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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Agriculture for Beginners, by
+Charles William Burkett and Frank Lincoln Stevens and Daniel Harvey Hill
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Agriculture for Beginners
+       Revised Edition
+
+Author: Charles William Burkett
+        Frank Lincoln Stevens
+        Daniel Harvey Hill
+
+Release Date: March 8, 2007 [EBook #20772]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
+This file is gratefully uploaded to the PG collection in
+honor of Distributed Proofreaders having posted over
+10,000 ebooks.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  AGRICULTURE FOR
+  BEGINNERS
+
+  BY
+
+  CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT
+
+  EDITOR OF THE _AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST_
+  FORMERLY DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
+  KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
+
+
+  FRANK LINCOLN STEVENS
+
+  PROFESSOR OF PLANT PATHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
+  FORMERLY TEACHER OF SCIENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL
+  COLUMBUS, OHIO
+
+  AND
+
+  DANIEL HARVEY HILL
+
+  FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE OF
+  AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS
+
+  _REVISED EDITION_
+
+
+
+
+  GINN AND COMPANY
+  BOSTON . NEW YORK . CHICAGO . LONDON
+  ATLANTA . DALLAS . COLUMBUS . SAN FRANCISCO
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1903, 1904, 1914, BY
+  CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT, FRANK LINCOLN STEVENS AND DANIEL HARVEY HILL
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+  329.7
+
+  The Athenaeum Press
+  GINN AND COMPANY . PROPRIETORS . BOSTON . U.S.A.
+
+
+[Illustration: GETTING READY FOR WINTER]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Since its first publication "Agriculture for Beginners" has found a
+welcome in thousands of schools and homes. Naturally many suggestions as
+to changes, additions, and other improvements have reached its authors.
+Naturally, too, the authors have busied themselves in devising methods
+to add to the effectiveness of the book. Some additions have been made
+almost every year since the book was published. To embody all these
+changes and helpful suggestions into a strictly unified volume; to add
+some further topics and sections; to bring all farm practices up to the
+ideals of to-day; to include the most recent teaching of scientific
+investigators--these were the objects sought in the thorough revision
+which has just been given the book. The authors hope and think that the
+remaking of the book has added to its usefulness and attractiveness.
+
+They believe now, as they believed before, that there is no line of
+separation between the science of agriculture and the practical art of
+agriculture. They are assured by the success of this book that
+agriculture is eminently a teachable subject. They see no difference
+between teaching the child the fundamental principles of farming and
+teaching the same child the fundamental truths of arithmetic, geography,
+or grammar. They hold that a youth should be trained for the farm just
+as carefully as he is trained for any other occupation, and that it is
+unreasonable to expect him to succeed without training.
+
+If they are right in these views, the training must begin in the public
+schools. This is true for two reasons:
+
+1. It is universally admitted that aptitudes are developed, tastes
+acquired, and life habits formed during the years that a child is in the
+public school. Hence, during these important years every child intended
+for the farm should be taught to know and love nature, should be led to
+form habits of observation, and should be required to begin a study of
+those great laws upon which agriculture is based. A training like this
+goes far toward making his life-work profitable and delightful.
+
+2. Most boys and girls reared on a farm get no educational training
+except that given in the public schools. If, then, the truths that
+unlock the doors of nature are not taught in the public schools, nature
+and nature's laws will always be hid in night to a majority of our
+bread-winners. They must still in ignorance and hopeless drudgery tear
+their bread from a reluctant soil.
+
+The authors return hearty thanks to Professor Thomas F. Hunt, University
+of California; Professor Augustine D. Selby, Ohio Experiment Station;
+Professor W. F. Massey, horticulturist and agricultural writer; and
+Professor Franklin Sherman, Jr., State Entomologist of North Carolina,
+for aid in proofreading and in the preparation of some of the material.
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER I. THE SOIL
+
+  SECTION                                                  PAGE
+
+  I. ORIGIN OF THE SOIL                                       1
+
+  II. TILLAGE OF THE SOIL                                     6
+
+  III. THE MOISTURE OF THE SOIL                               9
+
+  IV. HOW THE WATER RISES IN THE SOIL                        13
+
+  V. DRAINING THE SOIL                                       14
+
+  VI. IMPROVING THE SOIL                                     17
+
+  VII. MANURING THE SOIL                                     21
+
+
+  CHAPTER II. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT
+
+  VIII. ROOTS                                                25
+
+  IX. HOW THE PLANT FEEDS FROM THE SOIL                      29
+
+  X. ROOT-TUBERCLES                                          30
+
+  XI. THE ROTATION OF CROPS                                  33
+
+
+  CHAPTER III. THE PLANT
+
+  XII. HOW THE PLANT FEEDS FROM THE AIR                      39
+
+  XIII. THE SAP CURRENT                                      40
+
+  XIV. THE FLOWER AND THE SEED                               42
+
+  XV. POLLINATION                                            46
+
+  XVI. CROSSES, HYBRIDS, AND CROSS-POLLINATION               48
+
+  XVII. PROPAGATION BY BUDS                                  51
+
+  XVIII. PLANT SEEDING                                       59
+
+  XIX. SELECTING SEED CORN                                   66
+
+  XX. WEEDS                                                  69
+
+  XXI. SEED PURITY AND VITALITY                              72
+
+  CHAPTER IV. HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE
+
+  XXII. GRAFTING                                             78
+
+  XXIII. BUDDING                                             81
+
+  XXIV. PLANTING AND PRUNING                                 83
+
+
+  CHAPTER V. HORTICULTURE
+
+  XXV. MARKET-GARDENING                                      89
+
+  XXVI. FLOWER-GARDENING                                    108
+
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI. THE DISEASES OF PLANTS
+
+  XXVII. THE CAUSE AND NATURE OF PLANT DISEASE              122
+
+  XXVIII. YEAST AND BACTERIA                                127
+
+  XXIX. PREVENTION OF PLANT DISEASE                         129
+
+  XXX. SOME SPECIAL PLANT DISEASES                          130
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII. ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS
+
+  XXXI. INSECTS IN GENERAL                                  144
+
+  XXXII. ORCHARD INSECTS                                    152
+
+  XXXIII. GARDEN AND FIELD INSECTS                          165
+
+  XXXIV. THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL                             173
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII. FARM CROPS
+
+  XXXV. COTTON                                              180
+
+  XXXVI. TOBACCO                                            189
+
+  XXXVII. WHEAT                                             192
+
+  XXXVIII. CORN                                             197
+
+  XXXIX. PEANUTS                                            202
+
+  XL. SWEET POTATOES                                        204
+
+  XLI. WHITE, OR IRISH, POTATOES                            206
+
+  XLII. OATS                                                209
+
+  XLIII. RYE                                                213
+
+  XLIV. BARLEY                                              215
+
+  XLV. SUGAR PLANTS                                         217
+
+  XLVI. HEMP AND FLAX                                       226
+
+  XLVII. BUCKWHEAT                                          229
+
+  XLVIII. RICE                                              231
+
+  XLIX. THE TIMBER CROP                                     232
+
+  L. THE FARM GARDEN                                        235
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX. FEED STUFFS
+
+  LI. GRASSES                                               238
+
+  LII. LEGUMES                                              244
+
+
+  CHAPTER X. DOMESTIC ANIMALS
+
+  LIII. HORSES                                              262
+
+  LIV. CATTLE                                               270
+
+  LV. SHEEP                                                 276
+
+  LVI. SWINE                                                279
+
+  LVII. FARM POULTRY                                        282
+
+  LVIII. BEE CULTURE                                        286
+
+  LIX. WHY WE FEED ANIMALS                                  290
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI. FARM DAIRYING
+
+  LX. THE DAIRY COW                                         293
+
+  LXI. MILK, CREAM, CHURNING, AND BUTTER                    297
+
+  LXII. HOW MILK SOURS                                      302
+
+  LXIII. THE BABCOCK MILK-TESTER                            304
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS
+
+  LXIV. GROWING FEED STUFFS ON THE FARM                     309
+
+  LXV. FARM TOOLS AND MACHINES                              313
+
+  LXVI. LIMING THE LAND                                     315
+
+  LXVII. BIRDS                                              318
+
+  LXVIII. FARMING ON DRY LAND                               323
+
+  LXIX. IRRIGATION                                          326
+
+  LXX. LIFE IN THE COUNTRY                                  330
+
+
+  APPENDIX                                                           339
+
+
+  GLOSSARY                                                           342
+
+
+  INDEX                                                              351
+
+
+
+
+TO THE TEACHER
+
+
+Teachers sometimes shrink from undertaking the teaching of a simple
+textbook on agriculture because they are not familiar with all the
+processes of farming. By the same reasoning they might hesitate to teach
+arithmetic because they do not know calculus or to teach a primary
+history of the United States because they are not versed in all history.
+The art of farming is based on the sciences dealing with the growth of
+plants and animals. This book presents in a simple way these fundamental
+scientific truths and suggests some practices drawn from them. Hence,
+even though many teachers may not have plowed or sowed or harvested,
+such teachers need not be embarrassed in mastering and heartily
+instructing a class in nature's primary laws.
+
+If teachers realize how much the efficiency, comfort, and happiness of
+their pupils will be increased throughout their lives from being taught
+to cooeperate with nature and to take advantage of her wonderful laws,
+they will eagerly begin this study. They will find also that their
+pupils will be actively interested in these studies bearing on their
+daily lives, and this interest will be carried over to other subjects.
+Whenever you can, take the pupils into the field, the garden, the
+orchard, and the dairy. Teach them to make experiments and to learn by
+the use of their own eyes and brains. They will, if properly led,
+astonish you by their efforts and growth.
+
+You will find in the practical exercises many suggestions as to
+experiments that you can make with your class or with individual
+members. Do not neglect this first-hand teaching. It will be a delight
+to your pupils. In many cases it will be best to finish the experiments
+or observational work first, and later turn to the text to amplify the
+pupil's knowledge.
+
+Although the book is arranged in logical order, the teacher ought to
+feel free to teach any topic in the season best suited to its study.
+Omit any chapter or section that does not bear on your crops or does not
+deal with conditions in your state.
+
+The United States government and the different state experiment stations
+publish hundreds of bulletins on agricultural subjects. These are sent
+without cost, on application. It will be very helpful to get such of
+these bulletins as bear on the different sections of the book. These
+will be valuable additions to your school library. The authors would
+like to give a list of these bulletins bearing on each chapter, but it
+would soon be out of date, for the bulletins get out of print and are
+supplanted by newer ones. However, the United States Department of
+Agriculture prints a monthly list of its publications, and each state
+experiment station keeps a list of its bulletins. A note to the
+Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., or to your own state
+experiment station will promptly bring you these lists, and from them
+you can select what you need for your school.
+
+
+
+
+AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE SOIL
+
+
+SECTION I. ORIGIN OF THE SOIL
+
+The word _soil_ occurs many times in this little book. In agriculture
+this word is used to describe the thin layer of surface earth that, like
+some great blanket, is tucked around the wrinkled and age-beaten form of
+our globe. The harder and colder earth under this surface layer is
+called the _subsoil_. It should be noted, however, that in waterless and
+sun-dried regions there seems little difference between the soil and the
+subsoil.
+
+Plants, insects, birds, beasts, men,--all alike are fed on what grows in
+this thin layer of soil. If some wild flood in sudden wrath could sweep
+into the ocean this earth-wrapping soil, food would soon become as
+scarce as it was in Samaria when mothers ate their sons. The face of the
+earth as we now see it, daintily robed in grass, or uplifting waving
+acres of corn, or even naked, water-scarred, and disfigured by man's
+neglect, is very different from what it was in its earliest days. How
+was it then? How was the soil formed?
+
+Learned men think that at first the surface of the earth was solid rock.
+How was this rock changed into workable soil? Occasionally a curious boy
+picks up a rotten stone, squeezes it, and finds his hands filled with
+dirt, or soil. Now, just as the boy crumbled with his fingers this
+single stone, the great forces of nature with boundless patience
+crumbled, or, as it is called, disintegrated, the early rock mass. The
+simple but giant-strong agents that beat the rocks into powder with a
+clublike force a millionfold more powerful than the club force of
+Hercules were chiefly (1) heat and cold; (2) water, frost, and ice; (3)
+a very low form of vegetable life; and (4) tiny animals--if such minute
+bodies can be called animals. In some cases these forces acted singly;
+in others, all acted together to rend and crumble the unbroken stretch
+of rock. Let us glance at some of the methods used by these skilled
+soil-makers.
+
+Heat and cold are working partners. You already know that most hot
+bodies shrink, or contract, on cooling. The early rocks were hot. As the
+outside shell of rock cooled from exposure to air and moisture it
+contracted. This shrinkage of the rigid rim of course broke many of the
+rocks, and here and there left cracks, or fissures. In these fissures
+water collected and froze. As freezing water expands with irresistible
+power, the expansion still further broke the rocks to pieces. The
+smaller pieces again, in the same way, were acted on by frost and ice
+and again crumbled. This process is still a means of soil-formation.
+
+Running water was another giant soil-former. If you would understand its
+action, observe some usually sparkling stream just after a washing rain.
+The clear waters are discolored by mud washed in from the surrounding
+hills. As though disliking their muddy burden, the waters strive to
+throw it off. Here, as low banks offer chance, they run out into
+shallows and drop some of it. Here, as they pass a quiet pool, they
+deposit more. At last they reach the still water at the mouth of the
+stream, and there they leave behind the last of their mud load, and
+often form of it little three-sided islands called _deltas_. In the same
+way mighty rivers like the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Hudson, when
+they are swollen by rain, bear great quantities of soil in their sweep
+to the seas. Some of the soil they scatter over the lowlands as they
+whirl seaward; the rest they deposit in deltas at their mouths. It is
+estimated that the Mississippi carries to the ocean each year enough
+soil to cover a square mile of surface to a depth of two hundred and
+sixty-eight feet.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1. ROCK MARKED BY THE SCRAPING OF A GLACIER OVER IT]
+
+The early brooks and rivers, instead of bearing mud, ran oceanward
+either bearing ground stone that they themselves had worn from the rocks
+by ceaseless fretting, or bearing stones that other forces had already
+dislodged. The large pieces were whirled from side to side and beaten
+against one another or against bedrock until they were ground into
+smaller and smaller pieces. The rivers distributed this rock soil just
+as the later rivers distribute muddy soil. For ages the moving waters
+ground against the rocks. Vast were the waters; vast the number of
+years; vast the results.
+
+Glaciers were another soil-producing agent. Glaciers are streams "frozen
+and moving slowly but irresistibly onwards, down well-defined valleys,
+grinding and pulverizing the rock masses detached by the force and
+weight of their attack." Where and how were these glaciers formed?
+
+Once a great part of upper North America was a vast sheet of ice.
+Whatever moisture fell from the sky fell as snow. No one knows what made
+this long winter of snow, but we do know that snows piled on snows until
+mountains of white were built up. The lower snow was by the pressure of
+that above it packed into ice masses. By and by some change of climate
+caused the masses of ice to break up somewhat and to move south and
+west. These moving masses, carrying rock and frozen earth, ground them
+to powder. King thus describes the stately movement of these snow
+mountains: "Beneath the bottom of this slowly moving sheet of ice, which
+with more or less difficulty kept itself conformable with the face of
+the land over which it was riding, the sharper outstanding points were
+cut away and the deeper river canons filled in. Desolate and rugged
+rocky wastes were thrown down and spread over with rich soil."
+
+The joint action of air, moisture, and frost was still another agent of
+soil-making. This action is called _weathering_. Whenever you have
+noticed the outside stones of a spring-house, you have noticed that tiny
+bits are crumbling from the face of the stones, and adding little by
+little to the soil. This is a slow way of making additions to the soil.
+It is estimated that it would take 728,000 years to wear away limestone
+rock to a depth of thirty-nine inches. But when you recall the
+countless years through which the weather has striven against the rocks,
+you can readily understand that its never-wearying activity has added
+immensely to the soil.
+
+In the rock soil formed in these various ways, and indeed on the rocks
+themselves, tiny plants that live on food taken from the air began to
+grow. They grew just as you now see mosses and lichens grow on the
+surface of rocks. The decay of these plants added some fertility to the
+newly formed soil. The life and death of each succeeding generation of
+these lowly plants added to the soil matter accumulating on the rocks.
+Slowly but unceasingly the soil increased in depth until higher
+vegetable forms could flourish and add their dead bodies to it. This
+vegetable addition to the soil is generally known as _humus_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2. GROUND ROCK AT END OF A GLACIER]
+
+In due course of time low forms of animal life came to live on these
+plants, and in turn by their work and their death to aid in making a
+soil fit for the plowman.
+
+Thus with a deliberation that fills man with awe, the powerful forces of
+nature splintered the rocks, crumbled them, filled them with plant food,
+and turned their flinty grains into a soft, snug home for vegetable
+life.
+
+
+SECTION II. TILLAGE OF THE SOIL
+
+A good many years ago a man by the name of Jethro Tull lived in England.
+He was a farmer and a most successful man in every way. He first taught
+the English people and the world the value of thorough tillage of the
+soil. Before and during his time farmers did not till the soil very
+intelligently. They simply prepared the seed-bed in a careless manner,
+as a great many farmers do to-day, and when the crops were gathered the
+yields were not large.
+
+Jethro Tull centered attention on the important fact that careful and
+thorough tillage increases the available plant food in the soil. He did
+not know why his crops were better when the ground was frequently and
+thoroughly tilled, but he knew that such tillage did increase his yield.
+He explained the fact by saying, "Tillage is manure." We have since
+learned the reason for the truth that Tull taught, and, while his
+explanation was incorrect, the practice that he was following was
+excellent. The stirring of the soil enables the air to circulate through
+it freely, and permits a breaking down of the compounds that contain the
+elements necessary to plant growth.
+
+You have seen how the air helps to crumble the stone and brick in old
+buildings. It does the same with soil if permitted to circulate freely
+through it. The agent of the air that chiefly performs this work is
+called carbonic acid gas, and this gas is one of the greatest helpers
+the farmer has in carrying on his work. We must not forget that in soil
+preparation the air is just as important as any of the tools and
+implements used in cultivation.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3. SLOPE TO WATER SHOWS SOIL WEATHERED FROM FACE
+OF CLIFF]
+
+If the soil is fertile and if deep plowing has always been done, good
+crops will result, other conditions being favorable. If, however, the
+tillage is poor, scanty harvests will always result. For most soils a
+two-horse plow is necessary to break up and pulverize the land.
+
+A shallow soil can always be improved by properly deepening it. The
+principle of greatest importance in soil-preparation is the gradual
+deepening of the soil in order that plant-roots may have more
+comfortable homes. If the farmer has been accustomed to plow but four
+inches deep, he should adjust the plow so as to turn five inches at the
+next plowing, then six, and so on until the seed-bed is nine or ten
+inches deep. This gradual deepening will not injure the soil but will
+put it quickly in good condition. If to good tillage rotation of crops
+be added, the soil will become more fertile with each succeeding year.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4. MIXED GRASSES GROWN FOR FORAGE]
+
+The plow, harrow, and roller are all necessary to good tillage and to a
+proper preparation of the seed-bed. The soil must be made compact and
+clods of all sizes must be crushed. Then the air circulates freely, and
+paying crops are the rule and not the exception.
+
+Tillage does these things: it increases the plant-food supply, destroys
+weeds, and influences the moisture content of the soil.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     1. What tools are used in tillage?
+
+     2. How should a poor and shallow soil be treated?
+
+     3. Why should a poor and shallow soil be well compacted before
+     sowing the crop?
+
+     4. Explain the value of a circulation of air in the soil.
+
+     5. What causes iron to rust?
+
+     6. Why is a two-horse turning-plow better than a one-horse plow?
+
+     7. Where will clods do the least harm--on top of the soil or below
+     the surface?
+
+     8. Do plant roots penetrate clods?
+
+     9. Are earthworms a benefit or an injury to the soil?
+
+     10. Name three things that tillage does.
+
+
+SECTION III. THE MOISTURE OF THE SOIL
+
+Did any one ever explain to you how important water is to the soil, or
+tell you why it is so important? Often, as you know, crops entirely fail
+because there is not enough water in the soil for the plants to drink.
+How necessary is it, then, that the soil be kept in the best possible
+condition to catch and hold enough water to carry the plant through dry,
+hot spells! Perhaps you are ready to ask, "How does the mouthless plant
+drink its stored-up water?"
+
+The plant gets all its water through its roots. You have seen the tiny
+threadlike roots of a plant spreading all about in fine soil; they are
+down in the ground taking up plant food and water for the stalk and
+leaves above. The water, carrying plant food with it, rises in a simple
+but peculiar way through the roots and stems.
+
+The plants use the food for building new tissue, that is, for growth.
+The water passes out through the leaves into the air. When the summers
+are dry and hot and there is but little water in the soil, the leaves
+shrink up. This is simply a method they have of keeping the water from
+passing too rapidly off into the air. I am sure you have seen the corn
+blades all shriveled on very hot days. This shrinkage is nature's way of
+diminishing the current of water that is steadily passing through the
+plant.
+
+A thrifty farmer will try to keep his soil in such good condition that
+it will have a supply of water in it for growing crops when dry and hot
+weather comes. He can do this by deep plowing, by subsoiling, by adding
+any kind of decaying vegetable matter to the soil, and by growing crops
+that can be tilled frequently.
+
+The soil is a great storehouse for moisture. After the clouds have
+emptied their waters into this storehouse, the water of the soil comes
+to the surface, where it is evaporated into the air. The water comes to
+the surface in just the same way that oil rises in a lamp-wick. This
+rising of the water is called _capillarity_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5. AN ENLARGED VIEW OF A SECTION OF MOIST SOIL,
+SHOWING AIR SPACES AND SOIL PARTICLES]
+
+It is necessary to understand what is meant by this big word. If into a
+pan of water you dip a glass tube, the water inside the tube rises above
+the level of the water in the pan. The smaller the tube the higher will
+the water rise. The greater rise inside is perhaps due to the fact that
+the glass attracts the particles of water more than the particles of
+water attract one another. Now apply this principle to the soil.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6. THE RIGHT WAY TO PLOW]
+
+The soil particles have small spaces between them, and the spaces act
+just as the tube does. When the water at the surface is carried away by
+drying winds and warmth, the water deeper in the soil rises through
+the soil spaces. In this way water is brought from its soil storehouse
+as plants need it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7. APPARATUS FOR TESTING THE HOLDING OF WATER BY
+DIFFERENT SOILS]
+
+Of course when the underground water reaches the surface it evaporates.
+If we want to keep it for our crops, we must prepare a trap to hold it.
+Nature has shown us how this can be done. Pick up a plank as it lies on
+the ground. Under the plank the soil is wet, while the soil not covered
+by the plank is dry. Why? Capillarity brought the water to the surface,
+and the plank, by keeping away wind and warmth, acted as a trap to hold
+the moisture. Now of course a farmer cannot set a trap of planks over
+his fields, but he can make a trap of dry earth, and that will do just
+as well.
+
+When a crop like corn or cotton or potatoes is cultivated, the fine,
+loose dirt stirred by the cultivating-plow will make a mulch that serves
+to keep water in the soil in the same way that the plank kept moisture
+under it. The mulch also helps to absorb the rains and prevents the
+water from running off the surface. Frequent cultivation, then, is one
+of the best possible ways of saving moisture. Hence the farmer who most
+frequently stirs his soil in the growing season, and especially in
+seasons of drought, reaps, other things being equal, a more abundant
+harvest than if tillage were neglected.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     1. Why is the soil wet under a board or under straw?
+
+     2. Will a soil that is fine and compact produce better crops than
+     one that is loose and cloddy? Why?
+
+     3. Since the water which a plant uses comes through the roots, can
+     the morning dew afford any assistance?
+
+     4. Why are weeds objectionable in a growing crop?
+
+     5. Why does the farmer cultivate growing corn and cotton?
+
+
+SECTION IV. HOW THE WATER RISES IN THE SOIL
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8. USING LAMP-CHIMNEYS TO SHOW THE RISE OF WATER
+IN SOIL]
+
+When the hot, dry days of summer come, the soil depends upon the
+subsoil, or undersoil, for the moisture that it must furnish its growing
+plants. The water was stored in the soil during the fall, winter, and
+spring months when there was plenty of rain. If you dig down into the
+soil when everything is dry and hot, you will soon reach a cool, moist
+undersoil. The moisture increases as you dig deeper into the soil.
+
+Now the roots of plants go down into the soil for this moisture, because
+they need the water to carry the plant food up into the stems and
+leaves.
+
+You can see how the water rises in the soil by performing a simple
+experiment.
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENT=
+
+     Take a lamp-chimney and fill it with fine, dry dirt. The dirt from
+     a road or a field will do. Tie over the smaller end of the
+     lamp-chimney a piece of cloth or a pocket handkerchief, and place
+     this end in a shallow pan of water. If the soil in the lamp-chimney
+     is clay and well packed, the water will quickly rise to the top.
+
+     By filling three or four lamp-chimneys with as many different
+     soils, the pupil will see that the water rises more slowly in some
+     than in others.
+
+     Now take the water pan away, and the water in the lamp-chimneys
+     will gradually evaporate. Study for a few days the effect of
+     evaporation on the several soils.
+
+
+SECTION V. DRAINING THE SOIL
+
+A wise man was once asked, "What is the most valuable improvement ever
+made in agriculture?" He answered, "Drainage." Often soils unfit for
+crop-production because they contain too much water are by drainage
+rendered the most valuable of farming lands.
+
+Drainage benefits land in the following ways:
+
+1. It deepens the subsoil by removing unnecessary water from the spaces
+between the soil particles. This admits air. Then the oxygen which is in
+the air, by aiding decay, prepares plant food for vegetation.
+
+2. It makes the surface soil, or topsoil, deeper. It stands to reason
+that the deeper the soil the more plant food becomes available for plant
+use.
+
+3. It improves the texture of the soil. Wet soil is sticky. Drainage
+makes this sticky soil crumble and fall apart.
+
+4. It prevents washing.
+
+5. It increases the porosity of soils and permits roots to go deeper
+into the soil for food and moisture.
+
+6. It increases the warmth of the soil.
+
+7. It permits earlier working in spring and after rains.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9. LAYING A TILE DRAIN]
+
+8. It favors the growth of germs which change the unavailable nitrogen
+of the soil into nitrates; that is, into the form of nitrogen most
+useful to plants.
+
+9. It enables plants to resist drought better because the roots go into
+the ground deeper early in the season.
+
+A soil that is hard and wet will not grow good crops. The
+nitrogen-gathering crops will store the greatest quantity of nitrogen in
+the soil when the soil is open to the free circulation of the air.
+These valuable crops cannot do this when the soil is wet and cold.
+
+Sandy soils with sandy subsoils do not often need drainage; such soils
+are naturally drained. With clay soils it is different. It is very
+important to remove the stagnant water in them and to let the air in.
+
+When land has been properly drained the other steps in improvement are
+easily taken. After soil has been dried and mellowed by proper drainage,
+then commercial fertilizers, barnyard manure, cowpeas, and clover can
+most readily do their great work of improving the texture of the soil
+and of making it fitter for plant growth.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 10. A TILE IN POSITION]
+
+=Tile Drains.= Tile drains are the best and cheapest that can be used.
+It would not be too strong to say that draining by tiles is the most
+perfect drainage. Thousands of practical tests in this country have
+proved the superiority of tile draining for the following reasons:
+
+1. Good tile drains properly laid last for years and do not fill up.
+
+2. They furnish the cheapest possible means of removing too much water
+from the soil.
+
+3. They are out of reach of all cultivating tools.
+
+4. Surface water in filtering through the tiles leaves its nutritious
+elements for plant growth.
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENTS=
+
+     =To show the Effect of Drainage.= Take two tomato cans and fill
+     both with the same kind of soil. Punch several holes in the bottom
+     of one to drain the soil above and to admit air circulation. Leave
+     the other unpunctured. Plant seeds of any kind in both cans and
+     keep in a warm place. Add every third day equal quantities of
+     water. Let seeds grow in both cans and observe the difference in
+     growth for two or three weeks.
+
+     =To show the Effect of Air in Soils.= Take two tomato cans; fill
+     one with soil that is loose and warm, and the other with wet clay
+     or muck from a swampy field. Plant a few seeds of the same kind in
+     each and observe how much better the dry, warm, open soil is for
+     growing farm crops.
+
+
+SECTION VI. IMPROVING THE SOIL
+
+We hear a great deal about the exhaustion or wearing out of the soil.
+Many uncomfortable people are always declaring that our lands will no
+longer produce profitable crops, and hence that farming will no longer
+pay.
+
+Now it is true, unfortunately, that much land has been robbed of its
+fertility, and, because this is true, we should be most deeply
+interested in everything that leads to the improvement of our soils.
+
+When our country was first discovered and trees were growing everywhere,
+we had virgin soils, or new soils that were rich and productive because
+they were filled with vegetable matter and plant food. There are not
+many virgin soils now because the trees have been cut from the best
+lands, and these lands have been farmed so carelessly that the vegetable
+matter and available plant food have been largely used up. Now that
+fresh land is scarce it is very necessary to restore fertility to these
+exhausted lands. What are some of the ways in which this can be done?
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11. CLOVER IS A SOIL-IMPROVER]
+
+There are several things to be done in trying to reclaim worn-out land.
+One of the first of these is to till the land well. Many of you may have
+heard the story of the dying father who called his sons about him and
+whispered feebly, "There is great treasure hidden in the garden." The
+sons could hardly wait to bury their dead father before, thud, thud,
+thud, their picks were going in the garden. Day after day they dug; they
+dug deep; they dug wide. Not a foot of the crop-worn garden escaped the
+probing of the pick as the sons feverishly searched for the expected
+treasure. But no treasure was found. Their work seemed entirely useless.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12. INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVE POWER OF THE SOIL
+Second crop of cowpeas on old, abandoned land]
+
+"Let us not lose every whit of our labor; let us plant this pick-scarred
+garden," said the eldest. So the garden was planted. In the fall the
+hitherto neglected garden yielded a harvest so bountiful, so unexpected,
+that the meaning of their father's words dawned upon them. "Truly," they
+said, "a treasure was hidden there. Let us seek it in all our fields."
+
+The story applies as well to-day as it did when it was first told.
+Thorough culture of the soil, frequent and intelligent tillage--these
+are the foundations of soil-restoration.
+
+Along with good tillage must go crop-rotation and good drainage. A
+supply of organic matter will prevent heavy rains from washing the soil
+and carrying away plant food. Drainage will aid good tillage in allowing
+air to circulate between the soil particles and in arranging plant food
+so that plants can use it.
+
+But we must add humus, or vegetable matter, to the soil. You remember
+that the virgin soils contained a great deal of vegetable matter and
+plant food, but by the continuous growing of crops like wheat, corn, and
+cotton, and by constant shallow tillage, both humus and plant food have
+been used up. Consequently much of our cultivated soil to-day is hard
+and dead.
+
+There are three ways of adding humus and plant food to this lifeless
+land: the first way is to apply barnyard manure (to adopt this method
+means that livestock raising must be a part of all farming); the second
+way is to adopt rotation of crops, and frequently to plow under crops
+like clover and cowpeas; the third way is to apply commercial
+fertilizers.
+
+To summarize: if we want to make our soil better year by year, we must
+cultivate well, drain well, and in the most economical way add humus and
+plant food.
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENT=
+
+     Select a small area of ground at your home and divide it into four
+     sections, as shown in the following sketch:
+
+     On Section _A_ apply barnyard manure; on Section _B_ apply
+     commercial fertilizers; on Section _C_ apply nothing, but till
+     well; on Section _D_ apply nothing, and till very poorly.
+
+     _A_, _B_, and _C_ should all be thoroughly plowed and harrowed.
+     Then add barnyard manure to _A_, commercial fertilizers to _B_, and
+     harrow _A_, _B_, and _C_ at least four times until the soil is
+     mellow and fine. _D_ will most likely be cloddy, like many fields
+     that we often see. Now plant on each plat some crop like cotton,
+     corn, or wheat. When the plats are ready to harvest, measure the
+     yield of each and determine whether the increased yield of the best
+     plats has paid for the outlay for tillage and manure. The pupil
+     will be much interested in the results obtained from the first
+     crop.
+
+     [Illustration: FIG. 13]
+
+     Now follow a system of crop-rotation on the plats. Clover can
+     follow corn or cotton or wheat; and cowpeas, wheat. Then determine
+     the yield of each plat for the second crop. By following these
+     plats for several years, and increasing the number, the pupils will
+     learn many things of greatest value.
+
+
+
+
+SECTION VII. MANURING THE SOIL
+
+In the early days of our history, when the soil was new and rich, we
+were not compelled to use large amounts of manures and fertilizers. Yet
+our histories speak of an Indian named Squanto who came into one of the
+New England colonies and showed the first settlers how, by putting a
+fish in each hill of corn, they could obtain larger yields.
+
+If people in those days, with new and fertile soils, could use manures
+profitably, how much more ought we to use them in our time, when soils
+have lost their virgin fertility, and when the plant food in the soil
+has been exhausted by years and years of cropping!
+
+To sell year after year all the produce grown on land is a sure way to
+ruin it. If, for example, the richest land is planted every year in
+corn, and no stable or farmyard manure or other fertilizer returned to
+the soil, the land so treated will of course soon become too poor to
+grow any crop. If, on the other hand, clover or alfalfa or corn or
+cotton-seed meal is fed to stock, and the manure from the stock returned
+to the soil, the land will be kept rich. Hence those farmers who do not
+sell such raw products as cotton, corn, wheat, oats, and clover, but who
+market articles made from these raw products, find it easier to keep
+their land fertile. For illustration: if instead of selling hay, farmers
+feed it to sheep and sell meat and wool; if instead of selling cotton
+seed, they feed its meal to cows, and sell milk and butter; if instead
+of selling stover, they feed it to beef cattle, they get a good price
+for products and in addition have all the manure needed to keep their
+land productive and increase its value each year.
+
+[Illustration:FIG. 14. RELATION OF HUMUS TO GROWTH OF CORN
+1, clay subsoil; 2, same, with fertilizer; 3, same, with humus]
+
+If we wish to keep up the fertility of our lands we should not allow
+anything to be lost from our farms. All the manures, straw, roots,
+stubble, healthy vines--in fact everything decomposable--should be
+plowed under or used as a top-dressing. Especial care should be taken in
+storing manure. It should be watchfully protected from sun and rain. If
+a farmer has no shed under which to keep his manure, he should scatter
+it on his fields as fast as it is made.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15. THE COTTON PLANT WITH AND WITHOUT FOOD
+In left top pot, no plant food; in left bottom pot, plant food scanty;
+in both right pots, all elements of plant food present]
+
+He should understand also that liquid manure is of more value than
+solid, because that important plant food, nitrogen, is found almost
+wholly in the liquid portion. Some of the phosphoric acid and
+considerable amounts of the potash are also found in the liquid manure.
+Hence economy requires that none of this escape either by leakage or by
+fermentation. Sometimes one can detect the smell of ammonia in the
+stable. This ammonia is formed by the decomposition of the liquid
+manure, and its loss should be checked by sprinkling some floats, acid
+phosphate, or muck over the stable floor.
+
+Many farmers find it desirable to buy fertilizers to use with the manure
+made on the farm. In this case it is helpful to understand the
+composition, source, and availability of the various substances
+composing commercial fertilizers. The three most valuable things in
+commercial fertilizers are nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid.
+
+The nitrogen is obtained from (1) nitrate of soda mined in Chile, (2)
+ammonium sulphate, a by-product of the gas works, (3) dried blood and
+other by-products of the slaughter-houses, and (4) cotton-seed meal.
+Nitrate of soda is soluble in water and may therefore be washed away
+before being used by plants. For this reason it should be applied in
+small quantities and at intervals of a few weeks.
+
+Potash is obtained in Germany, where it is found in several forms. It is
+put on the market as muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, kainite,
+which contains salt as an impurity, and in other impure forms. Potash is
+found also in _unleached_ wood ashes.
+
+Phosphoric acid is found in various rocks of Tennessee, Florida, and
+South Carolina, and also to a large extent in bones. The rocks or bones
+are usually treated with sulphuric acid. This treatment changes the
+phosphoric acid into a form ready for plant use.
+
+These three kinds of plant food are ordinarily all that we need to
+supply. In some cases, however, lime has to be added. Besides being a
+plant food itself, lime helps most soils by improving the structure of
+the grains; by sweetening the soil, thereby aiding the little living
+germs called _bacteria_; by hastening the decay of organic matter; and
+by setting free the potash that is locked up in the soil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SOIL AND THE PLANT
+
+
+SECTION VIII. ROOTS
+
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16. ROOT-HAIRS ON A RADISH]
+
+You have perhaps observed the regularity of arrangement in the twigs and
+branches of trees. Now pull up the roots of a plant, as, for example,
+sheep sorrel, Jimson weed, or some other plant. Note the branching of
+the roots. In these there is no such regularity as is seen in the twig.
+Trace the rootlets to their finest tips. How small, slender, and
+delicate they are! Still we do not see the finest of them, for in taking
+the plant from the ground we tore the most delicate away. In order to
+see the real construction of a root we must grow one so that we may
+examine it uninjured. To do this, sprout some oats in a germinator or in
+any box in which one glass side has been arranged and allow the oats to
+grow till they are two or more inches high. Now examine the roots and
+you will see very fine hairs, similar to those shown in the accompanying
+figure, forming a fuzz over the surface of the roots near the tips. This
+fuzz is made of small hairs standing so close together that there are
+often as many as 38,200 on a single square inch. Fig. 17 shows how a
+root looks when it has been cut crosswise into what is known as a cross
+section. The figure is much increased in size. You can see how the
+root-hairs extend from the root in every direction. Fig. 18 shows a
+single root-hair very greatly enlarged, with particles of sand sticking
+to it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17. A SLICE OF A ROOT
+Highly magnified]
+
+These hairs are the feeding-organs of the roots, and they are formed
+only near the tips of the finest roots. You see that the large, coarse
+roots that you are familiar with have nothing to do with _absorbing_
+plant food from the soil. They serve merely to _conduct_ the sap and
+nourishment from the root-hairs to the tree.
+
+When you apply manure or other fertilizer to a tree, remember that it is
+far better to supply the fertilizer to the roots that are at some
+distance from the trunk, for such roots are the real feeders. The plant
+food in the manure soaks into the soil and immediately reaches the
+root-hairs. You can understand this better by studying the distribution
+of the roots of an orchard tree, shown in Fig. 19. There you can see
+that the fine tips are found at a long distance from the main trunk.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18. A ROOT-HAIR WITH PARTICLES OF SOIL STICKING
+TO IT]
+
+You can now readily see why it is that plants usually wilt when they are
+transplanted. The fine, delicate root-hairs are then broken off, and the
+plant can but poorly keep up its food and water supply until new hairs
+have been formed. While these are forming, water has been evaporating
+from the leaves, and consequently the plant does not get enough moisture
+and therefore droops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19. DISTRIBUTION OF APPLE-TREE ROOTS]
+
+Would you not conclude that it is very poor farming to till deeply any
+crop after the roots have extended between the rows far enough to be cut
+by the plow or cultivator? In cultivating between corn rows, for
+example, if you find that you are disturbing fine roots, you may be sure
+that you are breaking off millions of root-hairs from each plant and
+hence are doing harm rather than good. Fig. 20 shows how the roots from
+one corn row intertangle with those of another. You see at a glance how
+many of these roots would be destroyed by deep cultivation. Stirring
+the upper inch of soil when the plants are well grown is sufficient
+tillage and does no injury to the roots.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20. CORN ROOTS REACH FROM ROW TO ROW]
+
+A deep soil is much better than a shallow soil, as its depth makes it
+just so much easier for the roots to seek deep food. Fig. 21 illustrates
+well how far down into the soil the alfalfa roots go.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21 ALFALFA ROOT]
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Dig up the roots of several cultivated plants and weeds and compare
+     them. Do you find some that are fine or fibrous? some fleshy like
+     the carrot? The dandelion is a good example of a tap-root.
+     Tap-roots are deep feeders. Examine very carefully the roots of a
+     medium-sized corn plant. Sift the dirt away gently so as to loosen
+     as few roots as possible. How do the roots compare in area with the
+     part above the ground? Try to trace a single root of the corn plant
+     from the stalk to its very tip. How long are the roots of mature
+     plants? Are they deep or shallow feeders? Germinate some oats or
+     beans in a glass-sided box, as suggested, and observe the
+     root-hairs.
+
+
+SECTION IX. HOW THE PLANT FEEDS FROM THE SOIL
+
+Plants receive their nourishment from two sources--from the air and from
+the soil. The soil food, or mineral food, dissolved in water, must reach
+the plant through the root-hairs with which all plants are provided in
+great numbers. Each of these hairs may be compared to a finger reaching
+among the particles of earth for food and water. If we examine the
+root-hairs ever so closely, we find no holes, or openings, in them. It
+is evident, then, that no solid particles can enter the root-hairs, but
+that all food must pass into the root in solution.
+
+An experiment just here will help us to understand how a root feeds.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 22. EXPERIMENT TO SHOW HOW ROOTS TAKE UP FOOD]
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENT=
+
+     Secure a narrow glass tube like the one in Fig. 22. If you cannot
+     get a tube, a narrow, straight lamp-chimney will, with a little
+     care, do nearly as well. From a bladder made soft by soaking, cut a
+     piece large enough to cover the end of the tube or chimney and to
+     hang over a little all around. Make the piece of bladder secure to
+     the end of the tube by wrapping tightly with a waxed thread, as at
+     B. Partly fill the tube with molasses (or it may be easier in case
+     you use a narrow tube to fill it before attaching the bladder). Put
+     the tube into a jar or bottle of water so placed that the level of
+     the molasses inside and the water outside will be the same. Fasten
+     the tube in this position and observe it frequently for three or
+     four hours. At the end of the time you should find that the
+     molasses in the tube has risen above the level of the liquid
+     outside. It may even overflow at the top. If you use the
+     lamp-chimney the rise will not be so clearly seen, since a greater
+     volume is required to fill the space in the chimney. This increase
+     in the contents of the tube is due to the entrance of water from
+     the outside. The water has passed through the thin bladder, or
+     membrane, and has come to occupy space in the tube. There is also a
+     passage the other way, but the molasses can pass through the
+     bladder membrane so slowly that the passage is scarcely noticeable.
+     There are no holes, or openings, in the membrane, but still there
+     is a free passage of liquids in both directions, although the more
+     heavily laden solution must move more slowly.
+
+A root-hair acts in much the same way as the tube in our experiment,
+with the exception that it is so made as to allow certain substances to
+pass in only one direction, that is, toward the inside. The outside of
+the root-hair is bathed in solutions rich in nourishment. The
+nourishment passes from the outside to the inside through the delicate
+membrane of the root-hair. Thus does food enter the plant-root. From the
+root-hairs, foods are carried to the inside of the root.
+
+From this you can see how important it is for a plant to have fine,
+loose soil for its root-hairs; also how necessary is the water in the
+soil, since the food can be used only when it is dissolved in water.
+
+This passage of liquids from one side of a membrane to another is called
+_osmosis_. It has many uses in the plant kingdom. We say a root takes
+nourishment by osmosis.
+
+
+SECTION X. ROOT-TUBERCLES
+
+Tubercle is a big word, but you ought to know how to pronounce it and
+what is meant by root-tubercles. We are going to tell you what a
+root-tubercle is and something about its importance to agriculture. When
+you have learned this, we are sure you will want to examine some plants
+for yourself in order that you may see just what tubercles look like on
+a real root.
+
+Root-tubercles do not form on all kinds of plants that farmers grow.
+They are formed only on those kinds that botanists call _legumes_. The
+clovers, cowpeas, vetches, soy beans, and alfalfa are all legumes. The
+tubercles are little knotty, wart-like growths on the roots of the
+plants just named. These tubercles are caused by tiny forms of life
+called, as you perhaps already know, bacteria, or _germs_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 23. TUBERCLES ON CLOVER ROOTS
+The specimen at the right was grown in soil inoculated with soil from an
+old clover field. The one at the left was grown in soil not inoculated]
+
+Instead of living in nests in trees like birds or in the ground like
+moles and worms, these tiny germs, less than one twenty-five thousandth
+of an inch long, make their homes on the roots of legumes. Nestling
+snugly together, they live, grow, and multiply in their sunless homes.
+Through their activity the soil is enriched by the addition of much
+nitrogen from the air. They are the good fairies of the farmer, and no
+magician's wand ever blessed a land so much as these invisible folk
+bless the land that they live in.
+
+Just as bees gather honey from the flowers and carry it to the hives,
+where they prepare it for their own future use and for the use of
+others, so do these root-tubercles gather nitrogen from the air and fix
+it in their root homes, where it can be used by other crops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 24. SOY BEANS AND COWPEAS, TWO GREAT SOIL-IMPROVERS]
+
+In the earlier pages of this book you were told something about the food
+of plants. One of the main elements of plant food, perhaps you remember,
+is nitrogen. Just as soon as the roots of the leguminous plants begin to
+push down into the soil, the bacteria, or germs that make the tubercles,
+begin to build their homes on the roots, and in so doing they add
+nitrogen to the soil. You now see the importance of growing such crops
+as peas and clover on your land, for by their tubercles you can
+constantly add plant food to the soil. Now this much-needed nitrogen is
+the most costly part of the fertilizers that farmers buy every year. If
+every farmer, then, would grow these tubercle-bearing crops, he would
+rapidly add to the richness of his land and at the same time escape the
+necessity of buying so much expensive fertilizer.
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENT=
+
+     Take a spade or shovel and dig carefully around the roots of a
+     cowpea and a clover plant; loosen the earth thoroughly and then
+     pull the plants up, being careful not to break off any of the
+     roots. Now wash the roots, and after they become dry count the
+     nodules, or tubercles, on them. Observe the difference in size. How
+     are they arranged? Do all leguminous plants have equal numbers of
+     nodules? How do these nodules help the farmer?
+
+
+SECTION XI. THE ROTATION OF CROPS
+
+Doubtless you know what is meant by rotation, for your teacher has
+explained to you already how the earth rotates, or turns, on its axis
+and revolves around the sun. When we speak of crop-rotation we mean not
+only that the same crop should not be planted on the same land for two
+successive years but that crops should follow one another in a regular
+order.
+
+Many farmers do not follow a system of farming that involves a change of
+crops. In some parts of the country the same fields are planted to corn
+or wheat or cotton year after year. This is not a good practice and
+sooner or later will wear out the soil completely, because the
+soil-elements that furnish the food of that constant crop are soon
+exhausted and good crop-production is no longer possible.
+
+Why is crop-rotation so necessary? There are different kinds of plant
+food in the soil. If any one of these is used up, the soil of course
+loses its power to feed plants properly. Now each crop uses more of some
+of the different kinds of foods than others do, just as you like some
+kinds of food better than others. But the crop cannot, as you can, learn
+to use the kinds of food it does not like; it must use the kind that
+nature fitted it to use. Not only do different crops feed upon different
+soil foods, but they use different quantities of these foods.
+
+Now if a farmer plant the same crop in the same field each year, that
+crop soon uses up all of the available plant food that it likes. Hence
+the soil can no longer properly nourish the crop that has been year by
+year robbing it. If that crop is to be successfully grown again on the
+land, the exhausted element must be restored.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 25. GRASS FOLLOWING CORN]
+
+This can be done in two ways: first, by finding out what element has
+here been exhausted, and then restoring this element by means either of
+commercial fertilizers or manure; second, by planting on the land crops
+that feed on different food and that will allow or assist kind Mother
+Nature "to repair her waste places." An illustration may help you to
+remember this fact. Nitrogen is, as already explained, one of the
+commonest plant foods. It may almost be called plant bread. The wheat
+crop uses up a good deal of nitrogen. Suppose a field were planted in
+wheat year after year. Most of the available nitrogen would be taken out
+of the soil after a while, and a new wheat crop, if planted on the
+field, would not get enough of its proper food to yield a paying
+harvest. This same land, however, that could not grow wheat could
+produce other crops that do not require so much nitrogen. For example,
+it could grow cowpeas. Cowpeas, aided by their root-tubercles, are able
+to gather from the air a great part of the nitrogen needed for their
+growth. Thus a good crop of peas can be obtained even if there is little
+available nitrogen in the soil. On the other hand wheat and corn and
+cotton cannot use the free nitrogen of the air, and they suffer if there
+is an insufficient quantity present in the soil; hence the necessity of
+growing legumes to supply what is lacking.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26. COWPEAS AND CORN--AUGUST]
+
+Let us now see how easily plant food may be saved by the rotation of
+crops.
+
+If you sow wheat in the autumn it is ready to be harvested in time for
+planting cowpeas. Plow or disk the wheat stubble, and sow the same field
+to cowpeas. If the wheat crop has exhausted the greater part of the
+nitrogen of the soil, it makes no difference to the cowpea; for the
+cowpea will get its nitrogen from the air and not only provide for its
+own growth but will leave quantities of nitrogen in the queer nodules of
+its roots for the crops coming after it in the rotation.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27. COWPEAS AND CORN--OCTOBER]
+
+If corn be planted, there should be a rotation in just the same way. The
+corn plant, a summer grower, of course uses a certain portion of the
+plant food stored in the soil. In order that the crop following the corn
+may feed on what the corn did not use, this crop should be one that
+requires a somewhat different food. Moreover, it should be one that fits
+in well with corn so as to make a winter crop. We find just such a
+plant in clover or wheat. Like the cowpea, all the varieties of clover
+have on their roots tubercles that add the important element, nitrogen,
+to the soil.
+
+From these facts is it not clear that if you wish to improve your land
+quickly and keep it always fruitful you must practice crop-rotation?
+
+
+AN ILLUSTRATION OF CROP-ROTATION
+
+Here are two systems of crop-rotation as practiced at one or more
+agricultural experiment stations. Each furnishes an ideal plan for
+keeping up land.
+
+  ---------------------++----------------------++----------------------
+  ---------------------++----------------------++----------------------
+   FIRST YEAR || SECOND YEAR || THIRD YEAR
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+  Summer    | Winter   || Summer    | Winter   || Summer    | Winter
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+  Corn      | Crimson  || Cotton    | Wheat    || Cowpeas   | Rye for
+            | clover   ||           |          ||           | pasture
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+
+                                    or
+
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+  Summer    | Winter   || Summer    | Winter   || Summer    | Winter
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+  Corn      | Wheat    ||  Clover   |  Clover  || Grass     | Grass for
+            |          || and grass | and grass||           |pasture or
+            |          ||           |          ||           | meadow
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+  ----------+----------++-----------+----------++-----------+----------
+
+In these rotations the cowpeas and clovers are nitrogen-gathering crops.
+They not only furnish hay but they enrich the soil. The wheat, corn, and
+cotton are money crops, but in addition they are cultivated crops; hence
+they improve the physical condition of the soil and give opportunity to
+kill weeds. The grasses and clovers are of course used for pasturage and
+hay. This is only a suggested rotation. Work out one that will meet your
+home need.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Let the pupils each present a system of rotation that includes the
+     crops raised at home. The system presented should as nearly as
+     possible meet the following requirements:
+
+     1. Legumes for gathering nitrogen.
+     2. Money crops for cash income.
+     3. Cultivated crops for tillage and weed-destruction.
+     4. Food crops for feeding live stock.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE PLANT
+
+
+SECTION XII. HOW A PLANT FEEDS FROM THE AIR
+
+If you partly burn a match you will see that it becomes black. This
+black substance into which the match changes is called _carbon_. Examine
+a fresh stick of charcoal, which is, as you no doubt know, burnt wood.
+You see in the charcoal every fiber that you saw in the wood itself.
+This means that every part of the plant contains carbon. How important,
+then, is this substance to the plant!
+
+You will be surprised to know that the total amount of carbon in plants
+comes from the air. All the carbon that a plant gets is taken in by the
+leaves of the plant; not a particle is gathered by the roots. A large
+tree, weighing perhaps 11,000 pounds, requires in its growth carbon from
+16,000,000 cubic yards of air.
+
+Perhaps, after these statements, you may think there is danger that the
+carbon of the air may sometime become exhausted. The air of the whole
+world contains about 1,760,000,000,000 pounds of carbon. Moreover, this
+is continually being added to by our fires and by the breath of animals.
+When wood or coal is used for fuel the carbon of the burning substance
+is returned to the air in the form of gas. Some large factories burn
+great quantities of coal and thus turn much carbon back to the air. A
+single factory in Germany is estimated to give back to the air daily
+about 5,280,000 pounds of carbon. You see, then, that carbon is
+constantly being put back into the air to replace that which is used by
+growing plants.
+
+The carbon of the air can be used by none but green plants, and by them
+only in the sunlight. We may compare the green coloring matter of the
+leaf to a machine, and the sunlight to the power, or energy, which keeps
+the machine in motion. By means, then, of sunlight and the green
+coloring matter of the leaves, the plant secures carbon. The carbon
+passes into the plant and is there made into two foods very necessary to
+the plant; namely, starch and sugar.
+
+Sometimes the plant uses the starch and sugar immediately. At other
+times it stores both away, as it does in the Irish and the sweet potato
+and in beets, cabbage, peas, and beans. These plants are used as food by
+man because they contain so much nourishment; that is, starch and sugar
+which were stored away by the plant for its own future use.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Examine some charcoal. Can you see the rings of growth? Slightly
+     char paper, cloth, meat, sugar, starch, etc. What does the turning
+     black prove? What per cent of these substances do you think is pure
+     carbon?
+
+
+SECTION XIII. THE SAP CURRENT
+
+The root-hairs take nourishment from the soil. The leaves manufacture
+starch and sugar. These manufactured foods must be carried to all parts
+of the plant. There are two currents to carry them. One passes from the
+roots through the young wood to the leaves, and one, a downward current,
+passes through the bark, carrying needed food to the roots (see Fig.
+28).
+
+If you should injure the roots, the water supply to the leaves would be
+cut off and the leaves would immediately wither. On the other hand, if
+you remove the bark, that is, girdle the tree, you in no way interfere
+with the water supply and the leaves do not wither. Girdling does,
+however, interfere with the downward food current through the bark.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 28 MOVEMENT OF THE SAP CURRENT]
+
+If the tree be girdled the roots sooner or later suffer from lack of
+food supply from the leaves. Owing to this food stoppage the roots will
+cease to grow and will soon be unable to take in sufficient water, and
+then the leaves will begin to droop. This, however, may not happen until
+several months after the girdling. Sometimes a partly girdled branch
+grows much in thickness just above the girdle, as is shown in Fig. 29.
+This extra growth seems to be due to a stoppage of the rich supply of
+food which was on its way to the roots through the bark. It could go no
+farther and was therefore used by the tree to make an unnatural growth
+at this point. You will now understand how and why trees die when they
+are girdled to clear new ground.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 29. A THICKENING ABOVE THE WIRE THAT CAUSED THE
+GIRDLING]
+
+It is, then, the general law of sap-movement that the upward current
+from the roots passes through the woody portion of the trunk, and that
+the current bearing the food made by the leaves passes downward through
+the bark.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Let the teacher see that these and all other experiments are
+     performed by the pupils. Do not allow them to guess, but make them
+     see.
+
+     Girdle valueless trees or saplings of several kinds, cutting the
+     bark away in a complete circle around the tree. Do not cut into the
+     wood. How long before the tree shows signs of injury? Girdle a
+     single small limb on a tree. What happens? Explain.
+
+
+SECTION XIV. THE FLOWER AND THE SEED
+
+Some people think that the flowers by the wayside are for the purpose of
+beautifying the world and increasing man's enjoyment. Do you think this
+is true? Undoubtedly a flower is beautiful, and to be beautiful is one
+of the uses of many flowers; but it is not the chief use of a flower.
+
+You know that when peach or apple blossoms are nipped by the spring
+frost the fruit crop is in danger. The fruit of the plant bears the
+seed, and the flower produces the fruit. That is its chief duty.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 30. PARTS OF THE PISTIL]
+
+Do you know any plant that produces seed without flowers? Some one
+answers, "The corn, the elm, and the maple all produce seed, but have no
+flower." No, that is not correct. If you look closely you will find in
+the spring very small flowers on the elm and on the maple, while the ear
+and the tassel are really the blossoms of the corn plant. Every plant
+that produces seed has flowers, although they may sometimes seem very
+curious flowers.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 31. A BUTTERCUP]
+
+Let us see what a flower really is. Take, for example, a buttercup,
+cotton, tobacco, or plum blossom (see Figs. 31 and 32). You will find on
+the outside a row of green leaves inclosing the flower when it is still
+a bud. These leaves are the _sepals_. Next on the inside is a row of
+colored leaves, or _petals_. Arranged inside of the petals are some
+threadlike parts, each with a knob on the end. These are the _stamens_.
+Examine one stamen closely (Fig. 33). On the knob at its tip you should
+find, if the flower is fully open, some fine grains, or powder. In the
+lily this powder is so abundant that in smelling the flower you often
+brush a quantity of it off on your nose. This substance is called
+_pollen_, and the knob on the end of the stamen, on which the pollen is
+borne, is the _anther_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 32. A PLUM BLOSSOM]
+
+The pollen is of very great importance to the flower. Without it there
+could be no seeds. The stamens as pollen-bearers, then, are very
+important. But there is another part to each flower that is of equal
+value. This part you will find in the center of the flower, inside the
+circle of stamens. It is called the _pistil_ (Fig. 32). The swollen tip
+of the pistil is the _stigma_. The swollen base of the pistil forms the
+_ovary_. If you carefully cut open this ovary you will find in it
+very small immature seeds.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 33. STAMENS
+_a_, anther; _f_, filament]
+
+Some plants bear all these parts in the same flower; that is, each
+blossom has stamens, pistil, petals, and sepals. The pear blossom and
+the tomato blossom represent such flowers. Other plants bear their
+stamens and pistils in separate blossoms. Stamens and pistils may even
+occur in separate plants, and some blossoms have no sepals or petals at
+all. Look at the corn plant. Here the tassel is a cluster of many
+flowers, each of which bears only stamens. The ear is likewise a cluster
+of many flowers, each of which bears only a pistil. The dust that you
+see falling from the tassel is the pollen, and the long silky threads of
+the ear are the stigmas.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 34. A TOMATO BLOSSOM]
+
+Now no plant can bear seeds unless the pollen of the stamen falls on the
+stigma. Corn cannot therefore form seed unless the dust of the tassel
+falls upon the silk. Did you ever notice how poorly the cob is filled on
+a single cornstalk standing alone in a field? Do you see why? It is
+because when a plant stands alone the wind blows the pollen away from
+the tassel, and little or none is received on the stigmas below.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 35. CUCUMBER BLOSSOMS]
+
+In the corn plant the stamens and pistils are separate; that is, they do
+not occur on the same flower, although they are on the same plant. This
+is also true of the cucumber (see Fig. 35). In many plants, however,
+such as the hemp, hop, sassafras, willow, and others, the staminate
+parts are on one plant and the pistillate parts are on another. This is
+also true in several other cultivated plants. For example, in some
+strawberries the stamens are absent or useless; that is, they bear no
+good pollen. In such cases the grower must see to it that near by are
+strawberry plants that bear stamens, in order that those plants which do
+not bear pollen may become _pollinated_; that is, may have pollen
+carried to them. After the stigma has been supplied with pollen, a
+single pollen grain sends a threadlike sprout down through the stigma
+into the ovary. This process, if successfully completed, is called
+_fertilization_.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Examine several flowers and identify the parts named in the last
+     section. Try in the proper season to find the pollen on the maple,
+     willow, alder, and pine, and on wheat, cotton, and the
+     morning-glory.
+
+     How fast does the ovary of the apple blossom enlarge? Measure one
+     and watch it closely from day to day. Can you find any plants that
+     have their stamens and ovaries on separate individuals?
+
+
+SECTION XV. POLLINATION
+
+Nature has several interesting ways of bringing about pollination. In
+the corn, willow, and pine the pollen is picked up by the wind and
+carried away. Much of it is lost, but some reaches the stigmas, or
+receptive parts, of other corn, willow, or pine flowers. This is a very
+wasteful method, and all plants using it must provide much pollen.
+
+Many plants employ a much better method. They have learned how to make
+insects bear their pollen. In plants of this type the parts of the
+blossom are so shaped and so placed as to deposit pollen from the stamen
+on the insect and to receive pollen from the insect on the stigmas.
+
+When you see the clumsy bumblebee clambering over and pushing his way
+into a clover blossom, you may be sure that he is getting well dusted
+with pollen and that the next blossom which he visits will secure a full
+share on its stigmas.
+
+When flowers fit themselves to be pollinated by insects they can no
+longer use the wind and are helpless if insects do not visit them. They
+therefore cunningly plan two ways to invite the visits of insects.
+First, they provide a sweet nectar as a repast for the insect visitor.
+The nectar is a sugary solution found in the bottom of the flower and is
+used by the visitor as food or to make honey. Second, flowers advertise
+to let each insect know that they have something for it. The advertising
+is done either by showy colors or by perfume. Insects have wonderful
+powers of smell. When you see showy flowers or smell fragrant ones, you
+will know that such flowers are advertising the presence either of
+nectar or of pollen (to make beebread) and that such flowers depend on
+insects for pollination.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 36. BEES CARRYING POLLEN]
+
+A season of heavy, cold rains during blossoming-time may often injure
+the fruit crop by preventing insects from carrying pollen from flower to
+flower. You now also understand why plants often fail to produce seeds
+indoors. Since they are shut in, they cannot receive proper insect
+visits. Plants such as tomatoes or other garden fruits dependent upon
+insect pollination must, if raised in the greenhouse where insects
+cannot visit them, be pollinated by hand.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Exclude insect visitors from some flower or flower cluster, for
+     example, clover, by covering with a paper bag, and see whether the
+     flower can produce seeds that are capable of growing. Compare as to
+     number and vitality the seeds of such a flower with those of an
+     uncovered flower. Observe insects closely. Do you ever find pollen
+     on them? What kinds of insects visit the clover? the cowpea? the
+     sourwood? the flax? Is wheat pollinated by insects or by the wind
+     or by some other means? Do bees fly in rainy weather? How will a
+     long rainy season at blossoming-time affect the apple crop? Why?
+     Should bees be kept in an orchard? Why?
+
+
+SECTION XVI. CROSSES, HYBRIDS, AND CROSS-POLLINATION
+
+In our study of flowers and their pollination we have seen that the seed
+is usually the descendant of two parents, or at least of two organs--one
+the ovary, producing the seed; the other the pollen, which is necessary
+to fertilize the ovary.
+
+It happens that sometimes the pollen of one blossom fertilizes the ovary
+of its own flower, but more often the pollen from one plant fertilizes
+the ovary of another plant. This latter method is called
+_cross-pollination_. As a rule cross-pollination makes seed that will
+produce a better plant than simple pollination would. Cross-pollination
+by hand is often used by plant-breeders when, for purposes of
+seed-selection, a specially strong plant is desired. The steps in hand
+pollination are as follows: (1) remove the anthers before they open, to
+prevent them from pollinating the stigma (the steps in this process are
+illustrated in Figs. 37, 38-39); (2) cover the flower thus treated with
+a paper bag to prevent stray pollen from getting on it (see Fig. 40);
+(3) when the ovary is sufficiently developed, carry pollen to the stigma
+by hand from the anthers of another plant which you have selected to
+furnish it, and rebag to keep out any stray pollen which might
+accidentally get in; (4) collect the seeds when they are mature and
+label them properly.
+
+Hand pollination has this advantage--you know both parents of your seed.
+If pollination occur naturally you know the maternal but have no means
+of judging the paternal parent. You can readily see, therefore, how hand
+pollination enables you to secure seed derived from two well-behaved
+parents.
+
+Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on another. The result of such
+cross-breeding is known as a _hybrid_. In the animal kingdom the mule is
+a common example of this cross-breeding. Plant hybrids were formerly
+called mules also, but this suggestive term is almost out of use.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 37
+The bud on right at top is in proper condition for removal of anthers;
+the anthers have been removed from the buds below]
+
+It is only when plants of two distinct kinds are crossed that the result
+is called a hybrid; for example, a blackjack oak on a white oak, an
+apple on a pear. If the parent plants are closely related, for example,
+two kinds of apples, the resulting plant is known simply as a _cross_.
+
+Hybrids and crosses are valuable in that they usually differ from both
+parents and yet combine some qualities of each.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 38. ORANGE BLOSSOM PREPARED FOR CROSSING
+First, bud; second, anthers unremoved; third, anthers removed]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 39. TOMATO BLOSSOM READY TO CROSS
+First, bud; second, anthers unremoved; third, anthers removed]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 40.
+First, blossom bagged to keep out stray pollen; second, fruit bagged for
+protection]
+
+They often leave off some of the qualities of the parent
+plants and at other times have such qualities more markedly than did
+their parents. Thus they often produce an interesting new kind of plant.
+Sometimes we are able by hybridization to combine in one plant the good
+qualities of two other plants and thus make a great advance in
+agriculture. The new forms brought about by hybridization may be fixed,
+or made permanent, by such selection as is mentioned in Section XVIII.
+Hybridization is of great aid in originating new plants.
+
+It often happens that a plant will be more fruitful when pollinated by
+one variety than by some other variety. This is well illustrated in Fig.
+41. A fruit-grower or farmer should know much about these subjects
+before selecting varieties for his orchard, vineyard, etc.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     With the help of your teacher try to cross some plants. Such an
+     experiment will take time, but will be most interesting. You must
+     remember that many crosses must be attempted in order to gain
+     success with even a few.
+
+
+SECTION XVII. PROPAGATION BY BUDS
+
+It is the business of the farmer to make plants grow, or, as it is
+generally called, to propagate plants. This he does in one of two ways:
+by buds (that is, by small pieces cut from parent plants), or by seeds.
+The chief aim in both methods should be to secure in the most convenient
+manner the best-paying plants.
+
+Many plants are most easily and quickly propagated by buds; for example,
+the grape, red raspberry, fig, and many others that we cultivate for the
+flower only, such as the carnation, geranium, rose, and begonia.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 41.
+Brighton pollinated by 1, Salem; 2, Creveling; 3, Lindley; 4, Brighton;
+5, Self-pollinated; 6, Nectar; 7, Jefferson; 8, Niagara]
+
+In growing plants from cuttings, a piece is taken from the kind of plant
+that one wishes to grow. The greatest care must be exercised in order to
+get a healthy cutting. If we take a cutting from a poor plant, what can
+we expect but to grow a poor plant like the one from which our cutting
+was taken? On the other hand, if a fine, strong, vigorous, fruitful
+plant be selected, we shall expect to grow just such a fine, healthy,
+fruitful plant.
+
+We expect the cutting to make exactly the same variety of plant as the
+parent stock. We must therefore decide on the variety of berry, grape,
+fig, carnation, or rose that we wish to propagate, and then look for the
+strongest and most promising plants of this variety within our reach.
+The utmost care will not produce a fine plant if we start from poor
+stock.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 42. GERANIUM CUTTING
+Dotted line shows depth to which cutting should be planted]
+
+What qualities are most desirable in a plant from which cuttings are to
+be taken? First, it should be productive, hardy, and suited to your
+climate and your needs; second, it should be healthy. Do not take
+cuttings from a diseased plant, since the cutting may carry the
+disease.
+
+Cuttings may be taken from various parts of the plant, sometimes even
+from parts of the leaf, as in the begonia (Fig. 46). More often,
+however, they are drawn from parts of the stem (Figs. 43-45). As to the
+age of the twig from which the cutting is to be taken, Professor Bailey
+says: "For most plants the proper age or maturity of wood for the making
+of cuttings may be determined by giving the twig a quick bend; if it
+snaps and hangs by the bark, it is in proper condition. If it bends
+without breaking, it is too young and soft or too old. If it splinters,
+it is too old and woody." Some plants, as the geranium (Fig. 42),
+succeed best if the cuttings from which they are grown are taken from
+soft, young parts of the plant; others, for example, the grape or rose,
+do better when the cutting is made from more mature wood.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 43 GRAPE CUTTING
+Showing depth to which cutting should be planted]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 44. CARNATION CUTTING]
+
+Cuttings may vary in size and may include one or more buds. After a
+hardy, vigorous cutting is made, insert it about one half or one third
+of its length in soil. A soil free from organic matter is much the best,
+since in such soil the cuttings are much less liable to disease. A fine,
+clean sand is commonly used by professional gardeners. When cuttings
+have rooted well--this may require a month or more--they may be
+transplanted to larger pots.
+
+Sometimes, instead of cutting off a piece and rooting it, portions of
+branches are made to root before they are separated from the parent
+plant. This method is often followed, and is known as _layering_. It is
+a simple process. Just bend the tip of a bough down and bury it in the
+earth (see Fig. 47). The black raspberry forms layers naturally, but
+gardeners often aid it by burying the over-hanging tips in the earth, so
+that more tips may easily take root. Strawberries develop runners that
+root themselves in a similar fashion.
+
+Grafts and buds are really cuttings which, instead of being buried in
+sand to produce roots of their own, are set on the roots of other
+plants.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 45. ROSE CUTTING]
+
+Grafting and budding are practiced when these methods are more
+convenient than cuttings or when the gardener thinks there is danger of
+failure to get plants to take root as cuttings. Neither grafting nor
+budding is, however, necessary for the raspberry or the grape, for these
+propagate most readily from cuttings.
+
+It is often the case that a budded or grafted plant is more fruitful
+than a plant on its own roots. In cases of this kind, of course, grafts
+or buds are used.
+
+The white, or Irish, potato is usually propagated from pieces of the
+potato itself. Each piece used for planting bears one eye or more. The
+potato itself is really an underground stem and the eyes are buds. This
+method of propagation is therefore really a peculiar kind of cutting.
+
+Since the eye is a bud and our potato plant for next year is to develop
+from this bud, it is of much importance, as we have seen, to know
+exactly what _kind_ of plant our potato comes from. If the potato is
+taken from a small plant that had but a few poor potatoes in the hill,
+we may expect the bud to produce a similar plant and a correspondingly
+poor crop. We must see to it, then, that our seed potatoes are drawn
+from vines that were good producers, because new potato plants are like
+the plants from which they were grown. Of course when our potatoes are
+in the bin we cannot tell from what kind of plants they came. We must
+therefore _select our seed potatoes in the field_. Seed potatoes should
+always be selected from those hills that produce most bountifully. Be
+assured that the increased yield will richly repay this care in
+selecting. It matters not so much whether the seed potato be large or
+small; it must, however, come from a hill bearing a large yield of fine
+potatoes.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 46. BEGONIA-LEAF CUTTING]
+
+Sweet-potato plants are produced from shoots, or growing buds, taken
+from the potato itself, so that in their case too the piece that we use
+in propagating is a part of the original plant, and will therefore be
+like it under similar conditions. Just as with the Irish potato, it is
+important to know how good a yielder you are planting. You should watch
+during harvest and select for propagation for the next year only such
+plants as yield best.
+
+We should exercise fully as much care in selecting proper individuals
+from which to make a cutting or a layer as we do in selecting a proper
+animal to breed from. Just as we select the finest Jersey in the herd
+for breeding purposes, so we should choose first the variety of plant we
+desire and then the finest individual plant of that variety.
+
+If the variety of the potato that we desire to raise be Early Rose, it
+is not enough to select _any_ Early Rose plants, but the very best Early
+Rose plants, to furnish our seed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 47. LAYERING]
+
+It is not enough to select large, fine potatoes for cuttings. A large
+potato may not produce a bountifully yielding plant. _It will produce a
+plant like the one that produced it._ It may be that this one large
+potato was the only one produced by the original plant. If so, the plant
+that grows from it will tend to be similarly unproductive. Thus you see
+the importance of _selecting in the field a plant that has exactly the
+qualities desired in the new plant_.
+
+One of the main reasons why gardeners raise plants from buds instead of
+from seeds is that the seed of many plants will not produce plants like
+the parent. This failure to "come true," as it is called, is sometimes
+of value, for it occasionally leads to improvement. For example, suppose
+that a thousand apple or other fruit or flower seeds from plants usually
+propagated by cuttings be planted; it may be that one out of a thousand
+or a million will be a very valuable plant. If a valuable plant be so
+produced, it should be most carefully guarded, multiplied by cuttings or
+grafts, and introduced far and wide. It is in this way that new
+varieties of fruits and flowers are produced from time to time.
+
+Sometimes, too, a single bud on a tree will differ from the other buds
+and will produce a branch different from the other branches. This is
+known as _bud variation_. When there is thus developed a branch which
+happens to be of a superior kind, it should be propagated by cuttings
+just as you would propagate it if it had originated from a seed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 48. CURRANT CUTTING]
+
+Mr. Gideon of Minnesota planted many apple seeds, and from them all
+raised one tree that was very fruitful, finely flavored, and able to
+withstand the cold Minnesota winter. This tree he multiplied by grafts
+and named the Wealthy apple. It is said that in giving this one apple to
+the world he benefited mankind to the value of more than one million
+dollars. It will be well to watch for any valuable bud or seed variant
+and never let a promising one be lost. Plants grown in this way from
+seeds are usually spoken of as seedlings.
+
+[Illustration: A LUSCIOUS AND EASILY GROWN BERRY]
+
+
+PLANTS TO BE PROPAGATED FROM BUDS
+
+The following list gives the names and methods by which our common
+garden fruits and flowers are propagated:
+
+  _Figs_: use cuttings 8 to 10 inches long or layer.
+  _Grapes_: use long cuttings, layer, or graft upon old vines.
+
+  _Apples_: graft upon seedlings, usually crab seedlings one
+  year old.
+
+  _Pears_: bud upon pear seedlings.
+
+  _Cherries_: bud upon cherry stock.
+
+  _Plums_: bud upon peach stock.
+
+  _Peaches_: bud upon peach or plum seedlings.
+
+  _Quinces_: use cuttings or layer.
+
+  _Blackberries_: propagate by suckers; cut from parent stem.
+
+  _Black raspberries_: layer; remove old stem.
+
+  _Red raspberries_: propagate by root-cuttings or suckers.
+
+  _Strawberries_: propagate by runners.
+
+  _Currants_ and _gooseberries_: use long cuttings (these plants
+  grow well only in cool climates; if attempted in warm
+  climates, set in cold exposure).
+
+  _Carnations_, _geraniums_, _roses_, _begonias_, etc.: propagate by
+  cuttings rooted in sand and then transplanted to small pots.
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Propagate fruits (grape, fig, strawberry) of various kinds; also
+     ornamental plants. How long does it take them to root? Geraniums
+     rooted in the spring will bloom in the fall. Do you know any one
+     who selects seed potatoes properly? Make a careful selection of
+     seed at the next harvest-time.
+
+
+SECTION XVIII. PLANT SEEDING
+
+In propagating by seed, as in reproducing by buds, we select a portion
+of the parent plant--for a seed is surely a part of the parent
+plant--and place it in the ground. There is, however, one great
+difference between a seed and a bud. The bud is really a piece of the
+parent plant, but a piece of _one_ plant only, while a seed comes from
+the parts of two plants.
+
+You will understand this fully if you read carefully Sections XIV-XVI.
+Since the seed is made of two plants, the plant that springs from a seed
+is much more likely to differ from its mother plant, that is, from the
+plant that produces the seed, than is a plant produced merely by buds.
+In some cases plants "come true to seed" very accurately. In others they
+vary greatly. For example, when we plant the seed of wheat, turnips,
+rye, onions, tomatoes, tobacco, or cotton, we get plants that are in
+most respects like the parent plant. On the other hand the seed of a
+Crawford peach or a Baldwin apple or a Bartlett pear will not produce
+plants like its parent, but will rather resemble its wild forefathers.
+These seedlings, thus taking after their ancestors, are always far
+inferior to our present cultivated forms. In such cases seeding is not
+practicable, and we must resort to bud propagation of one sort or
+another.
+
+While in a few plants like those just mentioned the seed does not "come
+true," most plants, for example, cotton, tobacco, and others, do "come
+true." When we plant King cotton we may expect to raise King cotton.
+There will be, however, as every one knows, some or even considerable
+variation in the field. Some plants, even in exactly the same soil, will
+be better than the average, and some will be poorer. Now we see this
+variation in the plants of our field, and we believe that the plant will
+be in the main like its parent. What should we learn from this? Surely
+that if we wish to produce sturdy, healthy, productive plants we must go
+into our fields and _pick out just such plants to secure seed from as we
+wish to produce another year_. If we wait until the seed is separated
+from the plant that produced it before we select our cotton seed, we
+shall be planting seed from poor as well as from good plants, and must
+be content with a crop of just such stock as we have planted. By
+selecting seed from the most productive plants _in the field_ and by
+repeating the selection each year, you can continually improve the breed
+of the plant you are raising. In selecting seed for cotton you may
+follow the plan suggested below for wheat.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 49 AND 50. CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND ASPARAGUS]
+
+The difference that you see between the wild and the cultivated
+chrysanthemums and between the samples of asparagus shown in Figs. 49
+and 50 was brought about by just such continuous seed-selection from the
+kind of plant wanted.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 51. TWO VARIETIES OF FLAX FROM ONE PARENT STOCK]
+
+By the careful selection of seed from the longest flax plants the
+increase in length shown in the accompanying figure was gained. The
+selection of seed from those plants bearing the most seed, regardless of
+the height of the plant, has produced flax like that to the right in the
+illustration. These two kinds of flax are from the same parent stock,
+but slight differences have been emphasized by continued seed-selection,
+until we now have really two varieties of flax, one a heavy seed-bearer,
+the other producing a long fiber.
+
+You can in a similar way improve your cotton or any other seed crop.
+Sugar beets have been made by seed-selection to produce about double the
+percentage of sugar that they did a few years ago. Preparing and
+tilling land costs too much in money and work to allow the land to be
+planted with poor seed. When you are trying by seed-selection to
+increase the yield of cotton, there are two principles that should be
+borne in mind: first, seed should be chosen only from plants that bear
+many well-filled bolls of long-staple cotton; second, seed should be
+taken from no plant that does not by its healthy condition show
+hardihood in resisting disease and drouth.
+
+The plan of choosing seeds from selected plants may be applied to wheat;
+but it would of course be too time-consuming to select enough single
+wheat plants to furnish all of the seed wheat for the next year. In this
+case adopt the following plan: In Fig. 52 let _A_ represent the total
+size of your wheat field and let _B_ represent a plat large enough to
+furnish seed for the whole field. At harvest-time go into section _A_
+and select the best plants you can find. Pick the heads of these and
+thresh them by hand. The seed so obtained must be carefully saved for
+your next sowing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
+
+In the fall sow these selected seeds in area _B_. This area should
+produce the best wheat. At the next harvest cull not from the whole
+field but from the finest plants of plat _B_, and again save these as
+seed for plat _B_. Use the unculled seed from plat _B_ to sow your crop.
+By following this plan continuously you will every year have seed from
+several generations of choice plants, and each year you will improve
+your seed.
+
+It is of course advisable to move your seed plat _B_ every year or two.
+For the new plat select land that has recently been planted in legumes.
+Always give this plat unwearying care.
+
+In the selection of plants from which to get seed, you must know what
+kind of plants are really the best seed plants. First, _you must not
+regard single heads or grains, but must select seed from the most
+perfect plant_, looking at the plant as a whole and not at any single
+part of it. A first consideration is yield. Select the plants that yield
+best and are at the same time resistant to drouth, resistant to rust and
+to winter, early to ripen, plump of grain, and nonshattering. What a
+fine thing it would be to find even one plant free from rust in the
+midst of a rusted field! It would mean a _rust-resistant plant_. Its
+offspring also would probably be rust-resistant. If you should ever find
+such a plant, be sure to save its seed and plant it in a plat by itself.
+The next year again save seed from those plants least rusted. Possibly
+you can develop a rust-proof race of wheat! Keep your eyes open.
+
+In England the average yield of wheat is thirty bushels an acre, in the
+United States it is less than fifteen bushels! In some states the yield
+is even less than nine bushels an acre. Let us select our seed with
+care, as the English people do, and then we can increase our yield. By
+careful seed-selection a plant-breeder in Minnesota increased the yield
+of his wheat by one fourth. Think what it would mean if twenty-five per
+cent were added to the world's supply of wheat at comparatively no cost;
+that is, at the mere cost of careful seed-selection. This would mean an
+addition to the world's income of about $500,000,000 each year. The
+United States would get about one fifth of this profit.
+
+It often happens that a single plant in a crop of corn, cotton, or wheat
+will be far superior to all others in the field. Such a plant deserves
+special care. Do not use it merely as a seed plant, but carefully plant
+its seeds apart and tend carefully. The following season select the best
+of its offspring as favorites again. Repeat this selection and culture
+for several years until you fix the variety. This is the way new
+varieties are originated from plants propagated by seed.
+
+In 1862 Mr. Abraham Fultz of Pennsylvania, while passing through a field
+of bearded wheat, found three heads of beardless, or bald, wheat. These
+he sowed by themselves that year, and as they turned out specially
+productive he continued to sow this new variety. Soon he had enough seed
+to distribute over the country. It became known as the Fultz wheat and
+is to-day one of the best varieties in the United States and in a number
+of foreign countries. Think how many bushels of wheat have been added to
+the world's annual supply by a few moments of intelligent observation
+and action on the part of this one man! He saw his opportunity and used
+it. How many similar opportunities do you think are lost? How much does
+your state or country lose thereby?
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Select one hundred seeds from a good, and one hundred from a poor,
+     plant of the same variety. Sow them in two plats far enough apart
+     to avoid cross-pollination, yet try to have soil conditions about
+     the same. Give each the same care and compare the yield. Try this
+     with corn, cotton, and wheat. Select seeds from the best plant in
+     your good plat and from the poorest in your poor plat and repeat
+     the experiment. This will require but a few feet of ground, and the
+     good plat will pay for itself in yield, while the poor plat will
+     more than pay in the lesson that it will teach you.
+
+     Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., and to
+     your state experiment station for bulletins concerning
+     seed-selection and methods of plant-improvement.
+
+
+SECTION XIX. SELECTING SEED CORN
+
+If a farmer would raise good crops he must, as already stated, select
+good seed. Many of the farmer's disappointments in the quantity and
+quality of his crops--disappointments often thought to come from other
+causes--are the result of planting poor seed. Seeds not fully ripened,
+if they grow at all, produce imperfect plants. Good seed, therefore, is
+the first thing necessary for a good crop. The seed of perfect plants
+only should be saved.
+
+By wise and persistent selection, made in the field before the crop is
+fully matured, corn can be improved in size and made to mature earlier.
+Gather ears only from the most productive plants and save only the
+largest and best kernels.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 53. THE KIND OF EAR TO SELECT]
+
+You have no doubt seen the common American blackbirds that usually
+migrate and feed in such large numbers. They all look alike in every
+way. Now, has it ever occurred to you to ask why all blackbirds are
+black? The blackbirds are black simply because their parents are black.
+
+Now in the same way that the young blackbirds resemble their parents,
+corn will resemble its parent stock. How many ears of corn do you find
+on a stalk? One, two, sometimes three or four. You find two ears of corn
+on a stalk because it is the nature of that particular stalk to produce
+two ears. In the same way the nature of some stalks is to produce but
+one ear, while it is the nature of others sometimes to produce two or
+more.
+
+This resemblance of offspring to parent is known to scientists as
+heredity, or as "like producing like."
+
+Some Southern corn-breeders take advantage of this law to improve their
+corn crop. If a stalk can be made to produce two ears of corn just as
+large as the single ear that most stalks bear, we shall get twice as
+much corn from a field in which the "two-eared" variety is planted. In
+the North and West the best varieties of corn have been selected to make
+but one ear to the stalk. It is generally believed that this is the best
+practice for the shorter growing seasons of the colder states.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 54. SELECT SEED FROM A STALK LIKE THAT ON LEFT]
+
+These facts ought to be very helpful to us next year when our fathers
+are planting corn. We should get them to plant seed secured only from
+stalks that produced the most corn, whether the stalk had two or more
+ears or only one. If we follow this plan year by year, each acre of land
+will be made to produce more kernels and hence a larger crop of corn,
+and yet no more work will be required to raise the crop.
+
+In addition to enlarging the yield of corn, you can, by proper selection
+of the best and most productive plants in the field, grow a new variety
+of seed corn. To do this you need only take the largest and best
+kernels from stalks bearing two ears; plant these, and at the next
+harvest again save the best kernels from stalks bearing the best ears.
+If you keep up this practice with great care for several years, you will
+get a vigorous, fruitful variety that will command a high price for
+seed.
+
+
+     =EXPERIMENT=
+
+     [Illustration: FIG. 55. IMPROVEMENT OF CORN BY SELECTION
+     Boone County white corn on left, and original type, from which it
+     was developed by selection, on right]
+
+     Every school boy and girl can make this experiment at leisure. From
+     your own field get two ears of corn, one from a stalk bearing only
+     one ear and the other from a stalk bearing two well-grown ears.
+     Plant the grains from one ear in one plat, and the grains from the
+     other in a plat of equal size. Use for both the same soil and the
+     same fertilizer. Cultivate both plats in the same way. When the
+     crop is ready to harvest, husk the corn, count the ears, and weigh
+     the corn. Then write a short essay on your work and on the results
+     and get your teacher to correct the story for your home paper.
+
+
+SECTION XX. WEEDS
+
+Have you ever noticed that some weeds are killed by one particular
+method, but that this same method may entirely fail to kill other kinds
+of weeds? If we wish to free our fields of weeds with the greatest ease,
+we must know the nature of each kind of weed and then attack it in the
+way in which we can most readily destroy it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 56. PIGWEED]
+
+The ordinary pigweed (Fig. 56) differs from many other weeds in that it
+lives for only one year. When winter comes, it must die. Each plant,
+however, bears a great number of seeds. If we can prevent the plant from
+bearing seed in its first year, there will not be many seeds to come up
+the next season. In fact, only those seeds that were too deeply buried
+in the soil to come up the previous spring will be left, and of these
+two-year-old seeds many will not germinate. During the next season some
+old seeds will produce plants, but the number will be very much
+diminished. If care be exercised to prevent the pigweed from seeding
+again, and the same watchfulness be continued for a few seasons, this
+weed will be almost entirely driven from our fields.
+
+A plant like the pigweed, which lives only one year, is called an
+_annual_ and is one of the easiest weeds to destroy. Mustard, plantain,
+chess, dodder, cockle, crab grass, and Jimson weed are a few of our most
+disagreeable annual weeds.
+
+The best time to kill any weed is when it is very small; therefore the
+ground in early spring should be constantly stirred in order to kill the
+young weeds before they grow to be strong and hardy.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 57. WILD CARROT]
+
+The wild carrot differs from an annual in this way: it lives throughout
+one whole year without producing seeds. During its first year it
+accumulates a quantity of nourishment in the root, then rests in the
+winter. Throughout the following summer it uses this nourishment rapidly
+to produce its flowers and seeds. Then the plant dies. Plants that live
+through two seasons in this way are called _biennials_. Weeds of this
+kind may be destroyed by _cutting the roots below the leaves_ with a
+grubbing-hoe or spud. A spud may be described as a chisel on a long
+handle (see Fig. 58). If biennials are not cut low enough they will
+branch out anew and make many seeds. Among the most common biennials are
+the thistle, moth mullein, wild carrot, wild parsnip, and burdock.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 58. A SPUD]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 59. HOUND'S TONGUE]
+
+A third group of weeds consists of those that live for more than two
+years. These weeds are usually most difficult to kill. They propagate by
+means of running rootstocks as well as by seeds. Plants that live more
+than two seasons are known as _perennials_ and include, for example,
+many grasses, dock, Canada thistle, poison ivy, passion flower, horse
+nettle, etc. There are many methods of destroying perennial weeds. They
+may be dug entirely out and removed. Sometimes in small areas they may
+be killed by crude sulphuric acid or may be starved by covering them
+with boards or a straw stack or in some other convenient way. A method
+that is very effective is to smother the weeds by a dense growth of
+some other plant, for example, cowpeas or buckwheat. Cowpeas are to be
+preferred, since they also enrich the soil by the nitrogen that the
+root-tubercles gather.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 60. CANADA THISTLE]
+
+Weeds do injury in numerous ways; they shade the crop, steal its
+nourishment, and waste its moisture. Perhaps their only service is to
+make lazy people till their crops.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     You should learn to know by name the twenty worst weeds of your
+     vicinity and to recognize their seeds. If there are any weeds you
+     are not able to recognize, send a sample of each to your state
+     experiment station. Make a collection, properly labeled, of weeds
+     and weed seeds for your school.
+
+
+SECTION XXI. SEED PURITY AND VITALITY
+
+Seeds produce plants. The difference between a large and a small yield
+may depend upon the kind of plants we raise, and the kind of plant in
+turn is dependent upon the seeds that we sow.
+
+Two things are important in the selection of seeds--purity and vitality.
+Seeds should be _pure_; that is, when sown they should produce no other
+plant than the one that we wish to raise. They should be able to grow.
+The ability of a seed to grow is termed its _vitality_. Good seed should
+be nearly or quite pure and should possess high vitality. The vitality
+of seeds is expressed as a per cent; for example, if 97 seeds out of 100
+germinate, or sprout, the vitality is said to be 97. The older the seed
+the less is its vitality, except in a few rare instances in which seeds
+cannot germinate under two or three years.
+
+Cucumber seeds may show 90 per cent vitality when they are one year old,
+75 per cent when two years old, and 70 per cent when three years
+old--the per cent of vitality diminishing with increase of years. The
+average length of life of the seeds of cultivated plants is short: for
+example, the tomato lives four years; corn, two years; the onion, two
+years; the radish, five years. The cucumber seed may retain life after
+ten years; but the seeds of this plant too lose their vitality with an
+increase in years.
+
+It is important when buying seeds to test them for purity and vitality.
+Dealers who are not honest often sell old seeds, although they know that
+seeds decrease in value with age. Sometimes, however, to cloak
+dishonesty they mix some new seeds with the old, or bleach old and
+yellow seeds in order to make them resemble fresh ones.
+
+It is important, therefore, that all seeds bought of dealers should be
+thoroughly examined and tested; for if they do not grow, we not only pay
+for that which is useless but we are also in great danger of producing
+so few plants in our fields that we shall not get full use of the land,
+and thus we may suffer a more serious loss than merely paying for a few
+dead seeds. It will therefore be both interesting and profitable to
+learn how to test the vitality of seeds.
+
+To test vitality plant one hundred seeds in a pot of earth or in damp
+sand, or place them between moist pieces of flannel, and take care to
+keep them moist and warm. Count those that germinate and thus determine
+the percentage of vitality. Germinating between flannel is much quicker
+than planting in earth. Care should be used to keep mice away from
+germinating seeds. (See Fig. 61.)
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 61. A SEED-GERMINATOR
+Consisting of two soup plates, some sand, and a piece of cloth]
+
+Sometimes the appearance of a package will show whether the seed has
+been kept in stock a long time. It is, however, much more difficult to
+find out whether the seeds are pure. You can of course easily
+distinguish seeds that differ much from those you wish to plant, but
+often certain weed seeds are so nearly like certain crop seeds as not to
+be easily recognized by the eye. Thus the dodder or "love vine," which
+so often ruins the clover crop, has seeds closely resembling clover
+seeds. The chess, or cheat, has seeds so nearly like oats that only a
+close observer can tell them apart. However, if you watch the seeds that
+you buy, and study the appearance of crop seeds, you may become expert
+in recognizing those that have no place in your planting.
+
+One case is reported in which a seed-dealer intentionally allowed an
+impurity of 30 per cent to remain in the crop seeds, and this impurity
+was mainly of weed seeds. There were 450,000 of one kind and 288,000 of
+another in each pound of seed. Think of planting weeds at that rate!
+Sometimes three fourths of the seeds you buy are weed seeds.
+
+In purchasing seeds the only safe plan is to buy of dealers whose
+reputation can be relied upon.
+
+It not seldom happens that seeds, like corn, are stored in open cribs or
+barns before the moisture is entirely dried out of the seeds. Such seeds
+are liable to be frozen during a severe winter, and of course if this
+happens they will not sprout the following spring. The only way to tell
+whether such seeds have been killed is to test samples of them for
+vitality. Testing is easy; replanting is costly and often results in a
+short crop.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 62. IMPURITIES IN SEEDS
+Tube 1 represents one pound of redtop grass as bought; Tube 2, amount of
+pure redtop grass seeds in Tube 1; Tube 3, amount of chaff and dirt in
+Tube 1; Tube 4, amount of weed seeds in Tube 1; Tube 5, amount of total
+waste in Tube 1; Tube 6, amount of pure germinable seeds in Tube 1]
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Examine seeds both for vitality and purity. Write for farmers'
+     bulletins on both these subjects. What would be the loss to a
+     farmer who planted a ten-acre clover field with seeds that were 80
+     per cent bad? Can you recognize the seeds of the principal
+     cultivated plants? Germinate some beet seeds. What per cent comes
+     up? Can you explain? Collect for your school as many kinds of wild
+     and cultivated seeds as you can.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+HOW TO RAISE A FRUIT TREE
+
+
+Let each pupil grow an apple tree this year and attempt to make it the
+best in his neighborhood. In your attempt suppose you try the following
+plan. In the fall take the seed of an apple--a crab-apple is good--and
+keep it in a cool place during the winter. The simplest way to do this
+is to bury it in damp sand. In the spring plant it in a rich, loose
+soil.
+
+Great care must be taken of the young shoot as soon as it appears above
+the ground. You want to make it grow as tall and as straight as possible
+during this first year of its life, hence you should give it rich soil
+and protect it from animals. Before the ground freezes in the fall take
+up the young tree with the soil that was around it and keep it all
+winter in a cool, damp place.
+
+Now when spring comes it will not do to set out the carefully tended
+tree, for an apple tree from seed will not be a tree like its parent,
+but will tend to resemble a more distant ancestor. The distant ancestor
+that the young apple tree is most likely to take after is the wild
+apple, which is small, sour, and otherwise far inferior to the fruit we
+wish to grow. It makes little difference, therefore, what kind of apple
+seed we plant, since in any event we cannot be sure that the tree grown
+from it will bear fruit worth having unless we force it to do so.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 63. A YOUNG FRUIT-GROWER]
+
+
+SECTION XXII. GRAFTING
+
+By a process known as _grafting_ you can force your tree to produce
+whatever variety of apple you desire. Many people raise fruit trees
+directly from seed without grafting. Thus they often produce really
+worthless trees. By grafting they would make sure not only of having
+good trees rather than poor ones but also of having the particular kind
+of fruit that they wish. Hence you must now graft your tree.
+
+First you must decide what variety of apple you want to grow on the
+tree. The Magnum Bonum is a great favorite as a fall apple. The Winesap
+is a good winter apple, while the Red Astrachan is a profitable early
+apple, especially in the lowland of the coast region. The Northern Spy,
+AEsop, and Spitzenburg are also admirable kinds. Possibly some other
+apple that you know may suit your taste and needs better than any of
+these varieties.
+
+If you have decided to raise an AEsop or a Magnum Bonum or a Winesap, you
+must now cut a twig from the tree of your choice and graft it upon the
+little tree that you have raised. Choose a twig that is about the
+thickness of the young tree at the point where you wish to graft. Be
+careful to take the shoot from a vigorous, healthy part of the tree.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 64. TONGUE GRAFTING]
+
+There are many ways in which you may join the chosen shoot or twig upon
+the young tree, but perhaps the best one for you to use is known as
+_tongue grafting_. This is illustrated in Fig. 64. The upper part, _b_,
+which is the shoot or twig that you cut from the tree, is known as the
+_scion_; the lower part, _a_, which is the original tree, is called the
+_stock_.
+
+Cut the scion and stock as shown in Fig. 64. Join the cut end of the
+scion to the cut end of the stock. When you join them, notice that under
+the bark of each there is a thin layer of soft, juicy tissue. This is
+called the _cambium_. To make a successful graft the cambium in the
+scion must exactly join the cambium in the stock. Be careful, then, to
+see that cambium meets cambium. You now see why grafting can be more
+successfully done if you select a scion and stock of nearly the same
+size.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 65. A COMPLETED GRAFT
+Showing scion and stock from which it was made]
+
+After fitting the parts closely together, bind them with cotton yarn
+(see Fig. 65) that has been coated with grafting wax. This wax is made
+of equal parts of tallow, beeswax, and linseed oil. Smear the wax
+thoroughly over the whole joint, and make sure that the joint is
+completely air-tight.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 66.
+To make a root graft, cut along the slanting line]
+
+The best time to make this graft is when scion and stock are dormant,
+that is, when they are not in leaf. During the winter, say in February,
+is the best time to graft the tree. Set the grafted tree away again in
+damp sand until spring, then plant it in loose, rich soil.
+
+Since all parts growing above the graft will be of the same kind as the
+scion, while all branches below it will be like the stock, it is well to
+graft low on the stock or even upon the root itself. The slanting double
+line in Fig. 66 shows the proper place to cut off for such grafting.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 67. A COMPLETED ROOT GRAFT]
+
+If you like you may sometime make the interesting and valuable
+experiment of grafting scions from various kinds of apple trees on the
+branches of one stock. In this way you can secure a tree bearing a
+number of kinds of fruit. You may thus raise the Bonum, Red Astrachan,
+Winesap, and as many other varieties of apples as you wish, upon one
+tree. For this experiment, however, you will find it better to resort to
+_cleft grafting_, which is illustrated in Fig. 68.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 68. CLEFT GRAFTING]
+
+Luther Burbank, the originator of the Burbank potato, in attempting to
+find a variety of apple suited to the climate of California, grafted
+more than five hundred kinds of apple scions on one tree, so that he
+might watch them side by side and find out which kind was best suited to
+that state.
+
+
+SECTION XXIII. BUDDING
+
+If, instead of an apple tree, you were raising a plum or a peach tree, a
+form of propagation known as _budding_ would be better than grafting.
+Occasionally budding is also employed for apples, pears, cherries,
+oranges, and lemons. Budding is done in the following manner. A single
+bud is cut from the scion and is then inserted under the bark of a
+one-year-old peach seedling, so that the cambium of the bud and stock
+may grow together.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 69. HOW TO CUT A BUD FROM A SCION]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 70. THE STEPS IN BUDDING]
+
+Cut scions of the kind of fruit tree you desire from a one-year-old twig
+of the same variety. Wrap them in a clean, moist cloth until you are
+ready to use them. Just before using cut the bud from the scion, as
+shown in Fig. 69. This bud is now ready to be inserted on the north side
+of the stock, just two or three inches above the ground. The north side
+is selected to avoid the sun. Now, as shown at _a_ in Fig. 70, make a
+cross and an up-and-down incision, or cut, on the stock; pull the bark
+back carefully, as shown in _B_; insert the bud _C_, as shown in _D_;
+then fold the bark back and wrap with yarn or raffia, as shown in _E_.
+As soon as the bud and branches have united, remove the wrapping to
+prevent its cutting the bark and cut the tree back close to the bud, as
+in Fig. 71, so as to force nourishment into the inserted bud.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 71.
+Sloping line shows where to cut tree]
+
+Budding is done in the field without disturbing the tree as it stands in
+the ground. The best time to do budding is during the summer or fall
+months, when the bark is loose enough to allow the buds to be easily
+inserted.
+
+Trees may be budded or grafted on one another only when they are nearly
+related. Thus the apple, crab-apple, hawthorn, and quince are all
+related closely enough to graft or bud on one another; the pear grows on
+some hawthorns, but not well on an apple; some chestnuts will unite with
+some kinds of oaks.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 72.
+Lines show where to trim]
+
+By using any of these methods you can succeed in getting with certainty
+the kind of tree that you desire.
+
+[Illustration: BOTH BUSY STORING APPLES]
+
+
+SECTION XXIV. PLANTING AND PRUNING
+
+The apple tree that you grafted should be set out in the spring. Dig a
+hole three or four feet in diameter where you wish the tree to grow.
+Place the tree in the hole and be very careful to preserve all the fine
+roots. Spread the roots out fully, water them, and pack fine, rich soil
+firmly about them. Place stakes about the young tree to protect it from
+injury. If the spot selected is in a windy location, incline the tree
+slightly toward the prevailing wind.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 73.
+Present shape comes from pruning]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 74.
+Correct shape]
+
+You must prune the tree as it grows. The object of pruning is to give
+the tree proper shape and to promote fruit-bearing. If the bud at the
+end of the main shoot grows, you will have a tall, cone-shaped tree. If,
+however, the end of the young tree be cut or "headed back" to the lines
+shown in Fig. 72, the buds below this point will be forced to grow and
+make a tree like that shown in Fig. 73. The proper height of heading for
+different fruits varies. For the apple tree a height of two or three
+feet is best.
+
+Cutting an end bud of a shoot or branch always sends the nourishment and
+growth into the side buds. Trimming or pinching off the side buds throws
+the growth into the end bud. You can therefore cause your tree to take
+almost any shape you desire. The difference between the trees shown in
+Figs. 73 and 74 is entirely the result of pruning. Fig. 74 illustrates
+in general a correctly shaped tree. It is evenly balanced, admits light
+freely, and yet has enough foliage to prevent sun-scald. Figs. 75 and 76
+show the effect of wisely thinning the branches.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 75.
+Unthinned]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 76.
+Properly thinned]
+
+The best time to prune is either in the winter or before the buds start
+in the spring. Winter pruning tends to favor wood-production, while
+summer pruning lessens wood-production and induces fruitage.
+
+Each particular kind of fruit requires special pruning; for example, the
+peach should be made to assume the shape illustrated in Fig. 77. This is
+done by successive trimmings, following the plan illustrated in Figs.
+71, 78, 79. You will gain several advantages from these trimmings.
+First, nourishment will be forced into the peach bud that you set on
+your stock. This will secure a vigorous growth of the scion. By a second
+trimming take off the "heel" (Fig. 78, _h_) close to the tree, and thus
+prevent decay at this point. One year after budding you should reduce
+the tree to a "whip," as in Fig. 79, by trimming at the dotted line in
+Fig. 78. This establishes the "head" of the tree, which in the case of
+the peach should be very low,--about sixteen inches from the ground,--in
+order that a low foliage may lessen the danger of sun-scald to the main
+trunk.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 77. THE CUSTOMARY WAY OF PRUNING A PEACH]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 78. TWO-YEAR-OLD TREE
+Cut off heel, _h_]
+
+
+In pruning never leave a stump such as is shown in Fig. 78, _h_. Such a
+stump, having no source of nourishment, will heal very slowly and with
+great danger of decay. If this heel is cleanly cut on the line _ch_
+(Fig. 78), the wound will heal rapidly and with little danger of decay.
+Leaving such a stump endangers the soundness of the whole tree. Fig. 80
+shows the results of good and poor pruning on a large tree. When large
+limbs are removed it is best to paint the cut surface. The paint will
+ward off fungous disease and thus keep the tree from rotting where it
+was cut.
+
+Pruning that leaves large limbs branching, as in Fig. 74, _a_, is not to
+be recommended, since the limbs when loaded with fruit or when beaten by
+heavy winds are liable to break. Decay is apt to set in at the point of
+breakage. The entrance of decay-fungi through some such wound or through
+a tiny crevice at such a crotch is the beginning of the end of many a
+fruitful tree.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 79. THREE-YEAR-OLD TREE CUT BACK]
+
+Sometimes a tree will go too much to wood and too little to fruit. This
+often happens in rich soil and may be remedied by another kind of
+pruning known as _root-pruning_. This consists in cutting off a few of
+the roots in order to limit the food supply of the plant. You ought to
+learn more about root-pruning, however, before you attempt it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 80.
+Refuses to Heal--Heals promptly]
+
+How is a peach tree made? First, the blossom appears. Then pollination
+and fertilization occur. The fruit ripens. The pit, or seed, is saved.
+In the spring of the next year the seed is planted. The young tree,
+known as the stock, comes up quickly. In August of that year a bud of
+the variety which is wanted is inserted in the little stock, near the
+ground. One year later, in the spring, the stock is cut off just above
+the bud. The bud throws out a shoot, which grows to a height of about
+six feet, and in the fall this little peach tree is sold as a
+one-year-old tree. However, as is seen, the root is two years old.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 81. READY TO BEAR]
+
+How is an apple tree made? The seeds are saved in the fall of one year
+and planted the following year. The seedlings of the apple do not grow
+so rapidly as those of the peach. At the end of the year they are taken
+up and sorted, and in the following spring they are planted. In July or
+August they are budded. In the spring of the next year the stock is cut
+off above the bud, and the bud-shoot grows three or four feet. One year
+later the shoot branches and the top begins to form; and in the fall of
+the following year the tree may be sold as a two-year-old, although most
+persons prefer to buy it a year later as a three-year-old. In some parts
+of the country, particularly in the West, the little seedling is grafted
+in the second winter, in a grafting room, and the young grafts are set
+in the nursery row in the spring to complete their growth.
+
+The planting in the orchard of the young peach and the young apple tree
+is done in practically the same way. After the hole for the tree has
+been dug and after proper soil has been provided, the roots should be
+spread and the soil carefully packed around them.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Do you know any trees in your neighborhood that bear both wild and
+     budded or grafted fruit? What are the chief varieties of apples
+     grown in your neighborhood? grapes? currants? plums? cherries?
+     figs? What is a good apple tree worth? Is there any land near by
+     that could support a tree and is not now doing so? Examine several
+     orchards and see whether the trees have the proper shape. Do you
+     see any evidence of poor pruning? Do you find any heels? Can you
+     see any place where heels have resulted in rotten or hollow trees?
+     How could you have prevented this? Has the removal of branches ever
+     resulted in serious decay? How is this to be prevented?
+
+     If your home is not well stocked with all the principal kinds of
+     fruit, do you not want to propagate and attend to some of each
+     kind? You will be surprised to find how quickly trees will bear and
+     how soon you will be eating fruit from your own planting. Growing
+     your own trees will make you feel proud of your skill.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HORTICULTURE
+
+
+SECTION XXV. MARKET-GARDENING
+
+The word _horticulture_ is one of those broad words under which much is
+grouped. It includes the cultivation of orchard fruits, such as apples
+and plums; of small fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries; of
+garden vegetables for the table; of flowers of all sorts, including
+shrubbery and ornamental trees and their arrangement into beautiful
+landscape effects around our homes. Horticulture then is a name for an
+art that is both far-reaching and important.
+
+The word _gardening_ is generally given to that part of horticulture
+which has for its chief aim the raising of vegetables for our tables.
+
+Flower-gardening, or the cultivation of plants valued for their bloom in
+making ornamental beds and borders and furnishing flowers for the
+decoration of the home, is generally called _floriculture_.
+Landscape-gardening is the art of so arranging flower-beds, grass,
+shrubbery, and trees as to produce pleasing effects in the grounds
+surrounding our homes and in great public parks and pleasure grounds.
+
+Landscape-gardening, like architecture, has developed intoll as the
+artist makes them on canvas, but uses natural objects in his pictures
+instead of paint and canvas.
+
+=Market-Gardening.= Formerly market-gardening was done on small tracts
+of land in the immediate vicinity of large cities, where supplies of
+stable manure could be used from the city stables. But with the great
+increase in the population of the cities, these small areas could no
+longer supply the demand, and the introduction of commercial fertilizers
+and the building of railroads enabled gardeners at great distances from
+city markets to grow and ship their products. Hence the markets, even in
+winter, are now supplied with fresh vegetables from regions where there
+is no frost. Then, as spring opens, fruits and vegetables are shipped
+from more temperate regions. Later vegetables and fruits come from the
+sections nearer the great cities. This gradual nearing of the supply
+fields continues until the gardens near the cities can furnish what is
+needed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 82. STRAWBERRY-GROWING IS AN ART]
+
+The market-gardeners around the great Northern cities, finding that
+winter products were coming from the South and from warmer regions,
+began to build hothouses and by means of steam and hot-water pipes to
+make warm climates in these glass houses. Many acres of land in the
+colder sections of the country are covered with heated glass houses, and
+in them during the winter are produced fine crops of tomatoes, lettuce,
+radishes, cauliflowers, eggplants, and other vegetables. The degree of
+perfection which these attain in spite of having such artificial
+culture, and their freshness as compared to the products brought from a
+great distance, have made winter gardening under glass a very profitable
+business. But it is a business that calls for the highest skill and the
+closest attention.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 83. SETTING PLANTS IN A COLD-FRAME]
+
+No garden, even for home use, is complete without some glass sashes, and
+the garden will be all the more successful if there is a small heated
+greenhouse for starting plants that are afterwards to be set in the
+garden.
+
+=Hotbeds.= If there is no greenhouse, a hotbed is an important help in
+the garden. The bed is made by digging a pit two feet deep, seven feet
+wide, and as long as necessary.
+
+The material for the hotbed is fresh horse manure mixed with leaves.
+This is thrown into a heap to heat. As soon as steam is seen coming from
+the heap the manure is turned over and piled again so that the outer
+part is thrown inside. When the whole is uniformly heated and has been
+turned two or three times, it is packed firmly into the pit already dug.
+
+A frame six feet wide, twelve inches high on the north side and eight
+inches on the south side and as long as the bed is to be, is now made of
+plank. This is set upon the heated manure, thus leaving six inches on
+each side outside the frame. More manure is then banked all around it,
+and three or four inches of fine light and rich soil are placed inside
+the frame.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 84. THE GLADIOLUS]
+
+The frame is then covered with hotbed sashes six feet long and three
+feet wide. These slide up and down on strips of wood let into the sides
+of the frame. A thermometer is stuck into the soil and closely watched,
+for there will be too much heat at first for sowing seed. When the heat
+in the early morning is about 85 deg., seeds may be sowed. The hotbed is
+used for starting tomato plants, eggplants, cabbage plants, and other
+vegetables that cannot stand exposure. It should be made about eight or
+ten weeks before the tender plants can be set out in the locality. In
+the South and Southwest it should be started earlier than in the North.
+For growing the best tomato plants, and for such hardy plants as lettuce
+and cabbage, it will be better to have cold-frames in addition to the
+hotbed; these need not be more than two or three sashes.
+
+=Cold-Frames.= A cold-frame is like the frame used for a hotbed, but it
+is placed on well-manured soil in a sheltered spot. It is covered with
+the same kind of sashes and is used for hardening the plants sowed in
+the hotbed. The frame must be well banked with earth on the outside, and
+the glass must be covered on cold nights with straw, mats, or old
+carpets to keep out frost.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 85. FRAME TO CARRY THE SASH OF A HOTBED OR COLD-FRAME]
+
+=Care of Hotbed and Cold-Frame.= If the sun be allowed to shine brightly
+on the glass of a cold-frame or hotbed, it will soon raise the
+temperature in the hotbed to a point that will destroy the plants. It is
+necessary, then, to pay close attention to the bed and, when the sun
+shines, to slip the sashes down or raise them and place a block under
+the upper end to allow the steam to pass off. The cold-frame also must
+be aired when the sun shines, and the sashes must be gradually slipped
+down in mild weather. Finally, they may be removed entirely on sunshiny
+days, so as to accustom the plants to the open air, but they must be
+replaced at night. For a while before setting the plants in the open
+gardens, leave the sashes off night and day.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 86. GREENHOUSE AND COLD-FRAMES]
+
+While the hotbed may be used for starting plants, it is much better and
+more convenient to have a little greenhouse with fire heat for this
+purpose. A little house with but four sashes on each side will be enough
+to start a great many plants, and will also give room for some flowers
+in pots. With such a house a student can learn to manage a more
+extensive structure if he gives close attention to airing, watering, and
+keeping out insects.
+
+=Sowing.= The time for sowing the different kinds of seeds is an
+important matter. Seeds vary greatly in their requirements. All need
+three conditions--a proper degree of heat, moisture, and air. Some
+seeds, like English peas, parsnips, beets, and radishes, will germinate
+and grow when the soil is still cool in the early spring, and peas will
+stand quite a frost after they are up. Therefore we plant English peas
+as early as the ground can be worked.
+
+But if we should plant seeds like corn, string (or snap) beans,
+squashes, and other tender plants before the ground is warm enough, they
+would decay.
+
+Seeds cannot germinate in soil that is perfectly dry, for there must be
+moisture to swell them and to start growth. The oxygen of the air is
+also necessary, and if seeds are buried so deeply that the air cannot
+reach them, they will not grow, even if they are warm and moist.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 87. GATHERING AND SHIPPING CELERY]
+
+The depth of planting must vary with the character and size of the seed.
+English peas may be covered six inches deep and will be all the better
+for such covering, but if corn be covered so deep, it hardly gets above
+the ground. In planting small seeds like those of the radish, cabbage,
+turnip, lettuce, etc., a good rule is to cover them three times the
+thickness of the seed.
+
+In sowing seeds when the ground is rather dry, it is a good plan, after
+covering them, to tramp on the row so as to press the soil closely to
+the seeds and to help it to retain moisture for germination, but do not
+pack the soil if it is damp.
+
+In spring never dig or plow the garden while it is still wet, but always
+wait until the soil is dry enough to crumble freely.
+
+=What Crops to grow.= The crops to be raised will of course depend upon
+each gardener's climate, surroundings, and markets. Sometimes it may pay
+a grower, if his soil and climate are particularly suited to one crop,
+to expend most of his time and energy on this crop; for example, in some
+sections of New York, on potatoes; in parts of Michigan, on celery; in
+Georgia, on watermelons; in western North Carolina, on cabbage. If
+circumstances allow this sort of gardening, it has many advantages, for
+of course it is much easier to acquire skill in growing one crop than in
+growing many.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 88. A LARGE YIELD OF CABBAGES]
+
+On the other hand, it often happens that a gardener's situation requires
+him to grow most of the crops known to gardening. Each gardener then
+must be guided in his selection of crops by his surroundings.
+
+=Care of Crops.= The gardener who wishes to attain the greatest success
+in his art must do four things:
+
+First, he must make his land rich and keep it rich. Much of his success
+depends on getting his crops on the market ahead of other growers. To do
+this, his crops must grow rapidly, and crops grow rapidly only in rich
+soil. Then, too, land conveniently situated for market-gardening is
+nearly always costly. Hence the successful market-gardener must plan to
+secure the largest possible yield from as small an area as is
+practicable. The largest yield can of course be secured from the richest
+land.
+
+Second, the gardener must cultivate his rich land most carefully and
+economically. He crowds his land with products that must grow apace.
+Therefore he, least of all growers, can afford to have any of his soil
+go to feed weeds, to have his land wash, or to have his growing crops
+suffer for lack of timely and wise cultivation. To cultivate his land
+economically the gardener must use the best tools and machines and the
+best methods of soil management.
+
+Third, to get the best results he must grow perfect vegetables. To do
+this, he must add to good tillage a knowledge of the common plant
+diseases and of the ways of insects and bacterial pests; he must know
+how and when to spray, how and when to treat his seed, how and when to
+poison, how and when to trap his insect foes and to destroy their
+hiding-places.
+
+Fourth, not only must the gardener grow perfect vegetables, but he must
+put them on the market in perfect condition and in attractive shape. Who
+cares to buy wilted, bruised, spoiling vegetables? Gathering, bundling,
+crating, and shipping are all to be watched carefully. Baskets should be
+neat and attractive, crates clean and snug, barrels well packed and well
+headed. Careful attention to all these details brings a rich return.
+
+Among the gardener's important crops are the following:
+
+=Asparagus.= This is a hardy plant. Its seed may be sowed either early
+in the spring or late in the fall. The seeds should be planted in rows.
+If the plants are well cultivated during the spring and summer, they
+will make vigorous roots for transplanting in the autumn.
+
+In the fall prepare a piece of land by breaking it unusually deep and by
+manuring it heavily. After the land is thoroughly prepared, make in it
+furrows for the asparagus roots. These furrows should be six inches deep
+and three feet apart. Then remove the roots from the rows in which they
+have been growing during the summer, and set them two feet apart in the
+prepared furrows. Cover carefully at once.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 89. A CRATE OF ASPARAGUS]
+
+In the following spring the young shoots must be well cultivated. In
+order to economize space, beets or lettuce may be grown between the
+asparagus rows during this first season. With the coming of cold weather
+the asparagus must again be freely manured and all dead tops cut off.
+Some plants will be ready for market the second spring. If the bed is
+kept free from weeds and well manured, it will increase in
+productiveness from year to year.
+
+=Beans.= The most generally planted beans are those known as string, or
+snap, beans. Of the many varieties, all are sensitive to cold and hence
+must not be planted until frost is over.
+
+Another widely grown kind of bean is the lima, or butter, bean. There
+are two varieties of the lima bean. One is large and generally grows on
+poles. This kind does best in the Northern states. The other is a small
+bean and may be grown without poles. This kind is best suited to the
+warmer climates of the Southern states.
+
+=Cabbage.= In comparatively warm climates the first crop of cabbage is
+generally grown in the following way. The seeds are sowed in beds in
+September, and the plants grown from this sowing are in November
+transplanted to ground laid off in sharp ridges. The young plants are
+set on the south side of the ridges in order that they may be somewhat
+protected from the cold of winter. As spring comes on, the ridge is
+partly cut down at each working until the field is leveled, and
+thereafter the cultivation should be level.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 90. CABBAGE READY FOR SHIPMENT]
+
+Early cabbages need heavy applications of manure. In the spring, nitrate
+of soda applied in the rows is very helpful.
+
+Seeds for the crop following this early crop should be sowed in March.
+Of course these seeds should be of a later variety than the first used.
+The young plants should be transplanted as soon as they are large
+enough. Early cabbages are set in rows three feet apart, the plants
+eighteen inches apart in the row. As the later varieties grow larger
+than the earlier ones, the plants should be set two feet apart in the
+row.
+
+In growing late fall and winter cabbage the time of sowing varies with
+the climate. For the Northern and middle states, seeding should be done
+during the last of March and in April. South of a line passing west from
+Virginia it is hard to carry cabbages through the heat of summer and get
+them to head in the fall. However, if the seeds are sowed about the
+first of August in rich and moist soil and the plants set in the same
+sort of soil in September, large heads can be secured for the December
+market.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 91. CELERY TRIMMED, WASHED, AND BUNCHED]
+
+=Celery.= In the extreme northern part of our country, celery seeds are
+often sowed in a greenhouse or hotbed. This is done in order to secure
+plants early enough for summer blanching. This plan, however, suits only
+very cool climates.
+
+In the middle states the seeds are usually sowed in a well-prepared bed
+about April. The young plants are moved to other beds as soon as they
+need room. Generally they are transplanted in July to rows prepared for
+them. These should be four feet apart, and the plants should be set six
+inches apart in the row. The celery bed should be carefully cultivated
+during the summer. In the fall, hill the stalks up enough to keep them
+erect. After the growing season is over dig them and set them in
+trenches. The trenches should be as deep as the celery is tall, and
+after the celery is put in them they should be covered with boards and
+straw.
+
+In the more southern states, celery is usually grown in beds. The beds
+are generally made six feet wide, and rows a foot apart are run
+crosswise. The plants are set six inches apart, in September, and the
+whole bed is earthed up as the season advances. Finally, when winter
+comes the beds are covered with leaves or straw to prevent the plants
+from freezing. The celery is dug and bunched for market at any time
+during the winter.
+
+By means of cold-frames a profitable crop of spring celery may be
+raised. Have the plants ready to go into the cold-frames late in October
+or early in November. The soil in the frame should be made very deep.
+The plants should make only a moderately rapid growth during the winter.
+In the early spring they will grow rapidly and so crowd one another as
+to blanch well. As celery grown in this way comes on the market at a
+time when no other celery can be had, it commands a good price.
+
+In climates as warm as that of Florida, beds of celery can be raised in
+this way without the protection of cold-frames. A slight freeze does not
+hurt celery, but a long-continued freezing spell will destroy it.
+
+Some kinds of celery seem to turn white naturally. These are called
+self-blanching kinds. Other kinds need to be banked with earth in order
+to make the stalks whiten. This kind usually gives the best and crispest
+stalks.
+
+=Cucumbers and Cantaloupes.= Although cucumbers and cantaloupes are very
+different plants, they are grown in precisely the same way. Some
+gardeners plant them in hills. However, this is perhaps not the best
+plan. It is better to lay the land off in furrows six feet apart. After
+filling these with well-rotted stable manure, throw soil over them. Then
+make the top flat and plant the seeds. After the plants are up thin them
+out, leaving them a foot or more apart in the rows. Cultivate regularly
+and carefully until the vines cover the entire ground.
+
+It is a good plan to sow cowpeas at the last working of cantaloupes, in
+order to furnish some shade for the melons. As both cucumbers and
+cantaloupes are easily hurt by cold, they should not be planted until
+the soil is warm and all danger of frost is past.
+
+Cucumbers are always cut while they are green. They should never be
+pulled from the vine, but should always be cut with a piece of the stem
+attached. Cantaloupes should be gathered before they turn yellow and
+should be ripened in the house.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 92. STRIPED CUCUMBER BEETLE AND LARVA
+All magnified]
+
+In some sections of the country the little striped cucumber-beetle
+attacks the melons and cucumbers as soon as they come up. These beetles
+are very active, and if their attacks are not prevented they will
+destroy the tender plants. Bone dust and tobacco dust applied just as
+the plants appear above the ground will prevent these attacks. This
+treatment not only keeps off the beetle, but also helps the growth of
+the plants.
+
+=Eggplants.= Eggplants are so tender that they cannot be transplanted
+like tomatoes to cold-frames and gradually hardened to stand the cold
+spring air. These plants, started in a warm place, must be kept there
+until the soil to which they are to be transplanted is well warmed by
+the advance of spring. After the warm weather has fully set in,
+transplant them to rich soil, setting them three feet apart each way.
+This plant needs much manure. If large, perfect fruit is expected, the
+ground can hardly be made too rich.
+
+Eggplants are subject to the same bacterial blight that is so
+destructive to tomatoes. The only way to prevent this disease is to
+plant in ground not lately used for tomatoes or potatoes.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 93. AN ONION HARVEST]
+
+=Onions.= The method of growing onions varies with the use to which it
+is intended to put them. To make the early sorts, which are eaten green
+in the spring, little onions called _sets_ are planted. These are grown
+from seeds sowed late in the spring. The seeds are sowed thickly in rows
+in rather poor land. The object of selecting poor land is that the
+growth of the sets may be slow. When the sets have reached the size of
+small marbles, they are ready for the fall planting.
+
+In the South the sets may be planted in September. Plant them in rows in
+rich and well-fertilized soil. They will be ready for market in March
+or April. In the more northerly states the sets are to be planted as
+early as possible in the spring.
+
+To grow ripe onions the seeds must be sowed as early in the spring as
+the ground can be worked. The plants are thinned to a stand of three
+inches in the rows. As they grow, the soil is drawn away from them so
+that the onions sit on top of the soil with only their roots in the
+earth.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 94. HOTBED FOR STARTING TOMATO PLANTS]
+
+As soon as the tops ripen pull the onions and let them lie in the sun
+until the tops are dry. Then put them under shelter. As onions keep best
+with their tops attached, do not remove these until it is time for
+marketing.
+
+=Peas.= The English pea is about the first vegetable of the season to be
+planted. It may be planted as soon as the ground is in workable
+condition. Peas are planted in rows, and it is a good plan to stretch
+wire netting for them to climb on. However, where peas are extensively
+cultivated they are allowed to fall on the ground.
+
+There are many sorts of peas, differing both in quality and in time of
+production. The first to be planted are the extra-early varieties. These
+are not so fine as the later, wrinkled sorts, but the seeds are less apt
+to rot in cold ground. Following these, some of the fine, wrinkled sorts
+are to be planted in regular succession. Peas do not need much manure
+and do best in a light, warm soil.
+
+=Tomatoes.= There is no vegetable grown that is more widely used than
+the tomato. Whether fresh or canned it is a staple article of food that
+can be served in many ways.
+
+By careful selection and breeding, the fruit of the tomato has in recent
+years been much improved. There are now many varieties that produce
+perfectly smooth and solid fruit, and the grower can hardly go amiss in
+his selection of seeds if he bears his climate and his particular needs
+in mind.
+
+Early tomatoes are started in the greenhouse or in the hotbed about ten
+weeks before the time for setting the plants in the open ground. They
+are transplanted to cold-frames as soon as they are large enough to
+handle. This is done to harden the plants and to give them room to grow
+strong before the final transplanting.
+
+In kitchen gardens tomatoes are planted in rows four feet apart with the
+plants two feet apart in the rows. They are generally trained to stakes
+with but one stalk to a stake. When there is plenty of space, however,
+the plants are allowed to grow at will and to tumble on the ground. In
+this way they bear large crops. During the winter the markets are
+supplied with tomatoes either from tropical sections or from hothouses.
+As those grown in the hothouses are superior in flavor to those shipped
+from Florida and from the West Indies, and as they command good prices,
+great quantities are grown in this way.
+
+In the South the bacterial blight which attacks the plants of this
+family is a serious drawback to tomato culture. The only way to escape
+this disease is to avoid planting tomatoes on land in which eggplants,
+tomatoes, or potatoes have been blighted. Lime spread around the plants
+seems to prevent the blight for one season on some soils.
+
+At the approach of frost in the fall, green tomatoes can easily be
+preserved by wrapping them in paper. Gather them carefully and wrap each
+separately. Pack them in boxes and store in a cellar that is close
+enough to prevent the freezing of the fruit. A few days before the
+tomatoes are wanted for the table unpack as many as are needed, remove
+the paper, and allow them to ripen in a warm room.
+
+Tomatoes require a rich soil. Scattering a small quantity of nitrate of
+soda around their roots promotes rapid growth.
+
+=Watermelons.= As watermelons need more room than can usually be spared
+in a garden, they are commonly grown as a field crop.
+
+A very light, sandy soil suits watermelons best. They can be grown on
+very poor soil if a good supply of compost be placed in each hill. The
+land for the melons should be laid off in about ten-foot checks; that
+is, the furrows should cross one another at right angles about every ten
+feet. A wide hole should be dug where the furrows cross, and into this
+composted manure should be put.
+
+The best manure for watermelons is a compost of stable manure and
+wood-mold from the forest. Pile the manure and wood-mold in alternate
+layers for some time before the planting season. During the winter cut
+through the pile several times until the two are thoroughly mixed and
+finely pulverized. Be sure to keep the compost heap under shelter.
+Compost will lose in value if it is exposed to rains.
+
+At planting-time, put two or three shovelfuls of this compost into each
+of the prepared holes, and over the top of the manure scatter a handful
+of any high-grade complete fertilizer. Then cover fertilizer and manure
+with soil, and plant the seeds in this soil. In cultivating, plow both
+ways of the checked rows and throw the earth toward the plants.
+
+Some growers pinch off the vines when they have grown about three feet
+long. This is done to make them branch more freely, but the pinching is
+not necessary.
+
+A serious disease, the watermelon wilt, is rapidly spreading through
+melon-growing sections. This disease is caused by germs in the soil, and
+the germs are hard to kill. If the wilt should appear in your
+neighborhood, do not allow any stable manure to be used on your melon
+land, for the germs are easily scattered by means of stable manure. The
+germs also cling to the seeds of diseased melons, and these seeds bear
+the disease to other fields. If you treat melon seeds as you are
+directed on page 135 to treat oat seeds, the germs on the seeds will be
+destroyed. By crossing the watermelon on the citron melon, a watermelon
+that is resistant to wilt has recently been developed and successfully
+grown in soils in which wilt is present. The new melon, inferior in
+flavor at first, is being improved from season to season and bids fair
+to rival other melons in flavor.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 95. DEWBERRIES]
+
+
+SECTION XXVI. FLOWER GARDENING
+
+The comforts and joys of life depend largely upon small things. Of these
+small things perhaps none holds a position of greater importance in
+country life than the adornment of the home, indoors and outdoors, with
+flowers tastefully arranged. Their selection and planting furnish
+pleasant recreation; their care is a pleasing employment; and each
+little plant, as it sprouts and grows and develops, may become as much a
+pet as creatures of the sister animal kingdom. A beautiful, well-kept
+yard adds greatly to the pleasure and attractiveness of a country home.
+If a beautiful yard and home give joy to the mere passer-by, how much
+more must their beauty appeal to the owners. The decorating of the home
+shows ambition, pride, and energy--important elements in a successful
+life.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 96. AN EASY WAY TO BEAUTIFY THE HOME]
+
+Plant trees and shrubs in your yard and border your masses of shrubbery
+with flower-beds. Do not disfigure a lawn by placing a bed of flowers in
+it. Use the flowers rather to decorate the shrubbery, and for borders
+along walks, and in the corners near steps, or against foundations.
+
+If you wish to raise flowers for the sake of flowers, not as
+decorations, make the flower-beds in the back yard or at the side of the
+house.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 97. A BACK YARD TO REFINE THE CHILDREN OF THE
+FAMILY]
+
+Plants may be grown from seeds or from bulbs or from cuttings. The
+rooting of cuttings is an interesting task to all who are fond of
+flowers. Those who have no greenhouse and who wish to root cuttings of
+geraniums, roses, and other plants may do so in the following way. Take
+a shallow pan, an old-fashioned milk pan for instance, fill it nearly
+full of clean sand, and then wet the sand thoroughly. Stick the cuttings
+thickly into this wet sand, set the pan in a warm, sunny window, and
+keep the sand in the same water-soaked condition. Most cuttings will
+root well in a few weeks and may then be set into small flower-pots.
+Cuttings of tea roses should have two or three joints and be taken from
+a stem that has just made a flower. Allow one of the rose leaves to
+remain at the top of the cutting. Stick this cutting into the sand and
+it will root in about four weeks. Cuttings of Cape jasmine may be rooted
+in the same way. Some geraniums, the rose geranium for example, may be
+grown from cuttings of the roots.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 98. REPOTTING]
+
+Bulbs are simply the lower ends of the leaves of a plant wrapped tightly
+around one another and inclosing the bud that makes the future
+flower-stalk. The hyacinth, the narcissus, and the common garden onion
+are examples of bulbous plants. The flat part at the bottom of the bulb
+is the stem of the plant reduced to a flat disk, and between each two
+adjacent leaves on this flat stem there is a bud, just as above-ground
+there is a bud at the base of a leaf. These buds on the stem of the bulb
+rarely grow, however, unless forced to do so artificially. The number
+of bulbs may be greatly increased by making these buds grow and form
+other bulbs. In increasing hyacinths the matured bulbs are dug in the
+spring, and the under part of the flat stem is carefully scraped away to
+expose the base of the buds. The bulbs are then put in heaps and covered
+with sand. In a few weeks each bud has formed a little bulb. The
+gardener plants the whole together to grow one season, after which the
+little bulbs are separated and grown into full-sized bulbs for sale.
+Other bulbs, like the narcissus or the daffodil, form new bulbs that
+separate without being scraped.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 99. A CLEMATIS]
+
+There are some other plants which have underground parts that are
+commonly called bulbs but which are not bulbs at all; for example, the
+gladiolus and the caladium, or elephant's ear. Their underground parts
+are bulblike in shape, but are really solid flattened stems with eyes
+like the underground stem of the Irish potato. These parts are called
+_corms_. They may be cut into pieces like the potato and each part will
+grow.
+
+The dahlia makes a mass of roots that look greatly like sweet potatoes,
+but there are no eyes on them as there are on the sweet potato. The only
+eyes are on the base of the stem to which they are joined. They may be
+sprouted like sweet potatoes and then soft cuttings made of the green
+shoots, after which they may be rooted in the greenhouse and later
+planted in pots.
+
+There are many perennial plants that will bloom the first season when
+grown from the seed, though such seedlings are seldom so good as the
+plants from which they came. They are generally used to originate new
+varieties. Seeds of the dahlia, for instance, can be sowed in a box in a
+warm room in early March, potted as soon as the plants are large enough
+to handle, and finally planted in the garden when the weather is warm.
+They will bloom nearly as soon as plants grown by dividing the roots or
+from cuttings.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 100. OUTDOOR-GROWN CHRYSANTHEMUMS]
+
+In growing annual plants from seed, there is little difficulty if the
+grower has a greenhouse or a hotbed with a glass sash. Even without
+these the plants may be grown in shallow boxes in a warm room. The best
+boxes are about four inches deep with bottoms made of slats nailed a
+quarter of an inch apart to give proper drainage. Some moss is laid over
+the bottom to prevent the soil from sifting through. The boxes should
+then be filled with light, rich soil. Fine black forest mold, thoroughly
+mixed with one fourth its bulk of well-rotted manure, makes the best
+soil for filling the seed-boxes. If this soil be placed in an oven and
+heated very hot, the heat will destroy many weeds that would otherwise
+give trouble. After the soil is put in the boxes it should be well
+packed by pressing it with a flat wooden block. Sow the seeds in
+straight rows, and at the ends of the rows put little wooden labels with
+the names of the flowers on them.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 101. THE CARNATION (ELDORADO)]
+
+Seeds sowed in the same box should be of the same general size in order
+that they may be properly covered, for seeds need to be covered
+according to their size. After sowing the seed, sift the fine soil over
+the surface of the box. The best soil for covering small seeds is made
+by rubbing dry moss and leaf-mold through a sieve together. This makes a
+light cover that will not bake and will retain moisture. After covering
+the seeds, press the soil firm and smooth with a wooden block. Now
+sprinkle the covering soil lightly with a watering-pot until it is
+fairly moistened. Lay some panes of glass over the box to retain the
+moisture, and avoid further watering until moisture becomes absolutely
+necessary. Too much watering makes the soil too compact and rots the
+seed.
+
+As soon as the seedlings have made a second pair of leaves, take them up
+with the point of a knife and transplant them into other boxes filled in
+the same way. They should be set two inches apart so as to give them
+room to grow strong. They may be transplanted from the boxes to the
+flower-garden by taking an old knife-blade and cutting the earth into
+squares, and then lifting the entire square with the plant and setting
+it where it is wanted.
+
+There are many flower-seeds which are so small that they must not be
+covered at all. In this class we find begonias, petunias, and Chinese
+primroses. To sow these prepare boxes as for the other seeds, and press
+the earth smooth. Then scatter some fine, dry moss thinly over the
+surface of the soil. Sprinkle this with water until it is well
+moistened, and at once scatter the seeds thinly over the surface and
+cover the boxes with panes of glass until the seeds germinate.
+Transplant as soon as the young plants can be lifted out separately on
+the blade of a penknife.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 102. THE POET'S NARCISSUS]
+
+Many kinds of flower-seeds may be sowed directly in the open ground
+where they are to remain. The sweet pea is one of the most popular
+flowers grown in this way. The seeds should be sowed rather thickly in
+rows and covered fully four inches deep. The sowing should be varied in
+time according to the climate. From North Carolina southward, sweet peas
+may be sowed in the fall or in January, as they are very hardy and
+should be forced to bloom before the weather becomes hot. Late spring
+sowing will not give fine flowers in the South. From North Carolina
+northward the seeds should be sowed just as early in the spring as the
+ground can be easily worked. When the plants appear, stakes should be
+set along the rows and a strip of woven-wire fence stretched for the
+plants to climb on. Morning-glory seeds are also sowed where they are to
+grow. The seeds of the moonflower are large and hard and will fail to
+grow unless they are slightly cut. To start their growth make a slight
+cut just through the hard outer coat of the seed so as to expose the
+white inside. In this way they will grow very readily. The seeds of the
+canna, or Indian-shot plant, are treated in a similar way to start them
+growing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 103. A CYCLAMEN]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 104. A MODERN SWEET PEA]
+
+The canna makes large fleshy roots which in the North are taken up,
+covered with damp moss, and stored under the benches of the greenhouse
+or in a cellar. If allowed to get too dry, they will wither. From
+central North Carolina south it is best to cover them up thickly with
+dead leaves and let them stay in the ground where they grew. In the
+early spring take them up and divide for replanting.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 105. DAHLIAS]
+
+Perennial plants, such as our flowering shrubs, are grown from cuttings
+of the ripe wood after the leaves have fallen in autumn. From North
+Carolina southward these cuttings should be set in rows in the fall.
+Cuttings ten inches long are set so that the tops are just even with the
+ground. A light cover of pine leaves will prevent damage from frost.
+Farther north the cuttings should be tied in bundles and well buried in
+the ground with earth heaped over them. In the spring set them in rows
+for rooting. In the South all the hardy hybrid perpetual roses can be
+grown in this way, and in any section the cuttings of most of the
+spring-flowering shrubs will grow in the same manner. The Japanese
+quince, which makes such a show of its scarlet flowers in early spring,
+can be best grown from three-inch cuttings made of the roots and planted
+in rows in the fall.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 106. FOUR-O'CLOCKS SET IN A GOOD PLACE]
+
+Many of our ornamental evergreen trees, such as the arbor vitae, can be
+grown in the spring from seeds sowed in a frame. Cotton cloth should be
+stretched over the trees while they are young, to prevent the sun from
+scorching them. When a year old they may be set in nursery rows to
+develop until they are large enough to plant. Arbor vitae may also be
+grown from cuttings made by setting young tips in boxes of sand in the
+fall and keeping them warm and moist through the winter. Most of them
+will be rooted by spring.
+
+The kinds of flowers that you can grow are almost countless. You can
+hardly make a mistake in selecting, as all are interesting. Start this
+year with a few and gradually increase the number under your care year
+by year, and aim always to make your plants the choicest of their kind.
+
+Of annuals there are over four hundred kinds cultivated. You may select
+from the following list: phlox, petunias, China asters, California
+poppies, sweet peas, pinks, double and single sunflowers, hibiscus,
+candytuft, balsams, morning-glories, stocks, nasturtiums, verbenas,
+mignonette.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 107. A WINDOW BOX]
+
+Of perennials select bleeding-hearts, pinks, bluebells, hollyhocks,
+perennial phlox, perennial hibiscus, wild asters, and goldenrods. From
+bulbs choose crocus, tulip, daffodil, narcissus, lily of the valley, and
+lily.
+
+Some climbers are cobaea, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, English ivy,
+Boston ivy, cypress vine, hyacinth bean, climbing nasturtiums, and
+roses.
+
+To make your plants do best, cultivate them carefully. Allow no weeds to
+grow among them and do not let the surface of the soil dry into a hard
+crust. Beware, however, of stirring the soil too deep. Loosening the
+soil about the roots interrupts the feeding of the plant and does harm.
+Climbing plants may be trained to advantage on low woven-wire fences.
+These are especially serviceable for sweet peas and climbing
+nasturtiums. Do not let the plants go to seed, since seeding is a heavy
+drain on nourishment. Moreover, the plant has served its end when it
+seeds and is ready then to stop blossoming. You should therefore pick
+off the old flowers to prevent their developing seeds. This will cause
+many plants which would otherwise soon stop blossoming to continue
+bearing flowers for a longer period.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 108. A WINDOW-GARDEN]
+
+=Window-Gardening.= Growing plants indoors in the window possesses many
+of the attractions of outdoor flower-gardening, and is a means of
+beautifying the room at very small expense. Especially do window-gardens
+give delight during the barren winter time. They are a source of culture
+and pleasure to thousands who cannot afford extended and expensive
+ornamentation.
+
+The window-garden may vary in size from an eggshell holding a minute
+plant to boxes filling all the available space about the window. The
+soil may be in pots for individual plants or groups of plants or in
+boxes for collections of plants. You may raise your flowers inside of
+the window on shelves or stands, or you may have a set of shelves built
+outside of the window and inclosed in glazed sashes. The illustration on
+page 119 gives an idea of such an external window-garden.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 109. AN INSIDE WINDOW BOX IN ITS FULL GLORY]
+
+The soil must be rich and loose. The best contains some undecayed
+organic matter such as leaf-mold or partly decayed sods and some sand.
+Raise your plants from bulbs, cuttings, or seed, just as in outdoor
+gardens. Some plants do better in cool rooms, others in a warmer
+temperature.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 110. MAKING THE OUTSIDE OF A WINDOW BLOOM]
+
+If the temperature ranges from 35 deg. to 70 deg., averaging about 55 deg., azaleas,
+daisies, carnations, candytuft, alyssum, dusty miller, chrysanthemums,
+cinerarias, camellias, daphnes, geraniums, petunias, violets, primroses,
+and verbenas make especially good growths.
+
+[Illustration: A BEAUTIFUL WINDOW FLOWER]
+
+If the temperature is from 50 deg. to 90 deg., averaging 70 deg., try abutilon,
+begonia, bouvardia, caladium, canna, Cape jasmine, coleus, fuchsia,
+gloxinia, heliotrope, lantana, lobelia, roses, and smilax.
+
+If your box or window is shaded a good part of the time, raise begonias,
+camellias, ferns, and Asparagus Sprengeri.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 111. FERNS FOR BOTH INDOORS AND OUTDOORS]
+
+When the soil is dry, water it; then apply no more water until it again
+becomes dry. Beware of too much water. The plants should be washed
+occasionally with soapsuds and then rinsed. If red spiders are present,
+sponge them off with water as hot as can be borne comfortably by the
+hand. Newspapers afford a good means of keeping off the cold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE DISEASES OF PLANTS
+
+
+SECTION XXVII. THE CAUSE AND NATURE OF PLANT DISEASE
+
+Plants have diseases just as animals do; not the same diseases, to be
+sure, but just as serious for the plant. Some of them are so dangerous
+that they kill the plant; others partly or wholly destroy its usefulness
+or its beauty. Some diseases are found oftenest on very young plants,
+others prey on the middle-aged tree, while still others attack merely
+the fruit. Whenever a farmer or fruit-grower has disease on his plants,
+he is sure to lose much profit.
+
+You have all seen rotten fruit. This is diseased fruit. Fruit rot is a
+plant disease. It costs farmers millions of dollars annually. A
+fruit-grower recently lost sixty carloads of peaches in a single year
+through rot which could have been largely prevented if he had known how.
+
+Many of the yellowish or discolored spots on leaves are the result of
+disease, as is also the smut of wheat, corn, and oats, the blight of the
+pear, and the wilt of cotton. Many of these diseases are contagious, or,
+as we often hear said of measles, "catching." This is true, among
+others, of the apple and peach rots. A healthy apple can catch this
+disease from a sick apple. You often see evidence of this in the apple
+bin. So, too, many of the diseases found in the field or garden are
+contagious.
+
+Sometimes when the skin of a rotten apple has been broken you will find
+in the broken place a blue mold. It was this that caused the apple to
+decay. This mold is a living plant; very small, certainly, but
+nevertheless a plant. Let us learn a little about molds, in order that
+we may better understand our apple and potato rots, as well as other
+plant diseases.
+
+If you cut a lemon and let it stand for a day or two, there will
+probably appear a blue mold like that you have seen on the surface of
+canned fruit. Bread also sometimes has this blue mold; at other times
+bread has a black mold, and yet again a pink or a yellow mold.
+
+These and all other molds are tiny living plants. Instead of seeds they
+produce many very small bodies that serve the purpose of seeds and
+reproduce the mold. These are called _spores_. Fig. 112 shows how they
+are borne on the parent plant.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 112. TANGLED THREADS OF BLUE MOLD
+The single stalk on the left shows how spores are borne]
+
+It is also of great importance to decide whether by keeping the spores
+away we may prevent mold. Possibly this experiment will help us. Moisten
+a piece of bread, then dip a match or a pin into the blue mold on a
+lemon, and draw the match across the moist bread. You will thus plant
+the spores in a row, though they are so small that perhaps you may not
+see any of them. Place the bread in a damp place for a few days and
+watch it. Does the mold grow where you planted it? Does it grow
+elsewhere? This experiment should prove to you that molds are living
+things and can be planted. If you find spots elsewhere, you must bear in
+mind that these spores are very small and light and that some of them
+were probably blown about when you made your sowing. When you touch the
+moldy portion of a dry lemon, you see a cloud of dust rise. This dust is
+made of millions of spores.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 113. MAGNIFIED ROSE MILDEW]
+
+If you plant many other kinds of mold you will find that the molds come
+true to the kind that is planted; that like produces like even among
+molds.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 114. A MILDEWED ROSE]
+
+You can prove, also, that the mold is caused only by other mold. To do
+this, put some wet bread in a wide-mouthed bottle and plug the mouth of
+the bottle with cotton. Kill all the spores that may be in this bottle
+by steaming it an hour in a cooking-steamer. This bread will not mold
+until you allow live mold from the outside to enter. If, however, at any
+time you open the bottle and allow spores to enter, or if you plant
+spores therein, and if there be moisture enough, mold will immediately
+set in.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 115. A HIGHLY MAGNIFIED SECTION OF DISEASED PEAR LEAF
+Showing how spores are borne]
+
+The little plants which make up these molds are called _fungi_. Some
+fungi, such as the toadstools, puffballs, and devil's snuff-box, are
+quite large; others, namely the molds, are very small; and others are
+even smaller than the molds. Fungi never have the green color of
+ordinary plants, always reproduce by spores, and feed on living matter
+or matter that was once alive. Puffballs, for example, are found on
+rotting wood or dead twigs or roots. Some fungi grow on living plants,
+and these produce plant disease by taking their nourishment from the
+plant on which they grow; the latter plant is called the _host_.
+
+The same blue mold that grows on bread often attacks apples that have
+been slightly bruised; it cannot pierce healthy apple skin. You can
+plant the mold in the bruised apple just as you did on bread and watch
+its rapid spread through the apple. You learn from this the need of
+preventing bruised or decayed apples from coming in contact with healthy
+fruit.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 116. SPORES OF THE PEAR SCAB
+The spores are borne on stalks]
+
+Just as the fungus studied above lives in the apple or bread, so other
+varieties live on leaves, bark, etc. Fig. 113 represents the surface of
+a mildewed rose leaf greatly magnified. This mildew is a fungus. You can
+see its creeping stems, its upright stalk, and numerous spores ready to
+fall off and spread the disease with the first breath of wind. You must
+remember that this figure is greatly magnified, and that the whole
+portion shown in the figure is only about one tenth of an inch across.
+Fig. 114 shows the general appearance of a twig affected by this
+disease.
+
+Mildew on the rose or on any other plant may be killed by spraying the
+leaves with a solution of liver of sulphur; to make this solution, use
+one ounce of the liver of sulphur to two gallons of water.
+
+The fungus that causes the pear-leaf spots has its spores in little pits
+(Fig. 115). The spores of some fungi also grow on stalks, as shown in
+Fig. 116. This figure represents an enlarged view of the pear scab,
+which causes so much destruction.
+
+You see, then, that fungi are living plants that grow at the expense of
+other plants and cause disease. Now if you can cover the leaf with a
+poison that will kill the spore when it comes, you can prevent the
+disease. One such poison is the Bordeaux (_bor-do_') mixture, which
+has proved of great value to farmers.
+
+Since the fungus in most cases lives within the leaves, the poison on
+the outside does no good after the fungus is established. The treatment
+can be used only to _prevent_ attack, not to cure, except in the case of
+a few mildews that live on the outside of the leaf, as does the rose
+mildew.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Why do things mold more readily in damp places? Do you now
+     understand why fruit is heated before it is canned? Try to grow
+     several kinds of mold. Do you know any fungi which may be eaten?
+
+     Transfer disease from a rotten apple to a healthy one and note the
+     rapidity of decay. How many really healthy leaves can you find on a
+     strawberry plant? Do you find any spots with reddish borders and
+     white centers? Do you know that this is a serious disease of the
+     strawberry? What damage does fruit mold do to peaches, plums, or
+     strawberries?
+
+     Write to your experiment station for bulletins on plant diseases
+     and methods for making and using spraying mixtures.
+
+
+SECTION XXVIII. YEAST AND BACTERIA
+
+Can you imagine a plant so small that it would take one hundred plants
+lying side by side to equal the thickness of a sheet of writing-paper?
+There are plants that are so small. Moreover, these same plants are of
+the utmost importance to man. Some of them do him great injury, while
+others aid him very much.
+
+You will see their importance when you are told that certain of them in
+their habits of life cause great change in the substances in which they
+live. For example, when living in a sugary substance they change the
+sugar into a gas and an alcohol. Do you remember the bright bubbles of
+gas you have seen rising in sweet cider or in wine as it soured? These
+bubbles are caused by one of these small plants--the yeast plant. As the
+yeast plant grows in the sweet fruit juice, alcohol is made and a gas is
+given off at the same time, and this gas makes the bubbles.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 117. YEAST PLANTS
+_A_, a single plant; _B_, group of two budding cells; _C_, group of
+several cells]
+
+Later, other kinds of plants equally small will grow and change the
+alcohol into an acid which you will recognize as vinegar by its sour
+taste and peculiar odor. Thus vinegar is made by the action of two
+different kinds of little living plants in the cider. That these are
+living beings you can prove by heating the cider and keeping it tightly
+sealed so that nothing can enter it. You will find that because the
+living germs have been killed by the heat, the cider will not ferment or
+sour as it did before. The germs could of course be killed by poisons,
+but then the cider would be unfit for use. It is this same little yeast
+plant that causes bread to rise.
+
+When you see any decaying matter you may know that in it minute plants
+much like the yeast plant are at work. Since decay is due to them, we
+take advantage of the fact that they cannot grow in strong brine or
+smoke; and we prepare meat for keeping by salting it or by smoking it or
+by both of these methods.
+
+You see that some of the yeast plants and _bacteria_, as many of these
+forms are called, are very friendly to us, while others do us great
+harm.
+
+Some bacteria grow within the bodies of men and other animals or in
+plants. When they do so they may produce disease. Typhoid fever,
+diphtheria, consumption, and many other serious diseases are caused by
+bacteria. Fig. 118, _e_, shows the bacterium that causes typhoid fever.
+In the picture, of course, it is very greatly magnified. In reality
+these bacteria are so small that about twenty-five thousand of them side
+by side would extend only one inch. These small beings produce their
+great effects by very rapid multiplication and by giving off powerful
+poisons.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 118. FORMS OF BACTERIA
+_a_, grippe; _b_, bubonic plague; _c_, diphtheria; _d_, tuberculosis;
+_e_, typhoid fever]
+
+Bacteria are so small that they are readily borne on the dust particles
+of the air and are often taken into the body through the breath and also
+through water or milk. You can therefore see how careful you should be
+to prevent germs from getting into the air or into water or milk when
+there is disease about your home. You should heed carefully all
+instructions of your physician on this point, so that you may not spread
+disease.
+
+
+SECTION XXIX. PREVENTION OF PLANT DISEASE
+
+In the last two sections you have learned something of the nature of
+those fungi and bacteria that cause disease in animals and plants. Now
+let us see how we can use this knowledge to lessen the diseases of our
+crops. Farmers lose through plant diseases much that could be saved by
+proper precaution.
+
+First, you must remember that every diseased fruit, twig, or leaf bears
+millions of spores. These must be destroyed by burning. They must not be
+allowed to lie about and spread the disease in the spring. See that
+decayed fruit in the bin or on the trees is destroyed in the same
+manner. Never throw decayed fruit into the garden or orchard, as it may
+cause disease the following year.
+
+Second, you can often kill spores on seeds before they are planted and
+thus prevent the development of the fungus (see pp. 134-137).
+
+Third, often the foliage of the plant can be sprayed with a poison that
+will prevent the germination of the spores (see pp. 138-140).
+
+Fourth, some varieties of plants resist disease much more stoutly than
+others. We may often select the resistant form to great advantage (see
+Fig. 119).
+
+Fifth, after big limbs are pruned off, decay often sets in at the wound.
+This decay may be prevented by coating the cut surface with paint, tar,
+or some other substance that will not allow spores to enter the wound or
+to germinate there.
+
+Sixth, it frequently happens that the spore or fungus remains in the
+soil. This is true in the cotton wilt, and the remedy is so to rotate
+crops that the diseased land is not used again for this crop until the
+spores or fungi have died.
+
+
+SECTION XXX. SOME SPECIAL PLANT DISEASES
+
+=Fire-Blight of the Pear and Apple.= You have perhaps heard your father
+speak of the "fire-blight" of pear and apple trees. This is one of the
+most injurious and most widely known of fruit diseases. Do you want to
+know the cause of this disease and how to prevent it?
+
+First, how will you recognize this disease? If the diseased bough at
+which you are looking has true fire-blight, you will see a blackened
+twig with withered, blackened leaves. During winter the leaves do not
+fall from blighted twigs as they do from healthy ones. The leaves wither
+because of the diseased twig, not because they are themselves diseased.
+Only rarely does the blight really enter the leaf. Sometimes a sharp
+line separates the blighted from the healthy part of the twig.
+
+This disease is caused by bacteria, of which you have read in another
+section. The fire-blight bacteria grow in the juicy part of the stem,
+between the wood and the bark. This tender, fresh layer (as explained on
+page 79) is called the _cambium_, and is the part that breaks away and
+allows you to slip the bark off when you make your bark whistle in the
+spring. The growth of new wood takes place in the cambium, and this part
+of the twig is therefore full of nourishment. If this nourishment is
+stolen the plant of course soon suffers.
+
+The bacteria causing fire-blight are readily carried from flower to
+flower and from twig to twig by insects; therefore to keep these and
+other bacteria away from your trees you must see to it that all the
+trees in the neighborhood of your orchard are kept free from mischievous
+enemies. If harmful bacteria exist in near-by trees, insects will carry
+them to your orchard. You must therefore watch all the relatives of the
+pear; namely, the apple, hawthorn, crab, quince, and mountain ash, for
+any of these trees may harbor the germs.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 119. A RESISTANT VARIETY OF SEA ISLAND COTTON
+All the other plants in this field died. This one row lived because it
+could resist the cotton wilt]
+
+When any tree shows blight, every diseased twig on it must be cut off
+and burned in order to kill the germs, and you must cut low enough on
+the twig to get all the bacteria. It is best to cut a foot below the
+blackened portion. If by chance your knife should cut into wood
+containing the living germs, and then you should cut into healthy wood
+with the same knife, you yourself would spread the disease. It is
+therefore best after each cutting to dip your knife into a solution of
+carbolic acid. This will kill all bacteria clinging to the knife-blade.
+The surest time to do complete trimming is after the leaves fall in the
+autumn, as diseased twigs are most easily recognized at that time, but
+the orchard should be carefully watched in the spring also. If a large
+limb shows the blight, it is perhaps best to cut the tree entirely down.
+There is little hope for such a tree.
+
+A large pear-grower once said that no man with a sharp knife need fear
+the fire-blight. Yet our country loses greatly by this disease each
+year.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 120. FIRE-BLIGHT BACTERIA
+Magnified]
+
+It may be added that winter pruning tends to make the tree form much new
+wood and thus favors the disease. Rich soil and fertilizers make it much
+easier in a similar way for the tree to become a prey to blight.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Ask your teacher to show you a case of fire-blight on a pear or
+     apple tree. Can you distinguish between healthy and diseased wood?
+     Cut the twig open lengthwise and see how deep into the wood and how
+     far down the stem the disease extends. Can you tell surely from the
+     outside how far the twig is diseased? Can you find any twig that
+     does not show a distinct line of separation between diseased and
+     healthy wood? If so, the bacteria are still living in the cambium.
+     Cut out a small bit of the diseased portion and insert it under the
+     bark of a healthy, juicy twig within a few inches of its tip and
+     watch it from day to day. Does the tree catch the disease? This
+     experiment may prove to you how easily the disease spreads. If you
+     should see any drops like dew hanging from diseased twigs, touch a
+     little of this moisture to a healthy flower and watch for results.
+
+     Cut and burn all diseased twigs that you can find. Estimate the
+     damage done by fire-blight.
+
+     Farmers' bulletins on orchard enemies are published by the
+     Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., and can be had by
+     writing for them. They will help your father much in treating
+     fire-blight.
+
+
+=Oat Smuts.= Let us go out into a near-by oat field and look for all the
+blackened heads of grain that we can find. How many are there? To count
+accurately let us select an area one foot square. We must look
+carefully, for many of these blackened heads are so low that we shall
+not see them at the first glance. You will be surprised to find as many
+as thirty or forty heads in every hundred so blackened. These blackened
+heads are due to a plant disease called _smut_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 121. LOOSE SMUT OF OATS
+The glumes at _a_ more nearly destroyed than the glumes at _b_]
+
+When threshing-time comes you will notice a great quantity of black dust
+coming from the grain as it passes through the machine. The air is full
+of it. This black dust consists of the spores of a tiny fungous plant.
+The fungous smut plant grows upon the oat plant, ripens its spores in
+the head, and is ready to be thoroughly scattered among the grains of
+the oats as they come from the threshing-machine.
+
+These spores cling to the grain and at the next planting are ready to
+attack the sprouting plantlet. A curious thing about the smut is that it
+can gain a foothold only on very young oat plants; that is, on plants
+about an inch long or of the age shown in Fig. 121.
+
+When grain covered with smut spores is planted, the spores develop with
+the sprouting seeds and are ready to attack the young plant as it breaks
+through the seed-coat. You see, then, how important it is to have seed
+grain free from smut. A substance has been found that will, without
+injuring the seeds, kill all the smut spores clinging to the grain. This
+substance is called _formalin_. Enough seed to plant a whole acre can be
+treated with formalin at a cost of only a few cents. Such treatment
+insures a full crop and clean seed for future planting. Try it if you
+have any smut.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 122. A CROP FROM OATS TREATED WITH FORMALIN]
+
+Fig. 122 illustrates what may be gained by using seeds treated to
+prevent smut. The annual loss to the farmers of the United States from
+smut on oats amounts to several millions of dollars. All that is needed
+to prevent this loss is a little care in the treatment of seed and a
+proper rotation of crops.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Count the smutted heads on a patch three feet square and estimate
+     the percentage of smut in all the wheat and oat fields near your
+     home. On which is it most abundant? Do you know of any fields that
+     have been treated for smut? If so, look for smut in these fields.
+     Ask how they were treated. Do you know of any one who uses
+     bluestone for wheat smut? Can oats be treated with bluestone?
+
+     At planting time get an ounce of formalin at your drug store or
+     from the state experiment station. Mix this with three gallons of
+     water. This amount will treat three bushels of seeds. Spread the
+     seeds thinly on the barn floor and sprinkle them with the mixture,
+     being careful that all the seeds are thoroughly moistened. Cover
+     closely with blankets for a few hours and plant very soon after
+     treatment. Try this and estimate the per cent of smut at next
+     harvest-time. Write to your experiment station for a bulletin on
+     smut treatment.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 123. A SCABBY SEED POTATO]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 124. A HEALTHY SEED POTATO]
+
+=Potato Scab.= The scab of the white, or Irish, potato is one of the
+commonest and at the same time most easily prevented of plant diseases.
+Yet this disease diminishes the profits of the potato-grower very
+materially. Fig. 123 shows a very scabby potato, while Fig. 124
+represents a healthy one. This scab is caused by a fungous growth on the
+surface of the potato. Of course it lessens the selling-price of the
+potatoes. If seed potatoes be treated to a bath of formalin just before
+they are planted, the formalin will kill the fungi on the potatoes and
+greatly diminish the amount of scab at the next harvest. Therefore
+before they are planted, seed potatoes should be soaked in a weak
+solution of formalin for about two hours. One-half pint of formalin to
+fifteen gallons of water makes a proper solution.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 125
+From a scabby potato, like the one in Fig. 123, this yield was obtained]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 126
+From a healthy potato, like the one in Fig. 124, this yield was obtained]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 127. EFFECT OF SPRAYING
+Sprayed potatoes on left; unsprayed on right]
+
+One pint of formalin, or enough for thirty gallons of water, will cost
+but thirty-five cents. Since this solution can be used repeatedly, it
+will do for many bushels of seed potatoes.
+
+=Late Potato Blight.= The blight is another serious disease of the
+potato. This is quite a different disease from the scab and so requires
+different treatment. The blight is caused by another fungus, which
+attacks the foliage of the potato plant. When the blight seriously
+attacks a crop, it generally destroys the crop completely. In the year
+1845 a potato famine extending over all the United States and Europe was
+caused by this disease.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 128. YIELD FROM TWO FIELDS OF THE SAME SIZE
+The one at the top was sprayed; the one at the bottom was unsprayed]
+
+Spraying is the remedy for potato blight. Fig. 128 shows the effect of
+spraying upon the yield. In this case the sprayed field yielded three
+hundred and twenty-four bushels an acre, while the unsprayed yielded
+only one hundred bushels to an acre. Fig. 127 shows the result of three
+applications of the spraying mixture on the diseased field. Figs. 129
+and 130 show how the spraying is done.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 129. SPRAYING MACHINE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 130. SPRAYING MACHINE]
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Watch the potatoes at the next harvest and estimate the number that
+     is damaged by scab. You will remember that formalin is the
+     substance used to prevent grain smuts. Write to your state
+     experiment station for a bulletin telling how to use formalin, as
+     well as for information regarding other potato diseases. Give the
+     treatment a fair trial in a portion of your field this year and
+     watch carefully for results. Make an estimate of the cost of
+     treatment and of the profits. How does the scab injure the value of
+     the potato? The late blight can often be recognized by its odor.
+     Did you ever smell it as you passed an affected field?
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 131. CLUB ROOT]
+
+=Club Root.= Club root is a disease of the cabbage, turnip, cauliflower,
+etc. Its general effect is shown in the illustration (Fig. 131).
+Sometimes this disease does great damage. It can be prevented by using
+from eighty to ninety bushels of lime to an acre.
+
+=Black Knot.= Black knot is a serious disease of the plum and of the
+cherry tree. It attacks the branches of the tree; it is well
+illustrated in Fig. 132. Since it is a contagious disease, great care
+should be exercised to destroy all diseased branches of either wild or
+cultivated plums or cherries. In many states its destruction is enforced
+by law. All black knot should be cut out and burned some time before
+February of each year. This will cost little and save much.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 132. BLACK KNOT]
+
+=Peach Leaf Curl.= Peach leaf curl does damage amounting to about
+$3,000,000 yearly in the United States. It can be almost entirely
+prevented by spraying the tree with Bordeaux mixture or lime-sulphur
+wash before the buds open in the spring. It is not safe to use strong
+Bordeaux mixture on peach trees when they are in leaf.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 133. MOLDY PEACHES]
+
+=Cotton Wilt.= Cotton wilt when it once establishes itself in the soil
+completely destroys the crop. The fungus remains in the soil, and no
+amount of spraying will kill it. The only known remedy is to cultivate a
+resistant variety of cotton or to rotate the crop.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 134. PEACH MUMMIES]
+
+=Fruit Mold.= Fruit mold, or brown rot, often attacks the unripe fruit
+on the tree, and turns it soft and brown and finally fuzzy with a coat
+of mildew. Fig. 133 shows some peaches thus attacked. Often the fruits
+do not fall from the trees but shrivel up and become "mummies" (Fig.
+134). This rot is one of the most serious diseases of plums and peaches.
+It probably diminishes the value of the peach harvest from 50 to 75 per
+cent. Spraying according to the directions in the Appendix will kill the
+disease.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 135. HALF OF TREE SPRAYED TO PREVENT PEACH CURL
+Note the difference in foliage and fruit on the sprayed and unsprayed
+halves of the tree, and the difference in yield shown below]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ORCHARD, GARDEN, AND FIELD INSECTS
+
+
+SECTION XXXI. INSECTS IN GENERAL
+
+The farmer who has fought "bugs" on crop after crop needs no argument to
+convince him that insects are serious enemies to agriculture. Yet even
+he may be surprised to learn that the damage done by them, as estimated
+by good authority, amounts to millions and millions of dollars yearly in
+the United States and Canada.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 136. ANTS]
+
+Every one thinks he knows what an insect is. If, however, we are willing
+in this matter to make our notion agree with that of the people who have
+studied insects most and know them best, we must include among the true
+insects only such air-breathing animals as have six legs, no more, and
+have the body divided into three parts--head, thorax, and abdomen. These
+parts are clearly shown in Fig. 136, which represents the ant, a true
+insect. All insects do not show the divisions of the body so clearly as
+this figure shows them, but on careful examination you can usually make
+them out. The head bears one pair of feelers, and these in many insects
+serve also as organs of smell and sometimes of hearing. Less prominent
+feelers are to be found in the region of the mouth. These serve as
+organs of taste.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 137. PARTS OF AN INSECT]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 138. COMPOUND EYE OF DRAGON FLY]
+
+The eyes of insects are especially noticeable. Close examination shows
+them to be made up of a thousand or more simple eyes. Such an eye is
+called a _compound eye_. An enlarged view of one of these is shown in
+Fig. 138.
+
+Attached to the thorax are the legs and also the wings, if the insect
+has wings. The rear portion is the abdomen, and this, like the other
+parts, is composed of parts known as segments. The insect breathes
+through openings in the abdomen and thorax called _spiracles_ (see Fig.
+137).
+
+An examination of spiders, mites, and ticks shows eight legs; therefore
+these do not belong to the true insects, nor do the thousand-legged
+worms and their relatives.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 139. THE HOUSE FLY
+_a_, egg; _b_, larva, or maggot; _c_, pupa; _d_, adult male. (All
+enlarged)]
+
+The chief classes of insects are as follows: the flies, with two wings
+only; the bees, wasps, and ants, with four delicate wings; the beetles,
+with four wings--two hard, horny ones covering the two more delicate
+ones. When the beetle is at rest its two hard wings meet in a straight
+line down the back. This peculiarity distinguishes it from the true bug,
+which has four wings. The two outer wings are partly horny, and in
+folding lap over each other. Butterflies and moths are much alike in
+appearance but differ in habit. The butterfly works by day and the moth
+by night. Note the knob on the end of the butterfly's feeler (Fig. 143).
+The moth has no such knob.
+
+It is important to know how insects take their food, for by knowing this
+we are often able to destroy insect pests. Some are provided with mouth
+parts for chewing their food; others have a long tube with which they
+pierce plants or animals and, like the mosquito, suck their food from
+the inside. Insects of this latter class cannot of course be harmed by
+poison on the surface of the leaves on which they feed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 140. A TYPICAL BUG
+_a_, adult; _b_, side view of sucking mouth-part Both _a_ and _b_ are
+much enlarged]
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 141. BEETLE
+_a_, larva; _b_, pupa; _c_, adult; _d_, burrow]
+
+Many insects change their form from youth to old age so much that you
+can scarcely recognize them as the same creatures. First comes the egg.
+The egg hatches into a worm-like animal known as a grub, maggot, or
+caterpillar, or, as scientists call it, a _larva_. This creature feeds
+and grows until finally it settles down and spins a home of silk, called
+a _cocoon_ (Fig. 145). If we open the cocoon we shall find that the
+animal is now covered with a hard outside skeleton, that it cannot move
+freely, and that it cannot eat at all. The animal in this state is known
+as the _pupa_ (Figs. 145 and 146). Sometimes, however, the pupa is not
+covered by a cocoon, sometimes it is soft, and sometimes it has some
+power of motion (Fig. 141). After a rest in the pupa stage the animal
+comes out a mature insect (Figs. 142 and 143).
+
+From this you can see that it is especially important to know all you
+can about the life of injurious insects, since it is often easier to
+kill these pests at one stage of their life than at another. Often it is
+better to aim at destroying the seemingly harmless beetle or butterfly
+than to try to destroy the larvae that hatch from its eggs, although, as
+you must remember, it is generally the larvae that do the most harm.
+Larvae grow very rapidly; therefore the food supply must be great to meet
+the needs of the insect.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 142. MOTH AND COCOON]
+
+Some insects, the grasshopper for example, do not completely change
+their form. Fig. 147 represents some young grasshoppers, which very
+closely resemble their parents.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 143. BUTTERFLY]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 144. STRUCTURE OF THE CATERPILLAR]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 145. MOTH PUPA IN COCOON]
+
+Insects lay many eggs and reproduce with remarkable rapidity. Their
+number therefore makes them a foe to be much dreaded. The queen honeybee
+often lays as many as 4000 eggs in twenty-four hours. A single house fly
+lays between 100 and 150 eggs in one day. The mosquito lays eggs in
+quantities of from 200 to 400. The white ant often lays 80,000 in a day,
+and so continues for two years, probably laying no less than 40,000,000
+eggs. In one summer the bluebottle fly could have 500,000,000
+descendants if they all lived. The plant louse, at the end of the fifth
+brood, has laid in a single year enough eggs to produce 300,000,000
+young. Of course every one knows that, owing to enemies and diseases
+(for the insects have enemies which prey on them just as they prey on
+plants) comparatively few of the insects hatched from these eggs live
+till they are grown.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 146. A BUTTERFLY PUPA
+Note outline of the butterfly]
+
+The number of insects which are hurtful to crops, gardens, flowers, and
+forests seems to be increasing each season. Therefore farm boys and
+girls should learn to recognize these harmful insects and to know how
+they live and how they may be destroyed. Those who know the forms and
+habits of these enemies of plants and trees are far better prepared to
+fight them than are those who strike in the dark. Moreover such
+knowledge is always a source of interest and pleasure. If you begin to
+study insects, you will soon find your love for the study growing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 147. THE GROWTH OF A GRASSHOPPER]
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Collect cocoons and pupae of insects and hatch them in a
+     breeding-cage similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 149. Make
+     several cages of this kind. Collect larvae of several kinds; supply
+     them with food from plants upon which you found them. Find out the
+     time it takes them to change into another stage. Write a
+     description of this process.
+
+     The plant louse could produce in its twelfth brood
+     10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 offspring. Each louse is about one
+     tenth of an inch long. If all should live and be arranged in single
+     file, how many miles long would such a procession be?
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 148. PLANT LICE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 149. CAGE IN WHICH TO BREED INSECTS
+Flower-pot, lamp-chimney, and cloth]
+
+
+SECTION XXXII. ORCHARD INSECTS
+
+=The San Jose Scale.= The San Jose scale is one of the most dreaded
+enemies of fruit trees. It is in fact an outlaw in many states. It is an
+unlawful act to sell fruit trees affected by it. Fig. 150 shows a view
+of a branch nearly covered with this pest. Although this scale is a very
+minute animal, yet so rapidly does it multiply that it is very
+dangerous to the tree. Never allow new trees to be brought into your
+orchard until you feel certain that they are free from the San Jose
+scale. If, however, it should in any way gain access to your orchard,
+you can prevent its spreading by thorough spraying with what is known as
+the lime-sulphur mixture. This mixture has long been used on the Pacific
+coast as a remedy for various scale insects. When it was first tried in
+other parts of the United States the results were not satisfactory and
+its use was abandoned. However, later experiments with it have proved
+that the mixture is thoroughly effective in killing this scale and that
+it is perfectly harmless to the trees. Until the lime-sulphur mixture
+proved to be successful the San Jose scale was a most dreaded nursery
+and orchard foe. It was even thought necessary to destroy infected
+trees. The lime-sulphur mixture and some other sulphur washes not only
+kill the San Jose scale but are also useful in reducing fungous injury.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 150 SAN JOSE SCALE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 151. SINGLE SAN JOSE SCALE
+Magnified]
+
+There are several ways of making the lime-sulphur mixture. It is
+generally best to buy a prepared mixture from some trustworthy dealer.
+If you find the scale on your trees, write to your state experiment
+station for directions for combating it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 152. THE CODLING MOTH
+_a_, burrow of worm in apple; _b_, place where worm enters; _c_, place
+where worm leaves; _e_, the larva; _d_, the pupa; _i_, the cocoon; _f_
+and _g_, moths; _h_, magnified head of larva]
+
+=The Codling Moth.= The codling moth attacks the apple and often causes
+a loss of from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent of the crop. In the
+state of New York this insect is causing an annual loss of about three
+million dollars. The effect it has on the fruit is most clearly seen in
+Fig. 152. The moth lays its egg upon the young leaves just after the
+falling of the blossom. She flies on from apple to apple, depositing an
+egg each time until from fifty to seventy-five eggs are deposited. The
+larva, or "worm," soon hatches and eats its way into the apple. Many
+affected apples ripen too soon and drop as "windfalls." Others remain on
+the tree and become the common wormy apples so familiar to growers. The
+larva that emerges from the windfalls moves generally to a tree, crawls
+up the trunk, and spins its cocoon under a ridge in the bark. From the
+cocoon the moth comes ready to start a new generation. The last
+generation of the larvae spends the winter in the cocoon.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 153. SPRAYING THE ORCHARD BRINGS LUSCIOUS FRUIT
+The picture in the corner at the top shows the right time to spray for
+codling moth]
+
+_Treatment._ Destroy orchard trash which may serve as a winter home.
+Scrape all loose bark from the tree. Spray the tree with arsenate of
+lead as soon as the flowers fall. A former method of fighting this pest
+was as follows: bands of burlap four inches wide tied around the tree
+furnished a hiding-place for larvae that came from windfalls or crawled
+from wormy apples on the tree. The larvae caught under the bands were
+killed every five or six days. We know now, however, that a thorough
+spraying just after the blossoms fall kills the worms and renders the
+bands unnecessary. Furthermore, spraying prevents wormy apples, while
+banding does not. Follow the first spraying by a second two weeks later.
+
+It is best to use lime-sulphur mixture or the Bordeaux mixture with
+arsenate of lead for a spray. Thus one spraying serves against both
+fungi and insects.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 154. PLUM CURCULIO
+Larva, pupa, adult, and mark on the fruit. (Enlarged)]
+
+=The Plum Curculio.= The plum curculio, sometimes called the plum
+weevil, is a little creature about one fifth of an inch long. In spite
+of its small size the curculio does, if neglected, great damage to our
+fruit crop. It injures peaches, plums, and cherries by stinging the
+fruit as soon as it is formed. The word "stinging" when applied to
+insects--- and this case is no exception--means piercing the object
+with the egg-layer (ovipositor) and depositing the egg. Some insects
+occasionally use the ovipositor merely for defense. The curculio has an
+especially interesting method of laying her egg. First she digs a hole,
+in which she places the egg and pushes it well down. Then with her snout
+she makes a crescent-shaped cut in the skin of the plum, around the egg.
+This mark is shown in Fig. 154. As this peculiar cut is followed by a
+flow of gum, you will always be able to recognize the work of the
+curculio. Having finished with one plum, this industrious worker makes
+her way to other plums until her eggs are all laid. The maggotlike larva
+soon hatches, burrows through the fruit, and causes it to drop before
+ripening. The larva then enters the ground to a depth of several inches.
+There it becomes a pupa, and later, as a mature beetle, emerges and
+winters in cracks and crevices.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 155. LEAF GALLS OF PHYLLOXERA ON CLINTON GRAPE LEAF]
+
+_Treatment._ Burn orchard trash which may serve as winter quarters.
+Spraying with arsenate of lead, using two pounds of the mixture to fifty
+gallons of water, is the only successful treatment for the curculio. For
+plums and peaches, spray first when the fruit is free from the calyx
+caps, or dried flower-buds. Repeat the spraying two weeks later. For
+late peaches spray a third time two weeks after the second spraying.
+This poisonous spray will kill the beetles while they are feeding or
+cutting holes in which to lay their eggs.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 156. THE CANKERWORM]
+
+Fowls in the orchard do good by capturing the larvae before they can
+burrow, while hogs will destroy the fallen fruit before the larvae can
+escape.
+
+=The Grape Phylloxera.= The grape phylloxera is a serious pest. You have
+no doubt seen its galls upon the grape leaf. These galls are caused by a
+small louse, the phylloxera. Each gall contains a female, which soon
+fills the gall with eggs. These hatch into more females, which emerge
+and form new galls, and so the phylloxera spreads (see Fig. 155).
+
+_Treatment._ The Clinton grape is most liable to injury from this pest.
+Hence it is better to grow other more resistant kinds. Sometimes the
+lice attack the roots of the grape vines. In many sections where
+irrigation is practiced the grape rows are flooded when the lice are
+thickest. The water drowns the lice and does no harm to the vines.
+
+=The Cankerworm.= The cankerworm is the larva of a moth. Because of its
+peculiar mode of crawling, by looping its body, it is often called the
+looping worm or measuring worm (Fig. 157, _c_). These worms are such
+greedy eaters that in a short time they can so cut the leaves of an
+orchard as to give it a scorched appearance. Such an attack practically
+destroys the crop and does lasting injury to the tree. The worms are
+green or brown and are striped lengthwise. If the tree is jarred, the
+worm has a peculiar habit of dropping toward the ground on a silken
+thread of its own making (Fig. 156).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 157. THE SPRING CANKERWORM
+_a_, egg mass; _b_, egg, magnified; _c_, larva; _d_, female moth; _e_,
+male moth]
+
+In early summer the larvae burrow within the earth and pupate there;
+later they emerge as adults (Fig. 157, _d_ and _e_). You observe the
+peculiar difference between the wingless female, _d_, and the winged
+male, _e_. It is the habit of this wingless female to crawl up the trunk
+of some near-by tree in order to deposit her eggs upon the twigs. These
+eggs (shown at _a_ and _b_) hatch into the greedy larvae that do so much
+damage to our orchards.
+
+Nearly all the common birds feed freely upon the cankerworm, and benefit
+the orchard in so doing. The chickadee is perhaps the most useful. A
+recent writer is very positive that each chickadee will devour on an
+average thirty female cankerworm moths a day; and that if the average
+number of eggs laid by each female is one hundred and eighty-five, one
+chickadee would thus destroy in one day five thousand five hundred and
+fifty eggs, and, in the twenty-five days in which the cankerworm moths
+crawl up the tree, would rid the orchard of one hundred and thirty-eight
+thousand seven hundred and fifty. These birds also eat immense numbers
+of cankerworm eggs before they hatch into worms.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 158. EGGS OF THE FALL CANKERWORM]
+
+_Treatment._ The inability of the female to fly gives us an easy way to
+prevent the larval offspring from getting to the foliage of our trees,
+for we know that the only highway open to her or her larvae leads up the
+trunk. We must obstruct this highway so that no crawling creature may
+pass. This is readily done by smoothing the bark and fitting close to it
+a band of paper, and making sure that it is tight enough to prevent
+anything from crawling underneath. Then smear over the paper something
+so sticky that any moth or larva that attempts to pass will be
+entangled. Printer's ink will do very well, or you can buy either
+dendrolene or tanglefoot.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 159. APPLE-TREE TENT CATERPILLAR
+_a_, eggs; _b_, cocoon; _c_, caterpillar]
+
+Encourage the chickadee and all other birds, except the English sparrow,
+to stay in your orchard. This is easily done by feeding and protecting
+them in their times of need.
+
+=The Apple-Tree Tent Caterpillar.= The apple-tree tent caterpillar is a
+larva so well known that you only need to be told how to guard against
+it. The mother of this caterpillar is a reddish moth. This insect passes
+the winter in the egg state securely fastened on the twigs as shown in
+Fig. 159, _a_.
+
+_Treatment._ There are three principal methods, (1) Destroy the eggs.
+The egg masses are readily seen in winter and may easily be collected
+and burned by boys. The chickadee eats great quantities of these eggs.
+(2) With torches burn the nests at dusk when all the worms are within.
+You must be very careful in burning or you will harm the young branches
+with their tender bark. (3) Encourage the residence of birds. Urge your
+neighbors to make war on the larvae, too, since the pest spreads rapidly
+from farm to farm. Regularly sprayed orchards are rarely troubled by
+this pest.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 160. THE TWIG GIRDLER AT ITS DESTRUCTIVE WORK
+_a_, the girdler; _b_, the egg-hole; _c_, the groove cut by girdler;
+_e_, the egg]
+
+=The Twig Girdler.= The twig girdler lays her eggs in the twigs of pear,
+pecan, apple, and other trees. It is necessary that the larvae develop in
+dead wood. This the mother provides by girdling the twig so deeply that
+it will die and fall to the ground.
+
+_Treatment._ Since the larvae spend the winter in the dead twigs, burn
+these twigs in autumn or early spring and thus destroy the pest.
+
+=The Peach-Tree Borer.= In Fig. 161 you see the effect of the peach-tree
+borer's activity. These borers often girdle and thereby kill a tree.
+Fig. 162 shows the adult state of the insect. The eggs are laid on peach
+or plum trees near the ground. As soon as the larva emerges, it bores
+into the bark and remains there for months, passing through the pupa
+stage before it comes out to lay eggs for another generation.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 161. BORER SIGNS AROUND BASE OF PEACH TREE]
+
+_Treatment._ If there are only a few trees in the orchard, digging the
+worms out with a knife is the best way of destroying them. You can know
+of the borer's presence by the exuding gum often seen on the tree-trunk.
+If you pile earth around the roots early in the spring and remove it in
+the late fall, the winter freezing and thawing will kill many of the
+larvae.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     How many apples per hundred do you find injured by the codling
+     moth? Collect some cocoons from a pear or an apple tree in winter,
+     place in a breeding-cage, and watch for the moths that come out. Do
+     you ever see the woodpecker hunting for these same cocoons? Can you
+     find cocoons that have been emptied by this bird? Estimate how many
+     he considers a day's ration. How many apples does he thus save?
+
+     [Illustration: FIG. 162. PEACH-TREE BORERS, MALE AND FEMALE
+     Female with broad yellow band across abdomen]
+
+     Watch the curculio lay her eggs in the plums, peaches, or cherries.
+     What per cent of fruit is thus injured? Estimate the damage. Let
+     the school offer a prize for the greatest number of
+     tent-caterpillar eggs. Watch such trees as the apple, the wild and
+     the cultivated cherry, the oak, and many others.
+
+     Make a collection of insects injurious to orchard fruits, showing
+     in each case the whole life history of the insect, that is, eggs,
+     larva, pupa, and the mature insects.
+
+[Illustration: THE TROUBLESOME CHINCH BUG (ENLARGED)
+1, bugs on plant; 2, eggs; 3, young bug; 4 and 5, older bugs; 6,
+long-winged bug; 7 and 8, short-winged bug]
+
+
+SECTION XXXIII. GARDEN AND FIELD INSECTS
+
+=The Cabbage Worm.= The cabbage worm of the early spring garden is a
+familiar object, but you may not know that the innocent-looking little
+white butterflies hovering about the cabbage patch are laying eggs which
+are soon to hatch and make the dreaded cabbage worms. In Fig. 164 _a_
+and _b_ show the common cabbage butterfly, _c_ shows several examples of
+the caterpillar, and _d_ shows the pupa case. In the pupa stage the
+insects pass the winter among the remains of old plants or in near-by
+fences or in weeds or bushes. Cleaning up and burning all trash will
+destroy many pupae and thus prevent many cabbage worms. In Fig. 164 _e_
+and _f_ show the moth and zebra caterpillar; _g_ represents a moth which
+is the parent of the small green worm shown at _h_. This worm is a
+common foe of the cabbage plant.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 163. THE DREADED CHINCH BUG]
+
+_Treatment._ Birds aid in the destruction of this pest. Paris green
+mixed with air-slaked lime will also kill many larvae. After the cabbage
+has headed, it is very difficult to destroy the worm, but pyrethrum
+insect powder used freely is helpful.
+
+=The Chinch Bug.= The chinch bug, attacking as it does such important
+crops as wheat, corn, and grasses, is a well-known pest. It probably
+causes more money loss than any other garden or field enemy. In Orange
+county, North Carolina, farmers were once obliged to suspend
+wheat-growing for two years on account of the chinch bug. In one year in
+the state of Illinois this bug caused a loss of four million dollars.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 164. CABBAGE WORMS AND BUTTERFLIES]
+
+_Treatment._ Unfortunately we cannot prevent all of the damage done by
+chinch bugs, but we can diminish it somewhat by good clean agriculture.
+Destroy the winter homes of the insect by burning dry grass, leaves, and
+rubbish in fields and fence rows. Although the insect has wings, it
+seldom or never uses them, usually traveling on foot; therefore a deep
+furrow around the field to be protected will hinder or stop the progress
+of an invasion. The bugs fall into the bottom of the furrow, and may
+there be killed by dragging a log up and down the furrow. Write to the
+Division of Entomology, Washington, for bulletins on the chinch bug.
+Other methods of prevention are to be found in these bulletins.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 165. A PLANT LOUSE COLONY]
+
+=The Plant Louse.= The plant louse is very small, but it multiplies with
+very great rapidity. During the summer the young are born alive, and it
+is only toward fall that eggs are laid. The individuals that hatch from
+eggs are generally wingless females, and their young, born alive, are
+both winged and wingless. The winged forms fly to other plants and start
+new colonies. Plant lice mature in from eight to fourteen days.
+
+The plant louse gives off a sweetish fluid of which some ants are very
+fond. You may often see the ants stroking these lice to induce them to
+give off a freer flow of the "honey dew." This is really a method of
+milking. However friendly and useful these "cows" may be to the ant,
+they are enemies to man in destroying so many of his plants.
+
+_Treatment._ These are sucking insects. Poisons therefore do not avail.
+They may be killed by spraying with kerosene emulsion or a strong soap
+solution or with tobacco water. Lice on cabbages are easily killed by a
+mixture of one pound of lye soap in four gallons of warm water.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 166. A CHEAP SPRAYING OUTFIT]
+
+=The Squash Bug.= The squash bug does its greatest damage to young
+plants. To such its attack is often fatal. On larger plants single
+leaves may die. This insect is a serious enemy to a crop and is
+particularly difficult to get rid of, since it belongs to the class of
+sucking insects, not to the biting insects. For this reason poisons are
+useless.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 167. A SQUASH BUG]
+
+_Treatment._ About the only practicable remedy is to pick these insects
+by hand. We can, however, protect our young plants by small nettings and
+thus tide them over the most dangerous period of their lives. These bugs
+greatly prefer the squash as food. You can therefore diminish their
+attack on your melons, cucumbers, etc. by planting among the melons an
+occasional squash plant as a "trap plant." Hand picking will be easier
+on a few trap plants than over the whole field. A small board or large
+leaf laid beside the young plant often furnishes night shelter for the
+bugs. The bugs collected under the board may easily be killed every
+morning.
+
+=The Flea-Beetle.= The flea-beetle inflicts much damage on the potato,
+tomato, eggplant, and other garden plants. The accompanying figure shows
+the common striped flea-beetle which lives on the tomato. The larva of
+this beetle lives inside of the leaves, mining its way through the leaf
+in a real tunnel. Any substance disagreeable to the beetle, such as
+plaster, soot, ashes, or tobacco, will repel its attacks on the garden
+crops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 168. FLEA-BEETLE AND LARVA
+_a_, larva; _b_, adult. Lines on sides show real length of insects]
+
+=The Weevil.= The weevil is commonly found among seeds. Its attacks are
+serious, but the insect may easily be destroyed.
+
+_Treatment._ Put the infected seeds in an air-tight box or bin, placing
+on the top of the pile a dish containing carbon disulphide, a
+tablespoonful to a bushel of seeds. The fumes of this substance are
+heavy and will pass through the mass of seeds below and kill all the
+weevils and other animals there. The bin should be closely covered with
+canvas or heavy cloth to prevent the fumes from being carried away by
+the air. Let the seeds remain thus from two to five days. Repeat the
+treatment if any weevils are found alive. Fumigate when the temperature
+is 70 deg. Fahrenheit or above. In cold weather or in a loose bin the
+treatment is not successful. _Caution:_ Do not approach the bin with a
+light, since the fumes of the chemical used are highly inflammable.
+
+=The Hessian Fly.= The Hessian fly does more damage to the wheat crop
+than all other insects combined, and probably ranks next to the chinch
+bug as the second worst insect enemy of the farmer. It was probably
+introduced into this country by the Hessian troops in the War of the
+Revolution.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 169. THE HESSIAN FLY]
+
+In autumn the insect lays its eggs in the leaves of the wheat. These
+hatch into the larvae, which move down into the crown of the plant, where
+they pass the winter. There they cause on the plant a slight gall
+formation, which injures or kills the plant. In the spring adult flies
+emerge and lay eggs. The larvae that hatch feed in the lower joints of
+the growing wheat and prevent its proper growth. These larvae pupate and
+remain as pupae in the wheat stubble during the summer. The fall brood of
+flies appears shortly before the first heavy frost.
+
+_Treatment._ Burn all stubble and trash during July and August. If the
+fly is very bad, it is well to leave the stubble unusually high to
+insure a rapid spread of the fire. Burn refuse from the
+threshing-machine, since this often harbors many larvae or pupae. Follow
+the burning by deep plowing, because the burning cannot reach the
+insects that are in the base of the plants. Delay the fall planting
+until time for heavy frosts.
+
+=The Potato Beetle; Tobacco Worm.= The potato beetle, tobacco worm,
+etc., are too well known to need description. Suffice it to say that no
+good farmer will neglect to protect his crop from any pest that
+threatens it.
+
+The increase, owing to various causes, of insects, of fungi, of
+bacterial diseases, makes a study of these pests, of their origin, and
+of their prevention a necessary part of a successful farmer's training.
+Tillage alone will no longer render orchard, vineyard, and garden
+fruitful. Protection from every form of plant enemies must be added to
+tillage.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 170. SPRAYING THE ORCHARD
+One way of increasing the yield of fruit]
+
+In dealing with plants, as with human beings, the great object should be
+not the cure but the prevention of disease. If disease can be prevented,
+it is far too costly to wait for it to develop and then to attempt its
+cure. Men of science are studying the new forms of diseases and new
+insects as fast as they appear. These men are finding ways of fighting
+old and new enemies. Young people who expect to farm should early learn
+to follow their advice.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     How does the squash bug resemble the plant louse? Is this a true
+     bug? Gather some eggs and watch the development of the insects in a
+     breeding-cage. Estimate the damage done to some crops by the
+     flea-beetle. What is the best method of prevention?
+
+     [Illustration: FIG. 171. AN APPLE TREE SHOWING PROPER CARE]
+
+     Do you know the large moth that is the mother of the tobacco worm?
+     You may often see her visiting the blossoms of the Jimson weed.
+     Some tobacco-growers cultivate a few of these weeds in a tobacco
+     field. In the blossom they place a little cobalt or "fly-stone" and
+     sirup. When the tobacco-worm moth visits this flower and sips the
+     poisoned nectar, she will of course lay no more troublesome eggs.
+
+
+SECTION XXXIV. THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL
+
+So far as known, the cotton-boll weevil, an insect which is a native of
+the tropics, crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas in 1891 and 1892.
+It settled in the cotton fields around Brownsville. Since then it has
+widened its destructive area until now it has invaded the whole
+territory shown by the map on page 177.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 172. ADULT COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL
+Enlarged]
+
+This weevil is a small gray or reddish-brown snout-beetle hardly over a
+quarter of an inch in length. In proportion to its length it has a long
+beak. It belongs to a family of beetles which breed in pods, in seeds,
+and in stalks of plants. It is a greedy eater, but feeds only on the
+cotton plant.
+
+The grown weevils try to outlive the cold of winter by hiding snugly
+away under grass clumps, cotton-stalks, rubbish, or under the bark of
+trees. Sometimes they go down into holes in the ground. A comfortable
+shelter is often found in the forests near the cotton fields, especially
+in the moss on the trees. The weevils can stand a good deal of cold, but
+fortunately many are killed by winter weather. Moreover birds destroy
+many; hence by spring the last year's crop is very greatly diminished.
+
+In the spring, generally about the time cotton begins to form "squares,"
+the weevils shake off their long winter sleep and enter the cotton
+fields with appetites as sharp as razors. Then shortly the females begin
+to lay eggs. At first these eggs are laid only in the squares, and
+generally only one to the square. The young grub hatches from these eggs
+in two or three days. The newly hatched grub eats the inside of the
+square, and the square soon falls to the ground. Entire fields may at
+times be seen without a single square on the plants. Of course no fruit
+can be formed without squares.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 173. EGGS AMONG THE ANTHERS OF A SQUARE AT THE
+POINT INDICATED BY THE ARROW]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 174. CROSS SECTION SHOWING ANTHERS OF A SQUARE
+WITH EGG OF WEEVIL, AND SHOWING THE HOLE WHERE THE EGG WAS DEPOSITED
+Greatly enlarged]
+
+In from one to two weeks the grub or larva becomes fully grown and,
+without changing its home, is transformed into the pupa state. Then in
+about a week more the pupae come out as adult weevils and attack the
+bolls. They puncture them with their snouts and lay their eggs in the
+bolls. The young grubs, this time hatching out in the boll, remain there
+until grown, when they emerge through holes that they make. These holes
+allow dampness to enter and destroy the bolls. This life-round continues
+until cold weather drives the insects to their winter quarters. By that
+time they have increased so rapidly that there is often one for every
+boll in the field.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 175. THE LARVA OF THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL
+INJURING A SQUARE]
+
+This weevil is proving very hard to destroy. At present there seem but
+few ways to fight it. One is to grow cotton that will mature too early
+for the weevils to do it much harm. A second is to kill as many weevils
+as possible by burning the homes that shelter them in winter.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 176. PUPA OF COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL FROM ABOVE AND BELOW
+Greatly enlarged]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 177. THE PUPA OF THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL IN A SQUARE]
+
+The places best adapted for a winter home for the weevil are trash
+piles, rubbish, driftwood, rotten wood, weeds, moss on trees, etc. A
+further help, therefore, in destroying the weevil is to cut down and
+burn all cotton-stalks as soon as the cotton is harvested.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 178. A COTTON BOLL WITH FEEDING-HOLES OF WEEVIL,
+AND BEARING THREE SPECIMENS OF THE INSECT]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 179. THE MEXICAN COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL,
+SHOWING STRUCTURE]
+
+This destroys countless numbers of larvae and pupae in the bolls and
+greatly reduces the number of weevils. In addition, all cornstalks, all
+trash, all large clumps of grass in neighboring fields, should be
+burned, so as to destroy these winter homes of the weevil. Also avoid
+planting cotton near trees. The bark, moss, and fallen leaves of the
+tree furnish a winter shelter for the weevils.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 180. A SERIES OF FULL GROWN WEEVILS, SHOWING
+VARIATIONS IN SIZE]
+
+A third help in destroying the weevil is to rotate crops. If cotton does
+not follow cotton, the weevil has nothing on which to feed the second
+year.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 181. MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE COTTON-BOLL
+WEEVIL IN 1913]
+
+In adopting the first method mentioned the cotton growers have found
+that by the careful selection of seed, by early planting, by a free use
+of fertilizers containing phosphoric acid, and by frequent plowing, they
+can mature a crop about thirty days earlier than they usually do. In
+this way a good crop can be harvested before the weevils are ready to be
+most destructive.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FARM CROPS
+
+
+Every crop of the farm has been changed and improved in many ways since
+its forefathers were wild plants. Those plants that best serve the needs
+of the farmer and of farm animals have undergone the most changes and
+have received also the greatest care and attention in their production
+and improvement.
+
+While we have many different kinds of farm crops, the cultivated soil of
+the world is occupied by a very few. In our country the crop that is
+most valuable and that occupies the greatest land area is generally
+known as the _grass crop_. Included in the general term "grass crop" are
+the grasses and clovers that are used for pasturage as well as for hay.
+Next to grass in value come the great cereal, corn, and the most
+important fiber crop, cotton, closely followed by the great bread crop,
+wheat. Oats rank fifth in value, potatoes sixth, and tobacco seventh.
+(These figures are for 1913.)
+
+Success in growing any crop is largely due to the suitableness of soil
+and climate to that crop. When the planter selects both the most
+suitable soil and the most suitable climate for each crop, he gets not
+only the most bountiful yield from the crop but, in addition, he gets
+the most desirable quality of product. A little careful observation and
+study soon teach what kinds of soil produce crops of the highest
+excellence. This learned, the planter is able to grow in each field the
+several crops best adapted to that special type of soil. Thus we have
+tobacco soils, trucking soils, wheat and corn soils. Dairying can be
+most profitably followed in sections where crops like cowpeas, clover,
+alfalfa, and corn are peculiarly at home. No one should try to grow a
+new crop in his section until he has found out whether the crop which he
+wants to grow is adapted to his soil and his climate.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 182. ALFALFA IN THE STACK
+This is the second cutting of the season]
+
+The figures below give the average amount of money made annually an acre
+on our chief crops:
+
+Flowers and plants, $1911; nursery products, $261; onions, $140; sugar
+cane, $55; small fruits, $110; hops, $175; vegetables, $78; tobacco,
+$80; sweet potatoes, $55; hemp, $53; potatoes, $78; sugar beets, $54;
+sorghum cane, $22; cotton, $22; orchard fruits, $110; peanuts, $21;
+flax-seed, $14; cereals, $14; hay and forage, $11; castor beans, $6
+(United States Census Report).
+
+
+SECTION XXXV. COTTON
+
+Although cotton was cultivated on the Eastern continent before America
+was discovered, this crop owes its present kingly place in the business
+world to the zeal and intelligence of its American growers. So great an
+influence does it wield in modern industrial life that it is often
+called King Cotton. Thousands upon thousands of people scan the
+newspapers each day to see what price its staple is bringing. From its
+bounty a vast army of toilers, who plant its seed, who pick its bolls,
+who gin its staple, who spin and weave its lint, who grind its seed, who
+refine its oil, draw daily bread. Does not its proper production deserve
+the best thought that can be given it?
+
+In the cotton belt almost any well-drained soil will produce cotton. The
+following kinds of soil are admirably suited to this plant: red and gray
+loams with good clay subsoil; sandy soils over clay and sandstone and
+limestone; rich, well-drained bottom-lands. The safest soils are medium
+loams. Cotton land must always be well drained.
+
+Cotton was originally a tropical plant, but, strange to say, it seems to
+thrive best in temperate zones. The cotton plant does best, according to
+Newman, in climates which have (1) six months of freedom from frost; (2)
+a moderate, well-distributed rainfall during the plant's growing period;
+and (3) abundant sunshine and little rain during the plant's maturing
+period.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 183. GROWTH OF COTTON FROM DAY TO DAY
+
+In America the Southern states from Virginia to Texas have these
+climatic qualities, and it is in these states that the cotton industry
+has been developed until it is one of the giant industries of the world.
+This development has been very rapid. As late as 1736 the cotton plant
+was grown as an ornamental flowering plant in many front yards; in
+1911, 16,250,276 bales of cotton were grown in the South. In recent
+years the soil and climate of lower California and parts of Arizona and
+New Mexico have been found well adapted to cotton.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 184. COTTON IN THE GROWING SEASON]
+
+There are a great many varieties of cotton. Two types are mainly grown
+by the practical American farmer. These are the short-stapled, upland
+variety most commonly grown in all the Southern states, and the
+beautiful, long-stapled, black-seeded sea-island type that grows upon
+the islands and a portion of the mainland of Georgia, South Carolina,
+and Florida. The air of the coast seems necessary for the production of
+this latter variety. The seeds of the sea-island cotton are small,
+smooth, and black. They are so smooth and stick so loosely to the lint
+that they are separated from it by roller-gins instead of by saw-gins.
+When these seeds are planted away from the soil and air of their ocean
+home, the plant does not thrive.
+
+Many attempts have been made and are still being made to increase the
+length of the staple of the upland types. The methods used are as
+follows: selection of seed having a long fiber; special cultivation and
+fertilization; crossing the short-stapled cotton on the long-stapled
+cotton. This last process, as already explained, is called
+_hybridizing_. Many of these attempts have succeeded, and there are now
+a large number of varieties which excel the older varieties in
+profitable yield. The new varieties are each year being more widely
+grown. Every farmer should study the new types and select the one that
+will best suit his land. The new types have been developed under the
+best tillage. Therefore if a farmer would keep the new type as good as
+it was when he began to grow it, he must give it the same good tillage,
+and practice seed-selection.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 185. COTTON READY FOR PICKING]
+
+The cotton plant is nourished by a tap-root that will seek food as
+deeply as loose earth will permit the root to penetrate; hence, in
+preparing land for this crop the first plowing should be done at least
+with a two-horse plow and should be deep and thorough. This deep plowing
+not only allows the tap-root to penetrate, but it also admits a
+circulation of air.
+
+On some cotton farms it is the practice to break the land in winter or
+early spring and then let it lie naked until planting-time. This is not
+a good practice. The winter rains wash more plant food out of
+unprotected soil than a single crop would use. It would be better, in
+the late summer or fall, to plant crimson clover or some other
+protective and enriching crop on land that is to be planted in cotton in
+the spring. This crop, in addition to keeping the land from being
+injuriously washed, would greatly help the coming cotton crop by leaving
+the soil full of vegetable matter.
+
+In preparing for cotton-planting, first disk the land thoroughly, then
+break with a heavy plow and harrow until a fine and mellow seed-bed is
+formed. Do not spare the harrow at this time. It destroys many a weed
+that, if allowed to grow, would have to be cut by costly hoeing.
+Thorough work before planting saves much expensive work in the later
+days of the crop. Moreover, no man can afford to allow his plant food
+and moisture to go to nourish weeds, even for a short time.
+
+The rows should be from three to four feet apart. The width depends upon
+the richness of the soil. On rich land the rows should be at least four
+feet apart. This width allows the luxuriant plant to branch and fruit
+well. On poorer lands the distance of the rows should not be so great.
+The distribution of the seed in the row is of course most cheaply done
+by the planter. As a rule it is best not to ridge the land for the seed.
+Flat culture saves moisture and often prevents damage to the roots. In
+some sections, however, where the land is flat and full of water,
+ridging seems necessary if the land cannot be drained.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 186. PICKING COTTON]
+
+The cheapest way of cultivating a crop is to prevent grass and weeds
+from rooting, not to wait to destroy them after they are well rooted. To
+do this, it is well to run the two-horse smoothing-harrow over the
+land, across the rows, a few days after the young plants are up. Repeat
+the harrowing in six or eight days. In addition to destroying the young
+grass and weeds, this harrowing also removes many of the young cotton
+plants and thereby saves much hoeing at "chopping-out" time. When the
+plants are about two inches high they are "chopped out" to secure an
+evenly distributed stand. It has been the custom to leave two stalks to
+a hill, but many growers are now leaving only one.
+
+The number of times the crop has to be worked depends on the soil and
+the season. If the soil is dry and porous, cultivate as often as
+possible, especially after each rain. Never allow a crust to form after
+a rain; the roots of plants must have air. Cultivation after each rain
+forms a dry mulch on the top of the soil and thus prevents rapid
+evaporation of moisture.
+
+If the fiber (the lint) only is removed from the land on which cotton is
+grown, cotton is the least exhaustive of the great crops grown in the
+United States. According to some recent experiments an average crop of
+cotton removes in the lint only 2.75 pounds of nitrogen, phosphoric
+acid, potash, lime, and magnesia per acre, while a crop of ten bushels
+of wheat per acre removes 32.36 pounds of the same elements of plant
+food. Inasmuch as this crop takes so little plant food from the soil,
+the cotton-farmer has no excuse for allowing his land to decrease in
+productiveness. Two things will keep his land in bounteous harvest
+condition: first, let him return the seeds in some form to the land, or,
+what is better, feed the ground seeds to cattle, make a profit from the
+cattle, and return manure to the land in place of the seeds; second, at
+the last working, let him sow some crop like crimson clover or rye in
+the cotton rows to protect the soil during the winter and to leave humus
+in the ground for the spring.
+
+The stable manure, if that is used, should be broadcasted over the
+fields at the rate of six to ten tons an acre. If commercial fertilizers
+are used, it may be best to make two applications. To give the young
+plants a good start, apply a portion of the fertilizer in the drill just
+before planting. Then when the first blooms appear, put the remainder of
+the fertilizer in drills near the plants but not too close. Many good
+cotton-growers, however, apply all the fertilizer at one time.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 187. WEIGHING A DAY'S PICKING OF COTTON]
+
+_Relation of Stock to the Cotton Crop_. On many farms much of the money
+for which the cotton is sold in the fall has to go to pay for the
+commercial fertilizer used in growing the crop. Should not this fact
+suggest efforts to raise just as good crops without having to buy so
+much fertilizer? Is there any way by which this can be done? The
+following suggestions may be helpful. Raise enough stock to use all the
+cotton seed grown on the farm. To go with the food made from the cotton
+seed, grow on the farm pea-vine hay, clover, alfalfa, and other such
+nitrogen-gathering crops. This can be done at small cost. What will be
+the result?
+
+First, to say nothing of the money made from the cattle, the large
+quantity of stable manure saved will largely reduce the amount of
+commercial fertilizer needed. The cotton-farmer cannot afford to neglect
+cattle-raising. The cattle sections of the country are likely to make
+the greatest progress in agriculture, because they have manure always on
+hand.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 188. MODERN COTTON BALES]
+
+Second, the nitrogen-gathering crops, while helping to feed the stock,
+also reduce the fertilizer bills by supplying one of the costly elements
+of the fertilizer. The ordinary cotton fertilizer consists principally
+of nitrogen, of potash, and of phosphoric acid. Of these three, by far
+the most costly is nitrogen. Now peas, beans, clover, and peanuts will
+leave enough nitrogen in the soil for cotton, so that if they are
+raised, it is necessary to buy only phosphoric acid and sometimes
+potash.
+
+
+SECTION XXXVI. TOBACCO
+
+The tobacco plant connects Indian agriculture with our own. It has
+always been a source of great profit to our people. In the early
+colonial days tobacco was almost the only money crop. Many rich men came
+to America in those days merely to raise tobacco.
+
+Although tobacco will grow in almost any climate, the leaves, which, as
+most of you know, are the salable part of the plant, get their desirable
+or undesirable qualities very largely from the soil and from the climate
+in which they grow.
+
+The soil in which tobacco thrives best is one which has the following
+qualities: dryness, warmth, richness, depth, and sandiness.
+
+Commercial fertilizers also are almost a necessity; for, as tobacco land
+is limited in area, the same land must be often planted in tobacco.
+Hence even a fresh, rich soil that did not at first require fertilizing
+soon becomes exhausted, and, after the land has been robbed of its plant
+food by crop after crop of tobacco, frequent application of fertilizers
+and other manures becomes necessary. However, even tobacco growers
+should rotate their crops as much as possible.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 189. A LEAF OF TOBACCO]
+
+Deep plowing--from nine to thirteen inches--is also a necessity in
+preparing the land, for tobacco roots go deep into the soil. After this
+deep plowing, harrow until the soil is thoroughly pulverized and is as
+fine and mellow as that of the flower-garden.
+
+Unlike most other farm crops the tobacco plant must be started first in
+a seed-bed. To prepare a tobacco bed the almost universal custom has
+been to proceed as follows. Carefully select a protected spot. Over this
+spot pile brushwood and then burn it. The soil will be left dry, and all
+the weed seeds will be killed. The bed is then carefully raked and
+smoothed and planted. Some farmers are now preparing their beds without
+burning. A tablespoonful of seed will sow a patch twenty-five feet
+square. A cheap cloth cover is put over the bed. If the seeds come up
+well, a patch of this size ought to furnish transplants for five or six
+acres. In sowing, it is not wise to cover the seed deeply. A light
+raking in or an even rolling of the ground is all that is needed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 190. A PROMISING CROP OF TOBACCO]
+
+The time required for sprouting is from two to three weeks. The plants
+ought to be ready for transplanting in from four to six weeks. Weeds
+and grass should of course be kept out of the seed-bed.
+
+The plants, when ready, are transplanted in very much the same way as
+cabbages and tomatoes. The transplanting was formerly done by hand, but
+an effective machine is now widely used. The rows should be from three
+to three and a half feet apart, and the plants in the rows about two or
+three feet apart. If the plants are set so that the plow and cultivator
+can be run with the rows and also across the rows, they can be more
+economically worked. Tobacco, like corn, requires shallow cultivation.
+Of course the plants should be worked often enough to give clean culture
+and to provide a soil mulch for saving moisture.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 191. TOPPING TOBACCO]
+
+In tobacco culture it is necessary to pinch off the "buttons" and to cut
+off the tops of the main stalk, else much nourishment that should go to
+the leaves will be given to the seeds. The suckers must also be cut off
+for the same reason.
+
+The proper time for harvesting is not easily fixed; one becomes skillful
+in this work only through experience in the field. Briefly, we may say
+that tobacco is ready to be cut when the leaves on being held up to the
+sun show a light or golden color, when they are sticky to the touch, and
+when they break easily on being bent. Plants that are overripe are
+inferior to those that are cut early.
+
+The operations included in cutting, housing, drying, shipping, sweating,
+and packing require skill and practice.
+
+
+SECTION XXXVII. WHEAT
+
+Wheat has been cultivated from earliest times. It was a chief crop in
+Egypt and Palestine, and still holds its importance in the temperate
+portions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and America.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 192. A HAND]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 193. WHEAT HEADS]
+
+This crop ranks third in value in the United States. It grows in cool,
+in temperate, and in warm climates, and in many kinds of soil. It does
+best in clay loam, and worst in sandy soils. Clogged and water-soaked
+land will not grow wheat with profit to the farmer; for this reason,
+where good wheat-production is desired the soil must be well drained
+and in good physical condition--that is, the soil must be open, crumbly,
+and mellow.
+
+Clay soils that are hard and lifeless can be made valuable for
+wheat-production by covering the surface with manure, by good tillage,
+and by a thorough system of crop-rotation. Cowpeas and other legumes
+make a most valuable crop to precede wheat, for in growing they add
+atmospheric nitrogen to the soil, and their roots loosen the root-bed,
+thereby admitting a free circulation of air and adding humus to the
+soil. Moreover, the legumes leave the soil with its grains fairly close
+packed, and this is a help in wheat growing.
+
+One may secure a good seed-bed after cotton and corn as well as after
+cowpeas and other legumes. They are summer-cultivated crops, and the
+clean culture that has been given them renders the surface soil mellow
+and the undersoil firm and compact. They are not so good, however, as
+cowpeas, since they add no atmospheric nitrogen to the soil, as all
+leguminous crops do.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 194. ROOTS OF A SINGLE WHEAT PLANT]
+
+From one to two inches is the most satisfactory depth for planting
+wheat. The largest number of seeds comes up when planted at this depth.
+A mellow soil is very helpful to good coming up and provides a most
+comfortable home for the roots of the plant. A compact soil below makes
+a moist undersoil; and this is desirable, for the soil water is needed
+to dissolve plant food and to carry it up through the plant, where it is
+used in building tissue.
+
+There are a great many varieties of wheat: some are bearded, others are
+smooth; some are winter and others are spring varieties. The
+smooth-headed varieties are most agreeable to handle during harvest and
+at threshing-time. Some of the bearded varieties, however, do so well in
+some soils and climates that it is desirable to continue growing them,
+though they are less agreeable to handle. No matter what variety you are
+accustomed to raise, it may be improved by careful seed-selection.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 195. SELECTING WHEAT SEED]
+
+The seed-drill is the best implement for planting wheat. It distributes
+the grains evenly over the whole field and leaves the mellow soil in a
+condition to catch what snow may fall and secure what protection it
+affords.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 196. ADJOINING WHEAT FIELDS
+The yield of the lower field, forty-five bushels per acre, is due to
+intelligent farming]
+
+In many parts of the country, because not enough live stock is raised,
+there is often too little manure to apply to the wheat land. Where this
+is the case commercial fertilizers must be used. Since soils differ
+greatly, it is impossible to suggest a fertilizer adapted to all soils.
+The elements usually lacking in wheat soils are nitrogen, phosphoric
+acid, and potash. The land may be lacking in one of these plant foods or
+in all; in either case a maximum crop cannot possibly be raised. The
+section on manuring the soil will be helpful to the wheat-grower.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 197. A BOUNTIFUL CROP OF WHEAT]
+
+It should be remembered always in buying fertilizers for wheat that
+whenever wheat follows cowpeas or clover or other legumes there is
+seldom need of using nitrogen in the fertilizer; the tubercles on the
+pea or clover roots will furnish that. Hence, as a rule, only potash and
+phosphoric acid will have to be purchased as plant food.
+
+The farmer is assisted always by a study of his crop and by a knowledge
+of how it grows. If he find the straw inferior and short, it means that
+the soil is deficient in nitrogen; but on the other hand, if the straw
+be luxuriant and the heads small and poorly filled, he may be sure that
+his soil contains too little phosphoric acid and potash.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     Let the pupils secure several heads of wheat and thresh each
+     separately by hand. The grains should then be counted and their
+     plumpness and size observed. The practical importance of this is
+     obvious, for the larger the heads and the greater the number of
+     grains, the larger the yield per acre. Let them plant some of the
+     large and some of the small grains. A single test of this kind will
+     show the importance of careful seed-selection.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 198 A WIDELY GROWN CROP]
+
+
+SECTION XXXVIII. CORN
+
+When the white man came to this country he found the Indians using corn;
+for this reason, in addition to its name _maize_, it is called _Indian
+corn_. Before that time the civilized world did not know that there was
+such a crop. The increase in the yield and the extension of the acres
+planted in this strictly American crop have kept pace with the rapid
+and wonderful growth of our country. Corn is king of the cereals and the
+most important crop of American agriculture. It grows in almost every
+section of America. There is hardly any limit to the uses to which its
+grain and its stalks are now put. Animals of many kinds are fed on
+rations into which it enters. Its grains in some form furnish food to
+more people than does any other crop except possibly rice. Its stalk and
+its cob are manufactured into many different and useful articles.
+
+A soil rich in either decaying animal or vegetable matter, loose, warm,
+and moist but not wet, will produce a better crop of corn than any
+other. Corn soil should always be well tilled and cultivated.
+
+The proper time to begin the cultivation of corn is before it is
+planted. Plow well. A shallow, worn-out soil should not be used for
+corn, but for cowpeas or rye. After thorough plowing, the harrow--either
+the disk or spring-tooth--should be used to destroy all clods and leave
+the surface mellow and fine. The best results will be obtained by
+turning under a clover sod that has been manured from the savings of the
+barnyard.
+
+When manure is not available, commercial fertilizers will often prove
+profitable on poor lands. Careful trials will best determine how much
+fertilizer to an acre is necessary, and what kinds are to be used. A
+little study and experimenting on the farmer's part will soon enable him
+to find out both the kind and the amount of fertilizer that is best
+suited to his land.
+
+The seed for this crop should be selected according to the plan
+suggested in Section XIX.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 199. CORN SHOCKED FOR THE SHREDDER]
+
+The most economical method of planting is by means of the horse planter,
+which, according to its adjustment, plants regularly in hills or in
+drills. A few days after planting, the cornfield should be harrowed with
+a fine-tooth harrow to loosen the top soil and to kill the grass and the
+weed seeds that are germinating at the surface. When the corn plants
+are from a half inch to an inch high, the harrow may again be used. A
+little work before the weeds sprout will save many days of labor during
+the rest of the season, and increase the yield.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 200. THE DIFFERENCE IS DUE TO TILLAGE]
+
+Corn is a crop that needs constant cultivation, and during the growing
+season the soil should be stirred at least four times. This cultivation
+is for three reasons:
+
+1. To destroy weeds that would take plant food and water.
+
+2. To provide a mulch of dry soil so as to prevent the evaporation of
+moisture. The action of this mulch has already been explained.
+
+3. Because "tillage is manure." Constant stirring of the soil allows the
+air to circulate in it, provides a more effective mulch, and helps to
+change unavailable plant food into the form that plants use.
+
+Deep culture of corn is not advisable. The roots in their early stages
+of growth are shallow feeders and spread widely only a few inches below
+the surface. The cultivation that destroys or disturbs the roots injures
+the plants and lessens the yield. We cultivate because of the three
+reasons given above, and not to stir the soil about the roots or to
+loosen it there.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 201.]
+
+In many parts of the country the cornstalks are left standing in the
+fields or are burned. This is a great mistake, for the stalks are worth
+a good deal for feeding horses, cattle, and sheep. These stalks may
+always be saved by the use of the husker and shredder. Corn after being
+matured and cut can be put in shocks and left thus until dry enough to
+run through the husker and shredder. This machine separates the corn
+from the stalk and husks it. At the same time it shreds tops, leaves,
+and butts into a food that is both nutritious and palatable to stock.
+For the amount that animals will eat, almost as much feeding value is
+obtained from corn stover treated in this way as from timothy hay. The
+practice of not using the stalks is wasteful and is fast being
+abandoned. The only reason that so much good food is being left to decay
+in the field is because so many people have not fully learned the
+feeding value of the stover.
+
+
+     =EXERCISE=
+
+     To show the effect of cultivation on the yield of corn, let the
+     pupils lay off five plats in some convenient field. Each plat need
+     consist of only two rows about twenty feet long. Treat each plat as
+     follows:
+
+     Plat 1. No cultivation: let weeds grow.
+
+     Plat 2. Mulch with straw.
+
+     Plat 3. Shallow cultivation: not deeper than two inches and at
+     least five times during the growing season.
+
+     Plat 4. Deep cultivation: at least four inches deep, so as to
+     injure and tear out some of the roots (this is a common method).
+
+     Plat 5. Root-pruning: ten inches from the stalk and six inches
+     deep, prune the roots with a long knife. Cultivate five times
+     during the season.
+
+     Observe plats during the summer, and at husking-time note results.
+
+
+SECTION XXXIX. PEANUTS
+
+This plant is rich in names, being known locally as "ground pea,"
+"goober," "earthnut," and "pindar," as well as generally by the name of
+"peanut." The peanut is a true legume, and, like other legumes, bears
+nitrogen-gathering tubercles upon its roots. The fruit is not a real nut
+but rather a kind of pea or bean, and develops from the blossom. After
+the fall of the blossom the "spike," or flower-stalk, pushes its way
+into the ground, where the nut develops. If unable to penetrate the soil
+the nut dies.
+
+In the United States, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee
+have the most favorable climates for peanut culture. Suitable climate
+and soil, however, may be found from New Jersey to the Mississippi
+valley. A high, porous, sandy loam is the most suitable. Stiffer soils,
+which may in some cases yield larger crops than the loams, are yet not
+so profitable, for stiff soils injure the color of the nut. Lime is a
+necessity and must be supplied if the soil is deficient. Phosphoric acid
+and potash are needed.
+
+Greater care than is usually bestowed should be given to the selection
+of the peanut seed. In addition to following the principles given in
+Section XVIII, all musty, defective seeds must be avoided and all
+frosted kernels must be rejected. Before it dries, the peanut seed is
+easily injured by frost. The slightest frost on the vines, either before
+or after the plants are dug, does much harm to the tender seed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 202. A PEANUT PLANT]
+
+In growing peanuts, thorough preparation of the soil is much better than
+later cultivation. Destroy the crop of young weeds, but do not disturb
+the peanut crop by late cultivation. Harvest before frost, and shock
+high to keep the vines from the ground.
+
+The average yield of peanuts in the United States is twenty-two bushels
+an acre. In Tennessee the yield is twenty-nine bushels an acre, and in
+North Carolina and Virginia it reaches thirty bushels an acre.
+
+
+SECTION XL. SWEET POTATOES
+
+The roots of sweet potatoes are put on the market in various forms.
+Aside from the form in which they are ordinarily sold, some potatoes are
+dried and then ground into flour, some are canned, some are used to make
+starch, some furnish a kind of sugar called glucose, and some are even
+used to make alcohol.
+
+The fact that there are over eighty varieties of potatoes shows the
+popularity of the plant. Now it is evident that all of these varieties
+cannot be equally desirable. Hence the wise grower will select his
+varieties with prudent forethought. He should study his market, his
+soil, and his seed (see Section XVIII).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 203. SWEET POTATOES]
+
+Four months of mild weather, months free from frost and cold winds, are
+necessary for the growing of sweet potatoes. In a mild climate almost
+any loose, well-drained soil will produce them. A light, sandy loam,
+however, gives a cleaner potato and one, therefore, that sells better.
+
+The sweet potato draws potash, nitrogen, and phosphoric acid from the
+soil, but in applying these as fertilizers the grower must study and
+know his own soil. If he does not he may waste both money and plant food
+by the addition of elements already present in sufficient quantity in
+the soil. The only way to come to reliable conclusions as to the needs
+of the soil is to try two or three different kinds of fertilizers on
+plats of the same soil, during the same season, and notice the resulting
+crop of potatoes.
+
+Sweet potatoes will do well after almost any of the usual field crops.
+This caution, however, should be borne in mind. Potatoes should not
+follow a sod. This is because sods are often thick with cutworms, one of
+the serious enemies of the potato.
+
+It is needless to say that the ground must be kept clean by thorough
+cultivation until the vines take full possession of the field.
+
+In harvesting, extreme care should be used to avoid cutting and bruising
+the potato, since bruises are as dangerous to a sweet potato as to an
+apple, and render decay almost a certainty. Lay aside all bruised
+potatoes for immediate use.
+
+For shipment the potatoes should be graded and packed with care. An
+extra outlay of fifty cents a barrel often brings a return of a dollar a
+barrel in the market. One fact often neglected by Southern growers who
+raise potatoes for a Northern market is that the Northern markets demand
+a potato that will cook dry and mealy, and that they will not accept the
+juicy, sugary potato so popular in the South.
+
+The storage of sweet potatoes presents difficulties owing to their great
+tendency to decay under the influence of the ever-present fungi and
+bacteria. This tendency can be met by preventing bruises and by keeping
+the bin free from rotting potatoes. The potatoes should be cleaned, and
+after the moisture has been dried off they should be stored in a dry,
+warm place.
+
+The sweet-potato vine makes a fair quality of hay and with proper
+precaution may be used for ensilage. Small, defective, unsalable
+potatoes are rich in sugar and starch and are therefore good stock food.
+Since they contain so much water they must be used only as an aid to
+other diet.
+
+
+SECTION XLI. WHITE, OR IRISH, POTATOES
+
+Maize, or Indian corn, and potatoes are the two greatest gifts in the
+way of food that America has bestowed on the other nations. Since their
+adoption in the sixteenth century as a new food from recently discovered
+America, white potatoes have become one of the world's most important
+crops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 204. CULTIVATING AND RIDGING POTATOES]
+
+No grower will harvest large crops of potatoes unless he chooses soil
+that suits the plant, selects his seed carefully, cultivates thoroughly,
+feeds his land sufficiently, and sprays regularly.
+
+The soil should be free from potato scab. This disease remains in land
+for several years. Hence if land is known to have any form of scab in
+it, do not plant potatoes in such land. Select for this crop a deep and
+moderately light, sandy loam which has an open subsoil and which is rich
+in humus. The soil must be light enough for the potatoes, or tubers, to
+enlarge easily and dry enough to prevent rot or blight or other
+diseases. Potato soil should be so close-grained that it will hold
+moisture during a dry spell and yet so well-drained that the tubers will
+not be hurt by too much moisture in wet weather.
+
+If the land selected for potatoes is lacking in humus, fine compost or
+well-rotted manure will greatly increase the yield. However, it should
+be remembered that green manure makes a good home for the growth of scab
+germs. Hence it is safest to apply this sort of manure in the fall, or,
+better still, use a heavy dressing of manure on the crop which the
+potatoes are to follow. Leguminous crops supply both humus and nitrogen
+and, at the same time, improve the subsoil. Therefore such crops are
+excellent to go immediately before potatoes. If land is well supplied
+with humus, commercial fertilizers are perhaps safer than manure, for
+when these fertilizers are used the amount of plant food is more easily
+regulated. Select a fertilizer that is rich in potash. For gardens
+unleached wood ashes make a valuable fertilizer because they supply
+potash. Early potatoes need more fertilization than do late ones. While
+potatoes do best on rich land, they should not be overfed, for a too
+heavy growth of foliage is likely to cause blight.
+
+Be careful to select seed from sound potatoes which are entirely free
+from scab. Get the kinds that thrive best in the section in which they
+are to be planted and which suit best the markets in which they are to
+be sold. Seed potatoes should be kept in a cool place so that they will
+not sprout before planting-time. As a rule consumers prefer a smooth,
+regularly shaped, shallow-eyed white or flesh-colored potato which is
+mealy when cooked. Therefore, select seed tubers with these qualities.
+It seems proved that when whole potatoes are used for seed the yield is
+larger than when sliced potatoes are planted. It is of course too
+costly to plant whole potatoes, but it is a good practice to cause the
+plants to thrive by planting large seed pieces.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 205. GATHERING POTATOES]
+
+Like other crops, potatoes need a thoroughly prepared seed-bed and
+intelligent cultivation. Break the land deep. Then go over it with an
+ordinary harrow until all clods are broken and the soil is fine and well
+closed. The rows should be at least three feet from one another and the
+seeds placed from twelve to eighteen inches apart in the row, and
+covered to a depth of three or four inches. A late crop should be
+planted deeper than an early one. Before the plants come up it is well
+to go over the field once or twice with a harrow so as to kill all
+weeds. Do not fail to save moisture by frequent cultivation. After the
+plants start to grow, all cultivation should be shallow, for the roots
+feed near the surface and should not be broken. Cultivate as often as
+needed to keep down weeds and grass and to keep the ground fine.
+
+Allow potatoes to dry thoroughly before they are stored, but never allow
+them to remain long in the sunshine. Never dig them in damp weather, for
+the moisture clinging to them will cause them to rot. After the tubers
+are dry, store them in barrels or bins in a dry, cool, and dark place.
+Never allow them to freeze.
+
+Among the common diseases and insect pests that attack the leaves and
+stems of potato vines are early blight, late blight, brown rot, the
+flea-beetle, and the potato beetle, or potato bug. Spraying with
+Bordeaux mixture to which a small portion of Paris green has been added
+will control both the diseases and the pests. The spraying should begin
+when the plants are five or six inches high and should not cease until
+the foliage begins to die.
+
+Scab is a disease of the tubers. It may be prevented (1) by using seed
+potatoes that are free from scab; (2) by planting land in which there is
+no scab; and (3) by soaking the seed in formalin (see page 135).
+
+
+SECTION XLII. OATS
+
+The oat plant belongs to the grass family. It is a hardy plant and,
+under good conditions, a vigorous grower. It stands cold and wet better
+than any other cereal except possibly rye. Oats like a cool, moist
+climate. In warm climates, oats do best when they are sowed in the fall.
+In cooler sections, spring seeding is more generally practiced.
+
+There are a great many varieties of oats. No one variety is best adapted
+to all sections, but many varieties make fine crops in many sections.
+Any variety is desirable which has these qualities: power to resist
+disease and insect enemies, heavy grains, thin hulls, good color, and
+suitability to local surroundings.
+
+As oats and rye make a better yield on poor land than any other cereals,
+some farmers usually plant these crops on their poorest lands. However,
+no land is too good to be used for so valuable a crop as oats. Oats
+require a great deal of moisture; hence light, sandy soils are not so
+well adapted to this crop as are the sandy loams and fine clay loams
+with their closer and heavier texture.
+
+If oats are to be planted in the spring, the ground should be broken in
+the fall, winter, or early spring so that no delay may occur at
+seeding-time. But to have a thoroughly settled, compact seed-bed the
+breaking of the land should be done at least a month before the seeding,
+and it will help greatly to run over the land with a disk harrow
+immediately after the breaking.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 206. OATS
+Common oats at left; side oats at right]
+
+Oats may be planted by scattering them broadcast or by means of a drill.
+The drill is better, because the grains are more uniformly distributed
+and the depth of planting is better regulated. The seeds should be
+covered from one and a half to two inches deep. In a very dry season
+three inches may not be too deep. The amount of seed needed to the acre
+varies considerably, but generally the seeding is from two to three
+bushels an acre. On poor lands two bushels will be a fair average
+seeding; on good lands as much as three bushels should be used.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 207. HARVESTING OATS]
+
+This crop fits in well, over wide areas, with various rotations. As the
+purpose of all rotation is to keep the soil productive, oats should
+alternate every few years with one of the nitrogen-gathering crops. In
+the South, cowpeas, soy beans, clovers, and vetches may be used in this
+rotation. In the North and West the clovers mixed with timothy hay make
+a useful combination for this purpose.
+
+Spring-sowed oats, since they have a short growing season, need their
+nitrogenous plant food in a form which can be quickly used. To supply
+this nitrogen a top-dressing of nitrate of soda or sulphate of lime is
+helpful. The plant can gather its food quickly from either of these
+two. As fall-sowed oats have of course a longer growing season, the
+nitrogen can be supplied by well-rotted manure, blood, tankage, or
+fish-scrap. Use barnyard manure carefully. Do not apply too much just
+before seeding, and use only thoroughly rotted manure. It is always
+desirable to have a bountiful supply of humus in land on which oats are
+to be planted.
+
+The time of harvesting will vary with the use which is to be made of the
+oats. If the crop is to be threshed, the harvesting should be done when
+the kernels have passed out of the milk into the hard dough state. The
+lower leaves of the stalks will at this time have turned yellow, and the
+kernels will be plump and full. Do not, however, wait too long, for if
+you do the grain will shatter and the straw lose in feeding value.
+
+On the other hand, if the oats are to be cut for hay it is best to cut
+them while the grains are still in the milk stage. At this stage the
+leaves are still green and the plants are rich in protein.
+
+Oats should be cured quickly. It is very important that threshed oats
+should be dry before they are stored. Should they on being stored still
+contain moisture, they will be likely to heat and to discolor. Any
+discoloring will reduce their value. Nor should oats ever be allowed to
+remain long in the fields, no matter how well they may seem to be
+shocked. The dew and the rain will injure their value by discoloring
+them more or less.
+
+Oats are muscle-builders rather than fat-formers. Hence they are a
+valuable ration for work animals, dairy cows, and breeding-stock.
+
+
+SECTION XLIII. RYE
+
+Rye has the power of gathering its food from a wider area than most
+other plants. Of course, then, it is a fine crop for poor land, and
+farmers often plant it only on worn land. However, it is too good a
+cereal to be treated in so ungenerous a fashion. As a cover-crop for
+poor land it adds much humus to the soil and makes capital grazing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 208. RYE READY FOR CUTTING]
+
+There are two types of rye--the winter and the spring. The winter type
+is chiefly grown in this country. Rye seeds should be bought as near
+home as possible, for this plant thrives best when the new crop grows
+under the same conditions as the seed crop.
+
+Rye will grow on almost any soil that is drained. Soils that are too
+sandy for wheat will generally yield good crops of rye. Clay soils,
+however, are not adapted to the plant nor to the grazing for which the
+plant is generally sowed. For winter rye the land should be broken from
+four to six inches. Harrows should follow the plows until the land is
+well pulverized. In some cold prairie lands, however, rye is put in with
+a grain-drill before a plow removes the stubble from the land. The
+purpose of planting in this way is to let the stubble protect the young
+plants from cold, driving winds.
+
+Rye should go into the ground earlier than wheat. In cold, bleak
+climates, as well as on poor land, the seeding should be early. The
+young plant needs to get rooted and topped before cold weather sets in.
+The only danger in very early planting is that leaf-rust sometimes
+attacks the forward crop. Of course the earlier the rye is ready for
+fall and winter pasturage, the better. If a drill is used for planting,
+a seeding of from three to four pecks to the acre should give a good
+stand. In case the seeds are to be sowed broadcast, a bushel or a bushel
+and a half for every acre is needed. The seed should be covered as wheat
+seed is and the ground rolled.
+
+Rye is generally used as a grazing or as a soiling crop. Therefore its
+value will depend largely on its vigorous growth in stems and leaves. To
+get this growth, liberal amounts of nitrogenous fertilizer will have to
+be applied unless the land is very rich. Put barnyard manure on the land
+just after the first breaking and disk the manure into the soil. Acid
+phosphate and kainite added to the manure may pay handsomely. A spring
+top-dressing of nitrate of soda is usually helpful.
+
+Rye has a stiff straw and does not fall, or "lodge," so badly as some of
+the other cereals. As soon as rye that is meant for threshing is cut, it
+should be put up in shocks until it is thoroughly dry. Begin the cutting
+when the kernels are in a tough dough state. The grain should never
+stand long in the shocks.
+
+
+SECTION XLIV. BARLEY
+
+Barley is one of the oldest crops known to man. The old historian Pliny
+says that barley was the first food of mankind. Modern man however
+prefers wheat and corn and potatoes to barley, and as a food this
+ancient crop is in America turned over to the lower animals. Brewers use
+barley extensively in making malt liquors. Barley grows in nearly all
+sections of our country, but a few states--namely, Minnesota,
+California, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota--are seeding
+large areas to this crop.
+
+For malting purposes the barley raised on rather light, friable, porous
+soil is best. Soils of this kind are likely to produce a medium yield of
+bright grain. Fertile loamy and clay soils make generally a heavier
+yield of barley, but the grain is dark and fit only to be fed to stock.
+Barley is a shallow feeder, and can reach only such plant food as is
+found in the top soil, so its food should always be put within reach by
+a thorough breaking, harrowing, and mellowing of the soil, and by
+fertilizing if the soil is poor. Barley has been successfully raised
+both by irrigation and by dry-farming methods. It requires a
+better-prepared soil than the other grain crops; it makes fine yields
+when it follows some crop that has received a heavy dressing of manure.
+Capital yields are produced after alfalfa or after root crops. This crop
+usually matures within a hundred days from its seeding.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 209. BARLEY]
+
+When the crop is to be sold to the brewers, a grain rich in starch
+should be secured. Barley intended for malting should be fertilized to
+this end. Many experiments have shown that a fertilizer which contains
+much potash will produce starchy barley. If the barley be intended for
+stock, you should breed so as to get protein in the grain and in the
+stalk. Hence barley which is to be fed should be fertilized with
+mixtures containing nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Young barley plants
+are more likely to be hurt by cold than either wheat or oats. Hence
+barley ought not to be seeded until all danger from frost is over. The
+seeds should be covered deeper than the seeds of wheat or of oats. Four
+inches is perhaps an average depth for covering. But the covering will
+vary with the time of planting, with the kind of ground, with the
+climate, and with the nature of the season. Fewer seeds will be needed
+if the barley is planted by means of a drill.
+
+Like other cereals, barley should not be grown continuously on the same
+land. It should take its place in a well-planned rotation. It may
+profitably follow potatoes or other hoed crops, but it should not come
+first after wheat, oats, or rye.
+
+Barley should be harvested as soon as most of its kernels have reached
+the hard dough state. It is more likely to shatter its grain than are
+other cereals, and it should therefore be handled with care. It must
+also be watched to prevent its sprouting in the shocks. Be sure to put
+few bundles in the shock and to cap the shock securely enough to keep
+out dew and rain. If possible the barley should be threshed directly
+from the shock, as much handling will occasion a serious loss from
+shattering.
+
+
+SECTION XLV. SUGAR PLANTS
+
+In the United States there are three sources from which sugar is
+obtained; namely, the sugar-maple, the sugar-beet, and the sugar-cane.
+In the early days of our country considerable quantities of maple sirup
+and maple sugar were made. This was the first source of sugar. Then
+sugar-cane began to be grown. Later the sugar-beet was introduced.
+
+=Maple Products.= In many states sirup and sugar are still made from
+maple sap. In the spring when the sap is flowing freely maple trees are
+tapped and spouts are inserted. Through these spouts the sap flows into
+vessels set to catch it. The sap is boiled in evaporating-pans, and made
+into either sirup or sugar. Four gallons of sap yield about one pound of
+sugar. A single tree yields from two to six pounds of sugar in a season.
+The sap cannot be kept long after it is collected. Practice and skill
+are needed to produce an attractive and palatable grade of sirup or of
+sugar.
+
+=Sugar-Beets.= The sugar-beet is a comparatively new root crop in
+America. The amount of sugar that can be obtained from beets varies from
+twelve to twenty per cent. The richness in sugar depends somewhat on the
+variety grown and on the soil and the climate.
+
+So far most of our sugar-beet seeds have been brought over from Europe.
+Some of our planters are now, however, gaining the skill and the
+knowledge needed to grow these seeds. It is of course important to grow
+seeds that will produce beets containing much sugar.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 210. CATCHING MAPLE SAP]
+
+These beets do well in a great variety of soils if the land is rich,
+well prepared, and well drained, and has a porous subsoil.
+
+Beets cannot grow to a large size in hard land. Hence deep plowing is
+very necessary for this crop. The soil should be loose enough for the
+whole body of the beet to remain underground. Some growers prefer spring
+plowing and some fall plowing, but all agree that the land should not be
+turned less than eight or ten inches. The subsoil, however, should not
+be turned up too much at the first deep plowing.
+
+Too much care cannot be taken to make the seed-bed firm and mellow and
+to have it free from clods. If the soil is dry at planting-time and
+there is likelihood of high winds, the seed-bed may be rolled with
+profit. Experienced growers use from ten to twelve pounds of seeds to an
+acre. It is better to use too many rather than too few seeds, for it is
+easy to thin out the plants, but rather difficult to transplant them.
+The seeds are usually drilled in rows about twenty inches apart. Of
+course, if the soil is rather warm and moist at planting-time, fewer
+seeds will be needed than when germination is likely to be slow.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 211. SUGAR-BEET]
+
+A good rotation should always be planned for this beet. A very
+successful one is as follows: for the first year, corn heavily
+fertilized with stable manure; for the second year, sugar-beets; for the
+third year, oats or barley; for the fourth year, clover; then go back
+again to corn. In addition to keeping the soil fertile, there are two
+gains from this rotation: first, the clean cultivation of the corn crop
+just ahead of the beets destroys many of the weed seeds; second, the
+beets must be protected from too much nitrogen in the soil, for an
+excess of nitrogen makes a beet too large to be rich in sugar. The
+manure, heavily applied to the corn, will leave enough nitrogen and
+other plant food in the soil to make a good crop of beets and avoid any
+danger of an excess.
+
+When the outside leaves of the beet take on a yellow tinge and drop to
+the ground, the beets are ripe. The mature beets are richer in sugar
+than the immature, therefore they should not be harvested too soon. They
+may remain in the ground without injury for some time after they are
+ripe. Cold weather does not injure the roots unless it is accompanied by
+freezing and thawing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 212. SUGAR-BEETS ON THE WAY TO A FACTORY]
+
+The beets are harvested by sugar-beet pullers or by hand. If the roots
+are to be gathered by hand they are usually loosened by plowing on each
+side of them. If the roots are stored they should be put in long, narrow
+piles and covered with straw and earth to protect them from frost. A
+ventilator placed at the top of the pile will enable the heat and
+moisture to escape. If the beets get too warm they will ferment and some
+of their sugar will be lost.
+
+
+=Sugar-Cane.= Sugar-cane is grown along the Gulf of Mexico and the South
+Atlantic coast. In Mississippi, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South
+Carolina, northern Louisiana, and in northern Texas it is generally made
+into sirup. In southern Louisiana and southern Texas the cane is usually
+crushed for sugar or for molasses.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 213. STALK OF SUGAR-CANE
+_A-B_, joints of cane showing roots; _B-C_, stem; _C-D_, leaves]
+
+The sugar-cane is a huge grass. The stalk, which is round, is from one
+to two inches in thickness.
+
+The stalks vary in color. Some are white, some yellow, some green, some
+red, some purple, and some black, while others are a mixture of two or
+three of these colors. As shown in Fig. 214 the stalk has joints at
+distances of from two to six inches. These joints are called nodes, and
+the sections between the nodes are known as internodes. The internodes
+ripen from the roots upward, and as each ripens it casts its leaves. The
+stalk, when ready for harvesting, has only a few leaves on the top.
+
+[Illustration: Fig. 214. STICK OF SUGAR-CANE
+_A_, buds, or eyes; _C_, nodes; _D_, internodes; _X_, semi-transparent
+dots in rows]
+
+Under each leaf and on alternate sides of the cane a bud, or "eye,"
+forms. From this eye the cane is usually propagated; for, while in
+tropical countries the cane forms seeds, yet these seeds are rarely
+fertile. When the cane is ripe it is stripped of leaves, topped, and cut
+at the ground with a knife. The sugar is contained in solution in the
+pith of the cane.
+
+Cane requires an enormous amount of water for its best growth, and where
+the rainfall is not great enough, the plants are irrigated. It requires
+from seventy-five to one hundred gallons of water to make a pound of
+sugar. Cane does best where there is a rainfall of two inches a week. At
+the same time a well-drained soil is necessary to make vigorous canes.
+
+The soils suited to this plant are those which contain large amounts of
+fertilizing material and which can hold much water. In southern
+Louisiana alluvial loams and loamy clay soils are cultivated. In
+Georgia, Alabama, and Florida light, sandy soils, when properly
+fertilized and worked, make good crops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 215. PLANTING SUGAR-CANE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 216. LOADING SUGAR-CANE]
+
+Cane is usually planted in rows from five to six feet apart. A trench is
+opened in the center of the row with a plow and in this open furrow is
+placed a continuous line of stalks which are carefully covered with
+plow, cultivator, or hoe. From one to three continuous lines of stalks
+are placed in the furrow. From two to six tons of seed cane are needed
+for an acre. In favorable weather the cane soon sprouts and cultivation
+begins. Cane should be cultivated at short intervals until the plants
+are large enough to shade the soil. In Louisiana one planting of cane
+usually gives two crops. The first is called plant cane; the second is
+known as first-year stubble, or ratoon. Sometimes second-year stubble is
+grown.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 217. A COMMON TYPE OF SIRUP FACTORY]
+
+In Louisiana large quantities of tankage, cotton-seed meal, and acid
+phosphate are used to fertilize cane-fields. Each country has its own
+time for planting and harvesting. In Louisiana, for example, canes are
+planted from October to April. In the United States cane is harvested
+each year because of frost, but in tropical countries the stalks are
+permitted to grow from fifteen to twenty-four months.
+
+On many farms a small mill, the rollers of which are turned by horses,
+is used for crushing the juice out of the cane. The juice is then
+evaporated in a kettle or pan. This equipment is very cheap and can
+easily be operated by a small family. While these mills rarely extract
+more than one half of the juice in the cane, the sirup made by them is
+very palatable and usually commands a good price. Costly machinery which
+saves most of the juice is used in the large commercial sugar houses.
+
+
+SECTION XLVI. HEMP AND FLAX
+
+In the early ages of the world, mankind is supposed to have worn very
+little or no clothing. Then leaves and the inner bark of trees were
+fashioned into a protection from the weather. These flimsy garments were
+later replaced by skins and furs. As man advanced in knowledge, he
+learned how to twist wool and hairs into threads and to weave these into
+durable garments. Still later, perhaps, he discovered that some plants
+conceal under their outer bark soft, tough fibers that can be changed
+into excellent cloth. Flax and hemp were doubtless among the first
+plants to furnish this fiber.
+
+=Flax.= Among the fiber crops of the world, flax ranks next to cotton.
+It is the material from which is woven the linen for sheets, towels,
+tablecloths, shirts, collars, dresses, and a host of other articles.
+Fortunately for man, flax will thrive in many countries and in many
+climates. The fiber from which these useful articles are made, unlike
+cotton fiber, does not come from the fruit, but from the stem. It is the
+soft, silky lining of the bark which lies between the woody outside and
+the pith cells of the stem.
+
+The Old World engages largely in flax culture and flax manufacture, but
+in our country flax is grown principally for its seed. From the seeds we
+make linseed oil, linseed-oil cake, and linseed meal.
+
+Flax grows best on deep, loamy soils, but also makes a profitable growth
+on clay soils. With sufficient fertilizing material it can be grown on
+sandy lands. Nitrogen is especially needed by this plant and should be
+liberally supplied. To meet this demand for nitrogen, it pays to plant a
+leguminous crop immediately before flax.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 218. FLAX]
+
+After a mellow seed-bed has been made ready and after the weather is
+fairly warm, sow, if a seed crop is desired, at the rate of from two to
+three pecks an acre. A good seed crop will not be harvested if the
+plants are too thick. On the other hand, if a fiber crop is to be
+raised, it is desirable to plant more thickly, so that the stalks may
+not branch, but run up into a single stem. From a bushel to two bushels
+of seed is in this case used to an acre. Flax requires care and work
+from start to finish.
+
+When the seeds are full and plump the flax is ready for harvesting. In
+America a binder is generally used for cutting the stalks. Our average
+yield of flax is from eight to fifteen bushels an acre.
+
+=Hemp.= Like flax, hemp adapts itself wonderfully to many countries and
+many climates. However, in America most of our hemp is grown in
+Kentucky.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 219. CUTTING HEMP]
+
+Hemp needs soil rich enough to give the young plants a very rapid growth
+in their early days so that they may form long fibers. To give this crop
+abundant nitrogen without great cost, it should be grown in a rotation
+which includes one of the legumes. Rich, well-drained bottom-lands
+produce the largest yields of hemp, but uplands which have been heavily
+manured make profitable yields.
+
+The ground for hemp is prepared as for other grain crops. The seed is
+generally broadcasted for a fiber crop and then harrowed in. No
+cultivation is required after seeding.
+
+If hemp is grown for seed, it is best to plant with a drill so that the
+crop may be cultivated. The stalks after being cut are put in shocks
+until they are dry. Then the seeds are threshed. Large amounts of hemp
+seed are sold for caged birds and for poultry; it is also used for
+paint-oils.
+
+
+SECTION XLVII. BUCKWHEAT
+
+Buckwheat shares with rye and cowpeas the power to make a fairly good
+crop on poor land. At the same time, of course, a full crop can be
+expected only from fertile land.
+
+The three varieties most grown in America are the common gray, the
+silver-hull, and the Japanese. The seeds of the common gray are larger
+than the silver-hull, but not so large as the Japanese. The seeds from
+the gray variety are generally regarded as inferior to the other two.
+This crop is grown to best advantage in climates where the nights are
+cool and moist. It matures more quickly than any other grain crop and is
+remarkably free from disease. The yield varies from ten to forty bushels
+an acre. Buckwheat does not seem to draw plant food heavily from the
+soil and can be grown on the same land from year to year.
+
+In fertilizing buckwheat land, green manures and rich nitrogenous
+fertilizers should be avoided. These cause such a luxuriant growth that
+the stalks lodge badly.
+
+The time of seeding will have to be settled by the height of the land
+and by the climate. In northern climates and in high altitudes the
+seeding is generally done in May or June. In southern climates and in
+low altitudes the planting may wait until July or August. The plant
+usually matures in about seventy days. It cannot stand warm weather at
+blooming-time, and must always be planted so that it may escape warm
+weather in its blooming period and cold weather in its maturing season.
+The seeds are commonly broadcasted at an average rate of four pecks to
+the acre. If the land is loose and pulverized, it should be rolled.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 220. BUCKWHEAT IN SHOCK]
+
+Buckwheat ripens unevenly and will continue to bloom until frost.
+Harvesting usually begins just after the first crop of seeds have
+matured. To keep the grains from shattering, the harvesting is best done
+during damp or cloudy days or early in the morning while the dew is
+still on the grain. The grain should be threshed as soon as it is dry
+enough to go through the thresher.
+
+Buckwheat is grown largely for table use. The grain is crushed into a
+dark flour that makes most palatable breakfast cakes. The grain,
+especially when mixed with corn, is becoming popular for poultry food.
+The middlings, which are rich in fats and protein, are prized for dairy
+cows.
+
+
+SECTION XLVIII. RICE
+
+The United States produces only about one half of the rice that it
+consumes. There is no satisfactory reason for our not raising more of
+this staple crop, for five great states along the Gulf of Mexico are
+well adapted to its culture.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 221. THRESHING RICE]
+
+There are two distinct kinds of rice, upland rice and lowland rice.
+Upland rice demands in general the same methods of culture that are
+required by other cereals, for example, oats or wheat. The growing of
+lowland rice is considerably more difficult and includes the necessity
+of flooding the fields with water at proper times.
+
+A stiff, half-clay soil with some loam is best suited to this crop. The
+soil should have a clay subsoil to retain water and to give stiffness
+enough to allow the use of harvesting-machinery. Some good rice soils
+are so stiff that they must be flooded to soften them enough to admit of
+plowing. Plow deeply to give the roots ample feeding-space. Good
+tillage, which is too often neglected, is valuable.
+
+Careful seed-selection is perhaps even more needed for rice than for any
+other crop. Consumers want kernels of the same size. Be sure that your
+seed is free from red rice and other weeds. Drilling is much better
+than broadcasting, as it secures a more even distribution of the seed.
+
+The notion generally prevails that flooding returns to the soil the
+needed fertility. This may be true if the flooding-water deposits much
+silt, but if the water be clear it is untrue, and fertilizers or
+leguminous crops are needed to keep up fertility. Cowpeas replace the
+lost soil-elements and keep down weeds, grasses, and red rice.
+
+Red rice is a weed close kin to rice, but the seed of one will not
+produce the other. Do not allow it to get mixed and sowed with your rice
+seed or to go to seed in your field.
+
+
+SECTION XLIX. THE TIMBER CROP
+
+Forest trees are not usually regarded as a crop, but they are certainly
+one of the most important crops. We should accustom ourselves to look on
+our trees as needing and as deserving the same care and thought that we
+give to our other field crops. The total number of acres given to the
+growth of forest trees is still enormous, but we should each year add to
+this acreage.
+
+Unfortunately very few forests are so managed as to add yearly to their
+value and to preserve a model stand of trees. Axmen generally fell the
+great trees without thought of the young trees that should at once begin
+to fill the places left vacant by the fallen giants. Owners rarely study
+their woodlands to be sure that the trees are thick enough, or to find
+out whether the saplings are ruinously crowding one another. Disease is
+often allowed to slip in unchecked. Old trees stand long after they have
+outlived their usefulness.
+
+The farm wood-lot, too, is often neglected. As forests are being swept
+away, fuel is of course becoming scarcer and more costly. Every farmer
+ought to plant trees enough on his waste land to make sure of a constant
+supply of fuel. The land saved for the wood-lot should be selected from
+land unfit for cultivation. Steep hillsides, rocky slopes, ravines,
+banks of streams--these can, without much expense or labor, be set in
+trees and insure a never-ending fuel supply.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 222. WOOD LOT
+Before proper treatment]
+
+The most common enemies of the forest crop are:
+
+First, forest fires. The waste from forest fires in the United States is
+most startling. Many of these fires are the result of carelessness or
+ignorance. Most of the states have made or are now making laws to
+prevent and to control such fires.
+
+Second, fungous diseases. The timber loss from these diseases is
+exceedingly great.
+
+Third, insects of many kinds prey on the trees. Some strip all the
+leaves from the branches. Others bore into the roots, trunk, or
+branches. Some lead to a slow death; others are more quickly fatal.
+
+Fourth, improper grazing. Turning animals into young woods may lead to
+serious loss. The animals frequently ruin young trees by eating all the
+foliage. Hogs often unearth and consume most of the seeds needed for a
+good growth.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 223. WOOD LOT
+After proper treatment]
+
+The handling of forests is a business just as the growing of corn is a
+business. In old forests, dead and dying trees should be cut. Trees that
+occupy space and yet have little commercial value should give way to
+more valuable trees. A quick-growing tree, if it is equally desirable,
+should be preferred to a slow grower. An even distribution of the trees
+should be secured.
+
+In all there are about five hundred species of trees which are natives
+of the United States. Probably not over seventy of these are desirable
+for forests. In selecting trees to plant or to allow to grow from their
+own seeding, pick those that make a quick growth, that have a steady
+market value, and that suit the soil, the place of growth, and the
+climate.
+
+
+SECTION L. THE FARM GARDEN
+
+Every farmer needs a garden in which to grow not only vegetables but
+small fruits for the home table.
+
+The garden should always be within convenient distance of the farmhouse.
+If possible, the spot selected should have a soil of mixed loam and
+clay. Every foot of soil in the garden should be made rich and mellow by
+manure and cultivation. The worst soils for the home garden are light,
+sandy soils, or stiff, clayey soils; but any soil, by judicious and
+intelligent culture, can be made suitable.
+
+In laying out the garden we should bear in mind that hand labor is the
+most expensive kind of labor. Hence we should not, as is commonly done,
+lay off the garden spot in the form of a square, but we should mark off
+for our purpose a long, narrow piece of land, so that the cultivating
+tools may all be conveniently drawn by a horse or a mule. The use of the
+plow and the horse cultivator enables the cultivation of the garden to
+be done quickly, easily, and cheaply.
+
+Each vegetable or fruit should be planted in rows, and not in little
+patches. Beginning with one side of the garden the following plan of
+arrangement is simple and complete: two rows to corn for table use; two
+to cabbages, beets, radishes, and eggplants; two to onions, peas, and
+beans; two to oyster-plants, okra, parsley, and turnips; two to
+tomatoes; then four on the other side can be used for strawberries,
+blackberries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 224. WHERE DELICIOUS GARDEN VEGETABLES GROW]
+
+The garden, when so arranged, can be tilled in the spring and tended
+throughout the growing season with little labor and little loss of time.
+In return for this odd-hour work, the farmer's family will have
+throughout the year an abundance of fresh, palatable, and health-giving
+vegetables and small fruits.
+
+The keynote of successful gardening is to stir the soil. Stir it often
+with four objects in view:
+
+  1. To destroy weeds.
+
+  2. To let air enter the soil.
+
+  3. To enrich the soil by the action of the air.
+
+  4. To retain the moisture by preventing its evaporation.
+
+                    corn
+                    corn
+
+  cabbage           beets              radishes
+  cabbage           beets              eggplants
+
+  onions            peas             beans
+  onions            peas             beans
+
+  oyster-plants   okra        parsley        parsnips
+  oyster-plants   okra        parsley        parsnips
+
+                        tomatoes
+                        tomatoes
+
+  strawberries    currants    raspberries    blackberries
+  strawberries    currants    raspberries    blackberries
+  strawberries    currants    raspberries    blackberries
+  strawberries    currants    raspberries    blackberries
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 225. HOW TO LAY OUT THE GARDEN[1]]
+
+This illustration shows that practically every garden vegetable and all
+the small fruits can be included in the farm garden, and all the work be
+done by horse-drawn tools.
+
+[Footnote 1: The number of rows and arrangement of the vegetables in the
+outline above are merely suggestive. They should be changed to meet the
+needs and the tastes of each particular family.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FEED STUFFS
+
+SECTION LI. GRASSES
+
+
+Under usual conditions no farmer expects to grow live stock successfully
+and economically without setting apart a large part of his land for the
+growth of mowing and pasture crops. Therefore to the grower of stock the
+management of grass crops is all-important.
+
+In planting either for a meadow or for a pasture, the farmer should mix
+different varieties of grass seeds. Nature mixes them when she plants,
+and Nature is always a trustworthy teacher.
+
+In planting for a pasture the aim should be to sow such seeds as will
+give green grass from early spring to latest fall. In seeding for a
+meadow such varieties should be sowed together as ripen about the same
+time.
+
+Even in those sections of the country where it grows sparingly and where
+it is easily crowded out, clover should be mixed with all grasses sowed,
+for it leaves in the soil a wealth of plant food for the grasses coming
+after it to feed on. Nearly every part of our country has some clover
+that experience shows to be exactly suited to its soil and climate.
+Study these clovers carefully and mix them with your grass seed.
+
+The reason for mixing clover and grass is at once seen. The true
+grasses, so far as science now shows, get all their nitrogen from the
+soil; hence they more or less exhaust the soil. But, as several times
+explained in this book, the clovers are legumes, and all legumes are
+able by means of the bacteria that live on their roots to use the free
+nitrogen of the air. Hence without cost to the farmer these clovers help
+the soil to feed their neighbors, the true grasses. For this reason some
+light perennial legume should always be added to grass seed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 226. SINGLE PLANT OF GIANT MILLET]
+
+It is not possible for grasses to do well in a soil that is full of
+weeds. For this reason it is always best to sow grass in fields from
+which cultivated crops have just been taken. Soil which is to have grass
+sowed in it should have its particles pressed together. The small grass
+seeds cannot take root and grow well in land that has just been plowed
+and which, consequently, has its particles loose and comparatively far
+apart. On the other hand, land from which a crop of corn or cotton has
+just been harvested is in a compact condition. The soil particles are
+pressed well together. Such land when mellowed by harrowing makes a
+splendid bed for grass seeds. A firm soil draws moisture up to the
+seeds, while a mellow soil acts as a blanket to keep moisture from
+wasting into the air, and at the same time allows the heated air to
+circulate in the soil.
+
+In case land has to be plowed for grass-seeding, the plowing should be
+done as far as possible in advance of the seeding. Then the plowed land
+should be harrowed several times to get the land in a soft, mellow
+condition.
+
+If the seed-bed be carefully prepared, little work on the ground is
+necessary after the seeds are sowed. One light harrowing is sufficient
+to cover the broadcast seeds. This harrowing should always be done as
+soon as the seeds are scattered, for if there be moisture in the soil
+the tiny seeds will soon sprout, and if the harrowing be done after
+germination is somewhat advanced, the tender grass plants will be
+injured.
+
+There are many kinds of pasture and meadow grasses. In New England,
+timothy, red clover, and redtop are generally used for the mowing crop.
+For permanent pasture, in addition to those mentioned, there should be
+added white clover and either Kentucky or Canadian blue grass. In the
+Southern states a good meadow or pasture can be made of orchard grass,
+red clover, and redtop. For a permanent pasture in the South, Japan
+clover, Bermuda, and such other local grasses as have been found to
+adapt themselves readily to the climate should be added. In the Middle
+States temporary meadows and pastures are generally made of timothy and
+red clover, while for permanent pastures white clover and blue grass
+thrive well. In the more western states the grasses previously suggested
+are readily at home. Alfalfa is proving its adaptability to nearly all
+sections and climates, and is in many respects the most promising grass
+crop of America.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 227. BERMUDA]
+
+It hardly ever pays to pasture meadows, except slightly, the first
+season, and then only when the soil is dry. It is also poor policy to
+pasture any kind of grass land early in the spring when the soil is wet,
+because the tramping of animals crushes and destroys the crowns of the
+plants. After the first year the sward becomes thicker and tougher, and
+the grass is not at all injured if it is grazed wisely.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 228. ALFALFA THE WONDERFUL
+The first crop of the season is being cut and stored for winter]
+
+The state of maturity at which grass should be harvested to make hay of
+the best quality varies somewhat with the different grasses and with the
+use which is to be made of the hay. Generally speaking, it is a good
+rule to cut grass for hay just as it is beginning to bloom or just after
+the bloom has fallen. All grasses become less palatable to stock as they
+mature and form seed. If grass be allowed to go to seed, most of the
+nutrition in the stalk is used to form the seed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 229. HARVESTING ALFALFA]
+
+Hence a good deal of food is lost by waiting to cut hay until the seeds
+are formed.
+
+Pasture lands and meadow lands are often greatly improved by replowing
+and harrowing in order to break up the turf that forms and to admit air
+more freely into the soil. The plant-roots that are destroyed by the
+plowing or harrowing make quickly available plant food by their decay,
+and the physical improvement of the soil leads to a thicker and better
+stand. In the older sections of the country commercial fertilizer can be
+used to advantage in producing hay and pasturage. If, however, clover
+has just been grown on grass land or if it is growing well with the
+grass, there is no need to add nitrogen. If the grass seems to lack
+sufficient nourishment, add phosphoric acid and potash. However, grass
+not grown in company with clover often needs dried blood, nitrate of
+soda, or some other nitrogen-supplying agent. Of course it is understood
+that no better fertilizer can be applied to grass than barnyard manure.
+
+
+SECTION LII. LEGUMES
+
+Often land which was once thought excellent is left to grow up in weeds.
+The owner says that the land is worn out, and that it will not pay to
+plant it. What does "worn out" mean? Simply that constant cropping has
+used up the plant food in the land. Therefore, plants on worn-out land
+are too nearly starved to yield bountifully. Such wearing out is so
+easily prevented that no owner ought ever to allow his land to become
+poverty-stricken. But in case this misfortune has happened, how can the
+land be again made fertile?
+
+On page 24 you learned that phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen are
+the foods most needed by plants. "Worn out," then, to put it in
+another way, usually means that a soil has been robbed of one of these
+plant necessities, or of two or of all three. To make the land once more
+fruitful it is necessary to restore the missing food or foods. How can
+this be done? Two of these plant foods, namely, phosphoric acid and
+potash, are minerals. If either of these is lacking, it can be supplied
+only by putting on the land some fertilizer containing the missing food.
+Fortunately, however, nitrogen, the most costly of the plant foods, can
+be readily and cheaply returned to poor land.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 230. ALFALFA READY FOR THE THIRD CUTTING]
+
+As explained on page 32 the leguminous crops have the power of drawing
+nitrogen from the air and, by means of their root-tubercles, of storing
+it in the soil. Hence by growing these crops on poor land the expensive
+nitrogen is quickly restored to the soil, and only the two cheaper plant
+foods need be bought. How important it is then to grow these leguminous
+plants! Every farmer should so rotate his planting that at least once
+every two or three years a crop of legumes may add to the fruitfulness
+of his fields.
+
+Moreover these crops help land in another way. They send a multitude of
+roots deep into the ground. These roots loosen and pulverize the soil,
+and their decay, at the end of the growing season, leaves much humus in
+the soil. Land will rarely become worn out if legumes are regularly and
+wisely grown.
+
+From the fact that they do well in so many different sections and in so
+many different climates, the following are the most useful legumes:
+alfalfa, clovers, cowpeas, vetches, and soy beans.
+
+=Alfalfa.= Alfalfa is primarily a hay crop. It thrives in the Far West,
+in the Middle West, in the North, and in the South. In fact, it will do
+well wherever the soil is rich, moist, deep, and underlaid by an open
+subsoil. The vast areas given to this valuable crop are yearly
+increasing in every section of the United States. Alfalfa, however,
+unlike the cowpea, does not take to poor land. For its cultivation,
+therefore, good fertile land that is moist but not water-soaked should
+be selected.
+
+Good farmers are partial to alfalfa for three reasons. First, it yields
+a heavy crop of forage or hay. Second, being a legume, it improves the
+soil. Third, one seeding lasts a long time. This length of life may,
+however, be destroyed by pasturing or abusing the alfalfa.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 231. SHEEP FATTENING ON ALFALFA STUBBLE]
+
+Alfalfa is different from most plants in this respect: the soil in which
+it grows must have certain kinds of bacteria in it. These cause the
+growth of tubercles on the roots. These bacteria, however, are not
+always present in land that has not been planted in alfalfa. Hence if
+this plant is to be grown successfully these helpful bacteria must
+sometimes be supplied artificially.
+
+There are two very easy ways of supplying the germs. First, fine soil
+from an alfalfa field may be scattered broadcast over the fields to be
+seeded. Second, a small mass of alfalfa tubercle germs may be put into a
+liquid containing proper food to make these germs multiply and grow;
+then the seeds to be planted are soaked in this liquid in order that
+the germs may fasten on the seeds.
+
+Before the seeds are sowed the soil should be mellowed. Over this
+well-prepared land about twenty pounds of seed to the acre should be
+scattered. The seed may be scattered by hand or by a seed-sower. Cover
+with a light harrow. The time of planting varies somewhat with the
+climate. Except where the winters are too severe the seed may be sowed
+either in the spring or in the fall. In the South sow only in the fall.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 232. HERD OF DAIRY CATTLE GRAZING ON ALFALFA STUBBLE]
+
+During the first season one mowing, perhaps more, is necessary to insure
+a good stand and also to keep down the weeds. When the first blossoms
+appear in the early summer, it is time to start the mower. After this
+the alfalfa should be cut every two, three, or four weeks. The number of
+times depends on the rapidity of growth.
+
+This crop rarely makes a good yield the first year, but if a good stand
+be secured, the yield steadily increases. After a good stand has been
+secured, a top-dressing of either commercial fertilizer or stable manure
+will be very helpful. An occasional cutting-up of the sod with a disk
+harrow does much good.
+
+=Clovers.= The different kinds of clovers will sometimes grow on hard or
+poor soil, but they do far better if the soil is enriched and properly
+prepared before the seed is sowed. In many parts of our country it has
+been the practice for generations to sow clover seed with some of the
+grain crops. Barley, wheat, oats, and rye are the crops with which
+clover is usually planted, but many good farmers now prefer to sow the
+seed only with other grass seed. Circumstances must largely determine
+the manner of seeding.
+
+Crimson clover, which is a winter legume, usually does best when seeded
+alone, although rye or some other grain often seems helpful to it. This
+kind of clover is an excellent crop with which to follow cotton or corn.
+It is most conveniently sowed at the last cultivation of these crops.
+
+Common red clover, which is the standard clover over most of the
+country, is usually seeded with timothy or with orchard grass or with
+some other of the grasses. In sowing both crimson and red clover, about
+ten to fifteen pounds of seed for each acre are generally used.
+
+To make good pastures, white and Japan clover are favorites. White
+clover does well in most parts of America, and Japan clover is
+especially valuable in warm Southern climates. Both will do well even
+when the soil is partly shaded, but they do best in land fully open to
+the sun.
+
+Careful attention is required to cure clover hay well. The clover should
+always be cut before it forms seed. The best time to cut is when the
+plants are in full bloom.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 233. CRIMSON CLOVER]
+
+Let the mower be started in the morning. Then a few hours later run over
+the field with the tedder. This will loosen the hay and let in air and
+sunshine. If the weather be fair let the hay lie until the next day, and
+then rake it into rows for further drying. After being raked, the hay
+may either be left in the rows for final curing or it may be put in
+cocks. If the weather be unsettled, it is best to cock the hay. Many
+farmers have cloth covers to protect the cocks and these often aid
+greatly in saving the hay crop in a rainy season. In case the hay is put
+in cocks, it should be opened for a final drying before it is housed.
+
+=Cowpeas.= The cowpea is an excellent soil-enricher. It supplies more
+fertilizing material to turn into the soil, in a short time and at small
+cost, than any other crop. Moreover, by good tillage and by the use of a
+very small amount of fertilizer, the cowpea can be grown on land too
+poor to produce any other crop. Its roots go deep into the soil. Hence
+they gather plant food and moisture that shallow-rooted plants fail to
+reach. These qualities make it an invaluable help in bringing worn-out
+lands back to fertility.
+
+The cowpea is a warm-weather legume. In the United States it succeeds
+best in the south and southwest. It has, however, in recent years been
+grown as far north as Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan, and
+Minnesota, but in these cold climates other legumes are more useful.
+Cowpeas should never be planted until all danger of frost is past. Some
+varieties make their full growth in two months; others need four months.
+
+There are about two hundred varieties of cowpeas. These varieties differ
+in form, in the size of seed and of pod, in the color of seed and of
+pod, and in the time of ripening. They differ, too, in the manner of
+growth. Some grow erect; others sprawl on the ground. In selecting
+varieties it is well to choose those that grow straight up, those that
+are hardy, those that fruit early and abundantly, and those that hold
+their leaves. The variety selected for seed should also suit the land
+and the climate.
+
+The cowpea will grow in almost any soil. It thrives best and yields most
+bountifully on well-drained sandy loams. The plant also does well on
+clay soils. On light, sandy soils a fairly good crop may be made, but on
+such soils, wilt and root-knot are dangerous foes. A warm, moist,
+well-pulverized seed-bed should always be provided. Few plants equal the
+cowpea in repaying careful preparation.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 234. COWPEAS]
+
+If this crop is grown for hay, the method of seeding and cultivating
+will differ somewhat from the method used when a seed crop is desired.
+When cowpeas are planted for hay the seeds should be drilled or
+broadcasted. If the seeds are small and the land somewhat rich, about
+four pecks should be sowed on each acre. If the seeds are comparatively
+large and the soil not so fertile, about six pecks should be sowed to
+the acre. It is safer to disk in the seeds when they are sowed broadcast
+than it is to rely on a harrow to cover them. In sowing merely for a
+hay crop, it is a good practice to mix sorghum, corn, soy beans, or
+millet with the cowpeas. The mixed hay is more easily harvested and more
+easily cured than unmixed cowpea hay. Shortly after seeding, it pays to
+run over the land lightly with a harrow or a weeder in order to break
+any crust that may form.
+
+Mowing should begin as soon as the stalks and the pods have finished
+growing and some of the lower leaves have begun to turn yellow. An
+ordinary mower is perhaps the best machine for cutting the vines. If
+possible, select only a bright day for mowing and do not start the
+machine until the dew on the vines is dried. Allow the vines to remain
+as they fell from the mower till they are wilted; then rake them into
+windrows. The vines should generally stay in the windrows for two or
+three days and be turned on the last day. They should then be put in
+small, airy piles or piled around a stake that has crosspieces nailed to
+it. The drying vines should never be packed; air must circulate freely
+if good hay is to be made. As piling the vines around stakes is somewhat
+laborious, some growers watch the curing carefully and succeed in
+getting the vines dry enough to haul directly from the windrows to the
+barns. Never allow the vines to stay exposed to too much sunshine when
+they are first cut. If the sun strikes them too strongly, the leaves
+will become brittle and shatter when they are moved.
+
+When cowpeas are grown for their pods to ripen, the seeds should be
+planted in rows about a yard apart. From two to three pecks of seeds to
+an acre should be sufficient. The growing plants should be cultivated
+two or three times with a good cultivator. Cowpeas were formerly
+gathered by hand, but such a method is of course slow and expensive.
+Pickers are now commonly used.
+
+Some farmers use the cowpea crop only as a soil-enricher. Hence they
+neither gather the seeds nor cut the hay, but plow the whole crop into
+the soil. There is an average of about forty-seven pounds of nitrogen in
+each ton of cowpea vines. Most of this valuable nitrogen is drawn by the
+plants from the air. This amount of nitrogen is equal to that contained
+in 9500 pounds of stable manure. In addition each ton of cowpea vines
+contains ten pounds of phosphoric acid and twenty-nine pounds of potash.
+
+There is danger in plowing into the soil at one time any bountiful green
+crop like cowpeas. As already explained on page 10, a process
+called capillarity enables moisture to rise in the soil as plants need
+it. Now if a heavy cowpea crop or any other similar crop be at one
+plowing turned into the soil, the soil particles will be so separated as
+to destroy capillarity. Too much vegetation turned under at once may
+also, if the weather be warm, cause fermentation to set in and "sour the
+land." Both of these troubles may be avoided by cutting up the vines
+with a disk harrow or other implement before covering them.
+
+The custom of planting cowpeas between the rows at the last working of
+corn is a good one, and wherever the climate permits this custom should
+be followed.
+
+=Vetches.= The vetches have been rapidly growing in favor for some
+years. Stock eat vetch hay greedily, and this hay increases the flow of
+milk in dairy animals and helps to keep animals fat and sleek. Only two
+species of vetch are widely grown. These are the tare, or spring vetch,
+and the winter, or hairy, vetch. Spring vetch is grown in comparatively
+few sections of our country. It is, however, grown widely in England and
+northern continental Europe. What we say here will be confined to hairy
+vetch.
+
+After a soil has been supplied with the germs needed by this plant, the
+hairy vetch is productive on many different kinds of soil. The plant is
+most vigorous on fertile loams. By good tillage and proper fertilization
+it may be forced to grow rather bountifully on poor sandy and clay
+loams. Acid or wet soils are not suited to vetch. Lands that are too
+poor to produce clovers will frequently yield fair crops of vetch. If
+this is borne in mind, many poor soils may be wonderfully improved by
+growing on them this valuable legume.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 235. VETCH]
+
+Vetch needs a fine well-compacted seed-bed, but it is often sowed with
+good results on stubble lands and between cotton and corn rows, where it
+is covered by a cultivator or a weeder.
+
+The seeds of the vetch are costly and are brought chiefly from Germany,
+where this crop is much prized. The pods ripen so irregularly that they
+have to be picked by hand.
+
+In northern climates early spring sowing is found most satisfactory. In
+southern climates the seeding is best done in the late summer or early
+fall. As the vetch vines have a tendency to trail on the ground, it is
+wisest to plant with the vetch some crop like oats, barley, rye, or
+wheat. These plants will support the vetch and keep its vines from being
+injured by falling on the ground. Do not use rye with vetch in the
+South. It ripens too early to be of much assistance. If sowed with oats
+the seeding should be at the rate of about twenty or thirty pounds of
+vetch and about one and a half or two bushels of oats to the acre. Vetch
+is covered in the same way as wheat and rye.
+
+Few crops enrich soil more rapidly than vetch if the whole plant is
+turned in. It of course adds nitrogen to the soil and at the same time
+supplies the soil with a large amount of organic matter to decay and
+change to humus. As the crop grows during the winter, it makes an
+excellent cover to prevent washing. Many orchard-growers of the
+Northwest find vetch the best winter crop for the orchards as well as
+for the fields.
+
+=Soy, or Soja, Bean.= In China and Japan the soy bean is grown largely
+as food for man. In the United States it is used as a forage plant and
+as a soil-improver. It bids fair to become one of the most popular of
+the legumes. Like the cowpea, this bean is at home only in a warm
+climate. Some of the early-ripening varieties have, however, been
+planted with fair success in cold climates.
+
+While there are a large number of varieties of the soy bean, only about
+a dozen are commonly grown. They differ mainly in the color, size, and
+shape of the seeds, and in the time needed for ripening. Some of the
+varieties are more hairy than others.
+
+Soy beans may take many places in good crop-rotations, but they are
+unusually valuable in short rotations with small grains. The grains can
+be cut in time for the beans to follow them, and in turn the beans can
+be harvested in the early fall and make way for another grain crop.
+
+It should always be remembered that soy beans will not thrive unless the
+land on which they are to grow is already supplied, or is supplied at
+the time of sowing, with bean bacteria.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 236. CHINESE SOY BEANS]
+
+The plant will grow on many different kinds of soil, but it needs a
+richer soil than the cowpea does. As the crop can gather most of its own
+nitrogen, it generally requires only the addition of phosphoric acid and
+potash for its growth on poor land. When the first crop is seeded, apply
+to each acre four hundred pounds of a fertilizing mixture which contains
+about ten per cent of phosphoric acid, four per cent of potash, and from
+one to two per cent of nitrogen.
+
+If the crop is planted for hay or for grazing, mellow the ground well,
+and then broadcast or drill in closely about one and a half bushels of
+seed to each acre. Cover from one to two inches deep, but never allow a
+crust to form over the seed, for the plant cannot break through a crust
+well. When the beans are planted for seeds, a half bushel of seed to the
+acre is usually sufficient. The plants should stand in the rows from
+four to six inches apart, and the rows should be from thirty to forty
+inches from one another. Never plant until the sun has thoroughly warmed
+the land. The bean may be sowed, however, earlier than cowpeas. A most
+convenient time is just after corn is planted. The rows should be
+cultivated often enough to keep out weeds and grass and to keep a good
+dust mulch, but the cultivation must be shallow.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 237. SOY BEANS]
+
+As soy beans are grown for hay and also for seed, the harvesting will,
+as with the other legumes, be controlled by the purpose for which the
+crop was planted. In harvesting for a hay crop it is desirable to cut
+the beans after the pods are well formed but before they are fully
+grown. If the cutting is delayed until the pods are ripe, the fruit will
+shatter badly. There is a loss, too, in the food value of the stems if
+the cutting is late. The ordinary mowing-machine with a rake attached is
+generally the machine used for cutting the stalks. The leaves should be
+most carefully preserved, for they contain much nourishment for stock.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 238. SOY BEANS IN CORN]
+
+Whenever the beans are grown for seeds, harvesting should begin when
+three fourths of the leaves have fallen and most of the pods are ripe.
+Do not wait, however, until the pods are so dry that they have begun to
+split and drop their seeds. A slight amount of dampness on the plants
+aids the cutting. The threshing may be done with a flail, with
+pea-hullers, or with a grain-threshing machine.
+
+The beans produce more seed to the acre than cowpeas do. Forty bushels
+is a high yield. The average yield is between twenty and thirty bushels.
+
+                      DESCRIPTIVE TABLE
+
+                ADAPTATION AS
+Crop            FOOD FOR ANIMALS     LIFE            REMARKS
+
+Alfalfa         Hay                Perennial   All animals like it; hogs
+                                                eat it even when it is dry.
+Red clover      Hay and pasture    Perennial   Best of the clovers for hay.
+Alsike clover   Hay and pasture    Perennial   Seeds itself for twenty
+                                                years. This clover is a
+                                                great favorite with bees.
+Mammoth clover  Hay and pasture    Perennial   Best for green manure.
+White clover    Pasture            Perennial   Excellent for lawns and
+                                                bees.
+Japan clover    Pasture            Perennial   Excellent for forest and
+                                                old soils.
+Cowpea          Hay and grain      Annual      Used for hay, green
+                                                manure, and pastures.
+Soy bean        Hay and grain      Annual      Often put in silo with corn.
+Vetches         Hay and soiling    Annual      Pasture for sheep and
+                                                swine. With cereals
+                                                it makes excellent hay
+                                                and soiling-food.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+DOMESTIC ANIMALS
+
+
+The progress that a nation is making can with reasonable accuracy be
+measured by the kind of live stock it raises. The general rule is, poor
+stock, poor people. All the prosperous nations of the globe, especially
+the grain-growing nations, get a large share of their wealth from
+raising improved stock. The stock bred by these nations is now, however,
+very different from the stock raised by the same nations years ago. As
+soon as man began to progress in the art of agriculture he became
+dissatisfied with inferior stock. He therefore bent his energies to
+raise the standard of excellence in domestic animals.
+
+By slow stages of animal improvement the ugly, thin-flanked wild boar of
+early times has been transformed into the sleek Berkshire or the
+well-rounded Poland-China. In the same manner the wild sheep of the Old
+World have been developed into wool and mutton breeds of the finest
+excellence. By constant care, attention, and selection the thin,
+long-legged wild ox has been bred into the bounteous milk-producing
+Jerseys and Holsteins or into the Shorthorn mountains of flesh. From the
+small, bony, coarse, and shaggy horse of ancient times have descended
+the heavy Norman, or Percheron, draft horse and the fleet Arab courser.
+
+The matter of meat-production is one of vital importance to the human
+race, for animal food must always supply a large part of man's ration.
+
+Live stock of various kinds consume the coarser foods, like the grasses,
+hays, and grains, which man cannot use. As a result of this consumption
+they store in their bodies the exact substances required for building up
+the tissues of man's body.
+
+When the animal is used by man for food, one class of foods stored away
+in the animal's body produces muscle; another produces fat, heat, and
+energy. The food furnished by the slaughter of animals seems necessary
+to the full development of man. It is true that the flesh of an animal
+will not support human life so long as would the grain that the animal
+ate while growing, but it is also true that animal food does not require
+so much of man's force to digest it. Hence the use of meat forces a part
+of man's life-struggle on the lower animal.
+
+When men feed grain to stock, the animals receive in return power and
+food in their most available forms. Men strengthen the animal that they
+themselves may be strengthened. One of the great questions, then, for
+the stock-grower's consideration is how to make the least amount of food
+fed to animals produce the most power and flesh.
+
+
+SECTION LIII. HORSES
+
+While we have a great many kinds of horses in America, horses are not
+natives of this country. Just where wild horses were first tamed and
+used is not certainly known. It is believed that in early ages the horse
+was a much smaller animal than it now is, and that it gradually attained
+its present size. Where food was abundant and nutritious and the climate
+mild and healthful, the early horses developed large frames and heavy
+limbs and muscles; on the other hand, where food was scarce and the
+climate cold and bleak, the animals remained as dwarfed as the ponies of
+the Shetland Islands.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 239. THE FAMILY PET]
+
+One of the first records concerning the horse is found in Genesis xlix,
+17, where Jacob speaks of "an adder that biteth the horse heels."
+Pharaoh took "six hundred chosen chariots" and "with all the horses and
+chariots" pursued the Israelites. The Greeks at first drove the horse
+fastened to a rude chariot; later they rode on its back, learning to
+manage the animal with voice or switch and without either saddle or
+bridle. This thinking people soon invented the snaffle bit, and both
+rode and drove with its aid. The curb bit was a Roman invention. Shoeing
+was not practiced by either Greeks or Romans. Saddles and harnesses were
+at first made of skins and sometimes of cloth.
+
+Among the Tartars of middle and northern Asia and also among some other
+nations, mare's milk and the flesh of the horse are used for food. Old
+and otherwise worthless horses are regularly fattened for the meat
+markets of France and Germany. Various uses are made of the different
+parts of a horse's body. The mane and tail are used in the manufacture
+of mattresses, and also furnish a haircloth for upholstering; the skin
+is tanned into leather; the hoofs are used for glue, and the bones for
+making fertilizer.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 240. PERCHERON HORSE (A DRAFT TYPE)]
+
+Climate, food, and natural surroundings have all aided in producing
+changes in the horse's form, size, and appearance. The varying
+circumstances under which horses have been raised have given rise to the
+different breeds. In addition, the masters' needs had much to do in
+developing the type of horses wanted. Some masters desired work horses,
+and kept the heavy, muscular, stout-limbed animals; others desired
+riding and driving horses, so they saved for their use the light-limbed,
+angular horses that had endurance and mettle. The following table gives
+some of the different breeds and the places of their development:
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 241.
+Diagram shows the proper shape of the fore and hind legs of a horse.
+When the straight lines divide the legs equally, the leg action is
+straight and regular]
+
+  I. _Draft, or Heavy, Breeds_
+
+  1. Percheron, from the province of Perche, France.
+  2. French Draft, developed in France.
+  3. Belgian Draft, developed by Belgian farmers.
+  4. Clydesdale, the draft horse of Scotland.
+  5. Suffolk Punch, from the eastern part of England.
+  6. English Shire, also from the eastern part of England.
+
+  II. _Carriage, or Coach, Breeds_
+
+  1. Cleveland Bay, developed in England.
+  2. French Coach, the gentleman's horse of France.
+  3. German Coach, from Germany.
+  4. Oldenburg Coach, Oldenburg, Germany.
+  5. Hackney, the English high-stepper.
+
+  III. _Light, or Roadster, Breeds_
+
+  1. American Trotter, developed in America.
+  2. Thoroughbred, the English running horse.
+  3. American Saddle Horse, from Kentucky and Virginia.
+
+There is a marked difference in the form and type of these horses, and
+on this difference their usefulness depends.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 242. WIDE HOCK
+This horse stands great strains and is not fatigued easily]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 243. NARROW HOCK
+This horse becomes exhausted very easily]
+
+The draft breeds have short legs, and hence their bodies are
+comparatively close to the ground. The depth of the body should be about
+the same as the length of leg. All draft horses should have upright
+shoulders, so as to provide an easy support for the collar. The hock
+should be wide, so that the animal shall have great leverage of muscle
+for pulling. A horse having a narrow hock is not able to draw a heavy
+load and is easily exhausted and liable to curb-diseases (see Figs. 242
+and 243).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 244. THE ROADSTER TYPE]
+
+The legs of all kinds of horses should be straight; a line dropped from
+the point of the shoulder to the ground should divide the knees, canon,
+fetlock, and foot into two equal parts. When the animal is formed in
+this way the feet have room to be straight and square, with just the
+breadth of a hoof between them (Fig. 241).
+
+Roadsters are lighter in bone and less heavily muscled; their legs are
+longer than those of the draft horses and, as horsemen say, more
+"daylight" can be seen under the body. The neck is long and thin, but
+fits nicely into the shoulders. The shoulders are sloping and long and
+give the roadster ability to reach well out in his stride. The head is
+set gracefully on the neck and should be carried with ease and
+erectness.
+
+Every man who is to deal with horses ought to become, by observation and
+study, an expert judge of forms, qualities, types, defects, and
+excellences.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 245. SIDE VIEW OF LEGS
+The diagram shows how the straight lines ought to cross the legs of a
+properly shaped horse]
+
+The horse's foot makes an interesting study. The horny outside protects
+the foot from mud, ice, and stones. Inside the hoof are the bones and
+gristle that serve as cushions to diminish the shock received while
+walking or running on hard roads or streets. When shoeing the horse the
+frog should not be touched with the knife. It is very seldom that any
+cutting need be done. Many blacksmiths do not know this and often
+greatly injure the foot.
+
+Since the horse has but a small stomach, the food given should not be
+too bulky. In proportion to the horse's size, its grain ration should be
+larger than that of other animals. Draft horses and mules, however, can
+be fed a more bulky ration than other horses, because they have larger
+stomachs and consequently have more room to store food.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 246. HOW TO MEASURE A HORSE]
+
+The horse should be groomed every day. This keeps the pores of the skin
+open and the hair bright and glossy. When horses are working hard, the
+harness should be removed during the noon hour. During the cool seasons
+of the year, whenever a horse is wet with sweat, it should on stopping
+work, or when standing for awhile, be blanketed, for the animal is as
+liable as man to get cold in a draft or from moisture evaporating
+rapidly from its skin.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     If the pupil will take an ordinary tape measure, he can make some
+     measurements of the horse that will be very interesting as well as
+     profitable. Let him measure:
+
+     1. The height of the horse at the withers, 1 to 1.
+     2. The height of the horse at croup, 2 to 2.
+     3. Length of shoulder, 1 to 3.
+     4. Length of back, 4.
+     5. Length of head, 5.
+     6. Depth of body, 6 to 6.
+     7. Daylight under body, 7 to 7.
+     8. Distance from point of shoulder to quarter, 3 to 3.
+     9. Width of forehead.
+     10. Width between hips.
+
+     NOTE. Many interesting comparisons can be made (1) by
+     measuring several horses; (2) by studying the proportion between
+     parts of the same horse.
+
+     PROPORTIONS OF A HORSE
+
+     1. How many times longer is the body than the head? Do you get the
+     same result from different horses?
+
+     2. How does the height at the withers compare with the height at
+     the croup?
+
+     3. How do these compare with the distance from quarter to shoulder?
+
+     4. How does the length of the head compare with the thickness of
+     the body and with the open space, or "daylight," under the body?
+
+
+SECTION LIV. CATTLE
+
+All farm animals were once called _cattle_; now this term applies only
+to beef and dairy animals--neat cattle.
+
+Our improved breeds are descended from the wild ox of Europe and Asia,
+and have attained their size and usefulness by care, food, and
+selection. The uses of cattle are so familiar that we need scarcely
+mention them. Their flesh is a part of man's daily food; their milk,
+cream, butter, and cheese are on most tables; their hides go to make
+leather, and their hair for plaster; their hoofs are used for glue, and
+their bones for fertilizers, ornaments, buttons, and many other
+purposes.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 247. A PRIZE-WINNER]
+
+There are two main classes of cattle--beef breeds and dairy breeds. The
+principal breeds of each class are as follows:
+
+  I. _Beef Breeds_
+
+  1. Aberdeen-Angus, bred in Scotland, and often called _doddies_.
+  2. Galloway, from Scotland.
+  3. Shorthorn, an English breed of cattle.
+  4. Hereford, also an English breed.
+  5. Sussex, from the county of Sussex, England.
+
+  II. _Dairy Breeds_
+
+  1. Jersey, from the Isle of Jersey.
+  2. Guernsey, from the Isle of Guernsey.
+  3. Ayrshire, from Scotland.
+  4. Holstein-Frisian, from Holland and Denmark.
+  5. Brown Swiss, from Switzerland.
+
+Other breeds of cattle are Devon, Dutch Belted, Red-Polled, Kerry, and
+West Highland.
+
+In general structure there is a marked difference between the beef and
+dairy breeds. This is shown in Figs. 248, 249. The beef cow is square,
+full over the back and loins, and straight in the back. The hips are
+covered evenly with flesh, the legs full and thick, the under line, or
+stomach line, parallel to the back line, and the neck full and short.
+The eye should be bright, the face short, the bones of fine texture, and
+the skin soft and pliable.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 248. ABERDEEN-ANGUS COW (A BEEF TYPE)]
+
+The dairy cow is widely different from the beef cow. She shows a decided
+wedge shape when you look at her from front, side, or rear. The back
+line is crooked, the hip bones and tail bone are prominent, the thighs
+thin and poorly fleshed; there is no breadth to the back, as in the beef
+cow, and little flesh covers the shoulders; the neck is long and thin.
+
+The udder of the dairy cow is most important. It should be full but not
+fleshy, be well attached behind, and extend well forward. The larger the
+udder the more milk will be given.
+
+The skin of the dairy cow, like that of the beef breeds, should be soft
+and pliable and the bones fine-textured.
+
+=The Dairy Type.= Because of lack of flesh on the back, loins, and
+thighs, the cow of the dairy type is not profitably raised for beef, nor
+is the beef so good as that of the beef types. This is because in the
+dairy-animal food goes to produce milk rather than beef. In the same way
+the beef cow gives little milk, since her food goes rather to fat than
+to milk. For the same reasons that you do not expect a plow horse to win
+on the race track, you do not expect a cow of the beef type to win
+premiums as a milker.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 249. JERSEY COW (A DAIRY TYPE)]
+
+"Scrub" cattle are not profitable. They mature slowly and consequently
+consume much food before they are able to give any return for it. Even
+when fattened, the fat and lean portions are not evenly distributed,
+and "choice cuts" are few and small.
+
+By far the cheapest method of securing a healthy and profitable herd of
+dairy or beef cattle is to save only the calves whose sires are
+pure-bred animals and whose mothers are native cows. In this way farmers
+of even little means can soon build up an excellent herd.
+
+=Improving Cattle.= The fact that it is not possible for every farmer to
+possess pure-bred cattle is no reason why he should not improve the
+stock he has. He can do this by using pure-bred sires that possess the
+qualities most to be desired. Scrub stock can be quickly improved by the
+continuous use of good sires. It is never wise to use grade, or
+cross-bred, sires, since the best qualities are not fixed in them.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 250. HEAD OF A GALLOWAY COW]
+
+Moreover, it is possible for every farmer to determine exactly the
+producing-power of his dairy cows. When the cows are milked, the milk
+should be weighed and a record kept. If this be done, it will be found
+that some cows produce as much as five hundred, and some as much as ten
+hundred, gallons a year, while others produce not more than two or three
+hundred gallons. If a farmer kills or sells his poor cows and keeps his
+best ones, he will soon have a herd of only heavy milkers. Ask your
+father to try this plan. Read everything you can find about taking care
+of cows and improving them, and then start a herd of your own.
+
+=Conclusions.= (1) A cow with a tendency to get fat is not profitable
+for the dairy. (2) A thin, open, angular cow will make expensive beef.
+(3) "The sire is half the herd." This means that a good sire is
+necessary to improve a herd of cattle. The improvement from scrubs
+upward is as follows: the first generation is one-half pure; the second
+is three-fourths pure; the third is seven-eighths pure; the fourth is
+fifteen-sixteenths pure, etc. (4) By keeping a record of the quantity
+and quality of milk each cow gives you can tell which are profitable to
+raise from and which are not. (5) Good food, clean water, kindness, and
+care are necessary to successful cattle-raising.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 251. HOLSTEIN COW]
+
+The ownership of a well-bred animal usually arouses so much pride in the
+owner that the animal receives all the care that it merits. The watchful
+care given to such an animal leads to more thought of the other animals
+on the farm, and often brings about the upbuilding of an entire herd.
+
+
+SECTION LV. SHEEP
+
+The sheep was perhaps the first animal domesticated by man, and to-day
+the domesticated sheep is found wherever man lives. It is found
+domesticated or wild in almost every climate, and finds means to thrive
+where other animals can scarcely live; it provides man with meat and
+clothing, and is one of the most profitable and most easily cared-for of
+animals.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 252. A YOUNG SHEPHERD]
+
+Sheep increase so rapidly, mature at such an early age, and have flesh
+so wholesome for food that nearly every farm should have its flock.
+Another consideration that may be urged in favor of sheep-raising is
+that sheep improve the land on which they are pastured.
+
+Sheep are docile and easily handled, and they live on a greater
+diversity of food and require less grain than any other kind of live
+stock. In mixed farming there is enough food wasted on most farms to
+maintain a small flock of sheep.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 253. SHEEP HAVE LONG BEEN CALLED THE
+GOLDEN-HOOFED ANIMALS]
+
+Sheep may be divided into three classes:
+
+  I. _Fine-Wooled Breeds_
+
+    1. American Merino.
+    2. Delaine Merino.
+    3. Rambouillets.
+    4. Hampshire Down.
+    5. Oxford Down.
+    6. Cheviot.
+
+  II. _Medium-Wooled Breeds_
+
+    1. Southdown.
+    2. Shropshire.
+    3. Horned Dorset.
+
+  III. _Long-Wooled Breeds_
+
+    1. Leicester.
+    2. Lincoln.
+    3. Cotswold.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 254. IN THE PASTURE]
+
+The first group is grown principally for wool, and mutton is secondary;
+in the second group, mutton comes first and wool second; in the third
+group both are important considerations. Wool is nature's protection for
+the sheep. Have you ever opened the fleece and observed the clean skin
+in which the fibers grow? These fibers, or hairs, are so roughened that
+they push all dirt away from the skin toward the outside of the fleece.
+
+Wool is valuable in proportion to the length and evenness of the fiber
+and the density of the fleece.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     1. How many pounds ought a fleece of wool to weigh?
+     2. Which makes the better clothing, coarse or fine wool?
+     3. Why are sheep washed before being sheared?
+     4. Does cold weather trouble sheep? wet weather?
+
+
+
+SECTION LVI. SWINE
+
+The wild boar is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The wild hogs are
+the parents from which all our domestic breeds have sprung. In many
+parts of the world the wild boar is still found. These animals are
+active and powerful, and as they grow older are fierce and dangerous. In
+their wild state they seek moist, sandy, and well-wooded places, close
+to streams of water. Their favorite foods are fruits, grass, and roots,
+but when pressed by hunger they will eat snakes, worms, and even higher
+animals, like birds, fowls, and fish.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 255. WHICH WILL YOU RAISE?]
+
+Man captured some of these wild animals, fed them abundant and
+nutritious food, accustomed them to domestic life, selected the best of
+them to raise from, and in the course of generations developed our
+present breeds of hogs. The main changes brought about in hogs were
+these: the legs became shorter, the snout and neck likewise shortened,
+the shoulders and hams increased their power to take on flesh, and the
+frame was strengthened to carry the added burden of flesh. As the animal
+grew heavier it roamed less widely, and as it grew accustomed to man its
+temper became less fierce.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 256. A PAIR OF PORKERS]
+
+Meat can be more cheaply obtained from hogs than from any other animal.
+When a hog is properly fed and cared for it will make the farmer more
+money in proportion to cost than any other animal on the farm.
+
+The most profitable type of hog has short legs, small bones, straight
+back and under line, heavy hams, small well-dished head, and heavy
+shoulders. The scrub and "razorback" hogs are very unprofitable, and
+require an undue amount of food to produce a pound of gain. It requires
+two years to get the scrub to weigh what a well-bred pig will weigh
+when nine months old. Scrub hogs can be quickly changed in form and type
+by the use of a pure-bred sire.
+
+A boy whose parents were too poor to send him to college once decided to
+make his own money and get an education. He bought a sow and began to
+raise pigs. He earned the food for the mother and her pigs. His hogs
+increased so rapidly that he had to work hard to keep them in food. By
+saving the money he received from the sale of his hogs he had enough to
+keep him two years in college. Suppose you try his plan, and let the hog
+show you how fast it can make money.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 257. A GOOD TYPE]
+
+We have several breeds of swine. The important ones are:
+
+  I. _Large Breeds_
+
+    1. Chester White.
+    2. Improved Yorkshire.
+    3. Tamworth.
+
+  II. _Medium Breeds_
+
+    1. Berkshire.
+    2. Poland-China.
+    3. Duroc-Jersey.
+    4. Cheshire.
+
+  III. _Small Breeds_
+
+    1. Victoria.
+    2. Suffolk.
+    3. Essex.
+    4. Small Yorkshire.
+
+Hogs will be most successfully raised when kept as little as possible in
+pens. They like the fields and the pasture grass, the open air and the
+sunshine. Almost any kind of food can be given them. Unlike other stock,
+they will devour greedily and tirelessly the richest feeding-stuffs.
+
+The most desirable hog to raise is one that will produce a more or less
+even mixture of fat and lean. Where only corn is fed, the body becomes
+very fat and is not so desirable for food as when middlings, tankage,
+cowpeas, or soy beans are added as a part of the ration.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 258. DINNER IS OVER]
+
+When hogs are kept in pens, cleanliness is most important, for only by
+cleanliness can disease be avoided.
+
+
+SECTION LVII. FARM POULTRY
+
+Our geese, ducks, turkeys, and domestic hens are all descendants of wild
+fowls, and are more or less similar to them in appearance.
+
+The earliest recorded uses of fowls were for food, for fighting, and for
+sacrifice. To-day the domestic fowl has four well-defined
+uses--egg-production, meat-production, feather-production, and
+pest-destruction.
+
+[Illustration: STANDARD-BRED FOWLS
+Barred Plymouth Rocks, male and female; White Wyandottes, female and
+male]
+
+Hens of course produce most of our eggs. Some duck eggs are sold for
+table use. Goose and duck body-feathers bring good prices. As
+pest-destroyers turkeys and chickens are most useful. They eat large
+numbers of bugs and worms that are harmful to crops. A little proper
+attention would very largely increase the already handsome sum derived
+from our fowls. They need dry, warm, well-lighted, and tidily kept
+houses. They must have, if we want the best returns, an abundant supply
+of pure water and a variety of nutritious foods. In cold, rainy, or
+snowy weather they should have a sheltered yard, and in good weather
+should be allowed a range wide enough to give them exercise. Their
+bodies and their nests must be protected from every form of vermin.
+
+For eggs, the Leghorn varieties are popular. Some hens of this breed
+have been known to lay more than two hundred eggs in a year. Specially
+cared-for flocks have averaged eleven or even twelve dozen eggs a year.
+Farm flocks of ordinary breeds average less than eight dozen. Other
+excellent egg breeds are the Spanish, Andalusian, and Minorca.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 259. COCK]
+
+The principal so-called meat breeds are the Brahma, Cochin, and
+Langshan. These are very large, but rather slow-growing fowls, and are
+not noted as layers. They are far less popular in America, even as
+meat-producers, than the general-purpose breeds.
+
+The Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, and Orpington are the
+leading general-purpose breeds. They are favorites because they are at
+once good-sized, good layers, tame, and good mothers. The chicks of
+these breeds are hardy and thrifty. In addition to these breeds, there
+are many so-called fancy breeds that are prized for their looks rather
+than for their value. Among these are the Hamburg, Polish, Sultan,
+Silkie, and the many Bantam breeds.
+
+The leading duck breeds are the Pekin, Aylesbury, Indian Runner,
+Muscovy, Rouen, and Cayuga. The principal varieties of geese are the
+Toulouse, Emden, Chinese, and African.
+
+Among the best breeds of turkeys are the Bronze, White Holland,
+Narragansett, Bourbon, Slate, and Buff.
+
+Geese, ducks, and turkeys are not so generally raised as hens, but there
+is a constant demand at good prices for these fowls.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 260. BROODER]
+
+The varieties of the domestic hen are as follows:
+
+  I. _Egg Breeds_
+
+  1. Leghorn.
+  2. Minorca.
+  3. Spanish.
+  4. Blue Andalusian.
+  5. Anconas.
+
+  II. _Meat Breeds_
+
+  1. Brahma.
+  2. Cochin.
+  3. Langshan.
+  4. Dorking.
+  5. Cornish.
+
+  III. _General-Purpose Breeds_
+
+  1. Plymouth Rock.
+  2. Wyandotte.
+  3. Rhode Island Red.
+  4. Orpington.
+
+  IV. _Fancy Breeds_
+
+  1. Polish.
+  2. Game.
+  3. Sultan.
+  4. Bantam.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 261. BREEDING YARDS]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 262. INCUBATOR]
+
+As the price of both eggs and fowls is steadily advancing, a great many
+people are now raising fowls by means of an incubator for hatching, and
+a brooder as a substitute for the mother hen.
+
+The use of the incubator is extending each year and is now almost
+universal where any considerable number of chicks are to be hatched.
+Doubtless it will continue to be used wherever poultry-production is
+engaged in on a large scale.
+
+The brooder is employed to take care of the chickens as soon as they
+leave the incubator.
+
+
+SECTION LVIII. BEE CULTURE
+
+Stock-raisers select breeds that are best adapted to their needs.
+Plant-growers exercise great care in their choice of plants, selecting
+for each planting those best suited to the conditions under which they
+are to be grown. Undoubtedly a larger yield of honey could be had each
+year if similar care were exercised in the selection of the breed of
+bees.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 263. A CARNIOLAN WORKER]
+
+To prove this, one has only to compare the yield of two different kinds.
+The common East Indian honey bee rarely produces more than ten or twelve
+pounds to a hive, while the Cyprian bee, which is a most industrious
+worker, has a record of one thousand pounds in one season from a single
+colony. This bee, besides being industrious when honey material is
+plentiful, is also very persevering when such material is hard to find.
+The Cyprians have two other very desirable qualities. They stand the
+cold of winter well and stoutly defend their hives against robber bees
+and other enemies.
+
+The Italian is another good bee. This variety was brought into the
+United States in 1860. While the yield from the Italian is somewhat less
+than from the Cyprian, the Italian bees produce a whiter comb and are a
+trifle more easily managed.
+
+The common black or brown bee is found wild and domesticated throughout
+the country. When honey material is abundant, these bees equal the
+Italians in honey-production, but when the season is poor, they fall far
+short in the amount of honey produced.
+
+The purchase of a good Cyprian or Italian hive will richly repay the
+buyer. Such a colony will cost more at the outset than an ordinary
+colony, but will soon pay for its higher cost by greater production.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 264. A CARNIOLAN DRONE]
+
+A beehive in the spring contains one queen, several hundred drones, and
+from thirty-five to forty thousand workers. The duty of the queen is to
+lay all the eggs that are to hatch the future bees. This she does with
+untiring industry, often laying as many as four thousand in twenty-four
+hours.
+
+The worker bees do all the work. Some of them visit the flowers, take up
+the nectar into the honey-sac, located in their abdomens, and carry it
+to the hive. They also gather pollen in basketlike cavities in their
+hind legs. Pollen and nectar are needed to prepare food for the young
+bees. In the hive other workers create a breeze by buzzing with their
+wings and produce heat by their activity--all to cause the water to
+evaporate from the nectar and to convert it into honey before it is
+sealed up in the comb. After a successful day's gathering you may often
+hear these tireless workers buzzing till late into the night or even all
+through the night.
+
+You know that the bees get nectar from the flowers of various plants.
+Some of the chief honey plants are alfalfa, buckwheat, horsemint,
+sourwood, white sage, wild pennyroyal, black gum, holly, chestnut,
+magnolia, and the tulip tree. The yield of honey may often be increased
+by providing special pasturage for the bees. The linden tree, for
+example, besides being ornamental and valuable for timber, produces a
+most bee-inviting flower. Vetch, clover, and most of the legumes and
+mints are valuable plants to furnish pasture for bees. Catnip may be
+cultivated for the bees and sold as an herb as well.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 265. A CARNIOLAN QUEEN]
+
+In spraying fruit trees to prevent disease you should always avoid
+spraying when the trees are in bloom, since the poison of the spray
+seriously endangers the lives of bees.
+
+The eggs laid by the queen, if they are to produce workers, require
+about twenty-one days to bring forth the perfect bee. The newly hatched
+bee commences life as a nurse. When about ten days old it begins to try
+its wings in short flights, and a few days later it begins active work.
+The life of a worker bee in the busy season is only about six weeks. You
+may distinguish young exercising bees from real workers by the fact that
+they do not fly directly away on emerging from the hive, but circle
+around a bit in order to make sure that they can recognize home again,
+since they would receive no cordial welcome if they should attempt to
+enter another hive. They hesitate upon returning from even these short
+flights, to make sure that they are in front of their own door.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 266. GOOD FORM OF HIVE]
+
+There are several kinds of enemies of the bee which all beekeepers
+should know. One of these is the robber bee, that is, a bee from another
+colony attempting to steal honey from the rightful owners, an attempt
+often resulting in frightful slaughter. Much robbery can be avoided by
+clean handling; that is, by leaving no honey about to cultivate a taste
+for stolen sweets. The bee moth is another serious enemy. The larva of
+the moth feeds on the wax. Keep the colonies of bees strong so that they
+may be able to overcome this moth.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 267. ANTI-ROBBING ENTRANCE
+_st_, stationary piece; _s_, slide; _p_, pin, or stop]
+
+Queenless or otherwise weak colonies should be protected by a narrow
+entrance that admits only one bee at a time, for such a pass may be
+easily guarded. Fig. 267 shows a good anti-robbery entrance which may be
+readily provided for every weak colony. Mice may be kept out by
+tin-lined entrances. The widespread fear of the kingbird seems
+unfounded. He rarely eats anything but drones, and few of them. This is
+also true of the swallow. Toads, lizards, and spiders are, however, true
+enemies of the honeybee.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     Can you recognize drones, workers, and queens? Do bees usually
+     limit their visits to one kind of blossom on any one trip? What
+     effect has the kind of flower on the flavor of the honey produced?
+     What kinds of flowers should the beekeeper provide for his bees? Is
+     the kingbird really an enemy to the bee?
+
+
+SECTION LIX. WHY WE FEED ANIMALS
+
+In the first place, we give various kinds of feed stuffs to our animals
+that they may live. The heart beats all the time, the lungs contract and
+expand, digestion is taking place, the blood circulates through the
+body--something must supply force for these acts or the animal dies.
+This force is derived from food.
+
+In the next place, food is required to keep the body warm. Food in this
+respect is fuel, and acts in the same way that wood or coal does in the
+stove. Our bodies are warm all the time, and they are kept warm by the
+food we eat at mealtime.
+
+Then, in the third place, food is required to enable the body to
+enlarge--to grow. If you feed a colt just enough to keep it alive and
+warm, there will be no material present to enable it to grow; hence you
+must add enough food to form bone and flesh and muscle and hair and fat.
+
+In the fourth place, we feed to produce strength for work. An animal
+poorly fed cannot do so much work at the plow or on the road as one that
+receives all the food needed.
+
+Both food and the force produced by it result from the activity of
+plants. By means of sunlight and moisture a sprouting seed, taking out
+of the air and soil different elements, grows into a plant. Then, just
+as the plant feeds on the air and soil to get its growth, so the animal
+feeds on the plant, to get its growth. Hence, since our animals feed
+upon plants, we must find out what is in plants in order to know what
+animal food consists of.
+
+Plants contain protein, carbohydrates, fat, mineral matter, water, and
+vitamins. You have seen protein compounds like the white of an egg, lean
+meat, or the gluten of wheat. The bodies of plants do not contain very
+much protein. On the other hand, all plant seeds contain a good deal of
+this substance. Animals make use of protein to form new blood, muscles,
+and organs. Because of the quality of protein, milk is the best food for
+children and young animals.
+
+The protein in some foods is of poor quality. To insure a well-balanced
+supply of protein a variety in foods is desirable. Do not rely on a
+single kind of mill feed, but combine several kinds, such as cotton-seed
+meal, linseed meal, wheat bran and middlings, gluten, and similar grain
+by-products. Tankage for young pigs and meat scraps for chickens are
+high-grade proteins and are of animal origin.
+
+It is no less important to get the necessary vitamins--those mysterious
+substances that keep the body healthy and promote growth and well-being.
+Scientists claim that many diseases are food-deficiency diseases--the
+body gets out of order because these peculiar vitamins are lacking in
+the food. Children require about one or two quarts of milk a day, fresh
+fruits, cereal breakfast foods, leafy vegetables as salads, and cooked
+vegetables.
+
+Farm animals require the vitamins also. The legume pasture or hay, milk,
+grain concentrates when supplied in variety, pasture grass, and green
+forage crops are basic foods for farm animals. Very young animals should
+have milk also.
+
+Let us next consider the carbohydrates. Sometimes the words _starchy
+foods_ are used to describe the carbohydrates. You have long known
+forms of these in the white material of corn and of potatoes. The
+carbohydrates are formed of three elements--carbon, oxygen, and
+hydrogen. The use of these carbohydrates is to furnish to animal bodies
+either heat or energy or to enable them to store fat.
+
+In the next place, let us look at the fat in plant food. This consists
+of the oil stored up in the seeds and other parts of the plant. The
+grains contain most of the oil. Fat is used by the animal to make heat
+and energy or to be stored away in the body.
+
+The next animal food in the plant that we are to think about is the
+mineral matter. The ashes of a burnt plant furnish a common example of
+this mineral matter. The animal uses this material of the plant to make
+bone, teeth, and tissue.
+
+The last thing that the plant furnishes the animal is water--just common
+water. Young plants contain comparatively large quantities of water.
+This is one reason why they are soft, juicy, and palatable. But, since
+animals get their water chiefly in another way, the water in feed stuffs
+is not important.
+
+
+WHAT THESE COMPOUNDS DO IN THE BODY
+
+  _Protein_
+
+  1. Forms flesh, bone, blood, internal organs, hair, and milk.
+  2. May be used to make fat.
+  3. May be used for heat.
+  4. May be used to produce energy.
+
+  _Carbohydrates_
+
+  1. Furnish body heat.
+  2. Furnish energy.
+  3. Make fat.
+
+  _Fat_
+
+  1. Furnishes body heat.
+  2. Furnishes energy.
+  3. Furnishes body fat.
+
+  _Mineral Matter_
+
+  Furnishes mineral matter for the bones in the body.
+
+  _Water_
+
+  Supplies water in the body.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+FARM DAIRYING
+
+
+SECTION LX. THE DAIRY COW
+
+Success in dairy farming depends largely upon the proper feeding of
+stock. There are two questions that the dairy farmer should always ask
+himself: Am I feeding as cheaply as I can? and, Am I feeding the best
+rations for milk and butter production? Of course cows can be kept alive
+and in fairly good milk flow on many different kinds of food, but in
+feeding, as in everything else, there is an ideal to be sought.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 268. MILKING-TIME]
+
+What, then, is an ideal ration for a dairy cow? Before trying to answer
+this question the word _ration_ needs to be explained. By ration is
+meant a sufficient quantity of food to support properly an animal for
+one day. If the animal is to have a proper ration, we must bear in mind
+what the animal needs in order to be best nourished. To get material for
+muscle, for blood, for milk, and for some other things, the animal
+needs, in the first place, food that contains protein. To keep warm and
+fat, the animal must, in the second place, have food containing
+carbohydrates and fats. These foods must be mixed in right proportions.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 269. A DAIRY]
+
+With these facts in mind we are prepared for an answer to the question,
+What is an ideal ration?
+
+First, it is a ration that, without waste, furnishes both in weight and
+bulk of dry matter a sufficient amount of digestible, nutritious food.
+
+Second, it is a ration that is comparatively cheap.
+
+Third, it is a ration in which the milk-forming food (protein) is
+rightly proportioned to the heat-making and fat-making food
+(carbohydrates and fat). Any ration in which this proportion is
+neglected is badly balanced.
+
+Now test one or two commonly used rations by these rules. Would a ration
+of cotton-seed meal and cotton-seed hulls be a model ration? No. Such a
+ration, since the seeds are grown at home, would be cheap enough.
+However, it is badly balanced, for it is too rich in protein; hence it
+is a wasteful ration. Would a ration of corn meal and corn stover be a
+desirable ration? This, too, since the corn is home-grown, would be
+cheap for the farmer; but, like the other, it is badly balanced, for it
+contains too much carbohydrate food and is therefore a wasteful ration.
+
+A badly balanced ration does harm in two ways: first, the milk flow of
+the cow is lessened by such a ration; second, the cow does not
+profitably use the food that she eats.
+
+The following table gives an excellent dairy ration for the farmer who
+has a silo. If he does not have a silo, some other food can be used in
+place of the ensilage. The table also shows what each food contains. As
+you grow older, it will pay you to study such tables most carefully.
+
+
+  ===============================================================
+                              |      DIGESTIBLE MATTER
+                              |----------------------------------
+        FEED STUFFS          | Dry  |Protein|Carbohydrates| Fat
+                              |matter|       |             |
+  ---------------------------------------------------------------
+  Cowpea hay = 15 pounds[1]   | 13.50|  1.62 |        5.79 | .16
+  Corn stover = 10 pounds     |  5.95|   .17 |        3.24 | .07
+  Corn ensilage = 30 pounds   |  6.27|   .27 |        3.39 | .21
+  Cotton-seed meal = 2 pounds |  1.83|   .74 |         .33 | .24
+  ---------------------------------------------------------------
+  Total = 57 pounds           | 27.55|  2.80 |       12.75 | .68
+  ===============================================================
+
+[Footnote 1: Alfalfa or clover hay may take the place of cowpea hay.]
+
+=Care of the Cow.= As the cow is one of the best money-makers on the
+farm, she should, for this reason, if for no other, be comfortably
+housed, well fed and watered, and most kindly treated. In your thoughts
+for her well-being, bear the following directions in mind:
+
+1. If you are not following a balanced ration, feed each day several
+different kinds of food. In this way you will be least likely to waste
+food.
+
+2. Feed at regular hours. Cows, like people, thrive best when their
+lives are orderly.
+
+3. Milk at regular hours.
+
+4. Brush the udder carefully with a moist cloth before you begin to
+milk. Cleanliness in handling makes the milk keep longer.
+
+5. Always milk in buckets or cups that have been scalded since the last
+using. The hot water kills the bacteria that collect in the dents or
+cracks of the utensil.
+
+6. Never let the milk pail remain in the stable. Milk rapidly absorbs
+impurities. These spoil the flavor and cause the milk to sour.
+
+7. Never scold or strike the cow. She is a nervous animal, and rough
+usage checks the milk flow.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: THREE GENERATIONS OF HIGH-BRED COWS]
+
+
+SECTION LXI. MILK, CREAM, CHURNING, AND BUTTER
+
+=Milk.= Milk is, as you know, nature's first food for mammals. This is
+because milk is a model food--it contains water to slake thirst, ash to
+make bone, protein to make flesh and muscle, and fat and sugar to keep
+the body warm and to furnish energy.
+
+=The Different Kinds of Milk.= Whole, or unskimmed, milk, skimmed milk,
+and buttermilk are too familiar to need description. When a cow is just
+fresh, her milk is called _colostrum_. Colostrum is rich in the very
+food that the baby calf needs. After the calf is a few days old,
+colostrum changes to what is commonly known as milk.
+
+The following table shows the composition of each of the different forms
+of milk:
+
+  =======================================================
+                      |   DIGESTIBLE MATTER IN 100 POUNDS
+                      |----------------------------------
+  COMPOSITION OF MILK |  Dry |Protein|Carbohydrates| Fat
+                      |matter|       |             |
+  -------------------------------------------------------
+  Colostrum           | 25.4 |  17.6 |      2.7    | 3.6
+  Milk (unskimmed)    | 12.8 |   3.6 |      4.9    | 3.7
+  Skimmed milk        |  9.4 |   2.9 |      5.2    | 1.3
+  Buttermilk          |  9.9 |   3.9 |      4.0    | 1.1
+  =======================================================
+
+A noticeable fact in this table is that skimmed milk differs from
+unskimmed mainly in the withdrawal of the fat. Hence, if calves are fed
+on skimmed milk, they should have in addition some food like corn meal
+to take the place of the fat withdrawn. A calf cannot thrive on skimmed
+milk alone. The amount of nourishing fat that a calf gets out of enough
+milk to make a pound of butter can be bought, in the form of linseed or
+corn meal, for a very small amount, while the butter-fat costs, for
+table use, a much larger sum. Of course, then, it is not economical to
+allow calves to use unskimmed milk. Some people undervalue skimmed milk;
+with the addition of some fatty food it makes an excellent ration for
+calves, pigs, and fowls.
+
+Along with its dry matter, its protein, its carbohydrates, and its fats,
+milk and its products possess another most important property. This
+property is hard to describe, for its elements and its powers are not
+yet fully understood. We do, however, know certainly this much: milk and
+the foods made from it have power to promote health and favor growth in
+a more marked degree than any other foods. It is generally agreed that
+this is due to the health-promoting and health-preserving substances
+which are called vitamines. Men of science are working with much care to
+try to add to our knowledge of these vitamines, which have so marvelous
+an influence on the health of all animals. Unless food, no matter how
+good otherwise, contains these vitamines, it does not nourish the body
+nor preserve bodily health as it should. A complete lack of vitamines in
+our food would cause death. Since, then, milk and its products--butter,
+cheese, curds--are rich in vitamines, these health-giving and
+health-preserving foods should form a regular part of each person's
+diet.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 270. AIRING THE CANS]
+
+=Cream.= Cream is simply a mixture of butter-fat and milk. The
+butter-fat floats in the milk in little globe-shaped bodies, or
+globules. Since these globules are lighter than milk, they rise to the
+surface. Skimming the milk is a mere gathering together of these
+butter-fat globules. As most of the butter-fat is contained in the
+cream, pains should be taken to get all the cream from the milk at
+skimming time.
+
+After the cream has been collected, it must be allowed to "ripen" or to
+"sour" in order that it may be more easily churned. Churning is only a
+second step to collect in a compact shape the fat globules. It often
+happens that at churning-time the cream is too warm for successful
+separation of the globules. Whenever this is the case the cream must be
+cooled.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 271. A HAND SEPARATOR]
+
+=The Churn.= Revolving churns without inside fixtures are best. Hence,
+in buying, select a barrel or a square box churn. This kind of churn
+"brings the butter" by the falling of the cream from side to side as the
+churn is revolved. Never fill the churn more than one-third or one-half
+full of cream. A small churn is always to be avoided.
+
+=Churning.= The proper temperature for churning ranges from 58 deg. to 62 deg.
+Fahrenheit. Test the cream when it is put into the churn. If it be too
+cold, add warm water until the proper temperature is reached; if too
+warm, add cold water or ice until the temperature is brought down to
+62 deg.. Do not churn too long, for this spoils butter. As soon as the
+granules of butter are somewhat smaller than grains of wheat, stop the
+churn. Then draw off the buttermilk and at a temperature as low as 50 deg.
+wash the butter in the churn. This washing with cold water so hardens
+the granules that they do not mass too solidly and thus destroy the
+grain.
+
+=Butter.= The butter so churned is now ready to be salted. Use good fine
+dairy salt. Coarse barrel salt is not fit for butter. The salt can be
+added while the butter is still in the churn or after it is put upon the
+butter-worker. Never work by hand. The object of working is to get the
+salt evenly distributed and to drive out some of the brine. It is
+usually best to work butter twice. The two workings bring about a more
+even mixture of the salt with the butter and drive off more water. But
+one cannot be too particular not to overwork butter. Delicate coloring,
+attractive stamping with the dairy owner's special stamp, and proper
+covering with paper cost little and of course add to the ready and
+profitable sale of butter.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 272. A POWER CHURN]
+
+
+DAIRY RULES
+
+_Stable and Cows_
+
+1. Whitewash the stable once or twice each year; use land plaster, muck,
+or loam daily in the manure-gutters.
+
+2. On their way to pasture or milking-place, do not allow the cows to be
+driven at a faster gait than a comfortable walk.
+
+3. Give abundance of pure water.
+
+4. Do not change feed suddenly.
+
+5. Keep salt always within reach of each cow.
+
+_Milking_
+
+1. Milk with dry hands.
+
+2. Never allow the milk to touch the milker's hands.
+
+3. Require the milker to be clean in person and dress.
+
+4. Milk quietly, quickly, thoroughly. Never leave a drop of milk in the
+cow's udder.
+
+5. Do not allow cats, dogs, or other animals around at milking-time.
+
+_Utensils_
+
+1. Use only tin or metal cans and pails.
+
+2. See that all utensils are thoroughly clean and free from rust.
+
+3. Require all cans and pails to be scalded immediately after they are
+used.
+
+4. After milking, keep the utensils inverted in pure air, and sun them,
+if possible, until they are wanted for use.
+
+5. Always sterilize the churn with steam or boiling water before and
+after churning. This prevents any odors or bad flavors from affecting
+the butter. All cans, pails, and bottles should also be sterilized
+daily.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+SECTION LXII. HOW MILK SOURS
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 273. MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF PURE AND IMPURE MILK
+At the left, pure milk; at the right, milk after standing in a warm room
+for a few hours in a dirty dish, showing, besides the fat-globules, many
+forms of bacteria]
+
+On another page you have been told how the yeast plant grows in cider
+and causes it to sour, and how bacteria sometimes cause disease in
+animals and plants. Now you must learn what these same living forms have
+to do with the souring of milk, and maybe you will not forget how you
+can prevent your milk from souring. In the first place, milk sours
+because bacteria from the air fall into the milk, begin to grow, and
+very shortly change the sugar of the milk to an acid. When this acid
+becomes abundant, the milk begins to curdle. As you know, the bacteria
+are in air, in water, and in barn dust; they stick on bits of hay and
+stick to the cow. They are most plentiful, however, in milk that has
+soured; hence, if we pour a little sour milk into a pail of fresh milk,
+the fresh milk will sour very quickly, because we have, so to speak,
+"seeded" or "planted" the fresh milk with the souring germs. No one, of
+course, ever does this purposely in the dairy, yet people sometimes do
+what amounts to the same thing--that is, put fresh milk into poorly
+cleaned pails or pans, the cracks and corners of which are cozy homes
+for millions of germs left from the last sour milk contained in the
+vessel. It follows, then, that all utensils used in the dairy should be
+thoroughly scalded so as to kill all germs present, and particular care
+should be taken to clean the cracks and crevices, for in them the germs
+lurk.
+
+In addition to this thorough cleansing with hot water, we should be
+careful never to stir up the dust of the barn just before milking. Such
+dusty work as pitching hay or stover or arranging bedding should be done
+either after or long before milking-time, for more germs fall into the
+milk if the air be full of dust.
+
+To further avoid germs the milker should wear clean overalls, should
+have clean hands, and, above all, should never wet his hands with milk.
+This last habit, in addition to being filthy, lessens the keeping power
+of the milk. The milker should also moisten the parts of the cow which
+are nearest him, so that dust from the cow's sides may not fall into the
+milker's pail. For greater cleanliness and safety many milkmen curry
+their cows.
+
+The first few streams from each teat should be thrown away, because the
+teat at its mouth is filled with milk which, having been exposed to the
+air, is full of germs, and will do much toward souring the other milk in
+the pail. Barely a gill will be lost by throwing the first drawings
+away, and this of the poorest milk too. The increase in the keeping
+quality of the milk will much more than repay the small loss. If these
+precautions are taken, the milk will keep several hours or even several
+days longer than milk carelessly handled. By taking these steps to
+prevent germs from falling into the milk, a can of milk was once kept
+sweet for thirty-one days.
+
+The work of the germ in the dairy is not, however, confined to souring
+the milk. Certain kinds of germs give to the different sorts of cheeses
+their marked flavors and to butter its flavor. If the right germ is
+present, cheese or butter gets a proper flavor. Sometimes undesirable
+germs gain entrance and give flavors that we do not like. Such germs
+produce cheese or butter diseases. "Bitter butter" is one of these
+diseases. To keep out all unpleasant meddlers, thoroughly cleanse and
+scald every utensil.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     What causes milk to sour? Why do unclean utensils affect the milk?
+     How should milk be cared for to prevent its souring? Prepare two
+     samples, one carefully, the other carelessly. Place them side by
+     side. Which keeps longer? Why?
+
+
+SECTION LXIII. THE BABCOCK MILK-TESTER
+
+It is not sufficient for a farmer or a dairyman to know how much milk
+each of his cows yields. He should also know how rich the milk is in
+butter-fat. Wide-awake makers of butter and cheese now buy milk, not by
+the pound or by the gallon, but by the amount of butter-fat contained in
+each pound or gallon of milk. A gallon of milk containing four and a
+half per cent of fat will consequently be worth more than a gallon
+containing only three per cent of fat. So it may happen that a cow
+giving only two gallons of milk may pay a butter-maker more than a cow
+giving three gallons of milk. Of course it is easy to weigh or measure
+the quantity of milk given by a cow, and most milkers keep this record;
+but until recent years there was no way to find out the amount of fat in
+a cow's milk except by a slow and costly chemical test. Dairymen could
+only guess at the richness of milk.
+
+In 1890 Dr. S. M. Babcock of the Wisconsin Experiment Station invented a
+wonderful little machine that quickly and cheaply measures the fat in
+milk. Few machines are more useful. So desirous was Dr. Babcock of
+helping the farmers that he would not add to the cost of his machine by
+taking out a patent on his invention. His only reward has been the fame
+won by the invention of the machine, which bears his name. This most
+useful tester is now made in various sizes so that every handler of milk
+may buy one suited to his needs and do his own testing at very little
+cost.
+
+The operation of the machine is very simple. Suppose that the members of
+the class studying this book have been asked to take a Babcock machine
+and test the milk of a small herd of cows. They can readily do so by
+following these directions:
+
+While the milk is still warm from the first cow to be tested, mix it
+thoroughly by pouring it at least four times from one vessel to another.
+A few ounces of this mixed milk is then taken for a sample, and
+carefully marked with the name of the cow. A number is also put on the
+sample, and both the cow's name and the number entered in a notebook. A
+small glass instrument, called a pipette, comes with each machine. Put
+one end of the pipette into the milk sample and the other end into the
+mouth. Suck milk into the pipette until the milk comes up to the mark on
+the side of the pipette. As soon as the mark is reached, withdraw the
+pipette from the mouth and quickly press the forefinger on the mouth
+end. The pressure of the finger will keep the milk from running out.
+Then put the lower end of the pipette into one of the small long-necked
+bottles of the machine, and, lifting the finger, allow the milk to flow
+gently into the bottle. Expel all the milk by blowing through the
+pipette.
+
+The next step is to add a strong, biting acid known as sulphuric acid to
+the test-bottle into which you have just put the milk. A glass marked to
+show just how much acid to use also comes with the machine. Fill this
+glass measure to the mark. Then pour the acid carefully into the
+test-bottle. Be sure not to drop any of the acid on your hands or your
+clothes. As the acid is heavier than the milk, it will sink to the
+bottom of the bottle. With a gentle whirling motion, shake the bottle
+until the two fluids are thoroughly mixed. The mixture will turn a dark
+brown and become very warm.
+
+Now fill the other bottles in the same way with samples drawn from
+different cows. Treat all the samples precisely as you did the first. Do
+not forget to put on each sample the name of the cow giving the milk and
+on each test-bottle a number corresponding to the name of the cow.
+
+You are now ready to put the test-bottles in the sockets of the machine.
+Arrange the bottles in the sockets so that the whirling frame of the
+machine will be balanced. Fit the cover on the machine and turn the
+handle slowly. Gradually gain in speed until the machine is whirled
+rapidly. Continue the turning for about seven minutes at the speed
+stated in the book of directions.
+
+After this first turning is finished, pour enough hot water into each
+test-bottle to cause the fat to rise to the neck of the bottle. Re-cover
+the machine and turn for one minute. Again add hot water to each bottle
+until all the fat rises into the neck of the bottle and again turn one
+minute.
+
+There remains now only the reading of the record. On the neck of each
+bottle there are marks to measure the amount of fat. If the fat inside
+the tube reaches only from the lowest mark to the second mark, then
+there is only one per cent of fat in this cow's milk. This means that
+the owner of the cow gets only one pound of butter-fat from each
+hundred pounds of her milk. Such a cow would not be at all profitable to
+a butter-seller. If the fat in another test-bottle reaches from the
+lowest mark to the fourth mark, then you put in your record-book that
+this cow's milk contains four per cent of butter-fat. This record shows
+that the second cow's milk yields four pounds of fat to every hundred
+pounds of milk. This cow is three times more valuable to a butter-maker
+than the first cow. In the same way add one more per cent for each
+higher mark reached by the fat. Four and one-half per cent is a good
+record for a cow to make. Some cows yield as high as five or six per
+cent but they do not generally keep up this record all the year.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 274. BABCOCK TESTER AND HOW TO USE IT
+The tester, acid, acid measure, test-bottle, and thermometer at bottom;
+filling the pipette on right; adding the acid and measuring the fat at
+top]
+
+The Babcock tester shows only the amount of pure butter-fat in the milk.
+It does not tell the exact amount of finished butter which is made from
+100 pounds of milk. This is because butter contains a few other things
+in addition to pure butter-fat. Finished and salted butter weighs on an
+average about one sixth more than the fat shown by the tester. Hence to
+get the exact amount of butter in every 100 pounds of milk, you will
+have to add one sixth to the record shown by the tester. Suppose, for
+example, you took one sample from 600 pounds of milk and that your test
+showed 4 per cent of fat in every 100 pounds of milk. Then, as you had
+600 pounds of milk, you would have 24 pounds of butter-fat. This fat,
+after it has been salted and after it has absorbed moisture as butter
+does, will gain one sixth in weight. As one sixth of 24 is 4, this new 4
+pounds must be added to the weight of the butter-fat. Hence the 600
+pounds of milk would produce about 28 pounds of butter.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     1. Find the number of pounds of butter in 1200 pounds of milk that
+     tests 3 per cent of butter-fat.
+
+     2. A cow yields 4800 pounds of milk in a year. Her milk tests 4 per
+     cent of butter-fat. Find the total amount of butter-fat she yields.
+     Find also the total amount of butter.
+
+     3. The milk of two cows was tested: one yielded in a year 6000
+     pounds of milk that tested 3 per cent of fat; the other yielded
+     5000 pounds that tested 4 per cent. Which cow yielded the more
+     butter-fat? What was the money value of the butter produced by each
+     if butter-fat is worth twenty-five cents a pound?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+
+SECTION LXIV. GROWING FEED STUFFS ON THE FARM
+
+Economy in raising live stock demands the production of all "roughness"
+or roughage materials on the farm. By roughness, or roughage, of course
+you understand that bulky food, like hay, grass, clover, stover, etc.,
+is meant. It is possible to purchase all roughage materials and yet make
+a financial success of growing farm animals, but this certainly is not
+the surest way to succeed. Every farm should raise all its feed stuffs.
+In deciding what forage and grain crops to grow we should decide:
+
+  1. The crops best suited to our soil and climate.
+  2. The crops best suited to our line of business.
+  3. The crops that will give us the most protein.
+  4. The crops that produce the most.
+  5. The crops that will keep our soil in the best condition.
+
+1. _The crops best suited to our soil and climate._ Farm crops, as every
+child of the farm knows, are not equally adapted to all soils and
+climates. Cotton cannot be produced where the climate is cool and the
+seasons short. Timothy and blue grass are most productive on cool,
+limestone soils. Cowpeas demand warm, dry soils. But in spite of
+climatic limitations, Nature has been generous in the wide variety of
+forage she has given us.
+
+Our aim should be to make the best use of what we have, to improve by
+selection and care those kinds best adapted to our soil and climate, and
+to secure, by better methods of growing and curing, the greatest yields
+at the least possible cost.
+
+2. _The crops best suited to our line of business._ A farmer necessarily
+becomes more or less of a specialist; he gathers those kinds of live
+stock about him which he likes best and which he finds the most
+profitable. He should, on his farm, select for his main crops those that
+he can grow with the greatest pleasure and with the greatest profit.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 275. FILLING THE BARN WITH ROUGHAGE FROM THE FARM]
+
+The successful railroad manager determines by practical experience what
+distances his engines and crews ought to run in a day, what coal is most
+economical for his engines, what schedules best suit the needs of his
+road, what trains pay him best. These and a thousand and one other
+matters are settled by the special needs of his road.
+
+Ought the man who wants to make his farm pay be less prudent and less
+far-sighted? Should not his past failures and his past triumphs decide
+his future? If he be a dairy farmer, ought he not by practical tests to
+settle for himself not only what crops are most at home on his land but
+also what crops in his circumstances yield him the largest returns in
+milk and butter? If swine-raising be his business, how long ought he to
+guess what crop on his land yields him the greatest amount of hog food?
+Should a colt be fed on one kind of forage when the land that produced
+that forage would produce twice as much equally good forage of another
+kind? All these questions the prudent farmer should answer promptly and
+in the light of wise experiments.
+
+3. _The crops that will give us the most protein._ It is the farmer's
+business to grow all the grass and forage that his farm animals need. He
+ought never to be obliged to purchase a bale of forage. Moreover, he
+should grow mainly those crops that are rich in protein materials, for
+example, cowpeas, alfalfa, and clover. If such crops are produced on the
+farm, there will be little need of buying so much cotton-seed meal,
+corn, and bran for feeding purposes.
+
+4. _The crops that produce the most._ We often call a crop a crop
+without considering how much it yields. This is a mistake. We ought to
+grow, when we have choice of two crops, the one that is the best and the
+most productive on the farm. Average corn, for instance, yields on an
+acre at least twice the quantity of feeding-material that timothy does.
+
+5. _The crops that will keep our soil in the best condition._ A good
+farmer should always be thinking of how to improve his soil. He wants
+his land to support him and to maintain his children after he is dead.
+
+Since cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa add atmospheric nitrogen to the soil
+and at the same time are the best feeding-materials, it follows that
+these crops should hold an important place in every system of
+crop-rotation. By proper rotating, by proper terracing, and by proper
+drainage, land may be made to retain its fertility for generations.
+
+     EXERCISE
+
+     1. Why are cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa so important to the farmer?
+
+     2. What is meant by the protein of a food?
+
+     3. Why is it better to feed the farm crops to animals on the farm
+     rather than to sell these crops?
+
+
+SECTION LXV. FARM TOOLS AND MACHINES
+
+The drudgery of farm life is being lessened from year to year by the
+invention or improvement of farm tools and machines. Perhaps some of you
+know how tiresome was the old up-and-down churn dasher that has now
+generally given place to the "quick-coming" churns. The toothed,
+horse-drawn cultivator has nearly displaced "the man with the hoe,"
+while the scythe, slow and back-breaking, is everywhere getting out of
+the way of the mowing-machine and the horserake. The old heavy,
+sweat-drawing grain-cradle is slinking into the backwoods, and in its
+place we have the horse-drawn or steam-drawn harvester that cuts and
+binds the grain, and even threshes and measures it at one operation.
+Instead of the plowman's wearily making one furrow at a time, the
+gang-plows of the plains cut many furrows at one time, and instead of
+walking the plowman rides. The shredder and husker turns the hitherto
+useless cornstalk into food, and at the same time husks, or shucks, the
+corn.
+
+The farmer of the future must know three things well: first, what
+machines he can profitably use; second, how to manage these machines;
+third, how to care for these machines.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 276. PROPERLY PROTECTED TOOLS AND MACHINES]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 277. UNPROTECTED TOOLS AND MACHINES]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 278. THE HARVESTER AT WORK]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 279. IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT]
+
+The machinery that makes farming so much more economical and that makes
+the farmer's life so much easier and more comfortable is too complicated
+to be put into the hands of bunglers who will soon destroy it, and it is
+too costly to be left in the fields or under trees to rust and rot.
+
+If it is not convenient for every farmer to have a separate tool-house,
+he should at least set apart a room in his barn, or a shed for storing
+his tools and machines. As soon as a plow, harrow, cultivator--indeed
+any tool or machine--has finished its share of work for the season, it
+should receive whatever attention it needs to prevent rusting, and
+should be carefully housed.
+
+Such care, which is neither costly nor burdensome, will add many years
+to the life of a machine.
+
+
+SECTION LXVI. LIMING THE LAND
+
+Occasionally, when a cook puts too much vinegar in a salad, the dish
+becomes so sour that it is unfit to eat. The vinegar which the cook uses
+belongs to a large group of compounds known as acids. The acids are
+common in nature. They have the power not only of making salads sour but
+also of making land sour. Frequently land becomes so sour from acids
+forming in it that it will not bear its usual crops. The acids must then
+be removed or the land will become useless.
+
+The land may be soured in several ways. Whenever a large amount of
+vegetable matter decays in land, acids are formed, and at times sourness
+of the soil results. Often soils sour because they are not well drained
+or because, from lack of proper tillage, air cannot make its way into
+the soil. Sometimes all these causes may combine to produce sourness.
+Since most crops cannot thrive on very sour soil, the farmer must find
+some method of making his land sweet again.
+
+So far as we now know, liming the land is the cheapest and surest way of
+overcoming the sourness. In addition to sweetening the soil by
+overcoming the acids, lime aids the land in other ways: it quickens the
+growth of helpful bacteria; it loosens stiff, heavy clay soils and
+thereby fits them for easier tillage; it indirectly sets free the potash
+and phosphoric acid so much needed by plants; and it increases the
+capillarity of soils.
+
+However, too much must not be expected of lime. Often a farmer's yield
+is so increased after he has scattered lime over his fields that he
+thinks that lime alone will keep his land fertile. This belief explains
+the saying, "Lime enriches the father but beggars the son." The
+continued use of lime without other fertilization will indeed leave poor
+land for the son. Lime is just as necessary to plant growth as the
+potash and nitrogen and phosphoric acid about which we hear so much, but
+it cannot take the place of these plant foods. Its duty is to aid, not
+to displace them.
+
+We can tell by the taste when salads are too sour; it is more difficult
+to find out whether land is sour. There are, however, some methods that
+will help to determine the sourness of the soil.
+
+In the first place, if land is unusually sour, you can determine this
+fact by a simple test. Buy a pennyworth of blue litmus paper from a drug
+store. Mix some of the suspected soil with a little water and bury the
+litmus paper in the mixture. If the paper turns red the soil is sour.
+
+In the second place, the leguminous crops are fond of lime. Clover and
+vetch remove so much lime from the soil that they are often called lime
+plants. If clover and vetch refuse to grow on land on which they
+formerly flourished, it is generally, though not always, a sign that the
+land needs lime.
+
+In the third place, when water grasses and certain weeds spring up on
+land, that land is usually acid, and lime will be helpful. Moreover,
+fields adjoining land on which cranberries, raspberries, blackberries,
+or gallberries are growing wild, may always be suspected of more or less
+sourness.
+
+Four forms of lime are used on land. These, each called by different
+names, are as follows:
+
+First, quicklime, which is also called burnt lime, caustic lime,
+builders' lime, rock lime, and unslaked lime.
+
+Second, air-slaked lime, which is also known as carbonate of lime,
+agricultural lime, marl, and limestone.
+
+Third, water-slaked, or hydrated, lime.
+
+Fourth, land plaster, or gypsum. This form of lime is known to the
+chemists as sulphate of lime. Do not forget that this last form is never
+to be used on sour lands. We shall therefore not consider it further.
+
+Air-slaked lime is simply quicklime which has taken from the air a gas
+called carbon dioxide. This is the same gas that you breathe out from
+your lungs.
+
+Water-slaked lime is quicklime to which water has been added. In other
+words, both of these are merely weakened forms of quicklime. One hundred
+pounds of quicklime is equal in richness to 132 pounds of water-slaked
+lime and to 178 pounds of air-slaked lime. These figures should be
+remembered by a farmer when he is buying lime. If he can buy a fair
+grade of quicklime delivered at his railway station for $5.00 a ton, he
+cannot afford to pay more than $3.75 a ton for water-slaked lime, nor
+more than $2.75 for air-slaked lime of equal grade. Quicklime should
+always be slaked before it is applied to the soil.
+
+As a rule lime should be spread broadcast and then harrowed or disked
+thoroughly into the soil. This is best done after the ground has been
+plowed. For pastures or meadows air-slaked lime is used as a
+top-dressing. When air-slaked lime is used it may be spread broadcast in
+the spring; the other forms should be applied in the fall or in the
+early winter.
+
+
+SECTION LXVII. BIRDS
+
+What do birds do in the world? is an important question for us to think
+about. First, we must gain by observation and by personal acquaintance
+with the living birds a knowledge of their work and their way of doing
+it. In getting this knowledge, let us also consider what we can do for
+our birds to render their work as complete and effective as possible.
+
+Think of what the birds are doing on every farm, in every garden, and
+about every home in the land. Think of the millions of beautiful wings,
+of the graceful and attractive figures, of the cunning nests, and of the
+singing throats! Do you think that the whole service of the birds is to
+be beautiful, to sing charmingly, and to rear their little ones? By no
+means is this their chief service to man. Aside from these services the
+greatest work of birds is to destroy insects. It is one of the wise
+provisions of nature that many of the most brilliantly winged and most
+enchanting songsters are our most practical friends.
+
+Not all birds feed on insects and animals; but even those that eat but a
+small amount of insect food may still destroy insects that would have
+damaged fruit and crops much more than the birds themselves do.
+
+As to their food, birds are divided into three general classes. First,
+those that live wholly or almost wholly on insects. These are called
+insectivorous birds. Chief among these are the warblers, cuckoos,
+swallows, martins, flycatchers, nighthawks, whippoorwills, swifts, and
+humming-birds. We cannot have too many of these birds. They should be
+encouraged and protected. They should be supplied with shelter and
+water.
+
+Birds of the second class feed by preference on fruits, nuts, and grain.
+The bluebird, robin, wood thrush, mocking-bird, catbird, chickadee,
+cedar-bird, meadow lark, oriole, jay, crow, and woodpecker belong to
+this group. These birds never fail to perform a service for us by
+devouring many weed seeds.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 280. A KINGBIRD]
+
+The third class is known as the hard-billed birds. It includes those
+birds which live principally on seeds and grain--the canary, goldfinch,
+sparrow, and some others.
+
+Birds that come early, like the bluebird, robin, and redwing, are of
+special service in destroying insects before the insects lay their eggs
+for the season.
+
+The robins on the lawn search out the caterpillars and cutworms. The
+chipping sparrow and the wren in the shrubbery look out for all kinds of
+insects. They watch over the orchard and feed freely on the enemies of
+the apple and other fruit trees. The trunks of these trees are often
+attacked by borers, which gnaw holes in the bark and wood, and often
+cause the death of the trees. The woodpeckers hunt for these appetizing
+borers and by means of their barbed tongues bring them from their
+hiding-places. On the outside of the bark of the trunk and branches the
+bark lice work. These are devoured by the nuthatches, creepers, and
+chickadees.
+
+During the winter the bark is the hiding-place for hibernating insects,
+which, like plant lice, feed in summer on the leaves. Throughout the
+winter a single chickadee will destroy great numbers of the eggs of the
+cankerworm moth and of the plant louse. The blackbirds, meadow larks,
+crows, quail, and sparrows are the great protectors of the meadow and
+field crops. These birds feed on the army worms and cutworms that do so
+much injury to the young shoots; they also destroy the chinch bug and
+the grasshopper, both of which feed on cultivated plants.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 281. A WARBLER]
+
+A count of all the different kinds of animals shows that insects make up
+nine tenths of them. Hence it is easy to see that if something did not
+check their increase they would soon almost overrun the earth. Our
+forests and orchards furnish homes and breeding-places for most of these
+insects. Suppose the injurious insects were allowed to multiply
+unchecked in the forests, their numbers would so increase that they
+would invade our fields and create as much terror among the farmers as
+they did in Pharaoh's Egypt. The birds are the only direct friends man
+has to destroy these harmful insects. What benefactors, then, these
+little feathered neighbors are!
+
+It has been estimated that a bird will devour thirty insects daily. Even
+in a widely extended forest region a very few birds to the acre, if they
+kept up this rate, would daily destroy many bushels of insects that
+would play havoc with the neighboring orchards and fields.
+
+Do not imagine, however, that to destroy insects is the only use of
+birds. The day is far more delightful when the birds sing, and when we
+see them flit in and out, giving us a glimpse now and then of their
+pretty coats and quaint ways. By giving them a home we can surround
+ourselves with many birds, sweet of song and brilliant of plumage.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 282. THE HAIRY WOODPECKER]
+
+If the birds felt that man were a friend and not a foe, they would often
+turn to him for protection. During times of severe storm, extreme
+drought, or scarcity of food, if the birds were sufficiently tamed to
+come to man as their friend, as they do in rare cases now, a little food
+and shelter might tide them over the hard time and their service
+afterwards would repay the outlay a thousandfold. If the boys in your
+families would build bird-houses about the house and barn and in shade
+trees, they might save yearly a great number of birds. In building these
+places of shelter and comfort, due care must be taken to keep them
+clear of English sparrows and out of the reach of cats and bird-dogs.
+
+Whatever we do to attract the birds to make homes on the premises must
+be done at the right time and in the right way. Think out carefully what
+materials to provide for them. Bits of string, linen, cotton, yarn, tow
+and other waste material, all help to induce a pair to build in the
+garden.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 283. PROTECTING OUR FRIENDS]
+
+It is an interesting study--the preparation of homes for the birds.
+Trees may be pruned to make inviting crotches. A tangled, overgrown
+corner in the garden will invite some birds to nest.
+
+Wrens, bluebirds, chickadees, martins, and some other varieties are all
+glad to set up housekeeping in man-made houses. The proper size for a
+bird-room is easily remembered. Give each room six square inches of
+floor space and make it eight inches high. Old, weathered boards should
+be used; or, if paint is employed, a dull color to resemble an old
+tree-trunk will be most inviting. A single opening near the top should
+be made two inches in diameter for the larger birds; but if the house is
+to be headquarters for the wren, a one-inch opening is quite large
+enough, and the small door serves all the better to keep out English
+sparrows.
+
+The barn attic should be turned over to the swallows. Small holes may be
+cut high up in the gables and left open during the time that the
+swallows remain with us. They will more than pay for shelter by the good
+work they do in ridding the barn of flies, gnats, and mosquitoes.
+
+
+SECTION LXVIII. FARMING ON DRY LANDS
+
+Almost in the center of the western half of our continent there is a
+vast area in which very little rain falls. This section includes nearly
+three hundred million acres of land. It stretches from Canada on the
+north into Texas on the south, and from the Missouri River (including
+the Dakotas and western Minnesota) on the east to the Rocky Mountains on
+the west. In this great area farming has to be done with little water.
+This sort of farming is therefore called "dry-farming."
+
+The soil in this section is as a rule very fertile. Therefore the
+difference between farming in this dry belt and farming in most of the
+other sections of our country is a difference mainly due to a lack of
+moisture.
+
+As water is so scarce in this region two things are of the utmost
+importance: first, to save all the rain as it falls; second, to save all
+the water after it has fallen. To save the falling rain it is necessary
+for the ground to be in such a condition that none of the much-needed
+rain may run off. Every drop should go into the soil. Hence the farmer
+should never allow his top soil to harden into a crust. Such a crust
+will keep the rain from sinking into the thirsty soil. Moreover the soil
+should be deeply plowed. The deeper the soil the more water it can hold.
+The land should also be kept as porous as possible, for water enters a
+porous soil freely. The addition of humus in the form of vegetable
+manures will keep the soil in the porous condition needed. Second, after
+the water has entered the soil it is important to hold it there so that
+it may supply the growing crops. If the land is allowed to remain
+untilled after a rain or during a hot spell, the water in it will
+evaporate too rapidly and thus the soil, like a well, will go dry too
+soon. To prevent this the top soil should be stirred frequently with a
+disk or smoothing harrow. This stirring will form a mulch of dry soil on
+the surface, and this will hold the water. Other forms of mulch have
+been suggested, but the soil mulch is the only practical one. It must be
+borne in mind that this surface cultivation must be regularly kept up if
+the moisture is to be retained.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 284. THE DISK HARROW]
+
+Some experiments in wheat-growing have shown how readily water might be
+saved if plowing were done at the right time. Wheat sowed on land that
+was plowed as soon as the summer crops were taken off yielded a very
+much larger return than wheat sowed on land that remained untilled for
+some time after the summer crops were gathered. This difference in yield
+on lands of the same fertility was due to the fact that the early
+plowing enabled the land to take up a sufficient quantity of moisture.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 285. RED KAFIR CORN IN SHOCK]
+
+In addition to a vigilant catching and saving of water, the farmer in
+these dry climates must give his land the same careful attention that
+lands in other regions need. The seed-bed should be most carefully
+prepared. It should be deep, porous, and excellent in tilth. During the
+growing season all crops should be frequently cultivated. The harrow,
+the cultivator, and the plow should be kept busy. The soil should be
+kept abundantly supplied with humus.
+
+Some crops need a little different management in dry-farming. Corn, for
+example, does best when it is listed; that is, planted so that it will
+come up three or four inches beneath the surface. If planted in this
+way, it roots better, stands up better, and requires less work.
+
+Just as breeders study what animals are best for their climates, so
+farmers in the dry belt should study what crops are best suited to their
+lands. Some crops, like the sorghums and Kafir corn, are peculiarly at
+home in scantily watered lands. Others do not thrive. Experience is the
+only sure guide to the proper selection.
+
+To sum up, then, farmers can grow good crops in these lands only when
+four things are done: first, the land must be thoroughly tilled so that
+water can freely enter the soil; second, the land must be frequently
+cultivated so that the water will be kept in the soil; third, the crops
+must be properly rotated so as to use to best advantage the food and
+water supply; fourth, humus must be freely supplied so as to keep the
+soil in the best possible condition.
+
+
+SECTION LXIX. IRRIGATION
+
+Irrigation is the name given to the plan of supplying water in large
+quantities to growing crops. Since the dawn of history this practice has
+been more or less followed in Asia, in Africa, and in Europe. The
+Spanish settlers in the southwestern part of America were probably the
+first to introduce this custom into our country. In New Mexico there is
+an irrigating trench that has been in constant use for three hundred
+years.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 286. PUMPING WATER FOR IRRIGATION]
+
+The most common source of water for irrigating purposes is a river or a
+smaller stream. Artesian wells are used in some parts of the country.
+Windmills are sometimes used when only a small supply of water is
+needed. Engines, hydraulic rams, and water-wheels are also employed. The
+water-wheel is one of the oldest and one of the most useful methods of
+raising water from streams. There are thousands of these in use in the
+dry regions of the West. Small buckets are fastened to a large wheel,
+which is turned by the current of a stream. As the wheel turns, the
+buckets are filled, raised, and then emptied into a trough called a
+flume. The water flows through the flume into the irrigating ditches,
+which distribute it as it is needed in the fields. In some parts of
+California and other comparatively dry sections, wells are sunk in or
+near the beds of underground streams, and then the water is pumped into
+ditches which convey it to the fields to be irrigated.
+
+Engines are often used for pumping water from streams and transferring
+it to ditches or canals. The canals distribute the water over the land
+or over the growing crops.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 287. THE MAIN DITCH OF AN IRRIGATION PLANT]
+
+None of these methods, however, can be used for watering very large
+areas of land. Hence, as the value of farm lands increased other methods
+were sought. Shrewd men began to turn longing eyes on the wide stretches
+of barren land in the West. They knew that these waste lands, seemingly
+so unfertile, would become most fruitful as soon as water was turned on
+them. Could water enough be found? New plans to pen up floods of water
+were prepared, and immense sums were spent in carrying out these plans.
+Enormous dams of cemented stone were thrown across the gorges in the
+foothills of the mountains. Behind these solid dams the water from the
+rains and the melting snow of the mountains was backed for miles, and
+was at once ready to change barrenness into fruitfulness. The stored
+water is led by means of main canals and cross ditches wherever it is
+needed, and countless acres have been brought under cultivation.
+
+Water is generally applied either by making furrows for its passage
+through the fields or by flooding the land. The latter plan is the
+cheaper, but it can be used only on level lands. Where the land is
+somewhat irregular a checking system, as it is called, is used to
+distribute the water. It is taken from check to check until the entire
+field has been irrigated.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 288. THE PROCESS OF IRRIGATING CORN]
+
+The furrow method is usually employed for fruits and for farm and garden
+crops. In many places the grass and grain crops are now supplied with
+water by furrows instead of by flooding.
+
+Irrigated lands should be carefully and thoroughly tilled. The water for
+irrigation is costly, and should be made to go as far as possible. Good
+tillage saves the water. Moreover, all cultivated crops like corn,
+potatoes, and orchard and truck crops ought to be cultivated frequently
+to save the moisture, to keep the soil in fit condition, and to aid the
+bacteria in the soil. It was a wise farmer who said, "One does not need
+to grow crops many years in order to learn that nothing can take the
+place of stirring the soil."
+
+
+METHODS OF IRRIGATING CROPS
+
+_Tree fruits._ Water is conducted through very narrow furrows from three
+to five feet apart, and allowed to sink about four feet deep, and to
+spread under the ground. Then the supply is cut off. The object is to
+wet the soil deeply, and then by tillage to hold the moisture in the
+soil.
+
+_Small fruits._ The common practice is to run water on each side of the
+row until the rows are soaked.
+
+_Potatoes._ A thorough soaking is given the land before planting-time,
+and then no more than is absolutely necessary until blossoming-time.
+After the blossoms appear keep the soil moist until the crop ripens.
+
+_Garden crops._ Any method may be employed, but the vital point is to
+cultivate the ground as early as it can be worked after it has been
+irrigated.
+
+_Meadows and alfalfa._ Flooding is the most common method in use. The
+first irrigation comes early in the spring before growth has advanced
+much, and the successive waterings after the harvesting of each crop.
+
+
+SECTION LXX. LIFE IN THE COUNTRY
+
+As ours is a country in which the people rule, every boy and every girl
+ought to be trained to take a wide-awake interest in public affairs.
+This training cannot begin too early in life. A wise old man once said,
+"In a republic you ought to begin to train a child for good citizenship
+on the day of its birth."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 289. BEAUTY FROM FLOWERS AND GRASS]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 290. A COUNTRY ROAD IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
+NORTH CAROLINA]
+
+Happy would it be for our nation if all the young people who live in the
+country could begin their training in good citizenship by becoming
+workers for these four things:
+
+First, attractive country homes.
+
+Second, attractive country schoolhouses and school grounds.
+
+Third, good country schools.
+
+Fourth, good roads.
+
+If the thousands on thousands of pupils in our schools would become
+active workers for these things and continue their work through life,
+then, in less than half a century, life in the country would be an
+unending delight.
+
+One of the problems of our day is how to keep bright, thoughtful,
+sociable, ambitious boys and girls contented on the farm. Every step
+taken to make the country home more attractive, to make the school and
+its grounds more enjoyable, to make the way easy to the homes of
+neighbors, to school, to post-office, and to church, is a step taken
+toward keeping on the farm the very boys and girls who are most apt to
+succeed there.
+
+Not every man who lives in the country can have a showy or costly home,
+but as long as grass and flowers and vines and trees grow, any man who
+wishes can have an attractive house. Not every woman who is to spend a
+lifetime at the head of a rural home can have a luxuriously furnished
+home, but any woman who is willing to take a little trouble can have a
+cozy, tastefully furnished home--a home fitted with the conveniences
+that diminish household drudgery. Even in this day of cheap literature,
+all parents cannot fill their children's home with papers, magazines,
+and books, but by means of school and Sunday-school libraries, by means
+of circulating book clubs, and by a little self-denial, earnest parents
+can feed hungry minds just as they feed hungry bodies.
+
+[Illustration: THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS FOR THE HOME]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 291. AN ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY HOME]
+
+Agricultural papers that arouse the interest and quicken the thought of
+farm boys by discussing the best, easiest, and cheapest ways of farming;
+journals full of dainty suggestions for household adornment and comfort;
+illustrated papers and magazines that amuse and cheer every member of
+the family; books that rest tired bodies and open and strengthen growing
+minds--all of these are so cheap that the money reserved from the sale
+of one hog will keep a family fairly supplied for a year.
+
+[Illustration:  FIG. 292. AN UNIMPROVED SCHOOLHOUSE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 293. AN IMPROVED SCHOOLHOUSE]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 294. THE SAME ROAD AFTER AND BEFORE IMPROVEMENT]
+
+If the parents, teachers, and pupils of a school join hands, an
+unsightly, ill-furnished, ill-lighted, and ill-ventilated school-house
+can at small cost be changed into one of comfort and beauty. In many
+places pupils have persuaded their parents to form clubs to beautify the
+school grounds. Each father sends a man or a man with a plow once or
+twice a year to work a day on the grounds. Stumps are removed, trees
+trimmed, drains put in, grass sowed, flowers, shrubbery, vines, and
+trees planted, and the grounds tastefully laid off. Thus at scarcely
+noticeable money cost a rough and unsightly school ground gives place to
+a charming school yard. Cannot the pupils in every school in which this
+book is studied get their parents to form such a club, and make their
+school ground a silent teacher of neatness and beauty?
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 295. WASHINGTON'S COUNTRY HOME]
+
+Life in the country will never be as attractive as it ought to be until
+all the roads are improved. Winter-washed roads, penning young people
+in their own homes for many months each year and destroying so many of
+the innocent pleasures of youth, build towns and cities out of the wreck
+of country homes. Can young people who love their country and their
+country homes engage in a nobler crusade than a crusade for improved
+highways?
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+SPRAYING MIXTURES
+
+FOR BITING INSECTS
+
+DRY PARIS GREEN
+
+  Paris green          1 lb.
+  Lime or flour  4 to 16 lb.
+
+WET PARIS GREEN
+
+  Paris green  1/4 to   2 lb.
+  Lime         1/4 to 1/2 lb.
+  Water               50 gal.
+
+FOR SOFT-BODIED SUCKING INSECTS
+
+KEROSENE EMULSION
+
+  Hard soap (in fine shavings) 1/2 lb.
+  Soft water                    1 gal.
+  Kerosene                      2 gal.
+
+Dissolve soap in boiling water, add kerosene to the hot water, churn
+with spraying pump for at least ten minutes, until the mixture changes
+to a creamy, then to a soft, butterlike, mass. This gives three gallons
+of 66-per-cent oil emulsion, which may be diluted to the strength
+desired. To get 15-per-cent oil emulsion add ten and one-half gallons of
+water.
+
+FOR FUNGOUS DISEASES
+
+COPPER SULPHATE
+
+  Copper sulphate 1 lb.
+  Water   18 to 25 gal.
+
+Use only before foliage opens, to kill wintering spores.
+
+BORDEAUX MIXTURE
+
+  Copper sulphate (bluestone) 4 to 5 lb.
+  Lime (good, unslaked)       5 to 6 lb.
+  Water                          50 gal.
+
+Dissolve the copper sulphate (bluestone) in twenty-five gallons of
+water. Slake the lime slowly so as to get a smooth, thick cream. Never
+cover the lime with too much water. After thorough slaking add
+twenty-five gallons of water. When the lime and the bluestone have
+dissolved, pour the two liquids into a third vessel. Be sure that each
+stream mixes with the other before either enters the vessel. Strain
+through a coarse cloth.
+
+Mix fresh for each time. Use for molds and fungi generally. Apply in
+fine spray with a good nozzle.
+
+BORDEAUX-PARIS-GREEN MIXTURE
+
+  Ordinary Bordeaux mixture 50 gal.
+  Paris green        4 oz. to 2 lb.
+
+Use for both fungi and insects on apple, potato, etc.
+
+BORDEAUX-ARSENATE-OF-LEAD MIXTURE
+
+  Ordinary Bordeaux mixture  50 gal.
+  Arsenate of lead        2 to 3 lb.
+
+Used for fungous and insect enemies of the potato, and of the apple when
+bitter rot is troublesome.
+
+COMMERCIAL LIME-SULPHUR ARSENATE OF LEAD
+
+  Commercial lime-sulphur 1-1/2 gal.
+  Arsenate of lead        2 to 3 lb.
+  Water                      50 gal.
+
+Use for spraying apples.
+
+AMMONIACAL COPPER CARBONATE
+
+  Copper carbonate          5 oz.
+  Ammonia (26 deg. Baume) about 3 pt.
+  Water                   50 gal.
+
+Dissolve the copper carbonate in the smallest possible amount of
+ammonia. This solution may be kept in stock and diluted to the proper
+strength as needed.
+
+Use this instead of the Bordeaux mixture after the fruit has reached
+half or two thirds of the mature size. It leaves no spots as does the
+lime-sulphur wash or the Bordeaux mixture.
+
+
+SPRAYS FOR BOTH FUNGOUS AND INSECT PESTS
+
+HOME-MADE LIME-SULPHUR WASH
+
+  Lime     20 lb.
+  Sulphur  15 lb.
+  Water   50 gal.
+
+The lime, the sulphur, and about half of the water required are boiled
+together for forty-five minutes in a kettle over a fire, or in a barrel
+or other suitable tank by steam, strained, and then diluted to 50
+gallons. This is the wash regularly used against the San Jose scale. It
+may be substituted for Bordeaux mixture when spraying trees in the
+dormant state. Commercial lime-sulphur may also be used in place of this
+homemade wash. Use one gallon of the commercial lime-sulphur to nine
+gallons of water in the dormant season.
+
+
+SELF-BOILED LIME-SULPHUR WASH
+
+The self-boiled lime-sulphur wash is a combination of lime and sulphur
+boiled only by the heat of the slaking lime, and is used chiefly for
+summer spraying on peaches, plums, cherries, etc. as a substitute for
+the Bordeaux mixture.
+
+  Lime         8 lb.
+  Sulphur 6 to 8 lb.
+  Water      50 gal.
+
+The lime should be placed in a barrel and enough water poured on it to
+start it slaking and to keep the sulphur off the bottom of the barrel.
+The sulphur, which should first be worked through a sieve to break up
+the lumps, may then be added, and, finally, enough water to slake the
+lime into a paste. Considerable stirring is necessary to prevent caking
+on the bottom. After the violent boiling which accompanies the slaking
+of the lime is over, the mixture should be diluted ready for use, or at
+least enough cold water added to stop the cooking. From five to fifteen
+minutes are required for the process. If the hot mass is permitted to
+stand undiluted as a thick paste, a liquid is produced that is injurious
+to peach foliage and, in some cases, to apple foliage.
+
+The mixture should be strained through a sieve of twenty meshes to the
+inch in order to remove the coarse particles of lime, but all the
+sulphur should be worked through the strainer.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+
+To enable young readers to understand the technical words necessarily
+used in the text only popular definitions are given.
+
+
+=Abdomen=: the part of an insect lying behind the thorax.
+
+=Acid=: a chemical name given to many sour substances. Vinegar and lemon
+juice owe their sour taste to the acid in them.
+
+=Adult=: a person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength.
+
+=Ammonia= (_ammonium_): a compound of nitrogen readily usable as a plant
+food. It is one of the products of decay.
+
+=Annual=: a plant that bears seed during the first year of its existence
+and then dies.
+
+=Anther=: the part of a stamen that bears the pollen.
+
+=Atmospheric nitrogen=: nitrogen in the air. Great quantities of this
+valuable plant food are in the air; but, strange to say, most plants
+cannot use it directly from the air, but must take it in other forms, as
+nitrates, etc. The legumes are an exception, as they can use atmospheric
+nitrogen.
+
+=Available plant food=: food in such condition that plants can use it.
+
+
+=Bacteria=: a name applied to a number of kinds of very small living
+beings, some beneficial, some harmful, some disease-producing. They
+average about one twenty-thousandth of an inch in length.
+
+=Balanced ration=: a ration made up of the proper amounts of
+carbohydrates, fats, and protein, as explained in text. Such a ration
+avoids all waste of food.
+
+=Biennial=: a plant that produces seed during the second year of its
+existence and then dies.
+
+=Blight=: a diseased condition in plants in which the whole or a part of
+a plant withers or dries up.
+
+=Bluestone=: a chemical; copper sulphate. It is used to kill fungi,
+etc.
+
+=Bordeaux Mixture=: a mixture invented in Bordeaux, France, to destroy
+disease-producing fungi.
+
+=Bud= (noun): an undeveloped branch.
+
+=Bud= (verb): to insert a bud from the scion upon the stock to insure
+better fruit.
+
+=Bud variation=: occasionally one bud on a plant will produce a branch
+differing in some ways from the rest of the branches; this is bud
+variation. The shoot that is produced by bud variation is called a
+_sport_.
+
+
+=Calyx=: the outermost row of leaves in a flower.
+
+=Cambium=: the growing layer lying between the wood and the bark.
+
+=Canon=: the shank bone above the fetlock in the fore and hind legs of a
+horse.
+
+=Carbohydrates=: carbohydrates are foods free from nitrogen. They make
+up the largest part of all vegetables. Examples are sugar, starch, and
+cellulose.
+
+=Carbolic acid=: a chemical often used to kill or prevent the growth of
+germs, bacteria, fungi, etc.
+
+=Carbon=: a chemical element. Charcoal is nearly pure carbon.
+
+=Carbon disulphide=: a chemical used to kill insects.
+
+=Carbonic acid gas=: a gas consisting of carbon and oxygen. It is
+produced by breathing, and whenever carbon is burned. It is the source
+of the carbon in plants.
+
+=Cereal=: the name given to grasses that are raised for the food
+contained in their seeds, such as corn, wheat, rice.
+
+=Cobalt=: a poisonous chemical used to kill insects.
+
+=Cocoon=: the case made by an insect to contain its larva or pupa.
+
+=Commercial fertilizer=: an enriching plant food bought to improve soil.
+
+=Compact=: a soil is said to be compact when the particles are closely
+packed.
+
+=Concentrated=: when applied to food the word means that it contains
+much feeding value in small bulk.
+
+=Contagious=: a disease is said to be contagious when it can be spread
+or carried from one individual to another.
+
+=Cross=: the result of breeding two varieties of plant together.
+
+=Cross pollination=: the pollination of a flower by pollen brought from
+a flower on some other plant.
+
+=Croup=: the top of the hips.
+
+=Culture=: the art of preparing ground for seed and raising crops by
+tillage.
+
+=Curb disease=: a swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse
+just behind the lowest part of the hock joint. It generally causes
+lameness.
+
+=Curculio=: a kind of beetle or weevil.
+
+
+=Dendrolene=: a patented substance used for catching cankerworms.
+
+=Digestion=: the act by which food is prepared by the juices of the body
+to be used by the blood.
+
+=Dormant=: a word used to describe sleeping or resting bodies,--bodies
+not in a state of activity.
+
+=Drainage=: the process by which an excess of water is removed from the
+land by ditches, terraces, or tiles.
+
+
+=Element=: a substance that cannot be divided into simpler substances.
+
+=Ensilage=: green foods preserved in a silo.
+
+=Evaporate=: to pass off in vapor, as a fluid often does; to change from
+a solid or liquid state into vapor, usually by heat.
+
+=Exhaustion=: the state in which strength, power, and force have been
+lost. When applied to land, the word means that land has lost its power
+to produce well.
+
+
+=Fermentation=: a chemical change produced by bacteria, yeast, etc. A
+common example of fermentation is the change of cider into vinegar.
+
+=Fertility=: the state of being fruitful. Land is said to be fertile
+when it produces well.
+
+=Fertilization=: the act which follows pollination and enables a flower
+to produce seed.
+
+=Fetlock=: the long-haired cushion on the back side of a horse's leg
+just above the hoof.
+
+=Fiber=: any fine, slender thread or threadlike substance, as the
+rootlets of plants or the lint of cotton.
+
+=Filter=: to purify a liquid, as water, by causing it to pass through
+some substance, as paper, cloth, screens, etc.
+
+=Formalin=: a forty per cent solution of a chemical known as
+formaldehyde. Formalin is used to kill fungi, bacteria, etc.
+
+=Formula=: a recipe for the making of a compound; for example,
+fertilizer or spraying compounds.
+
+=Fungicide=: a substance used to kill or prevent the growth of fungi;
+for example, Bordeaux Mixture or copper sulphate.
+
+=Fungous=: belonging to or caused by fungi.
+
+=Fungus= (plural =fungi=): a low kind of plant life lacking in green
+color. Molds and toadstools are examples.
+
+
+=Germ=: that from which anything springs. The term is often applied to
+any very small organism or living thing, particularly if it causes great
+effects such as disease, fermentation, etc.
+
+=Germinate=: to sprout. A seed germinates when it begins to grow.
+
+=Girdle=: to make a cut or groove around a limb or tree.
+
+=Glacier=: an immense field or stream of ice formed in the region of
+constant snow and moving slowly down a slope or valley.
+
+=Globule=: a small particle of matter shaped like a globe.
+
+=Glucose=: a kind of sugar very common in plants. The sugar from grapes,
+honey, etc. is glucose. That from the sugar cane is not.
+
+=Gluten=: a vegetable form of protein found in cereals.
+
+=Graft=: to place a living branch or stem on another living stem so that
+it may grow there. It insures the growth of the desired kind of plant.
+
+=Granule=: a little grain.
+
+=Gypsum=: land plaster.
+
+
+"=Head back=": to cut or prune a tree so as to form its head, that is,
+the place where the main trunk first gives off its branches.
+
+=Heredity=: the resemblance of offspring to parent.
+
+=Hibernating=: to pass the winter in a torpid or inactive state in close
+quarters.
+
+=Hock=: the joint in the hind leg of quadrupeds between the leg and the
+shank. It corresponds to the ankle in man.
+
+=Host=: the plant upon which a fungus or insect is preying.
+
+=Humus=: the portion of the soil caused by the decay of animal or
+vegetable matter.
+
+=Hybrid=: the result of breeding two different kinds of plants together.
+
+=Hydrogen=: a chemical element. It is present in water and in all living
+things.
+
+
+=Individual=: a single person, plant, animal, or thing of any kind.
+
+=Inoculate=: to give a disease by inserting the germ that causes it in a
+healthy being.
+
+=Insectivorous=: anything that eats insects.
+
+
+=Kainit=: salts of potash used in making fertilizers.
+
+=Kernel=: a single seed or grain, as a kernel of corn.
+
+=Kerosene emulsion=: see Appendix.
+
+
+=Larva= (plural =larvae=): the young or immature form of an insect.
+
+=Larval=: belonging to larva.
+
+=Layer=: to propagate plants by a method similar to cutting, but
+differing from cutting in that the young plant takes root before it is
+separated from the parent plant.
+
+=Legume=: a plant belonging to the family of the pea, clover, and bean;
+that is, having a flower of similar structure.
+
+=Lichen=: a kind of flowerless plant that grows on stones, trees,
+boards, etc.
+
+=Loam=: an earthy mixture of clay and sand with organic matter.
+
+
+=Magnesia=: an earthy white substance somewhat similar to lime.
+
+=Magnify=: to make a thing larger in fact or in appearance; to enlarge
+the appearance of a thing so that the parts may be seen more easily.
+
+=Membrane=: a thin layer or fold of animal or vegetable matter.
+
+=Mildew=: a cobwebby growth of fungi on diseased or decaying things.
+
+=Mold=: see mildew.
+
+=Mulch=: a covering of straw, leaves, or like substances over the roots
+of plants to protect them from heat, drought, etc., and to preserve
+moisture.
+
+
+=Nectar=: a sweetish substance in blossoms of flowers from which bees
+make honey.
+
+=Nitrate=: a readily usable form of nitrogen. The most common nitrate is
+saltpeter.
+
+=Nitrogen=: a chemical element, one of the most important and most
+expensive plant foods. It exists in fertilizers, in ammonia, in
+nitrates, and in organic matter.
+
+=Nodule=: a little knot or bump.
+
+=Nutrient=: any substance which nourishes or promotes growth.
+
+
+=Organic matter=: substances made through the growth of plants or
+animals.
+
+=Ovary=: the particular part of the pistil that bears the immature
+seed.
+
+=Ovipositor=: the organ with which an insect deposits its eggs.
+
+=Oxygen=: a gas present in the air and necessary to breathing.
+
+
+=Particle=: any very small part of a body.
+
+=Perennial=: living through several years. All trees are perennial.
+
+=Petal=: a single leaf of the corolla.
+
+=Phosphoric acid=: an important plant food occurring in bones and rock
+phosphates.
+
+=Pistil=: the part of the blossom that contains the immature seeds.
+
+=Pollen=: the powdery substance borne by the stamen of the flower. It is
+necessary to seed production.
+
+=Pollination=: the act of carrying pollen from stamens to pistils. It is
+usually done by the wind or by insects.
+
+=Porosity=: the state of having small openings or passages between the
+particles of matter.
+
+=Potash=: an important part of plant foods. The chief source of potash
+is kainit, muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, wood ashes, and
+cotton-hull ashes.
+
+=Propagate=: to cause plants or animals to increase in number.
+
+=Protein=: the name of a group of substances containing nitrogen. It is
+one of the most important of feeding stuffs.
+
+=Pruning=: trimming or cutting parts that are not needed or that are
+injurious.
+
+=Pulverize=: to reduce to a dustlike state.
+
+=Pupa=: an insect in the stage of its life that comes just before the
+adult condition.
+
+=Purity= (of seed): seeds are pure when they contain only one kind of
+seed and no foreign matter.
+
+
+=Ration=: a fixed daily allowance of food for an animal.
+
+=Raupenleim=: a patented sticky substance used to catch the cankerworm.
+
+=Resistant=: a plant is resistant to disease when it can ward off
+attacks of the disease; for example, some varieties of the grape are
+resistant to the phylloxera.
+
+=Rotation= (of crops): a well-arranged succession of different crops on
+the same land.
+
+
+=Scion=: a shoot, sprout, or branch taken to graft or bud upon another
+plant.
+
+=Seed bed=: the layer of earth in which seeds are sown.
+
+=Seed selection=: the careful selection of seed from particular plants
+with the object of keeping or increasing some desirable quality.
+
+=Seedling=: a young plant just from the seed.
+
+=Sepal=: one of the leaves in the calyx.
+
+=Set=: a young plant for propagation.
+
+=Silo=: a house or pit for packing away green food for winter use so as
+to exclude air and moisture.
+
+=Sire=: father.
+
+=Smut=: a disease of plants, particularly of cereals, which causes the
+plant or some part of it to become a powdery mass.
+
+=Spike=: a lengthened flower cluster with stalkless flowers.
+
+=Spiracle=: an air opening in the body of an insect.
+
+=Spore=: a small body formed by a fungus to reproduce the fungus. It
+serves the same use as seeds do for flowering plants.
+
+=Spray=: to apply a liquid in the form of a very fine mist by the aid of
+a spraying pump for the purpose of killing fungi or insects.
+
+=Stamen=: the part of the flower that bears the pollen.
+
+=Stamina=: endurance.
+
+=Sterilize=: to destroy all the germs or spores in or on anything.
+Sterilizing is often done by heat or chemicals.
+
+=Stigma=: the part of the pistil that receives the pollen.
+
+=Stock=: the stem or main part of a tree or plant. In grafting or
+budding the scion is inserted upon the stock.
+
+=Stover=: as used in this book the word means the dry stalks of corn
+from which the ears have been removed.
+
+=Subsoil=: the soil under the topsoil.
+
+=Sulphur=: a yellowish chemical element; brimstone.
+
+
+=Taproot=: the main root of a plant, which runs directly down into the
+earth to a considerable depth without dividing.
+
+=Terrace=: a ridge of earth run on a level around a slope or hillside to
+keep the land from washing.
+
+=Thorax=: the middle part of the body of an insect. The thorax lies
+between the abdomen and the head.
+
+=Thermometer=: an instrument for measuring heat.
+
+=Tillage=: the act of preparing land for seed, and keeping the ground in
+a proper state for the growth of crops.
+
+=Transplant=: a plant grown in a bed with a view to being removed to
+other soil; a technical term used by gardeners.
+
+=Tubercle=: a small, wart-like growth on the roots of legumes.
+
+
+=Udder=: the milk vessel of a cow.
+
+=Utensil=: a vessel used for household purposes.
+
+
+=Variety=: a particular kind. For example, the Winesap, Bonum, AEsop,
+etc., are different varieties of apples.
+
+=Ventilate=: to open to the free passage of air.
+
+=Virgin soil=: a soil which has never been cultivated.
+
+=Vitality= (of seed): vitality is the ability to grow. Seed are of good
+vitality if a large per cent of them will sprout.
+
+
+=Weathering=: the action of moisture, air, frost, etc. upon rocks.
+
+=Weed=: a plant out of place. A wheat plant in a rose bed or a rose in
+the wheat field would be regarded as a weed, as would any plant growing
+in a place in which it is not wanted.
+
+=Wilt= (of cotton): a disease of cotton in which the whole plant droops
+or wilts.
+
+=Withers=: the ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base
+of the neck.
+
+
+=Yeast=: a preparation containing the yeast plant used to make bread
+rise, etc.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Acid phosphate, 23, 214, 225
+
+  Alfalfa, 28, 179, 187, 242, 244, 245, 246-248
+
+  Alfalfa root, 28
+
+  Animals, domestic, 261-292
+    why we feed, 290
+
+  Annual, 69, 112, 118, 260
+
+  Ant, 144, 150
+
+  Anther, 43
+
+  Apple, 42, 59, 76, 78, 83-85, 123
+    fire-blight of, 130
+
+  Apple-tree tent caterpillar, 161, 162
+
+  Arsenate of lead, 156, 157
+
+  Ashes, 207
+
+  Asparagus, 98
+
+
+  Babcock milk-tester, 304
+
+  Bacteria, 24, 127, 128, 129, 131, 133
+
+  Balanced ration, 294-295
+
+  Barley, 215-217
+
+  Beans, 95, 98
+
+  Bee, 286-290
+
+  Beehive, anti-robbing entrance of, 289
+
+  Beet, 95, 96
+    sugar-, 218-221
+
+  Beet sugar, 218
+
+  Beetle, 146, 148
+    cucumber, 102
+    potato, 170
+
+  Biennials, 70
+
+  Bird homes, 322
+
+  Birds, 318-323
+
+  Black knot, 140
+
+  Blackberry, 59
+
+  Blight, 106
+    eggplant, 103
+    pear and apple, 130
+    potato, 138, 209
+    tomato, 106
+
+  Bordeaux mixture, 127, 141, 142, 156, 209
+
+  Borer, peach, 163, 164
+
+  Breeding-cage, insect, 152
+
+  Buckwheat, 229-230
+
+  Bud variation, 58
+
+  Budding, 55, 81-82
+
+  Buds, 51, 59
+
+  Bug, 147
+
+  Bulbs, 109, 110, 111
+
+  Burbank, Luther, 80
+
+  Butter, 297, 300
+
+  Butterfly, 146, 148, 149
+
+
+  Cabbage, 93, 95, 96, 99
+
+  Cabbage worm, 165, 166
+
+  Caladium, 111
+
+  Cambium, 79, 131
+
+  Cankerworm, 159, 160
+
+  Canna, 116
+
+  Cantaloupes, 101
+
+  Cape jasmine, 110
+
+  Capillarity, 10
+
+  Carbohydrates, 291, 292, 295
+
+  Carbon, 39, 40, 291
+
+  Carbon disulphide, 169
+
+  Carbonic acid gas, 6, 317
+
+  Caterpillar, 147, 149, 161
+
+  Cattle, 270-275
+    beef type of, 272
+    dairy type of, 273
+    improving of, 274
+
+  Cauliflower, 91, 140
+
+  Celery, 100, 101
+
+  Cherries, 59, 81, 164
+
+  Chinch bug, 165, 167
+
+  Churn, the, 297, 299, 300
+
+  Churning, 299
+
+  Cleft grafting, 80
+
+  Clover, 187, 249-251
+
+  Club root, 140
+
+  Cocoon, 147, 148, 150, 151
+
+  Codling moth, 154, 156, 164
+
+  Cold-frame, 93-97, 101
+
+  Colostrum, 297
+
+  Consumption, germ of, 129
+
+  Corms, 111
+
+  Corn, 197-202
+    blossom of, 45
+    freezing of seed, 75
+    roots of, 27, 28
+    selection of seed, 66, 67, 68
+
+  Cotton, 180-188
+    resistant variety of, 132
+    Sea Island, 132, 182
+    short-stapled, 182
+
+  Cotton wilt, 142
+
+  Cotton-boll weevil, 173
+
+  Cotton-seed meal, 24, 225, 295
+
+  Cow
+    Aberdeen Angus, 272
+    Galloway, 274
+    Holstein, 275
+    Jersey, 273
+    care of, 296
+    the dairy, 293-296
+
+  Cowpeas, 251-254
+
+  Cream, 297, 298
+
+  Crop-rotation, 33-37
+
+  Crops, 178-237
+    rotation of, 20, 33, 189, 211, 217, 219, 228
+    value of, per acre, 179
+
+  Cross section, 26
+
+  Crosses, 49
+
+  Cross-pollination, 48
+
+  Cucumber, 73, 101
+
+  Cucumber beetle, 102
+
+  Curculio, plum, 156
+
+  Currant, 59
+
+  Cuttings, 52, 53, 54, 55, 109
+
+  Cyclamen, 115
+
+
+  Dahlia, 111, 112, 116
+
+  Dairy rules, 301
+
+  Dairying, 297-301
+
+  Dendrolene, 160
+
+  Diphtheria, germ of, 129
+
+  Diseases of plants, 122-143
+
+  Domestic animals, 261-292
+
+  Drainage, benefits of, 15
+
+  Dry farming, 323-326
+
+  Ducks, 282
+
+
+  Eggplants, 102, 103
+
+  Ensilage, 295
+
+
+  Farm crops, 178-237
+
+  Farm garden, 235-237
+
+  Farm tools, 313-315
+
+  Farming on dry lands, 323-330
+
+  Fats, 291, 292, 295
+
+  Feed stuffs, 238-260
+    digestible nutrients in, 290-292
+    growing, on the farm, 309-313
+
+  Feeding animals, 290
+    reasons for, 290, 292
+
+  Fertilization, 45
+
+  Fertilizers, 22-24
+
+  Field insects, 144-177
+
+  Figs, 51, 59
+
+  Fire-blight, 130
+
+  Flax, 226-229
+
+  Flea-beetle, 169, 172, 209
+
+  Floriculture, 89, 108
+
+  Flower, the, 42, 43
+
+  Flower box, 112
+
+  Flower gardening, 108-121
+
+  Fly, 146, 150
+
+  Formalin, 135, 136, 138
+
+  Fowls, 282-286
+
+  Fruit mold, 126, 142
+
+  Fruit rot, 122
+
+  Fruit tree, how to raise a, 76-87
+
+  Fultz, Abraham, 65
+
+  Fungi, 125, 126, 127
+
+
+  Garden, 235-237
+
+  Garden insects, 165-177
+
+  Gardening, market-, 89-90
+
+  Geese, 284
+
+  Geranium, 52, 54, 109, 110
+
+  Germs, 24, 127, 129, 131, 135;
+    _see also_ Bacteria
+
+  Girdler, 162
+
+  Girdling, 41
+
+  Glacier, 3, 4, 5
+
+  Gladiolus, 92, 111
+
+  Gooseberries, 59
+
+  Grafting, 55, 78-81
+    cleft, 80
+    root, 79
+    time for, 79
+    tongue, 79, 80
+
+  Grafting wax, 79
+
+  Grape, 51, 53, 58, 59
+
+  Grape cutting, 54
+
+  Grape phylloxera, 157, 158
+
+  Grape pollination, 52, 53
+
+  Grasses, 238-244
+
+  Grasshopper, 148, 151
+
+  Greenhouse, 91-94
+
+
+  Heading back, 83
+
+  Hemp, 226-229
+
+  Hens, 282-286
+
+  Heredity, 67
+
+  Hessian fly, 170
+
+  Homes, country, 330-337
+
+  Honey dew, 167
+
+  Horse, 262-270
+    diagrams by which to judge, 265-269
+    Percheron, 264
+    proportions of, 270
+    roadster, 267
+
+  Horticulture, 89-121
+
+  Host, 126
+
+  Hotbed, 91-97
+
+  How to raise a fruit tree, 76-87
+
+  Humus, 5, 20, 21, 22, 193, 207
+
+  Husker and shredder, 201
+
+  Hybrids, 49, 50, 51, 183
+
+
+  Insects, cage for breeding, 152
+    classes of, 146
+    eggs of, 150
+    eyes of, 145
+    field, 144, 165
+    garden, 144-177
+    general, 144
+    how they feed, 146, 147
+    orchard, 144
+    parts of, 145
+
+  Irish, or white, potato, 206-209
+    propagation of, 56, 57
+
+  Irrigation, 326-330
+    method of, 330
+
+
+  Kafir corn, 325, 326
+
+  Kainite, 214
+
+  Kerosene emulsion, 168
+
+
+  Land, improvement of, 17, 21, 31, 34, 244
+
+  Landscape-gardening, 89
+
+  Larva, 147, 148
+
+  Layering, 55, 57
+
+  Legumes, 31, 207, 244-260
+
+  Lettuce, 91, 93, 95
+
+  Life in the country, 330-337
+
+  Lime, 140
+
+  Lime-sulphur wash, 141, 142, 153, 154, 156
+
+  Liming land, 315-318
+
+  Louse, plant, 150, 151, 152, 167
+
+
+  Machines, farm, 313-315
+
+  Maize, 197
+
+  Manures, 20, 21-24
+
+  Maple sugar, 217
+
+  Market-gardening, 89, 90
+
+  Meadows, 240, 242
+
+  Melons, 101, 106
+
+  Mildew, 124
+    how to prevent, 126
+
+  Milk, 297
+    sours, how, 302
+
+  Milk-tester, Babcock, 304
+
+  Mineral matter, 291, 292
+
+  Moisture, 9
+
+  Mold, 123, 124, 125
+
+  Moonflower, 115
+
+  Morning-glory, 115
+
+  Moth, 148
+    codling, 154, 156, 164
+    mosquito, 150
+
+  Mulch, 12
+
+
+  Narcissus, 114
+
+  Nectar, 46, 47
+
+  Nitrate of soda, 24, 99, 211, 214
+
+  Nitrogen, 15, 23, 24, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 188, 246
+
+  Nitrogen-gathering crops, 15, 18, 244-260
+
+  Nodules, 36
+
+
+  Oats, 209-215
+
+  Oat smut, 134
+
+  Onion, 103, 104
+
+  Orchard insects, 143
+
+  Osmosis, 30
+
+  Ovary, 44
+
+  Ovipositor, 157
+
+
+  Paris green, 165, 209
+
+  Parsnips, 94
+
+  Pasture grasses, 238-244
+
+  Peach, 42, 59, 81, 84, 85, 87, 141, 142
+
+  Peach curl, 141, 143
+
+  Peach mold, 142
+
+  Peach mummies, 142
+
+  Peach tree, how made, 86-87
+
+  Peach-tree borer, 163, 164
+
+  Peanuts, 202-203
+
+  Pear, 44, 49, 59, 81, 130
+
+  Pear fire-blight, 130
+
+  Peas, 95, 104, 251-254
+
+  Perennials, 71, 112, 116, 118, 260
+
+  Petal, 43
+
+  Phosphoric acid, 23, 24, 186, 188, 196, 216, 244, 254
+
+  Phylloxera, 157, 158
+
+  Pipette, 305
+
+  Pistil, 43, 44
+
+  Plant, the, 25, 39
+
+  Plant disease, cause of, 122
+    nature of, 122
+    prevention of, 122, 129
+
+  Plant food, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24
+    from air, 39
+    from soil, 29
+    kinds of, 33
+
+  Plant louse, 150, 152, 167, 168
+
+  Plant seeding, 59, 109
+
+  Planting a tree, 76-87
+
+  Plant-propagation, 51-59
+    by buds, 51
+
+  Plants grown from seed, 109
+    from bulbs, 109
+
+  Plow, right way to, 11
+
+  Plum curculio, 156, 157
+
+  Plums, 43, 59, 81, 164
+
+  Pollen, 43, 47, 48
+
+  Pollination, 45-48
+    by hand, 49
+    cross-, 49, 50
+    grape, 52, 53
+
+  Potash, 23, 24, 186, 188, 196, 207, 216, 244, 246, 254
+
+  Potato, sweet, 204, 205
+    white, or Irish, 56, 57, 206-209
+
+  Potato beetle, 170, 209
+
+  Potato blight, 138, 209
+
+  Potato scab, 136, 205, 209
+
+  Potato seed, 56, 57
+
+  Poultry, 282-286
+
+  Prevention of plant diseases, 129, 130
+
+  Propagation of plants by buds, 58
+    by cuttings, 52
+
+  Protein, 212, 291, 294, 295, 297
+
+  Pruning, 83, 84-87
+    root, 85, 86
+
+  Pupa, 147, 150, 151
+
+  Purity of seed, 72-75
+
+  Pyrethrum powder, 165
+
+
+  Quince, 59
+
+
+  Radish, 95
+
+  Raspberry, 59
+
+  Ration, balanced, 294, 295
+
+  Ratoon, 225
+
+  Red raspberry, 59
+
+  Rice, 231-232
+
+  Roads, 332, 337
+
+  Root-hairs, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32
+
+  Root-pruning, 86
+
+  Roots, 25, 26, 27, 28
+
+  Root-tubercles, 30, 37
+
+  Rose, 109, 121, 124
+
+  Rot of fruit, 122
+
+  Rotation of crops, 8, 20, 21, 33-37, 189, 211, 217, 219, 258
+
+  Rye, 213-215
+
+
+  San Jose scale, 152, 153
+
+  Sap current, the, 40
+
+  Scab, 136, 209
+
+  Schoolhouses, 334
+
+  Scion, 79, 81, 82
+
+  Seed, 42
+
+  Seed purity, 72-75
+
+  Seed vitality, 72-75
+
+  Seed-germination, 74
+
+  Seed-germinator, 74
+
+  Seeding, 60, 114
+
+  Seed-selection, 56, 62, 64, 66
+    in the field, 56, 62, 68
+    of corn, 66
+    of cotton, 60, 61
+    of potatoes, 56, 57
+    of wheat, 64, 65
+
+  Seed-selection plat, 63, 64
+
+  Selection of seed. _See_ Seed-selection
+
+  Sepal, 43
+
+  Sheep, 276-279
+
+  Silo, 295
+
+  Smuts, 134, 135
+
+  Soil, 1
+    bacteria in, 24
+    deepening of, 8
+    definition of, 1
+    drainage of, 14
+
+  Soil, how formed, 2, 3
+    how water rises in, 13
+    improving, 17
+    manuring of, 21
+    moisture of, 9
+    origin of, 1
+    particles of, magnified, 10
+    and plant, 25
+    retention of water by, 12
+    tillage of, 6
+    virgin, 17, 18
+
+  Sowing seed, 94
+
+  Soy beans, 256-260
+
+  Spiders, red, 121
+
+  Spiracles, 145
+
+  Spores, 123, 124, 125, 130, 135
+    prevention of, 130
+
+  Spraying, 137, 138, 139, 155, 156, 157, 209
+
+  Spraying outfit, 138, 155, 168, 171
+
+  Squanto, 21
+
+  Squash, 45, 95
+
+  Squash bug, 168
+
+  Stamen, 43-48
+
+  Starch, 40
+
+  Starchy food, 291
+
+  Stigma, 44-45
+
+  Stock, 79, 82
+
+  Strawberry, 45, 55, 59, 90
+
+  Style, 43
+
+  Subsoil, 1
+
+  Subsoiling, 10
+
+  Sugar, 40
+
+  Sugar plants, 217
+
+  Sugar-beet, 218-221
+
+  Sugar-cane, 221
+
+  Sugar-maple, 217
+
+  Sulphate of ammonia, 211
+
+  Sun-scald, 84
+
+  Sweet pea, 114, 115
+
+  Sweet potato, 56, 57, 111, 204-205
+
+  Swine, 279-282
+
+
+  Tent caterpillar, 162
+
+  Tile drain, 15, 16
+    benefits of, 14
+
+  Tillage, 6-9, 19, 28, 200
+
+  Timber, 232-235
+    enemies of, 233
+
+  Tobacco, 189-192
+
+  Tobacco worm, 170, 172
+
+  Tomato, 40, 105
+
+  Tongue grafting, 79, 80
+
+  Tools, 313
+
+  Topping tobacco, 191
+
+  Trap plant, 168
+
+  Tree, manuring of, 26
+
+  Truck crops, 98-107
+
+  Tubercle, 30, 32
+
+  Tull, Jethro, 6
+
+  Turkeys, 282
+
+  Turnip, 95
+
+  Twig girdler, 162
+
+  Typhoid fever, germ of, 129
+
+
+  Vetches, 255-257
+
+  Vitality of seed, 72-75
+
+  Vitamines, 298
+
+
+  Wasp, 146
+
+  Water, 10
+    absorption of, by plants, 10
+    retention of, by soil, 9
+    rise of, in soil, 13
+    saved by plants, 10
+    saved by soils, 12
+
+  Watermelons, 106
+
+  Wax, 79
+
+  Weathering, 4, 7
+
+  Weeds, 69, 74
+    annual, 69
+    biennial, 70
+    perennial, 71
+
+  Weevil, 169
+    cotton-boll, 173-177
+    plum, 156
+
+  Wheat, 192-197
+    selection of seed, 63
+    yield of, 64
+
+  Why feed animals, 290
+
+  Wilt
+    cotton, 142
+    watermelon, 107
+
+  Window box, 118
+
+  Window-garden, 119-121
+
+  Window-gardening, 119
+
+  Worn-out land, reclaiming of, 19, 244
+
+
+  Yeast, 127, 128
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Agriculture for Beginners, by
+Charles William Burkett and Frank Lincoln Stevens and Daniel Harvey Hill
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