y) ZLEMENTARY
| AGRICULTURE.

WILLIAM LEWIS NIDA

_ A-FLANAGANGOMPANY

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT:

Fic. 1. very stock farm needs its shade and water easily accessible.

Elementary
Agriculture

By
William Lewis Nida, Ph. B.

Superintendent of Schools,
River Forest, IIl.

A. Flanagan Company
CHICAGO

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COPYRIGHT 1913, 1915, 1917, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY

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MAY 12 1917
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PREFACE

If country boys and girls are to be kept on the farm, it
is incumbent on parents and school authorities to enlist
their interest in scientific farming and stock raising at the
earliest possible age. A text on Agriculture for grade or
rural schools should, therefore, begin with a discussion of
farm animals, because it is vastly easier to stir up enthu-
siasm among children over the raising of fine stock than it
is over soil elements or even fine crops.

Many texts have reversed this order, because certain
farmers’ organizations have so recommended. However, if
education is our object, the child mind should receive first
consideration in presenting any subject.

The author was born and reared on an Ohio farm and
tanght in rural schools for several winters. He was later
a supervisor of township schools. His knowledge of actual
farm life and rural schools on the one hand, and of the
child on the other, is offered in explanation of this attempt
to place before the children of the common schools a simple
and stimulating introduction to scientific farming.

Grateful acknowledgments are due to the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture for a number of fine photographs and
for much valuable material from which the author has
drawn freely. The author and publishers also desire to
express thanks to the Agricultural Extension Department
of the International Harvester Company for a number of
fine plates and half tones chiefly of animals and farm
scenes, selected by the author, and for valuable sugges-
tions. To others who have kindly aided us with ~photo-
graphs, credit has been given in the body of the book.

WituiAM L. Napa.

CONTENTS

Part I. Farm ANIMALS

Seg CT a BRR 2 0 Ns CT Ct gears ne ene a Soe 1-15
Taming the Wild Horse—Horses Introduced in America—
Draft Horses—Coach Horses—Roadsters—Use and Care of
Horses—Breaking the Colt

(SSG ao SAE Cae Oy di a JF a eae OP eee ES el 16-28
Taming of Cattle—The Ox at Work—Beef Cattle—Dairy
Cows—Building Up a Fine Herd

Bere pe il MILK AND BUTTER = 6306.2. 6 sake couse: 29-33

Milk as Food—Care of Milk — Butter-fat — Churning —
Cheese-making—By-products

SS GENS) 7 0 0) ee ee ee em 34-38
Origin of Sheep—Their Care—Merinos—Mutton Types
eee Se NaS TING «Shang So vides wae care. an bee one ae 39-48

Improving the Hog—Bacon and Lard Types—Berkshires,
Chester-Whites, Duroc-Jerseys, Poland-Chinas — Feeding
and Care—Diseases

eee er, POUR IY Soo oo. 22 oe vas Soo ba hw eee 49-57
Origin of Chickens—Value to the Farmer—Kinds and Uses
of Fowls—Their Care and Feeding—The Young Brood—
Poultry Pests

CHAPTER Vil. TURKEYS, DUCKS, AND: GEESE :: j. +i... 58-60
Raising Turkeys—Ducks on the Farm—Geese
Meer e i WeR Die PINS: Lae ieee dis om oso wcalel UO 61-67

Insect Enemies—Insect Friends—Parts of an Insect—Biting
Insects—Sucking Insects—Insect Growth—Larva Stage—
Pupa Stage—Life of Insects

LE SE GRR M2 0 520 Sa ee A ae Pe 68-76

The First Sugar Makers—Taming the Bee—Making Honey
—The Bee Family—Care of the Bees for Profit—Other
Services of Bees —

eee She CURR St 1 lol ie ed a 77-83
Birds of Killingworth—Service to Farmers—Grosbeaks—
Protecting Crops—Paying Their Way

CONTENTS

Part Il. Soms AND FAarmM Crops

CHAPTER.XL: > SOLS 3.3653 0s hos a oo oo one ee eee re eee 84-95
What Soil Is—Kinds of Soil—Humus—Plant-foods—Liquid
Food for Plants—Importance of Water in Soil—Drainage
—Tiling—Bacteria in Soil—Rotation of Crops—Different
Systems of Rotation

CHAPTER XII. PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW..... 96-102

Parts of the Plant—The Work of Roots—The Stem—
Leaves — Flowers — Pollination — Variety in Plant Life —
Dissemination of Seeds

CHAPTER XIII. TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY .103-112
Tilling in Ancient Times—Teachings of Jethro Tull—What
Tillage Does—The Dust Mulch—Dry Farming—Irrigation—
Better Machinery—Iron Tools

CHAP RNa kl VCO TIN sare cee has tare «eed ase ee ores ate 113-125
Origin of Corn—Importance to the Pioneer—Indian Farm-
ing—The Corn Belt—Choosing Seed Corn—What Consti-
tutes a Prize Ear—Curing the Seed—Testing Seed Corn—
Preparation for the Crop—Getting a Good Stand—Cultiva-
tion—Harvesting—The Silo—Other Uses of Corn

CHAPTER: XV SWHEAT «boss oe enti oe eee 126-137
Origin of Wheat—Introduction of Wheat Into America—
Kinds of Wheat—The Crop—Wheat in Rotation—Enemies
of Wheat—Harvesting Tools—Animal Power—The Reaper
—Self Binder—Combined Harvesters—Uses of Wheat

CHAPTER. XVI. “OATS, BARLEY, AND TeV ti cic ota: 138-145
Climate and Soil for Oats—Seeding and Harvesting—Bar-
ley—Rotation—Enemies—Use—Rye Enemies—Use

CHAPTER X Vil; “THE HAY (CROB Se ccunssne eee 146-153
Timothy—Clovers—Harvesting Red Clover—Alsike Clover
—Alfalfa—Cowpeas

CHAPTER XVHEL = SUGARS AND: OTHER. CROPSE 154-160
Cutting of Sugar Cane for Seed—Planting Sugar Cane—
Harvesting—Sugar Beet—Cultivation and Harvesting—Rice
—Tobacco

CHAPTER XIX. THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO. A 161-167

Origin of the Potato—A Tuber—Kinds of Seeds—How to
Choose Seed—Soil and Cultivation—Diseases and Enemies
—The Sweet Potato

CONTENTS

PAGES
Dee RA WOH ID. outs i aewet ones sous teins weeks whe 168-171
Annuals, Biennials, Perennials—Fighting the Weeds—Weeds

for Drugs
Pere AT. “OMCHAR DA: 26.70 sts vos ae ox bis a es bee 172-181

Convenience to Market—Huiull Country for Orchards—Best
Slopes—Influence of Water—Soil—Preparation for Plowing
—Setting Trees—Tilling the Orchard—Pruning—Spraying—
Harvesting

We he aad, THE FARM GARDEN 0005 00 Re awees 182-200

The Boy’s Experiment Farm—Garden Tools—Mulching—
Hot Beds—Cold Frames—Transplanting—Peas and Beans—
Beets, Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, Radishes—Chard, Aspara-
gus—Sweet Corn—Cabbage, Lettuce—Cucumbers, Melons,
Squashes — Onions, Tomatoes, Egg-plant — Grapes — Rasp-
berries and Blackberries—Strawberries

Sei ii eat COUN TRY ROADS. 52028 s4atscpanaese 201-212
Bearing Upon Farmers’ Profits—Good Roads and Schools—
Interest of City People—Working Out the Road Tax—Pay-
ing Road Taxes in Cash—The Macadam Road—Effect of
Surface on Loads—Surfacing Clay and Sandy Roads—Loam
Roads—Brick Roads

CRAPTERR XXIV. PRESERVING OODS.. i 25... Beveaks 213-215
Germs Which Help and Hinder—The Yeast Plant—Making
Bread—Mold—Canning Fruit—Smoking Meats—Cold Stor-
age—Preserving Fruits—Bacteria in Butter and Cider

Sse rer AAV PARM. SANITATION (i hiccta: Sonne 216-224
Water Supply—Sewage and Disease—Mosquitos and Malaria
—The House Fly and Typhoid—Fighting Flies—Milk a
Germ Carrier—Ventilating the Barn—Heating and Ventilat-
ing the Home—Fresh Air in the School Room

CHAPTER XXVI. THE FARMER’S COLLEGE.......... 225-228
The Department of Agriculture—Helps from Pamphlets—
State Experiment Stations—College of Agriculture

CHAPTER XXVIII. BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS
Club Movement—Boys’ Corn Clubs—Father and Son Clubs
—Potato Clubs—Tomato Canning Clubs—The Club and
School

APPENDIX

Exercises—Problems—Eixperiments ...........0s-se5e00: 241-285
Mamta ei 3 aca Gat orpiane ws web wings 2k ee NS eto teen 287-294

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bi 4 t
‘ . tn

ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

PART I. FARM ANIMALS

CHAPTER I
THE HORSE

Taming the Wild Horse. Who tamed and rode
the first wild horse and how he did it, we shall never
know; but it was an important event for mankind.
It happened long ages ago, before men began to write
their doings in books. We know that horses lived
in the time of the cave men, for we find remains of
horses and rude pictures of them scratched on stone
in caves and sand drifts. The cave men hunted these
wild horses for meat and for their skins.

Variety in Size. The horse was then much smaller
than he is now. He was about the size of a wild pony.
The wild horses that came to live in mild climates
where food was plentiful began to grow larger, with
heavier limbs and stronger muscles; but those that
passed into cold, bleak lands where food was scarce,
grew small like the ponies of the Shetland Islands.

The Horse’s Foot. The bones and fossils of the
ancient horse show that he was once less than
twenty-four inches in height. He had a spreading

1

9 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

foot with five toes. At that time he lived in low,
marshy lands, and toes were needed to help him get
about. As the earth became harder he lost one toe
after another and so was able to travel faster to
escape from his enemies. The horse’s hoof is the
nail of the one remaining toe.

Riding Horseback. The Greeks first drove the
horse hitched to rude chariots, but later, it is said,
they learned to ride him without saddle or bridle.
They invented the first bridle bit, which is called
the snaffle. Neither Greeks nor Romans shod their
horses. At first only kings, nobles, and warriors
could afford horses. They were used chiefly in war
and for riding and driving in war chariots. But
everybody who was able rode horseback; even kings
looked upon this as the most dignified way to travel.

The First Work Animal. AI] this time the farmer
had only the plow ox or the stubborn ass to help him
raise his crops. When at last the farmer began to
use the horse, he did his work much faster, for the
horse has not only better speed and greater strength
than the ox, but he ean hold out longer.

The Horse and the Indian. Horses were not found
in America when the white men first came. The
Indians were greatly frightened when they saw the
horses which the Spaniards brought over. They
thought these animals were terrible monsters. But
the Indians soon learned to use the horse, and, after
a time, great herds of horses appeared wild on the
western plains.

THE HORSE 3

The Big Draft Horse. The time came when men
began to breed horses for different uses. When they
wished work horses that could draw very heavy
loads at a slow pace, they selected the heavy, stout-
limbed animals that had strong muscles; and by
using these as parents they reared more like them.
Gradually the colts of these horses grew stronger
and larger, and so the draft horse was developed.

Beg ie ee ee

Fic. 2. A coach horse.

Coach and Roadsters. Other men wanted horses
that could pull heavy coaches with good speed.

4 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fig. 3. Percheron stallion.

They wanted high knee action and fine style. So
they kept this kind to breed from and developed the
coach horse (Fig. 2). Still other men wanted speedy
horses for light loads, and they reared saddle and
race horses.

Kinds of Draft Horses. The draft horse is blocky,
heavy, and powerful. He may weigh from fifteen
hundred to two thousand pounds and is in much

THE HORSE 5

demand for pulling great loads on city streets. He
has a round body and rather short legs. His hind
legs are the stronger, yet he uses his front legs so
much in pulling that the front quarters are heavy
and powerful. His breast is broad and his front
legs far apart. From France we get the Percheron
(Figs. 3 and 4) draft horse, with a gray, chestnut,
or black color; from Belgium comes the bay Bel-
gian; the Shire of bay brown or chestnut color
comes from England and the smaller but more
active Clydesdale (Fig. 5) from Scotland.

How to Hitch a Horse. When a team cannot pull
a heavy load, it is often because the feet slip. The
heavier the horse is, the better he can hold with his
toes. A horse can really pull more on hard or slip-
pery roads if he has a man on his back. This gives
him more weight and a better foothold. One way to

Fic. 4. Prize six-horse Percheron team.

6 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fic. 5. A Clydesdale.

help a horse pull heavy loads is to put the whiffle-
tree low down. It is better to have the doubletree
under the tongue for heavy pulling. <A farmer
once tested this by hitching a horse to a post with a
spring balance which would show how many pounds
he pulled. When the whiffletree was tied six inches
from the ground he pulled six hundred pounds more
than when it was three feet from the ground.

Driving Fast. When a horse has a light load and
is driven for speed, the whiffletree should be high.
This makes the weight on the horse lighter so there
is less strain on his legs and feet. Sometimes you

THE HORSE 7

see in the city a two-wheeled carriage with the
driver sitting high behind. This is called a hansom
cab. The driver’s weight makes the thills pull up
‘on the horse and so earries part of the horse’s
weight. This saves his feet greatly in driving upon
hard pavements.

Race Horses. The American trotter (Fig. 6) and
the American saddle horse are the best of their kind
in the world. Trotters have powerful hind legs and
gvood lungs. They have small heads and large nos-
trils so they can breathe abundance of air (Fig. 7).

Fic. 6. American trotting horse (Morgan type).

8 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Other Uses of the Horse. Among the Tartar tribes
of northern and central Asia, mare’s milk and horse-
flesh are still used for the food of man. Old horses
are always fattened for the meat markets of France
and other countries of Europe.

Most Horses in America. ‘l’o-day in Great Britain
there is one horse to every twenty people; in France,
one to every ten people; and in the United States,
one to every five people. So we have more horses
in America than there are in any other country, and
we make them do more of our work.

Horse Power Cheap. Human labor costs more
than any other kind of labor, so the farmer has
learned to use his horses for many purposes. Years
ago, when harnesses were poor and tools crude,
many things were done by human hands that are
now done by horse power. 'T'o-day one good horse
can do as much work as ten men, while his board
and keep costs about half as much as that of one
man.

Doing Forty Men’s Work. A farmer boy who
drives a four-horse team hitched to a gang-plow is
doing as much work as forty men working with
hand tools. Four-horse plows and four-horse har-
rows are very common on the large farms in the
West. Some of the great harvesting machines em-
ploy as many as twenty or thirty horses and mules
on a single machine.

Feeding the Horse. A horse’s stomach is small,
so he cannot use as much bulky food asa cow. He

THE HORSE 9

ought to have at least three good meals every day.
When a horse is making long trips on the road he
should not have too much hay, but a richer food,
like corn or oats. The work horse should have his
largest meal at night, when he has plenty of time
to eat and digest it. Ifa horse is not warm, it is
better to water before feeding him. The water
passes on through the stomach and leaves room
for the food. If an animal is very warm, it should

Fie. 7. Thoroughbred trotting mares and colts.

not be given either food or water until it has cooled
off. Clover hay is not so good for a horse as tim-
othy, because it is more dusty; and dusty hay is
liable to give horses the heaves. If dusty hay must
be used, it should be sprinkled before feeding.

A Good Variety. It is cruel to feed the horse on
nothing but oats and hay all the year round, when

10 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

he would so much like some barley, beans, peas,
corn, or turnips for a change. In the United States
Army a horse is allowed ten quarts of oats a day.
It is better to feed corn on the cob, as this makes the
animal eat more slowly and it also improves his
teeth. When carrots are given, they should be
sliced to prevent the horse from choking. It is
important to keep a little salt in his trough.

Cleaning the Horse. When a horse comes to the
barn with muddy legs, they should be rubbed down
or washed, especially in cold weather, to prevent
rheumatism. Time spent in cleaning and rubbing
the horse in the evening after the day’s work is
done, is much “better for the animal than the same
time spent in the morning, because the horse will
rest so much better.

His Care. When a horse is warm upon stopping
work in cold weather, he should be blanketed to
keep him from catching cold. On very cold morn-
ings the bits should be warmed by dipping them in
water before bridling the horse. Even cold water
will keep a frosty bit from freezing to the tongue
and tearing the skin. Have you ever tried touching
your tongue to frosty iron?

Healthy Shoulders. Many farm horses suffer
from sore shoulders. This need not be so. The
collar should fit and be kept clean. If there is
danger of sore shoulders, they should be washed in
salt water at noon and in the evening. Salt water
is healing, and it makes the shoulders tough. When

THE HORSE 1h

the team is working hard, the harness ought to be
removed at the noon hour. The horse should be well
cleaned every day with a good brush. The curry-
comb is harsh and painful, especially when used by
rough hands.

A Pleasant Home. The horse’s home or stable
should be kept clean. It needs to be light, but the
windows must not be where the horse will look into
them, for this will injure his eyes, as it does yours
when you sit facing a window. The horse barn
should also have good air. If the barn is made very
warm, a window should always be open where the
draft will not strike the animals.

Shoeing the Horse. Many horseshoers do not un-
derstand their trade, and so they injure the feet of
the horse. Sometimes they put on shoes that are too
big, and this stretches the hoof too much. A very,
small shoe pinches and makes corns. Some pare
the sole too much, and others even use the knife on
the frog, which is a great injury to the foot. As the
hoof is growing all the time, just as a man’s finger-
nails grow, the shoes need to be changed often, so
they will not pinch the foot.

One Lesson at a Time. In breaking colts it is
better not to try to teach them too much at one time.
One of the first lessons is to ‘‘halter-break’’ the
young colt. This should be done while he is still
a suckling. A strong, well-fitting halter is placed
on him, and he is tied short to a post near to his
mother. A colt should always be tied firmly, for if

12 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

le ‘Clove hitch:
2. Picket rope with a half-granny and a half-hitch.
3. Bowline: a noose that never slips; is easily untied.

i)

TF

|

4

—

A slip knot, running noose, or halter knot.
5. Becket hitch for joining a cord and a rope.

Reef knot or square knot; never slips; easily untied.
7. False reef or granny; difficult to untie; a bad knot.

Fic. 8. Knots that every

a

THE HORSE

8 9 10
8. Anchor bend.
9. Fixed loop in middle of a cord.
10.
11.

Weavers’ knot or sheet bend, for joining small cords.
Two half-hitches.

12 13
12. Blackwall hitch.
13. Carrick bend for joining large ropes.
14.

Timber hitch; cannot slip or jamb; easily untied.
farmer shouid know,

14 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

he once breaks loose he has learned a very bad trick
(Pig. 3).

His First Bridle. After the colt is halter-broken
so he can be tied or led, it is a good plan to tie his
halter to his mother’s hame or collar. In this way
he gets used to trotting beside another horse. The
next lesson is to put on a bridle with a smooth bit.
An open bridle is better than a ‘‘blind”’ one, for the
horse ought to see everything about him so he will
the more quickly get used to the new experience.

Driving the Colt. A saddle may now be put on,
or a single harness with crupper and back strap.
It is a good plan to drive the horse at first without
a cart. The driver passes the lines through the tug
or the loop made for the shafts, and in this way
keeps the animal from whirling suddenly and get-
ting tangled up in the lines. It is well to have a
helper lead the colt at first, until he understands
what is expected of him.

Driving Double. The colt may now be hitched to
a cart with long shafts and a kick strap, or he may
be hitched up with another horse. When this is
done it is a good plan to keep a pair of single lines
on the colt’s bridle and have these in the hands of a
helper. In hitching up double, it is well to use a
heavy wagon with a brake and to put the colt on the
‘‘off’? side. He can now be taught to stop, to back,
and to start at the proper signal.

Not Too Many Signals. A horse should be trained
early to stand still while he is being harnessed and

THE HORSE 15

hitched up. Very few words or signals should be
used, for a horse has far less brains than a dog.

‘‘Whoa’’ should always mean to stop. ‘‘Steady’’
is the word when we wish the team to go more
slowly. ‘‘Back’’ should be used only when we wish

the team to move backwards.

Kindness Pays. ‘‘The merciful man is merciful to
his beast,’? and the well-treated horse repays his
master’s patience and good care. Horses, like all
farm animals, should be kindly and gently handled.
Jerking and whipping do harm to the horse, and
this means a money loss to the farmer.

QUESTIONS

(1) How do we know that the horse lived in the cave
man’s time? (2) What were horses first used for? (3)
What difference did the horse make in the life of the In-
dian? (4) Why did men want a draft horse? (5)
What is taking his place in the cities? (6) Do you think
that machinery will ever entirely take the place of the
horse? (7) Why or why not? (8) Are coach horses
increasing in the city streets or decreasing? (9) Why?
(10) Why should the horse be hitched low to a heavy
load? (11) What types of horses have been developed
in America? (12) Why does a horse need different
kinds of food? (13) How do you break a colt? (14)
In what ways is machinery relieving the horse on the
farm? (15) Make questions of your own on each chap-
ter. (16) Have the class answer them.

For exercises, problems and experiments on each chap-
ter, refer to the Appendix.

*

CHAPTER A
CATTLE

More Useful Than Horses. Horses are a great
help to man, but we could get along without them
better than without cattle. Cattle supply us with
meat, leather, and milk; and they may also be yoked
up for work.

Where Cattle Came From. Cattle have come
down to us from a queer animal of the cave man’s
time, called the urus. In those far-off days there
was also a kind of wild cattle. Some say the herds
of wild cattle mixed with herds of the urus, and
this mixture formed the cattle that we have. But
nobody is very sure about this. We know that the
cave man hunted and killed wild cattle for meat.

Taming the Wild Cattle. A long time after the —
cave man a higher race of men lived in villages built
out. over the edge of lakes in Switzerland. These
people, called the Swiss lake-dwellers, seem to have
tamed the cow. How do you think they did it?
They probably kept cows at first for milk only.
Instead of hunting all the time for food, the people
began to give some time to their cattle and so
became herders.

Churning the First Butter. Then a wonderful dis-
covery was made by some one, and that was how to
make butter from milk. Probably some lake-dweller

16

CATTLE 17

was carrying upon a journey a skin or leather bag
of milk, and the motion churned the butter. Milk
will not keep long without souring, but butter keeps
much longer. The cow, with her milk, butter, hide,

and meat, must have done a great deal to help these
ancient people to better ways of living.

Hitching Cattle to Loads. We do not know when
eattle were first yoked up and hitched to loads.
Perhaps a cow was tied by a leather thong, when
suddenly she made off through the woods, dragging
a man or the log to which she was tied. Then some

i8 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

one hit upon the idea of tying a cow to anything he
wished to have moved.

The First Plow. After the yoke was invented,
some clever person made a rude plow of sharp sticks
tied with thongs, and agriculture took a long step
forward, because this enabled the farmer to use
animal power to till the soil, instead of doing it all
by hand. .

Two Kinds of Cattle. Cattle were early brought
to America from Europe. Men began to want two
kinds of cattle, one for milk and butter and the
other for beef. They found that a good milech cow
is not very good for beef, for her food all goes to
milk; while a fat cow will not give much milk, as
her food makes flesh or muscle. By carefully select-
ing the good milkers for mothers, farmers have
developed a fine dairy animal, such as the Jersey,
the Guernsey, or the Holstein.

Beef Cattle. Other cattle raisers have bred from
the large, heavy animals and have herds of fine beef
cattle, such as the Shorthorns (Figs. 9 and 17), Here-
fords, or Galloways (Fig. 10). The beef cow is
square, with all bones well covered with flesh. Her
back is straight and her legs full and thick. The
neck is full and stocky, the legs short and set far
apart to support the large, heavy body. The more
meat these animals can make from a given amount
of food, the more profitable they are.

Their Care and Feed. Beef cattle need different
food and care from the dairy animals. The beef

CATTLE 19

type do not require such warm barns as the milkers
do, because fat animals never need such warm hous-
ing as do lean ones. They seem to do better in dry,
open sheds that are well bedded. They need such
foods as will make them fat most quickly and at the
least expense, and cattle feeders know this well.

Fic. 10. A Galloway cow.

Getting Ready for Market. Sometimes calves are
fed fattening foods as soon as they can digest them.
They are kept on such food until they are ready for
the market at from ten to sixteen months of age.
Other cattlemen give their young herd the freedom
of the range or pasture for a few months, or, per-
haps, for a year or two, and then put them on rich,

20 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

ig. 11. An empty dinner pail.

fattening foods for a few months before they are
sold to the butcher or the packer.

Feeding Meal. When teaching a young calf to
eat meal, the farmer puts him in a box stall with
another, older calf, and the young one will learn
from his companion. Another way is to take a little
meal in the hand and put the hand in the mouth of
the young calf. (Fig. 11.)

A Mixed Food. A good meal ration for calves is
a bushel of ground corn, a bushel of ground oats, a
peck and a half of wheat bran, and the same of oil
meal, all well mixed. As soon as calves will take
hay or fodder, it should be given to them. They
will begin to nibble and taste it when two or three
weeks old. The best hay is clover, alfalfa, or cow
peas. As soon as they begin to chew the eud, finely
cut-hay is mixed with the meal. In this way one can
prepare the calf for weaning. (Fig. 12.)

CATTLE a1

Saving Cream. When calves are fed on skimmed
milk they miss the butter-fat that has been taken
away as cream. In its place the farmer feeds: the
calf some corn meal or linseed meal. One or two
cents’ worth of meal will serve the calf as well as
twenty-five cents’ worth of cream.

Choosing a Good Dairy Cow. The dairy cow is
shaped like a wedge. The neck, thighs, and shoul-
ders are thin and lean. She should be thin, not
because she is poorly fed, but because she is turning
a large part of the feed she eats into milk. She
should be quiet and gentle. She should be strong
and have room for a large quantity of food. Her
hips are prominent and wide apart, and the rump
is high. The hind legs are trim and set well apart.

Fig. 12. Where are our mothers?

99 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Most important of all, she has a large, well-shaped
udder. The floor of the udder is straight and
extends well forward and well backward, too. The

Fic. 13. The dairy type (Jerseys).

udder is soft and fine. The teats are evenly placed
and of medium size. The buyer should milk out a
few streams to see that the openings are not so
small as to make her a hard milker. The milk veins
which extend forward from the udder should be
large, with many branches, because they supply the
blood from which the udder secretes the milk.

The Jersey Type. The Jersey cow (Fig. 13) is
famous the world over for her rich milk. These
cows were the first dairy animals to become popular
in our country. They change a large part of their
food into milk instead of into flesh or fat. Jersey
milk is the richest of all. The Jersey heifer matures

CATTLE 93

early and may become a mother at between two and
three years. So the dairyman does not have to
feed her long until she more than pays her way.
This breed came, in the first place, from Jersey
Island, in the English Channel. The island is only
eleven miles long by five and a half wide, but it is
very rich and productive; and the farms there are
very small, sometimes not more than two or three
acres. The principal industry is dairying, and the
stock has been kept pure by forbidding foreign
animals to be brought in. The milk is nearly all
made into butter.

The Guernseys. The Guernsey cows, like the Jer-
seys, come from one of the islands by that name in
the Englsh Channel. They are somewhat larger

Fig. 14. A record cow (Holstein).

24 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

than the Jerseys. They have coarser bones and
carry more flesh. Guernseys are noted for their
yellow milk, which is only second to that of the
Jersey in richness. But they often give a greater
amount than the Jersey.

The Holstein. his dairy animal was bred 2,000
years ago along the Rhine, in Europe. The Dutch
first brought these cows to America, shortly after
the settlement of New Amsterdam. The Holstein
(Figs. 14 and 107) is noted for the great amount of
milk given. The milk is not so rich in butter-fat
as that of the Jersey or Guernsey, but the large
amount makes her a most desirable cow to keep
near large cities hike New York, where the milk is
sold by measure. Other noted dairy types are the
Ayrshire, the Brown Swiss (Fig. 15), and the Dutch
Belted.

The Babcock Milk Test. For a long time dairy-
men did not know how to choose the cows which
gave the richest milk. Not many years ago Dr.
S. M. Babcock, of Wisconsin, invented a machine
to test milk for the amount of butter-fat. Now
every farmer may know which cows are valuable
and which ones are not. Refer to page 247 for full
description of the Babeock Milk Test.

What a Good Cow Produces. A good cow should
produce from twelve to fifteen pounds of butter a
week. One of the highest records ever made was
by a Holstein cow that made thirty-three pounds
of butter in one week (Fig. 14).

CATTLE 25

Caring for the Dairy Cow. Twice each day the
dairy cow is driven to the barn to be milked, and
the more milk she gives to each pound of food, the
more valuable she is (Kig. 16). In order to give
an abundance of milk, she must have the best of
‘are and food, and kind treatment; and she must be
milked at regular hours. She should have water
and plenty of good food at every meal time.

Their Food. In summer, when the cows are in

Fig. 15. Brown Swiss twin calves, bull and heifer.

26 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

pasture, they need very little other food unless the
pasture becomes short and dry. Then corn, alfalfa,
peas, oats, rye, or some other crops may be cut green
and fed to them. Water and shade should be within
reach of cows at all times in hot weather (Fig. 1).
In winter they like hay, root crops, and silage.

A Balanced Feed. Ii is best to feed some dry hay
or fodder, some silage or green food, and some
grain. The careful dairyman always feeds just the
right amount of each to supply what the cows need
without any waste. He calls this a ‘‘balanced
ration.’’

Testing Cows. Some pure-bred cows are poor
milkers. The only way to make sure that a cow is
worth her board is to test her milk for butter-fat
and weigh the milk. Every dairyman should keep
a record of each cow for one year. A spring balance
with a paper beside it will enable the farmer to
weigh the milk and put down the amount quickly.

An Easier Way. Or, instead of weighing the milk
every day, the farmer may weigh the milk of each

Fic. 16. A row of money makers.

CATTLE 27

cow for three days each month. The sum of these
weights multiplied by ten will give the year’s pro-
duction. Take samples for the Babcock test in the
second, fourth, and seventh months after the cow
freshens. If you add these and divide by three you
get the average daily production of butter-fat.
Cow-testing Associations. Dairymen who find it

er

Fig. 17. A Shorthorn bull.

difficult to test their own cows are in some instances
banding together in cow-testing associations. To
this association each farmer contributes a small fee
and with this money an expert is employed who
spends his time going about among the dairies and
testing the cows of each herd. This plan has been
used in Holland for many years, and is the reason
for the great advance in the dairy business in that

28 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

country. Farmers who desire to form such an asso-
ciation should write to the Department of Agricul-
ture, who will send a man to assist in forming the
organization.

Uses Made of Beef Cattle. It is said that every
grown person in the United States eats, on an aver-
age, one hundred and fifty pounds of meat in a year.
The greater part of this is furnished by the great
herds pastured on the Western plains. Leather for
many purposes is made from the hides, and butter-
ine is a product of the fat or tallow of beef. Buttons
are made from the bones; combs, from the bones and
hoofs; and glue, from the sinews, bones, and hide
trimmings.

How to Get Good Stock. The cheapest way for a
farmer to build up a fine herd of either dairy or
beef cattle is to save only the calves whose father
or sire is a pure-bred animal. (Fig. 17.) There is
a true saying among stock farmers that ‘‘The sire
is half the herd.’’ The way to improve a scrub
herd is to obtain a pure-bred sire. The first calves
are: half pure. When these calves become cows and
mothers, their calves are three-fourths pure stock,
and so on. Serub cattle have no place in the fields
of a good farmer.

QUESTIONS

(1) If men had to choose between having either horses
or cattle alone, which should they choose and why? (2)
How do you think butter making was discovered?
(3) How do you think the first plow was invented?
(4) Name the chief dairy types?

CHAPTER Il
MILK AND BUTTER

Milk as Food. Milk is a good food for every one.
The Laplander milks his reindeer, and the Arab his
camel. The people of India milk their buffaloes, and
the mountain people their sheep. A quart of cow’s
milk contains about the same amount of food as
three-quarters of a pound of beef. Thus we see
that milk is cheaper than meat or eggs. As the
cities grow there is a greater demand for milk, but
the buyers insist that it be clean.

Keeping Milk Pure and Clean. Milk absorbs or
takes up odors. If a cow is fed cabbage, onions, or
turnips a few hours before she is milked, you will
notice the flavor of those vegetables in the milk.
Milk that stands uncovered in dirty barns has the
odor of the stables. Therefore, the barn must be
elean and light, with plenty of windows to admit
the air, and the cows should be fed proper food.
They should always have pure water, because milk
carries Many germs, especially those of typhoid
fever. Feeding should be done after milking, so
the air will not be full of dust to settle in the milk.

Milking the Cows. The udders of the cows must
be washed, and the milker’s clothing and hands
should be clean before a drop is drawn. All pails
and vats for holding milk should be thoroughly

29

30 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

washed with warm suds and then rinsed with scald-
ing water. As soon as milk is drawn, it is well to
cool it to stop the growth of the germs that cause
it to sour.

Butter-fat. If we look at a drop of milk through
a microscope we shall see many tiny, roundish bod-
ies with a pearly look floating in the fluid. Fifteen
thousand to twenty-five thousand of these little bod-
ies placed side by side will measure an inch, and
there are millions of them in a drop of milk. These
particles are the fat of the milk, from which butter
is made. They are lighter than milk, and when
milk stands for a time they float upward. With
some of the milk on top of the pan they form the
cream.

Ready to Churn. After the cream is removed by a
skimmer or the new hand-separator, it should stand
until it ripens, or sours. It is most easily churned
at a temperature of from fifty-six to sixty degrees
Fahrenheit. The room should be, as nearly as pos-
sible, the same temperature as the cream.

Churning. When this cream is put into a churn
and dashed about, the little particles of fat hit to-
gether and stick to one another until they unite to
form small pieces of butter about the size of a grain
of wheat. Then we can see the butter-fat in the
buttermilk.

Preparing Butter for Market. When the butter is
gathered from the churn, it may be washed to remove
part of the buttermilk. Then the whole butter mass

MILK AND BUTTER 31

is pressed together and rolled with a wooden paddle
to remove the rest.

Of) flme
table salt
should
be added
to each
pound of
batt feck
and even-
ly worked
intothe
bat t.e rT

Fie. 18.

Three-fourths of an ounce

The old way of separating cream.

mass with the paddle. The worker firmly rolls and
presses the butter, but does not rub it, because that

Fic. 19. The new way—
cream separator.

eream back and forth against its sides.

destroys the grain. When
the butter is free from but-
termilk, it can be made into
a tempting lump and stamp-
ed and rolled in oiled paper.
Butter is judged for its
flavor, color, grain, and the
amount of salt, but in a
oreat measure it is judged by
its general appearance.

The Churn. Farmers, to-
day, prefer the barrel churn,
without a dasher. In opera-
tion this churn throws the
Churns

39 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

should never be filled more than half full. Butter-
making is greatly aided in late years by the use of
the separator and butterworker (Figs. 18 and 19).

Cheese-making. Cheese may be made from
skimmed milk, or the whole milk. Most of the
cheese we buy at the store is made from the whole
milk. Years ago our grandmothers made cheese as
commonly as they did butter, but cheese-making is
such a long process that to-day it is done in cream-
eries or factories. Cheese is the solid part of the
milk in such form as will keep for long periods. A
little difference in the process of the making, pro-
duces a different sort of cheese. One book tells us of
one hundred and fifty-six different kinds. They are
usually found in three classes—hard or soft cheese,
cream cheese, and sage cheese.

Cottage Cheese. Cottage cheese is a home prod-
uct made by heating sour milk, which has thickened,
to the point where the curd separates from the whey.
The whey is drained off through a cheesecloth, and
the dry curds are seasoned with cream and salt.
A great deal of this is sold on the market for table
use. | |

By-products. The by-products of the dairy are
skimmed milk, buttermilk, and whey. These are
chiefly used in feeding young animals on the farm,
because it costs less to ship fat stock than it does
feed or milk. The curd of the milk is dried in large
factories and ground fine and used in the sizing of
paper. Milk sugar is made largely from whey. This

-Eu eu

MILK AND BUTTER 33

is much used for babies and invalids. Other foods
and drinks which are becoming popular are made
from the dairy. Up to 1850 the dairy work was all
done and marketed from the farm. Now the milk is
largely taken to creameries and factories, and butter,
cheese, and condensed milk are manufactured there.

QUESTIONS

(1) How do you judge a dairy cow? (2) Which cow
would you keep for butter making and which for sell-
ing milk? (3) What kind is most common in your
neighborhood? (4) Would it pay better to keep a dif-
ferent kind? (5) Why is the Babcock test a great in-
vention? (6) What is a balanced feed? (7) How
would you test a cow to decide if she were worth keep-
ing? (8) How would you proceed to develop a fine .
herd of cattle? (9) Which dairy type do you like best?
(10) Why? (11) What other animals are sometimes
kept for their milk? (12) Which is the cheaper food,
milk or beef? (13) How does milk sometimes spread
disease? (14) What is butter-fat? (15) How is butter
made? (16) What makes the difference in cheese? (17)
Name some other uses for milk. (18) Make questions
of your own for use in class.

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPT EEA.
SHEEP

Wild Sheep of Asia. On the plains of Asia there
may be seen to-day small flocks of wild sheep. They
are larger than our common sheep, with such im-
mense horns that it would require a foot line to reach
around one at its root and a four-foot line to measure
their length. The wool of the wild sheep is brown,
with a buff-colored streak along the back. These
wild sheep are strong, quick, and suspicious, so they
are very hard to cateh. They are hunted for their
flesh and their skins, which are made into clothing.
-They have a coat of fine soft wool to keep them
warm, and over this is a long coarse hair, which
serves as a raincoat.

Another Kind of Wild Sheep. In the mountains
of Greece is another type of wild sheep, smaller and
less active than those of Asia. It is believed that
our domestic sheep have come from one or the other,
or perhaps both, of these wild types.

Taming the Sheep. Some writers think the sheep
was tamed before the horse or cow, because they
were small and could not defend themselves so well.
Sheepskins made fine clothing for the cave man.
The first animal we find mentioned in the Bible is
the sheep, but the Bible mentions other domestic
animals.

34

SHEEP 35

Where Sheep Live. The sheep can live on rough
hillsides and mountain cliffs where other domestic
animals would starve. They thrive best in cool eli-
mates, because of their heavy coats of wool. They
require less grain and will eat more kinds of food
than the horse or cow. So they are more easily
eared for (Fig. 20).

The Use of Sheep. A flock of sheep increases very
rapidly, for ewes, or mother sheep, often bear twin

Pad

Fic. 20. A good animal eats no more but pays better.

lambs every year. The lambs become full-grown in
a few months, and their flesh makes excellent food,
while the fleeces make woolen clothes for the people
of many lands. When prices of wool are fair, a
good ewe will pay her board and keep through the
year with her fleece. The flesh of the sheep is worth
about half as much as the wool. If she raises two
lambs they are clear gain to the farmer. Sheep
have no equal as weed-destroyers, for they eat
nearly every weed that grows on the farm. In small
numbers they build up and enrich the land, for
sheep manure is worth more as a fertilizer than

36 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

that of any other farm animal except poultry. A
few sheep will pay their way and make money for
their owner on any
farm that is not wet
and marshy. They
will not thrive on
low, moist land.
Aside from their
fleece and mutton, the
bones are used tor
fertilizer. The skins
3 2 make leather for
Fie. 21. A Merino ram. boots and shoes. The
tallow is made into
candles, and the skins of the intestines are made into
strings for musical instruments.

Two Kinds of Sheep. We raise two types of
sheep, because those that produce the best wool do
not make the best mutton. If a farmer is raising
sheep for mutton mainly, he keeps a herd of Shrop-
shires or Southdowns or some other mutton type.
If he is chiefly interested in growing fine wool, he
keeps American Merinos or some breed like them.

Merinos for Wool. The oldest races of the domes-
ticated sheep are probably the Merinos (Fig. 21).
They were very likely kept in Palestine in Bible
times, and it may be that King David when a lad
kept watch over a flock of Merinos. They came to
America from Spain and have been greatly im-
proved by American farmers. They are the best

SHEEP 37

wool-producers, yielding heavy fleeces of very fine
wool that is used to make the finest and most
expensive woolen goods.

Thrive in Large Flocks. Though the Merinos are
not so hardy as the wild sheep, they are hardier
than any other of the domestic breeds. They will
thrive in larger flocks than any other kinds, so they
are used in the range country of the West. They
have a long life and grow good fleeces to a ripe old
age, while the fleece of the mutton type begins to
lose in weight at an early age. Sheep on ranches
of our Western states are kept a thousand or two
thousand in a flock and sent off in the summer with
a herder and a shepherd dog. If the herder has a
horse, he sometimes cares for five thousand in a
flock. One rancher often owns from twenty-five
thousand to fifty thousand sheep. The cattle men
object to large flocks of sheep, for they eat the grass
so close that other ani-
mals cannot be grazed
there. Cattle also dis-
like the odor left by
sheep.

The Shepherd Dog.
The shepherd dog, or
collie, tends the flock
and rounds them up
when they stray. He
watches them at night and keeps off the mountain
‘lions. These dogs are very intelligent. They obey.

sees

Fig. 22. A Shropshire ram.

38 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the voices and spoken commands of their masters,
and even understand signals of the arms.

Care and Fleeces of Sheep. ‘The Merinos stand
more neglect than other sheep. They can get
through the winter on good straw, a little grain,
and some hill pasture. However, their mutton is
only fair, and they do not raise as many lambs as
other breeds. Their bodies are covered with large
folds or wrinkles of skin that make shearing diff-
eult, but these very wrinkles only make so much
more surface for good wool to grow on.

Sheep for Mutton. Shropshires and Southdowns
are the best liked of the mutton types in America.
The Shropshires (Fig. 22) have nearly black faces
and legs, and no horns. They rear more lambs than
other kinds, but their wool is not so fine as that of
the Merinos. Mutton sheep are profitable even on
high-priced land, if it is near a good market. Fancy
lamb mutton is a delicacy that people like and are
willing to pay for. Southdown ewes usually rear
two lambs each year, and they are good mothers.

QUESTIONS

(1) Where did the forefathers of our sheep come from?
(2) Have you any reasons for believing that the sheep
was tamed before the cow or horse? (3) Couid you
think of a reason why sheep will not thrive on a wet or
swampy farm? (4) Which of the mutton types do you
like best? (5) Why? (6) Are Merinos raised in your
county? (7) Why, or why not?

For problems and experiments refer to the Appendix.

CHAPTER V
SWINE

Improving the Hog. Hogs, like most other do-
mestic animals, were brought to America from
Europe. Most of the breeds of fat hogs have
developed here. By carefully choosing and keeping
_ the best hogs the farmers have made the fine breeds
of to-day quite different from the fierce wild boar.
The wild hog did not take on fat, but our domestic
breeds will fatten in a remarkably short time.

The hog yields meat at a lower cost than any
other animal when he is well cared for and prop-
erly fed. Intelligent farmers do not raise serub
hogs, which are sometimes ealled ‘‘razor backs.’’
It takes two years to get a scrub to weigh as much
as a well-bred pig will weigh when nine months
old. If a farmer has only scrub stock he can
improve his herd in a very few years ae the use
of a well-bred sire. | —

Among the standard
breeds of hogs popu-
lar on the great hog
farms of the Central
West are the York- |
shire, Tamworth, Fig. 23. A Cheshire pig.
Cheshire, Berkshire, Chester-White, Duroc-Jersey,
and Poland-China. (Figs. 23, 24, 25, and 26.)

39

4() ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

The Bacon Type. There are two different kinds,
or types of hogs. The people of Canada, and espe-
cially of England, like bacon with considerable lean
meat in it. This can only come from swine whieh
have well developed muscles. And so hog raisers
have brought forth a lengthy, muscular animal
called the bacon type, such as the Yorkshires and
Tamworths. It costs more to raise the bacon type.

The Lard Type. In our great corn belt it has
been found that a fine type of fat hogs can be raised
chiefly on corn, which is cheap food. So farmers
have developed a fat hog type or lard variety.
This type has small bones, a short, round body,
and short legs.

Berkshires. There are several breeds of fat hogs
that are popular, one of which is the Berkshire.
The Berkshire hog is a fine lard-type animal usu-
ally black with white marks on the face, feet, and
tail. Berkshires are found in every state but are

—

Fic. 24. Berkshires on clover.

SWINE 41

Fic, 25. Chester-White sows and pigs.

very numerous in the corn belt. They grow rapidly
and fatten easily. Berkshire mothers have large
families and take good care of them. (Fig. 24.)
Chester-Whites. Another popular breed of the
fat hog type is the Chester-White. They are of
medium size and white, no black hairs being
allowed in the pure breeds, and the hair is often
curly. They were developed in Chester County,
Pennsylvania, by mixing several other breeds of
hogs. Chester-Whites are good grazers and the
sows have large litters of pigs. (Fig. 25.)
Duroc-Jerseys. Duroc-Jerseys are another Amer-
ican breed of the fat hog type. They are about the
size of the Chester-White. Duroc-Jerseys are cherry
red in color, but sometimes yellowish reds and chest-
nut shades are seen. We do not know just how they

42 EKLEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

—

originated, but different breeds of red hogs were
common many years ago in New York and New
Jersey, and these were brought together and
blended. Red hogs are common in the corn states.
They are good grazers and put on flesh easily and
cheaply. They are hked because they have large
litters and because they reach good size and weight.
They thrive well when following a herd of fatten-
ing cattle. :

Poland-China. Another fat hog is the Poland-
_China. (Fig. 26.) They are usually black with

Fic. 26. A prize Poland China.

white markings on the face. The breed was first
known in Ohio where in the early days the pre-
vailing color was white. Poland-Chinas are great
favorites in the corn states, because they seem to
do better on corn alone than any other breed. For
the purpose of turning corn into pork Poland-

SWINE 43

Chinas are unequalled. They make good gains on
pasture with light grain ration, and mature early.
Their litters are not so large as those of the
Duroe-Jerseys which is a mark against the breed.

Feeding. The first thing to think of in feeding
hogs is a balanced ration. The most important part
of this ration is the protein and as most feeds on
the farm are short in protein this must be supplied.
The easiest way to provide the protein for hogs is
to grow large forage crops like alfalfa or clover.
Milk and bran are rich in protein. To balance the
protein, corn is the cheapest and best food. It fur-
nishes heat and fat. Corn and alfalfa or corn and
clover is, perhaps, the easiest balanced ration to
provide, especially in the corn belt. Corn, alone
is not rich enough in protein for the best results,
but it is often used for a few weeks immediately
before a herd is shipped to market, to make weight.

The hog must also have plenty of pure water.
Pigs need more water than older hogs in propor-
tion to their size. Charcoal, lime, ashes, and salt
should always be in reach to provide the mineral
food which the animal needs. Pigs need room to
exercise for the sake of their digestion. For this
reason it is better to let them forage for part of
their food. (Fig. 27.)

Hogs on Pasture. By far the greatest number
of hogs are fattened for market in the summer and
early fall. The care and labor is less then and the
gain in flesh greater, Pigs need more feed in cold

44 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fic. 27. Good feeders.

weather just as people do. Pigs do well on pasture.
We have learned that pigs fed on corn alone on
blue grass pasture gain weight as rapidly as if
they were fed a carefully balanced ration in a dry
lot. But clover or aifalfa is better than blue grass
or timothy pasture. (Fig. 24.) Corn fed on clover
pasture is better than the more costly feed of corn
and shorts in parts of two to one in a dry lot.

Coarse, bulky foods do not suit hogs well. Wheat
bran, corn-and-cob meal and oat feed are too bulky
to give the best results.. It has been proven that
corm soaked from one feeding time to the next is
more easily digested.

Rooting. Hogs relish herbs, roots, grubs, and
mineral elements and they like to root for them
in the soil. Rooting is good exercise for hogs,
but it destroys grass and forage crops and the
habit once acquired is difficult to eradicate. Hogs
will do less rooting if fed wood ashes, charcoal,
erit, and salt; but even then they are likely to root
up the soil in cool, shady places. Often it 1s neces-

SWINE 45

sary to put rings in their noses but they should not
be put in too deep.

Yards. A hog farm should be fenced hog tight
to keep the herd from those of the neighbors and
to protect crops. Young hogs need yards large
enough to furnish pasture and forage. Ten or fif-
teen pigs are enough for a four-acre lot of clover
or alfalfa. The forage not eaten if mowed two or
three times a year brings forth a fresh new crop
of tender growth and keeps the herd well fed.

Fencing. Wire fencing is much used. The posts
of cedar or of hedge are generally treated with
creosote to prevent water soaking and decay. They
will last from eight to ten years. A better post
may be made of concrete for a cost of twenty-five
cents apiece. The corners of the fences should be
well braced and a barbed wire placed beneath the
woven wire to keep the herd from rooting and
crawling under. Gates should be of plank or steel
frames with woven wire and safe fastenings.

Sheds and Shelter. Some farmers depend on
large open sheds to shelter their herds. Such sheds
should have tight roofs, sides and ends. The south
side is left open for air and sunshine. This is
especially suitable for warm climates though not
for the Northern states. The sheds should have
partitions to prevent the hogs from piling up too
much on cold nights when they get overheated and
catch cold afterward. They are apt to have a lung
disease which is mistaken for cholera.

4G ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fic. 28. The Colony type of hog house with chain and single tree
for hauling.

Hog Houses. Houses differ according to climate.
In the warmer states the breeders use small mov-
able hog houses large enough for a mother and her
family. (Fig. 28.) These houses are scattered
about over the farm. This is known as the colony
system. The great advantage of this system is
that the hogs are separated in small families and
if disease breaks out only a few are exposed. These
may be taken to a distant part of the farm and in
case of cholera the house may be burned with little
loss.

The more convenient plan is the large central
hog house which saves much time in feeding and
care. Such a house has a place for sleeping, a

SWINE AT

separate place for small pigs and another for fat-
tening hogs. Such hog houses are made in many
forms. Some are round, others square or rectan-
gular. (Fig. 29.) In any ease all buildings should
be warm and dry with plenty of light and air.
(Farmer’s Bulletin 438—Hog Houses.)

Diseases. The two most common diseases of hogs
are tuberculosis and hog cholera. Hogs get the
germs of tuberculosis through their food. Pigs fed
on the refuse from dairies and cheese factories get
the germs from infected cows.

Hog cholera is sometimes called swine fever
because a fever always accompanies the disease.
Frequently the hogs die very suddenly after a few
hours, other forms allow the animal to live several

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 29, A well-built and well-arranged central hog house, showing
arrangement of outside pens,

48 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

days. Hogs that have cholera are stupid and life-
less and refuse to move. They he huddled together
or retire to a corner of the pen. Some will eat
while others will not. No cure for hog cholera has
been found except anti-cholera serum. (Farmer’s
Bulletin 379 tells how to prevent hog cholera.)

There are other diseases such as mange, paraly-
sis, and black tooth. The most satisfactory way to
give medicine to hogs is in their food, but it is
always a good plan to know how to prevent disease
in the first place.

Lice. If the herd is troubled with lice the hogs
may be dipped in a coal tar disinfectant to be had
at the drug store. Directions for using it are also
given. In summer crude oil may be poured on the
water in the wallow. This will cling to the hogs
and kill the lice without injury to the hog. Gunny
sacks soaked in crude oil may be wrapped around
a rubbing post in the hog lot.

QUESTIONS

(1) In what ways do our hogs differ from the wild
boar? (2) How has this change come about? (3) What
protection do hogs need? (4) Why? (5) Which breeds
do you find in your county? (6) How do the East
and West differ in hog raising? (7) Where in your county
are most of the hogs raised? (8) Name the chief breeds of
bacon and lard hogs and tell why they are popular.
(9) Diseuss hog houses. (10) Tell what you can about
diseases of hogs.

|

——

CHAPTER VI
POULTRY

The Original Home of Poultry. Our chickens
have probably come from the wild jungle fowl of
India. Early man used to snare and kill these large
wild birds for food and rob their nests, because he
liked the eggs to eat. When men settled down and
gave up their wandering life, they tamed and fed
the jungle fowl. In time their wings grew smaller,
because they used them so much less, and their
bodies grew heavier. So to-day we have the con-
tented hens that stay quietly in their pens and
cackle to let us know when they have an egg ready.

Value of Fowls to the Farmer. Since the farmer
has learned in the last few years to take better care
of his poultry, it is now thought that they pay better
for what they eat than any other stock on the farm.
There is a great demand for ‘‘broilers’’ from ten to
twelve weeks old, and they bring fancy prices. The
number of eggs used in the United States daily is
beyond our imagination. It is estimated at about
forty-four millions. Besides supplying eggs and
meat for the farmer’s use, the chickens, if they are
allowed to roam, catch many grasshoppers and in-
sects. During the summer months they get most
of their food on the range. They like grass, seeds,
bugs, lime, and grit.

49

50 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Four Classes. Chickens have been divided into
four classes. The large, fat, meat-producing kind
does not lay well. They are the Cochins and
Brahmas (Fig. 30). The Leghorns and Minoreas
are especially valuable for producing eggs. They

are a small, wiry sort with large combs. They lay

large, white eggs and seldom want to hatch them,
so they can be kept laying for long periods. Their
flesh is not so excellent for the table as other breeds,
but they are very popular among poultry keepers
near large cities where fancy prices are paid for
eggs. The fancy or game chickens are beautifully
. feathered birds and are kept for show. To this class
belongs the bantam that is too small for real use.

But certain breeds combine the best qualities of

the layers and the fat chickens. They are the gen-

Fic. 30. Light Brahmas.

POULTRY 51

eral purpose fowls that have nice tender meat.
They both lay well and make good mothers. To this
class belong the differ-
ent kinds of Plymouth
Rocks (Figs. 31 and
32), Wyandottes and
Rhode Island Reds.
These breeds are all
developed in America.

Habits. Chickens
swallow their food
whole. It is softened
in the crop and ground
up in the stomach, or
gizzard, the walls of
which are hard and
muscular. Fowls tip
their heads back to swallow when they take a beak
full of water, because they have no muscle in their
throats. Chickens wallow or take a dust bath to
drive away insects or clean their skins; and in wet
weather they oil their feathers so they will shed
water well and so keep their skin dry.

The Nests. A hen will hide her eggs, if possible,
so a cozy place should be arranged in a quiet, dark
place for her nest. She begins to lay in the spring,
one ege each day. If left to herself, she would
commence to sit as soon as she had twelve or fif-
teen eggs. By removing the eggs she is kept laying
a much longer time. The breeds that do not sit

Fig. 31. . Barred Rock.

“SYIO
Y
any M
A a20
VL
d

16)

ge:
OTL

POULTRY 53

have been known to lay as many as two hundred
thirty eggs im a year.

Poultry in Pens. Chickens that have free range
are more profitable and do better than those kept in
pens. But fowls can be kept under many conditions.
To do well they must have reasonably warm, dry
quarters with plenty of light and fresh air. In parts
of the West, where it is dry, a frame of poles is set
up in November and covered with straw. The
chickens run inside this warm shelter and do well.
If a hen is protected from draughts, frost, lice, and
bad air she is likely to think spring has come in
February and will begin early laying, or perhaps
she will lay all winter. Some breeds lay well in the
winter time when they have good eare.

Care of Henhouse. Farmers should clean up their
old henhouses with a shovel, broom, and boiling
water. They should paint the roosts with kerosene
to kill lee, and whitewash the walls. The cracks
ean be stuffed with straw and covered with tarred
paper. Very soon the farmer will see his hens doing
better. Leaves or straw make a fine floor covering,
and they force the fowls to scratch for the grain.
The house should be kept clean and fresh leaves or
straw put in each week. (Fig. 33.)

Laying Hens. Laying hens require different food
from those intended for table use. Variety of food
is important. One reason the hen lays in summer
is because she chooses her own food and has a bal-
anced ration. She eats all day long, a little at a

54 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

time, and does not mope. A moping hen does not
lay well, as exercise is necessary. Chickens in a
pen need animal food, such as meat scraps and
skimmed milk, to take the place of the insects that
they get when they are allowed to roam. Cracked
oyster shell furnishes lime for making the eggshell,
and grit must be provided for grinding their food.
Fresh water in clean dishes should always be within
reach. During the winter season, corn may be given
once a day because it is a warming food. Ground
bone, table scraps, cooked potatoes, turnips, and
vegetable tops are given instead of green food.
Kees, like milk, often show by their color, flavor,
and odor what food the hens eat.

Hatching Little Chicks. Hen’s eggs are hatched
by keeping them at the same warm temperature for
twenty-one days. Many farmers prefer the hen to
incubators for hatching. Perfect-shaped eggs with
good firm shells should be selected for hatching.
The fresher they are the better. When two broods
of chicks are hatched at the same time, one hen
may be able to mother both.

How to Care for the Brood. Little chickens must
be kept dry and must be carefully fed three times
a day. Corn meal and bread crumbs and the yolk
of hard-boiled eggs are a good beginning. If chicks
are in a pen, cut grass from the lawn makes good
ereen food. Soon a little chicken will eat wheat
and cracked corn. Chicken lice are a great trouble
to the tiny chicks and the mother hen, and the nest

POULTRY 55

Fic. 33. <A sanitary poultry house.

should be dusted with powder a week before the
chickens are hatched. Some of the powder may be
mixed with lard and rubbed well on each chicken’s
head.

Brooder Chicks. Incubator chickens have no
mother to teach them to eat grit and green stuff.

56 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

When chicks are first brought to the brooder, bread
erumbs are sprinkled upon the floor among the grit,
and in this way they learn to take food and grit at
the same time. To make them eat promptly, the

Fic. 34. Incubator babies.

food may be taken away after five minutes. (Fig.
34.)

Fattening Broilers. When the chickens are
weaned from the hen, the cockerels are put in a
yard by themselves and fed on porridge made of
four parts of corn meal, two parts of middlings, and
one part beef scrap. The mixture is wet with
skimmed milk until it will run from a wooden spoon.
They are fed this at morning and at evening. They
are allowed plenty of shade and kept as quiet as

POULTRY 57

possible. This makes them more meaty and soft
than those that exercise. Chickens about a hundred
days old gain the most rapidly. They often gain
from one and three-fourths to two and one-fourth
pounds in a month. When cockerels weigh two
pounds or over they should be sold for broilers.

Poultry Pests. Hawks capture many chicks. A
good marksman ean kill a few and hang them on
poles around the yard as an object lesson. The
best remedy is to keep the chicks in yards covered
with wire until they are large enough to run for
shelter. It is well to have low-growing shrubs
where chickens can hide. If pigs run in the same
field with chickens they must be watched, for if a
pig once gets a taste of chicken, he will chase them
continually. Rats trouble chicks at night. Cement
floors and stone foundations in chicken houses will
keep out rats. Poison may be used if it can be kept
away from the chickens.

QUESTIONS

(1) Which do you think will pay better on the farm,
the Leghorns or the Barred Rocks? (2). Give reasons.
(3) How do fowls keep themselves clean? (4) Why
do we scatter grain in straw for the chickens to search
out? (5) Why should farmers use incubators? (6)
What is the use of grit in chicken feed? (7) Why is
oyster shell eaten by hens? (8) What is the cause of
soft-shelled eggs? (9) Why should chickens be penned
up and kept quiet when fattening for market?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPTER Vit

TURKEYS, DUCKS, AND GEESE

Turkeys. A flock of turkeys has helped many a
farmer’s daughter to a new winter outfit or bought
her things to go away to school. Besides being a
profitable bird at Thanksgiving time, they destroy
millions of bugs which would injure the crops. The
bronze turkey (Fig. 35) is the most common in the
United States. Some turkeys are hatched by hens
and some by incubators. The first food should be
the curd of milk made like cottage cheese. To the
cheese should be added chopped boiled eggs and a
bread made of corn meal, skimmed milk, and salt.
After turkeys are six weeks old, they get their own
living catching grasshoppers and bugs. They need

: clean pens and clean
food. Dampness is
sure to kill young tur-
keys, so they should
be kept in their pens
in the morning until
the dew is off the
erass.

Fattening Turkeys.
The turkey is usually
allowed to roam until
Fic. 35. Bronze turkey. he is ready for market,

58

TURKEYS, DUCKS, AND GEESE 59

but about the first of October he should have an eve-
ning meal of good yellow corn. It is well to begin
with a little at a time, but by the first of November
he must go to bed with a full crop every night.
This makes the flesh yellow, juicy, and tender.

Ducks. Pekins are the most popular ducks (Fig.
36). Duck’s eggs can
be hatched under hens
or in incubators. The
first food of the duck-
lings should be a moist
mash instead of dry
feed. Ducks need plenty
of water to drink, for
they take a mouthful of
food and wash it down |
with water. They must
have drinking pans Fic. 36. Pekin ducks.
deep enough so they can
stick their heads in over their eyes, because that is
their way of keeping their nostrils and eyes clean.
The birds are dry-picked to save the feathers for
pillows. Duck’s eggs are popular, especially at
Easter.

Geese. The goose is the Christmas bird (Fig. 37).
When geese are allowed to roam they gather most
of their food, which is usually grasses and insects.
In the winter months they must be fed one meal a
day. Geese graze as freely as cattle and have been
accused of destroying the roots of grass. They must

60 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

have plenty of water for the same reason that ducks
need it. The eggs are best hatched under a hen.
A sitting goose is very cross and has been known
to break a man’s arm with a blow of her wings.
Young goslings are easily chilled and must be
looked after during cold rains. To make a rapid

Fic. 37. The Christmas bird.

erowth, geese must be fed wheat bran, corn meal,
and scraps. They should have plenty of shade,
water, and grass. They may be made ready for
market in three months. Their feathers are valu-
able for pillows and many other things.

ree

CHAPTER VIII
INSECTS

Insect Enemies. Almost every plant has an in-
sect enemy that feeds upon it; and the farmer who
wishes to protect his crops, orchards, and gardens
must know how to fight these plant enemies. JIn-
sects form about nine-tenths of all the animal life
upon the earth. Hundreds of millions of dollars’
worth of farmers’ produce is lost each year because
of insects. (Figs. 38, 39, 40, 41, and 77.)

Insect Friends. Certain insects, however, are use-
ful to mankind. Some gather honey and carry
pollen from flower to flower, while others spin silk,
and still others clean away dead animals. These
friends of man are: bees (Fig. 45), wasps, dragon
flies, tiger beetles, silkworms, and many others.

Parts of Insects. Insects when full-grown have
the body divided into three parts: the head, the
middle part, or thorax, and the abdomen or back
part. On the head are the eyes, the feelers, called
antenne, and the mouth. The chest or thorax bears
the wings, of which there are usually two pairs, and
six legs.

Biting Insects. There are among insects two
kinds of mouths. Such insects as grasshoppers and
beetles bite the food. Others, such as mosquitoes,
bedbugs, bees, and butterflies, suck their food.

61

62 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Insects with biting mouths have two pairs of jaws
with which they chew their food; and they often eat
bark, leaves, fruit, and flowers. All these biting
insects may be killed by spraying poison on the
plants on which they feed.

Sucking Insects. Insects with sucking mouths
usually live upon the sap of plants or the blood of

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 38. Knotty apples from trees that were not sprayed.

animals. Some few of them, such as bees and but-
terflies, feed largely upon the nectar or sweets of
flowers. Since they get their food from the inside
of the objects on which they feed, we can not poison
them, but must find some other method of fighting
them.

Contact Insecticides. Substances have been dis-
covered which will kill insects when covering or
touching their bodies. These are called contact

ai taehpanibet

INSECTS 63

insecticides. Insects do not breathe through their
noses or mouths, but they have little holes, or pores
placed along both sides of their bodies, and through
these the air passes in and out. When anything
clogs these breathing pores, they die. It has been
found that certain oils and powders will destroy in-
sects by smothering them. Oils may be mixed with

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 39. Apples from trees that were sprayed. No farmer can afford
to neglect his fruit crop.

other materials so as to prevent damage to the plants
on which the insects live. Kerosene emulsion is
such an insect destroyer. Poisons may be put on
the plants before insects appear as a protection, but
contact insecticides must be applied to the insects
themselves.

Moulting of Insects. Insects have no bones or
inside skeleton, but the skin becomes very hard and

64 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

horn-like and is usually considered the skeleton of

the insect.

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 40. Curculio depositing its
egg upon a young peach.

Stages of Development.
Wasps, bees, butterflies,
moths, beetles, flies, and
mosquitoes have very re-
markable changes in the
last moults. Such insects
are. sald. to; have tour
stages of life: (1) the egg
stage, (2) the larva or
grub stage, (3) the pupa
stage, (4) the adult stage.
(Figs. 42 and 43.)

AS it becomes hard it will not stretch;

and when the insect has
grown so large as to en-
tirely fill this hard coat,
anew or soft coat forms
underneath; and the old
one is shed or east off.
The casting off of anold
coat, or shell, is called
moulting. The skin is
moulted several times
during the life of the
insect, and each time it
becomes larger. The
chief changes in the in-
sect’s life usually come
in the last two moults.

Courtesy U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 41. The young grub de-
stroying the fruit.

INSECTS oe

Larva Stage. Eggs hatch into the larva stage,
which is the time of growth and when most of the
eating is done. The larva of a butterfly is a cater-
pillar, that of a fly is a maggot, and the larva of a
mosquito is a wiggler. Some insects eat all the
time during this growing stage, never going to sleep.

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 42. May beetle, called also June beetle or June bug; a, beetle;
b, pupa; c, egg; d, newly-hatched larva; e, mature larva;
f, anal segment of same from below.

They stop only long enough to cast their coats. The
kinds that live on flesh have, in some instances,
been known to eat two hundred times their own
weight in a single day.

Pupa Stage. The larva then goes into a resting
or sleeping state, enclosing itself in a case of some
kind. This is called the pupa stage. Silkworms
spin for their pupa stage a silken covering called a
cocoon. While in this state the insects go through
many wonderful changes. Wings and legs are
grown and after a short time the full grown or adult

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fig. 43. Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil. 1, Weevil, back view; 2,
weevil, side view; 3, fully-grown larva; 4, egg; 5, pupa
ready to transform; 6, adult weevil with wing covers
raised and wings extended, ready to take flight.

INSECTS 67

insect comes forth a fly, a mosquito, or a beetle.

Freezing the Insect. The blood of insects is trans-
parent like water and is pushed along through the
body by the beating of a large vein or artery which
lies along the back, instead of by the beating of a
heart. Insects are cold-blooded and can freeze with-
out being killed. During the winter insects hiber-
nate; that is, a great many varieties live through
the winter hidden away among old grass or under
stones, logs, bark, and in the ground. Even the
eggs of insects may be frozen solid and remain
uninjured.

Insect Life Short. Insects generally die soon
after laying their eggs, though some kinds live
longer, raising several broods. A great many dic
before their eggs hatch. Insects are found in all
countries at all times of the year. They are found
in our homes, gardens, and fields; in the air, water,
and the earth: both within and upon the bodies of
animals. We shall learn more of the different kinds
of insects as we study the chapters on crops. |

QUESTIONS

(1) How do insects compare in numbers with animals?
(2) Name some insects that are man’s friends. (3)
Name the parts of the insect’s body. (4) How many
legs have they? (5) What is the difference between
biting and sucking insects? (6) Why does a farmer need
to know how an insect takes its food? (7) Why do
insects moult? (8) Explain larva, pupa, and cocoon.
(9) What is peculiar about the blood of insects? (10)
What is meant by hibernating?

CHAPTER IX
THE BEE

The First Sugar Makers. All the old Bible coun-
tries had their beekeepers. Before the growing of
sugar cane and the making of sugar was begun,
bees furnished the only means of sweetening food.
Our savage forefathers probably robbed the hollow
trees where bees stored their honey and in time
learned how to capture swarms. In England, not.
many hundred years ago, swarms of bees were so
prized that they were willed from one family to
another.

Finding the Bee-Tree. ‘To find a ‘‘bee-tree,’”’ the
hunters took to the edge of the woods boxes of
diluted honey; then they followed in the direction |
the bees took as they flew home. It was believed
when the bee had his honey basket filled, he took
the straightest way possible to the bee tree. That
is how we came to have the expression, ‘‘Take a
hee line.’’

The Honey Train. An American invented tlie
hive which makes it possible for one man to take
charge of many bees. There are many men who
make beekeeping their business (Fig. 44). It has
been estimated that if all the honey manufactured
in the United States in one year were put in ears,
it would make a train thirty-five miles long.

68

THE BEE 69

Where the Honey Comes From. Bees, with their
long tongues, take the sweet juice, or nectar, from

Courtesy of ‘‘Bee Culture,’’ Medina, Ohio

Fic. 44. A profitable apiary.

flowers, clover, buckwheat, alfalfa, black gum, chest-
nut, and catnip. This nectar we may taste by pull-
ing a clover blossom to pieces, but only the bee
knows how to make it into honey.

Pollen and Wax. It was once thought that the
bees used the little yellow balls, which we some-
times see clinging to their hind legs, for making
wax; but now we know the little yellow balls are
made of pollen which the bee gathers from flowers
for the purpose of feeding its young, and that the
wax is secreted from their own bodies in much the

70 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

same way as a cow secretes milk. The wax forms
in little scales on the under side of their bodies, and
when they want to use it they pick it off with their
feet. After mixing it in their mouths, they use it
in building the beautiful combs with the six-sided
pockets in which they store honey.

Members of the Bee Family. We do not care to

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 45. The honey bee; a, worker; b, queen; c, drone.

[Twice the natural size.]|
@o very near bees when they are at work, so not
many of us know the difference between the queen,
the workers, and the drones (Fig. 45). The queen
is the largest and the most important bee in the
hive. If we examine the cell, or hving room of the
queen bee, we shall find it nearly four times as large
as those of the other bees. It is about the size and
shape of a peanut and is usually placed on the edge
of the comb.

THE BEE 71

The Work of the Queen. The queen is the mother
bee, and she lays all the eggs. It is said that a queen
bee has laid more than three thousand eggs in a
single day. There are some seasons when she does
not lay so many, and there are other seasons when
she does not lay at all; but it does not take long for
her family to become too large for the hive.

Why Bees Swarm. When the family becomes too
big, they form a new family, or, in other words, they
‘“‘swarm.’’ (Fig. 46.) <A cloud of bees comes out
of the hive and lights on a near-by bush. From

Courtesy of ‘‘Bee Culture,’’ Medina, Ohio

Fic. 46. A stand of bees near the swarming time.

yf §, ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

here they send out scouts to find new housekeeping
quarters; they also wish to make sure their queen
is with them. If they find she is not with them,
they return to the old hive and wait for her before
they start again. If the beekeeper is watching, he
makes ready a clean, fresh hive and either shakes
them in or places it where they will go in.

The New Queen. The queen which takes her place
in the old hive comes from an egg laid in the queen’s
cell. She has been fed with ‘‘royal jelly.’’ This is
much richer food than that which is fed to the baby
bees which grow into the workers or drones, and it
makes a much larger bee. (Fig. 45-b.) ;

Getting a New Queen. In case an accident hap-
pens to their old queen, the bees have a curious way
of getting a new one very soon. The drones choose
three cells which contain newly-hatched bees, they
knock out the partition cells, kill two of the bee-
babes, and feed the third on ‘‘royal jelly.’’

Dividing the Work. There are from thirty thou-
sand to forty thousand workers in a good strong
colony, and each bee has its own work to do. The
young bees build the comb, feed the newly-hatched
bees, and do general housework; those a little older
secrete wax and help their elder brothers to shape
pockets for storing the honey which these older bees
bring in. A queen may live four or five years, but
the workers that are hatched in the spring, work so
hard that they often wear themselves out in forty
or fifty days.

THE BEE 73

The Drones. The drones are the male bees. They
are larger than the workers and have no sting.
Somebody has called them the ‘‘tramps’’ of the bee
family, because they do no work. When the workers
tire of feeding the drones, they kill them and throw
them out of the hive. (Fig. 45-c.)

The Kind to Keep. Bees have been known to
make from twenty-five to thirty pounds of honey in
a year in one hive. The Italian bees are considered
the finest, because their longer tongues can reach
nectar in the flowers that the black bee can not
reach. They are also more gentle and easy to handle.

Helping the Bee. ‘T’o secure honey in the best
shape for the market, the beekeeper places in the
top of the hives frames which hold just one pound
of honey. (Fig. 47.) These have a sheet of wax
on which is impressed a network of six-sided cells.
From this foundation, new cells are built by the
bees. A machine has been invented that saves the
time and energy of the bee in wax making.

The Honey Extractor. Once a beekeeper’s little
son was playing with a piece of unsealed honey-
comb in a basket. The lad had tied a piece of string
to the handle. As he whirled the basket around
and around in the air, his father noticed the honey
dripping from the basket. When he found the cells
of the honeycomb were nearly emptied without in-
juring the comb he thought, ‘‘How much labor it
would save the bees if they could fill their combs
again instead of having to make new ones!’’ So

Courtesy of ‘‘Bee Culture,’’ Medina, Ohio

s all in knowing how

THE BEE 15

ne invented the honey extractor which empties many
combs at once and gives us the clear strained honey.
It removes the honey from the comb without injury
to the comb and without destroying its place in the
frame; and these old combs are put back in the hive
to be filled again. In this way bees are kept busy
gathering honey instead of building comb.

Keeping Them Warm in Winter. Bees must be
protected from the cold in winter, or they may die.
The ‘‘box hive’’ incloses the real hive, leaving a
space to be filled with chaff and other packing ma-
terial. A small opening is left so the bees can get
out in cold weather. They must have exercise in
the open air to keep well.

Do Not Starve Bees. In removing honey from
the hive, care should be taken that there is enough
left to feed the bees through the winter season.
Sometimes a keeper prefers to feed the bees on a
sirup made of sugar, so he can sell all the honey.

Another Service. Besides the income the bees
bring the farmer in honey and wax, they do him
another great service. They scatter pollen from one
plant to another. Many plants cannot bear fruit
or seed unless their pollen is mixed. The wind does
some of this, but the bee is the best mixer. He
dives into the heart of a flower for nectar and gets
his body covered with pollen and takes it with him
to the next plant. It is said clover would not grow
on the island of New Zealand till bumblebees were
taken there to scatter the pollen.

16 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Busy as a Bee. Now we know what busy, strange,
helpful little creatures the bees are, and we do not
wonder at the old saying, ‘‘As busy as a bee.’’
Every farm has enough plants to provide several
swarms with pollen and nectar, so that each one
may have its own honey. What one needs to know
about beekeeping he may learn largely from books,
because it is said that more books have been written
about the bee than about any other domestic animal.

QUESTIONS

(1) Why were bees more highly prized in the olden
times than to-day? (2) What plants are good for honey
bees? (3) Where do the bees get the wax? (4) What
is ‘‘royal jelly’’? (5) How do bee farmers aid their
bees in honey making? (6) What other service does the
bee perform besides making money? (7) Why would
not clover grow in New Zealand at first?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPTER X

BIRDS

A Story. A certain beautiful poem tells this
story. Once upon a time the farmers of Killing-
worth were troubled and angry, because the birds
ate so much of their fruit and grain. So they held
a town meeting and ordered every bird killed. Only
one man, the village teacher, pleaded for the birds.
He said it would be lone-
ly without their cheerful
songs. He reminded the
farmers of the many in-
sects which the birds de-
voured. He told them that
the few cherries and the
small measure of grain
the birds ate were only
just wages for the hard
work they did in protect-
ing the farmers’ crops
from worms and bugs.
But the farmers did not
heed his warning. The
parent birds were shot
and the little ones

Fic. 48. The Red-Headed Wood-

starved in their nests. pecker, an enemy of tree
insects and a friend
For one long summer Ne ee of

77

78 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

there were no birds in Killingworth. Hundreds
of caterpillars and cankerworms and small insects
destroyed the crops and
the leaves on the trees.
The land looked like a
desert. At last the fool-
ish farmers saw their
mistake. They hastened
to send away for many
cages of singing birds
which were again al-
lowed to fly about at
will. The story ends
here, but we are glad
‘to know that the birds
we all love so much are
of great use to us.
Service to the Farm-
ers. it will be impossi-
Fic. 49. The Bobolink, an enemy ble to mention here all
of grasshoppers, caterpillars, the helpful birds. Rob-
army worms and the like. ae hoo shout dhetieide
and lawns and gardens, destroying grasshoppers
and earthworms. The bluebirds, warblers, and
chickadees work among the tree-tops, catching the
insects which eat the tender leaves. The nuthatches,
creepers, and woodpeckers (Fig. 48) patrol the bark
of the trees, finding plant lice and borers.
Other Friends of the Farmer. The swallows, fly-
catchers, and kingbirds sail about the air, snapping

BIRDS 79

up flies and mosquitoes. When darkness comes, the
owls and nighthawks go on duty and capture in-
sects of many kinds. They swoop down and catch
moles, meadow mice, and rats that do harm to
farmers’ crops.

Grosbeaks Are Friends. Grosbeaks are of such
particular service to the farmer that in many states
they are protected by law. The rose-breasted gros-
beak, or ‘‘potato-bug’’ bird makes a tenth of his
diet of potato beetles (Fig. 77). He also eats the
cucumber beetle. He is accused of eating peas, but
he is so useful in the garden that it is worth one’s
trouble to put
netting over the
peas. He may also
be kept away by
a scarecrow. He
is very fond of
orchards, for can-
kerworms, caterpil-
lars, and the moths
and scale insects
that attack trees are
his special delight
at meal time. The
cardinal, or red-bird,
belongs to the gros-
beak family. They
have been accused
of pulling sprouting Fic. 50. The Meadow Lark.

80 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

grain, though the examination of the stomachs of
five hundred cardinals did not prove this to be true.

Tarring the Seed. ‘To prevent the western gros-
beaks from pulling the seed grain, the farmers soak
the seed corn or other grain in a barrel of water and
stir it thoroughly with a stick dipped in gas-tar.
When the grain be-
comes black, it is
spread on sacks and
dried inthe sun. With
this coating of tar, it
issafe from the birds.
Seed planted with a
echeeckrow planter is
not disturbed be-
cause the earth is
packed.

Protecting Grain
Fields. Some farmers
protect their fields of
ripe grain by plant-

eras. ing a few rows of mil-

Fig. 51. ee Quail or let on the edge of the

field. Birds prefer

millet to other grain, but it should be sowed so as to
ripen at the same time as other grain.

The Grosbeak and the Orchard. Mulberry and
june-berry trees will protect an orchard in the same
way. The black-headed grosbeak, if not prevented,
eats a good deal of fruit; but it has been estimated

BIRDS 81

that for every quart of fruit he eats, he consumes,
by measure, a quart and a half of black olive scales,
a quart of flower beetles, and a large quantity of
codling moth babies and cankerworms. If this is
true, he certainly saves much more fruit than he
destroys.

Policemen of the Air. Some one has called the
birds the little policemen of the air, because they
protect us from the robber bugs and caterpillars.
Insects make up nine-tenths of the animal life of the
world, and it has been estimated that a bird will
destroy thirty insects daily, so
he is a very valuable little
policeman.

Eating Weed Seeds. Another
great foe of the farmer is weeds.
In one state alone the tree spar-
rows are reported to have eaten
eight hundred seventy-five tons
of weed seed in one _ season.
This included smartweed, rag-
weed, bindweed, crabgrass, and
many others. The bobolink and
meadow lark destroy many in-
sect enemies of the crops and
untold quantities of weed seed.
(Figs. 49 and 50.)

Big Appetites. Birds need a
great deal of food, because they

a Fic. 52. Making friends
are so active. They eat all the of the birds.

892 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

time they are not sleeping or caring for their young.
One flicker was found who had in his stomach five
thousand ants; a nighthawk ate at one time sixty
grasshoppers, and a bobwhite (Fig. 51) ate seven-
teen hundred seeds of weeds for one meal.

Making Friends of Birds. Birds may be coaxed
to stay near the house and garden by protecting
them from cats and bird-dogs and by making nest-
ing easy for them. One kind-hearted farmer built
a home for a wren. It was a box six inches square
and about eight inches high. He put a little perch
on the front and an entrance hole only one inch
across, so the sparrows could not get in. He did
not paint it, but left it wood color, for birds do not
like bright-colored dwellings. The same little wren
came on the fifth day of May every year for seven
years and kept house in it. Martins and bluebirds
also settled down in his bird houses. (Fig. 52.) The
farmer’s wife coaxed the orioles to build their
strange little pouch nests on the limbs of their elm
trees, by putting out yarn and cotton twine on the
bushes in the nesting season. Covered arbors were
made and vines allowed to grow to make sheltered
places for rearing their young.

Sharing with the Birds. A big mulberry tree in
the garden furnished food for many songsters as
well as plenty of pies for the farmer’s family. On
top of posts in the yard, out of the reach of cats, were
shallow dishes which provided water for the birds;
and the farmer left an opening under the eaves of

BIRDS 93

his barn so the swallows could get in and keep house
among the rafters, because they keep the barn free
from gnats and flies. This bird-lover was not so
cordial to crows, blue jays, sparrows, and chicken
hawks, for they destroy the eggs and the young of
the song birds.

QUESTIONS —

(1) What birds get their food among the tree tops?
(2) Do you know these birds? Get a bird book to aid
you in learning them. (3) What kinds work on the
bark of trees? (4) Name some that get their food on
the wing. (5) How may orchards be protected from
birds? (6) Why do not birds like bright-colored bird-
houses ?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

PART II. SOILS AND FARM CROPS

CHAPTER XT
SOILS

What the Soils Do. The layer of dirt or crust
that covers the earth is called the soil. It is so thin
in places that the rocks appear through it. In other
places it is deep. Plants and insects, birds, beasts,
and men, are all fed on what grows in this layer of
soil. It is marvelous that soil wil! produce so many
different kinds of plants.

A Light Soil. As we go about we notice that the
soil of some fields looks quite different from that
of others. Here we find a loose soil in which we
can easily see a large amount of common sand.
There we find soil that contains so much clay that
bricks can be made of it. The more sand a soil
contains the easier it is to cultivate it. It works
better under the plow and harrow. For this reason
a sandy soil is said to be a light soul.

Heavy Soil: Clay soils stick together and are
hard to work, both when they are very wet and very
dry. If we make clay into mud pies, they will crack
when they are dry. Clay soils behave this way in
the fields. We have all seen the big cracks in clay
soil in the dry midsummer. This kind of soil is said

84

SOILS 85

to be cold, because it holds so much water instead
of allowing it to pass through easily. Because clay
soils are sticky and hard to work, we eall them
heavy.

Crops for Clay Soils. Clay soils are excellent for
pastures, and they wear well. Apples, pears, and
grapes do well on them. They also produce good
crops of hay, wheat, oats, beets, cabbages, and tur-
nips. But clay soils are too cold and wet for corn
and too hard to allow potatoes to grow freely.

Loam. A soil that is composed of clay, sand and
decomposed organic matter is called loam. If there
is more clay than sand, it-is called a clay loam; if
there is more sand, it is asandy loam. The presence
of decomposed organic matter gives it fertility. This
is the best farm soil, for loam makes a good home
for plant roots. It is easy to cultivate, and because
it allows moisture to pass through it readily, no time
is lost after rains in waiting for it to dry out.

What the Soil Contains. We know that all soil
is made up of fine particles of rock or sand, of
decayed plants, of water, and of insect life. It also
contains air and another plant life, which, perhaps,
we do not know about, because we cannot see it.
They are so small it would take many thousands
of them to measure an inch. This low, tiny plant
life we call bacteria. They are very useful in
changing the soil so as to make it ready for plant
food. Bacteria must have air to live, and that is
one reason we must have air in the soil.

86 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Plant Food. In order that plants may grow, they
need certain foods that we call plant foods. Plants
get this food from the soil and the air. In order
not to rob. the soil, we must know what our crops
are taking out of it and how to put these plant
foods back.

Plants Need Many Foods. The plant needs a
variety of foods, just as a hungry boy does. Ordi-
nary plants need about thirteen different kinds.
Some of these elements, or different kinds of foods,
are obtained from the air, and others from the soil.
To grow good crops, the soil must not only have
enough of all the foods that the plants need, but
they must be in such form that the roots can take
them up and use them to build up the stalk, leaves,
and fruit.

Only Liquid Food. The foods taken from the soil
are called mineral foods, because they are actually
bits of minerals dissolved in water just as you dis-
solve sugar or salt. Plants drink their food through
tiny, hollow root hairs that take up this water solu-
tion. They cannot take up solid particles of soil.
So all this mineral plant food must be dissolved in
water before it can pass into the plant and become a
part of it.

Water the Chief Plant Food. When soil is
perfectly dry, plants cannot grow in it, for water
generally forms about three-fourths of a plant’s
weight. Since the plant can take plant food from
the soil only in liquid form, we see that water itself

SOILS 87

is not only an important plant food, but it carries to
the stalk and leaves nearly all the other foods they
need. After traveling through the rootlets up the
stem to the leaves, the water that is not needed
passes off from the leaves into the air. Therefore
we see that plants take in much more water than
they can use, for the sake of the food that the water
brings with it. We are told that timothy hay needs
three hundred tons of water to obtain the other
foods necessary to make one ton of hay; oats require
five hundred tons of water for a ton of plant.

Other Food. A bundle of wheat as it comes from
the self-binder weighs about ten pounds, and nearly
nine and one-half pounds of this is composed of
water and the carbonic acid of the air. A large
part of the farmer’s labor is done to supply the
elements that make up the other half pound of this
bundle of wheat. It contains ten simple foods and
no two in equal amounts. The wheat cannot spare
any one of these ten plant foods. So when the soi!
loses one element of wheat food, it is no longer good
wheat land.

Humus. Different parts of the same fields may
have different colors. The red color of some clays is
due to the iron in them, but the brown or black color
of soils is usually due to the humus that they con-
tain. Humus is the decay of plants. The leaf mould
which we find under the dead leaves in the woods
is a good sample of humus. This is a very impor-
tant element in soil. Humus not only makes the

8g ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

soil dark and rich, but it makes the ground loose
and mellow so air can get in. It also enables the
soil to hold far more moisture than would be pos-
sible without it. Plants, we know, need both air
and moisture about their roots, so humus is a valu-
able aid to the farmer.

Soil and Surface Water. How does the soil
obtain and keep moisture and give it over to the
plants? If we go into the fields after a heavy rain,
we notice muddy streams running from the plowed
land, carrying off good, fine soil. Part of the water
that falls as rain and snow, runs off instead of
sinking into the earth. This we call surface water,
and it often does much damage to our fields; but
much of the water that falls upon the ground sinks
into the soil through cracks and holes and between
the tiny grains of soil. When the land is dry the
farmer likes a slow, steady rain, because it all soaks
into the ground to feed plants, instead of running
off as surface water and carrying good soil with it.

Why Clay Soils Are Wet. As the water passes
through the soil, each tiny grain of sand and each
little particle of earth is covered with a coat of
moisture. All through the soil are small holes or
open spaces between the grains, and into these the
water goes. In such fine soil as clay, which packs
closely, the spaces are small, and the water cannot
pass through rapidly; so it is kept back in holes,
open spaces, or puddles. In loose, coarse-grained
earth, such as sand, the spaces are large; and the

SOILS 89

water passes through rapidly. This explains why
clay soil is sticky and wet while sand is a dry soil
and almost never forms puddles.

Holding Water for Plants. It is easy to under-
stand how water will move downward through the
soil wherever there are openings or pores. We also
know that water-coated particles will pass on some
of their moisture to dry ones that touch them, just
as lamp oil passes up the wick. Thus, you see, mois-
ture is always moving toward dry areas. This
means a great deal to plants, for when their rootlets
drink up the water that is around them and the soil
about them is becoming dry, more moisture moves
toward the dry place and supplies the thirsty plants.
In this way plants may obtain nearly all the water
in a good soil.

Importance of Drainage. Some regions have con-
siderable rainfall. Water soon forms a coat about
each tiny grain of soil and fills the pore spaces. If
more rain keeps falling, and the water eannot pass
down easily through the soil, we have swampy land.
This happens especially where the under drainage,
as we say, is not good. In such swampy lands, the
open spaces, or pores of the soil, are always full of
water, and no air can penetrate the soil.

Good Soil Contains Air. A] plants need air about
their roots as well as about their stems and leaves.
The roots can not do their work without air, and
they will not go deeper than the air can follow.
Without air, seeds will not sprout, but will rot.

90 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Then, as we have said, there are the hosts of soil
bacteria whose work it is to change certain plant
foods for the plant’s use; and these bacteria can not
live without air.

How to Drain Swampy Land. Level fields of clay
soil are often unfit for crops, because they do not
drain well. They are always water-soaked and
swampy. Thus the farmer must drain such fields
or allow them to lie idle. The best method is to
tile-drain them. This is done by digging trenches
from thirty to one hundred feet apart, according to
the soil. In the bottom of these trenches tiles are
laid. These tiles are merely hollow tubes about a
foot long, made of clay and burnt hard like brick.
They are laid end to end about four feet below the
surface of the ground. Care must be taken to see
that the tile line slopes gradually to some lower level
at the creek or river.

How Draining Helps. The tile drains carry away
the excess of water. This allows air to enter the
soil, and plant roots will follow as deep as the air
and so get more plant food. Bacteria can also find
better homes because of the air in the soil.

A Map of the Tile Lines. The tile should not be
too small, as small ones get filled up easily. Noth-
ing smaller than three inches in diameter should be
used, and in many places only four-inch tile are laid.
Tiling a field costs a great deal of money and it
should be done right. A map of the field may be
kept showing just where every tile line is, so that

SOILS 91

if a section again becomes swampy, it will be easier
to find any tile that has filled up and failed to do
its work.

The Farmer’s Bacteria Friends. We have learned
of the tiny bacteria plants that live in the soil and
help to prepare food for the plants we cultivate.
Some kinds of bacteria live in other places, and
others are harmful; but these soil bacteria are very
necessary and helpful, and the farmer works hard
to make the soil right for them to grow. There are
millions of bacteria in a cubic inch of fertile soil.
They do not need sunlight as do most plants, but
they do require air, moisture, warmth, and food.

How They Help. Bacteria pounce upon all vege-
table matter, such as leaves, wood, grass, and dead
animal matter, that falls upon the ground and
begins to decay, or rot. The bacteria break up all
these substances into simple foods that are ready for
the plant to drink. It would be of no use to manure
soil if it were not for bacteria.

Bacteria and Clover. Some kinds of bacteria set
up housekeeping upon the tiny rootlets of certain
plants such as clover, alfalfa, soy beans, and cow-
peas. They take a certain element, that we call
nitrogen, from the air and store it up in little
bunches or swellings on the roots of these plants,
ready for them to feed upon. Plants must have
this nitrogen as food, and soil that contains abun-
dance of it is rich soil. Every farmer boy knows
that the fields are richest where clover, alfalfa, or

92 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

cowpeas have been growing. (Fig. 53.) The reason
is that the millions of bacteria have been at work
upon their roots, storing up nitrogen for them and
for other plants to feed upon. This explains why
farmers use these crops to build up worn-out soils.

Growing Several Crops. The farmer always raises
some crops that pay better than others. Corn may
pay better than oats, and yet it is wise to grow some
oats, because the two crops can be worked at differ-
ent times. A farmer may raise all the corn he has
time to take care of and still raise a field of oats
besides. Barley, oats, and spring wheat require
attention at the same time. So the farmer usually
chooses only one of these crops. Rye and winter
wheat must be worked at the same time, and so the
farmer grows but one of these in a season.

Not Too Many Crops. It is better to raise a num-
ber of crops than to put the whole farm into one,
because the farmer wishes to provide work for him-
self and his laborers all the time. It is not well,
however, to have too many crops, because they may
eall for too much machinery. A farmer can not
afford to buy the necessary tools for potatoes or
wheat or orchards unless he has a fair-sized field
in such crops. But small vegetables and fruit for
home use should all be raised on every farm in
gardens and small orchards.

Rotation of Crops. Rotation means that the crops
grown on each field are changed every year or two.
Nearly every successful farmer does this. Still

SOILS 93

there are fields that have never grown any crop but
cotton; others, nothing but wheat. This is bad for
the land, and the thoughtful farmer does not prac-
tice it. |

Good Reasons for Rotation. By rotating and
having several different crops, the laborers and
teams are kept busy. The farmer has some crops

tatio

Courtesy of Agricultural Experiment S$

Fia. 53. Clover sod with potash and phosphorus fertilizer yielded 26
bushels of corn per acre, shown at the left, as compared with 13.5
bushels where potash and phosphorus were used without clover,
shown in the center, and 28.5 bushels where peat, potash, and phos-
phorus were used, shown on the right. This shows the importance
of adding nitrogen and organic matter to sandy soils.

to sell and some to feed. He also escapes a total
crop failure, and he keeps his soil in better condi-
tion. By growing the same crops on the same fields
year after year, certain weeds get the upper hand.
By changing crops, these weeds are checked, be-
cause the crops are worked at different times and
in different ways. Then, too, there are some plant

oe SR

n, Wisconsin

94 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

diseases and insects that will get a big start unless
other crops are introduced on the field. When in-
sects find their favorite crop gone and one growing
that they do not like, they are without food and
starve to death. But perhaps the most important
reason for rotation is to keep up the supply of
humus in the soil by growing clover, alfalfa, or cow-
peas and plowing them under to restore the vege.
table mould or humus.

Rotating in the North. There are different sys-
tems or methods of rotating crops. Many good
farmers in the Northern states divide their farms
into five fields, and on each field they raise corn,
followed by oats, then by wheat, then clover, and
lastly by timothy. Then they plow the timothy
stubble and again start with corn. Try to make
five diagrams or maps to show what each field con-
tains each of the five years.

In Potato States. In some potato-raising sections,
they have a three-year rotation: a crop of potatoes
is followed by one of wheat or oats, and that by a
clover crop. Such a farm is divided into three fields.
In the Corn Belt a good rotation is corn for two
years, next oats, and then clover and timothy.

Rotation for Cotton. For cotton plantations a
good system is: Cotton the first year, followed the
second year by corn with cowpeas planted between
the rows or sown broadcast just before the last cul-
tivation of the corn; the third year oats are grown,
and they are followed by cowpeas the same season.

SOILS 95

Phosphorus a Plant Food. We have learned that
a plant needs many plant foods, but the most of
them are usually found in the soil and in the air
and water in great plenty. If the farmer needs to
put nitrogen in his soil, he may do it best by sowing
a crop of red clover, alfalfa, or cowpeas. But all
plant foods can not be put back into the soil by a
crop. If a farmer raises and sells corn or wheat,
he is taking out of his soil and shipping away one
important plant food called phosphorus. Most of
the phosphorus that corn and other grains require
before they can grow well, they store up in their
seed or grain. And when this grain is sent away
to market, it takes with it three-fourths of the phos-
phorus used by the crop.

Putting Phosphorus Back. This must be put back
into the soil somehow; and it may be done by pur-
chasing bone meal from stockyards companies who
buy and slaughter our stock, or by purchasing
manure for our fields or by buying rock phosphate
from the places in Tennessee or Florida where this
mineral is mined and ground for fertilizer.

Keeping Up the Land. Phosphorus is the plant
food most likely to be wanting in our rolling
prairies, in the hilly timber lands, and in soils worn
out by long cultivation. If clover will not grow
well, one may feel pretty sure his fields need phos-
phorus, and, perhaps, lime. For most farms, all that
is needed to keep them up is plenty of rock phos-
phate, with a crop of clover, alfalfa, or cowpeas, in
rotation and all the manure made on the farm.

CHAPTER Xil
PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW

Learning about Plants. Since men and animals
live largely on plants, and farmers are kept busy
erowing crops to feed the world, we want to know
more about how plants grow and produce seed. We
may easily see what the animals about us eat and
drink, but it is not so easy to learn just how plants
eat and grow and bear fruit.

Dividing Their Work. Plants need food, water,
and air, just as animals do. They also need warmth
and light. The plant has different parts—a stem,
roots, leaves, and flowers. It divides its work up
among these parts. The roots of the plants have
their work, and it is different from that of the stem
and leaves.

Roots and Their Work. Let us first look at the
roots. Pull up a radish from the garden, and you
notice that the upper part of the root is large and
round and is stored full of food. Below is a tap
root which grows smaller and smaller to the end
several inches down. All along this tap root are
tiny rootlets with root hairs branching off from
them. These root hairs cover only the tips of the
smallest rootlets, but they extend out in all direc-
tions. They are very close together, for often there
are as many as thirty thousand on one square inch.

96

PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 97

They are not young roots, because they never grow
larger. They are only tiny little hollow tubes which
contain sap. They have no pores, or holes for water
to enter, but it easily soaks through their thin walls.
Thus these root hairs drink in the soil water which
contains many of the plant foods; and the sap car-
ries this watery food up along the larger roots and
stem to the leaves. Here the sunshine helps to make
the plant food ready to build up the stem, leaves,
and the fruit of the plant. The larger roots do not
take plant food from the soil. Their work is to hold
the plant firmly in its place in spite of storms and
heavy rains. When a plant is taken up to be trans-
planted, most of the small rootlets with their many
long hairs are broken off. Perhaps you can now
understand why a plant is so likely to wilt when it
is transplanted.

The Stem. The stem, or trunk, bears the leaves
and holds them up in the air and sunshine. It car-
ries the watery plant foods from the roots up
through the outer wood layer to the leaves. The
materials, or starch and sugar from the leaves, pass
down through the bark to the part where they are
needed to enlarge the plant.

The Leaves. But more interesting than roots or
stem are the leaves. They serve as so many stom-
achs where the plant food is digested and made
ready for use. The chief work of the leaves is to
make the plant foods over into starch and sugar.
They take a large part of this starch and sugar,

98 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

called carbon, from the air, but the other parts come
to the leaves through the root hairs. The leaves
also give off to the air all the water that is not
needed by the plants. If the leaves give off more
moisture than the roots supply, as they often do on
very hot days, the plant wilts in order to prevent
further evaporation.

The Flower. The starch and sugar made by the
leaves is either stored up for food or used at once
to build plant tissue. When enough has been stored,
the plant begins to flower. The flower is sometimes
beautiful like the apple blossom, but often, as in
the wheat or oats, it is not showy.

The Seed. The flower of plants has a very im-
portant work to do, because it contains the parts
which create the fruit. The fruit contains the seeds
from which new plants may be grown. If the flower
fails to do its work, there will be no fruit, no seeds,
and no new plant, unless a new plant can be started
from a slip or cutting of the old plant.

The Father and Mother. The flowers of different
plants differ very much, but they usually have two
parts. One is the ‘‘pistil’’ or mother part, which
contains the ovary or seed food. This seed food
will not grow into seed unless it receives some pollen
or yellow dust that grows on another part called
the ‘‘stamen.’’ The seed itself is a tiny baby plant
all tucked under a good cover with food enough for
it to live on until it can send out rootlets into the
ground.

PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 99

The Corn Flowers. Every plant must have its
flowers with their stamens and pistil, but the sta-
mens and pistil are not always together in the same
flower. Examine a cornstalk as it grows. The
tassel is the stamen, or father flower, with its yellow
dust, or pollen; and the ear is the pistil, or mother
flower. If the pollen does not fall from the tassel
on the silks of the ear to fertilize the ear, there will
not be a grain of corn on the cob.

Carrying the Pollen. The corn is only one of
many plants that have their male and female flowers
separate. Such plants depend partly upon the wind
to earry the pollen from the father flower to the
pistil where the new seed is to grow. Some plants
depend upon insects to carry the pollen for them.
So these plants have developed bright colored
flowers that the insects can easily see. They also
secrete a sweet food, or nectar, to reward the in-
sects for their trouble. They hold out bright red
and yellow and blue petals and say to the insects.
‘‘Here you can get good honey.”’

Night Workers. Some plants depend upon in-
sects that fly only at night to carry their pollen.
These plants do not have bright flowers, because
colors cannot be seen well in the darkness. They
have white flowers; and to aid the insects in finding
them they have a strong, sweet odor or fragrance
that guides their friends. The insects come from
far and near for the sweets. They brush against
the stamens and get covered with yellow pollen dust.

100 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Away they go to other flowers, leaving some of this
pollen on every plant they touch. When they go
in deep for the honey, they leave pollen on the pistil
just where it is needed.

Pollen from Other Plants. Plants bear the strong-
est and best fruit and seeds when the pollen has
been brought to them from another plant. In a
cornfield the ears on one stalk may receive pollen
from its own tassel and from a dozen others stand-
ing near. Sometimes when a farmer wants corn for
seed, he goes about a certain part of his corn lot
before the silks come out and cuts off the tassels
of all the poor stalks. In this way he allows the
ears to receive pollen from only the strongest plants.

Kinds of Plants. There are thousands of differ-
ent kinds of plants in the world. Perhaps there
was a time when the world was young when there
were very few plants. But as they spread over the
earth they found different kinds of homes. Some
seeds were gradually carried into cold regions, and
others into hot places; some found wet spots, and
others came into deserts. Some found homes on
high, rough mountain tops where the storms raged
about them, while others fell into low, shady nooks
where they were protected.

How They Came to be Different. As the plants
were slowly earried into such different kinds of
homes, they kept fighting for life and food. Often
many plants were struggling for air and sunshine
on the same little spot; and only those that proved

PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 101

good fighters lived. Slowly but surely many of
these plants changed to meet their new surround-
ings and became unlike their early parents and even
unlike their close kin. Each one set to work to pro-
tect itself and get its own food, and thus it slowly
developed new parts, new ways of growing, and
new ways of fighting for food. Only the best and
strongest plants lived to spread their seed. In this
way the world came to be covered with untold
multitudes of different kinds of plants.

One Interesting Habit. It is interesting to study
about the habits of different plants and how they
grow and spread their kind. One of the important
things about them that the farmer needs to know is
how they scatter their seed, because many weeds
grow and fight for life where the farmer does not
want them.

Scattering Their Seed. Some plants, like the
cocoanut, grow their seed in a hard shell which is
waterproof, and in this they float on streams and
rivers to new homes. The seeds of the maple and
ash trees have wings, and on these they sail away
across the fields wherever the wind will carry them.
The dandelion seed has a queer little balloon on
which the wind earries it to some far-away home.
Then we know the burdocks and stick tights that
catch in our clothes or fasten themselves on passing
animals and hold tight for a long ride, to fall at
last and set up housekeeping in a new region. Any
boy or girl who will examine the seeds of plants

102 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

and do a little thinking will discover many inter-
esting and wonderful secrets about their different
habits.

How Man Helps. Man has chosen certain plants
that furnish food for him and his flocks, and these
he tries to help to good homes where they will grow
and bring forth their harvest of grain or fruit. He
spreads and sows these plants in several different
ways. He sows the seed of the common grains or
cereals, and covers them with earth. Sweet potatoes
are grown from slips or plants; Irish potatoes, from
the ‘‘eyes’’ of the potato; grapevines from cuttings
or twigs clipped from the vine. Sugar cane is grown
by planting a short piece of the stalk. Many plants
do not come true from seed, and man has learned
to grow them by grafting or budding. A bud or
graft twig is taken from one plant and so carefully
put upon another that it will grow as part of the
plant. And the strange thing about it is that it will
produce its own kind of fruit and not the kind of
the plant on which it is grafted. There is no end to
the wonderful things man is learning to do with
plants.

QUESTIONS

(1) What are some of the parts of a plant? (2) How
do root hairs differ from true roots? (8) How do root
hairs take in the plant food? (4) Can you now tell why
a transplanted plant often wilts or dies? (5) How does
the food pass from the roots to the leaves? (6) Why
does it need to go to the leaves at all? (7) Why do
plants have seeds?

CHAPTER XIII
TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY

Sowing and Reaping in Olden Times. For thou-
sands of years after men learned to plant seed they
tilled the soil with a forked stick. Their only object
seemed to be to get the seed covered in the ground.
In Egypt for long ages seed was scattered broad-
cast by hand and herds of cattle were driven over
the ground to tramp it in. These ancient people
reaped their grain with a crooked knife and beat
the kernels from the husks and chaff with a stick, or

Fic. 54. The best and cheapest fertilizer.

flail. Sometimes they drove their cattle over it on
the barn floor to thresh it. Then it was ground into
103

104 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

meal in stone basins with stone pestles. The crooked
stick also served to dig the root crops.

Wearing Out the Soil. Men of those times did not
know how to cultivate crops. They knew that weeds
injured the crops, but they did not know that it was
because the weeds took the plant food, water, and
air that their grain needed. When the land failed
to bring a good harvest, the farmer concluded that
the field needed a rest; so he rested it, or, as we say,
let it he fallow for one year. He did not know
what we do to-day—that his land only needed -a
rotation of crops, that is, a different crop planted
each year, or that barnyard manure would make it
fertile again (Fig. 54).

Jethro Tull. About two hundred years ago there
lived in England a landlord named Jethro Tull. He
watched his crops closely and soon saw that the
fields he worked or tilled the most brought the
largest crops. He taught other farmers that tillage
was the most important part of farming. He be-
lieved that fields would never wear out if they
were always cultivated thoroughly. He thought that
plants took their food in solid little grains or parti-
cles, and the only thing needed was to break up the
soil very fine and the plants would eat it as a calf
eats bran. We know that Tull was mistaken in
thinking that plants take their food in solid form,
but he did a great service to his farmer friends and
to all the farmers since that time by showing them
how important tillage is (Figs. 55a and 55b).

TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 105

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
Fic. 55a. A field in poor tilth. Crops in such cloddy soil have a
small chance.

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 55b. A field in good tilth. The best time to cultivate a crop is
before planting it.

Feeding Plants. We know that plants can use
only the plant food that is prepared for them. If
it is not in the right form, it makes no difference

106 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

how much food is in the soil, the plants will die
in the midst of plenty. It is the farmer’s task to
see that the plant food in his soil is ready for his
crops to use, and he tills the soil so that moisture
can enter and be kept near the roots. ‘Tillage
loosens the soil so air can enter. Tillage also keeps —
down the weeds that steal the plant food and keep
out the sunlight and warmth that the crops need.
We can see that a great deal depends upon the
farmer’s stirring his soil at the right time.

Keeping Moisture in the Soil. The well-tilled soil
is broken into very fine grains or particles (Fig. 55).
These fine particles will hold much more water than
coarse ones, because each tiny grain has its own
coat of moisture. This, you remember, is the reason
clay soil will hold more moisture than sandy soil.
Clay does not drink it in so rapidly, but it holds on
to it better.

Moisture passes easily from wet grains of earth
to dry ones that touch them, so we see that the
looser the soil is the fewer are the particles which
touch one another. If they do not touch one another,
water cannot pass so easily from wet particles to
dry ones and in this way climb to the surface and
pass off into the air. The surface soil especially
must be loose to keep the moisture from evaporat-
ing, or getting back into the air.

The Dust Mulch. The loose layer of surface,
which we call dust mulch, acts just like a blanket.
Turn over a log or a board in the barn lot in the

TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 107

spring and you will find the soil under it more damp
than the ground not covered. The board has kept
the moisture from passing off into the air. When
we remember how much moisture crops need, we
will see how important the dust mulch is. Every
time it rains hard it packs this mulch down, and the
farmer should cultivate his crop again, to loosen the
top soil.

Dry Farming. Perhaps you have read or heard of
dry farming. In many places in our great West
there is not enough rainfall in a year to raise a crop.
But if all that falls in two years could be kept, it
would raise one crop. The farmers have learned
that if they keep a dry mulch on the ground and
save all the rainfall of one year, they have a pretty
good chance to raise a crop the second year. It
means that they must cultivate or till the ground
for two seasons to get one crop, but that is better
than raising nothing at all on these wide, dry areas.
Where rainfall is less than twenty inches per year,
dry farming or irrigation must be practiced.

Irrigation. ‘I'wo-fifths of the land of the United
States is too dry to produce regular crops without
irrigation. By irrigation is meant the storing of
water in lakes and reservoirs by means of huge
dams. This is done in the rainy season, when there
is plenty to be had. This water is then turned on
the fields by means of ditches when crops are grow-
ing, where it takes the place of rainfall (Fig. 56).
Some reservoirs are supplied from rivers that flow

108 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the year round, while others must be filled in the
rainy season. The United States Government is

Fic. 56. A private irrigation plant.

spending millions of dollars in the dry sections to
save for crops some of the water that is going to
waste.

Making Machinery Better. A slight improvement
on the crooked stick was a rude plow made from
several sticks bound with thongs of skin. This was
used after the ox had been taught to bear the yoke.
Farming with such tools was hard and toilsome
labor with little reward. A brush dragged over the
plowed ground was probably the first harrow.

Copper Tools. It was a great step forward when
some one learned to smelt copper. Though copper

TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 109

is soft and will not take on a sharp edge, yet it made
far better tools than did sticks. The next step was
made when it was found that by mixing tin ore with
copper a much harder tool could be made, with a
better edge. This mixture is called bronze. Bronze
tools were used for untold ages until some clever
man found out how to make a fire hot enough to
smelt iron ore. When iron tools and weapons were
made, we have the beginning of all the wonderful
machinery in use to-day.

The First Iron Tools. Iron tools were few and
costly at first, because the warriors needed all the
iron they could get for their weapons. But men
learned at last to make hillside furnaces for smelt-
ing iron ore, and then the farmer got a few iron

Fic. 57. Fut the soil in good tilth with a disk harrow before sowing.

110 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

tools. The day came when some clever farmer put
an iron share on his plow to cut the soil. From that
day to this men have gradually improved iron farm
tools, and the splendid horse-power machines of all

Fic. 58. A tractor engine drawing four plows..

descriptions which do farm work to-day are the
result of the wonderful inventions of many bright
minds. |

Farm Machinery of To-Day. The poorest farmer
of to-day has a plow to turn the sod and stir the
soil deeply; he has a cultivator to tear and break
the soil, and a harrow to make it fine like ashes
for the dust mulch (Fig. 57). Certain soils that

TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY rit

are sandy and too loose need rollers to pack them
slightly. Every sort of harvester has been devised
for gathering the crop. But farmers have not been
content with horse power alone. They have har-
nessed the wind to their windmills, they have
hitched their plows and harvesters to great steam
engines (Fig. 58), and they are using the power
of gasoline engines to do many kinds of work about
the farm (Fig. 59). Even electricity may be had
where there is a waterfall to make it cheaply.

Care of Machinery. It is important that the
farmer take good care of his machinery and tools.
More plows have been rusted out by the weather
than have been worn out by use. There are three
good rules for every farm. Keep all tools under a
good roof when they are not in use. See that all
machinery, wagons, and the like are kept well

Fic. 59, A gas engine is a great labor saver on the farm.

112 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

painted, so they will last longer and save the farmer
from buying new ones early. Use plenty of oil to
save wear on all machinery. Oil and paint cost
money; but if thirty-five cents’ worth of paint will
make a thirty-five-dollar machine last several years
longer, it pays to use the paint.

QUESTIONS

(1) Who was Jethro Tull and what do we owe to him?
(2) What do we mean by saying that plant food must
be in the right form? (3) How may a farmer save the
moisture in his soil for the crop? (4) What is meant
by a dust mulch? (5) What is dry farming? (6) In
what different ways is water obtained for irrigation? (7)
What are the objections to copper tools? (8) In what
way is bronze better for tools? (9) Why was it so long
before iron tools were made? (10) What invention do
you think has meant most to the farmer? (11) Why?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPTER XIV
CORN

America and Corn Discovered. When Columbus
sailed toward the west over the unknown ocean, he
hoped to reach the rich cities of Asia and the Spice
Islands. Here he expected to obtain a rich cargo
of spices, some of which were worth their weight
in gold. But, instead of reaching China, Columbus
landed upon a new world where white men had
never been before. Instead of rich cities, he found
only a vast wilderness inhabited by savages whom
he named Indians. The Indians lived by hunting
and fishing and by raising a few plants which were
new and strange to Columbus and his sailors. These
were squashes, tobacco, and maize, or corn. Colum-
bus never knew what a wonderful golden treasure
he had found in this Indian corn. It has come to
be one of the most valuable crops in the world.
When the corn crops fail there is a scarcity of food
for rich and poor and hard times for everybody for
many months.

Corn Saves the Pioneers. This Indian corn was a
great blessing to the early immigrants from Europe,
for the wheat and rye which they had brought with
them would grow only in well-tilled fields and these
pioneers were poor farmers with poor tools. There
were no well-tilled fields, and men would not work.

113

114 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

They would have starved if the Indians had not fur-
nished them with corn. The Indians taught the
white men from Europe how to raise corn and how
to make from it dishes fit for a king to eat.

Indian Farming. The Indian methods of farming
were very crude and simple, for they knew very little
about tilling the soil. The Indian squaws killed a
patch of forest trees by cutting a girdle around each
one when the sap was running in the spring. After
the trees died and the sunlight shone in, the squaws
scratched the grains of seed corn into the ground,
with a crooked, sharp stick for a hoe. Here, without
the use of plow or harrow, the corn sprang up in the
rich earth, and a harvest of yellow ears provided
food for winter.

Where Corn Grows. Since that time corn has
been one of the chief crops of the American farmer
in most sections, and to-day it is the most important
of all. Corn can be raised in nearly every part of
North America. In the North, where the summers
are short, the farmers have developed a kind that
grows only three or four feet high and that will
tipen in seventy days. In the Southern countries
of Mexico and South America there are kinds of
corn that grow more than twenty feet high and
require six months in which to ripen.

The Corn Belt. Corn is now raised in many coun-
tries, but about three-fourths of the world’s supply
is grown in the United States, and nearly one-half
of the world’s supply in the seven states known as

CORN 115

the Corn Belt. They are Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska,
Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio. The Corn
Belt supplies many other states and countries with
its surplus of corn. Besides a good soil in which
to grow, corn needs hot weather with long days of
bright sunshine and a great amount of rain.

A Corn Train. If the corn crop of the United
States In one year was placed in wagons, with fifty
bushels in each load, and each wagon and team had
been allowed twenty feet of space, the train of corn
would have reached more than nine times around
the earth at the equator.

Corn Land Valuable. Where corn thrives, it
yields about twice as much food for each acre as is
produced by any of the other grains. That is the
reason why land in the Corn Belt is very high in
price. Corn is grown in many places where only
a half-crop is obtained, for a half-crop of corn yields
as much food as a full crop of wheat or rye.

Choosing Good Seed. It is believed that the farm-
ers in any state in the Union could increase the yield
of corn from five to twenty bushels an acre if they
were trained in choosing their seed corn. In order
to choose well the farmer must be a good judge of
an ear of corn. To know a prize ear is not such a
difficult lesson to learn.

The Prize Ear. A perfect ear should be round,
tapering, and full and strong in the middle. It
must be firm to the touch, and the kernels should
not be loose on the cob, as this shows that the ear

116 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

is not thoroughly ripened. The distance around the
ear one-third of the distance from the butt should
be about three-fourths of the entire length. The

rows of kernels must

: fee Meet centes § be straight, and there
nae Ri eanopre na grECe
yok ae ne pec Cesta should not be fewer

ETA NTR

than sixteen nor more
than twenty - eight
rows on the cob. In most sections the ear is from
eight and one-half to ten inches long, and it should
be filled out to the tip (Fig. 60).

Good Kernels. The kernels to be planted should
be wedge-shaped, with the edges touching those next
to them their entire length from crown to cob. They
should have deeply indented crowns without pointed
or sharp corners. ‘The color needs to be true to
variety and free from mixture.

Cobs. Ordinary types of white corn should have

Fig. 60. A prize ear.

Fic. 61. A cob may be too large or too small.

white cobs, and yellow corn should have red cobs.
However, certain varieties of types vary from this

CORN 117

rule. The deeper or longer the kernel, the greater
the proportion of corn to cob. An extremely large

cob means late ma-
turity and less corn
in proportion to cob
(Fig. 61). The ears
should carry their
size well out to the
tips. The wider
the furrows between
the rows of grain oti
the cob, the lower the
proportion of corn
to cob (Fig. 62).
When to Select
Seed. Some farmers
are satisfied to
choose the finest
ears from the erib,
but a better way is
to select from the
fields at husking
time. By taking
seed from stalks
bearing two well-
formed ears, the
next crop will have
more two-eared
plants, and thus the

Fic. 62. Space between kernels next to
cob, objectionable. Ears Nos. 1 and 2
are same length and circumference.
Ear No. 2 shelled out 33 per cent more
corn by weight than No. 1.

crop will be larger. In order to choose seed for any
crop, it is safer to see the plant on which it grew,

118 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

because like produces like. Careful selection of seed
is the most profitable farm work.

Curing the Seed. Every ear intended for planting
must be gathered before the autumn freezes, since
freezing corn that is not well dried injures the seed
germ. Seed corn should be hung up where the air
can circulate about it freely. A good place to hang
seed corn is in the attic over the kitchen, with the
windows open.

The Corn Tree. The ‘‘corn tree’’ is a device for
drying corn. It consists of an upright post driven
full of small-headed nails. An ear of corn is easily
stuck on each nail by jamming it into the pith at
the butt end. A wall driven full of nails will serve
the same purpose of holding the ears apart so they
will dry quickly. |

Testing Seeds. Every ear intended for seed
should be tested to see if the corn will sprout or
germinate. Take six seeds from each ear and plant
them for a test, keeping the ear marked by number.
This will insure a good stand and prevent replant-
ing, which causes a spotted field and a poor and
uneven crop (Fig. 63).

Improving Corn. A good way to improve the
variety is to plant the seed from the hundred best
ears on one side of the field and to choose the seed
for the next year from this planting. In this way a
farmer will improve his crop every year.

Planting Evenly. To-day most farmers plant with
machines, and the planter will not drop the corn

CORN 119

evenly unless the kernels are of the same size. It is,
therefore, wise to shell off and discard the kernels

Fic. 63. Testing twelve ears of seed corn.

on both the tip and butt of the ear which are of
irregular size and shape. The corn grader is a
machine which will do this work of sifting out the
poorly-shaped kernels, or it may be done by hand
if the crop is small. It is a good plan to test the
corn planter to be sure it will drop three kernels in a
hill.

120 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fig. 64. The old way of spreading manure leaves the field unevenly
fertilized and the crop grows and ripens unevenly.

Making the Soil Rich. The farmer prepares his
fields well before sowing. He adds to the soil by
spreading over it barn-yard manure, for manure
contains the most plant food of anything he can
put on his fields (Figs. 64 and 65). Instead of
spreading manure on the corn lot, the farmer may
choose fields to plant where he has the year before
raised a crop of clover or cowpeas, because he
knows that these two crops enrich the soil for corn
(Fig. 53). Sometimes he buys a fertilizer made of
certain foods which the plant needs, but this costs
a great deal of money.

How to Plow. ‘T’o prepare the ground the good
farmer plows rather deep to bring fresh soil up to
the air and sunshine. The air and sunshine help to
make the plant food ready for the little corn rootlets

CORN 17t

to take up. The ground should not be plowed when
the soil is very wet, for it stays in hard lumps and is
not easily broken up so the roots can reach into the
earth.

How to Keep the Ground Moist. ‘The plow is fol-
lowed by a disk or spring-tooth harrow (Fig. 66)
until all clods are broken and the surface is mellow
and fine like ashes. This ashy top. soil acts like a
blanket to keep the moisture in the ground from
escaping.

Planting the Crop. Field corn should be planted
in rows about three and one-half feet apart. Years
ago a few grains of seed were dropped into each
hill by hand and covered with a hoe, but to-day the
farmer uses a checkrow planter drawn by a team.

Fic. 65. Manure should be spread evenly.

This machine plants the corn so it can be cultivated
both ways and be kept clean more easily.

122 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Keeping the Weeds Down. A few days after
planting, the field should be harrowed to kill the
grass and weeds that are ready to sprout, because
they grow faster than the corn. When the corn is
a few inches high the harrow must be used again to
break the crust and to supply air to the soil as well
as to keep the weeds and grass down.

Plowing the Corn. The field should be cultivated
two or three times more, but after the corn roots
have spread out between the rows, it is not safe to
plow too close to the row or too deep, for fear of
breaking off millions of little rootlets that are feed-
ing the plant. Thisapplies also to the raising of sweet
corn or pop corn and other crops needing tillage.

Fic. 66. Spring-tooth harrow.

CORN 123

Gathering the Crop. When the lower leaves on
the stalks begin to die, the corn is ready to cut.

Fic. 67. The corn cutter.

This may be done with-a hand cutter or with a corn
harvester (Fig. 67). About sixty hills are cut and
gathered into one shock. The tops are bound to-
gether so the shock will stand while the corn cures,
which requires about six weeks. When the leaves
are dry the husking takes place, and the ears are
stored in well-ventilated cribs built high from the
ground and protected from the rats and mice. Send to
the Department of Agriculture for plans for the crib.

124 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Saving It All. In some places the corn is husked,
or picked, standing in the field and the cornstalks
are burned. This is a great waste, for cornstalks
make good food for horses, cattle, and sheep, and
they like it very much. A machine which husks
the corn and shreds the tops and leaves makes a
feed called corn stover that is as good for live stock
as timothy hay. Making fodder into stover savesit all.

Fig. 68. Filling the silo.

A Great Discovery. Every farmer knows that
cattle like green feed much better than dry. But for
a long time nobody knew how to keep feed green
through the winter. Many years ago, in Europe,
a stack of wet, green grass was covered with earth
by accident. When winter came this stack was
uncovered and the grass was still green and juicy.
It was greatly relished by the cattle.

CORN 125

Building Silos. After that, farmers began to dig
pits in the ground to keep feed green. Such pits
were called silos, and to-day they are made above
ground of cement or wood and placed near the cattle
barns (Fig. 68). Cattle will eat more silage than
fodder, and cows fed on it give more milk. When
corn is grown for the silo it is planted about one
stalk every seven inches. in rows three and one-half
feet apart.

Corn a Treasure. Corn is the backbone of farm-
ing in our country. Not only is it good for live
stock of all kinds, but it feeds more people than
any other grain except rice. Many useful things
are made from corn besides the fodder, grain, and
meal for feeding. The silks are used in the making
of filters, and corn husks are made into mattresses.
Pith is used for the packing of cofferdams of battle-
ships. Oil, varnish, starch, alcohol, and many other
articles are made from corn. There is one factory
in the United States that makes forty-two different
corn products.

QUESTIONS

(1) ‘Which has meant more to the world the riches of
the Indies or the golden corn? (2) Why? (38) Why
was corn more necessary to the early pioneers than wheat
or barley? (4) What makes land in the corn belt so
valuable? (5) What is the best way to choose seed
corn? (6) Why does plowing ground when it is wet
injure it? (7) What harm is done by cultivating corn
deep after it is waist high?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix. |

CHAPTER XV

WHEAT

White Bread. Nearly the entire wheat crop of
the world is used for human food. Wheat bread is
such a common food in our country now that we do
not realize that it is still considered a great treat
by some classes of people in other parts of the
world. The poor peasants in many lands eat bread
made of rye, barley, or millet, because it is cheaper
than ‘‘white bread.’’ Millions of people in Asia
eat rice, but wheat flour makes a light bread that
is more healthful and tempting than that made by
any other grain; and as fast as the poor classes of
people can afford it, they demand wheat bread.

The First Wheat Farmers. Who the first people
were to raise wheat we do not know, because it hap-
pened, like so many other interesting things, before
men learned to write. Neither do we know where
it first grew. The ancient lake-dwellers of Switzer-
land raised a kind of grain very much lke our
wheat. Some scholars believe that the early home
of wheat was in the Euphrates Valley, in western
Asia. Others think it first grew in Palestine. A
kind of wheat has lately been found growing wild
on the mountains of Palestine, and some people are
sure that our wheat has come from this wild kind.
Wheat was grown in China many hundred years

126

WHEAT 127

before Christ lived, and the Chinese said that it was
given to them direct from heaven.

Wheat in America. Wheat was the first grain
brought to our country by the Jamestown colony
in 1607. These pioneers cut down forest trees to
build a fort, and in the cleared places they sowed

Fic. 69. The reap hook, an ancient tool for reaping gratn.

wheat. The first crops were very poor, but they
wanted white bread, so they kept planting a little
more each year. The crops were cut with the reap
hook, or sickle, which is merely a knife with a
curved blade (Fig. 69). It was threshed by being
trod upon by horses and oxen.

The World’s Crop. Our country does not produce
so large a part of the world’s wheat crop as it does
of the corn. Europe raises twice as much wheat as
does North America. European countries get twice

128 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

as much from an acre as we do, so they can raise it
as cheaply as we do on our large farms in the West.

Kinds of Wheat. There are several kinds of
wheat. Some kinds are sown in the fall and remain
on the field through the winter. Such kinds are
called winter wheat. Others are sown in the spring
and are called spring wheat.

Climate. Wheat is better suited to short summers
than is corn, so it can be grown much farther north.
For several years farmers have been moving by
hundreds to the wide prairies of western Canada
for this purpose, and they are making it a great
wheat country.

Preparing the Soil. This crop will grow on a
oreat variety of soils, but it seems to thrive best ona
hight clay. The land that is to be used for winter
wheat needs to be plowed as early in the summer
as possible. Such early plowing loosens the ground
so it will hold more moisture. The soil should be
made fine and loose. For spring wheat one may
plow the fall before, or early in the spring.

Sowing the Seed. Winter wheat is sown early in
the fall, so that it may grow strong before the cold
weather comes. Spring wheat should also be sown
early, because wheat will sprout and begin its
gsrowth while the weather is still cool. Six to eight
pecks of wheat are sown to the acre, and the seed
is planted about two inches deep. The lighter and
looser the soil, the deeper should be the planting.
In olden times wheat was scattered by hand and

WHEAT 129

harrowed in, but now it is nearly all sown by the
drill (Fig. 70).

Cultivation. In most countries wheat receives no
cultivation between the sowing and the harvesting.
In many places it is harrowed or rolled after the
seed has begun to sprout or after it has taken firm

Fig. 70. A wheat drill.

root. This is done to kill weeds and to keep moisture
in the ground, as we do for corn. It is a mistake
to think that this does more harm than good. In
Japan wheat is planted in wide rows and hoed.
Vegetables are raised between the rows. A hundred
years ago wheat was hoed with a mattock. Wheat
may be pastured in the winter when the ground is
frozen, but not late in the spring.

130 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fig. 71. The cradle was a great improvement over the reap hook.

Wheat in Rotation. Wheat should never be grown
on the same fields year after year with no change
of crop. It was grown in England for many years
to test this. When it was grown on the same field
every year for twelve years the average crop was a
httle more than twelve bushels to the acre. When
it was grown every fourth year, with three other
crops between, the yield for each acre was twenty-
eight bushels, or more than twice as much.

Enemies of Wheat. Wheat seems to have more
enemies than any other crop that the farmer raises.
He never knows when he sows his fields what he
shall reap or whether he shall reap at all. Very hot
or cold weather may ruin the crop. Drouths may
come and the plants die of thirst; or it may rain too
much and drown the wheat. Storms of hail or wind

WHEAT 131

or floods may ruin it. Smut, or rust, or insects may
devour it. The farmer has more risks to run in
growing wheat than in almost any other farm crop,
yet mankind is willing to pay extra for wheat bread.
Harvest Home. In most regions wheat must be
harvested very promptly, or much of the crop may
be damaged or lost. Before good machinery was
invented it was a very toilsome task to gather the
wheat crop. So much hard work had been put into
it and such a long time had gone by since the grain
was sowed that the farmer was always anxious at
harvest time to reap his crop and pay his expenses.
At the close of the season the people held great
rejoicings, called in England ‘‘harvest home.’’
They formed a procession, with music, to bring
home the last sheaves of grain. The workers and

Fig. 72. Cutting wheat with a cradle.

132 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

pretty maidens danced along, merrily singing:

‘“Harvest home, harvest home,
We have plowed, we have sowed,
We have reaped, we have mowed,
We have brought home every load,
Hip, hip, hip, harvest home.”’

The Sickle. We have said that many years ago
wheat was cut with a reap hook, or sickle, held in
one hand (Fig. 69). <A large part of the-.world’s
crop is still cut in that way among the peasants of
Russia, China, and Japan. With a sickle a good
worles can cut about an acre a day.

The Scythe or Cradle. The Romans ‘apne they
could cut more if they had a longer blade and used
both hands, so they invented the scythe. This
allowed the grain to fall over when it was cut and
some clever man placed wooden fingers above the
scythe to catch the grain and help to lay it straight
for binding. This was called the cradle. It is still
in use In many places in our country for cutting
small patches of oats and wheat (Figs. 71 and 72).

Animal Power. But the cradle used only hand
power, and men needed horse power to save both
time and money. ‘The first machine to use animal
power was a wheat-header used in France about the
time of Christ. It was a two-wheeled cart, pushed
by an ox yoked behind. On the front edge of the
cart were sharp fingers, or teeth, like a big comb, to
catch the heads of wheat and pull them off and rake
them into the cart. This machine later disappeared.

WHEAT 133

The Header. Hundreds of years later men began
to make machines with the power in front. This
method with horse power meant a side-cut. The
wheat-header is a machine that cuts off the heads
and throws them into a wagon that is driven along-
side. It saves binding and shocking. Wheat must
be dry before it is cut in this way, for the grain is
either stacked or threshed at once without time for
curing. If it be damp, green, or weedy, it will not
thresh well and is lable to spoil in the stack. The
header is chiefly used in dry countries. The header
of to-day cuts a strip twelve to twenty feet wide.
In the state of Washington three headers and one
threshing machine usually work together on the
mammoth farms. Jn this way from fifty to seventy-
five acres of wheat are harvested in one day.

The Reaper. Another machine has been worked
out to harvest the wheat where the header is not
successful. A machine was developed that would
eut and bunch the grain. This was called the reaper
(Fig. 73). MeCormick’s machine was first used in
the harvest of 1831. It was a rather erude affair,
drawn by one horse, but it was a good beginning.
It meant cheap bread for mankind, but the farmers
at first refused to use the reaper. They laughed at
it; they said it would not work on hillsides. But
they sat on the fence and watched it. Then they
shook their heads and went back to their old cradles.
McCormick talked and urged the people to try it,
but it was ten years after the machine proved itself

134 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

before a farmer was found who would buy one. The
next year two reapers were sold, then fifty, then a
thousand. The grain was raked from the platform
of the machine by a man walking behind. It had to
be bound and shocked by hand. Not long afterwards
larger and better machines were made. It took

Fic. 73. The first reaper.

much hard work to change the reaper into the
modern binder (Fig. 74). |
The Self-binder. The machine in general use in
our country to-day is the self-binder, which cuts,
binds, and dumps the bundles in piles to be shocked
by hand (Fig. 75). On some of the large grain
farms there are as many as fifty self-binders, and
these often cut six hundred acres of wheat in one
day. To make a device that would bind the wheat
was a hard task. Finally one was made that would

WHEAT 135

do the work, but it bound the bundles with wire.
Pieces of wire found their way into the throats of
cattle, and farmers would not buy the binder. Some
cheap binder twine must be found. Mr. William
Deering spent much time and a great deal of money
to get a twine that would knot easily and firmly.

Fie. 74. The modern binder drawn by a traction engine.

He finally found that Manila hemp would act just
right, and this made the binder complete. Our
binder twine is usually made of a mixture of Manila
and sisal fiber. Millions and millions of pounds of
binder twine are used every harvest.

Combined Harvesters. The most complete ma-
chine of all is the combined harvester, which is used
chiefly on the bonanza farms on our Pacific coast,
where there is nothing to fear from rainy weather.
This machine cuts, binds, gathers, cleans, and bags

136 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the grain without a single touch from human hands.
On one side the wheat is cut, and on the other sacks
of wheat are dropped in piles ready for the market.
This machine is drawn by great teams of from
twenty-four to forty horses and mules, and it har-

Fic. 75. Shocks of golden gratn.

vests from thirty to forty acres of grain a day. It
requires only four men to operate it.

Steam Harvesters. There are large combined har-
vesters run by steam. They harvest from seventy-
five to one hundred twenty-five acres a day. They
are used only on very large farms, from three thou-
sand to twenty thousand acres each. In the days
of the old Romans it took four days and a half of

WHEAT 137

work to raise and harvest each bushel of wheat.
When the reaper was invented it took three hours
of labor for each bushel, and to-day it takes only
ten minutes. This is what machinery has done for
the farmers.

How Much We Eat. It is said that, on the aver-
age, every person in the United States eats about
five bushels of wheat in a year. Five bushels of
wheat make a barrel of flour, and a barrel of flour
turned over to the baker makes about two hundred
fifty loaves of bread.

Other Uses of Wheat. Most of the American
wheat is made into bread, but there is also a great
amount used for breakfast foods. Some wheat is
fed to stock, especially to poultry. Wheat, bran,
and middling’s in great quantities are bought at the
mills and fed to cattle. Macaroni is made from
wheat, and so is starch, which is used for paste or
sizing. The straw is used for feeding and bedding
eattle and for making straw hats and bonnets.

QUESTIONS

(1) Why do not all people eat wheat bread? (2)
How was wheat first harvested and threshed in America?
(3) Why can Europe raise wheat as cheaply as we do?
(4) Does corn grow as far north as wheat? (5) Give
reason. (6) Why should fall wheat ground be plowed
early in the summer? (7) Name some of the enemies
of wheat. (8) Why is the modern wheat-header suited
only to dry regions?

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPTER XVI
OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE

Climate and Soil for Oats. Oats thrive best in a
cool, moist soil. The best corn regions are too hot
for the largest yields. When oats are grown in the
warm regions of the corn belt the seed should be
sown very early in the spring so that the grain may
develop in the cooler weather. The best oat states
are too far north for a good corn yield. Oats will
grow well on a poorer soil than corn. When oats
are raised on land that is very rich they grow too
much to straw and too little to grain and are likely
to lodge and blow flat in a storm.

Oats or Corn. In the corn belt oats are not so
profitable as corn. The cost of growing the two crops
is about the same but oats yield fewer bushels per
acre and bring a lower price. When the price of
oats is as low as thirty-five cents per bushel there
is no profit in the crop. Still the wise farmer con-
tinues to grow oats on good corn land because it
is bad practice to raise corn on the same field year
after year. In the rotation of crops oats fit in well.

Preparing Seed. Seed oats should be plump and
heavy and free from weed seeds and dirt. To re-
‘move this extra matter the oats are put through a
fanning mill. In many places the crop can be
increased one-fifth by carefully choosing the seed.

138

OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 139

The seed should be treated in order to prevent
smut. Some careless farmers lose nearly half their
crop on account of smut. There are two treatments
to prevent smut. One is to soak the seed for ten
minutes in a solution of one pint of formaldehyde
and thirty-six gallons of water. Another is to soak
the seed for ten minutes in hot water at a tem-
perature of 133° Fahr. The last is called the hot
water treatment.

Testing Oats. It is well to test the seed oats to
see if they will sprout well. If samples of the seed
are put in a tester and placed in a room with a
temperature of 70° to 80° the oats should sprout
well in about three days. Out of a hundred seeds
ninety-five should sprout. If a smaller number
sprouts more seed should be sown per acre. By
selecting seed carefully and cleaning and treating
it every spring the crop will grow better every year.

A Thirsty Crop. Oats need a great deal of mois-
ture, more, we are told, than any other of our big
crops. For every pound of dry matter in the crop
the soil needs about five hundred pounds of water.
Where does all this moisture go? Some of it evap-
orates from the ground and passes off into the air,
but most of it goes into the oat plant carrying food
with it. The plant gives off the moisture it does
not use through its leaves. This passing of mois-
ture through the leaves is called transpiration.

Karly Sowing. Fields intended for oats should
have the soil stirred as early in the spring as teams

140 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

can be used on the land. We know that a mulch
prevents moisture from passing off into the air. It
is hard to believe, but we are told that in a certain
test it was found that a field with a hard crust on
the soil lost thirty tons of moisture per acre every
day for seven days by evaporation.

The Seed Bed. Some farmers sow oats on corn
land with only a discing but a much better crop

Fic. 76. <A heavy crop of oats.

will grow if the ground is plowed. If the soil is
light or sandy it is best to roll it after seeding, but
it should not be rolled when wet. After rolling,
drag it lightly to make a surface mulch.

The proper depth to sow the seed depends upon
the soil but in Illinois and Ohio the best crops are
raised by covering the seed with one inch of soil.
This is done by drilling the seed and following with

OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 141

a harrow to make sure that all the seed is covered
and to leave a mulch on the surface. (Fig. 76.)

Oats in Rotation. Some farmers sow too much
seed. From many tests it is found that about ten
pecks of good seed to the acre gives the best crop.
Oats fit in nicely in almost any rotation system. In
wheat sections of the West the crops follow one
another in the order of corn, oats, and wheat, each
one year, followed by clover and timothy, two years.
Farmers in the corn belt have a three year rotation
of corn, oats, and clover.

Harvesting. The oat crop should be harvested
when the grain has just passed from the ‘‘milk
stage’’ into the ‘‘dough stage,’’ or very soon after-
ward. If there are many weeds the sheaves may
be set in uncovered shocks so the sun and wind can
dry them out. When oats are thoroughly dry and
the weather is good they can be threshed from the
field. This saves time and labor in the busy season
of the year. But if oats are exposed to storms while
in the shock their color changes slightly. This does
not injure the feeding value but the farmer will not
eet so good a price for them in the market.

The most convenient time to market the oat crop
is at threshing time. This saves extra handling of
the grain and the trouble of storing it. But if the
price is low it is often better to house it. Oats, like
all grains, will lose some weight in storage. To get
the best price any grain must be sweet, free from
weed seeds, and have a good color.

142 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Uses of Oats. Oats are used in the main as feed
for horses for they are nearly a balanced ration in
themselves. They are also fed in large quantities
to sheep and cattle. The Scotch are very fond of
oatmeal and it is being used more and more on our
tables. For making rolled oats and oatmeal the
plump and heavy grain is preferred, but the hulls
must be thin.

Barley. Barley is grown in many parts of the
world for its grain and for pasture. The grain is used
as feed for live stock and in making malt for beer.
Years ago barley was used in Europe and Asia for
bread until wheat gradually took its place. Barley
thrives best on well cultivated land because its
roots are shorter than wheat or oats and it needs
a well-preserved soil. <A rich clay loam is _ best
suited to this crop for it will not grow well on land
that is soggy.

Rotation and Seed Bed. A good rotation for
barley is corn, barley, clover, and timothy. Barley
does well on land that has grown potatoes, beets
or garden truck the year before. For this crop it
is best to plow the land in the fall, dise it in the
spring, and put it in good tilth as early as possible.
If the ground is then full of lumps and clods a
roller, or planker, should be used to crush the
lumps, followed by a fine-tooth harrow to finish the
preparation.

Barley is drilled or sown with a broad-cast seeder
about six to ten pecks per acre. It is usually sown

OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 143

in the spring following the sowing of wheat but
before the oats are put in. After the seed is in, it
is well to run a fine-tooth harrow over the ground.

Barley is an excellent nurse crop to start alfalfa
or clover because it does not grow very tall or leafy
and does not shut out the air and sunlight. Barley
does not require so much water as oats and so it
leaves more moisture for the grass.

Enemies of Barley. Some enemies of barley are
rust, mildew, and smut. There seems to be no
remedy for rust or mildew but the smut is checked
by formaldehyde, one pint in twenty gallons of
water. This solution is placed in a barrel and sacks
of barley seed are soaked in it for ten minutes, then
emptied and spread on a threshing floor to dry
before sowing.

Uses of Barley. In our country barley is used
mainly for feed for domestic animals and for malt-
ing. A small amount is eaten by man in the form
of pearl barley. In some places in the West it is
grown as hay and grain for horses. It makes good
feed for poultry and hogs and feeders are using it
more and more for this purpose. When used for
malt the malt-sprouts and brewers grain which are
left are used to feed cows and to fatten cattle.

Rye. Rye is not a very important crop in Amer-
ica. It is used as food for both mankind and stock.
Sometimes the hay is used but oftener it is plowed
under to enrich the soil. Rye straw makes good
bedding for horses. It grows taller than wheat,

144 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fie. 77. Rye and tim-
othy attacked by
ergot.

sometimes on very rich soil it
reaches a height of seven feet.

An Old Crop. Rye is a very
old grain although it is younger
than wheat or barley. It has al-
ways been used in making bread
by northern peoples but has been
driven out of the warmer coun-
tries by barley and wheat. In
Russia it is still the principal
grain.

Rye will grow on land that is
too hght and thin for wheat and
barley and it has been crowded
out of regions with rich soil. It
needs well drained fields, how-
ever, and in severe weather
needs to be protected by a snow
covering. Rye is also a fine
nurse crop to seed for grass.
Clover will start better when
sown with rye than with wheat.

Rye as Pasture. Grazing cows
on rye in the fall will force a
large increase in milk. If the

stock is kept off when the ground is wet and the
rye is not grazed too closely the crop will not be
injured. Rye will furnish green food earlier in the
spring than any other forage crop, much earlier than

grass.

OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 145

Rye Enemies. Rye suffers from two kinds of
rusts. A remedy for this is to burn the stubble
or rotate crops. Rye is sometimes also attacked
by smut, in which case it is treated the same as
oats. Another disease is ergot, which is a fungus
growth that attacks the rye grains causing them
to become very large. (Fig. 77.) Ergot is a
poison, causing much trouble when eaten in bread
by man or when fed to stock. The remedy lies in
not using seed that has ergot in it and in not
sowing rye for two or three years on the infested
fields.

Uses of Rye. A good yield of rye is a ton of
straw per acre which produces from sixteen to
twenty bushels of grain. The straw is worth in
the East nearly as much as the grain. Rye flour
makes a hght bread. Rye grain is used to make
alcoholic liquors but this use will grow smaller as
people do away with drinks that contain alcohol.

QUESTIONS

(1) In what kind of soil do oats thrive best? (2) Com-
pare oat soil and climate with that of corn. (38) How
should oat seed be prepared for sowing? (4) How shall
one save moisture for the oat crop? (5) Discuss the
barley crop. (6) How is barley used? (7) What can
you say of rye as an American crop? (8) For what is
it used? (9) To what extent are oats, barley, and rye
grown in your locality? (10) How do you account for
this?

CHAPTER XVII.
THE HAY CROP

Timothy. One of the chief hay crops of America
is timothy. It is grown chiefly in the northern part
of our country east of the Rockies. Timothy is pop-
ular with farmers, because the seed is cheap and
because it will produce a good hay crop the first
year after it is planted (Fig. 78). It 1s easy to kill
it by plowing. Timothy fits well into a system of
rotation with other crops. It needs a good soil and
plenty of rainfall. It is not only an excellent hay
crop, but it is used in nearly all lands intended for
pastures. After a few years other pasture grasses
take its place. |

The Clovers. Another hay crop is red clover.
This plant, like so many others, came to us from
Europe. It has been grown for many hundred
years. Farmers have known for a long time that
clover seemed to make the land richer, but they did
not understand why this was so. We now know
that clovers and their kin, such as alfalfa, cowpeas,
and soy beans, enrich the soil through the work of
the bacteria on their roots. We have learned that
the bacteria take nitrogen from the air and store it
in little swellings on the roots of these plants. When
the sod is plowed for other crops, the nitrogen helps
to produce much better yields (Fig. 53). These

146

THE HAY CROP 147

clover-like plants are called legumes. They are valu-
able because of the hay and pasture they yield and
because they help us to build up the land on which
they grow, with plant food. Most crops leave the
land poorer, but legumes leave it richer, at least in
nitrogen.

Kind of Soil for Clover. Red clover requires a
good soil. Many farms are too poor to grow it. The

Fic. 78. Timothy hay.

land should be well drained, because the roots will
reach down five or six feet if the land is not swampy.
Sometimes a sprinkling of lime to sweeten the soil
will help a clover crop to thrive. This is true of
some sections of eastern Ohio, southern Indiana, and
Illinois.

Ready to Cut. Clover is usually sown in the
spring on the winter wheat crop. It lives about two
years. Clover grows two crops a year. The second

148 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

crop is often cut for seed. In order to obtain the
best hay, clover should be harvested just after it has

Fie. 79. A hand dump rake.

come to full bloom. Hay cut later is not so good.

Careful Handling. In harvesting the clover crop,
it should reach the barn or stack with the least
handling and exposure. If it is allowed to become
too dry in handling, the leaves will crumble and
fall off, and they are the best part of the hay.

Curing Clover Hay. Clover hay should be well
eured in the sun, or it will heat and spoil in the
stack or mow. Some farmers cut it in the afternoon,
and after the dew is off the next morning it is
tedded, raked, and put in the cock before night
(Figs. 79, 80, 81, and 82).

Uses of Clover. Red clover is used for hay and
for pasture. It is often used as a green-manure crop
to be plowed under if the ground is poor in humus.
Even where it is cut for hay, the stubble and roots

THE HAY CROP 149

turned with the plow show gains in the crops that
follow, because of the extra amount of nitrogen left
behind. Clover makes an ideal hay for cattle, and
where it is raised, it should make up a half or more
of the roughage of milch cows. Sheep and young
stock make excellent growth on clover hay or the
clover pasture.

Getting a Stand. Where the soil has been worn
out by many crops being taken off and no plant food
or humus put back, red clover will not often grow.
In order to bring such land up, a heavy coat of barn-
yard manure will help to give clover a start. Another
way to get a set of red clover on poor land is to

id = Se OR he Re
Fic. 80. A self-dump hay rake.
spread straw over the wheat or rye ground that

has been seeded to clover. This is done in early
spring, before the clover seed has begun to sprout.

150 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Alsike Clover. Still another way to get one’s
poor fields seeded to red clover is to first sow Alsike
clover. This will grow on soils that are too wet or
too dry or too poor for red clover. Alsike is hardier
and less likely to be attacked by disease.

Alfalfa. Another clover-like plant that is coming
to be even more important than clover is alfalfa

Fig. 81. Hay loader.

(Fig.83). It was brought to America in the early
days by the Spaniards, but only in recent years has
it become a widely grown crop in the United States.
Like clover, it is a legume whose roots are homes
for bacteria. Thus it both brings the farmer fine
hay and pasture, and it enriches his fields at the
same time. Alfalfa has for years been a leading
crop in the West. It is now being introduced widely
in the great Corn Belt. It is a fine feed for milch

THE HAY CROP 151

cows and for fattening hogs, lambs, and cattle.

The Soil and Crops. Alfalfa has a long tap-root
which reaches down deeper than any other farm
crop, often being twelve feet long (Fig. 84). Thus,
you see, alfalfa needs a well-drained soil. It thrives
wonderfully in dry regions. It continues to grow
throughout the warm season. In Canada they cut

Fig. 82. Horse power is cheaper than human labor.

three crops of it in one season, while in Arizona
eight cuttings are often harvested.

How to Start Alfalfa. Alfalfa is not a successful
erop on poor land. If the land is not rich enough, a
heavy coat of manure may be necessary. In many
places east of the Mississippi River lime is needed to
give alfalfa a start. About twenty-five pounds of
seed are sown to the acre in the Kast, but much less
is used in the West. It is best to sow alfalfa in the
late summer or early fall. It is sometimes seeded

152 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

with grain in the spring. The field should be mellow
and fine as a seed bed, for alfalfa is not a strong
plant until it gets a good start. Weeds will injure
it, so it is well to sow seed that is free from weed
seeds. Alfalfa may be grown on the same field for
a longer time without change than most crops, but
it should be plowed in at intervals of from five to
seven years and some other crop sown.

Good for Horses. There is no one thing so good
as alfalfa for the working horse. It builds up his
worn-out muscles and keeps him strong and healthy.
He needs much less grain when he can have alfalfa
hay. It ought to be free from dust, but it does not

Courtesy of Santa Fe R. R.
Fic. 83. A field of alfalfa—six crops to the season.

gather dust so easily as clover. It is not safe to

feed too much to horses.
Alfalfa for Other Stock. Milch cows thrive on
alfalfa, and nothing better is grown for calves,

THE HAY CROP 153

sheep, and hogs. Alfalfa and corn fed together
make a finely balanced food for stock, because the
food element that is lacking i) 5th ==?
corn is found in alfalfa; and
what alfalfa lacks, corn will
supply. Not only is alfalfa the
best forage food for stock, but it
will do more even than clover to
build up the soil. Its roots go
down very deep, and thus it
gets food where no other farm
crop can.

The Cowpea. The cowpea is
another legume and is a cousin
to the clover and alfalfa. It has
come to be an important hay
crop in our Southern states, for
it likes warm climates. It will
erow on almost any kind of soil
that is not too wet. Like clover,
the cowpea will make good hay
or green feed, and it enriches
the soil.

The cowpea is an annual plant
and resembles the bean. Some — gs ee ere
varieties are bush-like while root.
others are trailing. As it is difficult to cure without
losing the leaves, it is sometimes grown with German
millet to help save the leaves and to assist in speedy
curing.

Courtesy Santa Fe R. R.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS

Where We Get Our Sweets. Hach person in the
United States eats, on an average, more than sev-
enty pounds of sugar ina year. Sugar is made from
the sugar cane, the sugar beet, and the sap of maple
trees.

Sugar Cane. Sugar cane may be grown in the
Southern states wherever cotton is found. It very
much resembles corn in appearance. Cultivated
cane never produces seed, so the new crop must be
grown from cuttings of the stalk. It takes a ninth
part of the old crop to plant the field for a new one.
The seed cane is usually stored on the land in the
fall and covered with a layer of leaves and a thin
layer of earth to protect it from the frost. In the
spring it is uncovered or ‘‘hooked up’’ with long
hoes and cut into pieces two feet long.

Planting. The land is plowed and thrown into
ridges eight feet apart, and the seed stalks are laid
end to end in double rows in a trench on top of
the ridges. An extra piece of cane is put near each
joint so the sprouts will be regular. Cane should
send up a sprout at every joint. Covering is done
with a hoe or a machine. A machine covers ten
acres in a day. The first crop is known as plant
cane. The next year it will spring up from the same

154

SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 155

roots, or it may be planted again. A good crop
will come from the stubble even the third year. The
land is then plowed and sowed to cowpeas. The
fourth year a new crop of cane may be raised on
the land where the cowpeas have been plowed under.
Cane sometimes grows fifteen feet high.

Harvesting. Harvesting begins in October. The
sugar forms most rapidly then, but the crop must
be cut before the frosts injure it. Colored workmen
using a long knife go through the fields cutting the
stalks very close to the ground, for the lower ends
yield the most sugar. ‘The leaves and tops are.
trimmed off, and the stalks are laid in piles. At
the factory the stalks are cut and shredded into
small pieces, and the juice is crushed out between
heavy rollers. This juice is put into large tanks
with milk of lime to be made clear. Then it is made
into syrup, and the molasses is separated from the
sugar, which is then dried into large crystals and
felned into our white sugar.

Sugar Beet. It is impossible to tell by taste
whether the refined sugar is made from cane or
from sugar beets, but the raw beet sugar has a dis-
agreeable odor and taste. Beet sugar was not dis-
covered by accident. It was made after years of
experimenting. More than two hundred years ago
a German druggist first found sugar in beets, and
sugar being at that time a dollar a pound, Napoleon
offered a prize to any one who could make sugar
from beets. The art was soon discovered, but it is

156 SLEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

only within a short time that beet sugar has been
made in the United States. The soil and climate of
the greater part of our country will raise the sugar
beet. The labor required to produce beets is much

ih

Beas ns

Courtesy of Santa Fe R. R.
Fig. 85. A field of sugar beets.

more than that required for an equal crop of corn,
wheat, or potatoes; but the income is much greater.

Preparation and Soil. The land for sugar beets
must be a rich, deep soil. Plenty of moisture is
needed while the plants are growing, and dry, warm
weather when ripening. If sugar beets are to follow
a grain crop, the land should be plowed hghtly as
soon as the grain is harvested. The ground is then
dressed with a coat of manure, and later in the
season it is plowed deep. The subsoiling plow that
loosens the earth to a depth from fourteen to
eighteen inches, enables beets to reach down into the

SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 157

soil where they will receive plenty of moisture at all
seasons. Before planting, the ground is dragged
or harrowed and rolled to pack it firmly. The beets
are planted with machines. Horse-power machines
plant four rows at a time. Since the sugar beet
needs about four or five months’ time to grow to
the full size, it should be planted two or three weeks
before corn. (Fig. 85).

Harvesting. In October the farmer takes a few
beets to the factory to be tested for the amount and
quality of juice. As beets increase in weight rap-
idly the last six weeks, it is well to delay harvesting
as long as is safe to avoid danger from frost. The
beets may be plowed loose eight or ten days before
removing from the ground. They are then pulled
by hand and the top cut off close to the root to
remove the matter that prevents the separating of
the sugar from the juice. The beets are then sent
to the factory. Europe produces larger crops of
sugar beets than any other part of the world.

Rice. Rice furnishes the principal food of half
the human race. It first came from the East Indies,
but is now raised in many parts of the earth. It
was probably brought to America when the Caro-
linas were settled, and it is now the staple product
of South Carolina. There are two kinds of rice, the
upland rice and the lowland rice. Lowland rice was
first grown in places that were overflowed by the
tides, but irrigation is now used to raise this variety
in most of the Southern states. Upland rice does

158 ELEM_iINTARY AGRICULTURE

not need to be flooded, but is cultivated much as
oats or wheat.

Growing Rice. The ground is prepared for rice
and the seed is planted, harvested, and threshed
very much the same as wheat. Where the rice crop

Courtesy of the Alabama Tobacco Company

Fic. 86. A heavy crop of tobacco and drying barn.

is flooded with water, the ground is allowed to dry
out at harvest time. The upland rice is thought by
some planters to be better than the lowland variety,
but the yield is not so great.

Rice Products and Enemies. From the thresher,
the rice is sent to the mill in barrels. <A little more
than half of it comes out clean rice, a small part is
polish, and about a third is bran and waste. The

SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 159

rice polish and bran are mixed and sold to feed pigs.
The rice-stalk borer, the chinch bug, and the ‘‘ black
weevil’’ are all enemies of the rice crop.

Tobacco. The United States produces more to-
bacco than any other country in the world and sends

% z

Courtesy of the Alabama Tobacco Company

Fic. 87. Drying and curing tobacco in a well-ventilated barn.

more than one-third of it to other lands. The vari-
ety of tobacco raised depends upon the soil, climate,
and the use it is to be put to. (Fig. 86.)

Wet soils of clay produce large, heavy plants that.
cure to a dark brown or red. Light, sandy soils
raise a thin leaf curing to a bright red, mahogany,
or yellow color. The quality of tobacco is affected
by the soil, kind of manure used, and the climate,

160 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

more than almost any other plant. In the northern
regions the seed is sown in a hotbed protected by
cheesecloth. The young plants are tender and need
watering with a weak manure water. They should
be transplanted when five or six weeks old. They
may be well cultivated until the plant begins to
bud; then, if no seed is desired, the plants are topped
so the strength may all go to the leaves.

Fertilizer. Barnyard manure produces a rank
growth of tobacco, but it is poor in quality. Potash
is the most important plant food for tobacco. Nitro-
gen is supplied in cotton-seed meal.

Curing. When the leaves begin to turn yellow,
the stalks are cut close to the ground. They should
be wilted by cutting them when the sun shines the
hottest. The plants are then hung up in the drying
house without being crowded.together. (Fig. 87.)
After drying, the leaves are removed and tied up
in bundles called hands. The tobacco leaf loses more
than three-fourths of its weight in curing. Tobacco
is made into cigars, cigarettes, cheroots, and snuff.

QUESTIONS

(1) Before the discovery of sugar cane, how did people
get their sweets? (2) From how many plants do we
get sugar now? (3) What do you know about maple
sugar? (4) In what way is the raising of sugar beets
more trouble than corn? (5) Compare the raising of
wheat and rice from planting to harvest. (6) Why
should not tobacco plants touch each other in the dry house?

For exercises, problems, experiments, see Appendix,

nin aey

CHAPTER XIX.
THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO

The Potato’s Early Home. The early home of the
potato was in America. White men had never seen
it until after the discovery of the continent by
Columbus. The Indians of South America, from
Chili to Colombia, were raising potatoes for food.
How long they had been doing this we do not know.
The Spanish explorers carried the potato to Europe,
where it was first grown in Spain and Italy.

The Potato in Ireland. Some years later, we are
told, Sir Walter Raleigh was cultivating it on his
farm in Ireland. He called it ‘‘Battata.’’ The
potato came to be raised as the principal article of
food in Ireland; and when, in 1846, there came a
total failure of the potato crop, caused by the blight,
a terrible famine and great suffering followed. It
drove thousands of Ireland’s best thinkers and
workers to America.

A Widely-grown Crop. Potatoes are a more im-
portant crop in Europe than in America, and it isa
staple product in many lands besides our own. Next
to rice, it is probably the most widely-grown crop
in the world.

Not a Root, But a Tuber. The part of the potato
that we eat is an underground stem which is called
a tuber. It is not a root, like the sweet potato or

161

162 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

radish, for there are no rootlets growing upon the
white potato. All the roots are found extending
out from the stems. |

4. Burbank,

5. Rural New Yorker.

2. Early Rose.

38. Triumph. 6. Peerless.
Courtesy of Agricultural Experiment Station, Wisconsin

Fig. 88. Standard varieties of potatoes. Early varieties, 1, 2, and 3.
Late varieties, 4, 5, and 6.

The Kinds of Seed. The potato can be raised both
from the seeds which grow in the seed ball at the

+e a are

ee ee ee

THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 163

end of the stalk and from the tubers. The farmer
always plants tubers, because they produce other
tubers just like themselves. The potatoes grown
from the seed do not always come true to the
variety.

The Potato Eye. Each eye of the potato will grow
a new plant if a piece of potato is left on it large
enough to feed the young plant until it can put out
strong roots. When potatoes are allowed to sprout
in the cellar they use up some of their plant food so
they shrivel. These potatoes should not be used
for planting.

Cutting the Seed. Irish potatoes are usually cut
into two or more pieces for planting. Some careful
farmers cut two eyes to each piece; others claim it
pays to use more seed and take a half potato for
each hill. The seed is best cut a short time before
it is put into the ground. One experiment station
found an increase of fifty-four bushels per acre by
placing the potatoes in a well-lighted room with a
comfortable temperature for several weeks before
planting.

How to Choose Seed Potatoes. Our plants grow
from the bud in the eye of the potato, and so we
should know just what kind of a plant the seed
potato grew on. We must see to it that we choose
seed taken from vines that are good producers.
Some vines have twice as many potatoes as others.
Therefore, we select our seed potatoes, as we do
corn, not from the bin, but from the potato field, as

164 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

they are dug. It matters not if the seed potato be
large or small if it came from a hill bearing a large

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 89. Colorado potato beetle at work on the plant: a, beetle; b,
egg masses; c, half-grown larvae; d, mature larvae.

yield of fine potatoes. By careful selection, year
after year, a farmer can greatly improve his variety

THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 165

and produce larger crops on the same space of
ground (Fig. 88).

Climate and Soil. For the best crop one needs a
deep, fertile soil with plenty of moisture, but not too
wet: A cool climate is most suitable. The seed-eyes
are planted from two to five inches deep, and the
most successful growers do not hill up the plants
until late in the season. Moisture is held better if
the ground is kept level.

Cultivating the Crop. A few days after planting
a harrow or weeder is run over the field to destroy
all weeds as soon as they are started. This weeder
is used once a week until the plants are six or eight
inches high. Then the fields are cultivated between
the rows about every ten days.

Insect Enemies. One of the first enemies the plant
meets after it appears through the surface is the
flea beetle that gnaws small holes in the leaves.
They may be checked by spraying with the Bor-
deaux mixture or with Paris green. This remedy
will also stop the ravages of the potato beetle, or
Colorado bug (Fig. 89). Potatoes are commonly.
sprayed about five times, beginning when the plants
are about six inches high and repeating the opera-
tion every ten days.

The Potato Scab. Another enemy of the potato
is the scab, which is a very tiny plant growing on
the surface of the tuber. Scabby potatoes do not
bring good prices. If seed potatoes are given a
bath in a solution of formalin for about two hours

166 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

before they are planted, the formalin will kill the
scab growth without injuring the potatoes. One-
half pint of formalin to fifteen gallons of water
makes a proper solution, which will do for several
bushels of potatoes, as it can be used over and over
again.

The Blight. Another disease for the potato farmer
to guard against is the blight. This is a tiny plant

‘g £ es Gx $e «3
Courtesy of Agricultural Experiment Station, Wisconsin

Fic. 90. A field of potatoes yielding 350 bushels per acre.

or fungus growth which attacks the plant above
ground. The blight sometimes destroys a crop com-
pletely. Spraying is the remedy for this enemy,
also.

Harvesting. Early varieties of the potato are dug
as soon as they are big enough for market. Late
potatoes are left in the ground until the vines are

THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 167

dead. They should be gathered when the ground
is dry and placed in a dark, cool place. Potatoes
stored in the cellar should always be covered to
keep the light from burning them. In some regions
farmers raise from three hundred to five hundred
bushels per acre (Fig. 90).

The Sweet Potato. This potato is not related to
the white potato. It is not a tuber but an enlarged
root. Instead of eyes it has many tiny rootlets on
it. The sweet potato was found in the warm regions
of America. It thrives in our Southern states, but
is grown in truck patches in our Central states. A
light, sandy loam yields the best selling sweet
potato.

QUESTIONS

(1) How did white potatoes get the name ‘‘Irish’’?
(2) What is the difference between a root and a tuber?
(3) Why do potatoes that have sprouted in the cellar
make poor seed? (4) Why not choose seed potatoes
from the bin? (5) Many growers do not hill up the
rows until late. Why? (6) Why cannot a farmer af-
ford the necessary potato machinery unless he raises
good-sized potato crops? (7) Make questions of your
own for class use.

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the
Appendix.

CHAPTH hi 2X
WEEDS

Weeds Good Fighters. Weeds are plants that
grow where they are not wanted. Their seeds,
allowed to grow in the crops, take the lion’s share
of plant food, moisture, and hght. Thus weeds rob
and choke out the farmer’s crop.

Annuals. In order to fight weeds, the farmer
must know how they grow and how they send forth
their weed children. There are three classes of
weeds. Many come up from seeds, blossom, ripen
their seeds, and die in one year. Some of these
annuals are wild mustard, ragweed and purslane.

Biennial Weeds. These plants live two years.
The first year they come up from the seed, grow,
and store up food in their roots, but bear no seed.
When winter comes all the plant above ground dies.
The next year it sends up branches again, produces
seed, and dies, root and all. Some of the trouble-
some biennials are dandelion, barn grass, wild
parsnip, bull thistle, and burdock. (Fig. 92.)

Perennials. Plants of this class live from year
to year. They grow sometimes from seeds but also
from underground stems or from runners above
eround. Among them are the Canada thistle (Fig.
91), quack grass, cow thistle, yellow dock, milk-
weed, morning glory, and wild onion.

168

Fighting the
Weeds. If a weed
is an annual, then
the problem is to
prevent the seed
from ripening or
spreading. The
seeds of some of
these weeds will
grow after several
years, so if the
farmer allows them
to become abun-
dant in his fields
some of the seeds
will grow each
year and each year
he must fight them.
It is a good plan to
harrow well just
before planting a
crop: This kills

WEEDS 169

posse ee. ae ne Raa

Fie. 91. Canada thistle.

the sprouting weeds and gives corn or other crops
a chance to get ahead. Weeds are easiest to kill
when they are just starting to grow.

When weeds get a start in a pasture field a flock
of sheep will soon kill them by eating off the leaves.
Sheep will eat most all kinds of weeds. When
weeds get a start in an alfalfa field they may be
checked by the use of the spring-tooth harrow or

170 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

ae ae) the disc. But
| : _ when hayfields
get too full of
weeds the best
way to fight
them is to ro-
tate the crop,
and plana
corn, potatoes,
rape, cab-
bages or beets.
As these crops
require care-
ful cultivation
one can kill
the weeds and
at the same
time help
along a pay-
ing crop.

Many weeds
mature on
corn or potato land or in stubble fields in the fall
after the crop has been taken off. This may be
prevented by following with a crop of winter oats,
rye, or crimson clover.

Biennials such as burdock, wild carrot, and bull
thistle store up food in their roots the first year.
These are much harder to kill, but may be destroyed
by cutting the roots off below the crown. ‘This is

Fie. 92. Burdock.

WEEDS shal

done by hand with a grub hoe. Biennials may
be killed by planting a crop that has to be hoed.

Perennials, like the Canada thistle and morning
glory, may be killed by pulling them up by the
roots or by keeping all leaves cut off, so they can-
not breathe. They may also be destroyed by plow-
ing in the fall so as to expose their roots, or by
sowing a crop which will cover the ground very
thickly and smother out the weeds.

Weeds for Drugs. Many of the troublesome
weeds on our farms might be sold for making crude
drugs and medicines. Some drug companies in our
country are beginning to plant burdock (Fig. 92),
hoarhound, jimsonweed and foxglove to be used in
making medicines and drugs. In Europe many
farmers cure the weeds and sell them to dealers
for this purpose. They dry thoroughly the leaves,
roots, bark or seed. If this is not done they will
mold. Many of the roots have to be washed and
earefully dried. Boys on the farm might do this.
The United States government has a pamphlet
describing the different plants and the method of
preparing them for market. Write also to the
Agricultural Experiment Station of your state for
bulletins on weeds.

QUESTIONS
(1) What are weeds? (2) Why are they injurious to
crops? (3) What are annuals, biennials, and perennial
weeds? (4) Give some good methods of fighting weeds,
(5) Tell about weeds for drugs.

CHAPTER XXI.

ORCHARDS

Helping One Another. Fruit trees of some kind
will thrive in any section of our country, so every
farm should have its own fruit. Some farmers
make fruit-raising their chief business, while others
have only a small orchard for family use. If the
raising of fruit is the principal object of the farmer,
he should locate where many other farmers are do-
ing the same thing, so that they may form companies
to help one another in many ways, especially in
obtaining good prices for their crops.

Keep Near Market or Railroad. It is well not to
go too far from the railroad to raise fruit. When
peaches are to be handled, they should not be hauled
more than three miles. Strawberries must also be
marketed soon after they are picked and with as
little cartage as possible. Apples are more firm and
will endure more handling, but the expense of a long
haul reduces the profits.

Hill Lands for Orchards. It is usually better for
orchards to be upon land higher than the rest of the
farm. The cold air is heavier and settles into the
valleys and lowlands, so the hill orchards are not
so likely to be caught by late spring frosts.

The Best Slope. The north and east slopes of
hills are preferred for apple orchards, because they

172

ORCHARDS 173

are slower in warming up in the spring. This keeps
the blossoms from coming out too soon and being
injured by late frosts. Trees set on southern slopes
receive more sunshine, and their fruit is more highly
colored. But southern slopes are usually drier than
northern slopes, and thus the fruit does not grow so
large.

The Influence of Water. Land sloping toward a
river or a large body of water is good fruit land,
because the water keeps the air from too sudden
changes. The fruit should be on the slope that re-
ceives the wind after it has crossed the water. Air
near water is kept from getting suddenly colder
and there is less likelihood of frosts. (Fig. 93.)

Kinds of Soil for Fruits. For apple, pear, and
plum trees a farmer should choose a deep, moist,
clay loam. A sandy loam is better for peaches and
cherries.

Preparation of Fruit Land. The soil should be
prepared as carefully for a fruit orchard as for corn.
It is plowed deep for planting the trees, so the roots
may reach out far and wide for food. The surface
should be harrowed to a dust mulch. If the field
is wet and swampy, it must be drained.

Planting Trees. The trees may be planted either
in the spring or fall. If the soil is in good shape,
fall planting is better, because the trees get a start
before winter. To make tillage easy the rows should
be straight. Apple trees are commonly planted forty
feet apart each way, but sometimes they are planted

174 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

closer. Pears are set about twenty-five feet apart
and peaches and plums each twenty feet. There
should always be room enough between the trees so
spraying may
be easily done
and the crop
harvested con-
veniently.
Setting Trees.
When a tree
is taken from
the ground
the more roots
that are saved
the better. But
with the best
of care many
of them are broken or bruised, and others must be
eut. All the broken roots should be cut back from
the injured end with a sharp knife, so the smooth
wound will heal quickly. Since the tree has lost
many of the rootlets that supply it with food, the
branches must be cut back, too, else they will need
more food and moisture than the roots can supply.
People usually leave too much of the top on a tree
that is transplanted. ‘The trees should not be ex-
posed to the sun and wind before planting, and the
planter should not allow the roots to dry out. If the
roots are covered with a coat of clay, it is well to dip
them in water before setting them.

Fic. 93. Irrigating an orchard.

ORCHARDS 175

Packing About the Roots. The holes dug for the
trees should be a little larger than the roots seem
to need, so that they can be placed straight. Since
the roots feed the tree, it is very important to pack
the soil well about them, so they can get plenty of
liquid food from it. The upper roots should be
raised until the soil is packed firmly under them.
Roots should never be crowded together, but spread
out naturally to grow
as they will. In the
bottom of the hole
the soil must be
packed very tight,
but the top four
inches should be loose
for a dust mulch. A
common mistake is to
pack the soil tightly
on top and leave it
loose underneath.
This brings the mois-
ture to the surface
and causes the young
trees to die of thirst. —— fect ue
afar neR emes Fig. 94. A crop between rows.
chards would take care of themselves after planting
is a thing of the past. Now the successful fruit grow-
ers till their orchards as regularly as they do their
crops. Trees make nearly all their growth early in

176 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the year, before the hot months of midsummer, so
it is during the spring months that they need plenty
of food and moisture. Then is the time to cultivate
the orchards. More than nine-tenths of the fruit is
water, and we know that tillage is very helpful in
saving moisture. The drier the season, the more
the harrow and cultivator are needed. After July,
when the growing period is over, a crop may be
sown on the orchard to be plowed under later as
green manure (Fig. 94).

Injury to Trees. In tilling orchards, care must be
taken not to injure the trees. The grass and weeds
that grow close to the trunk of the tree do very
little harm, and they had better be let alone, rather
than run the risk of injuring the tender bark of the
young tree.

Pruning. If young trees are well pruned when
they are set out, they will need very little more
trimming until they begin to bear. Shoots that
cross each other and interfere with other branches
should be removed. When branches are likely to
become too crowded, the knife should be used. Many
fruit growers change the shape of their trees to
their fancy by pruning. They cut the tops back so
the trees will spread out instead of growing tall, for
it is difficult to spray a tall tree, and the fruit is
harder to gather.

Spraying Fruit Trees. All fruit trees have ene-
mies which the farmer must fight. More than
twenty-five years ago a man who was employed by

ORCHARDS 177

the state of Illinois to study plants, discovered that
Paris green would kill the potato beetle. He said
that he believed the same poison would stop the
cankerworm from injuring the apple crops. For a
good many years farmers doubted and shook their
heads; but here and there a man began to spray
with Paris Green to protect the crops, and they
found it worked well. Fewer apples were found
wormy in orchards that had been sprayed. (Figs.
38 and 39.) This was only the beginning of an in-
telligent fight to protect crops and trees from in-
sects. Many discoveries have been made since, and
now the best farmers everywhere are spraying with
different mixtures to save their trees and fruits,
their gardens and other crops. In the West, where
the finest of fruit is raised, state laws have been
passed, commanding every orchardist to spray his
trees whether he finds them troubled with insects
or not. This is to make sure he will not grow mil-
lions of insects to attack the orchards and crop of
some neighboring fruit grower who is careful in
spraying.

Bordeaux Mixture. Besides the insects which in-
jure our trees, there are tiny robber plants, or fungi,
like mildew and the brownrot, that attack peaches
and other stone fruits, sometimes even apples and
pears. In France, where many grapes are raised to
make wine, the grape farmers near Bordeaux found
that their vines were being injured by mildew. So
they set very earnestly to work to find a check for

178 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

this enemy. After much experimenting, they dis-
covered a poison spray now called the Bordeaux
mixture. It is used all over the world to-day to
kill the fungi that are injuring gardens and orchards.

Spraying Machines. A farmer who has not more
than five acres in his orchard can use a spraying
machine worked by hand. There are many kinds of
good spraying outfits. (Fig. 95.) It is chiefly im-
portant to be sure that the liquid is well stirred by
some means, so that the poisons will not settle to
the bottom of the barrel instead of reaching the
tree. The best fruit growers spray their trees regu-
larly. (Fig. 96.) Peaches and prunes are usually
not sprayed unless they are attacked by the scale.
In many places apples are sprayed three times—
once just before the blossoms open, again just before
the blossoms fall, and a third time about ten or
twelve days later. The mixture used is three or
four pounds of copper sulphate, five pounds of lime,
and a half pound of Paris green in fifty gallons of
water.

Thinning Fruit. Some fruit growers are now
urging the thinning of the fruit crop. <A part of
the fruit on heavily-loaded trees is taken off before
it is half grown, so that which is left may grow to
a larger size. Though it costs a good deal to thin,
the growers argue that it costs no more to pick the
fruit when small than when it is full grown; and
the fruit that is left to ripen is so much larger and
brings so much better prices that it is well worth

ORCHARDS 179

while. In Western regions the trees bear such heavy
loads that the branches break unless some of the
fruit is removed. When the crop is light there is
no need of thinning. Apples usually grow in clus-
ters from three to a half dozen in a bunch. If one

Fic. 95. A good spraying outfit for the orchard.

is growing fancy fruit he should remove all but
the best apple of each cluster. Pears grow like
apples and may be thinned in the same way. In
thinning stone fruits, the work may be done by
pulling the fruit off; but with apples and pears it

180 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

is safest to clip them with sharp-pointed shears, be-
cause pulling is apt to break the branch. A fruit
tree that has been properly pruned and the crop
thinned, will not need props to keep it from break-
ing down; and it is more likely to bear a good crop
every year.

Harvesting Fruit. A farmer who grows fruit for
market must pick it carefully to prevent bruising.
In order to make the fruit attractive to the buyer,
the grower grades his apples, that is, he sorts out
those of the same size and packs them together.
Boxes are being used for packing, though many
still prefer barrels for apples. Neat and careful
packing helps to secure good prices for the fruit
crop.

Peaches. Though many peaches are raised in
California, the greater part of them come from the
Eastern states. A mildly temperate climate favors
this fruit. They must be packed quickly and closely
and sent by fast freight when shipped. Packers get
two cents a basket, and an expert packer can fill a
hundred baskets in a day.

Apples. Of all the many fruits grown in our
country, the apple is the most important. More
than forty million barrels are used every year, or
about a half barrel for every man, woman, and child
in the United States. There are fewer difficulties
to meet in raising apples than any other fruit. The
tree is hardy and is not easily injured. There are
many varieties of apples that keep well through

ORCHARDS 181

the winter. All kinds are firm and can be handled
and marketed with less care and trouble than other
fruits. Apples may be put to many uses. They are
eaten raw or they may be cooked in a variety of
ways. Some are dried or made into jelly, and ia
this form they may be kept for a long time.
Seedless Apples. Since we have varieties of seed-
less oranges, men have been trying to develop an

Fic. 96. The successful orchardist always sprays.

apple without a core. When this kind takes the
place of those we now use it will be a splendid thing
for us all, because there are certain insects that
live in the core of the apple and there is so much
waste in removing it. Some day seedless apples will
be a very common thing.

CHAPTER XXII
THE FARM GARDEN

The Boy’s Garden. The garden is a chance for
the farmer boys and girls to have a lttle farm of
their own. It is impossible for every child to have
much space in the school garden (Fig. 97), but at
home he should have a little plot of ground to raise
his crops. Here he can plant what he likes and
learn many important lessons about how to till the
soil and to care for plants. Any boy likes to try
experiments for himself and to feel that there is one
spot where he is the ‘‘boss.’’ Whatever is raised
in the child’s garden should be his produce to sell
or give away as he pleases.

A Good Story. The story is told of a certain
farmer’s boy who was anxious to leave the farm.
He was tired of the salt meat and potatoes that
were served at his father’s table three times a day.
One summer he went to work for a neighbor. Here
they had plenty of delicious sweet corn, tender
young beets, sliced, ripe tomatoes, and meaty Lima
beans, with a juicy melon from the spring house for
dessert. The boy went home, started a garden, and
decided to stay on the farm. (Fig. 98.)

Gardens Everywhere. It is surprising how many
garden crops can be grown in every part of the
United States. In the cooler climates, garden truck

182

THE FARM GARDEN 183

grows rapidly because of plenty of moisture. In
Dakota the best place for a garden is where some
large snowdrift has melted late in the spring. In
Texas vegetables grow the year around. Different

Fic. 97. A school garden.

varieties belong to different sections of the country,
so seeds should be selected that have been tested
and do well in the region where they are to be
planted.

Location and Soil. Since the garden belongs to
the kitchen, it should be as near it as possible.
Almost any soil can be graded, manured, and
drained into a good garden, unless it is a very stiff
elay that will not admit draining. The best garden

184 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

soil is a sandy loam that will dry out quickly after
rains, so that it may be cultivated often.

Fertilizing. Plowing in the spring must be done
as soon as the ground will permit, but it is better
to plow the garden in the fall so that freezing will
erumble the ground into fine particles. Garden
plants are grown close together in a small space,
and we want them to grow quickly, so they need a
great deal of plant food. A thick dressing of stable
manure, from five to ten loads to an acre, should be
put on before the second plowing. If this garden
manure is hauled in the fall and made into a long,
narrow heap mixed with sods and forest leaves, it
will be well rotted and fine by spring; and it will
easily mix through the soil, giving every inch of
ground its portion. Leaves from the lawn should
always be piled on the garden to decay.

Well-rotted manure supplies all the nitrogen a
garden requires, but to give vegetables a good flavor,
potash is needed. Wood ashes will furnish this.
After the manure is plowed under, the ashes are
sifted on top, and then the surface is harrowed until
all is fine as an ash heap. Dried hen manure,
pounded fine and sifted, is often harrowed in with
the ashes and is especially good for some garden
crops.

Preparation. The garden should be plowed from
six to eight inches deep and harrowed four or five
times. All stones must be removed. If these can
be buried so as to be beneath the reach of the plow,

THE FARM GARDEN 185

Fic. 98. A boy’s garden—Beautiful as well as profitable.

they will help to drain certain wet spots in the gar-
den. A hand roller and hand rake are used for pul-
verizing and crushing lumps of earth left by the
harrow. For root crops in clay, a subsoil plow that
drags a second share after the first and breaks and
loosens the bottom of the furrow to a great depth is
often used.

Garden Tools. Small hand tools, such as trowels,
spuds, and dibbles, are used in transplanting. The
hoe and steel garden rake are useful in finishing
the top of the ground. The common hoe is too wide
for narrow rows and delicate plants, so there are

186 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

many different sorts of blades made. Markers for
keeping rows straight and a small hand roller, are
great helps. The wheel hoe is the best cultivator.
Every farmer should have blades of different sizes
and a set of disks which can be used on the eulti-
vator.

Mulch. We know that a covering of fine, dry
earth, or a dust mulch, prevents moisture from es-
caping from the ground. ‘‘A finely raked garden
bed is dry on top, but the footprints of the cat re-
main moist for days, because the animal packed the
soil wherever it stepped, and the water climbed up
from one grain of earth to another until it reached
the surface.’’ Besides convenience in cultivating,
it is wise to plant seeds in rows, instead of in beds
which have been raised or hilled up, with high beds
and low places between. When we leave the ground
rough, or make large holes around our garden
plants, we leave more soil exposed to the air, and
this helps moisture to escape from the ground. In
a very wet season, it is well to hill up crops like
potatoes or corn, because we then wish to get rid
of part of the moisture.

Planting. We are usually told to make the earth
firm and well packed over newly-planted seeds, be-
cause this brings moisture to the seeds lying near
the surface and so hastens the sprouting. As soon
as the seeds have sprouted, the ground should be
loosened to stop evaporation. Large seeds can be
planted deep and the earth well packed over them,

THE FARM GARDEN 187

then the top is raked. To water a bed, wet it thor-
oughly in the evening. When the morning sun
begins to dry it out, loosen the top earth to stop
the rise of moisture. Sprinkling the plants every
few days is very harmful. Do not sow small, slow-
sprouting seeds like celery and onions in land that
bakes. A layer of chaff or a board may be laid on
the row to hold moisture, but it must be gradually
lifted as soon as the seeds get a start.

Transplanting. In thickly-sown seed beds one
must thin or move the plants to the garden as soon
as they have their first true leaves. While seeds of
lettuce, onions, radishes, peas, and many other
things, can be sown in the ground in the early
spring, we can gain from four to six weeks by sow-
ing the seeds of others indoors and transplanting
them. Many farmers buy their egg plants, tomatoes,
cauliflower, and peppers from hothouse gardens;
while others grow their own in window boxes, hot-
beds, and cold frames.

The Window Box. A window box fifteen inches
square and six inches deep, or old tin pans nearly
filled with soil, are put in a south or east window.
Suitable soil or dirt has been obtained in the fall
and stored in the cellar or some convenient place.
This is mixed with a little coal ashes or fine sand
to make it light and loamy. The seed is scattered
and covered lightly. The soil is then watered with
a fine sprinkler. Squashes and cucumbers may be
planted on pieces of sod turned upside down. These

188 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

sods can be set into the ground as soon as the soil
can be worked.

Hotbeds. Hotbeds are box-like frames sunk in
the ground and covered with a sash filled in with
glass or cloth. Some of the soil in the frame is
taken out, and horse manure is put in its place.
When packed solidly in the pit, the manure rots and
produces heat. Over the manure is three or four
inches of fine garden soil in which the seeds are
planted. The manure keeps the soil above it warm.
Hot air or hot water pipes are sometimes used under
the hotbeds instead of manure. <A well-drained spot,
sheltered from the cold winds and sloping to the
south, is best, because the sunshine is very helpful.
It takes care and judgment to handle a hotbed prop-
erly, because plants must be aired and watered at
proper times.

Cold Frames. The cold frame is like the hotbed,
but has no manure in it and therefore no bottom
heat. A combination hotbed and cold frame may
be made of a large drygoods box partly filled with
horse manure well trampled down and covered with
clean straw. Small, shallow boxes are nearly filled
with soil. After the seed has been planted in them,
they are placed on the top of the manure and coy-
ered with a pane of glass. Thus each box becomes
a little hotbed. The glass is removed now and then
for air. If the manure becomes too warm, the small
boxes are raised on bricks. When the heat of the
manure is gone, the hotbed becomes a cold frame.

THE FARM GARDEN 189

Preparing for Transplanting. When the ground
out of doors gets ready for transplanting, the plants
in the window boxes may gradually become used to
the colder air by having the window raised a little
at a time. The hotbed sash is left open on bright,
sunny days until the plants are ready for living in
the open air.

Transplanting. In transplanting, one must handle
plants gently and plant them in freshly-turned soil
which is very fine. A hole is made with a dibble or
trowel. Put a cupful of water in each hole, and
press the earth firmly about the roots.. Roots of
plants are often broken off in transplanting. Ex-
cept with tomatoes and eggplants, part of the leaves
may be cut off so the roots will not have too much
top to feed until they get a firm hold. If the soil
is freshly turned and the transplanting is well done,
it is not necessary to water plants. If late in the
season the gardener may transplant on a rainy or
cloudy day. <A handful of grass or hay packed
around plants that have just been set out is better
than covering with tin cans or flower pots, for they
need light and air to breathe.

Rotating or Changing Crops. Every vegetable
has its own insect enemies and diseases. If the
same vegetables are raised year after year on the
same soil, these insects and diseases will grow worse.
The vegetable also uses up some of the particular
plant foods that it needs. Some plants are surface
feeders, the roots not growing deep. Beets, carrots,

190 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

and potatoes grow deeper and are able to feed where
the others could not. If vine crops are followed
with root crops, the latter will do well by feeding
below where the others did. Radishes, early lettuce,
spinach, or peas may be harvested early, and cab-
bage, beets, or late sweet corn planted in their
places.

Planting Between Rows. Planting between rows
sometimes works well. In late June, when potato
vines are well started, and the rows are well cleaned,
late sweet corn is often planted between. However,
if the season is too dry, this may injure both crops.
Sowing turnips broadcast in late sweet corn or
among tomatoes and squash, is worth trying.

Weeds. Weeds take moisture and plant food out
of the soil, and they spoil the shape of many vege-
tables by crowding in upon them as they grow.
They should not be allowed to reach the second leaf.
In hand weeding it is well to collect the weeds in
a basket. They sometimes take root again when
left on the mellow garden soils. When weeds get
a start, it is a good plan to cut off the tops with a
sickle before seed forms on them. Mulching be-
tween the rows with a layer of straw prevents weeds
from growing.

Mulching. In a dry season, after plants have
been cultivated a few times and are well above
ground, hay or straw about four inches deep may
be put between the rows. This saves the labor of
weeding and keeps the soil moist and cool. It is

THE FARM GARDEN 191

especially good for potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage,
beans, or vine plants, though in a wet season straw
holds too much moisture.

Peas. Peas are the first product of real food
value of the early garden. They are both delicious
in flavor and very nourishing. By sowing the seed
about a week apart, and using different varieties,
one may harvest peas all summer. But the late
varieties are in danger of mildew. Peas grow best
in a cool climate, in a light, moderately rich soil.
The first plantings should be in as soon as the
ground can be worked. The soil must be kept mel-
low and free from weeds to raise good peas. They
need not be staked with brush when the garden is
worked with a horse cultivator. Where the brush
is used they may be sowed in double rows. There
are a great variety of peas, and those that have
been tested in your region should be planted. Peas
are injured by mildew and the pea weevil. The
weevil may be killed in the seed by placing them,
before planting, in a closed vessel containing carbon-
bisulphide.

Beans. ‘String beans should be sown as soon as
the ground is free from frost, and every two weeks
afterward to keep a supply for the summer. A
sandy soil and a southern slope are best for beans,
because they are tender and easily frosted. They
should be planted less than two inches deep, for
the growing top of the little plant is liable to be
torn off as it comes through the ground. When

192 ‘ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

beans are to be used green, they must be picked
frequently, for if the pods are allowed to ripen, the
plants will stop producing. The bean weevil is a
serious enemy and should be treated like the pea
weevil. Lima and butter beans are best grown in
Southern climates. Poles or stakes for these should
be set at least four feet apart each way for their
vines to climb on. The worst disease of string beans
is the brownish or reddish pitted spots upon the
pods; they spoil the appearance of the crop and cut
down the yield.

Beets. ‘The root crops all need a loose, deep soil.
Subsoiling or double plowing is useful in hard earth.
Beets are grown in rows three and a half feet apart.
They may be sown very early, for the young plants
will endure a light frost. They should be thinned
when the plants are just big enough for greens. For
winter beets, seed may be sown in July or August
in the central states. After the first heavy frost,
the gardener should take up the roots, cut off the
tops, and store the beets in a root cellar or pit.
Leaf-blight is common with the beet in some places.
This is prevented by spraying with the Bordeaux
mixture.

Turnips. Turnips should be planted on a rainy
day and the seed covered lightly. About three-
quarters of an ounce of seed to a row one hundred
feet long. Young plants are thinned from five to
seven inches in the row. If the plant grows too
slowly, it is stringy and bitter. The fall and winter

THE FARM GARDEN 193

crops of turnips are sown in July, after the early
garden crops are harvested. The white and yellow
varieties are equally good, except that the white
turnip keeps best through the winter. Except the
maggot, the turnip has no insect enemies.

Carrots. Carrots are good for soups, salads,
stews, and other savory dishes. Carrot seed sprouts
slowly, so it should not be sown deep. The earth
must be kept loose. Radish seed sown in the same
row will break the earth crust, and show where to
expect the row of the carrots to appear. If seed
is sown several times, a week or two apart, there
will always be some carrots on hand. The plant has
no serious insect enemies.

Parsnips and Salsify. Parsnips may be treated
exactly like the carrot. Parsnips and salsify may
be left in the ground all winter without protection,
and they make delicious fresh vegetables as soon
as the ground thaws. Salsify, or vegetable oyster,
should be sown very early in the spring and the
plants should not be crowded.

Radishes. Radishes need a mellow, quick soil.
They do not thrive in clay. To be tender they must
grow rapidly and should be eaten while small.
Grubs burrow into the roots and make them wormy,
if the same piece of ground is used every year.

Horse-radish. Horse-radish is grown from small
roots that are trimmed from large ones when the
erop is stored in the fall. These sets are planted
two or three inches deep, top side up, and from

194 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

fifteen to eighteen inches apart in fairly wide rows.

Swiss Chard. Swiss chard provides ‘‘greens”’ all
through the season. Only one sowing need be made.
The chard is cultivated the same as the beet and
thinned to twelve inches. If, when the outer leaves
are as large as your hand, they are stripped off, a
new supply of tender ones will keep coming.

Asparagus. Asparagus isa hardy plant. Its seed
may be sown either early in the spring or late in
the fall. When the roots are a year old, they should
be transplanted in rows five feet apart, away from
roots of trees or other plants. As much stable
manure as can be plowed under, plowing ten to
twelve inches deep, should be put on. Dig a trench
nine or ten inches deep, and lay the roots about
two feet apart in the bottom, covering them two
inches deep with loose soil. The young roots that
come up from the seed every summer should be
weeded out. If the seed balls are cut off before they
turn red, the plants can be kept from self-sowing.
When the stalks begin coming up in the spring, the
ground may be mulched with manure. This will
save hoeing and also feed the roots.

Sweet Corn. If good seed is planted, it will pro-
duce a tender, sugary ear of sweet corn. Corn varie-
ties mix so easily that only the most careful selection
of kernels can improve a strain of corn. If the first
lot is planted early in April, it will ripen the latter
part of June in the latitude of New York. The corn
should be planted thickly in drills with six or seven

THE FARM GARDEN 195

kernels in a hill. If some should fail to sprout,
there will be plenty left. If all seeds grow, it is easy
to thin them. Be sure that there are not lumps or
stones over the corn. The plant cannot fight its
way out like beans and pumpkins. After the corn

Fic. 99. A well-cultivated cabbage lot.

is up, a handful of wood ashes on each hill will
‘‘make it jump.’’ Break the crust after rains, keep
the weeds and suckers down, and cultivate between
the rows. For a continuous crop, plant every ten
or twelve days until the latter part of July.
Cabbage. Cabbages need a moist, deep, well-
drained soil. They thrive better in a spot where

196 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

cabbage, turnips, or mustard have not been grown
for three years. Select good seed, and sow in a hot-:
bed or window box. When the plants are in the
fourth leaf, thin them to secure stocky plants, and
transplant only the best roots. When transplanting,
remove the upper part of the leaves, set the plants
firmly, and stir the surface soil. To stop the heads
from bursting as they form, one may loosen the
roots by slightly lhfting and twisting the plant.
Whitish butterflies lay their eggs on cabbages.
These hatch green worms that eat the leaves. Kull
the worms and spray with Paris green and water,
or sprinkle with salt, lime, wood ashes, or pepper.
The cabbage maggot works at the stem or root and
causes decay. A piece of tarred paper put around
the stem on the ground drives away the moth that
lays the eggs. (Fig. 99.)

Lettuce. Lettuce is the most widely-grown salad
vegetable. Itis now ready for the table every month
in the year. Winter and early spring crops are
grown in cold frames. Seed for an early spring crop
may be sowed in a cold frame in March. Sowings
in the garden can be made from April to October.
The cabbage varieties, or head lettuce, are blanched
by tying the tops together.

Cucumbers, Melons, and Squashes. The seeds of
cucumbers, melons, and squashes should be planted
in shallow hills, three or four in a hill. They are all
tender to frost. If each hill is covered with a box
frame, it can be raised on warm days and taken

THE FARM GARDEN 197

away when frost is past. The cucumber beetle and
the ‘‘stink bug’’ are the chief enemies of these
plants. Ashes, lime, and tobacco dust are used to
drive them away. Muskmelons grow in warm,
sandy land. Soil and location affect them greatly.

Onions. Onions are grown from seed or sets in
the open ground or in hotbeds. If sown outside, the
seed should be put in as early as possible in shallow
rows three feet apart and covered with a half-inch
of fine, moist earth. They must be carefully weeded.

Tomatoes. Tomatoes grew first in the South, so
they need long seasons to ripen. Now, by selecting
the right variety, the tomato can be grown in nearly
every section of the United States. The plant may
be started under glass or in window boxes about
March first. They should be put in a cold frame
where light and air are admitted on sunny days,
until the ground in the garden is warm. Toma-
to plants are set from two to four feet apart.
They need moderate pruning and some simple means
of holding the plant off the ground when the fruit
is ripe. The varieties differ in color from pink and
creamy and bright yellows to bright red.

Grapes. In order that grapes may ripen, they
need a warm soil and a sunny exposure. A trellis
is used for support. Ten feet between the vines is
best for most kinds. The Concord grape is raised
in New York and Ohio; the small Delaware, in Dela-
ware, Maryland, and New Jersey; but if we wish to
see great clusters of white grapes, we must go to

198 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

California. The largest grapevine of the world may
there be seen. It covers half an acre.

Raisins are dried grapes. There is a raisin vine-
yard in southern California which covers five thou-
sand acres. Vines are pruned every year and the
grapes gathered from the new shoots. Five-sixths
of the grapes in California are made into wine or
grape juice, or they are pressed as raisins. The
dried currants that we use are really dried grapes.
Grapevines are the prey of downy mildew, when it
is hot and dry—also of black rot. Vines that have
been weakened by bearing too heavy crops are often
attacked. Prunings and fallen leaves and fruit
should be destroyed, and the vines sprayed with the
Bordeaux mixture. The first spraying should be
done in the spring before the growth starts, and
this should be followed every three weeks through
the summer. ‘T'o protect grapes for home use from
black rot, frost, and birds, the clusters may be cov-
ered with paper bags which are allowed to stay on
until the fruit is ripe. The warmth induced by the
bags makes the fruit ripen earlier and it is larger.

Raspberries and Blackberries. The raspberries
and blackberries do well in cool soil kept moist by
mulching, after the ground has been thoroughly pre-
pared. The shoots of both raspberries and black-
berries that are sent up one season, bear fruit and
die the next season. Pinch back the new shoots
when they are two or three feet tall. This hastens
the throwing out of side shoots upon which fruit

THE FARM GARDEN 199

will be borne the following year. As soon as freez-
ing weather is over in the spring, these side shoots
should be cut back from nine to twelve inches. When
the crop is gathered the old canes or shoots should
be removed, and new ones cut away, leaving four

Fic. 100. Nothing so fine as home-grown strawberries.

to five good canes to each hill. For red rust, one
must pull the plant out of the ground and burn it.
Spraying has a good effect in fighting off the dis-
eases of the plants.

Strawberries. The strawberry thrives best on a
strong sandy loam or a light clay loam. For most
purposes the plants do well to grow in narrow,

200 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

matted rows. They should be set out in the spring
as early as the ground can be worked, in rows three
and one-half feet apart, with the plants from one
to two feet apart in the row. Planting may be done
with a trowel or dibble. One must take care to
spread the roots as much as possible and to press
the soil firmly about them, holding the plant so the
bud will be just above the surface. As fast as run-
ners form, they should be removed, so that the
strength of the plant may be used in producing
fruit. (Fig. 100.) During the first season, straw-
berries are worked often. Weeds must be kept
down, and the surface soil should be loose and open.
Just before the ground freezes, a thorough cultiva-
tion should be given. After the ground is frozen,
the plants may be mulched to the depth of two inches
with straw. The second season should bring a good

crop.
QUESTIONS

(1) What are the advantages of deep plowing? (2)
What are some of the good fertilizers for the garden?
(3) What garden tools will save time and improve the
crops? (4) Why does the garden need a mulch? (5)
Is mulch needed in a very wet season? (6) Why do
you hill up potatoes in a wet season and not in a dry
one? (7) Why should one pack the top of the ground
over garden seeds that are planted with only a slight
cover? (8) Is it better to water a garden often or sel-
dom and thoroughly? (9) As soon as the surface is dry
after watering or after a rain, why do we cultivate?

CHAPTER XXIII

COUNTRY ROADS

The Importance of Good Roads. Few boys and
girls realize how important good roads are to the
farmer. Well-made highways enable farmers to
save much time in marketing produce, and time is
money. Easy travel also saves the energy of the
horses, which means economy of feed. When the
roads are in order the farmer can use his team when
the field work can not be done, and this reduces the
idle time of the horses. If travel is easy, the farmer
will go to market oftener, selling many odds and
ends of farm produce that otherwise might be left
to go to waste because of the time it would take to
dispose of it to advantage. For these and other
reasons a fine public road makes the farms along
the way more valuable. (Fig. 101.)

Sociability Encouraged. Aside from the money
gain to the farmer, good roads encourage his family
to move about more and to enjoy. themselves socially.
They gain a great deal in this contact with their
neighbors. They go oftener to church, to other
social events, to lectures, and to the city.

Good Roads and Schools. The older children may
go farther to school if the roads permit. Consolli-
dated schools are thus made possible, and pupils
may be transported at public expense some distance

201

202 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

to the larger centralized schools, which have so
many advantages over the one-room rural school.
More expert teachers may be had, a trained super-
intendent can be employed, the children are better
graded and the larger classes create more enthusi-
asm in study and recitation. A teacher trained in
the science of agriculture can be secured to take
charge of that subject and of the school garden.
Centralized schools, besides being better equipped
in every way, may be managed more economically
in one building which requires only one heating sys-
tem and one janitor. And all this is possible only
when the roads are kept in good condition.

City People Interested. City people also demand
good country roads because the better the roads, the
more easily they obtain country produce and the
cheaper it is. City people are using the country
roads more every year for pleasure-driving and for
automobiles. It is said that automobiles, because
of the high rate of speed at which they go, do more
to wear out the roads than all the heavy teaming
of the farmers. It is unjust to expect the farmers
to build and keep the roads in repair. Moreover,
the cost of the produce that the farmer takes to
market concerns the people in the city that consume
it, as much as the man who has it to sell.

Marketing Farm Produce. More than two hun-
dred fifty million tons of freight are hauled from
farms to the market or railway stations each year.
Counting the labor of men and horses, the wear of

COUNTRY ROADS 203

A. Typical country road after long rainy period.

B. A concrete read.
Fig. 101. A fine public road raises the value of farm land.

vehicles and harness, it costs on an average about
twenty-three cents to move each one of these mil-
lions of tons one mile. Railroads haul a ton of
freight for long distances for less than a cent a mile.
The farmer’s distance to market averages nine miles
and so the cost of hauling a ton of farm produce to
market averages two dollars and nine cents. Better

204 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

roads would permit larger loads to be hauled in
the same time and lighter loads in much less time.
(Fie. 102.)

The First Expert Road Builders. The -Romans
were the first to solve the problem of how to build
good highways. The central government at Rome
built all the roads and kept them up. They were
made of stone by trained experts, and in so solid
a manner that, though the surface has required re-
pair from time to time, the stone foundations are
as good to-day as when they were built two thou-
sand years ago. They will be serviceable for cen-
turies yet to come.

Roads Abroad and at Home. European countries
commonly have fine roads because they are con-
structed by skilled engineers under government
service. But most states in our country still have
their roads in charge of county officers who are not
skilled in road building and who serve only short
terms, giving place to others less experienced than
themselves. These county officers are perhaps good
business men, but are not students of scientific road
construction; consequently, although millions of dol-
lars have been spent on American country roads,
they are in the main a failure. (Fig. 103.)

Plantation Mud Pikes. The earliest American
roads were built in Virginia and led from the plan-
tations to the landings on the rivers. These were
simply mud roads built by the plantation owners.
Hogsheads of tobacco were fitted with a pair of

COUNTRY ROADS 205

Courtesy of the National Paving Brick Mfg. Ass’n, Cleveland, Ohio

Fic. 102. A brick road needs but little care or repair and brings
the market nearer.

shafts for a horse and were thus rolled along these
roads to the river landings by horse power. Sup-
plies for the plantations were hauled homeward in
rude carts.

Our Early Roads. Save the Cumberland road,
our national Government has done very little road
building. The task of constructing good highways
through rough and hilly sections has been poorly
done and at great expense. In the early days many
long roads were made and paid for by private par-
ties, who then made every one who wished to use

206 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fic. 103. Every township should own a steam road roller.

them pay a toll. There are now but few toll roads.

Working Out the Road Tax. There are two ways
of paying road taxes used in different parts of our
land. One way is for the farmer to take his team
and work on the road long enough to pay for the
tax levied against him. This method is a failure,
for the farmers seldom know how to build good
roads and care very little how they work so long
as they put in their time and get back to their
crops.

A Better Way. The other method is much more
satisfactory. It is this: Each farmer pays his road
tax in cash and the money is used to employ men
who are practiced in road making. Sometimes a
man is employed the year round to prevent the

COUNTRY ROADS 207

roads from getting out of repair. ‘‘A stitch in time
saves nine,’’ and so it is with a shovelful of gravel.
A man and a horse and cart kept busy at the gravel
pit all through the year are worth many times more
in securing good roads than all the ‘‘ working out’’
of taxes.

The State’s Part. Many people are now coming
to see that the state ought to keep up at least the
main roads as well as build them. This will insure
the employment of road engineers, and it will be
done in a more permanent manner.

Drainage. It is useless to build a road without
first providing a dry roadbed. Standing water and
the grinding of wagon wheels will soon reduce any

Fic. 104. Grading and draining are essential to good roads.

208 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

road to a quagmire. The first step towards making
permanent roads is to provide permanent drainage
by ditching and tiling where it is necessary. (Fig.
104.)

Grading. Next in importance to drainage comes
grading. The narrower the roadbed the easier it
is to keep in order, because water will not so readily
collect in it, but roads must be wide enough for
teams to pass. The surface should be slightly
rounded to shed water quickly, and the ruts must
be filled as soon as they appear. Here is where
the care-taker gets in his best work by preventing
deep ruts from forming and keeping the roadbed
dry. (Bae: 102)

Surfacing Clay Roads. After drainage and grad-
ing comes the surfacing of the road. On a clay road
a fairly hard and inexpensive surface may be made
by thoroughly mixing gravel with the clay. This
packs well and makes a hard surface, so if the mix-
ture is of sufficient thickness the road will bear
heavy traffic.

Sand Roads. Sand roads may be greatly im-
proved by surfacing with clay. Sand mixed with
clay does not make so firm a roadbed as gravel and
clay, but it makes a fairly good surface.

Loam Roads. There are tens of thousands of
miles of loam roads in the Central West and these
roads are almost bottomless in wet weather. Loam
takes water like a sponge, and on such roads it 1s
not an uncommon sight to see an empty wagon

COUNTRY ROADS 209

mired and abandoned. Farmers are told not to work
their fields when it is wet, because it will harden
them and they will bake afterward. This is the very
reason why loam roads should have the surface
stirred when wet. Such working is called puddling.
It brings the soil grains in closer contact, making
a harder surface than before.

The Split-log Drag. The tool most useful for pud-
dling is the split-log drag. The halves of the log
are held on edge a few feet apart by rounds inserted
like the rounds of a ladder. This drag used on
muddy roads will smear or puddle the surface,
making it tough and hard. By lengthening one
chain and allowing the inner end of the drag to lag
behind as it is drawn along, it fills up the ruts and
works all loose material toward the middle of the
road. This gives the surface a rounded shape for

good drainage.

Other Aids to Good Roads. This drag is very
useful on dry roads also. By riding on the outer or
ditch-end of the drag and driving once on either
side of the road, the ruts are filled and the center
made higher. There should be a law requiring all
heavy hauling to be done with wide-tire wagons
only. Wide tires pack and harden the road like a
roller, whereas narrow tires cut and injure the road
surface.

Gravel and Shell Surfacing. Different kinds of
materials are used in surfacing roads. When suit-
able gravel can be found it will make an excellent

210 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Fig. 105. Grading a country road.

road. In communities near the coast, shells from
the sea are often used to surface roads and with
excellent results.

Stone Roads. Probably the most popular mate-
rial is broken stone. Stone-bedded roads are said
to be macadamized, because a Scotch engineer
named Macadam was the first to use and urge this
kind of road.

Thick Roman Roads. The old Roman roads were
surfaced with stone, which was often several feet
thick and thus very expensive. Macadam believed
that a smaller amount of stone could be made to
serve just as well, and he urged that it would cost
much less. The world has come to see the correct-
ness of this plan, and now macadamized roads are
found everywhere.

COUNTRY ROADS Zit

The Macadam Road. In order to build a mac-
adam road, the roadbed is first given the slope de-
sired, so the water will quickly flow to the side
gutters. After this the bed is rolled hard with a
heavy roller; then it 1s covered with a layer of
coarse stone and rolled again. Then another layer
of finer crushed rock is spread on top and rolled
until it works in between the pieces of the coarser
stone. A layer of still finer crushed stone or sand
is next spread on and sprinkled with water, after
which it is rolled until a smooth, hard surface is
formed. Such roads are from six to twelve inches

Courtesy of the National Paving Brick Mfg. Ass’n, Cleveland, Ohio

Fig. 106. Laying a brick road.

thick. They cost from three thousand to six thou-
sand dollars per mile, but intelligent farmers realize
that such tax money is well invested.

919 - ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Brick Roads. It is said that the best road mate-
rial to resist the wear of automobiles is brick. Brick
pavements cost considerably more than the macad-
amized road, but they are more satisfactory in many
ways. They last longer, they require less repair,
and they are not so dusty. In many places, as in
Cleveland, Ohio, the brick pavements are being ex-
tended from the city limits to the county line, where
the adjoining county is planning to take it up and
extend the road to other cities. (Figs. 101, 102, 106.)

The Draft on Different Surfaces. How much a
team can pull depends upon the firmness and
smoothness of the roadbed and the grade. <A load
that three horses can just pull on level, hard asphalt,
would require seven horses on smooth block pave-
ment, fourteen horses on cobblestone, forty horses
on an ordinary country earth road, and eighty on
a sandy road. This shows the need of hard roads.

QUESTIONS

(1) In how many ways do good roads assist the
farmer? (2) How do they encourage sociability? (3)
What effect do roads have upon schools? (4) What
advantages have centralized schools over the one-room
country school? (5) Why are ecity people interested
in good roads? (6) Should city people be required to
pay taxes to build country roads? (7) How did the
Romans build such fine roads? (8) In what two ways
are road taxes usually paid? (9) Which way is the bet-
ter, and why? (10) What is an inexpensive way to
surface a clay road? a sandy road?.a loam road?

CHAPTER XXIV
PRESERVING FOODS

Germs which Help and Hinder. The farmer’s
wife has her problems of canning fruits and pre-
serving foods. It is a help to her to know the ene-
mies she must fight and the harm they do. There
are three living organisms that will cause animal
or vegetable matter to decay. These are yeast,
molds, and germs, or bacteria.

The Yeast Plant. In order to grow, the yeast
plant must have warmth, air, moisture, and sugar.
This plant grows and divides into two plants, and
these divide again and so on. Thus this tiny plant
multiplies amazingly in a short time. It will grow
in fruit juice and in fruit slightly sweetened, but it
will not grow in thick sirups or preserves. It is
easily killed by a high or low temperature.

Making Bread. A small amount of yeast is put
in the dough to make it ‘‘rise’’ for bread. When
sugar is added, the plants increase in great numbers
in a few hours. They start the decay of the mix-
ture and create a gas which forms bubbles through-
out the mass, and these make the bread rise. When
the bread is baked the yeast plant is killed by the
heat, and the gas escapes.

Mold. Mold is spread about by tiny spores or
seeds floating in the air. When they lodge on a

213

214 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

warm, moist surface, such as foods, they readily
germinate and spread over the surface. Molds may
be destroyed by heating to a high temperature for
about twenty minutes. Canned and preserved fruits
are more liable to be injured by yeast and mold
than by bacteria.

Canning Fruit. The important things to remem-
ber in canning and preserving are to keep all cook-
ing utensils clean and to kill all germs. This we
eall sterilizing. The kettles, jars, strainers, covers,
rubbers, and other utensils used in canning, must
be sealded to kill the germs, or bacteria. When
all germs in the jars and fruit are killed, the cans
are sealed while hot so as not to permit other germs
from the air to enter. If live germs are left in
eanned fruit, a gas will escape which means that
decay or decomposition has set in, and the food has
begun to spoil. Foods and other organic matter
will not decay if germs are kept out.

Bacteria. Bacteria multiply rapidly in meat,
milk, and legumes. They cannot grow without the
presence of water. Dried fruits and meats will keep
because there is no water in which the germs may
erow. Neither can bacteria live in a strong solution
of common salt. That is why we salt meat to pre-
serve it.

Smoking Meats. Meats are also preserved from
germs by smoking. Smoking leaves a thin coat of
creosote on the surface of the meat, which not only
kills all germs but gives the meat a good flavor.

PRESERVING FOODS 715

Certain kinds of wood smoke give the best flavor,
though any wood may be used for the purpose.
Cold Storage. Putting foods in cold storage does
not kill the bacteria, but it keeps them from grow-
ing and multiplying. As soon as the temperature
rises, they begin to act and the food soon spoils.
Preserving Fruits. Sugar is used somewhat in
curing meats and very extensively in preserving
fruits. When fruits are cooked for a long time the
‘‘hoiling down’’ kills all germs and drives off the
water so that other germs can not grow.
Souring of Milk. Itis also germs that cause milk
to sour. The air contains many germs, the dust of
the barn is full of them, and there are some on the
milk pail and on the hands of the milker. So it is
impossible to keep germs from milk. All milk cans
should be scalded after using and, if possible, placed
in the sunlight, which is a powerful enemy of germs.
Bacteria in Butter and Cider. Germs or bacteria
make butter rancid. This can be prevented by
working out of the butter all the milk and water
which bacteria need to thrive and by thoroughly
mixing salt into it. It is bacteria that makes cider
furn sour and ferment. The solid, slimy mass known
as the ‘‘mother of vinegar’’ is merely a vast colony
of bacteria. Sweet cider makes the best vinegar
because it contains more sugar for the bacteria to
work upon. The process of making vinegar from
new cider may be hastened by introducing some
‘‘mother of vinegar.’’

CHAPTER XXV
FARM SANITATION

Location of the Farmhouse. The farmhouse
should, if possible, be located near the center of the
farm so as to save the farmer’s time in going to and
from his fields. But the health of the family must
have first consideration, and the home ought to be
on high, well-drained ground away from marshes,
swamps, and stagnant ponds. If the country is
hilly, the south slope may be chosen for the house,
because it is somewhat shielded from cold north
winds and because the south slope affords more
sunlight, which is the greatest friend of health and
the greatest enemy of germs.

Dry Surroundings. The yard should be graded
in such a manner as to turn all surface water away
from the house, not only for health’s sake, but for
cleanliness, as mud and dampness about the house
make the task of cleaning, fall heavily on the house-
wife. Farmers can easily learn to make cement
walks to connect the house with the other farm
buildings. Damp cellars cause mildew, and the
decay of vegetables stored there sends a moldy, dis-
agreeable odor over the whole house. The cellar
should be light and ventilated by open windows,
covered in summer by coarse netting to keep out
flies and mosquitoes. The mosquito that carries the

216

FARM SANITATION 917

malaria germ will breed in any damp corner of the
cellar unless it is screened.

Shade. ‘Trees are very desirable about the home,
but they should not be so dense as to shut out sun-
hght, nor should they be too close, because leaves
will fall in the house gutters.

Water Supply. One of the richest blessings of
any farm is good, pure drinking water. It is of the
greatest importance that wells are carefully covered
over and that no surface water is allowed to run
in over the unguarded edges. Surface water is al-
ways more or less dangerous, because it may carry
a small amount of sewage which contains the ty-
phoid germ. After water has soaked through a few
feet of earth it is said to be filtered and free from
germs. Every well or cistern should be provided
with a modern pump. The old-fashioned bucket is
a danger to health, since careless people drink direct-
ly from it, perhaps leaving disease germs in the
vessel which endanger others. Cistern water is
more liable to contain disease germs than that from
wells, because the water comes from house gutters,
where in dry weather many germs are carried by
the wind. Although many of these are killed by sun-
light, those that escape are carried into the cistern.

Sewage a Source of Disease. Surface streams are
most to be feared. If they have passed close to
neighboring houses and their outbuildings, the
water should never be considered drinkable without
having first been boiled or filtered. Water may

218 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

look clear and pure and yet be dangerous to health.
The thing that most often pollutes water supplies
is sewage. Sewage is the term given to house refuse
such as grease, soap, and human waste. It has in
it millions of microbes or bacteria, some of which,
if taken in drinking water, cause typhoid fever,
others the cholera. Typhoid is one of the leading
causes of death in our country, and it is caused by
drinking water or milk polluted by sewage.

River Water. A river which has passed many
towns in its course is not a safe water supply. Rivers
will purify themselves if the water is allowed to run
many miles without receiving a fresh supply of
sewage, but when they have been the receiving place
for the sewage of many cities the water becomes so
laden with deadly bacteria that epidemics of typhoid
have been known to break out in several towns
along the stream at the same time.

Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are troublesome and
dangerous pests which carry the germs of human
disease. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, and in
no other way. The malaria microbes are taken into
the system of the mosquito with the blood sucked
from people troubled with disease. In the body ot
the mosquito, the malaria microbe undergoes a
change that is necessary to its life, so if all mos-
- quitoes were destroyed, malaria microbes could not
thrive and spread. When the mosquito attacks a
well person, some of the microbes pass from it to
the human system as the insect sucks the blood.

FARM SANITATION 219

Yellow fever is also spread by a certain kind of
mosquito which is common in our Southern states.
By destroying the water breeding places, the yellow
fever has been stamped out of such cities as New
Orleans. Mosquitoes on the farm may be disposed
of by draining pools of standing water so the pest
cannot multiply. Large ponds may be covered with
oil so the ‘‘wigglers’’ which hatch into mosquitoes
can not get air at the surface of the water. Barrels
or other vessels filled with water must be emptied
or covered with oil.

The House Fly. The eggs of flies are laid in wet,
decaying refuse, such as manure, slop, dead animals,
garbage, and human waste. The eggs hatch into
maggots which feed upon these materials and grow
rapidly. Then they cover themselves with a leather-
like case and are quiet a few days, after which they
come forth as full-grown flies. It requires only a
few days for the egg to grow into an adult fly. A
few flies live through the winter, and these start
broods in the early spring. By the end of summer
there are flies without number.

Flies as Disease Carriers. Flies carry upon their
feet and mouths the germs of disease. They visit
all sorts of filthy places to lay their eggs and after-
wards approach our kitchens in search of food, and
wherever they crawl they scatter disease germs.
The house fly has been called the typhoid fly.

Fighting Flies. There are two ways to protect
the family from flies. One is to clean up all garbage

220 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

piles and filth where flies breed and to sprinkle
diluted carbolic acid about such places frequently.
Carbolic acid drives away the flies and kills many
typhoid and other disease germs. The other remedy
is to screen the house thoroughly, especially the

Fig. 107. A sanitary dairy barn.
kitchen and living rooms. No house is complete
until it is fitted with screens. |

Milk a Germ Carrier. It is known that milk
spreads diphtheria and tuberculosis as well as
typhoid fever. The typhoid germs are in the water
in which the cans are washed. The ceiling of the
cow stable should be dust-proof and the floor ce-
ment, so it may be washed often. Some apparently

FARM SANITATION 221

healthy cows have tuberculosis and in many places
where milk is sold to cities the cows are examined
and tested for this disease.

Ventilating the Barn. The average barn is not

very tightly built and plenty of air enters for the
stock through the cracks, but the newer barns are
now built tight and warm, and in this case some
means should be planned to ventilate, because bad
air is the cause of the spread of tuberculosis among
cows as well as among the human family. Window
ventilation is far better than none, but the cold draft
should not strike the cows and other stock. (Fig.
107.) :
Cold Air Heavier than Warm. Every boy and
girl knows that cold air is heavier than warm air
and so the warmest air in the room is always near
the ceiling. One reason smoke goes up the chimney
is because it is carried up by warm, light air, while
heavy, cold air is crowding in to take the place left
by the warm air.

Best Barn Ventilation. The best way to ventilate
any building, home, school, or barn that must be
kept warm is to take out the colder air near the
floor instead of the warm air near the ceiling. For
this purpose there should be an air shaft leading
from near the floor to the roof to carry out the air.

Home Ventilation. The best way to heat and
ventilate a home is probably the hot-water system,
placing the radiators in each room near the wall.
Behind each radiator is an opening through the

222 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

wall. The outside fresh air comes in through the
radiator that warms it. Beside the chimney are
air vents leading from points near the floor of the
room to the attic. The cold air of the room enters
these air vents near the floor and passes to the attic,
where openings lead to the outside. The heat of
the chimney keeps the air vents warm, causing them

Courtesy of the Smith Heating Co.
Fig. 108. <A well-ventilated country school.

to draw the colder air out of the room like another
chimney. The hot pipes that extend to radiators
on the second floor might be arranged to extend up
the other air vents, heating the air and sucking
the cold air out of other rooms. Each bedroom
should be well ventilated either by an air vent along
the chimney or by an open window. Bedrooms
ought never to be less than ten by twelve feet, with
a ceiling not lower than eight feet.

School Ventilation. These same principles of
ventilation apply to schoolhouses. Where the

FARM SANITATION oe

schools are consolidated in one large central build-
ing the fan system to drive the air in and out is
the best in use. There are now excellent ways of
heating and ventilating one-room schools without
opening windows, and no country schoolhouse can
afford to be without such a moderate priced bless-
ing. (Fig. 108.) The illustration shows a heating
and ventilating system where the fresh outside air
passes in near the furnace and is warmed. It then
circulates as the arrows indicate. The cold, foul
air near the floor is drawn out by the opening into
a separate chimney flue at the floor level. The best
way to prevent and to fight tuberculosis, either
among cows or human beings, is with plenty of
good, fresh fair. Keeping the house and the barn
supplied with plenty of fresh air and sunlight is the
greatest safeguard to health.

School Lighting. The only perfect way of light-
ing a schoolroom is from the top, which is nature’s
plan. (Fig. 109.) The children’s eyes should be
protected from the strong light from side windows,
because the eye, like a camera, can adjust itself to
but one intensity of light at a time. The strong
glaring windows cause the pupil of the eye to close
so much as to make all objects in the room look dim
and the eyes are strained, trying to see clearly.
The only way to secure a well-distributed, even
light is from skylights, and country schools, being
of one story, can easily be provided with them, and
the protection to the children’s eyes justifies the cost.

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CHAPTER XXVI
THE FARMER’S COLLEGE

Educating the Farmer. When the farmers have
good crops, the whole country is happy, and business
is good. A crop failure not only harms the farmer,
but causes the wheels of industry and business to
stop, and the result is hard times. Thus, you see,
the entire country is interested in good crops.

The United States Government has become greatly
concerned about the farmer’s success and has estab-
lished a college for farmers called the Department
of Agriculture. This department is located at
Washington, but it has branches in every state in
the Union. It is not like the ordinary college, for
farmers cannot leave their crops and stock to attend
it. The Department of Agriculture has hundreds of
learned men studying and experimenting all the
time. They are finding out all about soils and farm
crops, about animals, their care and diseases, about
plants and their enemies. Everything that will help
the farmer to raise splendid crops, this college is
learning about. And they will send out to any
farmer who asks for it, all the wonderful knowledge
that has been discovered.

Learning the Best Way. Now, instead of guess-
ing at what is best to do, or depending upon the
advice of a neighboring farmer, who may be even

295

226 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

more ignorant than ourselves, we can just drop a
one-cent post card in the mail box or post office
addressed like this:
The Department of Agriculture,
Washington,
BAG

We may ask about any crop, or about soils and till-
age, or about farm stock and how to raise and feed
them, or how to destroy insects. In a few days
comes a little booklet to us with all the latest knowl-
edge about the things we are interested in. This
college, or department, will even advise about farm
buildings, farm machinery, poultry, and many kinds
of wild game. If you are planning to build a hen-
house, you had better learn the best way, as it costs
nothing to find out. For some of these thousands
of booklets, prepared for the help of the farmer, a
small price of ten or fifteen cents is asked, but the
most of them are free. What a wonderful thing it
is to have a real education in farming! The Gov-
ernment is spending millions of dollars each year
to help the farmer, and thousands of intelligent
farmers and their boys are becoming students of
agriculture.

Not only will this department help the farmer
and his sons with their problems, but the farmer's
wife and daughters can get advice about milk, but-
ter, and cheese, about canning fruit and how to
preserve food, and about many other problems of
the farm home.

THE FARMER’S COLLEGE 227

Experiment Stations. Besides the Department at
Washington, every state has experiment stations
where learned men are making tests of crops, ani-
mals, and whatever the farmers of that particular
state may wish to know. These experiment stations
are also kept up with tax money, and the farmers

Fig. 110. College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin.

have a right to the knowledge and discoveries made
here. Booklets from the experiment stations are
mailed free to any one engaged in farming. Should
a disease of animals or plants suddenly break out
in some community, a man will be sent upon request
from the experiment station to advise and show the
farmers how to fight the trouble. The farmers of
Dakota have gained ten millions of dollars through
the secrets learned at the experiment station about
grain. We have learned that the Babcock test has

228 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

changed the dairy industry of the whole world. Dr.
Babcock is one of the clever men who has spent his
life helping to solve the farmer’s problems in the
Wisconsin Experiment Station.

Colleges of Agriculture. If a boy is plucky he
will gain much useful knowledge about farming
from these booklets. But every state also has its
school of agriculture, a real college where farmers’
sons gather by the hundreds to study the problems
of the farm (Fig. 110). Every young man who is
looking forward to the farmer’s life should resolve
to take a course in such a college, even if it is only
for a few months in winter. The farmer of the
future will have to know more than those of the past
in order to be successful. So one had best prepare
well by taking a full course. If, however, a boy
cannot be spared from the farm so long, or if he
has not the funds to pay his way through a long
course, there are shorter courses for him. Many
wise farmers, who need their sons through the crop
season, are sending them to some College of Agricul-
ture year after year for the winter terms, when they
can be spared from the farm. A few winters spent
in this way will open the boy’s eyes to many inter-
esting and important secrets of success. He will
then no longer wish to leave the farm. The farm
offers a delightful place on which to live, but in
order to be successful one must have good training
and good judgment. These, with industry, will
bring happiness and prosperity.

= ee

CHAPTER XXVII

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS

More Food Needed. The population of our coun-
try is increasing very rapidly, much faster than the
production of food; and so the cost of everything
we eat is a great deal higher than formerly. Every
citizen is, therefore, interested in increasing the
farmer’s crops by methods of scientific agriculture.
Not only are the farmers anxious to improve crops,
but business men, journalists, and statesmen are all
helping along the movement. People are realizing
more and more how closely their living, their pros-
perity, and their business success are linked with the
work of the farmer who produces the nation’s food.

The Whole Country Interested. Not only are
farm journals teeming with suggestions and advice,
but magazines and newspapers of all descriptions
are spreading the great truths of scientific tillage
and stock-raising. Business men’s clubs are offer-
‘ing prizes to boys for the best acre crops, and the
champion corn raisers are getting large money
prizes and often splendid trips to the state or
nation’s capital with all expenses paid. President
Roosevelt during his term of office appointed a com-
mission consisting of eminent men to study country
life and make such recommendations as seemed wise

to them.
229

230 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Agriculture in Schools. The principles of agri-
culture are rapidly being introduced into the rural
schools as part of the course of study. Thirteen
states now require the teaching of agriculture in
the common schools. It is also encouraged and
taught in thirty-one other states, which have not
as yet required it by law. This makes in all forty-
four states where agriculture is being taught in some
measure. Many city schools are also attempting
some work in connection with school gardens.
(Fig. 97.)

Field Agents. The Department of Agriculture
has been studying and investigating for a long time,
and they have been sending out millions of copies
of pamphlets to any one asking for them. But
since so many farmers are not alive to their need
for instruction and are not reading these pamphlets,
the Department is now sending out expert men as
field agents (Fig. 111) to meet the farmers and to
encourage them to form for their own improvement
such organizations as cow-testing associations and
the like. For boys there are Cotton Clubs, Corn
Clubs, and numerous others; while for girls there’
are such organizations as the Girls’ Garden Clubs
and Tomato Canning Clubs. (Fig. 112.)

Club Movement Spreads. The club movement
among country boys and girls has grown in a re-
markable way. In every section of the country
there are club members doing the regular club
work of raising a crop under the special instructions

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS 231

furnished by the Department of Agriculture. Aside
from the clubs already mentioned are Good Roads
Clubs, Poultry Clubs, Vegetable Garden Clubs, Sugar
Beet Clubs, and Father and Son Clubs.

Boys’ Corn Clubs. The Corn Club idea started
in the South in this way. The boys of a county

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fig. 111. A specialist in charge of National Club work, conducting a
school of instruction in home and school canning methods.

were invited to join such a club and were assisted
in forming the organization. During the winter they
held meetings and studied the pamphlets received
from the Department at Washington. These gave
them information about selecting seed and fertilizer,
and how to plant, cultivate, and harvest the crop.

939 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of ReNGu Es
Fic. 112. Play and contest a part of the game in National club work.
(Grading: Skill, 30%; speed, 30%; weight of
peeling, 40% ; Total, 100%.)

In the early spring the boys selected seed and tested
its power to grow, or germinate, by taking a few

kernels from each ear of seed corn.

The Crop. Then each boy was allowed an acre
of ground and expected to keep a careful account
of the money spent on his crop in labor and fer-
tilizer. Even when he did the work himself he
charged ten cents an hour against his crop and five
cents an hour for each horse used. The rental value
of the land was placed at $5 per acre and that, too,
was charged against his crop, while for each load
of manure another $2 was charged.

Net Profit. When the crop was sold, the lad
deducted from the amount of money he received for

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS Pea

it, all the cost of raising, which included labor, fer-
tilizer, and other expenses. What was left after
this subtraction was clear gain or net profit, as
business men eal] it.

Growth of Corn Clubs. Corn Clubs have been
organized in large numbers in the Southern and
Central states, and they are doing a splendid work
for every county in which they are found. The boys
are opening the eyes of their parents and neighbors
to the wonderful in-
crease in the crop
when some attention
is given to scientific
culture. (Fig. 113.)

The 1912 Crop.
During one season
the average yield
of all the Corn
Club members who
reported to the Of-
fice of Farm Man-
agement was 74.5
bushels per acre.
Fifteen club mem-
bers made a yield
of 140 or more
bushels per acre.
Sixty-one boys made over 120 bushels an acre. The
average net profit an acre of all club members
reporting was $25.55.

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 113. A Wisconsin club winner
and his prize bushel of seed corn.

234 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Illinois. The average yield of Corn Club mem-
bers from Illinois was 79 bushels per acre, but
eighty-six members made over 100 bushels an acre.
There were more than 5,000 members in that state
alone and $2,000 was given out as premiums to the
high score boys.

Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Indiana, with 3,000
members, grew an average of 78 bushels per acre.
It is said that the work of the club members in
Kentucky contributed $10,000,000 to the wealth of
that state. One boy in West Virginia grew 140
bushels, while four others raised 120 bushels or
more. Ohio members who reported averaged 94!
bushels per acre.

Father and Son Clubs. In Kentucky there are
many Father and Son Clubs in which the father
raises ten acres of corn alongside the son’s one acre,
and both follow the same careful instructions in
selecting seed, planting, and cultivating. The cham-
pion father and son of that state one year were
Herman Gallrein and his son, Edward G. Gallrein,
aged fourteen. The son raised 146 bushels and 36
pounds of white corn on his acre and his clear profit
was $67.32. The father grew ten acres of the same
kind of corn on land adjoining the boy’s one acre;
and his average per acre was 139 bushels and 45
pounds, which brought a net profit of $69.91 per
acre. Both cultivated their crops eight times, the
first being a rather deep cultivation, while the seven
others were shallow.

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS pags

Potato Clubs. Cumberland County in East Ten-
nessee has a schoolboys’ Potato Club, that has
taught the farmers of that section an important les-
son. It had been supposed that potatoes were not
a profitable crop in that state. It was claimed that
the cost of raising an acre of potatoes there, includ-

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fie. 114. Idaho boys and girls receiwing field instructions on
the diseases of the potato.

ing labor, fertilizer, and the rent of the land, was
about $75 per acre, while the crops raised hitherto
at the rate of fifty cents a bushel brought a return
of only $40 an acre. But the Boys’ Potato Club told
a different story. One lad raised on one acre 384
bushels and his net profit was $78. Another boy
raised 379 bushels which gave him a net gain of

236 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

$111. Each of these lads received a $40 prize. There
will now be more attention given to potato raising
in Kast Tennessee. (Fig. 114.)

Tomato Canning’ Clubs. The Girls’ Canning
Clubs are also doing splendid work in many coun-
ties, especially in the Southern states. They are
usually organized by women field agents from the
Department at Washington. Each club member
receives instructions about growing and canning
vegetables, especially tomatoes. (Fig. 115.) They
are learning to can this vegetable so it will keep;
they are learning to make excellent catchup, chow-
chow, chili-sauce, and other relishes. Many fine
recipes are sent to them from Washington. They
are also taught how to market their goods to the
best advantage.

Girls’ Profits. A Virginia girl who made the best
record for high yield in tomatoes one year obtained
5,928 pounds of tomatoes from her tenth of an acre
plot in that season. Many girls have made a profit
of over $100 from their tenth-acre plots with one
crop. One Mississippi girl is paying her way
through the State Normal School by canning work.

Prize Winning Girls in Washington. During the
early days of this mcvement, fifteen girls, one from
each of the Southern states, had a free trip to-
Washington as a prize for high class work in
tomato canning. They were the fortunate winners
from 25,000 girls who were enrolled in the canning
clubs during that year. The prizes and trips are not

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS 937

furnished by the Government, but by public spirited
people,—bankers, business men’s organizations, and
women’s clubs.

Seeing the President. For several years the state
champion corn raisers have had the free trip to
Washington. The winners of the several counties
had their exhibits displayed at the county fairs,

Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

Fic. 115. An Ohio girl in her Tomato Club plot.

and the county winners were met by the state gov-
ernor and the high score boys were sent off with
much applause to the nation’s capital. They have
usually visited the Secretary of Agriculture and
called on the President at the White House. They
have been everywhere treated as distinguished vis-
itors, On one occasion they were invited to meet

238 HLEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the chairman of that committee
declared the boys’ and girls’ clubs movement to be
the best work the Department of Agriculture had
ever attempted.

Getting Information. It is impossible in this
short chapter to give all the information necessary
to form any club, but all one wishes to know may
be obtained from: Office of Farm Management,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

The Club and School. These clubs are the very
best way of connecting the work of the country
schools and the farm home. Parents and teachers
are working together in this movement. Since the
teacher is likely to be crowded with her work of
teaching reading, arithmetic, and the other impor-
tant subjects that the children must know, she can-
not do very much experimenting in school hours in
the way of agriculture. So the club which meets
after school, in the evenings or on Saturdays, is the
best means of teaching good practice in agriculture
and home canning. In this way the entire neighbor-
hood is receiving instruction. Our Government real-
izes that the future of American agriculture is
largely dependent on the boys and girls of to-day,
and it is the purpose of this club movement to assist
in instructing and directing the youth of our vul-
lages and rural communities so that they will appre-
ciate the fact that farming is a dignified, important,
and profitable life work.

PART III

APPENDIX

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EXERCISES—PROBLEMS—EXPERIMENTS
THE HORSE
(Chapter 1)

Fic. 116. Diagram of a Horse

1, Neck; 2, Withers; 3, Back; 4, Loin 5, Hip; 6, Dock; 7, Gaskin, 8,
Quarter; 9, Stifle;, 10 Thigh; 11, Hock; 12, Flank; 13, Belly; 14,
Ribs; 15, Chest; 16, Wart; 17, Hoof; 18, Pastern; 19, Fetlock; 20,
Cannon-bone; 21, Knee; 22, Arm; 23, Forearm; 24, Breast; 25, Shoul-
der; 26, Throat

1. Copy the above figure.

2. Close your book and name the parts of the horse.

3. If possible, have a horse brought to the school
grounds and have a contest in naming the parts of his
body.

241

242 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

4. (a) Make a study of the horses of your neighbor-
hood. (b) How many on each farm? (c) What breed?
(d) How many farmers have horses from blooded stock?
(e) Show what the increase of profits might be from
breeding from pure bred sires over grade sires. (f)
Make a list of the most common defects of horses. (g)
Watch for them along the road.

5. Observe a number of horses to see if they have
properly shaped legs. Note the proper forms in the illus-
trations below.

Fie. 117. Front Legs Fig. 118. Hind Legs

6. If a horse’s steady pulling power is 1/10 of his
weight, what is the steady pulling power of a team weigh-
ing 2,800 lbs?

7. The draught of a loaded wagon varies with dif-

ne ee

APPENDIX 943

ferent road surfaces and according to the width of the
tire and the height of the wheels. The draught on hard,
level dirt roads with high-wheeled wagons was found by
test to be 69 lbs. per ton of load. How many tons could
two 1,500 lb. horses draw steadily on such roads if the
pulling power of each horse was 1/10 of his weight? Ans.
—4.35 tons.

8. The draught of the same wagon on gravel roads
with one inch of sand on top was 85 lbs. per ton of load.
How many tons could the same team draw steadily over
such roads pulling as in Exercise 5? Ans.—83.5 tons.

9. The draught of the same wagon on wet sod land
was 170 lbs. per ton load. How much could the same
team, pulling as in above exercise, draw over such
ground? Ans.—1.76 tons.

10. Copy the drawings below. Examine horses until
you find the wide and the narrow hoek.

L$ 7

Fig. 119. Wide Hock. Fic. 120. Narrow Hock.
This horse endures great labor This horse is easily fatigued.
with little fatigue.

244 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

11. Send to the Agricultural College of your state for
score cards for judging horses. Ask some farmer who is
a good judge of horses to appear at school with a horse
and assist you in this matter. .

12. Train for contest in knot-tying. See Pages 12-13.

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Principles
of Horse Breeding, No. 170; Horse Shoeing, No. 179.
Farmers’ bulletins are mailed without charge.

CATTLE
(Chapter 2)

Fig. 121 Diagram of a Cow

1, Muzzle; 2, Nostrils; 3, Fore-head; 4, Neck; 5, Withers; 6, Back;
7, Loin; 8, Pinbone; 9, Rump; 10, Hips; 11, Tail; 12, Quarters; 13,
Thigh; 14, Cannon; 15, Fetlock; 16, Flank; 17, Udder; 18, Milk Veins;
19, Belly; 20, Ribs; 21, Shoulder; 22, Fore Arm; 23, Knee; 24, Past-
ern; 25, Brisket; 26, Chest; 27, Throat.

1. Copy the above illustration.

2. Close your book and name the parts of the cow
from your drawing.

3. Study the markings of different breeds and learn
to name them at sight.

4. Do your state laws require the tuberculin test for
dairy herds? Have the herds in your neighborhood had

245

246 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

the test? What are the symptoms of tuberculosis in
cows?

5. Is your barn kept light, clean, and well ventilated?

6. Ask some farmer who is a good judge of cattle to
show the class how to judge a fat steer or a dairy cow.
Send to your state agricultural college for score ecards
for judging beef and dairy eattle.

7. Learn the parts or cuts of a side of beef as given
in the illustration.

Fig. 122. A Side of Beef

1, Leg; 2, Mouse Buttock; 3, Rump; 4, Round; 5, Sirloin,6, Veiny
Piece; 7, Porterhouse (including tenderloin); 8, Thick Flank; 9, Fore
Rib; 10, Thin Flank; 11, Brisket; 12, Middle Rib; 13, Chuck Rib;
14, Shoulder; 15, Clod; 16, Shin; 17, Neck, or sticking-piece.

APPENDIX 247

The Babeoek Milk Test

8. The value of a dairy cow may be known from two
factors: (1) the amount of milk given and (2) its rich-
ness in butter-fat. The amount of milk is determined by
weighing, while the butter-fat may be found from the ©
Babcock test. Have some pupil bring a sample of milk
taken immediately after the milking is done and after
the milk has been poured two or three times from one
vessel to another so as to mix it thoroughly.

For testing butter-fat you need the following:

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)

A Babcock Tester,

Two or three milk test-bottles,

A pipette to measure the milk,

A small glass measure for acid,

A pint bottle of Sulphuric Acid,
Hot water,

A few ounces of milk to be tested.

Fic. 123. A Babcock Milk Tester

[Equipment may be obtained from A. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CHICAGO.
Four Bottle Milk Tester, $5.00. Four Bottle Milk and Cream Tester,
$5.50. Weight boxed, 10 lbs. Transportation charges additional.]

ae 6

248 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Follow these directions carefully :

(a) Stir milk thoroughly before taking sample. This
is best done by pouring milk gently back and forth sev-
eral times between two vessels so the cream, or fat is
evenly mixed.

(b) With the small end of a pipette suck up the milk
above the mark on the tube. Then close upper end with
your forefinger, releasing finger slowly to allow the milk
to fall until it stands just even with the mark 17.6 ec.,
being careful to hold the pipette straight up and down. —

(c) Empty the pipette into the test bottle and blow
to drive out all the milk.

(d) Fill the acid measure with sulphuric acid to the
mark shown and put this into the test bottle with the
milk. Remember the acid must be handled with care. If
any gets on hands or clothing it should be washed off
quickly with water.

(e) Shake the bottle to mix milk and acid thoroughly.

(f) Place bottles (several tests may be made at once)
in the machine and whirl five minutes. The bottles
should be hot when whirled; they may be placed in hot
water before being used. For whirling place bottles op-
posite one another in the machine to keep balance.

(2) With pipette or other means add hot water to
each bottle until filled to the bottom of the neck and
whirl two minutes.

(h) Add more hot water to bring the contents nearly
to the top of the marks on the neck of the bottle, and
again whirl one minute.

(1) Hold bottle upright on a level with the eye and
read the marks at the extreme top and bottom of the fat

APPENDIX 249

column. The difference between these readings is the
percentage of fat in the milk. There are five small spaces
between each two of the per cent marks. Each small space
represents .2%. Thus, if the fat column runs even with
the fourth short mark above 7, its reading would be 7.8%.

(j) Empty and wash test bottles.

9. The test will show the per cent of butter-fat. It
should run between three per cent in poor dairy cows and
Six or seven per cent in very fine dairy stock. To find
the amount of butter-fat in a gallon of milk, multiply
814 lbs. by the per cent found in the test. (Milk varies
in weight according to the amount of butter-fat.)

10. How many pounds of butter-fat in 4,000 lbs. of
milk that tests 4% ?

11. How much less butter-fat if the milk tests 3%?

12. A cow gives an average of 18 lbs. of 4% milk per
day for 300 days each year. What income does she yield
annually with butter-fat at 25 cents a pound?

13. A dairy farmer has two cows each producing
6,000 Ibs. of milk a year. The Babcock test shows the
milk of one cow to contain 3%, and the other 614% of
butter-fat. What is the difference in income from the
two cows when butter-fat averages 27 cents a pound?

14. <A certain farmer kept ten pure bred Guernseys,
each of which produced daily, 30 Ibs. of 6% milk. The
production of this herd always declined during July and
August on account of flies to an average of 25 lbs. daily.
By spraying his herd regularly to ward off flies the
farmer kept the herd up to its daily amount of 30 lbs.
What was the money saved in the two summer months
by spraying when butter-fat was 22 cents a pound?

250 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Some Essen-—
tials in Beef Production, No. 71; Dehorning of Cattle,
No. 350; Exterminating the Texas Fever Tick, No. 498;
The Babeock Milk Test.

tin ate al 1h nied

MILK AND BUTTER
(Chapter 3)

1. Fat and Butter. The churn collects fat globules
into butter, which is then worked and salted. Thus there
is left in the butter some water, salt, milk, sugar, and
casein. So the fat when churned and made into butter
produces 1/6 more butter by weight than the fat con-
tent of the milk or cream. Add 1/6 of the weight of the
butter-fat to the butter-fat to find the weight of the butter.

2. From 360 lbs. of butter-fat, how many pounds of
butter can be made? Ans.— 420 lbs.

3. If 2 cents a pound would cover the expense of mak-
ing butter, would it pay better to sell butter-fat to the
creamery at 23 cents a pound or to make it into butter
and sell it at 28 cents a pound? (Remember to add 1/6.)

4. <A certain Jersey cow yielded in a year 6,000 lbs. of
milk that tested 5.8% butter-fat. At 28 cents a pound
what was the value of the butter (not butter-fat) which
she produced ?

9. Skim milk from setting in shallow pans or ecrocks,
contains about .8% butter-fat, while skim milk from
the separator contains about .05%. How many pounds
of butter-fat are left in 1,200 lbs. of skim milk from
shallow pans? From separator?

6. Ifa farmer produces enough milk daily for 110 lbs.

251

252 | ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

of skim milk from shallow pans, how much would he save
in the year if he bought a separator costing $75?

7. If possible get a worn out cream separator and
bring it to school. Each boy in the class should take it
apart and put it together again.

8. If you live in a dairy section, visit a creamery and
observe methods and machinery used.

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: The Dairy
Herd, Its Formation and Management, No. 55; Dairying
in the South, No. 151; Buttermaking on the Farm, No.
241; Bacteria in Milk, No. 348; Tuberculin Test of Cat-
tle for Tuberculosis, No. 351.

SHEEP

(Chapter 4)

Fia. 124. Diagram of a Sheep

1, Muzzle; 2, Nostril; 3, Eye; 4, Ear; 5, Throat; 6, Withers; 7, Back;
8, Loin; 9, Rump; 10, Angle of Ilium; 11, Tail or Dock; 12, Hip
Joint; 13, Flank; 14, Hock Joint; 15, Stifle Joint; 16, Belly; 17, Side
or Barrel; 18, Girth Measure; 19, Forearm; 20, Shoulder; 21, Ankle;
22, Claw; 23, Knee; 24,-Elbow; 25, Chest; 26, Neck.

1. Copy the above figure.

2. Close your book and name the parts of a sheep
from your drawing.

3. If it costs 25 cents per rod to build a fence suitable
for cattle, and 50 cents per rod to build a fence for

253

254 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

sheep, what is the additional cost to fence a square 10-acre
field for sheep?

4. Mention some of the advantages, aside from the
money income, in having sheep upon your farm?

5. A farmer buys 80 sheep at $6.25 each. What was
the total cost?

6. At shearing time they average 714 lbs. of wool each.
How much is the total amount of wool worth at 22 cents
per pound?

7. From the eighty sheep the farmer raises 75 lambs
worth $5 each. What is the total income from the herd
for lambs and wool?

8. Study the sheep raising industry of your neighbor-
hood as follows: (a) How many sheep on each farm on
the average? (b) What breed? (ce) Are they raised
chiefly for wool or for mutton?

9. Compare the labor and profit of caring for five
dairy cows with that for thirty head of sheep.

10. Debate: Resolved: That it would be profitable to
extend the sheep raising industry of this community.

11. Collect a number of woolen fabrics for a contest
in judging how many are all wool. Test by burning with
a match threads of the warp and woof separately.
Woolen threads fry and show grease oozing out while
cotton threads blaze up brightly.

12. Show how to keep an account of a flock of sheep
giving cost of food and care and also income.

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Raising
Sheep for Mutton, No. 96; Sheep Feeding, No. 49; Angora
Goats, No. 187; Scab in Sheep, No. 159.

SWINE

(Chapter 5)

.
.

15 16

Fig. 125. Diagram of a Hog

1, Snout; 2, Eye; 3, Ear; 4, Neck; 5, Shoulder, 6, Back; 7, Side; 8, Loin;
9, Rump; 10, Tail; 11, Ham; 12, Hock; 18, Hind Leg; 14, Dew
Claw; 15, Pastern; 16, Foot; 17, Stifle; 18, Hind Flank; 19, Belly;
20, Fore Flank; 21, Fore Leg; 22, Breast; 23, Jowl.

1. Copy the above illustration.

2. Close your book and name the parts of the hog
from your drawing.

3. Make a list of the hogs on your own farm. Have
your father give you the value of each. What different
breeds are on your farm?

4. Do you try to feed balanced rations? If so, how
do you mix the feed?

255

256 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

5. What are some of the advantages or disadvantages
of raising hogs in your community instead of sheep or
cattle?

6. Find the value of a hog weighing 245 pounds at
614 eents a pound.

7. A sow has nine pigs in a litter. When eight months
old the pigs weigh 210 pounds each. What is the weight
of all and what are they worth dt 614 cents per pound?

8. Ifa bushel of corn costing 50 cents will produce 10
pounds of pork, how much does the feed cost for one
pound of pork?

9. If it requires 8 pounds of ear corn to make one
pound of pork, how many pounds of pork will 80 bushels
of ear corn make? (70 pounds per bushel.) How much
will the pork be worth at 8 cents per pound?

10. If the corn in the above problem costs 50 cents
per bushel, find the profit from feeding. :

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the. following farmers’ bulletins: - No, 400;
No. 1338;.No. 205; No. 272.

POULTRY

(Chapter 6)

Fig. 126. Diagram of a Rooster

1, Comb; 2, Beak; 3, Wattles; 4, Ear; 5, Hackle; 6, Breast; 7, Back;
8, Saddle; 9, Sickles; 10, Main Tail Feathers; 11, Saddle Feathers;
12, Wing-Bow; 13, Wing-Bar; 14, Secondaries, wing-bay; 15, Prim-
aries or flight feathers; 16, Fluff; 17, Thigh; 18, Hock; 19, Shank
or Leg; 20, Spur; 21, Toe or Claw.

1. Copy the above illustration.
2. Close your book and name the parts of the rooster

from your drawing.

257

258 BHLEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

3. How to test infertile eggs:

Place a small lamp or lantern in a box with a small
hole in the top for draft. Cut another hole a little smaller
than an egg in the side of the box, just opposite the flame
of the lamp. Take this apparatus into a dark room and
hold the egg against the opening in front of the flame.
As the light shines through, the infertile egg—that is the
one that will not hateh—will appear clear. The fertile
egg will show a net work of threads running out from
the center and floating about as the egg is turned. A
number of hens should be set at the same time and after
or about the sixth day all the eggs should be tested and
the infertile ones removed; then one or more of the hens
may be released and the fertile eggs distributed among
the other hens.

4. Make a eandler test apparatus like that above and
bring to school. Bring fresh and stale eggs from home
to be tested. If the eggs are fresh the air cell in the end
of the egg should be no larger than a dime, the contents
should look opaque, the yoke scarcely visible and free
from any discoloring, the white should be thick and com-
pact, and the yolk should be stationary—not floating
about. In order to obtain the highest prices, eggs should
be uniform in shape and color with a smooth shell that
is free from spots and clean without having been washed.

5. Learn the U. S. Government’s rules for profit in
eggs as given below:

(a) ‘‘Keep the nests clean; provide one nest for each
four hens.

(b) Gather the eggs twice each day.

(ec) Keep the eggs in a cool dry room or cellar.

(d) Market the eggs at least twice a week.

eS —

APPENDIX 259

(e) Market or confine all male fowls as soon as the
hatching season is over.

6. If each of 100 hens averages 90 eggs a year, what
is the income from the flock with eggs at 20 cents a
dozen?

7. How many bushels of shelled corn will it buy at
45 cents a bushel? Of wheat at 70 cents?

8. If it takes 12 bushels of corn at 50 cents a bushel,
5 bushels of oats at 30 cents, and $7.50 worth of other
feed to keep this flock for one year, what is the net profit?

9. At 18 cents a pound, what should be received for
80 hens weighing 614 pounds each?

10. The farmers of a community market all their eggs
together. If each farm produces 30 eggs per day, how
many farms will be needed to fill 7 cases a week, each
holding 30 dozen?

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: No. 51; No.
64; No. 186; No. 200.

BIRDS
(Chapter 10)

1. Make a list of birds you can name at sight. What
do you know of the feeding and nesting habits of each
of these?

2. Make a list of the birds that remain over winter
in your neighborhood. What birds migrate? Where do
they go, and why?

3. Keep a watch for birds that you do not recognize
and take notice of their habits. Get a bird book and see
if you can identify them.

4. Make a list of birds that search for food on the
leaves of trees; of birds that catch flying insects; of birds
that search for insects in the bark of trees; of birds that
eat weed seeds.

5. If the damage done by insects in your community
is 30 cents an acre, how much would that amount to
on your farm?

6. If there are four birds on every acre, how many
birds would there be on your farm? In your township?

7. If each bird eats 50 insects a day, how many in-
sects would be destroyed in your township during the
months of June, July and August?

8. If 30,000 insects fill a peck measure, how many
pecks of insects would the birds of your township eat
during the three summer months?

9. Read Longfellow’s poem entitled ‘‘The Birds of
Killingworth. ’’

[Colored pictures of all birds can be obtained from the publishers
of this book—a. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CHICAGO, Size 7x9 inches.
2 cents each.]

260

APPENDIX 261 .

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Some Com-
mon Birds and Their Relation to Agriculture, No. 54;
Our Grosbeaks and Their Value to Agriculture, No. 456;
Food of Some Well Known Birds of Forest, Farm, and
Garden, No. 506; Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Or-
chard, No. 513.

SOIL
(Chapter 11)

1. Weigh a quart fruit can full of rich black soil.
Dry thoroughly by holding over a fire, being careful not
to burn, and then weigh again. The difference is the
weight of the water content of the soil. What per cent
of the soil is water?

2. Place the soil in a pan and burn it. Cool and weigh
again. The loss in weight is the humus or organic mat-
ter of the soil. What per cent is organic matter? The
portion remaining is the mineral matter. What per cent
is mineral matter?

3. Fill three small flower pots with finely pulverized
soil, one with clay, one with sand and one with loam.
As you weigh these add enough to make them weigh the
same. Pour water slowly into each pot until the soils
are thoroughly wet and the water begins to run out at
the bottom. Then weigh the pots of wet soil, and find
which is holding the most water. Which soil took in
the water the quickest? Which the most slowly? In
case of heavy rain, which soil would absorb the great-
est amount of water? Notice which flower pot continues
to drip the longest and which drains the most rapidly.
What bearing does this experiment have on farming?

4. Break bottoms from three large vinegar bottles of
uniform size. Fill one with loam, one with clay, and one
with sand. Tie a cloth over the mouth of each bottle
and place in a rack as shown in Fig. 127 so that the ends

262

APPENDIX 963

reach down into tumblers of water. Fill each tumbler to
the same height. Note the rise of the water in the dif-
ferent soils, the height, and the time it takes. In which
soil does the water rise most rapidly? In which to the
greatest height? This power of soil to draw water from
below is called capillarity and the water is ealled capil-
lary water. What lesson on farming do we learn from
this experiment?

Fic. 127. Action of Water in Soil

5. Fill three bottles to the depth of about one inch
with clay, sand, and loam. Then completely fill all three
bottles with water and shake thoroughly. Set the bottles
in a quiet place and let their contents settle. Observe
which soil settles to the bottom most quickly, keeping
a record of the time required for the water to become
clear in each bottle.

6. Crumble a piece of clay into fine particles. Do
the same with loam and with sandy soil. Which soil,

264 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

in your opinion, will be the most satisfactory under till-
age?

7. Many soils contain acid, and so certain crops
such as clover and alfalfa will not grow well in them.
Bury a small piece of blue litmus paper, which you can
secure from the druggist, in moist soil obtained two or
three inches under the surface from different parts of
your field. Allow it to remain five minutes. If the
paper turns red the soil is acid and needs lime. Use
this litmus paper test on the different fields of your farm.

8. Is the manure on your home farm collected under
cover upon a water tight floor? What advantage has
this method over that of leaving manure in the barn
yard?

9. What fertilizers are used on your farm? How much
is applied per acre and what is the cost? What is meant
by 8-3-3 fertilizer?

10. Make a ball of wet clay and leave it to dry. Make
another ball of clay mixed with sand and one of clay
mixed with a little lime. How do these three balls com-
pare? What lesson do we learn from this experiment?

lj. Fill two large pails or cans with moist soil. Shake
down well by jarring the vessel. Weigh each one and
place in a dry place for a week. Leave one undisturbed,
but keep a mulch on the other by stirring it well each
day to a depth of two inches. At the end of a week
weigh both pails. Which has lost the greater amount
of moisture? What lesson do we learn from this?

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: No. 44; No.
187; No. 192; No. 245.

PLANTS
(Chapter 12)

1. Place a moist blotter or cloth upon a plate con-
taining several radish seeds. After a few days observe
the delicate root hairs on the roots of the germinating
seeds.

2. Place a few grains of corn on a piece of marble
slab and cover them with soil two inches deep. After
ten days remove the plants and wash the marble. Notice
that the roots have dissolved a little of the marble. This
is done by means of carbon dioxide, which is supplied
from the roots.

3. Full two tin eans with the same kind of soil after
driving several small holes in the bottom of one of the
cans. Plant seed at the same depth in each and add water
until the soil is thoroughly moist. After several days
observe in which can the seeds have germinated more
quickly. What was wrong with the other can that the
seed did not germinate so well?

4. In two tin cans with holes in the bottoms place the
same amount of soil and plant seeds. In one ean
add much water and puddle the soil around the seeds.
Moisten the soil in the other can and keep it loose and
mellow. When the plants have begun to grow, what
difference do you observe?

5. Plant tomato seeds in a small box of soil and keep
it in a warm room. Fill a number of small paper boxes
with soil at the same time, and plant two or three tomato
seeds in each. After the plants come up in the paper

265

266 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

boxes remove all but one from each box. When the
proper garden planting time comes, place the paper
boxes in .the ground without disturbing the tomato
plants. At the same time, transplant an equal number of
tomato plants from the wooden box. What differences
do you notice in the results from the two methods?

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Testing Farm
Seeds in the Home and the Rural School, No. 428; School
Garden, No. 218; Tomatoes, No. 220; Home Vegetable
Garden, No. 255; Celery, No. 282; Onions, No. 354; Can-
ning Vegetables in the Home, No. 359; Cabbage, No. 433.

FARM MACHINERY
(Chapter 13)

1. Make a list of the different kinds of plows, har-
rows, reapers and planters. Which of each kind do you
think the best, and why?

2. Have some farm machine or implement, such as
a plow, brought to school. Take it apart and set it up
again, examining construction of each part.

3. Learn these rules for the care of farm machinery:

(a) Never leave a machine or tool in the field to rust.

(b) As soon as you are through with a tool or ma-
chine for the season, clean, oil, and place under shelter.

(c) All implements and vehicles must be kept oiled.

(d) Every farmer should have a tool kit and should
repair machines promptly.

OO

CORN
(Chapter 14)

1. Ona glass or cup of water place a blotter and over
it place a small strip of cloth so that it extends down into
the water. This acts as a lamp wick and draws up the
water to keep the blotter moist. On the blotter place
several grains of corn and cover with another blotter.
Keep in a warm place and observe from day to day the
sprouting of the corn. Observe the root hairs. How
many temporary roots are there?

2. Ina tall pot or jar, plant five grains of corn at each
of the following depths: one, two, four, and six inches.
Place them in a warm room and keep moist, but not too
wet. From day to day note the growth at each depth, -
both the temporary and the permanent roots. Observe
the time it takes for the plants to come up from each
depth.

3. Test some seed corn as follows:

Fill a box three or four inches deep and a foot square
with sand. Across the top place a cloth on which squares
have been drawn three inches each way and numbered, 1,
2, 3, ete. Number several ears of corn, one for each
square. Take six grains from each, and place them in the
corresponding squares. Take the kernels from different
parts of the ear, but not from the base or tip. Cover
them with another cloth and two or three inches of sand.
Keep moist and warm. If the grains of all the squares

267

268 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

do not sprout well within four or five days, the ears of
the corresponding numbers should be disearded from
your seed corn supply.

4. In testing your father’s seed corn, a box thirty-six
inches square and three inches deep will enable you to
test much more rapidly. (See also paragraph 13.)

5. Kernels for planting should be of uniform size so
that the planter will drop the same number regularly.
Shell the kernels from the tip, the butt, and some from
the middle of the ear and keep them in separate piles.
Place three grains from the middle of the ear on a sheet
of paper close together. Draw a cirele around them with
a pencil as closely as possible. Remove the grains and
place three from the butt or from the tip in the same
circle. Do they fill the circle? What bearing does this
have upon the corn planter?

6. Ifa farmer increases his crop of corn six bushels
per acre by eareful selection of his seed, how much more
income would he get from 45 acres when corn sells at
50 eents per bushel?

7. Ifa bushel of seed corn will plant 7 acres, what is
the cost per acre when seed corn is $2.00 per bushel?

8. If corn is planted in check rows 3 feet, 8 inches
apart each way, how many square feet does each hill of
eorn occupy? How many hills on an acre?

Answers: 14 4/9 square feet; 3,240 hills.

9. If 6 of the 10 kernels taken from an ear of corn
that is being tested grow, what per cent does the ear
germinate ?

10. Twenty full sized ears of corn will usually plant
one acre. If 2 of the ears will not grow, what per cent
of the corn will be missing in an acre? In your field?

APPENDIX 269

11. An acre was planted with 20 ears of corn, five of
which did not germinate. The acre produced 30 bushels
of corn. What would it have produced if all the seed
had grown?

12. <A farmer increased his crop of corn 15 bushels an
acre by testing the seed. What will be his additional
income in 5 years on 40 acres with corn at 50 cents a
bushel?

13. The most convenient way to test seed corn at school
is by using the ‘‘rag-doll’’ tester. It is merely a strip of
muslin about five feet long and nine inches wide. Mark
spaces on this strip and number them so you can identify
the ears you are testing. Place the kernels from the ears
in the spaces just as in the sawdust tester, and roll care-
fully and tightly from both ends, keeping the kernels in
the proper spaces. Tie a string around the roll and stand
the roll, with tips of the kernels down, in a bucket of tepid
water for several hours. Then place the roll under an
inverted bucket so the moisture will not dry out.

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Silos and
Silage, No. 32; Production of Good Seed Corn, No. 229;
Germination of Seed Corn, No. 253; Food Value of Corn,
No. 298; Harvesting and Storing Corn, No. 313; Corn
Harvesting Machinery, No. 303; Corn Cultivation, No.
414; Seed Corn, No. 415; Corn Culture in the South,
No. Sti,

WHEAT
(Chapter 15)

1. Make a collection of the most common kinds of
wheat and place a sample of each in a small bottle,
properly labeled.

2. Plant about thirty grains of wheat in a pan of
earth. At the end of each week take out two or three
of the sprouting grains and make drawings of the roots.

3. Mustard may be destroyed in grain fields with a
20% solution of iron sulphate, costing about 90 cents
per hundred pound sack. 100 pounds dissolved in 50
gallons of water will make a 20% solution which is enough
to spray 1 acre. What is the cost of solution needed to
spray 60 acres of wheat?

4. If a team travels 15 miles a day drawing a spray-
ing machine that covers a strip 16 feet wide, what will
be the cost per acre for labor if the man, team, and ma-
chine are worth $4 per day?

5. How many pounds of wheat (60 lbs. to the bushel)
are produced on 121% acres yielding 20 bushels per acre?

6. If 7/10 of wheat is starch, how many pounds of
starch are there in 30 bushels of wheat?

7. If it takes 4.77 bushels of wheat to make one bar-
rel of flour, how many barrels of flour can be made from
a 30 acre field of wheat, harvesting 15 bushels to the acre?

8. If wheat for seeding contains 1/20 weed seed how
much land will a farmer sow to weeds if he plants 60
acres to wheat?

270

OATS
(Chapter 21)

1. Make a collection of specimens of fine grades of
oats and place them in bottles properly labeled.

2. Plant twenty-five or thirty grains of oats and after
a week dig up a few of them and observe the temporary
roots. How many are there? After another week has
elapsed dig up other plants and observe the growth of
permanent roots. Continue this observation at intervals
of a week and make drawings.

3. A farmer threshes 1,200 bushels of oats. In each
bushel there are 4 pounds of weed seed. What per cent
of his crop is weeds? How many pounds of weed seed
does he gather?

4. If it requires 4 pounds of twine per acre, costing 15
eents per pound, to tie up grain, how much does it cost
to tie up the weeds in a 20 acre field, if 1/12 of the crop
is weeds? |

5. If formaldehyde costs fifty cents per pint and a
pint will treat 40 bushels of oats, how much will it cost
to treat the seed oats on 30 acres, sowing 3 bushels to the
acre?

6. Test 100 grains of seed oats, using the rag doll tester.
Find the number of strong, weak and dead grains. What
per cent is there of each kind in your test? (See page
269 for tester.)

271

POTATOES
(Chapter 19)

1. Bring some sprouting potatoes to school and place
them in a warm, moist place. Observe the sprouting of
the eyes.

2. Cut a potato in about one-half as many pieces as
it has eyes. Plant these in a box of earth or in the ground
and pull up a plant every few days to observe the growth
of roots and tubers. How long after planting do the
young tubers start?

3. If it takes 200 gallons of Bordeaux mixture, cost-
ing $1.50, to spray one acre of potatoes once, and it
takes two applications to cure the blight, what is the
cost of the mixture for spraying 10 acres of potatoes for
the season?

4. How many bushels of potatoes worth 60 cents a
bushel will be needed to pay the extra cost of spraying?

dD. If an acre of potatoes yields 110 bushels, what is
the value of the crop at 40 cents per bushel?

6. If a potato farmer gave his crop careful attention
it would gost him $25.00 per acre to grow potatoes. What
is the net profit per acre if the yield is 110 bushels worth
40 cents a bushel?

7. Potatoes are usually planted in rows 8 feet apart
with hills 16 inches apart in the row. How many square
feet of ground does each hill occupy? How many hills
will there be in an acre containing 43,560 square feet?

272

APPENDIX 24S

8. John Robbins raised 3,000 bushels of potatoes and
was offered 40 cents a bushel for them in November.
After storing them through the winter, he sold them at
75 cents per bushel. If the potatoes shrank 1/10, what
was his gain by keeping them over winter ?

9. At another time John stored his crop of 3,000 bush-
els rather than sell them for 50 cents per bushel. The
following spring he was forced to sell his crop for 40
cents per bushel. What did he lose if they shrank 1/10?

10. Hold a potato paring contest among the girls of
the class, weighing the parings and the peeled potatoes.

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: Potato Cul-
ture, No. 35; Potato as a Truck Crop, No. 407; Potatoes
and Other Root Crops as Food, No. 295.

WEEDS
(Chapter 20)

1. If one extra harrowing killed enough weeds to
increase the corn crop 3 bushels an acre, how much was the
clear gain for this work on 100 acres when corn sells at
50 cents per bushel?

2. If morning glories destroy 162 hiNs of an acre of
corn that has 3240 hills, what per cent of the crop is left?

3. If the acre of corn yields 57 bushels, how much
would it have yielded if the morning glories had been
destroyed?

4. If a clean field produces 56 bushels of corn an acre
and a weedy field only 34 bushels, what is the loss per
acre caused by weeds when corn sells for 45 cents a bushel ?

5. If quack grass reduces the yield of corn 8 bushels
per acre, what is the loss when corn is selling at 55 cents
a bushel ?

FRUIT
(Chapter 21)

1. Visit a fruit grower if possible and ask him to show
you how to graft a scion of one tree to the stock of an-
other. Learn also how to remove a bud from a branch
and attach it to the branch of another tree.

2. Bend to the ground a branch of a grape vine or of a
black raspberry vine. Cover part of it with several
inches of soil, but leave several inches of the end of the
branch above ground. After a few weeks see if the
buried branch has taken root. If so, separate it from the
old plant by cutting.

3. Weigh two apples of about the same size separately.
Peel one and leave the other unpeeled. Weigh each apple
the next day. Which has lost more in weight, and why?

4. Have an apple paring and an apple coring contest
among the pupils, weighing the apples before and after.

5. Try at home to can windfall apples as follows:

‘‘Peel, core, and slice; scald 1 minute in boiling water;
plunge in cold water. Pack in glass or tin and add about
one teacup full of hot thin syrup to each. Put on rubber
and top and partially tighten. Sterilize 16 minutes in
hot water. Remove, tighten covers, and invert to cool.”’

6. What will it cost to set out a young apple orchard
of 10 acres square, with trees costing 25 cents each, if
the trees are planted in squares 36 feet apart?

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: No. 33, No.
118, No. 154.

274

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS
(Chapter 27)

1. In 1913 Walker Dunson of Alabama led the corn
club boys in the crop of that year. He raised 232 7/10
bushels on one acre at a cost of only 19 9/10 cents per
bushel. What was the net profit on his acre with corn
selling at 50 cents a bushel?

2. Jerry Moore, a former corn champion of South
Carolina, raised 228 75/100 bushels at a cost of 42 cents
per bushel. If each crop sold at 50 cents per bushel,
which had the greater profit?

3. The ordinary yield of tomatoes is about 8 tons per
acre. The best culture secures 18 tons per acre. If the
canning factory pays $8.50 a ton, how much greater is
the income from 31% acres of tomatoes given the best cul-
ture than that from the same acreage given ordinary
treatment ?

4. Merle Hyer of Lewiston has the world’s record po-
tato yield—764 bushels per acre. It cost him $60.00 and
his net profit was $398.00. What was the selling price
per bushel?

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington,

D. C., for the following farmers’ bulletins: No. 104;
No. 154; No. 155; No. 218; No. 255; No. 521; No. 803.

Note.—For Agricultural Club Organization Blank Forms, address
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau of Plant Industry
Office of the Farm Management—Club Work
Washington, D. C.

275

USEFUL INFORMATION
EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW HOW TO REMOVE STAINS

Tar or Wagon Grease. Cold soapsuds will remove most
stains if used before the garment is dipped in hot water.
For pitch stains, grease with lard before using soap and
water. Turpentine will remove all such stains.

Grass. Remove grass stains when fresh if possible. A1-
cohol, naphtha soap and water, or ammonia and water
will remove grass stains.

Ink. Wet the spot with warm water, apply sapolio,
and rub gently between the hands, or wash in a solution
of hydrochloric acid and rinse in ammonia water.

Mildew. Mix equal parts of soft soap and starch, half
as much common salt and the juice of half a lemon, spread
over the spots and lay the article on the grass for twenty-
four hours or until the stain disappears.

Blood Stains. Fresh stains may be rubbed out after
soaking in cold or tepid water. If very dry, use javelle
water or peroxide of hydrogen. Kerosene in water will
remove obstinate stains. Articles that cannot conveni-
ently be washed, may be cleaned by making a paste of
bulk starch and cold water, spreading on thickly and
drying in the sunlight. When dry brush off and repeat
process.

Iron Rust. Apply salt and lemon juice to the dampened
spots and place in the sun or near the fire. Rinse
thoroughly.

Fruit Stains. Pour boiling water over the surface, hav-
ing it fall from a distance of three feet, or wring article
out of cold water and hang out of doors on a frosty night.

276

APPENDIX 277

If obstinate, diluted muriatic acid, javelle water, or
sulphur fumes are good.

Meat Juice. Hot water will set the stain. Soak in cold
water, wash in suds of cold water, and rinse in cold
water.

Paint Spots. Equal parts of ammonia and turpentine
will remove paint stains of long standing.

Tea, Coffee, or Cocoa. Wash in cold water, cover with
elycerine, and let stand two or three hours; wash with
cold water and hard soap. If stains are fresh, pour
boiling water through from a height after soaking.

Perspiration. Soak in cold water, wash with borax,
and expose garment to sunshine. Stains under the arms
require an acid, such as a weak solution of muriatie¢ acid.

Burned Cooking Utensils. To clean granite ware where.
mixtures have been burned on. Half fill with cold water,
adding any good soap or washing powder; heat water
gradually to the boiling point. ;

INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES
For Bitinc INsEcTtTS—POISONS.

1. Arsenate of Lead.

Perse Wale Ol Neat, <4 eos Ck ia eas oe, a - 2 to 3 pounds
Water, or Bordeaux, or lime-sulphur..... 520 gallons

Arsenate of lead is found on the market both as a pow-
der and as a putty-like paste. The paste must be worked
free in water before it is added to the lime-sulphur mix-
ture or to the Bordeaux mixture. The paste form of the
poison is used at the rate of two or three pounds to each
fifty gallons of the liquid and is added to it after it has
been well dissolved in water.

278 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

2. Wet Paris Green.

Paris: STeeh 2). fs-<u, cata te eee ee 14, pound
LAM 2 2s on ctel s eerelete aes ee 14 pound
"Waters sac... eae oe eee ee 50 gallons

If the above amount of Paris green is to be used with
fifty gallons of Bordeaux mixture the half-pound of lime
should be omitted.

3. Dry Paris Green.

Paris ‘gréeh . sso, a Ge ee 1 pound
Powdered ihmens, 22 Oo. coe ee ....20 pounds

For SucKING INSECTs.

4. Kerosene Emulsion.

Strong hard soap, shaved fine............ 14, pound
Water. 22 vac Fal ees ae ce eater ee eee 1 gallon
Kerosene or crude petroleum............. 2 gallons

The soap should be dissolved in the water by boiling,
remove from the fire while still boiling hot and at a safe
distance from the fire add the oil, stirring violently until
it is thick like cream. If it is well made it will keep
indefinitely and may be diluted when needed for use.
During the growing time of summer, for plant lice and
other soft-bodied insects, dilute the emulsion with fifteen
parts of water; for the red spider and other plant mites,
the same, with the addition of one ounce of flowers of
sulphur to the gallon; for scale insects, the large plant
bugs, and larve, dilute with from seven to ten parts of
water. Apply with a spray pump.

APPENDIX 279

5. Bordeaux Mixture—Used as a Fungicide to Prevent
Diseases.

Copper sulphate (bluestone)............. 6 pounds
TN RSA TEES hl 1s ase a a ee a 4 pounds
NERS) stam eee igh a ec aca oe So EA 50 gallons

Dissolve the copper sulphate at the rate of one pound
of copper to a gallon of water. Slake the lime until it
is thick hke cream. This is a stock solution and may be
kept covered until needed.

6. Lime-sulphur—to Kill San Jose Scale and Prevent
Disease.

Powdered flowers of sulphur............. 15 pounds
ES MRENI Cl UNNI 19.0: va. weeks ass ce oe 15 to 20 pounds
Te ee et Ne ta a has BAe ra eee 00 gallons

Add the wet sulphur and the slaked lime to ten gallons
of boiling water. Boil for an hour or until well dissolved.
Add water to make fifty gallons.

FERTILIZERS FOR DIFFERENT CROPS

THESE FORMULAS MUST VARY ACCORDING TO THE SOILS

Field Corn.
By mMTOr OING: eo ore ee wre e caa gn vas detes a 3 250 pounds
MGldepNOsSPMALe NE Met ees. SISA TS 500 pounds
BCP ee 0 0 Fes) | a A ma 250 pounds

Apply 200 to 300 pounds to each acre on manured soils;
300 to 500 pounds on medium soils without manure. In-
crease nitrogen for forage corn or ensilage.

I8G9 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

Oats.
Niteateol Bodd.. ccs. ae oe 150 pounds
"Baila Gis 2 once Sea td eet eee 200 pounds
Acid. phosphate 3009" ee eee 600 pounds
Muriale 01 (potash y...40 eee 50 pounds

Apply on good soils, 200 to 300 pounds to an acre; 300
to 500 pounds per acre on medium soils with manure.

Wheat.
ried. blood. Fen sce enc ree rae eek tee eee 150 pounds
Pankace -; ci. ote ecee ee eee hee eee 100 pounds
Acid phosphate a. ..c- 5 a5 ee 700 pounds
Muriate-of potash 25: 4 kann aae eee 00 pounds

Apply same as oats.

Early Potatoes.

Wateate pi SOM ars: <fa0-s terse mcs oie erage eae 100 pounds
pulphate of anmmoniaw s)he. see 100 pounds
ea by alec) a mR ET NS es dot. 2 100 pounds
Avid phosphate 227.20. 8.5 eae 500 pounds
Sulphate or muriate of potash.......... 200 pounds

Apply from 500 to 1,200 pounds per acre.

Sweet Potatoes.

ARRAS anit at eich scapes SE avs BeOS SG ERS 300 pounds
1 Teed -alWOd = os sr hie a oo gee ee 100 pounds
Avid SoMOsp uae ak. ec scene 400 pounds
Wairiateor.potas: <7. a0 «..s. camer 200 pounds

Apply from 500 to 800 pounds per acre.

Early Tomatoes and Market Garden Crops.

Nitrate Of “sodan A364 Ree coe eee 250 pounds
Ground bore ei) ee os oe pee 100 pounds
Acid: phosphate e280 225.0. es eee ee 550 pounds

Muriate of potas. <-. 9.220 rs ae 100 pounds
Apply 800 pounds per acre. =

APPENDIX 281

Timothy Hay, Top Dressing.

Ditraieaere GOUe 2 V5 oS. 5. on eo Paes eS pare 500 pounds
ie ESFiisl (og 5051 (RO Se ae nen ae era ea 200 pounds
Palate INTs Sic ccc ee Pe ae 200 pounds
WA 0 POLARIS ide A ee aed <s F 100 pounds

Apply 200 to 300 pounds per acre.

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR TEACHERS

First Principles of Soil Fertility. A. Vivian ($1.00),
Orange, Judd Co.

Bacteria in Relation to Country Life. J. G. Lipman
($1.50), Maemillan.

Cereals in America. T. F. Hunt ($1.75), Orange, Judd
Company.

Forage and Fiber Crops in America. T. F. Hunt ($1.75),
Orange, Judd Co.

Manual of Gardening. L. H. Bailey ($2.00), Maemillan.

The Principles of Fruit-growing. lL. H. Bailey, ($1.50),
Maemillan.

The American Apple Orchard. F. A. Waugh ($1.00),
Orange, Judd Co.

The Potato. S Frazer ($1.75), Orange, Judd Co.

Feeds and Feeding. W. <A. Henry ($2.00), W. A. Henry,
Madison, Wis.

Types and Breeds of Farm Animals. 8S. C. Plumb
($2.00), Ginn and Co.

282 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

AGRICULTURAL BULLETINS

Each school may secure a good lbrary of agricultural
bulletins at small expense. Write to the Secretary of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C., asking that your school
be placed on the mailing list to receive the monthly list
of bulletins. Ask also to have sent one copy of each of
the following:

Circular No. 4, Division of Publications.
Farmers’ Bulletin Subject Index.

List of Publications for free distribution.
List of Publications for sale.

Those pamphlets on the list for free distribution will
be sent to any one for the asking. Those listed for sale
may be purchased at slight cost, or perhaps some of them
may be secured through your Congressman. Write to
your State Experiment Station (See p. XXV) for the list
of state bulletins for free distribution and ask to have your
name placed on their mailing list. A few of the many
farmers’ bulletins to be obtained from the Secretary of
Agriculture are given below.

Horse, Nos. 170, 222; Cattle, 106, 71, 233; Milk and But-
ter, 55, 42, 63, 251;-Swine, 100, 133, 205, 272; Poultry, 51,
186; Turkeys, Ducks, and Geese, 64, 200; Insects, 127;
Bees, 59, 397; Birds, 54; Soils, 44, 187, 192, 245; How
Plants Grow, 157; Corn, 199, 229, 253, 313, 409; Potato, 35;
Hay, 89, 339; Orchards, 87, 113, 283; Gardens, 154, 218,
299; Sanitation, 155.

APPENDIX _

283

QUANTITY OF SEED PER ACRE AND LEGAL WEIGHTS PER

BUSHEL

Alfalfa 30 Ibs. 60 Ibs.
Barley 8 to 10 pks. 48 lbs.
Blue Grass 20 to 25 lbs. 14 lbs.
Buckwheat 3 to 5 pks. 48 lbs.
Clover 10 to 15 lbs. 60 lbs.
Corn, shelled, check row 6 to 8 qts. 56 lbs.
Corn, ensilage 10 qts.

Cotton, upland 4 to 8 pks. 32 lbs.
Cowpea 4 to 7 pks. 60 lbs.
Oats 2 to 35 bu. 32 lbs.
Potato 6 to 18 bu. 60 Ibs.
Rye 3 to 8 pks. 56 lbs.
Timothy 10 to 20 lbs. 45 lbs.
Wheat 6 to 9 pks. 60 lbs.

Weights in second column vary slightly in some states.

DISTANCES APART FOR PLANTING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

FEET
PEST 66's ic ose gis BOAO
PTO so \s eke 2 oS 15-20
MPEP sles. es a etm a5
Uo aie 20-80)
SE ee ee ee 15-20
Ree ae he ae Sa 20-30
Piet ooo eS Sx 15220
TAOS A 0 en 10-12
ISIAGKDELTIES °s.05. oss 4.5-7
retetritien ss. uc-o ee 4-45
Goosenerries...... 4... 4-4.5
Pan DEITICS <2. ss 565... 3.5-9
Strawberries .......... 1-4
2 Eo a 3-4
Beans, bush and pole.. 2-4
it 4 2G Ser $52

FEET
WaADDACe 6 aces Abe Set 2-3
Cartier. hoa eas soe: 1.5-2
Corrs Wweels S:c% ccles 3-3.9
CEE aa ne rn me ee 3-4
1 JES ALES lia gna Aa abe eee 1-2
Grado. 5 Sn a oe Pa
Hemme ee ce’ Sah oh eee 1-2
Peete 7 cl Sat Sane fea
Peet Oe © 8s we acs are cee es 2.5-3
pena SPs S82 occ oe wi ae 1-15
JEG te Ce ae ee 4
SN 4 Bk a 1.5-2
Squash and pumpkin.. 6-8
TUPI tore ox ele 1.5-2
Tomato wis 33. es 3-4

284 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE

LOCATION OF STATE EXPERIMENT STATIONS

Any letter addressed to the ‘‘ Experiment Station’’ with
proper post-office address will reach the institution.

Alabama—Auburn or Uniontown or Tuskegee.
Arizona—Tueson.
Arkansas—Fayetteville.
California—Berkeley.
Colorado—Fort Collins.
Connecticut—New Haven or Storrs.
Delaware—Newark.
Florida—Gainesville.
Georgia—Experiment.
Hawaii—Honolulu.

Idaho—Moscow.

Illinois—Urbana.
Indiana—Lafayette.

lowa—Ames.

Kansas—Manhattan.
Kentucky—Lexington.
Louisiana—Baton Rouge.
Maine—Orona.

Maryland—College Park.
Massachusetts—A mherst
Michigan—East Lansing.
Minnesota—St. Paul.
Mississippi—Agricultural College.
Missouri—-Columbia or Mountain Grove.
Montana—Bozeman.
Nebraska—Lincoln.

Nevada—Reno.

New Hampshire—Durham.

APPENDIX 285

- New Mexico—Agricultural College.
New York—Geneva or Ithaca.
North Carolina—Raleigh.

North Dakota—Agricultural College.
Ohio-— Wooster.
Oklahoma—Atillwater.
Oregon—Corvallis.
Pennsylvania—State College.
Rhode Island—Kingston.

South Carolina—Clemson College.
South Dakota—Brookings.
Tennessee—Knoxville.
Texas—College Station.
Utah—Logan.
Vermont—Burlington.
Virginia—Blacksburg.
Washingeton—Pullman.

West Virginia—Morgantown.
Wisconsin—Madison.
Wyoming—Laramie.

The United States Department of Agriculture is located
at Washington, D. C. Address the Secretary of Agri-
culture.

INDEX

All figures refer to pages; heavier type is used for the
more important references

Agricultural Bulletins, see Farm-
ers’ Bulletins

Agricultural College, see Colleges
of Agriculture

Alfalfa, 20; for pasture, 43, 44;
for honey, 69; a rotating crop
for fertilizing, 91, 94, 95, 146,
150; soil and crops, 151; how
Lo Start, SLOL,, L525) 2000 for
horses, 152; for other stock,
AS, 84452, Loos a field a(t.
83), 152; plant showing long
tap-root (Fig. 84), 153; and
corn as feed, 43, 153; quantity
of seed per acre and legal
weight per bushel, 283

Anchor bend, 13

Ants, 82

Apples, clay soil for, 85, 173, lo-
cation of orchards, 172; plant-
ine trees, 173, 283; Spraying,
177, 178; from trees not sprayed
Ciices wos ce 162... LOM Strees
sprayed (Fig. 39), 63; thinning
crop, 179; grading and packing,
180; growing and use of, 180,
181; seedless, 181

Apricots, planting trees, 283

Army worms, 78

Arsenate of lead, 277

Ash trees, seeds of, 101

Asparagus, 194, 283

Ayrshire cattle, 24

Babcock milk test, 24, 27, 228, 247

Bacteria, in soil, 85, 90, 91; and
clover, 91; work of, 91, 92, 146,
150 = in food, 2h3, 214.5215.) in
butter and cider, 215; in sew-
age, 218

Bantams, 50

Barley, 10, 92, 283, 142, 143;
bread, 126; rotation and seed
bed, 142; enemies, 143; uses,
143

Barns, horse, 11; cattle, 19, 221;
ventilation, 221; a sanitary
dairy barn (Fig. 107), 220

Beans, 10, 191; string, 191, 192;

butter, 192; 192; bush
and pole, 283

Becket hitch, 12

Beef cattle, 18 (Fig. 9), 17; uses
made of, 28; side of, 246

Bees, 61, 62, 64, 68-76; first sugar
makers, 68; finding the bee
tree, 68; honey train, 68; where
honey comes from, 69; a prof-
itable apiary (Fig. 44), 69;
pollen and wax, 69, 70; mem-
bers of the bee family, 70—
the worker, the queen and the
drone (Fig. 45), 70; work of
the queen, 71; why bees swarm,
71, 72; stand of bees near
swarming time (Fig. 46), 71;
getting a new queen, 72; divid-
ing the work, 72; drones, 73;
Italian bees, 73; helping the

lima,

bee, 738; honey extractor, 73,
(52 0t'ss all ine ‘knowin showy.
(Fig. 47), 74; keeping bees

warm, 75; do not starve bees,
75; another service, 75; busy
as a bee, 76 :
Beetles, 61, 64, 67; cucumber, 79,

197; flea, 165; flower, 81; po-
tato (Fig. 89), 164, 165
Beets, 85, 189, 190, 192, 283

Belgian, bay, 5

Berkshires, 39 (Fig. 24), 40

Binder, see Self-binder

Bindweed, 81

Bird houses (Fig. 52), 81, 82

Birds, 77, 260; ‘“‘Birds of Killing-
worth,* @1, T8+<-service— to
farmers, 78; other friends of
the farmer, 78, 79; Grosbeaks
are friends, 79; tarring the
seeds, 80; protecting grain
fields, 80; the Grosbeak and
the orchard, 80, 81; policemen
of the air, 81; eating weed
seeds, 81; big appetites, 81, 82;
making friends of the birds
(Fig. 52), 81, 82; sharing with
the birds, 82; see also names
of birds

287

288

Bits, frosty, 10

Blackberries, 198, 199, 283

Black rot, 198

Blackwall hitch, 13

“Black weevil,’ see Weevil

Blight, the, 166

Bluebirds, 78, 82

Blue grass, 283

Blue Jays, 83

Bobolink (Fig. 49), 78, 81

Bobwhite (Fig. 51), 80, 82

Boll weevil, see Weevil

Bone meal, 95

Books, reference, for teachers, 281

Bordeaux mixture, 165, 177, 178,
192, 198; formula, 279

Bowline, 12

Brahmas (Fig. 30), 50

Bread, making, 213; white, 126,
Bde, 1372 rye 44 145

Bridle, the, 14

“Broilers,” 49, 56, 57

Bronze turkeys (Fig. 35), 58

Brown Swiss, 24: twin calves
(his pS) ie2o

Buckwheat, 69, 283

Bumblebees, 75

ai aes 101, 168,170 (Rhige 92);
a

Butter, 251; bacteria in, 215;
churning the first, 16, 17; see
also Milk and buiter

Butterflies, 61, 62, 64, 65

Buttermilk, 32

Cabbage, 85, 190, 191, 195, 196; a
well cultivated cabbage lot
(Fig. 99), 195; distances apart
for planting, 283; maggot, 196;
worm, 196

Calves, 19-21; getting ready for
market, 19, 20; feeding meal,
20; an empty dinner pail (Fig.
11), 20; mixed food, 20; wean-
ing, 20; ‘“‘Where are our moth-
ers?) (his. 12). Zl savine:
cream, 21; Brown Swiss twin
calves (Fig.-15), 25

Canada Thistle, 168, (Fig. 91)
LG OPEL

Cankerworm, 78, 79, 81, 177

Cardinal, 79, 80

Carrick bend, 13

Carrots, 10, 189, 193, 283

Caterpillar, 65, 78, 79, 81

Cattle, 16, 245; more useful than
horses, 16; origin, 16; taming
wild cattle, 16; churning, 16,
17; hitching to loads, 17, 18;
two kinds, 18; care and feed,
18, 19; beef cattle, 18; dairy
cows, 21-27; Babcock milk test,

INDEX

24, 247; uses of beef cattle, 28;
how to get good stock, 28; cat-
tle and sheep, 37; see also
Calves, Dairy Cows, and names
of breeds

Cauliflower, 187

Celery, 187, 283

Cellars, 216, 217

Cheese making, 32, 33

Cherries, 173, 283

Cheshire (Fig. 23), 39

Chester-White, 39, 41 (Fig. 25)

Chickadees, 78

Chickens, see Poultry

Churn, the, 31, 32

Churning, 16, 17, 30

Cider, 215

Clay, soils, 84, 85; crops for, 85;
why wet, 88, 89, 106; roads, 208

Clove hitch, 12

Clover, 146-150; for horses, 9; for
calves, 20; for hogs, 43, 44, 45;
honey, 69; in New Zealand, 75;
bacteria and, 91, 93-95, 146;
kinds of soil for. 147; ready to
cut, 147, 148; careful handling,
148; curing, 148}; uses of, 148,
149; for cattle, 149; getting a
stand, 149; seed per acre and
weight per bushel, 283.

Clubs, Boys’ and Girls’, 229, 275

Clydesdale horses, 5; (Fig. 5), 6

Coach horses, 3, 4, (Fig. 2), 3

Cochins, 50

Cockerels, 57

Cocoanut seed, 101

Codling moth, 81

Cold frames, 188

Colleges of Agriculture, 228; Col-
lege of Agriculture, Univ. of
Wis. “(mig £10). 227

Colorado potato beetle, see Potato
beetle

Corn, 113-125, 267; for horses,
10; for calves, 20; for hogs, 43,
44; for chickens, 54; clay soil
not good for, 85; grown with
and without fertilizer (Fig.
53); .93: as rotating crop, 94;
95; flowers, 99; pollination of,

99, -- 1003) ‘discovery (of, sls:
saves the pioneers, 113, 114;
Indian farming, 114; where

grown, 114; corn belt, 114, 115;
a corn train, 115; corn land
valuable, 115; choosing good

seed, 1U5; prize ear, 115, Lic;
(Fig. 60), 116; good Kernels,
116: cobs, 116, YLT; cob) too
large or too small (Fig. 61),
116; space between Kkerneis

(Fig. 62), 117; when to select
seed, 117; curing the seed, 118;

INDEX

corn tree, 118; testing seed,
118, 268, 269; testing seed
corn (Fig. 63), 119; improving
corn, 118; planting evenly, 118,
119; making soil rich, 120; how
to plow, 120, 121; how to keep
ground moist, 121; planting
crop, 121; keeping weeds down,
122; plowing, 122; gathering
the crop, 123; corn cutter (Fig.
oie kas; Ssayane it all aes. 4
great discovery, 124; building
Silos, 124, 125; filling the silo
(Fig. 68), 1245; corn a treasure,
125; with alfalfa as feed, 153;
fertilizer, 279; ensilage, seed
per acre, 283; shelled, check
row, seed per acre, 283.

Corn, sweet, see Sweet corn

Corn meal, 21

Corn stover, 124

Cottage cheese, 32

Cow, diagram of, 245

Cow testing assn’s, 27, 28

Cowpeas, 20, 153; bacteria and,
91, 94, 146; a rotating crop, 94,
95, 155; seed per acre and legal
weight per bushel, 283

Cradie (Mic. 71), .130:. cutting
wheat with a (Fig. 72), 131;
Seythe or, 132 j

Cream separator, 30, 31; the old
way (Fig. 18), 31; the new way
(re 9): St:

Creepers, 78

Crops, farm, 84-200

Crows, 83

Cucumber beetles, 79, 197

Cucumbers, 187, 196, 197

Curculio, depositing egg on
young peach (Fig. 40), 64;
young grub destroying fruit
(iis: 41). 64

Currants, 283; dried, 198

Dairy cows, 18, 21-27; choosing a
good cow, 21; Jersey type, 22,
23; Guernseys, 23, 24; Holstein,
24; Babcock test, 24; what a
good cow produces, 24; Caring
for the dairy cow; 25; their
food, 25, 26; testing cows, 26-
28; “A row of money makers”
(Fig. 16), 26; how to get good
stock, 28; see also name of
breeds

Dandelion seed, 101, 168

Diphtheria, 220

Draft horses, 3; kinds of, 4, 5

Dragon flies, 61

Drainage, importance of, 89; how
to drain swampy land, 90; how
drainage helps, 90; map of tile

289

lines, 90; importance in road
making, 207, 208

Drill, wheat (Fig. 70), 129

Dry farming, 107

Ducks, 59; Pekin (Fig. 36), 59

Duroc-Jersey hogs, 39, 41, 43

Dutch belted, 24

Earthworms, 78

Egg plants, 187, 189

Eggs, hen’s, 49-51; duck’s, 59
Exercises, 241-275
Experiment Stations, 227, 284
Experiments, 241-275

False reef or granny, 12

Farm animals, 1-83

Farm machinery, 103, 266; mak-
ing machinery better, 108; cop-
per tools, 108-109; first iron
tools, 109, 110; farm machinery
of today, 110, 111; tractor en-
gine drawing four plows (Fig.
58), 110; care of machinery,
111, 112; gas engine, a labor
saver (Fig. 59), 111; see also
names of farm machinery.

Farm sanitation, see Sanitation,

farm

sion eis bulletins, 47, 48, 226,
282

Farmer’s College, 225-228; edu-

cating the farmer, 225; learn-
ing the best way, 225, 226; ex-
periment stations, 227, 284;
colleges of agriculture, 228
Fertilizers for different crops,

279-281
Fertilizing, 91-95; best and
cheapest fertilizer (Fig. 54),

103, 104; old way of spreading
(Fig. 64), 120; manure should
be spread evenly (Fig. 65),
121; corn, 120; wheat, 130; hay
crops, 146-153; sugar beets,
156; tobacco, 160; gardens, 184

Flicker, 82

Eilzes, 64, 65,-60, 79:83, 216: 219%
as disease carriers, 219; fight-
ing, 219, 220

Fly catchers, 78

Food, preserving, see Preserving
foods

Formaline solution, 166

Fruit, 172-181, 274; canning, 214;
preserving, 215

Fruit trees, distances apart for
planting, 283

Fungicides, insecticides and, 277-

279
Galloway, 18: cow (Fig. 10), 19
Garden, the farm 182-200; the

290

boy’s garden, 182—beautiful as
well as profitable (Fig. 98),
185; a school garden (Fig. 97),
183; gardens everywhere, 182-
183; location and soil 183; fer-
tilizing, 184, 280; preparation,
184, 185; tools, 185; mulch, 186;
planting, 186, 187; transplant-
ing, 187; window box, 187; hot-
beds, 188; cold frames, 188;
preparing for transplanting,
189; transplanting, 189; ro-
tating crops, 189, 190; plant-
ing between rows, 190; weeds,

190; mulching, 190; see also
names of vegetables and
fruits.

Geese, 59, 60; Christmas bird,
59 (Fig. 37), 60

Gnats, 83

Gooseberries, 283

Grafting, 102

Grapes, 85, 177, 197, 198
Grapevines, 102, 198
Grasshoppers, 49, 58, 61, 78, 82
“Greens,” 194

Grosbeaks, 79-81

Grubs, 193

Guernseys, 18, 23, 24

“Hralter-break,” 11

Hansom cab, 7

Harrow, disk or spring tooth, 121
(Gane WaG))e 1474

Harvesters, combined, 135, 136;
steam, 136, 137

Hawks, chicken, 57, 83

Hay, 9, 85, 146- 153; timothy, 146
Ghie 78), 1B PCE the clovers, 146,
150; alfalfa, 150-153; hay load-
er (Fig. 81), 150; stacking hay
(Fig. 82), 151; cowpeas, 153

Header, the, 133

Herefords, 18

Hogs, see Swine

Holsteins, 18, 24; a record cow
(Fig. 14), 23

Horse, the, 1, 241; taming the
wild, 1; variety in size, 15
horse’s foot, 1, 2; riding horse-

back, 25 first work animal, 2;
the horse and the Indian, 2;
draft horses, 3-5; coach ‘and
roadsters, 3, 4; how to hitch,
5, 6; driving fast, 6, 7; race
horses, 7; horses as food, 85
proportion of, to people, 8;
horse power cheap, 8; cheaper
than human labor (Fig. 82),
151; feeding, 8, 9; good variety,

9, 10; cleaning and care, 10;
healthy shoulders, 10, 11;

stable, 11; shoeing, 11; break-

INDEX

ing colts, 11, 14; his first
bridle, 14; driving the colt, 14;
signals, 14, 15; kindness pays,
15; see also names of breeds

Horse-radish, 193

Hotbeds, 187, 188

Humus, 87, 88, 94, 149

Indian farming, 114
ypeenelie® and fungicides, 277-

Insects, 61-67; enemies, 61;
friends, 61; parts of insects,
61; biting insects, 61, 62; suck-
ing insects, 62; contact in-
secticides, 62; moulting, 638, 64;
stages of development, 64, 65;
larva stage, 65; pupa stage, 65,
67; freezing the insect, 67; in-
sect life short, 67; see also
names of insects.

Irrigation, 107, 108; private irri-
gation plant (Fig. 56), 108; ir-
ena an orchard (Fig. 93),

Jerseys, 18, 22, 23, 24; the dairy
Eyer GHIS woer ea

June-berry trees, 80

June bug (Fig. 42), 65

Kerosene emulsion, 63, 278

King birds, 78

Knots that every farmer should
know (Fig. 8), 12, 13

Leaf-blight, 192

Leghorns, 50

Legumes, 147, 150, 153, 214
Lettuce, 187, 190, 196, 283
Lime-sulphur, 279

Linseed meal, 21

Loam, 85

Macaroni, 137

Manure, as fertilizer, 95, 160,
184; the best and cheapest fer-
tilizer (Fig. 54), 103, 104; old

and new ways of spreading
CGhigss 64,465) 120 ean
Maple trees, 101
Martins, 82

May beetle, see June bug

Meadow lark CMe. 50) “9 si

Meadow mice,

Meal, as calf nes 20, 27

Melons, 196; muskmelons, 197

Merinos, 36-38; merino ram (Fig.
yap ee)

Milch cows, see Dairy cows

Mildew, 177, 191, 198

Milk and butter, 29, 251; milk as

INDEX

food, 29; keeping milk pure
and clean, 29; milking the
cows, 29, 30; butter-fat, 24, 27,
30; ready to churn, 30; churn-
ing, 80; preparing butter for
market, 30, 31; the churn, 31,
32; cheese making, 32; by-
products, 32, 83; souring of
milk, 215; milk a germ carrier,
220, 221

Milk sugar, 32

Milk test, Babcock, 24, 27, 228,
247

Minorcas, 50

Mold, 213, 214

Moles, 79

Mosquitoes, 61, 64, 67,
218, 21

“Mother of vinegar,” 215

Moths, 64, 79, 196

Mulberry trees, 80, 82

Mustard, 196

Nighthawks, 79, 82
Nitrogen, 91-93, 95, 146, 160, 184
Nuthatches, 78

Oats, 9, 10, 20, 85, 87, 92, 94, 98,
138-142, 271; a heavy crop
(Fig. 76), 140; climate and soil,
138; preparing seed, 138; test-
ing, and easy sowing, 139;
seed bed, 140; moisture need-
ed, 139; rotation, 141; harvest-
ing, 141; uses, 142; fertilizer,
280; seed per acre and legal
weight per bushel, 283

Oil meal, 20

Onions, 187, 197, 283

Oranges, 283

Orchards, 172-181, 274; helping
cne another, 172; keeping near
market or railroad, 172; hill
lands for orchards, 172; the
best slope, 172; influence of
water, 173; kinds of soil for
fruit, 173; preparation of fruit
land, 173; planting trees, 173;
setting trees, 174; irrigating
(Fig. 93), 174; packing about
the roots, 175; tilling orchards,
175; crop between trees (Fig.
94), 175; injury to trees, 176;
pLuUning; —i1G,, Spraying, L7G,
177; Bordeaux mixture, 177;
spraying machines, 178; spray-
Ine Otte Chis: “95> el 79s
spraying (Fig. 96), 181; thin-
ning fruit, 178-180; harvesting
fruit, 180; peaches, 180; apples,
180, 181

Orioles, 82

Owls, 79

79, 216,

291

Br es 16650177, 2178; 196,

Parsley, 283

Parsnips, 193

gi raar Pie sae, CTS OT TS. BO:

wears, §5,-113, 174, 177, 179; 288

Peas, 10, 79, 187, 190, 191, 283

Peppers, 187

Percheron, 5; Percheron stallion
(Fig. 3), 4; prize six-horse
team “(Big. 4), 5.

Phosphorus, 93, 95

Picket rope with a half-granny
and half-hitch, 12

Pistil, the, 98, 99

Plants and how they grow, 96,
265; learning about plants, 96;
dividing their work, 96; roots
and their work, 96, 97; the
stem, 97; leaves, 97, 98; flover,
98; seed, 98; father and moti-
er, 98; corn flowers, 99; carry-
ing the pollen, 99; night work-
ers, 99, 100; pollen from other
plants, 100; kinds of plants,
100; why different, 100, 101;
interesting habit, 101; scatter-
ing their seed, 101, 102; how
man helps, 102

Plow, the first, 18; how to plow,
120, 121; plowing corn, 122

Plums, 173, 174, 283

Plymouth rocks, barred (Fig.
31), 51; white (Fig. 32), 52

age ya China, 39, 42 (Fig. 26),

Pollination, 98, 99; carrying pol-
len, 75, 99; night workers, 99,
100; pollen from other plants,
100

Pop corn, 122

Potash, 160, 184

Potato beetle, 79, 165, 177; at
work on plant (Fig. 89), 164

Potatoes, fIrish, 161-167, 272;
food for chickens, 54; clay soil
not good for, 85; in rotation,
94, 190; early home, 161; in
Ireland, 161; widely grown
crop; 1615 a tuber, 161; i262:
standard varieties (Fig. 88),
162; kinds of seed, 162, 163;
eyes, 102, 163; cutting seed,
163; how to choose seed, 163-
165; climate and soil, 165;
cultivation, 165; insect’ en-
emies, 165; potato bug (Fig.
89), 164; scab, 165, 166; blight,
166; harvesting, 166, 167; field,
yielding 350 bushels per acre
(Fig. 90), 166; mulching for,
191; fertilizer, 280; seed per

292
acre and legal weight per
bushel, 283; planting, 283

Potatoes, sweet, 167
Poultry, 49, 257; original home,
49; value to farmer, 49; eggs,

49-51, 54: four classes, 50;
Cochins, 50; Brahmas (Fig.
30), 50; Leghorns, 50; Minor-

eas, 50; Bantams, 50; general-
purpose fowls, 50, 51; Ply-
mouth “Rocks. (ies) 3), “bi;
(Fig. 32), 52; Wyandottes, 51;
Rhode Island Reds, 51; hab-
Lis, Si) nests: (ol wpe, an pens:
53; care of henhouse, 53; sani-
tary poultry house (Fig. 33),
55; laying hens, 53, 54; hatch-
ing little chicks, 54; how to
care for the brood, 54, 55;
chicken lice, Fd} brooder
chicks, 55, 56; incubator babies
(Fig. 34), 56; fattening broil-
ers, 56, 57; poultry pests, 57
Preserving foods, 213-215; germs

which help and hinder, 218;
yeast plant, 213; making
bread, 7213; “mold, 213; 214;
canning fruit, 214; bacteria,

214; smoking meats, 214, 215;
cold storage, 215; preserving
fruits, 215; souring of milk,
215

Problems, 241-275

Prunes, 178

Puddling, 209

Pumpkins, 283

Quail, see Bobwhite
Quinces, 283

Radishes, 96, 187, 190, 193, 283

Ragweed, 81, 168

Raisins, 198

Rakes, hand-dump (Fig. 79), 148;
self-dump (Fig. 80), 149

Raspberries, 198, 199, 283

Rats, 57, 7

Reap hoox, 127, 132; ancient tool
ae reaping grain (Fig. 69),
2

Reaper, 133, 134; the first (Fig.
73), 134

Red-bird, see Cardinal

Red-headed Woodpecker
7) aaa el Gea t=

Red rust, 199

Reef knot or square knot, 12

Rhode Island Reds, 51

Rhubarb, 283

Rice, 126, 157, 161; growing, 158;
products and enemies, 158, 159

Rice-stalk borer, 159

(Fig.

INDEX

im-
201;

Roads, country, 201-212;
portance of good roads,
sociability encouraged, 201;
good roads and schools, 201,
202; city people interested,
202; marketing farm produce,
202; fine public roads raise
value of farm lands (Fig. 101),
203; first expert road builders,
204; roads abroad and at home,
204; plantation mud _ pikes,
264, 205; early roads, 255; toll
roads, 205, 206; working out
road tax, 206; every township
should own a_ steam _ roller
(Fig. 103), 206; a better way,
206, 207; state’s part, 207;
drainage, 207, 208; grading and
draining are essential to good
roads (Fig. 104), 207; grading,
208; grading a country road
(Fig. 105), 210; surfacing clay
roads, 208; sand roads, 208;
loam roads, 208, 209; split-log
drag, 209; other aids to good
roads, 209; gravel and _ shell
surfacing, 209, 210; stone
roads, 210; Roman roads, 210;
macadam, 210, 211; brick, 212;
a brick road needs little care
and repair and brings the mar-
Ket nearer (Fig. 102), 205; lay-

ing. a brick road) Gis. 10er
211; draft on different sur-
faces, 212

Robins, 78

Rock phosphate, 95

Rotation of crops, 92, 93; good
reasons for, 938, 94; weeds
checked by, 93, 170; in the

north, 94; in potato states, 94;
for cotton, 94; for corn, 94, 120
“Royal jelly,’ 72

Rust, 131

Rye, 92, 113, 115, 126, 143-145,
283; an old crop, 1443; as pas-
ture, 144; enemies, 145; at-

tacked by ergot (Fig. 77), 144;
uses, 145

Salsify, 193, 283

Sanitation, farm, 216-224; loca-
tion of farmhouse, 216; dry
surroundings, 216; shade, 217;
water supply, 217; sewage a
source of disease, 217, 218;
river water, 218; mosquitoes,
218, 219; house fly, 219, 220;
milk a germ carrier, 220, 221;
ventilating the barn, 221; cold
air heavier than warm, 221;
home ventilation, 221, 222;
school ventilation, 222, 223; a

INDEX

well-ventilated country school
(Fig. 108), 222; school light-
ing, 223; the first top-lighted
school (Fig. 109), 224

Scab, the, 165, 166

Scale insects, 79, 178; black olive
scales, 81; San Jose, 279

School lighting, 223; first top-
lighted school (Fig. 109), 224

School ventilation, 222, 223; a
well-ventilated country school
(Fig. 108), 222

Seed, 98; how some plants scat-
ter, 101; quantity of, per acre,
283

Self-binder, 134, 135;
binder (Fig. 74), 135

Sewage, 217, 218

Shade, 217; every farm needs its
shade and water easily acces-
sible (Fig. 1), frontispiece.

Sheep, 34, 253; wild, 34; taming,
34; where sheep live, 35; use
of, 35, 36; for wool or mutton,
36; Merinos, 36-88; Merino ram
(Fig. 21), 36; cattle and sheep,
37; for mutton, 38; Shrop-
shires, 38; Southdowns, 38;
dogs and sheep, 37, 38; see also
names of sheep

Shepherd dog, 37, 38

Shire, the,

Shoeing the horse, 11

eae aaa 18 (Figs. 9 and 17),

ies 2
Shropshires, 38; ram (His. 22),
37

modern

Sickle, see Reap hook

Silkworms, 61, 65

Silos, 124; building, 125;
the silo (Fig. 68), 124

Slip knot, running noose or hal-
ter knot, 12

Smartweed, 81

Smut, 131

Soil, 84, 262; what they do, 84;
light, 84; heavy, 84, 85; crops
for clay, 85; loam, 85; what the
soil contains, 85; plant food,
86, 87; humus, 87-88; soil and
surface water, 88; why clay
soils are wet, 88, 89; holding
water for plants, 89; impor-

filling

tance of drainage, 89; good
soil contains air, 89, 90; how
to drain swampy land, 90;

farmer’s bacteria friends, 91;
bacteria and clover, 91; grow-
ing several crops, 92; not too
many crops, 92; rotation of
crops, 92, 94; phosphorus a
plant food, 95; keeping up the
land, :

293

Southdowns, 38

Soy beans, 91, 146

Sparrows, 82, 83; tree, 81

Spinach, 190

Spraying, 176, 177; apples (Figs.
38, 39), 62, 63; outfit for the
Orchard, 2¢hie. -95)> 79s the
successful orchardist aiways
Sprays (Fig. 96), 181

Squashes, 113, 187, 190, 196, 283

Stable, see Barns

Stains, how to remove, 276

Stamen, the, 98, 99

Starch, 125, 137

Sterilizing, 214

Stick tights, 101

“Stink bug,” 197

Strawberries, 172, 199, 200; noth-
ing so fine as home-grown
ee Gbaee LOO) 299

Sugar beets, 155-157; how dis-
covered, 155; a field (Fig. 85),
156; preparation and soil, 156,
157; harvesting, 157

Sugar cane, 154-155; planting,
102, 154, 155; harvesting 155

Swallows, 78, 8

Sweet corn, 190, 194, 195, 283

Swine, 39-48, 255; improving
hogs, 39; best breeds, 39;
Cheshire, 39). pie iC Pies = 23):
39; bacon type, 40; lard type,

40; Berkshires, 40; Berkshires
on clover (Fig. 24), 40; Ches-
ter-whites, 41; sows and pigs
(Fig. 25), 41; Duroc-Jerseys,
41; Poland-Chinas, 42; a prize
(Fig. 26), 42; feeding, 43-44;
rooting, 44; yards, 45; fencing,
45; sheds and _ “shelter, 45;
houses, 46; diseases, 47, 48
Swiss chard, 194

Tillage, 103-111; sowing and
reaping in olden times, 103;
wearing out the _ soil, 104;

Jethro Tull, 104; fields in poor
and good tilth (Figs. 55a, 55b),
105; feeding plants, 105, 106;
Keeping moisture in the soil,
106; dust mulch, 106, 107; dry
farming, 107

Timber hitch, 13

Timothy, 9; 87, 94, 124, (Fig. 7T)
1447 (his. 78) 147, 281, 283

Tobacco, 113, 159, 160; a heavy
crop and drying barn (Fig. 86),
158; drying and curing (Fig.
87), 159; fertilizer, 160; cur-
ing, 160

Tomatoes, 187, 189, 190, 191, 197,
280, 283

294

Trotting horse, American (Fig.
6),-Ty mares and colt. (rig: 7);
9

Tuberculosis, 220, 221

Tull, Jethro, 104 :

Turkeys, 58-59; bronze (Fig. 35),
5

Turnips, 10, 54, 85, 190, 192, 193,
196, 283
Typhoid, 217, 218, 220

Urus, the, 16

Vegetable oyster, see Salsify

Vegetables, distances apart for
planting, 283; see also names
of vegetables

Ventilation, see Sanitation

Vinegar, 215

Warblers, 78

Wasps, 61, 64

Water supply, 217; river water,
218

Weavers’ knot or sheet bend, 13

Weeds, 168-173; birds as destroy-
ers: 38 rotation fore Oa,
annuals, biennials, and peren-
nials, 168; fighting the weeds,
169, 170; for drugs, 171; in the
garden, 190; see also names of
weeds

Weevil, bean, 192; ‘‘black,’ 159;
cotton boll (Fig. 43), 66; pea,
19d, 192

INDEX

Weights per bushel, legal, 283
Wheat, 92, 95, 115, 126-137, 270;
for calves, 20; for chickens,
54; on clay soil, 85; composi-
tion of,87; white bread, 126;
first wheat farmers, 126; °in
Asia, 126; -in America, 127;
world’s crop, 127, 128; vari-
eties, 128; climate, 128; pre-
paring soil, 128; sowing, 128;
cultivation, 129; drill (Fig.
70), 129; in Japan, 129; cradle
(Migs. “1, 72), 1302 13 1s
in rotation, 94, 1380; enemies,
130, 131; harvest, 1381; sickle,
132; (Mis! 69)) 22% 3 amimeal
power, 1382; header, 132, 183;
reaper, 133, 134; the first (Fig.
73),- 184; self-binding, 134,
1385; modern binder (Fig. 74),
135; combined harvesters, 185,
136; shocks of golden grain
(Fig. 75), 1386; steam harvest-
ers, 186, 137; how much we
eat, 187; other uses, 137; fer-
tilizer, 280; seed per acre and
legal weight per bushel, 283
Whey, 32
Window box, 187
Woodpecker, see
Woodpecker
Wren, 82
Wyandottes, 51

Yeast, 213

Red - headed

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Pe ari as a
ity a Ma "ts

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