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Class _5'sl0„/_-. 
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Copyright N"_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The School and Farm. 



A TREATISE ON 



THE ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



BY 



CHARLES A. EGGERT, Ph. D. 

Formerly Professor in the University of Iowa. 
WITH INTRODUCTION BY 



JAS. ATKINSON 

Editor of Iowa Homestead 



ADOPTED BY THE 



IOWA STATE READING CIRCLE BOARD 

With a view to establishing a closer social relation between 
the School, Farm and Home. 



ADOPTED BY 

ILLINOIS PUPILS READING CIRCLE BOARD 



READING CIRCLE EDITION. 



W. M. WELCH & COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



LiBBARYofaONGRESS 
Two Cooies Received 
MAh 8 190/ 
A Copyrteht Entry 

rcUsS /\ XXCmNo. 



CoDvright. I0O2, bv 
W. M. VVELCri&COWfAN. 



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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



The author has based his book largely on his personal 
experience in the management of a small farm for more 
than twenty years, though he has repeatedly owned and 
managed a larger farm. But he is under special obliga- 
tions, which he gratefully acknowledges, to the labors of 
many distinguished specialists, . At an early age he stud- 
ied, in Germany, ThaeIr's Princifle!s of Agriculture^ 
one of the fundamental w^orks on the subject;, a little 
later he was initiated into the investigations of Justus 
Von Liebig, incorporated in his Letters on Modern 
Agriculture and his Animal Chemistry. The botan- 
ist Schleiden, the physiologist James Moleschott,, and 
other distinguished scientists were his teachers at about 
the same time. He followed up studies of this nature in 
England, where Mechi and Johnson_, in France, where 
Boussingault carried on work similar to that of Thaer 
and Liebig. Since then many distinguished writers have 
popularized and expanded the work of their great prede- 
cessors. In this country, Orange Judd has been very 
active and very successful in agricultural and horticul- 
tural journalism. His successors in the American Agri- 
culturist and Prairie Farmer have continued his work 
with eminent success, while many other periodicals, in 
this country and abroad, have rivaled these in useful and 
efficient work, the Rural New Yorker in the East, the 
lowA Homestead and the Irrigation Age in the West 
being specially noticeable among them. Among promi- 



ACltNOWI.EDGMEN'rS. 

nent works on the subject the following may be men- 
tioned : Terry's Our Farming , Morton's Nature and 
Property of Soils, Bailey's Principles of Agricul- 
ture. King's The Soil, Its Nature and Management, 
Henry's Feeds and Feeding, Wiley's Principles and 
Practice of Agricultural Analysis. To these and 
others the author is indebted for valuable information, 
and in addition to these, to many excellent articles, lec- 
tures, etc., contained in the agricultural reports of differ- 
ent states. Special acknowledgments are due to the ad- 
mirable Yearbook published by the Department of Agri- 
culture under the enlightened and competent direction of 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Honorable James 
Wilson, whom the author has had the pleasure and the 
honor of knowing personally during his long connection 
with the University of Iowa. 

For many of the illustrations grateful acknowledgment 
is here made to the able author of Judging Live Stock, 
Prof. John A. Craig; also to several periodicals, to the 
Curtis Publishing Company, to Messrs. A. Flanagan 
& Co., Chicago, and especially to the distinguished editor 
of the Yearbook. 



PREFACE. 



Ex-Governor W. D. Hoard said not very 
long ago: ^'I know of nothing in the curri- 
culum of the average country school that 
tends in any matter whatever to encourage a 
farmer's boy to be a farmer. On the contrary, 
very much that is taught therein rather leads 
him to believe that there is not sufficient scope 
for his intellect and ambition in agriculture.'' 

This remark is so pertinent that it has been 
frequently quoted in Farmers' Institutes. It 
has never been contradicted. 

It is in order to meet the want pointed out 
in the remark that the present little volume 
has been written. 

The author does not flatter himself to have 
done the impossible, but he ventures to hope 
that a careful perusal of his book will have a 
perceptible influence in modifying the low 
opinion of many farmers' boys of the value 
and dignity of their fathers' profession. 

The book will also answer the purpose of 
the general reader who is interested in the 
principal industry of the country, and as a 



PREFACE. 

work of ready reference on the various topics 
of which it treats. To this end it has been 
provided with a full index. 

While success in farming, as in every other 
pursuit, depends in the first place on such 
practical work as no book can properly teach, 
the stimulus of thought and information, found 
in appropriate reading and study, will help 
success by increasing the mental power of the 
reader. The importance of the connection of 
agriculture with science should be understood, 
and likewise the relation of the farming in- 
dustry to the other industries of the nation. 
The farmer, while his work is the most im- 
portant, is not the only worker; he is the most 
important member of human society, but not 
the whole society. Attention has been called 
to these matters in special chapters. 

While the author knows perfectly well that 
on any of the topics he has presented a great 
deal more might be said than the compass of 
this work permits, he hopes that his book may 
help, not only to diffuse useful knowledge, 
but to contribute its share in the education of 
the rising generation to a noble type of intel- 
ligent citizenship. 



mTRODUCTION. 

IN excl^aqge for the benefits conferred by civilized 
society and a stable government, tl^e average nnan 

must work. To shun labor is therefore to go 
back to the blanket stage, and the educational system 
that does not fit botl^ mind and body for sonqe speci- 
fic duty in life must step down and out. 

But a distir\ctior[ nqust be made between work 
and drudgery. If all are obliged to labor, then clearly 
the joy of living must be found In one's daily duties. 
Drudgery is synonymous with Ignorance. In early 
times when soils were ricl^, Implenqents crude, and 
keen competition unkr\own, there was necessarily n^uch 
drudgery connected with farm life. Muscle ruled in 
those days. Th[ere was but little draft upon gray 
matter. Conditions have undergoqe radical changes, 
however. Soils l^ave becon^e more or less impover- 
ished, competition has arisen In every line of produc- 
tion, irjsect enemies that prey upon crops have ir|- 
creased, as well as fungous diseases, — all of wl^ich but 
sigrjifies tl^at successful agriculture requires i\\e higl^- 
est type of ability. Success uqder present conditior\s 
Implies aq Intimate knowledge of soils, plants, aqi- 
mals, Iqsects aqd diseases of aninqals and plants. A 
mind stored with a knowledge of these essentials is 
fortified against disaster. One may call it science 



or wf\atever l^e chooses, but this thing is certain that 
the producer who will combine a knowledge of tl^ese 
things with a fair amount of industry is bound to suc- 
ceed. In no profession can the outcome be calcu- 
lated with such mathematical .accuracy. 

Tl^is little volume has been prepared with two ob- 
jects in mind. In tF\e first place it is the belief of the 
author that mucF\ may be done by way of checking 
the migration of our young people from the farnq to 
the populated centers, by impartir[g to them more 
accurate inforrrjation concerning the every day affairs 
of home surroundings. Such ir\forn^ation, ir^turn, will 
tend to convince them that successful farming requires 
just as brill iar|ttaler\ts as does any profession or busi- 
ness, and also that energies intelligently directed 
along this line are absolutely sure of liberal reward. 
In the second place, those who are now actively en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits have been kept in view, 
and the volume prepared to suit their requirefT|er\ts. 
In other words, it l^as beer\ the intention to make it a 
sort of handbook on things agricultural, a book to 
which the producer may turn at all seasons of the 
year fcr guidance. Without loading it with[ tech- 
nicalities, it has been the endeavor to embody in its 
teaching the latest discoveries in the science of 
aoriculture. 

May 15, 1902 // 



CONTENTS. 



Frontispiece. 

Preface 3 

Introduction by James Atkinson 5 

PART I. 

THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 
CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. The Profession of Farming 9 

II. The Soil — Formation of Humus 15 

III. The Soil and Its Fertility 21 

IV. Elements and Conditions of Plant Growth 28 
V. Drawbacks of Farming 36 

VI. The Value of Markets 43 

VII. Pure Air and Pure Water 47 

PART II. 

FIELD CROPS. 

I. The Raising and Rotation of Field Crops.. 59 

11. Grain Crops 67 

III. Corn ^2 

IV. Grass, Clover and Hay yy 

V. Root Crops 82 

VI. Potatoes 85 

VII. The Value of Diflferent Fertilizers. ... 91 
VIII. Silos and Ensilage 97 

PART III. 

ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

I. The Horse 100 

II. The Hog 112 

HI. Cattle 116 

IV. Sheep 121 

V. The Dairy 125 

VI. Poultry 135 



CONtENfS. 

PART IV. 

FRUIT. 

PAGE. 

I. The Uses of Fruit 141 

II. The Apple 144 

III. The Cherry, Pear, Phim and Peach. ... 152 

IV. The Grape 154 

V. Small Fruit 157 

VI. General Remarks , 159 

PART V. 

SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

I. Divisions of Science 163 

II. The Tests of Science 170 

III. The Conservation of Energy 175 

IV. Agricultural Chemistry 178 

V. Agricultural Physiology 185 

VI. Food and Feeding 193 

VII. Human Food 200 

VIII. Entomology, or Insect Life 205 

IX. Bees 212 

X. Birds 219 

PART VI. 

RURAL SCENERY. 

I. The Element of Beauty in Farm Life. .233 

II. Final Remarks and a Retrospect 248 

III. The Department of Agriculture 256 

Appendix. Statistics 261 

Appendix. The Item of Waste 264 

Index 267 



PART I. 

THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF 
FARMING. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE PROFESSION OF FARMING. 

It is now almost fifty years since a bright boy was 
hoeing weeds in his father's garden. The boy did not 
Hke his job. He was fond of machinery and wanted 
to work in a machine shop. He had no idea of being 
a farmer, and yet he became after a while a very suc- 
cessful farmer, one whom everyone admired on find- 
ing out how he had managed to make farming a 
success on a small worn-out farm. The boy grew up 
to be a man without ever having lived on a farm. His 
father had sent him to college, but college work 
made him sick, and the doctor said, *Tf the young fel- 
low does not do something that will keep him in the 
open air, his life will be in danger." 

At the age of 22 the young man married. From 
ignorance, and because he was too trustful, he bought 
a worthless farm, or one which was generally consid- 
ered worthless, incurring a debt of more than three 
thousand dollars. In about twelve years or so he man- 



10 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

aged not only to pay off his debt but to make his farm 
of less than 50 acres pay him a net annual income of 
over two thousand dollars. He then built a fine house 
for himself and family and is now one of the men 
everyone wants to hear at Farmers' Institutes because 
what he has to say is sensible and true. He gained 
this knowledge by working the soil and by thinking. 

He was 26 when he moved on his farm for which he 
could not find a tenant who would pay him anything. 
He had a hard time the first winter and spring to keep 
his cattle alive. He lost three cows from starvation 
and unavoidable exposure, and a neighbor told him 
that he had in past years helped to skin as many as 
ten cows on the same farm in spring that had died be- 
cause the barn was so wretched and the feed so poor. 

The young man had to live very economically and 
to work very hard. His farm contained at first 125 
acres, but of these only about 30 acres were fit for 
tillage ; some 1 5 acres, covered with scattering timber, 
were made useful for cultivation later, so that the 
total number of acres on the farm that could be turned 
to any use was 45. The most of this was rather poor 
land, and only a few acres could be called good. There 
were many stumps which had to be removed at con- 
siderable expense, and many swamps, so called cat- 
swamps, which caused great trouble until they were 
drained. This could be done at once, but required 
much time and labor. 

Now with all that debt and the other drawbacks 
the young man worked on, improving his soil by 
laying drains of good drain tile, and enriching it by 
carefully spreading manure on his meadow land and 
on clover. He raised no crop for which the land had 



THE PROFESSION OF FARMING. II 

not been previously enriched by a crop of clover, 
plowed under after it had been well manured and the 
manure well spread, and he thus managed to harvest 
heavy crops of wheat and especially of potatoes. 

He worked with his head as well as with his hands, 
and astonished his neighbors by the crops he raised, 
so that it was generally believed that his land was of ex- 
traordinary fertility. But in this they were mistaken. 
It was proved that the most of his land was originally 
poor rather than rich, and that his success was due to 
his knowing how to do things in the right way. 

The name of this successful farmer is T. B. Terry, 
and his home is near Akron, Ohio. Mr. Terry has 
demonstrated that farming pays if it is made a pro- 
fession, and that the professional farmer may succeed 
where all others fail wretchedly.* 

No one needs to be told nowadays that, in order to 
get a thing well done, we must have it done by a 
specialist. A specialist does a certain thing, or a cer- 
tain line of work, every day in the year. He does not 
change about from this to that, but seeks to acquire 
perfection in the work he understands. We consult 
a dentist, a lawyer, a preacher for various ailments of 
mind and body; we buy our watch from the best 
watchmaker and our wagon from the best wagon- 
maker. It does not occur to us to ask our blacksmith 
to repair our watch, nor our watchmaker our plow, 
nor do we consult our lawyer about the right way to 
heaven. 

It rhight seem that the rule does not apply to the 

*Mr. Terry has written an admirable work on agriculture, en- 
titled "Our Farming," in which he relates his own work and ex- 
perience. 



12 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

farmer. People will buy their wheat or oats, their 
potatoes or corn wherever they can be had, be the 
raiser of these articles a bungler or a man of great 
skill and long experience. They say, these things grow 
of themselves, if once sown or planted. The elements 
take care of them and man has scarcely anything else 
to do but to guard them from being ruined by careless 
people, or from being choked by weeds, or trodden 
down by cattle. In this sense, it may be admitted, 
any one can be a farmer. But is there, then, no differ- 
ence between a first-class farmer and a bungler? 

If we examine what farming really means, we shall 
see that there is such a difference, and a great one. 
The bungler lets his land run down so that his crops 
are poorer from year to year. The true farmer raises 
good crops as a rule, and often succeeds in raising 
more to the acre than any of his neighbors. The 
bungler grows poorer, the professional farmer grows 
steadily in wealth. 

The farmer is the engineer, so to speak, of a vast 
machine, his land. The land will bring forth accord- 
ing to the seed that is in it, but it wears out like any 
other machine, and as it wears out the weak or miss- 
ing parts must be repaired or restored. But what are 
these parts? They are not exactly the same for all 
crops, but all crops weaken this machine, and the work 
of restoring w^orn-out parts should never cease. 

In another sense the soil may be compared to a bank. 
It is only what you put into your bank, and what you 
leave in it, that enriches it and enables you, in due 
time, to draw from it a heavy interest or dividend. 

In order to work the soil tools are needed. Experi- 
ence and good judgment are necessary in the selection. 



THE PROFESSION OF FARMING. I3 

of these tools, and in this also the professional or 
special character of the farmer appears. 

We might include among these tools the animals 
used for cultivation, and again others which consume 
the products of the field and thus reduce them to a 
smaller bulk before they are sent to market. To do 
this economically, and with the greatest possible ad- 
vantage, again calls for the skill of the specialist, the 
professional farmer. 

For these and other reasons we must class the busi- 
ness of the intelligent farmer among the regular pro- 
fessions, and for his profession we claim an even 
greater importance than for any other. From this 
point of view we may consider somewhat in detail the 
various branches in which a professional farmer should 
be proficient. We must assume, of course, that a man 
who wishes to be a good farmer will apply himself 
early and late to the work he has in hand. Without 
work and considerable push and energy no amount of 
mere knowledge of how the thing should be done will 
be of any use in any calling. 

The proper kind of soil and of the implements 
needed to work it ; the right kind of stock, cattle, pigs, 
horses, etc., to be raised or used on it, and a market 
at a convenient distance; all these are necessary to 
enable a farmer to pursue his profession properly. He 
may have to begin under great discouragements, and 
it may take him a number of years before he can call 
even a small farm his own. But if he keeps up cour- 
age and continues to work and to study, success will 
come at last, as it has come to many others. 

There is some general knowledge a farmer needs 
in common with other men. He must know some- 



14 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

thing about sanitation^ that is, how to prepare a suitable 
and healthy dwelHng for himself and to give shelter 
and protection to his stock. A farmer need not be a 
house builder, but he should know the principles that 
will enable him to put his house in the b^st position 
as to drainage and other health conditions, to have 
an abundant supply of pure water, both for his family 
and for his stock, and he should know enough of the 
art of roadmaking to do as much as the. finances of his 
district permit to build the most necessary roads. The 
progressive farmer should know what is being done in 
his profession by others, and he should at least know 
the foundation of the sciences that are of special im- 
portance to the farrn and its products. 

It will be seen from this that a good farmer must 
exercise his brain no less than his hands. If he has 
a well tilled farm and a comfortable home, he is a 
little king on his own territory. He is not compelled 
to inhale the disease-laden air of the city with its 
clouds of dust and masses of filth. He can breathe 
the pure health-giving air of the broad country and 
rejoice in the feeling of bodily vigor which surpasses 
all the nerve-exciting and weakening amusements of 
city life. The tilling of the soil changed the feudal 
aristocracy of Europe into peaceful members of the 
State, and to this day the aristocracy of the progressive 
European states is based on the ownership and cul- 
tivation of the soil. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE SOIL FORMATION OF HUMUS. 

The ancient Greeks had a story of a giant who was 
the son of the earth. His name was Antaeus. It was 
said of him that his immense strength was due to his 
relation to his mother, and that as long as he was in 
contact with her no one could conquer him. Antaeus 
was met by Hercules, another of the fabled strong 
men of antiquity, and the two fought for a long time. 
Hercules threw Antaeus to the earth again and again, 
but, strengthened by his mother as he touched her, 
Antaeus rose every time able to fight more vigorously 
than before. At last Hercules, finding out the cause 
of his opponent's strength, lifted him high in the air 
and there strangled him. 

The story has often been quoted as illustrating the 
great truth that the strength of every human being is 
drawn from the earth, and that those who cultivate the 
earth or remain in contact with it one way or another, 
as hunters, herdsmen, farmers and gardeners, are the 
most vigorous members of the race, the conquerors of 
the earth. 

This truth has often been proven in history. As 
long as the Romans honored agriculture and lived 
largely on their own land, their hardy men from the 
country overcame all nations. The time came when 
agriculture was the business of the slave, when the 
freemen flocked to the cities. Then came the downfall 

15 



l6 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

of Rome under the irresistible onset of the hardy 
Germans, who were strangers to city Hfe. The herds- 
men and farmers of Switzerland showed in many a 
victorious battle what it meant to live in close touch 
with the soil, the earth, our common mother. The 
country people of New England resisted manfully the 
power of England, and the poet points to the scene of 
their heroic deeds : 

"Here once the embattled farmers stood 
And fired a shot heard 'round the world!" 

If the earth gives us strength we may inquire what 
its nature is. Geology teaches us the names and the 
composition of the rocks, that are so to speak the ribs 
and the backbone of the earth. The soil from which 
we draw the food on which we live was itself once 
rock, and all our tillable soil is the product of a slow 
and long continued process of crumbling to pieces, or 
disintegration, of the primitive rocks. If we dig deep 
enough we find below the oldest soil, though often at 
a very great depth, the same hard rock that we see 
in the mountain that towers into the clouds. As these 
rocks differ so differs the nature of the soil which they 
produce. Sandstone produces sandy soil, the granite 
and kindred rocks produce clay soil. As the rains 
wash the crumbled and disintegrated particles down 
to the lower land, the valleys or plains, they often 
become mixed. This accounts for soils that are part 
clay, part sand. 

How this happens can be best observed wherever 
there are hills or mountains. On apparently bare 
rocks we may see a thin crust of vegetable growth 
called lichen. After a while mosses may follow. In 



THE SOIL FORMATION OF HUMUS. 



17 



the shelter of these a seed of grass, or, maybe of a 
shrub, and sometimes of a tree, may lodge and find 
sufficient moisture to strike its roots. The thawing 
and freezing process of ice and water in cracks or 
inequalities here and there will deepen these into 
fissures and crevices and afford a chance for a certain 
amount of moisture to stay and feed the roots that 
penetrate into them. As these roots gain strength 
and multiply they will loosen the rock and thus pre- 
pare a bed of soil which will deepen from year to 







Fig. I — Rock in the process of disintegration; vegetation and 
humus on top, followed by coarse subsoil, then rock 
in pieces and finally solid rock. 

year, from century to century. (Fig. i.) If the rock 
presents a slope so that the water will not stay on it, 
the mere action of it on the rock, continued for ages, 
will dissolve or loosen parts of it. These will be 
washed down the slope and afford places for chance 
seeds to germinate and develop, while the finer part 
of the soil thus produced will be washed down into 
the valley where a watercourse will receive it and 
spread it far and wide in consequence of the rise and 



i8 



THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 



fall of the water, caused by the more or less abundant 
rains in the changing season. 

Hence it is that the best or most fertile soil is 




Fig. 2 — Soil formation at the foot of a rocky hillside, (c) por- 
tion worn away; (i) debris without soil; (2) debr-is 
reduced to fine particles and mixed with soil — some 
vegetation has started; (a) solid rock. 



found in the lowlands, along the rivers, and often in 
swamps and bogs. (Fig. 2.) We have seen that in 
order to obtain any vegetable growth it is necessary 



THE SOIL FORMATION OF HUMUS. IQ 

that moisture strikes the soil and stays on it for a 
while. But if it stays on all the time the vegetable 
growth we desire is either prevented or at least made 
difficult. Hence the necessity for drainage, either 
natural or artificial. Nature insists on steady move- 
ment : she has placed her curse on stagnation. 

We have thus far spoken of the general process of 
soil formation. It remains now to account for the 
vegetable growth on the primitive elements of the 
rock. We have mentioned moisture as the necessary 
condition, and no further proof is needed to support 
this statement. But all moisture is quick to disappear 
by evaporation under the effect of the sunlight and 
the winds. This is most clearly seen on the steep 
hillsides, on sandy soils and on land that lies in ridges 
so as to present as much surface as possible to the 
rays of the sun and the movement of the air; but it 
also appears on level and clayey soil. How then does 
nature proceed to retain the necessary moisture for 
plant growth? 

When we examine the upper layer of wild prairie 
land that shows its fertility by an abundant growth 
of grasses and other plants, we shall find it very dark 
and almost black. What is the cause of this dark 
color? It is not due to the original soil, for this may 
be almost pure sand or yellow clay. The observer will 
say that it is the effect of decayed plant growth. The 
prairies have produced grass crops for countless cen- 
turies. As the older plants died off new ones took 
their place, on top of the decayed or decaying remains 
of the earlier plants. Gradually the soil grew higher 
by the accumulations of decayed vegetable matter. 
W^ find soils the dark outer layer of which extends 



20 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

from 12 to 20 inches in thickness. This black mass 
of decayed roots, stems and leaves is called humus. 

Humus has the peculiar quality of retaining moist- 
ure and with it some of the most essential elements 
of plant growth. The humble lichens and mosses 
begin the work of producing humus ; the grasses con- 
tinue it. After a while all other plants, among them 
trees of the largest size, grow by means of it and 
enrich it. The way to renovate worn-out land is 
therefore to provide the conditions of vegetable growth 
of some kind and to leave it on and in the soil. If 
grass seed be sown, or clover, or if the soil be allowed 
to grow a crop of weeds, or even grain, and the crop 
is plowed under, the land becomes enriched. The 
process is called green manuring. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SOIL AND ITS FERTILITY. 

On the 2d and 3d of May, 1863, was fought the 
battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. The victory 
remained with the Confederate army, chiefly because 
their best general, Stonewall Jackson, succeeded in 
surprising a Federal corps which had been ordered to 
take up a position on the right. Here was found a 
thick growth of young trees, much underbrush, and 
enough open space to permit troops to advance. This 
growth made it possible for an enterprising enemy to 
come so near the Federal camping ground as to sur- 
prise the men there resting. 

Now, why was this ground covered with trees? It 
used to bring forth heavy crops of tobacco and was 
of great value. But tobacco is an exhausting crop; 
that is, it takes from the soil mineral parts which the 
crop needs, and it takes so much of them that the best 
soil soon becomes poor unless what has been taken 
frorgi it is returned to it. This had not been done, and 
the owners of the land finally abandoned it as worth- 
less. Then nature began her work. By allowing 
these trees to grow she commenced her work of re- 
newal. In course of time the trees, by the shedding 
of their leaves, produce a layer of rich soil. Their 
roots draw the mineral matter from the depth of the 
land as far as they can reach, and a part of it is depos- 
ited in the leaves. In this way much land was made 

31 



22 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

fertile in the ages gone by, and this fertility can be 
kept up by careful attention to the needs of the crops, 
and it can be regained in the same way. 

In the case of tobacco we note that this plant con- 
tains an unusually large amount of potash. If we 
burn up a tobacco plant we find that the ash remaining 
forms from 15 to 20 per cent (that is, about one-fifth, 
or less) of the entire plant. This ash contains a com- 
pound which is extremely poisonous, called nicotine. 
The ending ine, or in, stands for some peculiar poison 
that is found in tobacco, in coffee, tea, cocoa, Jhe bark 
of the cinchona tree, etc. In the ash of the coffee we 
find coffee-ine, written cafFdn; tea contains tea-ine, 
written thcin; cinchona bark, quinine. Now, unless 
the soil contains the elements to form this compound 
(or mixture), tobacco, or coffee, or tea, etc., cannot 
be grown. What is true of these more or less harm- 
ful products of the soil is true also of the grains and 
of any other crops, even weeds. No weed could grow 
unless the soil contains enough of the mineral parts 
which are found in the ash of such weed. 

There is an element called phosphorus, which com- 
bines with that part of the air which is called oxygen, 
and forms compounds, called phosphides, and in 
other combinations, phosphates. A soil deficient in 
phosphates cannot grow wheat or any similar plant. 

But all the elements needed by any plant are found 
in the body, or the parts that make up the body, of 
animals. -It is therefore found in- the droppings, and 
more especially in the urine of animals. The bones 
are rich in phosphates. A careful farmer will save 
all the manure he can and especially the liquid part, 
by providing his stock and his horses with litter, gen- 



THE SOIL AND ITS FERTILITY. 23 

erally straw. When this is scarce, sawdust or even 
dry earth will answer the purpose. By returning all 
barnyard manure to the soil, the fertility of the latter 
is maintained, and if lost it may be restored by con- 
tinuing this work. 

In order to know what peculiar elements it may be 
necessary to add to the soil in order to hasten the 
process of renovation, or to increase the natural fer- 
tility of the soil, it would be necessary in very special 
cases to apply to a specialist, that is, to some person 
who knows chemistry and understands the nature of 
soils and crops. Such persons are now found at agri- 
cultural colleges. 

A practical and careful farmer who knows how to 
prevent waste in his manure pile will not be obliged 
to use many special fertilizers. Barnyard manure is 
a complete fertilizer, as it contains every element of 
plant life, but sooner or later some special or com- 
mercial fertilizer will have to be added. The necessity 
of manure will be more fully understood when we 
consider how large an amount of fertility each crop 
takes from the soil. 

If we raise 1,500 pounds of tobacco on an acre, an 
average crop, the soil will lose 50 pounds of potash, 
15 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 70 pounds of 
nitrogen. As for the nitrogen, there is an immense 
supply in the air which we breathe. It is a gas and 
useless for crops unless changed into compounds, 
called nitrates, as for instance ammonia or saltpeter 
or soda. Although over 80 per cent of the air is pure 
nitrogen the soil may be so greatly in want of nitrates 
that its fertility is very low and insufficient for the 
raising of a paying crop. 



24 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

All crops need nitrogen. In 20 bushels of wheat, 
the average raised on an acre of good soil, we find 
40 pounds of nitrogen, 18 pounds of potash and 15 
pounds of phosphoric acid. Two tons of hay may be 
raised on an acre of land from which this crop will 
take 56 pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of potash and 
14 pounds of phosphoric acid. It is clear that such a 
drain on these elements of the soil cannot go on for 
many years without exhausting its fertility. 

Is there no other way to maintain or restore the 
fertility of our soils? 

This question may be answered thus: If we can 
afford to wait until nature does the work of renova- 
tion, the fertility would come back after a while. 
Something would grow on the land. While some 
weeds cannot thrive, others will. These will run down 
their roots and bring up mineral matter from below. 
Rotting on the surface, these weeds will gradually 
restore the former fertility — if we can zvait long 
enough. But a farmer cannot afford to wait so long. 
In former times it was the custom to allow one-third of 
a farm to remain idle, or fallow, in order that it might 
recover from previous exhaustion and be ready for 
the crops of the two following years. But this system 
has now been discarded by all progressive farmers. 
Another plan is far better. 

We have noted that plants need nitrogen, and that 
there is plenty of nitrogen all around and over us. 
Wherever the air can go through there is of course ni- 
trogen, and in a loose and mellow soil, especially if 
well drained, the air is present everywhere. But how 
are the roots to get hold of it? Unless changed into 
a nitrate, this nitrogen is perfectly useless, as useless 



THE SOIL AND ITS FERTILITY. 25 

for instance as for animals and human beings is the 
mineral and other matter which may be turned into 
wheat by the wheat plant, but which they cannot use 
for food until it is changed into grain by the growth of 
the plant. 

This leads us to the consideration of the most inter- 
esting as well as important family of plants, such as 
clover, peas, beans, alfalfa or lucerne and a few others. 




Fig. 3 —Root of a legume showing knots 
or nodules or tubercles. 

The name of this family of plants is legumes, and they 
are spoken of as legiiminons plants. In olden times, 
when our methods of harvesting and threshing were 
not even thought of, the pods of peas, beans and lentils 
were picked and gathered by hand. This was expressed 
by the old Italians or Latins as legere, and the word 
lego, meaning 'T gather," was so changed as to form 
the adjective legumiiiosae, which is Latin for legum- 
inous. 

Pull or dig up a clover plant, being careful to save 



26 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

its roots. You will notice here and there on the far 
spreading roots little wart-like growths, knots or 
nodules, to which it is customary to give the name of 
tubercles. (Fig. 3.) These are due to parasitic 
plants so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. 
Scientists have given to these little plants the general 
name of bacteria, but there are many varieties of bac- 
teria, some living on others, so that we see in these 
lowest beings the same strife that we find everywhere 
else in nature. Some bacteria are very hurtful to 
man, causing or aggravating sores, boils, etc., or at- 
tacking delicate parts of the body and producing fevers 
and other diseases. But others are useful, and so are 
those which form these tubercles on leguminous plants. 
It has been shown that these tubercles have the ability 
to draw nitrogen directly from the air and change it 
into nitrates. Hence, by sowing clover and plowing 
the crop under, we furnish to the soil a large amount of 
plant food, and thus restore or retain an important part 
of the elements that make up its fertility. Good farm- 
ers now raise clover for this very purpose. They take 
from the land one or two crops of clover hay, then plow 
under the stubble, when it is found that the roots con- 
tain enough fertilizing matter to secure the success of 
some other crops, as wheat, corn or potatoes. 

But the better way is to manure a clover field heavily 
after taking one crop and to plow the next one under. 
The manure thus stored in the soil, with the clover 
roots and a part of the green tops, will furnish plant 
food for several years, and in order to raise several 
good crops in succession it will now be necessary only 
to till the soil very thoroughly, and secure good drain- 



THE SOIL AND ITS FERTILITY. 2J 

age. Of the necessity and advantage of good tillage 
and drainage we will speak in another chapter. 

Soils are mostly classified as sandy, loamy and 
clayey. But there is a great variety of soils, owing to 
the fact that the sand, clay, humus and various min- 
eral matters, such as lime, are found mixed in various 
proportions in different soils. A farm of lOO acres 
may contain in one part stiff yellow, or even blue clay ; 
in another pure sand, in a third black soil, rich in 
humus; in a fourth a calcareous soil (rich in lime); 
and possibly an alkaline soil containing an excess of 
potash or soda. In addition to these there may be 
some acres of swamp containing muck. Nor is this all, 
for there may be fields which show a mixture of any 
or all of these. 

This is due to the effect of water at the time when 
the land was forming. The overflow of lakes and 
rivers accounts for such differences. In New Jersey 
many farms contain marl beds. Marl is a deposit of 
lime and other matter which has been found very use- 
ful for the improvement of barren land. The New 
Jersey farmer digs down into his marl bed, carries away 
the valuable contents and enriches his sandy soil so 
that his land will bear crops that rival or surpass the 
crops of the Western farmers on their rich black soil of 
prairie land. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ELEMENTS AND CONDITIONS OF PLANT GROWTH. 

Every plant and every animal body must have a 
sufficient supply of all the elements which they con- 
tain in order to grow and make good the inevitable 
waste. By far the most of these elements are to be 
had without cost. They are found in the air and in 
the water of springs, rivers and lakes, and enter the soil 
through the air, the rains, snow, dew and by irrigation. 
All human beings as well as all animals breathe out a 
gas called carbonic acid, which is the most essential 
food for plants. The plant, on its part, breathes out, 
by means of its leaves and under the influence of the 
sunlight, another gas, called oxygen, which all human 
beings and animals need to sustain life. Animals 
breathe by their lungs, producing carbonic acid ; plants 
breathe through their leaves, producing oxygen. This 
is a beautiful arrangement you will say, and so it is. 
The growing grass, the leafy woods, the fertile or- 
chard : all give forth the elements we absolutely need, 
and we in return breathe out the element that they need 
and without which they could not exist at all. 

Water contains two gases, oxygen and hydrogen, 
which, combined, form a liquid. Oxygen means 
sour-maker, from its quality to turn milk sour and to 
produce similar changes in other material. Hydrogen 
means water generator, as it is the essential part of all 
water. About one-fifth of the body of air around and 



CONDITIONS OF PLANT GROWTH. 29 

above us, the atmosphere, is oxygen, while two parts 
of water are pure hydrogen, the rest being oxygen. 

If we set fire to a lot of straw we find that the straw 
disappears in a flame and in smoke, leaving behind 
only a small heap of ashes. The ashes consist of min- 
eral matter, chiefly silica and potash; the flame and the 
smoke are made up of carbon, the principal element in 
carbonic acid (the other being oxygen), and oxygen. 
Carbon combines with oxygen to form a great variety 
of vegetation, but under certain circumstances the two 
will combine so as to form a flame and smoke. The 
latter contains also the vapors of water, hence hydro- 
gen and oxygen. Carbon is not a gas like oxygen 
or hydrogen, but a solid. It may appear as pure 
coal, as wood, as leaf, flower, stem, fruit; again 
it may assume the hardness and brillancy of the dia- 
mond, or the pleasant form and taste of sugar, or take 
the form of lard, tallow, oil and butter. All these sub- 
stances are forms of carbon. 

Carbon is therefore the most essential part of the 
plant, and as it and oxygen are always present in the 
air, and as water is also present and periodically en- 
ters the soil in the form of rain or dew, it follows that 
by far the largest part of the elements that make up 
any plant are gratuitous ; they cost nothing. Another 
gas which the plant needs, nitrogen, has already been 
spoken of. It appears in the soil, as has been explained, 
only in the form of nitrates. They are chiefly needed 
to form the seeds of plants, and through them the 
muscles of animals. We say, therefore, that beans, 
peas and other seeds that we eat are nitrogenous. 

The nitrogenous elements of food are absolutely 
required to sustain human and animal life. Sugar and 



30 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

fat contain no nitrogen, hence a diet consisting of 
sugar and fat only, though both may be furnished in 
abundance, would lead to starvation. Some nitrogen- 
ous matter is found in other parts of the plant besides 
the seed. It can be fed to animals in the expectation 
that the animal will digest the food properly and there- 
by form its muscular flesh. We eat this flesh and gain 
muscular strength thereby, while we should starve to 
death if we had to rely on the supply found in plants 
apart from their seeds. 

Some seeds are rich in oil; that is, they contain 
more carbon than others; but all contain nitrogenous 
matter, and some so much as to come very near to 
the value of flesh meats. These are peas, beans, lentils 
and their varieties. Flaxseed, or linseed, is particularly 
rich in oil. Corn is rich in starch, that is, carbon ; but 
it contains nitrogenous matter enough to sustain life, 
though it is not an ideal food. Wheat is richer in 
nitrogenous matter, but this is found chiefly on the 
outer layers of the kernel, so that the whitest flour 
is poorest in nitrogenous or flesh-forming material. 
Feeding the bran and middlings of the wheat to cattle 
and pigs will produce the needed material in a more 
acceptable form. The parts richest in nitrogenous 
matter — that is, the bran, etc., of wheat and other 
grain — consist chiefly of the hulls and outer portions of 
the grains, which are not readily digestible by the 
human system. 

If we sell butter and lard we sell carbon, which is 
always present and available, hence we do not deprive 
the land of any fertilizing matter. It retains its for- 
mer condition. If we sell potatoes we sell largely 
water, for potatoes contain only a very small part of 



CONDITIONS OF PLANT GROWTH. 3I 

nitrogenous matter. The rest is carbon (starch) and 
water, the latter making up 70 per cent of the whole. 
But such crops as grain of all kinds, peas and beans 
and also grass, need a considerable proportion of ni- 
trates. Hence it is that they are more apt to exhaust 
the soil by continuous cropping. 

We have already spoken (in Chapter II) of the 
necessity of humus for plant growth. In humus we 
have all the mineral elements of plants, and this is 
easily understood when we consider that humus is 
essentially the result of the decay of plants. It is read- 
ily known by its dark color ; it is that which gives their 
black color to our prairie soils, and in them, especially 
along rivers in the so-called bottom-lands, the thick- 
ness of this black soil is often extraordinary. But con- 
tinuous cropping and too shallow plowing, with no 
change of crops, may practically exhaust even these 
rich soils, or at least deprive them of some of the min- 
eral elements without which a plant cannot live. 

One principal use of humus is its capacity of holding 
moisture, but even this may be a drawback on low land 
toward which the surface water will naturally run. 
Such land retains the water, so that it sours the soil, 
or affects it injuriously by the coldness it produces. 
Such soil is known as muck. *Muck is often hauled on 
poor land with good effect. On land not naturally 
poor, muck may not at times produce any effect what- 
ever. If muck soils can be underdrained they will 
generally show an astonishing fertility. 

Barnyard manure is rich in humus, in fact it turns 
largely into humus, if allowed to ferment. Moisture 
and warmth will produce fermentation which is accom- 
panied by loss of nitrogenous matter, especially am- 



32 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

monia, which is evaporated. It is easily recognized 
by its pungent smell. The fermentation is brought 
about by little plants such as we find in yeast, invisible 
to the eye, called foments. Dry earth spread on fer- 
menting manure will catch or absorb this ammonia. 
Lovers of window plants often gather in the woods 
the decayed remains of some old tree which contains 
pure humus. It has a dark brown color, and looks 
like mellow soil. If old enough this mass has given off 
most of its carbon, or carbonaceous matter; it then is 
very nearly the same material as ashes, containing 
most of the mineral elements of the tree. 

The beginning of the growth of a plant can be read- 
ily seen in an acorn or a bean that has started to swell 
its germ. (Fig. 4.) In the acorn, as in all seeds, the 
plant has put away a new plant compressed into the 
smallest possible space. Moisture and warmth swell 
the seed, which then breaks open its outer covering or 
husk. In the bean, for instance, this takes place very 
readily. We then see what looks like two thick leaves. 
These separate a little, allowing a little tip, the germ, 
between them to expand likewise and to grow upward. 
At the same time it develops tiny roots at its base 
which rapidly grow downward into the soil. As the 
roots grow and become fibrous, the stalk grows higher, 
bringing the two leaves above ground, and developing 
new and proper leaves. The first two leaf-like growths 
were not true leaves but only bags containing food for 
the young plant. They wither and drop from the 
plant when their food supply has been used up. 

The whole process of growth is therefore an unfold- 
ing of the seed and a developing of its parts in two 
directions, upward and downward. In order that it 



CONDITIONS OF PLANT GROWTH. 



33 



may take place there is required warmth and Hght, 
though the plant will make some growth without the 
latter. There is no force working on the outside to 




Fig. 4 — An oak plant 
starting from the 
acorn. 



Fig. 5— A young 
pea-plant. 



give their natural shape to the roots, stem, leaves and 
branches. All these parts w^ere already in the seed; 
that is, in the germ attached to the kernel. The kernel 



34 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

itself, apart from the germ, is simply food for the 
young plant until its roots begin to work. (Fig. 5.) 
The whole further growth of the plant is mainly in- 
tended to produce new seed. Many plants, after ripen- 
ing their seeds, wither and die, as for instance all our 
regular farm crops, with the exception of grass. They 
are annuals. A plant that needs two years to perfect 
seed, and then dies, is called a biennial (two-year 
plant) ; and one that produces seed year after year is 
called a perennial (lasting for years). 

The conditions for the growth of a plant may be 
therefore summed up as follows : 

1. Healthy seed. This means that the germ of the 
new plant must be uninjured, and the rest of the seed 
must have the proper food for the young plant as long 
as its roots cannot do their work. 

2. Warmth and moisture. Under their influence 
the germ swells and unfolds, so that top, roots, stem, 
leaves, branches, flower and seed can form in due 
course of time. 

3. Suitable soil. The soil must be porous (loose 
and open), so that air and water can readily enter and 
pass through it, and which contains no elements in- 
jurious to plant life. 

4. Mineral elements. The mineral parts which the 
plant needs must be in the soil in such a form or com- 
bination as to enable its roots to use them for its 
growth. 

5. Sunlight. The leaves cannot breathe out their 
oxygen without sunlight, and on this breathing out of 
oxygen depends the healthy growth of the plant and 
the ultimate production of seed. It is the sunlight that 
causes the green color of leaves by developing in them 



CONDITIONS OF PLxVNT GROWTH. 35 

a certain substance to which the name of chlorophyl, 
that is, "leaf green," has been given. 

This interesting subject of plant growth belongs to 
the Science of Botany; that is, plant knowledge. It in- 
cludes all plants, both useful and injurious. Agricul- 
ture deals only with useful plants and looks upon all 
others as enemies that must be destroyed. 

In this sense any plant that grows where it is not 
needed is a weed. Where plants are crowded, a thin- 
ning out of those that are not needed is as necessary as 
weeding. The strawberry plant is remarkable for the 
abundance of ''runners" it sends out. These runners 
weaken the parent stem and are as injurious as weeds. 

To the botanist the process is an interesting study; 
for the farmer or horticulturist it means labor. 



CHAPTER V. 



DRAWBACKS IN FARMING. 



No trade or profession is without its drawbacks. It 
would be strange if farming had none. There are in- 
jurious insects that spoil a part of the crop; there are 
seasons when it rains too much, and others when it 
does not rain enough; at times the roads are so bad, 
especially in late winter and early spring, that it is 
difficult to get on the land or go to town. Again, there 
is the absence of neighbors in many localities, so that 
life is lonesome and offers no variety ; many farmers 
live too far from town to market their smaller crops 
and products, if they have more than they need, such 
as garden truck, butter, eggs, milk and poultry. 

Every farmer should do his best to abate these in- 
jurious or objectionable conditions as much as pos- 
sible. A frequent change of crops and clean cultiva- 
tion will do much to get rid of the insect nuisance. 
Underdraining and surface draining, providing there 
are good outlets for the drains that will not choke up 
with mud, or be filled with water in wet seasons, will 
secure better roads. The ground will dry out much 
more quickly, and if the top of the road is so shaped,, 
by plowing, scraping and rolling, as to be high in the 
center with a good slope toward the sides, and a contin- 
uous furrow is left on either side for the w^ater to run 
off, there will be little trouble even in a wet season, 
while the road will be in first-class condition the rest 



DRAWBACKS IN FARMING. 37 

of the time. Underdraining to secure good common 
roads is practiced far too little, while yet a very large 
amount of labor is spent on roads which fails to secure 
the best result. If all the farmers of the township or 
of the county would work together, well drained roads 
might soon be the rule instead of the exception. 

In thickly settled localities it is the aim of every pro- 
gressive farmer to foster a public sentiment in favor of 
macadamized roads to be built by the county. Wher- 
ever pebbles or other small stones may be had for the 
hauling or at a slight expense, it is a good thing to 
haul as many of them as possible for roadways on the 
farm, as from and to the house and the barn, and also 
to make passable in bad weather certain parts of the 
farm over which a good deal of wheeling is done 
throughout the year. Where soft coal is used cinders 
should be spread on th^ road bed wherever needed. 
The approaches and surroundings of the barn should 
be especially attended to, because nothing is more dis- 
couraging for the farmer and his boys or his help than 
to have to wade in the mud while doing chores. 

In building more solid roads, such as are known as 
macadamized (from John L. McAdam, the name of 
their inventor), it should be understood that thorough 
rolling of the gravel or small stones is indispensable in 
order to keep wheels from cutting through. Small 
stones, not over three inches in diameter, are to be 
used, as pebbles will not pack well, owing to their 
smooth surface. Spread a layer of stones, then roll, 
and spread and roll again until the road bed is thick 
enough. As the top wears out more stones must be put 
on, and well rolled to make a smooth surface on which 
rip water can stand. Several farmers should join in 



38 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

the expense for a good roller, or it should be furnished 
by the county. Roads of pure soil that are to be un- 
derdrained should have a tile drain on either side and 
a shallow furrow over it. Ditches are not necessary, 
and are objectionable, as they generally get choked up 
with weeds. The furrow over the drain must be re- 
newed as often as it fills up with earth washed into 
it by rains. 

The important subject of road making has recently 
received a great deal of attention. The states of Ohio 
and Indiana have built many hard roads, being favored 
by a supply of rock and gravel at hand. 

It is claimed that other western states, not being 
so favored, cannot afiford to imitate their example. 

As the next best substitute the following plan was 
suggested at an Institute : "The only point for us to 
consider is how to build a good road without rock, sand 
or gravel. We ought to have a system in improving 
our roads and adhere to it closely. I would suggest 
the following plan : First, grade the road from fence 
to fence in a manner that would leave the middle of 
the road about two feet higher than the outer edges. 
To do this work I think an engine with a plow and 
grader would be the best, although it can be done with 
good teams. All elevations should be cut down, and all 
depressions be filled as much as possible, making an 
uniform and easy grade. All trees should be removed 
from the right of way, and be planted in future only 
on the fence- line at not less than 100 feet apart, and 
then only hardy trees such as sugar maple, ash and 
elm, or walnut. The law should be enforced in regard 
to hedges and the trimming of them, and the roadbed 



bRAWBACKS TN FARMING. 39 

kept SO that the mower can pass over every foot of the 
ground without cutting hedge brush or wire. 

''When the grading is completed it should be well 
harrowed and rolled with a four-horse heavy steel 
roller, made in three sections, so that it will fit any 
ground and can be turned easily. The roller is to be 
used in place of the smoothing grader, especially in 
the winter months. It will do good work on rough, 
partly frozen ground where the grader could do noth- 
ing. It should be owned by the township, and be 
free for any farmer to hitch to when he wanted to de- 
liver his grain to market. Notice of a cold wave com- 
ing is the time to give the road a round trip with the 
roller. Next comes the drainage — the most important 
thing in good roads. Tile can be run only at the outer 
edge of the roadbed, as a traveled track will not let the 
water down to the tile. The culverts should be as few 
as possible and should be made of sewer tile covered 
deep, and extend clear across the roadbed and be pro- 
tected by a good stone or brick wall laid in cement at 
each end. 

'The road is prepared for the regular visit of the 
smoothing grader, which can be run in each township 
one hundred days at a cost of $500, which is only about 
one-third of the road and bridge tax usually laid in 
each township. Most of our roads are laid four rods 
wide and some few three rods. We ought to be thank- 
ful that we have the wide road. The properly graded 
wide road has virtually ten tracks for the wagon, while 
the narrow road has not quite eight, and in the long 
wet spell will be cut up more. 

"We ought to adopt the wide tired wagon, and a 
law that exempts it from taxation, or gives a bonus for 



46 THiE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

its use, would help us to better roads. Finally, and 
last, all road taxes and poll tax should be paid in 
money, and the oflice of path-master be abolished. Let 
us pay more attention to the office of highway com- 
missioner, electing only the very best men without re- 
gard to party, men who will work to a good plan and 
enforce the law in regard to obstructing the road in any 
manner with plow or hedge. 

"A smooth road that farmers can mow will be kept 
free of weeds and in a short time will grow only blue 
grass or clover. Our roads should have all the sun- 
light and breeze that can be given them. Of course, 
shade is very nice on a hot summer day, but we can 
not keep a well shaded road in good order. It is sure 
to breed mud holes, and will have a good, solid road- 
bed only in midsummer." — (Van Vleck, Philo, 111.) 

When farmers understand that a farm of 40 acres 
may yield more, if well tilled and intelligently managed, 
than one of 160 acres where the management is of the 
jog-trot, old fogy way, farm houses will be built nearer 
each other. This is the case in many sections, though 
the farms may be larger. Good roads would do away 
with the objection to farm life because of its loneli- 
ness. The women and the young people will not mind 
a ride of a few miles even in cold weather, and sociabil- 
ity can be kept up between friends and acquaintances 
without any sacrifice of comfort or risk of exposure. 
Our constantly extending and spreading net of rail- 
ways will gradually put a good market within a rea- 
sonable distance of almost any farm, so that this ob- 
jection also will have less weight as the years go by. 

This is the century of electricity, as the last century 
was that of steam. We may soon see electric road- 



DRAWBACKS IN FARMING. 



41 



ways, the trolley, the telephone and other electrical ap- 
paratus, connecting districts now isolated from each 
other. All this is in the future, perhaps in the near 



On 

I 



CfQ 
1 



Mm 


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1 

4 


K^t'^ 


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future, but it is necessary that public sentiment be 
aroused among the farmers themselves to hasten the 
approach of these new aids of civilization and social 
happiness. 



42 



THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 



The general government has largely introduced rural 
delivery of the mails, and will continue to do so. 
(Figs. 6 and 7.) This is a great step toward some of 




u 



o 



p 
cr 
W 



in 
I 



the most important advantages of town life. The out- 
look for comfort and convenience in farm life is de- 
cidedly encouraging. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE VALUE OF MARKETS. 

If all men were farmers great poverty of the entire 
nation v^oiild be unavoidable. Purely agricultural 
countries are always lowest in civilization and in 
wealth. Agriculture in such countries cannot rise to 
the dignity of a scientific pursuit, for there would be no 
incentive to increase production. The farmer needs 
markets, and this means that there must be people who 
are not farmers, who will buy what he raises. It is one 
of the most dangerous mistakes for the farmer to see 
in the growth of manufacturing industry a menace to 
agriculture, or to regret that towns and cities grow 
and wealth accumulates in them. The more pros- 
perous the manufacturers are, and the wealthier the 
people who live in cities because of the presence of 
various industries there, the more surely will the 
farmer thrive. 

It is true that our exports to other countries of agri- 
cultural products are enormous, far excelling the value 
of manufactured goods, but the sum total of these ex- 
ports is after all only a fraction of the total value sold 
at home.* We cannot sell to a market from three to 
five thousand miles away without loss of profit arising 
from the cost of transportation. It is true that by con- 
densing agricultural products into cattle, pigs, horses, 

*See Statistics of Production and Exports in the Appendix, 
page 261. 

43 



44 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

etc., the cost of transportation of the raw material, 
hay and grain, is far less than if these raw materials 
were directly exported ; but even in that case it is con- 
siderable. Hence it is that the home market is of such 
great value to the farmer and that he ought to be 
heartily in favor of the growth of towns and cities by 
the help of the manufacturer. 

Nowhere is agriculture so flourishing, so scientific 
and rational, as it is in the states that have their 
markets at home. In New England the average yield 
of grain crops per acre is several bushels higher than 
in Illinois or Iowa, and in all our Northern States much 
higher than in the Southern. As manufacturing indus- 
tries increase, towns and cities grow and demand more 
and a greater variety of the products of the farm. The 
farmer can obtain a fair price for whatever he wishes 
to sell, and the farm becomes more productive because 
he can afford to restore to the soil the elements of fer- 
tility which the crops take from it; and although he 
may not hope to rival the successful manufacturer or 
nerchant in the piling up of wealth, he is sure of a 
competency and of many blessings which are not found 
in the city. 

A young farmer starting into business should pay 
.nuch attention to the nearness of the market. While 
stock-raising may be profitable at some distance, mixed 
farming, or the raising of specialties, like potatoes, 
etc., will hardly pay him well enough, if the distance 
from a market be too great. Twenty or forty acres 
near a good market are often found to yield more in- 
come than five times as many at such a distance that the 
cost of transportation diminishes the profit. For a 



THE VALUE OF MARKETS. 45 

large amount of his produce, especially hay and corn, 
the farm itself furnishes the best market for the farmer 
if he feeds these to stock and returns the barnyard 
manure to the land. 

In many localities creameries have been established 
which afford a good market for milk. Cheese factories 
offer the same advantage. A near market enables the 
farmer's wife to sell her butter directly to the con- 
sumers. This is often an important advantage. Many 
consumers prefer to pay a uniform price all the year 
round. This enables a good butter maker to dispose of 
all her butter profitably when prices are low in the sum- 
mer and fall. The same is true of eggs and poultry. 
Fresh eggs from the farmer are advertised in the city, 
but the real article is not always found. Even a small 
village with a railway station may afford a good mar- 
ket, if there is a competent agent and shipper. Any 
surplus in the fruit garden would thus find a market 
and help to swell the receipts. 

In a certain sense the family of the farmer furnishes 
a market for his products, and this is an important 
item which is often imperfectly understood. All the 
articles consumed in the house should be credited to the 
farm. Very few keep an account of this kind, but even 
a superficial estimate must satisfy anyone that a very 
considerable amount of the profits of farming is rep- 
resented by the consumption at home. A farmer may 
make a specialty of raising wheat and corn for seed. 
Very great care and much intelligence are required to 
do this, but the profits are such as to justify the efforts. 
For such seed there is always a market at home, or at 
a reasonable distance. On farms where only thorough- 



46 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

breds are kept many sales of young stock are effected 
at home. 

By co-operation farmers may do much to bring 
markets nearer to their door. They may build or assist 
in building an elevator at the nearest railway station 
for their grain crops, which will enable them to sell 
the whole to a commission merchant at once and on 
the spot. They may also erect cold storage houses to 
keep their surplus of eggs and other perishable products 
off the market until late fall or winter, when prices are 
highest. 

The farmer who seriously tries to raise only the very 
best will soon establish a reputation with buyers. 
Such a farmer will not sell much grain, and no clover 
or hay, for these he needs for his stock. But he will 
sell the best pigs, cattle and sheep in the very best con- 
dition, never sending to market half fattened or lean 
stock. He will steadily improve his stock by using 
only thoroughbred sires for breeding purposes, and will 
take the very best care of every animal he feeds. A 
good warm stable need not cost very much, and good 
care of animals means that they must not be exposed 
to the cold and wet for any length of time. With such 
care a farmer will very soon get the means of building 
a better barn, to increase his stock and to improve his 
land. The certainty he has of being able to find a good 
market for all he can produce will make him energetic 
and persevering. 



CHAPTER VII 

PURE AIR AND PURE WATER. 

What are the principal products of the farm ? Who 
will deny that they are the human beings upon it, the 
boys and girls and their parents, and that these are of 
incomparably more importance than any other product. 

As this will not be denied, the question how to pro- 
vide for the health and comfort of the farmer and his 
family should be carefully considered, and the best 
answer possible given to it. 

There are two things of which a full supply should 
always be at hand ; fresh, pure air ; fresh, pure water. 
These cost nothing, and yet we know^ from experience 
that they are not always found in the homes of our 
farming population. This is proven by the fact that 
some preventable diseases, like typhoid fever, scarlet 
fever, measles, and others, are quite as frequent in the 
country as they are in large cities. We might say they 
are more frequent in proportion to the population. In 
the large cities great attention is paid to the abundant 
supply of pure water, and the effect of bad air from 
the soil is counteracted or done away with by sewers 
and systems of drainage. 

A poor man who is starting life on a farm cannot 
always have things as they should be. He must be sat- 
isfied at first with a poor house that does not give 
complete shelter from the extremes of the weather. 
Sometimes he may be forced to live for months in a 

47 



48 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

tent until he can put up a shanty to provide for his 
greatest needs, while he raises a crop that will give 
him ready money. There are many farmers now well 
off or wealthy who commenced in this way. 

But the tent and rude dwelling may often be found 
to furnish better conditions for health than a house 
that costs many times as much, but has some defect in 
ventilation. The tent admits a plenty of fresh air ; a big 
house does not always do so. But we need pure air 
above all other things, for it is by breathing pure air 
that our lungs rid our blood of its poisonous element, 
carbonic acid, and thus furnish the first and most im- 
portant condition of health. If this carbonic acid 
stays in a house or a room, sickness of some kind, 
nearly always accompanied by headache, is the neces- 
sary result. And a house, owing to the difference of 
the temperature in it and in the soil, draws from the 
ground on which it is built whatever noxious gas there 
may be in it or come through it. A house should there- 
fore be so built that the air in it can be renewed fre- 
quently. This is easy in summer, but often somewhat 
difficult in winter. The simplest way to supply fresh 
air is by opening the windows. Even at night some 
of the windows should be at least partially open. 
Double windows are excellent in winter because, by 
raising the inner window, we have it in our power 
to allow fresh air to stream in through an opening 
made in the frame of the outer window without causing 
a direct draft. A constant draft, by chilling a certain 
part of the body, may cause a serious sickness, and 
even death, while a uniform cold temperature will cause 
only discomfort. 



PURE: AIR AND PURE WATER. 4^ 

Poorly built houses admit plenty of fresh air, but 
there is the objection that this air comes in as a draft. 
An open fire-place furnishes a first-rate opportunity 
for good ventilation; but open fires cannot warm our 
rooms in the cold winters we have in the North. 
It is hardly necessary to say more about this subject of 
ventilation, because the matter is now pretty well un- 
derstood by those who build large houses for others, 
and a farmer who can afiford to build a large house 
will of course consult men who understand the busi- 
ness. Those who live in small houses must do their 
best to escape the results of drafts on the one hand, 
and the effects of bad air on the other. 

We might say as much of furnishing good water to 
the house, but the case is different. There is a simple 
way, as has been shown, to provide for fresh air, but 
to have a constant supply of good water is not so easy. 
Wherever human beings or any animals live for any 
length of time the soil is sure to become filled with 
dangerous gases arising from the filth that gradually 
accumulates. If you dig a well, you invite all these 
gases to enter it and poison the water, unless your 
well is so deep and so well protected as to make this 
impossible. But it is very hard to say when you are 
safe in this respect. 

In a certain farm-house, provided with an apparently 
good well, typhoid fever was frequent. Two children 
died of it, the rest of the family were more or less sick. 
The doctors knew no remedy, but finally an old doctor 
was consulted, who had spent many years in the coun- 
try and who knew the danger that lurks in impure 
water. The first thing he said was : ''Boil the water 
you wish to drink. Don't drink any water on the farm 



50 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

without first boiling it." But the people objected. 
They said, *'Our well is far away from the barnyard 
and the sink into which we throw the slops from the 
house, how then can its water be bad ? It is a deep well 
and the water comes up from below." The doctor 
asked to be shown the sink. It was about lOO feet 
from the house. Then he asked for a barrel of salt. 
This he poured into the sink. It was found on the 
next day that the water of the well was salty, a clear 
proof that there was a constant drainage from that sink 
to the well. When this was understood the remedy 
was applied, and from that time on there were no 
more cases of typhoid fever in that house. Boiling the 
water kills the disease germs in it ; but boiled water has 
a flat and stale taste; it does not refresh like natural 
water. The question arises, therefore, how can we 
supply good natural water for drinking purposes? If 
the house stands higher than the barnyard, as it should, 
and the latter is at a good distance from the house, the 
danger is greatly lessened. And as it is one of the 
duties of a farmer to save all his barnyard manure, it 
follows that he should make such provisions as will 
make it impossible for any part of that manure to sink 
into the soil, except when applied to the field. 

Cemented stalls for all farm animals secure this end 
perfectly, provided the manure is housed under some 
cover where no rain will touch it. Even ordinary 
wooden floors, provided the planks are tongued and 
grooved and put close together to catch all the liquid, 
will do well for this purpose. The contents of the 
stall should then be wheeled to a covered shed. This 
is better than the cellar under the barn, because in the 



PURE AIR AND PURE WATER. 5 1 

cellar manure is very apt to heat and thereby lose much 
of its value, besides contaminating the air above where 
the cattle and horses are. In the shed the manure 
should be occasionally tramped on during the day by 
cattle or horses. It has been found that manure well 
tramped by cattle or horses will not heat, thus retain- 
ing its full value; and as no water from without can 
draw any elements from it, the soil is not contaminated 
and no injurious gases can go from it to poison any 
well in the neighborhood. Such a shed may also serve 
other purposes in case of necessity. It may be used 
to run wagons, tools or machinery under for which 
there may not be any other room available at the time. 
In winter such a shed will be a convenient place for 
cattle to take some exercise. 

As for the sink hole, it should not be necessary to 
have one. The slops should be emptied on the surface 
of the ground, but never twice on the same spot. In 
this way no filth will accumulate, all being absorbed by 
the soil or dried out by the sun. 

When the well is shallow and on lower ground, the 
following precautions may be taken : Dig a ditch about 
13^ feet wide around the well, at a few feet from it, 
and not less than 6 feet deep. Fill this with charcoal 
and sand. In some. localities a cistern may be the best 
thing. It should be made of brick laid in cement, and 
the inner wall well coated by a man who understands 
how to handle cement. The work of putting on this 
j^oat must be done quickly as the cement soon hardens 
and is then useless for putting on. One part of cement 
to four of sand makes a good mixture. The cistern 
should have a neck which ought to reach above ground 
and be well covered to prevent rats and other animals 



52 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

from falling in. Either in a corner of the cistern, or 
at one of its sides, or above it, a filter should be put 
up (a tight barrel will do), filled with clean sand and 
charcoal in layers. The water from the house roof 
should go through this filter before it enters the cis- 
tern. 

A very excellent cistern was provided with a large 
filter in the ground built of bricks laid in cement and 
coated like the cistern. A pipe from the side near the 
bottom connected it with the cistern. This filter was 
about five feet deep and six feet in diameter. It was 
divided into two parts by a brick wall, 4 inches thick ; 
the larger part was filled with charcoal and sand in al- 
ternate layers. All the roof water as far as needed, ran 
into this part, and then through the brick wall. The 
result was water as clean as crystal, fresh and cool, the 
cistern being over 14 feet deep. In order to get a con- 
stant supply of air into the water, to prevent it from 
becoming stale, a chain pump was used. 

All cisterns must be thoroughly cleaned once a year. 
The neck should therefore be wide enough to admit 
a ladder, on which a man can reach the bottom. After 
cleaning it, it is desirable to light a fire of good clean 
material in the bottom of the cistern. This will kill 
any noxious elements that may have been overlooked 
in the cleaning. 

Water for stock should also be as pure and whole- 
some as possible. Windmills are now pretty generally 
used on well appointed farms, which pump the water 
from a great depth. This water, being cool, may be 
used for the dairy; it may also be pumped into the 
house. These arrangements, and particularly how to 



PURE AIR AND PURE WATER. 53 

get the water to the barn as conveniently as possible 
for the use of stock, need not be discussed here, as the 
work of putting up such mills is done by people who 
understand it thoroughly, and their suggestions should 
be followed. 

The importance of the subject will justify the addi- 
tion to this chapter of a few extracts from an address 
of Professor Arthur N. Talbot on the subject of ''Sani- 
tation for Country Homes." 

''One test of the effect of improved sanitary condi- 
tions lies in the decreased death rate. The average 
yearly rate of mortality in the United States is now 
about 1 8 per thousand inhabitants. In the cities as a 
whole it averages 23 and the rural districts about 15. 
As an example of the change in mortality rates may 
be cited the case of London, whose death rate has been 
reduced from 80 per thousand in the seventeenth cen- 
tury to 20 per thousand at the present time. The 
medium age of the American people has increased by 
four years in the last century. The introduction of 
public water supply and sewers into German cities was 
accompanied by a marked reduction in the death rate, 
and the improvement in the quality of water supply 
has generally been followed by decreased mortality. 

"Certain diseases classed as preventable diseases are 
caused by infection from outside the individual and 
are produced or propagated by organic germs or mi- 
crobes. Local diseases, such as those of the brain and 
heart and those of the digestive and circulatory sys- 
tems, and constitutional disease like rheumatism and 
scrofula are not of this class. Typhoid fever, typhus 
fever, malarial fever, diphtheria, diarrhoea, cholera, 
yellow fever, consumption are considered to be propa- 



54 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

gated by such germs, and several of them are water- 
borne diseases; that is, are conveyed through the 
agency of drinking water. About 40 per cent of the 
deaths in the United States result from causes of a 
zymotic or infectious character. Sanitary science seeks 
lo decrease this percentage, and ultimately to render 
these diseases as infrequent as death from small- 
pox now is. ■ By so doing, an annual death rate of 20 
per thousand will be reduced to about 12 per thousand, 
and the consequence will be a marked increase in the 
average age and length of life of the population. 

"The marked decrease in the mortality rate in the 
past hundred years is, of course, not due to sanitary 
science alone. Hygiene, medical science, more widely 
diffused knowledge, improved individual conditions, all 
have been great aids, but by far the greatest portion is 
due to the improvement in sanitary conditions. As in- 
dividual cases of decreased death rates due to sanitary 
reforms may be cited a reduction in the death rate 
by typhoid fever in Lawrence, Mass., amounting to 90 
per cent after the introduction of filtered water, and a 
similar reduction of 60 per cent in Chicago by the ex- 
tension of the water tunnels beyond the region of great 
sewage pollution. A comparison of the typhoid fever 
mortality of the principal cities of the world shows 
that those cities having a pure or purified water sup- 
ply have low typhoid rates, while those whose supply 
is subject to contamination run very high. Munich, 
Berlin, Vienna, London and New York range from 
2 to 17 per 100,000, while Chicago, St. Louis and Cin- 
cinnati range from 31 to 50, and Cairo, Egypt, is 135. 
Statistics, as far as they are available, indicate that 
the mortality from typhoid fever in rural districts is 



PURE AIR AND PURE WATER. gg 

even as high as that in Chicago and St. Louis and 
several times as great as may be expected under fan- 
sanitary conditions. Truly, there is room for im- 
provement in country as well as in city. 

'Tt is difficult to fix directly the connection between 
a polluted water supply and an epidemic of disease 
like typhoid fever. The identification of the typhoid 
bacillus in suspected water would be a thousand times 
worse than the traditional search for the needle in 
a hay stack. Moreover, an individual may many times 
throw off an attack of the germs if his system be in 
an immune condition. Two examples may be cited 
to show that drinking water may cause an epidemic. 

'The little Swiss village of Laufen is supplied with 
water from a spring near the foot of a mountain ridge. 
No typhoid fever had been known for several years, 
when an epidemic broke out affecting 17 per cent of 
the whole population. Six families, which did not 
use water from the spring, were exempt. It had been 
known that the irrigation of a meadow on the other 
side of the ridge affected the volume of the spring, and 
as upon investigation it was found that a peasant taken 
sick with typhoid fever in a distant city had returned 
to his home near this meadow and that the brook in 
which his clothes and that of two later cases had been 
washed, and into which the slops from the house had 
been thrown, had been used to irrigate the meadow, 
it seemed probable that this was the cause. To prove 
that the spring was supplied with water from the 
meadow, several hundred weight of salt was dissolved 
and poured into a hole in the meadow, and in a few 
hours the water of the spring supplying the village 
became very salty. Flour mixed and poured into the 



56 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

hole gave no trace in the spring, showing that solid 
particles were filtered out. 

''In Plymouth, Pa., then a town of 8,00c, within a 
period of a few weeks in 1885, there were more than 
1,000 cases and 100 deaths from typhoid fever. It 
was found that the following conditions existed : Dur- 
ing the previous hard winter the hydrant water had 
been supplied from the Susquehanna river, but with 
the spring floods the supply was taken from the usual 
source, a mountain brook. A man coming from Phila- 
delphia sick with typhoid fever was cared for in a 
house near the source of this brook. The waters from 
the sick room were thrown on the snow on the side 
hill near the brook. With the general thaw this mass 
of typhoid refuse was swept into the stream and thence 
was pumped into the water mains. The typhoid fever 
cases were confined exclusively to persons using the 
hydrant water. Those using well water or river water 
exclusively escaped entirely. 

''Similarly epidemics of typhoid fever have fre- 
quently been traced to the use of certain wells, families 
using city water being free from the disease, and many 
similar instances may be told of villages and country. 
An instance in the country, when three-fourths of those 
engaged in a job of threshing were taken down with 
typhoid fever, might be cited, and others detailing the 
fatalities attending tenant after tenant who had used 
water from a well which must have been contaminated. 
Nor are such direful effects confined to typhoid fever, 
or even to water-borne diseases. The full list of com- 
municable diseases is applicable to country conditions. 
Malarial fevers, for instance, form a considerable" part 
of country ills. While it is known that the presence 



PURE AIR AND PURE WATER. 57 

of Stagnant water and the upturning of old sod are 
conditions favorable to its genesis, there are unknown 
factors in the life history of the malarial germ which 
it is hoped the future will bring to light. In the mean- 
time, thoroughly drained and tilled soil and the ab- 
sence of decaying vegetable matter tend to make im- 
mune conditions. With these effects in mind, compare 
the value of life, or even of the expense of sickness, 
with the cost and the necessary effort required to keep 
proper sanitary surroundings. 

"That surface pollution may easily reach shallow 
wells may be seen from an experience told by a friend 
of mine living in Urbana. Wishing to utilize a kit 
which had held fish, he buried the two remaining spoiled 
fish and the salt and brine from it some fifty feet from 
a well. The result was that in forty-eight hours the 
water from the well was so salty it could not be used. 
Many well waters quickly change their chemical 
analysis after heavy rains; many are found to be pol- 
luted by cesspool infiltration. A supposed medicinal 
spring in this State was proved to be only badly con- 
taminated ground water. ""^ 

The subject is of such great importance that the 
facts here given deserve the serious attention of every 
one. 

Questions of the kind here discussed are properly 
the subject of sanitation. It was a long time before 
the importance of this science was properly understood, 
and it is even now far from being generally appreciated 
by the people at large. This is the reason why still so 
many die of preventable diseases, like typhoid and 
malarial fevers. 



*Annual Report of the Illinois Farmers' Institute. 1900. 
04-71. 



58 THE BASIS AND CONDITIONS OF FARMING. 

As the malarial germs are very apt to enter the house 
from the cellar, the greatest attention should be paid 
to a perfectly dry location for the house. This can be 
secured by laying drain tile directly under the cellar 
walls and providing for a good outlet. Cementing 
the cellar floor, or still better, covering it with a coat of 
asphaltum, is strongly to be recommended. If vege- 
tables or fruit are kept in the cellar, it is very desirable 
to plaster the ceiling of the cellar, and to provide for 
good ventilation besides. .It should be vividly im- 
pressed on young and old that fresh air is the sovereign 
remedy wherever there is any attack from malarial 
poison, either in the air or in water, and that in all 
cases of doubt the water for drinking purposes should 
be boiled. 

Good health being the most precious of all gifts, it 
is the duty of every one to assist in keeping down and 
destroying filth in every place. Public sentiment has 
been aroused on the subject; schools and colleges are 
teaching the importance of sanitary measures ; the uni- 
versities are on the lookout for the dangers that lurk in 
unexpected hiding places, and the leading men of the 
country everywhere lend their help and co-operation 
to further the good work. Nevertheless, even in our 
wealthiest cities filth accumulates in streets and alleys, 
and an energetic and systematic fight against the evil 
is the exception rather than the rule. 

The farmer has an unlimited supply of fresh air ; he 
is not hampered by an ignorant mass of voters on his 
own farm ; the sanitary measures he ought to apply do 
not involve an excessive cost; he can, if he earnestly 
will, secure perfect health conditions for himself and 
his family. 



PART II. 

FIELD CROPS. 



CHAPTER I. 

RAISING AND ROTATION OF FIELD CROPS. 

The tillable surface of an acre of soil, unless either 
very barren or unusually fertile, contains about 3,600 
pounds of nitrogen, 5,000 pounds of phosphoric acid, 
and 6,000 pounds of potash, in a form available for 
plant growth. It is these elements, to which should 
be added black humus, the value of which consists 
largely in its capacity of retaining moisture, that con- 
stitute a large part of the farmer's capital ; it is these 
which he really sells when he disposes of his crops. He 
actually sells in farm produce a part of his soil. Hence 
the necessity of preparing worn-out lands for a crop 
by proper manuring, and by economizing the fertile 
elements in the soil by a change of crops. 

In a ton of wheat the farmer sells 38 pounds of ni- 
trogen, 19 of phosphoric acid, and 13 of potash, and 
these amounts are lost from the soil. 

In a ton of milk, on the other hand, his soil loses 
only about 12 pounds of nitrogen, 4>4 pounds of phos- 
phoric acid, and 3^^ pounds of potash. 

Hence, other circumstances, such as markets, roads, 

59 




60 



RAISING AND ROTATION OF FIELD CROPS. 6l 

etc., being equal, the dairy farmer will be in possession 
of a greater amount of his original soil at the end of 
ten years than the wheat raising farmer. 

These facts should be well considered. Whether to 
raise one crop rather than another depends on many 
circumstances; sometimes it is simply a question as to 
the quickest way of obtaining some ready money. It 
is for this reason that tenant farmers are often so de- 
structive in their treatment of the farm. The owner, 
or any conscientious farmer, will look ahead, make his 
plans a number of years in advance, and will use all 
possible care and diligence to prepare his land in such 
a way that each crop to be raised shall find all the con- 
ditions favorable. (Fig. 8.) 

We have learned that natural soils which have never 
been used for raising crops contain humus and all the 
elements of fertility needed to produce paying crops. 
But we have also seen that some crops need more min- 
eral elements than others, that they exhaust the soil 
more and that, if continued on the same ground, they 
will rob the soil of special and necessary elements of 
its fertility. The way to restore such fertility has been 
pointed out, and we have seen that clover, or clover- 
like plants, peas, beans, alfalfa, furnish the most useful 
crop to be plowed under in order to enrich the soil. 

Now if we use a field in such a way that we raise 
clover one or two years, potatoes or corn the next two 
years, and finally wheat or oats, or barley, etc., we ro- 
tate our crops, that is we use them as it were in a 
circle. Rotate means to turn like a wheel, and the 
changing of crops, as just described, is called rotation 
of crops. 

The advantage of rotation is in the fact that different 



62 FIELD CROPS. 

plants use different elements, and that after taking off 
one crop, for instance, potatoes, or beets, turnips, 
mang-el-wurzels, etc., we may raise another with a good 
chance of success, even without further manuring. 

The ash of clover contains more nitrates than the 
ash of wheat, but as these nitrates are stored not only 
in the seed, but also in the roots, stems and leaves of 
the plant, all of which may either be returned in the 
form of manure or plowed under and thus fitted for 
direct use, it follows that clover leaves more nitrates 
in the soil than it takes from it. Feeding clover to 
stock, and returning the barnyard manure, is therefore 
an excellent way to increase the fertility of the soil and 
at the same time to get a good crop of clover hay for 
stock.* 

It is easy to see that potatoes and root crops contain 
so much water that a ton of them will not take as much 
solid, that is mineral, matter from the soil as from 7 
to 8 bushels of wheat will require. Hence if potatoes 
sell at a good price they are in many respects a more 
profitable crop than wheat, provided the yield is satis- 
factory. By a proper rotation a good yield can be se- 
cured, provided the cultivation of the crop is well man- 
aged. A small part of the money obtained will then 
suffice to restore the lost fertilizing material. In most 
cases it will be sufficient to use the manure made on the 
farm. 

One ton of wheat needs almost as large a proportion 
of phosphates as two tons of clover hay. As already 
stated, the clover brings up valuable plant food from 

*If fed to horses, clover should be moistened by sprinkling 
with water as it is apt, in the dry state, to irritate the throat 
and lungs of some horses. 



RAISING AND ROTATION OF FIELD CROPS. 63 

the lower part of the soil, thereby enriching it in its up- 
per part where the roots of corn and wheat can reach it. 
Hence these two crops, clover and wheat, may follow 
one another, and good results be obtained. But if 
wheat alone be raised on the same land for a number 
of years, the supply of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric 
acid in the soil will finally be so small as to produce 
only poor crops which do not pay, and leave no profit 
by means of which the farmer can afford to buy the 
needed fertilizers. 

What is here said of wheat is true also of corn, oats, 
barley and rye. On dairy and stock farms root crops 
pay well. With them and clover the ^^ertility of the 
soil can be maintained a long time, provided all the 
barnyard manure is returned to it. A good rotation 
would therefore be : First, clover; second, corn; third, 
potatoes; fourth, turnips or mangel-wurzels ; fifth, 
wheat. With the wheat, if it is of the winter variety, 
clover should be sown, and the rotation again started. 
If winter wheat will not do, it may be best to sow rye 
with clover in the fall, or the term of the rotation may 
be extended one year. These are matters of detail which 
can be arranged by anyone who understands the nature 
of his soil and the reason why manuring and a proper 
rotation of crops are necessary to make farming pay. 
The rule of rotation in Illinois seems to be, first, wheat ; 
second, corn; third, oats or rye; fourth, clover. On 
stock farrns a root crop is often added. 

One great advantage of such rotation is that it 
makes possible an effective war on weeds which would 
otherwise deprive the soil of much of its fertility. 
It also helps to kill many injurious insects, though in 



64 FIELD CROPS. 

order to do this well, it will be necessary to give the 
soil the very best kind of tillage. Clods and weeds 
furnish hiding places for the insect pest. A clean and 
mellow seed-bed exposes the eggs and larvae of the in- 
sects to the effects of sun and rain, of heat and cold. 
Good tillage, deep plowing, (where the sub-soil permits 
it), frequent harrowing and the use of the new styles 
of cultivators, will open the soil to the air, secure suffi- 
cient moisture in dry weather and enable the soil to 
absorb a great part of the rain and snow water. This 
should be supplemented by drainage. Sandy soils may 
not need to be tile drained, but it has been stated that 
even they are f)enefited by it. Heavy soils derive the 
most benefit from under draining. 

Tiles are now generally laid at least three feet deep, 
many think from four to five feet is better, and 30 feet 
apart. It has been found that large tiles, from 3 to 4, 
and even 5 inches, pay best. The land should be care- 
fully examined in order to find a permanent outlet for 
the main drain, at its lowest place. Then work back- 
ward, laying the tiles on a perfectly smooth surface, 
covering the joints with paper, and then fill in with 
soil so as not to disturb their position. A good farmer 
will look after this work himself, as any carelessness 
in the laying out of the tiles may result in their getting 
filled up with soil. There should be an even fall 
throughout, though this fall may be very slight. 

The advantages of draining are very great. It 
makes possible the working of the soil shortly after the 
heaviest rain, so that crops can be put in early, or in the 
short interval before another rain comes on. It goes 
far to prevent wasteful washing of the soil, during 



RAISTNG AND ROTATION OF FIELD CROPS. 65 

rainy periods or by heavy rains, and as it keeps the soil 
dry enough to absorb water nearly all of the time, it 
furnishes to the roots of the growing crop the best pos- 
sible conditions for growth. The roots will run deeper 
and feed the plant on top better, so that heavy crops 
are the result. 

Good tillage and perfect drainage take the place of 
manuring to some extent. They make available a 
greater depth of soil for the growing crop, so that the 
roots reach further down for material that is deficient 
near the surface. 

A good judge"^ of the subject has said : 

''Had I to take my choice between a given quantity 
of manure, and tillage implements such as we had twen- 
ty or twenty-five years ago, on most farms, and one- 
half the quantity of manure and the best tillage tools 
of the day, I w^ould choose the latter for my farm. We 
can turn and stir and tear up and pulverize in a way 
now that was not possible when I began farming." 

Prof. I. P. Roberts says in the ''Rural New Yorker" : 
"We do not half estimate the value of culture. There 
are vast stores of fertility in our soils if we will only 
bring them out and render them available by thorough 
and persistent culture. Good agriculture means, first, 
culture, and second, careful conservation of farm 
manures. To these add commercial fertilizers." 

The rotation of crops also tends to prevent waste 
of fertilizing matter that is not used by the crops, but 
evaporates in the air. Wherever the same crops have 
been raised for a number of years in succession the 
loss of nitrates in the soil, and also of other elements. 



*Mr, Terry in his book, "Our Farming.' 



66 FIELD CROPS. 

is very much greater than what the crops actually take 
away. It has been stated by the Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station of the University of Minnesota that in 
that state the loss by continuous wheat raising of nitro- 
gen that did not enter the wheat plant at all, was 146^ 
pounds per acre. The wheat itself took up only 24^ 
pounds. When wheat is grown in rotation with clover 
no such loss occurs; on the contrary, the gain in the 
soil of nitrogen far exceeds that lost or carried away 
by the wheat crops. 

The continuous cotton and tobacco growing in the 
Southern states shows like results. The lesson is so 
startling that no doubt can remain as to the value, 
nay, the necessity, of a rotation of crops, and that 
one of these crops must be of leguminous plants : clo- 
ver, alfalfa, the soja bean, cow pea, or the regular field 
bean and field pea. 



CHAPTER 11. 

GRAIN CROPS. 

All grain crops do best on new or virgin soil. When 
.our prairies were first turned into fields the first crop 
of wheat would generally average over 30 bushels. 
After a number of crops were taken from the same 
field, the average yield of wheat per acre would be 
only 15, 12 and finally less than 10 bushels. The rea- 
son was that the soil had been gradually robbed of its 
fertility. A wheat crop requires for every 20 bushels 
40 pounds of nitrogen, 18 pounds of potash and 15 
pounds of phosphoric acid. If any of the nitrates or 
mineral elements in the soil prove insuf^cient for the 
full development of the wheat plant the crops neces- 
sarily become lighter. Hence the modern practice of 
raising wheat on clover soil or on soil that has been 
used for some time as meadow land or pasturage. 
Clover is superior for this purpose to grass because 
its roots run deeper, and particularly, as was explained 
in a previous chapter, as these roots gather nitrogen 
from the air and thus restore the nitrogenous elements 
of the humus. In many localities winter wheat can 
be successfully raised, in others the young plants will 
be destroyed in the spring by the sudden freezing and 
thawing of the ground. 

Land for winter wheat should be plowed in August 
or September, and the seed sown in September in order 
that the young plants may gain suf^cient strength to 

67 



68 FIELD CROPS. 

pass safely through the winter. As there can be no 
after cultivation it is very important to prepare the 
soil well and to make sure that the weeds do not get 
the upper hand. It is therefore often best to raise a 
crop of corn or potatoes after breaking up the clover 
or grass soil, because these crops favor the killing of 
weeds. The ground should be gone over several times 
with a disk harrow, then thoroughly rolled, and finally 
a smoothing harrow should be used until all the soil 
is thoroughly mellow. There must be no clods, hence 
avoid cultivating or plowing directly after a rain, while 
the ground is wet. These remarks apply also to spring 
wheat which should be sown as early in spring as the 
fields can be put into proper condition. Seeding is 
now generally done by drills. These secure a more 
even stand and place the seed at a more uniform depth. 
As in the case of corn and other crops, it is very 
important to sow only the best kind of wheat suitable 
to the locality, and further, to sow only clean seed. 
Carelessness in the selection of good and clean seed is 
sure to entail loss, for ever}^ weed grown deprives a 
wheat plant of necessary food and moisture. It is also 
best to obtain seed from a more northern region. Such 
seed will grow a little more slowly and thus secure a 
better filling out of the kernel. The raising of seed 
wheat may be made quite profitable as its market price 
is generally more than double that of the ordinary 
wheat, but in order to succeed in it the greatest care 
must be bestowed on keeping out weeds, and if the 
fanning-mill does not separate the weed-seed perfectly 
from the grain, it may be necessary to hand-pick the 
wheat before sowing or drilling it. The more care is 



GRAIN CROPS. 69 

given to obtain perfect cleanliness from weed-seed the 
greater will be the profits of the business. 

In order to secure a good crop of winter wheat it 
has been found necessary in many localities to cover 
the field with straw, either directly after sowing in the 
fall or during the winter months before thawing sets 
in. This involves a great deal of labor, as it must be 
carefully done. If the straw is put on directly after 
sowing the young plants pushing through it will hold 
it in place from the wind, which otherwise greatly in- 
terferes. 

The quantity of seed required for an acre varies 
with the fertility of the soil. The more fertile the 
soil the less seed is required, from 4 to 5 pecks being 
considered sufficient on the best soil, if put in early. If 
sowm late it may be advisable to sow a peck or more per 
acre, in order to make good the loss in weight and in 
the size of the ears by a larger number of stalks. Sow- 
ing from 6 to 7 pecks on very good land would cause 
much of the crop to lodge. There is also a difference 
in the varieties as to the size of the kernels ; small 
wheat would not require so many pecks. 

The harvesting of the crop used to be a very serious 
job, but the labor is now much reduced by the use of 
the binder. Wheat may be cut when it is in the dough 
state, that is when the kernels easily yield to the pres- 
sure of the fingers. Cut then, they will ripen perfectly 
afterwards. Wheat may be cut when dead ripe, but 
this will spoil the shape of the sheaves. Their tops 
will hang over to the sides instead of standing up 
straight, and it will therefore be more difficult to dry 
them after a rain while they are in the shocks. Ten 
vsheaves ma^ be put in a shock ; more will not dry out 



, yo FIELD CROPS. 

well after a rain. It has been recommended to put 8 or 
9 bundles in the base and two for caps. Put the first 
cap sheaf with its head to the south, the other with 
its head to the north, because most of our winds blow 
from these directions and the caps will thus lie more 
firmly. These caps should be broken in the middle, 
not merely bent, in order to make them rest more 
securely. The breaking can be done by taking a few 
straws at a time. Every precaution should be taken 
to enable these bundles to dry out well, for some sea- 
sons are so wet that it is not easy to save the whole 
crop. 

Wheat is one of the crops it does not pay to raise 
while prices are low, and it seems that prices must neces- 
sarily be low as there is so much competition from the 
new land in countries like Argentina, Russia, the Dan- 
ube provinces and states, and India. To raise wheat 
and ship it abroad might almost be called a way to 
impoverish ourselves, as this takes away the fertility 
of the soil. To restore it is a difficult and expensive 
undertaking. Only very good prices, such as will en- 
able the farmers to buy fertiHzers, can justify this 
practice. 

What is true about sowing and harvesting wheat is 
also true about other grains, oats, barley and rye. Bar- 
ley is used by brewers and also as food for stock. For 
the use of the brewer it must be of a bright color, and 
well filled. Such barley will sprout early and produce 
the malt out of which beer is made. The two-rowed 
variety requires more time for ripening than the four- 
rowed or six-rowed, the latter ripening most quickly. 

Rye can be sown both in the fall and in the spring. 



GRAIN CROPS. *Jl 

It will produce fair crops even on poor soil. In Russia. 
Germany and Scandinavia rye is extensively grow^n for 
bread, as wheat is an uncertain crop. 

Oats produce very heavy crops on rich soils, but 
they grow well enough on poor soil and can be grown 
much farther north than either wheat or barley. 

Corn is our principal crop and deserves a chapter for 
itself. 

There are a number of other field crops which in 
some localities prove profitable, and which may receive 
mention here. Tobacco is one of these. It requires 
extra care in curing and the crop is very exhaustive, of 
the mineral elements in the soil. 

Buckwheat may be sown as a so-called ''catch-crop/' 
Its roots are short, and fair crops can be raised on poor 
soil as the plant draws its nutriment largely from the 
air. Buckwheat answers well as green manure for 
plowing under. 

Flax is an important crop. It is an annual and 
grows to the height of about two feet. When in blos- 
som it is easily known by its bluish flowers. The seed 
is called linseed or flaxseed, the former name being 
formed from the Latin or botanical name limim, the 
latter from the Saxon fiax. Linseed oil is an important 
article of manufacture and in this country the crop is 
mainly raised for this purpose. Linseed oil cake, made 
of the ground seed after the oil has been pressed out, 
is one of the very best foods for stock. The stalk of 
the plant furnishes a fibre which is the material for 
linen. 

Cotton, and other special southern crops, cannot here 
receive any attention, as their importance requires a 
more extensive treatment than is consistent with the 
limited scope of this book. 



CHAPTER III. 

CORN. 

In 1 89 1 the United States produced its largest crop 
of corn — two thousand millions of bushels. A railroad 
car will hold 600 bushels, and a train of such cars, 
sufficient to hold the entire crop, would have extended 
around the entire globe. The crop was raised on 96,- 
000,000 acres. This proves that a large portion was 
raised on land not naturally fitted for corn, for the 
total area of land in this country fit to produce paying 
crops of corn is only 47,000,000 acres. 

The average yield per acre of this immense crop 
was not quite 21 bushels, but as in the true corn region 
a yield of 40 bushels and over is the rule rather than 
the exception, it follows that millions of acres must 
have yielded much less than 20 bushels per acre, and 
that hence very many farmers either made nothing out 
of their crops or lost by them. It has been shown 
again and again that on land adapted to corn culture 
and kept up to the proper degree of fertility, it is pos- 
sible to raise from 80 to 90 bushels per acre. 

There are 3,488 hills of corn to the acre, if planted 
in the customary way. These ought to average two 
stalks each, or 6,976 stalks, each producing a large and 
well-filled ear, or an average of 90 bushels per acre. 
With very rich manuring and regular garden culture it 
is claimed that an acre may yield 240 bushels. 

Reports at Farmers' Institutes have shown that 32 

72 



CORN. 73 

to 34 bushels per acre is often the average yield of 
corn the ears of which, on the average, are only 4^ 
inches long. But ears of the same variety of corn 
might be grown 15 to 16 inches long, thereby trebling 
the total yield. How can this be do'ne ? 

Suppose that we plant corn with a first class planter 
on mellow land that was seeded down to clover and 
was plowed under in the fall. We choose our seed corn 
with great care, rejecting the tips and also the first rows 
of the thick end. Directly after planting, the entire 
field. should be gone over with a good harrow and, in 
order both to keep the soil mellow and to kill weeds, 
this harrowing should be repeated. It will do no harm 
even after some of the corn has come up, the advantage 
to the growing crops, from thoroughly mellowing and 
pulverizing the soil, being so great that the work will 
pay even if a few of the small plants should suffer in- 
jury. After the rows show and the young plants de- 
velop and extend their roots near the surface, great 
care must be taken not to break or otherwise injure 
these roots, hence cultivation should be shallow, though 
it may be at first tolerably deep toward the center of 
the row. Care should also be taken not to produce 
ridges. The ground should be as level as possible. The 
implements now in use are well adapted to this kind of 
work, but the one who uses them must know what he 
is about and, if necessary, make such a change in the 
position of the teeth of the cultivator or harrow as to 
be able to do his work thoroughly and without injury 
to the roots. 

Rains beating on the surface will harden the latter, 
and the sun will bake the soil so as to exclude the air. 
Hence as soon as possible after a rain the cultivator 



74 FIELD CROPS. 

should be run between the rows. It is very essential 
not to postpone this work, for if done too late the 
ground will break up in clods, or be so hard that the 
teeth of the cultivator cannot enter it. If set deep 
they will injure the roots on the strength of which 
the success of the crop depends. 

Remember that if we can give to each ear that grows 
its full natural length, we may obtain a crop that is 
from lo to 50 per cent heavier than it would be if our 
work was careless. 

Continual cultivation will be the very best remedy 
against drouth. There is always a large quantity of 
moisture in the air, as any one knows who has walked 
in the dewy grass on a summer morning. This moisture 
will enter the soil with the air, and as the lower soil 
is naturally cooler than the air, the water will separate 
from this air exactly as the water that forms the dew 
separates from the air that rests on the ground after 
it has been cooled off during the night. At the same 
time the mellow top layer of the cultivated soil forms 
a mulch, a protection from the heat of the sun, and 
thus favors the growth of the roots. These can there- 
fore do their peculiar work of pumping water from 
the soil and sending it, with the mineral elements dis- 
solved in it, to every part of the plant. 

In some parts of the west the practice obtains of 
planting the corn in furrows, which are gradually filled 
in as the plants grow up. This process is known as 
"listing." It secures strong roots and hence good 
crops, but is not practicable on heavy clay soils. 

The injury to crops by running the cultivator too 
deep has been shown by careful experiments. It was 



CORN. 75 

found that by root-pruning growing corn to the depth 
of 2 inches a row would yield 144 ears weighing 63^ 
pounds. Another experiment shows that where the 
root-pruning was 6 inches deep the number of ears was 
123 and their weight 38^ pounds, while without any 
pruning there were 132 ears which weighed 60 J4 
pounds. At 4 inches the pruned corn showed 116 ears 
weighing 51 pounds, the unpruned 146 ears, weighing 
63 J4 pounds. 

We conclude therefore that corn should not be cul- 
tivated so as to injure any of the roots. But cultivation 
must be given in order to kill the weeds, and as it is 
very necessary to provide for a layer of several inches 
of loose and mellow soil to act as a mulch and thus 
keep in the moisture needed by the roots, it will require 
very careful work to secure these results. All depends 
on getting ahead of the weeds. This may be done by 
deep cultivation, as long as the plants are very small, 
following on several harrowings before the plants 
show above the surface; and by shallow cultivation 
later, as soon as possible after a rain, before the forma- 
tion of a crust. Shallow cultivation should then be 
continued until the corn is high enough to shade the 
ground. 

At the Illinois State Fair of 1898 the highest pre- 
mium was given for a crop of corn of 180 13-70 bush- 
els, the product of one acre. It was raised on compar- 
atively new and very rich land. Two crops of wheat 
had been taken from it, then it was sown in clover 
which was allowed to stand three years, and pastured 
with cattle and sheep. It was broken early in the 
spring, thoroughly pulverized and prepared in the most 



y(y FIELD CROPS. 

perfect manner. Soil, naturally as good and equally as 
rich as this, if continually cropped with corn, would 
scarcely produce 25 bushels an acre. This has been 
proven by careful experiment. 

According to the Yearbook of the Department of 
Agriculture (1900), recent experiments at several 
Agricultural Experiment Stations seem to prove that 
no difference in the quality or yield has been found 
when the grain from either end of the ear is used for 
seed. 

Great importance is attached to the rule of selecting 
seed corn only from such stalks as bear two good ears. 

As all our improved varieties are due to careful selec- 
tion of seed, the importance of using extra care and 
the best judgment in selecting seed corn, or any other 
grain for seed, must be apparent to every one. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GRASS, CLOVER AND HAY. 

"All flesh is grass," says an old and sacred authority. 
It is the particular food of the cattle and other stock, 
and wherever stock raising is the principal business, 
grass is the principal crop on the farm. But to sell 
hay from the farm is to rob the soil of its fertility with 
little chance of adequate return. The crops will be- 
come lighter, and finally it will be found absolutely 
necessary to apply commercial fertilizers. 

It is an expensive and slow undertaking to restore 
fertility where it has once been lost. Hence it is the 
object of the intelligent farmer to combine cattle 
breeding with field and meadow culture. Feeding 
the hay to stock on the farm saves the most valuable 
part of the crop for manure, while at the same time 
the cattle sold bring in money enough to pay a good 
profit and make good the loss of so much of the fer- 
tility of the soil as is carried away in the bones and the 
fleshy part of the stock. 

Some land is especially adapted to grass crops, much 
of it to pasturage. Kentucky blue-grass is the best for 
pastures ; timothy, which should always be mixed with 
clover, is the best for hay. If then from time to time 
the hay or meadow grass-land be plowed up for a rota- 
tion of other crops, the last of which to be clover, a 
farmer will have reason to be satisfied with the results. 

We must bear in mind that clover crops answer far 

77 



78 FIELD CROPS. 

better for the purpose of preparing the soil for a rota- 
tion of other crops than timothy. It is a fact that clo- 
ver collects nitrogen, timothy eats it. Timothy is not 
a renovating crop like clover, though it answers a good 
purpose in any system of rotation of crops. 

For pastures it is recommended as advisable to sow 
one bushel of blue-grass per acre on good soil the first 
week of March, or somewhat earlier if possible. Tim- 
othy should be sown alone early in the fall, from 10 to 
12 pounds to the acre. Early in the spring from 6 to 
8 pounds of clover seed should be added. Timothy 
may also be sown with winter wheat in the fall, 8 to 
10 pounds to the acre. Some sow timothy with spring 
wheat, but the practice cannot be recommended. Pas- 
tures once established should be maintained as long as 
possible. It takes time to establish a good sod on 
pastures. Where there are trees, orchard-grass, as it 
does well in partial shade, may be sown with the blue- 
grass. All seeding must be done on well prepared 
soil. Scattering the seed on uncultivated soil is for 
the most part sheer waste of time, labor and seed. 

In our northwestern states, especially in Iowa, Ne- 
braska, Minnesota and parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and 
Indiana, the successful sowing of grass seed requires 
the use of the harrow far more than in states farther 
east. The seed should be harrowed in, the same as 
wheat and oats when these are sown by hand. This 
is on account of the dry winds and the general dryness 
of the atmosphere which prevail at the time when this 
sowing takes place. Many successful farmers have 
given it as their opinion, based on experience, that fail- 
ures are frequently due to a disregard of this fact. 



GRASS, CLOVER AND HAY. 79 

The hay crop requires particular care. It should be 
housed before a rain can injure it. Our present im- 
plements for cutting and gathering the crop on the 
field enable us to do this, except in unusual seasons. 

Where hay has to be put up in ricks, a skillful hand 
is required to place it so that the rain cannot enter on 
any .side. The center should be well tramped and the 
top laid in with special care to secure a good water 
shed. Hay ropes to which stones or heavy pieces of 
wood may be attached, should be laid on the top to 
prevent heavy winds from blowing it off. 

Manure can be applied to grass-land and clover in 
the most efficient way by means of the spreader. Care 
should be taken to have the machine in good order, 
and well cleaned and oiled before using, as it is hard 
on the horses. If the barnyard manure be hauled from 
a covered shed, where it has been tramped solid by the 
cattle, one man ought to stay at the shed for the pur- 
pose of loosening the mass with a fork, while the 
other should keep hauling and spreading. A good 
spreader will distribute the manure evenly over the 
whole field. The practice of piling up manure in small 
or large heaps in the field is apt to produce heat and 
consequent loss. It is best to spread it as soon as 
possible on the growing grass or clover. The effect 
on the crops will then be very satisfactory and last for 
several years, benefiting other crops that are raised in 
rotation. 

If clover is cut for its seed the cutting should not 
begin until the seed is fully ripe. If cut sooner the 
crop must be left on the ground until the seed has 
had time to ripen perfectly. Unless these precautions 
are taken the value of the seed will be greatly injured, 



8o FIELD CROPS. 

and the price obtained in market will not be satisfac- 
tory. Where seed is the main object, the value of the 
plant for hay is greatly diminished. As a rule the 
leaves drop and thus the greater part of the feed value 
of the hay is lost. This can be avoided in part, as can 
also the loss of over ripe seed, by cutting very early in 
the morning while the field is wet with dew. 

A crop of clover hay requires great care in the curing 
while in the field. It must be thoroughly dry when 
hauled ; and as its succulent stalks do not dry quickly, 
and the dense mass of its vines and leaves do not allow 
the sun to reach every part after cutting, frequent 
turning and spreading are necessary, requiring time 
and expense. In spite of these drawbacks, few pro- 
gressive farmers will refuse to undergo the trouble of 
raising good clover hay, for its nourishing value is 
such that all stock is greatly benefited by it, even 
horses, though with them it may be necessary to 
moisten the hay with a sprinkler before feeding, to 
avoid irritations of their breathing apparatus by the 
dust that is generally found in the hay. 

Cowpeas are preferred by many to clover for quick 
returns. The late varieties, if sown in May, may be 
cut for hay, and the roots will furnish new growth for 
a good pasture in the fall. If turned under the roots 
will furnish a large supply of humus for future use. 

The earlier varieties of the cowpea may be sown in 
corn the last of June. They will ripen and make good 
pasturage for sheep or hogs. They can also be sown 
with a wheat drill at the rate of three-quarters of a 
bushel per acre after the grain crop has been removed. 
There will be a good growth which will amply pay for 



GRASS, CLOVER AND HAY. 8 1 

the trouble and expense, both in respect to the fertiUz- 
ing effect and to the shading of the ground during 
the fierce heat of July and August. For the same rea- 
son cowpeas will do well in an orchard if sown after 
cultivation has stopped. 

The total production of our meadow lands in hay 
amounts to 50,110,906 tons, but this would not feed 
our horses, cattle, sheep, etc., for more than one-third 
of a year. The other two-thirds of fodder required 
must therefore come from other sources, from our pas- 
ture and grazing lands. A variety of nutritive grasses 
grows on the arid lands of the west, and the value of 
these and others cannot be easily estimated. Special 
investigations are being made by the Agricultural De- 
partment in Washington in regard to all these various 
grasses and their value for stock. 



CHAPTER V. 

ROOT CROPS. 

Root crops are rarely a principal crop for Western 
farmers. Turnips are frequently sown in cornfields, 
after cultivation has been stopped, and a good yield is 
often obtained if the weather is favorable. 

Carrots are rather a garden crop. They should be 
sown in rows and thinned out. 

All root crops require a rich, well-drained and deep 
soil and thorough cultivation. The most important is 
the beet root, which is now being extensively raised in 
some sections for the production of sugar. Sugar beets 
are set out when the plants are yet small, and cultivated 
the same as cabbages. Where the soil is not friable 
and deep, the growth of the root is apt to be irregular 
and the yield in saccharine (sugary) matter insuffi- 
cient. 

The sugar beet, the same as other roots, consists 
mainly of water and carbon, hence it does not draw 
much fertility from the soil. As only the sugar is ex- 
tracted, i. e., carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, there is abso- 
lutely no loss in fertilizing matter, provided all the 
other parts are restored to the land. 

This makes it one of the most desirable crops for 
the farmer, except for the fact that the setting out of 
the young plants and their subsequent cultivation re- 
quire a great deal of labor. Where the beets can be 



ROOT CROPS. 83 

taken directly to a sugar factory, without shipping, the 
crop is a profitable one. 

In cultivating the sugar beet, great care must be had 
to keep the roots completely covered with earth, as any 
exposure to the light and air will diminish the sugar in 
them. 

Originally, this beet was small and contained 
very little sugar. By a process of careful selection the 
best seed only was used in a series of crops until the 
present sugar beet was obtained. This process is of 
universal application and just as applicable to other 
plants. New varieties of beet roots ate produced even 
now by this process. 

The manufacture of beet root sugar has assumed 
enormous proportions in Germany. Recently the 
United States have followed the example set by Europe, 
and accordingly we find large factories in many states, 
even as far west as Utah and California. 

This industry seems to be threatened by the free, 
or partially free, import of cane sugar from Cuba, the 
Philippine Islands and Puerto Rico. It is believed, 
though, that the steadily increasing consumption of 
sugar in this country will avert the danger, enable the 
manufacturer to get a fair price for his product, and 
to buy from the farmer all the raw material in the shape 
of sugar, beets that he may choose to produce. 

Turnips, carrots, beets, etc., are biennials. They 
complete their root growth the first year and run up 
a seed stalk the second. In the growth of this stalk, 
and in the production of seed, the solid parts of the 
root are consumed, so that the latter presents at the 
end of the second year a thin and fibrous appearance. 
Roots grow vigorously in th^ fall, when the moist 



84 FIELD CROPS. 

weather enables them to draw on the nitrates which 
were formed in the soil in late summer. 

Root crops require heavy manuring, except on new 
land. They need a great deal of mineral matter for 
their large leaves and the outer coating of the roots. 
It is, therefore, very important that these parts should 
be returned to the soil. 

The roots commonly raised belong to different fam- 
ilies. The carrot belongs to the same family with pars- 
nip and celery, the umbrella-shaped, or mnbeUiferae, 
so called from the form in which their blossoms appear. 
The turnip belongs to the family called cruciferae, to 
which also belong the cabbage, rape, radish, mustard, 
wild and cultivated, wild flax, and the flowers candy- 
tuft and stocks. 

The beet root and the mangel-wurzel {root of want 
or famine, because it proved a blessing during a famine 
in Germany) belong to the goose-foot family (Beta 
cicla) . 

Mangels grow enormously on rich soils and are 
raised by many farmers for stock. 



CHAPTER VI. 

POTATOES. 

When the English navigator, Francis Drake, first 
sent potatoes from America to England, suclx was the 
ignorance concerning this article of food that the 
friend who received the potatoes and raised a small 
crop from them had the berries growing on the top 
prepared for a new dish and threw away the tubers, 
that is, the potatoes. 

Potatoes are a root crop, differing from other root 
crops in that they grow from the roots. Such growths 
have the general name of tubercles, and hence we often 
hear the potato spoken of as the useful tuber. 

While the potato has but little value as a food for 
strength, it is universally relished as an important part 
of our regular diet. Hence the consumption of pota- 
toes is enormous and their cultivation one of the 
prominent objects of farming. 

Near good markets, and especially within a reason- 
able distance of the very large cities, potatoes are a 
valuable crop. They contain so much water, and so 
little of nitrogenous matter, that they do not remove 
much fertility from the soil. They require a rich, deep 
soil ; one underdrained, especially if it contains a cer- 
tain amount of clay, being the most productive. 

A crop of potatoes may follow directly after clo- 
ver. As they require the very best cultivation and 
leave the land in excellent condition, they may be 

85 



86 FIELD CROPS. 

profitably followed by wheat. An objection some- 
times urged against this plan is that if clover sod is 
manured in the fall and plowed in the spring, the 
potatoes grown on such land are apt to be attacked by 
scab. For this reason it is recommended to follow 
clover closely by corn and to let potatoes come after 
corn. Manure may be spread in the fall and the 
ground sown to rye, which should be plowed up in the 
spring to make way for the corn or other crops. No 
further manuring would be necessary for the potato 
crop the next year. 

Land for potatoes should be plowed early in the 
fall in order to kill the wire worms and grubs in the 
soil, and while the land is yet moist. This plan, how- 
ever, interferes with a corn crop, as the corn occupies 
the ground till late in the fall, unless it is cut and 
hauled from the field early. The regular plow may be 
followed by a sub-soil plow, which will stir the ground 
to a depth of some lo or 12 inches without bringing 
up the sub-soil. One advantage in plowing up clover 
sod for potatoes is in its being naturally mellow, thus 
making further preparation easy. Such preparation 
must be thorough, but plowing after clover requires 
only one going over the ground with the smoothing 
harrow, on which a plank should be laid to enable the 
driver to stand on it. This harrowing must be done 
before the soil has had time to become very dry, or 
else after a shower, allowing time for the surface 
moisture to disappear. For clay land the disk harrow 
is considered a better tool. It should be followed by 
the roller to secure the finest tillage before planting. 
There must be no clods, all the soil must be mellow, 
easily crumbling to the touch. 



POTATOES. ^y 

Potatoes should be planted in rows three feet apart 
(some recommend a shorter distance), and about 20 
inches apart in the rows. Pieces with one eye are 
as good as whole potatoes, if not better. Choose only 
sound and well grown potatoes, not necessarily the 
largest, but do not plant the small ones. Like pro- 
duces like, and fair-sized potatoes of even size sell bet- 
ter than a mixture of very large and very small ones. 

It is important to guard against scab. This is due 
to tiny germs, invisible to the naked eye, that may har- 
bor in the vessels, boxes, baskets, etc., in which the 
potatoes are hauled. Not only all seed potatoes should 
be washed in a solution of corrosive sublimate (one 
part in a thousand parts of water), but also every 
article in which they are carried and hauled. There 
must not be the slightest amount of dirt on any of these 
because dirt is the favorite hiding place of these 
germs. Where potatoes have been raised before, it 
may happen that these germs are in the soil. In such 
a case the safe way to do is to select a field that has 
not yet borne potatoes. Buying seed potatoes from a 
distance may introduce scab germs. They may even 
be found in the planter, and for greater safety it may 
be desirable to thorougly clean and wash this instru- 
ment some days before it is to be used. If this is 
postponed until planting time, the probability is that 
it will not be done well. 

After planting, cultivation must be kept up in order 
to get ahead of weeds and to secure that fine tilth 
which is as important as the proper manure for the 
success of the crops. When the ridges can be seen, 
as they can when a planter has been used, a horse 



88 FIELD CROPS. 

may be used to cultivate deeply between the rows. 
After this a Thomas harrow or other good instrument 
should be used with two horses, which must be kept 
between the rows. 

One of the most successful potato growers in the 
country, Mr. Terry, recommends a Thomas harrow 
having seventy-two round steel teeth slanting back- 
wards and taking a sweep of about lo feet. He har- 
rows only three rows at a time, lapping the rest of the 
width. After such a harrowing, it is well to roll the 
ground, if the weather is dry. But if rain threatens, 
this rolling should be omitted, because the soil would 
be more benefited by a rain if loose than if closely 
packed. If time permits, it w^ould be advisable, in 
order to secure the highly desirable fineness of the 
soil, to roll and again harrow, and even to repeat this 
several times. After a rain there should always be 
another harrowing, as soon as the ground is workable, 
to prevent the forming of a crust. Sometimes it may 
be that the rain threatens while the weather is hot 
enough to kill weeds. It is then best to keep on har- 
rowing, for one cannot tell whether there may not 
be rainy weather for some time, making it difficult 
to get ahead of the weeds. As long" as the ground 
is dry, harrowing can do no harm, but will greatly 
help to destroy the weeds. Finally a crosswise harrow- 
ing should destroy all ridges and leave the field clear of 
weeds. After the plants come up no more harrowing 
should be done; yet slightly covering a young plant 
will not hurt it. However, great care should be taken 
that no soil is removed from a plant, as it would 
surely be injured. 



POTATOES. 89 

Three harrowings before the plants start will be 
enough, as a rule. The work can be done quickly, 
hence there will be time enough. When the rows 
show, cultivation must be continued by means of a 
one-horse weeder ; one that harrows only two rows at 
once is very useful, provided the ground is dry. If 
packed by rain a cultivator should be run first, fol- 
lowed by a weeder. In order that the latter may be 
beneficial, the soil should be just right for thorough 
work; not too dry, for then the weeder cannot take 
hold ; nor too wet, for in that case it will clog. 

The proper selection and use of the necessary tools 
is important. Hillmg the plants is not recommended ; 
the ground should remain level; but it is desirable 
to throw an inch or so of soil under the plants from 
each side. This will check weeds ready to start, and 
prevent the roots from becoming exposed to the sun- 
light. The throwing of so much of the soil can be 
effected by a sod shovel put on a small horse hoe. 
Whatever weeds remain after careful horse cultiva- 
tion must be destroyed by hand weeding. No weeds 
should be allowed to go to seed under any consider- 
ation, if a paying crop of potatoes is desired. 

The Colorado beetle, commonly known as the "po- 
tato bug," causes much trouble, though the pest seems 
to be on the decrease in many localities. The use 
of a shallow pan and paddle has been recommended 
where hand picking is used. Going through the rows 
you strike each bush with the paddle and let the beetles 
and their young drop into the pan. Beginning very 
early to pick by hand will prevent the laying of eggs, 
and therefore there will be a smaller crop of the pest. 



90 FIELD CROPS. 

It is best to begin with the outside rows, where the 
beetles are apt to settle when they arrive from other 
fields. Where the beetles are too numerous the plants 
may be sprinkled with a mixture of Paris green and 
water. Great care must, of course, be taken to pre- 
vent accidents, because Paris green, and also London 
Purple, often used in its stead, contain arsenic, a vio- 
lent poison. Careless spraying with too strong a mix- 
ture will injure the vines. 

The harvesting of a large crop of potatoes is now 
generally done by a machine. Hand-digging, if done 
by one who understands the work, is preferable when 
the crop is not very large. 

Keeping potatoes for seed requires a good deal of 
care. They must be kept at a low temperature to pre- 
vent sprouting. For ordinary storing, in order to 
keep as much as possible the natural flavor of the 
potato, boxes or barrels should be used, and the 
potatoes should be well covered to keep out air and 
light. Special root cellars, perfectly dark, with ar- 
rangements to keep the temperature low by allowing 
currents of cold air between the piles (for which pur- 
pose narrow boards nailed together so as to form a 
pipe may be used), and cold storage houses especially 
built for the purpose furnish the best means for keep- 
ing potatoes. An increase of cold storage houses for 
general use is much to be desired. 



CHAPTER VII. 

VALUE OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZERS. 

Every crop takes from the soil, as we have seen, a 
certain amount of mineral matter. Though the soil 
may be naturally rich in such matter, yet by continu- 
ous cropping the available part will become exhausted, 
and it is not always possible to make the rest useful 
for the crops, that is, soluble, so that the roots can 
absorb it. Drainage and cultivation will do much, a 
proper rotation of crops will help greatly, but there 
often comes a time when additional and special fertil- 
izers are absolutely required to make certain kinds 
of farming pay. Barnyard manure is, of course, a 
perfect fertilizer and should always be saved and ap- 
plied with the greatest care. But while it restores 
the fertile elements used on the farm it cannot make 
good the loss that comes from the cattle sold, nor 
from any other product that is sent to market. Some 
crops require more fertilizing elements of a special kind 
than others, and this again makes a special supply 
necessary. 

Let us remember that the products of carbon, hy- 
drogen, and oxygen, the stalks and leaves of grain, 
and the greater part of all root crops and of potatoes 
cost nothing, for these elements are in the air and 
enter the soil without difficulty. All starchy or 
wooden matter belong to this kind of products, and 
as starch turns into fat in the body of the animal, the 

91 



92 FIELD CROPS. 

fatty part of any animal takes nothing or scarcely 
anything from the soil. The greater part of an ani- 
mal is water. The same is true of all green crops, and 
of roots and potatoes. It is only the remainder, the 
nitrogenous and mineral elements that need to be 
considered. 

In a ton of the following products the fertilizing 
elements were found to be in : 

Butter $ .48 

Potatoes 2.02 

Milk 2.80 

Fat pigs 6.92 

Wheat 7.09 

Fat sheep 8.14 

Fat calves io-55 

Fat oxen 1 1 .80 

Cheese 20.83 

That is, in 2,000 pounds of butter there is only 48 
cents worth of the fertility of the soil; all the rest is 
carbon and water. In the case of potatoes, 2,000 
pounds take only $2.02 worth of mineral matter, the 
rest being carbon and water. Cheese, takes the larg- 
est amount of fertilizers from the soil, but as it com- 
mands a good price, the fertilizer may be bought and 
yet leave a large profit. 

The following table was prepared by the Geneva 
(N. Y.) Experimental Station, and though based on 
prices for produce in a certain locality and for a cer- 
tain year, it is relatively correct everywhere. The 
value of the fertilizing element in the following prod- 
ucts, based on the price of fertilizers in the market, 
was found to be as follows : 



VALUE OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZERS. 93 

In a ton of cotton seed meal $28.60 

In a ton of linseed meal 21.42 

In a ton of wheat bran 1 1.65 

In a ton of clover hay 8.20 

In a ton of crushed oats 8.17 

In a ton of corn meal 6.31 

In a ton of timothy 5.48 

In a ton of oat straw 2.58 

In a ton of wheat straw 2.21 

Hence, if stock is fed largely with the first seven 
articles, the manure obtained will almost restore the 
fertility taken from the soil in the production of 
cheese, and allow the farmer to take heavy crops of 
roots and potatoes at the proper time in the rotation 
of crops besides. The great value of cotton seed meal 
and linseed meal is becoming more and more appre- 
ciated, though not yet so much in the west as in the 
east, and in Europe more than here. This is because 
farmers are rapidly learning to understand that loss 
in fertilizing matter by the sale of stock, cheese, etc., 
cannot be fully made good by fertilizers produced on 
the farm. 

The value of clover hay is very great and as clover 
has the further good effect of supplying the soil with 
nitrogenous matter, its value can hardly be over- 
estimated. It will be seen that to sell timothy hay 
at $6.00 a ton, when the average yield per acre is 
less than 2^ tons, yields but a small profit, if the loss 
in fertilizing elements be taken into account. For, 
according to the foregoing table, 2^ tons would take 
from the soil $13.70, while the price obtained for the 
hay would be only $15.00, leaving a profit of $1.30 per 
acre, provided each acre averages 2^ tons. On the 



94 FIELD CROPS. 

Other hand, if the crop be potatoes, and the farmer 
raises 6 tons to the acre, as he can if his land was in 
the best condition when planted, he will lose in fer- 
tilizers $12.12, but will obtain for his crop even at 
the low price of about 25 cents a bushel, $50.00; or, 
let us say at $8.00 a ton, $48.00, which will leave a 
profit of $35.88 per acre, less cost of cultivation, $6.00, 
$29.88. In the case of the hay, if allowance be made 
for expense of cultivation, of cutting, curing and 
gathering the hay in, there would be a considerable 
loss. Hence the importance of feeding hay, corn and 
straw on the farm, and also of alternating with root 
crops and potatoes, in order to make farming pay and 
keeping and increasing the fertility of the soil. 

In raising stock for market, it should be remembered 
that the more fat your animals carry the more profit- 
ble they are, for this fact takes no fertility from your 
soil. On the other hand, the bones, muscles, horns and 
hides contain a considerable amount of fertilizing ele- 
ments, especially nitrates and phosphates. On many 
farms it has been found that the profit to be derived 
from fat stock is exclusively in the manure. By put- 
ting this manure on the land heavier crops can be 
raised, and the value of the farm increased propor- 
tionately. 

Large quantities of guano (the excrements and re- 
mains of birds in the tropics), of saltpeter from Chili, 
which is a nitrate, and of seaweed on the Atlantic coast, 
are used to aid farms that need nitrates in their soils. 
Nitrates being soluble are easily washed from the soil. 
In the places where guano is found it rains very rarely, 
hence the nitrates are retained, and this is the principal 



VALUE OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZERS. 95 

reason why it is so valuable. It needs close calcula- 
tion as to the market price of these, and of the crops 
intended to be raised, in order to decide v^hether their 
use is profitable or not, but there is no question about 
this use becoming more general from year to year. 

Considering the extreme importance of fertilizers it 
is a fact greatly to be regretted that so much of our 
farm manure is allowed to go to waste. The loss from, 
neglect and waste of this important material has been 
estimated to be as much as one-half its money value. 

The Missouri Experiment Station made a careful 
estimate, a few years ago, of the value of the farm 
manure in that State, and found it to be in the neigh- 
borhood of one hundred and fifty million dollars a 
vear. It was believed that one-half of this amount 
goes to waste. 

There are circumstances which make it impossible 
for a hard working beginner to save all his barnyard 
manure under a shed. He is compelled to expose it 
to the elements, but he can, nevertheless, do much to 
save the greater part. The important fact should be 
borne in mind that dry earth, dust, will absorb and 
]:>reserve the ammonia which evaporates from the ma- 
nure. Using the fine dust of the roadside, and when 
this is not available, scraping the surface earth from 
any plowed field for the purpose, will enable the farmer 
to prevent much loss from rain and leaching. 

The manure should be piled up in layers of about a 
foot thick, each layer to be separated from the next by 
a lot of dry earth, and well beaten with the back of the 
spade in such a way that the surface slants in all direc- 
tions. This will allow the rain water to run off quickly. 
It is also desirable to prepare the ground on which the 



96 FIET.D CROPS. 

manure pile is to be built. Dig down a foot or two 
until you reach clay. With the help of some water 
tamp the ground well, using a small post with a smooth 
headpiece, or any similar tool, so that the surface gets 
as firm as possible. It will then be almost watertight. 
Fill in with manure, beating and tramping it down 
well, and add dry earth as before stated. In this way 
a large square pile may be put up that will lose but 
little of its fertilizing value, if not allowed to stay too 
long. 

It may not be out of place here to call attention to 
the enormous waste of fertilizing material in our cities. 
Most of these actually lose untold millions in the value 
of the sewage which they allow to flow into rivers and 
lakes, or into the sea. The drainage canal, w-hich was 
built to carry off the se'wage of the city of Chicago, 
is undoubtedly a wonderful work, but the avowed pur- 
pose for which it was built would have been attained 
with an outlay of money probably not larger than the 
cost of this stupendous canal, if the sewage had been 
led into large reservoirs outside the city, wdience it 
might have been pumped for irrigation purposes. The 
city of Berlin, with its larger population, does this, and 
the city of Paris, after studying the Berlin system, is 
about to adopt it and has already adopted it in part. 
Berlin afforded one of the most unpromising chances 
for the success of such an undertaking, the city and 
surrounding country being almost on a dead level, the 
ground very sandy and difficult to handle on account 
of much moisture that quickly accumulates in the 
lower strata. An enormous area of waste land, con- 
sisting only of sand, has been changed into soil of the 
most surprising fertility. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 

The word "silo" means pit. The early Mexicans 
used to keep their grain in pits, from a lack of build- 
ings on the ground. ''En-sil(o)-age" means putting 
into a pit. 

But the modern sense of the term has changed. 
The first practice of ensilage, in the modern sense, oc- 
curred in Germany. It was soon taken up in Bel- 
gium and France. A publication in Paris, which ap- 
peared in 1877, made the subject generally known in 
this country, though the American Agriculturist had 
called attention to it as early as March, 1874. 

Ensilage is the practice of keeping fodder in a pit 
by tramping and otherwise pressing it thoroughly, so 
as to keep out the air, and by covering it carefully for 
the same purpose. 

The oxygen of the air (the word as explained before 
means sour-maker) brings on fermentation, which 
would soon end in decay. Plence the necessity of ex- 
cluding it. 

To build such a pit, or silo, involves labor and ex- 
pense, and thus far the method has been adopted only 
by the more wealthy farmers. In order to be thor- 
oughly satisfactory and permanent it should be built 
of stone or brick laid in cement. Great care should 
be taken to have a well cemented floor; over the top 



98 FIELD CROPS. 

there should be a roof to keep the water off, and 
drains should be laid which will take away any surface 
water. A tile drain near the bottom of the silo may 
be necessary in most localities. 

At first only corn fodder, cut fine, was put into silos. 
Salt was used to preserve the corn and the process re- 
sembled that of making sourkrout; that is, of cab- 
bage sliced fine, put into a barrel and then pressed 
down by weights. The cabbage ferments slightly 
and its own juice soon accumulates at the top to keep 
out the air. At present, however, the object is to pre- 
vent all fermentation and to keep the fodder as nearly 
as possible in its natural condition. It has been often 
claimed that fodder of any kind put up in silos has a 
larger feeding value than if fed dry. Cows, used to 
ensilage and then returned to pasture, have been known 
to shrink as much as 20 per cent in their milk in a few 
days. Silos are claimed to be more profitable than 
pastures, the latter being advisable only where land 
is very cheap. In building a silo of planks and boards 
it is necessary to provide a good bottom in order to 
keep the rats out. Use the best kind of cement for a 
floor. There must be no water around it. Lay drain 
tile outside to keep away all surface water. The walls 
should be of matched boards, the roofing may be 
cheap or expensive, but it should keep rain or snow 
out. In Illinois a round silo 20 feet in diameter, 38 
feet deep, according to a good authority,* can be built 
for $300.00 and will contain 250 tons of ensilage. 

Grain cut for ensilage should be in the closing seed, 
or just as it begins to close. If put in too early, when 



*Mr. H. B. Gurler, of Dekalb. 



SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 99 

just tasseled, it is nine-tenths water. It costs from 
50 to 60 cents to put in a ton of green hay. After 
the grain, corn, etc., has been put into the silo and 
well tramped down, enough water should be put on 
top to cover the mass completely. This is to give it 
sufficient weight to pack and to exclude the air. If 
not properly packed it will get mouldy. In filling the 
silo the mass should be frequently tramped. If cut 
fine the packing of the fodder will be more close, and 
the result more satisfactory. 

Why ensilage produces such good results is a dis- 
puted question. It is probably due to its being more 
succulent than hay. The animal can digest such food 
more readily, and it will eat and assimilate more of 
it in that condition. If well handled ensilage has no 
bad effect on the butter made from the milk of cows 
fed on it. It is often claimed that the finest flavor of 
butter can be most surely obtained by ensilage. 

If ensilage is to be largely used it is important to 
keep the land in good condition. The crops should be 
heavy to make the expense of handling as low as pos- 
sible. Poor land cannot produce large crops unless 
it is well manured, and light crops increase the ex- 
pense per ton on account of the extra labor. 

LOfC 



PART III. 

ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE HORSE. 



It will be some time before electrical power can 
take tbe place of the horse on the farm, though steam 
plowing has been practiced in Europe and some parts 
of the east for years. Nor is it likely that even with 
the general introduction of steam and electrical power 
the horse will be altogether displaced. It is a fair 
estimate to put the sum total of horses in this coun- 
try at not less than 15,000,000. Most of these are 
used on farms. 

Wliile the farmer need not be a breeder of fast 
horses, it is as much his business, if he can afford it, 
to breed the kind of horses he needs on the farm as to 
do the same for his cattle. There are several breeds 
more or less adapted to the farm. The Clydesdale^ of 
English breed, and the Percheron, French, are types 
of the best and heaviest draft horses. The Hamhle- 
tonian and Cleveland are types of lighter and more 
active horses, especially well adapted to carriages. 

Much depends on the lay of the land, the nature of 
the roads and the amount of hauling, in determining 

lOQ 







Eosa DoaheuFo 



Type of a Fine Horse 



102 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

the choice of the kind of horse most useful for a given 
locahty. A good sire of established reputation should 
be chosen. The mare should be of a gentle disposi- 
tion, with ample girth of body, sound legs, a broad 
forehead, clear eyes and a good, rapid gait. If horses 
are raised for sale it may be laid down as a rule that 
large horses alone should be produced, as they fetch 
the best prices. To compete with breeders of fast 
horses is not the business of the average farmer, al- 
though where the attempt is seriously made it may 
prove very profitable. 

In buying a horse one should look w^ell at the head 
and the teeth, but more particularly at the legs of the 
animal. The hoofs should be perfect. There should 
be no sign of weakness in the legs, as there would be 
if the horse, standing still, puts one front hoof before 
the other. A horse very long in the body is apt to be 
fast, but may not be enduring. For the farmer's work 
a more compact horse would be preferable. The out- 
line from the back to the dock (back of the croup) 
should be as nearly straight as possible. The thighs and 
haunches should be muscular and full. Width of the 
forehead and a clear eye indicate intelligence, and a 
good bodily constitution. 

The age of a horse can be told from the teeth, but 
minute details are hardly in place here. Examine the 
front teeth of colts and young horses and compare 
these with older horses whose age is well known. Facil- 
ities to do so are so frecjuent, and mere descriptions 
are so apt to be misunderstood, that personal inspec- 
tion is by far the better plan. 

The horse has a small stomach and therefore needs 



THE HORSE. IO3 

to feed oftener than cattle; but overfeeding should 
be avoided. Instead of corn, oats should be fed more 
generally, especially in the summer. Clover hay should 
be moistened before feeding.* 

In training a horse adhere to this rule : 

Teach only one thing at a time, but do not give up 
until it is zvcll understood. 

To accustom the horse to the bit, hold the lines stiff, 
without jerking^ after you have put the bridle on, and 
keep them so until he arches his neck, puts down his 
head and begins to champ the bit. This lesson is very 
important and should be well taught. Jerking a horse's 
mouth and unduly pulling the lines should be avoided. 
The horse should remain sensitive to the touch and 
keep the head down by arching the neck. Excessive 
checking up a horse, forcing his nose to be en a line 
with the drive: s head, is not only a cruel, but also a 
very foolish practice. The horse does not look at his 
best that way, and is apt to become hard in the mouth, 
a great fault. 

It is best to put a young horse alongside an old one 
when teaching him to pull. The load should be very 
light at first. It will soon acquire the habit of pulling 
a heavier load. Great gentleness is necessary, but any 
vicious attempt may be at once punished with the whip. 
A slight application will suffice. Cruelty will defeat 
the object. After driving a young horse a few times 
in double harness he may be tried alone, hitched to a 
light vehicle. With ordinary patience any one will suc- 
ceed in getting good results. 

When the young horse is put into the field it will 



*See page 80. 



104 



Animals on the farm. 




Fig. 10 — The External Parts of the Horse. 



1. 


Face. 




2. 


Forehead. 




3. 


Ears. 




4. 


Muzzle. 




5. 


Cheek or 


fowl. 


6. 


Poll. 




7. 


Throat. 




8. 


Carotid. 




9. 


Neck. 




10. 


Crest. 




11. 


Jugular Channel or Furrow 


12. 


Breast. 


' 


13. 


Withers. 




14. 


Back. 




15. 


Ribs. 




16. 


Girth. 




17. 


Loins. 




18. 


Croup. 




19. 


Dock. 




20. 


Flank. 




21. 


Belly. 




22. 


Point of shoulder. 



23. Elbow. 

24. Forearm. 

25. Knee. 

26. Canon or shank, 

27. Fetlock joint. 

28. Pastern. 

29. Coronet. 

30. Foot. 

31. Ergot and fetlock. 

32. Haunch. 

33. Thigh. 

34. Stifle. 

35. Buttock. 

36. Leg. 

37. Hock. 

38. Canon or shank. 

39. Fetlock joint. 

40. Ergot ard fjtlock. 

41. Pastern. 

42. Coronet. 

43. Foot. 

44. Lower thigh. 

45. Point of hock. 



THE HORSE. 



105 



take a little time before he knows what is expected of 
him, but persistency and patience on the part of the 
driver will soon overcome its natural awkwardness. 

If a horse balks the best thing to do is to let him 
stand until he concludes that balking is tiresome. 
Striking the horse, or unhitching him, will only per- 
petuate the evil. Balky horses are almost invariably 
made so by thoughtless or rough drivers. You can 
teach a horse to be useful and trustworthy ; but remem- 
ber, it will not do to teach anything new until the pre- 
vious lesson has been well learned. The same rule 
applies to children. 

The height of horses is expressed in hands. A horse 
13 hands high or less is a pony; one 16 hands high is 
large. From 15 to I5>^ hands 
is a good height for a farmer's 
horse, but if horses are raised 
for sale those 16 hands high 
will bring the highest prices, 
other things being equal. 

In the accompanying illus- 
trations the first shows the out- 
line of a well-shaped horse fit 
to do sfood service on the farm 
and on the road. The names 
of its different parts are indi- 
cated by figures. 

The other illustration shows 
the composition of the hoof, all 
the parts being named and 
numbered. 




Fig II 



-The Foot of the 
Horse. 



A. The pastern. 

B. The lower pastern. 

C. The navicular bone. 

D. The coffin bone. 

E. The wall of the hoof — 
the part on which the 
shoe is nailed. 



I06 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

The two following illustrations show a well trained 
horse of a superior breed. 

Horses that have been kept inactive in a warm stable 
for some time are very sensitive to cold winds. These 
will do no harm as long as the horse is in motion, but 




Allerton, one of the finest American Stud Horses, that made a 
mile in 2 109^4 . 



the danger begins when it stands at rest. The horse 
is liable to attacks of colic, particularly after hard 
work on the road or in the field, when it is exposed to 
a draught, or made to cool off in an exposed place. Little 
or nothing can be done by medicine in such a case. 
The best treatment is a wet pack. A cloth or blanket 



THE HORSE. 



107 



dipped in cold water, wrung out and folded several 
times, should be placed on its belly and well covered 
with one or two dry blankets, which should be securely 
strapped on to prevent slipping off as the horse throws 




The same horse, when three years old, with a record of 2:12. 



itself. The application will soon produce warmth at 
the parts covered and thus relieve the pain. 

Heat may be applied by hot blankets, but this method 
is apt to make the animal tender and more liable to a 
repetition of the attack. The essential point is that 



loB ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

heat, in one form or another, outwardly applied, is the 
specific remedy for colic. The horse should be placed 
where no draught can strike it, but where the ventila- 
tion is good. 

To turn a horse into a pasture, after a drive, may 
often bring on colic. It is safer to rub it down well 
and allow it to cool off in a sheltered place before it 
is turned loose. Even on a summer's night the cool 
breezes may affect injuriously the bowels of a horse 
that is turned loose before it has had time to cool off 
in its stall. 

In extreme cases of colic it may be necessary to ad- 
minister an injection of warm water and soap, but this 
should be undertaken by some experienced person, or 
by a veterinary surgeon. 

If medicine must be given the most convenient way 
is to -mix it in some liquid, take hold of the animal's 
tongue and pour the liquid down its throat from a bot- 
tle. 

Overdriving and quick cooling off may bring on 
stiffening of the joints of the horse's legs, especially the 
forelegs. It is a safe rule, when a horse has been hard 
driven, to give its legs a thorcfugh rubbing down with 
a wisp of hay or straw, and keep it in a warm stable 
for several hours. This rubbing process should be con- 
tinued for not less than ten minutes, fifteen or twenty 
minutes would be better. The process may have to be 
repeated if the case is a severe one. 

Starting in the center of the sole of the foot, and run- 
ning back to the heel, fork-shaped, there is an elastic 
horny part, the frog, on the healthy condition of which 
the free and elastic movement of the feet depends. 



The horse. 



109 



For ordinary farm work horses rarely need shoes, but 
if they are used on tlie road shoes may become a neces- 
sity. Good blacksmiths are now found everywhere — 
none but a good one should be employed. The danger 
from not shoeing at all is not so great as from im- 
proper shoeing. 




Saddle Stallion MONTE CRISTO, of Kentucky. 
A Prize Winner.' 

The shoes should not be kept on the horse's feet too 
long, as they interfere with the growth of the horny 
matter of the hoof and may injure it by crowding. 
This is particularly important in the case of young 
horses. 



no 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



If a horse gets hurt so that a wound or a swelhng 
is the result, the parts should be well bathed and 
cleaned. In the absence of anything more suitable 
strong soapsuds may be used. But it is better to be 
provided with some disinfectant like borax (in the 




Morgan Horse HILLSIDE. 



form of boracic acid) and carbonate of soda. One- 
half pound of each in a gallon of water will make a 
good cleansing mixture. Carbolic acid may answer as 
well or better, but it must be greatly diluted, a five per 
cent solution being as strong as it is safe to employ. 
Frequent applications are necessary. 



THE HORSE. Ill 

Large wounds should be sewed up by a veterinary 
surgeon. It goes without saying that the general rules 
of feeding and cleaning apply to the horse. It should 
be fed with great regularity, and receive a thorough 
currying and brushing every day. Very old horses 
should have their oats or other feed steeped in hot 
water for from ten to twelve hours. In this way they 
may be kept in good condition for a long time and 
prove serviceable for all ordinary work. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE HOG. 

An enthusiastic breeder has called the hog "the sheet 
anchor of our prosperity." We may say that the hog 
is the best agent to convert our immense and bulky 
crops into a less bulky form, and to enable the farmer 
to market his corn in this form with but a sm.all ex- 
pense for transportation. The corn converted into hogs 
has the advantage that it can be driven to the market, 
whereas the corn in the ear, or shelled, must be hauled 
many miles and loaded and unloaded at a great sacrifice 
of time. And last, not least, while a thousand pounds 
of corn sold in its original form will take from the 
farm a large amount of fertilizing matter, the same 
quantity, put into a hog, will remove scarcely one-fifth 
as much. 

The hog makes more weight of body out of a given 
quantity of feed than cattle or sheep. This is due to its 
much longer intestines, as long as those of cattle, which 
makes possible a more perfect absorption of all nutri- 
tive elements. It is easily raised and need not be kept 
over winter (except the breeding animals, of course) 
if the proper treatment has been given to it throughout 
the time from March to November or December. 

Pigs should be farrowed early in March and weaned 
in June when they may be turned into a clover pas- 
ture, the cheapest food for them at the time, and on 
which they thrive best. As sucklings they should 

m 



THE HOG. 113 

have sweet skimmed milk with wheat middhngs. Some 
ground corn, and finally corn in the ear, may be added 
later on. While feeding on clover the young pigs 
should also be given some of the slop they were fed 
on at first, and as much corn as they will eat up clean. 
With such a variety of food they will make muscle fast 
and grow to a good size. Anything that will make 
their food more digestible, as soaking the corn feed 
from twelve to eighteen hours or longer, will be a sav- 
ing in the long run. Good shade and good water must 
be furnished whenever needed. When from 7 to 8 
months old they will have attained, under such treat- 
ment, a weight of from 200 to 250 pounds, and com- 
mand the highest price in the market. Too much corn 
should not be given at first, but rather a variety of 
food, slop, middlings, oats and rye in combination. In 
this way their health is more apt to remain good. As 
cooler weather approaches corn may be more abund- 
antly fed, and in the last months it may be the only 
feed. 

Clover may be relied on as an almost exclusive feed 
until the time of special fattening. The experiment 
has been repeatedly made of limiting young pigs during 
the summer to red clover alone, then gradually feed- 
ing on corn, with the most satisfactory results. The 
reason for this lies in the fact that the starch so abund- 
ant in corn produces fat, and that in the warm season 
an over supply of fat is too heating. When colder 
weather comes the system needs a larger part of the 
fat to supply warmth to the body by the more liberal 
supply of oxygen due to the more energetic breathing. 
In this way the danger of an over supply of fat is 



1 14 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



avoided. Such pigs keep in better health and are less 
liable to succumb to cholera. 

New corn is not to be recommended. It has a tend- 
ency to injure the digestion of the hog, and some think 
it produces hog cholera. If great weight is desired the 
hogs may be kept through the winter and spring, but 
it is a question whether the food they need during the 
cold season may not seriously diminish the profits 
which early fattening will secure. If hog cholera ap- 




SHOULDEH^ 



;@^^^^"~^^sr"^^??s^ 



^. .a%i?.«^^ 








^^iS*^i>A;^^^iVj^^^^ 



Fig. 12 — Carcass of a fat hog showing the division commonly 
made and the relative prices of the various parts in 
Chicago market. 

pears, nothing is more necessary than at once to sepa- 
rate all animals that are undoubtedly well from the 
sick ones and give them another place. If the sick 
ones are separated and removed to another place, there 
is danger of carrying the disease germs to other parts 
of the farm. The w^ell ones should be put into a grass 
lot, at some 80 rods' distance from their former place, 
and great attention given to cleanliness. The sleeping 
place should be cleaned every day, and air-slacked lime 
and carbolic acid and water used to disinfect it. Corn 
should not be fed, but oil meal, oats and middlings 
should take its place. 



THE HOG. 



115 



Hogs should have access to a mixture of ashes and 
salt, which seems to be beneficial in preserving their 
health. 

In raising hogs, as in raising other stock, the pro- 
gressive farmer will take care that he keeps only the 
best breeds. His object is to change the raw product 
of his farm into pork with as little loss as possible. It 
has been found that to do so most successfully requires 
breeds like the Chester White, of Pennsylvania, the 
Poland-China, of Ohio, the Duroc or Jersey Red, 
of New Jersey, the Yorkshire, derived from the large 
white swine of England, the Black Suffolk and the 
Berkshire, which we also got from England. The 
Berkshire is by many considered the most profitable. 




A Tail-Piece. 



CHAPTER III. 

CATTLE. 

Our cattle industry is of immense importance. Cat- 
tle are kept for two principal purposes, to produce beef 
and to furnish milk. Different breeds will do either 
the one or the other in a superior way. Beef cattle 
are square built, heavy in the haunches, very full in the 
breast. The best varieties came originally from Eng- 
land, as the Shorthorn, or Durham, the Hereford, the 
Aberdeen-Angus of Scotland and the Galloway. Dairy 
cattle are thinner in front, not so square built, but show 




Fig. 13— Hereford Cattle. Three Prize Winners. 

great size of the udder. The best varieties are: The 
Jersey, from the island of Jersey, near the north coast 
of France; the Guernsey, from the island of that name, 
near Jersey, and the Ayrshire, from Ayrshire, in Scot- 

116 



CATTLE. 



117 






Fi^. 14— Models of Eecf Cattle. 



1. Mouth. 

2. Nostrils. 

3. Lips. 

4. Muzzle. 

5. Face. 

6. Eyes. 

7. Cheelis. 

8. Jaws. 

9. Foretiead. 

10. Poll. 

11. Horns. 

12. Ears. 

13. Neck. 

14. Throat. 

15. Dewlap. 
10 Shoulders. 



17. Shoulder rolnt. 

18. Shoulder Vein. 

19. Elbows. 

20. Arm. 

21. Knees. 

22. Shanks. 

23. Hoofs. 

24. Crops. 

25. Fore Flank. 

26. Fore Ribs. 

27. Mid Ribs. 

28. Hinder Ribs. 

29. Barrel. 

30. Belly. 

31. Spine or Back. 

32. Flank. 



33. Plates. 

34. Rumps. 

35. Hips. 

36. Thighs. 

37. Hocks. 

38. Hind Leg. 

39. Brisket. 

40. Bosom. 

41. Chest. 

42. Loin. 

43. Hooks. 

44. Purse. 

45. Twist. 

46. Pin Bones. 

47. Tail Head. 

48. Tail. 



ii8 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



land. When butter is the main object, the pure Jersey 
is generally considered superior to all others. A breed 
which yields much milk, though not of a superior grade 
for butter, and is at the same time capable of producing 
much beef, is the Holstein, or Dutch Friesian, from the 
northwestern coast of Germany. 





r\>^ 


it 

V 


w^r. 


\| 


I^-'J 




1 


1^ ' * ^^Jl^^l 




^^M& 






1 


^^^^^^^^|^^^£v^^B| " '4 









Fig. 15 — Best Type of Dairy Cattle. 

As in the case of hogs, the advantage of raising cat- 
tle is in thus saving the cost of moving bulky farm 
crops to the market. Fed to cattle, the farmer's grain 
and hay will walk to the market. As the manure stays 
on the farm, the loss to the soil is not so great and there 
is of course profit in the beef and dairy products. 



CATTLE. 



ii9 



'Cows, to give the best results, must be treated with 
great patience and kindness. A rude word, a kick or 
a blow is a loss to the farmer, for it is only tht perfect- 
ly contented cow that yields her best in milk and butter. 

Regularity of feeding is of importance with all ani- 
mals, luit more particularly with cattle. Hence, the 
business is very confining if it is to be made profitable. 
Perfect cleanliness is of great importance. It pays to 
curry cattle as well as horses. Their stalls should be 
regularly supplied with clean straw. This also saves 
the droppings and the liquid manure, which is of great 
value. Cattle have no upper front teeth. They tear 
the grass by means of their tongue and the lower teeth. 




Fig. i6a— Red Polled Cow. A Prize Winner. 



120 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



This is the reason why they do not crop a pasture so 
closely as horses will. Their four stomachs enable 
them to take a great quantity of food at a time. This 
is returned to the mouth and chewed again, an act 
known as ''chewing the cud." 

As horns are not of any use it is the custom of many 
farmers to dehorn their young stock. It must be 
done quickly and with care, to avoid injury to a deli- 
cate part of the head. There are some breeds of horn- 
less cattle which are now pretty common in this coun- 
try. They are called 'Tolled Cattle," such as the 
"Polled Angus" and the "Red Polls." 




Fig. i6b — Shorthorn Bull Cupbearer, a leading Prize Winner. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SHEEP. 

Sheep are raised for their wool and also for their 
flesh, which has the name of mutton, from the French 
word for sheep. They need a dry place to sleep, and 
prefer upland and hills for feeding. There are a large 




The market classifications of wool. In the plate on the left 
hand samples of clothing wool are shown. A clothing wool has a 
fiber up to two inches in length that is sound ; if the fiber is over 
this length and is unsound it becomes a clothing because of this 
fact. The sample shown on the extreme left of this plate is 
long enough to be a Delaine, but it was unsound at the place 
where the fiber shows an irregular crimp. The two samples 
shown in the center plate are fine and medium Delaines. The 
fiber in these instances is sound, fine and from two to three inches 
long. The three samples in the plate to the right are combing 
wool ; they range from three inches upward in length and are 
also sound. The shorter sample is medium combing, the center 
sample is coarse combing, and the third sample on the right hand 
is the coarsest kind, known as braid combing. 

121 



122 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM, 



number of breeds. The best for fine wool are the Me- 
rino; for medium wool, the Southdown, Shropshire, 
Hampshire, and several others; for coarse wool, the 
Leicester, Lincoln and Cotswold. The Merino pays 
best wiien a protective tariff keeps out the cheap wools 
of South America and Australia. No American farm- 
er can afford to raise wool in competition with the peo- 
ple of these parts of the world. Sheep require particu- 
lar attention at the time when the lambs are dropped. 
It is important to watch the latter that they may not 
stray from their mothers during the first days of their 
life. A ewe will not own its lamb after an absence of 
a day or two« 




Imported Shropshire Ewe Lambs. 



SHEEP. 



123 



The sheep is a hardy animal and not much subject to 
disease, unless exposed to moisture. It endures cold 
well, but must be provided with a dry stable. Some 




Hampshire Down Sheep. 



succulent food, beets, turnips, etc., is desirable, espe- 
cially in the winter, but it thrives well on the same 
feed that is suitable for a cow. 



124 



ANIMATES ON THE FARM. 




A Lincoln Sheep. A Prize Winner. 



The importance of breeding only thoroughbreds 
holds good of sheep as it does of any other stock. It 
is a great mistake to suppose that by mixing breeds 
the good qualities of each will appear in the offspring. 
It is just as likely that the bad qualities appear. New 
races are produced by in-and-in breeding, but it re- 
quires great experience, much time and necessarily 
much money to repeat in this line what others have 
already done for us. 

Therefore the rule should be : Breed only from 
pure stock. If you wish to improve the stock you 
have, use only thoroughbred sires, and always the 
same breed. In this direction lies success. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DAIRY. 

The COW is, in a certain sense, a machine to produce 
milk, and through the milk, butter and cheese. As a 
machine she ought to be of the most approved kind. 
There are still many poor cows in the country. Any 
cow that is not able to yield 300 lbs. of butter, or an 
equivalent, during the year, may be put down as un- 
profitable. Poor cows eat up the profit yielded by the 
others. 

A cow that eats more than her milk is worth is jok- 
ingly called a boarder. This fault often exists where 
it is not suspected ; but it is no longer excusable. Milk 
is now tested by an instrument called the lactometer, 
which shows the proportion of cream. At a well- 
known creamery it was found that during the month 
of November the patron whose milk showed the high- 
est proportion of cream received $1.42 per hundred 
pounds of milk. The patron whose milk showed the 
lowest proportion received only 89 cents, a difference 
of 53 cents per hundred pounds. 

In December the difference was $1.59 for the high- 
est, 99 cents for the lowest, a difference of 60 cents. 

The milk of different breeds has been accurately 
tested at the agricultural stations of Iowa, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, Illinois and other states, and a great wak- 
ing up among the farming population has been the con- 
sequence. But these experiments have also shown that 

125 



126 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



the best results cannot be obtained unless some neces- 
sary conditions are complied with. 

In order to make a good cow do her best she needs 
(i) suitable food at regular hours; (2) good water 
to drink; (3) a warm and comfortable stable during 
the cold season and shade and good pasture in the 
warm; (4) kind treatment. ''Treat a cow as you 
would a lady" is the rule of a successful dairy farmer. 

On each of these points a great deal might be said 
or written, but it is perhaps sufficient here to remind 

A MODEL DAIRY COW. 




Jersey Cow DOLLY'S VALENTINE. Yearly test, made by 
Kentucky Experiment Station, 679.5 pounds butter. 



THE DAIRY. 



127 



the reader that the object is to turn as much feed as 
possible into as much good milk, butter or cheese as 
possible. This is the object, and whoever wishes to 
gain this object must not fail to apply the means to 
obtain it. But this is not all. The milk, butter, cheese 
produced must be palatable, inviting and salable, and 

ANOTHER MODEL DAIRY COW. 




to that end it is necessary that the greatest care be 
exercised in the matter of cleanliness and in the proper 
observation of certain rules. Boiling water should be 
freely used for the cleaning of pails, cans, separators 
and churns after every use of them. Cold water is 
needed for other purposes. The use of the separator, 
a machine which separates the cream from the milk. 



128 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

is strongly recommended. It leaves both cream and 
skim milk sweet. The former commands the highest 
price in the market. The latter can be used for feed- 
ing pigs, as it contains the most valuable parts for feed- 
ing purposes and is greatly superior to sour milk; it 
may also be used in the household for the preparation 
of various dishes. If set in cans or pans the cream 
will rise and may then be taken off. But by this time 
the milk will frequently be found to have soured. The 
souring is due to the change of the soluble sugar ele- 
ment in the milk into an acid which has received the 
name of lactic acid (acid of milk), from the Latin word 
lac, which means milk. A part of this acid enters 
into the cream so that this also will be sour. Its effect 
on the casein or curd in the milk is to harden this into 
an insoluble substance, the process being known as 
curdling. This souring process is due to very minute 
plants called ferments, such as are also found in yeast. 
They increase very fast and produce changes in the 
substance in which they are found, in bread dough, in 
the milk, in cheese, and in others. They are always 
present and ready to settle upon any object that is not 
perfectly clean, and, if there be moderate warmth and 
moisture, they develop with fabulous rapidity. A milk 
pail, not cleaned after use, will be infested by large 
numbers if it is allowed to stay uncleaned for a few 
hours. They are the cause of the bad taste of many 
liquids after they have stood a while exposed to the 
air, of milk, wine, beer and the like. Cold will check 
their growth, hence cold water is necessary in butter- 
making and in the dairy generally. 

Whether to use shallow or deep pans or cans must 



The dairy. 159 

depend on circumstances. If the cans can be kept in 
flowing water of a temperature of from 40 to 50 de- 
grees for rather more than 12 hours, good results will 
be obtained with deep cans. Shallow setting requires a 
room well ventilated, the temperature of which is 60 
degrees or less. It should never be higher. The churn 
used for making butter of cream thus collected will 
not do for fresh and sweet cream. A special machine, 
called an extractor, is used for this purpose. The cream 
obtamed by setting in cans should have a certain qual- 
ity, it should be ripe. This again is produced by fer- 
ments. It requires care and experience to know when 
the cream is just fit for churning. To arrest fermen- 
tation it may be first warmed to 140 degrees Fahren- 
heit for a few minutes. This will kill the ferments, 
and the milk or cream will be pasteurized. The name 
is given to the process in honor, of the celebrated chem- 
ist, Pasteur, who studied subjects of this character for 
a long time and suggested the best remedies. In that 
case the proper ferment must be added to ripen the 
cream, and in this way butter-making is removed from 
the haphazard condition and placed under the control 
of the buttermaker. 

The particles or globules of fat in the milk, which 
form the cream, are not transparent, and being lighter 
than water they rise to the top. These globules differ 
in size in different kinds of milk, though they are al- 
ways so small that a microscope of great power is re- 
quired to see them. Large globules will rise more 
rapidly than small ones. Milk that contains mostly 
large globules of fat will suit best where butter is the 



130 



ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 



object. For cheesemaking the milk with small 
globules is suitable. 

Whether there are more or less of such globules in 
the milk can be ascertained by an instrument called 
the lactoscope, which enables us to determine how much 
water must be added to the milk to make it transparent. 

While there is great difference in the milk of dif- 
ferent breeds, it is a rule well understood by good man- 
agers that the milk richest in cream is in the "strip- 
pings." A cow should be milked completely; no milk 
should be left in her udder when the milking is done. 
Careful milking will gradually increase the yield, pro- 
vided the feeding is properly attended to. 




Fig. 17 — A Jersey Cow. 



THE DAIRY. 



131 



The churn separates the butter from the cream. As 
soon as the little grains of butter appear the churn- 
ing should stop for a few minutes to allow these grains 
to come together, and finally the buttermilk is drawn 
off. The butter is then washed in cold water and 
worked in such a way as to free it from all traces of 
buttermilk. Too much working destroys its fine qual- 
ity and may make it oily. Salt is added for its keep- 
ing qualities. It attracts the moisture in the butter 




^fh^J\ 




Fig, 18 — A pair of Holstein Calves bred by the Iowa Agricultural 

College. 

and thereby prevents spoiling from the buttermilk it 
may still retain. If any other element than pure but- 
ter be left in the mass, such as sugar, or lactose, or 
casein, the ferments will soon be at work and make 
the butter rancid. 

It is now a pretty general custom of farmers to send 
their milk to a large dairy or butter factory of which 
there are now a great number. These factories weigh 



132 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

the milk they receive and pay by weight instead of 
measure. This is proper, and it encourages the rais- 
ing of cows that give rich milk rather than much milk. 
The best breed for the production of butter is the Jer- 
sey. The greatest milker is the Holstein, and its yield 
in butter, with proper feeding, is claimed to be satis- 
factory. 

Milk also contains the element which produces mus- 
cle. This is called casein. Like all muscle formers 
casein is essentially nitrogen, as is also albumen, found 
in the white of the egg and also in milk. Casein and 
albumen combine with the fat of the milk in making 
cheese, which therefore contains these elements along 
with water and some mineral matter. The following 
table will show how these elements are grouped in 
a hundred pounds of milk, butter and cheese. 

Casein and 
Water. Fat. Albumen. Sugar. 

Whole milk 87.0 4.0 3.5 

Skim milk 90.0 0.5 3.0 

Butter lo.o 86.5 i.o 

Cheese 35.0 33.0 28.0 

Cheese-making is a particular business which must be 
specially learned to be successful. Fresh cheese or 
curd cheese is simply milk curdled and deprived of a 
part of its water. Cheese-making begins with causing 
the milk to curdle and its fat to join in one mass with 
the casein. This is done by means of rennet, an ex- 
tract taken from the calf's stomach. The water is 
then poured off. This fluid contains the sugar of the 
milk, and some of the other elements. It is called 
whey, and while fr^sh will answer a good purpose as 



jgar. 


Ash. 


4.8 


07 


5.0 


07 


0.5 


2.0 


0.0 


4.0 



THE DAIRY. 1 33 

a drink for pigs. The curdled mass is properly salted 
and run through a mill. It is then put up in packages 
and taken to the curing room, which is kept at a warm 
temperature. Now a variety of ferments begin their 
work in the cheese and finally give it the peculiar flavor 
which makes it acceptable to consumers. 

Cheese contains more muscle-forming elements than 
any other food. These elements, albumen, casein, etc., 
are sometimes embraced in the title of ''proteins." 
Lean meat comes next to cheese in this respect, and 
the legumes (beans, peas, lentils) follow closely. But 
cheese is not easily digested, which detracts from its 
value as a general food. 

We have called attention to the necessity of cleanli- 
ness. This is understood by the dairyman when he filters 
all milk as quickly as drawn from the udder through 
fine cotton cloth. Clean cheesecloth or some suitable 
paper should be used in which to wrap the butter be- 
fore it is offered for sale. It is not enough to do every 
part of the work neatly ; there should also be the out- 
ward appearance to give the impression of perfect 
cleanliness and neatness. Butter, well made and nicely 
packed, will command a price sufficiently higher than 
that paid for the common article to offer a strong in- 
ducement for the extra trouble. As so much depends 
on the cow, a few words as to the kind of feed for cows 
must be added. There is nothing better than clover- 
hay, cut in the blossom and well cured, though any 
other well-cured hay will do quite well. As a rule 
hay is cut too late. The grass should be cut when it is 
in bloom. It then contains the largest proportion of 
foodstuff in its stalks, and especially in its leaves or 



134 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

blades. Middlings and bran are first-rate, but a change 
now and then is always advisable to keep up the appe- 
tite. Corn is too heating in summer, but will do very 
well in winter, especially if first ground and mixed 
with bran or middling. 

The animals ought not to have their mangers full all 
the time. A period of rest is necessary, but whenever 
feeding takes place it should be at the same hour, if 
possible at the same minute. And so with watering. 
In the winter the water should have the chill taken off. 
Warmth saves food and increases its effect. Keep your 
cows contented, avoid everything that may cause rest- 
lessness or irritation. Unless you are very gentle the 
business does not pay. 



CHAPTER VI. 

POULTRY.. 

The ''American Hen" is a very useful bird, as every- 
one knows. But everyone does not know how useful 
she really is. The poultry business of the country has 
assumed enormous proportions. The facilities for 
sending eggs, poultry and fowl to a good market have 
been vastly increased, and in many parts of the country 
there are now cold storage houses which keep eggs in 
good condition for a considerable time. The result is 
that poultry raising has become a profitable industry. 

Among the advantages and improvements gained 
the poultry raiser will readily count the incubator. 
This instrument is now made in such satisfactory 
shapes and conditions that one may count on nearly 
every sound and fertilized egg to be hatched by it. The 
incubator enables us to hatch our first chicks any time 
from January to March and to get them to market in 
good condition while prices are yet high. Chicks raised 
late in April or during May must be extra well fed to 
make them nearly as profitable. But it is not the busi- 
ness of the regular farmer to make a specialty of poul- 
try. He raises as many chickens as he can for the pur- 
pose of having fresh eggs and fried or roast chicken 
on his own table and only sells what, he cannot thus 
use. 

Chickens are unwelcome in the garden, hence either 
the chicken yard or else the garden must have a tight 
fence around it. They also injure the grapes and take 

135 



136 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

some of the small fruit. It is therefore not always 
possible to allow them to run free at all times. 

The place chosen for a chicken yard should have 
good drainage ; it should be naturally dry. House your 
chickens in a house as warm as you can afford to build. 
If built of boards, use building felt or tar paper or 
double walls to keep out the cold. The south side should 
be all windows. A door may be at the east side. Put a 
layer of dust (that gathered on the road when the 
weather is very hot will do first-rate) about a foot 
thick on the bare floor, and renew it as often as it be- 
comes foul. Breed only pure stock. If you have any 
scrub stock dispose of it at once. Buy a setting of 
eggs from a reliable person, or several settings if you 
like. A quicker way is to procure a trio of birds of 
a desirable pure bred kind. If you don't wish to sacri- 
fice the stock you have, kill all the roosters of the non- 
descript varieties and breed your hens to a pure bred 
male of the desired variety. This will give you in a 
few years a superior race of fowls. 

Some believe that the best breed thus far produced 
for the purpose of getting both chickens and eggs is 
the White Wyandotte. Next to this stands the 
Plymouth Rock, and some may rank it higher. If the 
object is to have eggs in winter and to raise very fat, 
showy and heavy chickens, the Asiatic breeds, White 
Brahma, Cochin China, etc., are the most desirable. 
Merely for eggs the Mediterranean breeds do best — 
the Leghorn, Black Spanish, etc. — ^but these breeds are 
so small that there is little or no profit in selling the 
birds. As it does not pay to keep hens beyond the 
second year, and as one-half of the chicks are males, 
which must be disposed of in the first year, it follows 



POULTRY. 137 

that, unless eggs sell for a high price all the year round, 
it is better to keep a heavier kind. 

From the most recent experience of practical poultry 
raisers we gather that the results obtained from the 
incubator are not so extraordinary as is sometimes 
claimed. One-half the number of good strong chicks 
of the total of eggs placed in a machine is considered 
a good average, and this is no more than may be ob- 
tained where a good many hens are employed. 

The loss by infertile eggs is from 25 to 40 per cent 
in winter, and from 10 to 15 per cent in spring months. 
While the incubator and brooder are necessary aids to 
the professional poultry man, they cannot be recom- 
mended for use by the farmer. 

Among the reasons why the White Wyandotte is 
preferred by many as the best general purpose fowl, 
the following are mentioned : The fowls of this breed 
mature a month earlier than the Plymouth Rock, have 
more breast meat ; in fact, are fat, plump and ready for 
the table any time after they are twelve weeks of age. 
They should then weigh at least three pounds, and with 
good care will gain a pound per month, up to six or 
seven months of age. 

For eggs alone the year round it is now claimed that 
the most profitable are the Minorcas. They are one to 
two pounds heavier than the Leghorns and lay eggs 
one-third larger. They are considered just as hardy 
and prolific as the Leghorns. 

Chicks need no food the first twenty-four hours. 
They should then be fed coarsely ground wheat, mixed 
with one part of cornmeal, cooked and moistened with 
milk. Cooked cornbread and milk will be even better, 
especially if early fattening is aimed at. 



138 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

Use a trough for feeding. This should have an up- 
right board at the back in order to prevent the chicks 
from fouhng the food with their feet. An abundance 
of fresh water is important, and there should be a 
supply of some kind of grit always -within reach of the 
chicks. As in all other cases, the best results are ob- 
tained with regular and proper feeding. 

Where circumstances are favorable, turkeys are the 
best paying birds to raise. The bronze turkey is rec- 
ommended. Keep only the most promising young 
birds for breeding purposes. The male should be at 
least one year old, but two years is better. These pre- 
cautions are necessary to secure hardy poults, the risk 
from the loss of young birds being very great. The 
young poults need close attention during the first few 
weeks. They must be protected from vermin and 
from cold and wet weather. They should have wheat 
bread soaked in milk twice a day at very regular hours 
for the first week. Onions or clover finely chopped 
are valuable additions. Later the feed should consist 
of a bread made of ground wheat and cornmeal in 
equal proportions, mixed with sour milk and soda and 
well baked. Curds may also be fed, and sweet milk 
is always safe. As soon as they "shoot the red" — 
that is, show the red growth about the neck — they may 
be allowed freedom to seek their favorite food, insects. 
They may wander far from the place, and in order to 
secure their return it is necessary to feed them at home 
at least once a day, in the evening. If this be done 
regularly they will not fail to put in an appearance. 
Sometimes, however, it may be necessary to feed them 
twice a day. All young turkeys should be marked 



POULTRY. 139 

with a marker (the cost is 25 cents), in order to pre- 
vent loss from mixing with other flocks. 

Ducks are very desirable. The White Pekin are 
preferred, as they are large and hardy, and on account 
of their white feathers, which bring a good price in the 
market. They are easily kept in any low shed and 
grow well without water for swimming. They should 
be well fed, as they will grow to a good size in from 
five to six weeks and can be then sold at a good price. 
Fowls for marketing should always be well fattened in 
order to bring the best price. They should be kept in 
close, somewhat darkened quarters, which must be 
kept scrupulously clean. They should be provided 
with charcoal and with as much rich food as they will 
eat up clean. Feed three times a day. Corn should 
be the main feed, but a mess of bran or ground soja 
beans with milk, fed once a day, will furnish a desir- 
able variety. 

Chickens and other poultry are often greatly 
troubled with lice. Coal oil is probably the best rem- 
edy. Their roosting poles should be kept clean and 
often washed with coal oil. The dust bed in the 
chicken house and wood ashes outside will help to 
subdue the nuisance. The roosting poles should be 
all on the same level. For nests boxes may be used, 
each one marked with a peculiar color to induce the 
hen? to use always the same box. Conveniences for 
access to these nests easily suggest themselves. Much 
can be learned from successful breeders by visiting 
their poultry yards. 

If a chicken cholera or any other infectious disease 
kills a fowl, it should be at once buried out of sight 
and possible reach to prevent the spreading of disease 
germs. Destruction by fire would be even safer. 



140 ANIMALS ON THE FARM. 

We have mentioned the White Wyandotte 
as the best general purpose chicken, but as there may 
be a difference of opinion on the subject we will quote 
what the American Agriculturist said a few years ago 
about this breed : ''All varieties of Wyandottes are of 
great practical worth, but the white variety is accepted 
everywhere as being the practical fowl par excellence. 
It is being adopted by the great market poultry men 
more universally than any other fowl. Its white plum- 
age makes it dress off in a very handsome shape, while 
its dressed shape is almost ideal for market purposes." 

A successful poultry raiser, Mrs. Carter, of Ham- 
mond, 111., lays down the following rules for the care of 
poultry : 

''A good insect powder should be plentifully used in 
the nests of setting hens once each week. The coops 
should be painted with coal oil, black oil, turpentine and 
carbolic acid once every ten days, also the roosts of the 
poultry houses should be kept well painted with liquid 
lice-killer, composed of two gallons of coal oil, one 
half gallon of turpentine, one gallon of black machine 
oil and one-half gallon of crude carbolic acid. 

"Give regular feed and water. Always feed grown 
fowls corn at night. Feed some bran, corn-meal and 
shorts well mixed with warm water first at morning 
in cold weather. Put sheaf oats and wheat in the 
scratching shed every day in the winter time. In the 
fall put away sheaf oats to feed to the chickens in the 
winter time. 

"Sell all hens before the first of January that are two 
years old. 

"Feed parched corn once a week in winter. If pos- 
sible have a patch of sunflowers for the fowls to run to 
in summer. 

"Keep feed always where the young chicks can gtt 
it; millet seed is the best for growing chickens. 



PART IV. 

FRUIT. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE USES OF FRUIT. 

To be a farmer and not to have fruit and vegetables 
in abundance is to deprive one's self of one of the great- 
est privileges of country life, and of the best means to 
secure health and enjoyment on the farm. A baked or 
raw apple is a more suitable article of dessert than a 
piece of pie. Cherries, plums, grapes, strawberries, 
raspberries, blackberries and even gooseberries and 
currants are delightful in their season and may be 
canned for use later. The farmer ought to have the 
best of everything that his farm can produce, for the 
good of his family and for himself. And why should 
he not? Why is it that so many farmers seem to look 
upon salt pork and potatoes as the all-sufficient ^articles 
of diet the year around ? How many farmers' wives, 
in order to have some variety on their tables, gather 
and preserve the harsh and woody crab apples of the 
woods? It is all very well to pick the wild plum, 
which in some localities makes very fine eating, and 
also the wild strawberry and the wild grape, but how 
much superior are the cultivated varieties ! Plant the 

141 



142 FRUIT. 

early Richmond cherry. There is nothing nicer to 
eat fresh from the tree, provided the cherries are 
thoroughly ripe. And what a splendid fruit it is to 
put up in glass jars, so refreshing, so nice to eat, so 
handy when there is company for supper, and so 
healthful at all times ! Almost as much can be said of 
the humble gooseberry. Of plums we can raise the 
Miner and the Wild Goose varieties in most of the 
States, though destructive insects may destroy all oth- 
ers. Pears succeed here and there, but the fireblight 
is their terrible enemy. So do peaches in favorable 
years when spring is late and winter has not been too 
severe. Grapes do well with proper attention to 
pruning. 

But the apple, in some of its many varieties, can be 
raised almost anywhere in all our States, and what is 
there better than well prepared apple butter or a de- 
licious baked apple? There are few farms that have 
not some specially well adapted soil to raise straw- 
berries, and who that has ever eaten strawberries fresh 
from the vines, and, perhaps, if such be his taste, with 
some of the rich cream that the farm can give, would 
want to be without a strawberry bed? After these 
berries come the raspberries, and finally blackberries, 
so that, if only a few kinds of fruit should succeed, 
there are enough varieties of delicious fruit to supply 
the farmer's table the year around. A successful fruit 
raiser, Mr. Dunlop, once said at one of our farmers* 
institutes : "The farmer who fails to take advantage 
of his opportunities in this line fails utterly to appre- 
ciate what a life upon the farm means, and ought to 
move to a coal -mining town and go to work in the 



THE USES OF FRUIT. I43 

mines. The grass, the trees, the sunshine, the vege- 
tables of the garden, the fruit of the orchard are ail 
wasted on him. Believing that salt pork and pota- 
toes are 'more fillin',' he has no time to waste upon a 
fruit and vegetable garden. Should the children be- 
come sick on such a diet he has recourse to the bottle 
of patent medicine, and when through their perversity, 
or lack of appreciation of life upon such a farm, the 
sons and daughters seek the city, he wonders why the 
children leave the farm." 

A boy used early to fruit is not apt to learn to relish 
alcoholic drinks, fruit eating being a natural antidote 
for that depraved appetite. The effect on the body is 
extremely wholesome. For some kinds of sickness 
apples and grapes are specifics. 

Extensive fruit culture is not the proper business of 
the farmer, but this is no reason why the farm should 
not produce all the fruit and vegetables the people on 
it can consume. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE APPLE. 

For apples a northern slope is preferable, as in such 
a position the trees do not bloom so soon, and thus 
escape the nijurious effects of late frosts. Plow the 
ground as for corn; running a subsoil plow after the 
first plow will deepen the soil and prove of great ad- 
vantage to the growing tree. Set your trees not less 
than 30 feet apart, or about 50 to the acre. Late keep- 
ers should be chosen, with only a few specimens of 
earlier kinds. Among the latter the Duchess of Olden- 
burg should have the preference ; among the former the 
Jonathan, Winesap, Gano, Minkler, and for an extra 
late keeper that bears well in many localities, the Wil- 
low Twig. Wherever it has been known to do well a 
few specimens of the Bellflower, our finest apple, may 
be planted, but it is a late and somewhat shy bearer. Of 
the other varieties, plant only such as have been tried 
in your neighborhood. The Ben Davis is widely 
grown and bears abundantly, but its fruit cannot sat- 
isfy anyone who knows what is meant by a good apple. 
It is greatly inferior to almost any other apple, but is 
a good seller on account of its bright red color. 

As to cultivation, it should be the same as for corn. 
You cannot profitably raise two crops, one of apples 
and the other of weeds, grass or whatever else, at the 
same time and on the same piece of ground. The 
apple tree quickly extends its roots in every direction. 

144 



THE APPLE. 145 

While the trees are very young, from one to at most 
five years after planting, crops of potatoes, tomatoes, 
cabbage or small fruit may be raised between the rows 
at some distance from the trees. Later on a good disk 
harrow, followed by a smoothing harrow, should be 
persistently used to keep the soil in a mellow condition, 
thus preparing the same kind of earth mulch that is 
so useful for corn. Under no circumstances allow 
grass to grow in the orchard. It is not objectionable, 
and possibly useful, to sow clover late in summer, but 
on condition that the crop be plowed under early in 
the spring. 

Soja beans, or cow peas, being of surer grow^th, may 
be sown instead of clover. Great care must be taken 
not to injure the roots of the trees during cultivation. 
The roots are apt to be near the surface in good soil. 
It has been suggested that rather deep plowing be- 
tween the rows from the very beginning will force the 
roots to form at a greater depth; but once they are 
formed any injury to them means loss to the tree and 
to the owner. 

In order to be able to run a plow as near as pos- 
sible to the trunks of the trees, it is necessary that the 
trees be trimmed up several feet, so as to enable a 
horse to pass. The objection is that trees do better if 
their branches start near the ground, hence a middle 
course will probably answer best. 

Cultivation ought to stop early in August in order 
to avoid a late growth that might be hurt by the cold 
of the winter. As all cultivation should come as near 
to the trunks of the trees as possible, the harness 
should be without hames and singletrees. Sometimes 



146 



FRUIT. 



it may be advisable to apply a mulch of some kind to 
prevent grass and weeds from growing near the 
trunks. Grass may be taken from meadows near by 
and spread as a mulch for this purpose. 

As to the age of trees to be planted, it is now pretty 
generally agreed that trees three years old give the best 
satisfaction. Older trees should not be planted, but 
trees two years old will do very well. The trees are 
generally greatly mutilated in their roots when they 
come from the nursery. The tops should therefore be 
shortened in by cutting off enough to match the size 
of the roots. All pruning should be done either before 
the sap begins to move in the spring, or when it is 



c -, 




Fig. 19 — A Section of an Apple. 
A. The seeds. 
C. The calyx end. 
E. The core (or seed box). 
T. The pulp. 




Fig. 20 — Section of an 

Apple Blossom, showing 

how the apple 

begins to form. 



descending after the terminal buds have formed. If 
old trees are pruned, it will be necessary to cover ex- 
posed surfaces with grafting wax or paint, to prevent 
evaporation. 

When an orchard is set out it is advisable to mark 
the varieties on a map, as the wooden labels on the tree 
will drop off and the names will be forgotten by the 
time the first fruit is produced. 



THE APPLE. 



147 



The trees should be pruned so as to give them an 
open head by cutting out central branches that would, 
in growing up, make a dense mass of top growth. 
Aim at having the main limbs spreading, and rub or 
prune off all water sprouts as soon as they appear. 
By this name we call those quick growing, succulent 
shoots that, start directly from a big limb or the trunk. 
Apples, to keep well, should be hand-picked, packed 
in barrels and kept in a cool place where frost cannot 
hurt them. The apple has many enemies, the most 
serious ones being the ''borer" and the '"codling" moth. 
The former is a beetle that lays an tgg in the trunk 
near the surface. A grub develops and burrows under 
the bark in a circling movement. If there are several 
of them they will often break the connection between 
the bark above it and the bark below so that the tree 
must die. Frequent examination and cutting out (the 
use of a sharpened wire is recommended) will be nec- 
essary. A preventive that has been tried with success 
is to tie a piece of heavy paper, 
building felt, tar paper or manilla 
paper, around the trunk (which 
should have been first carefully 
examined and thoroughly washed 
with whale oil soap), making sure 
that it goes down as far as possi- 
ble and fits it tight. It is of course 
necessary to repeat this every 
year, and in time to be ahead of 
the borer. 

The codling moth lays its egg 
in the calyx of the young apple 
while the .latter has still its up- 




V 

Fig. 21 — The Flat- 
Headed Borer.- a. 
the larva; b. the 
pupa; d. the per- 
fect beetle. 



148 



FRUIT. 



right position. The grub enters the fruit and works it 
way to the core. Many apples so attacked drop. They 
shoukl be gathered and fed to the pigs to prevent the 
spread of the pest. The canker worm feeds on leaves 
and often destroys the greater part of the foliage. 
Both can be held in check, if not entirely destroyed, by 
thorough sprayings with a mixture composed of: 

Copper sulphate (or bluestone) . . 4 pounds. 

Fresh lime 4 pounds. 

Water 40 pounds. 

Paris green 4 ounces . 

Instead of Paris green many use London purple, 
both containing arsenic. Without the latter the mixt- 
ure may be applied to prevent the scab on leaf and 
fruit in the apple, and the rot and other fungous dis- 
eases in peaches 
and plums. Suck- 
ing insects, that 
injure the tree by 
sucking the sap of 
the leaves, etc., 
may be killed by 
spraying with an 
emulsion of: 

Hard soap, ^ 
lb. (or soft soap, 
I lb.) 

Boiling soft 
water, i gallon. 

Coal oil, 2 gal- 
lons. 

In spraying a 
force pump shoul4 




Fig. 22 — The codling moth, a is the 
burrow; 6, the entrance hole; e, the 
larva; d, the pupa; /, moth at rest; <i, 
moth with wings spread; h, head of 
larva; i, cocoon containing pupa. 



THE APPLE. 



149 



be used and particular care taken to reacn every part 
of the tree. It requires practice and close attention 
both in mixing the material and in applying it, to 
secure the best results, which are such "as to pay richly 
for the trouble. 



The following remarks on ''Spraying and Spraying 
Mixtures," by practical farmers and fruit growers, 
may be profitably read in connection with what has 
been said here. 

BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 

In order to prepare Bordeaux mixture suspend as 
many pounds as you need to use of the sulphate in 
a gunny sack in a barrel containing a gallon of water 
for each pound of sulphate. The sulphate will be 
ready for use in a short time and will remain in solu- 
tion and keep during the summer. 

The next step is to slack in a long box as many 
pounds of lime as you have sulphate — you can divide 
your lime by measuring its surface. Your lime and 
sulphate is now ready for mixing, but do not mix 
until you are ready to use it. 

If you wish to make for- 
ty gallons of Bordeaux, 
fill your barrel or tank 
partly with water, then 
from your sulphate barrel 
pour in four gallons, and 
take from your lime 
enough to equal four 
pounds of unslacked lime. 
Dissolve the lime in a ves- 
sel of water and pour it 
off through a strainer 




Fig. 23 — Canker worm, a, h and 
c are eggs; e is a mass of 
eggs;/is a larva dark brown 
in color. Larvae can drop 
from tree by silk thread. 



150 FRUIT. 

into your barrel or tank, then add water enough to 
make forty gallons. When it is thoroughly mixed use 
as soon as possible. 

To meet the ravages of the codling moth, use 
Paris green or London purple, about one pound to 150 
pounds of water. 

Spray just before the buds open in the spring with 
a mixture of one pound of sulphur to fifty gallons of 
water, to destroy any fungous growth that may have 
started during the warm days of winter, or eggs of 
insects that may be deposited upon the branches or 
body of the tree. 

The next spraying should be done as soon as the 
blossom falls, using Bordeaux mixture for blight, and 
adding to each fifty gallons of water one-third pound 
of Paris green or London purple to destroy the worms. 

Spraying in same manner should be done in a week 
or ten days, then try to get a little poison in blossom 
end of each apple. 

We should try to do our spraying after rather than 
before a rain, and the best results will be obtained by 
spraying even a fourth time. 

To make fifteen gallons of an emulsion for the 
destruction of lice, boil in two gallons of water one 
pound of soap until you have suds, then add to your 
suds one gallon of coal oil and mix thoroughly with 
your pump. When the oil is well mixed with suds, 
you can add water to make fifteen gallons. 

In mixing Paris green the proper way is to use just 
enough water to make a paste at first. You can then 
easily dissolve it. Never put it into your barrel when 
it is in powder form. 



THE APPLE. 151 

Spraying should be done thoroughly. Leave noth- 
ing untouched, from the ground to the topmost twig. 
Don't be afraid of overdoing it. Where you do your 
most work you will get the best results. 

(L. Berry Ford.) 



''The eggs of the apple tree borer are laid during 
June and July, and during this period the trunks of the 
trees should be kept well washed with soft soap, di- 
luted with a solution of tobacco. 

"A friend reports that he has, while spraying, thor- 
oughly wetted the collars and trunks of his trees with 
the Bordeaux solution and has never found a borer 
in his orchard. 

'Twenty peach trees were each wrapped with a 
leaf of tobacco near the ground, and although in a 
badly infested locality, were not attacked." 

(WiLLARD D. Barr.) 



CHAPTER III. 

CHERRIES, FEARS AND PLUMS. 

All of these trees may be planted at a distance of 
20 feet by 15 feet apart. The early Richmond cherry 
is the best. The English Morello does well for a 
late sort. Cherries are apt to throw up suckers, 
hence cultivating is not to be recommended except 
while the tree is young; but the grass or clover that 
may be allowed to grow between the rows should be 
frequently cut and used as a mulch. Manure may 
also be spread, both as a fertilizer and as a mulch. 

Of pears it is advisable to plant only such as have 
been tried in the neighborhood and found capable of 
resisting the attack of the fireblight. If this blight 
once appears every branch affected, and if necessary 
the whole tree, should at once be burned, in order to 
kill the germs that will spread from the diseased parts 
to other trees. Dwarf pears — that is, pears grafted 
or budded on quince stock — have been generally found 
more blight-proof than the standard varieties. 

Plums are often a failure on account of a tiny 
beetle, the curculio, which puts an egg into the skin 
and then cuts a half-moon shaped mark into the young 
fruit to prevent the skin from closing up over the 
grub, which is soon hatched. This grub eats into the 
fruit and causes it to drop. Plum trees should stand 
near the chicken yard, so that the chickens can fre- 

152 



CHERRIES, TEARS AND PLUMS. 



153 



quently be allowed to get the fallen fruit and its de- 
structive enemy. In this way a check is put upon the 
propagation of the pest. Spraying with the mixture 
recommended in the case of the codling moth for the 
apple tree, as soon as blooming ceases and the young 




Fig. 24 —The plum tree curculio. a, the 
iarva^ b, the pupa: c, the beetle; d, 
curculio, natural size, on young plum. 




Fi?. 23— Renroditring plants 
by iayeriiig. A is brancli 
bent over und buried, helJ 
down by stake B, New 
shoots C start up, which aro 
then cut off from p4reut 
plant at D. 



fruit begins to show, is the best thing to be done. 
Plum trees suffer also from a species of blight. If this 
appears the only remedy is to cut out and burn all af- 
fected parts. Spraying in time with the emulsion of 
hard soap and coal oil may do much to prevent it. 

In favored localities the peach is a most desirable 
fruit. It is easily grown from good stock. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GRAPES. 

Grapes are a most delicious and healthful fruit. The 
Concord is still the most popular variety. It furnishes 
excellent eating when fully ripe. It is too often picked 
and eaten while yet immature. The Niagara is a 
superior white grape which has given good satisfaction. 
The Delaware, small and sweet, does very well, but is 
liked too well by the robin and catbird. There are 
many other varieties, but they cannot be depended on 
for general cultivation. 

Plant grapes (one-year-old vines from a good nur- 
sery are best) 8 feet apart each way in fertile soil. If 
the soil is poor it will pay to enrich it, but keep fresh 
manure from the roots. Grapes grow only on the 
wood grown the year before, and each bud may pro- 
duce two clusters. As there are so many buds, it is 
necessary to prune severely in order not to weaken 
or kill the vine by overbearing, and to get good-sized 
clusters. Pruning should be done in the fall, as in the 
spring it is difficult to do the work before the sap be- 
gins to move. Train at first to one cane, rubbing off 
all other shoots as they appear. This may be tied to a 
stake and allowed to grow its full natural length ; but 
nip off the side shoots, leaving, however, a few leaves 
to prevent the breaking into growth of the bud at the 
place where these shoots start. Early in September 
nip off the tips of the cane to insure perfect ripening 

164 



GRAPES. 155 

of the wood, and in October or later cut off fully two- 
thirds of the cane, leaving one-third to bear fruit the 
next year. If the growth was not satisfactory no fruit 
should be expected the year after planting, and but 
little the year thereafter. 

The following year cut the cane that has borne 
fruit down to within two feet or less from the ground, 
allowing two strong canes to grow; rub or prune off 
all other shoots. These canes should be cut back in 
the fall. They will bear fruit the following summer. 

In order to check the tendency of the vine to send its 
sap too vigorously upward and develop the top clus- 
ters at the expense of the lower ones, the bearing 
canes should be bent and their tips tied below. For 
this purpose two stakes will be found more satisfactory 
than one. The vine needs the sunlight, and if tied to 
one stake there would be too much crowding. If the 
expense is not an objection, from three to five wires 
may be drawn along the rows for the bearing canes to 
grow horizontally on them. The canes should be 
firmly tied to the wares or stakes to prevent the wind 
from tearing them loose. Grapes may be protected in 
winter by laying the canes flat on the ground, holding 
them fast with clods and then plowing against them 
on both sides of the row. If there are not many vines 
the spade alone may be sufficient. 

Fifty vines, if well grown and kept, may yield from 
500 to 1,000 pounds of luscious grapes year after year, 
more than enough for the average family. 

Grapevines should have the best chance for sunlight, 
and the ground should be very perfectly drained. 



156 FRUIT. 

Grape canes of the season may be cat into pieces in 
autumn, each having an uninjured bud, preserved dur- 
ing winter in boxes filled with sand, and stuck into 
the ground in spring. They will grow for the mosc 
part the same season and make good plants for plant- 
ing the next. Growing vines may be layered — that is, 
a cane is bent to the ground and held there with pegs. 
From each bud a plant will start. In the fall the cane 
should be severed from the parent stock and each of 
the separate growths cut off from the other. These 
will also make good plants and come into bearing a 
little sooner than vines grown from cuttings. 



CHAPTER V. 

SMALL FRUIT. 

Strawberries should be set out in spring, in rows 
four feet apart and plants eighteen inches to two feet 
apart in the row. The ground should be as rich as 
possible and in the highest state of cuftivation. It is 
hard to keep the blue grass out of a strawberry bed, and 
as close weeding by hand would be tedious, it is best to 
cultivate well between the rows by horsepower, using 
a pronged hoe in the rows and around the plants ; take 
off one crop the following year and then plow under 
the first planting; relying on "runners," which by that 
time will have invaded the space between the rows, for 
the crop of the third year. This process may be re- 
peated, the original rows being again established, but 
by this time the grass and weeds will be very annoy- 
ing, and it may be best to plow under both them and 
the strawberry plants and sow clover for a rotation, 
with vegetables and again strawberries to follow. 
During the early part of the season the growth of 
runners must be checked as much as possible. The 
best method is to grow each plant in a hill by itself, 
but few farmers can do this, as it takes too much time 
to keep the runners down. 

Raspberries may be planted on any good land. For 
a few years the space between the rows of the apple 
orchard would offer a good opportunity. Each plant 

157 



1S8 



FRUIT. 



should be pruned back to a few shoots and the tips cut 
off before a crop can grow to secure ripe wood and 
good sized berries. The fewer shoots the finer and 
larger the fruit. 




^^ !&" 



FIs- ■25— A strawberry pJaiit repro- 
ducing- by a "rijiiiicr." 




Fig, ^fi -A strawherry plant 
properly set oiu. 



The same is true of blackberries. As to choice of 
varieties of these and all other kinds of fruit, the 
advice of the nearest nurseryman should be taken, or 
the reports of the various farmers' institutes may be 
consulted. In a certain locality certain varieties will 
give satisfaction, while others may fail. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

Strawberries are either pistillate or hermaphrodite. 
The blossoms of the former lack the stamens, which 
bring about fertilization ; the latter have both stamens 
and pistils. 

Some of our best varieties of strawberries are 
pistillate. If such are planted it is necessary to plant 
with them some of the other kind, otherwise but little, 





Fig; 27 —A perfect strawlierry 
blossom haviiig both pisii s 
and stamens. 



f l£j. 28 An imperfect stf!\w» 
lierry blossDiii li;iviiig pislils, 
but Mul sUimcns. 



if any, fruit will be produced. The advice of the 
nurseryman should therefore be taken in all cases of 
doubt, though inspection will easily enlighten anyone 
when the plant is in bloom. 

As for planting trees or vines, the rule should be 
to dig a hole several times larger and deeper than the 
root requires, then to throw in part of the dirt taken 
out, heaping it in the center. 

On the top of this heap set your tree or vine, taking 



l60 FRUIT. 

care to spread out the roots well, after cutting off 
smoothly any bruised ones. Then fill in with the best 
soil, using water to settle the ground thoroughly 
around the roots and make it cling firmly to them. 
No vine or tree should be set deeper than it was before, 
nor less deep. 

After planting, which in the Northwestern States is 
most safely done in the spring, the ground should be 
kept from baking by frequent stirring. It is best not 
to mulch at first, but to allow the sun and the rain to 
stimulate root growth. Later in the season, when 
rain is scarce, a mulch of grass free from seed, or 
bright straw may be applied to keep the weeds down. 
The danger of gathering a lot of weed seed in this way 
is, however, so great that cultivation is the safer plan. 

As in the case of apple trees, cultivation ought to 
stop in August, and then is the time to apply a good 
mulch. 

In the case of cherries and plums it has been found 
that cultivation is less necessary, and may even prove 
injurious. It will be preferable, therefore, to keep the 
ground mulched and thus prevent the growth of grass 
and weeds. If grass or clover has once started it may 
be as well to mow frequently and leave the stalks on 
the ground. The cutting must be repeated as often 
as possible. 

An important word of caution may yet be necessary. 
Never allow slops to be emptied near a tree or vine. 
Keep horses and cattle from your trees and out of your 
orchard. The salt in slops and in the urine of animals 
will infallibly ruin the healthiest tree in a short time. 
Slops should be emptied at different spots, never twice 



GENERAL REMARKS. l6l 

on the same spot within a year at least. No harm will 
be done if this precaution be used. 

An acre of ground devoted to orchard purposes may 
be planted with 30 or 35 apple trees, with the addition 
of 5 cherry trees, 5 pears and 5 plums. 

Plant your trees as near to the house as possible. 
This will be appreciated by the female portion of the 
family, as it will save time and trouble, and also by 
the male portion when the fruit has been prepared and 
is presented to them at mealtime. 

In addition to the fruit garden there should be, of 
course, a vegetable garden. Asparagus is a desirable 
vegetable, requiring but little care, except at planting. 
A bed should be dug as deep as possible and filled with 
well rotted manure and rich black soil. The young 
plants are then planted in rows about two feet apart. 
They must be kept free from weeds. In the fall it 
will be well to cover the bed with a coat of manure. 
This will secure an early crop. The growing plant 
should not be allowed to bear seed. Cut the tops 
after the flowering season is over. 

Tomatoes are a very valuable crop. Plant only the 
best varieties and provide for a support of the vines. 
Laths nailed on sticks about two feet above the ground 
will answer for this purpose. 

Cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, melons, etc., should 
be planted in rich garden soil, but it will be necessary 
to have your melon bed at a considerable distance from 
the former vegetables to avoid fertilization from their 
pollen, which would spoil the melons for eating. 

The insect enemies of all these vegetables are num- 
erous and must be fought by hand picking. Birds will 
destroy many of these insects. No farmer will wish to 
be without early peas, and a variety of beans, including 
the Lima bean. 



£6? I^RUIT. 

The directions for planting and cultivating these are 
found on the papers in which the seed is sold, hence 
none are given here. Lima and other tall growing- 
beans need poles to climb on. A supply of such should 
be provided for in winter or early spring before the 
regular field work begins. 

No garden will be complete without some sweet 
corn of the best varieties. To keep the seed from being- 
spoiled by the field corn, care should be taken to plant 
it at a distance from the latter. 

Celery may be readily grown in good soil, but it 
needs attention when the plant has attained its growth 
to secure the desired whiteness. The rows must be 
well hilled up on both sides so as to almost cover the 
entire plant. 

There are other delicacies which are welcomed on 
the table and can be raised with but little trouble, such 
as the oyster plant, cauliflower, Brussel's sprouts, to- 
gether with the more common spinach, lettuce and 
several varieties of cabbage. The boys and girls should 
be encouraged to take an interest in planting these and 
attending to them, by being allowed to sell what is not 
needed at home. A part of the garden may be given 
up to sunflowers, the seed of which is much liked by 
chickens, and benefits their health. 

A garden, to be productive and satisfactory in the 
choice quality of its vegetables, should be plowed and 
subsoiled and abundantly manured. If at all possible, 
an arrangement should be made to supply it readily 
with water in the dry season. Narrow boards, nailed 
together, may be used as troughs or pipes to convey 
the water from a distance where it is not feasible to use 
ditches. At the same time it has been found very use- 
ful to underdrain garden soil. The ground should be 
kept mellow and not a weed allowed to grow on it. 



PART V. 
SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DIVISIONS OF SCIENCE. 

Who has not often looked at the starry sky and ad- 
mired this grand spectacle? What a multitude of stars, 
—all in motion, but none in a hurry, not one keeping 
the other from following its course through the night 
and the day, through the weeks, months, years and 
centuries ! They are so far away that it takes the light 
of some of them millions o-f years to reach the earth. 
For all we know they may have ceased to exist millions 
of years ago, and yet their light keeps on traveling, and 
countless human beings are meanwhile born and live 
and die. 

And our earth itself is a star, a very little one, it is 
true, compared with those distant stars each one of 
which is believed to be a sun around which such small 
stars as our earth may be circling. Wherever we turn 
we are in the presence of an astonishing movement. 
Nothing stands still. The very heavens move. Change 
is the law of the universe. 

The study of the movements and changes, not only 
of the stars, but of all matter, is the work of science. 



164 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

Matter is indestructible. We cannot create it ; we can 
only cause the particles of which it consists to change 
their places and enter into different combinations. And 
these particles are exceedingly small — so small that 
they can be seen only when thousands of millions are 
joined together. The name for the smallest particle 
of matter is molecule, but a molecule is believed to 
exist of several distinct parts, each of which is called 
an atom. What, then, is an atom? We can only an- 
swer that it is the smallest thinkable part of an ele- 
ment. Scientists believe that such atoms are always 
or mostly in pairs, and they make their calculations 
of the movements of these atoms on the basis of this 
belief. 

In a molecule we have all the elements which we 
find in the larger mass of any substance. In an atom 
we have only the smallest part of one distinct element. 

Chemistry deals with atomic changes which re- 
sult in new substances. Physics is occupied with 
molecular movements, the molecule itself remaining 
unchanged. 

How are the atoms placed in a molecule or in any 
part of matter? We know that gold is heavy and air 
is light. If all matter consists of atoms, what makes 
the difference in weight? It is believed to be due to 
the greater or less distance between the atoms. We 
may imagine them to be close together, as in this 
illustration — : : : — and again wide apart, as in this : 



The former would represent the gold, the latter the 
air or any other light substance. When we examine 



THE DIVISIONS OF SCIENCE. 165 

the sky at night, we find parts of it where the stars are 
close together, as in the Milky Way, and others where 
they are far apart. We might see something similar 
in the atoms of different substances if our sight were 
fitted to behold them. 

As long as the atoms in a molecule stay united there 
is no chemical change. But molecules may un- 
dergo many changes of place, and such changes belong 
to Physics. 

Water contains in every one of its molecules two 
parts of the element called hydrogen and one part of 
oxygen. If we heat water so as to form steam we do 
not change its molecules, for the steam has all the 
essential elements that w^ter has, and in the same 
proportion. All that has changed is the place of the 
molecules, or, let us rather say, the distance between 
any two molecules. If we could see their movements 
we should find that they fly apart as heat is applied. 
Thus water is changed into steam. When these mole- 
cules strike a cold surface they come nearer to each 
other again and appear as water. Hence the produc- 
tion of steam belongs to the department of physics. If 
we mix sugar in our coffee the molecules of the sugar 
are not altered ; they are only separated. 

But let us burn a quantity of sugar. We now get 
carbonic acid — that is, a gas which contains the element 
carbon and the element oxygen in every one of its 
molecules. Where is the change? To answer this 
question we should know the composition of a molecule 
of sugar. It consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. 
In the carbonic acid the hydrogen is absent and a part 
of the oxygen is also gone. Each molecule of sugar 



l66 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

is composed of 44.92 parts of carbon, 6. 11 parts of 
hydrogen and 48.97 parts of oxygen. In each part of 
carbonic acid we have 72.73 parts of carbon and 27.27 
parts of oxygen. There has been a loss of hydrogen 
and oxygen, the elements wanting having passed into 
the air of the atmosphere. But as they are still there, 
we would better speak of their disappearance as a 
change. This change was due to chemical action. But 
the chemist, by another process, can separate the three 
elements of sugar and retain each by itself. He can 
weigh each part and thus find that the three parts weigh 
exactly as much, taken together, as did the sugar. 

If all matter on earth cqnsists of these infinite par- 
ticles, may not the same be true of the sun and all the 
other stars? As heat expands matter, making the 
molecules fly apart, is it not likely that at some time 
or another, when all matter was in a condition of fiery 
vapor, there was no sun and no earth? 

It is believed that this was so. When a belief is ex- 
pressed in scientific terms it is called a theory. At the 
end of the eighteenth century the German philosopher 
Kant made known a theory which was afterwards 
adopted by a French astronomer. La Place, and is 
known as the nebtdar theory, or hypothesis. It is about 
as follows: 

There was a time when our sun and all its planets, 
our earth included, were one mass of vapor or gas. In 
the course of time this mass, in its swift movement 
around its center, would throw oi¥ portions that kept 
up that movement at a greater or less distance from it, 
and thus this center became the sun and the parts 



The divisions of science. 167 

thrown off the planets, the whole making up what is 
called the solar system. 

After untold ages the earth cooled off enough to 
form a coat of watery vapor around its fiery kernel, 
and when this kernel hardened on its surface a crust 
was formed which gradually changed into soil for the 
growth of plants. 

Below this crust the former heat continued for a 
long time, and it is believed to be great enough even 
now to keep the center in a molten condition. From 
time to time the pressure of the gases produced within 
would break the crust, allowing this molten mass to 
rise and spread over parts of the surface. Thus arose 
our highest mountains. They are of very hard stone, 
known as granite, gneiss, etc. From their disinte- 
gration (crumbling) are derived some of our best 
soils. 

The vapor around the earth gradually separated into 
water and gases, as the crust cooled off more and more, 
and this water held in solution many minerals ; for in- 
stance, calcium, which, in combination with oxygen, 
forms lime. Numerous small animals arose, which, 
like oysters, snails and mussels, formed a solid cover- 
ing for themselves from the lim.e in the water. As 
they died these shells sank to the bottom and others 
followed. In this w^ay vast deposits of carbonate of 
lime, etc. — that is, limestone and chalk — were formed. 
Most of these animals were so small that their tiny 
shells can be detected only through a microscope. Then 
came various changes. Immense fishes filled the vast 
sea,- and gigantic amphibia (creatures able to live both 
in the water and on land) the forests of quick-grow- 



i68 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

ing ferns and other plants that grew to an immense 
size. These were buried later under vast seas and 
changed into coal. The age of man came last. 

From the atomic night to the sunshine of the age 
of man — what a stupendous change! 

This theory has been generally adopted by scientific 
men, because all scientific investigations (searching) 
have strengthened the arguments in support of it. 

The science that deals with the crust of the earth 
and its formation is called Geology. Plants and their 
structure are the subject of the science of Botany; ani- 
mals the subject of Zoology. Chemistry is needed for 
a proper understanding of the changes going on in the 
plant and the animals, and it is no less important in 
the work of the physicist. The latter teaches us why 
a well prepared soil, plowed and subsoiled and tile 
drained, furnishes the conditions for a healthy and vig- 
orous growth of field crops. It is because the roots 
must seek for proper food in the soil. The soil must 
be porous (open) so as to allow water and watery 
vapor to enter, and also to arise from the lower part 
of the soil, holding in solution the necessary minerals 
and nitrates. Agricultural Physics examines the soil 
and shows how it was formed from the original moun- 
tains and the hard crust that at one time covered the 
earth, even where there were no mountains. 

Physiology is occupied with the bodily functions of 
the various living creatures, plants and animals. It is 
closely dependent on chemistry and physics, and is, in 
a sense, a part of both botany and zoology. 

Closely allied with geology is the science which 
deals with plants and animals buried in the past, thou- 



THE DIVISIONS OF SCIENCE. 169 

sands or hundreds of thousands of years ago, in the 
deposits which produced coal, Hmestone and other 
parts of the earth's surface. It is called Paleontology. 

An important branch of zoology is the science of 
insect life, Entomology, which is of special interest to 
the agriculturist and horticulturist. There are a num- 
ber of other sciences closely connected with part or 
all of the preceding ones, such as Optics, the science 
of sight ; Mineralogy, the science of minerals ; Crystal- 
lography, of the crystallic forms of minerals; Mete- 
orology, the science of the weather; the sciences of 
Hygiene, of Sanitation, and others. 

It is a tendency of our times to arrive at scientific 
certainty in every line of pursuit. This is the case in 
agriculture, which is rapidly becoming a scientific pur- 
suit, as shown by the work done at our agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations, and especially in the 
various departments or bureaus of the Department of 
Agriculture in Washington. The field of work is 
large, covering as it does the lines of vegetable and ani- 
mal industry; the many lines of productive industry 
carried on by the farmer, the horticulturist, the or- 
chardist, florist, the truck gardener, poultry breeder, 
dairy man, horse and cattle breeder and others. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE TESTS OF SCIENCE. 

In the seventeenth century there hved in Flanders a 
distinguished man by the name of Van Helmont, who 
made a great many experiments in order to learn about 
the nature of plants and animals. He did not know 
why it was that a small tree would gro'w big and heavy 
in the ground where it was planted ; whether it drew 
its nourishment from the ground or from the air, or 
from both; and therefore he made the following ex- 
periment : 

He took a young willow tree weighing five pounds 
and planted it in a pot filled with 200 pounds of soil 
which had first been thoroughly dried in an oven. He 
placed the pot into the ground, in his garden, cover- 
ing it in such a way that no dust could collect on it, 
and using rain water to keep the soil moist. He kept 
the willow in this pot for five years. Then he took 
it up and found by weighing it that it had increased 
to the weight of iGgY^ pounds! Whence, then, did 
the tree get this additional weight? It was impos- 
sible, so he argued, that anything could have come to 
it from the air, for rain water only was used, and 
was not rain water absolutely pure water ? Nor could 
anything have come from the soil, for were not the 
roots confined in a pot so that no part of the soil of 
the garden could touch them ? 

170 



THE TESTS OF SCIENCE. I7I 

This puzzled a great many people. Some of them 
repeated the experiment with glazed pots (Van Hel- 
mont had used one that was not glazed) and watered 
the tree with distilled water — that is, with water which 
was chemically pure. And what was the result ? The 
tree wouldn't grow! It became now clear that the 
moisture from the garden soil must have entered Van 
Helmont's unglazed pot, holding in solution nitrates 
and minerals which the tree needed for its growth. 
And further, it was found that rain water was not 
chemically pure ; that it contained some ammonia, a 
nitrogenous element of great importance for plant 
growth, and sometimes, especially in the neighbor- 
hood of cities, also some of the mineral matter needed 
by plants. Thus the mystery was explained by prop- 
erly conducted experiments. 

Such experiments are the test of scientific truth, and 
it should be noticed that it is only when all experi- 
ments, provided they were carefully made, confirm 
such a truth, when none, not a single one, contradicts 
it, that such a truth is finally accepted as scientifically 
demonstrated. 

Hence it is that science, in the true sense, is thor- 
oughly practical. It is the most practical thing in the 
world, and those err greatly who make a radical dis- 
tinction between science and practice. Scientific agri- 
culture is true agriculture. It is the highest and 
noblest type of it, provided only it be rightly under- 
stood. Mistakes are no doubt made even by special- 
ists. Cases of chemical examination of the soil have 
been known that led into error, simply because the 
chemist did not know that some of the elements he 



172 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

found in the soil were insoluble in the water of the 
soil. Had he known this he would possibly have rec- 
ommended, in such a particular case, gypsum to be 
used on a clover field, salt on wheat and other grains, 
in order to furnish the necessary conditions of solu- 
bility.. But such mistakes are gradually avoided. For 
science reaches out farther and farther, so that excep- 
tional conditions are rarely left unnoticed. 

We have spoken of the elements that are found in 
matter and of their smallest parts — atoms. No one has 
ever seen an atom. But it may be truly said that all 
our modern science rests upon this theory of atoms, 
and that this theory is accepted as true simply be- 
cause all experiments thus far made confirm it, and 
not one has yet contradicted it. 

A very important experiment was made by the 
French chemist Lavoisier in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century which shows the importance and 
the character of a truly scientific test. 

Until then it was taught in textbooks, and believed 
to be a fact by scientific men, that the cause of fire was 
a substance, a principle, or something which contained 
the fire, and would burst forth when conditions were 
favorable. The name of phlogiston was given to this 
peculiar something, and it was said that all substances 
contained it, even the flint, as sparks would come from 
it when struck with a piece of steel. 

But by this time Priestly, an English chemist, 
had discovered the gas called oxygen, which forms 
nearly one-fifth of the air we breathe. Lavoisier, wish- 
ing to find out more about this gas, burned a quantity 
of wood and carefully saved and weighed the products 



THE TESTS OF SCIENCE. 173 

of the combustion (burning). He found that these 
products weighed more than the wood he had burned. 
Whence came the additional weight? He examined 
carefully what he had saved, and found that all the 
elements of the wood were there, and besides them a 
quantity of oxygen! The additional weight was due 
to this oxygen, and now it was plain that burning takes 
place when oxygen combines with carbon, the principal 
part of wood, under specially favorable circumstances 
which make possible a very energetic combination of 
the two elements. When we observe that certain acts 
are always followed by certain consequences, w^e are in 
the presence of a law. 

A ball thrown towards the sky will fall back to the 
earth, and as it falls its movement will be quicker the 
nearer it comes to the earth. If we throw up a feather 
it will stay in the air much longer. Is there, then, a 
law for the ball and another for the feather ? It was be- 
lieved that a large mass of lead would fall faster than 
a small one. The Italian scientist, Galileo, in the sev- 
enteenth century, proved that this was a mistake. He 
took bullets, large and small, went up on a high tower 
and dropped them to the ground. They all came to 
the ground at the same time. 

If we take a suitable vessel and place it on a smooth 
plate of glass to keep out the air, then apply an air 
pump and pump all the air out of the vessel, a leaden 
bullet and a feather or piece of paper will fall to the 
bottom of that vessel with equal rapidity. Why? Be- 
cause the air no longer hinders the movement of the 
feather. The round ball can overcome the effect of 
the air more easily, but in an airless space (in a 



174 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

vacuum, as it is called ) it has no advantage in this re- 
spect over the feather. This proves the universal truth 
of the law of falling bodies, the law of gravitation. 

In this way, then, omitting all details, we see that 
the scientific observer proceeds to arrive at the truth. 
He discovers the laws which govern the changes of 
matter. The knowledge of these laws is science. 

What an immensely suggestive and inspiring 
thought that all the wonderful variety of earthly 
things, and all that we see in the heavens above : the 
sparkling diamond, the enduring granite, the towering 
mountain, the shining gold, the infinite number of ani- 
mal and plant forms — nay, the brilliant sun itself and 
all the glory of the stars — are the outcome of the 
changes of matter which started in what was at first a 
vast mass of vapor, thin as air and probably much 
thinner, and that they all assume their varied color 
only for the mind through the human eye ! The atoms 
of which they consist are invisible, they have no color. 
It is only as they combine in various proportions that 
their forms produce the effect of color under the influ- 
ence of light, the rays of which are either reflected 
(thrown back) or absorbed, according as these forms 
may make possible or require the one or the other. 

What a mystery there is in this ! What a power in 
the human mind that feels this mystery! And how 
grand beyond all human conception the source of this 
mystery and of this power! 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. 

There is in all matter a certain force for which we 
use the general term of energy. Force is shown in 
action; energy n^ay be inactive, and yet exist. It has 
been proved by close observation and experiment that 
the sum total of all the energy in the world never 
grows less. It is the same all the time. All the natu- 
ral changes we see (the name phenomena is used for 
them) are due to the motion of atoms; but what is it 
that makes these atoms move ? In chemistry the term 
aifinity has been used to explain why, for instance, 
oxygen combines with phosphorus or carbon. Affin- 
ity means relationship. It is as though these atoms 
were related and wished to meet. But a word is not 
an explanation or a reason. All we know is that, no 
matter what takes place, all phenomena are due to the 
motion of the smallest particles of matter, and that the 
energy used or displayed in these movements is always 
in existence. This is shown in the phenomena of heat. 
Heat is a mode of motion. Motion produces heat, and 
heat in its turn produces motion. The energy at work 
which heats the axle as the wheel turns upon it is ex- 
actly equal to the heat produced. When this heat en- 
ters into the air — that is, when the axle cools — it is not 
lost, but taken up by the air, and used to produce s^m? 

175 



176 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

effect which is exactly equal, as energy, to the force 
which was required to produce it."^ 

We burn coal, heat the water in the steam boiler, 
and thus move a railroad train, a ship, etc. Here is 
energy. It comes from the coal, you say. But how 
did this coal get it ? 

The answer is this : The source of all energy on 
our earth is the sun. It caused the growth of those 
masses of vegetation in the dim ages of the past which 
were afterwards buried under water, pressed together 
and formed into coal. The force expended while this 
took place was buried and fixed in the coal. To-day 
we dig the coal from the depths of the earth and use 
the force that made it. The energy expended in its 
production is exactly equal to the energy that now 
comes from the coal, heats the water and drives the 
train or the ship. Thus zue live not only by the sun 
that shines to-day, hut by the sunlight that warmed 
the earth millions of years ago! 

It is the sun that makes the rain and the snow. It 
acts on the plant, makes it expand and lose part of its 
moisture. This stimulates the roots. They absorb 
and send up more moisture and, dissolved in it, the ele- 
ments the plant needs for its growth. The plant con- 
denses the energy which called it forth and made it 
grow into a tree, and returns all it received in the 



*This was proven, at the beginning of this century, in the canrxOn 
foundry of Munich, Germany, by a clever American, a native of 
Massachusetts, who was made a count by the King of Bavaria 
and is known as Count Rumford. 



THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. 177 

wood of the tree as fuel, or in the wheat as food for 
the body. There is unceasing movement everywhere, 
a constant expenditure and storing up of energy in all 
nature, a most wonderful circle of change and mo- 
tion, always the same and yet always different! 

The discovery of the law of the conservation of 
energy is one of the most important ever made. On 
the basis of the experiments of Count Rumford and 
many other scientific experimenters, J. Robert 
Mayer, of Heilbronn, Germany, formulated this law 
as the first discoverer of it. Professor Joule, a 
Scotch scientist, proved it correct by a series of special 
and very ingenious experiments. Many other scientific 
men contributed important work which showed the 
bearing of this new law on scientific pursuits in physics, 
astronomy and chemistry. 

A most interesting book by one of the most thorough 
British scientists, Professor Tyndall, "Heat Considered 
as a Mode of Motion," admirably proves and illustrates 
its working. 



CHAPTER III. 

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 

All chemical changes in the soil and its products 
come under the head of Agricultural Chemistry. 

The elements contained in the soil are, in the first 
place, those found also in the rocks from which all soil 
was formed by disintegration; secondly, those pro- 
duced by the decay of vegetation in the product which 
we call humus, and, finally, those which enter the soil 
directly from without, as air and water. The air con- 
sists of about 20 per cent of oxygen, diluted by about 
80 per cent of nitrogen. It contains a small percentage 
of carbonic acid-gas, enough, however, tO' amount to 
several thousand tons over each acre of ground. 

If we burn a plant and weigh the products of this 
burning, we find that different plants require the same 
elements, but in varying proportions. There are less 
than twenty elements which are known toi enter into 
the body of a plant. These are: O^xygen, nitrogen, 
carbon, hydrogen (in water), calcium (in lime), phos- 
phorus, silicon (in sand), magnesium, aluminum, so- 
dium (in salt), potassium (in ashes), manganese, iron, 
chlorine, fluorine, sulphur, boron. Aluminum, calcium, 
magnesium, manganese are as much metals as iron is. 
They form compounds with oxygen called oxides. 
The oxide of calciumi is lime, of magnesium, magnesia. 
Oxygen combines with all the elements named except 
fluorine. With silicon it forms silica or quartz, from 

178 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. I79 

which we get sand and pebbles, also the carnelian and 
jasper stones. Aluminum is the principal element of 
clay, but not a plant food. Lime and magnesia are 
plant foods of great importance. The non-metals en- 
ter more largely into the composition of a plant than 
the metals. 

Oxygen, sl heavy element, is a gas, but readily com- 
bines with other elements. 

Oxygen is the absolutely necessary element to bring 
on combustion with or without a flame. In combina- 
tion with other elements it forms nearly one-half in 
weight of the solid earth, and 8.9 by weight of water. 

Silicon is not found in a free state, but is frequent 
as an oxide. It forms an essential part of many 
minerals. It is that element which gives stiffness to 
the stems of plants, of corn, wheat, grass, etc. Quartz 
is a very pure oxide of it; silica contains aluminum. 
Lime of silicon and magnesium of silicon are also 
forms of it. 

Carbon, found perfect in the diamond and in 
graphite (the substance used in lead pencils), is the 
principal element in the plant. It is the characteristic 
element of wood, starch, sugar and all oils and fats. 
Acted upon by the oxygen of the air, the fat and other 
parts in the animal body, which contain carbon, are 
burned. The oxygen forms an oxide with the carbon, 
and this is breathed out by the lungs as dioxide of 
carbon. This mingles with the atmosphere and is avail- 
able for the use of plants, which absorb it and draw it 
in by means of their leaves. 

Limestone, marble and dolomite are carbonates, that 
is, compounds of the metal calcitmi with carbon. 



l8o SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

"The influence of the carbonates on the soil is very 
useful. They favor the process of converting nitro- 
genous compounds into forms suitable for plant food 
and exercise a great influence on the physical state of 
the soil, increasing its capacity for holding water and 
enabling it to reach easily the roots of plants."* 

Experiments have proved that plants take the greater 
part of carbon from the atmosphere. On an acre of the 
following crops, raised in rotation : potatoes, wheat, 
clover, oats, it was found that the soil furnished 2,513 
pounds, the air 5,031 pounds, the total being 7,544 
pounds. 

Sulphur is found both free and in combination with 
metals. In gypsum (plaster of Paris) it is combined 
with oxygen and calcium. 

Hydrogen is the lightest of elements, and is there- 
fore chosen as a standard to compare the weight of 
others. It is entirely colorless, has neither taste nor 
smell. It is found free only in small portions in some 
volcanic gases, but the form in which it is most usually 
found is water, of which it forms 11.3 per cent by 
weight. It constitutes 74 parts in ammonia which are 
joined to 26 parts of nitrogen. 

Chlorine occurs free in small amounts on volcanoes. 
Its most common combination is with hydrogen, as 
hydrochloric or muriatic acid; with the metals it forms 
chlorides, and with sodium it combines to form our 
common salt. Chlorine is found in all plants, but in 
the soil it is found only in the proportion of .1 per 
cent. 

*Wiley. 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. l8l 

Phosphorus is found only in combinations and is 
never absent in any natural soil. It is one of the abso- 
lutely necessary elements in animal and plant food. 
It is needed in the brain, and constitutes almost all the 
mineral matter of the bones. In the seeds of plants it 
is the principal part of the ash. 

The importance of phosphorus may be inferred from 
the fact that cereal crops (wheat, oats, etc.) take from 
the soil about 20 pounds of phosphorus per acre, grass 
about 12 pounds. According to an estimate of the 
agricultural department in Washington, the cereal and 
grass crops in the United States remove annually from 
the soil nearly four billions of pounds of phosphorus. 

As phosphorus is mainly found in bones, the English 
farmer buys bone meal (ground bones) freely. British 
ships have carried the bones of the vast battlefields on 
which the first Napoleon caused the slaughter of so 
many men from the shores of Germany to England, for 
the use of the English farmers. A country that keeps 
sending abroad heavy crops of wheat, corn, etc., sells a 
most valuable part of its very soil, that must be re- 
imported sooner or later if the agriculture of that 
country is to be maintained in a thriving condition. 

We have stated before that nitrogen makes up over 
80 per cent of the air we breathe (the atmosphere), the 
remainder being oxygen. The two gases mingle as 
air, but do not enter into a chemical combination in the 
atmosphere. In the soil nitrogen is found in nitric 
acid, a compound of oxygen and nitrogen, and in this 
form it is taken up by the roots of plants. The process 
by which nitrogen is changed into available plant food, 
into nitric acid and nitrates, is called nitrification. 



l82 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. • 

Humus contains nitrogen. By the action of ferments, 
tiny plants, invisible to the naked eye, which are sim- 
ilar to those which exist in yeast, this nitrogen is 
changed into nitrates, for instance nitrate of lime. But 
they do this only where the soil is warm and moist 
without being sour. The air must circulate through 
it. Hence the importance of cultivation and draining. 
The same process goes on in the manure pile. 

Agricultural chemistry is largely concerned with the 
measures and means to retain and increase in the soil 
the stores of available nitrogen. "The importance of 
nitrogen as a plant food," says Prof. Wiley, the chem- 
ist of the agricultural department in Washington, D. 
C, ''cannot be too highly estimated. It is as necessary 
to plant growth and development as water, phosphoric 
acid and potash, and far more costly." 

The nitrates are easily dissolved in water and there- 
fore apt to be w^ashed from the soil by rains and the 
action of water in general. They find their way to the 
sea, hence the value of seaweed, which is rich in ni- 
trates, as a manure. Fish are rich in nitrate and are 
sometimes used for the same purpose. The feathers of 
birds are very rich in nitrates and the peculiar value 
of guano is largely due to them. 

Nitrogen is the valuable part of the albuminoids, 
that is, the food element which forms the flesh of 
muscles and is found in peas, beans, meat, etc. It is 
also the essential element of casein in the milk and 
cheese, and of gluten, that substance which remains 
when all the starch has been removed from the flour of 
wheat, oats, etc. 

In Chili large deposits of a nitrate, called Chili salt- 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 183 

peter, are found. This saltpeter forms a large article 
of trade. It is transported very largely to England^ 
but the United States import a considerable quantity, 
in the neighborhood of 200 million pounds annually, 
and these imports are increasing. 

Sodium is found in common salt and in soda. Po- 
tassium is the essential element of potassa, which we 
find in potash. 

Calcium, as already stated, is the essential part of 
lime. All these are important for plant life and must 
be in the soil to enable plants to grow. 

As the crops raised by the farmer contain these ele- 
ments, it follows that, as he sells his crop, he sells a 
large part of his land. In a ton of wheat he sells 38 
pounds of nitrogen, 19 of phosphoric acid and 13 of 
potash. Even if he condenses his crops of corn and 
grass by feeding them to his hogs and cattle, these 
will, when sold, carry away in their bodies about one- 
fifth of the material in the crops. Hence the absolute 
necessity of making good this loss before the land 
wears out. And it will wear out, even while there are 
large amounts of these elements in the soil, for the rea- 
son that it is only the soluble combinations that are 
useful, and many are not soluble. Barnyard manure 
alone cannot do all the work of fertilizing, no matter 
how carefully it is preserved and applied, for it does 
not contain that part which was sold and left the farm 
either as hay and corn, or as swine and cattle. 

The time must therefore come when the farmer will 
be compelled to buy fertilizers to make good this extra 
loss. Agricultural chemistry is largely concerned with 



184 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

determining what elements of fertility are wanted in 
the soil, and how to apply them. 

As long as it considers the soil and the atmospherCj 
chemistry is called inorganic, that is, not-organic; but 
when it deals with plants and animals and their re- 
mains, it is called organic. The parts of a plant or 
animal by which they grow, and which develop as they 
grow, are called organs. If we cut across the stem 
of a plant and apply a magnifying glass, we see a 
number of cells from which the sap runs out. These 
cells (resembling little bags) have thin walls which 
allow the sap to pass through, which reaches every 
part of the plant. Organic chemistry is applied to 
the study of these and all similar phenomena. 

The force which makes the sap rise in these organs 
of the plant, the cells, is called capillary attraction., 
from a word meaning hair, as these cells are joined 
together so as to form very small passages. But these 
passages are interrupted by the walls of the cell so that 
the comparison .is not a very good one. The action 
of the liquid in the cell in passing through the cell walls 
is called osmosis; the passing out being called exos- 
mosis, the passing in endosmosis. The same words 
describe the action of the blood in the small cells of 
the animal's body. 



CHAPTER V. 

AGRICULTURAL PHYSIOLOGY. 

Chemistry is on the one hand connected with geol- 
ogy^ and on the other with physiology. All these 
stand in close relation to agriculture, the object of 
which is to feed and clothe man. It fulfills its high 
mission in proportion as it does this permanently and, 
if not abundantly, at least sufficiently. 

The improvement of the human race is the ultimate 
object of all the sciences. Hence the necessity of know- 
ing the laws that govern man in his efforts to maintain 
himself in good health. Physiology, and its allied 
sciences of hygiene and sanitation, treat of these laws. 
We have already seen that all animals breathe out 
carbonic acid (or rather di-oxide of carbon). This gas 
is diffused in the atmosphere, of which it constitutes 
about the i -2500th part. This is at a rate of some six 
thousand tons over every acre of ground. The plant, 
on the other hand, under the influence of the sunlight, 
gives off oxygen through the pores generally found on 
the under side of the leaves. Oxygen, a, heavy gas, 
is present everywhere, often in combination. Nitrogen 
dilutes oxygen so as to make it fit to be inhaled by 
man and animal. But we have learned that in close 
combination with carbon oxygen causes combustion 
(burning), and that in this way compounds of carbon 
are formed, such as carbonic acid, which cause nausea 



l86 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

and death if breathed by animals. Now remembering 
that all fat is essentially carbon (the other part of fat 
being principally water) we can understand that the 
oxygen of the air, acting upon the fatty matter in our 
body, will practically burn up this fat in so far as it is 
found in the blood. The result is bodily heat, and this 
explains why in cold weather violent exercise, that 
makes us take in more air, and consecjuently more oxy- 
gen, will create warmth in our bodies. It explains also 
why in very cold countries, raw oil, tallow and the like 
are relished as a regular food by the natives. When 
tallow candles were still in common use it was difficult 
for the travelers in arctic regions tO' keep the people 
from making a meal of them. But it is not only the 
fat that is used up. With the exception of the bones 
and the horny matter, every part of the animal body is 
changed back during life into' the elements of which it 
was made. New material is constantly formed, and 
our bodies and the bodies of animals are thus con- 
stantly renewed and destroyed in a regular circle of 
action that has been called the "circulation of life." 

Food, after it has been chewed and mixed with 
saliva, passes into the stomach. In the case of cattle 
this stomach consists of four parts, and cattle chew^ 
their food twice, the second time after it has returned 
to their mouths from the first stomach. From the 
stomach, where the gastric juice (from gaster, mean- 
ing stomach) has been mixed with it, it passes on to 
different parts of the intestines, after having received 
the bile of the liver, a peculiar liquid which acts par- 
ticularly on the fatty part of food. It is then called 
chyle. This chyle is a pretty uniform liquid mass, 



AGRICULTURAL FHYSIOLOGY. 1 87 

which is for the most part changed into blood. All 
along the small intestines tiny blocfdvessels, called 
capillaries, suck it in and convey it to larger vessels, 
called veins. These veins contain the bad and imper- 
fect blood. Countless capillaries, meeting other capil- 
laries that conveyed good blood, receive the worn out 
and spoiled parts of the body that have gone back into 
the blood from these other capillaries, and convey 
them, together with the imperfect blood of the chyle, to 
the veins, and these veins carry all this mass of impure 
and bad blood to the heart. The heart is a powerful 
muscle which continually contracts and expands and 
thereby produces a pumping movement. It consists of 
four parts, the two upper being called auricles, the 
two lower ventricles. A partition divides the heart 
into two halves, the right and the left. Its name is 
septum. The venal blood is discharged by the veins 
into the left auricle, which sends it through a valve to 
the left ventricle. The left ventricle discharges it in- 
to an artery, a large bloodvessel, which carries it to 
the lungs. These consist of two parts, the right and 
the left, each containing many thousands of cells. As 
the blood spreads through the lungs, it loses its bad 
element, the carbonic acid, which is breathed out, and 
receives a new supply of oxygen from the air breathed 
in. It is then ready to return to the heart, which will 
pump it into the bloodvessels called arteries, and thus 
send it into every part of the body. The renewed and 
healthy bleed that comes from the lungs enters the 
right auricle of the heart, from which it flows into the 
right ventricle and thence into the large arteries. These 
arteries, the same as the veins, end in a mass of capil- 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



laries which join the other set of capillaries, so that 
the circle of movement goes right on, and continues as 
long as the life of the body. This entire circular move- 
ment requires only one-half of a minute. 




Fio. 29 —The Position op the Lungs and Heart in the Chest. 
A, B, C, D.— fieart. 2.— Pulmonary Artery. 6.— Juj^nilar Vein. 

E, F.— Lunps. 3.— Aorta. 7.— Windpipe. 

G.— Diaphrap;m. 4.— Superior Vena Cava. 8.— Larynx. 

1.— Pulmonary Vein. 5.— Carotid Artery. 9.— Coronary Artery. 



Illustration : — 

29. The heart, lungs and diaphragm. 

30. The lungs, windpipe, larynx and bronchial tubes. 

31. Chart of the circulation of the blood. 

It is very easy to see that a healthy heart and vigor- 
ous lungs are necessary to secure the best results of 
this renewal of blood. Full, vigorous breathing will 



AGRICULTURAL PHYSIOLOGY. 1 89 

secure the separation of the carbonic elements from 
the blood, and the mingling of health giving oxygen 
with it. The heart must be sound to fulfill its work as 
the great pump to secure an even flow through the sys- 
tem. In order that it may act freely and with the 




7%« lungs, showing the larynx. A, the tolndplpe ; B, the broiuihial fubea, 

necessary energy there is needed another muscle, called 
the midriff or diaphragm, which marks the division 
between the upper and the lower cavities of the body. 
It is at the base of the chest, extending across it and 
bent upward. On its elasticity depends the free action 
of the heart, and also of the lungs. Ladies wearing 



190 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 




Fig.. 31 f—TiiE IlEAur and its Cavities. 
(Showing lesser and greater circulations.) 
rt, right auricle; b, right ventricle, communi- 
cating through auriculo-ventricular opening; 
c, pulmonary artery, showing branches to each 
lung; d, capillary vessels of lesser or pulmonic 
circulation ; e, pulmonary veins ;/, left auricle, 
and g, left ventricle, communicating through 
left auriculo-ventricular opening; k, aorta; 
i, arteries ; k, upper vena cava, bringing blood 
from upper portions of body to right auricle j 
I, arch of aorta; m, its descending portion; 
M, arteries of stomach and intestines; 0, capil- 
laries of intestines ; p, portal canal ; g, capil- 
laries of portal system in liver; r, veins 01" 
liver; s, lower vena cava, bringing blood 10 
right auricle from abdomen and low(;r por- 
tioufl.of body; t, capillaries of greater or syu- 
temic circulation. 



corsets hinder the 
development and ac- 
tion of the dia- 
phragm, and thereby 
endanger their entire 
system. 

But it is not only 
through the lungs 
that the waste mate- 
rial of the body is 
thrown out or se- 
creted. What passes 
into the air by the 
lungs is material that 
has no value as a fer- 
tilizer. It is other- 
wise with the matter 
voided in the urine. 
This liquid contains 
the most important 
fertilizer and is 
therefore tlie most 
valuable part of ma- 
nure. The urine of 
a cow contains a 
large percentage of 
nitrogenous matter, 
chiefly ammonia, sul- 
phate of potash, 
phosphate of lime, 
carbonates of pot- 
ash, and of ammonia, 
and a peculiar sub- 



AGRICULTURAL PHYSIOLOGY. 



191 



Stance found only in the urine, to which the name of 
urea has been g-iven. This also contains nitrogen. The 




Fig 32 -Relativb Position of thbj Internal Organs. 

urine of cows contains 65 per cent of water, that of the 
horse 94 per cent; the latter is therefore much less 
valuable. 



192 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



A great many impurities pass through the skin, in 
summer more than in winter. These cannot of course 
be used for any purpose, but the fact shows how neces- 
sary it is to keep the skin clean so that its milHons of 
Httle openings, pores, may be able to do their work. 
As cold contracts, these pores are partly shut up in 
cold weather, unless vigorous exercise, developing 

heat, brings moisture 
to the skin. But such 
exercise is at the ex- 
pense of food, and it 
is therefore economical 
to provide warm stables 
for stock. A sufficient 
supply of pure air 
must, however, be fur- 
nished. All stables 
should be well venti- 
lated. 

The matter that passes through the alimentary canal 
as excrement lacks much of the fertilizing value of 
urine, but is nevertheless valuable. It contains mostly 
hard and undigested matter which needs fermenta- 
tion to become valuable as manure. 




33. -Diagram showing the action 
of the diaphragm when one 
is breathing. 
A. A.— Diaphragm. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FOOD AND FEEDING. 

Food, whether for man or animal, is divided into 
three classes: i, muscle-formers (nitrogenous, al- 
bumenoid, or protein) ; 2, Fat producers {carbo-hy- 
drates, i. e. compounds of carbon and the elements of 
water, oxygen and hydrogen), and with these the oils 
and fat itself ; 3, mineral. Water is found in all food. 
Straw and grass contain a fibrous substance which con- 
sists of silica and carbon. The minerals, as already 
stated, are found in the ash when the body is burned. 

Nitrogenous elements, together with phosphates, are 
found in the horny part of the body, of the outer skin 
and the hair with which it is covered, and in the teeth 
and the bones. The carbo-hydrates are derived from 
the carbonic acid in the atmosphere through the action 
of the roots and leaves. The latter absorb carbonic 
acid directly from the air under the influence of sun- 
light. The minerals come exclusively from the soil. If 
we feed to make stock take on as much fat as possible, 
we rely on the carbo-hydrates, but if w^e wish for solid 
meat, nitrogenous food must be furnished. Both are 
needed and neither could be omitted without serious 
consequences. 

The most essential elements of the bones are phos- 
phoric acid and lime. The two appear in the chemical 
compound phosphate of lime, which is composed of 100 
parts of phosphoric acid and 84.53 of lime. Hence 
food should supply this and also the phosphate of mag- 
nesia. 

193 



194 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

We find in lOO parts of the ashes of the oat plant, 
of phosphate of lime 39.3 parts; in 100 parts of wheat 
straw ashes, of phosphates of lime and magnesia 6.2 
parts; in 100 parts of ashes of wheat, of phosphates 
44.5; in 100 parts of the ashes of bran, 46.5; in 100 
parts of pea straw, 17.5 parts; in 100 parts of the 
seed of barley, 32.5; in 100 parts of th'e seed of oats, 
'24. Hence the importance of these for feeding pur- 
poses, though it must be remarked that phosphate of 
lime is found in all plants. 

The chemist calls compounds of this kind salts. 
Our common table salt is not a salt in the chemical 
sense, for it consists of two distinct elements, chlorine 
and sodium, which can be easily separated by the 
chemist. Chemical salts are combinations of a base 
(the name given to such substances as lime or the 
oxide of a metal) and an acid in the chemical sense, 
that is, compounds like carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, 
phosphoric acid, etc. The acid phosphoric acid, joined 
with the base liiiie, forms the salt phosphate of lime; 
sulphuric acid and lime form plaster of Paris (gyp- 
sum) ; carbonic acid and lime form the salt carbonate 
of lime, such as chalk, limestone, marble. None of 
these have much resemblance to our table salt. 

All fatty matter needs for its perfect digestion 
the bile of the liver. The bile contains a base which, 
acting upon the fat, produces a mixture resembling that 
produced when wood ashes or potash are combined 
with fat for the production of soap. In this condition 
these elements are taken up by the fine hair-like veins, 
capillaries, that receive the blood forming elements 
from the intestines and carry them to the larger veins. 



FOOD AND FEEDING. 195 

The starch in food, such as the soHd bulk of all flour, 
of potatoes, rice and the like, is first turned into sugar 
in the process of digestion, and finally into fat. It is 
then acted upon by the bile and other juices and thus 
fitted to be absorbed by the capillaries. Starch, sugar, 
fat, mark the changes of the same materials for which 
we have the general name carbo-hydrates. Below is 
a tabular statement of the divisions of food that must 
be supplied to the body in order that it may grow and 
repair waste : 

Muscle-Formers. Nitrogenous Food. 

1. Alhuinenoids, that is, containing albumen, a 
food stuff found in the white of an egg, and also in 
the lean part of meat, in the nitrogenous parts of seeds, 
and especially in the legumes — peas, beans, lentils, 
clover, the cowpea, the soja bean and alfalfa. 

2. Casein, which resembles albumen, but is dis- 
tinct in so far as it is that part of the milk which cur- 
dles and thus serves to make cheese. 

II. 
Heat-Producers. Carbo-Hydrates, or Carbon- 
aceous Food. 

1. Starch, found in Hour, in potatoes, in all the 
cereals, in grass and hay, also in sago, rice and in all 
fruits and vegetables. 

2. Saccharine (sugar) matter, in honey, fruit, 
sugar, etc. 

3. Fat, found in the fat of animals, in milk, in 
the oil of seeds, in butter, and partly in cheese. Lin- 
seed, rape seed, etc., are rich in oil, and also contain 
much nitrogenous matter, hence they are very valuable 
for stock. 



196 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

III. 

Minerals. 

1. Chlorine, Sodium or Natrium, in the combination 
of common salt. 

2. Phosphorus, as phosphate, in the bones, nerves, 
brain, etc. 

3. Sulphur, in the hair, and in horny matter. 

4. Iron, in the blood and muscles. 

5. Fluorine, in the outer coats of the teeth, th^ 
enamel. 

6. Calcium, as lime in potash. 

7. Potassium, in potash. 

8. Magnesium, in phosphate of magnesia. 

This food has for its principal element carbon 
united with hydrogen ; this combination slightly varies 
as to the amount of either in starch, fat, butter, oil. 

The following table gives the approximately correct 
average percentage of organic matter and ash in our 
common field crops : 

Carhona- 

Albumenoids ceous food, Starch Woody Minerals 

or protein, fat or oil. and sugar, fiber, or ash. Water. 

Wheat 12 2 72, 2 2 i; 

Oats 12 5 60 9 3 i: 

Barley 12.5 2 69.5 3 2 i: 

Corn 10 5.5 70 2 1.5 i: 

Peas 20 2 53 12 2 I] 

Bran 15 4 54 9 6 12 

Pasture grass. .4 i 18 9 2.5 65 

Meadow hay. . . 6 2.5 45 29 4.5 13 

Red clover 12 3 39 25 6 15 

Cornstalks.... 4 i 33 20 2 40 

Oat straw 4 2.3 42 Z7 5 10 

Wheat straw. .. 3.5 1.3 4.3 38 4 il 

Turnips ...... i 0.2 6.8 i i 90 

Potatoes ...... 2 0.1 17.9 I I 90 

Corn silage.... 2 I lo" 6 i 8q 



FOOD AND FEEDING. 197 

Compare with the preceding the food values of the 
following : 

Starch Woody 

Albumenoids. Fat or oil. and sugar, fiber. Ash. Water. 

Beef (fat) 15 32 5 48 

Mutton 13 38 .... 3 46 

Pork II 44 .... .... 2 43 

Beans and peas 20 20 *53 12 2 

Milk (whole).. 3.5 4 **4.8 .... 0.7 87 

Milk, skimmed. 3.0 0.5 **5.o .... 0.7 90 

Oatmeal 6 7 *67 10 2 8 

Cheese 28 33 4 35 

Butter I 86.5 **o.5 .... 2 10 

Notice the high food value in albumenoids of the 
following: Cheese, 28; beans and peas, 20; beef, 15; 
mutton, 13; pork, 11. In regard to oatmeal, whole 
wheat flour, etc., it is doubtful whether all the albu- 
menoid part is digestible, much being found in the 
outer part of the kernel. This is of similar character to 
that in the bran of wheat, but this bran is not found to 
be suitable for human digestion. 

We see that our bodies are built up from the ele- 
ments around us, gases, invisible to our eyes, forming 
the greater part of them, and minerals- the smallest. 
But these elements do not feed us directly. Our diges- 
tive organs are incapable of changing the carbon found 
so abundantly in nature into human fat, nor any part 
of the vast mass of nitrogen around us into 
muscle. These elements and the minerals we 
need must first be changed by the plant into 
forms that are digestible by the human and 
animal body. Nor could we use many plants 
directly to sustain our life. We could not live 
on grass and straw, nor on several parts of such^plants 

♦Starch. **Sugar. 



igS SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

as are otherwise acceptable as food, unless we first feed 
them to animals, and then eat the flesh of these ani- 
mals. Hence the usefulness of cattle, sheep, swine, 
poultry and game. 

To furnish food for mankind is the business of the 
farmer, but if this business is to yield him a profit, he 
must know how to raise his crops, and how to fatten 
his stock in the most economical way. He must avoid 
waste in feeding, and he must furnish his stock warm 
and comfortable quarters. In cold weather we walk 
fast or work to overcome the effects of cold. Our 
lungs take in more oxygen and this oxygen burns up 
more fuel, that is carbon, in our body. This is the rea- 
son why fat is relished in winter. But if fat is burned 
up, it is lost as an article of value that has cost material 
for its formation. Hence, if animals are shivering, a 
large proportion of the fat they have laid up in their 
bodies is lost again, and more must be supplied by 
feeding. 

We use the words assimilate, assimilation (from 
Latin simile, meaning alike, or similar) to denote the 
process by which animals and plants change outside 
elements into parts of their own body. We say there- 
fore that each plant or animal is benefited only by that 
food and so much of it as it can assimilate. In this 
sense the word digestion has nearly the same meaning 
if we speak of animals and man. But assimilation is a 
gradual process, and must not be rushed. Overfeeding 
is as bad as underfeeding, as it results in loss to the 
farmer. Animals should have enough to eat, but no 
more. If they do not eat up their food clean, less 
should be given next time. The proper measure, 



Foot) AND FEEDING. 199 

moderation, in such as in all other matters, should be a 
rule that is applicable both to man and beast. 

A general inference is the following: As food is 
useful only in so far as it is digested and taken up into 
the system, any measure that will help digestion is in 
so far a saving of food. Hence it is desirable to feed 
hay and straw chopped fine, to feed grain, bran, mid- 
dlings, etc., stirred in slightly warmed water, or even 
after they have been thoroughly boiled or steamed. This 
is especially desirable for pigs, and in winter. In cold 
weather a greater amount of food is needed to make 
fat, solely to be consumed in keeping the body warm. 
A warm stable will therefore save feed. Chopped food 
will be more readily acted upon by the^ saliva and 
juices of the stomach (gastric juices), hence more 
easily digested, so that a given quantity of hay will go 
further. If corn stalks are cut fine on a good machine, 
they would constitute a valuable addition to useful 
fodder. Ensilage has been found to be more relished 
and more easily digested than other fodder. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HUMAN FOOD. 

As to the proper preparation of the human food a 
few rules may be given. We need a due mixture in 
our food of nitrogenous and carbonaceous elements. 
Of the former the greater supply is in cheese, about 28 
per cent; in meat from 15-20 per cent; and in peas, 
beans and lentils, about the same. These arti- 
cles contain at the same time a large proportion of car- 
bonaceous elements, such as starch, and in the case of 
cheese and meat, fat, and also the mineral elements 
needed by the body. They suffice, therefore, for all 
purposes of nutrition, especially in the case of those 
who work hard in the open air. In the preparation of 
meat it should be remembered that the nitrogenous ele- 
ment is largely in the form of albumen (the same sub- 
stance which is found in the white of egg.) Now, in- 
asmuch as this albumen will harden (coagulate) when 
exposed to heat, it has been found that in order to keep 
the juices inside of the meat, it is necessary to expose 
meat quickly to a great heat, which will harden the 
albumen on the outside layers of the meat and thus 
make a coating which will keep the other valuable 
juices within. Hence it is that steak broiled over a 
bed of bright coals is much more juicy than one fried 
in a skillet. 

If a skillet must be used it should be made thorough- 
200 



HUMAN FOOD. 20I 

ly hot before the steak is put in. An admirable im- 
provement would be braising, which is done in a 
braiser. This has a tight-fitting lid with a standing 
rim; on this live coals are placed, so that the heat is 
ipplied to both sides of the meat at once. It follows 
that a steak should be thick, for the larger the inside 
the more juice can be preserved. This is of course also 
true of roasts. In the case of boiled meat, unless 
broth is the main object, the water used should be boil- 
ing before the meat is put in, and the pot at once cov- 
ered with a tight fitting lid. The steam boilers, for 
cooking purposes, to be had in the tinware stores, are 
prepared on this principle. 

Potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, etc., contain very 
little nutriment, but are liked as an addition to the 
more substantial food and answer a need of our sys- 
tem. The same is true of fruit, only nuts being rich in 
nitrogenous elements. Most of us are apt to eat too 
much meat. It has been found that a quarter of a 
pound of meat, or at any rate not more than one-half a 
pound, a day is sufficient for soldiers, who spend much 
of their time out of doors. It ought to be enough for 
anyone. Those who overload their stomachs with 
rich food are punished in various ways. They fre- 
quently suffer with gout when they attain mature age, 
a most painful disease. 

Bread has been called the stafY of life. It is in itself 
suf^cient to sustain life and build up the body, but as 
the starchy elements prevail in it, a larger portion must 
be used than is necessary with meat, cheese or the le- 
gumes. Most of the nitrogenous elements of the grain 
are in its outer coating, the bran, but bran cannot be 



202 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

digested by the human system. The bran had better 
be given to cows or pigs. The milk of the former 
and the meat of the latter can then be taken into the 
human system with good effect. 

Milk, and chiefly cow's milk, is an ideal food, as it 
contains all the elements of which the body is made in 
about the same proportion in which they are found in 
the body. Milk is largely water, the rest consists of 
nitrogenous and carbonaceous substances, the former 
in the form of casein, which is the essential part of 
cheese, the latter as butter. The mineral matter needed 
by the human body is also found in the milk. 
Skimmed milk, being deprived of the fatty element, is 
excellent for the purpose, ^s the fat is abundantly sup- 
plied by other articles of food. Milk may be used at 
every meal in place of coffee or tea. Tl'tese two are not 
specially injurious prepared in a weak form, by merely 
pouring boiling water on a very little tea or coffee, the 
latter ground as fine as possible or pulverized, but as a 
rule they are regularly boiled, or else allowed to stand 
until the hot water has drawn out their poisonous ele- 
ments, the caffein or thein. If tea or coffee must be 
used, the rule should be observed of never boiling them. 
The less material used, the better. 

Unfortunately the taste of using strong coffee or 
tea has become so general that it is as difificult to 
change it as it is to change the taste for liquor. The 
alcohol in the latter is a poison, hence no one who 
wishes to keep himself in perfect health can afford to 
touch it. A melancholy philosopher has said, 'These 
harmful substances seem to have been created to pre- 
vent the human race from living too long, for if all 



HUMAN FOODo 203 

people lived out their natural lives the earth would 
soon afford no longer standing room for the race." 

All feeding, whether of man or animal, should be so 
regulated as to give the stomach ample time to recover 
for new work by a period of rest. As to animals, the 
rule must vary, as the smaller stomachs of the horse 
and pig require these animals to feed oftener than cat- 
tle with their four stomachs. 

In regard to man the best results will be obtained if 
an interval of not less than four hours between meals 
be allowed for children, and not less than five hours 
for adults. In some respects the plant is a model for 
man. Man will crowd everything into his mouth that, 
for some reason, pleases him. He will poison himself 
with alcohol and tobacco, and hurt his digestion by 
drugs, strong spices and unsuitable food. Not so the 
plant. It is truly wonderful, one of the many mira- 
cles that we find everywhere in nature, that a plant will 
select out of material in solution, with which its roots 
come into contact, only that part of the solution which 
contains the material it needs, rejecting the other. It 
will absorb a chemical salt contained in a solution of 
water and reject the water, or absorb the water and 
leave the salt. A solution which contains equal parts 
of different minerals, all needed by the plant, will be 
assimilated in such a way that each mineral appears in 
the plant in different quantities. 

From a solution of equal parts of sulphate of soda 
and of muriate (or hydrochlorate) of soda, there were 
taken up by a plant (bidens cannabina) only 11.7 of 
the former and 22 parts of the latter. In the case of 
sulphate of soda and muriate of potash the plant took 



204 SCIENCE ANt) AGRICULTURE* 

only 7 of the latter and 12 of the former. There is a 
lesson of great importance for us in these facts. What 
the plant does unconsciously, we should do conscious- 
ly; take up only what is fit for us, for the up-building 
and preservation of our bodies, and reject all the rest. 
And might we not probably enlarge this rule by mak- 
ing it applicable also to our minds and souls? Let us 
feed our minds only on what is true, let our souls im- 
bibe only what is good, praiseworthy, noble! In that 
way we shall grow to the full stature of mind and 
body for which the Great Architect created us. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ENTOMOLOGY, SCIENCE OF INSECT LIFE. 

*'Insect" means literally, ''cut into" or "in sections." 
Notice, for instance, the wasp. Insects are so called 
because of their form. A familiar insect is the grass- 
hopper, another the ^ cricket. All moths, butterflies, 
beetles, bugs, caterpillars, belong to the class. 

Some insects are useful, but many are very injurious 
pests. Of the latter we mention the Colorado beetle, 
or potato bug ; the chinch bug, so destructive to wheat ; 
the Hessian fly, the army worm, the cutworm — all 
destructive to green crops. The pea weevil, or *'Pea 
bug," lays its eggs on the outside of the green pod 
whence the larva, from the eggs, eats its way into one 
of the peas on which it lives until it enters the pupa 
state. 

Moths, butterflies and nearly all other insects, such 
as bees, beetles, flies, etc., develop from the egg by the 
following stages : From the egg is hatched a caterpillar 
or grub. This is a voracious feeder but changes after 
a short time, generally several weeks, into a motionless 
form called pupa, after having surrounded itself with 
an envelope that resembles a shell. In this condition it 
may remain all winter. On the approach of warm 
weather the shell cracks open and the moth or butter 
fly comes forth to be soon engaged in laying eggs for 
another set of caterpillars 

203 



206 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

The cutworm is a caterpillar, and so is the army 
worm. 

The pupa of a butterfly or other insect is called a 
chrysalis. The chrysalis of a butterfly is almost always 
rough and angular, while the pupa of a moth is 
smooth, oval and more or less silk-like on the outside. 
The butterfly differs from a moth in its feelers, or 
antennae, which are smooth and threadlike and end in 
a knob, while those of the moth are generally feath- 
ered. Moths fly mostly at night, butterflies only in 
the daytime. The larva of a beetle is called a grub. 
Among useful insects may be mentioned the ground 
beetle, which is very destructive to cutworms; the 
lady-bird beetle, or "ladybug," which lives on plant 
lice, and the various parasites that live on plant lice and 
caterpillars and so destroy them. 

Insects are divided into seven classes, according to 
their wings. 

1. Nerve-winged {neuroptcra — ptcra meaning 
wings) as May flies. 

2. Straight-winged (orthoptera), as crickets and 
grasshoppers. 

3. Half winged {hemiptcra), as bugs and plant 
lice. 

4. Sheath winged (coleoptera) , as beetles. 

5. Scaly winged {Icpidoptera) , as butterflies and 
moths. 

6. Two-winged (diptera), as house-flies and mos- 
quitoes. 

7. Transparent winged (hymenoptera) , as ants, 
bees, sawflies, wasps. 



ENTOMOLOGY, SCIENCE OF INSECT LIFE. 



207 



All insects have six legs; moths, butterflies, beetles, 
bugs, weevils, etc., have four wings. 

The insect pest is one that often tires the patience of 
the farmer and gardener. To guard against the 
chinch bug a thin streak of tar around the entire 
field will protect a field that has not yet been attacked. 




Fig 31 -A ground beetle, 
onj of "the "sheath 
winged "' insects, very 
destructive to cutworms. 







Fig 35— Lfxdy-bird beetles, or "lady-bugs." The •straight lines represent the average 
natural length. Tiiese beetles are very destructive to ulaiu lice. 

Rotation of crops, and the careful destruction of all 
vegetation on the field, after the crops have been har- 
vested, will afford no place for the eggs and do much 
to diminish the evil. Plowing before winter sets 
in will kill many eggs. There are some destructive in- 
sects that infest orchards. The apple borer does much 
damage to the trunk of apple trees.''' It is a glossy and 



*See page 147. 



208 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

greenish black beetle about half an inch long. It bores 
into the tree and along under its bark and remains there 
one or two years. When several borers attack a tree it 
is apt to be killed ; in all cases it is more or less weak- 
ened. Good cultivation, by causing an abundant flow 
of sap, is said to check the borer by drowning it. 
Whale oil soap applied to the trunk, after the rough 
bark has been scraped off, followed by an application 
of soft soap early in the season, is said to keep the 
beetle away from the tree. When the larva is in the 
tree it must be cut out. 

The codling moth (from codling, the name of an 
apple) is about ^ inch across its wings. "^ Its fore wings 
are gray, its hind wings light brown. The larvae gen- 
erally enter the young apple from the blossom end 
while the apple is yet upright, and eat their way to the 
core. Such apples generally fall before they are ripe, 
and it is a good practice to feed them to the pigs, in 
order to get rid of the insect. In the pupa state that 
insect stays about two weeks. Then the moth comes 
out and soon a new set of eggs is the result. Spraying 
the trees with a mixture of Paris green is to be recom- 
mended, especially while the apples are still turned 
upward (that is, while their blossom end is above, and 
the stem below). It is important to spray at the right 
time, not too early, while the tree is yet in full bloom, 
nor too late, because then the mischief is done. Spray- 
ing too early will kill the bees that not only gather 
honey from the blossoms, but also, by carrying pollen 
from one blossom to the other, fertilize them. 

The pear tree slug is a black saw-fly. It has 



'See pages 147 and 149. 



ENTOMOLOGY, SCIENCE OF INSECT LIFE. 209 

four wings. The female is nearly 1-5 of an inch long. 
It lays its eggs on the approach of warm weather in 
June, and these produce the slugs, which are one-half 
inch long and often longer. They change their skins 
four or five times while feeding on the leaves. After 
about four weeks more a new generation of flies will 
be ready to deposit a new crop of eggs. A kerosene 
emulsion* should be used for their destruction in June 
and August. The plum curcidio is a weevil, dark in 
color, and 1-5 of an inch in length. In the spring it 
comes forth from rubbish, hence the necessity of de- 
stroying all rubbish in the fall. As the young fruit 
is setting it punches a little hole in it, lays an egg and 
cuts a moon shaped slit into the skin near the hole. 
This slit gives the larva a chance to get out of the 
fruit when it has grown larger and the hole has dis- 
appeared.! 

Trees may be jarred to make the damaged fruit fall 
to the ground. This should be picked up and given to 
the chickens and pigs. A sheet spread under the tree 
will collect the curculios, which should then be de- 
stroyed in a mixture of kerosene and water. Spray- 
ing with Paris green is recommended. It should be 
repeated several times after the blossoms have fallen. 

The tent caterpillar is very destructive to the leaves 
of the trees. The nests are easily seen and should be 
destroyed; but this should be done while the caterpil- 
lars are in the nests. They come out two or three times 
a day to feed. Spraying with Paris green is the best 
remedy. 



*See page 148. tScvi page 147. 



2IO 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



The science of Entomology is of comparatively re- 
cent growth, but it is of great importance. Only re- 




Flg. 36 r-The tent caterpillar, a and <5 are caterpillars on 
the'web, «- is a mass of eggs, d is the cocoon containing 
the chrysalis or pupa. The female moth is above. 

cently it was found out that the peculiar fine taste and 
flavor of the Smyrna fig is due to the action of a tiny 
insect. After many futile attempts this insect has at 



ENTOMOLOGY, SCIENCE OF INSECT LIFE. 



211 



last been introduced into California fig orchards, and 
some excellent figs have been raised in consequence. 

Among the useful insects bees deserve our special 
attention. 

Of the destructive ones the following illustrations 
show three more specimens with which we will close 
this chapter. 




Fie. 37 —Bud moth. The larva feed' 
upon young buds of fruit trees. 




Fig. 3« -Rlidgc and larva. 
Destructive to clover 





Fig. 39 -I. Army worm, pupa of same ; 2. Moth into which it changes ; 3. Chrysalis. 
This is a cutworm, 



CHAPTER IX. 

BEES. 

Any farmer may have a small stand of bees and all 
the honey needed for his family. In some seasons an 
exceptional yield of honey may even enable him to 
realize a nice little sum of money out of honey sold. 

Bees are insects and belong to the order of hymen- 
optera, their wings being very thin and transparent. 
Their two pairs of wings are spread in flight in such 
a way that the inner pair hooks on to the outer. In 
this way they are enabled to carry a larger load than 
their size might lead us to expect. A bee has a long 
tongue which it can twist about easily, and at the end 
of which there is a brushlike part which it uses to 
sweep up the juices from the flowers. It puts the sweet 
juice (or nectar) of the flower into its mouth, whence 
this nectar passes into a little sack called the honey 
bag. Bees do not fly home until this bag is full. At 
the same time each bee gathers the pollen of flowers 
{pollen or seed dust) on its hairy legs, which have 
pocket-like depressions on each side. Thus loaded up 
the bee returns to its home and there puts away the 
nectar, which by and by changes into honey, and the 
pollen. 

Before any honey can be stored, the bees must have 
cells. These they build of wax, which they make 
out of honey. Each cell has six sides — we say it is 

212 



BEES. 213 

hexagonal. A little inspection will show that this 
is the most economical form where a number 
of such cells are joined, for any other form 
would yield less room for the material used. Circles 
would leave open spaces where they meet; squares and 
triangles would require more material for walls to 
afford the same amount of inside space. 

Bee-keepers now help the bees at this work of cell 
making which keeps the bees from gathering honey 
while they are engaged in it. They use ordinary bees- 
wax, which is pressed out into flat sheets showing the 
beginnings of the future cells. The bees use these as 
foundations to build on. These foundations are held 
by a square frame which can be easily put into and 
removed from the hive when the bees have filled the 
cells with honey. The hive should be a box with such 
fastenings inside as will enable the beekeeper to hang 
his foundation frames on them. There should be 
enough of them to fill the entire box, leaving only space 
enough for the bees to get around in. 

Bees go through the same stages of growth as other 
insects. But they have this peculiarity that all the eggs 
of a swarm are laid by only one bee, the largest of 
them, called the cjueen bee. Only one queen bee can 
remain in a hive; if there should be two, one must 
leave. When it does leave a part of the swarm goes 
with it. 

The queen bee lays one egg in a cell. This may pro- 
duce either a so-called worker bee, always a female, or 
a male bee, called drone; and in some cases a queen 
bee. A swarm may contain some 20,000 or more 
workers, and from 500 to 1,000 drones. While at 



214 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



work laying eggs the queen bee averages some 2,000 a 
day. The drones are hatched in cells somewhat larger 
than those which answer for the worker, and the cells 
for the queen bees (there are frequently more than 
one,) are still larger. A similar difference is in the 
food. After the egg is laid the bees place a mixture of 
honey and pollen into the cell, for the use of the larva 
which hatches in about three days, and then feeds on 
the food by its side for some six days. It is then ready 
to go into that stage which is the same for all insects, 






Fig. 40 — Queen. 



Fig. 41 — Worker. 



Fig. 42 — Drone, 



the pupa stage. (See p. — ) The bees seal up the 
cell with a thin cover of wax, and in about twelve or 
fourteen days the worker bee comes out of this cell, 
ready to join in the common work. Drones require a 
few days longer, the queen bee a few days less. From 
the laying of the egg it takes 21 days for the ordinary 
bee to develop, 24 days for the drone, but only 16 days 
for the queen bee. The food for the queen bee larva 
is much richer; it is especially prepared by the bees 
and has the name of ''royal jelly." 

Instict guides the bees to prepare for the lack of 
flowers during winter. Honey is made only while 
flowers are in full bloom. As long as there are any 
flowers the work goes steadily on until the hive is well 



BEES. 215 

stored with honey. From 50 to 100 pounds may thus 
be produced by an average colony. This is more than 
the swarm will need, and a part, sometimes the greater 
part, of this quantity can therefore be removed by the 
bee keeper. 

If all the seasons were as favorable as some are, 
there would hardly be a business yielding more net 
profit than bee keeping. But this is not the case. Some 
seasons the supply is very poor, yielding scarcely 
enough honey to winter the swarm. And then there 
are frequently cases of disease which cause the loss of 
large numbers. It is not always possible, at least not 
for the farmer, to prevent these. For these reasons 
bee-keeping should not be carried on extensively on a 
farm. The work is suitable for women, and most 
people who engage in it find it very fascinating. But 
a bee-keeper must have a gentle disposition to avoid 
stings. The bee is provided in the rear end of its 
abdomen with a sting which consists of two sharp 
lances. A bee will sting only when provoked and in 
defense of the swarm, but when it pushes this sting 
into a person's flesh it drops at the same time into the 
opening a small quantity of poison. This poison and 
the sting itself, which remains in the flesh as its shape 
makes its removal difficult, cause pain, dizziness and 
somtirties an illness that may continue for a day or 
longer. It is therefore important to remove the sting 
one way or another and to neutralize the poison as 
quickly as possible. For the latter purpose ordinary 
soda may be used. 

Persons used to bees are rarely stung, and if stung 



2l6 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

will not mind it much as they soon get used to the 
poison. 

It is recommended to be often with the bees, to allow 
them to settle on one's hand, and even on one's face, 
without making any hasty motions. The trying time 
is when the bee-keeper wants to take out honey or 
examine the hive for queen cells. He must then use a 
''smoker," a small pair of bellows wdiich keep a rag 
burning in a tin funnel. The smoke thus produced is 
blown into the hive and compels the bees to leave it. 

Another occasion for stings is at swarming time 
W'hen the bee-keeper wants to catch the escaping bees. 
To this end he will throw water upon them, a small 
pump or syringe is used for the purpose, and the bees 
will then settle around the queen bee on some object, 
generally the twig of a tree. After they have had a 
little rest to quiet down, the whole swarm can be 
caught in a bag and this bag emptied into a vacant 
hive. During these operations the bee-keeper should 
wear over his hat a veil long enough to protect his face 
and neck. He should also tie up his sleeves, etc., to 
prevent bees from creeping into them. With some 
practice all this work can be done with little trouble, 
but in order not to become discouraged, it is well to 
proceed very cautiously at first. 

Various kinds of hives are for sale at reasonable 
prices. Foundations can also be had in most localities. 
The outlay, once a start has been made, need not be 
large. The result, in the long run, will amply justify 
the trouble and the expense. 

In order to obtain the largest amount of honey 



BEES. 217 

extractors'^ are used. These extract the liquid honey 
which may then be put into glass jars and kept like 
preserves. The combs, that is the cells in a mass, may 
then be returned to the hives. This saves the expense 
of new foundations, and allows the bees to' go right 
along gathering honey. 

It is important that only Italian bees are used. It is 
only necessary to have a first-class queen of this stock, 
the rest may be of another kind. In a short while the 
whole colony will be Italians. There are other varie- 
ties, but the Italians have given by far the best satis- 
faction in this country. 

Honey differs according to the flowers from which 
it has been gathered. A very choice variety is bass- 
wood honey, gathered from the blossoms of the bass- 
wood tree. White clover honey is another fine variety. 
Buckwheat honey is dark, and the least valuable, 
though a good honey in itself. 

When it becomes necessary to move the hives to 
another place they should be shut up for a day. They 
may be opened late in the afternoon of the day follow- 
ing their removal when the bees are not apt to fly away 
far. This gives them time to recognize their new sur- 
roundings. 

In very hot and dry weather the bees feel the need 
of water. This should be furnished in abundance, but 
in shallow vessels where they can easily reach it with- 
out any danger of drowning. 

Bees may be wintered in a dry cellar. They will do 



*Extractors are for sale at reasonable rates at all tlie stores 
where beekeepers' supplies can be had. They must be made by 
experts. 



2l8 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



better out of doors, if the winter is not exceptionally 
severe, or if they have the protection of buildings, 
straw stacks, etc., on the west and north sides. 

Like many other insects bees help in, or directly 
cause, the fertilization of flowers by carrying the pol- 
len from one plant to the other. They are especially 
useful in the orchard. 

The bumble-bee does this for red clover. It has been 
said that in order to raise clover we must have cats. 
Why? Mice destroy the combs of bumble-bees and 
thus kill the young brood. As the old bees do not live 
long, there would soon be no bumble-bees to fertilize 
the clover blossoms. Cats feed on mice, hence cats are 
necessary to raise clover. But the same may be said 
for snakes, owls and other animals that prey on mice. 




CHAPTER X. 



*^ BIRDS. 

Our songbirds and others perform a most important 
service in keeping down noxious insects of all kinds, 
but, with few exceptions, they also do some injury. 
During the fruiting season of raspberries, blackberries, 
grapes, cherries, the robin, catbird and others live to 
some extent on fruit. The injury they thus inflict is, 

however, of small conse- 
quence compared with the 
good they do to the farmer. 
These birds feed their young 
on insects, adding only spar- 
ingly some soft fruit until 
their stomachs have grown 
strong enough. The stom- 
achs of the nestling birds 
are thin walled and very 
weak at first, hence unfit to 
digest any material that is 
not perfectly soft. Insects 
At first snails, caterpillars, 
grubs and spiders are fed, later on beetles and other 
insects. 

The food of the bluebird is in the following pro- 
portion for the nestling and the adult bird, as shown 
in recent illustrations of the Yearbook of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, D. C, for 1900. 




Yellow-bellied woodpecker 
{Sphyrapicus vaHus ) . 

answer for this purpose. 



219 



220 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 





NESTLING 



ADULT 



Fig. 43c — Diagram showing proportions of food of tlie bluebird, 
young and adult. 

Our song birds produce on an average two or three 
broods of three to five nestlings each season. The young 
birds are fed by the old ones from before sunrise, with 

but short intermissions, 
until after sunset. The 
capacity of the nestlings 
for food is such that at 
first they digest more 
than their own weight of 
food in a day, making a 
gain in weight of from 
20 to 50 per cent each 
day. The reports of close 
observers show that, for 
instance, a young robin, 
kept in captivity by Pro- 
fessor Treadwell, of Boston, Mass., consumed sixty 




m 

m 

Fig. 43a — Hairy woodpecker 
(Dryobates villosus). 



BIRDS. 



221 



earthworms daily. Another observer, Dr. Brewer, of 
IlHnois, observed the 
young of a pair of Euro- 
pean jays and found that 
they were fed half a mil- 
lion of caterpillars in a 
single season. As the 
nesting period occurs at 
the very time when agri- 
cultural work is most ac- 
tive, the importance of the 




■JLfL 



Fig. 43b — Flicker (Colaptes 
auratus). 

food fed to the nestlings by the old birds should make 

us lenient toward the latter when we find that they 

share our taste for fine cherries, luscious grapes and 

the different berries. 

The wren, especially the house wren, feeds only on 
insects. There is no more useful bird on the farm, 
and it should be protected by all means. 

Dr. S. D. Judd, of the Agricultural Department in 
Washington, D. C, observed a nest of about three- 
fourth grown wrens. There were three nestlings, and 
these were fed by the mother wren no times in four 
hours, thirty-seven minutes, receiving and consuming 
during this time in insects and spiders. Among the 
insects he identified i white grub, i soldier bug, 3 mil- 
lers, 9 grasshoppers, 15 May flies and 34 caterpillars. 

The food of the old birds is of a similar kind. 

The diagrams on page 222, taken from the Yearbook, 
show the character and relation of food of the house 
swallow^ catbird, wren and others. 

The usefulness of the swallow has gained for this 
bird the special protection of several European gov- 



222 



BIRDS. 




NESTLING. Fl3.44^— House Wren. aDULT. 

[1, Cutworm ; 2, spider ; 3, stink-bug ; 4. May-fly ; 5, weevil ; 6, grasshopper.] 




NESTLING. 



Fi2'*6 —Dank Swallow. ADI'LT. 

[1, Weevil ; 2, ichneumon-fly ; 3, winged ant ; 4, fly ; 5, dragon-fly ; 6, 

stink- bug.] 

Food of Nestlings and Adults of some Common Birds. 

[The diagrams show the proportions of the various orders of 

insects in the food, each order being represented by the insect 

belonging to it that is most commonly eaten by the bird whose 

food is shown,] 



BIRDS. 



223 



ernments. These diagrams show how very great this 
usefulness is. 

Our native sparrows are not looked on with much 
favor. They belong to the family of song birds, but 




Fig. 43c— The Bluebird. 



224 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



their song is not of the kind to invite attention, and 
the adults Hve almost exclusively on seeds and grain. 
Nevertheless, they are not entirely useless, for as far 
as known their young are reared exclusively on in- 
sects. Dr. Judd reports that a parent bird, a S"o-called 




Fig. 47 — The Swallow. 



grasshopper sparrow, was carefully watched at Mar- 
shall Hall, Md., as she brought food to her four naked 
young. ''Three long-horned grasshoppers, two spe- 
cies of short-horned grasshoppers, a chrysalis, and an 
army worm were identified in the parent's bill. Another 



BIRDS. 



225 



grasshopper sparrow in the same field, that was carry- 
ing food to its older and feathered young, was shot. 
In its beak and mouth were two bugs and two spiders, 
and in its stomach two of the same species of spiders, a 




Fig. 48 — The Bobolink. 



bug, two leaf beetles, a weevil, a cutworm, the jaws of 
a cricket, some seeds of rib grass, and a grain of wheat. 
In the stomachs of ten nestlings and fourteen adults 
collected in Kansas, half of the food of the old birds 
was found to be grass seed, while that of the young 



226 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 




YOUNG NL5TLING 




ADULT 



consisted entirely of in- 
sects — caterpillars, grass- 
hoppers and a very few 
spiders." 

Equally good reports 
are given of young chip- 
ping sparrows. Even the 
English sparrow, though 
the adult lives mainly on 
seed and other vegetable 
matter, feeds its young an 
astonishing number of 
noxious insects. 

In the following dia- 
grams of the food of nest- 
lings some of the princi- 
pal birds useful to the 
farmer are represented. 

''With the exception of 
doves and pigeons all 
birds feed their young on 
some animal diet. Birds 
that are largely vegeta- 
rian, such as the crow, 
crow blackbird, catbird, 
robin, cedar wax wing 



Fig. 49- Diagram showing pro- 
portion of food of the Barn 
Swallow, young and adult. 
[The extraordinary usefulness 
of the swallow has caused 
several European governments 
to place it under the special 
protection of the law.] 



BIRDS. 



227 




3 WEEKS AND OLDER 



ADULT 



rio. 50-Diagram showing proportions of food of American crow {Corvus americanns). young 
and adult. 




NESTLING 



ADULT 



F'O. 5> -Diagram showing proportions of food of dickcissel (Spiza ameikana). young and adijH 



228 



SClliNCE AND AGRICULTURE. 




NLSTLING LtSS THAN ONE WEEK. OLD 



ADULT 



Fig, 52 -D-asram showin? proportions of food of English f parrow (Passer domesticus), young 
and adult< 




NEARLY FLCDGED 



ADULT 



Fio. 53l-Diagram showing prcportiong of food of crow blackbird ((?iri»ca?us qm«cul<t antfns), young 
and adult 

These diagrams show that the services of the nestling crow 
blackbird in destroying insect pests, such as cut-worms, May 
beetles, weevils and grasshoppers far outweigh the loss due to its 
consumption of corn. 



BIRDS. 



229 




NESTLING. Fl3. 65 -KlNGBfBO. ADl^LT. 

[l.Gras.ihoppcr; 2, drono honeybee; 3. roM-diafiT ; -1, spider: 5, winged ant: 6, May-beetle; 




KESTUNG. Fll. 56-CuCMOO. ADl'LT. 

3. >Iavbeeile : 4, grasshopper; S, caterpillar; 6. cutworm.! 



230 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

and English sparrow mingle fruit or grain in con- 
stantly increasing quantities with the insects fed to 
their young, though insects usually remain the chief 
component of the food until maturity is nearly 
reached." (Fig. 50-56.) Hairless caterpillars, 
such as cankerworms, cut worms, and army worms 
are largely consumed. ''Hairy caterpillars are eaten 
to a certain extent. Mr. E. A. Forbush, of Massachu- 
setts, has noted thirteen different species of birds 
giving tent caterpillars and the caterpillars of the 
brown-tailed and gypsy moths to their young." 

In addition to the examples already given, the fol- 
lowing may be added in proof of the great usefulness 
of birds. During the outbreak of Rocky Mountain 
locusts in Nebraska (1874-1877) Professor Samuel 
Aughey saw a long-billed marsh-wren carry thirty 
locusts to her young in an hour. At this rate, for seven- 
hours a day, a brood would consume 210 locusts per 
day, and the passerine birds of the eastern half of 
Nebraska, allowing only twenty broods to the square 
mile, would destroy daily 162,771,000 of the pests. 
The average locust weighs about 1 5 grains, and is cap- 
able each day of consuming its own weight of standing 
forage crops, corn and wheat.* The locusts eaten by 
the nestlings would therefore be able to destroy in one 
day 174,397 tons of crops, which at $10 per ton would 
be worth $1,743.97."! 

Another use of birds is the destruction by certain 
varieties of incredible quantities of the seed of noxious 
weeds. The subject is therefore of very great import- 

*Year Book, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, for 1894. p. 222. 
tYear Book, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1900, p. 436, 



BIRDS. 231 

ance. One young dove which had recently left the 
nest had in its crop 7,500 seeds of yellow sorrel. Ac- 
cording to Dr. Sylvester D. Judd, of the U. S. Biologi- 
cal Survey, from whose article on 'The Food of 
Nestling Birds.""' we have quoted freely, the barn owl 
is probably the most valuable rat and mouse catcher 
in the United States. 'The screech owl is an abund- 
ant, widely distributed, harmless little species that de- 
stroys mice and quantities of insect pests." It is par- 
ticularly useful in destroying May beetles. 

Even the great horned owl, so destructive to chick- 
ens when not carefully housed at night, is useful to 
the farmer. ''In and about a nest containing young of 
this species were found the remains of 113 common 
house rats." 

"Grouse, quail, pheasants, prairie chickens are com- 
monly credited with being exclusively vegetarian m 
diet, but they are mixed feeders and probably nourish 
their newly hatched chicks principally on insects. Quail 
and prairie chickens destroy such dreaded pests as cut- 
worms, army worms, twelve-spotted cucumber beetles, 
chinch bugs and Rocky Mountain locusts." 

It is believed by some ornithologists that the ex- 
tensive "legalized slaughter of these birds, which in 
some sections has amounted to practical extermination, 
is largely responsible for the increased depredations of 
certain insect pests. In any event, they are of too much 
value to the farmer to he killed off recklessly, and 
whenever the sportsman is privileged to shoot them the 
farmer should demand full compensation/' ** 



*Year Book, 1900, p. 431. 
**Year Book, 1900, p. 432. 



232 SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 

An examination of the preceding facts and illustra- 
tions cannot but impress on every reader the great im- 
portance of birds for the farmer and horticulturist. 

The damage done by some birds to the farmer is 
scarcely worth mentioning by the side of the benefit 
they confer. Crows may pull up some corn in the 
early part of the season, but their consumption of 
ripened grain later will scarcely be felt as a great evil. 

The horticulturist is often more seriously injured. 
The robin, the catbird and the cedar waxwing consume 
a good deal of small fruit. Prof. F. E. L. Beal found 
that raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries and 
service berries formed 70 per cent of the food of the 
adult robin. But the food of their young consisted 
almost wholly of insects, only 7 per cent of it being 
small fruit. The robin is also very destructive to early 
grapes, especially the Delaware variety, and in years 
when wild cherries are scarce. As there is generally 
some work going on in the garden or vineyard, at the 
time the fruit is ripening, the birds are to some extent 
deterred from indulging their appetite too freely. Most 
of the damage is therefore done very early in the morn- 
ing before work begins. Scarecrows and other devices 
help to keep the birds off, but cannot be relied on abso- 
lutely. Special protection should be given, not only to 
the swallow, but to the wren. This little bird is ex- 
clusively insectivorous and consumes an astonishing 
number of insects. It will gladly avail itself of any 
nesting place near the house, and as many small boxes 
as possible (even tin cans will do) should be nailed up 
at convenient places for its accommodation. 



PART VI. 

RURAL SCENERY. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 

All rationally formed human beings have a craving 
for the beautiful. Many confuse the terms beautiful 
and luxury. Luxury makes use of beauty as a servant 
and therefore never displays beauty at her best. The 
flowers used to decorate a splendid hall for the enjoy- 
ment of the very rich are merely material for a pur- 
pose; they are not themselves the object for which 
that hall will be visited by hundreds of invited guests. 
And yet, any one of these flowers, in its original beau- 
ty, and surrounded by other products of nature, is a 
spectacle far more wonderful and admirable than the 
most brilliantly decorated hall with its thousands of 
flowers and other ornaments. 

A sunrise in the country may be the most beautiful 
spectacle imaginable, and the varying aspect of the 
sky and landscape may at times produce effects which 
for grandeur, majesty and beauty surpass anything 
that the human imagination could picture to itself. 

All that is necessary is that man should open his 
eyes in the country to the beauty around him. If he 



234 RURAL SCENERY. 

can see properly, he will never weary in his admiration 
of the glorious scenes that unroll before him as the 
seasons come and go. 

But while this beauty of nature is always appealing 
to him, it is not all that a man desires to look on in 
order to satisfy his craving for the beautiful. 

He wants to see beauty in his home, both outside 
and in, in his yard, and in all the nearer surroundings 
of his house. It is not a very difficult matter to make 
a great and desirable change in the appearance of very 
many houses in the country. To begin with the house, 
if it be a frame house, it may be painted to look well in 
the landscape. The glaring white paint which is often 
used for country homes ought to be softened by the 
admixture of some pigment that will produce a more 
restful effect. A soft gray, an olive green, or even a 
rich cream tint looks well at all times, provided it be 
freshened up from time to time by a new coat of paint. 

It would be well to give the window panes and doors 
a different color, one forming an agreeable contrast 
with the color of the body of the house. A deep red 
for the sash of the window will generally look w^ell. 
The frames may be of a darker tint than that of the 
house, but of the same general color. The door may 
be treated in the same way, and the cornice likewise. 
Loud contrasts should be avoided, and it is best never 
to try an unusual color. The very fact that such a 
color is rare will make it appear unpleasant, for the eye 
is best pleased with soft transitions, not with sharp 
contrasts. 

The same principle should govern inside painting. 
Avoid above all dark reds or browns for doors inside. 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 235 

Let these and all other wood-work be of a cheerful 
color. In case of doubt choose a good cream tint ; such 
a tint never fails to give satisfaction. Whenever pos- 
sible have the inside walls of your house painted rather 
than papered. Paper attracts and holds dust, and 
dust is the abiding place of microbes, those invisible 
enemies of human health. If paint is considered too 
expensive, calcimining will do nearly as well, provided 
it is frequently freshened by a new coat. 

On the floor large rugs rather than carpets nailed 
down should be the rule. A rug can be taken up, 
shaken and beaten almost any time, a carpet once nailed 
down is generally a fixture for the year. Danger from 
microbes lurks in permanent carpets, and the air in a 
carpeted room is rarely ever perfectly pure. In the 
kitchen and dining room well-oiled or well-painted 
floors should be the rule. Paint makes perfect cleanli- 
ness possible, and it is generally secured when possible. 

Whenever carpets are the rule, the sunlight is apt to 
be shut out by curtains, and with it the most essential 
condition of good health. ''Where the sunlight does 
not come, the doctor will," is an old Spanish saying. 

Fresh air and sunlight are the sovereign remedies 
for worn-out people, more important than food, pro- 
vided there is good water. They are invaluable for 
children, especially in the winter season. 

The average housewife has a superstitious reverence 
for her parlor. No ray of sunlight must enter it, for 
the sunlight injures the carpet. The windows must 
be tightly closed, for the draught might displace some 
of the nicknacks on the center table or the mantel of 
the fireplace. On the days when it is opened for com- 



236 RURAL SCENERY. 

pany' it will be occupied by a solemn procession of 
guests. The children give it a wide berth, if they can 
find any other place for their play; but if they enter 
it the girls are unnaturally stiff and ceremonial, and 
the boys look as though they had never laughed aloud 
and it was now too late to learn. 

On the walls of all the rooms, including the bed 
rooms, pictures should be hung, nailed on or even 
pasted. This is the age of cheap and good pictures. 
Some may be frequently had for the asking from 
those who use them for advertising their goods. They 
do not represent the height of art, but neither are they 
deficient in some elements of beauty. Many comic pic- 
tures should be avoided. What you and the children 
daily see should be free from any taint, and many 
comic pictures, especially caricatures, are what rotten 
apples are in a barrel of good fruit. There are of 
course exceptions. Good natured fun has its proper 
place everywhere, but many of the funny pictures that 
are most frequently used do not show this kind of fun. 
Some of the Chicago dailies frequently furnish with 
their Sunday editions handsome engravings, often col- 
ored, which answer well for wall decoration. 

From the windows of the dining or sitting room the 
outlook into the yard and farm should be as pleasing 
as possible. This brings us to the subject of ornament- 
ing the grounds near the house,.. 

Windbreaks have been and are generally planted, 
but as a rule with no eye to beauty. 

It is desirable to have the trees stand in straight 
rows to facilitate cultivation, but they might so stand 
and yet produce the effect of a curve or semi-circle. 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 



237 



Neither would cultivation be more difficult, if a variety 
of trees were planted, instead of only one kind. 

In front of the trees there might be flowering shrubs, 
and in front of these a bed or two of flowers. The view 
from the house at the proper season would be charm- 
ing, and yet the expense in labor and original cost 




A Rural Scene. 



would not be greater than it is where stiff rows of 
windbreaks are planted on the one side and shrubbery 
and flowerbeds scattered irregularly over the grounds 
at the other. A good sod of Kentucky blue grass 
should be the foundation of the lawn. It is true a lawn 
requires frequent mowing with a lawn mower to pro- 
duce its best effect, and it is impossible, on the average 



238 RURAL SCENERY. 

farm, to find the time for its proper care. But if the 
sod be well established the grass may be cut with a 
regular grass cutting machine two or three times dur- 
ing the season and allowed to remain on the ground. 
The next rain will beat it down and the new grass will 
soon hide it completely. This is not the best way, but 
practically the only way for the busy farmer ; and the 
effect, while not such as is produced by a velvet}^ lawn, 
the result of frequent cutting with the lawn mower, is 
not unsatisfactory. 

Shade trees near the house should be planted at such 
a distance that their branches never reach or overhang 
the house. Their shade is very grateful on the east, 
south and west sides. Sometimes it may be desirable 
to plant a few evergreens on the north side, partly for 
effect, partly as a protection from the cold winds. 
Whoever can afford it should have evergreens for a 
windbreak. But they should stand at a considerable 
distance from deciduous trees, because the latter will 
spoil their looks if too near. Evergreens need the 
sunlight as much as any other tree to do their best. 
If well planted and cared for they are a thing of beau- 
ty to which every one will render a willing tribute of 
praise. 

The most satisfactory, as well as one of the very 
finest of evergreens is the Norway Spruce. In setting 
out evergreens extreme care must he taken never to 
expose the roots to the sunlight or air, even for a min- 
ute. Their cells contain rosin which is very apt to 
harden, if exposed, thus stopping the circulation of the 
sap from cell to cell. Very small plants give the best 
satisfaction in the long run, but large trees can be 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 239 

planted if enough of the soil is taken up with the roots 
to enable the tree to draw the necessary amount of 
moisture from the ground, and if a good mulch is 
spread over the surface to prevent the soil from drying 
out. If due regard be paid to the roots, the planting 
of an evergreen does not differ from the planting of a 
deciduous tree. 

Our *'White Pine" is a stately and beautiful ever- 
green, but like the Norway spruce it needs plenty of 
room to develop its full beauty. The ''Hemlock" is a 
graceful and elegant evergreen, but a slower grower 
than the others mentioned, and sometimes apt to turn 
brown in parts of its foliage. The Canadian fir re- 
sembles the Norway spruce, but its leaves are larger 
and of a deeper green. This fine tree does not seem 
to be as long lived as the spruce. The ''Arbor vitae" 
is a common favorite, but it looks so dingy in the early 
part of the season that it should not be planted when 
the Norway spruce and white pine can be had. Two 
foreign pines are frequently planted, the Scotch and 
the Austrian. Of the two the Austrian is by far the 
finer tree. The Scotch has a straggling growth and 
should not be planted near a dwelling. In a rugged 
part of the farm, on or amid rocks, it may produce a 
good effect. 

Do not waste time trying to remove such trees from 
the woods. Buy your plants from a competent and 
honest nurseryman. If you buy small plants, set them 
in rows alongside a fence, if possible, or at least put up 
a board along the south side of the row to shade the 
young plants, and lay clean straw or grass between 
the rows and around the plants. It will pay to water 



240 RURAL SCENERY. 

them thoroughly in a dry summer, and this had better 
be done in the evening. With these precautions most 
of the young trees will live and make a good growth 
the second year. When about ^ to 2 feet high they 
may be transplanted to a permanent place. If this is to 



The Way to Town. 

be a windbreak the trees should be planted twenty 
feet apart in the row, breaking joints with the second 
row by letting this row begin ten feet from the begin- 
ning of the first row. The rows may be twenty feet 
apart also, but for the sake of an early effect ten feet 
may be enough. 

Thus planted and properly cared for a double row 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 24! 

of Norway spruce will be a grand sight in from ten to 
fifteen years. They will look very well much sooner, 
but as they attain age they develop an air of grandeur 
and beauty that commands admiration. 

In good soil a Norway spruce will easily spread 
from 10 to 15 feet each way in as many years after 
transplanting. Never cut off or trim the lower branch- 
es. These should rest on the ground. To trim up an 
evergreen as one might a deciduous tree is to spoil 
more than half its beauty. Don't believe those "wise 
people" who tell you that they don't believe this. Judge 
for yourself after having seen some fine specimens 
showing a full natural growth from the ground up. 

If desired, the windbreak may be made much 
thicker. Instead of two rows, three or more may be 
planted with excellent effect. The tall trees will be- 
come the resort of numerous song birds, and the fam- 
ily will have the privilege of being awakened in the 
morning by a charming and very original concert of 
well trained singers. 

In order to avoid the effect of straight lines, while 
yet retaining the principle of straight lines for the sake 
of easy cultivation, the trees may be planted in the way 
here shown. Each x denotes a tree, and this may be 
an evergreen or a deciduous tree, provided only the 
two kinds are never mixed. The figure o marks a 
shrub to be planted in front of deciduous trees only. 

In planting a grove of deciduous trees for a wind- 
break, some quick growing tree like the cottonwood 
may be planted in the rear. One row of cottonwoods 
ought to suffice. But as these trees spread their 
branches very wide, it will be hard for the next row of 



242 



RURAL SCENERY. 



trees to hold their own unless they are also of quick 
growth. Hence the second row and the third should 
be white maples, also called soft maples. After these 
might come one or two rows of black walnut or but- 
ternut trees. These would be appreciated by a grow- 
ing family, and the black walnut in particular is a fine 
tree in itself. 



Trees for Windbreak. 
24 feet 

+ ^ + + + + + + + + + + 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + 



+ + + + + + + + + 
+ + + + + + +0 



X 



+ + + + 
+ + + o 
o o 



<^ 



+ + 
+ + 



4- 



Flower Bed 



X X 

Group of Trees 



+ + 
+ 

Group of Trees 




A few catalpas, of the hardy kind, should stand in 
the front, purely for ornament, and also a few hard or 
sugar maples. If to these are added a few crab apple 
trees of the cultivated kind, and some shrubs like the 
snowball, the hydrangea paniculata and a few syringas, 
the total effect, as the years go by, will be such as to 
add a very considerable value to the farm and be a 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 243 

source of great satisfaction and pleasure to the owner 
and his family. 

It is desirable, on account of our long winters, to 
have some box elders, birches and perhaps a willow or 
two mixed in with the rest, because these are the 
earliest trees to show the green in the spring.- The 
cut-leaved birch is a very elegant tree, perfectly hardy 
and a comparatively quick grower. It might stand 
nearer the house where its peculiar beauty would be 
noticed. In its season, and because it comes so early, 
there is scarcely a finer tree than a cultivated variety 
of the crab apple. Care must be taken, however, that 
the borer does not destroy it. 

If the house faces west or north the front yard 
would be sufficiently ornamented by the plantations 
thus far noted, but if the latter are in the rear, the 
house facing south or east, the front yard still needs 
attention. Trees for shade at a suitable distance from 
the house are indispensable. They should be planted 
irregularly, in groups of three to five, and so that each 
tree has a chance to develop fully at least on two of its 
sides. All regularity in planting should be avoided. 
The trees to be selected are in the order of their orna- 
mental and other values : The sugar maple, the white 
maple, the white ash, the box elder or ashleaved maple, 
the cut-leaved birch, and where the ground is inclined 
to be moist, and there is no lack of space, the American 
elm. There is no finer tree than the latter, but it will 
not do well on very dry soil where the maples flourish. 
The great feature of the front part of the yard 
should be the lazvn. Do not spoil the effect by dotting 
it alj over with shrubbery. A few flowerbeds cut frorn 



244 



RURAL SCENERY. 



the sod will look well, if the weeds are kept out and 
the flowers frequently picked before they are past their 
prime. But shrubbery belongs to the rear and sides. 
It may surround the whole yard almost like a hedge, 
but should not intrude on the lawn proper. 




A Country RoacJ, 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 245 

Provide for what has been called the "blind side" of 
the farm buildings. It is easy to devise some planting 
which hides all objectionable features and gives the 
effect of privacy. No special directions are needed 
and none would cover all cases. The essential thing is 
a good working plan so that all desirable features of a 
home may be added from year to year. First the 
necessary, afterwards the desirable; but a plan is a 
good thing and can be worked out in the many hours 
of enforced leisure which every farmer has, especially 
in the winter. 

What has been said here about ornamenting the 
home grounds may be readily applied to the school 
house and its yard. Plenty of trees on the west and 
north ; shade trees wherever needed ; shrubbery in the 
rear and to hide outhouses; a flower bed or two in 
front which the children should keep in order, and, 
where such a thing is possible, a good lawn for a 
play ground. Where the school is large, grass can- 
not be expected to resist the tramping of so many little 
feet, but there are many of the smaller schools that 
could well afford a good lawn. 

Every farmer ought to have a small nursery in 
which he may grow all the young trees and shrubs for 
the ornamentation of his grounds. Trees a year or two 
old can be bought cheap, especially evergreens. The 
nursery rows may run in the direction of the corn 
rows and receive the same treatment. 

Some may have time and take pleasure in planting 
the seed of trees. If fruit trees be thus raised they 
should be g^rafted, as fruit trees from the seed are not 



246 



RURAL SCENERY. 



apt to produce the same kind as the one which fur- 
nished the seed. Nurserymen prefer to graft on the 
root of apple trees by a process called whip grafting. 
The piece to be inserted, the scion, should be cut from 
the tree in early spring while the buds are dormant. 
The grafting must be done in the stock before growth 
starts in the spring. Whip or tongue grafting requires 
that stock and scion be of the same size. 



Fis". 58^— Whip or tongue-graft- 
ing on root. Used also in the 
case of small stocks. 



Fig. 59 -Grafting in cleft or split 
limb. Used in the case of large 
limbs. In very large limbs two 
scions are inserted on opposite 
sides of the cleft. 



Grafting larger stock is shown in Fig. 59. When 
the stock is very large two scions should be inserted. 
The scion must be cut wedgeshape and one of its sides 
should exactly match the outside of the stock, so that 
the layer just underneath the bark of the one connects 
closely with that of the other. It is along this layer 



THE ELEMENT OF BEAUTY IN FARM LIFE. 



24^ 



that the sap will rise and flow into the new layer, thus 
changing the nature of the fruit which the tree will 
bear. For all large grafts a thorough coating with 
grafting wax is desirable, and may be necessary. 




An Attractive "Neighborhood Center. 



CHAPTER 11. 

FINAL REMARKS AND A RETROSPFXT. 

Every intelligent farmer should take an interest 
in the work of the Experiment Station of the Agricul- 
tural College of his State.* These stations publish peri- 
odical bulletins containing reports on work in special 
lines. This work is scientific and accurate and fur- 
nishes a proof of the appreciation of the farmer's 
profession by the State, as well as valuable information 
in regard to all the various branches of farming. 

A great deal of excellent work is done by the Farm- 
ers' Institutes. If at all possible, attending these insti- 
tutes should be the rule with every live farmer. The 
boys and girls on the farm should attend these, for 
there is always some part of the work done at these 
institutes that interests the young fully as much as 
the older people, and then there is besides this the addi- 
tional advantage of becoming mutually acquainted. 

A few years ago a member of such an institute, 
Major E. A. Gilcler, of White Hall, 111., furnished 
a very interesting article on 'The Illinois Farmer Then 
and Now." Instead of Illinois the name of almost 
any other state might be inserted without changing 
the value of this article. 

The retrospect of this veteran farmer is in- 
teresting to young and old. The older genera- 
tion of farmers is reminded by it of the hard-, 
ships of their earlier years, and the gradual fruition 

*We have said nothing of agricultural papers. These should 
be patronized by every wide-awake farmer, as a matter of course. 

248 



FINAL REMARKS AND A RETROSPECT. 249 

of their efforts to overcome the very great and dis- 
couraging difficulties that beset them on all sides. 
Young people will be benefited by the facts pre- 
sented, as they show how great has been the progress 
made/and thus foreshadow the progress yet to come. 
We often hear people talk of the "good 
old times." Major Gilder tells us that at that 
time there were very few stoves for cookmg pur- 
poses. An iron bar swung back and forth in the huge 
fire-place, on which were hooks to hang the kettles 
in which the victuals were cooked. Some families 
had the old Dutch ovens in which the meat was placed 
and set on the hearthstone before the fire and thus 
roasted A few had brick ovens in which they would 
at one time do a week's baking of bread. Pies and 
cakes, the modern range, and improved stoves, show 
the wonderful change that has taken place. 

In those days the women spun the wool after having 
it carded, wove it into cloth and generally made their 
own garments,— there was very little money to buy 
store clothes. They also knit the stockings, mittens, 
socks, made the rag carpets, and often did the milking. 
Such, generally, was the condition of the women in 
the farm homes at that early date. 

For recreation and amusement there was the an- 
nual camp meeting, the husking bee, apple parings, 
and the dances after the log rollings, brush cuttings, 
or barn raisings. 

In such homes were raised the parents of those "who 
are now enjoying the comforts of the modern improve- 
ments with which we are surrounded today. 

At that time the improved implements now used 



250 RURAL SCENERY. 

on the farm were unknown. What was known as 
the diamond cast steel plow had just come into use and 
was a great improvement over the old wooden mold- 
board, for under favorable circumstances it would 
scour, and thus do much better work. 

In raising a crop of corn the field was generally all 
plowed, then marked off with a one-horse plow and 
was then ready for planting, which was usually done 
by one person with a horse and plow, marking off the 
ground, a boy or girl following and dropping the corn 
in the crotch and usually two men with hoes following 
and covering the corn. Ten acres was considered a 
good day's work for such a force. Then came the 
jumper which dispensed with the hoes. Next the 
marker, which enabled one hand to make three marks 
and thus lay off thirty acres per day. Then followed 
the hand planter, dropping and covering two rows at 
once, and finally the Brown two-horse planter, which 
seemed to solve the corn-planting problem, the later 
splendid implements perfecting the machine by the 
addition of the sled attachment and the check rower, 
making the machine almost perfect for planting corn. 

The evolution of implements for cultivating the 
crop has been almost as great. The splendid plows, 
both riding and walking, and the various makes of 
cultivators have taken the place of the one or two- 
horse plows. These and the old-fashioned bull-tongue 
or shovel plow, which in those days were thought 
much of, are now curious relics of the past. The 
young farmer of today would consider his prospect 
slim of raising a crop if he had to use such imple- 
ments. 



FINAL REMARKS AND A RETROSPECT. 25I 

Wheat was sown broadcast by hand and then har- 
rowed in. The sickle gave place to the cradle. The 
cradlers were followed by the binders, and a shocker 
usually followed two or three binders. It was heavy, 
laborious work. The pay was usually the equivalent 
of one bushel of wheat and board per day, which, as a 
rule, included lunch in the forenoon and afternoon, 
with a liberal supply of whisky. 

The crop at that time, when marketed at Alton, 111., 
usually brought about ZJV^ cents per bushel, and thirty 
bushels made a load. Under favorable circumstances 
it took three days to make the trip from White Hall. 
Receiving $11.25 ^^^ ^^^ load, the farmer felt, of 
course, like a millionaire. The wheat was tramped 
out on the barn floor with horses, or beaten out with 
a flail,— the threshing machine had not yet made its 
appearance. When it finally came, 300 bushels a day 
was considered a good day's work with an eight-horse 
power and a full set of hands. 

Improvement followed improvement until we have 
today the wonderful machine with a capacity, under 
favorable conditions, of from 1,500 to 2,000 bushels 
per day, cleaning the grain ready for market and 
stacking the straw. 

The wheat drill, another great improvement, then 
made its appearance, making the crop more certain and 
saving seed. The evolution from the sickle and 
cradle to the machine of today is, to say the least, as- 
tonishin 



We may say as much for the improvements in sav- 
ing the hay crop. We have now the complete outfit of 
mower, tedder, loader and stacker, or if put into barns 



252 RURAL SCENERY. 

or sheds, horse hay forks of various descriptions, 
which elevate the hay to any desired height, where 
carriers take it along on iron roadways to almost any 
distance and there dump it. Under present circum- 
stances there is very little risk, compared with those 
early days, in saving the crop, while the saving in 
drudgery is very great. 

In those days timothy, red top and blue grass pre- 
dominated ; clover had not then gained the prominence 
it has since acquired, and its value as a restorer of fer- 
tility to apparently worn-out soils was unknown. 

"I remember," says Major Gilder,' **that a body of 
land that had been reclaimed from the timber and been 
continually cropped with corn and wheat, had become 
apparently worthless. The crops were so meager that 
it did not pay to cultivate the ground. Today, ozving 
to the clover crops on the same, the land produces 
heavy crops of both corn and wheat and is very val- 
uable.'^ 

Attempts at draining were made, but their value 
was mostly in paving the way for the present system 
of tile draining which has done so much to add to the 
value of the farms. The rich flat lands when thor- 
oughly drained, and which in those early days were 
considered quite inferior, are today, other things being 
equal, far the most valuable. 

"My own experience on one forty acres of flat rich 
land will give an idea of the benefits to be derived 
therefrom. One year in the late winter and spring I 
expended $340 draining the same. It happened to be 
a very wet spring, but owing to the drains the water 
got off in a hurry and we raised sixty bushels of corn 



FINAL REMARKS AND A RETROSPECT. 253 

to the acre and the ground was clean from weeds. 
My neighbor who had known the land from boyhood 
told me that he was satisfied that, had not the land been 
drained, I could not possibly have got over thirty bush- 
els per acre with a splendid crop of weeds, for w^e 
could not have got onto the ground to tend it until the 
weeds had got the start. You can figure the differ- 
ence it made in the income from the crop. We had 
1,200 bushels more corn ofT the field, which at 30 cents 
per bushel would be $360. I had spent $340 in 
draining it and the work was permanent, and I was 
ahead $20 the first year, with the field comparatively 
free from weeds ; it certainly was a good practical ob- 
ject lesson. 

"The farmer who has land that needs draining, and 
who can possibly do it, stands in his own light if he 
fails to do so. One mistake many of us made in the 
early days and that was the using of too small tile. 
When the ground was thoroughly soaked it took too 
l6ng for the water to get ofY. When properly drained 
the sloughs and draws now dry out and are ready for 
cultivation before the higher ground. 

"The old Virginia rail fences enclosed the farms 
almost universally. They were followed by the osage 
orange hedge, which, when properly cared for, I think 
superior to any other for an outside fence, adding 
beauty to the landscape without the danger of crip- 
pling so many horses, as is too often the case with 
the cheaper though useful wire fences which are now 
in general use. 

"The log cabins of the first settlers were gradually 
giving way to brick and frame dwellings, although yet 



254 RURAL SCENERY. 

quite numerous. Tramps were unknown and the 
latch string generally hung outside the cabin door. It 
was customary, too, in those days to ask the guest to 
take a nip of something stronger than water; now it 
would be considered quite cheeky to do anything of 
the kind. There was not near the toleration either in 
politics or religion that there is at present. The Bap- 
tists seemed to think there was no hope for those who 
had not been immersed, and the whig looked askance 
at the democrat. What a wonderful change has taken 
place ! 

"In those days you could take your pick out of a 
farmer's herd of cows for $7 or $8; three-year-old 
steers were worth no more. Now, a person owning 
a decent milk cow would feel insulted if he or she were 
offered $30 for the same. They would want $40 or 
even $50 if the cow were a choice one, and as for steers, 
they are simply out of sight. One of our wide-awake 
buyers offered James Stubblefield, one of our promi- 
nent farmers, $18 a head for spring calves, and not 
for breeding purposes at that, and he would not take 
it. How about horses? Bicycles and electricity had 
not begun their work; railroads had not invaded the 
west, and yet the very best horses did not sell for more 
than $50 per head, and the inferior ones in propor- 
tion." 

As an illustration of the low prices then prevailing 
the Major quotes the sale of seventy-four fat hogs, 
in 1855 or thereabouts, twenty-one months old, for 
$340, or an average of a little over $4.50 a head. One 
and a half cents per pound was the average price of 



FINAL REMARKS AND A RETROSPECT. 255 

hogs. In the case stated the hogs were driven from 
White Hall to Alton and there sold at a loss. 

"At that time the neighbors generally joined to- 
gether and drove their hogs to Alton, and then sold 
them. Alton was the porkopolis of this section at 
that time. It took about eight or nine days to make 
the trip, and sometimes the roads were horrible, and 
when a hog gave out we had to wade in the mud and 
load it on the wagon. I remember we had no rubber 
boots those days; all we had were very inferior cow- 
hide stogies, which cost $375 per pair. Better ones 
can now be bought for half the money. Compare, if 
you please, those conditions with our present mode of 
marketing hogs; the change, indeed, is very great. 
The good old times we hear so often mentioned, to 
my mind, do not loom up so favorably. 

''Of course there were a few sheep, and plenty of 
dogs and wolves. There was plenty of game, chiefly 
deer, prairie chickens and squirrels, also plenty of 
oppossums, coons and foxes. 

''We generally had a six months' school, three in 
the winter and three in the spring and early summer. 
The teachers w^ere paid by the patrons at a stated sum 
per scholar for the term, and usually boarded around. 
Fifteen dollars per month was about their average 
income in the winter, and some less in the summer. 
The older children were kept at home to assist their 
parents in the house or on the farm. 

"It was no unusual circumstance to find a large part 
of the family in most of the dwellings shaking with 
,the ague in the fall season, or down with bilious fever, 
and the latter were generally brought to a close ac- 



256 RURAL SCENERY. 

quaintance with grim death before they took a turn 
for the better, and then they were generally salivated 
and almost in a fair condition for a set of false teeth, 
for those they had were usually in a very loose and 
shaky condition. It takes something more than bil- 
ious fever or ague to puzzle our physicians of the pres- 
ent time." 

Wages were from $7 to $8 a month in 1842- 1844, 
and not much higher for many years afterward. 

In order to sum up, let the Major mention a few 
of the farming implements unknown to the farmer of 
fifty years ago, which he, as well as every other farmer, 
considers almost indispensable to good modern 
farming. 

'Tirst, the self-binder, which makes the work both 
outdoors and indoors so much lighter; second, the 
corn planter and check rower, which enables the farm- 
er to plant the corn as fast as the ground is plowed, 
and thus get ahead of the weeds; third, the wheat 
drill; fourth, the disk-harrow; fifth, the iron disk 
roller, which ought to be on every farm." 

Truly, we have reason to be thankful for what has 
been accomplished, and may look forward with con- 
fidence to such other improvements as will make life 
on the farm bath profitable and increasingly desirable. 

Nowhere is the change from former imfavorable 
conditions more strikingly apparent than in the atten- 
tion now paid to agriculture and horticulture by the 
national government. 

III. Department of Agriculture. 
The Department of Agriculture has developed 
into one of the most prominent agencies in the service 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 257 

of the farmer. Its different Bureaus vie with each 
other in their efforts to promote the interests of the 
most important industry in the country. 

The Weather Bureau is assisting the farmer in 
choosing the right time for securing his hay crop. 
Predictions of changes in the weather prove correct 
eighty times out of a hundred. Improvements in the 
service are constantly being made. The Bureau is 
now experimenting successfully with wireless teleg- 
raphy. Messages have been sent over fifty miles of 
rough country. 

The Bureau of Animal Industry inspects meats 
for interstate and international trade; it inspects pork 
with the microscope for countries requiring such in- 
spection; it inspects vessels that carry animals to for- 
eign countries, looking to their adaptability ; it inspects 
imported animals to protect our herds ; it experiments 
with swine diseases through serum treatment; it ex- 
periments with blackleg in cattle through distribution 
of vaccine, with prospects of eradication, and with 
sheep scab with like prospects. 

Dairy Division. Experimental shipments are be- 
ing made of dairy products across the Atlantic and 
Pacific and to Cuba and Porto Rico. 

In the fiscal year 1899, 4,861,994 head of cattle 

6,125,095 head of sheep 
315,969 head of calves 
23,428,996 head of hogs 
5,559 head of horses 



A total of 34737.613 
animals were inspected at time of slaughter; 61,906 



258 STATISTICS. 

were condemned. The meat inspection tag or brand 
was placed upon 17,177,442 quarters, 343,427 pieces, 
and 1,554 sacks of beet; 6,050,444 carcasses of sheep, 
310,126 carcasses of calves, 1,138,507 carcasses of 
hogs, and 653,756 sacks and 48,485 pieces of pork. 

The ordinary meat inspection stamp was affixed to 
5,584,995 packages containing beef, 24,151 mutton, 
107 of veal, 13,122,677 of pork and 602 of horseflesh. 

Seals were attached to 69,937 cars containing in- 
spected products. 

Microscopic inspection of Pork. The number of 
carcasses examined was 999,554. Of these 96.88 per 
cent were free from trichinae, 1.17 per cent contained 
disintegrating trichinae, and 1.95 per cent living 
trichinae. 

The Prevention of Tuberculosis. This m.ost 
destructive disease, which afflicts man and beast, is 
very common with cattle and swine. 

Modern investigations show that tuberculosis is pro- 
duced by a specific germ, the Bacillus tuberculosis. It 
is a strictly contagious disease. 

Experience has shown that inspection at the quaran- 
tine stations, even by the most skillful inspectors, is not 
reliable. Accordingly, the tuberculosis test has re- 
cently been adopted, and it is hoped that with this 
more accurate means of diagnosis the American farmer 
may be protected from further importations of this 
contagion. 

It has also been decided to place an inspector in 
Great Britain to test and certify to the animals there 
bought before shipment. 

The Experiment Station of the Bureau supplied 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 259 

1,500,000 cubic centimeters of blood from antitoxin 
animals for use in the bio-chemic laboratory in making 
hog cholera serum. 

Agricultural Exports. Our total sales of do- 
mestic farm products to foreign countries during the 
fiscal years 1897-1900 aggregated the enormous sum 
of $3,186,000,000, or close to $800,000,000 in excess 
of the export value for the preceding four-year period. 
In other words: During 1897- 1900 we received an 
average of nearly $200,000,000 a year above the an- 
nual amount paid us for such products during 1893- 
1896. 

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, our 
agricultural exports amounted in value to $844,- 
000,000, exceeding all other records except that of 
1898, when a valuation of $859,000,000 was reached. 

During the past four years the average animal value 
of farm produce exported was $797,000,000. It was 
only $598,000,000 for the prior four-year period, 
1893-96. 

The census taken in 1870 showed the number of 
farmers in this country to have been 2,660,000. In 
1890 this number had increased to 4,510,000, and is 
now in excess of 5,000,000. 

The arid or desert states of the Far West — Colora- 
do, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana — have in recent 
years excelled in farming industry even more than in 
the mining of gold, silver and other metals. The art 
of irrigation is still in its infancy, but already its far- 
reaching effects can be predicted with certainty. 

There never was a time in the history of the country 
when the outlook for the energetic and professional 
farmer was as encouraging as it is now. 



26o 



STATISTICS. 



The immense importance of the farming interests 
is understood and appreciated by the whole people. 
Progress has been steady and in every sense remarka- 
ble, in spite of occasional set-backs. But the times 
have gone by vv^hen any bungler could expect to make 
enough out of the yet untouched soil of our western 
prairies to enable him to look with contempt at scien- 
tific farming. Science rules the day, and our farming 
industry is rapidly becoming transformed into an art 
based on the laws discovered bv science. 




One of nature's specialists. 



APPENDIX. 

CONDENSED STATISTICS OF A PART OF 

THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 

IN THE UNITED STATES. 

I. HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP. 

An estimate of the Yearbook, A. D. 1900, places the 

vafu^ o rhorses, cattle and sheep at $1,829,000 ocx. 

The amount of hay produced was over fifty million 

*°Thrsta11df;'c^Sr-re than suffice to feed 
ouJhorses'cattle and sheep d-ing three mo,^^^^^^^^^ 
vear Seventy-five per cent of the hay and forage nee 
Lsa'y to maintain L stock is furnished by our Pas- 
tures AND Grazing Lands, which, accordmgly rep- 
resent an annual yield of three times the value of our 
bay crop. 

II. CEREALS. 

,S?u" , S22,229,505 323,515,074 

)Sf ' ::::.".."• 809 125 Ssg 208,669,223 

O^^? . s8,92S,833 24,075,271 

^^^^.. ;:::;;;;;;;::::;:;:; 23:995,927 1---95.417 

III. POTATOES. 

Yield in 1900 ^10.926,897 50,722,553 

IV. COTTON. 

The value of this crop for the year 1899-1900 was 
$334,847,868, 

381 



262 , APPENDIX. 

As to the cotton industry the Yearbook says: 
"There never was a time when so many American 
spindles were in operation, and rarely, if ever, a time 
when they were so severely taxed to meet the demand 
for cotton goods." 

V. HAY. 

The farm value of the hay crop, Dec. i, 1900, was 
$445,538,870. The acreage was 39,132,890, and the 
production 50,1 10,906 tons. 

Statistics for other agricultural products of the 
greatest importance, such as our Dairy Products, 
Beef, Pork, Mutton, Poultry, etc., are not yet 
available, but the foregoing samples give a fair idea of 
the magnitude of the total production. 

The industries sustained by our breeders of horses, 
cattle and sheep have an estimated value of $2,000,- 
000,000 (two billion dollars), "industries upon which 
the very existence of the human race is dependent." 

AVERAGE YIELD PER ACRE OF CORN, WHEAT, OATS, PO- 
TATOES AND HAY. 

The average yield per acre in the different states 
varied greatly. The average yield of Corn for the 
whole country was 25.3 bus. per acre. The highest 
yield per acre was obtained in Vermont and in Wiscon- 
sin, 40 bushels. The average yield in Iowa, Massa- 
chusetts and Indiana was 38 bushels; in Illinois and 
Ohio, 37 bushels ; in South Carolina, 7 bushels. 

The average yield of Wheat per acre was — 

Bushels. 

For the whole country 12.29 

In Montana 26.6 

In Vermont 23.6 

In Texas 18.4 

In Kansas 17.7 

In Iowa 156 

In Wisconsin 15.5 

In Illinois . , ...,..,. 13.O 



r APPENDIX. 263 

In Michigan 7.6 

In Indiana 5.3 

In North Dakota 4.9 

The world's production of wheat in 1900 was 2,- 
586,025,000 bushels. The production of the U. S. 
constitutes about 25.4 per cent of this total. 

The average yield of Oats per acre for the whole 
country was 29.6 bushels in 1900, against 30.2 bushels 
in 1899. The highest average was obtained in 

Bushels. 

Illinois 38.0 

Maine 37.5 

Massachusetts 36.8 

Iowa 34.0 

Wisconsin 32.0 

North Carolina 9.5 

Tennessee 9.7 

Of the marketed crop of 242,850,477 bushels, much 
over one-half, 133,500,000 bushels, came from Illinois 
and Iowa. 

The average export price ranged between 30.2 to 
32.3 cents. 

Potatoes yielded an average of 80.8 bushels in 
the entire country. The highest average was reached in 
1895 with 100.59 bushels. 

The average for 1900 was in 

Bushels. 

Nevada 156 

Idaho 136 

Montana and Vermont 134 

Maine 126 

Wisconsin 103 

Michigan 97 

Missouri 93 

Illinois 92 

Indiana 83 

Iowa 72 

(The results in Nevada, Idaho and Montana are due 
to irrigation.) 



264 APPENDIX. 

Hay yielded an average of 1.28 tons per acre in 
the entire country. 

The average yield per acre was in 

Tons. 

Idaho 2.80 

Utah 2.65 

Colorado 2.23 

Alabama 1.85 

Iowa 1.42 

Nebraska 1.38 

Kansas 1,32 

Michigan and Missouri 1.29 

Illinois 1,27 

Indiana 1.21 

Ohio 1,06 

The heavy crops in Idaho, Utah, Colorado, etc., are 
due to irrigation. The hay is for the most part alfalfa, 
and an average of two crops is taken from each acre. 

The Item of Waste. 

While these figures show the immense resources of 
the country, and the importance of its agricultural 
industries, other figures, showing great and avoidable 
loss from waste, might be adduced to complete the pic- 
ture. 

'*The needless wastes upon Illinois farms," says 
Prof. P. G. Holden, of the University of Illinois, "if 
saved, would secure to agriculture profits enjoyed by 
no other profession. The fact is, no other business 
could survive such tremendous losses as are common 
in agriculture. 

'Tn the great cotton and woolen mills of the east the 
competition is so close and the margin of profit so small 
that the difference of one-thirtieth of a cent per yard in 
the cost of manufacture will prosper one establishment 
and drive another to the wall. 

"It is certain that most of these losses are rnatter§ 



APPENDIX. 265 

of careless farming, and extend to all the crops and 
operations of the farm. 

''Recently I was obliged to drive twenty-four miles 
across the country, and in this distance counted 200 
farm tools and machines housed in the corner of fences, 
in fields, and in barn yards, representing thousands of 
dollars. I am told by those who should know that the 
average life of a binder in Illinois is between three and 
four years, and I do not wonder that it is so. Here 
were binders, mowers, road graders, and every kind of 
farm machines, used but a few days in the year, and 
left to the ravages of rust and decay the remainder of 
the time, thus reducing not only their durability, but 
their efficiency as well. Properly cared for and prop- 
erly used, the mower and binder, on the average sized 
farm of 127 acres in Illinois, should do service for 
eight or ten years." 

The losses from bad management and improper 
feeding in Minnesota are not less than $14,000,000 
annually, according to Professor Hecker, and the losses 
from inefficient animals $17,000,000. 

If we could present in figures the added losses of all 
the states in waste of fertilising elements, neglect of 
animals and machines, carelessness in the selection and 
treatment of seed, and slovenliness in cultivation, the 
sum total would surprise and stagger the friend of 
agriculture. 

This fact, more, perhaps, than any other, proves the 
necessity of special training for the farmer's profession. 
It ought to be a profession, not a make-shift or a care- 
less experiment. 



INDEX. 



A 

Aberdeen- Angus cattle 116 

Acid .....28, 181, 194 

Acorn • • • • ^^ 

Acreage of crops 262- 264 

Affinity • • • • 175 

Age of horse. See Horse. 

Age of man 168 

Agricultural chemistry 178 

Agricultural colleges 

^, 23, 131, 169 

Agricultural experiment 

stations 66, 169 

Agricultural exports 259 

Agricultural papers 248 

Agricultural physics 168 

Agricultural physiology.. 185 
Agricultural products. Ex- 
ports of, 43. See Ex- 
ports 259 

Agriculture, Department 

of 81' 256 

Agriculture and Manufac- 
tures '^^ 

Agriculture and Science. . 

^ 35, 171 

Agriculturist, American . . 97 

Ague 25o 

Air 26, 46, 48, 178 

Albumen 195, 200 

Albuminoids .... 182, 195, 200 

Alcohol 202 

Alfalfa 25, 195 

Alkaline 27 

Alton, Illinois 251 

Aluminum 178 

American Agriculturist 97 

Ammonia 23, 95, 180 

Amphibia 167 

Animal Industry 169 

Bureau of 257 

Annual Plants 34 

Annual Reports of Farm- 
ers' Institutes 

Antaeus, son of Earth .... 15 



Antennae, Difference of — 

in moths and butterflies. 206 
Antitoxin animal blood . . 258 

Appletrees, Planting 144 

Apples, Effect of on 

health 142 

How to keep through 

winter 144 

Kind of — to plant 

142, 144 

Enemies of 146 

Apple tree borer. Flat 

headed 147, 207, 243 

Arbor vitae 239 

Argentina 70 

Arid States... 259 

Aristocracy of Europe, 

Landed 14 

Army worm 205, 211 

Arsenic in Paris Green 

90, 148, 209 

Arteries 187 

Ashes of Clover 62 

Ashes of Plants 32, 194 

Ashes and Salt for pigs.. 115 
Ashleaved Maple. See Box 
Elder. 

Ash, White 38, 243 

Asparagus 161 

Assimilation 198 

Atlantic coast 94 

Atmosphere 185 

Atomic theory 165 

Atom 164 

Aughey, S., Prof 230 

Auricles, right and left. . . 187 

Austrian Pine. 239 

Average yield of crops .... 

73, 77, 262, 264 

Ayrshire cattle 116 

B 

Bacillus tuberculosis 258 

Bacteria 26 

Balky horses 105 



268 



INDEX. 



Barley 70, 194, 196 

Barnyard manure. .23, 50, l83 

Barr W. D 151 

Base, in chemistry 194 

Beal E. L., Prof 232 

Beans 25, 195 

Beauty, Elements of 233 

Beehives 216 

Bees 208, 212 

Beestings 215 

Beetles 205 

Beets 82 

Belgium 97 

Belleflower apple. See Ap- 
ple. 
Ben Davis apple. See Ap- 
ple. 

Beikshire hog 115 

Berlin. Its use of sewage. 96 
Berlin. Its rate of ty- 
phoid fever 54 

Bidens cannahina 203 

Biennial plants 34 

Bile 186 

Bilious fever 255 

Bio-chemic laboratory. . . . 259 

Birch, Cutleaved 243 

Birds 220 

Blackberries 141, 158 

Blacksmiths 109 

Black Spanish chicken... 136 

Black Suffolk hog 115 

Black walnut 242 

Blight, Pear, etc 142, 150 

Blind side of a house.... 245 

Blood 187 

Bluebird 219 

Bluegrass 77, 78 

Bearding cows 125 

Bobolink 225 

Bone meal 181 

Bones 94, 181, 193 

Bordeaux mixture 148 

Bones 94, 181, 193 

Borer, Apple tree. See 
Apple tree borer. 

Boron 178 

Botany 35, 168 

Bottom lands 31 

Box Elder 243 



Brahma. White. See 
Chickens. 

Braiser and Braising 201 

Bran 30, 93, 194 

Bread 201 

Breathing process 48 

Brewer, Dr 220 

Bronchial tubes 189 

Brown two horse planter. 
See Horse planter. 

Buckwheat 71 

Budmoth 211 

Bugs 205 

Bumble bees 218 

Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try 257 

Bureaux of the Department 

of Agriculture 169, 256 

Bunglers 260 

Butter 30, 36, 45, 192, 195 

Butterfly 205 

Butter and Cheese factor- 
ies 45 

Butternut tree 242 



Cabbage 201 

Caffein 22 

Cairo, Egypt, Typhoid fe- 
ver rate in 54 

Calcimining 235 

Calcareous soils 27 

Calcium. . ..167, 178, 183, 196 

California 83 

California fig orchards... 211 

Calves, Fat 92 

Canadian Fir 239 

Cane Sugar 83 

Cankerworm 149 

Capillaries, in the animal 

body 187 

Capillary attraction in 

plants 184 

Carbo-hydrates 193 

Carbon 29, 178, 180, 196 

Carbonaceous food 195 

Carbonates 167, 180, 190 

Carbonic acid 28, 185 

Carnelian stone 179 

Carpets 235 



INDEX. 



269 



Carrots = ........82, 201 

Carter, Mrs., on Poultry. . 140 

Casein 182, 195 

Catalpa 242 

Catbird 222 

Caterpillar 205, 228, 230 

Cattle 30,34, 116, 202 

Cattle, names of parts of . . 117 

Cats and Clover 218 

Cellmaking of bees 213 

Cells of the lungs. .. .184, 187 

Cells of plants 184 

Cells in honey combs 217 

Cemented floors 50 

Census, 1870-1900 .... 259 

Cereal crops 261 

Chain pump 52 

Chalk 167 

Chancellorsville, Battle of. 21 
Change of Crops. See Ro- 
tation, etc. 
Charcoal for filters, etc. . . 

51, 52 

Check rower 250 

Cheese 45, 132, 195 

Chemical action 166 

Chemical change 165 

Chemical elements 164 

Chemical salts 165 

Chemistry 164 

Cherries 141, 152 

Cherry. Early Richmond 

or May 152 

Cherry. Morello 152 

Chester White hog 115 

Chicago Dailies 236 

Chicago, Death rate of . . . . 54 
Chicago, Sewage and drain- 
age canal 96 

Chicago, Typhoid fever, 

rates of 54 

Chicken coops, Painting 

of 140 

Chickens and Chicks 136 

Children 235 

Chile saltpeter 94, 182 

Chinch bug 205. 207, 231 

Chlorides 180 

Chlorine.... 178, 180, 194, 196 
Chlorophyl 35 



Cholera 53 

Chopped food 199 

Chrysalis 20(5 

Churn 127, 131 

Chvle 186 

Cicla. Beta— 84 

Cinchona tree 22 

Cincinnati, Typhoid fever 

in 54 

Circulation of the blood . . 

188, 190 

Circulation of life 186 

Cisterns 51 

Cities, Waste of sewage in 96 

Civilization 43 

Claylands 27 

Cleveland horse 100 

Clover 25, 195, 252 

Clydesdale horse 100 

Coal, origin of 168 

Coal oil for lice on chick- 
ens 139 

Cochin China chickens. . . . 136 

Codling moth 148, 208 

Coffee 22, 202 

Cold. Effect of on fer- 
ments 128 

Cold water in the dairy. 
See Dairy. 

Coleoptera 206 

Colic in horses 106 

Colorado beetle 89, 205 

Color of house . - - 234 

Combs of bee cells 217 

Combustion 173, 185 

Commercial fertilizers 65 

Commission Merchant.... 46 
Comparative table of ele- 
ments in milk, butter, 

etc 92, 197 

Concord grape 154 

Conditions of plant 

growth 34 

Conditions for health 48 

Confederate army 21 

Consumption (disease)... 53 
Consumption, at home of 

farm products 45 

Continuous cropping. Dan- 
ger of 31 



270 



INDKX. 



Cooking in the past 249 

Co-operation 46 

Corn 30, 196 

Corn, Highest average .... 202 

Corn, New 114 

Corn, Largest crop 72 

Corn, How to increase crop 

of 73 

Corn, Planting in the past 250 

Cornmeal 93 

Cornstalks 199 

Corrosive sublimate 87 

Cotswold sheep. See Sheep. 

Cotton 66, 71, 261 

Cotton industry 262 

Cottonseed raeal 93 

Cottonwood tree 241 

Covered shed for manure. 79 

Cow, as a boarder 125 

Cow, A Jersey 1 26 

Cow, Best feed for a 120 

Cow, Treatment of. . . .119, 126 

Cow, Varieties of 125, 127 

Cow pea 66, 80, 145, 195 

Crab Apple 243 

Creameries 45, 125 

Crops, Rotation of.. 59, 61, 77 

Crow, The 227 

Crow Blackbird 288 

Cruciferae 84 

Crushed oats 93 

Crust of the earth 167 

Crystallography 169 

Cuba, Cane sugar of 83 

Cuckoo 229 

Cucumber beetles 231 

Cucumbers 161 

Cultivation of crops 36 

Cultivation of orchards... 145 
Culture, Importance of... 65 

Curculio 152, 209 

Curdling of milk 

Curds 138 

Currants 141 

Cutworm 205 



Dailies, Chicago 236 

Dairy, The 52, 131 

Dairv cattle 116 



Dairy cows 126, 127 

Dairy Division of Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. . . . 257 

Dairy farm 61 

Danube States, Grain from 70 

Death rate 53 

Deep cans for milk. . . . 128, 129 

Dehorning 120 

Delaware grape 332 

Department of Agriculture 256 

Depth of soil 65 

Diamond 29 

Diaphragm 188, 189, 192 

Diarrhoea 53 

Dickcissel 227 

Diet 30 

Digestible food 30 

Digestion 194, 197 

Dioxide of Carbon 185 

Disease germs 50 

Diseases, Local 53 

Diptera 200 

Diphtheria 53 

Disinfectants 110 

Disintegration 16 

Disk harrow 68 

Ditches 38 

Dogs 255 

Dolomite 179 

Double windows 48 

Doves 226 

Drafts 48 

Drake, Francis 85 

Drainage 26,31,39, 47 

Drainage canal 96 

Drain Tile, Laving of.... 252 

Drills " 68, 251 

Drone 213, 214 

Drouth 74 

Drv earth 32 

Ducks 139 

Ducks, White Pekin 139 

Duroe hog 115 

Durham cattle 216 

Dust. See Dry earth. 
Dutch-Friesian Cattle. See 

Holstein. 

E 
Early Richmond Cherry. 

See Cherry. 



INDEX. 



271 



Ears of corn, Length of . . 

73, 75 

Ears of corn, Tip and 

thick end for seed 76 

J]ars of corn, Selection of 

for seed 76 

Earth, Dry 32 

Eggs 36, 45, 137 

Elements of Fertility.... 44 
Elements of Plant Growth. 28 
Electricity, Century of . . 40 

Elevators, Grain 46 

Elm 38, 243 

Enamel of teeth 196 

Endosmosis 184 

Energy, Source of 175 

Ensilage 97, 199 

Cost per ton of 99 

Entomology 169, 205 

Epidemics 55 

Excrement 192 

Exhaustion of soil 21 

Exosmosis 184 

Experiment, Scientific 175 

Experiment Stations. See 
Agricultural Colleges. 

Experts 43, 259 

Extractor (butter) 129 

Extractor (honey) 217 

Evergreens 238 

Ewes and Lambs 122 

F 

Fallow 24 

Farmer, The Professional. 198 
Farmers' Institutes. .. .57, 248 
Farming population .... 47 

Farming, Scientific 260 

Fat .. 186 

Fat producers 193 

Fat stock 94 

Feathers 182 

Fences 253 

Fermentation 31 

Ferments 32, 128, 182 

Ferns 1^8 

Fertilizers 91, 183 

Fertilization in orchard.. 218 

Feudal Aristocracy 14 

Field crops ^^ 

Fig, Smyrna 210 



Filter 51 

Filth 58 

Fir, Canadian 239 

Fireblight 142 

Fireplace, Open 49 

Fishes 167, 182 

Flicker 220 

Flax 71 

Flaxseed 30 

Flies 205 

Flour 201 

Flowers 237, 244 

Fluorine 178, 196 

Flesh, Muscular 30 

Flesh of animals 198 

Florist 169 

Food 186 

Food steamed for pigs etc. 199 

Forbush, E. A 230 

Force 175 

Ford, L. Berry 151 

Formation of Soils 15 

Foundation for bee cells.. 213 

France 97 

Fresh air, Supply of 48 

Fruit 141, 195 

Fruit versus alcohol 143 

G 

Galileo 173 

Galloway cattle 116 

Game 255 

Gano apple. See Apple. 

Garden 232 

Garden truck 36 

Gases 197 

Gases, Noxious 48 

Gastric juice 186 

Geneva (N. Y.) Experi- 
ment Station 92 

Geology 16, 168, 185 

Germans, The— and Rome. 16 

Germany 97 

Germany, Beet root sugar 

in 83 

Germs (of disease) 50,54 

Gilder, E. A., Major 248 

Globules of fat in milk... 129 

Gluten 182 

Gooseberries 141 

Gout 201 



272 



INDEX. 



Grafting 246 

Grain for ensilage 98 

Granite 16 

Grapes 141, 154, 155 

Grass 77, 78, 196 

Grasses, Nutritive 81 

Grasshopper i 205 

Green manure 20, 71 

Ground beetle 206, 207 

Groups of trees 243 

Grouse 232 

Growth, Process of 32 

Grub 205 

Guano 94 

Guernsey 116 

Gypsum 172, 180 

H 

Hambletonian (horse) .. 100 
Hampshire sheep. See 

Sheep. 

Hand Planter 250 

Hard Maple. See Sugar 

Maple. 
Harrowing potato and corn 

ground 73, 86 

Harrow, the disk — , the 

smoothing 86 

Harvesting 69 

Hay 

.24, 46, 77, 79, 196, 199, 262 

Hay in ricks 79 

Hay, Its fertilizing ele- 
ments 93 

Headache 48 

Heart, Its parts 188 

Heart, Its work 190 

Heat, Bodily 186 

Heat, A mode of motion. . 175 

Hecker, Prof 264 

Hemiptera 206 

Hemlock fir 239 

Hercules 15 

Hemlock fir 236 

Hereford cattle 116 

Hessian fly 205 

Hills of corn per acre. See 

Corn. 

Hog, The 112, 114, 115 

Hog cholera 114 



Hog cholera serum 259 

Holden, P. G., Prof 264 

Holstein cattle 118 

Home market 43 

Home consumption 45 

Honey 212 

Homeless cattle. See Polled 

Cattle. 
Horns, Value of fertilizing 

elements 94 

Horse, The 

100, 101, 105, 109, 110 

Horse, The planter 260 

Horses, etc 262 

Horse, Colic of 106 

Horse, Food for old Ill 

Horse, Wounds of 110 

Horticulture 232 

Houses 234 

Housing of tools and ma- 
chines 265 

Human beings 47 

Human food 200 

Humus 15, 20, 27, 31, 32 

Hydrangea paniculata 242 

Hydrochlorate 180 

Hydrogen 38, 178, 180 

Hygiene 54, 169, 185 

Hymenoptera 206, 212 

I 

Idaho 263 

Illinois, Rotation of crops 

in 63 

Illinois State Fair, 1898. . 75 
Illinois, Department of 
Agriculture of the Uni- 
versity of 264 

Illinois and Iowa, Produc- 
tion of wheat in 263 

Immune conditions 57 

Implements, Improved . . . 249 
Improvement of stock, etc. 46 

Incubator 135 

India 70 

Indiana 38, 78, 263 

Industries sustained by 
breeders of horses, cat- 
tle and sheep 262 

Industry, Manufacturing. 43 



INDEX. 



273 



Infection 53 

Insects 36, 63, 205, 206 

Institutes, Farmers' . . 38, 265 
Intestines, The small.... 187 

Iowa 78, 263 

Iowa Agricultural College. 131 
Iowa and Illinois, Produc- 
tion of wheat in 263 

Iron 178, 196 

Irrigation . . .96, 259, 263, 264 
Italian Bees 217 

J 

Jasper 179 

Jay, The 221 

Jersey cattle 116 

Jersey cow, A 126, 130 

Jersey Red hog 115 

Jonathan. See Apple. 

Joule, Prof 177 

Judd, S. D 221, 231 

Jumper, The 250 

K 

Kansas 262 

Kant, I;, German thinker. 166 

Kernel, Nature of 33 

Kerosene, Emulsion of. 147, 209 
Kingfisher 229 

L 

Lactic acid 128 

Lactometer 125 

Lactose 128 

Ladybird beetle or Lady 

bug 206 

Land, a machine 12 

Land, Parts of — wearing 

out 12 

La Place, French astrono- 
mer 166 

Lard 30 

Larva 206 

Larynx, The 8 

Laufen, Switzerland .... 55 
Lavoisier, French chemist. 172 

Law in Science 173 

Law of gravitation 174 

Laws of changes of matter. 174 
Lawn 243 



Lawrence, Mass., Death 

rate of 54 

Layering 153 

Leaves 32 

Leghorn Chickens. See 
Chickens. 

Legumes 25, 195 

Leguminosae 25 

Leguminous 25 

Leicester sheep. See Sheep. 

Lentils 30, 195 

Lepidoptera 206 

Lice in Poultry 139 

Lichens 20 

Life, Length of 54 

Lima bean 161 

Lime 193 

Limestone 167, 179, 194 

Lincoln sheep. See Sheep. 

Linseed 30, 71, 195 

Linseed meal 93 

Linseed oil cake 71 

Liquid manure 119 

Liquor 202 

Listing 74 

Liver, The 786 

Locusts 230 

Log cabin 253 

London Purple 90 

Losses from waste 265 

Lucerne 25 

Lungs 187, 189 

Luxury 233 

M 

MacAdam, J. L 37 

Macadamized roads 37 

Magnesia 193 

Magnesium 178 

Mail, Rural delivery of . . 41 

Malarial fevers. . . .• 53 

Management of farms .... 40 

Manganese 178 

Mangelwurzel 63, 84 

Manufacturing Industry.. 43 

Manure sheds 79 

Manure 22, 51, 96 

Manure, Green 20 

Manure, Waste of 95 

Maples 242 



274 



INDEX. 



Marble 179, 194 

Mare, Form of 101 

Markets, Value of 43 

Markets, Home 44 

Marble 179, 194 

Marl 27 

Massachusetts 177, 263 

Matter, Nature of 164 

May beetles 231 

Mayer, J. Robert 177 

Meadowlands, Production 

of 81 

Meat inspection 258 

Meat rations 201 

Medical science 54 

Medicinal spring 57 

Melons 161 

Merino. See Sheep. 

Metals 178 

Meteorology 169 

Mchigan 263 

Microbes 235 

Middling 30, 134 

Midriff 189 

Milk 36, 45, 59, 92, 95 

Millet seed for poultry. ... 140 

Mind 125, 132, 202 

Mind, Power of human. . . . 174 
Miner, Plum. See Plum 

trees. 
Minnesota Experiment Sta- 
tion 66 

Minkler apple. See Apples. 

Mineral matter 21, 32, 34 

Mineralogy 169 

Minerals 193 

Minorcas. See Chickens.. 136 
Missouri Experiment Sta- 
tion 95 

Mixture for spraying. . . . 147 

Molecule . : 164 

Morello. See Cherries. 

Mosses 16 

Motion and Heat 175 

Mountains 16 

Montana 262 

Movement in nature... 19, 177 

Muck 27, 31 

Munich 176 



Munich, Typhoid fever, 

rates of 54 

Muriatic acid 180 

Muscles 94 

Muscle forming elements 
133, 193 

N 

National Government and 

Agriculture 256 

Natrium 196 

Nebraska 230 

Nebular theory 166 

Nestling 219 

Nests and Nesting Places. 232 

Neuroptera 206 

New England States 44 

Nevada 263 

New York, Typhoid fever 

in 44 

Niagara grape 154 

Nicotine 22 

Nitrate 23, 24, 66, 94 

Nitrate of lime 182 

Nitric acid 181 

Nitrification 181 

Nitrogen 23, 66, 180, 185 

Nitrogenous elements .... 

29, 30, 31, 59 

North Dakota 263 

Northern States 44 

Norway spruce 238, 241 

Nursery of trees 246 

Nuts 201 



Oats 71, 194, 263 

Oatmeal 197 

Oats, Crushed 93 

Oat straw 93 

Ohio 38 

Oils 193, 196 

Old sod 57 

Optics 169 

Orchard 81 

Orchardist 169 

Orchards, Cultivation of.. 145 
Organs and Organic Chem- 
istry 184 

Orthoptera 206 



INDEX. 



275 



Osmosis 184 

Outlets for drains 36 

Over-driving horses 108 

Over-feeding . •. 198 

Owl, Screech 231 

Owl, Horned 231 

Oxen 92 

Oxides 178 

Oxygen . . .22, 28, 34, 178, 185 

F 

Paint of houses, etc.. 234, 235 

Paleontology 169 

Papers, Agricultural .... 248 

Parasites 206 

Paris Green ... ..90, 148, 209 

Parlor 235 

Parts of a horse 104 

Parts of a horse's hoof. . . 105 

Pasteur 129 

Pasteurize 129 

Pastures 77, 196 

Patent medicine 143 

Pathmaster, Office of 40 

Peaches 142 

Pearblight 142 

Pears 142, 152 

Pears, Dwarf 142 

Pear tree slug 208 

Pease 25, 66, 195 

Peastraw- 194 

Peaweevil 205 

Pekin duck. See Ducks. 

Percheron horse 100 

Perennial 34 

Perishable products 46 

Phenomena. 175 

Pheasants 231 

Philadelphia 56 

Phlogiston •172 

Phosphate of lime 94, 193 

Phosphate, Phosphorus, 
Phosphorides . ..22, 59, 196 

Physics 164 

Physics, Agricultural .... 168 

Physiology 168 

Pictures 236 

Pigeons 226 

Pigs 30, 92 

Pistillate strawberries 159 



Plan- Working 245 

Planets 167 

Plant, The— a model 203 

Plant, Food of — from the 

soil 62 

Plant growth 28 

Planting trees and vines. . 

Plants, Useful 35 

Plows 250 

Plowing 31, 67 

Plums 141, 152, 209 

Plums, Miner 142 

Plums, Wild Goose 142 

Plymouth Rock chicken . . . 136 
Plymouth, Penn., Typhoid 

fever 56 

Poison in water 49 

Poisonous elements 48 

Poland China hog 115 

Polled Angus cattle 120 

Polled cattle 120 

Pollen 208, 212 

Polution, Surface 57 

Pores of the skin 192 

Porous soil 34 

Potash 23, 59, 85, 183 

Potassa 183 

Potassium 183, 196 

Potato bug. See Colorado 

beetle 205 

Potato planter 87 

Potatoes ..30, 44, 59, 62, 

87, 92, 196, 261 

Prairie chickens 231 

Prairie land 19, 32 

Prices 251, 254 

Prices, Good 70 

Priestley 172 

Principal products of the 

farm 47 

Privacy . . . . ; 245 

Productive farms 10, 44 

Profession of farming. . . . 

9, 11, 259 

Profit in hay 93 

Profit in potatoes 94 

Profits of small farms . . 10, 44 
Protective tariff and wool. 

See Wool. 
Protein 133, 196 



276 



INDEX. 



Pruning apple trees 147 

Pruning grape vines 154 

Poultry 36, 45, 135 

Poultry, Breeds of 45 

Poultry breeder 169 

Poultry houses 136 

Poults, Feed for 138 

Premiums 75 

Pulmonary artery 188 

Pulmonary vein 188 

Pumpkins 161 

Pure air and water 47 

Q 

Quail 231 

Quartz 178 

Queenbee 213, 214 

Quinine 22 

R 

Railways 40 

Rains, Cultivation after., 

36, 176 

Rancid butter. Cause of.. 

128, 131 

Rape seed 195 

Raspberries 141, 157 

Raw material 54 

Recreation 249 

Red Polls. See Polled Cat- 
tle 120 

Remedies 235 

Rennet 132 

Renovation of soils.... 21, 26 

Reputation with buyers. . 46 

Retrospect 248 

Rheumatism 53 

Rice 195 

Ricks, Hay in 79 

Roast 201 

Robin 232 

Rocks, source of all soil.. 16 

Road and Bridge Tax 39 

Road-making 36 

Road, Substitute for hard. 38 

Roads 36 

Roberts, Prof. LP 65 

Roller, The disk 39 

Hollers 38 



Romans, The, and agricul- 
ture 

Root crops 

Root cellars 

Root pruned corn 

Roots, Formation of 

Rotation of crops. . .59, 61, 

Royal Jelly 

Rugs 

Rumford, Count 

Runners of strawberries.. 
157, 

Rural delivery 

Rural New Yorker 

Rural Scenery 233, 

Russia 

Rye 



Saccharine matter 

Sago 

St. Louis, Typhoid fever, 

rates 

Sales on the farm 

Saliva 

Salt or Clilorine-Natrium. 

131, 172, 

Salt for ensilage 

Salts, Chemical 

Saltpeter 23, 94, 

Sand 

Sandstone 

Sanitation 14, 54, 169, 

Sanitation for country 

homes 

Scab on potatoes 

Scarecrows 

Science 163, 



Science, Di 



ivisions o 



Scientific Agriculture 

Scion for grafting 

Schooling in former years. 

Schoolhouse 

Scotch Pine 

Scrofula 

Seaweed 

Seed, Growth of 

Seed corn and seed wheat 

45, 68, 

Separator (for the dairy) 



15 

82 

90 

75 

32 

77 

214 

235 

177 

158 
41 
65 

237 
70 
70 



195 
195 

54 

46 

199 

194 
98 

194 
183 
178 
16 
185 

53 

87 
232 
260 
163 

43 
246 
255 
245 
239 

53 
182 

32 

69 
127 



INDEX. 



277 



Septum 187 

Serum for hog cholera . . . 259 

Sewage ^^ 

Sewerage 54 

Sewers 47, 53 

Shade trees 238 

Shallow or deep pans for 

milk 128 

Sheep 121, 262 

Sheep, Their varieties and 

wool 122 

Sheep, Fertilizing element 

in fat 92 

Shocking wheat 69 

Shorthorn cattle 116 

Shropshire sheep 122 

Shrubbery 242 

Sickness 48 

Silica 29 

Silicon 178 

Silage 196 

Silos, Origin and modern 

use of 97 

Sink holes 50 

Skim milk 92 

Skin, The 193 

Skin, Its pores 192 

Sled attachment to Plan- 
ter 250 

Slops, Poured near trees. . 160 

Slops, Where to put 50, 51 

Slugs 208, 209 

Small pint 157 

Smallpox 53 

Smoker for bees 216 

Smyrna figs 210 

Snowball 242 

Snow 176 

Soda 203 

Sodium 178, 183, 194, 196 

Soft maple. See White 
Maple. 

Soft soap for trees 208 

Soil, Origin of 17 

Soil, Renovation of 21, 26 

Soja bean 66, 145, 195 

Solar system, The 167 

Soluble fertilizers ....91, 172 

Song birds 219 

Source of energy. See Sun. 176 



Souring of milk. See Lac- 
tose. 

Sour soils 182 

Southdown sheep 122 

Southern States 44 

Sparrow, domestic varie- 
ties 222, 229 

Sparrow, English 228 

Specialist 11, 23 

Sportsman 231 

Spraying of trees. 147-151, 208 
Spraying mixture .... 148-150 

Spring wheat 68 

Squashes 161 

Stables, Warm 46 

Starch 30, 195 

Statistics of export and 

production 257 

Statistics of typhoid rates 54 

Steak, How to cook a 200 

Steam plowing 100 

Stock 46, 193 

Stock for grafting 246 

Stock farms 63 

Stogies 255 

Stomach, The 203 

Storage houses 90 

Storing of apples and po- 
tatoes 90 

Straight-winged insects. 
See Orthoptera. 

Straw 29, 194, 199 

Straw for winter wheat . . 69 

Strawberries 141, 157, 159 

Strippings 130 

Subsoil 86 

Subsoil plow 86 

Sugar 83, 165, 195 

Sugar beets 82 

Sugar maple 38, 242 

Sulphate of potash 190 

Sulphur 178, 180, 196 

Sun, The 176 

Sunflowers 140 

Sunlight 34, 193, 235 

Susquehanna river 56 

Swamps 27 

Swarming of bees 21 (» 

Swallow, The 222, 220 



278 



INDEX. 



Switzerland 16 

Syringas 242 

T 

Talbot, A. N 53 

Tariflf for wool 122 

Tax, Road and Bridge 39 

Tea 22,.202 

Teachers, Former wages of 255 

Telephone 41 

Teeth, Enamel of 193 

Temperature in buttermak- 

ing 129 

Tenant farmers 61 

Tent caterpillar 209, 210 

Terry, T. S 11, 65, 88 

Tests of Science 170 

Texas 262 

Thein 22 

Thomas harrow 88 

Thoroughbreds 45, 46 

Threshing and threshing 

machines 251 

Tillage and implements ... 65 

Times, The good old 249 

Timothy 77, 93 

Tire, Wide 39 

Tobacco 21, 66 

Toleration 254 

Tomatoes 161 

Training horses 103 

Tramps 254 

Transportation, Cost of . . . 43 

Treadwell, Prof 220 

Trees 38, 239 

Transparent-winged insects. 

See Hymenoptera. 

Trichinae in Pork 258 

Tubercles 26 

Tuberculosis in cattle 258 

Tubers 85 

Turkeys 138 

Turkeys, Bronze 138 

Turkeys, Markers for 139 

Turnips 63, 82, 196 

Two-winged insects. See 

Diptera. 

Tyndall, Prof 177 

Typhoid bacillus 55 



Typhoid fever . . „ 59 

Typhoid fever rates ... 54 

u 

Umbelliferae 84 

Underdraining 36 

United States, Beet root 

sugar in 83 

United States Department 

of Agriculture 256 

United States Yearbook of 

Dept. of Agriculture. . . . 219 

Urea 191 

Urine 22, 190 

Utah 83 

V 

Value of Markets 43 

Van Helmont 170 

Van Vleck 40 

Varieties, Production of 

new 8 j 

Variety of Products 44 

Vegetables 161, 195 

Veins 187 

Venal Blood. See Heart. 

Ventilation 48, 49 

Ventricle. See Heart. 

Vermont 262 

Vienna, Typhoid rates .... 54 

Vineyard 232 

Virginia 21 

Virgin soil 67 

w 

Wages in former years . . . 256 

Wall paper 235 

Walnut tree 38, 242 

Wasp 205 

Waste 95, 264 

Water 28, 46, 149, 165 

Water for stock 52 

Watersprouts 147 

Weather Bureau 257 

Wealth 43 

Weeds 63, 68, 87 

Weeds on roads 40 

Weed seed 230 

Wells 49 

Western farmer 27 



INDKX. 



279 



Whak oil soap 208 

Wheat 

24, 30, 59, 62, 68, 92, 196, 262 

Wheat for seed 45 

Wheat straw 93 

Wide tire. See Tire. 

White ash 243 

White Brahma. See Chick- 
ens 136 

White Maple 242 

White Pekin duck. See 
Duck. 

White Pine 239 

Whole wheat flour 197 

Wild cherries 232 

Wild goose plum. See 

Plum. 
Willow, Experiment of 

growth of 170 

Willow Twig Apple. See 

Apple 144 

W^iley, Prof 180, 182 

Windbreaks 236, 240 

Windmills 52 

Windpipe 188. 189 



Winesap apple. See Ap- 
ple 144 

Winter wheat 67 

Wisconsin 78 

Woodpeckers 220 

Woody fiber 196 

Wolves 255 

Wool, Classification of . . , . 121 

Women spinning wool .... 249 

Worker bee 213, 214 

Worn-out land 10, 20 

Wounds and bruises on 

horses •.-. . . Ill 

Wren 221, 232 

Wyandotte, The White- 
chicken 136, 140 

Y 

Yard, Ornamenting the... 236 

Yeast, Ferments of 

32, 128, 182 

Yorkshire hogs. See Hogs. 
Yellow fever 53 

z 

Zoology 168 

Zymotic diseases 54 



MAR 8 190V 






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