expertness, accuracy, interest, knowledge, 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 little book. In its agricultural sense 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 remembered, however, that in waterless and sun-dried countries 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 boiled and ate their sons. The face of the earth as we now see it daintily robed in grass, or uplifting waving acres of corn, or even naked, water- scarred, and disfigured by man's neglect, is very different from what it was in its earliest days. How was it then ? How did the soil originate ? 2 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Learned men believe that at first the surface of. the earth was solid rock. How were these rocks 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, 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, disinte- grated, the early rock mass. These simple but giant- strong agents that beat the rocks into powder with a club- like force a million fold more powerful than the club force of Hercules were chiefly: (i) heat and cold; (2) water, frost, and ice ; (3) a very 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 world makers. Heat and cold are working partners. You remember that most hot bodies shrink, or contract, on cooling. These 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 many of the rocks, and here and there left cracks, or fissures. In these fis- sures water collected, froze, and, as freezing water expands with irresistible power, the expansion still further broke the rocks to pieces. The smaller pieces again, in the same way, were acted upon by frost and ice, and again crumbled. This process has continued more or less until this day. Running water was another giant soil former. If you would understand its action, observe some usually sparkling THE SOIL 3 stream just after a washing rain. The clear waters are uglied and discolored by mud washed in from the surround- ing hills. As though disliking 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 some quiet pool, they deposit more. At last they reach the still water at the mouth, FlG. I. ROCK MARKED BY THE SCRAPING OF A GLACIER OVER IT and there they shake off the last of their mud load, and often form of it little islands, or deltas. In the same way, bearing acres of soil in their waters, mighty rivers like the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Hudson, when they are swollen by rain, sweep to the seas. Some soil they scatter over the lowlands as they whirl seaward ; the rest they deposit in deltas at their mouths. It is estimated that the Mississippi carries to the ocean each year enough 4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 bearing ground stone that either they them- selves had worn from the rocks by ceaseless fretting, or bearing stones that other forces had dislodged from parent nest. The large pieces were whirled from side to side, beaten against one another, or against bed rock, until they were ground finer. The rivers distributed this rock soil just as the later rivers distribute muddy soil. Year after year for ages the moving waters ground against the rocks. Vast were the waters ; vast the number of years ; vast the results. Glaciers were another soil-producing agent. Glaciers, as Stockbridge says, are but " streams frozen and moving slowly but irresistibly onwards, down well-defined valleys, grinding and pulverizing the rock masses detached by the force and weight of their onslaught." Where and how were these glaciers formed ? Once a great part of upper North America was a vast sheet of ice. Whatever moisture fell from the sky fell as snow. No one knows what made this long winter of snow, but we do know that snows piled on snows until mountainlike masses reared their heads above the rocks. The lower snow was by the pressure of the upper packed into ice masses. By and by some change of climate caused these masses of ice to break up somewhat and to move to the south and west. These moving masses, carrying rock and frozen earth, ground them to powder. King thus describes the stately movement of these snow mountains : " Beneath the bottom of this slowly moving sheet of pressure- plastic ice, which with more or less difficulty kept itself THE SOIL 5 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 weath- ering. Whenever you have noticed the outside rocks of a spring house, you have noticed that tiny bits are crumbling FIG. 2. GROUND ROCK AT END OF A GLACIER from the face of the rocks, 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 away limestone rock to a depth of thirty-nine inches. But when you recall the countless years through which the weather has striven against the rocks, you can readily understand that its never-wearying activity 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 6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS food taken from the air began to grow. They grew just as you now see mosses and lichens grow on the surface of rocks. The decay of these plants added some fertility to the newly formed soil. The life and death of each suc- ceeding generation of these lowly plants added to the soil matter accumulating on the rocks. Slowly but unceas- ingly the depth of soil increased until higher vegetable forms could flourish and add their dead bodies to the deepening soil. This vegetable addition to the soil is generally known as humus. 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. Thus with a deliberation that fills man with awe, the powerful forces of nature splintered the rocks, crumbled them like a potter's vessel, filled them with plant food, and turned their flinty grains into a soft, snug home for vege- table life. ^SECTION II— TILLAGE OF THE SOIL A good many years ago there lived in England a man by the name of Jethro Tull. He was a farmer and a most successful man in every way. His claim to fame comes from his teaching 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 very intelligently. 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 yields were not large. THE SOIL 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 they were frequently and thoroughly tilled : but he FIG. 3. SLOPE TO WATER SHOWS SOIL WEATHERED FROM FACE OF CLIFF knew the fact. He explained the fact by saying that " 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 8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS of the soil enables the air to circulate through it freely, and permits a breaking down of the complex compounds that contain the elements necessary 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 FIG. 4. A BOUNTIFUL CROP BY TILLAGE ALONE j£as, and this gas is one of the greatest helpers the farmer has in carrying on 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. For most soils a two-horse plow is necessary to break up and pulverize the land. If the soil is fertile and if deep plowing has always been done, good crops will result, other conditions being favor- able. If, however, the tillage is poor, scanty harvests will always result. THE SOIL 9 A shallow soil can always be improved by properly deepening it. The principle of greatest importance in soil preparation is the gradual deepening of the soil in order that plant roots may have more comfortable homes. If the farmer has been accustomed to plow but four inches deep, he should adjust the plow so as to turn five inches at the next plowing, then six, and so on until the seed bed is nine or ten inches deep. This gradual deepening will not injure the soil but will put it quickly in good physical condition. If to good tillage rotation of crops be added, the soil will become more fertile with each succeeding year. The plow, harrow, and roller are all necessary to good tillage and a proper preparation of the seed bed. The soil must be compact and clods of all sizes crushed. Then the air circulates freely, and paying crops are the rule and not the exception. Tillage does these things : It increases the plant-food supply, destroys weeds, and influences the moisture content of the soil. EXERCISE 1. What tools are used in tillage? 2. Why should a poor and shallow soil be plowed shallow ? 3. Why 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 injury to the soil? 10. Name three things that a plow does. 10 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 necessary is it, then, that the soil be kept in the best possible con- dition to catch and hold enough water to carry the plant through dry, hot spells ! Perhaps you are ready to ask, "How does the mouthless plant drink its stored-up water? " The plant gets all its water through its roots. You have seen the tiny fibrous 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, by means of a peculiar process, through 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 but little water in the soil, the leaves shrink up. This is simply a method they have of keeping the water from passing rapidly off into the air. I am sure you have seen the corn stalks all shriveled on very hot days. This shrinkage is nature's way of diminishing the current of water that is steadily passing through the plant. A thrifty farmer will try to keep his soil in such good condition that it will have a supply of water in it for growing crops when dry and hot weather comes. He can do this by deep plowing, by subsoiling, by adding any kind of decaying vegetable matter to the soil, and by growing crops that can be tilled frequently. II 12 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The soil is a great storehouse for moisture. After the clouds have emptied their waters into this storehouse, the water of the soil comes to the surface, where it is evapo- rated 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 necessary 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 FIG. 6. AN ENLARGED aPl% this principle to the soil. The soil particles have small spaces between them, and these spaces act just as the tube does. When the water at the surface is carried away by drying winds and warmth, the water deeper in the soil rises through these soil spaces. In this way water is brought from its soil storehouse as plants need it. Of course, when this water reaches the surface, it evap- orates. 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 lying on the ground. Under the plank the soil is wet, while the soil not covered by the plank is dry. Why? Capillarity brought the water to the surface. The plank, however, keeping away wind and VIEW OF A SECTION OF MOIST SOIL SHOW- ING AIR SPACES AND SOIL PARTICLES THE SOIL 13 warmth, acted as a trap to hold the moisture. Now of course a farmer cannot 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 FIG. 7. APPARATUS FOR TESTING RETENTION OF WATER BY DIFFERENT SOILS mulch that serves to keep water in the soil in the same way the plank kept moisture under it. The mulch helps to ab- sorb the rains and prevents the water from running off the surface. Frecjuent 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 espe- cially in seasons of drought, reaps, other things being equal, a more abundant harvest than if tillage were neglected. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 corn and cotton ? SECTION IV— HOW THE WATER RISES IN THE SOIL When the hot, dry 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 everything is dry and hot, you will reach the cool, moist undersoil. It be- comes more moist as you go deeper FIG. 8. USING LAMP CHIMNEYS TO SHOW RISE OF WATER IN SOIL the soil. Now the roots of plants go down into the soil for this moisture, because they need the water to carry the plant food up into the stems and leaves. THE SOIL 15 You can see how the water rises in the soil by perform- ing a simple experiment. EXPERIMENT Take a lamp chimney and fill it with dry, fine dirt. The dirt from a road or a field will do. Tie over the bottom 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 pans away, and the water in the lamp chim- neys will gradually evaporate. Study for a few days the effect of this evaporation on the several soils. SECTION V — DRAINING THE SOIL A wise man was once asked, "What is the most valu- able improvement ever made in agriculture ? " He answered, "Drainage." Often soils unfit for crop production because of the free water in them are by drainage rendered the most valuable of farming land. The benefits of drainage are as follows : 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, prepares plant food for vegetation. 2. It makes the surface, or topsoil, deeper. It stands to reason that the deeper the soil the more plant food becomes available for plant use. l6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 3. It improves the texture of the soil. Wet soil is sticky. Drainage makes this sticky soil crumble and fall apart. 4. It prevents washing. 5. It increases the porosity 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 permits earlier working in spring and after rains. FIG. 9. LAYING A TILE DRAIN 8. It favors the growth of germs which change the unavailable nitrogen of the soil into nitrates ; that is, into the form most useful to plants. 9. It enables plants to resist drouth 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- tity of nitrogen in the soil when the soil is open to the THE SOIL 17 free circulation of the air. These valuable crops cannot do this when the soil is wet and cold. Sandy soils with sandy subsoils do not need artificial drainage ; these soils are naturally drained. With clay soils it is different. It is very important to remove the stagnant water in them and to let the air in. When land has been properly drained, the other steps in improvement are easily taken. When soil is dried and FIG. 10. A TILE IN POSITION mellowed by proper drainage, then commercial fertilizers, barnyard manure, cowpeas and clover can each most readily do its great work of improving the texture of the soil and of making it a cosy home for plants to grow in. Tile Drains. Tile drains are the best and cheapest that can be used. It would not be too strong to say that draining by tiles is the perfection of drainage. Thou- sands of practical tests in this country have demonstrated the value of tile draining for the following reasons : 18 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 1. Good tile drains properly laid last for years and do not fill up. 2. They furnish the cheapest possible means of removing excess of water from the soil. 3 . They are out of reach of all cultivating tools. 4. Surface water in filtering through the soil leaves its nutritious elements for plant growth. EXPERIMENTS To show the Effect of Drainage. Take two tomato cans and fill both with the same kind of soil. Puncture 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 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 with wet clay or muck from a swampy field. Plant a few seeds of the same kind in each and observe how much better the dry, warm, open soil is for growing farm crops. . SECTION VI — IMPROVING THE SOIL We hear a great deal nowadays 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 pay. Now it is true, unfortunately, that much land has been robbed of its fertility, and, because this is true, we should be deeply interested in everything that pertains to soil improvement. THE SOIL 19 When our country was first discovered and trees were growing everywhere, we had virgin soils, or. new soils that were rich and productive because they were filled with vegetable matter and plant food. There are not many virgin soils now because the trees have been cut off the best lands, and these lands have been farmed so long FIG. ii. CLOVER is A SOIL IMPROVER without much attention that the vegetable matter and available plant food have been largely used up. Now that fresh land is scarce, it is very necessary to restore fertility to these exhausted lands. What are some of the ways in which this can be done? There are several things to be done in trying to reclaim worn-out land. One of the first of these is to till the land 20 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS well. Many of you may have heard the story of the dying father who called his sons about him and whispered feebly, " There is great treasure hidden in the garden." The sons could hardly wait to bury their dead father before, thud, 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. " Let us not lose every whit of our labor ; let us plant this pick-scarred garden," said the eldest. So the garden was planted. In the fall the hitherto poor garden yielded a har- vest 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." The story applies as well to-day as it did when it was first told. Thorough culture of the soil, frequent and intelli- gent tillage, — these are the foundations of soil restoration. Along with good tillage must go hillside ditches, or terraces, and good drainage. The ditches, or terraces, are to prevent heavy rains from washing the soil and carrying away plant food. Drainage is to act with good tillage in allowing air to circulate between the soil particles and to arrange plant food so that plants can use it. Then we must add humus, or vegetable matter, to the soil. You remember that virgin soils contained a great deal of vegetable matter and plant food, but by the con- tinuous growing of crops like wheat, corn, and cotton, and by constant shallow tillage, both humus and plant food have been used up. Consequently much of our cultivated soil to-day is hard and dead. THE SOIL 21 There are three ways of adding humus and plant food to this lifeless land : the first way is to apply barnyard manure (to adopt this method means that livestock raising must be a part of all farming) ; the second way is to adopt rotation FIG. 12 Feeding swine on this worn-out field and then tilling it made the field productive of crops/and occasionally to plow under crops like clover and cowpeas ; the third way is to apply commercial fertilizers. Then, to summarize: if we want to make our soil better year by year, we must cultivate well, drain well, and in the most economical way add humus and plant food. 22 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXPERIMENT Select a small area of ground at your home and divide 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 apply nothing, but till well ; on Section D apply nothing, and till very poorly. A, £y and C should all be thoroughly plowed and harrowed. Then add barn- yard manure to A, commercial fertil- izers 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 in- creased yield of the best plats has paid for the outlay for tillage and manure. The pupil will be much interested 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 deter- mine the yield of each plat for this second crop. By following these plats for several years, and increasing the number, the pupils will learn many things of greatest value. FIG. 13 SECTION VII — MANURING THE SOIL In the early days of our history 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 Eng- land colonies and showed the colonists how, by planting a fish in each hill of corn, they could obtain larger yields. THE SOIL If people, in those days with new and fertile soils, could use manures profitably, how much more ought we to use them in our time when soils have lost their virgin fertility, when the plant food in the soil has been exhausted by years and years of cropping ! To sell ye^ar after year all the produce grown on land is a sure way to ruin it. If, for example, the richest land is planted every year in corn, and no stable or farmyard manure or other fertilizer returned to the soil, the land so treated will of course soon become too poor to grow any crop. If, on the other hand, clover or alfalfa or corn or cot- ton-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 sell, not such raw products as cotton, corn, wheat, oats, clover, but who market articles made from these raw prod- ucts, find it easier to keep their land fertile. For illustration : if instead of selling hay, farmers feed it to sheep and sell wool; if instead of selling cotton seed, they feed its meal to cows, and sell milk and butter ; if instead of selling stover, they feed it to beef cattle, they get a good price for products and in addition have all the manure needed to keep their land productive and increase its value each succeeding year. FIG. 14. RELATION OF HUMUS TO GROWTH OF CORN (i) clay subsoil ; (2) same, with fertilizer ; (3) same, with humus 24 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS If we wish to keep up the fertility of our lands, we should not allow anything to be lost from our farms. All the manures, straw, roots, stubble, healthy vines— in fact everything decomposable, should be plowed under or used as a top dressing. Especial care should be taken in stor- ing manure. It should be carefully protected from sun and rain. If a farmer has no shed under which to keep his manure, he should scatter the manure on his fields as fast as it is made. He should understand also that liquid manure is of more value than solid, because that important plant food, nitro- gen, 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 econ- omy requires that none of this escape either by leakage or by fermentation in the stables. 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 gypsum (land plaster) or muck over the stable floor. On many farms it is desirable to buy fertilizers to sup- plement the manure made upon 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, from (2) ammonium sulphate — a by-product of the gas works, from (3) dried blood and other by-products of the slaughter-houses, and from (4) cotton-seed meal. Nitrate of soda is soluble in water and may therefore be washed away THE SOIL 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 several forms. It is put upon the market as muriate of FIG. 15. THE COTTON PLANT WITH AND WITHOUT FOOD In left top pot, no plant food ; in left bottom pot, plant food scanty ; in both right pots, all elements of plant food present potash, sulphate of potash, kainit, which contains salt as an •impurity, and in other impure forms. Potash is found also in unleached wood ashes. Phosphoric acid is found in various rocks of Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina, and also to a large extent in 26 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS bones. The rocks or bones are usually treated with sul- phuric acid. This treatment changes the phosphoric acid into a form available for plant use. These three kinds of plant food are ordinarily all that we need to supply. In some cases, however, lime has to be added. Besides being a plant food itself, lime acts beneficially on most soils by improving their physical structure ; by sweetening the soil, thereby aiding the little living germs called bacteria ; by hastening the decay of organic matter; and by liberating the potash that is locked up in the soil. CHAPTER II THE SOIL AND THE PLANT SECTION VIII — ROOTS You have perhaps observed the regularity of arrange- ment in twigs and branches. Now pull up the roots of some plant, as for example sheep sorrel, Jimson 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 them away. In order to see the real construction of a root we must grow one so that we may examine it* uninjured. To do this, sprout some oats in a germinator and allow them to grow till they are two or more inches high. Now examine the roots and you .„ «...., . FIG. 16. ROOT HAIRS will see very fine hairs, similar to those J ON A K.ADISH 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 27 28 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS FIG. 17. A SLICE OF A ROOT Highly magnified inch. Fig. 17 shows a cross section, or sliced-off portion of a root, very highly magnified. You can see how the root hairs extend from the root in every direction. Fig. 1 8 shows a single root hair very greatly enlarged, with particles of sand sticking to it. These hairs are the root's feeding organs, and they are formed only very near the tips of the finest roots. You see that the large, coarse roots that you are familiar with have nothing 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. When you apply manure or other fertil- izer to the tree, remember that it is far better to supply the fertilizer to the roots that are at some distance 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 by study- ing 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 transplanted. The fine, delicate root hairs are then broken off, and the plant can keep up its food and water supply but poorly until new hairs FIG. 18. A ROOT HAIR WITH PAR- TICLES OF SOIL STICKING TO IT THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 29 have been formed. While these are forming, water has been evaporating from the leaves, and consequently the plant is insufficiently supplied, and droops. Would you not conclude that it is very poor farming to till deeply any crop after the roots have extended between Clay and Gravel Ground Water FIG. 19. DISTRIBUTION OF APPLE-TREE ROOTS the rows far enough to be disturbed by the plow or culti- vator ? 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 corn row intertangle AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS with those of another. You see at a glance how many of these roots would be destroyed by deep cultivation. Stir- ring the upper inch of soil when the plants are well grown K*P^PPPfPP^ FIG. 20. CORN ROOTS REACH FROM Row TO Row answers the ends of tillage and does no injury to the roots. A deep soil is much better than a shallow soil, as its depth makes it just so much easier for the roots to seek deep food. Fig. 21 illus- trates well how far down into the soil the alfalfa roots go. EXERCISE Dig up the roots of several cultivated plants and weeds and com- pare them. Do you find some that are fine or fibrous ? some fleshy like the carrot ? The dandelion is a good example of a tap root. Tap roots are deep feeders. Examine very carefully the roots of a medium-sized corn plant. Sift the dirt away very gently so as to THE SOIL AND THE PLANT loosen as few roots as possible. How do the roots compare in area with the part above the ground? Try to trace a single root of the corn plant from the stalk to its very tip. How long are the roots of mature plants ? Are they deep or shallow feeders ? Germinate some oats or beans in a moist chamber as suggested and observe the root hairs. SECTION IX — HOW A PLANT FEEDS FROM THE SOIL Plants receive their nourishment from two sources, — from the air and from the soil. The soil food, or mineral food, must, dissolved in water, reach the plant through the root hairs, with which all plants are provided in great numbers. Each of these hairs may be compared to a finger reaching among the par- ticles of earth for food and water. If we examine the root hairs ever so closely, we find no holes, or pores, in them. It is evident that no solid particles can enter the root hairs. All food must then pass into the root in solution. An experiment just here will help us to understand how a root feeds. Secure a narrow glass tube like the one in Fig. 22. If you cannot get a tube, a narrow, straight lamp chim- ney will, with a little care, do nearly as well. Cut from a bladder made soft by soaking, a piece large enough to cover the end of the tube or chimney and to hang over a little all around. Make the piece of blad- der secure to the end of the tube by wrapping tightly with a waxed thread, as at B. Partly fill the tube with FIG. 22. EXPERIMENT TO SHOW HOW ROOTS TAKE UP FOOD 32 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS molasses (or it may be easier in case you use a narrow tube to fill it before attaching the bladder). Put the tube into a jar or bottle of water so placed that the level of the molasses inside and the water outside will be the same. Fasten the tube in this position, and observe it frequently for three or four hours. At the end of the time you should find that the molasses in the tube has risen above the level of the liquid outside. It may even overflow at the top. If you use the lamp chimney, the rise will not be so clearly seen, since a greater volume is required to fill the space in the chimney. This increase in the contents of the tube is due to the entrance of water from the outside. The water has passed through the thin bladder, or membrane, and has come to occupy space in the tube. There is also a passage the other way, but the molasses can pass through the bladder membrane so slowly that the passage is scarcely noticeable. There are no holes, or pores, in the membrane, but still there is a free passage of liquids in both directions, although the more heavily laden solution must move more slowly. A root hair acts in much the same way as the tube in our experiment, with the exception that it is so made as to allow certain substances to pass in only one direction, that is, toward the inside. The outside of the root hair is bathed in solutions rich in nourishment. The nourishment passes from the outside to the inside through the delicate membrane of the root hair. Thus does food enter the plant root. From the root hairs, foods are carried to the inside of the root. From this you can see how important it is for a plant to have fine loose soil for its root hairs ; also how necessary is the water in the soil, since the food can be used only when it is dissolved in water. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 33 This passage of liquids from one side of a membrane to another is called osmosis, and has many uses in the plant kingdom. We say a root takes nourishment by osmosis. SECTION X — ROOT TUBERCLES Tubercle is a big word, but you ought to know how to pronounce it and what is meant by root tubercles. We are going to tell you what a root tubercle is and something about its importance to agriculture. When you have learned this, we are sure you will want to examine some plants for yourself in order that you may see just what tuber- cles look like on a real root. Root tubercles do not form on all plants that farmers grow. They are formed only on those kinds that botanists call legumes. The clovers, cowpeas, vetches, and alfalfa are all legumes. The tubercles are little knotty, wartlike growths FlG- 23- TUBERCLES ON THE ROOTS , . , OF A COWPEA on the roots of the plants just named. These tubercles are caused by bacteria, or germs, as they are sometimes called. 34 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Instead of living in nests in trees like birds or in the ground like moles and worms, these tiny germs, less than one twenty-five thousandth of an inch long, make their homes on the roots of these plants. Nestling snugly together, they live, grow, and multiply in their sunless homes. Through their activity the soil is enriched by the addition of much nitro- gen from the air. They are the good fairies of the farmer, and no magician's wand ever blessed a land as much as these invisible folk bless the land that they live in. Just as bees gather honey from the flowers, and carry 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 homes, where it can be used by other crops. You were told something in the earlier pages of this book about the food of plants. One of the main elements of plant food, perhaps you remember, is nitrogen. Just as soon as the roots of the leguminous plants begin to push down into the soil, the bacteria, or germs that make the tubercles, begin to build their homes on the roots, and I FIG. 24. SOJA BEANS AND COWPEAS, Two GREAT SOIL IMPROVERS THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 35 in so doing they add nitrogen to the soil. You now see the importance of growing such crops as peas and clover on your land, for by their active aid you can constantly add plant food to the soil. Now this much needed nitrogen is the most costly part of the fertilizers that farmers buy every year. If every farmer, then, would grow these tubercle-bearing crops, he would rapidly add to the rich- ness of his land and at the same time he would also escape the necessity of buying so much expensive fertilizer. 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 them 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 the roots. Observe the difference in size. How are they arranged ? Do all leguminous plants have equal numbers of nodules? How do these nodules help the farmer ? SECTION XI— THE ROTATION OF CROPS I am sure 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 suc- cessive years but that crops should follow one another in a regular order. Many farmers do not follow a system of farming that involves a change of crops. In some parts of the country the same fields are put to corn or wheat or cotton year 36 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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. FIG. 25. GRASS FOLLOWING CORN Now each crop uses more of some of these different kinds of foods than others do, just as you like some kinds of food better than "others. The crop, however, 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 quantities of these foods. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 37 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 nour- ish the crop that has been year by year robbing it. If that crop is to be successfully grown again upon the land, the exhausted element must be restored. This can be done in two ways: first, by finding out what element has been exhausted and then by restoring this element either by means of commercial fertilizers or manure; second, by 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. An element called nitro- gen is one of the commonest plant foods. Nitrogen 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. Most of the available nitrogen would be taken out of the soil after a while, and a new wheat crop, if planted on the field, would not get 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 a great part of the nitrogen needed for their growth from the air. 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 cannot utilize the free nitrogen of the air, and they suffer if there is an insufficient quantity present in the soil. Hence the necessity of growing legumes to supply the deficiency. 38 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Let us now see how easily plant food may be economized by the rotation of crops. If you sow wheat in the autumn, it is ready to be har- vested in June, the very month for planting cowpeas. Plow the wheat stubble under, and sow the same field to cowpeas. FIG. 26. COWPEAS AND CORN — AUGUST From photograph loaned by Director B. W. Kilgore If the wheat crop has exhausted the greater part of the nitrogen of the soil, it makes no difference ; for the cow- pea will get its nitrogen from the air, and not only provide for its own growth, but, in the queer nodules of its roots, will leave quantities of nitrogen for the crops coming after it in the rotation. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT 39 If corn be planted, there should be a rotation in just the same way. The corn plant, a summer grower, of course uses a certain portion of the plant food stored in the soil. In order that it may feed on what the corn did not use, the crop following corn should be one that requires a some- what different food. Moreover, it should be one that fits in FIG. 27. COWPEAS AND CORN — OCTOBER From photograph loaned by Director B. W. Kilgore well with corn so as to make a winter crop. We find just such a plant in clover or wheat. Like the cowpea, all the different varieties of clover have on their roots tubercles that add the important element, nitrogen, to the soil. From these facts is it not safe to conclude that if you wish to improve your land quickly and keep it always fruitful you must practice crop rotation ? AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS AN ILLUSTRATION OF CROP ROTATION Here are two systems of crop rotation as practiced at one or more agricultural experiment stations. Each furnishes an ideal plan for keeping up land : FIRST YEAR SECOND YEAR THIRD YEAR Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Corn Crimson clover Cotton Wheat Cowpeas Rye for pasture Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Com Wheat Clover and grass Clover and grass Grass Grass for pasture or meadow In these rotations the cowpeas and clovers are nitrogen crops. They not only furnish hay but they enrich the soil. The wheat, corn, and cotton are money crops, but in addi- tion they are cultivated 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 pasturage and hay. This is only a suggested rotation. Work out a rotation that suits your home need. 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 following requirements : 1 . Legumes for gathering nitrogen. 2. Money 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 is called carbon. Examine a fresh stick of charcoal and estimate how much of a plant is carbon. 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 will be surprised to know that all of the 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 taken by the roots. A large tree, weighing perhaps 11,000 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 burning substance is returned to the air in the form of gas. Some large factories burn great quan- tities of coal, and thus turn much carbon back to the air. 41 42 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS A single factory in Germany is estimated to give back to the air daily about 5,280,000 pounds of carbon. You see that the air is thus being replenished to make up for the carbon taken by the growing plants. The carbon of the air can be used by none but green plants, and by them only in the sunlight. We may com- pare 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 coloring matter of the leaves, the plant secures carbon. The carbon passes into the plant and is there made into two foods very necessary 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 in the Irish and the sweet potato, beets, cabbage, peas, and beans. These plants are used as food by man because they contain so much nourishment, that is, starch and sugar that was stored away 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. What does the turning black prove? What per cent of these substances do you 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 carry them. One passes from the roots THE PLANT 43 through the young wood to the leaves, and one, a down- ward current, passes through the bark, carrying needed food to the roots (see Fig. 28). If you should injure the roots, the water supply to the leaves would be cut off and the leaves immediately wither. On the other hand, if you remove the bark, that is, girdle the tree, you in no way interfere with the water supply and the leaves do not wither. Girdling does, however, interfere with the downward food current through the bark. If the tree be girdled, the roots sooner or later suffer from lack of food supply 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 until several months after the FlG 29 A THICKEN- girdling. Sometimes a partly girdled ING ABOVE THE WIRE branch grows much in thickness just above the girdle, as 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 FIG. 28. MOVEMENT OF THE SAP CURRENT THAT CAUSED THE GIRDLING 44 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS the bark. It could go no farther, and was therefore used by the tree to make at this point an unnatural growth. It is, then, the general law of sap movement that the upward current from the roots passes through the woody 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 injury? Girdle a single small limb on a tree. What happens? Explain. SECTION XIV — THE FLOWER AND THE SEED Some people think that the flowers by the wayside are for the purpose of beautifying the world and increasing sti «o man's enjoyment. Do you think this is true ? Undoubtedly the flower is beau- tiful, and to be beautiful is one of the uses of many flowers ; but that is not the chief use of a flower. You know that when peach or apple blossoms are nipped by the spring frost the fruit crop is in danger. The fruit of the plant bears the seed, and the flower FIG. 30. PARTS OF produces the fruit. That is its chief duty. Do you know any plant that produces seed without flowers ? Some one answers, " The corn, the elm, and maple all produce seed, but have no flower." No, sty.- THE PLANT 45 that is not correct. If you look closely you will find in the spring very small flowers on the elm and on the maple, while the ear and the tassel are really the blossoms of the corn Pistil Pistil ~,nme Stamen Stamen Petal Stigma Sepal FIG. 31. A BUTTERCUP plant. Although they may sometimes seem very curious flowers, yet every plant that produces seed has flowers. Let us see what a flower really is. Take, for example, a buttercup, cotton, tobacco, or plum blossom (see Figs. 31 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 sepals. Next on the inside is a row of colored leaves, or petals. Arranged inside of the petals are some threadlike parts, each with a knob on the end. These are the stamens. Examine one stamen closely (Fig. 33). On the knob at its tip you should find, if the flower is fully open, Ovary FIG. 32. A PLUM BLOSSOM 46 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS FIG. 33. STAMENS a, anther ; /, filament. 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 in which the pollen is borne is the anther. 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 you will find in the center 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 ovary. If you care- fully cut open this ovary, you will find in it very small immature seeds. Some plants bear all these parts in the same flower ; that is, each blos- som has stamens, pistil, petals, and sepals. The pear and tomato blossoms represent such flowers. Other plants bear their FIG. 34. TOMATO BLOSSOM stamens and pistils in separate blossoms. Stamens and pistils may even occur in separate plants, and some blossoms have no sepals or THE PLANT 47 petals at all. Look at the corn plant. Here the tassel is a cluster of many flowers, each of which bears only stamens. The ear is likewise a cluster of many flowers, each of which bears only a pistil. The dust that you see falling from the tassel is the pollen, and the long silky threads of the ear are the stigmas. Now no plant can bear seeds unless the pollen of the stamen fall upon the stigma. Corn cannot therefore make seed unless the dust of the tassel fall upon the silk. Did you ever notice how poorly the cob * r— ' is filled on a single corn FIG. 35. SQUASH BLOSSOMS — b stalk standing alone in the field ? Do you see why ? It is because that, 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 upon the same plant. This is also true of the squash (see Fig. 35). In many plants, however, 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 these plants which do not 48 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS bear pollen 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 success- fully completed is called fertilization. EXERCISE Examine several flowers and identify the parts named in the last chapter. Try in proper season to find the pollen in the maple, willow, alder, and pine, wheat, cotton, and 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 uses several interesting ways to secure pollen transportation. 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 upon 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 he visits will secure a full share on its stigma. THE PLANT 49 When flowers fit themselves to insect pollination, they can no longer use the wind, and are helpless if insects do not visit them. They therefore cunningly resort to two chief means to make sure of the visits of insects. First, they provide a sweet nectar as a repast for the insect visitor. The nectar is a sugary solution found in the bot- tom of the flower and is used by the visitor as food or to FIG. 36. BEES CARRYING POLLEN make honey. Second, flowers advertise to let the insect world know that they have something for it. The adver- tising is done by means either of showy colors or of fra- grant perfume. Insects have wonderful powers of smell. You may hereafter know that showy or fragrant flowers are advertising the presence either of nectar or pollen (to make beebread) and that they are also dependent upon insects for pollination. 50 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS A season of heavy, cold rains during blossoming time may often injure the fruit crop by preventing timely visits from insects. You now also understand why plants often refuse to produce seeds indoors. They cannot, since they are shut in, receive proper insect visits. Plants such as tomatoes or other garden fruits dependent upon insect pollination must, if raised in the greenhouse, be pollinated by hand. EXERCISE Exclude insect visitors from some flower or flower cluster, e.g. clover, by covering with a paper bag, and see if they can produce seeds that are capable of growing. Compare, as to number and vitality, the seeds of such a flower with those of an uncovered flower. Observe insects closely. Do you ever find pollen on them ? What kinds of insects visit the clover? the cowpea? the sourwood? the flax? Is wheat pollinated by insects or by 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 ? Why ? Should bees be kept in an orchard ? Why ? 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 ovary, producing the seed, the other the pollen, which is necessary to fertilize the ovary. It happens that sometimes the pollen of one blossom fertilizes the ovary of its own flower, but more often the pollen from one plant fertilizes the ovary of another plant. This latter method is called cross pollination. As a rule, cross pollination produces a stronger seed, that is, a seed THE PLANT that will produce a better plant. 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 pollination are as follows: (i) remove the anthers before they open to prevent them from pollinating the stigma (the steps in this process are illus- trated in Figs. 37, 38, and 39) ; (2) cover the flower thus treated with a paper bag to prevent access of stray pollen (see Fig. 40); (3) when the ovary is sufficiently developed, carry pollen to the stigma by hand from the anthers of another plant which you have selected to furnish it, and rebag to pre- vent access of any stray pol- len which might accidentally get in; (4) collect seed when mature and label properly. Hand pollination has this advantage, — you know both parents of your seed. If pollination occur naturally, you know the maternal but have no means of judging the paternal parent. You can readily see, therefore, how hand pollination enables you to secure seed derived from two well-behaved parents. Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant upon another. The result of such cross breeding is known as a hybrid. In FIG. 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 52 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS the animal kingdom we have in the mule a common example of this cross breeding. Plant hybrids were formerly called mules also, but this suggestive term is now about out of use. It is only when plants of two distinct kinds are crossed FIG. 38. ORANGE BLOSSOM PREPARED FOR CROSSING First, bud ; second, anthers unremoved ; third, anthers removed 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 more closely related, as, for example, an apple of st... FIG. 39. TOMATO BLOSSOM READY TO CROSS First, bud ; second, anthers unremoved ; third, anthers removed one kind with another variety of apple, the result is known simply as a cross. Hybrids and crosses are valuable in that they usually differ from both parents yet combine some of the qualities THE PLANT 53 of each, emphasizing some, omitting others. They thus often produce an interesting new kind of plant. Some- times 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 permanent by such FIG. 40 First, blossom bagged to prevent access of stray pollen ; second, fruit bagged for protection 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 variety than by some other variety. This is well illustrated in the accompanying figure (Fig. 41). A fruit grower or farmer should know much about these subjects before selecting varieties for his orchard, vine- yard, etc. 54 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Consult Bulletin 29, Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, Depart- ment of Agriculture. Read Bailey's " Plant Breeding," and then attempt to cross some plants. You must remember that many crosses must be attempted in order to gain success with even a few, SECTION XVII — PLANT PROPAGATION BY BUDS It is the business of the farmer 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, as for example the grape, red raspberry, fig, and many others that we cultivate for the flower only, such as the carnation, geranium, rose, and begonia. 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 produce just such a fine, strong, fruitful plant. We expect the cutting to make just exactly the same variety of plant as the parent stock. We must therefore decide upon the variety of berry, grape, fig, carnation, or rose that we wish to propagate, and then look for the strongest and most promising plants of this variety at our FIG. 41 Brighton pollinated by (i) Salem, (2) Creveling, (3) Lindley, (4) Brighton, (5) Self-pollinated, (6) Nectar, (7) Jefferson, (8) Niagara 55 56 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS disposal. 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, hardy, and fit for your climate and your needs ; second, it should be healthy. Do not take cuttings from a diseased FIG. 42. GERANIUM CUTTING Showing depth to which cutting should be planted plant, since the cutting may carry the disease, as it often does in the case of the chrysanthemum and carnation. 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, 44, 45). As to the age of the twig from which the cutting is to be taken, Professor Bailey THE PLANT 57 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 without breaking, it is too young and soft or too old. If it splinters, it is too old and woody." Some plants, as the geranium, succeed better if the cuttings from which they are grown are taken from soft, FIG. 43. young parts of the plant ; others, GRAPE CUTTING for example, the grape or rose, do Showing depth to which cutting better when the cutting is made should be planted r 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 cuttings are much less liable to disease. A fine, clean sand is commonly used by professional gardeners. When cuttings have rooted well, — this may require a month or more, — they may be transplanted to larger pots. Sometimes, instead of cutting off a piece and rooting that, portions of branches are made to root before they CARNAT.ON CUTT.NG AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS are separated from the parent plant. This method is often followed and is known as layering. It is a simple process. Just bend the tip of a bough down and bury it in the earth (see Fig. 47). The raspberry and blackberry form layers naturally, but man often aids them by burying the over- hanging tips in the earth, so that more tips may readily root. The strawberry develops runners that root them- selves in a similar fashion. Grafts and buds are really cuttings which, instead of being buried in sand to produce roots of their own, are placed upon the roots of other plants. Grafting and budding are practiced when these methods are more convenient than cutting or when the gardener thinks there is danger of failure to get plants to take root as cuttings. Neither grafting nor budding is, however, necessary 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 upon 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 stem and the eyes are buds. This method of propagation is therefore really a peculiar kind of cutting. FIG. 45. ROSE CUTTING THE PLANT 59 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 kind of plant our potato comes from. If our 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 next year and a correspondingly poor crop. We must see to it, then, that our seed potatoes come from vines that were good producers, because new potato plants are like the plants from which they were grown. Of course we cannot tell when our potatoes are in the bin from what kind of plants they came. We must therefore select our seed potatoes in the field. Seed potatoes should al way s b e selected from those hills . , FIG. 46. BEGONIA LEAF CUTTING that produce most bountifully. Be assured that the increased yield will richly repay this care. 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 grow- ing 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 6o AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS important to know how good a yielder you are planting. You should watch during harvest and select for propagation for the next year 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 individual of live stock 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 very best Early Rose plants to furnish our seed. It is not enough to select large, fine potatoes for cut- tings. A large potato may not produce a bountifully yielding plant. // will produce a plant like the one tJiat produced it. It may be that this one large potato was the only one pro- duced by the original plant. If so, the plant that grows from it will tend to be similarly unproductive. Thus you see the importance of selecting in the field a plant that has exactly the qualities desired 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 FIG. 47. LAYERING THE PLANT 6l that a thousand apple or other fruit or flower seeds from plants usually propagated by cuttings be planted; it may be that one out of 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. Sometimes, too, a single bud on a tree ^ will differ from other buds and will produce a branch different from other branches. This is known as bud varia- tion. When there is thus developed a branch which happens to be of 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 FlG- 48. CURRANT , , , ,TT , . , T . . , CUTTING and named the Wealthy apple. It is said that in giving this one apple to the world he benefited the world to the value of more than one million dollars. You must not let any valuable bud or seed variant be lost. 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. 62 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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. Peaches: bud upon peach or plum seedlings. Quinces: use cuttings or layering. Blackberries: layer; remove old stem after fruiting. Raspberries: layer; remove old stem. Red raspberries: propagate by root cuttings. Strawberries: propagate by runners. Currants and gooseberries: use long cuttings (these plants grow well only in cool climates. If attempted in warm climates, set in cold exposure). Carnations, geraniums, roses, begonias, etc. : propagate by cuttings rooted in sand and then transplanted to small pots. EXERCISE Propagate fruits -(grape, fig, strawberry) of various kinds ; also ornamental 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? Try a careful selection of seed at next harvest 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, THE PLANT 63 but a piece of one plant only; while a seed comes from the parts of two plants. You will understand this fully if you read carefully Sects. XIV, XV, and XVI. Since the seed is made of two plants, the plant that springs from a seed is much more likely to differ from its mother plant, that is, from the plant that produces the seed, than is a plant produced merely by buds. In some cases plants " come true to seed " very accurately. In others they vary greatly. For example, when we plant the seed of wheat, turnips, rye, onions, tomatoes, tobacco, or cotton, we get plants that are in most respects like the parent plant. On the other hand, the seed of a Crawford peach, or a Baldwin apple, or a Bartlett pear will not produce plants like its parent, but will rather resemble its wild ancestors of years ago. These seedlings, thus taking after their ancestors, are always far inferior to our present cultivated forms. In such cases seeding is not practicable, and we must resort to bud propagation of one sort or another. While, in a few plants like those just mentioned, the seed does not " come true," most plants, as for example cotton, tobacco, and others, do "come true." When we plant King cotton, we may expect to raise King cotton. There will, however, be some or even considerable variation in the field, as every one knows. 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 believe that the plant will be in the main like its parent. What should we learn from this? Surely that if we wish to produce sturdy, healthy, productive plants we must go into our field and pick out just such plants to FIGS. 49 AND 50. CHRYSANTHEMUM AND ASPARAGUS 64 THE PLANT 65 secure seed from as we wish to produce another year. If we wait until 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 good plants, and must be content with a crop of just such stock as we have planted. By selecting seed from the most productive plants in the field, and by repeating the selection each year, you can continually improve the breed of the plant you are raising. In applying this to cotton you may follow the plan suggested for wheat below. FIG. 51. Two VARIETIES OF FLAX FROM ONE PARENT STOCK After original in " Year Book," United States Department of Agriculture The difference that you see between the wild and cul- tivated chrysanthemums and the samples of asparagus shown in Figs. 49 and 50 was brought about by just such continuous seed selection. By the careful selection of seed from the longest flax plants, the increase in length shown in the accompanying figure was attained. The selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed, but regardless of the height of the plant, has produced flax like that to the right in the illus- tration. These two kinds of flax are from the same parent 66 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS stock, but slight differences have been emphasized by con- tinued seed selection, until we now have really two varieties of flax, one a heavy seed bearer, the other producing a long fiber. You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop. Sugar beets have been made by seed selection to produce about double the percentage of sugar that they did a few years ago. It costs too much and is too laborious to prepare and to till land to allow it to be planted with poor seed. The following are the qualities of the parent plant that ought to be sought for in trying by seed selection to improve the yield of the cotton stalk: 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 drought. The plan of choosing seeds from selected plants may be applied to wheat; but it would be too time-consuming to select enough single wheat plants to furnish all of the seed wheat for 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 fur- nish 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 harvest cull not from the whole field but from the finest plants of plat B, and again save these as seed for plat B. Use the unculled seed from plat B to sow your crop. By following THE PLANT 67 this plan continuously you will have every year seed from several generations of choice plants, and will each year improve your seed. It is of course advisable to move your seed plat B every year or two. Select for the new plat land that has recently been planted in legumes. Always give this plat unwearying care. In this selection of plants from which to get seed, you must know what kind of plants are really the best seed plants. FIG. 52 First, you must not regard single heads or grains, but must select seed from the 'most perfect plant, looking at the plant as a whole and not at any single part of it. A first con- sideration is yield. Select the plants that yield best and are at the same time resistant to drouth, resistant to rust and to winter, early to ripen, plump of grain, and non- shattering. 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 would 68 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS probably be also 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 year 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 yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre, in the United States less than fifteen bushels ! In some states the yield is even less than nine bushels an acre. Let us select our seed with care, as the English people do, and then we can increase our yield. By careful seed selec- tion a plant breeder in Minnesota increased the yield of his wheat by one fourth. Think of what it would mean if twenty-five per cent were added to the world's supply of wheat at comparatively no cost, that is, the mere cost of careful seed selection. This would mean an addition to the world's income of about $500,000,000 each year. The United States would get about one fifth of this profit. It often happens that a single plant in the crop of corn, cotton, or wheat will be far superior to all others in the field. Such a plant deserves special care. Do not use it merely as a seed plant, but carefully plant its seeds apart and tend carefully. The following season select the best of its offspring as favorites again. Repeat this selection and culture for several years until you fix the variety. This is the way new varieties 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 THE PLANT 69 enough seed to distribute over the country. It became known as the Fultz wheat, and is to-day one of the best varieties in the United States and in a number of foreign countries. Think how many bushels of wheat have been added to the world's annual supply by a few moments of intelligent observation and action on the part of this one man ! I^e 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, cotton, 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 and the poor plat will more than pay in the lesson that it will teach you. Read page 68, Bulletin 24, of the Division of Vegetable Physi- ology and Pathology of the Department of Agriculture or the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1896 (pages 489-498), which you can get by writing to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. Write to the Department of Agriculture for any bulletins that they can give you on plant breeding. SECTION XIX — SELECTING SEED CORN If a farmer would raise good crops, he must select good seed. Many of the farmer's disappointments in the quan- tity and quality of his crops, disappointments often attrib- uted to other causes, are the result of planting poor seed. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Seeds not fully ripened, if they grow at all, produce imper- fect plants. Good seeds, therefore, are the first things necessary for a good crop. The seed of only perfect plants should be saved. By judicious and persistent selection, made in the field before the crop is fully matured, corn can be improved to an almost unlimited extent in size and early maturity. Gather only ears from the most productive plants, and save only the largest and most perfect kernels. I am sure that you have seen the common American blackbirds that usually migrate and feed in such large numbers. They all look alike in every way. Now has it ever occurred to you to ask why all blackbirds are black? The blackbirds are black simply because their parents are black. Now in the same way that the young blackbirds resemble their parents, corn FIG. 53. THE KIND OF wm resemble its parent stock. How EAR TO SELECT f -. r i many ears of corn do you find on a stalk ? One, two, sometimes three or four. You find two ears of corn 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, while some- times it is the nature of others to produce three. This resemblance of offspring to parent is known to scientists as heredity, or as "like producing like." . We can take advantage of this law in improving our THE PLANT 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 just twice as much corn from a field in which the "two-eared" variety is planted. This fact ought to be very helpful to us next year when our fathers are planting corn. We should get them to plant seed secured only from stalks that pro- duced the most corn. 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 yet no more work will be required to raise the crop. In addition to enlarg- ing the yield of corn, you can by proper selec- tion of the best and most productive plants in the 1 field grow a new variety of seed corn. To do this FlG-,54- you need only take the largest and most perfect kernels from stalks bearing two ears ; plant these, and at the next harvest again save the best kernels from stalks bearing two or more ears. If you keep up this practice with great care for several years, you will get a vigorous, fruitful variety that will command a high price for seed. SELECT SEED FROM STALK ON LEFT AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXPERIMENT Every school boy and girl can make this experiment at leisure. From your own field get two ears of corn, one from a stalk bear- ing only one ear and the other from a stalk bearing two well-grown ears. Plant the 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 FIG. 55- IMPROVEMENT OF CORN BY SELECTION Boone County white corn on left, and original type from which it was developed by selection on right. From original furnished by the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture same fertilizer. Cultivate both plats in the same way. When the crop is ready to harvest, husk the corn, count the ears, and weigh the corn. Then write a short essay on the way you did the work and on your results. Get your teacher to read and correct your writing, and then send your essay to your home paper and to some agricultural paper. THE PLANT SECTION XX — WEEDS Have you ever noticed that some weeds are killed by one particular method, while this same method may entirely fail with 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 that 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- vent the plant from making seed in its first year, there will not be many 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 produce FIG. 56. PIGWEED plants, but the number will be very much diminished. If care be exercised to prevent the pigweed from seeding again, and the same watchfulness be continued for a few seasons, the pigweed will be almost entirely driven from our fields. 74 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS A plant like the pigweed, which lives only one year, is called an annual, and is one of the easiest of weeds to •destroy. Mustard, plantain, chess, dodder, cockle, crab grass, and Jimson weed are a few of our most disagree- able annual weeds. The very best time to kill any weed is when it is very 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 differs from an annual, for it lives throughout one whole year without producing seeds. During its first year it accumulates a quantity of nourish- ment in the root, then rests over winter, and in the fol- lowing summer it uses this nourishment rapidly in the production of flowers and seeds. Then the plant dies. Plants that live through two seasons in this way 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 FIG. 57. WILD CARROT THE PLANT 75 handle (see Fig. 58). If biennials are not cut low enough, they will branch out anew and make many seeds. The most common biennials are the thistle, moth mullein, wild car- rot, wild parsnip, and burdock. FIG. 58. A SPUD FIG. 59. HOUND'S TONGUE A third group of weeds consists of those that live for more than two years. These weeds are usually most diffi- cult to kill. They propagate by means of running root- stocks as well as by seeds. ' Plants that live more than two seasons are known as perennials and include, for exam- ple, many grasses, dock, Canada thistle, poison ivy, passion, flower, horse nettle, etc. There are many methods of AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 cover- ing them with boards or a straw stack or in some other convenient way. A method that is very effective is to smother the weeds by a dense growth of some other plant, for example, cowpeas or buckwheat. Cowpeas are to be preferred, since they also enrich the soil by the nitrogen that the root tubercles gather. Weeds do injury in numerous ways: they shade the crop, steal its nourishment, and waste its moisture. Perhaps their only service is to make lazy people till their crops. EXERCISE You should learn to know by name the twenty worst weeds of your vicin- ity and to recognize their seeds. If there are any weeds you are not able to recognize, send a sample to your State Experiment Station. Make a collection, properly labeled, of weeds and weed seeds for your school. Procure from the Department of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletin 28 on " Weeds and How to Kill Them." FIG. 60. CANADA THISTLE THE PLANT 77 SECTION XXI — SEED PURITY AND VITALITY Seeds produce plants. The difference between a large and a small yield may depend upon the kind of plants we raise, and the kind of plant in turn is dependent upon the seeds that we sow. Two considerations are important in the selection of seeds, — namely, purity and vitality. Seeds should be pure ; that is, when sown 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 in 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 seeds of cultivated plants is short : for example, the tomato lives four years; corn, two years; onion, two years ; radish, five years. The cucumber seed may retain life after ten years, though even with it, the older the seed the poorer. It is important when buying seeds of dealers to test these two properties of seeds, — purity and vitality. Unscrupu- lous dealers often sell old seeds, although they know that seeds decrease in value with age. Sometimes, however, to 78 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS cloak dishonesty they mix some new seeds with the old, or bleach old and yellow seeds in order to make them resemble fresh, new seed. It is important, therefore, that all seeds bought of dealers should be thoroughly examined and tested ; for if seeds 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 field that we shall not get full use of the land, and may thus suffer a more serious loss than merely paying for a few dead seeds. To test the vitality of seeds, plant one hundred seeds in a pot of earth or in damp sand, or place between moist pieces of flannel, and take care to keep them moist and warm. Count those that germinate and thus determine the percentage of vitality. Germinating between flannel is much quicker than planting in earth. Care should be used to keep mice away from germinating seeds. (See Fig. 61.) A B FIG. 61. A SEED GERMINATOR Consisting of two soup plates, some sand, and a piece of cloth Sometimes the appearance of a package will indicate 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 the seeds you wish to plant, but often THE PLANT 79 certain weed seeds are so nearly like certain crop seeds that the weed seeds are not easily recognized by the eye. Thus, for example, 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 buy and study the appear- ance of crop seeds, you may become very expert in recognizing seeds that have no Tube i represents one pound of redtop grass as place in your planting. b^t ; 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 3 4 FIG. 62 seed in Tube i I know of one instance where a seed dealer intentionally allowed an impurity of 30 per cent to remain in the crop seeds, and this impurity was mainly of weed seeds. There were 450,000 of one kind and 288,000 of another in each pound of seed. Think of planting weeds at that rate! Sometimes 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. SO AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS EXERCISE Examine seeds both for 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 eighty per cent bad? Can you recognize the seeds of the principal 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. FIG. 63. A YOUNG FRUIT GROWER From Hodge's " Nature Study and Life," Ginn & Company Si 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 try the following plan. In the fall take the seed of an apple — a crab is good — and keep it in a cool place during the winter. The simplest way to do this is to bury 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 year of its life ; hence you should give it rich soil and protect it from animals. Before the ground freezes in the fall take up your young tree with the soil that was around it and keep it all winter in a cool, damp place. Now it will not do when spring comes to set out your 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 young 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, there- fore, what kind of apple seed we plant, since in any event we have no assurance that the tree grown from it will bear a fruit worth having unless we force it to do so. 82 HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE SECTION XXII — GRAFTING By a process known as grafting you can force your tree to produce whatever variety of apple you desire. Many people raise fruit trees directly from seed without graft- ing. They thus often produce really worthless trees. By grafting they would make sure not only of having good trees rather than poor ones but also of having the par- ticular kind of fruit that they wish; hence you must now graft your tree. First you must decide what variety of apple you want to grow o on your tree. The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple. The Winesap is a good winter apple, while the Red Astrachan is a profitable early apple, especially in the lowland of the coast region. The North- ern Spy, JEsop, and Spitzenberg are also admirable species. Pos- sibly some other apple that you know may suit your taste and needs better. If you 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 thick- ness of your young tree at the point where you wish to graft. Be careful to take your shoot from a vigorous, healthy part of the tree. FIG. 64. TONGUE GRAFTING 84 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS / s \ \ There are many ways in which you may join your chosen shoot or twig upon your young tree, but perhaps the best 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, , larva, or maggot ; c, pupa; d, adult male. (All enlarged.) From Hodge's " Nature Study and Life," Ginn & Company the beetle is at rest its two hard wings meet in a straight line down the back. This peculiarity distinguishes it from the true bug, which has four wings. The two outer wings are partly horny, and in folding lap over each other. Butterflies and moths are much alike in appearance, but differ in habit. The butterfly works by day and the moth by night. Note the knob on the end of the butterfly's feeler. The moth has no such knob. ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 121 a FIG. no. A BUG side view of sucking, mouth part It is important to know how insects take their food, for by knowing this we are able oftentimes to destroy insect pests. Some are pro- vided with mouth parts fitted to bite their food ; others have a long tube with which they pierce plants or animals, and, like the mosquito, suck their food from the in- side. The insects of this latter class cannot of course be harmed by poison on the surface of the leaves on which they feed. Many insects change their form from youth to old age so much that you can scarcely recognize them as the same beings. First comes the egg. The egg hatches into a wormlike animal known as grub, or caterpillar, or more accurately larva. This creature settles down and spins a home of silk, called a cocoon (Fig. 115).' If we open the cocoon, we shall find that the animal is now covered with a hard outside skeleton, and that it cannot move freely, and that FIG. in. BEETLE Larva, pupa, adult, and burrow 122 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS it cannot eat at all. An animal in this state is known as the pupa (Figs. 115 and 119). Sometimes, however, the pupa is not covered by a cocoon, is soft, and has some power of motion. After a rest in the pupa stage, the animal emerges as a mature insect (Figs. 112 and 113). FIG. 112. MOTH AND COCOON From Hodge's " Nature Study and Life," Ginn & Company From this you can see that it is especially important to know all the steps in the life of injurious insects, since it is often easier to kill the pest at one stage of its life than at another. Sometimes we do better to aim at the appar- ently harmless beetle or butterfly than to try to destroy the FIG. 113. BUTTERFLY From Dickerson's " Moths and Butterflies," Ginn & Company Thorax of Butterfly Abdomen, of Buiterity ^ / " ^c- , ' True Legs Spiracle Prole'gs- (ButterftyLegs) (Temporary Caterpillar Structures) FIG. 114. STRUCTURE OF THE CATERPILLAR From Dickerson's " Moths and Butterflies," Ginn & Company 123 124 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS larvae that hatch from its eggs, since, as you must remem- ber, it is generally the larvae that do most harm. While in the larval stage, growth is very rapid; therefore the food supply must be very great to meet the insect's needs. FIG. 115. MOTH PUPA IN COCOON From Dickerson's " Moths and Butterflies," Ginn & Company Some insects, like the grasshopper, do not completely change form. Fig. 117 represents young grasshoppers, which very closely resemble their parents. Insects lay many eggs and reproduce with wonderful rapidity. They thus make up in number what they lack ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 125 in size. The queen honeybee often lays as many as four thousand eggs in twenty-four hours. A single house fly lays between one hundred and two hundred eggs in one night. The mosquito lays eggs in quantities of from two hundred to four hundred. The white ant often lays eighty thousand in a day, and so continues for two years, probably laying no less than forty million eggs. The blue- bottle fly in one summer has five hundred million descend- ants. The plant louse at the end of the fifth brood in a single year has laid six trillion eggs, and that is not all of which she is capable. Of course every one knows that owing to enemies and disease comparatively few of the insects hatched from these eggs live to be grown. k. EXERCISE FIG. 116. A BUTTERFLY PUPA Note outline of butterfly. (From Dick- erson's "Moths and Butterflies," Ginn & Company) FIG. 117 THE GROWTH OF A GRASS- HOPPER Collect cocoons and pupae of insects and hatch them in a breed- ing cage similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 119. Make several cages of this kind. Collect larvae of several kinds ; supply them with food from plants upon 126 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS which you found them. Find out the time it takes them to change into another stage. Write a description of this process. The plant louse produces in its twelfth brood 10,000,000,000,000,. 000,000,000 offspring. These are about one tenth of an inch long. If all should live, how many miles long would such a procession be if arranged in single file? FIG. 1 1 8. PLANT LICE FIG. 119. CAGE IN WHICH TO BREED INSECTS Flowerpot, lamp chimney, and cloth. (From a photograph furnished by Mrs. Anna B. Comstock, Cornell University.) SECTION XXX — ORCHARD INSECTS The San Jose Scale was one of the most dreaded enemies of fruit trees. It is in fact an outlaw in many states. It is an illegal act to sell fruit trees affected by it. Fig. 120 shows a view of a branch nearly covered with this pest. ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 127 Although this scale is a very minute animal, yet so rapidly does it multiply that it is very dangerous to the tree. Never allow new trees to be brought into your orchard without positive knowledge that they are free from the scale. If, however, this scale should in any way gain access to your orchard, you can prevent its spreading by FIG. 120. SAN Jos£ SCALE FIG. 121. SINGLE SAN Jos6 SCALE From a drawing furnished by the (Magnified.) From an engraving furnished by United States Department of Agriculture the United States Department of Agricul- ture thorough spraying with what is known as the lime-sulphur- salt mixture. This mixture has long been used on the Pacific coast as a remedy for various scale insects. When it was first tried in other parts of the United States, the results were not satisfactory, and its use was abandoned. However, later experiments with it have proved that this mixture is thoroughly effective in killing this scale, and that it is perfectly harmless to the trees. Until its utility 128 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS was proved, the San Jose scale was a most dreaded nursery and orchard foe. It was even thought necessary to destroy trees when they became infected. This lime-sulphur-salt mixture and some modifications of it, known as sulphur washes, not only kill the San Jose scale but are also useful in reducing fungous injury. FIG. 122. THE CODLING MOTH a, burrow of worm in apple ; 3, place where egg was laid ; e, the larva ; d, the pupa ; i, the cocoon ; f and g; moths There are several ways of making the lime-sulphur-salt mixture. If you find the scale on your trees, write to your State Experiment Station for directions for combating it. The Codling Moth attacks the apple, causing oftentimes a loss of from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent of the FIG. 123. A TRAP FOR THE CODLING MOTH The end of the lower band has been turned back to the left to show cocoons of the moth. (From a photograph furnished by J. M. Aldrich of the Experi- ment Station of Idaho.) 129 130 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS crop. In the state of New York this insect causes an annual loss of about three million dollars. The effect on the fruit is readily seen in Fig. 122. The moth lays the egg on the young apple just after the fall of the blossom. She flies from apple to apple, depositing an egg each time until from fifty to three hundred eggs are deposited. The larva, or " worm," soon hatches and eats its way into the apple. The affected apples ripen too soon and drop as " wind- falls." The larva then emerges from the apple, 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 ready to start a new generation. The last generation of the season spends the winter in the cocoon. Treatment. Destroy orchard trash which may serve as winter quarters. Spray the tree with Paris green as soon as the flowers fall. Trap the worms by cloth bands wrapped about the tree trunk about four weeks after the blossoms fall. The following is a practical way of trap- ping. Make four-inch bands of cotton flannel, burlap, or heavy paper, and fasten them closely around the trunk (Fig. 123). Since the moth nearly always climbs the tree in search of a place to spin its cocoon, and stops under the first shelter, this band will catch most of them. Collect and destroy the larvae or cocoons that you secure once every six days. As many as one hundred and ten larvae have been thus caught on one tree in one week. If these had all emerged as moths, how many apples could they have destroyed? It is best to use the Bordeaux-Paris-green mixture for a spray. This prevents fungi and insects by one spraying (see Appendix). ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 131 The Plum Curculio, sometimes called the plum weevil, is a little fellow about one fifth of an inch long, that, notwith- standing its diminutive size, does, if neglected, great damage to our fruit crop. It injures the fruit by stinging it as soon as it is formed. The word stinging when applied to insects, and this case is no exception, means piercing the object with the egg-layer (ovipositor) and depositing the egg. Some insects occasionally use the ovipositor merely for defense. The curculio has an especially interesting FIG. 124. PLUM CURCULIO Larva, pupa, adult, and mark on the fruit. (Enlarged.) method of laying its egg. First she digs a hole, places the egg in it, and pushes it well down. Then she makes a crescent-shaped cut with her snout in the skin of the plum around the egg. This mark is shown in Fig. 1 24. As this peculiar cut is followed by a flow of gum, you will always be able to recognize the work of the curculio. Having fin- ished with one plum, this industrious worker shows similar courtesy to other plums until her eggs are all laid. The maggot -like larva soon hatches, burrows through the fruit, and causes it to drop before ripening. The larva then enters 132 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS the ground to a depth of several inches. There it becomes a pupa, and then a mature beetle that emerges to winter in cracks and crevices. Treatment. Burn orchard trash which may serve as winter quarters. When the curculio is laying its eggs, it may be made to fall to the ground by jarring the tree. After its fall it will remain quiet for a few minutes, " play- ing possum." By spreading a sheet under the tree and jarring the tree we can collect and destroy enough insects to pre- vent serious injury. Jar the tree by striking a dead branch or by strik- ing the tree with a heavy stick wrapped in cloth. Neither of these methods of jarring will injure the bark. If you have many FIG. 125. LEAF GALLS OF PHYLLOXERA trees to treat» >'ou wil1 ON CLINTON GRAPE LEAF save time by stretching sheets on frames. 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. This 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. ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS 133 FIG. 126 THE CANKERWORM Treatment. The Clinton grape is most liable to injury from this pest. Hence it is better to grow other more resistant kinds. If the lice disturb the roots, apply carbon disulphide, one part of disulphide to three parts of hot water. Cover closely with earth the part treated, to prevent the evaporation of the mixture. The Cankerworm is the larva of a moth. Because of its peculiar mode of crawling, by looping its body, it is often called the looping worm or measuring worm (Fig. 127, c). 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 practically destroys the crop and does permanent injury to the tree. The worm is green or brown and is striped lengthwise. If the tree is jarred, the worm has a peculiar habit of dropping 134 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS toward the ground on a silken thread of its own making (Fig. 126). In early summer the larvae burrow within the earth, pupate, and later emerge as adults (Fig. 127, ^/and e). You observe the peculiar difference between the wingless female, d, and the winged male, e. It is the habit of this wingless FIG. 127. THE SPRING CANKERWORM a, egg mass ; 'b, egg, magnified ; c, larva ; d, female moth ; 0 O o0 'Qi>o ° B o°oo' 0 °0O°°?00 o OAr> O O ° o ° g o o n 0 CJ 0Q o°OopO>o0000o °o° -OQb^O o' °o ?o0°° Qo °0 FIG. 200. MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF PURE AND IMPURE MILK First, pure milk ; second, milk after standing in a warm room for a few hours in a dirty dish, showing, besides the fat globules, many forms of bacteria want to tell you what these same living forms have to do with the souring of milk, and maybe I can also suggest how you can prevent your milk from souring. In the first 226 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS place, milk sours because bacteria from the air fall into the milk, begin to grow, and very shortly change the sugar of the milk to an acid. When this acid becomes abundant, the milk begins to curdle. As I have said, the bacteria are in the air, in water, in barn dust ; they stick on bits of hay and 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 will sour very 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 dairy, yet people some- times do what amounts to the same thing, — that is, put fresh milk into poorly cleaned pails or pans, the cracks and corners of which are cosy homes for millions of germs left from the last sour milk contained in the vessel. It follows, then, that all utensils used in the dairy 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 barn just before milking. Such dusty work as pitching hay or stover or arranging bedding should be done either long before or after 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 addi- tion to being filthy, lessens the keeping power of the milk. The milker should also moisten the parts of the cow nearest him, so that dust from the cow's sides may not fall into FARM DAIRYING 227 the milker's pail. For greater cleanliness and safety many milkmen curry their cows. The first few streams from each teat should be thrown away, because the teat at its mouth is filled with milk which, being 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 throwing 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 sev- eral hours or even days longer than milk carelessly handled. By taking these steps to prevent germs from falling into the milk, a can of milk was once kept sweet for thirty-one days. The work of the germ in the dairy is not, however, con- fined to souring the milk. It is the germ that gives to the different kinds of cheeses their characteristic flavors and to the 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 unpleas- ant meddlers, thoroughly cleanse and scald every utensil. EXERCISE What causes milk to sour ? Why do unclean utensils affect the milk? How should milk be cared for to prevent its souring? Prepare two samples, one carefully, the other carelessly. Place them side by side. Which keeps longer ? Why ? Write to the Depart- ment of Agriculture for Farmers' Bulletin, No. 63, on " Care of Milk on the Farm." CHAPTER X MISCELLANEOUS SECTION L — GROWING FEEDING 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 you understand bulky food, like hay, grass, clover, stover, etc. 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. Every farm should raise all its feed stuff. In deciding what forage and grain crops to grow we should decide upon : 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 most protein. 4. The crops that produce the most. 5 . The crops that will keep our soil in best condition. I. Crops best suited to our soil and climate. Farm crops, as every child of the farm knows, are not equally adapted to all soils and climates. Cotton cannot be pro- duced where the climate is cool and the seasons short. Timothy and blue grass are most productive on cool, lime- stone soils. Cowpeas demand warm, dry soils. But in spite of climatic limitations, nature has been generous in the wide variety of forage she has given us. Our aim should be to make the best use of what we have, to improve by selection and care those species best adapted 228 MISCELLANEOUS 229 to our soil and climate, and by better methods of growing and curing to secure greatest yields at least possible cost. 2. Crops best suited to our line of business. A farmer necessarily becomes a specialist : he gathers those kinds of live stock about him which he likes best and which he finds most profitable. He should, in carrying on his busi- ness, do the same with crops. The successful railroad manager determines by practical experience what distances his engines and crews ought to FIG. 201. FEEDING TIME 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 ? Ought he not to know his farm as the railroad manager knows his road ? Should not 230 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS his past failures and his past triumphs decide his future? If he be a dairy 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 rais- ing 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. Crops that will give us most protein. It is the farmer's business to grow all the grass and forage that his farm animals need. He ought never to be obliged to pur- chase a bale of forage. Moreover, he should grow mainly those kinds of crops that are rich in protein materials, such for example as cowpeas, alfalfa, and clover. If these kinds of crops are produced on the farm, there will be little need of buying cotton-seed meal, corn, and bran, for feeding purposes. 4. Crops 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, the one that is the best and most productive. Corn, for instance, yields at least twice the quantity of feeding material an acre that timothy does. 5. Crops that will keep our soil in best condition. A good farmer should always be thinking of improving his soil. He wants his land to support him, and to maintain his children after he is dead. 23I 232 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Since cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa add atmospheric nitro- gen to the soil and at the same time are the best feeding materials, it follows that these crops should hold an impor- tant place in every system of crop rotation. By proper rotating, by proper terracing, and by proper drainage, land may be made to retain its fertility for generations. QUESTIONS 1. Why are cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa so important to the farmer? 2. What is meant by the protein of a food ? 3. Why is it better to feed farm crops on the farm to animals rather than sell these crops ? SECTION LI — FARM TOOLS AND MACHINES The drudgery of farm life is diminished in a large meas- ure by the constant invention or improvement of farm tools and machines. You each know, perhaps, how tire- some is the old up-and-down churn dasher that has now pretty generally given place to the "quick coming" churns. The toothed, horse-drawn cultivator has about displaced " the man with the hoe." The grass sickle, slow and back-breaking, is everywhere getting out of the way of the horse mower and rake. The old heavy, sweat- drawing grain cradle is slinking into the backwoods, and in its place we have the horse, or steam-drawn harvester that cuts and binds the grain, and even threshes and measures it at one operation. Instead of the plowman wearily making one furrow at a time, the gang plows of the plains cut many furrows at one time, and instead FIG. 204. THE HARVESTER AT WORK FIG. 205. IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT 233 234 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS of walking the plowman rides. The shredder and husker turns the hitherto useless cornstalk into savory food, and at the same time husks, or shucks, the corn. The farmer of the future must know three things well : first, what machines he can profitably use ; second, how to manage these machines ; third, how to care for these machines. This machinery that makes farming so much more eco- nomical, and that makes the farmer's life 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 every farmer to have a separate tool house, he should at least set apart a room in his barn 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 be carefully housed. Such care, which is neither costly nor burdensome, will add many years to the life of the machine. SECTION LII — BIRDS What do birds do in the world ? is an important ques- tion for us to think about. First, we must gain by obser- vation and by personal acquaintance with the living birds a knowledge 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. MISCELLANEOUS 235 Think of what the birds are doing on every farm, in every garden, and about every home in the land. Think of the millions of beautiful wings, of the graceful and attractive figures, of the cunning nests, and of the singing throats ! Do you think that the whole service of the birds is to be beautiful, to sing beautifully, and to rear their little ones ? By no means is this their chief service to man. Aside from these values, their greatest work is to destroy insects. It is one of the wise provisions of nature that many of the most brilliantly winged and the most enchanting songsters are our most practical friends. Not all birds feed upon 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 wholly or almost wholly upon insects. These are called insectivorous birds. Chief among these are the warblers, cuckoos, swallows, martins, flycatchers, night hawks, whippoorwills, swifts, and hum- ming birds. We cannot have too many of these birds. They should be encouraged and protected. They should be supplied with shelter and water. FIG. 206. A KINGBIRD 236 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Birds of the second class feed by preference upon fruits, nuts, and grain, — the bluebird, robin, wood thrush, mock- ing bird, catbird, chickadee, cedar bird, meadow lark, oriole, jay, crow, and woodpecker belong to this group. Those that winter with us — the chickadee, nuthatch, brown creeper, and woodpecker — perform a service for us by devouring many weed seeds. The third class is known as hard-billed birds. It includes those birds that live principally upon seeds and grain, — the canary, goldfinch, sparrows, 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 cutworms. The chipping sparrow and the wren in the shrubbery look out for all kinds of insects. They watch over the orchard and feed freely upon the enemies of the apple and other fruit trees. The trunks of these trees are often attacked by borers, which gnaw holes in the bark and wood, and often cause the death of the trees. The wood- peckers hunt for these 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 lice work. These are devoured by the nuthatches, creepers, and chickadees. In winter, the bark is the hiding place for hibernating insects, like plant lice, which in summer feed upon the leaves. Throughout the winter a single chickadee will destroy immense numbers of the eggs of the cankerworm moth and the plant louse. The blackbirds, meadow larks, crows, quail, and sparrows are the great protectors of the MISCELLANEOUS 237 meadow and field crops. These birds feed upon the army worms and cutworms that do so much injury to the young shoots ; they also destroy the chinch bug and the grass- hopper, both of which feed upon cultivated plants. A count of all the different kinds of animals shows that insects make up nine tenths of the animals. Hence it is easy to see that if something did not check their increase they would soon almost take the earth. Our forests and or- chards furnish homes and breeding places for most of these insects. Suppose the injurious insects were allowed to multiply unchecked in these forests, their numbers would so increase that they would invade our fields and create as FIG. 207. A WARBLER much terror among the farmers as they did in Pharaoh's Egypt. The birds are the only direct friends man has to destroy these harm- ful insects. What benefactors, then, these little 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 neighboring orchards and fields. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Do not imagine, however, that to destroy insects is the only use of birds. By care we can surround ourselves with a world of birds, sweet of song and brilliant of plumage. Surely the day is more charmingly spent when the birds sing, and when they flit in and out, giving us a glimpse now and then of \ .• / their pretty coats and quaint ways. If the birds felt that man was a friend and not a foe, they would often turn to him for pro- tection. During times of severe storm, extreme drought, scarcity of food, if the birds were sufficiently Earned 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 afterward would repay the outlay a thousand- fold. 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 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 FIG. 208. THE HAIRY WOODPECKER MISCELLANEOUS 239 right way. We must know what materials to provide for them. Bits of string, linen, cotton, yarn, tow, all help to induce a pair to build in the garden. It is an interesting study, — the preparation of homes for the birds. Trees may be pruned to make inviting crotches. A tangled, overgrown corner in the garden will invite 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 FIG. 209. PROTECTING OUR FRIENDS From Hodge's " Nature Study and Life," Ginn & Company and make it eight inches high. Old, weathered boards should be used; or, if paint is employed, a dull color to resemble an old tree trunk will be most inviting. A single opening near the top should be made two inches 240 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 serves 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 LIII — LIFE IN THE COUNTRY As ours is a country in which the people rule, every boy and every 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." Happy 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 country schoolhouses and grounds. Third, good country schools. Fourth, good roads. If the thousands upon thousands of pupils in our schools would become active workers for these things, and con- tinue their work through life, then, in less than half a cen- tury, 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 FIG. 210. BEAUTY FROM FLOWERS AND GRASS FIG. 211. A MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, COUNTRY ROAD From a photograph furnished by the United States Department of Agriculture 241 242 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 homes of neighbors, to school, to post office, to church, is a step taken towards keeping on the farm the very boys and girls who are most apt to succeed there. Not every man who lives in the country can have a showy or costly home, but as long as grass and flowers and vines and trees grow, any man who wishes can have an inviting-looking house. Not every 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 willing to take a little trouble can have a cozy, tastefully fur- nished 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 hungry minds just as they feed hungry bodies. Agricultural papers that arouse the interest and quicken the thought of farm boys by discussing the best, easiest, and cheapest ways of farming ; journals full of dainty suggestions for household adornment and comfort ; illus- trated papers and magazines that amuse and brighten every member of the family; books that rest tired bodies, — all of these are so cheap that the money reserved from the sale of one hog will keep a family fairly supplied for a year. If the parents, teachers, and pupils of a school join hands, an unsightly, ill-furnished, ill-lighted, ill-ventilated 243 244 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS schoolhouse can at small cost be changed into one of com- fort and beauty. In many places pupils have persuaded their FIG. 213. AN UNIMPROVED SCHOOLHOUSE 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 sown, flowers, shrubbery, FIG. 214. AN IMPROVED SCHOOLHOUSE vines, and trees planted, and the grounds tastefully laid off. Thus at scarcely noticeable money cost a rough and FIG. 215. THE SAME ROAD AFTER AND BEFORE IMPROVEMENT From photographs furnished by the United States Department of Agriculture 245 246 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS unkempt school ground gives place to a charming campus. Cannot the pupils in every 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 beauty ? Life in the country will never be as attractive as it ought to be until all the roads are improved. Winter- washed roads, 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 ? FIG. 216. WASHINGTON'S COUNTRY HOME CHAPTER XI SUPPLEMENT SECTION LIV — HORTICULTURE THE word horticulture is one of those broad words under which much is grouped. It includes the cultiva- tion 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 ornamental trees and their arrangement into beautiful landscape effects around our homes. Horti- culture then is a name for an art that is both far-reaching and important. The word gardening is generally given to that part of horticulture which has for its chief aim the raising of vegetables for our tables. Flower gardening, or the cultivation of plants that are valued for their bloom in making ornamental beds and borders and furnishing flowers for the decoration of the home, is generally called florictilture . Landscape garden- ing is the art of so arranging flower beds, grass, shrubbery, and trees as to produce pleasing effects in the grounds sur- rounding our homes, and in the formation of great public parks and pleasure grounds. Landscape gardening like architecture has developed into a great art and is now regarded as one of the 247 248 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS so-called " fine arts," that is, arts that require taste, education, and refinement. 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. Market Gardening. Formerly market gardening was done on small tracts of land in the immediate vicinity of FIG. 217. STRAWBERRY-GROWING is AN ART Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. large cities, where supplies of stable manure could be used from the city stables. But, with the great increase in the population of the cities, these small areas could no longer supply the demands, and the introduction of com- mercial fertilizers and the building of railroads enabled gardeners at great distances from city markets to grow and ship their products. Hence now the markets, even in HORTICULTURE 249 winter, are 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. Then these Northern gardens reverse matters and ship their products South. The market gar- deners around the great Northern cities, finding that winter products were coming from the South and from warmer regions, began to build hothouses and by means of steam and hot- water pipes to make artificially warm climates 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 winter are produced fine crops of tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, cauliflowers, egg plants, and other vegetables. The great perfection which these vege- tables attain in spite of their artificial culture, and their freshness as compared to the products brought from great distances have made winter gardening under glass a very FIG. 218. SETTING PLANTS IN A COLD FRAME 250 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS profitable business. But it is a business that calls for the highest skill and closest attention. No 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 after- wards to be set in the garden. Hotbeds. If there is no green- house, a hotbed is an important help in the garden. The bed is made by digging a pit two feet deep, seven feet wide, and as long as necessary. The material for the hotbed is fresh horse ma- nure 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 uni- formly heated and has been turned two or three times, it is packed firmly into the pit already dug. . FIG. 219. THE GLADIOLUS Copyright, 1904, Doubleday, Page & Co. HORTICULTURE 251 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 on the heated manure, thus leaving six inches on each side out- side the frame. More manure is then banked all around it, and three or four inches of fine light and rich soil are placed inside the frame. The frame is now 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 *— 3ft.- - -f - - 3ft.- - -*- - -3 ft.- -± " FIG. 220. FRAME TO CARRY THE SASH OF A HOTBED OR COLD FRAME 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 hotbed is used for starting tomato plants, egg plants, cab- bage plants, and other vegetables that cannot stand expo- sure. It should be made about eight or ten weeks before the tender plants can be set out in the locality. In the South and Southwest, it should be started earlier than in the North. For growing the best tomato plants, and for such hardy plants as lettuce and cabbage, it will be better to have, in addition to the hotbed, cold frames, which need not be more than two or three sashes in the home garden. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 with the same kind of sashes and is used for hardening the plants sowed in the hotbed. As soon as the tomato plants are a few inches high in the hotbed, they should be transplanted to the cold frame and set four inches apart each way. The frame must be well banked with earth on the outside, and the glass must be covered on cold nights with straw, mats, or old carpets to keep out frost. Care of Hotbed and 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 necessary then to pay close attention 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 slipped down in mild weather Finally, they may be removed entirely on sunshiny 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 green- house with fire heat for this purpose. A little house with but four 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 HORTICULTURE 253 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 requirements. All need three conditions, — a proper degree of heat, moisture, and air. Some seeds, like English peas, parsnips, beets, and radishes, will germinate and grow when FIG. 221. GREENHOUSE AND COLD FRAMES Permission of the Lord & Burnham Company, New York 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 dry, for there must be moisture to swell them and to start 254 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS growth. The oxygen of the air is also essential, and if seeds are buried so deeply that the air cannot reach them, they will not grow, even if warm and moist. The depth of planting will vary with the character and size of the seed. English peas may be covered six inches deep and will be all the better for it, but if corn be covered so deep, it hardly gets above the ground. In planting FIG. 222. GATHERING AND SHIPPING CELERY From a photograph made at C. A. Dryer's Willow Brook Farm, South Lima, N.Y. small seeds like those of the radish, cabbage, turnip, let- tuce, etc., a good rule is to cover them three times the thickness of the seed. In sowing seeds when the ground is rather dry, it is a good plan, after covering them, to tramp on the row with the feet so as to press the soil closely to the seeds and to retain moisture for germination, but do not pack the soil if it be damp. HORTICULTURE 255 In spring never dig or plow the garden while it is still wet, but always wait until the soil is dry 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. Sometimes it may pay a grower, if his soil and climate are unusually well suited to one crop, to expend most of his time and energy on this crop ; for example, in some sections of New York, on potatoes ; in parts of Michigan, on celery ; in Georgia, on watermelons ; in western 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 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 gar- dener then must be guided in his selections of crops by his surroundings. Care of Crops. The gardener who wishes to attain the greatest success in his art must do four things. FIG. 223. A LARGE YIELD OF CABBAGES From a photograph made at the farm of H. C. Waterhouse, Cape Elizabeth, Maine 256 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS First, he must make his land rich and keep it rich. Much of his success depends upon getting his crops on the market ahead of his competitors. 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 largest yield ought to be gotten from the smallest area of land. 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 products 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 economically, the gardener must use the best tools, the best machines, and the best methods. Third, to get the best results he must grow perfect vegetables. 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 vege- tables, but he must put them on the market in perfect condition and in attractive shape. Who cares to buy wilted, bruised, spoiling vegetables ? Gathering, bun- dling, crating, and shipping are all to be watched care- fully. 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. HORTICULTURE 257 Among the gardener's important crops are the following: Asparagus. This is a hardy plant. Its seed may be sowed either early in the spring or late in the fall. The seeds should be planted in rows. If the plants are well cultivated 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 by manuring it heavily. After the land is thoroughly pre- pared, make in it fur- rows for the asparagus roots. These furrows should be six inches deep and three feet apart. Then remove the roots from the rows where they have been growing during the summer, and set them two feet apart in the prepared furrows. Cover at once. In the following spring, the young shoots must be 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 aspar- agus 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. FIG. 224. A CRATE OF ASPARAGUS 258 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Beans. The most generally planted beans are those known as string or snap beans. Of the many varieties, all are sensitive to cold, and hence must not be planted until frost is over. Another widely grown kind of bean is the lima or butter bean. There are two varieties of the lima bean. One is large and grows generally on poles. This kind does best in the Northern States. The other is a small bean and may be grown without the use of poles. FIG. 225. READY FOR SHIPMENT This kind is best suited to the warmer climates of the Southern States. Cabbage. In comparatively warm climates, 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 transplanted to ground laid off in sharp ridges. The young plants, in order that they may be somewhat protected from the cold of winter, are set on the south side of the ridges. As spring approaches the ridge is cut down at each working until the field is leveled. Early cabbages need heavy applications of manure. In the spring, nitrate of soda applied in the rows is very helpful. HORTICULTURE 259 Seeds for the crop following this early crop should be sowed in March. Of course these seeds should be of a later variety than the first used. The young plants should be transplanted as soon as they are large enough. Early cabbages are set in rows three feet apart, and the plants are set eighteen inches apart in the row. As the later varieties grow larger than the earlier ones, the plants should be set two feet apart in the row. /xfn growing late fall and winter cabbage, the time of sowing varies with the climate. For the Northern and Middle States, seeding should be done in the last of March and in April. South of a line passing west from Virginia it is hard to carry cabbages through the heat of sum- mer 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 Septem- ber, large heads can be secured for the December market. Celery. In the extreme northern part of our country, celery seeds are often sowed in a greenhouse or hotbed. This is done in order to secure early plants for summer blanching. This plan, however, suits only very cool climates. FIG. 226. PATTY-PAN SQUASH Copyright, 1904, Doubleday, Page & Co. 260 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In the Middle States, the seeds are usually sowed in a well-prepared bed about April. The plants are moved to other beds as soon as they need room. Generally in July they are transplanted to rows prepared for them. These should be four feet apart, and the plants should be set six inches apart in the row. The celery bed should be care- fully 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 celery is tall, and after the celery is put in them, they should be covered with boards and straw. In the more southern states, celery 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 advances. Finally, when winter comes, the beds are covered with leaves or straw to pre- vent the plants from freezing. The celery is dug and bunched for market at any time during the winter. By means of cold frames, a profitable crop of spring celery 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 very deep. The plants should make only a moderately rapid growth 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 celery can be had, it commands a good price. In climates as warm as that of Florida, beds of celery can be raised in this way without the protection of cold HORTICULTURE 261 frames. A slight freeze does not hurt celery, but a long- continued freezing spell will destroy it. Some kinds of celery seem to turn white naturally. 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. FIG. 227. AN ONION HARVEST From a photograph made at C. A. Dryer's Willow Brook Farm, South Lima, N.Y. Cucumbers and Cantaloupes. Although cucumbers and cantaloupes are very different plants, they are grown in precisely the same way. Some gardeners plant them in hills. This, however, is perhaps not the best way. 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 262 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS them a foot apart in the 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 the stem at- tached. Canta- loupes should be gathered before they turn yellow and should be ripened in the house. \In some sections of the country, the little striped cucum- ber beetle attacks the melons and cucumbers just as they come up. These beetles are very active and if their attacks are not prevented, they will destroy the tender plants. Bone dust and tobacco dust applied just as the plants come up will prevent these attacks. This treat- ment not only keeps off the beetle, but also helps the growth of the plants. Egg Plants. Egg plants are so tender that they cannot, like tomatoes, be transplanted to cold frames and gradually b FIG. 228. STRIPED CUCUMBER BEETLE AND LARVA. (All magnified) After Division of Entomology HORTICULTURE 263 hardened to stand the cold spring air. These plants, started in a warm place, must be kept there until the soil to which they are to be transplanted is well warmed by the advance of spring. After the warm weather has fully set in, transplant them to rich soil, setting them three feet apart each way. This plant needs very much manure. FIG. 229. AN ONION CROP Raised by D. M. Banks, Greenfield Hill, Conn. If large, perfect fruit is expected, the ground can hardly be made too rich. Egg plants 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 toma- toes or potatoes. Onions. The method of growing onions varies with the use which it is intended to make of them. To make the early sorts, which are eaten green in the spring, little onions called sets are planted. These are grown from 264 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS seeds sowed very late in the spring. The seeds are sowed very 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 very 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 will be ready for market in March or April. In the more northerly states, the sets are to be planted as early as possible in the spring. To grow ripe onions, the seeds are to 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 with only their roots in the earth. As soon as the tops ripen, pull the onions and let them lie in the sun until the tops are dry. Then put them under shelter. As the 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 to be planted. It may be planted just 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. However, where peas are extensively cultivated, they are allowed to fall on the ground. There are many sorts of peas, differing both in quality and 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. Following these some of the fine, wrinkled sorts HORTICULTURE 265 are to be planted in regular succession. Peas do not needjnuch. manure and do best in a light, warm soil. Tomatoes. There is no vegetable grown that is more largely used than the tomato. Whether fresh or canned it is a staple article of food. By careful selection and breeding, the fruit of the tomato has, in recent years, been very much improved. There are now a great many varieties that produce per- fectly smooth and solid fruit, and the grower can hardly go amiss in his selection of seeds. 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 and stout before the final transplanting. In kitchen gardens, they are planted in rows four feet apart with the plants two feet apart in the rows. They are generally trained to stakes with but one stalk to the stake. When, however, there is plenty of space, the plants are allowed to grow at will and to tumble on the ground. In this way they bear large crops. During the winter the markets are supplied with tomatoes either from tropi- cal sections or from hothouses. As those grown in the hothouses are superior in flavor to those shipped from Florida and the West Indies, great quantities are grown in this way and command good prices. In the South, the bacterial blight, which attacks the plants of this family, is a serious drawback to tomato cul- ture. The only way to escape this disease is to avoid planting tomatoes on land in which egg plants, tomatoes, 266 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS or potatoes have been blighted. Lime spread on the soil seems to prevent the blight for one season. 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 days before the tomatoes are wanted for the table, unpack as many as are wanted, and allow them to ripen in a warm room. Tomatoes require a rich soil. Scattering a small quan- tity of nitrate of soda around their roots promotes rapid growth. Watermelons. As watermelons need more room than can usually be spared in a garden, they are commonly grown as a field crop. A very light sandy soil suits watermelons best. They can be grown on very poor soil if a good supply of com- post 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 every 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 very finely pulverized. At planting tfme, put two or three shovelfuls of this compost into each of the prepared holes, and over the top of the manure scatter a handful of any high-grade HORTICULTURE 267 complete fertilizer. 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 these have grown about three feet long. This is done to make them branch more freely, but it is not necessary. A serious disease, the watermelon wilt, is rapidly spread- ing through the melon sections. This disease is caused by germs in the soil. If land ever becomes infected with these germs, it is nearly impossible to destroy them. If the wilt appear in your neighborhood, do not allow any stable manure to be used on your melon land, since the germs are scattered chiefly by means of stable manure. FIG. 230. DEWBERRIES SECTION LV — FLOWER GARDENING The comforts and joys of life depend largely upon small things. Of these small things, perhaps, none holds a posi- tion of greater importance in country life than the adorn- ment of the home, indoors and outdoors, with flowers FIG. 231. AN EASY WAY TO BEAUTIFY THE HOME tastefully arranged. Their selection and planting furnish pleasant recreation, full of hope and anticipation ; their care is a pleasing employment, and each little plant as it sprouts, grows, and develops may become as much a pet as creatures of the sister animal kingdom. A beautiful 268 FLOWER GARDENING 269 well-kept yard adds greatly to the pleasure and attractive- ness of a country home. If a beautiful yard and home give joy to the mere passer-by, how much more must the beauty of these appeal to the owners. The decoration of the home shows ambition, pride, and energy, — impor- tant elements in a successful life. Plant trees and shrubs in your yard and border your masses of shrubbery with flower beds. Do not disfigure a lawn by placing a bed of flowers in it. Use the flowers rather to decorate the shrubbery, and for borders along walks, and in the corners near steps, or against founda- tions. If you wish to raise flowers for the sake of flowers, not as decorations, make the flower beds in the back yard or at the side of the house. Plants may be grown from seeds or from bulbs or from cuttings. The rooting of cuttings is an interesting matter to all who are fond of flowers. Those who have no FIG. 232. SHALL YOUR LITTLE ONES PLUCK FLOWERS OR RATTLE TIN CANS IN YOUR BACK YARD? 2/0 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS greenhouse and wish to root cuttings of geraniums, 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. Now stick the cuttings thickly into this wet sand and set the pan in a warm sunny window, and always keep it in the FIG. 233. REPOTTING same water-soaked condition. Most cuttings will root well in a few weeks and may then be set into small flowerpots. Cuttings of tea roses should have two 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 root in about four weeks. Cuttings of Cape jessamine may be rooted FLOWER GARDENING 2/1 in the same way. Some of the geraniums, such as the rose geranium, may be grown from cuttings of the roots. 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 hyacinth, narcissus, and our 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 between each leaf on this flat stem there is a bud just as there is above ground a bud at the base of a leaf. These buds on the stem of the bulb rarely grow, however, unless forced to do so artifi- cially. The bulbs may, however, be greatly in- creased by making these buds grow and form other bulbs. In increas- ing hyacinths, the ma- tured bulbs are dug in the spring and the under part of this flat stem is carefully scraped away to expose the base of the buds. They are then put in heaps and covered with sand. In a few weeks all the buds will form little bulbs. The gardener plants the whole to grow together one season, after which they are separated and grown into FIG. 234. A CLEMATIS Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. 2/2 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS full-sized bulbs for sale. Other bulbs, like the narcissus or daffodil, form new bulbs that separate without being scraped. . There are some other plants which have underground parts that are commonly called bulbs but which are not bulbs at all ; for example, the gladiolus and the caladium, or elephant's ear. Their underground parts are bulblike in shape but are really solid flattened stems with eyes like the underground stem of the Irish potato. These parts are called corms. They may be cut into pieces like the potato and each part will grow. The dahlia makes a mass of roots looking greatly like sweet potatoes, but there are no eyes on them as there are on the sweet potato, the only eyes being on the base of the stem to which they are joined. They may be sprouted like sweet potatoes and soft cuttings made of FIG. 235. OUTDOOR-GROWN CHRYSANTHEMUMS Copyright, 1902, Doubleday, Page & Co. the green shoots, after which they may be rooted in the greenhouse and then planted in pots. There are many perennial plants that will bloom the first season when grown from the seed, though such FLOWER GARDENING 273 seedlings are seldom as good as the plant from which they came. They are generally used to originate new varieties. Seed of the dahlia, for instance, can be sowed in a box in a warm room in early March, potted as soon as the plants are large 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 an- nual plants from seed, there is little difficulty if one have a greenhouse or even 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 a bottom 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, mixed with one fourth of its bulk of rotten manure, and all sifted well together, makes the best soil for filling FIG. 236. THE CARNATION (ELDORADO) Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. 2/4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 putting the soil in the boxes, it should be well packed by pressing it with a flat wooden block. Sow the seeds in straight rows and put little wooden labels with the names of the flowers on them at the ^ ends of the rows. ^r I Sow seeds of the same gen- eral size in the same box in order that they may be prop- erly covered, for seeds need to be covered according to their size. After sowing the seed, sift the fine soil over the sur- face of the box. The best soil for covering small seeds is made by rubbing some dry moss along with some of the leaf mold through a sieve. 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. Then lay some panes of glass over the box to retain the FIG. 237. THE POET'S NARCISSUS Copyright, 1902, Doubleday, Page & Co. FLOWER GARDENING 275 moisture and avoid further watering till absolutely neces- sary. Too much watering makes the soil too compact and rots the seed. As soon as the seedlings have made a second pair of leaves, take them up with the point of a knife and trans- plant 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 cutting 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, we prepare boxes as for the other seeds, and press the earth smooth. Then scatter some fine, dry moss thinly over the surface of the soil. Sprinkle this with water until it is well moistened, and at once scatter the seeds thinly over the surface and cover 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. FIG. 238. A CYCLAMEN Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. 276 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Many 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 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 January, as they are very hardy and should be gotten into bloom before the weather gets hot. Late spring sowing will not give fine flowers in the South. From North Carolina northward, the seeds should be sowed just as early in the spring as the ground can be worked easily. 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. Morning-glory seeds are also sowed where they are to grow. The seeds of the moon-flower are large and hard and will fail to grow unless they are slightly cut ; that is, make a slight cut just through the hard outer FIG. 239. DAHLIAS Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. FLOWER GARDENING 277 coat of the seed so as to expose 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 induce them to grow. The canna makes large fleshy roots, which in the North are taken up, covered with damp moss, and stored under the benches of the green- house or in a cellar. If allowed to get too dry, they will wither. From central North Carolina south, it is best to leave them in the ground where they grew and cover them thickly with dead leaves. In the early spring, take them up and divide for replanting. FIG. 240. A MODERN SWEET PEA ' Perennial plants, Copyright, 1904, Doubleday, Page & Co. like our flowering shrubs, are grown from cuttings of the ripe wood after the leaves have fallen in autumn. From North 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 2/8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS pine leaves will prevent damage from frost. Further north the cuttings should be tied in bundles and buried well in the ground and earth piled over them. In the spring, set them in rows for rooting. In the South, all the FlG. 241. FOUR-O'CLOCKS SET IN A GOOD PLACE Copyright, 1904, Doubleday, Page & Co. hardy hybrid perpetual roses can be grown 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 cuttings about three inches long made of the roots and planted in rows in the fall. Many of our ornamental evergreen trees, such as the arbor vitae, can be grown in the spring from seeds sowed in FLOWER GARDENING 2/9 a frame. 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 nursery rows to develop until they are large enough to plant. Arbor vitse may also be grown from cuttings made of the young tips set in boxes of sand in the fall and kept warm and moist. 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, however, as all are interesting. Start this year with a few and gradually increase FIG. 242. A WINDOW Box the number under your care year by year, aiming always to make your plants the most choice and perfect of their kind. Of annuals there are over four hundred kinds cultivated. You may select from the following list : phlox, petunias, 280 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS China asters, California poppies, sweet peas, pinks, double and single sunflowers, hibiscus, candytuft, balsams, morn- ing-glories, stocks, nasturtiums, verbenas, mignonette. Of perennials select bleeding hearts, pinks, bluebells, hollyhocks, perennial phlox or hibiscus, wild asters, and golden-rods. From bulbs choose crocus, tulip, daffodil, narcissus, lily of the valley, lily. Some climbers are cobaea, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, English ivy, Boston ivy, cypress vine, hyacinth bean, climbing nasturtiums, and roses. To make your plants do best, cultivate them care- fully. Allow no weeds to grow among them and do not let the surface of the soil dry into a hard crust. FIG. 243. A WINDOW GARDEN Bew*re, however, of stirring the soil too deep. Loosen- ing 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 makes seed and is ready then to stop blossoming. You should therefore pick off the old flowers to prevent their developing seeds. This will cause many FLOWER GARDENING 281 plants, which would otherwise stop blossoming soon, to- continue bearing flowers for a longer period. Window Garden- ing. Growing plants indoors in the window pos- sesses many of the attractions of outdoor flower gardening, and affords means of beautifying the FIG. 244. AN INSIDE WINDOW Box IN ITS room at very FULL GLORY small expense. Especially do window gardens afford delight during the barren winter time. They are a source of culture and pleasure to thousands who cannot afford extended and expensive orna- mentation. The window garden may vary in size from an eggshell holding a minute plant to boxes filling all available space about the win- dow. The soil FIG. 245. MAKING THE OUTSIDE OF A may be in pots for WINDOW BLOOM individual plants or groups of plants or in boxes for collec- tions of plants. You may raise your flowers inside of the 282 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS window on shelves or stands, or shelves may be built outside of the window and inclosed in glazed sashes. The accompanying illustration 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 FIG. 246. FERNS FOR BOTH INDOORS AND OUTDOORS Permission of Delineator decayed sods and some sand. Raise your plants from bulbs, cuttings, or seed just as in outdoor gardens. Some plants do better in cool rooms, others in warmer temperature. If the temperature ranges from 35° to 70°, averaging about 55°, azaleas, daisies, carnations, candytuft, alyssum, dusty miller, chrysanthemums, cinerarias, camellias, daph- nes, geraniums, petunias, violets, primroses, and verbenas do best. FLOWER GARDENING 283 If the temperature is from 50° to 90°, averaging 70°, try abutilon, begonia, bouvardia, caladium, canna, Cape jessamine, coleus, fuchsia, gloxinia, heliotrope, lantana, lobelia, roses, and smilax. In the shade raise begonias, camellias, ferns, and Aspar- agus Sprengeri. When the soil is dry, water it ; then apply no more water until it again becomes dry. 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 com- fortably by the hand. Newspapers afford a good means of keeping off the cold. SECTION LVI — FORAGE Grasses. Under usual conditions no farmer expects to grow live stock successfully and economically without setting apart a large part of his land for the growth 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 varieties of grass seeds. Nature mixes them when she plants, and Nature is always a trustworthy 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 country where it grows sparingly, and where it is easily crowded out, red clover should be mixed with all grasses sowed, for it leaves in the soil a wealth of plant food for the grasses coming after it to feed on. Nearly every part of our country has some clover that experience shows to be exactly suited to its soil and climate. 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 nitrogen from the soil ; hence they more or less exhaust the soil. But, as several times explained in this 284 FORAGE 285 book, the clovers are legumes, and all legumes are able by means of the bacteria 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 then some light perennial legume should always be added to grass seed. It is not pos- sible for grasses to do well in a soil that is full of weeds. For this reason it is always best to plant grass in fields from which cultivated crops have just been taken. The soil in which grass is to be planted 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 corn or cotton has just been harvested is in a compact condition. The soil particles are pressed well together. Such land SINGLE PLANT OF "GIANT MILLET : From original furnished by United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology 286 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS when mellowed by harrowing makes a splendid bed for grass seeds. A firm soil draws moisture up 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 plowing 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 necessary 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 germination is somewhat advanced, the tender grass plants will be injured. There are many kinds of pasture and meadow grasses. In New England, timothy, red clover, and redtop are gen- erally 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 hairy vetch. For a permanent pasture in the South, Japan clover, Ber- muda, and such other local grasses as have been found to adapt themselves readily to the climate should be added. In the Middle States, temporary 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 287 288 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS previously suggested are readily at home. Alfalfa is prov- ing its adaptability to nearly all sections and climates, and is in many respects the most promising grass crop of America. It hardly ever pays to pasture meadows, except slightly, the first season, and then only when the soil is dry. It is also poor policy to pasture any kind of grass land early in the spring when the soil is wet. The tramping of animals crushes and destroys the crowns of the plants. After the first year, the sward becomes thicker and tougher, and the injury is slight. The state of maturity at which grass should be har- vested to make hay of the best quality 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. Hence a good deal of food is lost by waiting to cut hay until the seeds are formed. Pasture lands and meadow lands are often greatly improved by 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 available 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 fertilizer can be used to advantage in producing hay and pasturage. If, however, clover has « Q ffi ' H ro <: o o ? 289 290 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 seem to lack sufficient nourishment, add phosphoric acid and potash. Grass, however, not grown in company with clover, often needs dried blood, nitrate of soda, or some other nitrogen-supplying agent. Of course it is FIG. 250. A LATE FALL PASTURE Copyright, 1902, Doubleday, Page & Co. understood that no better fertilizer can be applied to grass than barnyard manure. 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 underlaid by an open subsoil. The vast areas given to this valuable crop are yearly growing in every section of the United States. Alfalfa, however, unlike the cowpea, does not take to poor land. For its 291 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS cultivation, therefore, good 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 permanency may, however, be destroyed by pas- turing or abusing the alfalfa fields. This plant dif- fers from most plants in one re- spect. The soil in which it grows must have certain kinds of bacteria in it. These cause the growth of tubercles on the roots. However, these bacteria are not always present 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 four very easy ways of supplying the germs. First, dust or soil taken from a field in which alfalfa has been grown may be scattered over the seeds to be used. The germs in the soil will go into the ground with the seeds and multiply when needed. Second, fine soil from FIG. 252. SHEEP FATTENING ON ALFALFA STUBBLE Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. FORAGE 293 an alfalfa field may be scattered broadcast over the fields to be seeded. Third, the alfalfa seed may be soaked in water containing soil from an alfalfa field. The germs will stick to the seeds. Fourth, the latest way is to put a small mass of alfalfa germs into a liquid containing proper food to make these germs multiply and grow. Then the seeds to be planted are soaked in this liquid in order that the germs may fasten on the seeds. Before the seeds are sowed the soil should be made fine and mellow. Over this well-prepared land, from twenty to FIG. 253. HERD OF DAIRY CATTLE GRAZING ON ALFALFA STUBBLE Copyright, 1903, Doubleday, Page & Co. thirty pounds of seed to the acre should be scattered. The seed may be scattered by hand or by a seed sower. Cover with a light harrow. The time of planting varies some- what with the climate. In the South, the seed may be sowed either in the spring or in the fall ; in the North, spring sowing is best. During the first season, several mowings are necessary to insure a good stand and also to keep down the weeds. 294 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS When the first blossoms appear in the early summer, it is time to start the mower. After this the alfalfa should be cut every two, three, or four weeks. The number of times depends on the rapidity of growth. This crop rarely makes a good yield the first year ; but if a good stand be secured that year, the yield steadily increases. After a good stand has been secured, a top dressing of either commercial fertilizer or stable manure will be very helpful. An occasional cutting up of the alfalfa sod with a disk harrow does much good. 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 country, it has been the prac- tice for generations to sow clover seed with some of the grain crops. Barley, wheat, oats, and rye are the crops with which clover is most usually planted, but many good far- mers now prefer to sow the seed only with other grass seed. Circumstances must largely settle the manner of seeding. Crimson clover, which is a winter legume, usually does best when seeded alone, although rye 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 cultivation of these crops. Common red clover, which is the standard clover over most of the country, is usually seeded with timothy or orchard grass or some other of the grasses. In sowing both crimson and red clover, about ten pounds of seed for each acre are used. To make good pastures, white and Japan clover are favor- ites. White clover does well in most parts of America and FIG. 254. CRIMSON CLOVER From original furnished by United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology 295 296 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Japan clover is especially valuable in warm Southern cli- mates. 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. FIG. 255. CHINESE SOY BEAN From original furnished by United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology Let the mower be started in the morning. Then a few hours later run over 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 raking, the hay may either be left in the rows for final curing or it may be put in cocks. If the weather be unsettled, it is best to cock FORAGE 297 the hay Many farmers have cloth covers to protect the cocks and these often aid very 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. DESCRIPTIVE TABLE CROP ADAPTATION AS FOOD FOR ANIMALS LIFE REMARKS Alfalfa Hay* Perennial All animals like it ; hogs eat iteven when it is dry. Red clover Hay and pasture Perennial Best of the clovers for hay. Alsike clover Hay 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 Pasture Perennial Splendid for lawns and bees. Japan clover Pasture Perennial Excellent for forest and old soils. * Alfalfa is a splendid pasture crop, but much pasturing is injurious to it. SECTION LVII— THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL The United States produce about eighty per cent of the world's supply of cotton. The state of Texas has for years grown about one third of this amount. Cotton alone yields annually to that great state over one hun- dred million dollars. Therefore anything that lessens or ^==s=a==^__^_^=raB!!aMMMM!MBi destroys this yield is a mat- ter of serious concern not only to Texas but also to the whole country. Recently an insect that gravely threatens the loss of this entire crop has made its appearance in the fields of Texas. This insect is the boll weevil. For the past few years this insect has annually destroyed for the growers of Texas an amount of cotton worth ten million dollars. Including the loss inflicted upon ginners, manufacturers, and other allied industries, the total loss has probably amounted to one hundred million dollars. So far as known, this insect, whose native home is the tropics, made its first serious appearance in Mexico. In 298 FIG. 256. ADULT WEEVIL (Enlarged) After Sanderson, Bulletin of Texas Experiment Station THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL 299 1891 and 1892 the boll weevil crossed the Rio Grande River in the neighborhood of Matamoros and settled in the cotton fields around Browns- ville, Texas. As this was not a great cotton-growing section, the insect caused little alarm at first. But gradually it has widened its destructive area until now it has invaded practically the whole cotton- gr ow ing part of Texas, and in at least two in- stances has crossed into Louis- FlG. 257. EGGS AMONG THE ANTHERS OF A SQUARE AT POINT INDICATED BY THE ARROW After Sanderson, Bulletin of Texas Experiment Station iana and is also threatening the In- dian Territory, and indeed the whole cotton belt of the South. Its rate of spread toward the North and East has been from fifty to seventy-five miles each year. This insect which has struck ter- ror into the hearts of thousands of itself a trifling-looking little creature FIG. 258. CROSS- SECTION SHOWING ANTHERS OF A SQUARE WITH EGG OF WEEVIL, AND SHOWING THE HOLE WHERE THE. EGG WAS DEPOSITED. (Greatly enlarged) After Sanderson, Bulletin of Texas Experiment Station cotton growers is in It is a small, gray, 300 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS or reddish-brown snout beetle, hardly over a quarter of an inch in length. In proportion to its length it has a long beak. It belongs to a family of beetles which breed in pods, in seeds, and in stalks of plants. It feeds only upon the cotton plant. To understand how this beetle injures cotton and also to understand the methods of trying to destroy the insect, we must know the life of the beetle. Let us follow it through a year. The grown weevils try to outlive the cold of winter by hiding snugly away under grass clumps, cotton stalks, rub- bish, or under the bark of trees. Sometimes they go down into holes in the ground. A comfortable shelter is often found in the forests near the cotton fields. The weevils can stand a good deal of cold, FIG. 259. THE PUPA OF THE COTTON- but fortunately thousands BOLL WEEVIL INJURING A SQUARE ancj thousands are killed After an original furnished by United each year by CXDOSUre. States Department of Agriculture Moreover birds, always the friends of the farmer, destroy many ; hence by spring the last year's crop is greatly reduced in number. In the spring, generally about the time cotton begins to form " squares," the surviving weevils shake off their long winter sleep and enter the cotton fields with appetites as THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL 301 FlG. 260. PUPA FROM ABOVE AND BELOW. (Greatly enlarged) After Sanderson, Bulletin of Texas Experiment Station sharp as razors. Then shortly the females begin to lay eggs. At first, these eggs are laid only in the cotton squares, and generally only one to the square. By and by, when the unused squares become scarce, eggs are deposited in the bolls. Sometimes two or three eggs are laid in each boll. The mother beetle with her snout eats a hole into the boll, pushes the eggs in, and then stops the hole with the pieces eaten out. The juice of the plant glues in the loose pieces and soon a warty-looking spot marks the place of the egg. The young grub hatches in two or three days from the egg. In its entirely protected home, the newly hatched grub eats the square and it soon falls to the ground. Entire fields may at times be seen without a single square on the cotton plants. In from one to two weeks, the grub or larva FIG. 261. THE LARVA OF COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL IN A SQUARE becomes fully grown After an original furnished by United States and transforms to the Department of Agriculture 302 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS pupa state without changing its home. Then in about a week more the pupae come out as adult weevils and attack the bolls. They puncture them with their snouts and lay their eggs in the bolls. The young grubs, this time hatch- ing out in the boll, remain there until grown, when they emerge through holes that they make. These holes allow dampness to enter and destroy the bolls. This life round continues until cold weather drives the insect to winter quarters. By that time they have increased so rapidly that there is often one for every boll in the field. This weevil is proving very hard to destroy. Many plant pests when they are grown or when they are in the larva state can be killed by the appli- cation of poisons. But as the grown weevil is a tough, hard-shelled insect, neither internal nor exter- Moreover, as the larvae live in the cotton boll, poison cannot reach them ; hence it seems that no poison can be relied upon to exterminate this pest. Machines for knocking the weevil from the boll and for collecting and destroying weevil-filled bolls have been tried, but so far have either failed or proved FIG. 262. A COTTON BOLL WITH FEEDING HOLES OF WEEVIL, AND BEARING THREE SPECI- MENS OF THE INSECT After an original furnished by United States Department of Agriculture nal poisons seem to affect it. THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL 303 too expensive. At present there seem but few ways to fight the weevil. One is to grow cotton that will mature too early for the weevils to do it much harm. Another is to destroy the weevil as far as pos- sible during the winter. In adopt- ing the first plan Texas farmers have found that by the proper and careful selection of seed, by early planting, by a free use of fertilizers containing a high per- centage of phosphoric acid, and by frequent plowing, they can mature a crop thirty days earlier and thus defeat the weevil. In addition the rows are put farther apart. This allows the sun to reach the stalks better and the weevil greatly dislikes sunshine. In this way a good crop can be harvested by Oc- tober. This is before the army of weevils has reached its greatest number. Cotton may be improved by methods of seed selection and breeding as suggested in Section XVIII. FIG. 263. THE MEXICAN COTTON- BOLL WEEVIL, SHOWING STRUCTURE FIG. 264. A SERIES OF WEEVILS, SHOWING VARIATIONS IN SIZE WHEN FULL GROWN These methods applied to Texas cotton produce the most satisfactory results as to the grade of the staple, the yield per acre, and early maturing. 304 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS The places best adapted to the hibernation of 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 these crops are harvested. This destroys countless num- bers of larvae and pupae in the bolls and greatly reduces the number of weevils. In addition, all cornstalks, all trash, all large clumps of grass in neighboring fields, should be burned, for these, too, furnish winter homes for the weevil. C OLORADOiKvAT4fi\A ---- -- _^ _\ [MISSOURI '-»/ irp ME x rc o; ~V. S V^$ ? ' ; ; 5z*~*& .-, \ * \^ K L ^v^x ^^~^\ —FT ) -s\ / & /^O '" V ""XT ^ ' V 5- ; /V*V X FIG. 265. MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL IN 1904 The darker shaded area indicates the limit of the region in which the weevils are to be found in all cotton fields ; the remainder of the shaded portion indicates the region in which isolated colonies are known to exist SECTION LVIII — 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 section 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 Moun- tains 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. First, to save the rain as it falls, it is necessary for the ground to be in such condition that none of the much-needed rain may run off. Every drop should go into the soil. Hence the farmer should never allow his top soil to harden into a crust. 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 3°5 306 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 equally important to hold it there so that it may supply the grow- ing crops. If 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 well will go dry too soon. To prevent FIG. 266. THE DISK HARROW this the top soil should be stirred very frequently with a disk or smoothing harrow. This stirring will form a mulch of dry soil on the surface, and this will hold the water. Other forms of mulch have been suggested, but the soil mulch is the only practicable one. It must be borne in mind that this surface cultivation must be regularly kept up if the moisture is to be retained. Some experiments in wheat growing have shown how readily water might be saved if plowing was done at the FARMING ON DRY LANDS 3°7 right time. Wheat sown on land that was plowed as soon as the summer crops were taken off yielded a very much larger return than wheat sown on land that remained un- tilled for some time after the summer crops were gathered. This 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 dry 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 har- row, the 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. Corn, 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 dry belt should study what crops are best suited to their lands. Some crops, like the sorghums and kaffir corn, 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 freely enter the soil ; second, the land must be frequently cultivated so that the water will be kept in the soil ; third, the crops must be 308 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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. FIG. 267. RED KAFFIR CORN IN SHOCK SECTION LIX — IRRIGATION Irrigation is the name given to the plan of supplying water in large quantities to growing crops. Since the dawn of history this practice has been more or less followed in Asia, in Africa, and in Europe. The Spanish settlers in the southwestern part of America were probably the first to FIG. 268. PUMPING WATER FOR IRRIGATION introduce this custom into our country. In New Mexico there is an irrigating trench that has been in constant use for three hundred years. 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 309 310 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 dry regions of the West. Small buckets are fastened to a large wheel which is turned by the current of a stream. As the wheel turns, the buckets FIG. 269. THE MAIN DITCH OF AN IRRIGATION PLANT are filled, raised, and then emptied into a trough, called a flume. The water flows through the flume into the irri- gating ditches leading into the fields. In some parts of California wells are sunk in or near the beds of under- ground streams, and then the water is pumped into ditches which carry it into the fields to be irrigated. Engines are often used for pumping water from streams and transferring it to ditches or canals. The canals dis- tribute the water over the land or over the growing crops. IRRIGATION 311 None of these methods, however, can be used for water- ing very large areas of land. Hence as the value of farm lands increased newer methods were sought. Shrewd man began to turn longing eyes on the wide stretches of barren land in the West. These waste lands, seemingly so unfertile, become most fruitful as soon as water is turned on them. Could water enough be found ? New plans to pen up floods FIG. 270. THE PROCESS OF IRRIGATING CORN of water were prepared, and already over two hundred million dollars have been spent in carrying out these plans. Enor- mous dams of cemented stone were thrown across the gorges in the foothills of the mountains. Behind these solid dams the water from the rains and the melting snow of the moun- tains was backed for miles, and was at once ready to change barrenness into fruitfulness. The stored water is led by means of main canals and cross ditches wherever it is needed,, and countless acres have been brought under cultivation. 312 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 very level lands. Where the land is somewhat irregular a check- ing 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. 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 truck crops ought to be cultivated frequently to save the moisture, 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 learn that nothing can take the place of stirring the soil." METHODS OF IRRIGATING CROPS Tree fruits. Water is conducted through very narrow furrows 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 fruits. The common practice is to run water on each side of the row until the rows are soaked. IRRIGATION 313 Potatoes. A thorough soaking of the land before plant- ing, and then no more than is absolutely necessary 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 being irrigated. Meadows and alfalfa. Flooding is the most common method in use. The first irrigation comes early in the spring before growth has much advanced, and then after a crop has been harvested. SECTION LX — SUGAR CANE BY W. C. STUBBS Director of Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station Sugar cane was introduced into Louisiana by the Jesuits in 1757, began to be extensively cultivated in 1795, and since that time it has been the chief crop of south Louisi- ana. It is cultivated along the entire Gulf and South Atlantic coasts. In Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, north Louisiana, and north Texas it is manufactured into syrup, while in south Louisiana and south Texas it is converted into sugar and molasses. Description of Sugar Cane. Sugar cane is a gigantic grass with fibrous roots which reach laterally in every direc- tion. The stalk is a cylinder, varying in diameter from one to two inches, with nodes and internodes (joints), the latter varying in length from two to even six inches. These stalks vary greatly in color, running through white, yellow, green, red, purple, black, and even striped with two or more of these colors. The leaves, grown on alternate sides of the stalk, are clasping at first, but gradually ripen and fall off as the cane matures. In some varieties the lower part of the leaves (sheaths) is covered with minute prickles, which sometimes painfully wound the hands of the cane cutters. The joints mature from the roots up, and as each ripens it casts its leaf ; the stalk when ready for SUGAR CANE FIG, 271. STALK OF SUGAR CANE A-B, joints of cane showing roots j B-C, stem C-D, leaves the harvest has a few leaves at the top only. Under each leaf and on alternate sides of the cane is a bud or " eye " from which the cane is usually propagated. A close examination of the "eye" will reveal rows of "dots," each marking the place from which a root will sprout when the cane is placed in a moist soil. In tropical coun- tries the sugar cane at maturity some- times " flowers " or "tassels." These tassels are clusters of silken spikes on large stems, resem- bling very much a plume of pampas grass. Very few of the seeds produced are fertile. This is due doubtless to the fact that the cane AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS has been so long propagated from cuttings ("eyes") that the flowers have lost vigor. The sugar is found in solu- tion in the large pith cells of the cane. At maturity the cane, after being stripped of leaves and topped, is cut at the ground with a cane knife or machete. Where grown. Formerly it was thought that sugar cane could be grown only in tropical islands, but it has now been shown that it will grow any- where be- tween 30° and 35° north or south of the equa- tor, where suitable soil and an abun- dant water supply (either by rainfall or irrigation) can be obtained. Actual cultivation now extends from Spain, 37° north, to New Zealand, 37° south, on both sides of the equator. Cane requires an enormous amount of water for its best development, and where the rainfall is deficient, irriga- tion is practiced — often with wonder- ful results, as in Hawaii, where upon FIG. 272. CROSS SECTION OF CANE MAGNIFIED ABOUT 200 TIMES P, pith cells ; V, vessels ; S, sieve tubes A~ X D X- D A FIG. 273. STICK OF SUGAR CANE one estate over eleven tons of sugar A, buds or eyes; B, joint; an acre have been produced. It C'nodes; Aintemodes or joints ; X, semitrans- has been found in practice that from parent dots in rows. SUGAR CANE 317 seventy-five to one hundred and one gallons of water are required to make a pound of sugar, and that a rainfall of two inches every week during the cane's growth will produce the largest yields of cane. While this crop requires an abundance of water, it is also true that a well- drained soil is absolutely essential to vigorous growth and to large, matured canes. This is easily understood when it is learned that cane, like all grasses, requires a large quan- tity of nitrogen for perfect growth, and this must be fur- FIG. 274. CUTTING SUGAR CANE nished usually by the soil. Only well-aired, moderately moist soils furnish the conditions which render the nitrogen of the soil available ; hence on every estate the lands should be well drained either by open ditches or tiles. The varieties of cane are numerous, but the kinds usually grown in the South are the purple, purple-striped or ribbon, and the green. Recently there have been distributed several varieties of "seedlings," which are 318 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS now being tried throughout the cane belt. Reference has already been made to the large number of infertile seeds in every cane tassel. By extreme care a few of the fertile seeds can be made to germinate. After germination every plant varies greatly from its parents and from the plants grown with it. Therefore each plant is carried to maturity and then tested, and if found of merit is propagated in the usual way by planting the stalk. In this way a number of promising " seedlings " have been given to the world. FIG. 275. A FIELD OF CANE PROSTRATED BY WIND Soils for Cane. The soils best adapted to canes are, broadly speaking, those which contain the largest amount of fertilizing material and which have a large water-holding capacity. In south Louisiana alluvial loams and loamy clays are cultivated, while in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida light, sandy soils, when properly fertilized and cul- tivated, produce fine crops. Soils capable of holding water and fertilizers can frequently be profitably cultivated by 320 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS artificially supplying these essential factors of heavy cane growing. Cane is usually planted in five to six foot rows. A trench is opened in the center of the row with a plow, and in this open furrow is deposited a continuous line of stalks, which are carefully covered with plow, cultivator, or hoes. From one to three continuous lines of stalks are placed in the furrow. From two to six tons of seed cane are required for an acre. In a favorable season this cane soon sprouts and then cultivation begins. Each young sprout, like all grasses, suckers vigorously and soon the entire row is filled with cane. The cultivation best adapted to corn will meet all the requirements of cane. It should be cultivated at short intervals until "laid by," which should occur when the cane is large enough to shade the soil. In Louisiana large quantities of tankage, cotton-seed meal, and acid phosphate are used to fertilize the cane crop, the quantity used on an acre varying from four hundred to seven hundred pounds. In Louisiana one planting of cane usually gives two crops; the first is called "plant cane" and the second "first-year stubble" or "rattoon." Sometimes second- year stubbles are grown. In tropical countries the cane produces crops for many years, sometimes for as many as fifteen or twenty years. It is extremely doubtful, however, whether it pays to carry stubbles so long. In Louisiana canes are planted from October to April, some preferring fall, others spring planting. Each coun- try has its season for planting and harvesting. 32I 322 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS In the United States the cane is harvested annually, because of the frost of our winters, while in tropical coun- tries it is permitted to grow from fifteen to twenty-four months before harvest. It is necessary in the United States to save seed from the fall harvest for the next crop. Sometimes the cane is planted in the fall as soon as it is cut, and covered deep to exclude the frost. Oftener, however, it has to be pre- served through the winter for spring planting. This is done either in horizontal or vertical mats, or by throwing the cane into the middles between the rows and covering with dirt by means of large plows. The juice of the cane varies in different countries, and even upon different soils and in different seasons. In some countries it may contain as high as twenty per cent of sugar and with very little other matter present, making it easy to work. In Louisiana the juice varies from eleven per cent to fourteen per cent, with two per cent to three per cent of impurities present. Upon the sandy soils of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama the sugar content is higher, often reaching sixteen per cent, with of course a diminu- tion of impurities. The yield of cane per acre in tons is also a variable quantity, depending upon country, season, and soil. Over one hundred tons per acre have been grown in Hawaii, and sixty tons in Louisiana, but the average is much below these figures. In Louisiana an average of twenty to thirty tons per acre on a large estate is considered a fair yield. Upon the sandy lands of the coasts fifteen to twenty tons per acre are good yields. Making of Syrup, Sugar, and Molasses. A small mill, propelled by horses, for crushing the cane, and a kettle or SUGAR CANE 323 pan for evaporating the juice, constitute the outfit for making syrup. This equipment is very cheap and can be easily operated by a small family. While these small mills rarely extract more than one half of the juice in the cane, the syrup made by them is exceedingly palatable and usually commands a good price in our markets. In our large sugar houses nine-roller mills, with a crusher in front, clarifiers, evaporators, multiple effects, vacuum pans, centrifugals, pumps, filter presses, boilers FIG. 278. A COMMON TYPE OF SYRUP FACTORY and engines, tanks and cars, are found. A modern, up-to- date sugar house, capable of handling from five hundred to one thousand tons of sugar cane, will cost from one 324 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and a large number of both skilled and unskilled laborers is required to operate it. Such a mill as the above will extract from seventy-five to eighty pounds of juice from every one hundred pounds of cane. The refuse left after the juice is extracted is called " bagasse " FIG. 279. TRANSFERRING CANE FROM WAGON TO TROLLEY or " megass," and can be used as fuel under the boilers, or made into wrapping paper. The juice is usually treated with sulphur and lime, and then boiled. This treatment brings to the surface a heavy blanket of scums, which is removed and, with the settlings, sent through the filter press, where the juice is extracted and the solid matter (cake) retained in the press. This clarified juice is now evaporated into syrup, either in open vessels or in multiple effects. The syrup is now drawn into the vacuum pan, where it is cooked to grain at a high vacuum and a low SUGAR CANE 325 temperature. This mixture of sugar and molasses (called masse cuite) is drawn into a centrifugal machine with perforated wire gauze sides placed within a solid iron vessel. By a rapid rotation of this machine, the liquid molasses is thrown through the wire gauze into the outer vessel, while the sugar is retained in the centrifugal. By using water or other washes, any grade of sugar may be FIG. 280. MACHINE FOR TRANSFERRING CANE FROM CARS TO CARRIER made. By again cooking the molasses separated from the first sugar, second sugar, usually termed " seconds," may be obtained. The molasses from the second sugar may be made to yield third sugar, or "thirds." There are a few open-kettle sugar houses left in Loui- siana. These differ from the above in that the syrup is cooked directly in open pans or kettles to a heavy density and placed in vessels (called coolers) to crystallize. In a few days this crystallized mass may be either potted 326 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS in hogsheads or run through a centrifugal machine as described above. Open-kettle sugar and molasses are thus obtained, the latter fetching a high price on account of its delicious flavor and agreeable aroma. Write to the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, for bulletins on sugar cane. FIG. 281. SUGAR SHED IN NEW ORLEANS APPENDIX SPRAYING MIXTURES FOR BITING INSECTS DRY PARIS GREEN WET PARIS GREEN Paris green . . . . i Ib. Paris green . . . % Ib. Lime or flour 20 to 50 Ibs. Lime . . . # to y2 Ib. Water .... 50 gals. FOR SOFT-BODIED SUCKING INSECTS KEROSENE EMULSION Hard soap (in fine shavings) ^ Ib. Water I gal. Kerosene 2 gals. Dissolve soap in boiling water, add kerosene to the hot water, churn with spraying pump 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 1 5 per cent oil emulsion add ten and one half gallons water. FOR FUNGOUS DISEASES COPPER SULPHATE Copper sulphate i Ib. Water 1 8 to 25 gals. Use only before foliage opens to kill wintering spores. BORDEAUX MIXTURE Copper sulphate 5 Ibs. Lime (good and unslacked) 5 Ibs. Water 50 gals. 327 DIRECTIONS FOR SPRAYING Apple, Pear, and Quince. — Scab, codling moth, tent caterpillar, canker-worm. Bean. — Leaf blight and spots. Cabbage, Cauliflower, etc. — Lice and worm. Carnation. — Rust and other diseases. Celery. — Blights and spots. Cherry. — Rot. Cucumber, Squash, and Melon. — Mildew and beetle. Grape. — Mildew, an- thracnose, black rot, etc. Nursery Stock. — Fungous diseases. Peach and Plum. — Rot, mildew, and curl. Potato. — Early and late blight and bug. Grain. — Smuts. FIRST Before buds swell, cop- per sulphate. second leaf opens, Bordeaux Mixture. As often as needed till plants begin to head, kerosene emulsion. As needed, copper sul- phate, i Ib. to 25 gals, every 8 to 14 days. Begin in seed bed, Bor- deaux Mixture, 8 to 14 days, or often enough to keep foli- age covered. As buds break, Bor- deaux Mixture. Often enough to keep foliage covered, Bor- deaux-Paris-green mixture. When buds swell, Bor- deaux Mixture. When leaves appear, Bordeaux -Paris green mixture, repeat every 10 to 14 days. Before foliage, copper sulphate, i Ib. to 25 gals. When two thirds grown, Bordeaux Mixture. See text. SECOND Immediately before blossoms open, Bor- deaux Mixture. 10 to 14 days later, Bordeaux Mixture. Bordeaux Mixture. Just before flowers open, Bo rdeaux- Paris-green mixture. Before blossoms open, weak Bordeaux Mix- ture. Repeat Bordeaux Mix- ture every two or three weeks; add Paris green, when needed, for bugs. 328 Send to your Experiment Station for DIRECTIONS FOR SPRAYING THIRD FOURTH REMARKS Immediately after blos- soms fall, Bordeaux- Paris-green mixture. 10 to 14 days later, Bor- deaux Mixture. When fruit is grown, ammpniacal copper carbonate. When fruit sets, Bor- deaux-Paris-green mixture. After blossoms open, weak Bordeaux Mix- ture. 8 to 14 days later, Bor- deaux-Paris-green mixture. Repeat Bordeaux Mix- ture when needed. As fruit enlarges, am- moniacal copper car- bonate. As fruit enlarges, am- moniacal copper car- bonate. For scale, see text; for fire blight and canker, cut and burn; add Paris green when needed for canker- For the worm, use dry Paris green with lime or flour, i oz. to 6 Ibs. Do not use after plants begin to head. For lice, kerosene emul- sion ; for black knot, cut and burn. For plant lice, kerosene emulsion ; for scale, see text. For curculio and for scale, see text. For scab, soak seed potatoes before cut- ting for two hours in formalin, 8 oz. to 15 gals. more detailed directions for treatment. 329 330 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Dissolve the copper sulphate (bluestone) in twenty-five gallons of water. Slack the lime slowly so as to get a smooth, thick cream. After thorough slacking, add twenty-five gallons of water. When lime and bluestone are dissolved, pour rapidly together and mix thoroughly. Strain through a coarse cloth. Mix fresh for each time. Use for molds and fungi generally. Apply in fine spray with a good nozzle. WEAK BORDEAUX MIXTURE FOR PEACHES, PLUMS, AND CHERRIES IN FOLIAGE Mix as above, but in the following proportions: Copper sulphate 2^ Ibs. Lime . 2^ Ibs. Water 50 gals. BORDEAUX-PARIS-GREEN MIXTURE Ordinary Bordeaux Mixture 50 gals. Paris green 4 oz. Use for both fungi and insects on apple, potato, etc. AMMONIACAL COPPER CARBONATE Copper carbonate 5 oz. Ammonia (26° Baume') about 3 pts. Water 50 gals. Dissolve the copper carbonate in smallest possible amount of ammonia. This solution may be kept in stock and diluted to 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 Bordeaux. COST OF SPRAYING Sulphate of copper costs about ten to fifteen cents a pound. Formalin may be bought from seventy-five to ninety cents a pound. You can make the Bordeaux Mixture at a cost of a little less than one cent a gallon. APPENDIX 331 Spraying potatoes costs from three and one half to seven dollars an acre. The cost depends upon the number of applications and the amount of foliage to be covered. Fruit trees fully grown may be sprayed for from six to twenty cents a season. This includes the cost of labor. FERTILIZER FORMULAS FOR CORN, COTTON, AND TOBACCO (These formulas were kindly furnished by Director B. W. Kilgore of the North Carolina Experiment Station.) Fertilizers for Corn. — For average conditions a fertilizer contain- ing 7 per cent available phosphoric acid, i y2 per cent of potash, and 3 per cent of nitrogen is well suited to corn. The following mixtures furnish these materials in approximately the above proportions : No. i Acid phosphate, 14 per cent phosphoric acid . 875 Ibs. Cotton-seed meal, 6.61 per cent nitrogen . . . 950 Ibs. Kainit, 12^ per cent potash 175 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 2 Acid phosphate . . 1000 Ibs. Fish scrap, 8% nitrogen 750 Ibs. Kainit 250 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 3 Acid phosphate 1000 Ibs. Fish scrap 920 Ibs. Muriate of potash, 50 per cent potash .... 80 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 4 Acid phosphate 950 Ibs. Cotton-seed meal . . . i ooo Ibs. Muriate of potash 50 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. 332 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS No. 5 Acid phosphate 1250 Ibs. Dried blood, 1 3 per cent nitrogen 650 Ibs. Muriate of potash 100 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. Fertilizers for Cotton. — A fertilizer containing 7 per cent available phosphoric acid, 2^ per cent of potash, and 2^ per cent of nitrogen is well suited to cotton. The following mixtures furnish these mate- rials in approximately the above proportions : No. i Acid phosphate, 14 per cent phosphoric acid . 900 Ibs. Cotton-seed meal, 6.6 per cent nitrogen : . . 800 Ibs. Kainit, 1 2^ per cent potash 300 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 2 Acid phosphate 950 Ibs. Fish scrap, 8^ per cent nitrogen 650 Ibs. Kainit 400 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 3 Acid phosphate 1000 Ibs. Cotton-seed meal 925 Ibs. Muriate of potash, 50 per cent potash ... 75 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 4 Acid phosphate 1075 Ibs. Fish scrap, 8^ per cent nitrogen 800 Ibs. Muriate of potash 125 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 5 Acid phosphate 1250 Ibs. Dried blood, 13 per cent nitrogen 600 Ibs. Muriate of potash 150 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. APPENDIX 333 Fertilizers for Tobacco. — For average conditions a fertilizer con- taining 6 per cent available phosphoric acid, 2.l/2 per cent potash, and 2^ per cent of nitrogen is well suited to tobacco. The follow- ing mixtures furnish these materials in approximately the above proportions : No. i Cotton-seed meal 900 Ibs. Nitrate of soda 100 Ibs. High-grade sulphate of potash 250 Ibs. Acid phosphate, 14 per cent 750 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 2 High-grade dried blood 500 Ibs. Nitrate of soda 125 Ibs. High-grade sulphate of potash 310 Ibs. Acid phosphate 1065 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 3 Fish scrap 725 Ibs. Nitrate of soda 100 Ibs. High-grade sulphate of potash 300 Ibs. Acid phosphate 875 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 4 Dried blood 500 Ibs. Nitrate of soda 100 Ibs. High-grade sulphate of potash 400 Ibs. Acid phosphate 1000 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. No. 5 Cotton-seed meal 700 Ibs. Nitrate of soda 100 Ibs. High-grade sulphate of potash . . . . . . 300 Ibs. Acid phosphate 900 Ibs. 2000 Ibs. 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. Vinegar 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 (ammonium)', 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. 335 336 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 the 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 larva 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. GLOSSARY 337 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 through 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. AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNE.RS 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 quadrupeds 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. GLOSSARY 339 Inoculate : to give a disease by inserting the germ that causes it in a healthy being. Insectivorous : anything 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 larva. 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 earthy 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 cobwebby growth of fungi on diseased or decaying things. Mold : see mildew. Mulch : a covering of straw, leaves, or like substances over the roots of plants to protect them from heat, drought, etc., and to preserve moisture. Nectar : a sweetish substance in blossoms of flowers from which bees make honey. Nitrate : a readily 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 : any 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. 340 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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: the 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 layer of earth in which seeds are sown. GLOSSARY 341 Seed selection: the careful selection of seed from particular plants with the object of keeping or increasing some desirable quality. Seedling : a young plant just from the seed. Sepal : one of the leaves in the calyx. Set : a young plant for propagation. Silo : a house or pit for packing away green food for winter use so as to exclude air and moisture. Sire: father. Smut : a disease of plants, particularly of cereals, which causes the plant or some part of it to become a powdery mass. Spike : a lengthened flower cluster with stalkless flowers. 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 very fine mist by the aid of a spraying pump for the purpose of killing fungi or insects. Stamen : the part of the flower that bears the pollen. Stamina: endurance. Sterilize: to destroy all the germs or spores in or on anything. Sterilizing is often done by heat or chemicals. Stigma : the part of the pistil that receives the pollen. Stock: the stem or main part of a tree or plant. In grafting or bud- ding the scion is inserted upon the stock. Stover : as used in this book the word means the dry stalks of corn from which the ears have been removed. Subsoil : the soil under the topspil. Sulphur : a yellowish chemical element ; brimstone. Taproot: the main root of a plant, which runs directly down into the earth to a considerable depth without dividing. Terrace : a ridge of earth run on a level around a slope or hillside to keep the land from washing. Thorax : the middle part of the body of an insect. The thorax lies between the abcjomen and the head. Thermometer : an instrument for measuring heat. Tillage : the act of preparing land for seed, and keeping the ground in a proper state for the growth of crops. 342 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 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 for household purposes. Variety : a particular kind. For example, the Winesap, Bonum, /Esop, 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 vitality 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 Alfalfa, 288, 290. Animals, 182. Annual, 74. Ant, 1 1 8. Anther, 46. Apple, 62, 82, 92, 103, 328. Apple-tree tent caterpillar, 136, 137. Asparagus, 257. Bacteria, 26, 33, 101, 104, 225. Bailey, Professor, quoted, 56. Balanced ration, 216-218. Beans, 253, 258. Bee, 120, 207. Bee, anti-robbing entrance, 210. Bee culture, 207. Beet, 253, 257. Beetle, 120, 121. cucumber, 262. Biennials, 74. Birds, 234. Black knot, 114, 115. Blackberry, 58, 62. Blight, 266. egg plant, 263. pear and apple, 103. potato, in. tomato, 265. Bordeaux Mixture, 99, 100, 327. Bordeaux-Paris-green mixture, 130, 330. Borer, peach, 138. Breeding cage, insect, 126. Bud variation, 61. Budding, 86. Buds, 58, 62, 86. Bug, 1 20, 121. Bulbs, 271. Burbank, Luther, 86. Butter, 223. Butterfly, 120, 123. Cabbage, 114, 248, 251, 254, 255, 258. worm, 140, 141. Cambium, 84, 104. Cankerworm, 133. Canna, 277. Cantaloupes, 261. Cape jessamine, 270. Capillarity, 12. Carbohydrates, 213, 214. Carbon, 41, 42. Carbonic acid gas, 8. Caterpillar, 123. Cattle, 192. Cauliflower, 114, 249, 328. Celery, 254, 259. Cherries, 62, 328, 330. Chinch bug, 140. Churn, the, 222, 223. Clover, 39, 284, 294. Club root, 1 14. Cocoon, 121, 122, 124, 125. Codling moth, 128. Cold frame, 249, 251, 252, 253. 343 344 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Colostrum, 220. Consumption, germ of, 101. Corms, 272. Corn, 38, 39, 168, 253, 254, 331. blossom of, 47. injury to roots of, 29. roots, 30. selection of seed, 69. Cotton, 150, 331. boll weevil, 298. resistant variety, 105. Sea Island, 105. wilt, 115. Cow, the dairy, 216. care of, 218. Cowpeas, 33, 37, 38, 39, 76, 262. Cream, 221. Crop rotation, illustration of, 40. Crops, 148, 149. rotation of, 9, 21, 22, 35. value per acre of, 149. Crosses, 50. Cross pollination, 50. Cucumber, 261. beetle, 262. Curculio, plum, 131. Currant, 62. Cuttings, 54, 56, 57, 61, 269, 270. Dahlia, 272, 273, 276. Dairying, 216, 224. Dendrolene, 135. Diphtheria, germ of, 101. Diseases of plants, 94. Domestic animals, 182. Drainage, benefits of, 15. Dry farming, 305. Ducks, 204. Egg plants, 249, 251, 262. Farm crops, 148. Fats, 213, 214. Feeding, reasons for, 211. Feeding stuffs, digestible nutrients in, 214, 215. growing, on the farm, 228. Fertilization, 48. Fertilizers, 24, 28, 331. Field insects, 118, 140. Figs, 61. Fire blight, 103. Flax, 65. Flea-beetle, 144. Floriculture, 247. Flower, the, 44. Flower gardening, 268. Fly, 120. Forage, 284. Formalin, 108, in. Fowls, 204. Fruit mold, 1 16. Fruit rot, 94. Fruit tree, how to raise a, 82. Fultz, Abraham, 68. Fungi, 98. Garden, 179. Garden insects, 118, 140. Gardening, 247. Geese, 204. Geranium, 271. Germs, 33, 34, 104 ; see also Bac- teria. Gideon, Mr., 61. Girdler, 137. Girdling, 43, 44. Glacier, 3, 4, 5. Gladiolus, 250. Gooseberries, 62. Grafting, 58, 83. INDEX 345 Grafting, cleft, 85, 86. root, 85. time for, 85. tongue, 83, 84. wax, 84. Grape, 61, 328. Grape cutting, 57. Grape phylloxera, 132. Grape pollination, 55. Grass crop, 148, 284. Greenhouse, 250, 252, 253, 265. Heading back, 89. Hens, 204, 206. Heredity, 70. Hessian fly, 145. Homes, country, 240. Horse, 183. diagrams by which to judge, 1 86, 189, 190. Percheron, 185. proportions of, 191. Horticulture, 247. Host, 98. Hotbed, 250, 251, 252. Humus, 6, 20, 21, 23. Hybrids, 50, 51. Insects, cage for breeding, 1 26. field, 141. garden, 141. general, 118. how they feed, 121. orchard, 126. parts of, 119. Irish potato, 58. propagation of, 58. Irrigation, 309. Kerosene emulsion, 127, 327. King quoted, 4. Land, reclaiming of, 19, 37. Landscape gardening, 247. Larva, 121. Layering, 58, 60. Legumes, 33, 34. Lettuce, 249, 251, 254, 257. Lime, 26. Louse, plant, 142. Machines, farm, 232. Manures, 22, 24, 28. Market gardening, 248. Melons, 262, 266. Mildew, 96, 98. how to prevent, 98. Milk, 220, 224. sours, how, 225. Moisture, 10. Mold, 95-97, 1 1 6. Moth, 1 20, 122, 124. Moth, codling, 128. Mulch, 13. Nectar, 49. Nitrogen, 24, 34, 35, 37, 38. Nitrogen-gathering crops, 1 6. Nodules, 38. Oat, 107. Onion, 261, 263. Orchard insects, 118, 126. Osmosis, 33. Paris green, 327. Parsnips, 253. Pasture grasses, 286. Peach, 62, 90, 92, 115, 116, 117, 33°- Peach borer, 138. Peach curl, 115. 346 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Peanuts, 173. Pear, 62, 103, 328. Pear-tree girdler, 137. Peas, 253, 254, 264. Perennials, 75. Petal, 45. Phosphoric acid, 24. Phylloxera, 132. Pistil, 44, 45, 46. Plant, the, 41. Plant disease, cause of, 94. nature of, 94. prevention of, 102, 247, 328. Plant food, 36, 37. from air, 41. from soil, 31. kinds of, 36. Plant louse, 142. Plant propagation, 54. by buds, 54. Plant seeding, 62. Planting a tree, 88. Plow, right way to, n. Plum curculio, 131. Plums, 62, 328. Pollen, 46, 47, 48. Pollination, 48-50. by hand, 51. cross, 50. grape, 55. Potash, 24. Potato, 58, 59, 328. beetle, 145. blight, in. scab, 109. sweet, 59, 175. Poultry, 204. Propagation of plants by buds, 54. Protein, 212, 214, 230. Pruning, 88. Pruning, root, 92. Pupa, 122, 124, 125. Purity of seed, 77. Quince, 62, 328. Radish, 249, 253, 254. Raspberry, 58, 62. Ration, balanced, 216-218. Raupenleim, 135. Red raspberry, 62. Rice, 177. Roads, 240, 241, 245. Root hairs, 27, 28, 29, 32, 42. Root pruning, 92. Root tubercles, 33, 37. Roots, 27. Rot of fruit, 94. Rotation of crops, 9, 21, 22, 3^. San Jose scale, 126. Sap current, the, 42. Scab, 109. Scale, San Jose, 126. Schoolhouses, 240, 244. Scion, 84, 86. Seed, 44. germination, 78. purity, 77. selection, 51, 59, 65. of corn, 69. of cotton, 66. of potatoes, 59, of wheat, 66, 68. vitality, 77. Seeding, 62. Selection of seed ; see seed selection. Sepal, 45. Sheep, 197. Smuts, 107. INDEX 347 Soil, i. bacteria in, 26. deepening of, 9. definition of, r. drainage of, 15. how water rises in, 14. improving, 18. manuring of, 22. moisture of, 10. origin of, i. particles of, magnified, 12. retention of water by, 13. tillage of, 6. virgin, 19, 20. Sowing (seed), 253. Spiders, red, 283. Spores, 95, 97, 98. Spraying, 112, 113, 117, 146, 327- 331- outfit, 143. Squanto, 22. Squash, 253, 259. Squash bug, the, 143. Stamen, 45-48. Stigma, 45-48. Stock, 84. Stockbridge quoted, 4. Strawberry, 58. Style, 45. Subsoil, i. Subsoiling, 10. Sugar cane, 314. Sweet pea, 276, 277. Sweet potato, 59, 175. Swine, 200. Tent caterpillar, 136, 137. Terraces, 20. Tile drain, 16. benefits of, 17. Tillage, 6, 19, 29. Tobacco, 159, 331, 333. Tobacco worm, 145. Tomato, 249, 251, 252, 265. Tongue grafting, 83, 84. Tools, 232. Topping, 161. Tree, manuring of, 28. Tubercle, 33, 39. Tull, Jethro, 6. quoted, 7. Turkeys, 204. Turnip, 114, 254. Typhoid fever, germ of, 101. Vitality of seed, 77. Wasp, 1 20. Water, 10. Water, absorption of, by plants, 10. retention of, by soil, 13. rise of, in soil, 14. saved by plants, 10. saved by soils, 12. Watermelons, 266, 267. Weathering, 5, 8. Weeds, 73. Weevil, 144. cotton-boll, 298. plum, 131. Wheat, 107, 163. yield of, 68. Wilt cotton, 115. watermelon, 267. Window box, 279, 281. Window garden, 280, 281. Window gardening, 281. Worn-out land, reclaiming of, 19. Yeast, 100.