SUPPLEMENT TO WARREN’S ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE DRY FARMING IN OREGON BY H: D. SCUDDER OF THE OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY DRY FARMING IN OREGON H. D. SCUDDER, OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Dry Farming Conditions in Oregon. ‘ Dry farming” is a term applied to a special system of farming that is required to produce profitable crops without irrigation where the rain- fall is insufficient for production under ordinary farming methods. Generally, where the annual precipitation is 20 inches or less, dry farming methods are required, but seldom will even these methods bring profitable production where the annual rainfall is less than 10 inches. In Oregon there is a great farming area east of the Cas- cades, comprising approximately two-thirds of the area of the state, where the annual rainfall ranges from 10 to 25 inches and where either dry farming or irrigation must be resorted to, to secure successful returns from cropping. In this vast territory there are approximately 1,500,000 acres. now successfully operated under the dry farming system, and approximately 3,000,000 acres of land suitable for this method of farming yet to be put under the plow. The larger portion of the dry farming land now cultivated in Eastern Oregon is found in the Columbia Basin. These lands at the present time are the chief wheat-producing portion of the state. Some of these Columbia Basin lands have been farmed for thirty years or more, what is called the ‘“‘ summer fallow ” method of grain production being used. In this system, a grain crop is grown only every other year, each alternate year Copyright, 1914, by the Macmillan Company. B 1 2 DRY FARMING IN OREGON the land being plowed and left fallow through the growing season. In the Blue Mountain and Central Oregon divisions (see map), hitherto devoted largely to the production of livestock and of hay and grain by means of irrigation, large areas of lands that cannot be irrigated have been in recent years and still are being brought into production by means of the dry farming system. In the three different divisions of Eastern Oregon, shown on the map, the conditions as to soils, rainfall, elevation, and growing season, and their effect upon dry farming production, vary considerably. In the Columbia Basin region, with the exception of Umatilla County, the average annual rainfall is about 11 inches, the average elevation 2000 feet, and the average growing season 150 days. In the Blue Mountain region, the average annual rainfall is about 18 inches, the average elevation 3000 feet, and the average growing season 120 days. In the Central Oregon division, the average an- nual rainfall is 11 inches, the average elevation 4000 feet, and the average growing season 100 days. The rainfall in Umatilla County (15 to 25 inches) is considerably higher than that in the rest of the Columbia Basin, owing to the proximity of the Blue Mountains. Thus it may be seen that in the Blue Mountain region, the large rainfall permits heavier produc- tion on the dry farm, while in the Columbia Basin the rain- fall is so low as to require the most careful methods. In Central Oregon, on the other hand, the elevation and short growing season make frosts the most critical factor in pro- duction. Throughout Eastern Oregon, the evaporation is rather high, averaging about 45 inches from a free water surface, while the distribution of the rainfall is not especially favorable to crops, owing to the very scanty precipitation during the summer months. DRY FARMING IN OREGON ‘sour] AJUNOD MOTJOF YOIYA JO solrepunog oy} ‘a}e4s ay} JO SUOISIATp [BIN4[Nouse pue [eorydesiZ0e9 einjeu xIs ey} Burmoys ‘uose1Q jo deur jorar YSNoy ‘TDI 4 DRY FARMING IN OREGON On the other hand, the soils of the Eastern Oregon dry farming area as a whole are very favorable for production. In the Columbia Basin and the Blue Mountain region, the gray silt loam is almost the universal type. This soil, some- times called ‘ voleanic ash,” is a fine-grained fertile soil, excellently adapted to moisture conservation and easy tillage. In Central Oregon, the most common dry farming soil type is the brown sandy loam, easier for tillage operations but not quite so retentive of moisture nor so rich in plant food. In both of these types throughout the region, humus is the con- stituent in which the soils are most deficient. Altogether, the conditions for dry farming in Oregon are fairly favorable for successful production, provided the farmer fully understands the problems involved and uses the very best methods to meet them. Special Dry Farming Tillage Practices. The chief objects of dry farming tillage practices are to conserve moisture and destroy weeds. The highest production is dependent first _ and foremost upon the fullest use of the rainfall. With the proper tillage methods, fully one-half of the total annual precipitation may be conserved. As every inch of rainfall secured from the soil by the wheat crop will produce ap- proximately 3 bushels of grain, if one-half of the average an- nual rainfall of 11 inches were conserved for the use of the crop, a yield of approximately 15 bushels per acre could be secured ; or, under the summer fallow system, double that yield per acre every other year. On the average Hastern Oregon dry farm at the present time, little more than half this yield is obtained, and it is probable not more than a fourth of the total annual precipitation is conserved and used for crop production. Deep plowing is the first essential in moisture conserva- tion. A deep, rough, loose layer of plowed soil acts like a DRY FARMING IN OREGON 5 sponge in quickly absorbing precipitation and permitting it to get into the soil, where it may be stored for later use. Plow- ing in the fall is of great advantage, in that it leaves the land rough and loose so that it holds the snow and absorbs the rains of early fall and spring. Very commonly, however, the soil is too dry to plow well in the fall, unless a disk plow is used. Ordinarily the disk plow does inferior work, be- cause it 1s set too shallow. If disk plowing is done, it should be deeper than moldboard plowing (not less than 10 inches), and more horse power should be used. Where the land is not plowed in the fall, another practice is very successfully substituted for it. This is the use of the disk harrow on the stubble in the fall after the first rains have come, so that the soil turns well and is not left too much pulverized. Disk harrowing in the fall chops up the grain stubble, aiding in its decay over winter, destroys a great many weeds, and leaves the surface soil fairly rough and loose for the absorption of the winter precipitation. In addition, such land is more easily and effectively plowed in the spring. Where the land has been left over winter in the stubble, a valuable practice is disk harrowing early in the spring. This has much the same effects as fall disking in chopping up the heavy stubble, destroying weeds, absorbing the spring rainfall, and making the plowing easier and more effective. Where plowing of dry farming land is done in the spring, either for seeding or for summer fallowing, it is of the greatest importance that it be done as early as possible. Land plowed in April will give a yield of 5 or 6 bushels more per acre than that plowed in June. All spring plowing should be followed immediately with the spiketooth harrow, so that a soil mulch is created at once and the loss of moisture prevented. Evap- 6 DRY FARMING IN OREGON oration losses are very high at the time of the spring plow- ing, owing to the large surface of moist soil exposed, so that immediate mulching with the harrow is of the greatest value. The use of a subsurface packer is unnecessary on land that is being plowed for summer fallow. Its chief use is for spring plowed land which is to be seeded at once. Such newly plowed land is often so loose as to dry out quickly, leaving the crop in poor shape to withstand the drouth of summer. The subsurface packer firms the soil in the lower part of the plow bed so that capillary action is new between the plowed layer and the subsoil where the moisture is stored. The use of a surface roller on the dry farm is seldom necessary or desirable. Practically all seeding on the dry farm should be done with the drill, even the seeding of alfalfa or field peas in rows, and of corn, as well as wheat and other small grains. The mod- ern grain drill can be adapted to the seeding of practically all dry farming crops. Most of the work of moisture conservation is accomplished through surface cultivation, the object of which is to maintain a good mulch and destroy weeds. The most effective soil mulch is from 3 to 4 inches in depth and is not too finely pulverized. It consists of a dry, loose layer of small clods mixed with more finely pulverized soil. Such a mulch when rain comes is rough and loose enough to absorb rainfall and does not run together and crust and bake and crack as does a very finely pulverized dust mulch. Further, the cloddy mulch will not blow as readily as will a dust mulch, and this is important in localities where some trouble is had with soil blowing. Surface cultivation is given only frequently enough to maintain a good mulch and destroy weeds. It does not need to be given every week, but only when the DRY FARMING IN OREGON v5 rainfall has destroyed the mulch by compacting it and wetting it, so that capillary action is resumed through it and loss of moisture through evaporation takes place. Ordinarily, in Eastern Oregon, two or three harrowings of the summer fallow during the spring, followed by several cultivations with the bar weeder sufficient to keep down the weeds, and a final cultivation in the fall before seeding is generally all that is necessary to maintain satisfactory conditions. Land that is in row crops, such as corn, alfalfa, potatoes, rape, and the like, may be cultivated on the same basis, a spiketooth harrow, or Hallock weeder being used early in the season and later the shovel cultivator. Winter-sown grain may be harrowed several times early in the spring with great benefit, not only to destroy weeds, but to break up the soil crust formed over winter. A good tillage program for the average Eastern Oregon dry farm would be about as follows, the rotation being — first year, summer fallow; second year, wheat; third year, fallow substitute crop, such as field peas, corn, or the like: First Year. — Double-disking in the fall after harvest. Fall plowing. Double-disking in early spring. Harrowing two or three weeks later. Harrowing after the next heavy rainfall. Harrowing, or the “bar weeder,” in June. The “bar weeder”’ in July. Harrowing, or “‘ bar weeder,’’ in August. Disking in September. Second Year. — Press-drilling wheat in fall after first rain, but not later than the first of November. Harrowing weedy wheat several weeks after sowing. Harrowing wheat twice at intervals in spring. Third Year. — Double-disking after harvest. Fall plow- ing. Double-disking early the next spring. Harrowing in two weeks. Harrowing before seeding. Press-drilling bar- ley, or emmer, or field peas, corn, rape, or sorghum, in rows, 8 DRY FARMING IN OREGON ) or other “‘ fallow substitute’ crop. Harrowing young crop with weeder and cultivating row crops later. Dry Farming Machinery. The chief object to be observed in the selection of dry farming machinery is to obtain tools that do reasonably good work rapidly and cheaply. Wher- ever it is possible to use it, the moldboard plow does the best quality of work, the sulky 3-bottom gang plow being the type most used by the dry farmer who wishes to get over the land quickly and cheaply. The disk plow if properly used is especially valuable in plowing hard, dry soils before the rains have come, or in plowing sticky soils that will not scour on the moldboard plow. It is also especially effective in plowing newly cleared sage brush land. The disk plow, however, must be very carefully selected, as it must have a high clear- ance beam (so that it will not choke), rigid frame, the best of material in the rotary disks (which should have a diameter of 26 or 28 inches), and the best of bearings (preferably on both sides of each disk). Subsoil plows and the special deep tillage plows recently introduced are not considered neces- sary for the Eastern Oregon dry farmer. A good spiketooth lever harrow and first-class disk harrow, such as the Double Action Cutaway disk, are indispensable dry farming tools. Rollers and packers are seldom nec- essary. The best obtainable grain drill, of the hoe type, and provisions for sowing seed of all sizes, and particularly at very low rates per acre, are the most important essentials of the dry farmer’s equipment. On poorly prepared or trashy ground, the single disk drill does better work than the hoe drill. For the planting of corn or beans, the single- horse drill or the regular.two-row planter may be used. On every dry farm, a first-class 8-shovel riding cultivator- with all modern adjustments should be found. Special knife blades for cultivating such weeds as the Russian thistle may DRY FARMING IN OREGON 9 be made for this machine. For early cultivation of row crops, the Hallock weeder is a cheap and indispensable implement for effective work. For summer cultivation, the most ef- fective weed killer is the bar weeder — a home-made machine widely used throughout Eastern Oregon. Fig. 2. Bar weeder used on Experiment Station at Moro, Ore., for summer fallow cultivation. For harvesting, the header is the best machine for the modern diversified dry farm. The combined harvester and thresher, although a wonderful machine for harvesting quickly and cheaply on a large scale, is adapted only to the “bonanza”’ type of farming. For harvesting alfalfa for seed, the self rake reaper, and for field pea seed, the bean puller or special blades on the row cultivator, may be used. The fanning mill, for cleaning and grading seeds of all kinds, is one of the most profitable pieces of equipment the dry farmer can possess. Housing undoubtedly at least doubles the life of the average machine, and the dry farmer’s entire equipment can be shel- tered in a machine shed that can be built for $200 or $300. Dry Farming Crops. In selecting his crops, the dry farmer should choose those crops which require the least moisture (corn) ; that are deep rooting (alfalfa) ; that are early matur- ing or have a short season of growth (field peas and rape) ; that are adapted to moisture conserving tillage (row crops) ; DRY FARMING IN OREGON 10 UI} ,, BZUBUOd ,, aB1B] ay} 0} ATUO padepy ‘ulseg viquinjoD ay} Ur play JReyA We} Lup B UO YIOA 4B JOYseryy PUB Jo}SeATVY poeulquIod as1oy-9E AUT, “Eg “OTT DRY FARMING IN OREGON 11 that may be cheaply produced (small grains); that are hardy to winter cold or spring frosts (rye and field peas) ; that are arid-bred; or those that decrease fertility the least or, instead, increase it (alfalfa and field peas). Winter wheat is now and undoubtedly always will be the chief crop of the Oregon dry farmer. The best variety for Oregon, wherever the rainfall is 18 inches or under, unques- tionably is the Turkey. Corn (the Improved Minnesota No. 23), barley (Swan-neck), rye, oats (Sixty-Day), and emmer are the other cereals, and the respective best varieties of each which are successfully grown and of value to the Eastern Oregon dry farmer. Of these, corn alone is not very successfully grown in Oregon over an elevation of 3500 feet. Winter barley and winter emmer are being grown with fair success. Of the spring wheats, the. Selected Bluestem is probably the best variety. New crops recently successfully produced on the Eastern Oregon dry farm are the hardier strains of alfalfa (the Baltic and the Grimm), field peas (the Carleton and the Cossack), rape, artichokes, field beans (at the lower elevations), flax, mangels (at the higher elevations), and several forage crops of minor importance. Potatoes are very successfully grown, both for home use and commercially, on the Oregon dry farm- ing lands, except at some of the highest elevations. Of all the dry farming crops, the hardy alfalfa and field peas grown in cultivated rows for seed production or for hog pasture are the most profitable in Eastern Oregon and are of especial value because of their effect in restoring and increasing fer- tility. Corn, rape, and artichokes are chiefly valuable if they are utilized by pasturing off with hogs or sheep. The list of new crops recently developed for the Eastern Oregon dry farmer is now sufficient to permit a much more intensive and diversified, a surer and more attractive, i DRY FARMING IN OREGON type of agriculture than that which he has hitherto em- ployed. Dry Farming Management. The most striking need of the old settled dry farming lands in Eastern Oregon, both from the fertility and economic standpoints, is for a more Fie. 4. College bred field corn at 3500 feet elevation on O. A. C. Dry Farm, Metolius, Ore. For ‘ hogging down.”’ diversified system of farming, to maintain or increase fer- tility. This will permit employing a smaller farm unit and thus increase the population and the social and economic development of the rural districts. The present large size of the dry farms, together with the continuous grain cropping, is reducing the fertility of the soil and does not get the max- imum production and use of the land that is possible. Fur- ther, the ‘‘ bonanza ”’ style of wheat farming has larger risks and does not produce as steady an income, while very little of the money obtained by the farmer in this type of farming DRY FARMING IN OREGON 1 is expended on the land or in the country from which the crop is sold. The great need of the entire Eastern Oregon dry farming area is for a much more diversified system of farming, which will permit a higher production per acre, the maintenance of fertility, a steadier and surer income, suc- cessful farms of smaller size, and thus a more populous and permanent agriculture. That diversified dry farming may be carried on success- fully in Eastern Oregon on farms of 320 to 640 acres in size has been fully demonstrated in recent years. This has been accomplished by the use of better varieties of grain and im- proved methods of tillage and seeding, especially with refer- ence to moisture conservation and the control of weeds, so that larger yields of grain crops are obtained. For grain, even on the diversified dry farm, will always be a leading crop. The chief departure in the diversified type of farming, however, is the introduction of leguminous forage and seed crops, such as alfalfa and field peas, used in rotation with grain and thus increasing fertility through the nitrogen- gathering ability of these plants and the increase effected in the humus content of the soil. Although the alfalfa and field pea may be raised for sale as seed crops, a considerable por- tion of them is consumed by livestock, particularly pigs and sheep, and thus the income from the land increased and its fertility retained. On the newly settled or undeveloped dry farming areas of Central Oregon and the Blue Mountain region, the chief problems of the dry farmer are the short growing season, the sandier soil, and the lack of transportation. On these lands, diversified farming is even more necessary than on the old farming areas of the Columbia Basin, and should be adopted from the very beginning. 14 DRY FARMING IN OREGON The most important requirement for the new settler on the Central Oregon dry farming lands is not the clearing of the sage brush or the protection of crops against rabbits, but rather it is the conservation of sufficient moisture by Fic. 5. Field peas in double drill rows for forage and seed production. Yield 26 bushels per acre, O. A. C. Dry Farming Experiment Station, Moro, Ore. thorough cultivation the first year so that he can produce a successful crop the second year. A short growing season can be offset by securing hardier varieties of grain and for- age, such as those already named; and the distance from the shipping point may be offset by the growing of alfalfa seed, which may be profitably hauled a long distance, and the raising of livestock, which can be sold in the home locality. As suggested, successful management of the dry farm is dependent on maintaining or increasing fertility through the DRY FARMING IN OREGON 11-55 growing of nitrogen-gathering and humus-forming crops in rotations, and the feeding of them to livestock. ' A comparison of the fertility effects of three of the most important dry farming products will show at once how this problem must be met: Wheat, one acre, 25 bushels, at 70 cents per bushel, has a market value of $17.50, costs about $6 per acre to produce, and takes away from the soil plant foods having a market value of $6.75, so that the net profit from an acre of wheat is $4.75. An acre of alfalfa seed yielding 100 pounds at 20 cents a pound has a market value of $20, costs $3 to pro- duce, but adds to the soil through its nitrogen-gathering ability $3.90 worth of plant food, and thus gives a net profit of $20.90. An acre of land devoted to pigs will produce 300 pounds of pork, at 7 cents per pound, having a market value of $21, will cost $3 to produce, and through the alfalfa and field peas fed will return to the land $2.50 worth of plant foods, and thus gives a net profit of $19.50 per acre. With these facts in mind, it is not hard to see how easily the profits per acre and the fertility may be increased by growing more alfalfa and field peas and raising more pigs and growing less wheat or other grain. In other words, if the Eastern Oregon dry farmer were to maintain fertility, buying and replacing the plant food consumed, a half section of land farmed to wheat would give him only a bare living, even with a yield of 25 bushels per acre on the summer fallow system. The money invested in his land would give him a better profit loaned through his bank at 6 per cent than it would invested in his wheat land. Alfalfa or field peas or pigs, on the other hand, would not only give him a good profit on his investment and labor, but would steadily increase the fertility and productive power of his LG DRY FARMING IN OREGON soil. In other words, when a farmer raises and sells nothing but wheat or other grain, the money he receives comes largely from the direct sale of the fertility of his farm, which in time is bound to become so reduced that it will no longer give him a living. Fic. 6. Alfalfa in cultivated rows for seed and forage production. O. A. C. Dry Farm, Metolius, Ore. Every acre of 25-bushel wheat sold is grown at a fertility loss of $6.75, while every acre of alfalfa grown brings a fertility gain of $3.90 and a much greater profit on his labor and in- vestment as well; but since every acre of alfalfa enriches the soil each year with an amount of nitrogen (the most valuable of the plant foods) equivalent to that consumed in producing 41 bushels of wheat, it is evident that the dry farmer still may grow wheat and other grains if a good rotation, including alfalfa and field peas and pigs, is used. That such rotations DRY FARMING IN OREGON 17 Fic. 7. Pigs fattening on field pea pasture. O. A. C. Experiment Farm. are easily and profitably fitted to the Eastern Oregon dry farm, has been fully demonstrated. In every good rotation plan of any sort, the following fea- tures or requirements must be found : 1. “ Money” Crop For cash sales lo . Legume Crop For fertility — Nitrogen-gather- ing, increasing humus, subsoil- ing effect 3. Cultivated Crop Improving tilth, making plant food available, destroying weeds 4. Barn Yard and Green Manures, Straw, etc. Cc On OREGON Dry FarmMinG LANDS Wheat or other grains Alfalfa and field pea seed Livestock—pigs, lambs, colts, poultry Alfalfa, field peas Alfalfa, rape, corn, potatoes, field peas, roots, artichokes Green manures — Rape, rye, sweet clover On OrEGON IRRI- GATED LANDS Butter fat, pigs, heifer calves Potatoes, cabbage, oni- ons, ete. Alfalfa, clover, field peas Corn, potatoes, rape, mangels, rutabagas, cabbage, onions, etc. Rape, rye and hairy vetch, crimson clover, sweet clover 18 DRY FARMING IN OREGON For example — several excellent rotations for the average Eastern Oregon diversified dry farm of 320 acres would be as follows: Field No. 1 — wheat, 80 acres. Field No. 2 — field peas, 40 acres; corn, 20 acres; rape, 20 acres. Field No. 3 —summer fallow, 80 acres. Field No. 4— alfalfa pasture, 40 acres; alfalfa for seed, 40 acres. Fields Nos. 1, 2, and 3 would be operated as a 3-year ro- tation in the order named, while Field No. 4 would be left in alfalfa for the entire 3-year period. The fourth year the field that was in cultivated crops the previous year would be seeded to alfalfa in place of being summer fallowed, while the alfalfa field would be plowed up and summer fallowed, taking the place of the field newly seeded to alfalfa in the regular 3-year rotation. The alfalfa, peas, corn, and rape, of course, would be grown in cultivated rows and pastured off with the pigs. Sheep and poultry could be substituted for pigs, if desired. A good dry farm rotation without livestock would be as follows : Field No. 1 — wheat, 80 acres. Field No. 2 — field peas for seed, 80 acres. Field No. 3 — summer fallow, 60 acres, potatoes 20 acres. Field No. 4 — alfalfa for seed, 80 acres. This rotation would be operated as directed in the first plan. Sheep could be very advantageously included in this plan to consume the alfalfa and pea straw produced, either the straw or manure being returned to the fields and thor- oughly disked in in the fall, left over winter, and plowed under the following spring. Following this rotation plan, nearly any combination of different varieties of crop and livestock DRY FARMING IN OREGON 19 products that was desired could be made. Fertility and prof- its would steadily increase. The Dry Farmer’s Home. No farmer can be considered successful who does not establish a comfortable and attrac- tive home. Almost invariably a highly successful farmer lives in a successful home. An attractive home place is even more desirable on the dry farm than on other farms. The modern farm home may have every convenience that the modern city home has, nor is the dry farmer excluded from the advantages of garden, orchard, and shade trees, such as other farmers enjoy. Where the more drouth-resistant varieties of fruit are selected and plenty of space and culti- vation given, the family needs may be successfully supplied, and this is equally true of the dry farm garden and the plant- ings of shade trees around the farmstead. Often where the depth to water is not too great, an engine pump will supply the limited amount of extra water required to irrigate a small garden and orchard on the dry farm. A well-planted farm- stead with conveniently arranged and modernly equipped buildings and yards makes the dry farm home as attractive and successful as that found anywhere. a. ee 70s Ae i ed a nS — - = a? j ae ‘HE following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. f ay Sia A Laboratory Manual of Agriculture for Secondary Schools By LELAND E. CALL Associate Professor of Soils, and Ba G. SCHAPER Instructor in Farm Crops, Kansas State Agricultural College Cloth, r2mio0, illustrated, 944 pages, go cents This Manual consists of a series of eighty-two laboratory exercises adapted for use in the schools. These exercises are so arranged as to provide from six to nine of suitable charac- ter for each month. A statement of the object of each exer- cise and of the equipment required is followed by necessary explanations and directions. Intelligent observation of ac- tual conditions and of conditions easily controlled by the stu- dent is emphasized throughout. There are numerous forms and blank pages for the recording of data. Stimulating questions that appeal to the practical judgment of the pupil follow each chapter. The student is constantly required to check up his ideas by comparing them with observed facts. The object sought and frankly acknowledged is vocational efficiency. Topics treated in the exercises include the distribution of seeds; a field lesson in the study of corn; a soil moisture study; the percolation of water in soils; soil drainage; soil mulches; the early development of the wheat plant; the corn kernel; corn judging; factors affecting the germination of seeds; planning the home garden; pruning; grafting; ger- mination test of seed corn; comparative judging of horses; judging dairy cattle; planning the home farm; tree identifi- cation; starting plants by cuttings; the dairy herd record. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PACIFIC COAST BRANCH Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle Teaching of Agriculture in the High School By GARLAND A. BRICKER Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Ohio State University With an Introduction by Dr. W. C. BacLey 202 pages, $1.00 A skilful exposition of the place of agriculture in the high school course of study which first defines the nature of sec- ondary agriculture, and then proceeds to discuss the rise and development of secondary agriculture in the United States; the social results of teaching secondary agriculture; the psy- chological and the seasonal determination of sequence; the organization of the course; the aim and methods of presen- tation; and finally the educational aims, values, and ideals in teaching agriculture in high schools. Materials and Methods in High School Agriculture By WILLIAM G. HUMMEL, M.S. Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education, University of California, and BERTHA R. HUMMEL, B.L.S. 385 pages, $1.25 This book has been prepared for the use of persons inter- ested in the introduction or in the teaching of agriculture in high schools of towns, cities, or rural communities where large numbers of students are drawn from the farming population, or where the prosperity of the high school community is largely dependent upon agriculture. The first chapters give a general treatment of the reasons for placing agriculture in the high school course and the au- thors then proceed to discuss the method, the equipment, and the subject matter of the course. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PACIFIC COAST BRANCH Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle Three valuable high school books in the Rural Textbook Series. Prepared under the editorial supervision of Professor L. H. Bailey Harper: Animal Husbandry for Schools $7.40 Written for the high school course, this book treats of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, each discussed with reference to breeds, judging the animal, feeding, care, and management. Practical questions and labo- ratory exercises supplement the text and compel the student to think through each subject as he proceeds. Livingston: Field Crop Production $1.40 This book is intended to meet the needs of agricultural high schools and of brief courses in the colleges. It is based on the results of actual studies at the experiment stations and it indicates the better way of performing every operation in the raising of crops, from selecting the field to harvest- ing and marketing the product. It treats in detail some eighteen individ- ual crops and explains fully the principles of crop rotation. Warren: Elements of Agriculture $7.70 A book by a farmer, an agricultural expert, a professor of Farm Man- agement in the New York State College of Agriculture. The text covers such topics as: the improvement of plants and animals; the propagation of plants; plant food; the soil; maintaining the fertility of the land; some important farm crops; enemies of farm crops; system of cropping; farms and feeding; the various animal types, in five chapters; farm man- agement; and the farm home. There is a valuable appendix and the text is excellently illustrated. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PACIFIC COAST BRANCH Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle Cyclopedia of American Agriculture Edited by L. H. BAILEY Director of the College of Agriculture and Professor of Rurai Economy, Cornell University. With 100 full-page plates and more than 2,000 illustrations in the text; four volumes; the set, $20.00 net; half morocco, $32.00 net; carriage extra VOLUME I—Farms VOLUME III—Animals VOLUME II—Crops VOLUME IV—The Farm and the Community “Indispensable to public and reference libraries . . . readily comprehensible to any person of average education.”—The Nation. “The completest existing thesaurus of up-to-date facts and opinions on modern agricultural methods. It is safe to say that many years must pass before it can be surpassed in comprehensiveness, accuracy, practical value, and mechanical excellence. It ought to be in every library in the country.””—Record-Herald, Chicago. Cyclopedia of American Horticulture Edited by L. H. BAILEY With over 2,800 original engravings; four volumes; the set, $20.00 net; half morocco, $32.00 net; carriage extra “This really monumental performance will take rank as a standard in its class. Illustrations and text are admirable. . . . Our own conviction is that while the future may bring forth amplified editions of the work, it will probably never be superseded. Recognizing its importance, the publishers have given it faultless form. The typography leaves nothing to be desired, the paper is calculated to stand wear and tear, and the work is at once handsomely and attractively bound.”—New York Daily Tribune. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PACIFIC COAST BRANCH Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle BOOKS ON AGRICULTURE ON TILLAGE, ETC. L. H. Bailey’s Principles of Agriculture ; $1.2 T. L. Lyon and E. O. Fippin’s The Principles of Soil Management 1.75 Hilgard and Osterhout’s as for Schools on the Pacific Slope : : : : : I 185 Tél, King’ s The Soil . I Isaac P. Roberts’s The Fertility of the Land : : BAe | Edward B. Voorhees’s Fertilizers : : : 5. lias H. Snyder’s Chemistry of Plant and Animal ‘Life. I H. Snyder’s Soils and Fertilizers. Third Edition I ON GARDEN-MAKING L. H. Bailey’s Manual of Gardening . : : é : J Aes L. H. Bailey’s Vegetable Gardening . . : ; : 5. Mice A. French’s How to Grow Vegetables . : : : : ah Tas ON FRUIT-GROWING, ETC. L. H. Bailey’s Fruit Growing : - : : - » TSO L. H. Bailey’s The Pruning Book : . : . ESO F. W. Card’s Bush Fruits. c : > - - ; SO ON THE CARE OF LIVE STOCK D. E. Lyon’s How to Keep Bees for Profit 1.50 W. H. Jordon’s The Feeding of Animals : . : ee eGO Nelson S. Mayo’s The Diseases of Animals . ‘ - ¢ Sn IE5O George C. Watson’s Farm Poultry ‘ : ‘ are OTE? C. S. Valentine’s How to Keep Hens for Profit . : ; 7 1.50 ON DAIRY WORK Harry Snyder’s Dairy Chemistry é Z : : : a .00 J. P. Sheldon’s The Farm andthe Dairy . : : 5 6 1utaXo) Henry H. Wing’s Milk and its Products. : : ; enke5O ON PLANT DISEASES, ETC. J. G. Lipman’s Bacteria in Relation to Country Life. : eso George Massee’s Diseases of Cultivated Plants and Trees . SPREE O’Kane’s Injurious Insects . ; : : - : é 3 82100 ON ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION J. B. Green’s Law for the American Farmer : : 2 Tabs: I. P. Roberts’s The Farmer’s Business Handbook : : ee 25 H. N. Ogden’s Rural Hygiene. : : - : SO Henry C. Taylor’s Agricultural Economics ; : : : 5y ae UGA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PACIFIC COAST BRANCH Pacific Northwest Office: 619 Second Avenue, Seattle = » i] WH A HI HH] 1 Hl Ty MW] Hi | } Wi | | | IH WAHT If HI |] 1} aa a HH || AHN || WIHT HI ai | Hh] ii] HH iH WT I HHT | WT DL | Il HVIl| HLT