^SCIENCE ^ ®i|e §. ^. PUI pbrarg 54-95 NOfTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITV LIBRARIES S00824819 W This book is due on the date indicated below and is subject to an overdue fine as posted at the circulation desk. EXCEPTION: Date due will be earlier if this item is RECALLED. NOV 4 7 2000 OCl ^3 m? 200M/09-98-981815 W\^V_5 Cfic Kural Science ferried Edited bt L. H. Bailet THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Cf)e Ctural Science ^erieg The Soil. The Spbating of Plants. Milk axd Its Products. The Fertility of the Land. The Principles of Fruit Growing. Bush-Fruits. Fertilizers. The Principles of Agriculture. Rural Wealth and Welfare. The Farmste/vd. The Principles of Vegetable-Gardening. Farm Poultry. The Feeding of Animals. The Farmer's Business Handbook. Irrigation and Drainage. The Care of Animals. The Horse. How to Choose a Farm. Forage Crops. Bacteria in Relation to Coun^bt Life. The Nursery-Book. Plant-Breeding. The Forcin'G-Book. Garden-Making. The Pruning-Book. The Practical Garden-Book. THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE A Text - Book foe Schools and Rural Societies P EDITED BY L. H: BAILEY Nineteenth Edition With a review and catechism for reading- clubs and teachers •Nphi fork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO.. Ltd. 1913 All rights reserved Copt EIGHT, 1S9S, 1909 Bv L. H. BAILEY Set up and electrotyped December, 1898 Reprinted with corrections January, 1900; January, May, 1901 ; February, June, 1902; February. July. 1903: March, 1904; July, 1905; April, 19C6; August. 1907; June. 190S; January, 19C9; Re\-i3ed, Jtine. 1909; Januarj-. 1910: June, 1911: January-. 1912; January, 1913 SS^ount l^Ieaeant I^iess J. Horace McFasla>"d Co3ipa>t Haeeisbubg • PESXSTLVA>"IA PREFACE The greatest difficulty in the teaching of agricul- ture is to tell what agriculture is. To the scientist, agriculture has been largely an application of the teachings of agricultural chemistr}-; to the stockman, it is chiefly the raising of animals ; to the horticul- turist, it maj' be fruit-growing, flower-growing, or nursery business ; and everyone, since the establish- ment of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations, is certain that it is a science. The fact is, however, that agriculture is pursued primarily for the gaining of a livelihood, not for the extension of knowledge : it is, therefore, a business, not a sci- ence. But at every point, a knowledge of science aids the business. It is on the science side that the experimenter is able to help the farmer. On the business side the farmer must rely upon himself ; for the person who is not a good business man cannot be a good farmer, however much he may know of science. These statements are no disparagement of science, for, in these days, facts of science and scien- tific habits of thought are essential to the best farming : but thev are intended to emphasize the (V) "^ PROPfuU li.::.l.:r ^ ^ /v. C. Side College VI PREFACE fact that business method is the master, and that teachings of science are the helpmates. But even if these facts are fully apprehended, the teacher and the farmer are apt to make no distinction between the fundamental and the inci- dental applications of science, or between principles and facts. Therefore, the mistake is often made of teaching how to overcome mere obstacles before ex- plaining why the obstacles are obstacles. How to kill weeds is a mere incident ; the great fact is that good farmers are not troubled with weeds. Rather than to know kinds of weeds, the farmer should know how to manage his land. How to know the weeds and how to kill them is what he calls prac- tical knowledge, but. standing alone, it is really the most unpractical kind of knowledge, for it does not tell him how to prevent their recurrence year after year. The learner is apt to begin at the wrong end of his problem. This is well illustrated in the customary discussions of under -drainage. The pupil or the reader is first instructed in methods of lay- ing drains. But drainage is not the unit. The real unit is texture and moisture of soils .- plowing, draining, green -cropping are means of producing a given or desired result. The real subject-matter for first consideration, therefore, is amelioration of soil rather than laving of drains. When the farmer has PREFACE yii learned how to prepare the land, and how to grow plants, and how to raise animals, then he may enquire about such incidental details as the kinds of weeds and insects, the brands of fertilizers, the varieties of apples, when he shall till, whether he shall raise wheat or sweet corn. The tailor first learns how to lay out his garment ; but the farmer too often wants to sew on the buttons before he cuts his cloth. Again, the purpose of education is often misun- derstood by both teachers and farmers. Its purpose is to improve the farmer, not the farm. If the per- son is aroused, the farm is likely to be awakened. The happy farmer is a more successful farmer than the rich one. If the educated farmer raises no more wheat or cotton than the uneducated neighbor, his education is nevertheless worth the cost, for his mind is open to a thousand influences of which the other knows nothing. One's happiness depends less on bushels of corn than on entertaining thoughts. Not only do we need to know what agriculture is, but we should know the relative importance of its parts. It is commonly assumed that fertilizing the land is the one most fundamental thing in agriculture, but this is not so ; for if but one thing about farming practices were to be explained, that thing should be the tilling of the land. VUl PREFACE Agriculture, then, stands upon business, but science is the staff. Business cannot be taught in a book like this ; but some of the laws of science as applied to farm -management can be taught, and it is convenient to speak of these laws as the principles of agriculture. Tli^se principles are ar- ranged in a more or less logical order, so that the teacher may have the skeleton of the subject before him. The subject should not be taught until it is analyzed, for analysis supplies the thread upon which the facts and practices may be strung. The best part of the book, therefore, is the table of contents. A book like this should be used only by persons who know how to observe. The starting-point in the teaching of agriculture is nature-study. — the training of the power actually to see things and then to draw proper conclusions from them. Into this primary field the author hopes to enter : but the present need seems to be for a book of prin- ciples designed to aid those who know how to use their eyes. L. H. BAILEY. HoBTicrrrKAL DEPARTMEyr, CoRyxLL rsivERSiTT, Dec. 1. 1*98. ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION (pages 1-15) Paragrapfii 1. JVhat Agriculture Is 1 "9 2. The Personal Factors upon which its Success Depends-— 2a. Upon business or executive ability 10-12 26. Upon a knowledge of natural science 13-2 L 3. Its Field of Production 22 Part I THE SOIL CHAPTER I The Contents of the Soil (pages 16-36) 1. JVhat the Soil Is 23,24 2. How Soil is Made — 2a. The inorganic elements 25-28 2b. The organic elements and agents 29-35 2c. Transportation of soils 36-40 3. Tlie Resources of the Soil 41-48 CHAPTER II The Texture and Structure op thk Soil (pages 37-46) 1. What is Meant by Texture 49-51 2. Why Good Texture and Structure are Important 52,53 3. How Good Structure Is Obtained 54-59 4. Structure and Manures 60 rix) X ANALYSIS CHAPTER in The MoisxrRE in the Soil (pages 47-63) (By L. A. CLnrros , Director, Storrs Experiment Station, Conn.) Paragraphs 1. Why Moisture Is Important 61-63 2. How Water is Held in the Soil 64-69 3. Hotc the Moisture -holding Capacity of the Soil May be Increased — 3a. The capacity of the soil 70-72 3&. Capacity is increased by the addition of humus . 73, 74 3c. Capacity may be increased by under- drainage . 75-78 3d. The capacity is increased by proper tillage . . 79-81 4. The Conservation of Moisture 82, 83 CHAPTER IV The Tillage of the Soil (pages 64-76) 1. What Tillage Is 84-86 2. nitat Tillage Does 87-89 3. How Tillage Is Perform^ — 3a. By deep-working tools 90-97 3?). By surface -working tools 98-101 3c. By compacting tools 102-104 CHAPTER V EuRiCHiiTG THE SoiL — Farm RESOURCES (pages 77-86) 1. What Farm Resources Are 105-107 2. Cropping B-esources — 2a. The kinds of green-manures 108-111 2b. The management of green-manures 112-117 £. Direct Applications — 3a. Stable manures 118-122 3ft. Other dressings 123-126 ANALYSIS 3:1 CHAPTER VI Enriching the Soil — Commercial, Resources (pages 87-105) (By G. W. Cavanaugh, Professor of Agricultural Chemisty, Cornell University) Paragraphs 1. The Elements in the Soil 127-133 2. Nitrogen 134-139 3. Phosphoric Acid 140-145 4. Potash 146-148 5. Amendments 149-153 6. Commercial Fertilizers — 6a. What they are 154-157 66. Advice as to their use 158-166 Part II THE PLANT, AND CROPS CHAPTER VII The Offices of the Plant (pages 106-111) 1. The Plant and the Crop 167,168 2. The Plant in its Relation to Soil 169-171 3. T}ie Plant in its Relation to Climate 172, 173 4. The Plant in its Relation to Animal Life 174,175 5. The Plant has Intrinsic Value to Man — 5a. As articles of food or beverage 176, 177 5ft. As articles used in the arts 178 5c. As articles or objects to gratify aesthetic tastes . 179-181 CHAPTER VIII How the Plant Lives (pages 112-131) (By B. M. DuGQAR, Professor of Plant Physiology, Cornell University) 1. The Plant Activities 182, ISi? XU ANALYSIS 2. The Factors of Growth — Faragrapht 2a. Water in the plant 184-189 2b. Soluble salts from the soil 190-192 2e. Oxygen 193-196 2d. Carbon dioxid and sunlight 197-199 2e. Heat, or a definite temperature 200-202 3. The Processes of Growth 203-207 4. Irritability 208-212 CHAPTER IX The Propagation of Plants (pages 132-144) 1. TIte Kinds of Propagation 213-215 2. Seedage, or Propagation by Seeds — 2a. Requisites of germination 216-221 2b. The raising of seedlings 222-226 3. Propagation by Buds — 3a. Why and how bud propagation is used .... 227,228 'Sb. Undetaehed buds 229, 230 3c. Detached buds 231-241 CHAPTER X Preparation of Land for the Seed (pages 145-158) (By I. P. Roberts, Emeritus Professor of .Agrieultnre, Cornell University) 1. Factors Which Determine tJie Preparation of tlte Seed-bed. 242,243 2. Tlie Demands of the Plant 244-249 3. The Preparing of the Seed-bed 250 255 4. Application of the Foregoing Principles — 4a. Wheat 256-259 ib. Maize, or Indian corn 260, 261 4c. Potatoes 262-264 CHAPTER XI Subsequent Care of the Plant (pages 159-178) 1. By Means of Tillage — la. In general 265 270 16. In fruit plantations 271-277 ANALYSIS xm 2. By Means of Pruning a)t(l Training — Paragraphs 2a. Pruning vs. training 278, 279 26. The healing of wounds 280-284 2c. The principles of pruning 285-289 3. By Keeping Enemies in Check — 3a. The kinds of enemies 290-293 36. The preventives and remedies 294-303 CHAPTER XII Pastures, Meadows, and Forage (pages 179-200) (By I. p. Roberts) 1. Grass 304-306 2. Permanent Pastures — 2a. Preparation of the land 307-310 2b. Maintaining the pasture 311-317 3 . Afeadoics — 3a. Temporary meadows 318-321 3b. Permanent meadows 322-325 3c. Kinds of grasses for meadows 326-329 4. Other Forage Plants 330-335 Part III THE ANIMAL, AND STOCK CHAPTER XIII The Offices of the Animal (pages 201-207) 1. The Animal and the Slock 336,337 2. The Animal in Its Relation to the Soil 338, 339 3. Tlie Animal in Its Relation to the Crop 340, 341 4. The Animal has Intrinsic Value to Man — 4a. As articles of food 342-344 46. As articles used in the arts 345, 346 4c. As companions 347 5. The Animal as a Beast of Burden 348-350 6. The Animal as a Pest -destroyer 351,352 7. The Animal Diversifies Labor 353,354 XIV ANALYSIS CHAPTER XIV How THE Animal Lives (pages 208-238) (By James Law, Ex-Director of the New York State Veterinary College, Cornell University) 1. The Cell, and its Part in the Vital Processes — Paragraphs la. The cell 355 16. Single-celled animala 356-35!) Ic. Many-celled animals 360-366 2. The Food of Animals — 2a. Kind of food 367,368 2b. Food constituents 369-376 3. Digestion of Food — 3a. What digestion is 377, 378 36. The saliva 379-385 3c. The gastric juice 386-393 M. Intestinal digestion 394-401 4. Absorption of the Digested Matters — 4a. How absorption takes place 402-404 46. Destination of the rich blood from the intestines. 40.5-409 5. Respiration, or Breathing — 5a. What breathing is 410-413 56. Blood-changes in respiration 414-418 5c. Amount of air required 419-421 6. Work; Waste; Rest— 6a. Waste of tissue 422, 423 66. Applications to practice 424-426 CHAPTER XV The Feedikg of the Akimal (pages 239-257) (By H. H. WiJfS, Professor of Animal Husbandry in Cornell University) 1. Sources of Food of Animals 427,428 2. How the Animal Uses Food 429-435 ANALYSIS 3CV 3. Composition of Fodders— Paragraphs 3o. Classification 436 36. Water 437-439 3c. Ash 440, 441 3d. Albuminoids 442 444 3e. Carbohyhrates 445 447 3/. Fats 448, 449 4. Feeding — 4«. Nutritive ratio 450 457 4fe. Quantity of food required 458-463 4c. Feeding standards 464,465 4rf. Bulk in the ration 466-408 4e. Palatableness 469 470 4/. Cooking and preparing the food 471-473 CHAPTER XVI The Management of Stock (page 258-278) (By I. p. Roberts) 1. The Breeding of Stock — la. What is meant by breeding 474-477 lb. The mental ideal 478-^81 Ic. How to attain the ideal . . . ' 482-487 2. Where Stock-raising Is Advisable 488-491 3. How Much Stock May be Kept 492-50(? 4. The Care of Stock— 4a. Housing 501-505 4b. Water 5O6, 507 4c- Food 508-510 GLOSSARY (pages 281-288) SUGGESTIONS TO READING CLUBS AND TO TEACHERS (pages 289-323) INDEX (pages 325-336) THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE INTRODUCTION 1. IVhat Agriculture Is 1. Agriculture, or farming, is the business of raising products from the land. These products are of two classes : crops, or plants and their products ; stock, or animals and their products. The former are direct products of the land ; the latter are indirect products of the land. 2. Agriculture also comprises, to a certain extent, the marketing or selling of its products. As marketable commodities, the products are of two classes : primary, or those which are put on the market in their native or natural condition, as wheat, potatoes, bananas, eggs, milk, wool; secondary, or those which are put on the market in a manufactured condition, as butter, cheese, cider, evaporated fruits. 3. The chief contribution of agi'iculture to the wealth and welfare of the world is the pro- duction of food. Its second contribution is the production of materials for clothing. Its third A U) 2 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE is the production of wood or timber, used in building and in the various wood -working trades. Other contributions are the production of materials used in medicine and in various secondary and incidental arts and manufactures. 4. The ideal agriculture maintains itself. That is, it is able to thrive forever on the same land and from its own resources. The land becomes more productive with time, and this even without the aid of fertilizing materials from the outside. This state is possible only with a mixed husbandry, in which rotations of crops and the raising of animals are necessary features. The more specialized any agricultural industry becomes, the more must it depend upon outside and artificial aids for the enrichment of the land and for its continued support. 5. Agriculture may be roughly divided into four general branches or departments : agricul- ture in its restricted sense, animal industry, for- estry, horticulture. G. Agriculture in its restricted sense — some- times, but erroneously, called agriculture proper — is a term applied to the general management of lands and farms, and to the growing of the staple grain and fiber crops. In North America, the use of the term agriculture has been restricted to the above application largely through the in- fluence of agricultural colleges and experiment INTRODUCTION o stations, in which the general field of agriculture has been divided into various special subjects. 7. Animal industry is the raising of animals, either for direct sale or use or for their pro- ducts. It is customary to speak of it as com- prising three departments: stock-raising, or the general growing of mammals, as cattle, horses, sheep; dairy husbandry, or the production of milk and milk products; poultry- raising, or the growing of fowls, as chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks. In its largest sense, it comprises other de- partments, as apiculture or bee -raising, fish -cul- ture, ostreaculture or oyster -raising, and the like. 8. Forestry is the growing of timber and woods. Its objects are two : to obtain a sala- ble product ; to produce some secondary effect upon the region, as the modification of climate or the preservation of the water-supply to rivers and lakes. 9. Horticulture is the growing of fruits, kitchen - garden vegetables, and ornamental plants. It has been divided into four depart- ments : pomology, or fruit-growing ; olericul- ture, or vegetable - gardening ; floriculture, or the growing of flowers and plants for their own or individual uses as means of ornament; land- scape horticulture, or the growing and planting of ornamental plants for their uses in mass effects in the landscape (on the lawn). 4 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 2. The Personal Factors Upon Which Its Success Depends 2a. Upon business or executive ability 10. Since the farmer makes a living by means of trade, it follows that ability to man- age business and affairs is requisite to his suc- cess. Executive ability is as needful to him as to the merchant or the manufacturer ; and the lack of such ability is probably the commonest and most serious fault with our agiiculture. As the conditions of trade are ever changing, so the methods of the farmer must be amenable to modification. He must quickly and completely adapt himself to the commerce of the time. Manifestly, however, this business capability cannot be taught by books. It is a matter of temperament, home training, and o^jportunity. Like all i>emianent success, business prosperity depends upon correct thinking, and then upon the correct application of the thinking. Suc- cessful agriculture, therefore, is a matter of personality more than of circumstances. 11. The compound result of executive ability and experience may be expressed in the term farm - practice. It is the judgment of the farmer upon the question in hand. However much he may learD from science, his own iNTRODt'CTIOK 5 experience on his own farm must tell him what crops to gi'ow, how to fertilize his land, what breeds > and varieties to raise, when and how to sow and to reap. The experience of one farmer is invaluable to another, but each farm is nevertheless a separate and local problem, which the farmer must think out and work out for himself. 12. The farmer must be able not only to raise his products, but also to sell them. He must produce either what the trade demands, or be able to sell products which are not known in the general market. In other words, there are two tj'pes of commercial effort in farming : growing the staple products for the world's markets (as wheat, beans, maize, meat), in which case the market dictates the price ; grow- ing special products for particular or personal sale (as the products of superior excellence, and luxuries), in which case the producer looks for his customers and dictates the price. 26. Upon a Tiuoidedge of natural science 13. The farmer, however, has more problems to deal witli than those connected with trade. He must raise products : and such production depends upon the exercise of much special knowledge and skill. The most successful pro- 6 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE duction of agricultural products rests upou the application of many principles and facts of natural science ; and the importance of such application is rapidly increasing, with the com- petitions and complexities of civilization. The study of these natural sciences also establishes habits of correct thinking, and opens the mind to a larger enjoyment of life, — for happiness, like success, depends upon habits of thought. The farmer should live for himself, as well as for his crops. The sciences upon the knowledge of which the best agricultural practice chiefly depends may now be mentioned, being stated approximately in the order of their importance to the actual practice of the modern farmer. 1-4. Physics. The physical properties and actions of bodies are fundamentally concerned in every agTicultural result, whether the farmer knows it or not. The influences of light and heat, the movements of fluids in soil, plant and animal, the forces concerned in every machine and appliance, are some of the most obvious of these physical problems. So important to the farmer is a knowledge of physics that "agricul- tural physics" is now a subject of instruction in colleges. The most important direct applica- tion of a knowledge of physics to agi'icultural practice has come as a result of recent studies of the soil. The questions of soil moisture, soil INTRODUCTION 7 texture, the tilling of land, and the acceleration of chemical activities in the soil, are essentially questions of physics; and these are the kinds of scientific problems which the farmer needs first to apprehend. 15. Mechanics. In practice, mechanics is an application of the laws of physics. The ele- mentary principles of mechanics are apprehended by the farmer unconsciously, as a result of experience ; but since modern agriculture is impossible without numerous and often elaborate mechanical devices, it follows that it is not enough that the farmer be self-taught. At every turn the farmer uses or applies physical forces, in tools, vehicles, and machines. His work often takes him into the field of civil en- gineering. To show how much the farmer is dependent on practical mechanics, we need mention only implements of tillage, problems associated with the draughts of horse tools, the elaborate harvesting machinery, threshers and feed -mills and milk -working machinery and the power to run them, fruit evaporating ma- chinery, pumps, windmills, hydraulic rams, con- struction of water supplies, problems of animal locomotion. 16. Plant-knowledge, or botany. Since the plant is the primary product of the farm, a knowledge of its characteristics and kinds is of 8 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE fundamental importance to the farmer. From the farmer's standpoint, there are four great departments of plant -knowledge : physiology', or a knowledge of the way in which the plant lives, grows, and multiplies ; patholog}', or a knowl- edge of mal- nutrition and diseases ; systematic botany, or a knowledge of the kinds of plants ; ecology, or a knowledge of the inter-relations between plants and their enyironments (or sur- roundings), and how they are modified by changes in environments, by crossing, and by breeding. 17. Animal-knowledge, or zoology. There are also four general directions in which animal- knowledge appeals to the farmer : physiology, with its practical applications of feeding, hous- ing, and general care of animals ; pathology', or knowledge of mal-nutrition and diseases (with special applications in the practice of sm'gery and medicine) ; kinds of animals, and the life- histories of those which are particularly bene- ficial or injurious to agriculture (with special applications in economic entomology and eco- nomic ornithology) ; ecology and breeding. 18. Chemistry. There are two general direc- tions in which chemistry appeals to the agri- culturist : in enlarging his knowledge of the life-processes of plants and animals ; and in affording direct information of the composition INTRODUCTION 9 of many materials used or produced on the farm. In practice, chemistry aids the farmer chiefly in suggesting how he may feed plants (fertilize the land) and animals. So many and important are the aids which chemistry extends to agriculture, that the various subjects involved have been associated under the name of "agri- cultural chemistry." This differs from other chemistry not in kind, but only in the subjects which it considers. 19. Climatology. Climate determines to a large extent the particular treatment or care which the farmer gives his crops and stock. It also profoundly influences plants and animals. They change when climate changes, or when they are taken to other climates. Climate is therefore a powerful agency in producing new breeds and new varieties. The science of weather, or meteorology, is also intimately associated with the work of the farmer. 20. Geology. The agricultural possibilities of any region are intimately associated with its surface geology, or the way in which the soil was formed. A knowledge of the geology of his region may not greatly aid the farmer in the prosecution of his business, but it should add much interest and zest to his life. 21. We now apprehend that agriculture is a complicated and difficult business. Founded 10 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE upon trade, and profoundly influenced by every commercial and economic condition, its suc- cessful prosecution nevertheless depends upon an intimate and even expert knowledge of many natural sciences. Aside from all this, the farmer has to deal with great numbers of objects or facts: thousands of species of plants are cultivated, and many of these species have hundreds and thousands of varieties ; many species of animals are domesticated, and each species has distinct breeds. Each of these sep- arate facts demands specific treatment. More- over, the conditions under which the farmer works are ever changing : his innumerable prob- lems are endlessly varied and complicated by climate, seasons, vagaries of weather, attacks of pests and diseases, fluctuations in labor supply, and many other unpredictable factors. 3. Its Field of Prorluci'ion 22. In the production of its wealth, agricul- ture operates in three gi'eat fields, — with the soil, the plant, and the animal. Although aided at every point by knowledge of other subjects, its final success rests upon these bases; and these are the fields, therefore, to which a text- book may give most profitable attention. INTRODUCTION 11 SUGGESTIONS ON THE FOREGOING PARAGRAPHS \a. The word agriculture is a compound of the Latin agri, "field," and cultura, "tilling." Farming and husbandry are synonymous with it, when used in their broadest sense; but there is a tendency to restrict these two words to the immediate prac- tice, or practical side, of agriculture. 2a. It is often difficult to draw a line of demarkation between agriculture and manufacture. The husbandmen is often both farmer and manufacturer. Manufacturing which is done on the farm, and is of secondary importance to the raising of crops or stock, is commonly spoken of as agriculture. The manipulation or manufacturing of some agricultural products requires such special skill and appliances that it becomes a business by itself, and is then manufacture proper. Thus, the making of flour is no longer thought of as agriculture; and the making of wine, jellies, cheese, butter, canned fruits, and the like, is coming more and more into the category of special manufacturing industries. Strictly speaking, agriculture stops at the factory door. 3a. Agriculture is often said to be the most fundamental and useful of occupations, since it feeds the world. Theoretically, this may be true ; but a high state of civilization is possible only with diversification of interests. As civilization advances, there- fore, other occupations rise in relative importance, the one de- pending upon the other. In our modern life, agriculture is impossible without the highly developed manufacturing and trans- portational trades. Broadly speaking, civilization may be said to rest upon agriculture, transportation, and manufacture. 4a. Mixed husbandry is a term used to denote the growing of a general variety of farm crops and stock, especially the growing of grass, grain, with grazing (pasturing) and general stock-rais- ing. It is used in distinction to specialty-farming or the raising of particular or special things, as fruit, bees, vegetables, beef, eggs. 46. Self-perpetuating industries conduce to stability of political and social institutions. "The epochs which precede the agricultural occupation of a country are commonly about as 12 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE follows: Discovery, exploration, hunting, speculation, lumber- ing or mining. The real and permanent prosperity of a country begins when the agriculture has evolved so far as to be self-sustaining and to leave the soil in constantly better condition for the growing of plants. Lumbering and mining are simply means of utilizing a reserve which nature has laid by, and these industries are, therefore, self limited, and are constantly moving on into unrobbed territory. Agriculture, when at its best, remains forever in the same place, and gains in riches with the years ; but in this country it has so far been mostly a species of mining for plant-food, and then a rushing on for virgin lands." — Priticiples of Fruit-Gromug, 26. 8a. Forestry is popularly misunderstood in this country. The forest is to be considered as a crop. The salable product begins to be obtainable in a few years, in the shape of trim- mings and thinnings, which are useful in manufacture and for fuel ; whereas, the common notion is that the forest gives no return until the trees are old enough to cut for timber. One reason for this erroneous impression is the fact that wood has been so abundant and cheap in North America that the smaller products have not been considered to be worth the saving; but even now, in the manufacture of various articles of commerce, the trimmings and thinnings of forests should pay an income on the investment in some parts of the country. If a manipu- lated forest is a crop, then forestry is a kind of agriculture, and it should not be confounded with the mere botany of forest trees, as is commonly done. 9a. The word horticulture is made up of the Latin hortus, "garden," and cultura, ''tilling." In its broadest sense, the word garden is its equivalent, but it is commonly used to desig- nate horticulture as applied to small areas, more particularly when the subjects are flowers and kitchen -garden vegetables. Etymologieally, garden refers to the engirded or confined (walled-in or fenced-in) area immediately surrounding the residence, in distinction to the ager (la) or field which lay beyond. Hortus has a similar significance. Paradise is, in etymology, a name for an enclosed area; and the term was INTRODUCTION 13 given to some of tUe early books on gardening, e. g., Parkinson's "Paradisus Terrestris" (1629), which is an account of the orna- mental plants of that period. Hrt. King's book on "The Soil" explains the intimate relation of physical forces to the productivity of the land; and the author is Professor of Agricultural Physics in the University of Wisconsin. There is a Bureau of Soils in the National Department of Agriculture, the work of which is largely in the field of soil physics. The physical or mechanical analysis of soils is now considered to be as important as the chemical analysis. Some of the physical aspects of farm soils are dis- cussed in our chapters ii., iii., iv., v. 16a. Ecology (written cecology in the dictionaries) is the science which treats of the relationship of organisms (that is, plants and animals) to each other and to their environments. It is animal and vegetable economy, or the general external phenomena of the living world. It has to do with modes and habits of life, as of struggle for existence, migrations and nesting of birds, distribution of animals and plants, influence of climate on organisms, the way in which any plant or animal behaves, and the like. Darwin's works are rich in ecological observations. \6b. Environment is the sum of conditions or surroundings or circumstances in which any organism lives. An environment of any plant is the compound condition produced by soil, climate, altitude, struggle for existence, and so on. 18a. It is customary to consider agricultural chemistry as the fundamental science of agriculture. Works on agricultural chemistry are often called works on agriculture. But agricul- ture has no single fundamental science. Its success, as we have seen, depends upon a union of business methods and the applications of science; and this science, in its turn, is a coordi- nation of many sciences. Chemistry is only one of the scvences which contribute to a better agriculture. Under the inspiration of Davy, Liebig, and their followers, agricultural chemistry made the first great application of science to agriculture ; and upon this foundation has grown the experiment -station idea. It is 14 THE PRESrCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE not strange, therefore, that this science should be more inti- mately associated than others with agricultural ideas ; but we now understand that agriculture cannot be an exact or definite science, and that the retort and the crucible can solve only a few of its many problems. In particular, we must outgrow the idea that by analyzing soil and plant we can determine what the one will produce and what the other needs. Agricultural chemistry is the product of laboratory methods. The results of thes3 methods may not apply in the field, because the conditions there are so different and so variable. The soil is the laboratory in which the chemical activities take place, but conditions of weather are ever modifying these activities ; and it is not alwaj's that the soil and the plant are in condition to work together. 20a. As an illustration of the agricultural interest which attaches to the surface geology of a region, see Tarr's " Geo- logical History of the Chautauqua Grape Belt," Bull. 109 Cor- nell Exp. Sta. 21a. Probably no less than 50,000 species of plants (or forms which have been considered to be species) have been cultivated. The greater number of these are ornamental sub- jects. Of orchids alone, as many as 1,500 species have been introduced into cultivation. Nicholson's Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening describes about 40,000 species of domesticated plants. Of plants grown for food, fiber, etc., De Candolle admits 247 spe- cies (in Origin of Cultivated Plants), but these are only the most prominent ones. Yilmorin (The Vegetable Garden) describes 211 species of kitchen-garden vegetables alone. Sturtevant estimates (Agricultural Science, iii., 178) 1,076 species as having been "recorded as cultivated for food use." Of some species, the cultivated varieties are numbered by the thousands, as in apple, chrysanthemum, carnation, potato. Of animals, more than 50 species are domesticated, and the breeds or varieties of many of them (as in cattle) run into the hundreds. 21ft. It is commonly said that agriculture is itself a science, but we now see that this is not true. It has no field of science exclusively its own. Its purpose is the making of a living for its practitioner, not the extension of knowledge. The subject of INTRODUCTION 15 mathematics is numbers, quantity and magnitude; of botany, plants; of ornithology, birds; of entomology, insects; of chem- istry, the composition of matter; of astronomy, the heavens: but agriculture is a mosaic of many sciences, arts and activities. Or, it may be said to be a composite of sciences and arts, much as medicine and surgery are. But if there is no science of agricultui'e as distinct from other sciences, the prosecution of agriculture must be scientific ; and the fact that it is a mosaic makes it all the more diflBcult to follow, and enforces the im- portance of executive judgment and farm - practice over mere scientific knowledge. 22a. The province of a text -book of agriculture, in other words, is to deal (1) with the original production of agricultural wealth rather than with its manufacture, transportation or sale, for these latter enterprises are largely matters of personal cir- cumstance and individuality, and (2) with those principles and facts which are common to all agriculture, or which may be considered to be fundamental. 2'2b. In other words, we must search for principles, not for mere facts or information : we shall seek to ask why before we ask how. Principles apply everywhere, but facts and rules may apply only where they originate. Agi-ieulture is founded upon laws; but there are teachers who would have us believe that it is chiefly the overcoming of mere obstacles, as insects, unpro- pitious weather, and the like. There are great fundamentals which the learner must comprehend ; therefore we shall say nothing, in this book, about the incidentals, as the kinds of weeds, the brands of fertilizers, the breeds of animals, the varie- ties of flowers. Paet I THE SOIL Chapter I THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 1. What the Soil Is 23. The earth, the atmosphere, and the sun- light are the sources of all life and wealth. Atmosphere and sunlight are practically beyond the control of man, but the surface of the land is amenable to treatment and amelioration. 24. The soil is that part of the solid surface of the earth in which plants grow. It varies in depth from less than an inch to several feet. The uppermost part of it is usually darkest colored and most fertile, and is the part which is generally understood as "the soil" in common speech, whereas the under part is called the sub -soil. When speaking of areas, we use the word land ; but when speaking of the particular agricultural attributes of this land, we may use the word soil. (16) THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 17 2. How Soil Is Made 2a. The inorganic elements 25. The basis of soil is fragments of rock. To this base is added the remains of plants and animals (or organic matter). When in condition to grow plants, it also contains water. The character of any soil, therefore, is primarily determined by the kind of rock from which it has come, and the amount of organic matter and water which it contains. 26. As the surface of the earth cooled, it became rock -bound. Wrinkles and ridges ap- peared, forming mountains and valleys. The tendency is for the elevations to be lessened and the depressions to be filled. That is, the surface of the earth is being leveled. The chief agency in this leveling process is weathering. The hills and mountains are worn down by alternations of temperature, by frost, ice, snow, rain and wind. They are worn away by the loss of small par- ticles : these particles, when gathered on the hillsides or deposited on lower levels, form soil. 27. The weathering agencies which "reduce the mountains operate also on level areas ; but since the soil then remains where it is formed, and thereby affords a protection to the underlying rock, the reduction of the rock 18 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE usually proceeds more slowly than on inclined surfaces. 28. There are, then, two sets of forces con- cerned in the original formation of soils, — the disintegi'ation or wearing away of the rock, and the transfer or moving of the particles to other places. 2b. The organic elements and agents 29. Plants are important agents in the forma- tion of soil. Their action is of two kinds : the roots corrode and break up the surfaces of rock and particles of soil, and the plant finally decays and adds some of its tissue to the soil. 30. In the disintegration of rock and the fining of soil, the root acts in two ways : it ex- erts a mechanical force or pressure as it gi'ows, cracking and cleaning the rock ; and it has a chemical action in dissolving out certain ma- terials, and thereby consuming and weakening the rock. 31. Animals contribute to the formation of soil by theu' excrement and the decay of their carcasses. Burrowing and digging animals also expose rocks and soils to weathering, and con- tribute to the transportation of the particles. Some animals are even more directly concerned in soil -making. Of these, the chief are the THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 19 various kinds of earthworms, one of which is the common angleworm. These animals eat earth, which, when excreted, is more or less mixed with organic matter, and the mineral particles are ground and modified. It is now considered that in the tenacious soils in which these animals work, the earthworms have been very important agents in fitting the earth for the growing of plants, and consequently for agriculture. 32. While the basis of most soils is dis- integrated rock, there are some soils which are essentially organic in origin. These are formed by the accumulation of vegetable mat- ter, often aided by the incorporation of animal remains. In the tropics, such soils are often formed on shores and in lagoons by the exten- sion of the trunk -like roots of mangroves and other trees. In the network of roots, leaves and sea-wrack are caught, and mold is formed. Water plants (as marsh grasses and eel-grass) are sometimes so abundant on sea margins as to eventually form solid land. On the edges of lakes and ponds, the accumulation of water-lily rhizomes and other growths often affords a foot- hold for sedges and other semi -aquatic plants ; and the combined growth invades the lake and often fills it. Portions of this decaying and tangled mass are sometimes torn away by wind 20 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE or wave, and become floating islands. Such islands are often several acres in extent. In high latitudes, where the summer's growth does not decay quickly, one season's growth is some- times added above another until a deep organic soil is formed. This is especially noticeable in the gradual increase in height of s]:»hagnum swamps. Peat bogs are organic lands, and they fill the beds of former lakes or swamps. Of course, all these organic soils contain mineral matter, but it is mostly such as comes from the decay of the j^lants themselves. It was origi- nally obtained from the earth, but is used over and over again ; and each year a little new material may be added by such plants as reach into the hard land below, and by that which blows into the area in dust. 33. Decaying organic matter forms mold or humus. The mineral elements may be said to give ''body" to the soil, but the humus is what gives it "life" or "heart." Humus makes soils dark -colored and mellow. Humus not only adds plant-food to the soil, but improves the physical condition of the soil and makes it congenial for plants. It augments the water -holding capacity of the soil, modifies the extremes of temperature, facilitates the entrance of air, and accelerates many chemical activities. It is the chief agent in the formation of loam : — a sandy loam is a TETE CONTEXTS OF THE SOIL 21 friable soil rich iu vegetable matter, the original basis of which is saud ; a clay loam is one simi- larly ameliorated, the basis of which is clay. "Worn -out" lands usually suffer more from lack of humus than from lack of actual plant- food, and this explains why the application of stable -manure is so efficacious. 34. There are three general ways in which humus is obtained in farm-practice : (1) By means of the vegetable matter which is left on or in the ground after the crop is removed (as roots, stubble, sod, garden refuse) ; (2) by means of crops grown and plowed under for that particular purpose (gi'een-manui-ing) ; (3) by means of direct applications to the land (as com- post and stable- manm-e). The deeper and more extensive the root -system of any plant, the gi'eater, in general, is .its value as an ameliorator of soil, both because it itself exerts a more wide- spread influence (30), and because when it de- cays it extends the ameliorating effects of humus to greater depths. 35. Aside from these varied component ele- ments, fertile soil is inhabited by countless num- bers of microscopic organisms, which are peculiar to it, and without which its various chemical activities can not proceed. These germs con- tribute to the breaking down of the soil particles and to the decay of the organic materials, and 22 THE PRDfCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE in doing so, aid in the formation of plant -foods. The soil, therefore, is not merely an inert mass, operated upon only by physical and chemical forces, but it is a realm of intense life ; and the discovery of this fact has radically modified our conception of the soil and the means of treating it. Enriching the land is no longer the adding of mere plant-food : it is also making the soil congenial to the multiplication and well-being of micro-organisms. 2e. TraMsportaHim of soils 36. The soU is never at rest. The particles move upon each other, through the action of water, heat and cold, and other agencies. The particles, whether of inorganic or organic origin, are also ever changing in shape and composition. They wear away and crumble under the action of weather, water, organic acids of the humus, and the roots of plants. No particle of soil is now in its original place. These changes are most rapid in tilled lands, because the soil is more exposed to weather through the tillage and the aerating effect of deep-rooted plants (as clover) ; and the stirring or tilling itself wears the soil particles. Even stones and peh»bles wear away (26a) ; and the materials which they lose usually become productive elements of the THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 23 soil. Some lands have very porous or "rotten" stones, and these pass quickly into soil. Stones are no doubt a useful reserve force in farm lands, giving up their fertility very gradually, and thereby saving some of the wastefulness of careless husbandry. The general tendency, in nature, is for soils to become finer, more homo- geneous, and better for the growth of plants. 37. But there are greater movements than these. Soil is often transported long distances, chiefly by means of three agents: moving water, ice and snow, wind. Transported soils are apt to be very unlike the underlying rock (or origi- nal surface), and they are often very hetero- geneous or conglomerate in character. Soils which remain where they are formed (27) naturally partake of the nature of the bed- rock, and are generally more homogeneous than transported soils, as, for example, the limestone soils which overlie great deposits of lime -rock. 38. Moving water always moves land. The beating of waves wears away rocks and stones and breaks up debris, and deposits the mass on or near the shore. Streams carry soils long distances. The particles may be in a state of suspension in the water, and be precipitated in the quieter parts of the stream or in bayous or lagoons, or they may be driven along the bed of the stream by the force of the current, and 24 TKE PRDCCIPLES OF AGBICULXrEE be deposited wherever obstructions occur, or be discharged on the delta at the mouth. The deposition of sediment in times of overflow adds new vigor to the submerged lands. The historic example of this is the Nile valley, but all bottom lands which are subjected to periodical overflows exhibit the same result. Alluvial lands are formed from the deposition of the sediment of water. 39. In mountainous regions, snow and ice carry away great quantities of rock and soil. The most powerful transporters of soil are gla- ciers, or moving masses of ice. Glaciers loosen the rock and then grind and transport it. In the glacial epoch, in which much of the north- em part of the northern hemisphere was cov- ered with gigantic ice- sheets slowly moving to the southward, enormous quantities of rock and earth were transported, and deposited wherever the ice melted. In eastern North America, the ice-front advanced to the latitude of the Ohio river, and the boulder -strewn fields and varied soils to the northward of this latitude are the legacy which the epoch left to the farmer. 40. In all areas which are subjected to periods of drought, the wind transports soils in the form of dust, often in great amounts and for long distances. In some parts of the world, 9o much earth is carried by violent winds that h. "^ THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 25 these winds are known as "sand-storms." Most shores, particularly if sandy, are much modified by the action of wind. But the wind has an influence upon soils even in the most protected and equable regions. The atmosphere contains dust, much of which is valuable plant -food. This dust is transported by winds, and it finally settles or is carried down by snow and rain. Although the amount of dust which is deposited in any given time may be slight, it is neverthe- less continuous, and has an important effect upon the soil. 3. The Besources of the Soil 41. The soil affords a root -hold for plants, — a place in which they can grow. It also supplies the environmental conditions which roots need, — protection, moisture, air, agreeable temperature, and other congenial surroundings. 42. The soil is also a store -house of plant- food. Roberts calculates, from many analyses, that in average agricultural lands the surface eight inches of soil on each acre contains over 3,000 pounds of nitrogen, nearly 4,000 pounds of phosphoric acid, and over 17,000 pounds of potash. These three elements are the ones which the farmer must chiefly consider in maintaining or augmenting the productive power of the land ; 26 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE j-et the figures "reveal the fact that even the poorer soils have an abundance of plant -food for several crops, while the richer soils in some cases have sufficient for two hundred to three hundred crops of wheat or maize."' Yet these calculations are made from only the upper eight inches of soil. 43. Happily, this food is not all directly available or useful to plants (being locked up in insoluble combinations), else it would have been exhausted by the first generations of farmers. It is gi-adually unlocked by weather, micro-organisms, and the roots of plants ; and the better the tillage, the more rapid is its utilization. Plants differ in the power to unlock or make use of the fertility of the soil. 44. Nature maintains this store of fertility by returning her crops to the soil. Every tree of the forest finally crumbles into earth. She uses the materials, then gives them back in a refined and improved condition for other plants to use. She repays, and with interest. 45. Man removes the crops. He sends them to market in one form or another, and the materials are finally lost in sewage and the sea. He sells the productive power of his land ; yet it does not follow that he impoverishes his soil in proportion to the plant -food which he sells. Given the composition of any soil and THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 27 of the crops which it is to produce, it is easy to calculate the time when the soil will have lost its power ; but it must be remembered that the materials which the plant removes are consumed, and that the volume of the soil is reduced by that amount. The result is, therefore, that the deeper parts of the soil are broiight into requi- sition as fast as the upper parts are consumed ; and these depths will last as long as the earth lasts. 46. Of some materials, however, the plant uses more freely than of others, in proportion to their abundance in the soil. Therefore the soil may finally lose its productivity, although it is doubtful if it can ever be completely exhausted of plant^food. •i". Again, the profit in agriculture often lies in making the soil produce more abundantly than it is of itself able to do. That is, even after tillage and every other care have forced the soil to respond to its full ability, it may pay the farmer to buy plant -food in bags in the same way that it may pay him to buy gi'ound feed when fattening sheep. Whether it is ad- visable to buy this plant -food is a matter of business judgment which every farmer must determine for himself, after having considered the three fundamental factors in the problem : the cost of the plant-food (or fertilizer), the 28 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE probable effect of this exti^a food upon the crop, and the commercial value of the extra crop. In general, it should be considered that in mixed husbandry the fertility of the land must be maintained by means of farm -practice (that is, hj good farming), and that plant -food should be bought only for the purpose of producing the extra product. 48. We are now able to comprehend that the soil is a compound of numberless inorganic and organic materials, a realm of complex physical and chemical forces, and the scene of an intricate round of life. "We must no longer think of it as mere du't. Moreover, we are only beginning to imderstand it; and if the very soil is unknown to us, how complicated must be the great structure of agriculture which is reared upon it ! SrGGJb'STTOXS OX CHAPTER I 25a. The word organic refers to animals and plants or their products and remains ; that is, to things "which live and have organs. Organic compounds, in ehemistrv, are those which have been built up or produced by the action of a plant or animal. Modern usage, however, defines organic compounds as those which contain carbon. Starch, sugar, woody fiber, are examples. 25b. Inorganic compounds are such as are not produced by living organisms, as all the mineral compounds. They are found in the earth and air. Salt, potash, iron and gold, lime, are examples. THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 29 25c. The organic matter in soils — the plant and animal remains — is removed by burning. Let the pupil secure a cupful of wet soil and carefully weigh it on delicate scales. Then let it dry in the sun, and weigh again ; the difference in weight is /i < Fig. 1. showing the wearing away of mouutaiu peats ami the formation of soil at the base. due to the loss or evaporation of water. Now place it in a moderately warm oven or on a stove, and after a few minutes weigh again ; more of the water will now have passed off. Now thoroughly burn or bake it, and weigh ; the loss is now mostly due to the burning of the organic matter, and part of this matter has passed off as gas. If there is no perceptible loss from the burning, it is evidence that the sample contained little organic matter. Note the difference in results between clay and muck. The pupil may also be interested to try to grow plants in the baked soil. 30 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTrRE 26a. The wearing away of rock bv the weather may be ob- served wherever stones are exposed. Even granite and marble monuments lose their polish and luster in a few years. The sharp and angular projections disappear from the ledges and broken stones of railway cuts and quarries. The pupil should look for the wear on any rocks with which he may be familiar. All stones tend to grow smaller. On a large scale, the wasting of rocks may be seen in the debris at the base of precipices and mountain peaks (Fig. 1), or wherever steep walls of rock are exposed. The palisades of the Hudson, and other precipitous river and lake blufis, show this action well. Mountains tend to become rounded in the long processes of time, although some rocks are of such structure that they hold their pointed shai>e until worn almost completely away. In &eikie's "Geological Sketches," Essay No. 8, the reader will find an interesting account of weathering as illustrated by the decay of tombstones. 26h. The extent of this weathering and denuding process in the formation of soils may be graphically illustrated by the pres- ent conformation of the A2ps and adjacent parts of Europe. Lubbock writes that "much of the deposits which occupy the valleys of the Khine, Po, Rhone, Beuss, Inn. and Danutte — the alluvium which forms the plains of Lombardy, of Germany, of Belgium, Holland, and of southeast France — consists of materials washed down from the Swiss mountains." The amount of mate- rial which has been removed from the Alps is probably "almost as great as that which still remains." So great has been the denudation that in certain cases "what is now the top of the mountain was once the bottom of a valley." The Matterhom, the boldest and one of the highest of the Alps, "is obviously a rem- nant of an ancient ridge," and the "present configuration of the surface [of Switzerland] is indeed mainly the result of denuda- tion. * * It is certain that not a fragment of the original sur- face is still in existence, though it must not be inferred that the mountains were at any time so much higher, as elevation and denudation went on together." There is even evidence to show that an earlier range of mountains occupied the site of the present Alps, and that these old mountains were removed or THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 31 worn away by denudation. — See Sir John Lubbock, ^^ Scenery 9f Switzerland," Chaps. Hi. and iv. 29a. Even hard surfaces of rock often support lichens, mosses, and other humble plants. "The plant is co-partner with the weather in the building of the primal soils. The lichen spreads its thin substance over the rock, sending its fibers into the crevices and filling the chinks, as they enlarge, with the decay of its own structure ; and finally the rock is fit for the moss or fern or creeping vine, each new- comer leaving its impress by which some later newcomer may profit. Finally the rock is disintegrated and comminuted, and is ready to be still further elaborated by corn and ragweed. Nature intends to leave no vacant or bare places. She providently covers the rail- way embankment with quack-grass or willows, and she scatters daisies in the old meadows where the land has grown sick and tired of grass." — Principles of Fruit- Growing, 176. 30rt. It is interesting to consider the general reasons for the evolution of the root. Plants were at first aquatic, and probably absorbed food from the water on all their surfaces. They may not have been attached to the earth. As they were driven into a more or less terrestrial life by the receding of the waters and as a result of the struggle for existence, they developed parts which penetrated the earth. These parts were probably only hold-fasts at first, as the roots of many seaweeds are at the pres- ent time. But as it became less and less possible for the general surface of the plant to absorb food, the hold-fast gradually be- came a food -gathering or feeding member. — See Survival of the Unlike, pp. 41-43. 306. If the pupil has access to ledges of rock on which trees Fig. 2. The halves of a roek forced apart by the growth of a tree. 32 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE are growing, he will readily be able to satisfy himself that roots force open cracks and thereby split and sever the stone. Fig. 2 is an example, showing how a black cherry tree, gaining a foothold in a crevice, has gradually forced the parts of the rock Fig. 3. Lichens have obtained a foothold. asunder. This particular example is the "half-way stone" be- tween the Michigan Agricultural College and the city of Lansing. Fig. 3 shows a stone upon which lichens have obtained a foot- hold. Any person who has worked much in a garden will have seen how roots often surround a bone, taking their food from its surface and insinuating themselves into the cracks. Boots will corrode or eat out the surface of marble. The grinding up of stones is well illustrated on any lake shore, where the pebbles represent what is left at the present time of the etones and fragments. The rolling stones in brooks represent a similar action. 30c. By chemical action is meant the change from which results a new chemical combination. It produces a rearrangement of molecules. For example, the change which takes place when, by THE CONTENTS OP THE SOIL 33 uniting lime and sulfuric acid, sulfate of lime or gypsum is pro- duced, is chemical action. 31«. Knowledge of the work of the earthworm in building soils dates practically from the issue of Darwin's remarkable book, "The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms," which the reader should consult for particulars. The subject is also considered briefly in King's "Soil," Chap, i., which also discusses the general means of soil -building. 32a. As an example of the formation of organic soils in the tropics, read accounts of the mangrove. Its mode of propagation Fig. 4. A delta in an orchard. is explained, with illustrations, in Bailey's "Lessons with Plants," pp. 371-374 ; the tree is also described in Chap. v. of Gaye's "Great World's Farm." As an example of a formation of a peat bog by the growth of sphagnum, read Ganong "On Raised Peat- bogs in New Brunswick," Botanical Gazette, pp. 123-12G, May, 1891. Sphagnum is moss which grows in cold bogs. Nurserymen and florists use it in the packing of plants. 34 THE PKINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 33a. When spelled humus, the word is a noun; when spelled humous, it is an adjective, as "humous soils." 34:0. Compost is decayed or decaying organic matter which it is intended shall be applied to the land. It is usually obtained by placing leaves, sod, manure or litter in a low flat-topped (so that it will catch the rain) pile, and "turning it," or forking it Fig. 5. A compost pile. over, every few weeks, to prevent heating and to hasten uniform decomposition (Fig. 5). When the mass has passed into the condition of humus or mold (or become fine and soil-like), it is applied to the land. Composting is a most useful means of utilizing leaves, garden refuse, and other materials which are too coarse or "raw" to be applied directly to the land. 35a. "The term micro-organism is a general one, which includes any very minute, microscopic form of life. More strictly speaking, the word has come to apply especially to certain forms of plant life which are too minute to be seen individually by the naked eye, and which hence require for their study the higher powers of the microscope." — Fred'k D. Chester, Bull. xL, Del. THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 35 Exp. Sta. The terms germ, microhe, bacterium (plural bacteria), are popularly used in the same sense as micro-organism. These beings are usually unicellular (each one consisting of only a single cell). They are generally classified with plants. The role of micro-organisms in rendering soil elements available to plants is very complex and not yet well understood. A general dis- cussion of these organisms will be found in Lipman's " Bacteria in Rf^lation to Country Life." The relation to germs in nitrification is briefly discussed in King's "Soil," pp. 125-134, and Roberts' "Fertility," 244-248. Fig. 6 illustrates one of the ^ ^^^ common bacteria, very much magnified. This ^^ ^30<^ species {Bacillus ubiquitus) is abundant in water. ®^ ^ ^3 air, and decaying substances. ^ ^"^^^ 3Srt. Obsei-ve the deposits of sand in the quiet ^> side (usually the concave side) of streams, and Fig. 6. Mkro-or- also the delta where a rapid rill flows into a slow S"i"s™s, greatly one. "When the rill flows into a rapid stream, the larger current carries away the deposit so that it may not be seen. Recall how sand-bars form again and again in lakes, and how streams must be frequently dredged to keep the channel open. The slower the stream the more quickly does it drop its sediment ; and the more winding, also, is its course, lying in the bed of its own deposits. (See Fig. 4.) 38fe. Dip a glass of water from a roily stream, and observe the earth which settles to the bottom. 39a. Glaciers are still abundant in alpine and arctic regions. It was from the study of glaciers in the Alps that Agassiz con- ceived the hypothesis that large parts of the earth had once been subjected to glacial action. A good popular discussion of glaciers and their action may be found in Chap. xvii. of Tarr's "Elementary Physical Geography." Delightful readings may also be made from Agassiz's "Geological Sketches." 40a. Let the pupil catch a few rain drops on a perfectly clean and clear pane of glass, and observe if any sediment is left when the drops have evaporated. Is there any difference in the amount of dust brought down after a "dry spell" and after a period of rainy weather, or at the beginning and end of a shower f The 36 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE pupil may now be able to explain why the windows get dirty after a rain ; and he will be interested in the streaks on the cornices of buildings and on exposed statuary. He may have heard that even sailing ships get dusty when at sea. 42o. See Roberts' "Fertility of the Land," p. 16. Read all of Chapter i. The food which is not available, or not in condi- tion to be used by the plant, but which may become available through good tillage or otherwise, is called potential plant-food. 43ff. The soil is not a simple reservoir of plant-food in the condition of salt or sugar, ready to be dissolved in water and immediately taken up by roots. The soil is plant-food ; but most of it must be changed in composition before it is available to plants ; and the elements are not present in the proportions which plants require, so that much of the soil is in excess of the needs of plants and can never be used as food. 48a. For supplementary reading on the formation of soils. Chapter i. of King's "Soil" should be consulted. Most text-books of geology also treat the subject to some extent. Shaler's article on soil, in 12th Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey (pp. 319-345), is excellent. A discussion of weathering may be found in Chapter vi. of Tarr's "Elementary Geology;" and other references arecontaimed in Chapters xiii.and xxi.of his "Elemen- tary Physical Geography." Stockbridge's "Rocks and Soils" (1895) has special reference to agriculture. A readable account of the formation of soil may be found in Chapters iii., iv. and v., Gaye's "Great Word's Farm." Merrill's "Rocks, Rock-Weather- ing and Soils" (1897) is a full scientific discussion of the subject. Consult Hilgard's "Soils," and the text by Lyon and Fippin; also the part on soils in Vol. I, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. Chapter II THE TEXTURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE SOIL 1. What Is Meant by Texture •49. We have seen that the offices of the soil are of two general kinds, — it affords a physical medium in which the plant can grow (41), and it supplies materials that the plant uses in the building of its tissues (42). It cannot be said that one of these offices is more important than the other, since both are essential; but attention has been so long fixed upon the mere content of soils that it is important to empha- size the physical attributes. Crops cannot grow on a rock, no matter how much plant-food it may contain. The passing of rock into soil is a matter of change in texture and structure more than in plant-food. Texture refers to the size of the particles ; structure to the arrange- ment of the particles. 50. The physical state of the soil may be spoken of as its structure, much as we speak of the structure of a house of brick or stone. The common adjectives that are applied to the condi- tion of agricultural soils are descriptions of its (37) 38 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE structure: as, mellow, hard, loose, compact, open, porous, shallow, deep, leachy, retentive, lumpy, cloddy, fine in good tilth. 51. Texture and structure must not be con- founded with the physical forces or operations in the soil, as the fluctuations of temperature, move- ments of water, circulation of air. They refer to condition or state, and are passive, not to forces or movements, which are active; but it is upon this passive condition that the operation of both physical and chemical forces chiefly depends. 2. Why Good Texture and Structure are Important 52. A finely divided, mellow, friable soil is more productive than a hard and lumpy one of the same chemical composition, because: It holds and retains more moistm-e; holds more air; promotes nitrification: hastens the decom- position of the mineral elements; has less varia- ble extremes of temperature; allows a better root-hold to the plant; presents greater surface to the roots. In all these ways, and others, the mellowness of the soil renders the plant-food more available, and affords a congenial and comfortable place in which the plant may gi'ow. 53. Good structure (as understood by the far- mer) not only facilitates and hastens the physi- cal and chemical activities, but it also presents THE TEXTURE OP THE SOIL 39 a greater feeding -surface to roots, because the particles of earth are very small (52). Roots feed ou the surfaces of hard particles of earth, and the feeding- area is therefore increased in proportion to the increase in the surface area of the particles. Dividing a cube into two equal parts increases its surface area by one- third. (Dividing a cube adds two sides or surfaces.) Fining the soil may therefore be equivalent to fertilizing it, so far as plant - growth is concerned. 3. How Good Structure is Secured 54. The size of the soil particles, determin- ing the texture of the soil, cannot be modified to any appreciable extent by ordinary farm practices. Tillage has little effect in changing the size of the ultimate particles. 55. The arrangement of the particles, which determines the structure, can be greatly changed by farm practice. If the structure is lumpy and open, the soil needs pulverization; if it is com- pact and hard, it needs loosening up. Very loose and leachy soils are usually improved if the particles, particularly in the under soil, are brought together and compacted. 56. The size of the granules (or aggregations of particles) of soils is modified by three general 40 PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE means: (a) by apply mechanical force, as in all the operations of tilling; (&) by setting at work various physical forces, as weathering (fall-plow- ing is a typical example) , and the results follow- ing under-draining; (c) by applying some ma- terial that acts chemically on the particles. (The first caption, a, is illustrated in paragi-aphs 26, 2Ga, 266, 27, 28; and it is further explained in Chapter iv.) 57. (&) Under-drainage has two general uses, — it removes superfluous water, and improves the physical condition of the soil. The latter use is often the more important. The improve- ment of the texture is the result, chiefly, of preventing water-soaking and of admitting air. Under- drained soils become "deeper." The water- table is lowered, since the depth at which water stands tends to approach nearer and nearer to the depth of the drains and thereby the plant roots are enabled to penetrate more deeply. 58. (c) Some substances have the power to break down or to pulverize hard soils, or to bind together loose ones, or otherwise to modify the structure. Such materials — which are applied for their remote or secondary chemical effects — are called amendments. Lime is a typical ex- ample. Quick-lime is known to make clay lands mellow, and it is supposed to cement or bind together the particles of sands or gravels. Most THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 41 chemical fertilizers are both amendments and direct fertilizers, since they modify the structure of the soil as well as add plant-food to it. 59. The extraneous or supplementary ma- terials (54) which directly modify the structure of soils are those that make humus (33), as green-manures, farm-manures, and the like. Stable-manure is usually more important in im- proving soil structure than in directly supplying plant-food. 4. Structure and Manures 60. We have now seen that the farmer should give attention to the structure of his soil before he worries about its richness. The con- ditions must first be made fit or comfortable for the growing of plants: then the stimulus of special or high feeding may be applied. But manures and fertilizers may aid in secur- ing this good structure at the same time that they add plant-food. Yet fertilizer, however rich, may be applied to soils wholly without avail; and the best results from condensed or chemical fertilizers are usually secured on soils that are in the best tilth. That is, it is almost useless to apply commercial fertilizers to lands that are not in proper physical con- dition for the best growth of crops. 42 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE s^GGESTIO^'s oy chapter ii 49a. The following extracts from Bulletin 119 of the Cor- nell Experiment Station illustrate the subject under discussion: "The other day, I secured one sample of soil from a very hard clay knoll upon which beans had been planted, but in which they were almost unable to germinate ; another sample from a Fig. 7. Examples of poor and good texrore. contiguous soil, in which beans were growing luxuriantly; and, as a third sample, I chipped a piece of rock off my house, which is built of stone of the neighborhood. All of these samples were taken to the chemist for analysis. The samples of soil which were actually taken to the chemist are shown in Fig. 7. The rock ("sample HI), was hard native stone." The figures give the percentages of some of the leading con- stituents in the three materials. Phosphoric Organic Moisture ^'itrogen acid Potash Lime matter 1. Tnproductive clay.. . 13.25 .08 .20 1.1 .41 3.19 n. Good bean land . 1.5.95 .11 .17 .75 .61 5.45 in. Rock .08 2.12 2.55 ''In other words, the chemist says that the poorer soil — the one upon which I cannot grow beans — is the richer in mineral THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 43 plant-food, and that the rook contains a most aVnindant supply of potash and about half as much phosphoric acid as the good bean soil. "All this, after all, is not surprising, when we come to think of it. Every good farmer knows that a hard and lumpy soil will not grow good crops, no matter how much plant-food it may contain. A clay soil which has been producing good crops for any number of years may be so seriously injured t|y one injudicious plowing in a wet time as to ruin it for the grow- ing of crops for two or three years. The injury lies in the modification of its physical structure, not in the lessening of its plant-food. A sandy soil may also be seriously impaired for the growing of any crop if the humus, or decaying organic matter, is allowed to burn out of it. It then becomes leachy, it quickly loses its moisture, and it becomes excessively hot in bright sunny weather. Similar remarks may be applied to all soils. That is, the texture and structure or physical condition of Ihe soil is nearly always more important than its mere richness in plant-food, "The first step in the enrichment of unproductive land is to improve its physical condition by means of careful and thorough tillage, by the addition of humus, and, perhaps, by under-drainage. It must first be put in such condition that plants can grow in it. After that, the addition of chemical fertilizers may pay by giving additional or redundant growth." 53a. Read Chapter ii. in King's "Soil." The following is quoted from that work, p. 72: "Suppose we take a marble exactly one inch in diameter. It will just slip inside a cube one inch on a side, and will hold a film of water 3.1416 square inches in area. But reduce the diameters of the marbles to one- tenth of an inch, and at least 1,000 of them will be required to fill the cubic inch, and their aggregate surface area will be 31.416 square inches. If, however, the diameters of these spheres be reduced to one -hundredth of an inch, 1,000,000 of them will be required to make a cubic inch, and their total surface area will then be 314.16 square inches. Suppose, again, the soil particles to have a diameter of one -thousandth of an inch. It 44 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE will then require 1,000,000,000 of them to eompletelT fill the cubic inch, while their aggregate surface area must measure 3141.59 square inches." 536. Another illustration may be taken ('^Texture of Soil and Conservation of Moisture," being a first lesson in the Cornell farmer's reading course) : "Let us suppose the soil in one of your plowed fields is in little lumps of the uniform size of inch cubes — that is, one square inch on each side of the cube. How many square inches of surface has that cube exposed to root contact and moisture film ? Now imagine that one of these inch cubes is broken up into smaller cubes measuring one -eighth of an inch, — how many square inches of surface will you now have exposed to root contact and film moisture ? Now reflect what you hare done in breaking up the inch cube of earth. The amount of earth has not been increased one atom ; yet, by fining it, you have increased just eight times the root pasturage and surface for water film. The practical point of this lesson is that by superior tillage you can expand one acre into eight, or by neglectful management eight acres can be reduced to one. It also demonstrates why a skillful farmer can produce as much from fifty acres as a careless one can from four hundred, and also confirms the assertion that success in modern agriculture depends more on the size of the farmer than upon the size of the farm." 53c. This fining or dividing of the soil, therefore, increases the feeding area for roots ; or, as Jethro TuU said, it extends the "root pasturage." "The value of simple tillage or fining of the land as a means of increasing its productivity was first clearly set forth in 1733 by Jethro TuU, in his 'New Horse Hoeing Hus- bandry.' The premises upon which TuU founded his system are erroneous. He supposed that plant roots actually take in or ab- sorb the fine particles of the earth, and, therefore, the finer and more numerous these particles the more luxuriantly the plant will grow. His system of tillage, however, was correct, and his experiments and writings have had a most profound influence. If only one book of all the thousands which have been written on agriculture and rural afEairs were to be preserved to future gen- THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 45 erations, I should want that honor conferred upon Tull's 'Horse Hoeing Husbandry.' It marked the beginning of the modem application of scientific methods to agriculture, and promulgated a system of treatment of the land which, in its essential princi- ples, is now accepted by every good farmer, and the appreciation of which must increase to the end of time." — Bailey, Bull. 119, Cornell Exp. Sta. Tull died in 1740. 57fl. "The actual contour of the water-table in an under- drained field, where the lines of tile are placed at distances of 33 feet and 4 feet below the surface of the ground, is shown in Fig. 8, which gives the contours as they existed forty-eight hours Fig. 8. Showing the actual contour of the water-table in a tile-draiued field. after a rainfall of .87 inches. In this case the height of the water midway between the lines of tile varied from 4 inches to 12 inches above the tops of the tile." — King, The Soil, p. 259. 58rt. Bead Roberts' "Fertility of the Land," pp. 303-312, on the physical effects of liming land ; also "The Soil," p. 30, and Wheeler's "Liming of Soils," Farmers' Bulletin No. 77, U. S. Dept. Agric. The effects of lime in flocculating or mellowing clay may be observed by working up a ball of stiff clay with common water and a similar ball with lime water ; the former will become hard on drying, but the latter will readily fall to pieces. Lime water may be made by shaking up a lump of lime in a bottle of water. 60a. One of the most forcible illustrations of the value of fine texture of soil is afforded by the result which the florist 45 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE obtains in pots. He mixes and sifts his soils so that it is all amenable to root action, and he is able to raise a larger plant from a handful of soil than the general farmer grows from a half bushel. See Fig. 9. Fig. 9. Showing the possibilities of a potful of soil. Chapter III THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL L. A. CLINTON 1. Why Moisture Is Important 61. However much plant -food there may b of niide- eomposed herbage. THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 61 hard upon the surface that the water of rainfall never can pass down. By placing the drains shallow, the soil is rendered mellow and porous, water passes down readily, the level of free water is raised, and the surplus is removed. 76b. The distance apart at which drains should be placed is variable, but 30 feet is usually considered most advisable. The level of the free water tends to rise higher at a point midway between drains, as shown in Fig. 8. If the drains are too far apart, this tendency may be greater than the tendency to move toward the drain. In soils through which the water moves some- what readily, the drains may be farther removed than in close, impervious soils. 78a. In the spring, on undrained soils, free water remains for a considerable time near the surface ; consequently the plant Fig. 14. Sides too steep. roots cannot penetrate deeply into the soil. When the drought comes the surface is first affected, and the plants suffer at once. It is a well-known fact that tap-rooted plants are admirably fitted to withstand dry weather. Their feeders are deep in the soil. It is this condition which is obtained to a certain extent by under- drainage. The soil above the drain is made porous, the water which cannot be held by capillarity is quickly removed, the air penetrates, the soil becomes warm and congenial. Thus ^.■4i^\;j^^0s^C'^iirchase& the greatest amonnt of plant-food. In No. 1, $29 obtained $13.80 worth, which is at the rate of 4S cents worth for $1. In No. 2, $38 bnys $24.90 worth of plant-food, or at the rate of 65 cents worth for the dollar. The difference between the commer- cial valne, as calculated, and the selling price, is to cover expenses of niannfacture, bagging, shipping, commission fees, and profits- 6b. Advice as to their use 15S. We have seen that plants mnst have all three of the general fertility elements — nitro- gen, phosphoric acid, potash — in order to thrive. It frequently occurs, however, that the soil is rich enough in one or two of them ; and in that case, it is not necessary to apply all of them. 159. K a liberal apphcation is made of one element, the plant must use more of the other elements which are already in the soil, in order to balance up its growth. It may result, there- fore, that the addition of one element exhausts the soil of some other element. For example, if heavy growth is obtaiued by the addition of nitrogen, the plant may need to draw so heavily upon the stores of available phosphoric acid as to deplete the soil of that material. ENRICHING SOIL— C03LMERCIAL RESOURCES 101 160. Again, uo results can be obtained from the addition of one element unless the other two are present in sufficient quantity. In gen- eral, therefore, it is safer to apply complete fertilizers. 161. Yet, in some cases, it is unwise to apply complete fertilizers. This is particularly true of the application of nitrogen. The growth may already be so hea^y that the addition of nitrogen would cause an overgrowth, and yet the plants may need fertilizing. This danger of too much growth is gi'eatest with fruit plants (lU). 162. If nitrogen conduces especially to leaf gi'owth (131), then it must be the element which is most important in the fertilizing ol the vegetables which are grown for their leaves or succulent stalks, as rhubarb, cabbage, let- tuce, spinach, asparagus ; and it is also very important in the gi-owing of hay and succulent fodder. 163. Nitrogen leaches rapidly, especially if applied in the form of nitrate of soda or sulfate of ammonia. It is, therefore, advisable to ap- ply it in the sirring ; and when used in liberal amounts, it should be applied at intervals, and not all at one time. 161. Phosphoric acid and potash, even if soluble, do not leach badly, as a rule, because 102 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE they tend to form insoluble compounds with soil constituents. The more vegetable matter a soil contains, the less pronounced is the action of leaching. As a rule, commercial ferti- lizers are applied after the gi-ound is fitted, and then harrowed in or di'illed in. 165. The amounts and kinds to apply are determined by (a) the analysis of the material (that is, its richness in plant-food), (6) its cost, (c) the richness of the soil in plant-food, (d) the tilth or textm-e of the soil (60, 49a), (e) the kind of crop, (f) the kind of farming, whether intensive or extensive (111«, 1116). It follows, therefore, that the mere analysis of the soil and the jjlant cannot determine what fertilizer it is most profitable to use. 166. What fertilizers to use, and how to apply them, are subjects which are discussed in bulletins and books by many authors ; but even after reading all the literatm-e, the farmer must exjDeriment with his own land and his own crops, to determine just what materials are most profitable for his use. In other words, the ad- vice as to fertilizers is more valuable in teach- ing a man principles, in suggesting means of experimenting, and in designating the proba- bilities of any line of action, than in specifying just what fertilizers one shall use. An area on one side of a field mav be devoted to such ENRICHING SOIL— COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 103 experiment, on different parts of which the various elements and combinations of them may be applied. SUGGESTIOXS OX CHAPTEE VI Vila. An element is a simple substance. It is not made by a combination of any other substances, and by no known means can it be separated into any other substances. Sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus are elements. The knoTvn elements number about 70. 1275. The elements are represented by one or more letters, called symbols. Usually the first letter of the name is employed. Thus, nitrogen is designated by N, phosphorus by P, sulfur by S. When the names of different elements begin with the same letter, as sulfur and sodium, this rule cannot be followed. In such cases, letters from the name of one of the elements in some other language are used. Thus, Na is used for sodium, natrium being the Latin of sodium. Similarly, P might represent phos- phorus or potassium ; hence K is used for potassium, which in Latin is kalium. 130a. Compounds result from the chemical union (30c) of two or more elements. The compound may not resemble in any way any of the elements contained in it. The proportions in which elements unite vary, and the same elements may be made to unite in different proportions. The same compound always con- tains the elements in exactly the same proportion. 130fc. Compounds are represented by writing together the symbols of the elements composing them, together with figures to represent the proportions. Thus, potash, KoO, is a compound of two parts of potassium and one of oxygen, O. Lime, CaO, is composed of the elements calcium, Ca, and oxygen, and its chemical name is calcium oxid. Other compounds are nitrate of soda, NaNOs ; ammonia, NH3 (H representing the element hy- drogen); water, H2O ; sulfuric acid, H2SO4 ; ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3 ; ammonium sulfate (NH4)2S04 (the NHj being taken twice); starch, CsHioOs (C; representing carbon); salt, NaCl (CI standing for chlorin). 104 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 130c. Phosphoric acid and potash are not elements, but com- pounds. The elemental forms are phosphorus and potassium. It is customary, however, to speak of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash as the elements of plant-food. Here the word ele- ment is not used in the chemical sense, but rather as the sim- plest form in which plants can use these substances. 131a. Roots have the power of dissolving plant-food (30, 30a), but this is only a process of making it soluble. Substances which are not soluble in rain water may be soluble in soil water, for the water in the soil contains various acids. Even when a substance is in solution, the plant has the power of rejecting it ; it is thereby not available as plant-food. For example, nitrogen in the form of nitrites (as nitrite of soda, NaNOo) is not availa- ble, although it is soluble ; but nitrogen in the form of nitrates (as nitrate of soda, NaNOs) is available. Charcoal is not availa- ble plant-food, although it is carbon, and carbon enters more largely than any other element into plant tissue. But when the charcoal is burned, it forms a gas called carbon dioxid or earbonie acid (CO2), from which the plant can get carbon. 140a. The black or blue head of an old-fashioned sulfur match is a paste containing the element phosphorus, P. On igniting the match, this phosphorus unites with the element oxygen, O, in the air to form a small white cloud, which is the compound phosphorus pentoxid. Its symbol is P2O5, which means that it is made by the union of two parts of phosphorus and five parts of oxygen. Phosphorus pentoxid is known in agriculture as phosphoric acid. 143a. The term superphosphate is sometimes used in the same sense as acid phosphate ; that is, to designate available phosphates, or those which are made up of monocaleic and dicalcic phosphates. A fertilizer containing available phosphoric aoid, but no nitrogen or potash, is often called a plain superphos- phate. Complete fertilizers contain all three of the important plant-foods. 153a. Moisten a strip of blue litmus paper with vinegar or sour milk, and note the change in color. Then add to the milk or vinegar some lime water till it no longer tastes sour, and ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 105 again try the litmus paper. It will no longer turn red. Try some air-slaked lime in the same way. Make the same test with plaster of paris or gypsum, which is sulfate of lime. This will not neutralize the acid or sweeten the milk or vinegar. Make the same test with salt and sugar. A substance which turns blue litmus red is acid ; one which turns red litmus blue is alkaline. 16G(7. The experiment stations of most of the older states issue bulletins of advice on the use of fertilizers, and these should be studied. In many states there are laws designed to protect the purchaser of fertilizers ; and fertilizer control sta- tions are established to analyze the different brands and to publish the results. The general subject of fertilizers is pre- sented in Voorhees' book on "Fertilizers." Good advice will also be found in Chapter xii. of Roberts' "Fertility." I66?>. Every school should have bottles of the leading ferti- lizer chemicals for exhibition ; as muriate and sulfate of potash, kainit, gypsum or plaster, bone and rock phosphates, bone- black, dried blood, nitrate of soda, sulfate of ammonia, air- slaked lime, and quick-lime. These can be obtained from dealers in fertilizers. P.VET II THE PLAXT. AXD CEOPS Chaptee A'II THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 1. Ti'.e Plant and the Crop 167. In an agi-icultural sense, the plant, as a representative of the vegetable kingdom, has four general types of uses, or fulfils four offices: it aids in the formation, maintenance and im- provement of soils ; it influences the climate and habitableness of the earth : it is the ulti- mate source of food of domestic animals ; it, or its products, may be of inti'insic value to man. 168. "Wlien plants are gi'own in quantity, they, or then- products, constitute a crop. This crop may be the produce of a bench of carna- tions, a field of barley, an orchard of peaches, a plantation of tomatoes, or a forest. The crop may be grown for its own or intrinsic value, or for its use in preparing the land for other crops. (106) THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 107 2. TJie Plant in its Belation to Soil 169. The plant is a soil maker. It breaks down the rock by mechanical force and by dis- solving some of its constituents (30, 306). It fills bogs and lagoons and extends the margins of lakes and seas (32, 32«)- 170. The plant is a soil improver. It opens and loosens hard soils, especially if, like the clover, it has a tap-root, which it sends deep into the earth. It fills and binds loose and leachy soils. When it decays it adds humus (33, 34, 73, 74). 171. The plant is a soil protector. It pre- vents the washing of soils, and protects the sands of dunes and shores from the winds. It holds the rainfall until it soaks into the soil (70, 116). 3. TJie Plant in its Belation to Climate 172. The plant influences the moisture sup- ply: by modifying the distribution of precipi- tation ; by causing the retention of the pre- cipitation ; by lessening evaporation ; by adding moisture to the atmosphere. 173. The plant influences the habitableness of the earth by other means : as by modifying extremes of temperature ; by affording wind- 108 THE PRIXCrPLES OF AGRICULTUEE breaks ; by supplying shade ; by eontributiiig to the beauty and variety of the landscape. 4. The Plant in its Relation to Animal Life 174. Nearly all domestic animals live directly on plants. These are herbivorous animals, such as cattle, horses, sheep. But even the flesh which carnivorous animals eat— as dogs, cats — is directly or indirectly derived from herbivo- rous animals ; for "all flesh is grass." 175. The round of life begins and ends with the soil. The soil contributes to feeding the plant, the plant feeds the animal, and the ani- mal passes at last into the soil. In this round, there is no creation of elements, and no loss ; but there are endless combinations, and these combinations break up and pass away. To raise the plant, therefore, is the primary effort in agricultm'e. 5. The Plant has Intrinsic Value to Man 5a. As articles of food or beverage 176. Plants or plant -products may be staples or necessaries, as wheat, rice, potatoes, beans ; semi- staples, or articles of very general and common use, as apples, oranges, buckwheat ; THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 109 luxuries or accessories, as quinces, cauliflowers, glass-house vegetables ; condiments, as spices ; beverage products, as cider, wine. 177. Plants or plant -products may be food for animals, as grains, ground feed, fodders, forage or field pasturage. 56. As articles used in the arts 178. Plants may afford textiles or fibers, as cotton, hemp, flax, jute ; wood, lumber and timber ; medicines, as quinine, opium, ginger. 5c. As articles or objects to gratify (esthetic tastes 179. Plants are the source of most per- fumery, and of many dyes and paints. 180. Plants are themselves useful as orna- mental subjects. They may be grown for their effects as individuals or single specimens, as a tree, a shrub, or a plant in a pot ; or for their effects in masses in the landscape. 181. Plants are useful for their flowers or ornamental fruits. The flowers may be desired in mass effects, as single specimen plants, or as cut -flowers. The growing of plants for their effects as individuals or for cut -flowers is floriculture ; the growing of them for their com- bined or mass effects in the open (or on the lawn) is landscape horticulture (9). 110 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE SUGGESTIOyS OX CHAPTER VII 170a. Tap-roots (Fig. 33) extend the benefits of root aOLion to great depths. They drain, aerate and comminute the soil; Fig. 33. The deep root-system of red clover. Fig. 34. The shallow root-system of orchard grass. and the plant -food which they bring from the subsoil is left, when the plant decays, in such place and condition that sur- face-rooted plants can get it. With the clover, compare a grass (Fig. 34). 171a. In many countries definite efforts are made to hold THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 111 loose sands from drifting by winds, as along the coasts of the sea. Sand-loving plants with strong running roots or root- stocks — as various grasses and sedges — are used for this pur- pose. One of the uses of windbreaks is to lessen the drifting of sands. Bluffs and railway embankments are often held from caving and washing by means of strong-rooted plants. 172a. Large forests probably have some influence in dis- tributing the rainfall, the precipitation tending to be greatest near the forest areas. By some persons it is thought that the total precipitation is increased by forests, but this point is in dispute. The off-flow or outflow from forest-covered, or from any plant -covered, lands is more gradual than from bare lands; thus floods are more frequent and more serious the more com- pletely the forests are removed. This is illustrated in the floods on the Ohio and other rivers. I72b. Plants lessen evaporation chiefly in the capacity of shelter-belts. Windbreaks check evaporation from adjacent lands (see King, "The Soil." pp. 204-206); and this is one valuable effect of windbreaks for fruit -plantations in dry climates (see Bailey, "Principles of Fruit -Growing." pp. 48-51.) Forest areas contribute some of their moisture to the atmosphere of con- tiguous areas ; and plants give off moisture from their grow- ing parts. 173a. For a full discussion of windbreaks, see "Principles of Fruit- Growing," pp. 47-57, 62-92. Cel^ptee YIII HOW THE PLANT LIVES B. M. BUGGAM 1. The Plant Activities 182. The plant is a very dependent stnic- ^are: it must be supplied with water and certain soluble salts from the soil, oxygen and carbon dioxid from the air, in addition to sunlight and a certain amount of heat. When these con- ditions are fulfilled, — somewhat as a plant's ancestors have been accustomed to them, — the plant must gi'ow, provided no extraneous diseases or accidents overtake it. 1S3. A gi'owing plant is influenced by all of the external conditions about it, — it is sen- sitive, or manifests irritability. In studying growth processes, we must remember that these processes are occurring in a highly responsive living object, an object with both inexplainable internal forces and with processes most favor- able for chemical and physical study. To study how a plant lives, one must consider the im-\ portant factors of growth, actual growth phe- (112) HOW THE PLANT LIVES 113 uomena, and certain other conditions to whicii growth is sensitive. 2. The Factors of Growth 2a. Water in the plant 184. The rigidity or stiffness of any herb or succulent part is largely dependent on its water content. If a succulent branch is severed, it soon loses its water by evaporation, and it becomes flaccid, or wilted. The proper exten- sion, or turgidity, of the cells of plants with water is necessary for active growth. The pas- sage of the soil water into the plant, and there- after its transfer from living cell to living cell, is accomplished by the process of osmosis, which is the diffusion of liquids through membranes. Much of this water eventually reaches certain conducting parts, or bundles. 185. Surrounding each rootlet for some dis- tance back of the tip is an enveloping growth of delicate root-hairs. These hairs are single, tubular cells, the outgrowth of single cells in the outer layer of the root. Each one contains within its walls, as do all active cells, living matter called protoplasm, along with cell -sap. In the soil these delicate hairs push readily in amongst the soil particles, covering an immense 114 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE amount of space. Owing to the denser cell -sap of the root -hairs these hairs absorb water by osmosis. There are in solution in the soil water minute quantities of food substances, and these are absorbed independently of the relative amounts present. The absorptive activity, or pull, of the root- hairs is so great that water may be extracted from a soil apparently dry. 186. Plants contain much water; but it re- ^quires oven temperatures, about 222° F., to drive out all the water from plant substance. The total water in some plants, as determined by the chemist, is as follows: Dry clover seed 6.4 per cent. Dry beans 12.5 " *' Green apple twigs 50.0 " " Potato tubers 80.0 " " Green clover tops 85.0 " " 187. Water is absorbed in greater quantity than can actually enter into the composition of the living plant; and the surplus water is thrown off by a process of evaporation known as tran- spiration. The water is rapidly transpired from certain plant surfaces, especially from the leaves and green stems. The water current is import- ant; for example, it promptly distributes foods. 188. Leaves are provided with thousands of minute pores in the epidermis, connecting with the delicate tissues within. These pores, or HOW THE PLANT LIVES 115 stomata, are especially abundant on the under surfaces of most leaves. With changes in the water content of the plant, these stomata open or close, to a degree facilitating or inhibiting transpiration. Like evaporation, transpiration is hastened by higher temperatures, dry air, wind, and the movements of the plant. On a very hot day, or with insufficient soil moisture, a plant may wilt, due to the fact that all of the facilities for checking transpiration fail to keep the balance between root absorption and tran- spiration. The plant gives off more water than it takes up; therefore, it wilts. 189. The absorptive activity of the roots gives rise to a sap- or root -pressure which tends to force the current upward. In fact, the lifting power of transpiration, osmosis, root -pressure, and other forces cause the crude sap to ascend through the woody bundles of the plant; and by means of these bundles absorbed solutions are carried upward through all parts of root and stem, and through the leaf- stalk, veins and vein- lets to all parts of the leaf. 2b. Soluble salts from the soil 190. Along with the soil water absorbed by the roots, minute quantities of the various min- eral salts necessary for plant growth are taken in. These salts are. in solution. In the plant, 116 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE these solutions become a part of the ascending sap, and they are diffused to all parts where assimilation goes on. Plants possess a certain selective absoiption, yet soil elements not utilized by the plant are also absorbed in greater or less quantity depending on whether or not de- posited in inert form. Carbonic acid, and per- haps other substances excreted by the root, aid in dissolving some of the mineral salts (30). 191. Various substances are taken in with the soil water. Sodium and potassium nitrate (nitre), calcium phosphate (phosphate of lime), and potassium sulfate are well-known ingredients of fertilizers. Chemical analysis and experiments show that from these and allied salts the plant obtains from the soil such necessary elements as nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and sulfur. In addition, plants also secure from the soil traces of iron, and whatever magnesium, sili- con, and other mineral elements maybe necessary. 192. When a plant is burned in air, the ash contains all of the above-named elements except the nitrogen and a part of the sulfur and phos- phorus. Nitrogen, one of the most important of plant-foods, can be used chiefly in the form of nitrates, except in the case of leguminous plants (110, 138) , in which it is also taken from the air in some obscure way by bacteria of the root tubercles. HOW THE PLANT LIVES 117 2c. Oxygen 193. Oxygen is essential to all of the life pro- cesses in the plant, as well as to the animal. For perfect germination oxygen is required, and this gas diffuses into and is used by all living or grow- ing plant organs. The stomata of leaves and shoots are mechanisms insuring an adequate supply for these parts. Entering these stomata, it is readily diffused throughout the neighboring cells and tissues. 194. Oxygen is then constantly "absorbed," and associated with this absorption is the giving off of carbon dioxid. This appropriation of oxygen and escape of carbon dioxid are results of respiration, a process equivalent in its pur- pose and results to respiration in animals. Young growing plants absorb an amount of oxygen about equal to their volume, in from twenty- four to thirty- six hours. Germinating seeds absorb oxy- gen, and give off ordinarily about an equal quan- tity of carbon dioxid. 195. Germinating seeds, opening flower buds, parts of plants that have been injured, and cer« tain organs in which decay is imminent, respire more rapidly than other parts. Respiration prac- tically represents molecular change and the re- lease of energy in the living substance. 196. Oxygen is also taken in through the roots. Land plants, whose roots are deprived of 118 THE PRDCCIPLZS OT AGRICULTrRE their aii* by loo much water, are soon suffocated. This is especially noticeable in a field of Indian com or maize which has l^een overflowed ; and it is also a condition frequently met with in those greenhouses where an abundant use of water is the first rule. Many plants which have become accustomed to boggy regions, and many green- house plants, send up to the surface numerous root formations in response to a need of fresh air, or oxygen. 2d. Carhoti dioxid and sunlight 197. The element that is present in greatest amount in plants is carbon. This material is derived in green plants from the carbon dioxid (or carbonic acid gas) of the air. 198. In order to become plant -food, the car- bon dioxid of the air first diffuses into the leaves; then its utilization depends on the green color- ing matter of leaves, — or the chlorophyll, — and on sunlight. The chlorophyll absorbs some of the energy of simlight. and by means of the energy thus provided, there is effected a rear- rangement of the atoms of carbon dioxid and water, such that sugar, and ultimately starch, may be produced and some oxygen is set free. This process of the formation of plant-food from carbon dioxid and water, with the consequent giving off of oxygen, is photosynthesis (some- HOW THE PLANT LIVES 119 times known as carbon assimilation). It is in its results the reverse of respiration, in which oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxid given off. 199. During the day a much greater amount of oxygen is set free as a result of photosynthesis than that used in respiration, so that a surplus of oxygen actually diffuses into the air, and plants are said to purify the air. At night, no photo- synthesis goes on, and the chief end-product of respiration, carbon dioxid, is given off, and may be demonstrated by experiment. 2e. Heat, or a definite temperature 200. Heat increases the absorptive activity of the roots, the rate of transpiration, the amount of respiration, and the products of photosynthesis. 201. A more or less definite degree of heat is necessary for all living processes. As a rule, seeds will not germinate at the freezing point, and all growth is suspended at that temperature. Plants grow best within a very small range of temperature, known as the optimum tempera- ture. As a rule, other conditions being equal, plants of moist tropical regions are succulent, and green tissues preponderate. In the frigid regions the softer green parts are greatly reduced, and, while the woody part is of less extent than in the temperate regions, relatively it preponderates. 202. Different plants are injured by different 120 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICT7LTURE temperatures. Such plants as cotton and the melon are killed by a temperature several degi'ees above freezing. The living protoplasm is stimu- lated to give up its water, the roots are chilled and cannot supply to the leaves that water nec- essary to offset transpiration, and, as a result, the leaves soon wilt and blacken. On the other hand, even the green j)arts of some plants will withstand freezing temperatures. The ability to resist cold depends primarily on the response of the protoplasm, its capacity to give up water in freezing without injury, together with the power of reabsorption on thawing. 3. Tlie Processes of Growth 203. The starch that may result from photo- synthesis or the use of carbon dioxid is stored in the leaves during the day, and at night it may be entirely removed and used after being converted into a soluble substance, sugar. Some of this sugar is directly used in building up more complex compounds used in growth, and some of it is again converted into starch and stored in tubers, stems, or thickened leaves, for future growth purposes. 204. The external evidences of growth are changes in form and size of the different parts. The internal evidences of growth are to be seen in the differentiation of the individual cells of which HOW THE PLANT LIVES 12 L the plant is composed, — new cells are made, and others are modified in size or form. It is prob- ably impossible for a plant to live without grow- ing; but under poor conditions the growth may be so slight that the plant is no longer of any use to the farmer. 205. The young stems of many plants elongate throughout the entire length of the growing part. But the lower part soon reaches the limit of its growth, the rear internode — or space be- tween the joints — ceases to elongate, and further growth in length proceeds only in the newer parts above. That is, while there is an elongation or stretching of the shoot itself, this elongation gradually lessens below, so that the region of most rapid growth is constantly in the freshest and softest part of the shoot. Notice that the distance between the joints in growing shoots tends for a time to increase. 206. The root grows differently. The tip of the growing root is hard, being protected by what is known as a root- cap. Growth in length takes place just behind this hard tip, not throughout the length of the growing part. The root, there- fore, is able to push its way around obstacles. 207. In most of our woody plants, increase in diameter is effected by a layer of growing tissue, the cambium, located just beneath the bark; and every year it gives rise to a new layer of wood on 122 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE the outside of the old wood, and to a new layer of bark on the inside of the old bark. Thus the heart-wood is the oldest wood, and the outside bark constantly breaking off is the oldest bark. The interior wood takes less and less part in the activities of the plant, and the heart -wood of trees is nearly useless except as a support to the plant. 4. Irritahility 208. Grrowing parts are sensitive or responsive. This responsiveness or irritability may be called forth by diverse external forces, and is manifest in definite movements, in growth reactions, and in complex internal changes. 209. Some plants make visible movements, and may even be sensitive to shocks. The sensitive -plant suddenly closes its leaves and droops when touched ; the leaves of sun -dew and other insectivorous plants close upon their prey; and the tendril of the gourd gradually bends around the object it touches. 210. Green parts turn towards the light, and assimilation is thereby increased. Plants in windows turn the broad surfaces of their leaves perpendicular to the incoming rays of light ; and a seedling grown under a box into which light is admitted through a single slit will grow HOW THE PLANT LIVES 123 directly towards that slit, and even through it to the brighter light. 211. Plants are sensitive to gravitation. The first root of the germinating seed is so sensitive to gravity that it ordinarily grows downward, wherever it may be and whatever may be its position. On the other hand, the first shoot is oppositely affected by gravity, and if a potted seedling is placed horizontally the stem soon directs itself upward. While its general tend- ency is downward, the root is nevertheless attracted in any direction by the presence of water. 212. The reactions of plants to their environ- ments or surroundings may cause the plants to vary, or to assume new forms or characteristics; and these new features may be of use to the farmer. Thus, with more light, the better are the roses or carnations grown under glass; the richer the soil, the stronger is the growth ; the higher the altitude or latitude, the greater is the proportion of dwarf plants. SUOGBSTTONS 0-V Off AFTER VI 1 1 182o. A salt is the substance formed from the union of an acid with some inorganic substance or base. The salt may be neutral, — neither acid nor alkaline. Thus sulfuric acid and lime form the salt, sulfate of lime or gypsum ; nitric acid and caustic soda form the salt nitrate of soda; muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and 124 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE caustic potash form muriate of potash ; muriate acid and caustic soda form muriate of soda, which is commonly known as salt, — that is, it is common salt. 184a. From a potato tuber which has lain in the air until somewhat wilted, cut circular segments about one-fourth of an inch or less in thickness. Place some of these pieces in water, and others in strong salt solution. In a short time those in water become more rigid, while those in strong salt water become flaccid. The cell-sap of the po- tato, containing some salts and sugars in solution, is a denser solution than the water, and the flow of water is inward to the denser solution; hence the pieces absorb water. Of those pieces in strong salt solution the flow of water is outward, and the potato segments lose some of their water and become flaccid. See Atkin- son's "Elementary Botany," pp. 13-18. 185a. A cross -section of a root- let in Fig. 35 shows the root hairs. These hairs are seen to be prolongations of the outer or epidermal cells. 1856. By germinating a bean, pumpkin seed, or wheat in moss, or between folds of moist thick cloth, the root-hairs may be observed. Fig. 36 shows the fringe of hairs on such a seed- ling ; and Fig. 37 shows how the root-hairs attach the soil particles to the root. For a longer account of root -structures and root-action, compare Sorauer, "Physiology of Plants for the Use of Gardeners," pp. 4-7. 186a. Any one who has handled both green and dry fodder has a general idea of how much water there may be in plants. Why do apples and grapes and cabbages shrivel after they are picked ? 188a. A single epidermal pore is a stoma or stomate. The Fig. 35. Root-hairs, eularged. HOW THE PLANT LIVES 125 plural is stomata or stomates. Fig. 38 shows a fragment of leaf in cross -section, a being a stoma opening out on the lower sur- face. Looking down upon the peeled-ofif epidermis of the lower surface, stomata are seen at Fig. 39. 1886. Cut off a leafy branch of any herb, insert the stem through a perforated cork into a bottle of water, and then place the whole under a bell-glass. Note how soon the water vapor thrown off condenses upon the glass. Compare Fig. 10, page 58. 188t\ The rate of tran- spiration from a single leaf may be accurately observed as follows : A large U- shaped glass tube is filled with water, and into one end of this tube is inserted a perforated cork bearing a small glass tube or capillary arm, bent at right angles. In the other end of the U- tube is fitted a cork, through the perforation in which is inserted the leaf-stalk, with the stem reaching the water, as shown in Fig. 40. "When this last cork is forced in, water will fill the capillary arm; and the recession of the water in this arm to supply that transpired shows the rate of tran- spiration. Wax or parafiin should be used to seal around the perforations. 189a. Root-pressure or sap-pressure, may be made evident roughly by a very simple experiment. ... ^ A \ J ** Fig. 37. How the An inch or so above ground, cut off a stem of some ^^^j adheres to actively-growing herbaceous plant, as the sun- the young root. Fig. 36. The root-hairs as seen on a darki damp cloth. 126 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE flower. Fit tightly over this stub a few inches of rubber tubing, partially filling the tubing with water, and into the free end fit closely a small glass tube several feet long, supporting the tube by a stake. In a few hours water will begin to rise in the glass tube. This pressure in the common nettle may sustain a column of water over ten feet in height, and in the grape-vine a column more than thirty feet in height. It is inapplicable for plants that force up only a small volume of water under high pressure. 189&. The sap ascends through the young woody parts, — the sap-wood in our common trees, and not between the bark and wood, as commonly supposed. To note the special channels Cross-section of a leaf. FotiT stomata. through which sap ascends, secure a few joints of green com, a blade of celery, a leaf of canna, and some woody branch, and put the stem ends into a tumbler with a solution of some red dye or stain, preferably eosin or fuchsin. Oft^n in the course of a few hours there is external evidence that the colored liquid ascends through definite channels, at least with the succulent herbs. Now cut off the st«ms and note the colored regions, — in the com those thread-like groups of fibers so noticeable when an old cornstalk is broken ; in the celery, likewise, through those stringy fibers known to all who have eaten tough celery ; and in woody plants, through the layers of wood nearest the bark. 190o. For fuller discussions of the subjects outlined in 190 ind 191, consult Sorauer, '^Physiology of Plants for the Use of Gardeners," pp. 30-44, 48-51. HOW THE PLANT LIVES 127 194a. Air in which seeds have been germinating has suffered a change; this can be shown in the following manner: — Fill a large-mouthed bottle half full with soaked beans or peas, add a small quantity of water, and cork it. After twenty-four hours, pass a lighted wax taper or waxed cord into the jar, and it will be extinguished. Make the same tests in a jar of air, and see that ri'^fSyV H the taper burns. This is a striking change. As a matter of fact, the germination has increased the amount of carbon dioxid and di- minished the amount of oxygen, but other more elaborate experi- ments would be needed to show how we know that these are the gases affected. 196fl. For a discussion of the relation of wet soils to oxy- gen-absorption, read Sorauer, pp. 77-80. 196&. The "cypress knees " which project from the water in cypress swamps in the South are supposed to be aerating organs. 197a. If a plant is burned in the air, the resulting ash is very small ; but if burned without free access of air, as in a charcoal pit, there remains a charred mass almost as great in volume as the substance burned. This mass is largely carbon, a most important element in all living matter, or protoplasm. In combination with the elements of water, carbon also forms most of the cellular tissue of plants, likewise the starches and the sugars, all of which are called carbohydrates. The manufacture of these starch-like com- pounds by the appropriation of the carbon dioxid of the air ia Pig. 40. Means of showing transpiration. 128 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE one of the peculiarities of green plants; and animals depend on plants for the preliminary preparation of these necessary eom- pounde. 198rt. The word assimilation is sometimes used in this restricted sense in plants, as defined in 19S. In general speech it means the appropriation of prepared or digested food, as the assimilation of the food by the blood, or protoplasm. 1965. Chlorophyll is the green coloring matter of plants. It looks to be in the form of minute grains. Most of the cells in Fig. 38 contain chlorophyll grains. 198c. Plant-food, in the sense in which the term is here used, is a product of pho- tosynthesis,— sugar, starch or some similar material. In common speech the term food is used to designate any ma- terial taken in and ultimately used by the plant, as nitrates, potash, water; and a general use of the term is so well established that it cannot be overthrown. l9Sd. For further light on assimilation, compare Arthur and MacDougal, "Living Plants and Their Properties," pp. 145-152. 199a. Place under a funnel in a deep beaker, containing fresh spring or stream water, growing bits of water-weed (Elodea CanadenMs), and invert over the end of the funnel a test- tube filled with water, as in Fig. 41. In the sunlight bubbles of Fig. 41. Experiment to show the giving off of oxygen. HOW THE PLANT LIVES 129 gas will be seen to rise and collect in the tube. If a sufficient quantity of this gas could be quickly collected, on testing it with a lighted taper the flame would be seen to quicken per- fXS- *^ Opening of a bua of pear. Fig. -13. The marking of the stem and the spreading apart of the marks. ceptibly, indicating more oxygen than is contained in the air. In this case the carbon dioxid used is in solution in the water. The Elodea is common in still ponds. 201a. On the subject of temperature and plant life, compare Bailey, "The Survival of the Unlike," pp. 44-48, Chapters xvii. and xix. ; and Chapter xiii. of Gaye's "Great World's Farm." 202«. Compare Arthur and MacDougal, " Living Plants and their Properties," pp. 85-98, for a discussion of the influence of cold in injuring plants. 203a. To test for starch in a potato tuber or other storage 130 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Fig. 44. Marking the root. organ, spread a drop of tincture of iodine on the cut surface, and the blue or violet color indicates the presence of starcn. Test the laundry starch. 2036. To determine that starch is formed — ^ only in the green parts of leaves, secure a leaf variegated' with white, like a coleus or geranium, which has been some hours iu sunlight. Place it in hot alcohol until the green color disappears, and then add some iodine. The parts which were green are colored violet- brown, indicating starch, but the white parts are un- colored. Another leaf covered with dark cloth for twenty-four hours will show little or no starch any- where, indicating the removal in darkness of the '° starch formed in sunlight. 204«. The opening bud of a beech is a good example for ob- servation of growth, as it ex- pands from day to day. The long scales of the winter bud become looser, and gradually, by the elongation of parts between them, the scales are forced apart, showing at the base of each a minute leaf of perfect form. Daily the leaf increases in size, the internodes or stem portions between the leaves elongate, the scales fall away, and from a bud of an inch in length, by elongation throughout its whole extent we have a leafy twig of many inches, with a terminal bud, and a bud in the axil of each leaf. The beginning of the spring growth is likewise well shown in the pear bud, Fig. 42. Consult Bailey's "Lessons with Plants " pp. 44-72, for fuller discussions, with many illustrations, of the opening of buds. 205a. Mark a young stem, as at A in Fig. 43 ; but the next day we shall find that these marks are farther aplrt than when we made them (B, Fig. 43). The marks have all raised themselves above the ground as the plant has grown. Fig. 4j. The root grows in end portion. HOW THE PLANT LIVES 131 The stem, therefore, has grown throughout its length mtherthan from the end. — Bailey, "Lessons u'lth Plants," p. 322. 20Grt. Germinate a squash seed between layers of blotting-paper or cloth. When the root has grown an inch or two lay the plantlet on a piece of paper. Then lay a rule alongside of it, and make a mark (with indelible ink) one-quarter of an inch, or less, from the tip, and two or three other marks at equal distances above (Fig. 44). Now carefully replace the seed. Two days later, examine it; we shall most likely find a condition something like that in Fig. 45. It will be seen that the marks E, C, B, are prac- tically the same distance apart as before, and they are also the same distance from the peg, A A. The point of the root is no longer at D D, however, but has moved on to F. — Bailey, "Lessons with Plants," p. 321." 207a. We now see that the "sap" of trees is a very complex substance. It is the juice or liquid in the plant. The liquid which first comes in at the root is water, with very dilute pro- portions of various substances. But the sap also carries the products of assimilation to all parts of the plant, to build up the tissues. In common speech, the upward-moving water, recently taken in from the soil, and known as the "transpiration stream," is often called crude sap; and the liquid carrying sugars and other organic compounds is called elaborated sap. 20da. See the discussions and pictures of moving parts in Bailey's "Lessons with Plants," pp. H96-406; also Barnes' "Plant Life," pp. 188-208; Atkinson's "Elementary Botany," pp. 82-92; Arthur and MacDougal's "Living Plants," Chapters i.-iv., and other botanical treatises. Chapter IX THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 1. The Kinds of Propagation 213. Plants naturally propagate by two gen- eral means, — by seeds and by buds. All the modes of the propagating of plants employed by the farmer and gardener are but modifications of these two general types. 214. The farmer has three objects in view in the propagation of plants: to renew the genera- tion, or to prevent the stock from dying out; to increase the number of plants ; to perpetuate a particular variety. Thus, the farmer must resow his wheat, or he will lose the stock; but he ex- pects to secure more plants than were concerned in the production of the seed which he sows ; and he also expects to reap a particular variety, as Diehl or Mediterranean. 215. Seeds are always able to preserve the race or stock and to increase the number of plants, but they are not always able to produce the variety which bore them. Most farm crops and most garden vegetables reproduce the va- (132) THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 133 riety from seeds ; but most fruits and trees and shrubs do not, and in such cases recourse is had to bud propagation, as layers, cuttings, grafts. 2. Seedage, or Propagation by Seeds 2a. Requisites of germination 216. In order that seeds shall germinate, the seeds themselves must be viable (or "good"). Viability depends upon (a) the maturity of the seeds, {h) freshness, — they shall not have lost their vitality through age, — (c) the vigor and general healthfulness of the plant which bore the seeds, {d) proper conditions of storage. 217. (Z>) The length of time during which seeds retain their vitality varies with the kind of plant and with the conditions under which the seeds were grown. That is, there is a normal vitality and an incidental vitality. Most seeds germinate best when not more than one or two years old, but retain strong vitality three or four years ; but some seeds, notably those of onions and parsnips, are usually not safe after a year old. 218. In order that seeds shall germinate, they must also have proper surrounding con- ditions: moisture, free oxygen (air), warmth. 134 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUEE 219. The ideal condition of the seed-bed, so far as water is concerned, is that it shall be moist, not wet. Wet soil injures seeds, largely by excluding oxygen. The older and weaker the seeds, the gi-eater is the necessity for care in applying water : they should be kept only slightly moist until germination is well started. The soaking of seeds starts the genninating pro- cesses, but it should not be continued above twenty-four hours, as a i"ule, and should not be employed with very weak seeds. 220. Oxygen is supplied to germinating seeds if suflScient aii' is allowed to reach them ; and the air reaches them if they are not planted too deep, nor kept too wet, nor the soil allowed to "bake." But all these conditions are gi'eatly modified by the kind of soil. 221. For each kind of seed there is a certain degree of warmth under which it will germinate to the best advantage ; and this is called the optimum temperature for that seed. The opti- mum temperatui'e is not unifonn or exact, but ranges through a limit of five to ten degi'ees. Seeds of most hardy plants — as wheat, oats, lye, lettuce, cabbage, and wild plants — germinate best in temperatm*es between 45^ and 65°; those of tender vegetables and consei'vatory plants, be- tween 60° and 80°; those of tropical plants, between 75° and 95°. THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 135 26. The raising of seedlings 222. The ideal soil in which to plant seeds is loose and friable, does not ''bake," and is reten- tive of moistnre. It is neither hard clay nor loose sand. 223. The looser the soil, the deeper the seeds may be planted, since the plantlets can easily push through the earth ; and the deeper the planting the more uniform is the moisture. For seeds of medium size and of strong germinating power, — as wheat, cabbage, apple, — a quarter or half inch is sufficient depth. In order to secure moisture about the seeds, the earth should be firmed or packed over them, particularly in a diy time ; but this surface earth is moist because water is passing through it into the air (103, 104) . 224. The smaller the seed, the shallower should it be sown, as a rule, and the greater should be the care in sowing. Very small seeds, as those of begonia, should be merely pressed into the earth, and the surface is then kept moist by shading, laying on a paper, cloth or glass, or by very careful watering. Delicate seeds are often sown on the surface of well -firmed soil, and are then lightly covered by sifting soil or dry moss over them. Keep them shaded until germination is well progi-essed. 136 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 225. Seeds may regerminate. That is, if germination is arrested by drought, the process may be renewed when congenial conditions recur, even though the young root may be dried and dead. This is true of wheat, oats, maize, pea, onion, buckwheat, and other seeds. Some seeds have been known to resume germination five and six times, even when the rootlet had grown half an inch or more and the seeds had been thoroughly dried after each regermination. 226. Bony and nut -like seeds must generally be softened by lying long in the earth ; and the softening and splitting of the coverings is hastened by freezing. Such seeds are peach pits, walnuts, haws, and most tree seeds. Gar- deners bury such seeds in earth in the fall, and plant them the following spring. The seeds are, also, often mixed with sand, or placed between layers of sand in a box, and if the seeds are from hardy plants the box of sand is placed where it will freeze throughout the winter. This operation is known as stratification. 3. Propagation by Buds 3a. Why and Jiow bud propagation is used 227. When varieties do not "come true" or do not reproduce themselves from seeds, it is neces- THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 137 sary to propagate them by means of buds. In some cases, also, seeds are not produced freely, and then recourse is had to buds. In many instances, too, as in grafting, quicker results are obtained by bud propagation than by seed prop- agation. One means of dwarfing plants is to graft them on kinds of smaller stature. 228. Of bud propagation, there are two gen- eral types, — that in which the bud remains attached to the parent plant until it has taken root, and that in which the bud is at once sepa- rated from the parent plant. Examples of the former are layers ; of the latter, cuttings. 3b. Undetached buds 229. A layer is a shoot or a root which, while still attached to the plant, is made to take root with the intention that it shall be severed, and form an independent plant. 230. The layers are bent to the gi'ound, and at one place or joint are covered with earth ; at this joint roots are emitted. Layering may be performed in either fall or spring, but the for- mer is usually preferred. The layers are usually allowed to lie one season before they are sev- ered. Almost any plant which has shoots that can be bent to the gi-ound can be propagated by layers ; but the best results are obtained in plants which have rather soft wood. 138 THE PRI^XIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 3c. Detached buds 231. Of propagation by detached buds, there are two t^-pes, — buds which are inserted in the soil or in water, and those which are inserted in another plant. The former are cuttings ; the latter are grafts. 232. Cuttings may be made of soft or un- ripe wood, or of hard and fully matured wood. Of the soft kinds are cuttings (or "slips") of geraniums, fuchsias, and the like. Of the hard kinds are cuttings of grapes and currants. 233. Soft cuttings are made of shoots which are sufficiently mature to break or snap when bent double. They comprise at least one joint, and sometimes two or three. The leaves are removed from the lower end, and if the upper leaves are large they may be cut in two, or sheared, to prevent too rapid evaporation. A soil free from vegetable matter, as sand, is pref- erable. It is generally necessary to shade the cuttings until they are established. 234. Hardwood or dormant cuttings are taken in fall or winter. They usually compiise two or more buds. They root better if they are callused (partially healed over on the bottom end) before they are planted : therefore, it is customary to bury them in sand, or to stand them in sand,, in a cool cellar until spring. In THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 139 spring they are set into the ground up to the top bud. 235. Single -eye cuttings — that is, one -bud cuttings — are sometimes employed when buds are scarce, as in new or rare plants. These are usually started under glass. They are planted half an inch or an inch deep, in an oblique or horizontal position. 236. Grafting is the operation of making one plant, or a part of it, grow upon another l>lant. The part which is transferred or trans- planted is the cion ; the plant into which this X")art is transplanted is the stock. 237. A cion may contain one bud or many. It may be inserted in a cleft or split in the wood of the stock, or it may be inserted between the bark and wood of the stock. A single bud which is inserted between the bark and wood is technically known as a '' bud," and the process of inserting it is known as budding; but budding is only a special kind of gi-afting. 238. The cion and stock unite because the cambium of the two grow together. This cam- bium is between the bark and the wood (207) : therefore it is important that the inner face of the bark of the cion (or bud) be applied to the surface of the wood of the stock ; or, if the cion is inserted in a cleft, that the line between the bark, in the two, come together. 140 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 239. When the cion is inserted, the wounded surfaces must be tightly closed, to prevent the parts from drying out. Whenever the stock is cut off to receive the cion, thereby wounding the wood, wax is used to cover the wound ; when only the bark is raised to admit the cion or bud, a bandage is used. 240. Grafting with hardwood cions of two or more buds — which is usually spoken of as grafting pro]3er — is performed in spring, and the cions are cut in the winter and are kept fresh and dormant (as in a cellar) until wanted. The cion is made from the wood of the pre- vious season's growth, of the variety which it is desired to propagate. 241. Budding — or inserting a single bud un- derneath the bark — may be performed whenever the bark of the stock will peel or ''slip," and when mature buds can be secured. If performed in spring, the buds are cut in winter, as for grafting proper. If performed in late summer or early fall — and this is the custom — the buds are cut at the time, from the season's growth. SUGGESTIONS OX CEAPTEB IX 215a. It is impracticable, in this eonneetion, to explain fully why it is that some plants ''come true" from seed, and others (as apples, strawberries, roses) do not ; but the enquirer will find the matter expounded in Bailey's "Plant -Breeding," pp. THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 141 88-91. The reason is that in plants which are habitually propa- gated by seeds, as the garden vegetables, we are constantly discarding the forms which do not come true, and are thereby fixing the tendency to come true, — since only the individuals which do come true are allowed to per- petuate themselves. In plants which are not habitually propagated by seeds, this selection does not take place, and the tendency to come true is not fixed. 217a. The longest-lived seeds are those borne on plants which reach their normal, healthy development. Those produced in very dry years are apt to have low vitality. Seeds should be stored in a dry and fairly cool room. Tables of the longevity of garden seeds may be found on pp. 104-107 of the 4th edition of "Horticulturist's Rule -Book." Fig. 46. Seed-pot, covered with glass. ^mi. V) (I t'ig. 47. Four layered shoots. 219a. "Nursery -Book," pp. 1-7, discusses the means of regulating moisture, with illustrations. 220a. As an experiment, plant corn a foot deep in warm, L42 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE firm soil. Run a little stick or splinter down to some of the seeds, allowing it to remain. The air enters alongside the stick. Observe if there is any difference in germination. If not, try it when the soil is very wet. 224a. Very small seeds are often sown very shallow in a pot, and a pane of glass is laid over the pot to cheek evapora- tion (Fig. 46). As soon pear, the glass is re- tailed directions for the see the " Xursery-Book," 230ff. An illustra- given in Fig. 47. Four shoots are layered. One shoot, A, is layered in as the plantletsap- moved. For de- sowing of seeds, pp. 15-25. tion of layering is Pig. 48. Coleus cutting (xJ^). Fig. 49. Cutting held by tooth-pick {s.}i). Fig. 50. One style ol chrysanthemum cutting (x.^s). two places, and two plants will result. When the layers have taken root, the part is severed and treated as an independent plant. Honeysuckles, lilacs, snowballs, and many common bushes can be layered with ease. See Chapter iii.. in "Nursery- Book," for full discussion. 233a. These green cuttings may be planted in shallow boxes of sand, in coldframes or hotbeds, or in the bench of a glass- house. Figs. 48-50 illustrate the process. 234a. A .grape cutting is shown in Fig. 51. This is the eommon fashion for propagating the grape ; but new varieties are often grown from single eyes, as shown in Fig. 52. Consult Fig. 52. Single-eye grape cutting (x>^). Fig. 54. Shield bud. Fig. 5.3. Cleft grafting. Fig. 51. Grape cut- ting (iH). W f\ Lif;1 Fig. 55. Bud entering matrix (x/^). Fig. 56. A Willed stub {zVi). Fig. 57. The bud in Fig. 55 was shoved dowTi until cov- ered by the bark, and now tied with bast. 144 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Chapter iv. of ''Nursery -Book," for full directions for making and growing cuttings. 238a. Two eions inserted in a cleft in the stock are shown in Fig. 53. The cambium layers come together in the eion and the stock. A "bud" eion is shown in Fig. 54, and the operation of shoving this down between the bark and wood of the stock is seen in Fig. 55. 239a. The waxing of a stock is illustrated in Fig. 56. The tying of a bud (by soft cord or bast) is shown in Fig. 57. 24r0a. The common style of grafting is suggested in Figs. 53 and 56. This is known as cleft -grafting, from the splitting of the stock. It is the style nearly always employed in orchard trees of apples and pears. 241a. Shield-budding is the common style. It is illustrated in Figs. 54, 55, 57. The buds are cut at the time of the bud- ding, the leaves being at once taken off to prevent evaporation ; but a bit of the leaf-stalk is usually left to serve as a handle, as seen in the picture. Peaches, cherries, plums, oranges, are usually budded. 241 &. In all kinds of grafting and budding, the operator must be careful to select cions, or buds, from only those varie- ties which he desires to perpetuate. The stocks used by nur- serymen are seedlings ; but even if the plant is grafted, it can be grafted again, the same as if it were a seedling. In most cases, a variety is grafted on another plant of the same general kind, as a peach on a peach, an apple on an apple, a plum on a plum ; but there are cases in which one kind or species is grafted on a different species: (a) to secure a dwarf plant, by grafting on a slow- growing root (as pear on quince), or (6) be- cause seeds of the given species are rare, and a closely related stock is therefore substituted. For extended accounts of bud- ding and grafting, refer to "Nursery -Book," Chapter v. Chapter X PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED I. p. ROBERTS 1. Factors Which Determine the Preparation of the Seed -bed 242. Faulty preparation of the land is the eanse of more failui'es than the subsequent treatment of the crop. In field conditions, this preparation can not be so thorough, or so ideal, as in garden areas or in glass-houses. The general condition of the farm work dictates to a gi'eat extent the particular time when the seed shall be sown and the amount of prepara- tory work which shall be put on the land : therefore, it is very important that the farmer fully understand what is required, in order that he may make no mistakes. 243. The preparation of the land for seeding should be governed by two factors : by the needs of the particular plant which is to be grown, and by the character of the land. To prepare a seed-bed for any crop, the habits, likes and dislikes of the plants should be J (145) 146 THE PRLSCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE studied. That is, it is not enough that the land be well prepared : it should have the kind of preparation which is demanded by the crop. 2. Tlie Demands of the Plant 244. The preparation of the seed-bed differs with the way in which the plant is propagated. Some plants are propagated by a piece or part of an nndergi-ound stem or tuber, as the potato ; others by a branch of the aerial part, as the willow or sugar-cane. In all of these cases, the buds or eyes are surrounded with food for immediate use. This stored food gives them power to send out strong shoots and to grow for some time without having to secui'e nourishment from the soil. But many plants are propagated by tiny seeds. These start in life with little stored food, and, therefore, must quickly secm-e nourishment from the soil ; and the land must, therefore, be very well prepared. These seeds should be planted near the surface, for there will not be strength enough in the infant plant to push its way through, if planted as deep as the potato. 245. Plants may change or modify theu- characteristics to adapt themselves to changed conditions. The common red clover is a tap- rooted plant, but if it grows on soil which is PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 147 underlaid with wet clay, it tends to become fibrous -rooted. Even long-lived perennials, as trees, do best when the surface soil is well pre- pared to a depth of ten to twelve inches, since many feeding roots of trees, especially of young ones, find nourishment in this prepared soil. 246. Plants differ greatly, however, in ability to adapt themselves to unfavorable conditions. Many common plants send their tap-roots into the subsoil for two to three feet, even if it be hard, while sugar beets become fibrous -rooted, and may be pushed up and partly out of the ground if their tap-roots attempt to enter the undisturbed hard subsoil. Land devoted to clover need not necessarily be subsoiled if it be fairly free from stagnant water, while that planted to sugar beets should be subsoiled, for the reason that a long, fusiform root is desired, all or nearly all of which should be below the surface ; for that part of the beet which gi'ows above the ground is not nearly so valuable for making sugar as that part which grows under gi'ound. 247. Nearly all of the common and quick- growing plants secure the larger part of their nourishment and moisture from the first, or sur- face foot of soil. This being so, it is seen how necessary it is to prepare the soil in the best possible manner. If the upper soil is not well 148 THE PEDfCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE prepared, the roots must search wide and deep for food. 248. Most of the smaller plants require but about six months in which to grow and to fruit. If, in order to secure nourishment and moisture, the roots are obliged to descend into the cold, hard subsoil, where the plant -food is likely to be least available, neither growth nor fruitage can be satisfactory. Those plants which do not ma- ture until they are five to twenty years of age, as fruit trees, can secure much nourishment from the subsoil, although they secure little in any one growing season. Then, too, trees must se- cure a firm hold on the land, or they will be prostrated by winds. By being oVjliged to send many of their roots into the cold, firm subsoil through many generations, trees have probably acquired the power of securing more of the tough or unavailable food of the subsoil than plants which live but one season. 249. Different plants requu-e not only to be planted at different seasons of the year, but at different depths. They demand different meth- ods of preparation of the surface sod. Some do best when placed in loose, warm soil, as, for instance, maize and sweet potatoe?i ; while others do best when grown on fairly cold and somewhat compacted surface soil, as winter wheat. PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 149 3. The Preparing of the Seed-bed 250. Nearly all plants thrive best when fur- nished with a full and continuous supply of moisture. Fine, loose earth, which contains a moderate admixture of humus, is capable of holding much moisture (73, 74) ; but the soil may be so loose and light as to admit too rapid movement of air, in which case the mois- ture will be carried away. If the particles of earth are separated too widely, capillarity is weakened. In such cases the subsurface soil should be slightly compacted, while one to three inches of the surface is left loose to form an earth -mulch, which tends to prevent loss of moisture by evaporation. The particles of the loose surface earth- mulch should be so widely separated that the moisture can climb only to the bottom of it, for if it comes to the surface the air will carry it away (83). The earth-mulch shades the ground in which the plants are grow- ing, prevents the soil from cracking, and saves moisture. 251. The seed-bed should contain no free water ; but it is impossible to secure this con- dition at all times. No serious harm may come when the soil is over- saturated at planting time, if the free water is quickly removed. If the soil contains more water than it can hold by 150 THE PRIXCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE capillarity, the air is driven out, and the soil swells and tends to become pnddled (81). 252. Many seeds wiQ not germinate if planted ont of season, or when the soil is cool, no matter how well the seed-bed is prepared. Then, if it is desired to plant eariy, make the land fine and loose, for in so doing the temperature of the soil is raised. The soil of a fine, porous seed- bed, resting on a well-drained subsurface and sabsoU, is much warmer than one resting on a compact, nndrained foundation. However, it is not wise to plant seeds out of season or when the weather is unsuitable. 253. If small seeds are covered with but little earth, they may fail to germinate for lack of moisture. K covered with enough fine earth to insure a constant supply of moisture, the young plant? have a hard struggle to reach the surface. lants to mature their gro^.th, and thereby be more likely to escape winter injury ; and it lessens the dan- ger of overgrowth. If the ti-ees are camming a heavy crop, however, it may be necessaiy to continue the tillage in order to supply the fruit with moisture, especially if the land or the season is dry. 277. The tillage of fruit-plantations usually consists of a spring plowing, followed by har- rowing. If the land has been well handled in SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 163 the first few years, deep and heavy plowing will not be needed when an orchard comes to ma- turity. Light gang-plows, or even cultivators, may then be sufiBcient for the first breaking of the soil in spring. 2. By Means of Pruning and Training 2a. Pnoiing vs. training 278. Pruning is the removing of certain parts of plants for the purpose of augmenting the welfare of the plant or to secure more, larger or better products (as better fruit or flowers). Training is the trimming or shaping of the plant into some particular or desired form. Success- ful pruning depends upon principles of plant growth ; training depends upon the personal ideal of the pruner. 279. Nature prunes. In every plant, more branches start than can ever mature ; and many buds are suppressed before they have made branches. Every tree top, if left to itself, will sooner or later contain many dead branches. There is a struggle for existence amongst the branches, and the weakest die. 2b. Tlie hPdling of wounds 280. Pruning depends upon two sets of fac- tors,— upon the questions concerned in the heal- 164 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE ing of wounds and the injury to the plant, and upon the general results which it is desired to attain. Knowing how wounds affect the plant, the pruner should then have a definite purpose in view when he cuts a limb. 281. The proper healing of wounds depends primarily upon («) the kind of plant (observe that peach trees heal less readily than apples), (b) the vigor of the plant, (c) the position of the wound on the plant (wounds on strong main limbs heal better than those on weak or side limbs), (d) the length of the stump — the shorter the stump the quicker the healing, — (e) the character of the wound as to smoothness or roughness. 282. Other matters which determine the proper healing of a large wound are (/) the healthfulness of the wood, (g) the season of the year in which the cut is made, (h) the protec- tion which the wound receives. 283. (g) Other things being the same, wounds heal quicker when made in the early part of the gi'owing season, — that is, in late spring ; but the factors mentioned in 281 are more important than the season. 284. (h) Dressings do not, of themselves, hasten the healing of wounds, but they may keep the wound sound and healthy until it heals of itself. A good dressing is one which is anti- SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 165 septic and durable, \Yliich affords mechanical protection, and which does not of itself injure the tissue of the plant. 2c. The principles of pruning 285. "We prune («) to modify the vigor of the plant, (6) to produce larger and better fruits or flowers, {c) to keep the plant within manage- able shape and limits, {d) to make the plant bear more or bear less, (e) to remove super- fluous or injured parts, (/) to facilitate spray- ing and harvesting, {g) to facilitate tillage, {h) to make the plant assume some desu*ed form (properly, training) . 286. Heavy pruning of the top tends to increase growth, or the production of wood. Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen the production of wood. Water- sprouts generally follow heavy pruning, particularly if the pruning is performed in winter. 287. Checking growth, so long as the plant remains healthy, tends to cause overgrown plants to bear. One means of checking growth is to withhold fertilizers and tillage ; another is to resort to root- pruning ; another is to head- in or cut -back the young shoots. Some plants, how- ever, bear most profusely when they are very vigorous ; but they are such, for the most part, as have been moderately and continuously vig- 166 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE orous from the beginning, rather than those which are forced into very heavy growth after a long period of neglect. 288. The heading- in of young growths tends to force out the side shoots and to develop the dormant buds. The more a plant is headed-in, therefore, the more thinning- out it will require. Heading-in induces fmitfulness by checking growth and by encouragiug the formation of side spurs (upon which fruit may be borne). 289. Heavy pruning every few years — which is the custom — tends to keep trees over-vigorous and unproductive. Mild pruning every year maintaias the equilibrium of the plant, and tends to make it fiTiitful. 3. By Keeping Enemies in Check 3.7. Tlie kinds of enemies 290. Of plant enemies or diseases, there are three main types, — insects, parasitic fungi, con- stitutional or physiological ti'oubles. 291. Insect pests are of two general types, so far as their method of feeding is concerned, — insects which chew, or bite off pieces of the plant, and those which suck their food from the juices of the plant. In the former class are the worms and beetles ; in the latter are plant -lice, scale iusects, and the so-called tiTie bugs (as the SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 167 squash-bug or stink-bug, and the leaf-hoppers) . We may classify injurious insects again, without reference to their mode of taking food, into those which live and feed on the outside of the plant, and those which, as borers and apple- worms, burrow and feed inside the tissue. 292. Of fungous pests, the farmer may recog- nize two groups, — those which live wholly on the outside of the host (as the powdery mildew of the gi'ape, pea mildew), and those which live wholly or in part inside the tissues (as apple- scab, black-knot, potato mildew). Most inju- rious fungi are of the latter kind. Fungous troubles are nearly always marked by definitely diseased spots on the leaves or twigs. 293. Physiological or constitutional troubles are those which affect the whole plant or an entire leaf or branch, and the cause of which is not apparent on the exterior. These troubles may be due to germs or bacteria working within the tissues (as pear-blight), or to some difficulty in the nutrition of the plant. These troubles are generally not marked by definitely diseased spots or blemishes, but by the gradual dying of an entire leaf, branch or plant. 3b. The preventives and remedies 294. Keeping the plants vigorous and healthy is the first step towards the control of pests and 168 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRiCULTURE diseases. Clean tillage, rotation of crops, plant- ing varieties which are least liable to attack, and careful attention to prevent all the conditions which seem to favor the breeding of insects and the spread of diseases, are quite as important as destroying the enemies ; for "an ounce of pre- vention is worth a pound of cure." 295. Insects are destroyed by three general means : (a) by killing them directly, as by hand- picking, digging out borers ; (6) by killing them by means of some caustic application to their bodies ; (c) by poisoning them by poisoning their food. In some instances, insects may be kept away by covering the plants with some material, as lime, to which the insects object ; but this method of fighting insects is usually unsatisfactory. A substance which is used to destroy an insect is called an insecticide. 296. (h) The caustic applications or insecti- cides must be used for those insects which suck their food (291). Kerosene, kerosene emulsion, soap washes, lime-and-sulfur, miscible oils, to- bacco, and the like, are the materials used; and plant-lice, scale insects, plant-bugs, thrips, and leaf-hoppers are the insects thus treated. 297. (c) The poisonous applications are used for the chewing insects that prey upon the outside of the plant (not for borers, which are usually dug out) . Paris green and other arsenicals SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 169 and white hellebore are the materials commonly used ; and worms, potato -bugs, and all leaf- chewing pests, are the insects thus treated. 298. Fungi are killed by materials which con- tain sulfur or copper. Fungi which live inside the leaf or stem (292) cannot be killed directly by applications, but the parts which project into the air (the fruiting portions) can be destroyed and the fungus thereby weakened and checked ; and the spores (which answer to seeds) cannot gi'ow on a surface which is covered with copper or sulfur. The best treatment of plant diseases, therefore, is to make the application before the disease gains a foothold. A substance which is used to destroy fungi is called a fungicide. 299. The best general fungicide is the Bor- deaux mixture, made of lime and sulfate of copper. It not only destroys the fungi, but adheres long to the plant. Another good fungi- cide is carbonate of copper ; and it is preferred for ornamental plants and for late application to fruit, because it does not discolor or soil the leaves or fruits. 300. The application of insecticides and fun- gicides is usually made in water, with a syringe or pump, or by means of a spray ; and thereby h^s arisen the practice of spraying. 301. In order that spraying shall be success- ful, it must (a) apply the materials which will 170 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGEICULTrRE destroy the pest in question and yet not injure the plant, (6) be thoroughly done, so that no part of the plant is left unprotected, (c) be performed the moment the enemy appears, or, in the case of fungous diseases, as soon as there is reason to believe that the pest is coining. 302. The best machine or pump is the one which throws the finest spray the farthest dis- tance. Other factors are the capacity of the pump, its strength, its durability, its lightness, the ease with which it works. 303. Spraying will not keep all fungous dis- eases in check ; and, in any case, it should be supplemented by sanitation, as by burning or burying the fallen diseased leaves and fruits, the cutting away of infected parts, and the like. Some fungous diseases, as the grain smuts, are carried over from year to year in the seed ; and the proper treatment is to soak the seed in a fungicide. The constitutional diseases (293) must be treated by other means than spraying, usually by burning the affected part or plant (294, 294a). SCGGBSTIOyS Oy CHAPTEB XI 267a. "The daisy -enrsed meadows of the East are those ^hic-h hare been long mown and are badly 'run,' or else those which were not properly made, and the grass obtained but a poor start. The farmer may say that the daisies have 'run out' SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 171 the grass, but the fact is that the meadow began to fail, and the daisies quickly seized upon the opportunity to gain a foot- hold. * * * The weedy lawns are those which have a thiu turf, and the best treatment is to scratch the ground lightly with an iron-toothed rake, apply fertilizer, and sow more seed." "The agricultural conditions in the Dakotas and other parts of our Plains region are just such as to encourage a hardy intruder like the Russian thistle. An average of eight or nine bushels of wheat per acre is itself proof of superficial farming; Fig. 64. A gang-plow. Fig. 65. A light gang-plow for very shallow work. but the chief fault with this western agriculture is the continu- ous cropping with one crop, — wheat." — Bailey, '^Survival of the Unlike," pp. 196, 195. 270rt. Maize may be harrowed until it is four inches high. The plants will straighten up. This harrowing is cheaper than cultivating; and if the land is put in good condition very early in the life of the crop, much less subsequent tillage is required. In general, narrow-toothed harrows should be used (Fig. 24), but the style of tool must be adapted to the particular land in question. 277a. If the plowing has been thorough for the first few years after the orchard is planted, the ground should be so mellow that very light plowing will answer thereafter. There will be no sod to tear up and to plow under, and the tree roots will be deep in the ground, where they can find moisture. A gang-plow (Fig. 64) should be sufficient for the spring plowing 172 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE in most mature orchards, unless there is a heavy growth of cover-erop to plow nnder. A tool for still shallower plowing is shown in Fig. 65. This is excellent for orchards on light or loose soils, although its height makes it more difficult to handle ^-.- .t Fig. 66. The proper way to make the woitnd. Pig. C7. The wrong way to make the cut. about low-headed trees. For full discussions of the tilling of fruit plantations, see "Principles of Fruit -Growiug," Chapter iii. 278a. If some of the limbs are taken from an apple tree for the purpose of making it bear better, the operation is pruning ; if the tree is sheared or trimmed to make it round-headed, the operation is training. A rose or a grape-vine may be pruned by cutting away part of the wood ; it may be trained on wires or to the side of a house. SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 173 279rt. On the subject of the struggle for existence in the tree top, consult, Observation iv. in "Lessons with Plants," and Chapter i. in "Pruning-Book." The philosophical bearings of this fact of competition are presented in Essay iii., "Survival of the Unlike." 281a. Other things being equal, the closer the wound to the branch, the quicker it will heal. The smoother the wound, the better and quicker it will heal. Figs. 66 and 67 illustrate right y, and wrong methods. For full dis- cussion of the healing of wounds, read Chapter iii. in the "Pruning-Book." 284a . An antiseptic dressing is one which prevents germs or microbes from growing on the surface of the wound ; for the decay which follows wounds is the work of germs and fungi. In gen- eral, the best dressing for wounds is „ ^ , « , ^ ^ ' T^ . , , , Fig- 68. Work of the bud-moth lead pamt. Wax is not durable enough, i^rva.-a chewing insect, nor is it antiseptic. Bordeaux mixture is good for its antiseptic properties, but is not durable, and it affords little protection from the weather. 285a. The principles of pruning are discussed under twenty heads in Chapter iv. of "Pruning-Book." 291a. The chewing or biting insects eat up the parts upon which they prey. Fig. 68 is an example of such work. The sucking insects do not eat up the part, but they often leave dis- tinct marks of their work, as in Fig. 69. A plant-bug is shown in Fig. 70. The true weevils and curculios are biting insects, although they have snouts (Fig. 71). 292c. A fungus is a plant. It is destitute of chlorophyll or leaf-green. It lives on living organisms (or is parasitic), or on dead or decaying matter (or is saprophytic, as mushrooms and toadstools). Some kinds, as toadstools, are large and con- spicuous ; others, as molds, are small and fragile ; while still others are nearly or quite microscopic. The plural of fungus is 174 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUBE fungi (rarely written funguses). As an adjective, the word is written fungous, as a fungous disease. A fungoid disease is a fungus-like disease, the exact origin of which may not be known or specified. Rusts, mildews and leaf -blights are types of fun- gous diseases. 2926. The plant or the animal upon or in which a parasitic fungus lives is known as its host. The fungus injures its hcst by Fig. 69. Work of the four-lined leaf-bug — a snckiag insert — on ctirrant foliage. robbing it of nutriment and sometimes by breaking up its cellular structure, and by obstructing the breathing-pores and interfering with the movement of its fluids. 2936. Physiological troubles may be termed internal troublee, although the germs which cause some of them enter from the SUBSEQCJENT CARE OF THE PLANT 175 outside. There is no external growth of a fungus, and rarely any well defined small spots on the leaves. Fig. 72 shows the spots of a fungous disease ; if this leaf had been attacked by a bacterial or physiological disease, the entire leaf would probably have shown signs of failing, for the food supply is usualh' cut off in the leaf-stalk or the main veins. In Fig. 72, however, each spot represents a distinct attack of the fungus. Fig. 73 is a type of physiologial trouble, the edge of the leaf dying from the cutting-ofl of its food supply ; this dead border will widen until the leaf dies. 294a. Physicians treat some diseases by prophylaxis, — that is, by giving attention to means of sanitation and of preventing the spread of the disorder. Farmers must do the same. Wire-worms are rarely troublesome Fig. 70. The tarni.shed in short and quick rotations, particularly in P'ant-bug.-a sucking lIlS6Ct those in which sod is not a prominent fea- ture. Club-root of the cabbage is rarely troublesome on land which has not grown ^^ cabbages or allied plants for a few years. Apple-scab is least serious in those orchards Fig. 71. The strawberry which have been thoroughly sprayed in pre- weevil, — a chewing vious years. Plum-rot is least troublesome insect, when the fruit is well thinned. Rose-bugs seldom trouble vine- yards which are on strong or heavy lands. 296a. Kerosene emulsion may be made as follows: Hard, soft or whalp-oil soap, yi lb.; water, 1 gal.; kerosene, 2 gals. Dissolve the soap in hot water; remove from the fire and while still hot add the kerosene. Pump the liquid back into itself for five or ten minutes or until it becomes a creamy mass. If properly made, the oil will not separate out on cooling. For use on dormant trees, dilute with from 5 to 7 parts of water. For killing plant-lice on foliage, dilute with 10 to 15 parts water. Crude oil emulsion is made in the same way by substituting crude oil in place of kerosene. 4W% 176 THE PRDCCrPLES OF AGRICULTURE 297a . The Paris green mixture is eompoanded by using Paris green 1 pound, water 150 to 300 gallons. If this mixture is to be used upon fruit trees, 1 pound of quicklime should be added. Repeated applications will injure most foliage, unless the lime is used. Paris green may be added to Bordeaux mixture. 297b. Arsenate of lead is now much used for ehewing insects. This can be applied in a stronger mixture than other arsenical Fl£. 72. The spots of holirfaoek izjiecms disease. poisons without Injuring the foliage. It is, therefore, much used against beetles and other insects that are hard to poison. It eomes in the form of a paste and should be mixed thoroughly with a small amount of water before placing in Hie sprayer, else the nozzle will clog. It is used in strengths varying from 4 to 10 lbs. per 100 gallons, depending on the kind of insect to be killed. Arsenate of lead and Bordeaux mixture can be combined without lessening the value of either. 297c. The lime-and-sulfnr wash, for scale insects, is now eUBSEQUEXT CARE OF THE PLANT 177 mil >r^ ;'^f^M much used: Quicklime, 20 Ihs.; sulfur (flour or flowers), ]5 lbs.; water, 50 gals. Place the lime iu a kettle. Add hot w;iter grad- ually in sufficient quantity to produce the most rapid slaking of the lime. When the lime begins to slake, add the sulfur and stir together. If convenient, keep the mixture covered with burlap to save the heat. After slaking has ceased, add more water and boil the mixture one hour. As the sulfur goes into solution, a rich orange-red or dark green color will appear. After boil- ing sufficiently, add water to the required amount and strain into the spray tank. The wash is most effective when applied warm. This mixture can be applied safely only when the trees are dor- mant,— late in the autumn after the leaves have fallen,, or early in the spring before Fig. 73. Disease of cucumber leaf, the dying the buds swell. margin indicating that the trouble is due 299a. Bordeaux mixture '** ^"'^^ cutting-oflf of the food supply. is the standard fungicide. It is made of copper sulfate, 5 lbs. ; stone lime or quicklime (unslaked), 5 lbs.; water, 50 gals. The strength varies according to the plant to be sprayed. Bordeaux maybe prepared in the following way: Copper sulfate. — Dissolve the required amount of copper sul- fate in water in the proportion of one pound to one gallon several hours before the solution is needed; suspend the copper sulfate crystals in a sack near the top of the water. In case large quan- tites of stock solution are needed, two pounds of copper sulfate raay be dissolved in one gallon of water. Lime. — Slake the lime in a tub or trough. Add the water slowly at first, so that the lime crumbles into a fine powder. If small quantities of lime are used. '¥ Y 178 THE PRiyCTPLES OF AGKICULTCKE h:: •^i.-.i-r is rrerrrrri VThen completely slaked, or entirely r : ^ i - : - • . : : - : t - " - : : - r. :he lime has slaked snffieiently, &:_ —}.:-: :: ; _^- : : ; ;. :_ : :_;!s. or to a eeitain number of ^ - 1 = 1 1 T i _ - : : . - T : : i tank of spray mixture earn "r T 5r Tri .; : ;. :_i -.7 :: -, - -k mixtare, which should r:: r s i-^i :: c-j : _: T 7-. — Use 5 gallons of s:: £ =:_:::- ::: ; :; ^ t: = .ri^r : ; : — . iions of Bordeaux :t:::t:. ? : ir :_ = .1:: '.z- : : ntil the tank is s. :.---:-■„.: i; :.i.. r": ; :i :iir i: : : ^; - - :ake the re- L _ - T . i „ : ^ 1 " t T " _ s 1 - - " " - T _ and strain : D determine I ; - - : ! V - an lime mix:z: T":::.T;"Ti; .'t-:v"it:t:- cjanide solu-.:-— ...1:::::- -^-ri;:::-::; ;_:_t_;:-:.t into the ELizurr -: := z^-r. :: i.: ii. ■;::-;= :: ..-- 2996. C: — .: li::;::.-- - -^--I s^ ::::;--: ::;.: :i::o- nate, 1 0111.;^ : s:::::::'.:. -i.:^- ": :--:;- t •.t -:: water, 9 gallons. 3 -' :e mi 1^ ■ t = - :^ - ;. -r :* the copper ear": : 1 :- :. 7 -.::.: r ■ - - -. 1 .;--.- ^ ' - ^ -- . ;-- monia, and : -r -::::"::- .t; ;: - add the Be: r = -177 s- --' '■'- " - ; - Jissohred. "st : i'7 "i- - : i same porp : — - 15 I : : r:. :r :: J = : - j 303a. £- ;--;i:. = -.i !--- 1:- ^ --- formaliTi. ot:: sii^ir !i : —1 t: i_t - : F::i:i- minntes, drain &i.i =:"^ tiie next dayj. Chapter XTE PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE I. p. ROBERTS 1. Grass 304. The fundamental crop is grass. It covers the land as with a blanket, prepares the soil for other crops, and affords sustenance for farm animals. 305. Grass is one of the important crops in rotations ; and a rotation is essential to general .husbandry if productiveness of the land is main- tained. Rotations improve the farm {a) because the land receives different treatments in different years, so that faults of one year may be cor- rected the following year, (&) no one element of plant -food is likely to be exhausted, (c) one crop leaves the land in best condition for another, {d) roots and stubble of grass, clover and cereals improve the texture of the soil, (e) they allow the use of clovers, which add nitrogen, and (/) bring up food from the sub- soil (170, 170a), (g) weeds and pests are kept in check, {li) labor is economized. (179) 180 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 306. The number of plants of grass on a given area should be governed by the uses for which they are grown, their habits of growth and their size. The smaller grasses thrive well if the plants stand near together. The larger grasses, as maize, should have much room between the plants or hills. The plants in a pasture field should be more numerous than in the meadow, and more numerous in the meadow than in fields devoted to raising grass seed. 2. Permanent Pastures 2a. Preparation of the land 307. When the land is fairly level and can be fitted without too much expense, it is best to plow the ground two or three times during the summer, the first time in early spring, and to keep the surface fine and clean by frequent tillage. This treatment improves the physical condition of the soil, destroys weeds and weed seeds, makes much dormant plant- food availa- ble, and conserves moisture so that the surface soil, in most cases, will be damp enough to cause seeds to germinate even in August. 308. On friable soils, as on the western prairies and in some other places, a single plow- ing and frequent shallow surface tillage may be PAStURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 181 the best treatment. On reclaimed boggy lands which have been cultivated long enough to eradicate wild plants, the soil is so light that plowing may be unnecessary. Here a little scarifying of the surface and frecpent use of the roller will likely give best results. 309. A good pasture may also be secured by less expensive preparation, if more time is taken. When rolling land has been devoted to the pro- duction of cereals and hay until the soil fails to produce satisfactory crops, it is often wise to abandon the unprofitable rotation and to devote the land to permanent pasturage ; but few per- sons are willing to spend as much time and money as will be necessary to secure a good pasture at once. In that case, sow a liberal quantity of pasture seeds in a crop of thinly seeded wheat, rye, barley or buckwheat, the land ha\ing been fitted for the cereals with extra care, and plant -food added by a liberal applica- tion of fertilizers or manure. 310. Since the pasture is not to be plowed after it is once seeded, it is necessary to prepare the entii*e soil so perfectly that it will form a comfortable home and provide nourishment for the plants for many years. If the land is poor, fertility should be applied. But prepare the land as best we may, it will not be many years before much of the readily available plant-food 182 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE will have been used by the plants, and some of the products of the animals which consume the grass will never be returned to the pasture; hence, the pasture will tend to become less productive as the years pass. And, as the plants become old, they are less vigorous than young ones, not only because of age, but from frequent injuries from the animals. It is, therefore, necessary to main- tain the pasture, as well as to prepare it in the beginning. 26. Maintaining the pasture 311. The grass should be of the right kind. In the North, June-gi-ass or blue -grass is the most permanent pasture grass, and it is the one which gradually works into pastures after other grasses begin to fail. Timothy is commonly sown, about six quarts to the acre. A little June-grass seed may be added, but this gi'ass may usually be depended upon to come in of itself. Orchard- grass is useful in shady pastures and stands graz- ing well, but grows too much in stools. Red-top is useful in the moister lands. In the South, Bermuda grass and Japan clover are best. 312. After the pasture has been secured, the grasses must be maintained for many years in full vigor. It is pre-supposed that the clovers have been used to a limited extent in the grass- seed mixtures when the pasture was first made, PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 183 since the clovers are host plants to the grasses. They start early and protect the later -growing gi-asses. Most of the clovers live but from one to three years. The clovers, in common with other legumes, contain a large percentage of potential nitrogen (110, 138, 190). The pasture grasses are much benefited by a full supply of nitrogen, but they can secure little, if any, from the air, and hence must supply then- needs as best they can from that found in the soil. It will then be understood how eagerly the hungry grasses feed on the decaying short-lived clovers. It will also be understood why clovers are called host plants. 313. The short-lived host plants may be per- petuated, and the grasses kept young and vig- orous, by sowing seeds of the clovers and grasses every two or three years in early spring, and scarifying the surface with a sharp-toothed harrow, this to be followed by the roller. The harrowing will not only tear out some of the superannuated grass roots (270) and old plants and cover the seeds, but it will tend to aerate the surface soil and to promote bacterial activity. From time to time, a light dressing of farm manures or of commercial fertilizers should be applied, spread evenly, in the fall. 314. An inspection of the field should be made each spring, in order that seed may be 184 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE sown where not enough plants are present, and also to discover what kinds of plants are most promising, so that the supplementary seeds may be chosen to best suit the conditions. Coax the grass to gi'ow by shading the imperfectly cov- ered knolls with refuse material, such as is always found about a farmstead. Even a light covering of brush or maize stalks may be used to partly shade the ground, and to conserve moisture. If a small ration of grain be fed the animals which graze the pasture, the field will tend to become more productive instead of less productive. 315. It will require several years of watchful care, new seed, possibly harrowing and rolling, some added plant- food and a light dressing of lime, and the timely destruction of large, un- palatable weeds, to secure a really good, perma- nent pasture. The eye of the husbandman makes the grass thrive. 316. In the pastures the grass is kept short ; therefore the entire surface should be covered. If areas of even a few square inches are bare, needless evaporation takes place. If the gi-asses are kept too short, the rays of the sun will take up much soil moisture which should have been taken up by the plants, since the soU will not be well shaded. If the i:>lants are allowed to grow tall and produce seed, then they are PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 185 weakened. To prevent the tall growth, mow the pasture, if there are not enough animals to pre- vent the gi'ass from seeding, and leave the cut material to shade the soil. Aim to preserve the li^Tng gi*ass shade intact. Substitute young plants for the old ones. Prevent the soil from becoming acid by light applications of lime and by harrowing it. And, so far as possible, ex- ercise timely care to prevent the plants from be- coming hungry and thirsty. 317. Here, then, in a nut- shell, are the ele- ments of a good, permanent pasture : superior preparation of soil, suitable and abundant seeds sown in August, and light pasturing the first season, or, better, mowing the first year ; and appropriate seeds and plant -food must be added from time to time, as requii-ed. 3. Meadows 3a. Temporary meadoics 318. In gi-ain-gi'owing districts, the meadow may occupy from one to three years in a rota- tion. In dairy districts, meadows are often per- manent. The average %ield of hay in the North is little more than one ton per acre, although some meadows yield from two to three tons, and, in rare cases, four tons. The average 186 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE yield is unprofitable, either in a rotation or in a permanent meadow. As a crop in the rota- tion, the meadow may improve the soil for subsequent crops. 319. The larger yields are usually secured from vigorous young meadows which contain three or four parts of timothy and one part of mixed clovers. If clover be associated with timothy in approximately these proportions, nearly as much timothy will be secured as if it were sown alone, and the clover, or host plants, will be extra. True, the clovers mature more quickly than the timothy, and this is somewhat objectionable ; therefore, the clover mixture may be composed largely of alsike clo- ver, which remains green longer and cures lighter colored than the medium red clover does. 320. The meadow must be viewed from many standpoints. For the city market, unmixed hay sells for more than the mixed, though the latter may be better and more palatable. The uses to which the hay is destined must be considered, since horses should not be fed much clover, while sheep and cattle should not be fed hay composed wholly of timothy and similar grasses. But the meadow remains productive longest where the host plants are present. 321. Whether it is best to leave the meadow for some years and preserve its productiveness PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 187 by adding new seed, harrowing, and by the ap- plication of plant -food, or to mow it for one or two years and then plow and use the land for other crops, are questions which must be an- swered by the condition of the meadow and the character of the rotation. There is one inva- riable rule to be followed, — if the meadow fails to return two tons of field-dried hay to the acre, plow it up ; and when the old plants are sub- dued and the soil put in ideal condition, and when the causes which prevented full success with the old meadow are fully considered, cast in the new seed with understanding, trusting that fuller success "will be reached. 36. Perynanent meadows 322. With permanent meadows many new problems are presented. Many fields are of such a character as to preclude a rotation of crops. In such cases the problem is presented of con- tinued liberal production without plowing. Low lands, or those which are wholly or in part over- flowed for brief periods, constitute the larger part of our permanent meadows. These low lands are the home of many natural grasses which do not thrive on the uplands ; and some of the cultivated upland gi'asses and the clovers are not at their best when gi'own in wettish soils. 188 TKZ PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 323. In lowland meadows, a battle royal, which is most interesting and instructiTe to watch, goes on from year to year. Most of the plants hold their places so tenaciously, and so many hardy new ones appear, that the plants soon become too nnmeroos and then dwarf one another, in which case the production is di- minished. On these moist lands there is little difficnlty in securing sufficient plants : the proVi- lem is rather how to destroy some of them, that better conditions may be secured for those which remain. 324. It has been shown (316) why the pas- tures should be fully covered with plants ; but permanent meadows should have fewer plants. If there are too many, the grasses will not grow to their full size, and many of the leaves on the lower half of the stalks will be yellowish, insipid, and lacking in aroma because they have not received enough sunlight. K there are too many roots in the soil, there will not be sufficient food for aU except when the soil is extremely fertile anl moist ; and few plants will come to normal maturity. The grasses which are grown too thick, and consequently have been excluded from a full supply of sunlight, are poor in quality, like the apples which grow in the shade on the lower branches. 325. All this goes to show how necessarv it PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 189 may be to destroy some of the grasses in a per- manent meadow. By the vigorous use of a sharp-toothed harrow, much may be done to relieve the "hide- bound" and mossy condition, to destroy plants and to aerate the soil (270, 313). A light dressing of lime will materially assist in liberating plant-food and in correcting soil acidity, as in pastures. 3c. Kinds of grasses for meadows 326. What kind and quantity of seed should be sown, is the question that is asked more frequently than any other, because it is most difficult to answer. In the grass districts of the United States, timothy or "herd's-grass" usually stands first. It is extremely hardy, long lived, is well adapted to grazing, and yet attains good size in the meadow, and when cut at the appro- priate time and not over-cured, it makes superior hay. The seeds are not expensive, and can usually be secured without admixture of weed seeds. Timothy, then, in most cases, may form the foundation. Six quarts per acre, more or less, will suffice when used alone, and it may be sown at any time from early spring until fall. 327. We have seen (312, 319) that clover adds to the longevity and productiveness of the pas- ture or meadow. If the clovers are used, about 190 THE PRECCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE the same amoimt or a little more seed is sown as of timothy, but the plants are litely to be winter- killed if sowing is made after Augrist. 328. There are varions secondary and supple- mentary grasses, such as bine -grass, orchard- grass, red- top, and tall meadow fescue. Some or all of these may be used in limited quanti- ties. Seeds of all these weigh but fourteen pounds to the bushel, are usually sold in the chaff, are not likely to be pure, and are difficult to distribute evenly. In most places, quite as mnch bine-grass appears as a volunteer as is desirable, but, except in rare cases, it is not a profitable hay grass. Orchard-grass starts early, tends to grow in hummocks, does well in the shade and in close-grazed pastures, but is the worst of all grasses in the lawn, where only fine, recumbent grasses and white clovers are admissible. Bed-top is a good pasture grass and lawn grass, and is well adapted to very wet meair-^s. s.-:hough it does not make a first- clas- Tall meadow fescue is one of the mc- -ising recently introduced grasses for boi' :>w and pasture. In many places it has — from the fields into the roadsides, where ii -ii<:«vrs its superiority over blue-grass and even over timothy. Of these grasses, from one to two bushels of seed are required i)er acre. All do wel- when sown in early spring or in fall. PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 191 329. Other grasses, as sheep fescue, sweet vernal grass, and similar dwarf grasses, are not to be recommended for general use in America. Other grasses are adapted to special localities, as barley and wild oats, which are extensively used in California for hay. There is a wealth of native grasses, but most of them give little promise for upland meadows. 4. Other Forage Plants 330. The plants already discussed, together with other coarser plants of the farm which are fed to domestic animals, are known collect- ively as forage plants ; although this term is commonly applied to such plants as are not grown in permanent meadows or pastures. By recent common consent the term "roughage" has been substituted for them. Both terms are somewhat indefinite. The words usually imply somewhat unconcentrated, dried materials, to which some concentrated food must be added if ample growth, development and surplus pro- ducts, as milk, are secured. 331. When forage plants are cut and fed green they are called soiling plants. There are several species of plants, as, for instance, the prickly comfrey, which, if fed green, may 192 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE be used for soiling, but, if dried, are unpala- table. 332. The production of forage and soiling crops is extremely simple. They may be inter- tilled or not. Large plants, which require abun- dant food and moisture and a full supply of sunlight, as maize, should be tilled ; but small and quickly maturing ones, as barley, may be raised without inter -tillage. 333. The two great forage plants of the United States are maize and alfalfa. The latter is well suited to the semi -arid districts of the West, and thrives to an astonishing degree in the bright sunshine of the Plains, when supplied with moisture by irrigation. It is perennial, and several cuttings may be taken each season. It is one of the leguminous crops, and, therefore, appropriates nitrogen of the air. Like clover, it has a deep root-system. 334. But the king of all grasses, the one most useful, most easily raised and harvested, and the most productive, is Indian corn, or maize. In a little more than one hundred days from planting, from four to six tons of air-dried stalks and from forty to fifty bushels of grain may be secured from each acre ; or from twelve to twenty tons of uncured material may be secured for the silo. 335. Rye, though not a first-class forage or soiling plant, may be sown in the fall, cut when PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 193 in head, and followed by a crop of Hungarian grass, which thrives in hot weather; and this in turn may be followed by oats and peas. There will not be time in the North for the oats and peas to mature, but they will remain green through November, and may furnish late fall pasture, or may be left on the ground to serve as a winter cover-crop (115). SUGGESTIONS Oy CHAPTER XII 304a. It is impracticable to treat of specific crops iu a text-book. Grass and forage are so fundamental to the con- ception of agriculture, however, that it will be profitable to discuss them, particularly as the cultivation of them illustrates some of the underlying principles of cropping. For advice as to the handling of particular crops, the enquirer must go to books on the special topics. 3046. The true grasses constitute the natural family of plants known to botanists as the Gramineas or grass family ; and this family includes all the cereal grains, as wheat, maize, and rice. In its largest sense, therefore, the word grass in- cludes many plants which are not commonly recognized as grasses. 304c. The term grass is popularly used to designate the medium sized and smaller members of the grass family, such as orchard-grass, timothy, and blue-grass, and not the larger grasses, as oats, sugar-cane, and bamboo. 304(f. The clovers are sometimes erroneously called grasses ; and "a field of grass" may contain many kinds of plants. There are many kinds of clover. The common red clover is Trifolium pratense ; the medium red is T. medium; the alsike is T. hi/bri- dum, with rose-tinted flowers ; the white or creeping clover, or shamrock, is T. repens ; the crimson, used for cover-crops, is M 194 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE T. incarnatum. "With the exception of Trifolium repens, these are introduced from the Old World. The Japan clover, now much prized in the South, is really not a clover, but belongs to a closely related genus. It is known to botanists as Lespedeza Fig. 74. A carei, or sedge. Fig. 75. A common sedge, or earex, in flower and when ripe. Striata. It was introduced accidentally into South Carolina about 1849. 304re. There are many kinds of grass -like plants. The greater part of these, at least in the North, belong to the closely related Sedge family. Sedges are easily distinguished by 3-ranked leaves and usually by 3-angled stems, with a pith ; and the flowers are very unlike grasses. The sedges PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 195 ai'e generally worthless as forage plants, although some speeiea in the West and South afford acceptable cattle ranges when A grass is not to be had. Figs. 74 and 75 show ^ common types of sedges, such as are frequent in swales. 305«. In specialty-farming {4a), abundance of plant -food and humus material can be added to the soil, and rotations may not be needed ; but in general or mixed husbandry some kind of rota- tion is essential. Read Chapter xv., "Fertility of the Land." 305/). The kind of rotation must be determined by the soil and many other factors. A four-year rotation, in which an exacting crop follows a less Fig. 76. ' Timothy {Phlevm pratense) xj^. Fig. 77. June-grass or blue-grass (Poo pratenais) s}^. Fig. 78. Orehard-grass {Dactylis glomerata) x%. Fig. 79. Tap-root of red clover. (Compare Fig. 33.) PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 197 exacting one, and in which the clover root-borer is kept in check, is — Clover, one year ; Maize, with or without manure ; Oats ; Wheat, with phosphates and manures. A good rotation for "fairly fertile, lightish lands," is — Clover, one year ; Potatoes; Wheat. A rotation for weed-infested land is — Sod : Maize : Potatoes or some other inter-tilled crop ; Oats or barley. 307a. A permanent pasture is one which is to remain many years without plowing. Some pastures, particularly on rocky or rolling land, remain undisturbed for a Bermuda grass and Japan clover make permanent pastures in many parts of the South, but most grasses do not make good sod there. In distinction to permanent pastures are the temporary pastures which are a part of a rotation, or the meadow which is pastured after the hay is cut. 311<7. The familiar Timothy is shown in Figs. 76 and 80. June-grass, with a flower in detail, is seen in Fig. 77. June-grass is a common grass along road- sides, ripening very early, and is the best grass for lawns. Orchard-grass is illus- trated by Fig. 78. 312a. The word host is here used in a different sense than by the botanist and entomologist {292b). Here it means a helper or companion, not a plant upon pj ^^ which another plant or an insect preys. generation and more. Shallow root-system of timothy. PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 199 313a. Observe how different the roots of clover and timothy are (Figs. 79, 80). One feeds in the subsoil and subsurface soil, has many little organisms on its rootlets, which are called nitrogen -fixers (138); that is, they take the free nitrogen of the soil air, and it then becomes of use to the plant. The timothy has many small fibrous roots, which remain near the surface, and have no nitrogen-fixing organisms. It will be Fig. 82. Alfalfa or lucerne {Medicago satica) xb^. Fig. 83. A good bottle for seeds. seen how appropriate it is to raise these plants together : one feeds near the surface, the other down deep in the soil ; one is long lived, the other short lived. 318a. In general farming, the most uniformly good crops are nearly always obtained when a rotation is used. Fig. 81 is a field of wheat, in a rotation, which yielded over 30 bushels to the acre. 323a. The permanent meadows teach many valuable lessons if they are studied closely. Here is often found a marked illus- tration of the struggle for existence and of the survival of the fittest. Here the farmer can give little help by tillage, and 200 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE small opportunity is afforded him to destroy the less desirable plants, that the more desirable ones may have better conditions. 333a. A sprig of alfalfa is shown in Fig. 82. It has small blue flowers in little clusters, and leaves of three leaflets. It is grown somewhat in the East, but it is most useful in the dry regions of the Plains and westward. 335a. All the plants mentioned in this chapter should be known to the pupil. In some schools, herbarium specimens mry be made of them. It is interesting and useful to collect seeds of farm and garden plants. The school house may very profitably contain a cabinet of seeds. T'seful bottles are the "specimen tubes" sold by wholesale druggists and natural -history stores. One is shown in Fig. 83. It is % inch in diameter and 3 inches high, and can be bought, without the corks, for about 30 cents per dozen. For references on grasses and forage plants, consult Vol. II, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture; Hunt's "Forage and Fiber Crops in America;" Voorhees' "Forage Crops;" Spillman's "Farm Grasses of the United States." For the cereals, see Hunt's "Cereals in America." Paet III THE ANDIAL, AND STOCK Chapter XIII THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL 1. The Animal and the Stock 336. In an agnciiltnral sense, the animal, as a representative of the animal kingdom, has six general t}7)es of uses or offices : it aids in main- taining the fertility of the land ; it provides a means of disposing of crop's ; it, or its products, may be of intrinsic value in supplying food and clothing; it works, or is a "beast of burden"; it may aid in keeping the farm clean of weeds and pests ; it diversifies agricultural occupations ; it affords employment for labor during the inclement months. 337. When animals are raised in quantity, they are spoken of as stock. This stock may be cattle, turkeys, sheep, ducks, swine, fish, or horses ; but in common speech the word is ap- plied mostly to quadrupeds (7). (201) 202 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 2. The Animal in Its BeJation to the Soil 338. The first great resource for the improve- ment of the textm-e and richness of the soil is herbage (108-111) ; the second is farm manures. When stock is pastured, practically all the ma- nure is returned to the farm ; but when it is housed, much of the maniu'e is commonly lost through the carelessness of the farmer (120, 120a). 339. The greater the proportion of stock to crop, the more fertile the farm should be ; for if the farmer must buy feed, the manm-e is gain, so far as the farm is concerned. In general mixed husbandry, stock is necessary in order to maintain fertility, as well as for its direct value ; but in intensive (lllrt) and specialty -farming (4a) manures may be bought. 3. The Animal in Its Relation to the Croj) 340. There is not sufficient market for all the crops which the land can raise. Therefore, some of the crop may be fed to the animal and sold as meat, or butter, or eggs. 341. There is an important secondary gain in this feeding-out of the crop, for part of the crop is returned to the land in Ihe manure. Some THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL 203 crops, as clover, carry away much more plant- food, if they are sold off the farm, than the animal products which, in large part, are elabo- rated from them. 4. The Animal Has Intrinsic Value to Man Au. As articles of food 342. Animals are direct sources of food. They contribute the various kinds of flesh, as beef, pork, poultry, fish. 343. Animals are indirect sources of food, contributing of their products, as eggs, milk, 344. Animals also contribute materials to various manufactured food products, as cheese, condensed milk, butter. 46. As articles used in the arts 345. Animals contribute materials for cloth- ing. Amongst such products are leather and wool. They also afford material for many articles of personal use, as feathers, bone, hair, glue, horn. 346. Animals contribute largely to fertilizing materials, particularly to substances containing nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Amongst such materials, the most important are bones, dried blood, tankage ; of secondary importance are 204 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUEE hair -waste, wool -waste, fish -scrap, hoof- meal, various forms of horn. 4c As companions 347. Many animals are pets, or companions to man, and the rearing of them is a species of agriculture. Of such are dogs, cats, rabbits, tame birds, and others. 5. The Animal as a Beast of Burden 348. The animal aids in tilling the soil. How- ever much steam may be utilized for propelling implements of tillage, the horse and the ox will still be indispensable to agriculture. Even the trampiag of the animals over loose soils tends to compact and improve the land (2506). 349. The animal supplies means of transpor- tation. Even with the advent of the electric car, the bicycle and the horseless carriage, the driv- ing horse will remain an important part of the farm equipment. 350. The animal also supplies power for the driving of farm machinery, as threshing and feed-cutting machinery. On large farms, steam power must come to be more and more important, but on the smaller ones animal power will long remain an indispensable factor. THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL 205 6. The Animal as a Pest-destroyer 351. The browsing of animals aids in keeping weeds and wild growths in check. It is well- known that pasturing with sheep is one of the best means of cleaning a weedy area. 352. Animals may keep insect and fungous pests in check by eating the fallen fruit or foliage. It is well known that swine keep the apple-worm in check by eating the windfall apples. Swine also root out and eat the white grub and other insects. 7. The Animal Diversifies Labor 353. The animal itself introduces diversity into farming. It also demands the growing of diverse crops. It enforces rotations of crops. Diverse interests educate the farmer, by demand- ing attention to many problems. 354. Some of the labor which is employed in summer in the growing of crops may be em- ployed in winter in caring for stock. The animal, therefore, introduces continuousness into farming. The best laborers demand employment the year round. 206 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICrLTURE SCGGESTIOXS OX CHAPTER XIII 338a. It is remarkable how the value of manurt increases with the age of the country and the intensity of the agriculture. This comes as a result of experience, wholly without the teachings of science, although science explains why manure is valuable, and points out many of the limitations of its use. The pros- perity of the German peasant is measured by the size of his manure-pile. Gardeners place the greatest dependence upon manure ; but they want it well rotted, — which means that they not only want its plant-food in the most available condition, but that they desire to utilize it largely for its mechanical effect in loosening the soil with which it is mixed. 341a. A ton of clover hay removes about forty pounds of nitrogen, ten pounds of phosphoric acid and forty pounds of potash. A ton of butter removes about two and one-half pounds of nitrogen, and less than one pound each of phosphoric acid and potash. 346a. "Tankage is a highly nitrogenous product, and con- sists chiefly of the dried animal wastes from the large abattoirs and slaughtering establishments. It is variable in its composition, since it includes the otherwise unusable parts of the carcass, as bone, tendons, flesh, hair, etc. The portions of this from the different animals not only vary in their composition, but they are used in varying proportions, which naturally results in an ex- tremely variable product. What is known as 'concentrated tankage,' which is obtained by evaporating the fluids which con- tain certain extractive animal matter, is the richest in nitrogen, and is more uniform in character than the others : and because of its fineness of division and physical character, the nitrogen con- tained in it is also more active than in the other forms." — Voor- hees, Fertilizers, 43. 346?». Many other animal substances are used for fertilizers. Those which are used for their nitrogen are dried blood, dried meat, dried and ground fish, sea crabs, hoof meal. Those which are used for phosphates are the various forms and preparations of THE OFFICES OP THE ANIJIAL 207 bone, as raw, boiled, steamed bone, bone ash and bone-black ; also, dried fish. 35la. With all the remarks which have now been made on weeds (226, 101, 101a, 117, 267, 267a,268), the pupil will see that the only fundamental and permanent way to escape weeds is through better rarm management ; and, to a less extent, the same conclusion will apply to insect and fungous pests. "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down." — Proverbs xxiv., 30, 31. 354rt. Upon the desirability of continuous employment for farm labor, Koberts speaks as follows when writing of rotations : " The baleful results of raising a single or few products in ex- tended districts may be seen in California and the great wheat districts of the Northwest. In such localities, there is little or no true home life, with its duties and restraints ; men and boys are herded together like cattle, sleep where they may, and subsist as best they can. The work is hard, and from sun to sun for two or three months, when it abruptly ceases, and the workmen are left to find employment as best they may, or adopt the life and habits of the professional tramp. It is difficult to name anything more demoralizing to men, and especially to boys, than this inter- mittent labor ; and the higher the wages paid and the shorter the period of service, the more demoralizing the effect. If there were no other reason for practicing a rotation with a variety of plants, the welfare of the workman and his family should form a snfi&cient one."— Fertility of the Land, 369. For references on live-stock, consult Vol. Ill, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture; Roberts' "The Horse;" Plumb's "Types and Breeds of Farm Animals;" Mayo'a "Care of Animals" (Dis- eases of Animals). Chapter XIV HOW THE AXIMAL LIVES JAMES LAW 1. Tlie Cell, and Its Part in the Vital Processes la. The cell 355. The element in the body that carries on vital processes is the cell ; for life in the animal, like life in the plant (Chap, viii.), is dependent on the existence of cells. Each animal cell is a soft, jelly-like substance, held together by an exceedingly delicate network of fibers. It might be compared to a microscopic particle of raw white of e^g. 16. Single- celled animals 356. The lowest animals in the scale of existence are formed of a single cell, which in itself performs all the functions of life. This cell can move from place to place, by flowing out from its original globular form, so as to make a projecting arm, and by continuing to flow in the same direction until its whole substance has passed into the new position. HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 209 357. This cell can flow out so as to surround microscopic particles and draw them into itself ; these it can digest and use to increase its own substance. By reversing this process, it can throw out indigestible and waste materials. It can absorb, digest and build into its own sub- stance nutritive matters already dissolved in water; and it can drive out waste, worn out and injm'ious matters which it holds in solution in its own liquid. 358. TVlien the cell grows too large, it can divide into two independent parts, each having all the vital powers which belonged to the parent cell or globule. 359. Thus the single -celled animal can make of any part of its body limbs for moving, hands for grasping, fingers for feeling, stomach for digesting, channels for the circulation of its nutritive liquids, as well as organs for excretion and for the increase of its kind. Ic. Many -celled animals 360. In all the higher animals there is not one cell, but myriads ; and these cells are no less essential to life and to the healthy performance of all vital functions than is the single cell of the lowliest organism. In the complex animal body, however, the cells build up solid tissues N 210 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICCLTTRE outside themselves. As each cell becomes im- prisoned in a minute cavity in such solid stnietm-e, it is robbed of those common powei^s or f mictions which belong to the single -celled animal, and is specialized for the performance of one constant, unchanging round of work. Each cell has its own work to do. 361. Cells may carry on processes of nutri- tion. Some cells lie in the microscopic spaces left in the hard bone, and conduct the nutrition and changes in its substance. Other cells he in the substance of muscle or sinew, or of brain, or of some other tissue, and no one of these can construct bone nor any other structure than that in which it lies. All such cells are engaged in carrying on the nutrition and gi'owth of then- respective tissues, and are reserved for this work only. 362. Cells may carry on nervous processes, being set apart for vital work of a kind not directly connected with nuti'ition. Xeiwe cells, — found in the brain, spinal-maiTow, and some other parts, — receive impressions brought over the nerve cords from distant parts of the body. They generate and send out nerve force to other parts. Some of these cells are set in mo- tion by mental acts. 363. Certain other cells, which line microsco- pic sacs in organs kno"^VQ as glands, select from HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 211 the blood the secretion which that gland is ap- pointed to furnish, and pour it out through the gland ducts. The secretion from one gland is nutritious, as in the case of milk ; that from another is digestive, as in the secretion of the stomach; and from a third it is waste matter, like sweat. The selection from the nutritive liquid of the blood is the work of the indi^-idual cells, and is always the same for each kind of gland. 364. The cells of some glands construct a new substance, which is not secreted but poured back into the blood. Thus the liver makes glycogen, which passes into grape sugar, and serves for the production of heat, muscular work and nu- trition. 365. Some cells on the walls of the intestines absorb nutritive and other matters from the liquid contents of the bowels and pass them on into the circulating (blood and lymph) vessels. 366. Besides these cells which become im- prisoned in their particular tissues, and the work of which is restricted to the conducting of the gi'owth or other functions of such tissues, there is a large class which floats free in the liquids of the body. The red and white blood glob- ules and lymph cells are examples. These globules or corpuscles circulate in all parts of the body, thus suggesting the freedom of the one- celled animal. But limitations have been 212 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE set even to these, the red globules being mainly carriers of oxygen, while the white also have restricted functions. 2. The Food of Animals 2a. Kind of food 367. Food may be either vegetable or ani- mal. Many animals, as horses, cattle and sheep, live on vegetables, or are herbivorous ; while others, like foxes and wolves, eat animal food only, or are carnivorous. The food of the herbivorous animal has its nutritive i^rin- ciples in a less concentrated condition, and the herbivora are accordingly supidied with more capacious digestive organs. The same holds true of grain -feeders and grass -feeders among the herbivora. The grain -fed horse has much smaller stomach and intestines than the grass- fed ox, and the well-fed domestic rabbit has a mneh more spacious alimentary canal than his wild ancestor. 368. Artificial selection and forcing of meat- producing animals has a similar effect. The scrub ox, Texas steer and buffalo have light ab- domiual contents, while the pampered short-horn, Hereford, or black-polled ox has them heavj- and bulkv. In the camivora thev are still more HOW THE ANIMAL hlVES 213 restricted. The intestine of the ox is about 160 feet long, that of the horse 90 feet, and that of the dog only 12 to 14 feet. 2b. Food constituents 369. All foods must contain chemical con- stituents which will serve to repair the waste of the body, to develop growing tissue, and to sup- ply materials for the different secretions. 370. Aside from mineral matters, all food constituents which can build up the tissues must contain nitrogen, the element which forms four- fifths of the atmosphere, and which is an essen- tial part of all body tissues. As familiar ex- amples of such nitrogenous foods or aliments may be named white of egg (albumin), milk curd (casein), and one of the soluble parts of flour (gluten). 371. As common forms of foods that contaii? no nitrogen, and which cannot form tissues, are starch, sugar and fats. These are used up or burned in the system to produce body heat, to stimulate the contraction of muscles, and to fur- nish secretions which are free from nitrogen, such as sugar and butter -fat in milk, and sugar (more properly glycogen or sugar -former) in the liver. 372. Both sugar and fat, however, can be formed in the body from nitrogenous food, as 214 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE in the milk of the carnivorous animal when red flesh only has been fed. In this case the origi- nal nitrogenous food is broken up into two or more chemical jiroducts, one of which contains only carbon and hydrogen, or these with the addition of oxygen, while all of the niti'ogen goes to other product or products. .373. Mineral salts (182a) form a third group of food princixjles. These are essential in repair- ing the waste of tissues, and in forming secre- tions like milk, bile and gastric juice. 374. The ideal food contains all of these three groups in forms which can he dissolved, digested and assimilated into the animal tissues. Milk is an ideal food. In it the non- nitroge- nous aliments — sugar, butter -fat — are united with the nitrogenous — casein, albumin, — and with the salts in proportions adapted to the needs of the system. 375. A well-balanced ration for the adult animal is one in which these different classes of food constituents bear a somewhat definite rela- tion to each other, due allowance being made for the uses to which the animal is put. The grow- iag, working or milking animal requires more of the nitrogenous elements, while the fattening ani- mal may exchange much of this for the non- nitrogenous. 37G. The li^ing body, however, is not like a HOW THE ANIMAL Lm:S 215 simple machine, which can, in all cases, turn out a product exactly corresponding to the chemical food elements which are turned into it. The vital element has always to be reckoned with. One animal demands a little more of this class of aliment, and another a little more of that, in order to secure the best results; while in all cases palatability and facility of digestion have a controlling influence. 3. Digestion of Food 3a. What digestion is 377. Digestion is the process by means of which the food becomes dissolved so as to be taken up by the blood. It takes place in the alimentary canal, — the mouth, stomach, and intestines. 378. Digestion takes place under the action of different secretions, each of which operates on special constituents of the food. Considered in the order in which they mingle with the food, these digestive secretions are: (a) saliva; (b) gastric juice; (c) bile, (d) pancreatic juice, (e) intestinal juice. 36. The saliva 379. Saliva is furnished by a group of glands located under the tongue, in the cheeks, and 216 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICFLTURE under the ears. They discharge their secretions into the mouth. In grain -eating birds, similar glands surround the crop,— an enlargement of the gullet in the region of the neck. 380. A ferment (ptyalin) in the saliva acts on the starch in the food, causing it to chemi- cally unite with additional water and become transformed into sugar. Eaw starch is insoluble in water, and cannot pass into the circulation ; but the sugar formed from it is freely soluble, can be readily absorbed into the blood, and contributes to the activity, growth and nourish- ment of the body. 381. The ptyalin acts slowly on raw starch, and much more rapidly on boiled starch, so that cooking of vegetable food favors its digestion. It acts best in the absence of acids. It is less active when weak organic acids are present, and its action is arrested in the stomach by the free muriatic or hydi'ochloric a '7 indestructible. 3S^ 1 mmriatic acid further softens, disin- tesra*'^-. t. issolves the various nitrogenous f-: 7 -r- gulated albumin, fibrin, gela^ tii^ ::: l; r^7^!e gluten). :^ . Peisii- :.- z. ;-:inent which is secreted in HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 2 19 glands found in the end of the stomach nearest to the mtestine. It acts on the nitrogenous principles in the food, which are made to take up water, and to change into a much more stable and drffusible liquid called a peptone. 390. Peptones of a great number of different kinds are produced from the varied food prin- ciples—from such as fibrin, albumin, gluten, casein. The peptones all agree in certain com- mon characters : (a) they are easily and com- pletely soluble in water (fibrin, coagulated al- bumin and casein themselves, are not soluble) ; (6) they filter rapidly through animal mem- branes, such as a bladder (the agents from which they are derived do not) ; (c) they are not thrown down as solids by boiling or by strong acids (albumin and casein are precipitated by strong acids, and albumin by boiling). 391. Peptones are thus easily absorbed into the blood, while the absorption of the original principles from which they are derived would be exceedingly slow and difficult. Pepsin acts nuicli more rapidly in an acid medium, no that it is specially adapted to cooperate with the muriatic acid. 392. The milk -curdling ferment is the product of the gastric glands. It is utilized in the manufacture of cheese. Like pepsin, it acts best in the presence of muriatic acid. One part of 220 THE FBIXCIFLBS OF AGRICULTUEE this feni_T_: will coagulate 800,000 parts of casein- 393. In birds the gastric juice is secreted ia an enlargement of the gnllet (proventriculns) just above the ^zzard. The strong muscles and eartUaginons lining of the gizzard serve, with the pebbles swallowed, to grind down the food into a fine pnlp and to mix it intimately with the gastric jnice. 3d. Imtestimal digestion, 394. Under the action of the saliva and gas- tric juice, the greater part of the starch and ni- trogenons matter is nsaally digested before the food materials pass from the stomach into the intestines. The products of digestion are mainly sugar and peptones. The fatty matters, — set free by the digestion of their nitrogenous envelopes,— the undigestible portions, and such digestible matters as are as yet not acted on, pass on into the intestines, mostly in a finely divided semi- fluid condition. 395. In the intestines, the materials are acted on by bile, pancreatic juice, and intestinal jnice. These fluids are alkaline- 396. Bile is secreted by the liver. It is poured into the intestines a few inches beyond the stomach. It renders the contents alkaline, checks fermentation, stinmlates the movements of the HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 221 bowels, and transforms their fatty contents into an emulsion which penetrates an animal membrane, and is absorbed with great rapidity. 397. Bile has, besides, a limited' power of changing starch into sugar. It is also useful in carrying waste matters out of the body. 398. Pancreatic juice is poured into the in- testines by a canal which in certain animals unites with the bile duct. It contains at least fom* different ferments : (a) Amylopsin, which, at the body temperature, rapidly transforms starch and even gum into sugar, thus completing any imperfect work of the saliva ; (6) trypsin, which, in an alkaline liquid, changes nitroge- nous matters into peptones, thus finishing any imperfect work of the stomach ; (c) a milk-cur- dling ferment. 399. The pancreatic juice, as a whole, acts like the bile in causing fats to form emulsions. It even breaks up the fats into fatty acids and glycerin. 400. Intestinal juice is a complex mixture of the different secretions already named, together with the products of the glands of the intestinal walls. The secretions of these walls act like pancreatic juice, only less powerfully. 401. As a whole, the digestive agents thrown into the intestines cover the whole field of di- gestion, and largely make up for any defective L'L'2 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICIXTURE work of the saliva and gastric juice. Even in cases in which the stomach has been removed. the intestines have taken up its functions and have maintained a fair measure of health. •4. Absorption of the Digested blatters 4a. Hoic absorption takes place 402. The food principles, digested or emul- sionized, as before stated, are now absorbed into the blood and lymph vessels, chiefly through the villi of the intestines. These villi are minute hau'- like projections from the lining membrane, from "sV to -gV of an inch in length. They are covered with soft cells, the deeper ends of which reach the capillaiy blood-vessels and lymphatics occu- pying the interior of each villus. 403. The cells of the villus take in the lif[uid products of digestion, and pass them on into the vessels beneath. By a muscular contraction of the villus, these vessels are emptied at frequent intervals into the larger veins and lymphatics in the walls of the intestines. 404. The interior of the small intestine, which immediately follows the stomachy is covered throughout by these villi. Owing to the rapid absorption conducted by them, the soluble contents of this intestine are in great flow THE ANIMAL LIVES 223 part removed and transferred to the circulatory system before the large intestine is reached. 46. Destination of the rich Mood from the intestines 405. The veins from the stomach and intes- tines carry the I'ich products of digestion into the capillaries of the liver. Here they not only contribute to produce bile, but also new combi- nations of nutritive and other compounds, which pass into the general circulation. 406. One of the most important of these new products is sugar, which, as already stated (372), is formed even in the liver of animals fed on a strictly carnivorous diet. The importance of this product may be inferred from the fact that the liver is very large in the young and rapidly- growing animal, and also in mature animals of a meat -producing race : these animals have ex- traordinary powers of digestion and fattening. 407. Another important function of the liver is the transformation, — largely by union with additional oxygen, — of worn-out or effete red globules, and of much of the useless nitrogenous material in the blood, into urea and other solu- ble products. These products are finally passed off by the kidneys. They afford a stimulus to secretion by the kidneys, and supply an abun- dance of material which can pass readily through 224 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE these organs without causing irritation or de- rangement. 408. Another important liver function is the transformation of peptones (which are poisonous when thrown into the blood in any considerable quantity) into products which are non- poisonous, and are capable of assimilation. These pro- ducts foiTu tissue, or fulfill some other im- portant use in the Vjody. 409. Still another important use of the liver is to transform into harmless compounds the poisonous products of bacterial fermentations (such as ptomaines and toxins). These occur in the contents of the intestine, and might often prove deadly if allowed to pass this guardian sentinel — the liver — in any considerable amount. 5. Besjnration, or Breathing 5a. Wh^t hreathing is 410. Breathing consists in the substitution of oxygen of the air for carbon dioxid in the blood and tissues of the animal body. It results in the combination of the oxygen of the air with certain organic constituents of the system ; and it fits these constituents for various uses, or for ehmination as waste matters. HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 225 411. Ill the main, the air is changed in breathing as follows : carbon Oxygen Nitrogen dioxid Inspired, or breathed-in air contains . . . 20.81 79.15 .04 Expired, or breathed-out air contains . . . 16.033 79.557 4.38 In every 100 parts, air loses, by being breathed, about 4 parts of oxygen, and gains about 4 parts of carbon dioxid. 412. In breathing, the air is also charged with water vapor and with small quantities of ammonia and marsh gas. It also receives a volatile organic matter, which may be foetid, and when condensed in water soon develops a putrid odor. 413. In the breathing process, the blood and the air are brought into the closest possible contact. One -celled animals breathe through the entire surface, fishes through gills waved in the water, from which they abstract oxygen, frogs through the walls of a simple air- sac, ill which the blood-vessels circulate. In warm- blooded animals, this sac or lung is divided throughout into myriads of minute air- sacs or cells, varying from o^ to to of an inch in diameter. The walls are so thin that the blood flowing through their capillary vessels is con- stantly exposed, on two sides, to the air with which they are filled. The membrane consti- tuting the walls of these sacs is so exceedingly o 226 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICrLTTKE thin and permeable that gases pa^s through it with great rapidity, — the oxygen from the air to the blood, and the carbon dioxid from the blood to the air. oh. Blood -changes in respiration 414. The heart of warm-blooded animals is composed of two double cavities, right and left, which are qnite distinct from each other. The left side pumps the blood into the arte- ries of the system at large, whence it returns through the veins to the right side. The right side, in its turn, pumps the blood into the arte- ries of the limgs, whence it returns by the lung- veins to the left side. In this way the blood is circulated first through the lungs, and then through the tissues of the rest of the body. 415. The blood is of a dark red or purple color as found in the veins, in the right side of the heart, and in the arteries of the limgs. It is of a bright crimson hue as it returns from the lungs and passes through the left side of the heart and the arteries to all parts of the body. The varying color is determined by the presence of a larger amount of oxygen in the arterial (bright crimson) blood, and by its comparative absence, and by the presence of an excess of carbon dioxid, in the venous (dark red) blood. - HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 227 416. The difference between the artery- blood and vein- blood is shown in the following table : Tols. Vols, of of carbon oxygen dioxid From 100 vols, of arterial blood tnav be obtained . . 20 39 venous " " ..8 to 12 46 417. The excess of oxygen in the arterial blood is used up as it passes through the capil- laries, and is replaced by carbon dioxid. The excess of carbon dioxid brought back by the venous blood is thrown out into the air fill- ing the lungs, and is replaced in the blood by the oxygen taken up from the air. The carbon dioxid is made up of one atom of car- bon obtained by the breaking up of the tis- sues or blood elements which contain carbon, and of two atoms of oxygen carried to such tissue or element by the blood. 418. Breathing, therefore, or the combination of oxygen with carbon to form the carbon di- oxid, really does not take place in the lungs, but in the various parts of the body to which the blood carries the oxygen. 5c. Amount of air required 419. The amount of carbon dioxid passed into the blood and exhaled by the lungs is in- creased by exercise, work, sunshine and food ; hence the necessity for more rapid breathing 228 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE under such conditious. The amount also varies with the kind of animal. The pig produces more in proportion to his body weight than the carnivora, rabbit, and fowl ; and these again produce a larger proportionate amount than the horse or the ox. •420. Air which contains 10 to 12 per cent of carbon dioxid will no longer sustain life. The deleterious effect is due partly to the lack of oxygen in such re -breathed air, but also to the excess of the poisonous carbon dioxid, volatile organic matter, and other injurious products. Air which contains even 1 per cent of carbon dioxid produced by breathing is injurious to a marked degree. In a perfectly close place, where there can l>e no access of fresh aii-, a horse would contaminate to this extent over 7,000 cubic feet in 24 hours. •421. The question of stable space, however, is dependent on the amount of air that can be introduced by ventilation in a given length of time. The tighter the building and the less the admission of fresh air, the greater must be the area supplied ; while the greater the facility for the entrance of fresh air, the smaller need be the space per animal. If the whole of the air could be removed every three hours, 1,000 cubic feet per horse or cow would suflSce to keep the air sufficiently pure and wholesome. HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 229 6. Work; Waste; Best 6a. Waste of tissue 422. Under bodily labor, the elements of the muscles are used up to a certain extent, while heat and waste matters are produced. A period of rest is required to allow for repair of this waste. We see this carried out in all healthy bodily functions. The heart, after each contrac- tion, has a short rest before the commencement of the next contraction. The muscles that carry on breathing work in relays, those that dilate the chest resting while those that compress the chest are in operation. Then both rest for an interval before the next inspiration is com- menced. This provides for rest and repair of both the muscles and nerves. Except for such rest, both would soon be exhausted and wasted beyond the power of work. 423. The waste of tissues, however, is not always in exact proportion to the amount of work. On the contrary, it has been shown by careful experiment that the waste of the working muscle is but a small part of the expenditure made. The heat- or fat-producing matters in the food are also used up in such work. The process may be likened to fuel supplied to the engine, which contributes to keep it running 230 THE . PRINCIPLES OF AGRICCLTURE with the expenditure of but a small part of its own proper substance. Thus the starch and sugar in the diet contribute not only to main- tain heat and to lav up fat, but also to render possible a large expenditure of muscular energy and work. 6b. Applications to practice 424. Such expenditure of food and muscular energy in producing heat and work prevents the la%i.ng out of the same capital for other uses, such as gi-owth, fattening or milking. In do- mestic animals, which can be profitably kept only when adapted to special uses, expenditui'es in other directions must be limited as far as may be in keeping with the maintenance of health. 425. For rapid fattening, rest and warmth and seclusion are favorable. Even the milch cow, put in the stable in good health, may be made to give more milk for a time when kept idle in a warm stall than when tui'ned out to gather her food from a pasture. This, however, cannot be safely carried to extremes. The continuous dis- use of the muscles tends to their waste and degeneration, to an impoverishment of the blood, to a loss of tone of the nervous and other organs, and to a gradual lowering of vitality. For ani- mals that are soon to be sacrificed to the butcher, this is not to be considered ; but for such as HOW THE ANDIAL LIVES 231 are to reproduce their kind and keep up the future herd, a moderate amount of muscular exercise is as important as suitable food and hygiene. 426. The animal body is a very complex organism, with an almost endless variety of parts and functions, each of which is more or less essential to the full usefulness of the whole. The best condition of bodily health is that in which all of these are properly adjusted to each other and to the surroundings. In the case of farm animals, the complexity is the gi'eater because the natural functions must be developed here and restricted there, to make them a profitable pos- session; and all this must be done within limits which will be compatible with the maintenance of health and viaror. SrOGESTIOXS Oy chapter XIV 359rt. The best illustration which the pupil can secure of a single-celled structureless organism is the amoeba (Fig. 84 h This lowly animal lives in stagnant pools, and can be secured \>y scraping the scum ofiE the stems and leaves of water plants, lu its larger forms it is barely visible to the naked eye. 3595. The Fig. 85 shows a spindle-shaped (involuntary) con- tractile cell or fiber from the muscular layer of the intestine, showing nucleus in white and nucleolus in black. It has no such variety of functions as the amoeba has. 360a. A part or an organism is said to be specialized when it is fitted for some particular work, rather than for general 232 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE work. A cell wtich has to do only with nutrition is special- ized ; one which has to do with nutrition, sensation, locomotion, and reproduction, is generalized. A ceD may be said to be Rs. 84. Amoeba, showing large, rotuid niiclexLS near the top, enclosing a niieleoliis, many grannies, protruding arms of protoplasm. Pig. 85. and "white spac-« ronnd which the proto- Muscle cell, plasm has flowed. Magnified 200 diameters. Magnified. still further specialized when it carries on some particular or spe^iial part of nutrition. 363a. A secretion is a material derived from the blood and poured out into the body. When this material is of no further use, it is eliminated, or removed from the body, and is known as an excretion. The saliva, eye-water, bile, gastric juice, are ex- amples of secretions. 363Z>. Glands are secreting organs. Thus the salivary glands secrete or make the saliva or spittle, from the blood. The liver is a gigantic gland, secreting bile and other materials. 364a. Glycogen is very like starch. In fact, it has the same chemical composition. CcHjoO;. It is rapidly changed into grape sugar or glucose by the action of saliva and other juices, and it then becomes available for the building of tissue or keeping up the bodily heat. HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 233 365fl. Lymph is a product of the blood. It is a pale liquid which transudes from the thin or capillary blood vessels, and is used to nourish and build up the tissues. The lymphatic system carries food materials to the places where they are needed. See 4096. 367rt. By the alimentary canal is meant the whole digestive tract, beginning with the mouth, and comprising the gullet or esophagus, the stomach, the small and large intestines. 371a. The fats contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, but the oxy- gen is in small proportion. One of the common fats (palmatin) has the composition CsiHggOe ; another (stearin) is C5TH110O6. 379rt. In physiology, the word ferment is used to designate sub- stances which have power to make starch-like materials soluble by con- verting them into sugar-like materi- als. These ferments, of which ptyalin is one, are secretions. They are also called enzyms. These secretions may be the products of cells in the animal body or of independent micro- organisms. The micro-organisms are themselves often called ferments (35a). 382a. The single stomach of a carnivorous animal is shown in Fig. 86. The stomach of a ruminant is well illustrated in Fig. 87, the front walls being cut away to show the internal structure. It has four divisions : C, paunch ; R, reticulum ; N, manifolds ; O, the true digesting stomach. 38.3a. There are various experiments which the pupil can perform. Mix a little well -boiled starch with a small quantity of saliva, and after a time it will be found to have become sweet. If at the outset a drop of solution of iodine is added to the mixture it will produce a blue color (2036). As the starch is changed into sugar, this color gradually fades and in the end disappears. Fig. 86. Stomach of dog. 234 THE PKIXCIPLES OF AGRICTLTTEE 387a. An antiseptic is any material which destroys germs or bacteria (284a). The muriatic or hydrochloric acid is present in small amounts, ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 and upward in 1,000 parts in the different kinds of animals. 3876. A substance may be acid or sour, in which ease it turns blue litmus red (153, 153a). It may be alkaline, as lye. Pig. 87. Stonuu^'a of sheep. CWp and in which case it turns red litmus blue. I: 1117 - -:il, giving neither reaction. 387c. Flowerless plants, of which fungi, ferns, and baeteria are examples, do not produce seeds, but spores. These spores are usually single cells, and contain no embryo. They ean usually grow, even after becoming dry. Spores are eonummly HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 235 more difficult to kill than the organism is when in an actively growing condition. 390rt. A precipitate, in chemistry, is a more or less solid material, which is the result of chemical action, and which settles to the bottom of the liquid in which it is formed. Thus, let the pupil blow through a straw into a bottle of lime water. The liquid will become cloudy, and after a time the sediment will settle to the bottom. The pupil has added the carbon dioxid (CO2) of his breath to the lime water, and carbonate of lime (or limestone) has been formed. Compare 194a. 392a. The action of the gastric juice may be familiarly seen in the curdling of milk in the cheese factory by means of rennet. A little mince-meat mixed with the scrapings of the lining membrane of a pig's stomach, rendered slightly acid by a drop or two of muriatic acid and kept near blood-heat (96° F), will soon be completely dissolved, with the formation of peptone. 392ft. Rennet is the digestive principle derived from the fourth stomach of ruminants (O, Fig. 87). This stomach is taken from calves and dried ; and the stomach itself is then spoken of as rennet. The stomach of adult animals could also be used, if necessary. 393a. The gastric apparatus of a chicken is shown in Fig. 88. The crop is at a, the proventriculus at b, and the gizzard at c. 396a. An emulsion is that condition in which fatty or oily materials are so intimately mixed with the liquid in which they are placed that they act much as if they were in actual solution, even passing through membranes. Most farmers are now familiar with the kerosene emulsion, used as an insecti- cide (296a). 399a. Glycerin is a colorless liquid which is associated with fats or fat-acids, and which may be derived from them. Its composition is C3H5(OH)3. It is often made from the fats by artificial means, and is used in medicine and the arts. Also spelled glycerine. 402a. Two villi are shown in Fig. 89. The singular form of the word is villus. 236 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURK 404d. In eoxmeetion with intestinal digestion and absorption, tiie bile fills a specially important eeonomie function, in sup- plying many of its ingredients to be used over and over again in the course of the same day. The bile stimulates in a high degree the absorption of the digested products, entering with them into the Teins. As all the blood returning from the intestines must pass through the lirer, the elements of the absorbed bile are secreted anew and once more poured into the intestine. Henee a small amount of bile performs a very large amount of work ; and henee, too, any suspension of the secre- tion of bile interferes seriously with the general health. 409a. A ptomaine (pronounced to-main) is a material formed from the decomposition of dead ti^ue. It is alkaline, and often poisonous. The poison in unwholesome ice-cream, for example, is a ptomaine. Ptomaines often result from the destmctlTe work of microbes. The term toxin is applied to a poisonous product of fermentation, whether alkaline or neutral. 4096. It may be well to speak of the destination of the ehyle. Chyle is the liquid formed of the materials absorbed from the bowels into the lymph vessels. It is albu- minous (nitn^enous) and fatty, with a white, milky eolor. This, like the lymph in the other lymph vessels in various parts of the body, contains white, spherical, mieroseopie cells, which are greatly increased after passing through the lymph glands, and when poured into the blood become white blood globules. During the in- Fig. 89. SmCMB of laiieoiia iiwlHMie of tenrals in which there is the iatestiae. ehowioe fiM wifli ew»- ^„ digestion, the Ivmph tnl iMted daet and Uood vessels. . , • \u -' > »Ml«ithes.a&cetl.e.l»«fabMre,«- «' ^^^^ "* ^^ "***" tiMjiai »mji« tinal vessels, as in other HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 237 parts of the body, is a simple straw-colored liquid consisting of surplus nutritive matter -which has not been required by the needs of the part, and is being returned to the blood. In this lymph we find an important source of supply of the white blood globules, which are being constantly used up ; and thus derangements in the lymph vessels and glands injuri- ously affect the blood, and through it the entire animal system. 4096. The admirable adaptation of means to end is trace- able in the successive changes of these food products. The nitrogenous constituents in the food, which are not fitted for absorption, are transformed into the peptones, which are spe- cially adapted for rapid absorption. Then the peptones, which are not fitted for nutrition, but are really poisonous, are changed in the liver, so as to render them harmless and fitted for the varied uses of the body, or for elimination. Other food princi- ples are turned into sugar, and some poisonous fermentation products are rendered harmless through the action of the liver. This interdependence of different functions upon each other — mastication, insalivation, digestion, absorption, transformations in the liver, the formation of normal blood elements, assimi- lation and secretion — furnishes an indication of what goes on throughout the whole animal body, the perfection of one process being essential to that of others, and the derangement of one causing disorder of the others. The nervous system, which is concerned in carrying on all functions, from those of simple nutrition of a tissue or of secretion by a gland up to such mental processes as the animal is endowed with, is dependent on the blood for its own functional activity. Changes in the blood entail change in the capacity for nen'ous work ; so that disorder of one distant organ, acting by influencing the nervous system, directly through the nerves or indirectly through the blood, may bring about derangements of the most varied kind in the different organs subject to nervous influence. The great func- tion of the lungs is the elimination of carbon dioxid from the blood and tissues and the introduction of oxygen, which, being carried into all parts by the red globules, assists in nearly every change which takes place in any organ. But if the lungs 238 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE fail to fulfill their function to any degree, every organ and function is afEected. Most of the waste nitrogenous matter leaves the body through the kidneys, but if this channel of elimination is interfered with, the effete matters are retained, and they poison and derange every organ from the brain downward. Even apparently insignificant organs have a far-reaching in- fluence. The spleen and bone marrow- cells affect the develop- ment of blood globules. A small gland at the throat (thyroid) affects the nervous system, and a still smaller one at the base of the brain (pituitary) influences the growth of the limbs. 411a. Kepeat the experiment suggested in 390a. Make lime water by placing a piece of quicklime in a bottle of pure water, shaking and setting aside to settle. Then take a little of the clear liquid and with a syringe force air through it. It will become only slightly turbid. Next take a tube and blow through this water for a short time, when it will become white and opaque by the formation of lime carbonate, owing to the union of carbon dioxid with the lime. 413a. The lung of any of the higher animals presents an enormous surface to the 'inspired air. To illustrate the extra- ordinary extent of breathing surface formed by this minute di- vision of the lungs into microscopic sacs, it may be stated that, in the horse, it reaches an area of 500 to 800 square feet. 414a. The heart of an ox, sheep, or other animal can be obtained at the slaughter house or of the butcher. Discover the right and left cavities, — a ventricle surmounted by an auricle on each side, — the valves around the opening leading from the auricle to the ventricle, and the cords connecting the valves with the inner side of the ventricle. 416a When blood is shed in killing an animal or otherwise, observe how the surface layer gradually changes from the dark red to a bright crimson as it takes up the oxygen from the air. 418a. In the conveyance of oxygen in the blood the color- ing matter of the red globules (haemoglobin) is the principle bearer. It combines with oxygen loosely, and gives it up promptly at the demand of the carbon. The bright crimson color is due to the union of much oxygen with the coloring matter of the HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 239 red blood globules, while the dark red hue is caused by the comparative absence of oxygen. The liquid elements of the blood (serum) can absorb and convey but little oxygen. In order to have free and healthy breathing, therefore, the blood must contain abundance of red globules, and these must be well developed, containing a large amount of the red coloring matter. Ill health, lack of sunshine, and various diseases, which cause diminution of the red globules or of their coloring matter, interfere with respiration and consequently with the healthy nutrition and function of the tissues of the animal. 426a. Persons who desire a detailed account of the physiology of domestic animals, may consult F. Smith's "Manual of Veteri- nary Physiology." Advice as to the treatment of animals is contained in Law s " Farmer's Veterinary Adviser." THE FEEDING OF THE AVQIAL TTEsre 1. Sources of F^yA of Ammals 427. Broadly speaMng, an aTiimal must feed iq>oii either fluimal or vegetable sabstances, and it has no power to use as food mineral or inor- ganic substances. 428. Any snbstance which an animal may nse as food is called a fodder. A fodder mnst con- tain the substances that are needed for soste- z:"- in such form that the animal can nse ~ . . ::.iLd mnst not contain anything that is s or poisonous to the animal. 2. How ike Ammud Uses Food 429. The plant, by reason of its vital force and with the aid of the energy of the sun, trans- forms sniii»- s of matter into more complex ones, and ii. - 1 .'ing locks or stores up a part of the enerrv irieived. The animal, by means THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 241 of its digestive processes, tears down these sub- stances, setting free the energy and transforming the matter into forms suitable to be incorporated into animal tissue. 430. Before the matter of the fodder can be used, it is necessary that the animal expend energy upon it during the processes of digestion and as- similation. The profit of the fodder to the animal is represented by the difference between the amount of energy originally present in the fodder and the amount of energy it is necessary for the animal to expend upon it in order to make it available. Some substances require so great an expenditure of energy by the animal to digest or partially digest them that they are useless as fodders, although they may contain the proper compounds in measurably proper proportions. 431. Fodder is used by the animal (1) as fuel to keep up the bodily heat, without which the vital processes cannot go on; (2) to repair the wastes of the various tissues, organs and fluids of the body; (3) to form new tissues or organs, or add to those already formed (especially in young animals) ; (4) to produce young; and (5) to lay up reserve stores in the form of fat or otherwise, to secrete various products, or to perform muscu- lar labor Many of these reserves or products are useful to man, as milk, wool and eggs. 432. In general, if the amount of food is 242 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE insufficient it will be used for the first four pur- poses, approximately in the order named : and only after the needs of the animal are fully supplied in these respects will food be used for the last purpose. The food used for the first four purposes is called food of support or food of maintenance ; that used for the last purpose is food of production. 433. Not all of the food taken into the body can be used by the animal. The digestiye fluids fail to act upon a part of the food, and this passes out through the intestines as undigested solid excrement. It is only the food which is di- gested that is of use to the animal. 434. The proportion of food digested yaries with the animal. One animal may digest 80 per cent of the food eaten ; another, standing by its side, equally healthy and eciually vigorous and of similar age, may digest less than 40 per cent. 435. The amount digested varies with the food and with the different constituents in the food. Some foods are almost wholly digested : of others less than one-fourth is digested. In any given fodder, one constituent may be readily and largely digestible, while another is digested only with difficulty and in a small amount. In general, of the food eaten only from one-half to two- thirds is digested. THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 243 3. Composition of Fodders 3a. Classification 436. Fodders are made up of a large number of sulistanees, all of which are of more or less use to the annual, and each of which, to some extent, serves a definite purpose when used as food. While the number of separate compounds in fodders is very large, they fall into a few very distinct groups or classes, depending upon their composition and the purposes which they serve the animals. These classes are (a) water, (h) ash, (r) protein, (d) carbohydrates, including fiber, (e)fat. Sb. Water 437. Water is present in all fodders without exception, but the proportion is very variable. Some roots and green fresh fodders occasionally have as much as 90 per cent of water, whereas, in some oi the kiln -dried by-products the j)er- centage of water may fall as low as 5 or 6 per cent. Ordinary air- dried fodder, as the grains, hay, straw, usually contains from 10 to 15 per cent of water. 438. The water in the fodder to a certain extent supplies the needs of the animal instead ot water which is drunk. Animals consuming a 244 THE PKENCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE watery food will need to drink less water ; but no food contains so much water that it can be used by the animal to supply its needs for both water and solid matters. 439. In general, water adds tenderness, suc- culence and palatability to fodders. Green fresh fodders are more palatable than the same fodders di'ied ; and the palatability of hay or other dry fodder may be increased by soaking in water, or by steaming. 3c. Ash 440. Ash is the small residue which is left when any animal or vegetable matter is com- pletely burned. It is mineral matter obtained by the plant from the soil (147, 192), and is com- posed of very nearly the same substances in both plants and animals. Some ash is found in all parts of all plants and all animals, and it is necessary to those parts. Life can not be main- tained or the vital processes carried on without this ash. 441. In general, the proportion of ash is small, but the bones of animals and certain parts of the plant, as the bark, contain con- siderable amounts, ^ith scarce an exception, the amount of ash present in ordinary fodders is sufficient for the needs of the animal, and, therefore, it need not be taken into account in THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 245 making up a ration or deciding upon a fodder: since no matter what is fed, it is almost certain that the animal will find in it an abundant sup- ply of the proper mineral elements, with the exception of common salt. 'StL Albuminoids 442. The protein, or proteids, constitutes a very important group of fodder constituents. While they are of a complex and varied com- position, all contain nitrogen as a distinctive constituent, as well as carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, and usually sulfur and phosphorus. It is the nitrogen that gives to the members of this group their importance as food (370). 443. Organic aeti\dties can not be maintained without nitrogen. It is an essential constituent of the li\'ing animal or vegetable cell, and no new growth can take place without it ; conse- quently it must be constantly supplied in the food of both plant and animal. Nitrogen is not a constituent of the other gi'oups of food ele- ments, and, therefore, the growth of the animal depends in large measure on the supply of protein. 444. While more or less protein is found in nearly all fodders, its proportion is very va- riable, and in very many cases is less than is required by the animal to sustain life or to make useful growth. Those fodders that contain large 246 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE amounts of protein are mainly found in the grains and other concentrated foods that are relatively high-priced. Both these conditions make the problem of successful feeding largely one of the sufficient and economical supply of albuminoids. If an insufficient amount is furnished, the animal suffers in growth or production: if more than enough is supplied, costly waste ensues. 3e. Carhohydru^e.-i 445. By far the largest part of the dry matter of fodders is classed with the carbohydi'ates, the most familiar examples of which are sugars, starch, gum and vegetable fiber (371). These substances contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen — the two latter in the proportions in which they are found in water. They contain no nitrogen. 446. By union with oxygen in the lungs and blood, the carbohydrates are decomposed into carbonic acid (carbon dioxid) and water, and heat is evolved in precisely the same way as under ordinary combustion in the air. They are thus the main source of heat to the animal. They are also a source of muscular energy, and in most cases an important source of fat in both tissue and product. 447. Of the carbohydrates, fiber is much less readily acted on by the digestive fluids, and often a large part of it passes through the animal THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 247 without change. For this reason it is often con- venient to consider it in a class by itself. So far as it is used at all, it serves the same pui'pose as the other carbohydrates. 3/. Fats 448. The fats (371(7) of fodder are used by the animal for much the same pm'poses as the carbohydrates. They contain only carbon, oxy- gen and hydrogen, but proportionately much less oxygen than the carbohydrates. For this reason they yield much more energ}* when de- composed or burned, and are, therefore, of much more value to the animal than the carbo- hydrates. 449. The amount of energy yielded by differ- ent fats varies somewhat, but in general, it is about two and one -fourth times as much as that ^•ielded by an equal weight of sugar or starch ; and in reducing fat to its ''starch equivalent" (for purposes of comparison) this is the factor com- monly employed. In ordinary fodders the per- centage of fat is not large, running from about 3 to about 8 per cent of the air- dry substance. 4. Feeding 4a. Xutrifive ratio 450. From what has already been said, it will be seen that the protein, carbohydrates and fata 248 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE are the constituents of the fodder that are of dh-ect use to the animal. These are often collec- tively sjioken of as nutrients, and the portion of them that is digestible as digestible nutrients. 451. Since the I'jrotein (or albuminoids) is necessary to growth and reproduction, and since the carbohydrates and fats are mainly used to produce heat and work and reserve stores of fat, the proper relations of these constituents to one another in various fodders and rations constitute an important part of the science and art of feeding. A ration is said to be balanced when these substances exist in the proper propor- tion to one another for the purpose intended. 452. It has been found convenient to express the relation between the protein and other con- stituents in the form of a ratio, known as the nutritive ratio. The nutritive ratio is the ratio of the digestible protein to the digestible carbohy- drates plus two and one -fourth times (449) the digestible fat, expressed in terms of unity or one of the protein. 453. The nutritive ratio is found by adding to the digestible carbohydrates two and one -fourth times the digestible fat, and dividing by the digestible protein. It is expressed thus : Nutr. Eatio 1: 5.5. It means that in some certain fod- der or ration there is for each pound of digest- ible protein or flesh -forming nutrients, five and THE FEEDING OF THE AXIMAL 249 one- half pounds of digestible heat and fat- forming elements. A ratio is said to be wide or narrow when the proportion of heat -forming nutrients is large or small in proportion to the protein. Thus, 1: 12 is wider than 1:7. 454. A certain proportion should exist between the nitrogenous and non- nitrogenous nutrients of a ration. Animals that are growing rapidly, that are bearing young, and that are producing wool, milk or eggs, require a more nitrogenous food than animals that are working, or fattening, or living without gain or loss of weight. For the latter, the nutritive ratio may be as wide as 1: 12 or 1: 14 ; for the former, the nutritive ratio should be as narrow as 1:5 or 1:6. 455. Formerly it was supposed that slightly differing nutritive ratios would make distinct differences in the effectiveness of a ration or the quality of the product ; but it is now generally considered that the limits of variation in the nutritive ratio may be rather wide without mate- rially influencing the nutritive effect of the ration. Other conditions may mask the effect due to differences in the nutritive ratio. 456. One of the chief reasons for taking the nutritive ratio into consideration is that the pro- tein may be economically used. Protein should be used for the formation of nitrogenous products in the animal. It may, however, be used as a 250 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUBE source of heat, instead of the cheaper starch or sugar. This may occur in any ration when the proportion of protein is in excess ; but there is generally a too small proportion of protein. •457. By far the larger number of natural fodders are deficient in protein, and a chief task of the feeder is to furnish, from by-products or otherwise, a sufficient amount of albuminoids in the cheapest form. Usually more protein can be used to advantage by the animal than is furnished to it. 46. Quaniity of food required 458. The quantity of food that an animal can profitably or economically use is dependent ujjon a variety of circumstances and conditions. In the first place, a certain amount must go to the sup- port of the body and the vital functions. This is known as the food of maintenance (432) ; and a ration calculated to keep an animal alive and in good health without gain or loss of body weight is called a maintenance ration. 459. The amount of food required for sup- port depends upon the size and somewhat upon the individuality of the animal. Small animals require more food in proportion to their weight than large ones. Average animals of the same class, however, are usually considered to requii'e food in proportion to their body weight. In THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 251 general, for horses and cattle, about 18 pounds per day of dry matter per 1,000 pounds live weight is required for maintenance. 460. It is from the food eaten in addition to that required for maintenance that the profit comes to the feeder. Hence, if an animal re- ceives no more than enough to sustain life, it can produce no profit to its owner. Much less is there profit if an animal is allowed to lose in weight ; for common experience has shown that when an animal is once allowed to suffer loss in weight, the loss is regained only at an increased expenditure of food above what was originally required to produce it. 461. The amount of food that an animal can use profitably over and above that required for maintenance, depends upon the capacity of the animal and the purpose of production. Most animals will make a return approximately in proportion to the food consumed, up to a cer- tain amount. Above that amount, the food simply passes through the animal ; or the di- gestive apparatus becomes disordered and the animal refuses to eat. However, the capacity of different animals in this respect varies widely. 462. Assume that six j^ounds per day per 1,000 pounds live weight is about the average amount of dry matter that an animal can profit- ably use above that required for support. It will 252 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE be found that many animals can not profitably use more than three or four pomids, while others can use from ten to fifteen pounds, and an occasional animal can profitably use a still larger amount. 463. The amount of food that an animal can or will eat must not be confounded with the amount of food that an animal can profitably use. Many animals can and constantly do pass through their bodies a considerable amount of food of which no use whatever is made, and this, too, without interfering in any way with the general health, digestive functions, or even with the appetite. 4c. Feeding standards 464. Feeding standards show the amount and proportions of the various nutrients that have been found by experience to be best adapted to the various purposes. A few are given : For Each 1,000 Pounds Live Weight per Day. Digestihle Dry Digestible carbohydrates Xutritive matter protein andfat ratio Oxen (maintenance) . 17.5 lbs. 0.7 lbs. 8.15 lbs. 1: 12 Horses at work . . .22.5 " 1.8 " 11.8 " 1:7 Milk cows 24. " 2.5 " 12.9 " 1:5.4 Growing pigs (young) 42. " 7.5 " 30. " 1:4 465. In any given case, these or any stand- ards may be advantageously varied to a con- siderable extent. The standards are mere guides. THE FEEDIXG OF THE ANIMAL 253 The skill of the feeder depends upon his success m finding out how far the individual require- ments of his animals warrant a variation in the standard. 4fZ. Bulk in the ration 466. Aside from the amount of digestible nutrients and the nutritive ratio, the bulk of the ration is a matter of considerable impor- tance. It has already been noted (433) that considerable portions of all the nutrients are not digested. Consequently, in every ration there is more or less material of which the animal makes no use, and which may be said to merely add to the bulk of the ration. Water and fiber are, above all other things, the substances which give bulk to a fodder or ration. 467. Fodders which contain large amounts of either or both of these substances are said to be coarse or bulky ; fodders which have a min- imum amount are said to be concentrated. If a ration is too bulky, ■ the animal is unable to eat enough to obtain sufficient nutrients. On the other hand, a ration may be so concentrated that the proper amount of digestible nutrients do not sufficiently distend the digestive organs so that the gastric fluids may fully act. This is particularly the case with ruminants (382-384, 367). 254 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 4:68. When the ration is unduly bulky be- cause of the presence of large amounts of fiber, it is often so unpalatable as not to be readily eaten. On the other hand, when water is the bulky element, the food is almost always very palatable, but the excess of water has a loosen- ing and depleting effect upon the digestive sys- tem. Under ordinary conditions for ruminants, about two-thii'ds of the dry matter should be furnished in the form of coarse forage and one- third in concentrated food. For horses at work, not more than one-half should be coarse forage, while swine and poultry require the ration to be in a still more concentrated form. 4e. Palatableness 469. It is found to be profitable to provide, even at considerable expense, a certain amount of fresh gi-een food for winter feeding, in the form of roots or like material, as a tonic to appetite and digestion. Silage is now popular. 470. The palatability of a fodder or ration, — that is, the readiness or eagerness with which it is eaten, — is a matter of great importance. The nutritive effect of a ration often depends upon this factor alone. In general, animals will make a better return from a ration that is palatable, even though it may not be ideally THE FEEDING OP THE ANIMAL 255 perfect according to the standard, than they will from a perfectly balanced ration that they do not like. In many cases the quality of pala- tability is inherent with the fodder, in others it is due to the individual whim of the animal. It can only be determined for each fodder and each animal by actual trial. 4/. Cooking and preparing the food 471. Most domestic animals are able to eat and digest ordinary forage and grains in their natural state. But almost all fodders may be prepared in various ways so that mastication and digestion are facilitated or palatability in- creased. Only upon one point is there general agreement — that for most animals it is better that the cereal grains be ground before feeding. As to the advantages and disadvantages of cutting or shredding coarse fodder, and soaking, steam- ing and cooking foods, opinion is very much divided. 472. There is probably some economy in consumption when coarse fodders are cut or shredded. Palatability is often increased by soaking, steaming or cooking ; but cooking renders albuminoids less digestible, and to that extent is a distinct disadvantage. 473. A certain amount of variety in the 256 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE constituents of the ration is appreciated by all animals. If the ration is composed of several fodders, these may be mixed in a uni- form mass and this mixture fed continuously for long periods of time. This is particularly true of cattle and swine. SUGGESTIOJSIS ON CHAPTER XV 437a. By-products are secondary products which result from the manufacture of a given product. Thus, buttermilk and skim- med milk are by-products of butter-making, whey of cheese- making, pomace of cider-making, bran of flour-making. Many important by-products used in feeding animals result from the manufacture of breakfast cereals, the manufacture of glucose syrups, and the processes of brewing and distilling. 442a. The group takes its name from albumin, which is seen in its purest and most common form in the white of egg. The gluten or sticky part of the wheat kernel, the casein or cheesy part of milk, and the muscular fibers of lean meat, are also familiar examples of albuminoids. From the many forms they assume, they are often spoken of as protein compounds, or proteids. They are also often called nitrogenous substances (370). 443a. The albuminoids are necessary to all the processes of growth and reproduction ; and since most animal products, as wool, flesh, eggs and milk, contain large amounts of nitrog- enous matter, the albuminoids are likewise essential to pro- duction as well as growth. When the members of this group are decomposed or broken down, they give up heat, and, there- fore, may be used to keep the animal warm (372). It is not at all uncertain that they are not concerned in the forma- tion and storing up of fat in the tissues and milk. 445a. The word carbohydrate (written also carbhydrate) means carbon-hydrate. The word hydrate signifies a substance in which water combines with some other element : in the carbo- hydrates, this other element is carbon. In all the carbohydrates, THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 257 the oxygen and hydrogen are in the proportions in ■which they occur in water. — two atoms of hydrogen to one of oxygen (H^O is water. 1306). The carbo- hydrates are sometimes called amyloids,— that is, starch-like materials. 453a. The determination of the nutritive ratio is very simple. For example : clover hay of average quality con- tains say 7.4% of digestible protein, 11.7% of digestible fiber, 26.3% of digestible car- bohydrates other than fiber, and 1.9% of digestible fat. Then 2X times 1.9 is 4.3 ; to this is added 11.7 and 26.3, making in all 42.3, or the starch-equivalent of all the heat- and fat-forming nutri- ents. Then 42.3 divided by 7.4 equals 5.7. The nutritive ratio of clover hay is, there- fore, 1:5.7. 458o. The results obtained from any food depend in large measure upon the housing and care which the animal re- Fi^'. 90. A cheap and efficient silo. 258 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE ceives. Stock should have warm, airy, light, clean, sweet stables (see Fig. 32, p. 86); and in cold weather the drinking water should be slightly warmed. Stock should not be turned out on cold and blustery days, and a covered yard (Fig. 30) should be provided. To endeavor to secure good results in feeding ani- mals which are cold and uncomfortable is like trying to heat a house with the windows open. 469a. Our domestic animals while in a wild state depended for existence almost wholly upon green forage. This trait survives in the fact that in many cases animals will make a larger return for a given amount of nutrients when given green and fresh food than they will for the same nutrients when dry. 4696. Silage (not ensilage) is forage preserved in a green and succulent condition. It is preserved by being kept in a tight receptacle, from which air and germs are excluded as much as possible. This receptacle is called a silo. Maize (corn-fodder) is the most popular silage material. It is cut into lengths of an inch or two and immediately placed in the silo, being firmly tramped and compacted, and the mass then covered with straw, hay, boards, or other material. Circular silos are best because the material settles evenly all around. Fig. 90 shows a very economical silo at Cornell University. It is 12 feet in diameter and 24 feet high, and rests on a cement floor. It is made of lumber 24 feet long, 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick, the edges not bevelled. The pieces are held together by sec- tions of woven fence-wire, drawn together by means of screw clamps. There is no framework. Silage is useful as a part ot the daily ration, but it is easy to feed it to excess. Forty pounds a day is usually sufficient for a cow in full milk. 473a. Persons who desire to pursue these subjects furthe'- should consult Henry's "Feeds and Feeding," and Armsby's "Manual of Cattle Feeding;" also Jordan's "Feeding of Animals." Chapter XVI THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK /. p. ROBERTS 1. The Breeding of Stock la. What is meant by breeding 474. Animals grow old and die, or they are slaughtered for food. Other animals are born and take their places. Not only is a new ani- mal born, but every pair of animals is able to produce more than two : that is, the total num- ber of animals increases. This birth and multi- plication is known as propagation. 475. But it is not enough that new animals and more of them shall appear : these new animals must be desirable. They must have certain attributes or characters which make them valuable. In order that these desirable qualities shall arise, the stockman selects cer- tain animals to propagate the race ; and this control of the kind of offspring which shall appear is known as breeding. 476. Breeding may have two objects : to (259) 260 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE maintain or reproduce the given type or breed ; to produce a new type or breed. One may have small red cows, and desire to produce others like them, or with some improvement on the same lines ; or he may wish from these animals to produce large red cows. In the former case, he maintains his tj^e ; in the latter, he produces a new type. 477. A breed is a general race or type which reproduces itself more or less closely. It is analagous to a variety in plants. Among cattle, there are such breeds as Short- horns, Jerseys, Devons, Holsteins ; among fowls, such as Bantams, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Shanghais. The person who guides and con- trols the propagation of animals is known as a breeder. 1&. The mental ideal 478. The first principle in breeding is to know what qualities one wants to secure. The breeder must have a distinct ideal in mind. 479. Many ideals are impracticable. In order to be practicable or useful, the ideal must be governed by two factors : the person must know the characteristics of the class of animals with which he is working ; he must know which qualities are most likely to be carried over to THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 261 the offspring, or be perpetuated. Both of these factors are determiued by experience. 480. The ideal type of animal varies with the uses to which the animal is to be put and with the breed. The points of merit in a dairy cow (one which is raised chiefly for the production of milk) are unlike the points in an ideal beef animal. The points in an ideal Short -horn are unlike those in an ideal Ayrshire. 481. Animals are judged by theu' general form, the texture of hide and hair, framework or bony structure, their motions, and dispositions, theii' performance and their products. Ic. How to attain the ideal 482. Having learned what the ideal animal should be, the breeder strives to secure that ideal by breeding only from those animals which most nearly approach the ideal. 483. Animals vary in their power to trans- mit their own features to their offspring. Some animals, without any visible cause, possess the power of transmitting their own characteristics to an unusual degree. Such animals are said to be prepotent. Inferior animals may be pre- potent, as well as superior ones. It is impor- tant, then, to discover beforehand if an animal is prepotent, or is what stockmen call a "good 262 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE breeder;" although prepotency can be positively- known only by the character of the offspring. 484-. The following are more or less certain indications of prepotency: the eyes are bright, wide open, alert, fairly wide apart and somewhat protruding, or the reverse of sunken. The hair is fine and soft, the skin neither thick and leathery nor too thin or "papery," nor of flabby structure. The bones are of moderate size and have the appearance of being fine grained and strong, as indicated by head, limbs, feet and horns. Such animals are usually symmetrical, although they may not be fat. In of all their movements they are vigorous, alert and powerful and, above all, courageous. 485. Now and then a "sport" appears, — an animal which has some new or strange feature, something that we have rarely or never seen before in that breed (as a hornless or muley animal amongst normally horned animals). Such occasional characters are usually not easily per- petuated, though sports have been the origin of many stable types, especially among plants. Per- manent improvement is more likely to be secured by slow, small, steady augmentation, not by leaps and bounds. 486. The longer any line of animals is bred to a single ideal or standard, the more uniform the animals become. The breed or the familv THE :^L\^'AGEMENT OF STOCK 263 becomes "fixed." The record of this long line of breeding is known as the pedigree. The longer the pedigree, the greater is the likeli- hood that the animal will reproduce its charac- ters; that is, characteristics which have bejen long present are more potent than those which are recently acquired. Hence, a long pedigree should indicate more value than a short pedigree. 487. For the general farmer, it is unwise to buy a herd of pure-blood stock, unless the object is to breed pure-blood stock for sale. The breed- ing of pure-blood animals is a business by itself, and few persons are competent to succeed in it. But every farmer can greatly improve his stock, if he starts with and constantly uses a good pure- blood male mated with good native females. From the gi-ades so produced improvement will be rapid and sure if the poorest are constantly sold and only the best bred from. 2. Where Stock-raising Is Advisable 488. Having now considered some of the principles involved in securing good stock, we may next inquire in what regions and under ■what conditions it can be raised profitably. Live-stock raising is particularly advantageous on the cheap, unoccupied and uncultivable lands of the "West and South. In those regions, stock 264 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE must depend largely or entirely on the natural forage, which is sometimes good and sometimes extremely poor and meager. It may require ten to twenty acres to support a single cow or steer for a year. If the "range" is eaten off closely during the summer, the animals perish in the winter. In the dry and nearly snowless districts of the West, animals may subsist in the winter on the mature dead grasses. Since the rainfall is light, these matured grasses, or natural hay, retain most of their nutrient qualities. 489. In narrow, sheltered northern valleys surrounded by grass -covered, rolling hillsides, where the cereals cannot be raised to advantage, live-stock finds congenial surroundings. In such regions, for many years, was the center and home of the dairy industries. Within the last twenty years the areas in which butter, cheese and milk have been produced in large quantities for city consumption and export have become greatly enlarged and multiplied ; and many whole farms, formerly used for the production of the cereals, especially of maize, are now con- ducted as dairy farms. 490. On high-priced land near the markets, comparatively little live-stock will be kept, since the manures necessary to keep the soil fairly productive and filled with humus can be easily brought from the cities. The teams which THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 265 transport the products to the markets often return loaded with the refuse of the city stables. There is little opportunity for the production of live-stock on the market -garden farm. Where intensive agriculture (Ilia) is carried on, a few animals to consume the refuse, in addition to the ''work stock," may be kept to advantage. Swine are often a useful adjunct to market- garden farms. 491. But perhaps the place above all others where live-stock finds the best conditions, and where it is most likely to be improved from generation to generation, is upon the rich, level farms which are adapted to many kinds of crops. Lands which are capable of producing cereals, gi-asses, fruits, vegetables, flowers and animals should be prized highly. On such lands is offered the gi-eatest opportunity for the high- est agriculture. Diversified agriculture, with one or two somewhat specialized crops, leads to steady and certain income, gives opportunity for furnishing continuous employment for both men and teams, and in all ways tends to economy of time and effort (35-4a). 3. How Much Stock May Be Kept 492. Cheap transportation, refrigerator cars, and the silo, have made it possible to produce 266 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE and send dairy products to market from dis- tricts far removed from the great cities and the seaboard, at a profit. On the rich prairies, wherever maize will flourish, one thousand pounds of live stock, or one large dairy cow, may be carried for every two acres of fairly good arable land. In some cases, some extra concentrated foods may be required, if the ani- mals are kept up to their full capacity for growth and production. 493. On farms of the East, where a large percentage of the land must be devoted to per- manent pasture because it is steep and stony, one animal of one thousand pounds to two acres cannot be carried unless considerable concen- trated food is purchased. 494. There are two methods respecting the number of animals to be kept on a farm. One method requires that food be bought. The other method is to keep only so many animals as can be maintained by home resources. On lands natural!}' fertile, and on those which have been wisely managed, this latter practice is to be commended. It may be said, however, that if the stockman can secure increased profits by risking something for extra food, he should take advantage of it ; but most farmers had better not assume many risks. 495. We may now speak of the practice of THE MANAGEMENT OP STOCK 267 purchasing most of the grain or other concen- trated food which is required. These foods are mostly by-products (437«), such as bran, oil- meal, cotton -seed meal, and the gluten meals. It is said that it is cheaper to purchase con- centrated foods than to produce them on the farm, and much stress is laid on the resultant plant-food or manure which is secm'ed from feeding these products. 496. A ton of wheat bran contains the fol- lowing amounts of potential plant -food in every thousand pounds : 26.7 lbs. nitrogen 28.9 " phosphoric acid 16.1 " potash This would seem to indicate that a thousand pounds of bran would be worth, for manurial purposes, $5.57, or $11.14 per ton — computing the nitrogen at 12 cents, phosphoric acid at 6 cents and the potash at 4 cents per pound. 497. If the bran is fed to milch cows, it is estimated that not less than 50 per cent of the plant -food constituents of the food will be found in the manure. If this be so, then the manure which is the result of feeding one thousand pounds of bran would be worth $2.79, or from feeding a ton of bran, $5.58. If the bran be fed to animals that neither gain nor lose, and are not producing milk or other products, then 268 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE nearly all of the manui'ial constituents of the food are found in the excrements. 498. This practice of purchasing food would appear to be wise on a farm poorly supplied with pi ant -food. It may be assumed that the increase in gi'owth, or the products secm-ed from the animals which consume these purchased foods, would equal or exceed the cost of such foods. If so, the value of the excrements would be clear additional profit. •499. In practice, however, it is found that the purchase of these supplemental foods be- comes necessary largely because a wise use has not been made of the land. If need of these purchased foods arises because but a half crop is secured instead of a full one, then gi'eater attention should be given to making the land more productive. In many cases, the purchased foods are requii-ed because the production of grasses and the other forage plants has been neglected. Full crops and wisely purchased concentrated foods lead directly to the im- provement of animals and land, and, therefore, to permanent prosperity. 500. When the coarser products are used for food and bedding, and a goodly portion of the grains are fed at home, it is possible, with care, to return to the fields three -fourths of all the plant -food which is removed from the fields THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 269 to the barns in the crops. The ease with which a farm may be maintained on a high plane of productiveness when animals are made promi- nent, and the difficulty of maintaining high productivity when they are wanting, should emphasize the part which the animal plays in securing the best results. 4. The Care of Stock 4(/. Housing 501. Every effort should be exerted to make the animals comfortable. Otherwise, they cannot do their best. Animals, like people, are most useful when they are happy. Provide them good quarters. As to the style and kind of barns, it matters little so long as the desired results are secured. 502. Animals need much air. A single cow requires in twenty-four hours 3,125 cubic feet ; that is, all of the air which would be contained in a box- stall about 18 feet by 17% feet by 10 feet, if she has a full supply. As a matter of practice, however, a cow is allowed about 400 cubic feet of air. Twice as much air space should be provided in the horse stable as in the cow stable. 503. In the barn, free circulation of air is restricted : therefore, pro\ision should be made for ventilation. Large amounts of aii' introduced 270 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE at few points create dangerous drafts. Air should be taken into and removed from the stable in many small streams. If the stable is over -ventilated, it may become too cold. If at least one cubic foot of air space is allowed in the stable for each pound of live animal kept in it, the ah* will not have to be changed so often as when the animals are so crowded, — as is often the case, — that only one -half to one- fourth as much air space is provided. 50-4. A barn with a wall roughly boarded, both inside and outside, and the space filled with straw, furnishes nearly ideal conditions, since the air will be strained gently through the straw. This ventilation should be supplemented by a few small, easily controlled openings. Stables should not be kept above 50 degrees nor fall below 32 degi-ees, for any considerable length of time. 505. Abundant provision should be made for the ingress of light. It is best- if the light is admitted at the rear of the animal, especially for horses. Provision should also be made for temporarily storing the excrements, both to keep the stable clean and to prevent loss of the val- uable constituents of the manures. Xo excre- ments should be thrown out of the windows or doors of the stable into the open weather, where they form a nuisance and are wasted (120, 120a). (5cK 271 THE MANAGEMENT OP ST 46. Water 506. All nutriment is carried into the system, and through it, by means of water. Since water is the universal carrier, it should ever be present in the animal tissues in quantities sufficient to accomplish the desired results. Ani- mals should have water at least twice a day. 507. Animals fed a narrow ration (453) re- quire more water than those which are fed a wide ration. A cow in milk may requii^e from fifty to eighty pounds of water daily. If the water is freezing cold, she will not drink freel}^ and the production of milk will be reduced. Moreover, the water must be raised to the temperature of the body by the heat generated in the animal. This may require a part of the energy of the food which might otherwise have been turned to some useful purpose. If water at a temperature of about 60°F. is provided for the stock in cold weather, the animals will not only enjoy it, but will not re- quire as much food as when compelled to drink water near the freezing point. In large herds, coal may well be substituted for meal in heating the drinking water. 4c. Food 508. So many varieties of acceptable cattle foods can be secured cheaply in America, that 272 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE full opportunity is offered for selecting those which give promise of producing the particular results desu-ed in any given case. Animals which are used continuously at hard work require a wide or carbonaceous ration to sup- ply energy. Young animals do best on a narrow or nitrogenous ration. Milch cows do best on intermediate rations. Cold stables imply a wide ration ; warm stables, narrow rations. The food of young herbivorous auimals, of those that work, and of cows in milk, may be made up of about one pound of grains or other concentrated foods to three pounds of roughage. 509. The amount of the ration and the time of feeding should be governed according to the character and habits of the animal. Horses should be fed more often than cattle and sheep, since their stomachs are relatively small. Horses are inclined to eat at night. Cattle, sheep and swine seldom eat after dark. 510. The ration for any one meal should not l)e so liberal as to injure the appetite for the one that follows. Regularity in time of feeding, and skill in presenting the food in an appetizing form, are prime factors of success. SCGGESTIOXS OX CHAPTER XVI 479a. The breeder must know the names of the various parts of the animal. The parts of a dairy eow are designated THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK z I :i in Fig. 91, which represents a "typical Holstein-Friesian cow:" 1, head ; 2, forehead ; 3, eyes ; 4, face ; 5, muzzle ; 6, ear ; 7, horn ; 8, neck ; 9, throat ; 10, shoulder ; 11, shoulder tops, or withers ; 12, chest ; 13, crops ; 14, chine ; 15, back ; 16, loin ; 17, hip or hook ; 18, rump ; 19, thurl or pin-bone ; 20, quarter ; 21, thigh ; 22, hock ; 23, leg ; 24, forearm ; 25, hoof ; 26, fore- is 17 [B _,!* Fig. 91. Diagram to show the parts of a dairy cow to which distinctive names have been given. ribs ; 27, back-ribs ; 28, flank ; 29, belly ; 30, fore-flank ; 31, stifle ; 32, tail ; 33, switch ; 34, udder ; 35, setting of tail ; 36, quarters of udder ; 37, teats. The dewlap is the flap of the throat below 9. The escutcheon is the part surrounding the udder behind, on which the hair grows upwards. 480a. Following is the ideal of a dairy cow (compare Fig. 92) : The cow should have a small head, a large muzzle and mouth, a clean-cut nose or face, that is, one free from fleshy growth, a straight or dishing forehead, bright prominent eyes, and a thiu, long neck and moderate-sized horns. She may be from one to two inches lower at the shoulders than at the hips. Her general form, when looked at from the side, should be wedge-shape, and the same shape should be apparent when viewed from the rear. The shoulders may be thin, lean and bony ; the back rather long and rugged ; the loin fairly broad, but not too broad, or the animal will tend to put on beef. The B 274 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE* hip should be thrown well ahead, which gives a loug, powerful hind quarter. The thighs, of necessity, are thin ; the flank well up ; the hind leg, usually, quite crooked, and the tail long. If the tail be long, it is an indication that the vertebrae of the back bone are somewhat loosely united, which is an indication of good milking qualities. The pony-built, smooth-made, short- bodied, rotund cow is seldom a good milker. The teats should be sizeable and placed wide apart ; the limbs neither too small nor Fig. 92. An ideal dairy cow. too large. The udder should not be very pendent or loose, and should extend well to the rear, also well to the front, and should have a broad and firm setting on the abdomen. The animal should have a rugged, rather lean, but not a delicate appearance. All animals, except those kept for speed, should have rather short limbs, as this indicates, to some extent, constitution and power. It will be noticed (Fig. 92) that the milk veins, which extend from the udder forward on the abdomen, are large and promi- nent. These indicate that the cow is a great milker or, in other words, that an ample supply of blood has been furnished to the udder by the arteries, and hence a large amount of blood must THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 275 be returned through the veins. In time, the veins enlarge in order to make room for the return of the blood from the udder. In some of the better milking strains, these large veins are in- herited, and can be seen and felt on young animals which have never given milk. 480b. Contrast the ideal points of the beef animal. This animal, like the milch animal, should have a small head and horns, and be light in the throat-latch. If the neck, legs and tail be removed from the beef animal, the body is almost a per- fect parallelogram. The neck is short and very heavj' where it is set onto the shoulder, the back straight, thighs built well out at the rear, and thick. The body of the animal is more rounded, the short ribs or loin is broad, the flank is well down, the shoulders are heavy and well covered with meat, the floor of the chest broad, which places the front legs wide apart. The whole structure of the animal indicates slowness of motion, quietness, and a disposition to lay on flesh and fat, or in other words, to be selfish. No milk veins appear, the tail is shorter than the milch cow's, and the receptacle for milk small. As a rule, the beef animal has a softer and more velvety touch than the dairy animal, since the one is usually fat and the other lean. A strong, low brisket (the hanging part between the fore legs) is desired, not because the flesh of it is good, for it is quite inferior, but because it is an outward indication of su- perior feeding qualities. It will be noticed that in the dairy cow the brisket is prominent, but thin. It indicates good feed- ing qualities : that is, a good appetite and power to digest and assimilate food. True, it seems to have no direct connection with the production of milk, but animals which are markedly deficient in brisket and thin in the waist usually have delicate constitutions and precarious appetites. 480c. A moderately thick, elastic skin and soft, velvety hair are much desired, not only in cattle but in horses. A thin or papery skin denotes lack of constitution. A thick, inelastic skin denotes unresponsivenessin the production of either milk or beef. 480d. With these ideals for cattle, compare some of the points of excellence in a trotting horse : The front legs have 276 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICIXTURE a long, low, rhythmie motion when the animal is alert, while the hind quarters are lowered and widened, and the hind legs, with their wide, all-embracing sweep, show how and where the great propelling power is located. 481a. The scoring of animals is a matter of ideals. The person assumes that a total of 100 points represents the perfect animal. each part or quality being represented by a certain figure. Any animal may then be judged (as at a fair ) by this standard or seore. Definite scores have been adopted by various breeders' assoeiations, eoU^es, etc. For illustration, two scores are now given. 4816. Following is the score for a dairy cow used by the College of Agrieulture. Cornell University: GlCaiERAt. A.WE.AUXSCK : Weiakt, estimated lbs.; actual lbs. Fitrm, wedge shape as viewed from front, side and top. . S Qmaiitjf, hair fine, soft ; sUn mellow, loose, medium thtclmess. secretion ydlow ; bone clean 8 Cmutilitfiffit, Tjgoroas, not indined to be^ness 8 Hkad axd Xece: Jfvzzle, clean cot : month laree : nostrils laise 1 Mifeg. large, brig^ 1 face, lean, long : qniet expression 1 FbrekemA. broad, sligfatly dished 1 Sisr*. mediom size : jeDow inside, fine textnre 1 SeA, fine, medium Iraigth ; Omnt dean ; li^t dewlap. . t FOKK AXD HdeD QUAKTEBS : Witiert, lean, thin 1 8kimUerg,Ut^t,ohhQae 2 Sips, far xfmrt i lerel between honlks 2 Jbump, long, wide 2 PSMrbomtM or tkmrU, high, wide apart 1 niiffA*. thin, long 2 Xl, Prxtning. Removing part of a plant for the betterment of the remainder. 278. Ptomaine. A product of decomposition of dead tissue. 409a. Ptyalin, The ferment in saliva. 380. Puddling . The cementing together of the particles of soils, rendering them hard and stone-like. 81. Range. A pasture, particularly one of large extent. 488. Ration. The material fed to an animal. Rennet. The digestive principle derived from the fourth or true stomach of ruminants ; or the dried stomach itself. 392&. Retentive. Holding, retaining. Reverted. Said of phosphates which are in the process of becoming insoluble. 145. Root-cap. The tissue covering the very tip of the growing root. 206. Root pasturage. The area of soil particles exposed to or amenable to root action. 53a, 90. Rotation. A systematic alternation of crops. 112, 305, 305a. Roughage. Forage, 330; piirtieularly coarse forage. Sanitation. Looking after the health, especially making the condi- tions such that disease or injury is prevented. Sap. The juice or liquid contents of plants. 207a. Saturated. Full of water, so that it cannot hold more. Scarify. To scratch or to harrow lightly. Secretion. A special product derived from the blood : as saliva, gastric juice. 363a. Seed-bed. The earth in ■which seeds are sown. 243a. Seedling. A plant grown from seed, and not changed to another kind by grafting or budding. 2416. Siliciotcs. Sandy. Slip. A cutting. Soil. That part of the surface of the earth in which plants grow. 24. Soiling. Feeding green fresh turiige, in stable or field. Sport. A variety or form which appears suddenly, or is very unlike the type. 485. Stock. The plant into which a cion is set. 236. The parentage of any group or line of animals or plants. The animal tenants of a farm ; live-stock. Stoma, stomate. A breathing-pore. 188, 188a. Subsoil. That part of the soil which lies below the few inches of ameliorated and productive surface soil. It is usually harder, lighter colored, and poorer in plant-food than the surface soil. 288 GLOSSAEY Subsoiling. Breaking up the subsoil. 97. Subsurface. The lower part of the surface soil, — just above the sub- soil. 250a. Superanuated. Past its usefulness. Superphosphate. Sometimes used to designate available phosphates, and sometimes to designate materials ■which contain phosphate but no potash or nitrogen. 143a. Supersaturated. More than saturated, so that the water drains away. Supplementary . Secondary ; used in addition to something else. Su-ine. Hogs, pigs. Tap-root. A root which runs straight downwards, with no very large branches. Figs. 33, 79. Texture. Of soils, the size of the ultimate particles. Tillage. Stirring the soil. 8i, 84a. Toxin. A poisonous production of decomposition. 409a. Training. Placing or guiding the branches of a plant. 278. Transpiration. Passins off of water from plants. 187. Trimming. Removing part of a plant to improve the looks or man- ageableness of the remainder. 278. Turhid. Muddy, cloudy. Cnder-drainage. Drainage from below. The water is carried through the soil, not carried off on the surface. 57, 68. Urea. A waste nitrogenous compound which is cast out through the kidneys. Variation. Modification or change in an animal or plant. The coming in of new forms or types. Departure from the normal type. Viable. Having life; capable of living or growing. 216. Vital. Pertaining to life or living things : vital heat is the heat of an animal or plant, as distinguished from the heat of the sun or of a fire. Weed. A plant which is not wanted. Watersprout. A strong and usually soft shoot arising from an adven- titious or dormant bud, — outside the regular place and order of shoots. 286. Water-table. That part of the soil marked by the upper limit of the free or standing water. 57, 57a. Zoology. Knowledge and science of animals. 17. SUGGESTIONS TO READING - CLUBS AND TO TEACHERS This book has found a place in reading- en-cles. Tiie following suggestions on this use of the text were made by request of the reading- circles of one state, and they are reproduced here for the benefit of others who may similarly employ the book. In the production of its wealth, agriculture operates in three great fields, — with the soil, the plant, and the animal. Although aided at every point by a knowledge of other subjects, its final success rests on these bases, and these are the fields to which the Principles of Agriculture gives most attention. Agriculture is often said to be the most fun- damental and most useful of occupations, since it feeds the world. The province of a text -book of agriculture is to deal with the original pro- duction of agricultural wealth rather than with its manufacture, transportation or sale. The subject of agriculture is being considered very generally by schools. This book is intended to supply the demand for a broad knowledge of the subject, both general and specific. It S (289) L'90 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE regards farming as a business, to which science may be made to contribute a large measure of success. It treats the subject from the side of production, since it is not practicable to confuse this brief ti-eatment with a discussion of social rural questions. The general plan of the book is to state fun- damental principles in terse language without very much explanation. In order to cover so much ground, it is necessaiy to make the text very brief. It is considered that the book should not run beyond three hundi-ed pages, else it would be so large as to interfere with its gen- eral usefulness. The bare statement of princi- ples is likely to be dry and uninteresting, how- ever, and therefore some incidental and explana- tory remarks are placed in small type at the end of each chapter. Principles themselves never need pictures for illustration; but the applica- tions of these principles are often made plain by the use of engravings. Therefore the engravings are placed in the explanatory text rather than in the preliminary statements. The whole book is itself a skeleton or outline of the subject. It is expected that the reader will fill it in as he goes along, by discussion and by reading other books, bulletins and agi'icultural papers. Some useful references will be found iu the explanatory matter. KEVIEW OF THE BOOK 291 Spend at least one meeting on the Table of Contents for the purpose of developing a general point of view on the whole subject of agriculture. This book is made for adults or for those who are old enough to grasp a general view of the subjects included in agriculture. It is well to have all these subjects in mind at the outset, so that the i*elative importance of each may be known and understood. It will be noticed that the introduction is con- cerned with a general statement of what agri- culture is. It has three co-ordinate divisions, as may be seen by the analysis on page ix. The first division attempts to define agriculture, the second to discuss the personal attributes on which successful agriculture depends, and the third defines the field of its endeavor. Under section 1 are to be found a definition of agri- culture, paragraphs 1, 2, la, 2a; what agricul- ture contributes to the world, 3, 3«; what agri- culture is, 4, 4a, 4?;; definitions of agriculture, 5-9, 8a, 9a. In section 2, it is explained how successful farming depends on the executive ability of the farmer, in paragraphs 10-12; how it depends on a knowledge of science, 13-20; how complicated the business of agriculture is, 21, 21a, 216. In section 3, there is an outline of the things with which agriculture deals, in paragi-aphs 22, 22a, 22b. 292 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Followiiii? are some questions that might be asked on this introduction in order to bring out the various points involved. These outlines and questions may suggest how all the chapters in the book may be handled with some degree of satisfaction: I. What is agriculture? Is it the same as farming? As husbandry? What are crops? What is stock? What are direct and indirect products of the land? 2. Is marketing a part of agriculture? Define primary and secondary products. Contrast agriculture and manufacture. 3. What does agriculture contribute to the world? Is agri- culture the most important of all arts? 4. What is an ideal husbandry? What is mixed husbandry and what specialty husbandry? Which most completely maintains itself? 5. Define animal industry, horticulture, forestry. What re- lation do these bear to agiiculture? How is forestry popularly misunderstood? 6. Is the farmer a business man? Why is executive ability important? What is meant by personality and how important is it to the farmer? Can executive ability be gained wholly from books? 7. What do you understand by the term farm -practice? What is the value of one's own experience? 8. What are staple and special products? How are prices made for these two classes of products? Which class is the more important in the agriculture of your region? 9. Name two reasons why a knowledge of natural science is helpful to the farmer. 10. Discuss the relation of physics to agriculture. Of me- chanics. Of botany. Of zoology. Of chemistry. Of climatology. Of geology. Explain what you mean by each of these terms. II. Give some illustration of how complicated the business of agriculture is. REVIEW OF THE BOOK 293 12. Explain the three great subjects with which agriculture deals. 13. Is agriculture a science or an art! It will be noticed, that the body of the book is divided into three co-ordinate parts: the soil, the plant, the animal. These represent the three great fundamentals on which the successful prac- tice of agriculture depends. A complete treatise on agriculture would include a division that would have to do with the general economic principles that underlie the business, and another on the social relations; but the insertion of this discussion would carry the present volume quite beyond its limits of usefulness as an elementary text- book. PART I. THE SOIL The soil is considered in several aspects. It is important to state at the outset that the pri- mary consideration is not the plant- food alone in the soil, but the physical characteristics as well. In the older books it was customary to place most of the stress on the chemical con- tent of the soil. This was because agi-icultural chemistry was the first of the natural sciences to make great contributions to the advancement of agricultural knowledge. It is now under- stood that the physical constitution of the soil is as important as its chemical constitution; it 294 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE may be even more important, since plant-food can be added if the soil has the proper physical make-up. The soil is considered in six general phases: (1) the contents of the soil, as to what it is and what it contains; (2) the structure of the soil; (3) the moisture in the soil; (-4) the tillage or amelioration of the soil; (5) the enrichment of the soil by means of farm resources; (6) the enrichment of the soil by means of commercial or concentrated materials. Chajiter 1 At the outset, it is necessary to get a broad \dew of the way in which soils have come to be, and ivJiat the content of the soil is. As soon the farmer develops a rational point of view on this subject, the fields and hills and swamps will have a new meaning to him. What are the sources from which all life and wealth are de- rived? Which of these sources are beyond the control of man? What is soil? What is the meaning of the word soil as contrasted with land? Of what two kinds of elements is the soil composed (|2fl, 2?*)? What is the physical basis of the soil? What is meant by organic and inorganic {25a)? What does the soil contain besides these two classes of materials (25)? The pupils should be asked to demonstrate the presence of inorganic matter in any soil (25c). What is meant by weathering? How has the soil been formed by means of weathering (26) ? What are the agencies by means of REVIEW OF THE BOOK 295 which weathering proceeds? Does weathering act on surfaces that are in general level as well as on those that are inclined? Pupils should bring in a stone or brick or some other piece of mineral material that shows the effect of weathering. Why are pebbles rounded? What has become of the particles that have disappeared from them? Why may weathering proceed less slowly on level areas than on steep hills? Why do mountains and hills tend to become rounded? Why are some mountain peaks sharp and others rounded? After weathering has proceeded, how are the detached particles distributed? How do plants become agents in the formation of soil? Where do lichens grow? How do roots act in the making of soil? How do animals contribute to the making of soils? What is understood by chemical action (30)? Let the teacher or pupil read some of the extracts from Darwin's book on "Vegetable Mold," explaining how it is that the earth-worm contributes to the formation of soil. Are there any soils in which organic matter predominates; if so, where are they formed, and how? What is humus? How does it modify the texture and color of soils? What is the value of humus (33)? How may the farmer secure humus for his land? How im- portant do you consider humus to be in the farming of your neigh- borhood? What is a miero-oganism? How do micro-organisms benefit soils or contribute to the growth of plants? Do you understand that the soil is a scene of life as well a collection of materials? How is soil transported and laid down? How may stones be a source of benefit to land? What are the chief agencies by means of which soils have been transported? What soils partake most closely of the nature of the bed rock on which they lie? Explain how a stream becomes a transporter of soil. What is muddy water? Let the pupil illustrate what there is in muddy water. What are glaciers? What has been their effect on the soil on a large part of northeastern North America? Determine whether the soils of your region have been modified by the action of glaciers. What influence has the wind in transporting soils? Illustrate from the sand storms of the plains and deserts. Is there dust in the atmosphere? If so, what is it and how may it be detected? 296 THE PRESXIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Why is soil useful to plant life? How much plant-food mav an acre of land contain? What is arailable plant-food? What is potential plant-food? Is all of the plant-food in common soils available? How does nature restore or maintain the fertility of soils? How do man's operations differ from Nature's in this regard? Are all plant-food materials equally useful to all plants? What effect has deep-rooting on the soil, and on the amount of plant-food that the plant obtains? Why are fertilizers useful? What is the reason for their application? Let the circle or pupils read paragraph 45 in concert. Chapter 2 In this chapter we discuss the texture and structure of the soil. We shall find that the condition of the soil is as important as its com- position. Farmers have always known this, but it is only recently that we have foimd out the underlying reasons why. The subject of "soil physics" has now come to be of first importance. What are the two general offices of soil so far as the growing of plants is eoueemed? Maya soil that is rich in all the plant- foods still be unadapted to the growing of crops? Why cannot crops grow on rock ? Why not on very hard clay? What is meant by the "texture" of the soil? By the "structure"? What is the "physical condition" of the soil? In what language does the farmer express a good physical condition? What words does he use to express a poor physical condition? Name the reasons why good structure is important (52). Where do the roots feed? What relation has the size of soil par- ticles to the amount of available plant-food? Illnstrate this by breaking up a cube of sugar or a lump of chalk. Mathematically this could be best illustrated by cutting up a cube of wai. In what wav. then, mar the fining of soil be said to increase its pro- REVIEW OF THE BOOK 297 ductivityT What was Jethro TuU's theory of the value of the fining of the soil by means of tillage (53c) ? How important was Tail's work, and why? In what general way may the structure of the soil be improved? What is meant by making the land " mellow " ? What kind of lands are mostly improved by being made mellow? What kind of lands are improved by being made compact or retentive? Name the three ways in which the size of the soil particles may be modified. What are the general uses of under-drainage? May under-drain- ing improve dry lands? What is the water-table? How is it modified by under-draining? What is an amendment? How does it improve or modify the character of the soil? What effect may lime have when added to the soil aside from directly furnishing plant- food? Name materials from which humus may be derived. What are the values of stable manures? Does their value lie alone in the amount of plant-food that they contain? Illustrate the value of good soil texture by the practice of the florist. Let the class read aloud and in concert paragraph 60, Chapter 3 It is important that the pupil get a firm grasp ou the structure of this chapter, concerning the moisture in the soil. Notice that it is divided into four co-ordinate parts: (1) Why moisture is important. (2) How the water is held in the soil. (3) How the moisture -holding capacity of the soil may be increased. (4) The saving of the soil moisture. Since crops oftener fail for lack of moisture than for lack of plant-food, it is very important that this chapter be given careful consideration. 298 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Why is soil moisture important in agricultural practice? Hott do plants use water? How may the loss of water from the plant be shown? What is irrigation? Under what conditions is irriga- tion admissible (63fl)? In what part of the country is it a gen- eral practice, and in what part a special practice? In what forms may water be held in the soil? Explain each of these three methods (65, 66, 67). Make an experiment to show the capillary power of the soil. What is meant by the term "film moisture?" In what condition is the water held in very wet soils? When lands are in proper condition for the growing of crops, is the soil wet or is it mcist? Illustrate film moisture by dipping a marble or a stone in water. Illustrate capillarity by applying one corner of a lump of sugar to water. Illustrate the transfer of water from particle to particle by placing several lumps of sugar together and applying water to one of them. "VNliere is the free water of the soil? What is meant by a "leachy" soil? In what soils and under what conditions does water run off the surface? Does this wash of water from the surface do any harm aside from the loss of the water itself? What is meant by the term "rainfall?" How may the soil be made to hold the rainfall? How may surface washing be pre- vented? How do soils vary in their capacity to hold water? Make an experiment to illustrate the capacity of the different soils to hold moisture (72c). How does the humus content of the soil affect its moisture-holding capacity? How important is humus in the agriculture of your region? Is there sufficient rain- fall in this region to carry the crops through the season without resorting to irrigation? How is the humus in the soil depleted? State one reason why newly broken or newly cleared lands give the best crops. How may the humus be gradually increased? Is it possible to put too much humus in the land? The pupil should be instructed in the effect of humus in different kinds of soils. Soils that are already rich in humus may be injured rather than benefited by the appli- cation of more, whereas those that are lacking in humus or are very hard, or very loose and sandy, maybe greatly benefited. In many of the loess soils of the middle West the addition of much KE^^E^v of the book 299 humus may be a decided disadvantage. Call attentiou to tlie fact that in very windy regions the soil may be made so loose and open and fine as to be exposed to much damage by winds. In new countries humus may be more abundant than in old lands: why? Are the lands in your neighborhood in need of humus? Illustrate when green-crops should be plowed under for the pur- pose of giving the best results. What is the danger of plowing them under too late in the season (74(7^? Explain what drainage is. What is surface drainage and under-drainage? How may surface drains be constructed so as to interfere least with agricultural operations? What effect has under-drainage on the soil? What effect does a warm shower in spring have on land that is perfectly drained? What effeet does a cool summer shower have? Explain some of the practices of tile draining, as to depth of drain, distance apart of the different drains (~6a, 76h). What relation does under-drainage have to tap-rooted plants (TSo)? What is meant by the "soil reservoir?" How does tillage enable the soil to hold moisture? How does increasing the capillarity increase the moisture-holding capacity? What is the general direction of the movement of moisture by means of capillary attraction? May soil be made too fine? What is meant by "puddling" of soils? What is meant by the "conservation of moisture?" How does moisture escape from the land? What is meant by the "surface mulch" or the "soil-mulch?" About how much water is required to produce a pound of dry matter (8l?>)? How does tillage save the moisture? Explain (1) the general direction of movement of soil water in the growing season; (2) how the moisture-holding capacity of the soil may be increased; (3) how surface evaporation may be lessened. Chapter 4 The tillage of the soil may iiow be con- sidered, for we have learned how important the physical condition of the soil is, and also 300 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE how necessary the moisture is and how it may be caught and saved. In common speech, the word cultivation is used for the stirring of the soil; but it is better to use the word tillage, since this is a specific technical word with no other meaning. The present chapter has three co-ordinate parts: (1) what tillage is; (2) what tillage does; (3) how tillage is performed. Explain what you mean by the word tillage. Why is tillage performed? Distinguish the two kinds of tillage (85). Under what conditions are these kinds practiced? "What is meant by deep and shallow tillage? By surface tillage? Note that tillage improves the land in three general ways. (Read the first clause in the paragraphs 87, 88, ^9.) How does tillage improve the physical condition of the soil? What in- fluence has it in saving moisture? What influence has it on the chemical actions taking place in the soil? Of what importance is air to the soil (89a ? In what sense is it true that "tillage is manure "? Note that there are three general ways of performing tillage with respect to the kinds of tools that are used. What are they (§3a, 3b, 3e)? Give seven reasons why we plow. Explain how plowing pulverizes the soil; the relation it has to green-manur- ing; how it increases the depth of the soil; what relation it has to hard-pan or subsoil; how it modifies the temperature and moisture of the soil; what relation it has to weathering. Explain what subsoiling is and what it does. Define the words furrow and furrow-slice Ola). Describe what might be considered to be an ideal general-purpose plow. Name the important surface-working tools. Give five im- portant influences that surface-working has on the soil. What is meant by the "earth-mulch?"' What is it for? How deep should it be? How is it made? How may it be destroyed? How is it repaired? How often should it be repaired? If the earth-mulch REVIEW OF THE BOOK 301 itself is very dry, may it still be of use? At what time of the year is eartti -mulch most useful? What relation has surface tillage to weeds? Why do we till? Name tools that have a compacting influence on soils. Name some important uses of the compacting of the soil. What is the benefit of rolling the land? What are the disadvantages? What relation has the rolling to germination of seeds? What relation to soil moisture? Does the rolling of the land require much judgment? Why? Chapters 5 and 6 We now consider the enriching of the soil. We have found that the soil is made to be more productive by thorough preparation and by sub- sequent tillage. The plants are enabled to lay hold of the stores of plant-food, and many chemical activities are set up that result in rendering plant -food more available. The plant is given a comfortable and congenial place in which to grow. It thrives. We have found that the physical structure or condition of the soil is of primary importance. When we have secured the best physical condition and have done our best with tillage, we may then think of adding extraneous materials to the soil for the purpose of enriching it. That is, we manure or fertilize the land. Whether this fertilizing pays or not, depends wholly on conditions. The addition of mere plant- food is rarely profitable unless the land is first in condition for the very best growing of the plant. 302 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE Manures are of two general characters; those that improve the texture of the soil, and those that add plant-food. Barn manures usually per- form both offices, and this is one reason why they give excellent results. As a matter of farm -practice, we may divide all fertilizers or manurial substances in two great classes: those that are produced on the farm, and those that are bought from the market. The best agriculture is that which aims to pro- duce a good part of the necessary fertilizing materials on the farm itself. These materials are by-products (see definition in glossary). In Chapter V we discuss three general cate- gories: (1) what these farm manures are, (2) the enriching of soil by means of crops that are plowed under, (3) direct application of farm manures to the land. The following questions will tend to bring out the various points in the chapter: What is the real fertility of the land? Has it to do alone with plant-food? What is the first step toward increasing the produc- tiveness of any soil? What are the means by which this step may be taken? What is humus (review paragraph 33)? How is humus secured? What are green-manures? How much of the weight of a clover crop may be left in the ground (108rt)? Name the three classes of gi'een-manure crops, and explain them. How may green-manuring crops be classified, with reference to their nitro- gen-gathering power? Name some of the nitrogen-gatherers. To what family of plants do they belong? Name some of the REVIEW OF THE BOOK 303 nitrogen-consumers, or those that do not add nitrogen to the soil. Do they belong to any one group or family of plants? Name the three great staple green-manure crops of the nitrogen-gathering class (111). What is meant by intensive farming (Ilia j ? What by extensive farming (1116) ? What is the ideal method of securing the green-manuring crop in general agriculture (112)? Can a regular rotation be practiced in most kinds of intensive farming? Why is land bene- fited by being ''rested" in clover or some other crop? Explain how land may be benefited sometimes even by ''resting" in weeds. What are the two values of green-manure crops (114)? Is it true that green -manures may be valuable even when more plant-food is not needed? Apply this to fruit-growing crops. How may a system of green-manure cropping be inaugurated on hard and poor lands? Where are cover-crops most useful, and why? How early should the cover-crop in orchards be plowed under? May weeds ever be useful in orchards late in the season? Why should they not be allowed to grow early in the season? What are the disadvantages of allowing weeds to grow even late in the season? What does the application of stable manure do for the land? Upon what does its value depend (119)? How should stable manures be protected or stored? Explain what you understand by a covered barnyard (120rt). How are stable manures affected by exposure to the weather? What is the value of thoroughly rotted manure? What is the philosophy of composting manures? When the manures cannot be sheltered or protected, what disposition may be made of them? What precautions? What is the value of muck? What is peat, and what is its value? Discuss marl; also sawdust, straw, leaves, pomace, and the like. Under what conditions do you think it would pay to plow under straw? In Chapter VI the general discussion of fer- tilizer substances is continued, but in this case the subject is commercial plant-foods. This is a subject of very great importance, particularly 304 THE PRES^CIPLES OF AGRICULTURE in the older states, and it will be of increasing importance as the countrj' grows older. It is a technical subject, for the complete understanding of which much chemical knowledge is needed. Persons who desire to study the subject in detail should consult special works and bulletins. However, the general philosophy of the applica- tion of commercial plant -foods may be under- stood from this brief chapter. It will be noticed that the chapter has six coordinate parts: (1) what the elements of plant- food are in the soil, and which ones are most likely to be exhausted; (2) the nitrogen supply; (3) phosphoric acid supply; (4) potash; (5) amendments, or those substances that act bene- ficially on the structure or physical condition of the soil; (6) discussion of commercial fertilizers. What is a chemically fertile soil? What is an element (lL'7a)? How many elements are supposed to be necessary to the plants (127; pages 115-117)? Which of these elements are most likely to be depleted by the growing of crops? In order that these elements may be useful to the plants, what must be their relation to water? Do plants use these elements in their original or uncombined forms? What is meant by a compound in the chemical sense (130a)? What is meant by "available" plant-food? Does the soil contain much unavailable food of the elements that plants need? What makes plant-food available? What is the influence of tillage in this respect? Do roots themselves make plant-foods available (131o, review also paragraphs 30 and 30a)? What are the disadvantages in the use of barn manures? What is the office of nitrogen? How does it affect the plant? How may the lack of nitrogen be discovered? Explain what REVIEW OF THE BOOK 305 nitrogen is and what its sources are. What is ammonia? Nitric acid? Nitrate? What is the relation of humus to nitrogen? What is nitrification? How is it brought about? Is the nitrogen of the atmosphere used by plants? If so, through what parts of the plants is it taken up? How may we add commercial nitrogen to the soil? What is the chief office of phosphoric acid? What crops use liberally of it? What are sources of phosphoric acid? What is meant by the term phosphate? What is p,n acid phosphate? Superphosphate fl-tSaj? Explain the relationships of phosphoric acid to lime. What is a "reverted" phosphate? In what forms are the phosphates found in commercial fertilizers? What is the office of potash? What are the sources of supply? Whence came the commercial potash salts? Explain what muriate and sulfate of potash are. What is an amendment? Give examples. How does an amendment affect the soil? What effect may lime have on land? In what form may it be applied? What do you understand by an acid? Alkali? How many substances may be tested with regard to acidity or alkalinity (153«)? Make the test with vinegar and with lye. What is a commercial fertilizer? What is meant by a "com- plete" fertilizer? W^hat is meant by "guaranteed analysis?" What is meant by the "brand?" What are the relative com- mercial values of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash? Figure out the commercial or estimated value of a ton of commercial fertilizer when the guaranteed analysis is given. How may you determine what is the value of commercial fertilizer? Would you advise using a complete fertilizer, or only one of the fertilizing elements? Explain under what conditions. In what kind of crops is nitrogen chiefly needed? Is there danger of losing nitrogen from the soil? Do potash and phosphoric acid tend to leach out as rapidly as nitrogen? In what soils is leach- ing least pronounced? When are fertilizers applied, before or after fitting the land? Explain the six conditions that govern the application of commercial fertilizers f 1^5'. Can definite rules be given for the application of such fertilizers? Why? 306 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE PART II.— THE PLANT AND CROPS We have now completed a general review of the characteristics of the soil, the means of im- proving its condition and of adding to its rich- ness. We now come to the second of our gi-eat sultjects — the growing of plants. The growing of many plants together results in the securing of a crop. Ordinarily the general farmer considers the crop rather than the individual plant, whereas the gardener considers individual plants rather than crops. That is, the gardener gives each plant special care. He often gi'ows the plant in a pot and every vacancy is noticed. The gar- dener, therefore, is likely to secure greater results from each plant than the general farmer is. It will be seen that this Part 11 is laid out in six chapters: (vn) what the offices of the plant are to the agriculturist; (vm) how the plant lives and grows; (ix) how plants may be prop- agated; (x) how land may be prepared in order to receive the seed; (xi) how a plant is cared for after it has germinated ; (xn) a discussion of a few fundamental crops, as pasturage, mea- dow, and forage. Cliapier 7 The following questions will elucidate the range of the offices of the plant. Note that the REVIEW OF THE BOOK 307 chapter is divided into five coordinate heads, dis- cussing the phmt and the crop in its general agricultural bearings; the plant in its relation to the soil; the plant in its relation to climate; the plant in relation to animal life; and the plant in relation to man. Name the general offices of the plant, as indicated in para- graph 167. What is meant by "crop"? Name a dozen crops. For what purpose may crops be grown? How does the plant influence or modify the soil? How does it supply humus? How does it protect the soil? What value may a tap-root have (170a)? How may plants be utilized to prevent drifting of sands and other loose lands? Name four ways in which the plan influences the supply of moisture. How does it render the surface of the earth more inhabitable and enjoyable? What influence have forests on rain- fall (172a)? What is the relation of plants to animals? Can it be said that "all flesh is grass?" What is the "round of life?" Let the class read aloud and in concert paragraph 175. Name some of the direct uses of plants to man. What are staple products? What are semi-staples? What are luxuries or accessories? What are condiments? What are beverages? What classes of plant products contribute to the food of animals? How are plants or their products used in the arts or manufactures? How are plants useful as objects of ornament? In what ways do they gratify our esthetic tastes and sentiments? What is flori- culture? Landscape horticulture? Chapter 8 This chapter, on how the plant lives, is in- tended to give an outline of some of the most important activities of plants. If the reader 308 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE wants a completer account of these matters he should consult botanical text -books. It will be noticed that the chapter divides into four co- ordinate heads: (1) what the plant activities are; (2) the factors or agencies of growth; (3) the processes of growth; (4) irritability, or move- ment in plants. What is meant by the phrase that the plant is a " dependent structure?" With what must the plant be supplied in order that it shall live and grow? What is meant by the sensitiveness or irritability of a plant? Upon what does the stiffness or rigidness of a succulent plant depend? Why does such a shoot wilt when it is severed from the plant? What is meant by the turgidity of the cells? How does the soil- water pass from cell to cell? Explain or illustrate tur- gidity (184a). Wliat are root-hairs, and what is their office? How is it that these root-hairs absorb the soil water? What does the soil- water contain? The pupil should actually see and examine root-hairs. Compare 1856 and figures 35-37. How much water do plants contain? Do plants absorb more water than they need for purposes of food? If so, what becomes of the surplus? What are stomata? What is their action? Illustrate transpiration (see figures 40 and 10). What is root pressure? Through what part of the plant does the soil water ascend? How may the path of ascent be traced (1896)? What is absorbed with the soil-water? To what part of the plant does this soil-water, with its contents, go? Does the plant absorb only those substances that are use in building up its tissue? How may soil substances that are not in solution be brought into that condition? Name some of the leading substances that are brought in with the soil-water, particularly those that are of primary interest to the farmer? What is meant by the '"ash"? What does the ash contain? Do all the ash ingredients come from the soil? Do any of the non-ash ingredients come from the soil? REVIEW OF THE BOOK 309 "Where does the plant secure its oxygen? What is meant by respiration in plants? How is it compared with respiration in animals? When does respiration chiefly take place? How may respiration be demonstrated (194a)? How else is oxygen secured than through the aerial parts? Do roots need air? Why? What element is most abundant in plants? Whence is it de- rived? How does it become plant-food? Define photosynthesis. Compare it with respiration. What is assimilation (198a)? What is chlorophyl (1986)? What is plant-food (198c)? In what sense may it be said that plants " purify the air? " How does heat aflfect plants? What degree of heat is necessary for certain activities? In what parts of the world do green or succulent plant tissues most abound? Are all plants equally affected by similar temperature? What substance results from photosynthesis? What becomes of it? Illustrate how starch may be detected (203?^)? What are the internal and external evidences of growth? Note that when a plant ceases to grow it begins to die. In what parts do young stems elongate? How does the root behave in this respect? How may these differences be shown? How is increase in diameter effected? Why does the external bark become furrowed and crack and break away? What is meant by the word " sap" (207a)? How is irritability expressed? Name some visible move- ments of plants. How do plants move with reference to light? With reference to gravitation? What is meant by the phrase "reaction of plants to their environment"? Chapter 9 We now discuss the j)ropagation of plants. Note that the chapter is divided into three co- ordinate parts: (1) a discussion of the general means by which plants are propagated; (2) prop- agation by means of seeds; (3) propagation by means of buds. 310 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE What are the two great classes of methods by means of which plants are propagated? What three objects has the farmer in mind when he propagates plants? What do vou understand by the term "propagation" as applied to plants? Why are not seeds always employed as a means of propagation? What is meant by the term "to come true to seed?" Explain why it is that plants that are habitually propagated by buds usually do not come true from seeds (215rt). What are four general requisites or proper conditions for the germination of seed? What is meant by the "vitality" of seeds? How do seeds vary in vitality, and why? What is a "seed-bed?" In what condition should it be? What caution is suggested for the handling of old and weak seeds? What is the reason for the soaking of seeds? How is oxygen applied to germinate seeds? How may this supply be increased in a simple experimental way? What is meant by the proper temperature for the germination of seeds? Give examples of temperatures that are best for certain kinds. What is the ideal soil for a seed-bed. and why? How is the depth of planting modified by the kind of soil? Why is the earth packed about seeds? What caution is given respecting the cover- ing of very small seeds? What is meant by "re-germinating?" How are very hard and bony seeds sometimes treated? What do you understand by the term "stratification?'' What do you tmderstand by the phrase "propagation by means of buds"? Under what circumstances are plants propagated by means of buds? What are the two general types of propagation by buds? Explain what a layer is. Bring a shoot into the schoolroom and show how layering is performed, or make a layer from some bush or tree nearby. What plants are propagated by means of layers? When are the layers separated from the parent plants? When may the operation be performed? What are the two kinds of propagation by means of detached or separated buds? What is a cutting? A slip? A graft? Tell what softwood or greenwood cuttings are, and explain how they are made and handled. What are hardwood and dormant cut- REVIEW OF THE BOOK 311 tings? How made and how handled? Name plants that are propagated by means of softwood cuttings and hardwood cuttings. What is a "single eve" cutting, and how planted? What do you understand by the term grafting ? Cion ? Stock? What is meant by the word "bud" as used by grafters or budders? Why do the cion and stock unite? Why is it necessary to bind up the wounds or to cover them with wax? Explain the operation of cleft- grafting. Of shield-budding. Under what circumstances and on what plants are these methods commonly usedf Of what age of wood is the cion usually made? When is grafting performed? Budding? How are plants made to be dwarf by means of grafting or budding (24165)? Chapter 10 The preparation of the land for seed will uow be considered. Having learned how plants are propagated by the gardener, we may take a broader view of the subject, and see how they are started in the fields of the farmer. We shall now have to do with (1) the general factors that determine the preparation of the seed-bed; (2) the demands made by the plants on the soil; (3) the actual making of the seed-bed; (4) the ap- plication of the foregoing principles to such fundamental crops as wheat, Indian corn and potatoes. What is said about the loss from faulty preparation of land ? Why is it so very important that the farmer should know what the ideal seed-bed should be? What is a seed-bed, as used in its agricultural sense (243«)? What are the two factors that govern the preparation of the land for the seed-bed? Do fine seeds demand a different kind of seed-bed from very 312 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE large seeds or from cuttiugs of potatoes? Why? How may plants change their root system to adapt themselves to different kinds of seed-beds? How is the seed provided with food to start it off before it can secure a foothold on the soil? Explain the different char- acter of seed-bed demanded by clover and sugar beets. From what part of the soil do most of the farm plants derive their nourishment? How does a well prepared seed-bed conduce to the earliness of the crop? How do plants differ in regard to the character of seed-bed that they require (Explain by contrasting winter wheat and Indian corn)? Explain the importance of moisture to the germination of seeds. What kind of seed-bed is best for the preservation of soil moisture? Eeview the remarks on the earth-mulch in Chapters HI and IV, and make an application to the present discussion. What is meant by the "subsoil," "surface soil," and "sub-surface" soil? What is the value of rolling the seed-bed? Explain why the seed-bed should contain no free water. If it is desired to plant seeds unusually early, what must be the prepaiation of the seed-bed, — that is, how may the soil be warmed up? What effect has under-drainage on the germination of seeds (251«)? What can you say about soils that tend to bake? What is the advantage of sowing seeds very early? Do all seeds that germinate make good plants? Are those that fail to make good plants necessarily a total loss to the farmer? Under what conditions are seeds sown on the surface of the soil without the actual prepaia- tion of a seed-bed? What cautions are given respecting the making of seed-beds on clay lands? Why is summer-fallowing practiced as a preparation for wheat growing (255?))? Discuss the seed-bed that is best for winter wheat. Under what system of tillage may this seed-bed best be secured? What eft'ect does this seed-bed have on the root system of the wheat plant? Why is it best that wheat roots should not go directly downwards deep into the soil? Is it probable that the root system of the wheat plant tends to change somewhat as spring advances? What is the ideal seed-bed for maize or Indian corn? How does it differ from that of wheat? What are the best machines for planting corn? When may the young corn be tilled? REVIEW OF THE BOOK 313 What is the proper seed-bed for potatoes? Should tht^y be planted deep or shallow? Should they be grown in level culture or on ridges? Chapter 11 Having now discussed the preparation of the seed-bed and the starting of the crop, we may give attention to some of the principles that underlie the subsequent care of the plant. This care falls under three general categories: (1) the care given by means of tillage; (2) the care given by means of pruning and training; (3) the care given by keeping insects and fungi and other enemies in check. What is the first consideration in the care of the plant? What are the objects of tillage? What can you say about weeds? Name some of the general means of keeping weeds in check. How often should surface tillage be given? Is it ever practicable to till sowed crops? How late may it be advisable to till corn by means of harrows? Is tillage advisable in fruit plantations? Why is it that fruit plantations may do better without tillage than corn or potatoes do? Why is it very important to till fruit plantations early in life? May the orchard need clean tillage throughout its whole life? May sod ever be employed in an orchard to advantage? Should fruit plantations be tilled uniformly throughout the entire season? Explain a good general method for the tillage of fruit lands. What is pruning? Training? Is pruning unnatural? Explain by reference to a tree top what is meant by the phrase "struggle for existence." Explain how wounds heal. What are some of the factors that determine the proper healing of wounds? IIow does the senson of the year in which they are made influence the healing? What 314 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE should be the length and form of stub or stump when a large limb is cut away? What is the value of dressings on wounds? Men- tion one or two good dressings. Explain why we prune. What is the result of heavy pruning of the top? Heavy pruning of roots? What are watersprouts? What influence has the checking of growth? How may this checking of growth be brought about? What is the philosophy of heading-in young shoots? Explain the effects of pruning every year versus heavy pruning in occasional years. What are the leading kinds of enemies of plants? Explain the two general types of insects with reference to their methods of feeding. Give illustrations in each. What are some of the classes of fungous pests with reference to their manner of living? What is meant by physiological or constitutional troubles? How are these troubles to be distinguished? What is a fungus (292rt)? What is a host (292^)? What are the first requisites to keeping plants free of insects and fungi? What is meant by prophylaxis (294a) ? Name the three general ways in which insects are killed. What are the caustic applications? Discuss the poisonous applications. What classes of materials are used as fungicides! What is Bordeaux mixture? What is meant by the term "spraying?" Explain how spraying should be performed. How are you to determine what is the best spray pump? Is spraying alone suflScient to keep plants healthy? Explain the different formulas. Chapter 12 We now pass to a discussion of pastures, meadows and forage. Relatively few of the agri- cultural crops can be considered to be funda- mental, that is, to underlie the general system of agricultural practice. It is impossible in a work of limited scope to discuss the cultivation of many crops, but some of the principles that REVIEW OF THE BOOK 315 underlie crop cultivation can be well illustrated with a few examples. Since grasses and other forage crops are of such universal use, these have been chosen for illustration. Note that the chapter begins with (1) a general discussion of the importance of grasses; (2) permanent pas- tures; (3) meadows; (-4) other forage plants. Why is grass said to be the fundamental crop? What is meant by the term "grass" as used in its popular or general -language sense (3046-304e)? What do you understand by the term "rota- tion of crops? " What are the advantages of rotation ? How important is grass in such a system? Give one or two examples of good rotation of crops (3056), Explain how the number of grass plants to a square foot may be modified by the uses to which the plants are to be put. What is a "pasture?" What is a "permanent pasture" (307a)? How should the land be prepared for the making of a permanent pasture.-* Explain how pastures may be made on different kinds of soil. Explain how a good pasture may be secured on land that has been cropped too continually and failed to produce well under rotation. Why is it necessary to prepare the soil for per- manent pasture very thoroughly? Why does the pasture tend to fail with age? Name some of the kinds of grasses that may be employed in the making of a permanent pasture. Why are clovers said to be "host plants" to the grasses (312, 312a)? How may clovers be maintained in pastures? As pastures begin to fail for lack of plant-food, how may they be revived? Explain how important constant watchfulness is to the maintenance of a permanent pasture. What is the necessity of keeping the ground constantly and evenly covered with sward? What can you say about pas- turing too close? About letting the grasses run to seed? What is said about the importance of shade on the surface of the pas- ture lands and how it may be secured? Recapitulate (as in para- graph 317) the essentials in the making and keeping of pastures. 316 THZ PBrsCTPLZ? OP AGBICITLTDmS largest yieic? ,: .- ; clorer with 'ir ^: unmixed m - : ~" ; ■which a iLnrauow What is a "p- of the gra,SBes cf ^'s^z: c i . T PAET in. THE AXDIAL AXD STOCK Note that there are two genr::,! -objects con- sidered in this part of the b-'^'^!-: I t--^^ subjects are: the animal as anindiv: :.. ._; .vi aggre- gation of animals known as live-stock. Before one can handle animals in groups or become a stock farmer, he must know the characteristics of the individnal animals and how to feed and treat them. This part of the book is divided into four general parts: (xm) the general ofEces REVIEW OF THE BOOK 317 of the animal to agriculture; (xiv) animal physi- ology, or how the animal lives and grows and performs its functions; (xv) the feeding of the annnal as a matter of farm practice; (xvi) the general management of the stock. "to^ Chapter 13 We first discuss the offices of the animal. Note that the offices of the animal as related to the farm are thrown into several general heads. Cite what these heads are. Explain the offices of the animal as outlined in paragraph 336. What is stock? Name some of the animals that are included under this term. How does the animal have relation to the soil in respect to maintaining and increasing fertility? What relation has stock to the disposition of the crops of the farm? Explain how the animal itself has intrinsic value to man. Classify the subject, as in ^4rt, 4fe, 4c. What do you understand by the phrase, "the animal as a beast of burden?" In what ways does the ani- mal perform labor for the farmer? How may the animal act as a destroyer of pests? What influence has the stock industry on the diversification of labor? What is meant by the phrase "diversi- fication of labor?" Chapter 14 Note that there are six coordinate parts in this chapter on how the animal lives. Give these six parts in their order or write them on the blackboard. This chapter is somewhat technical, and 318 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICrLTURE extra time should be given to it. The reader will do well to study it until he feels a sense of mastery of the subject as here presented. What is a cell? Why does this discussion begrin with the cell? Discuss single-celled animals, as in paragraphs 356-S59. Do these lowly animals have distinct organs? What is meant by "many- celled animals? " What are the offices of individual cells in these many-celled animals, as compared with that of single-celled animals? Whaf is meant by the "process of nutrition?" By the "nervous processes?" By the "processes of secretion" (36;>a)? What are glands (363?)), and what are some of their offices? What are the offices of the corpuscles of the blood? With what may these corpuscles be compared? What is the lymph and the lymphatic system (365, 365a)? What is meant by a specialized and a generalized organ or organism (360a)? What are the kinds of food as outlined in 367? What are herbivorous animals? Carnivorous? How do the digestive organs of the herbivorous animals differ from others? Compaze ths digestive apparatus of the horse with that of the ox. How does artificial care and selection modify the size of the digestire organs? What must all foods contain in order to be of use to the animal? Name nitrogenous foods. Name non-nitrogeneus foods. What is the special office of the latter? Are the non- nitrogenous foods ever formed from the nitrogenous? How? What is meant by fat (371a)? What are the mineral salts? What is the constitution of ideal food? What is meant by a well-balaneed ration? Can a definite mathematical ration be constnieted titat will be of equal value for all animals? Explain. What is digestion? What is the alimentary canal? What are the digestive secretions? Discuss saliva. What is the active principle of saliva, and what is its office? What are the offices of the Tarious stomachs in ruminating animals? What is the office of the chewing of the cud? How do the saliTaiy glands differ between youth and age? What relation has this to the kind of food that an animal should have? What are the three digestive principles produced by the stomach? Describe them. What is REVIEW OF THE BOOK 319 an antiseptic (387a)? What is pepsin and peptone? How are peptones distinguished? What is their office? What is the milk- curdling fermeut? What is a ferment (379<7i? What is rennet, aud for what is it used? Where is the gastric juice secreted in birds? What digestion takes place in the intestines? Describe the fluids there secreted. What is bile and where secreted? What is its office? Discuss pancreatic juice. What is meant by an emul- sion (396a)? What is the intestinal juice? The various foods having been digested, they are now to be aborbed or taken into the bodily system. Describe how they are absorbed by means of villi. Describe what a villus is. Into what fluids do these digestive matters pass? The blood having received the digested foods, these materials now go to various parts of the body to build up the tissues and repair waste. What is one of the most important new products resulting from digestion? What transformation takes place in the liver? What are ptomaines and toxins (-lOOa)? What is breathing? What is the relative constitution of in- haled and exhaled air? How is the air brought into contact with the blood? How is the blood circulated in the warm-blooded animals? What is the nature of blood as it goes from the heart and returns to it? What becomes of the excess of oxygen in the new or pure blood? Where does the real effect of breathing take place? How is the amount of needed air modified by the con- dition or activity of the animal? How does the amount vary be- tween different species of animals? At what point does air be- come unable to support life because of carbon dioxid? What is the value of good ventilation? Give any practical hints. What is meant by "waste of tissue? " Under what conditions does waste proceed most rapidly? Under what conditions is waste repaired? Does the waste take place in exact proportion to the energy or work expended by the individual? When will the animal lay up fat? Under what conditions are milk-pro- ducing animals profitable to their owners? What are the most favorable conditions for the fattening of animals? What are the dangers of too close confinement? Is the animal body to be likened to a mere machine (426)? 320 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUBB Chapter i.j Note the four co-ordinate parts into which this chapter on the feeding of the ayv.w.ai is divided; namely, sources from which animal food is secured, how the animal uses the food, the composition of fodders, and the practice of feeding. What is the nature of animal food? What is a fodder? What mast fodder contain in order to be useful? How is it that the animal is able to secure energy from the materials stored in plants? How does the animal first expend energy on the food? How may the profit in fodder be represented? Why is it that some sabstanees that contain an abundance of plant -food may still be unprofitable for feeding? Name the fire wars in which the animal uses fodder. When the food is scant and insufficient, how is it used? What is meant by "food of maintenance," "food of support," and "food of production?" Is all the food or material consumed by the animal of use to it in building up animal tissue? Why? How does the proportion of food digested vary in different animals? How does it Tsry with the character of the food itself ? Name the varions classes of substances which compose fod- ders. To what extent is water present in fodders? What is a by- product ( 437ia \ ? What is the use of the water to animals? How does the water content increase the Talne of fodder in general? What is ash? Prom what sources do animals secure all the ash that they need? What is the importance of albuminoids as fodder constituents? What elements do they contain? How does the composition of albuminoids vary? What are carbohydrates? What is the signification of the term from the chemical point of view (445/i>? What is the particular ofBce of carbohydrates? What is meant by fiber? Diseoss the importance of fats in fod- ders. How is the feeding value of fat expressed (449)? What are the classes of fodder that are of distinct use to the REVIEW OF THE BOOK 321 animal? What are they called collectively? What is a ration? What is a balanced ration? What is a nutritive ration? What is a "wide" and a ''narrow" nutritive ration? Give an example (as susrgested by 453'<). What is the value of the nutritive ration in actual feeding practice? Which of the food constituents is most likely to be lacking and is most needful, therefore, to be supplied? On what does the quantity of food required by an animal depend (458, 45Srt, 459)? How does the amount vary between youth and age? How is the profit secured from feeding? Upon what does the amount of "food for production'" depend? Give an illustra- tion (462). Is the food that an animal actually eats a measure of the amount that it actually needs? Explain. What is a feeding standard? Give an example. How may these feeding standards be varied? What is the advantage of mere bulk in ration? What are the substances that give bulk to a ration? What is meant by the term "coarse" as applied to fodders? What by the term "concentrated fodders?" What is the danger in providing a too bulky ration? About what proportion of dried matter should a particular ration contain for cud-chewing animals? For horses? What is meant by palatableness? What is its value in fodders? Give one reason why silage is a good fodder. What is silage (46961? If there is any advantage in cooking foods, explain what it is. What is the advantage of cutting or shredding fodders? What is the advantage of variety or change in the food given to an animal? Chapter 16 A brief discus.siou of the management of stock may now be imdertakeu. Note the four divisions into which this chapter falls: as, the breeding of stock, where stock raising is advisable, how much stock can be kept on a given area, and the care of stock in general. What is meant by the propagation or increase of the race? What is necessary beyond the mere propagation of stock? What 322 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE is breeding and what are its two objects? What is a breed? Name breeds in various classes of stock. When may a man be said to be a stock-breeder? What is meant by the ''mental" ideal, and what is its value in stock-breeding? When may the ideal be im- practicable? How does the ideal vary with different classes of stock? How are animals judged in regard to their excellence? What is meant by the judging or the scoring of animals (4sia)? If possible, apply the score cards on pages 276 and 277 to animals for which they are intended. What is the first practice in breed- ing for an ideal? What is the second point? What is meant by a "prepotent" animal? Give some of the common characteristics of a prepotent animal. What is a "sport"? What importance do these sports usually have in the improvement of the race? What is meant by the terra "fixed" as applied to breeding? What is a pedigree? What are the advantages of a pedigree (486, 486a;? What is meant by pure-blooded stock? Is pure stock always to be advised for the general farmer, and why? How may the farmer secure the advantages of good breeding (487, 487a)? In what regions and under what conditions is live - stock growing particularly advantageous? Discuss the advantages of the West and South where the range areas are large. Discuss the narrow and sheltered valleys of the North. What is the gen- eral tendency respecting the extent of stock raising? Name some conditions under which a large quantity of stock can not be kept with the most profit. Let the class read paragraph 491 in concert. How much stock may be profitably kept on an acre in the rich prairie countries? How much on farms in the East? What are the two theories or principles controlling the quantity of stock a farm can keep with profit? Explain the practice of buying stock to feed. What are the economies of this practice when figured on the basis of wheat bran (496, 497 1? When is this practice of stock-feeding likely to be profitable? What is one reason for the growth of this practice (499)? What is the value of stock- feeding in respect to maintaining the fertility of the land (500, 500a)? What is the general importance of making animals comfort- able? Discuss ventilation, and how secured. Discuss the tem- iiE\nEW OF THE BOOK 323 perature at which stables should be maintained. Discuss the importance of light, and how it may be controlled. Discuss also the means of storing the manure. Discuss some principles that underlie the watering of animals. How does the ration vary with the ammal, its age, and the conditions under which it is"kept> How should the ration and time of feeding be governed.^ What IS the danger of feeding too much at any one time? Let the class read m concert paragraph 510a, at the bottom of pa-e 279 INDEX Accessories. 109. Acid phosphate, 94, 95. Acid soils, 97, 98, 104„189. Acidity, 234. .Esthetic tastes. 109. Agassiz, referred to, 35. Agricultural chemistry, 9, 113. Agricultural colleges, 2. Agricultural physics, 6. Agriculture, 1, 11, 14. Air in soils, 38, 72. Albumin. 213, 219, 255. Albuminoids, 245, 246, 248, 257. Alfalfa. 192, 199. Alimentary canal, 215, 233. Alkaline, 234. Alluvial lands. 24. Alps, denundation of, 30. Amendments. 40, 97. Ammonia, 90, 91. Amieba. 231. Amylopsin, 221. Anacharis Canadensis, 128. Analysis of soil, 42. Angleworms, 17. [271. Animal, feeding of, 240, 247, 266, Animal, how it lives, 208. Animal industry, 2, 3. Animal locomotion, 7. Animal, the, 201. Animals and soil-building, 16. Animals, species and breeds, 14. ▲nimfti-knowledge, 8. Antiseptic, 164, 173, 218, 234, Apiculture. 3. Apple, propagation, 144. Apple, varieties of, 14. Apples, 108. Apples, tilling, 161, 162. Apple-scab, 167, 175. Apple-worm. 205. Aquatic plants, 19. Arthur & MacDougal, 128, 129, 131. Arts, animals in. 203. Ash in foods. 242, 243. Ashes. 96. Assimilation in plants, 115, 128. Astronomy. 15. Atkinson, referred to, 124, 128, 131. Availability, 88, 104. Babcock test, 278. Bacillus ubiquitus, 35. Bacteria. 35, 167. Bailey, quoted, 31, 33, 45, 76. 84, 111, 129, 130, 131, 140, 157. 17L Banana, 1. Barley, 106. Barley and pastures, Ifel. Barley, wild. 191. Bam, 268, 269. Barnes, referred to, 131. Barn-yard, 82, 85, 86. Bayous, 23. Bean, germination, 124. Bean soil, 42. (325) 326 INDEX Beans. 5. 92. 108. Beans and moisture, 57. Bedding. 267. Bee-culture, 3, 11. Beef. 11, 203. Beet, sugar. 147. Beetles. 166. Bermuda grass, 181. Beverage. 108, 109. Bicycle. 204. Bile. 220. 236. Birds, digestion in, 220. Birds, tame. 204. Black-knot, 167. Blights. 167. 174. Blood. 210. 211, 222. 226. Blood, dried. 92. 203, 206. Blue grass, 181, 190, 195, 197. Bogs. 20. 181. Bone. 93. 207. Bordeaux mixture, 169, 173, 177. Borers, 167, 168. Botany, 7. 15. Boulders, 24. Bran for feeding. 266. Breathing in animals, 224. Breeding. 8, 259. Breeds, 15. Brisket, 272, 276. Buckwheat, 79, 108, 136. 181. Bud propagation, 136. Budding, 139. 140, 144. Buds, opening. 130. Bulk in ration. 252. Burning of soils, 29. Business, 4, 9. Butter, 1, 11, 202. Buttermilk, 255. By-products, 255. 266. Cabbage, club-root, 175. Calcium, 87, 116. California Experiment Station. 63. Callus. 138. Cambium. 121, 139. Canned fruits, 11. Capacity of soil, 50, 59. 157. Capillary water, 48, 55, 5«, 150. 157 Carbohydrate. 127. 243, 246, 256. Carbon dioxid, 104, 117, 118. 127 129, 224, 235. Carbonate of copper, 169, 177. Care of stock, 258. Carex. 194. Carnation, 14, 106. Carnivorous animals, 108, 212 Casein. 213, 218, 219. 256. Catch-crops, 78, 80. Cats, 108, 204. Cattle. 3. 14, 108, 201, 212, 272, Cauliflowers, 109. Cavanaugh, chapter by, 87. Cereals, 181, 263. Charcoal. 104. Chautauqua belt. 14. Checking growth. 165. Cheese, 1, 11. 219, 235. Chemical action. 32. Chemicals in schools, 105. Chemistry, 8. 13, 15. Chester, quoted, 34. Chicken, 3, 235. Chine, 272. Chlorophyll, 118. Chrysanthemum, 14. Chyle, 235. Cider, 1, 109. Cion, 139. 144. Civil engineering, 7. Clay, moisture in, 51 Climatology, 9. Climate, 3, 9, 107, 111. INDEX 327 Clinton L. A., chapter by, 47. Clinton. L. A., referred to, 76. Clod-crushers, 69. Clothing. 1. [80, 81, 84. Clover, green-crop, 22, 67, 78, 70, Clover in meadows, 181, 186, 189, Cover roots, 110. [19.3,199. Clover, plant-food in, 203, 206. Clover, seed-bed for. 151. Clovers and nitrogen, 92 Club-root, 175. Cobbett's Tull, 72. Colleges, 2. Come true. 136, 140. Comfrey, 191. Commercial fertilizer, 95, 98, 203. Compost, 34, 82. Compounds, 88, 103. Condiments, 109. [71. Conservation of moisture, 56, 65, Constituents of food, 213, 242, 266. Constitutional troubles, 166, 167, Cooking food, 2.54. [170, 174. Copper fungicide, 169. Corn. See maize. Cornell Experiment Station, 63. Cotton, 109, 120. Cotton-seed meal, 267. Cover-crops, 52, 79, 80, 162. Covered yard, 82, 85, 86. Cow, air required by, 228. 269 Cow, points of, 273. Cows, feeding, 267. Cows, standard for, 252. Cow-peas, 79. Crabs, 206. Crop of fowl, 220, 235. Crops, 106, 202. Cultivators, 69. Culture, 72. Currant bug, 174. Currants, cuttings, 138. Cut-flowers, 109. Cuttings, 138, 142. Cypress knees, 127. Dairy husbandry, 3. Daisies in meadows, 31, 170. Darwin, quoted, 13, 33. Davy, work of, 13. DeCandolle, quoted, 14. Delta, 35. Department of Agriculture, 13. Dewlap, 273, 277. Dicalcic phosphate, 95. Digestion, 215, 240. Discovery, 12. Diseases, 8, 10, 162. Ditches, .53, 60. Diversification of labor, 205, 207. Dogs, 108, 204. [265, 278. Drag, 76. Drainage, 53, 60. Drains, 48, 53, 60. Dressings, 83. Dressings for wounds, 164. Dried blood, 92, 203, 206. Dried meat, 206. Droughts, 49, 24. Ducks, 3, 200. Duggar, B. M., chapter by, 112. Dust in air, 35. Dwarfing, 137, 144. Dyes, 109. Earth-mulch, 57, 65, 69, 71, 149. Earthworms. 17, 33. Ecology, 8, 13. Eel-grass, 19. Egg. white of. 213, 256. Eggs, 1, 11, 202. Elements, 87, 103. 328 INDEX Elodea Canadensis, 128. Emulsions, 168, 175, 221, 235. Enemies of plants, 166. Energy, 240. Engineering, 7. Enriching land, 77. Ensilage. See silage. Entomology, 15. Environmfnt, 8, 13. Escutcheon, 273, 276. Evaporated fruits, 1 [125. Evaporation from plants, 113, 114, Exhausted lands, 27. Experiment stations, 2, 13. Exploration, 12. Extensive farming, 86. Factorv. 11. Fallowing, 158. Fall-plowing, 40. Farming, 1, 11. Farm-manures, 41. Farm-practice, 4, 28. Farm resources, 77. Fats in food, 213, 229, 243, 247, 256. Feed-mills, 7. Feeding of animal, 240, 247, 266, Feeding standards, 252. [271. Ferment, 233. Fertility, real, 77. Fertilizer, 41, 43, 95, 98, 203. Fertilizers, brands of, 15. Fescue, 190, 191. Fiber in foods, 243, 246. Fibers, 2, 28, 109. Fibrin, 219. Film moisture, 49, 59. Fish, 3, 201, 203. Fish, ground, 204, 206, 207. Flax, 109. Flesh is grass. 108. Float, 71. Floating islands, 20. Floriculture, 3, 109. Florists' plants, 46. Flour, 11. Flower-pot experiment, 57, 59. Flowers, varieties, 15. Fodder, 109, 239. Food constituents, 213, 243, 267. Food, cooking, 255. [271 Food of animals, 108, 212, 240, 243 Food, quantity of, 250, 258, 266. Forage, 109, 191. Forcing-house, 86. Forest a crop, 106. Forestry, 2, 3, 12, 111. Fowls, 3, 259. Fowls, digestion in, 220. Foxes, 212. Free water, 48, 50. Freezing pulverizes soil, 68. Frigid zones, plants in, 119. Fruit-evaporating machinery, 7. Fruit-growing, 3, 11, 80, 96. Fruit plantations, tilling, 161. Fuchsias, cuttings, 138. Fungi, 166, 167, 169, 173. Fungicides, 169. Furrow, 72. Furrow-slice, 74. Gang-plows, 163, 171. Ganong, quoted, 33. Garden, 12. Gastric juice, 215, 218. Gaye, quoted, 33, 36, 129 Geese, 3. Geike, referred to, 30. Geology, 9, 14. Geraniums, cuttings, 138. German peasants, 206 INDEX 329 Germination, 116, 124, 133, 135. Germs, 21, 35, 91. Gills, 225. Ginger, 109. Gizzard, 220, 235. Glaciers, 24, 35. Glands, 210, 232. Gluten, 213, 218. 219. Gluten-meal, 267. Glycogen, 211, 213, 232. Grafting, 137, 138, 139, 144. Grain-feeders, 212. Grains, 2, 109. Grains and phosphoric acid, 93. Gramineae, 193. Granite, wearing away, 30. Grape districts, 277. Grape mildew, 167. Grapes, cuttings, 138, 142. Grass, 179, 189, 193. Grass and daisies, 31. Grass-feeders, 212. Gravitation and growth, 122. Green-crops, plowing under, 60, 65. Green-manures, 21, 41, 52, 78, 79. Growth and nitrogen, 89. Growth, in plants, 113, 120, 121. Growth processes, 120, 121. Grub, white, 205. Gypsum, 95, 105, 123. Habitableness, 107. Hair-waste, 204. Half-way stone, 32. Happiness, 6. Hard-pan, 67, 74. Harrows, 69, 155, 160. Harvesting machinery, 7. Hay raising, 185. Heading-in, 166. Heart, 225, 228, 238. Heat and germination, 133. Heat and plants. 119. Heat-producing, 229, 246, 256. Hellebore, 169. Hemp, 109. Herbage and plowing, 67, 68. Herbivorous animals, 108, 212. Hogs. See pigs and swine. Hoes, 69. Honeysuckle, layering, 142. Hoof-meal, 204, 206. Hop districts, 277. Horn, 204. Horse, air required by, 269. Horse, intestine of, 212. Horse, trotting, 275. Horses, 3, 108, 201, 212. Horses, food of, 212, 272. Horses, standards for, 252. Horticulture, 2. 3, 12. Hortus, 12. Host, 167, 174, 183, 197. Housing of animals, 258, 266, 272. Hudson, palisades of, 30. Humus. 20. 22. 34, 41, 51, 52, 77, 78, 81, 91, 93, 96, 149, 194, 264. Hungarian grass, 193. Hunting, 12. Husbandry, 2, 11, 28. Hydraulic rams, 7. Hydrochloric acid in stomach, 218. Hydrogen, 90. Hydroscopic water, 48, 49. Implements, 66, 69, 71, 74 75, 76, 158, 160, 162, 171. Indian com. See maiie. Inorganic matter, 16, 28. Insalivation, 216. Insecticides, 168. Insects, fighting, 15, 161, 166. 1S8. 330 INDEX Intensive farming. 79. 84, 265. Intemode. 121. Inter-tillage, 64. 72. Intestinal juice, 215, 220. 221. Intestines, sizes of, 212. Iodine. 130, 233. Iron. 87. Irrigation, 48. 58. Irritability. 122. Islands, floating, 20. Japan clover, 79, 182. 194, 197. Jellies. 11. Judging animals, 261. 273, 275. June grass. 181. 190, 195. 197. Jute. 109. Kansas Experiment Station. 63. Kerosene and emulsion. 168, 175. King, quoted, 13, 33, 35, 36, 43, 45, 63. ?2, 111. Kitchen-garden vegetables, 3, 12. Lagoons, 19, 23, 107. Lakes and soil, 19. Land defined, 16. Landscape horticulture, 3. 109. Law, James, chapter by. 208. Lawn, 3, 109. Layers, 137, 142. Leachy soils. 38, 39, 50, 91. Leaf-blights. 174. Leaf-hoppers. 168. Leaves, 84. Leguminous plants, 79, 80 181, 192. Lespedeza bicolor, 194. Lichen, 31. Liebig. work of, 13. Lilacs, layering, 142. Lime, 45, 87. 97. Lime and phosphorus, 94. Lime and sulfuric acid. 33 Litmus paper, 98, 104. 234. Liver, 220, 223. Live-stock, 263. Loam, 20, 51. Locomotion, animal, 7. Lodeman, referred to, 177. Loin, 273, 276, 277. London purple, 168, 176. Longevity of seeds, 133, 141. Lubbock, quoted, 30. Lucerne, 199. Lumber, 12, 109. Lungs. 225. 226, 238, 246. Luxuries, 5, 109. Lymph. 211, 222, 232, 236. Machinery. 7. Maize. 5, 26, 31, 47, 57, 58, 79. Maize and live-stock, 264, 266. Maize and oxygen, 117. Maize, food in. 278. Maize forage, 192. Maize, regermination, 136. Maize, seed-bed for, 148, 152. Maize, tilling, 160, 170. Mal-nutrition. 8. Mammals, 3. Management of stock, 259. Mangrove, 19, 33. Manufacture, 2, 11, 15. Manures, 21, 41. 52. 65, 81, 82, 93, 201. 206. 265. 268. Many-celled animals, 208. Marble, wearing away, 30. 32. Market-gardening. 86, 265. Market problems, 5. Marl, 83. Marsh grasses, 19. Match, 104. Mathematics, 15. INDEX 331 Meadows, harrowing, 160. Meadows, making, ISo. Meal for feeding, 267. Meat, 5, 202. Meat, dried, 206. Mechanics, 7. Medicine, 2. 8. 3Iedicines, 109. Mellow soils, 38, 39. Melon and cold. 120. :Merrill, referred to, 36. 3Ieteorology, 9. Microbe, 35. Micro-organisms, 22, 34. Micro-organisms and ferment, 232. Micro-organisms and nitrogen. 91. Milch cow, care of, 230. Mildews, 167, 174. Milk. 1. Milk-curdling ferment, 218, 221. Milk machinery, 7. Milk secreted, 211. Mining, 12. Mixed husbandry. 11, 28, 279, Moisture and germination, 133, 141. Moisture, conservation, 56, 65. 71. Moisture in soils, .38, 47. Mold, 20. 51. Molds, 173. Molecules, 32. Monocalcic phosphate, 95. Monuments, wearing away, 30. Moss, 31, 33. Mountains, 16, 29. Muck, 83. Mulch of soil, 57, 65, 69. 71, 149. Muley, 262. Mullein, 36. Muriate of potash. 96, 123. Muriatic? acid in stomach, 218. Muscle cell, 231 Mustard, 79. Muzzle, 273, 276. 277. Nebraska Experiment Station, 63. Nervous processes, 210. Nicholson, quoted, 14. Nile, 24. Nitrate of soda. 90, 92. Nitrates. 90, 91. 104. Nitrification. 38, 65, 91. Nitrites, 104. Nitrogen. 87.89. 98. 101. 116. 203. Nitrogen, amount in soil, 25. Nitrogen-gatherers, 79, 80, 181, 192. Nitrogen in food, 213, 245. Numbers of species, 14. Nurserymen's moss, 33. Nutrition in cells, 210. Nutritive ratio, 247, 257. Oats, 47, 79. Oats for forage, 193. Oats, regermination. 136. Oats, water in. 47. OflSces of the plant. 106. Oil-meal, 267. Oil of vitriol, 92, 94. Olericulture, 3. Onion seeds, 133, 136. Opium, 109. Optimum temperature, 119, 134. Orange, budding, 144. Oranges, 108. [197. Orchard-grass, 110. 181, 190. 196, Orchards, tilling, 161. [66. Organic matter, 16, 19, 28, 33, 34. Organic matter removed by bum- Organisms, 21. [ing, 29. Ornamental plants, 3, 109. Ornithology, 8, 15. Osmosis, 113. •332 INDEX OstTeaculmre, 3. Ox. 212. Oxen, standards for. 252. Oxygen. 90. 116, 129. Oxygen and germination. 133, 134. Oxygen in blood, 211, 223, 246. Oxygen in breathing. 224. Oyster-raising, 3. Palatability, 244, 254. Palisades, 30. Pancreatic joice, 215, 221. Paradise, 12. Parasitic fnngi, 166, 173. Paris green, 168, 176. Parkinson's book, 13. Parsnip seeds, 133. Particles of soU, size of, 39, 43, 44. Pasttires, harrowing, 160, 181. Pastures, permanent, 180, 197. Pathology, 8. Pea family, 79. Pea mildew, 167. Pea, regermination, 136. Peach, budding, 144. Peaches, 106. Pear-blight, 167. Pear, propagating, 144. Pears, tilling, 162. Pea5, 92, 193. Peas, to prevent erosion, 51. Peat, 20, 83. Pedigree, 262, 263, 278. Pepsin, 218. Peptones. 219, 223. Perennials, 146. Perfumery. 109. Pests, 10. 157. Pests ard stock, 205. Pets, 204. Phietum pr»:.e!:se. 195. Phosphate, SS, 94, 95, 104. Phosphatic rocks, 94. Phosphoric acid, 25, 93, 98, 101. Phosphorus, 87, 88, 104, 116, 203. Physics, 6. [170, 174- Physiological troubles, 166, 167, Physiology, 8. Pigs. See also swine. Pigs, standards for, 232. Pin-bone, 273, 276. 278. Flanker, 71, 75, 76. Plant-food defined, 128. Plant-food elements, 87. Plant, how it lives, 112. Plant-knowledge. 7. Plant-Uee, 166, 168. Plants, species and varieties. 14. Plaster, 95. Plowing, 66, 162, 171. Plowing green-crops, 60, 65. Plowing to dry the land, 6S. Flows, 73, 74. Flnm, bndding, 144. Flnm-rot, 175. Foa pratensis, 1%. Points of animals, 2G2, 273, 275. Poisons for insects, 168. Pomace, 84, 256. Pomology, 3. Ponds and soil, 19. Pork. -203. Pot, with plant, 46. Potash, 95, 98, 101. Potash, amount in soil, 25. P-':5 ==:-:i: ". IM. 116. -i-^, 167. : 3gation, 146, 155. P::i : r. Irri. 15i INDEX 33J Potato, varieties of, 14. Potatoes, 1, 96, 108. Potatoes and muriate, 96. Potatoes, tilling, 160. Potatoes, water in, 47. Potential plant-food, 36. Poultrj', breeds of, 260. Poultry-raising, 3, 203. Prairies, stock on, 266. Precipices, 30. Precipitate, 235. Precipitation, 59. Prepotent, 261. Preventives for pests, 167. Principles, 15. Principles of pruning, 165. Propagation of plants, 132. Prophylaxis, 175. Proteids, 247, 248. Protein, 243, 244, 248. Protoplasm, 113, 127. Proventriculus, 220, 235. Pruning, 163. Ptomaines, 224, 236. Ptyalin, 216, 233. Puddling, 68. Pump, 7, 169, 170, 177. Pumpkin, germination, 124. Pure-blood stock, 263. Purse, 278. Quack-grass, 31. Quadrupeds, 201. Quantity of food, 250, 258, 266. Quarries, 30. Quarter, 273. Quick-lime, 40, 97. Quince, propagation, 144. Quinces, 109. Quinine, 109. Babbits, 204. Ragweed, 31. Rain drops, 35. Rainfall, 43, 50, 59, 63, 107. Rakes, 69. Range, 203. Rape, 79. Ratio, nutritive, 247, 357. Ration, 214, 250, 271. Red-clover is tap-rooted, 146, 147. Red-top, 181, 190. Refuse, 78. Regermiuation, 136. Remedies for pests, 167. Rennet, 235. Reservoir for water, 54, 63, 67. Resources of soil, 25. Respiration in animals, 224. Respiration iu plants, 117. Rest of animals, 228. Resting the land, 80. Retentive soils, 38, 39. Reverted phosphate, 95. Ribs, 273. Rice, 108. Rill, 35. [179, 259. Roberts, I. P., chapters by, 145, Roberts, quoted, 25, 35, 36, 45, 63, 72, 74, 76, 84, 86, 105, 207. Rock and soil, 16, 42. Roller, 71, 76, 155. Root crops, 96. Root, evolution of, 31. Root, growth of, 121, 131. Root-hairs, 113, 124. Root-pressure, 115, 125. Root-pruning, 165. [32, 88, 104. Roots and soil formation, 16. 21, Rose-bug, 175. Rot of plum, 175. Rotation, 79, 179, 197, 207. Rotation and pests, 168. 334 INDEX Batten stones, 23. RoughSkge, 191. SBminants, 216, 233. Rump, 273, 274, 278. Rusts, 174. Rye and pastures, 161. Eye for forage, 192. Eye to plow under, 67, ?9. Rye, to prevent erosion, 51. SaJiva, 215, 232. Saltpetre, 90. Salts, 115, 123, 214. Sand-bars, 35. Sand, moisture in, 51. Saiid-sl.ornis, 25. Sands held by plants. 111. Sap, 114, 115, 124, 126, 13L Saprophrte, 173. Sawdust, 63. Seal), 167. Seaile insects, 166, 168. Stales, experiment wit^ 59. Seienees, 5. Sea trails, 206. Sea margins, 19. Sea^reed, 31. Sea-wrack, 19. Season to prone, 164. Secretion, 210. Sedges, 19, 193. Seed, 155. Seedage, 133, 135. S©ed-l>ed, 70, 71, 134, 145, 155. Seedlings, raising of, 135. Seeds, germination, 133, 142, 145 Semi-ftaples, 108. Skade, 108. Shaler, referred to, 36. Sheep, 3, 108. 201, 212. Sheep stssiaeh, 233. Sheltering manure, 62. Ships dusty at sea, 36. Shower, 35. Silage, 254, 2.58. Silicon, 87. Silo, 256, 265. Single-celled animals, 208. Slips, 138. Smuts, 170, 178. Snowballs, layering, 140. Soaking seeds, 134. Soap washes, 168. Sod, influenee mi soil, 21, 68. Sod in orchards, 161. Sodium, 116. Si: -.-t stock, 202. .- .. :;L:Tnts of, 16, 42. Soii, moisture in, 50. Soil-mulch, 57, 65, 69, 71, 149. Soil particles, size of, 39, 43, 44. Soil, texture of, 37. Soiling crops, 191. Sorauer, referred to. 124, 126, 127. Specialized, 232. Specialty-fanning. 11, 279. [14. Species, number of in cultivation, Speculation, 12. [by, 37. Spencer, J. "W., quoted 35; chapter Sphagnum, 20, 33. Spices, 109. Spittle, 232. Spores, 169, 218, 234. Sport, 262. Spraying, 165, 169. Springs, 48, 50. Squash-bug, 167. Squash, seedling of, 131. Squashes and moisture, 57. StaUe-Bumure, 21, 41. Stable-manures, 65, 61, 82, 89, 93, 201, 265, 268. INDEX 335 Stables. 82, 86, 258, 269. 272. Standards, feeding, 252. Staples, 5. 108. Starch, 28, IIS, 127, 129, 130. 233. Starch equivalent, 247. Starch in food, 213, 246. Steer, score of, 277. Stem, growth of, 121, 130. Stifle, 273. Stink-bug, 167. Stock, 3, 201. Stock and pastures, 181. Stock, care of, 259. Stock, in grafting, 139. Stockbridge. referred to, 36. Stomach. 212, 233. Stomata, 114, 117, 124. Stones grow smaller, 30. Stones, rotten, 23. Stratification, 136. Straw, 83. Streams, action of, 35. Streams carry soil, 23. Struggle for existence iu tree-top' 163, 173. Stubble and plowing, 68. Stubble refuse, 78, 80. Sturtevant, quoted, 14. Subsoil, 74. Subsoiling, 68. Subsurface, 155. Sulfate of ammonia, 92. Sulfate of potash, 96. Sulfur, 87, 116. Sulfur fungicide, 169. Sulfuric acid, 33. 92, 94, 95. Sugar, 28. Sugar-beet, 147. Sugar-cane and muriate, 96, 146. Sugar in plant, 120, 127, 131. Sugar in digestion, 223. Sugars in food, 213, 246. Summer-fallowing, 158. Sunlight and growth, 118. Superphosphate, 104. Surgery, 8. Swamps, 20. Sweat, 211. Sweet potatoes, 148. Sweet vernal grass, 191. Swine, 201. Swine and pests, 205. Swine, feeding, 272. Switch, 273. Symbols of elements, 103. Syringe. 169. Tankage, 203, 206. Tap-roots, 110, 147. Tarr, referred to, 14, 35, 36. Teats, 273, 276. Temperature for barns, 270. Temperature for germination, 134. Temperature of soil, 38. Texas steer, 212. Textiles, 109. Texture of soil, 31. Thawing, influence on soils, 68. Thinning, 166. Threshers, 7. Thrips, 168. Thurl, 273, 276, 278. Tillage and water capacity, 54, 63. Tillage defined, 64, 72. Tillage of the soil, 64, 159. Timber, 2, 3, 109. Timothy for meadows, 186, 189, 199. Timothy, picture of, 195, 196. Toadstools, 173. Tobacco and muriate, 96. Tobacco insecticide, 168. Tomatoes, 106. 33G INDEX Tools, 66, 69, 71, '.4, 75, 76, 158, Toxins, 224, 236. [160, 162. 171. Training, 163. Transpiration, 114, 120, 125. Transportation, 11, 15. Transportation of soils, 22. Tricalcic phosphate, 94. Trifolium hybridum, incarnatum, medium, pratense, repens, 193, Trimming, 163. [194. Tropical plants, 119. Trypsin, 221. Tull, Jethro, 44, 72. Turgidity, 113. 127. Turkeys, 3, 201. fjdder, 273. 276. tlnderdrainage, 40, 53, 60. Valleys, 16. Vegetables, 3, 11, 109. Ventilation. 228, 269. Viability, 133. Vilmorin, quoted, 14. Villus, 222, 235, 236. Vineyards and rose-bugs. 175. Vitality of seeds, 133. Vitriol, oil of, 92. 94. [206. Voorhees, referred to, 84, 86, 105, Waste in animals, 228, 229. Water, amount soil will hold, 47, 59. Water, driving off by heat, 29. Water- for stock, 271. Water in foods, 243. Water in the plant, 113, 114. Water-lily, 19. Wuter moves lands, 23. Water plants, 19. Water-sprouts. 165. Water-table, 40, 46. Water used by plants, 63, 74. Weather, 9, 10. Weathering, 16, 30. Weeds, 69, 70, 76, 81, 159, 160, 170, Weeds and stock, 205. [179. Weeds, kinds, 15. Weevils, 175. Weight of water on acre, 63. Wells, 48. Wheat, 1, 4, 26, 108, 196. Wheat and mullein, 36. Wheat and pastures, 181. Wheat, germination, 124, 136. Wheat, propagation, 132. Wheat, seed-bed for. 148, 152, 155, Wheat, tilling, 160. [158. Wheeler, referred to, 45. White hellebore, 169. WUlow, 31, 146. Windbreaks, 107, 111. Windmills, 7. Winds and soils, 24. Wine, 11. 109. Wing, H. H., chapter by, 240. Wing, H. H., referred to, 278. Wisconsin. University of, 13, 277- Withers, 273. 276. Wolves, 212. Wood or timber, 2, 3. Wood products, 109. Wool, 1. Wool-waste, 204. Work of animals, 228. Worms. 166. 169. Worn-out lands, 21. Wounds, healing, 163, 164. Zoology, 8. FRorErrr ui-.. CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE Edited by L. H. BAILEY Of Cornell University, Editor of "Cyclopedia c' American Horticulture,** Author of "Plant Breeding," "Principles of Agriculture," etc. WITH 100 FULL-PAGE PLATES AND MORE THAN 2,000 ILLUS- TRATIONS IN THE TEXT -FOUR VOLUMES — THE SET • CLOTH, $20 NET-HALF-MOROCCO. $32 NET-CARRIAGE EXTRA Volume I — Farms The Agricultural Regions — The Projeetinf7 of a Farm — The Soil Environment — The Atmosphere Environment. Volume II— Crops The Plant and Its Relations — The Manufacture of Crop Products- North American Field Crops. 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