ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE OF TENNESSEE HATCH, HASELWOOD AND KEFFER Row, Peterson &Co, Class __Si-4:25_ Book_JT55_ CopightN" COPVRIGHT DEPOSIT. ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE OF TENNESSEE WITH PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC K. L. HATCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN J. A. HASELWOOD SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, JEFFERSON COUNTY, AND SENATOR FROM THE 23d DISTRICT, WISCONSIN AND CHARLES A. KEFFER PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE. UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE CHICAGO ROW, PETERSON & COMPANY 1909 Copyrighted, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, by K. L. Hatch and Charles A. Keffer 4 • « ,Cla.A, 24 4 514 JUL ^2 1909 PREFACE As the population of our country increases, it is fast becoming evident that two things must be done : poorer soil must be cultivated, and what is already under culti- vation must be made to produce more. In either case more thoughtful methods in agriculture are absolutely essential. The farmer of to-morrow, who is to-day the farmer's boy, must know how to farm better than his father does. In order to do this, he must acquire a more or less complete knowledge of the sciences on which agriculture is based. The farmer of the future must be able to read farm papers understandingly, or better still, he should be trained for his life work in some agricultural school as doctors, lawyers and teachers are now trained. It is the purpose of this book to give to the farmer's child, who studies it, a start in such necessary knowledge. The language used is plain and simple, and may be readily understood by any bright boy or girl of twelve years of age. All scientific terms are defined in a simple way whenever it has been necessary to introduce them. Each chapter is followed by a set of practical farm problems to be used as exercises for the arithmetic class. These problems have a definite relation to the subject matter which they follow, as well as a close relation to farm life. Wherever appropriate at the close of a chapter some experimental studies are added. It is believed that the working out of these, exercises will enable the farmer's children to solve ordinary practical problems arising on PREFACE the farm, and prepare for the more complex ones of ex- perimental agriculture. It is hoped that the careful study of this book will lead to a deeper interest in farm life, and to a more careful and systematic study of the soils, crops, feeds, fertilizers, and the like, by the children in the rural schools and perhaps, incidentally, by the farmers themselves. It is a wholesome indication of the trend of educational thought, that the legislatures of several states have made compulsory the study of agriculture in the district schools. We trust that this little book, by combining the subjects of arithmetic and agriculture, will be of material assist- ance to teachers in their efforts to do effective work in both branches. H. & H. PREFACE TO TENNESSEE EDITION. In adapting this text for use in the public schools of Tennessee I have endeavored to retain its numerous ex- cellent features, making only such changes and additions as differences in soil and kinds of crops render necessary. But several chapters have been rewritten, and two wholly new chapters have been added. The Bulletins of the University of Tennessee have been listed and the score cards used here have been substituted for those in the first edition. Thanks are due the Tennessee Experiment Station for the use of cuts, to the Agricultural Department of the University for the use of score cards, and to Professors H. A. Morgan and C. A. Mooers for helpful criticism. Charles A. Keffer. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, June, 1909. CONTENTS Chapter Page -I. THE THREE KINGDOMS 9 II. THE GEOWTH OF PLANTS 15 III. THE PLANT AND THE WATER 24 IV. PLANT FOODS 29 V. SOIL 37 >^ VI. AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF TEN- NESSEE 48 VII. TPIE SOIL AND THE CROP 52 VIII. WEARING OUT THE SOIL 61 IX. LEGUMES 67 X. TILLING THE SOIL 73 XI. DRAINING THE SOIL 81 XI I.- THE CROP 87 XIII. INSECTS AND DISEASES THAT INJURE THE CROPS 96 XIV. THE DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS 106 XV. THE STOCK ON THE FARM 110 XVI. FEEDING THE STOCK 118 XVII. THE THREE C'S— COWS, CORN AND CLOVER 132 XVI 1 1. THE DAIRY 138 XIX. POULTRY 149 XX, SPECIAL CROPS 155 XXI. FARM BUILDINGS 166 XXII. FARM ACCOUNTS 174 XXIII. FORESTRY 181 XXIV. HOME AND SCHOOL GROUNDS 188 XXV. SCHOOL GARDENING 193 XXVI. HOME GARDENING 197 XXVII. BARN PLAN AND VENTILATION 201 W.XXVI1I. CORN AND STOCK JUDGING 206 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE CHAPTER I THE THREE KINGDOMS What Agriciiltiire Means. — The word agriculture is derived from the two Latin words agcr, meaning field, and cultiira, meaning tillage or cultivation, and hence the word should mean tilling the field ; but, like many other words, it has come to have a larger meaning than it had originally, and to-day the word agriculture includes all the work of the farm — the care of all kinds of live stock as well as the care of all kinds of crops and of the soil in which they grow. The Farm Cycle. — The soil, plants, and animals are dependent one upon the other for their improvement, and even for keeping them in their present condition. Every farmer wants to grow the best crops possible, and to do this he must keep his land fertile. Poor soil will not produce good crops, because every plant must have food, the same as every boy, and an important part of the food of plants comes from the soil. So the farmer feeds his plants when he puts manure or fer- tilizer on the land. The plants thus draw their nourish- ment from the soil. The animals, in their turn, live 10 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE on plants. Horses and cattle and hogs eat grain, cot- ton-seed meal, grass, hay, and fodder, and they grow on these just as the plants grow on the food they find in the soil and the air. Now, everywhere in the world there is decay going on. Plants that have been fed by the soil, left to them- selves, die and decay, a part of them passes into the air, and a part returns to the soil again, making it richer. The animals which have fed on other plants, use a part of what they eat in energy or work, and another part in maintaining their bodies; the re- HOW THE THREE KINGDOMS ARE RELATED. mainder of the food returns to the soil as manure, and in time the animals die, and their bodies slowly decay and a part of them returns to the soil, the same as in the case of plants. All these products of life, decaying leaves, twigs, fruits, weeds, corn and cotton stalks, trees, and the manure of animals as well as the bodies of all the animals that die, in time pass into the soil or the air. Such as remain in the soil become again food for THE THREE KINGDOMS II plants, and these again become food for animals. Thus we see that nothing is lost in nature, but everything moves in a circle, from soil to plant, from plant to animal, from plant and animal to soil again. The remains of plants and animals are called organic mat- ter, to distinguish them from matter derived w^hoUy from minerals. King of Three Kingdoms. — The farmer bases all his work on this round of life. He is king of three kingdoms, and when he neglects any one of them, mineral (soil), vegetable (crops), or animal (live stock), he is sure to fail wholly or in part; for each is dependent on the other. This idea may be new to most of us. There are very few farmers anywhere who take equally good care of all three kingdoms, but if you will ask your father about it I think he will agree with me, and tell you that the very best farmer he knows has good live stock, good crops, and good land. Needed Changes. — In the South we have neglected the animal kingdom, and our land has suffered. Com- mercial fertilizers may supply as much or even more plant food than barnyard manure, but they do not have as good an effect on the soil in other ways. A good way to prevent the washing of sloping fields, which in many places has made the land useless for farming, is to change the system employed, making live stock the selling product of the farm, instead of grain or cotton. Where only plant products are produced one kingdom is wholly neglected, and we must keep all three king- 12 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE doms working together for us if we would become the best of farmers. What Farmers Should Know. — The care of three kingdoms is a great work, and to do it well one should understand the nature of each. Agriculture means much more than cultivating the soil ; for the soil is only a part of one of the three kingdoms of the farmer. The soil is by far the most important part of the min- eral kingdom, but to know all about it one must know about the rock of which it was made, and many other things, too difficult for the beginner to understand. The farmer needs to know how plants do their work, and how they get their food from the soil. He must understand what conditions are best for the growing plants, and how best to supply these conditions. He must know, too, how to treat the plants so as to make of them the best food for his animals. For example, if you want to use cowpeas for hay, do you harvest them at the same time you would if you wanted nothing but the seed ? Is clover cut at the same stage for hay and for seed? Is corn for ensilage grown in the same way as corn for grain? The answers to these questions indicate that the way in which a crop should be handled depends on the use to be made of it. There are a great many families of plants and of animals that are not of use to the farmer. It is not necessary for the farmer's boy to know all about llamas because the people of the Andes Mountains use them as we use horses; but every member of the animal kingdom has some relation to the plant and the min- THE THREE KINGDOMS 13 eral kingdoms, and knowledge of all helps us to better understand the particular plants and animals with which the farmer works. It is not only the useful plants and animals and the fertile soils we should study : the farmer must know both useful and harmful insects; he must study weeds if he would learn how to protect useful plants from them. He should know what birds help him by destroying harmful insects, and what birds harm him by destroying his grain. When you think about it, do you not see the relation between soil and plants, plants and animals, plants, animals and soil ? Do you not see that the changes move in a circle and that the good farmer is the king of three king- doms? O h4 O U H P a l-H o O K o c CHAPTER 11. THE GROWTH OF PLANTS. What Makes Plants Grow. — If you were asked, "What makes a pig grow?" you would reply, ''Milk, grass, corn, etc.," but if you were asked, "What makes a plant grow?" would you answer so readily, "The food which it consumes?" But this is precisely what you should reply. Plants, like animals, must have food and drink, and like animals, they perish without them. At some later time, we shall tell you what these foods are, in such a way that you will readily recognize them at sight. For the present, however, we shall observe the way in which plants grow and find out, if possible, the source from which they get their first food. The little pig, or lamb, or calf lives and grows upon the milk of its mother until it is large enough to search for its own food. It then begins to use the same food as the larger animals of its kind. Now, from what source does the little plant get its first food? ro ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE How Plants Store Food. — If you will carefully remove the skin from a bean that has been soaked over night, and then separate it into two parts, you will discover two tiny leaves near one end, between the two halves of the bean. Extending in the oppo- site direction is a tiny stem and root. This little plant is called the germ or embryo, and it is this germ which A BEAN PLANT. A DICOTYLEDON. A SPLIT BEAN. E — Embryo. C — Cotyledon. A CORN PLANT. A MONOCOTYLEDON later develops into a full grown plant. The two halves of the bean serve as a storehouse for food, and are called cotyledons. If a kernel of corn is taken instead, and examined in the same way, the same kind of little plant will be found. Instead of two leaves pointing upward, as in the bean, but one will be found in the corn. The peanut will be found to resemble the bean in this respect; wheat and rye resemble the corn. WHY PLANTS GROW II ClassiUcatvon of Plants. — In the spring, as soon as the young plants begin to come up, go out into the garden and field and notice how many leaves are first seen from the seed. In one list write the names of all plants showing but a single leaf or sprout, and name that list monocotyledons. In another list write the names of all plants showing a pair of first leaves and call these plants dicotyledons, and you will have begun the systematic study of botany. If you are interested, you will not wait for spring, but will want to begin now, which you may do by planting all kinds of seeds grown on the farm in sawdust in an old pan kept in a light, warm place. You can then examine these seeds from day to day and watch their growth. Germination. — If you keep these seeds wet they will grow well for a few days, and then they will wither and die. Now, why is this? Because the little plant- let lives on the food contained in the seed until this food is all used up, and the plant has attained sufficient size and strength to get its food from the soil. But it cannot get srtfficient food from the sawdust, and of course it starves to death, just as a little pig would starve if it were not given sufficient food. Why Plants Store Up Food. — When asked why plants store up so much food matter in seeds we usually answer, "To furnish food for animals and men." Nothing could be further from the truth. Nature intended this food matter, not for man, but for the little plantlets, found in the seeds, to use for their own growth until they are large enough to get it 12 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE for themselves directly from the soil. Make this experiment : From soaked beans or kernels of corn, cut away about two-thirds of this food matter, being very careful not to injure the embryos, and watch the sprouting of what remains. These sprouts will wither and die much sooner than those from perfect seeds, be- cause not enough nourish- ment is left to supply them with food until they are large enough to get it from the soil. This should teach us that we cannot be too careful in the selection of large, well developed seeds if we wish strong, healthy plants and, consequently, good crops. Every farmer's child must have noticed how pota- toes shrivel up when they sprout in the cellar. This is due to the fact that the young sprout uses up a part of the potato as food for its own growth. Necessity of Moisture, Heat, Air, and Light. — But there are other things necessary for the growth of plants. Grain rarely grows in the bin or stack, and if it does, you will say that it is because the grain is too wet. Moisture, then, is another requisite for plant growth. But even wet grain fails to grow in the winter time because heat is necessary. Neither Drawing from life, show- ing effect of cutting away a portion of the cotyledons on the growth of the plant. The same results will be obtained by using small and large seeds. Try it. WHY PLANTS GROW 13 will crops grow in ground covered with water, because all growing plants must have air, and much water keeps the air out of the soil. There is still another requisite to plant growth, and that is light. No plant grows well in dense shade, and without sunlight plants alwa3^s have a yellow and sickly appearance. Summary. — Good seeds and proper conditions of soil, moisture, air, heat and light are essential to plant growth, and a part of the study of agriculture consists in determining just how to control these conditions. *'What?" you ask, ''Can the farmer control the amount of heat, air and moisture in the soil?" He can, and it is the purpose of this little book to teach the farmer's children how it may be done. A good bulletin on the subject treated in this chapter may be had free on application to the Secretary of Agriculture, Wash- ington, D. C, or to your Senator or Representative in Congress. Write for Farmers' Bulletin, No. iii. — The Farmer's Interest in Good Seed. Experimental Study of Seeds. 1. Place a folded newspaper in the bottom of a cigar box, a crayon box, or on a plate ; moisten with water, and place another folded newspaper over the first one. Between the papers place one hundred of the seeds to be tested, and set aside in a warm place for a few days. Keep the paper moist but not wet. At the end of a week the number of sprouted seeds represents the percentage of good seeds. 2. Select ten very small seeds and an equal num- ber of very large seeds of the same kind, and plant 14 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE them at equal distances in parallel rows in the same box. Note which make the most rapid and vigorous growth during the first week; the second week; the third week. 3. Select seeds from a supply that has been pre- viously tested and found to be good. Place a dozen of these seeds on paper in each of three dishes. Cover the seeds in the first dish with water and keep them completely covered. In the second dish keep the seeds half covered with water. In the third dish keep the paper on which the seeds are placed always moist, but do not allow water to stand around the seeds. Which seeds germinate most rapidly? Why? What finally happens to the seeds immersed in water? Explain. 4. Plant some seeds in moist soil and others in the same kind of soil kept very wet. Note the dif- ference in germination and growth. Explain. 5. Start some beans growing well in each of two boxes side by side on the window sill ; then cover one lot with another box or a paper cone. At the end of a week remove the cover and note the effect that absence of light has had on the growth and appearance of the plants. 6. Provide for the growth of seedlings against glass. This may be done by planting seeds in a glass jar, a tumbler, or even in an old crayon box set on end, the other end removed, and a piece of glass put in the place of the cover. By pressing the seeds close against the glass their germination and growth can be easily observed from day to day. WHY PLANTS GROW 21 Table I. TalDle showing legal weight per bushel of farm products in Tennessee: Wheat 60 lbs. Buckwheat 50 lbs. Peas 60 lbs. Oats 32 lbs. Beans 60 lbs. Clover Seed 60 lbs. Irish Potatoes 60 lbs. Cotton Seed 28 lbs. Sweet Potatoes 50 lbs. Millet 50 lbs. Onions 56 lbs. Orchard Grass Seed. ... 14 lbs. Corn (shelled) 56 lbs. Peanuts 23 lbs. Corn in ear, shucked 70 lbs. Red Top Grass Seed. . . .14 lbs. Rye 56 lbs. Timothy Grass Seed. . . .45 lbs. Barley 48 lbs. Italian Rye Grass Seed. . 20 lbs. Handy Values. A bushel requires about 134 cubic feet of space. A bushel of corn in the ear requires about 2 cubic feet of space. A barrel of water requires about 4 cubic feet of space. A ton of hay fills about 512 cubic feet of space, or 8x8x8 cubic feet. A cubic foot of water weighs (ilVz pounds. Note I : All the above should be memorized. Note II : Pupils should also memorize table of avoirdupois weight, dry measure, liquid measure, long measure, square measure, and cubic measure, with all the necessary abbreviations. Problems. 1. How many pounds of wheat are grown on an acre yielding 25 bushels? 2. How many pounds are grown on eight acres at the same rate? How many tons? 3. How many square rods in an acre ? How many pounds would that be per square rod ? i6 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 4. What is the value per acre of the above at 80c per bushel? 5. At the same rate what is the value of all the wheat grown on a piece of land containing 240 square rods? 6. At 90c per bushel what is the value of the wheat grown on an acre if the yield is 20 bushels? 7. Which is the more valuable, the crop in problem 4 or that in problem 6? 8. If 20 bushels of 90c wheat can be grown on an acre, how many pounds is that per acre? What is the price per pound ? How many pounds are grown on a square rod? What is the value of the wheat grown on a square rod? 9. At the same rate and price, what is the value of the wheat grown on a piece of ground 14 rods wide and 20 rods long? 10. How many acres in a field 40 rods long and 24 rods wide? 11. If a man can plow 2 acres per day, how long will it take him to plow the above field? What will it cost at $2 per day? 12. What will be the cost of plowing a 40 acre field at the same rate? 13. If a man and team can seed 8 acres per day how long will it take to seed a 40 acre field? What will it cost at $2 per day? 14. At 50c per acre w'hat will be the cost of cut- ting this crop? WHY PLANTS GROW 17 15. It will cost about $0.25 per acre to stack the grain. Find the cost of stacking. 16. What is the threshing bill at 2 cents per bushel? Find the entire cost of the crop. 17. If the yield has been 20 bushels per acre, worth 90 cents per bushel, how much has the farmer made over and above the entire cost of labor? 18. How much has he made if the crop has yielded 25 bushels per acre, worth $0.80 per bushel ? 19. Have any items of the cost of producing this wheat been omitted? If so, what? Should we allow for them? Let us do so and find the result. 20. With a crop of 50 bushels of shelled corn per acre, worth $0.40 per bushel, work the same series of problems, omitting such as do not apply to corn raising. To the Teacher : The above list of problems is intended to suggest others. Ask the pupils to find the current prices of corn, oats, barley, hay, etc. What is considered a good crop per acre of each of these? Then estimate the cost of labor. Have them furnish all the necessary data. This they can get from home. Make up a list of problems similar to the above from data furnished by the pupils. Let one pupil furnish data for one set of problems, another pupil furnish data for another set, and so on. Pass the honors around. You should have both parents and pupils interested before you have progressed far with this work. Observe this policy throughout the course of instruction in this branch. It will be observed that there is a logical order in arrangement of the problems ; in many cases the conditions necessary for the solution of a problem are found in one preced- ing it. CHAPTER II THE PLANT AND WATER Kinds of Plant Foods. — We have already seen that the seed furnishes the food for the httle plantlet until it is large enough to get food from the soil, in much the same way that the mother cow furnishes milk for her calf until the calf is large enough to find its own food. If asked, ''What are the foods which a cow eats?" you would probably answer, ''Grass, hay, straw, oats, bran, etc." Not many of us could answer so readily if asked to give a list of plant foods. There are but a dozen of them, and half of these are nearly as well known to you as cattle foods. The most familiar are : water, lime, iron oxide,"^ soda.t ammonia, and sand.l The other six are : magnesia, potash, car- bon dioxide, and three acids, viz. : phosphoric, hydro- chloric, and sulphuric. Plants and Water. — Now let us consider these plant foods. Every one knows that plants cannot live with- out water, but few persons stop to think of the enor- mous amount of water consumed daily by an acre of growing vegetation. You may make this experiment : Put exactly the same amount of water in each of two * Iron-rust, t Ammonia contains the ekment nitrogen, t Silica. THE PLANT AND THE WATER 19 similar vessels — tumblers, glass fruit- jars or even old tin cans will answer. Pull up a thrifty bunch of clover and put its roots into one of these vessels of water. Stand both on a table or shelf side by side. In a few days you will notice that the water in the vessel containing the clover is disappearing much more rap- idly than that in the other vessel. As soon as the clover begins to wilt take it out of the water and by Relative amounts of water at the beginning of the experiment. Relative amounts of water at the end of the experiment. measuring compare what remains in the two vessels. Of course, both have lost by evaporation — that is, both have ''dried up," as we say — but, if the vessels are of the same size, there should be equal evaporation. Why, then, should not the remainders be equal? Be- cause the clover plant has been using up water. The difference between what remains in the two cans repre- sents the amount used by the clover plant. Hozv Plants Use Water. — Plants make use of water in two ways. In the first place, they use it as food just the same as animals do. In the second place, a plant cannot eat solid food. It has neither mouth nor teeth and it must take in its food in liquid form 20 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE through its roots. The sohd foods mentioned above dissolve in water — just as sugar dissolves in coffee — and in this dissolved condition they are easily taken in by the roots of the plant. Substances such as salt, that dissolve in water, are said to be soluable, and the plant fluid containing these dissolved substances is called sap. The solid food, with a portion of the water, is taken from the sap to be used in plant growth, and the remaining water is passed off to the air through little holes in the leaves. This is the reason why plants need so much water. Grain uses up hundreds of tons of water per acre during the growing season. Moisture Can Be Regulated. — But you ask : ''Can the farmer regulate the amount of moisture in the soil? Does not that depend wholly upon rainfall?" No, it does not depend upon rainfall. If the ground is too wet, the farmer can drain it by ditching or tiling, and by careful cultivation he can keep the moisture in the soil in times of drought. Just how this is done is left for later discussion. Experimental Study of Water in Plants. 1. Place a clean, dry glass vessel over a growing plant. A fruit-jar or a tumbler will do. In a few hours wdiat appears on the inner surface of the glass? Where does this moisture come from? How can you show that it does not come from the soil ? 2. Place a thrifty clover plant in a clean, dry glass jar and seal it tight. In a few hours what appears on THE PLANT AND THE WATER 21 the inner surface of the bottle? Explain what you observe. 3. Place some cut flowers that have begun to wither in a vessel containing cold water, immersing all except the blossoms. Set in a cool place for several hours. What change occurred ? Explain. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Fanners' Bulletins. No. 46. — Irrigation in Humid Climates No. 116. — Irrigation in Fruit Growing. No. 138. — Irrigation in Field and Garden. No. 158. — How to Build Small Irrigation Ditches. Table II. Table showing proportions of water in farm crops. One bushel of root crops contains about 55 pounds of water. One bushel of potatoes contains about 45 pounds of water. One bushel of corn (dry, shelled) contains about 5 pounds of water. One bushel of wheat contains about 6 pounds of water. One bushel of oats contains about 3 pounds of water. One ton of dry hay contains about 300 pounds of water. One ton of green feed contains from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of water. Note: This represents only the water left in the plants and seeds as a part of them. By far the greater amount used by the plant passes off to the air through the pores in the leaves. Problems. I. If rain falls an inch deep on the level, how many cubic inches is that per square foot? Per square 22 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE yard? Per square rod? How many cubic feet per square rod ? Per acre ? 2. About how many barrels of water fall on an acre with i inch rainfall? 3. How many tons will this water weigh? 4. The total rainfall during the year in Wisconsin is about four feet. What does the water weigh that falls during the year on a square yard of ground ? On a square rod ? How many tons to the acre ? 5. Suppose the plants use one-eighth of this, what is the weight of the water used by a square yard of vegetation? A square rod? An acre? 6. Suppose potatoes contain three-fourths of their weight of water. How many pounds of water in a bushel of potatoes ? 7. If 150 bushels per acre of potatoes is a good yield, how many pounds of water in the potatoes grown on an acre ? 8. By the aid of data furnished by the members of the class make and solve at least ten other similar problems. CHAPTER III PLANT FOODS Lime. — Lime is known to every child. It is known, too, that lime will dissolve slowly in water, and thus become available for plant food. Large quantities of lime are found in the soil. Of course, it comes from the lime rock. Soda. — Soda, or saleratus, as it is sometimes called, is also easily dissolved in water. Soda is made from common salt and the plants get it from the soil. */r(9w Oxide. — Iron oxide gives the red or yellow color to rocks and soils. It dissolves in water, especially after a little acid is added. The Use of Acids. — But what is an acid? The commonest kind of acid, without which no farmer's wife could well get along, is vinegar. Acids are usually sour in taste, and their presence in the soil as- sists water in dissolving rock. A copper penny can be made bright, or an old brass ring to look like gold, by rubbing it with a little vinegar. This is because the acid dissolves off the tarnish and leaves the clean surface exposed. Some of the plant foods dissolve much more readily in water to which a little acid has been added. Soda is a good example. Put a tea- * Iron-rust. 24 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE spoonful of it in a cup about one-fourth full of water without stirring. Add a little vinegar and notice what takes place. The soda disappears because the acid acts on it. Gas is given off very rapidly, causing it to bubble and "foam." This gas is carbon dioxide, one of the four acids named in the last chapter. These acids help the water to dissolve the plant foods in the soil and are themselves taken in as plant foods. ''^Silica. — Silica needs no discussion. By some it is believed to be the food that gives stiffness to the stalks of barley, oats and other grains, which, when grown on rich bottom land, usually ''lodge" partly because they are unable to get sufficient sand from the soil. Ammonia. — Ammonia is known bv its odor. It is used for cleaning clothing and windows. If you go into the barn on a warm morning when the barn has been closed during the night you will get a strong odor of ammonia from the horse manure. Ammonia is always given off to the air when animal matter decays. It contains the element, nitrogen, so essential to plant growth. Carbon Dioxide. — Carbon dioxide is a plant food and it is also found in the air. You will remember it as the gas that came off when you put vinegar on soda. This gas is always given off to the air when vegetable matter burns or decays. You are throwing it off from your lungs with every breath that you breathe. So, too, are all animals. Here is a simple test for it that any child can easily make. Put a piece of fresh lime in some water, shake well and let it stand until it settles * Sand. PLANT FOODS 25 and the water is perfectly clear. Pour off this clear liquid into another bottle. This clear liquid is lime water. Some of the lime has been dissolved. Taste it to satisfy yourself. Now pour some of the lime water into a tumbler and with a straw blow bubbles through it. It gets milky because of the carbon dioxide in your lungs. Now mix up some more "soda water" and add vinegar. Carefully tip the tumbler so that the gas can run into the lime water. It is heavier than air and will run over the edge of the tumbler like water. Shake the lime water. It is milky again. This shows that the gas given off by the soda water when vinegar is added is the same as the gas given off by your lungs. Make one more experiment: Place a little lime water in a saucer and set this on the floor in your sleeping room over night. In the morning it, too, will be found to be milky. This shows the presence of carbon dioxide in the air. Magnesia. — Magnesia is known to most of us. It is the white powder used to whiten the skin and prevent soreness from the wind. Potash. — Potash is found in wood ashes and gives to lye, made therefrom, its soapy feel. Sources of Plant Foods. — The water, soil and air are the sources of plant foods. The air contains two — ammonia and carbon dioxide' — soil and water the other nine. All of these foods except carbon dioxide dissolve in water and enter the plant by its roots. Carbon dioxide is taken in directly from the air by the plant through the little holes in the leaves. 26 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Plant Starvation. — Now, if these foods are not found in sufficient quantity in the soil, the plant grows slowly and finally dies. Again, the soil may contain plenty of plant food, but it may not be in a form read- ily soluble by the water, and the plant suffers from a lack of food, just as one may starve within ten feet of plenty of food that is securely locked up so that he can not get at it. One problem which the farmer is called upon to solve is, how to make the soil of his farm more easily soluble. Effect of Too Much Food. — Plants may be killed by too much food. Who has not seen spots of grass killed out where the cattle have been salted or have dropped manure? This is because the plants have taken in too much solid food. Plants can live on so small an amount as one part of solid food dissolved in a million parts of water, and more than one part in a thousand kills them. One way to kill noxious weeds is to cover them with salt, lime, or ashes, so that they will get more than one part of this food in every thou- sand parts of water that they use. Soil Exhaustion. — From what we have learned it is clear that, if the farmer raises grain on his farm to sell, and never returns manure to the soil, he will rob it of its plant food, and it will soon begin to show evidence of being "worn out." Plant foods are being continually used up by the growing plants, and re- moved with them, and none are returned to take their place. The heavier the crop the greater will be the PLANT FOODS 27 loss. Tobacco and root crops, being so much heavier, exhaust the soil faster than small grains. But worn-out soil does not mean soil in which all the different kinds of plant foods are used up. In fact, soil usually contains all plant foods in inexhaust- ible quantities with but three exceptions, namely : potash, phosphoric acid and the nitrogen found in ammonia. To restore the fertility of the soil means only to restore these three substances. The general rule for fertilizing soils will be taken up later. Experimental Study of Plant Foods. 1. Make a collection of the following plant foods: Lime, iron-rust, soda, ammonia, magnesia, acid, sul- phur, and sand. Place each specimen in a small bottle and label properly. 2. Potash may be easily prepared from wood ashes. Place about two quarts of wood ashes in a pan, cover with water, and let stand for a few hours, stir- ring frequently. Then allow the ashes to settle and pour off the clear liquid into another tin dish. Place this lye on the stove and evaporate all the water. The dry powder found on the bottom of the dish is potash. A little potash dissolved in water makes it feel soapy. This "soapy feel" is the test for potash. Put some of the potash in a small bottle, label, and add to the collection. 3. It is very difficult to obtain uncombined phos- phoric acid. The easiest way to procure it is in com- bination with lime. Burn a bone to whiteness, crumble 28 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE it Up, and put it into a bottle. This powder is a com- bination of lime and phosphoric acid. Now, if a little water is poured over this powder and a small quantity of sulphuric acid added, the lime will soon settle and the clear liquid will be phosphoric acid. 4. To prepare nitrogen, provide a glass bottle with a large neck, a piece of wire, a bit of cotton, a little alcohol, and a shallow dish containing lime water to the depth of two inches. Twist one end of the wire around a small piece of cotton, and then bend it nearly double about three inches from the end bear- ing the cotton. Dip the cotton in alcohol and light it. Resting the wire loop on the bottom of the dish with the torch standing upright, place the inverted empty bottle over the torch so that the bottle rests on the bottom of the dish and the bend in the wire. Soon the flame dies out because the fire uses up the oxygen in the bottle. The oxygen has united with the carbon of the alcohol, forming carbon dioxide. Without taking the mouth of the bottle from the water, remove the torch, put one hand under the mouth of the bottle to close it tight, invert the bottle quickly, and shake. The lime water becomes milky, showing that the car- bonic acid gas has been taken up by it. The colorless, odorless, invisible gas now remaining in the bottle is nitrogen. Plunge a lighted taper or splinter into the gas and the flame is immediately extinguished, showing that the gas is not air. PLANT FOODS 35 Table III. Table showing proportions of fertilizing substances crops: OUNCES PER BUSHEL. Crop. Nitrogen. Wheat 20 oz. Rye 17 oz. Corn, shelled 14 oz. Barley 12 oz. Buckwheat 12 oz. Oats 10 oz. Potatoes 3 oz. Root crops, average 3 oz. Cotton seed 13.8 oz. OUNCES PER 100 LBS. Cotton lint 3.8 oz. substances in farm f'hosphoric Acid. Pot ash. 8 oz. 5 oz. 9 oz. 5 oz. 5 oz. 3 oz. 6 oz. 4 oz. 4 oz. 2 oz. 3 oz. 2 oz. 1 oz. 4 oz. 1 oz. 2 oz. 5.8 oz. 1.6 oz. 5.4 oz. oz. POUNDS PER TON. Crop. Nitrogen. Timothy or red top hay 20 lbs. Clover hay 40 lbs. Tobacco (leaves) 60 lbs. Straw (average) 10 lbs. Sugar beets 3 lbs. Cow-pea hay 47.2 lbs. Soy Bean hay 46.4 lbs. Phosphoric Acid. Potash. 9 lbs. 30 lbs, 10 lbs. 40 lbs. 13 lbs. 80 lbs. 4 lbs. 20 lbs. 1-5 lb. 4 lbs. 10.4 lbs. 29.4 lbs 13.4 lbs. 21.6 lbs. Problems. 1. How many pounds of each of the three im- portant fertiHzers in a crop of wheat that yields 20 bu. per acre? 25 bu. per acre? 2. A corn crop of 50 bu. per acre ? 60 bu. ? 75 bu. ? 3. An oat crop of 40 bu. per acre ? 50 bu. ? 60 bu. ? 4. A barley crop of 40 bu. ? 45 bu. ? 50 bu. ? 36 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 5. A potato crop of iio bn. per acre? 120 bu. ? 1 50 bu. ? 6. A clover hay crop of ^lA tons per acre? 4 tons? 5 tons? 7. A meadow hay crop of 2 tons per acre? 2^ tons ? 3 tons ? 8. A tobacco crop of 1,500 lbs. per acre? 1,800 lbs.? 9. Compare the results and notice which crop is hardest on the soil. 10. Pupils should furnish data for similar prob- lems. Tell how many acres of corn, wheat, hay, etc., were raised on the farm at home, the number of bush- els or tons per acre, and find the amount of the three essential fertilizers taken off with the crop. CHAPTER V SOIL Soil the Foundation of Agriculture. — Since the soil is the place where plants are grown, and since animals are supported by plant life, in a very true sense the soil is the foundation of agriculture. While this is true, the lesson of Chapter I must not be forgotten : the soil is one of three essentials of successful agriculture, not the only one. How Soils Are Formed. — Generally speaking, soils have been formed in three ways : (a) by the decay, the breaking up, of rocks; (b) by glaciers grinding the rocks into small particles; (c) by water depositing its sediment in certain places. Originally all soils were formed by the destruction of rocks. The great rock masses which formed the surface of the earth were broken and ground into small pieces. Earthquakes probably made the first great breaks. Then water has been continually dissolving away particles of the rocks. They have been further broken by frosts, worn by rain, 38 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE streams, rivers, and the never idle ocean. The particles become gradually smaller and the different kinds mix so that they cease to resemble the rocks from which they came. One may see soil formation of this kind wherever a ledg-e of rock outcrops. The rock on top gradually ''rots" and breaks up. The w^ater dissolves out most of the lime and magnesium and washes the remaining portions down and spreads them out at lower levels. Drawing, showing how rock griuhially breaks up and de cays from the top downward. Drawing, showing glacial drift deposited on top of the solid rock. The rain and snow work their way into the cracks of the rocks and, freezing there, break them up into smaller pieces. Even the wind breaks off small pieces and carries them away. Great drifts of sand, like snow, may sometimes be seen piled up by the action of the wind. Plants die and decay, and thus help to build up the soil. Roots of trees sometimes work their way into crevices of the rock and, growing there, split off great pieces. Roots also secrete a kind of acid that THE SOIL 39 helps to dissolve the rock. The gases in the air help in breaking- up the rock, thus forming soil. Animals, too, like the gopher and woodchuck, burrow into the earth and help to tear up and break down the rock. When they die their bodies decay and become a part of the soil. Earthworms, or "angleworms" as they are called, feed on the soil and break up the particles into still finer ones. In East and Middle Tennessee the soils were made in this way. The soils of West Tennessee generally are formed of sediment, deposited in geologic times, which did not harden into rock. These soils are fairly fertile and durable and produce a great variety of crops, but have suffered from one kind of cropping and from the water's washing the soil from the uplands into the bot- toms. Less attention has been paid to live stock in West Tennessee than in other parts of the State, and the soil has been made poorer in consequence. Glacial or Drift Soils. — In the northern part of the United States are extensive deposits of glacial or drift soils, which are a mixture of fine clay, sand, and gravel. Usually granite boulders, some so large that a team of horses cannot move them, are intermixed with these soils, which w^ere made by the action of great glaciers that moved down from the polar regions, scraping up the loose earth, rocks, and stones as it passed sloavly along, crushing and grinding them together, wearing off hilltops, filling up valleys and 40 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE depositing the gravelly material from which this soil, wherein the farmer now sows his seed, is made. The reason why the stones that may now be picked up are so hard is that only the hard ones could withstand the grinding. The softer ones were ground up and helped to form soil. Agencies of Soil Formation. — These are the agen- cies, then, that assist each other in the formation of soil : Glaciers, wind, water, frost, plants, animals, and gases in the air. Kinds of Soils. — What kinds of soils are formed by all these agencies? It must be remembered that all soil originally came from the rock, and the kind of soil must therefore depend on the kind of rock from which it was made. That is, we have sandy soil in sandstone regions, and in limestone regions loams are usually found. Clay Soil. — Most soils contain gravel, sand, silt, and clay, and the class to which a soil belongs is determined by the relative amounts of those of which it is com- posed. Where a soil contains a very large amount of clay with particles so fine that they cannot be separated by the hand, and when dust-dry seem to contain no grit or sand, it is called clay. The dishes we use are made of a very pure quality of clay ; a poorer quality is used for making sewer pipes, brick, and tile. Clay soils retain water a long time and are difficult to work. THE SOIL 41 Care must be taken not to plow them while wet, because in drying they become very hard. Sandy Soil. — Sand is composed of coarse particles which are very hard, having sharp edges and giving a gritty feel in handling. Sandy soils are made up chiefly of sand, but generally contain some clay, silt and decayed organic matter. In Tennessee the purest sandy soils are the sand-bars along the streams ; and in some places there are great deposits of sand below the surface soil. Sand varies greatly in fineness. The coarsest sand is but little finer than gravel. Water passes through it very freely. The finest sand holds water much bet- ter than coarse sand, and is quickly warmed by the sun in the spring of the year. Such soils are good for melons and other crops requiring much warmth ; they wash badly, however, and are not durable under tillage. Loam. — Loam is a mixture of the various soil par- ticles in such proportions as to be easily tilled and at the same time be suitable for almost all kinds of crops. It retains water better than sand, but not so well as clay. Sandy soils are too porous; clay soil too tight. Good soil must have a constant supply of moisture and of air, and in loam the sand particles, being irregular in size and outline, separate the finer clay particles from one another in such a way as to leave the soil in excellent condition for plant growth. 42 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Air and Moisture in Soils. — Soils contain spaces be- tween the grains, and after a rain these spaces are filled with water, but the water soon descends into the lower soil, and the spaces are then filled with air. Below the surface every particle of soil remains covered with a film of water, and the roots of the plants, pushing their way among the soil particles, absorb the water from them, exactly as a blotter absorbs ink. If the spaces in the soil are too small, the water does not drain out rapidly enough, and the plants growing in such soil are sickly, as is shown by the color of their leaves. If the air spaces are too large, the soil particles dry, and plants in such soils in dry weather quickly wither and die. Loam is neither too coarse nor too fine, and nearly all cultivated plants grow best in loam. Mixture of Soils. — In nature hardly any two fields have soil of the same kind; there is every gradation from gravel through coarse sand, fine sand, sandy loam, clay loam, to clay. And these are of interest chiefly because on the fineness of soil particles depends the water-holding power of the soil. Farm plants do best in a soil of moderate water-holding power. Silt. — Silt consists of particles finer than very fine sand, but coarser than clay, and is more easily worked. A silt loam warms up more readily in the spring than clay loam, and is adapted to quick growing crops. Humus. — The partly decayed organic matter in a soil is called humus. It is usually very dark colored. THE SOIL 43 Humus improves the soil for plants, first because it furnishes plant food, and second because it improves the quality of the soil, making clay less and sand more compact, and thus equalizing their water holding capacity for plants. When swamp lands are drained they produce splendid crops, because in them a great deal of organic matter has accumulated, and this contains more plant food than ordinary soils. Humus on Sloping Land. — Hillsides and sloping lands generally lose fertility when cultivated unless great care is taken to fertilize them properly. The humus that was originally deposited in these soils by the decay of vegetable matter is washed out by the rains from plowed ground, and consumed by the grow- ing crops. The Iocs of humus makes hillside lands wash badly, and unless the farmer is very careful his sloping fields are soon "worn out." Every year a heavy crop of weeds, or of some plant specially grown for the purpose, as crimson clover, should be plowed under in such fields, to form humus and thus keep the soil in good condition. The Treatment of Soils. — Of course, soils are found mixed in every possible proportion. This fact leads to a great variety of soils, and it is the farmer's busi- ness to learn the nature of the soil on his farm and how best to handle it. Loamy soils are the best farm lands, because of the ease with which they may be cultivated. They are warm soils and hold moisture 34 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE well. A sticky clay soil may be improved in texture, and warmed up at the same time, by a plentiful addi- tion of barnyard manure containing much straw. This vegetable matter makes clay more like loam. The same treatment is also good for sand, as it in- creases the capacity of sand for holding moisture and makes it like loam. If it were possible, and less ex- pensive, many barren sandy places might be made fer- tile by adding to them plentiful quantities of swamp muck. This treatment would convert them into a loam of good quality. Plowing under full grown crops of rye or clover has much the same effect. Either method adds humus to the soil and tends to make it more loamy. Rye grows well on sandy soil, and clover is a good crop to raise on clay for plowing under. A good loam contains all the foods needed by growing plants. Plant Foods that Become Exhausted. — As has been said before, only three of these foods, with the possible addition of limic, ever become exhausted. You will remember that these three are nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid. It is the purpose of the next chapter to tell how you may judge from the character of the soil, and the growing crop, which one of these plant foods is most needed. Experimental Study of Soils. I. Rub a pinch of soil between the thumb and fore- finger. Are its particles fine or coarse ? Spread a little on the palm of the hand. Are the particles all of the SOIL 35 same size? Does there seem to be any decayed vege- table matter in the soil ? What is the color of the par- ticles? Are they all of the same color? 2. Small samples of soil may be spread out in a thin layer on white paper and further examined with a magnifying glass. 3. Thoroughly dry a sample of fine sand without lumps, and fill a water-tight tin can with it. Fill another can of exactly the same size with loam pre- pared in the same way. From a graduate^ pour water on the sand, allowing time for it to soak in. Soon the sand will have absorbed all the water it can hold, and the level of the water will be even with the surface of the sand in the can. What has become of the water which you poured onto the soil ? How much water have you used? Now do exactly the same thing with the loam soil and compare results. Which soil has more pore space? 4. Fill three soil tubes^ respectively with fine dry sand, clay, and loam. Set the filled tubes in separate * A graduate may be made by ruling lines one-eighth inch apart on a strip of paper and pasting the paper vertically on a glass tumbler. ^ To prepare soil tubes : Take some tall glass bottles, wrap a cloth wrung out of cold water around each about half an inch from the bottom, and place the bottles on a hot stove. The sudden expansion of the bottom will usually break it off even. Smooth the edges with a file or on a grindstone. Plug the neck of each bottle with cotton, and turn it upside down. A rack for holding these tubes in an upright position can easily be made by nailing slats or stretching wire or strong cord across the top of a small box. Compact the soil by tapping the tube gently on the table. 46 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE dishes, and pour into each from the top the same amount of water. When it soaks out of sight pour in more. Use your graduate for this, so that you will get exactly the same amount of water in each tube. Which soil holds water best? Which soil allows it to soak through most rapidly? Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Soils. Circular No. 4.— Soils of Salt Lake Valley, Utah. Circular No. 8.— Reclamation of Salt Marsh Lands. Circular No. 13. — The Work of the Bureau of Soils. Free Bulletins, Tennessee Experiment Station, Knoxville. Whole No. 78, The Soils of Tennessee. Table IV. Table showing fertilizing substances in average soils: POUNDS PER TON. Phosphoric Soil. Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Loam 7 lbs. 3 lbs. 8 lbs. Clay • 3 lbs. 3 lbs. 15 lbs. Sand 1 lb. 2 lbs. 5 lbs. (Adapted from Stockbridge.) Problems. 1. Suppose soil is cultivated to the depth of 4 in. How many cu. ft. of cultivated soil per sq. ft. of area? Per sq. yd. ? Per sq. rod ? Per acre ? 2. If a cu. ft. of soil weighs 75 lbs., how many lbs. of cultivated soil per sq. yard? Per sq. rod? Per acre? SOIL 37 3. Find the number of pounds of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid in the cultivated soil per acre for each of the four kinds of soil. 4. If the soil is cultivated to the depth of eight inches, how many pounds of each of the three fer- tilizing substances per acre in each of the soils given in the table ? 5. How many pounds of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid are used, annually, per acre, by a crop of 20 bu. of wheat ? In how many years will one-half of all the nitrogen in clay be used up by this crop feeding to the depth of eight inches ? 6. How will this affect future crops? 7. Work the same problem for the other soils. 8. Use a 50 bushel corn crop per acre and work problem 7. Also a 60 bu. oat crop. A 120 bu. potato crop. 9. Pupils will furnish data for similar problems. CHAPTER VI THE AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE In the geography class one studies the location of the principal countries, their rivers, mountains, and cities. Sometimes the map-work begins at home, and the class makes a map of the school district, or of the home farm, showing the location of house and barns, feeding lots and fields. Mapping the Farm. — It would be a good lesson to make a soil map of your farm. Try it. Get your father to help you. First make a map of the farm, indicating all the fences and creeks with solid lines. Then with dotted lines in different directions separate the farm into clay soils, loam soils, sandy-loams, etc., and mark by words where the thinnest, the poorest and the most fertile lands are. Such a map should be a guide as to where to put the most manure previous to the next plowing; where to put certain crops that the soil will be most benefited by them ; or crops that will make the least draft on the supply of plant food. Lands in Extreme East Tennessee. — Turn to the map of Tennessee, on which the principal physical sec- tions of the state have been indicated. In the extreme eastern part of the state is a mountain region. The main range of the Great Smoky Mountains forms the AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE 49 boundary between Tennessee and North Carolina, and among its peaks are the highest mountains east of the Rockies. There are many ranges of mountains branch- ing off from the Great Smokies, and they in turn have many ridges running out from them, all separated from one another by narrow valleys, thus making the moun- tain counties very rough. Everywhere among the mountains there are occasional comparatively level lands of good quality that are well adapted to the hardier fruits, such as apples and cherries, and to all farm crops. Throughout the mountain counties grass grows better than in other parts of the state. The lands generally are too rough for tillage, and they are all forested, except where farms have been cleared. This region is the best adapted, then, to stock raising, and to orchard farming in selected localities. The Tennessee Valley. — West of the Smoky Moun- tains is the Tennessee Valley, extending from Bristol to Chattanooga. This great valley is traversed in every direction by ridges which separate it into many smaller valleys, each drained by a stream. The soils are usually red or yellow colored loams, some gravelly and poor but others highly fertile. Along the larger rivers are broad bottom lands of great fertility. Corn, wheat, clover, grass and cowpeas are the principal plant crops. In the northern counties stock raising is an extensive industry. The high gravelly ridges are well adapted to peach growing, and in Bradley and Hamilton coun- ties there are large peach orchards. The Sweetwater Valley in McMinn County is a famous wheat and dairy section. Small fruits and truck crops are largely grown so ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE in Hamilton and Knox Counties, and in general a great variety of crops can be profitably grown in the Tennessee Valley. The Cumberland Plateau. — West of the Tennessee Valley is the Cumberland Plateau, a high table land, 6,000 square miles in extent. Its highest point is about 2,500 feet above the sea, and the general level is about 2,000 feet above the sea. The soil is generally thin and poor. It supports a fair forest growth, the oaks being the most common trees. The deeper soils are fairly productive. Irish potatoes of fine quality are grown on the Plateau, and with good cultivation and a liberal use of fertilizers, including lime, much better results can be secured in general farming than are usual. The Central Basin. — Between the Cumberland Plateau and the Tennessee river as it flows to the north into Kentucky is a great basin-shaped area in the central part of which is the splendid farming section, know^n as the Central Basin, surrounded by a less fertile region, called the Highland Rim. The outer border of the Highland Rim is higher than the inner rim, with fertile red colored soils of limestone origin. The inner rim extends in a band of irregular width entirely around the Central Basin. Its soils are gray and yellow in color and are generally of poor quality. They respond readily to fertilizers, especially when lime is used, and in many localities truck growing is becoming an important industry. 1 AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE 51 The Central Basin is a rich hmestone area, and is considered the best large agricultural region in Ten- nessee. There is an extensive live stock industry, and diversified farming is commonly practiced. Fruit, truck crops, grain, and forage crops all succeed in the Central Basin of Middle Tennessee. West Tennessee. — West Tennessee is a rolling coun- try, with no high hills or mountains. The soils are chiefly silt loams and are naturally fertile, but have suffered greatly from continuous cropping and con- sequent washing. A great variety of crops can be grown in West Tennessee. Cotton is the principal crop, but truck-growing is increasing rapidly in this section of the state. Stock raising, which should be profitable, is neglected. Along the Mississippi river are very rich alluvial soils of the greatest fertility, where heavy crops of cotton and corn are produced. Summary. — From this survey we see that Tennes- see is greatly favored in its location. King Cotton and King Corn both flourish in Tennessee. The state has splendid herds of dairy and beef cattle, and sheep and hogs of the best breeds are found on many farms. But the average farm in Tennessee is not so good as it ought to be. In some states the farming is better than in ours. The farms of Tennessee ought to be equal to the best in the United States. CHAPTER VII THE SOIL AND THE CROP Lack of Plant Food in Soil. — As suggested in the last chapter, the crop will usually tell the farmer by its appearance the kind of food it most needs. How- ever, the only way by which he can find this out for a certainty is by making careful experiments with the three essential fertilizers. Good, fertile, well-drained soil, properly cultivated, usually produces healthy, dark green plants with strong, good-sized stalks and numer- ous well-filled seeds. Nitrogen. — Now, the growth of the stalk and foli- age of the plant is largely due to the nitrogen in the soil, provided, of course, that the drainage is good and other conditions of heat, light, air and moisture are favorable. If the plant has a yellow and sickly appear- ance and, with proper cultivation, refuses to grow, it is likely starving for want of nitrogen. What should the farmer do? The Best Fertilizer. — Barnyard manure is an almost perfect fertilizer; that is, it has the right amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in it in a form readily obtainable by the plant. A plentiful application of barnyard manure will improve the next crop, and is the best remedy for yellow and sickly plants. THE SOIL AND THE CROP S3 Plants as Fertilizers. — In the next place, clover, alfalfa, peas and like plants which bear their seeds in pods may grow well on this kind of soil, because they have the power of using the nitrogen of the air in a way that will be explained later. These plants store up the nitrogen that they take from the air, and if they are plowed under when full grown they add this store of nitrogen to the soil, besides forming an excellent soil mulch. While generally not so good as barnyard manure, clover is an excellent means of restoring nitro- gen to the soil. In some cases it does more for the soil than barnyard manure can, and it is easier of application. When red clover does not grow well other legumes, such as crimson clover, hairy vetch, cowpeas or soy beans are of great value both as forage crops and as sources of nitrogen to the soil. Commercial Fertilizers. — Another method consists of applying commercial fertilizers containing nitrogen directly to the soil. The principal nitrogen fertilizers are cotton seed meal and nitrate of soda (salt petre). Others commonly used are dried blood and tankage, refuse from slaughterhouses. Nitrate of Soda as a Fertilizer. — Nitrate of soda is the quickest acting of all fertilizers. Used as a top dressing on grass in the spring it induces rapid growth and gives a deep green healthy color. Truck growers use it extensively to start cabbage and other leaf crops into vigorous growth. It is very soluble, and if sown around the young plants it quickly disappears, dis- solving in the soil-moisture where it is at once avail- 54 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE able as food for the plants. It is rich in nitrogen (i6% is pure nitrogen) and should be used sparingly; 200 lbs. per acre is a heavy application. Cotton Seed Meal as a Fertiliser. — Cotton seed meal is much cheaper than nitrate of soda, but it is also much slower in dissolving, and contains less than one- half as much nitrogen. As the nitrogen fertilizers are most used in the earlier stages of plant growth, it is best to drill in, or plow in, the cotton seed meal a few weeks in advance of seeding, so that it may partially decay, and thus make its nitrogen available by the time the young plant needs it most. It can be used much more freely than nitrate of soda. From 600 to 800 lbs. per acre is not an excessive amount to use for garden crops. Other Nitrogenous Fertilizers. — Of the other ni- trogenous fertilizers mentioned, dried blood is richer in nitrogen (9 to 13%) and quicker in its effect on plant growth than tankage, which contains from 5.7 to 7.6% of nitrogen, but tankage is also valuable as a source of phosphoric acid. Phosphoric Acid. — A shortage of phosphoric acid in the soil is usually shown by small, undeveloped and shrunken seeds. The grain does not "fill well," as the farmer says. The ground has been carefully prepared, tilled and drained. What is he to do? Nothing is simpler. Apply phosphoric acid fertilizers to the soil. Here, again, barnyard manure, because it is a nearly perfect fertilizer, is one of the best and most easily obtainable for the purpose. Ground bones, either THE SOIL AND THE CROP 55 steamed or raw, and phosphate are commercial fer- tihzers which furnish this food to the plant. Phosphoric Acid. — There are great deposits of phos- phate rock in middle Tennessee, and it has been largely mined for the manufacture of acid phosphate. "'*■-',-' ; , - • ' ^^;-^.^^\:##^* ,i;a'' :^^ ^';' .^.:^?^^ ■-: V;:: ■• - IRISH POTATOES. 3 bu. salable per acre. 11.6 bu. culls per acre. No fertilizer. 48.8 bu. salable per acre. 14.5 bu. culls per acre. The same soil fertilized with 500 lbs. of complete fertilizer per acre. UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE. The rock is ground fine and is then treated with sul- phuric arid, which makes a soluble. As with nitrogen, phosphoric acid is largely used in the early stages of plant growth. Wheat takes up four-fifths of its phos- phoric acid in the first half of the growing period. S6 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Deep plowing and thorough cultivation aid in making the phosphates in soils soluble, and thus available for plant food. Other sources of phosphoric acid are basic slag or odoHess phosphate and ground raw phosphate rock. On soils in need of this element 200 lbs. per acre of acid phosphate (14 — 16%) is an average application. Source of Potash. — Potash is especially essential to the production of fruits, potatoes, and root crops. In most cases, when other conditions are perfect, under- sized, shriveled, and imperfect fruits and roots are due to a lack of potash. Here again barnyard manure is the usual remedy. Wood ashes are especially valua- ble because of the potash which they contain. They should never be wasted, but saved and put on the land. Potash Fertilizers. — The principal potash fertilizers are muriate of potash and sulphate of potash. They contain about 50% of available potash, and are seldom applied in excess of 100 lbs. per acre. In general Tennessee soils are more likely to be deficient in nitro- gen and phosphoric acid than in potash. Chemical Effect of Commercial Fertilizers on Soil. — There is still another use to which commercial fer- tilizers, like lime and land plaster, are put. They are used not so much because they are themselves plant foods, but because of the chemical effect which they have upon the soil. Your attention has already been called to the fact that plants sometimes starve with an abundance of food near at hand, but in a form in which they cannot use it for food — locked up, as it THE SOIL AND THE CROP 57 were, like bread and butter in a pantry. If a boy were starving because his food was ''locked up" he would want the key. No boy will die of starvation with a well-filled cupboard, unlocked, in the house. Neither will plants starve when suitable food is obtainable. Now, lime and land plaster are two keys that unlock other plant foods in the soil and change them into a form in which the plants can use them. The Need of Lime in Tennessee Soils. — Probably no fertilizer is more generally needed in Tennessee soils than lime. This is particularly true of the soils of the Cumberland Plateau and the Highland Rim, but everywhere the effect of liming the land is likely to be beneficial. Green Manures and Commercial Fertilizers. — In East Tennessee, where wheat is grown extensively, and in many other sections of the state, com- mercial fertilizers have long been used. Many crops require clean culture and as a rule few animals are kept, so there is little or no manure for the fields. As nothing is put into the soil for making humus, the land gradually changes texture, becoming more and more troublesome to handle, and, in spite of fertilizers, it becomes less productive. Wherever fertilizers are used a heavy growth of some kind should be plowed under every year. Plants so used are called green manures, and their purpose is to add humus to the soil. Just before harvesting corn or cotton, the field should be sown broadcast to crimson clover, or vetch and winter oats, or rye — any crop that will cover the 58 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE ground through the winter, protecting it from the compacting rains. This crop should be plowed into the soil in the spring. Green manures are in themselves good food for plants, but their best service is that they make com- mercial fertilizers more available and improve the structure of the soil. Summary. — To sum up what has already been said: Barnyard manure is called a perfect fertilizer because it contains all the elements that become exhausted from the soil, namely : nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. It is usually easy to get, and for these reasons is generally recommended. Clover, plowed under, will restore nitrogen to the soil because it has power to take nitrogen from the air, a power which few other plants have. Wood ashes are rich in potash and should never be wasted, but sown on the soil. Commercial fertilizers, containing what the soil especially needs, may be bought and applied. When they are wisely applied the profit from their use may be large. The subject of fertilizers and fertilization is a large and very important one to the farmer. It needs much thought and careful study, and is only touched upon here in the briefest possible manner. The problems which follow will help to emphasize the points made in this chapter. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 169. — Soil Investigations in the United States. Free Bulletins, Tennessee Experiment Station. Number 86, Experiments with Soils, Fertilizers and Farm Crops. THE SOIL AND THE CROP 59 Table V. Showing average amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in fertilizers: POUNDS PER TON. Phosphoric Substance. Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Clover hay 40 lbs. 10 lbs. 40 lbs. Straw 10 lbs. 4 lbs. 20 lbs. Barnyard manure 10 lbs. 6 lbs. 9 lbs. Wood ashes 60 lbs. 160 lbs. Burned bones 500 lbs. Ground bones 400 lbs. Problems. 1. Suppose a load of barnyard manure weighs a ton. How many pounds of nitrogen in it? Of phos- phoric acid? Of potash? 2. How much of each of the above in 15 loads? 20 loads? 50 loads? 3. How many loads of manure were hauled onto your land last year? Hqw much of each fertilizing substance was supplied ? 4. If you put 15 loads on an acre, how much of each fertilizing substance per acre? 5. Suppose you harvested 50 bu. of corn per acre. How much of each fertilizing substance did you take off with the crop? 6. Was your soil richer or poorer after the corn was harvested? Did you take off more than you put on? How much of each kind? 7. How much of each of these fertilizing sub- stances is taken off with a 25 bu. crop per acre of wheat? A 40 bu. crop of barley? 6o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 8. How many loads of manure per acre are neces- sary to restore the fertility lost when a 25 bu. per acre wheat crop is harvested? 9. If $5 per acre spent in fertilizer increases the yield of potatoes 50 bu. net. Find the gain per acre by fertilizing. 10. A farmer who uses fertilizer costing $6 an acre grows 560 lbs. of cotton per acre; one who uses no fertilizer grows 350 lbs. per acre. At the present mar- ket price of cotton which plan is the more profitable? How much is gained on 80 acres? 11. Pupils will furnish data for similar problems. CHAPTER VIII WEARING OUT THE SOIL Soil Exhaustion. — From what we learned in the last chapter, it is easily seen that the farmer who raises grain and tobacco to sell, and who returns nothing to the land in the form of fertilizers, is literally ''selling his farm." He sells soil in small quantities, it is true, but he sells it nevertheless. There can be but one re- sult from this kind of farming. No matter how rich the soil, sooner or later it will wear out. The poorer the land the sooner will its fertility become exhausted. Over-Cropping Land. — In the early history of Wis- consin much wheat was grown, the land in many cases yielding as high as forty bushels per acre. But the yield rapidly decreased until no more than ten or fif- teen bushels could be grown. The farmers gave up selling wheat, and the wheat belt moved on to the west. Why was this? Simply because wheat, a heavy feeder as shown by the tables, wore out the soil. No fertilizers were returned to take the place of the soil matter taken off with the wdieat, and in a few years the wheat crop starved out. 62 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Cotton Cropping in Tennessee. — In many parts of Tennessee the cotton crop has worn out the soil. If the farmer would sell only the lint, and feed the cot- ton seed, or meal made from the seed, to live stock, and return the manure from the animals to his fields, he would scarcely reduce the fertility of his land at all ; for the cotton fibre contains practically no nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash. It is composed principally of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and these elements the plant gets from the air and from water. The ele- ments taken from the soil are stored principally in the cotton seed. (See Table III.) In all parts of Tennessee, except such bottom lands as occasionally overflow, continuous cropping with corn is as injurious to the soil as has been wheat crop- ping in Wisconsin, What is true of wheat and cotton and corn is equally true of every other crop in the proportion in which it uses up in its growth nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. Hozu Fertility May Be Retained. — Progressive farmers have learned that grain farming does not pay, and they have gone into dairying and have prospered. Why is dairy farming so much better? Because the grain and hay raised on the farm are fed there and returned again to the soil in the form of barnyard manure. Very little soil matter is sold from the farm. The proportion of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in butter, cheese, beef and pork is very small for the amount of feed consumed, as the table following this WEARING OUT THE SOIL 63 chapter will show. It will take a long time to lessen to any great extent the amount of these substances in the soil by dairy farming. Clover Enriches the Soil. — Again, the dairy farmer raises much clover, cowpeas and soy beans, and these, Tubercles on the Roots of the Cow Pea in which Nitrogen from the Air is Stored Up. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. as you have already seen, really enrich the soil by adding to it nitrogen from the air. Summary. — The wise farmer wastes nothing. If he raises peas and corn for the canning factory, he hauls the vines and stalks back to his farm. If he grows 46 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE beets for the sugar factory, he has the pulp returned to his land. He sells neither hay nor grain, but feeds it on his farm. He saves all manure and carefully returns it to the soil. Experimental Study of Soil Treatment. 1. Fill one soil tube with dry sand. Take some very dry clover hay and pulverize it very fine with the hands, throwing out all coarse material. Mix this pul- verized hay with about twice its volume of sand, and fill another soil tube with the mixture. Now pour water into the top of each tube and see which holds it the better. What are the effects upon a sandy soil of plowing under clover ? 2. Make a "mud pie" of clay and set it in the sun to bake. Make another mixture of clay and pulverized clover hay, and set this beside the first one. When both pies are baked, see which can be more easily broken up. What are the effects upon a clay soil of plowing under clover ? 3. Take two samples of clay — one very wet, the other only slightly moist — and place them in the sun to dry. Which makes the harder cake ? In what con- dition, as to moisture, should clay soil be when plowed? Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers* Bulletins. No. 44. — Commercial Fertilizers : Composition and Use. No. "jy. — The Liming of Soils. No. 192. — Barnyard Manure. WEARING OUT THE SOIL 47 Table VI. Table showing fertilizing substances in dairy products: OUNCES PER 100 POUNDS. Phosphoric Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Cheese 63 oz. 10 oz. 2 oz. Milk 8 oz. 3 oz. 3 oz. Butter 2 oz. 3-5 oz. ^ oz. Table VII. Table showing fertilizing substances in farm animals: OUNCES PER 100 POUNDS. iPhosphoric Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. Cattle 40 oz. 29 oz. 3 oz. Sheep 35 oz. 19 oz. 3 oz. Hogs 32 oz. 130 oz. 2^ oz. Problems. 1. How much nitrogen is sold from the farm with every ton of butter? How much phosphoric acid? How much potash ? 2. How many pounds of these three substances are sold with every ton of cheese ? 3. How many pounds of each are sold with 100 lbs. of butter? With 100 lbs. of cheese? Which is harder on the soil? 4. How much of each of these fertilizing sub- stances in a 300 lb. pig? 5. How much of each of these fertilizing sub- stances in a 1,200 lb. steer? 6. A farmer sells 20 hogs, each weighing 225 lbs. 48 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE How many pounds of each kind of fertilizing sub- stance does he sell ? 7. Suppose he sells 6 head of cattle weighing 1,050 lbs. each. How much of each of these three sub- stances does he sell ? 8. How much butter did you (each family repre- sented in the class) sell last year? How much of each of these three fertilizing substances did you sell with the butter? Did it wear out the farm much? About how many loads of manure will it take to replace them? (Suppose a load of manure weighs a ton.) 9. How many hogs did you sell last year? About how much did they weigh? How much phosphoric acid went with them? How much nitrogen? How much potash ? 10. Did you sell any wheat? Any other grain? If so, how much? How much of your farm went with it? 11. Pupils will furnish data for other similar prob- lems. CHAPTER VII LEGUMES Restoring Nitrogen to the Soil. — From a study of the table on fertilizing substances in different soils, and a comparison of this table with the one on fer- tilizing substances in farm crops, it will be seen that nitrogen is the element which, from ordinary soils and under ordinary conditions of farming, is likely to be the soonest exhausted. Ordinarily, then, the farmer's attention should be turned to methods of restoring nitrogen. If a sufficient quantity of manure were produced on the farm, of course the best method of fertilizing would be to apply barnyard manure to the soil, as it not only contains nitrogen, but also phos- phoric acid and potash, the other needed elements. But it is not always possible to do this. There is a class of plants, however, called legumes, that have the power to add nitrogen to the soil. Peas, beans, clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, and soja beans belong to this class. It is the purpose of this chapter to explain the manner in which these plants add nitrogen to the soil. Composition of Air. — The air that we breathe is composed largely of two gases — oxygen and nitrogen. 50 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Both are colorless, odorless and invisible. About one- fifth of the air is oxygen and the other four-fifths nitrogen. Oxygen is a very active element, combining readily with other substances. It is the oxygen that causes iron to rust, coal to burn, or wood to decay. If the air were pure oxygen, any fire once started could never be put out, and even our bodies would take fire and burn. Nature of Nitrogen. — On the other hand, nitrogen is a very inactive element and does not combine readily with other substances. Its presence in the air dilutes the oxygen and makes it less active. It is well known that tea can be made so strong that no person can drink it. It may be readily diluted and its strength greatly lessened, however, by the addition of water. It is much the same way with oxygen. It is so active that it must be mixed with nitrogen before it can be used by man and animals. It is mixed in the air, there being, as has been said, about four times as much nitrogen as oxygen in it. Farm crops cannot use this *'free" nitro- gen in the air. The Use of Bacteria. — There are, however, little plant-like germs, called bacteria, which live in the soil, that can and do feed upon this free nitrogen in the air. These germs are a kind of parasite and are usually found associated with the legumes, i. e., with peas, beans, clover and the like. They fasten themselves to the roots of these plants and build their homes there. Their little ''nests" look like tiny potatoes and are called tubercles. They are about as large as pinheads LEGUMES 51 CLOVER AND ALFALFA ROOTS SHOWING TUBERCLES. and are to be found adhering to the roots of clover, beans and peas. Pull up a bunch of thrifty clover, or any other legume, and examine its roots for these tubercles. A peculiar thing about these germs is that -^2 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 89. — Cowpeas. No. 194.— Alfalfa Seed. No. 214. — Beiicticial Bacteria for Leguminous Crops. No. 215. — Alfalfa Growing. Free Bulletins, Tennessee Experiment Station. Vol. XVIII, No. 1.— Alsike Clover. No. 75. — Selection for Disease-Resistant Clover. No. 82. — The Soy Bean ; a Comparison with the Cowpea. Problems. 1. How does clover compare with other kinds of hay in the amount of nitrogen it contains ? Phosphoric acid ? Potash ? 2. If two tons of hay per acre is an average yield, how much of each fertilizer is removed yearly with the crop from 8 acres of ground? 3. Which kind of hay makes the richest manure? Why? 4. How much more of nitrogen in a crop of 25 acres of clover hay, yielding 3 tons per acre, than in the same number of acres of mixed hay yielding 2 tons per acre? Where does this extra nitrogen come from ? 5. How many tons of each kind of hay did you raise on the farm last year? 6. How many tons of hay did you sell last year? How many pounds of each of the three important kinds of ''soil fertility" did you sell? How many pounds altogether? 7. Pupils will furnish data for similar problems. CHAPTER VIII TILLING THE SOIL Tillage. — Tillage stands next in importance to fer- tilization, and with many soils it is even more impor- tant. Tillage is here meant to include both the prep- aration of the soil before planting and, with the crops that admit of it, the cultivation of the crop after it is planted. Effect on Roots. — As we have learned, the plant is fed by its roots that penetrate the soil in every direc- tion. These feeding roots are very small and work their way between the soil particles, gathering up the dissolved food and passing it into the plant. If the soil is coarse and lumpy these little rootlets cannot get at the food locked up in the lumps, but can feed only upon their surface. Proper preparation of the soil will break up these lumps, pulverize them, and allow the roots of the plants to get at the food matter which they contain. Again, water cannot easily dissolve plant foods in lumpy ground. Stirring the soil will hasten the solution of this food matter. These facts may be easily shown by experiment. How Solids Dissolve. — Throw a handful of fine salt 56 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE into a tumbler of water. Into another tumbler put a lump of salt or a piece of rock salt about the same size. Which dissolves the sooner? Stir both and note the effect of stirring. Does stirring hasten solution? Now put the same amount of fine salt in each of two glasses. Stir one, but do not disturb the other. The Effect of Stirring Soil. — You have noticed, in the above experiments, that lumpy salt dissolves much more slowly than fine salt, and that stirring always hastens solution. It is just so with plant foods con- tained in the soil. Lumpy soil holds the plant foods so that the plant cannot get them, and cultivation has the same effect upon them that stirring has upon the salt in the water. It causes them to dissolve or in some way makes them accessible. The plant cannot use these foods until they are in the right condition, so that excellent preparation of the soil before planting, and constant cultivation of it after planting, both tend to increase the supply of plant food as well as to hasten the growth of plants. Deep Cultivation Best. — The depth to which soils should be cultivated depends in a large degree upon the depth to which the plant roots will penetrate. The grains are shallow-rooted and do not need so deep cultivation as do corn and root crops. The farmer is not likely to plow too deep for any crop, however. Deep plowing brings to the surface plant foods that have never been reached by shallow cultivation, and it pulverizes the soil so that the roots can penetrate it to a great depth and have more soil to feed upon. TILLING THE SOIL 'Til Deep Plowing for Root Crops. — For root crops the ground must be plowed deep and be very carefully pulverized. There are two reasons for this. In the first place, poorly pulverized soil spoils the shape of THE RESULT OF CAREFUL CULTIVATION. This tomato plant attained tlie height of eleven feet, six inches and bore one hundred one perfectly formed tomatoes. roots like beets and parsnips. They cannot grow equally in all directions, and become crooked, split, and misshapen because of the hindrance of lumps to their growth. In the second place, if they cannot penetrate the soil easily, when they strike the hard soil below, 58 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE they will be raised out of the ground as they increase in length. All that has been said about cultivation of plants applies with special force to root crops. How Water Rises in Soil. — Another important reason for cultivation is to be found in the fact that cultivated soils do not dry out so rapidly during a drought. This seems strange at first, but it is never- theless tri.e, and the reason is easily seen. There are two kinds of water in the ground — capillary water and ''free," underground, water. Underground water flows along beneath the surface and sometimes comes out again in the form of springs. It is this water that supplies our wells. But it is the capillary water, and not the "free" water, that is used by the plants. A simple illustration will make clear what capillary water is. You have, no doubt, observed how oil rises in the lamp-wick. The oil in the wick is moving upward and may be called "capillary" oil, while that in the lamp is "free." The oil in the wick corre- sponds to the capillary water in the soil, while that in the lamp corresponds to the underground water. Another illustration : At the breakfast table take a spoonful of sugar and just touch the tip of the spoon to the surface of the coffee in your cup, and notice how the coffee creeps up into the sugar. It is in exactly the same way that the underground water creeps upward in the soil and becomes capillary water. Still another illustration : Fill a pan half full of water ; set it on a table and throw a rag over the edge so that one end will dip into the water and the other TILLING THE SOIL 59 end will lie on the table. In a little while the water will be running from the pan out upon the table. In other words, it runs ''up-hill," through the cloth, over the edge of the pan, and "down-hill" through the cloth to the table. The water that runs up-hill is capillary water, while that in the pan is free water. The capillary water is being continually supplied from the free water in the pan below. Let us remember that A WELL CULTIVATED CORN FIELD. it is the capillary water which the plant uses and which is also evaporating from the soil. Cultivation Retards Evaporation. — We know that if we cover up a kettle it keeps the water from evaporat- ing, ''boiling away," as we say. In the same way a blanket, spread over the soil, will check the evapora- 6o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE tion of this capillary water. The simplest way to get this blanket spread over the soil is to cultivate it. The layer of cultivated soil dries out very rapidly, but it prevents the air from getting at the moist soil under- neath, and thus keeps it from drying out. It acts as a sort of dry blanket to prevent the evaporation of mois- ture. Summary. — There are three chief reasons for till- ing the soil: (i) To pulverize it, making it easy for the plant roots to penetrate it in every direction and to get at the store of food it contains. (2) To stir it and thus hasten the solution of plant food as well as to destroy weeds that rob the plants of their food. (3) To form a soil mulch, a sort of "dry blanket," which will prevent rapid evaporation of the capillary water from the soil. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 306. — Some Soil Problems for Practical Farmers. Problems. 1. How many square feet in one square yard? In one acre? 2. If soil is cultivated to the depth of 4 in., how many cubic feet of cultivated soil per acre? How many, if cultivated to the depth of 6 in.? If culti- vated to the depth of 8 in. ? 3. How much more plant food is made available with cultivation to the depth of 8 in. than with a 4 in. depth of cultivation? TILLING THE SOIL 6i 4. How many times as much available plant food in soil cultivated to the depth of 6 in. as in soil culti- vated only 4 in. deep ? 5. If a man and team can plow ij4 acres 6 in. deep, or 2 acres 4 in. deep, in a day, how much more does it cost per acre to plow land 6 in. deep than to plow it only 4 in. deep? Labor worth $2.40 per day. 6. If a man and team can till 3 acres thoroughly in a day, or 5 acres in a careless manner, how much more per acre does a good job cost, labor being worth $2.40 per day? 7. How much more per acre does it cost to both plow and till well? How many additional bushels of oats worth $0.36 per bu. will it take to pay for the additional labor? 8. How much will be the gain if but 40 bu. of oats can be raised with shallow plowing and careless seed- ing, and 57 bu. with the extra work? How much will these oats be worth at 24 cents per bu. ? At $0.30 per bu. ? At the present price of oats ? 9. A certain piece of land yields 35 bu. of corn per acre. By careful cultivation the farmer is able to increase this yield to 60 bu. With corn worth $0.40 per bu. how many additional days' labor at $1 per day will the extra yield pay for? 10. If he spends but 20 days' extra time on his i2-acre field of corn to produce the increase in crop shown in problem 9, how much does he get per day for his extra time? 11. Suppose a farmer is able to double the average 62 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE yield of i6o bii. of potatoes from an acre of land by putting 15 days' extra time on it. What wages does he get with potatoes at $0.25 per bu. ? 12. From answers to the following questions make other problems similar to the above. What does labor cost per day? How many acres can a man plow per day? How many acres can he seed in a day? How many acres of corn can he cultivate ? Will extra labor increase the yield of corn? etc., etc. CHAPTER IX DRAINING THE SOIL Underground Water. — As was stated in the last chapter, the plant makes use of the capillary water in the soil, and this capillary water is being continually supplied from the free water in the ground below. There is a level to this underground water, just the same as there is a level to the water in a pond. On low, flat land this level is usually near the surface. It is at or above the surface on swampy ground, and usually many feet below the surface in high places. Ordinarily, high ground needs little attention so far as drainage is concerned, as the water which falls upon it either soaks in or runs rapidly off as surface water. Water Level Must Be Below Surface of Soil. — Low ground, however, does need attention. Plants cannot grow without air, and much water in the soil keeps out the air. The level of the underground water must therefore be below the depth to which the roots of the crop ordinarily penetrate the soil. In other words, a crop will not do well on a field where the free water level is too near the surface. You have all seen crops "drowned out," as the farmer says. If you dig 64 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE a post-hole in such soil it will soon fill with water to within a foot or so from the top. The level of the water in this hole will be the free water level, and if it comes very near the surface no crop can be expected to do well there. Wet Soils Arc Cold Soils. — In wet soils a large A PIECE OF MARSHY LAND BEFORE IT WAS DRAINED. amount of heat is used in evaporating part of the water, and so much is required to raise the tempera- ture of what remains that these soils never become warm. Often such soils are sour, and cannot become sweet until the water is drained off and the heat and air let in. Sometimes it is even necessary to sow lime DRAINING THE SOIL 65 on these soils, after the water has been drained off, in order to sweeten them. Drainage. — What is the farmer to do with low, wet ground ? Evidently there is but one thing- to do — drain off the water. There are two methods of draining this water off, the open ditch and the tile drain. To begin THE SAME FIELD AFTER BEING TILE DRAINED. with, the land may be so low and flat that no kind of drainage is possible. This, of course, may be deter- mined by noting the level of the water in the nearest stream. If it is within a foot or two of the surface of the land and overflows with every heavy rain, easy drainage is impossible. But if the surface of the soil is 66 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE. a few feet above the level of the stream, the land can be easily drained. Tiling. — It is conceded that the tile system of drain- age is better than the open ditch, though it requires more labor and expense. The tiles should be placed about three feet below the surface, so that the ground water level will be lowered to this point and the ground cultivated without interfering with the tiles. The size of the tiles to be used, and the distance apart which they should be placed, depends upon the slope and the character of the soil. An experienced drainage engi- neer should have charge of the work. Open Ditches. — Open ditches may prove quite as effectual in draining the land, if they be deep enough and not too far apart. Of course they must be kept cleaned out. The ofreatest obiection to open ditches is that they cut up the land and thus interfere with culti- vation. They can best be used in draining out sloughs and narrow, swampy places. Many acres of low land, now uncultivated, might be made very productive if properly drained. Fanners' Bulletins. No. 40. — Farm Drainage. No. 187. — Drainage of Farm Lands. Table VIII. Table showing average cost of drainage tile in large quan- tities: 3 in. tile cost about 3c each. 4 in. tile cost about 4c each. 5 in. tile cost about 5c each. 6 in. tile cost about 6c each. All sizes are 12 inches in length. DRAINING THE SOIL 67 Prolblems. 1. A farmer owns a plat of low ground 80 rods long and 50 rods wide ; how many acres in this plat ? 2. A creek runs lengthwise through this land. The level of the water in the creek is 4 feet below the level of the land. Can it be drained? 3. Will the creek answer as a channel to carry off the water from the tiles? 4. Suppose he puts the tiles crosswise of the field, 4 rods apart, so that they open into the creek. How many rods of tiling will it take? How many feet? How many 4 in. tiles? 5. What will be the cost of these tiles according to the above table ? 6. What will it cost to dig the ditches and lay the tiles at 20 cents per rod ? 7. What will be the entire cost if 4 in. tiles are used ? 3 in. ? 6 in. ? 8. What will be the cost per acre for each kind of tile? 9. Suppose open ditches costing twenty cents per rod will answer. How much more will the tile svstem cost than the open ditches ? 10. If the farmer is able to grow only i^ tons of marsh hay worth $4 per ton on this land before drain- ing and can grow 60 bu. of corn worth $0.35 per bu. after draining, what is the increase in the value of the crop due to drainage ? 11. In how many years will this increase alone pay 68 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE for the open ditch? For the 4 in. tile system? For the 6 in. tile system? 12. Suppose the open ditch costs 5 cents per rod annually for repairs. In how many years will the open ditch cost as much as the tile drain? 13. If the above is a true example of the cost and value of drainage, does it pay ? 14. What would it cost to dig an open ditch on each side of a slough 10 rods wide and 100 rods long at $0.25 per rod? 15. Is there a place on your farm that needs drain- ing? Measure it. Draw a plan for ditches and esti- mate the cost of both systems. CHAPTER XII THE CROP Effect of Unzvisc Cropping. — Every farmer desires to be prosperous. He tries to raise those crops which will give him the largest returns in money; but often, in his anxiety to do this, he takes too little heed for the future. He reasons thus : "If tobacco is a high price and my soil will raise good tobacco, then tobacco is the crop for me to raise." So, year after year, he plants tobacco, until he finds that his soil will no longer raise a good crop of tobacco or anything else. Plainly, he has made a great mistake. What is the matter? Tobacco Exhausts the Soil. — The explanation is not hard to find. Tobacco is very hard on the soil, as you will readily see by consulting the table showing the amount of fertilizing substances in farm crops. Be- sides, tobacco requires the same kind of food, year after year, and unless the farmer has made a careful study of this crop, and of the fertilizers needed for its proper growth, his soil soon becomes exhausted of some of its fertilizing substances. The same is true of cotton, or corn, or any other crop, grown year after year on the same piece of ground. So the farmer needs to consider not only the immediate returns — 88 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE that is, the amount of money he will get from his crop this year — but the effect that the crop will have upon the soil. Washing of the Soil. — Throughout the south, and in many northern localities also, there is a great deal of rain during the winter months, when the fields are left bare, or with only the dead stalks of the preceding crop. These winter rains cause great loss to the farmer by washing the soil. Gullies form on all slop- ing lands, and, if neglected, in a few years a fertile field may be completely ruined. Cover Crops. — The careful farmer will endeavor to keep lands that w^ash badly in grass as much as pos- sible, and when such lands are cropped, the rows will follow the contour of the land, and thus check the for- mation of gullies. But the principal damage is done in winter, when the fields are not cultivated. One of the best means of preventing erosion is to plant a crop in the fall that will cover the ground thickly before freezing weather, and thus not only hold the soil by the binding effect of its roots, but prevent its being packed by the rain. Such crops are called ''cover crops." Rye, wheat, winter oats, and crimson clover are good cover crops and all of them can be harvested in time to permit the growing of soy beans, cowpeas, or a late corn crop. Vetch alone is less useful as a cover crop because it does not make growth enough before freezing weather to protect the soil, but when mixed with either rye or winter oats is greatly improves these THE CROP 89 crops for hay, or for plowing in. Crimson clover is especially valuable, if planted early, as it makes a good cover and enriches the soil in nitrogen w^hen plowed under. Crop Rotation. — Good farmers have devised a plan, known as ''crop rotation," whereby they are able to secure the greatest possible returns from the farm with the least possible loss to the soil. This plan consists in growing one kind of crop on a certain piece of ground this year, another kind of crop requiring dif- ferent food materials and soil treatment next year, still another the year following, and so on, the different crops following each other in succession, and at regular intervals. The whole farm is divided into fields of as nearly equal area as possible, and the crop which was grown in field No. i the first year, occupies field No. 2 the following year, field No. 3 the third year, and at the ei:d of the rotation it will have been grown in a different field every year. With the opening of the next season this crop finds itself in field No. i again. The other crops used in the rotation follow the first in regular order. One Plan of Crop Rotation. — The following rota- tion of crops is a good one for the average Tennessee farm. Of course there may be special reasons for modifying it, and others equally good will occur to the intelligent farmer: I. Corn. A cover crop of crimson clover, rye, oats, and vetch, etc., to be sown broadcast in the corn- field just before the last cultivation. 90 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 2. Cowpeas or soy beans. 3. Wheat. 4. Grass and clover (2 years). Corn makes a heavy draft on the food supply in the soil, but the tillage it requires is beneficial, and if a cover crop is cultivated in at the last working it will protect the land from the winter rains and enrich the soil, besides affording some pasturage in late spring. The second 3^ear cowpeas or soy beans, both legumes, will prove good forage crops, and their roots will add .jill^-^sBfe. 'al^^'^^ ^^ui tM^^^^^ ^^^^P ,. ^-:- ^: mBMmSS^'^ ' ....r..^^ii#i-^^-:^3^^ ^^^^- CUTTING ALFALFA— MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. nitrogen to the soil. Both are good crops for freeing the land from weeds and so are excellent for preparing the field for wheat. The wheat is an exhausting crop, but with the wheat grass and clover is sown, and the field remains in meadow and pasture two or more years, usually until it becomes fowl with weeds. The THE CROP 91 kind of grass to be used depends on the soil and the locaHty. If red clover does not succeed alsike can be substituted for it. In most soils a heavy application of lime v^ill benefit both w^heat and grass. When the grass land is broken up corn is again planted and then the second round of the rotation is begun. This rotation implies five fields, and the crops, as indicated here, follow one another from field to field around the farm. Results of Rotation. — During this rotation one cover crop has been plov^ed under, the roots and aftermath of a cow^peas or soy bean crop have also been plowed under, and a sod of grass and clover, two years old, has been turned into the soil. All three of these green manure crops have added appreciably to the food sup- ply for the other two crops. The wheat crop will re- quire a good application of a complete fertilizer, and corn, even when following clover, may be benefited by fertilizers. The forage crops — cowpeas, soy beans, hay and grass, and the cover crop can best be used, of course, by feeding to live stock on the farm. If this practice is regularly followed it will not be long until the use of commercial fertilizers can be aban- doned, as the manure will supply all necessary plant food. Crop Rotation and Length of Roots. — There is still another feature of crop rotation worthy of study here. It is the different depths to which the roots of various crops penetrate. Corn roots spread from row to row, and to a depth of four feet or more into the soil. Cow- 92 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE peas and soy beans are also deep rooted plants, while wheat is comparatively shallow^ rooted, though all plants have a much greater root development than is generally supposed. Clover roots extend several feet into the subsoil, while alfalfa is probably the deepest rooted of any of the crop-plants. These deep rooting crops secure a part of their food from the lower strata VARIOUS ROOT SYSTEMS. T-Tobacco. O— Oats. Cl-Clover, B-Beets, W— Wheat. C-Corn, A— Alfalfa. of soil which the shallow rooters do not penetrate. When we turn under clover, then, the plant food it contains has in part been gathered beyond the reach of the corn roots, and the decay of the clover in the soil thus adds to the food supply of the following crop. Conditions Determine Kind of Rotation. — The rota- tion given in this chapter is only a ''sample" rotation, not an ''ideal" one, and is introduced here only for the purpose of illustration. The farmer should devise rotations of his own, suited to the special needs of his farm and to the market for his products. THE CROP 93 Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 289. — Practices in Crop Rotation. No. 320. — Relation of Sugar Beets to General Farming. Experimental Study of Root Systems. 1. Pull or dig up full-grown stalks of oats, wheat, rye, barley, corn, tobacco, clover, alfalfa and other farm crops. Many of the roots will break off in the ground, but those that remain will be sufficient for comparison. Which of these penetrate the soil the deepest? Classify them in the order of length. 2. Bring in radishes, turnips, roots of oats, corn, and other farm crops. Measure their length and count the number of small roots on each of these plants. Note the manner in which these roots grow. Which are "fleshy" and good for food? Which are unsuit- able for food because they are "fibrous?" 3. Pull up peas, beans, clover and alfalfa. Exam- ine these roots for little tubercles, like tiny potatoes, the size of a pinhead, or perhaps a little larger. You will probably find them on all of these plants. These little nodules are the homes of tiny germs that feed upon the nitrogen of the air. The plants in turn feed upon this stored-up nitrogen. Problems. 1. If corn is planted in rows four feet apart each way, how many hills to the acre? With three good ears to the hill, how many ears to the acre? 2. If it takes 100 ears to make a bushel, how many bushels to the acre? 94 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 3. Which is the best crop? Five stalks to the hill that bear ears requiring 200 to make a bushel, or 3 stalks to the hill that bear ears requiring 100 to make a bushel ? 4. How many bushels per acre' is one crop better than the other? 5. Suppose a ten-acre field produces 60 bushels of corn per acre the first year, but falls off 5 bushels per acre yearly when corn is continually grown on it, what will be the yield the fourth year? 6. What will be the total loss in the four years? With corn worth $0.30 per bushel, what is the money loss? 7. Suppose this loss can be avoided by rotation of crops. What is saved yearly, per acre, on this basis from rotation of crops? 8. What is the value of one acre of tobacco, 1,500 lbs., at $0.08 per lb.? 9. What is the value of one acre of oats, 60 bu., at $0.30 per bu. ? 10. What is the value of one acre of clover, 3 tons, at $6 per ton? 11. What is the value of one acre of corn, 50 bu., at $0.40 per bu. ? 12. What is the value of one acre of peas, 20 bu., at $1.50 per bu. ? 13. Pupils will furnish data for similar problems. Number of acres of different crops raised on the farm at home , yield per acre, price per bushel, ton, etc. Clover (and Crab Grass) with Phosphorus Only: Yield 1.05 Tons: Edgewood Soil Experiment Field, 1905. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. Clover with Lime and Phosphorus: Yield 2.10 Tons: Experiment Field. 1905. Edgewood Soil Can You Judge How Much Thicker and Taller this Crop is than the other? CHAPTER XI INSECTS AND DISEASES THAT INJURE THE CROPS Insects and Plant Diseases. — The farmer may pre- pare the soil ever so weh, he may fertihze with the greatest of care, he may cultivate thoroughly, the weather conditions may be favorable, and yet he may lose all or a portion of his crop through the attacks of insects or the ravages of plant diseases. Every child has seen potato bugs at work and knows full well the damage they will do in a short space of time. If they are not destroyed the crop of potatoes will be. However, the farmer has learned how to fight this pest successfully. But there are many other in- sects injurious to the crop which the average farmer has not yet learned how to fight, and he has paid but little attention to plant diseases. It is not within the province of this book to deal with these subjects in detail, but there are a few general principles which may be laid down here, and which will prove of value in the war that the farmer must continually wage against plant diseases and insect pests. It is necessary for us to know something of the life history of the insects which we fight — when they lay INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES T] their eggs, where they lay them, when the eggs hatch, and the hke. Parts of an Insect. — Insects are so called because they are ''in sections." They have a head provided with a pair of feelers, a pair of strong jaws or a suck- ing tube, a body to which are attached three pairs of legs, usually two pairs of wings, and an abdomen. The abdomen is the back portion of the body made up of several ring-like sections and capable of holding a large amount of food. They breathe through little holes in their sides. THE FOUR STAGES OF INSECT GROWTH. Eggs on leaf, caterpillar, chrysalis or resting stage, full grown insect. The Life of an Insect. — There are ordinarily four stages of insect growth — the tgg stage, the "grub" or caterpillar stage, the resting stage and the full grown insect. The iigg is laid by a full-grown insect in the ground, on the leaves of plants, in rotten wood, on the bark of trees, or even in the blossoms of plants, or in fruits. This egg hatches into what we usually call a 78 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE grub or worm. The grub is a great eater and grows very rapidly, as those of you who have watched the young potato bugs grow can testify. It then hides itself somewhere and goes into the resting state, the pupa, from which it emerges a full-grown insect, ready to lay eggs and repeat this cycle. Some insects, as the potato bug, have legs in the "grub" stage, and others, like the grasshopper, do not go into a resting state at all but grow their wings as they hop about in search of food. Leaf-Eating and Sap-Sucking Insects. — For our convenience we will divide insects into two classes — one class that eats the leaves and another class the members of which are too small to eat leaves but large enough to suck the sap of plants. How to Destroy Insects. — Now, what can the farmer do if his crop is attacked by insects? If he can find out where these insects lay their eggs he can de- stroy the eggs. If they lay them on weeds and rub- bish he can destroy them by keeping fence rows clean and fields free from weeds. If they lay them in the ground in the fall he can plow the ground and freeze them out. If they are leaf-eating insects he can spray the crop with water containing paris green and poison their food. If they are sap-sucking insects, like plant lice, he can spray the trees or plants on which they live with a mixture of kerosene and soap suds, which will fill up the little breathing holes in the sides of their bodies and kill them. At the close of this chapter will be found formulae for spraying mixtures for INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES 79 both these kinds of insects. Some farmers plant a "trap" crop — that is, a crop earher than the regular one — upon which the insects light to deposit their eggs. As soon as the eggs are laid the crop is de- stroyed, or else it is poisoned to destroy both the old insects and the young ones when they hatch. Caution in Using Poisons. — A word of caution in the use of poisons is necessary here. Cases are on record where people have been poisoned with paris green intended for insects. Of course, it should never be applied to cabbage or celery or any vegetable that is used for food. Currants have sometimes been poisoned in an effort to kill the currant worm. In no case should deadly poison be used on fruit trees after the fruit has begun to form. Other Plant Diseases. — It is often convenient for the farmer to fight other enemies of his crop, known as plant diseases, while carrying on his fight against in- sects, as one vSpraying may be made to do for both. Rust, blight, smut, rot and the like are diseases which afflict the plant. They are caused by little, dust- like particles, called spores, that float around in the air and settle on healthy plants. Here they grow and multiply very rapidly. They injure the plant by living upon its sap — in much the same way that lice and ticks suck the blood of cattle and sheep. They must be destroyed or they will destroy the plant on which they feed. As soon as the spores make their appearance in the field or orchard the farmer should begin his fight. If 8o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE it is blight, the affected part should be immediately cut off and burned. If this is not done the wind will carry the spores to the other trees, and soon the whole orchard will be affected. The other trees should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture to prevent the spread of the disease. To Destroy Oat Smut. — For some years past oat smut has been destroying a large portion of the crop all over the United States, but this disease is now un- der control, as a way to kill the spores has been discov- ered. The treatment consists in soaking the seed for a few minutes in a solution of formaldehyde, and then spreading it out on the floor to dry before sowing. The recipe is given at the close of this chapter. Destruction of Spores. — So it is with all plant dis- eases — destroy the spores, and the disease is destroyed. The best medicine for this purpose is formaldehyde, a substance which can be obtained at any drug store. It will destroy the spores of more plant diseases than any other remedy yet discovered, and is usually applied by soaking the seed in the solution before planting. Excess of Insect Poisons. — Care must be taken in applying mixtures for both insects and plant diseases not to get too much poison on the plants, as the crop itself may be injured thereby. Paris green may be sprinkled on potato vines with an old pepper box, if care is taken not to use too much. It should be dusted over the plants as one walks rapidly along the row. Two pounds of poison is ample for an acre of pota- toes. INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES 8i When the crop is troubled by both insects and plant diseases the remedies may be mixed and applied at a single spraying. A good spraying pump costs from two dollars up. The recipes for and the average cost of the mixtures are given below. Experimental Study of Insects. Insects may be captured with a net made of mos- quito bar attached to a hoop at the end of a long stick. Before examination they should be killed in a ''cyanide bottle." This bottle is prepared as follows: Into a large-mouthed bottle, provided with a cork, put a small piece of potassium cyanide, a very deadly poison. Cover this poison with a layer of plaster of paris and allow it to harden. Always keep the bottle tightly corked. Shake the live insect from the net into this bottle and it will soon be ready for examination. 1. Study a wasp, a bee, or a grasshopper. Note the three parts of its body, the head, the thorax or middle section, and the large hind section, or abdomen. Also note that the abdomen is made up of smaller, ring-like sections. From this can you see why they are called insects? Watch the abdomen of a live in- sect closely and see it expand and contract as the in- sect breathes. 2. How many legs has an insect? Are they al- ways attached to the same part of the body ? How are the legs jointed? 3. Many insects are wingless ; some have a single pair of wings and others have two pairs of wings. 82 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Beetles have thick heavy wing covers. Examine in- sects and note the number and kind of wings on each species. 4. All insects have antennae or ''feelers." In your study of insects compare their antennae. Are they long or short? smooth or feathered? Of what use are the antennae? 5. Study the mouth parts of different insects and try to determine the different ways in which they get their food. The butterfly and the grasshopper are good examples. 6. Make a little cage and put into it a live cater- pillar with plenty of green leaves of the kind on which it feeds. Watch it spin its cocoon and go into the rest- ing stage. Keep it where you can observe what hap- pens later. In the spring collect cocoons, put them into your cage and wait for the moths or butterflies to come out. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. — Spraying for Fruit Diseases. — Some Insects Injurious to Stored Grain. — The Grain Smuts : Cause and Prevention. — Potato Diseases and Their Treatment. — Three Insect Enemies of Shade Trees. Important Insecticides. —The Principal Insect Enemies of Wheat. — Insecticides and Fungicides. —The Control of the CodHng Moth. Scale Insects and Mites on Citrus Trees. The Usefulness of the Toad. The Cotton Bollworm. No. 38. No. 45- No. 75- No. 91. No. 99- No. 127. No. 132. No. 146. No. 171. No. 172. No. 196 No. 212 THE CROP 103 Free Bulletins, Tennessee State Board of Entomology, Knox- ville. Fourth Annual Report. Bulletins 1 to 4, inclusive. Tennessee Experiment Station: Vol. XVIII, No. 4.— The Control of Insects and Fungi. No. 81. — Tick Eradication. Spraying Mixtures for Plant Diseases. (Bordeaux Mixture.) 8 lbs. unslacked lime $0.04 4 lbs. copper sulphate at 5c 20 Total $0.24 Dissolve each thoroughly in 25 gallons of water. When both are thoroughly dissolved, mix. Use wooden vessels. Strain carefully into spray-pump, barrel, or tank. Dilute Bordeaux Mixture. (For peach diseases — leaf curl, brown rot, etc.) The above solution is too strong for peach foliage, and the following has proven effective in peach diseases : % lb. copper sulphate. 10 lbs. unslacked lime. Prepare as above. For Leaf -Eating Insects. Vz lb. Paris green to 50 gallons water. Spray. Cost $0.15 3 lbs. arsenate of lead to 50 gallons water. Cost $0.45 Arsenate of lead sticks to the plant much better than Paris green, and is therefore more useful, especially in rainy seasons. For Sap-Sucking Insects. 2 gallons kerosene $0.25 1 lb. hard soap (1 qt. soft soap) 10 1 gallon water Total cost $0.35 ^ 104 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE The above are the best remedies in general use. The first two may be combined, or rather the poison may be added to the first mixture. FORMALDEHYDE SOLUTION. For Oat and Wheat Smut and Potato Scab. 1 pint (40 per cent) formaldehyde $0.50 36 gallons of water Total $0.50 Put seed in "gunny sack," soak in this solution for ten minutes, and spread out to dry. The above solution is sufficient for 40 bushels of seed. Problems. 1. Suppose it takes 200 gals. Bordeaux 'inixture to spray an acre of potatoes. What is the cost of the mixture ? 2. Suppose it takes two apphcations to cure the Wight and each apphcation requires a day's time, worth $1. What is the cost of the cure? 3. How many bushels of potatoes, worth 25 cents, will it take to pay the cost of this cure? 4. Suppose two fields of potatoes of an acre each owned by different farmers. One farmer sprays to cure the blight and gets 188 bushels of potatoes worth 25 cents per bushel. The other neglects his field and gets but 75 bushels. What is the difference in the value of the two crops ? 5. What did it cost the first farmer to apply the spray ? What is his actual gain over the other farmer ? Did it pay to spray? 6. Suppose it takes two applications of two pounds of paris green each, and two days' time at $1 per day THE CROP los to destroy the bugs on an acre of potatoes, how many bushels of potatoes at 30 cents will it take to pay for the treatment? 7. Suppose the yield is increased from 50 bushels to 200 bushels thereby, with potatoes at 20 cents per bushel, what does the farmer gain ? 8. If both bugs and blight attack the crop, what is to be done? What will be the cost of both remedies? What will be saved by mixing the cures ? 9. How much does the formaldehyde solution cost per bushel for seed oats ? 10. If three bushels are sown to the acre, what does this solution cost per acre ? 11. Suppose it takes a day's work, worth $1, to treat the seed for twelve acres, what is the total cost of the treatment ? 12. How many bushels of oats at 30 cents will it take to pay the cost of the treatment? 13. Suppose the treatment increases the yield twenty bushels per acre, how much does the farmer gain on his crop? 14. How much is gained per acre by the use of the treatment ? 15. What is the cost per acre of the treatment? The cost of the treatment for a forty-acre held? For a twenty-four-acre field ? 16. Pupils Vx^ll furnish data for similar problems. CHAPTER XII THE DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS The Nature of Weeds. — The Bible provides that man shall eat bread in the sweat of his face. This is esj^ecially true of the farmer's life. His is a continual battle against the enemies of his crops. He must work hard, early and late, to combat the ravages of insect pests and plant diseases, but harder still to eradicate the weeds. Any plant growing where the farmer does not want it might be considered a weed. Why are weeds ob- jectionable? In the first place, they rob other plants of their food. Suppose you go every morning to feed the chickens and as soon as you throw down the grain for them a great flock of pigeons from a neighboring farm should swoop down and pick up half of it before the chickens could get it, would you not say to that neighbor, "If you don't take care of those pigeons I shall" ? Work of Weeds. — Weeds rob the other plants of their food just as truly and just as effectually as the pigeons rob the chickens in the illustration given above. If weeds are allowed to grow in a field the crop is THE FIGHT AGAINST WEEDS 87 starved out. They rob the plants of moisture as well as of food. In the second place, they serve as a breed- ing ground for insects, as many insects seem to prefer to lay their eggs on weeds. In the third place, they shade small plants and rob them of much needed sun- light. These are the principal reasons why weeds should be destroyed. Classification of Weeds. — In order to fight weeds to the best advantage we must know something of their life history. They may be divided into three classes — annuals, biennials, and perennials. Annuals. — Plants that go to seed every year and then die, coming up from the seed each year, are called annuals. Pigweed, wild mustard, sweet clover and ragweed belong to this class. It is only necessary to prevent them from going to seed to destroy them. This class of weeds is the easiest one to get rid of. Biennials. — Plants that live for two years are bi- ennials. They grow up from the seed one year and grow a heavy root, but do not go to seed that year. The next year they come up from the root, go to seed and then die. If we pull them up by the roots the first year, or keep them from going to seed the second year, we can easily destroy them. Cutting them off and not allowing them to go to seed for two years in succession will have the same effect. Mullein, wild parsnip, burdock and bull thistle belong to this class. Perennials. — Plants that go to seed every year but whose roots live on from year to 3^ear are perennials, and the only way to eradicate them is to destroy them 88 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE root and branch — not an easy thing to do. Perennials give most trouble to the farmer. To this class belong the large number of ''noxious" weeds, Canada thistle, ox-eye daisy, couch grass, sorrel and common dock. As soon as any of the above make their appearance on the farm the farmer should dig them up and burn them. If they are allowed to spread they will soon have possession of the farm. The writer has seen whole plantations, thousands of acres, in the South surrendered to the ox-eye daisy. When weeds have driven the farmer off the land is rendered valueless, as it is next to impossible to subdue them if they once have gained control. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers* Bulletins. No. 28. — Weeds and How to Kill Them. No. 188. — Weeds Used in Medicine. Extracts. No. 133. — Birds as Weed Destroyers. Problems. 1. If a clean field produces 60 bu. of corn per acre and a weedy one only 35 bu. per acre, what is the loss caused by weeds with corn at 35 cents per bushel? 2. What would be the loss on a 20-acre field at the same rate? 3. For how many days' labor at $1 per day will an amount of money equal to this loss pay? 4. Suppose it required only four days' work to THE FIGHT AGAINST WEEDS 89 keep an acre free from weeds, what would be the gain per acre? 5. What would be the gain on a 24-acre field? 6. Is the quality of the corn from a weedy field ever so good as that from a clean field? Why? 7. Suppose clean oats produce 65 bu. per acre and weedy oats produce only 48 bu. per acre, with oats at 30 cents per bushel what is the loss from weeds ? What is the loss on a i6-acre field? 8. Are oats grown in a weedy field as good in quality as clean grown oats ? Explain. 9. Give several reasons for weedy oats. Can weeds in oats be easily destroyed after the oats are sown? 10. Will crop rotation prevent weeds in oats? What is a good crop for oats to follow ? Why ? 11. A yield of 300 bu. of potatoes per acre would be an excellent crop. The land would need to be well cultivated and kept free from weeds to produce this. Suppose but 140 bu. are grown instead, what is the loss from lack of labor? At 25 cents per bushel what is the money value of this loss? 12. For how many days' labor at $1.25 per day will an amount of money equal to this loss pay? 13. Suppose only twelve days' extra labor were required to give the larger yield, how much would be gained? 14. If the farmer did these extra twelve days' work himself, what would he get per day for his time? 15. Pupils will furnish data from their own experi- ence and trom home for similar problems. CHAPTER XIII THE STOCK ON THE FARM Stock. — The successful farmer avoids ''scrub" stock. He has learned two important facts : First, that it pays to take good care of his stock, and, second, that it costs no more, in care and feed, to' raise a good animal than to raise a poor one. Now, let us analyze these two propositions and see how a thorough understanding of these truths affects the farmer's success. Why Anwials Need Food. — As will be more fully discussed in the next chapter, animals must be fed for several reasons. In the first place they must grow, and the food that they eat furnishes the material for this growth. In the second place they must be kept warm, and the fuel for animal heat comes from their food. Again, if some special product, like milk, is to be produced; this, too, must come from the food. Why does it pay to take good care of stock ? Feeding Stock. — Care is here meant to include food, shelter and general attention. If the animal is to grow rapidly it must be well fed, since the food furnishes the material for this increase in weight. Not only this, but it must be fed regularly. If not, its digestive organs become deranged : that is, it becomes dyspeptic and its food passes off without being properly digested. THE STOCK ON THE FARM 91 The Shelter of Stock. — Stock must be provided with shelter at aU seasons of the year to protect them from the heat and storms of summer and the cold of winter. If their stables are cold, then the additional heat re- quired to keep them warm must be furnished by addi- tional food. Animals, like persons, are very sensitive to sudden changes of temperature, to sleet and snow, and cold and wind. They " catch cold," get sick and lose flesh in consequence. How necessary, then, for the farmer to provide a shed for the cattle to run under during storms, a tight board fence on the north and west sides of the barnyard to break the wind, and warm stables for all his stock. General Attention to Stock. — General attention covers that watchful care so necessary to successful stock raising. Barns and barnyards must be kept clean, stalls bedded, pure water provided, stock kept free from ticks and lice, horses curried, their feet at- tended to, the health of all animals carefully watched, diseased ones removed and shut up by themselves; these, all these, and a thousand and one other little things constitute the general attention which the suc- cessful farmer gives to his stock. Effect of Lack of Care. — We can best prove that it pays by imagining the result of a lack of such care. With neglect more food is required to make the ani- mals grow and more food needed to keep them warm. Neglected animals grow slowly, are "stunted" in growth, finally stop growing altogether, and some- times sicken and die. Dirty animals are unhealthy 92 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE and get ''scabby" and "lousy." Unless carefully at- tended to, horses get the thrush or contracted feet, are ''foundered" and ruined. Cows exposed to wet and cold, or chased by dogs, "shrink in milk." All these conditions cause great loss to the farmer. No one can doubt that it pays to take good care of the stock. Advantages of Good Stock. — Now for the other proposition : It costs no more, in feed and care, to raise a good animal than it does to raise a poor one. FANCY SUEKl'. A scrub cow takes as much stable room, eats as much hay, requires as much pasture, takes as much time to milk, needs as much general attention, and, in the end, returns about half as much product to the farmer. A "scrub" colt requires all that a blooded colt requires and is worth about half as much on the market. A "scrub" sheep is no better than a "scrub" cow. She produces about half as much wool and raises a "scrub" lamb that sells for about half what a good one brings. THE STOCK ON THE FARM 93 There is nothing bad enough to say of a ''scrub" hog. It certainly requires as much care as a genuine "porker." What does it bring on the market? Not half what a well- bred pig of the same age will bring. If more evidence of the truth of the two propositions stated at the beginning of this chapter is needed it will be found in the answers to the practical problems which follow. WELL BRED PIGS. Fertilizer in Stock Food. — One thing must not be lost sight of, however. Hay and grain fed to stock are not entirely wasted. In a ton of hay worth $6 there is at least $3 worth of manure, if it is carefully saved and returned to the land. But $3 in value has actually disappeared when the hay has been fed. Ten dollars' worth of oats, or corn, or barley, fed to stock, will give in return $3.50 worth of manure. Below is given a table showing the actual cash value of the ma- 94 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE nure produced by different farm animals during the year when they are kept in stalls and the manure care- fully saved. On the average farm at least two-thirds of this value is wasted. Pupils should use the second table for ordinary problems. To the increase in the value of the animal produced by feeding a certain amount of feed must be added the value of the manure produced by the animal from the food that is eaten. Free Bulletins, TJ. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 41. — Fowls : Care and Feeding. No. 51. — Standard Varieties of Chickens. No. 64. — Ducks and Geese: Breeds and Management. No. 100. — Hog Raising in the South. No. 141. — Poultry Raising on the Farm. No. 179. — Horseshoeing. No. 200. — Turkeys : Breeds and Management. No. 205. — Pig Management. Extracts. No. 15. — Some Practical Suggestions for the Suppression and Prevention of Bovine Tuberculosis. Table IX. Table showing value of manure, per head, produced annually by farm animals: Horse $27.00 Cow 1900 Hog 12.00 Sheep 2.00 Table X. Table showing value of manure, per animal, saved annually from animals by the average farmer: Horse $1000 Cow 6.00 • Hog 400 Sheep 75 THE STOCK ON THE FARM 95 Problems. 1. A COW requires about 4 ft. by 9 ft. floor space for a stall, with 4 ft. by 3 ft. additional for a manger. How much floor space will be required for 20 cows ? 2. Will it be better to stand the cattle in one long row, or in two rows of 10 each? 3. If in two rows, would you have them face each other with the manger between, or face the wall? Why? 4. What will be the dimensions of a barn for 20 cows in two rows of 10 each, using the floor space given in the first problem? 5. Draw a plan of this barn with cows facing each other. With the cows facing the wall. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each plan ? 6. How many feet of 2-inch plank will it take to lay the floor in this barn? Find cost of same at $25 per thousand. 7. What will be the cost of a cement floor for same at 10 cents per sq. ft.? 8. Will ''scrub" cattle require the same room? Note : In the following examples do not forget to add the value of the manure produced to the value of the product : 9. If a COW eats 3 tons of hay worth $6 per ton, 1,000 lbs. of ground feed worth 80 cents per cwt., and pasture amounting to $5 in a year, what does it cost a farmer to keep a cow? Will a ''scrub" cow cost as much ? 10. A "scrub" cow will give 15 lbs. of milk, worth 96 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 80 cents per cwt., daily for 300 days in the year, and raise a calf worth $3. What is the farmer's profit on her ? 11. A Jersey cow will give 25 lbs. of milk daily for the same time and raise a calf worth $5. What is the farmer's profit on her ? 12. How much more does he make on the Jersey than on the ''scrub"? 13. If it costs 2 tons of hay, 40 bu. of oats and $6 worth of pasture annually to raise a colt, what does it cost to raise a horse 4 years old with hay at $5 per ton and oats at 30 cents per bu. ? 14. A ''scrub" colt will bring about $80. Has the farmer lost or gained, and how much? 15. A coach horse will bring $150 instead. What has the farmer gained or lost on this colt? Which is the more profitable animal? 16. If it takes 3 tons of hay worth $6 per ton, 50 bu. of oats worth 25 cents per bu., and $10 worth of pasture to keep 10 sheep for a year, what is the cost per head ? 17. If one "scrub" sheep will shear about 4 lbs. of wool worth 20 cents per lb., and raise a lamb that will weigh about 50 lbs. and bring about $3.50 per cwt., what will the entire flock return to the farmer? What will each sheep return? Will he gain or lose, and how much? 18. If of a good breed, each sheep will shear about 8 lbs. of wool and raise a lamb weighing about 70 lbs.. THE STOCK ON THE FARM 97 worth $5 per cwt., what will this flock return? What will each sheep return? 19. How much per head will be the farmer's gain on a well-bred flock? 20. If it takes 12 bu. of corn worth 35 cents per bu. and $3 worth of other feed to raise a pig until it is six months old, what is the cost of the pig to the farmer ? 21. If a ''scrub," it will weigh about 125 lbs. at six months and bring $4 per cwt. Will the farmer gain or lose? 22. If a Poland-China, it will weigh about 200 lbs. and be worth $4.75 per cwt. What is the pig worth? Will the farmer gain or lose, and how much? 2^^. How much more will the blooded pig bring on the market than the scrub? 24. Pupils will furnish data on the weight of ani- mals sold, the number pounds of milk, wool, etc., pro- duced, the price of feed and products for similar problems. CHAPTER XIV FEEDING THE STOCK Reasons for Feeding Stock. — We all know that farm animals should be fed, well fed, but we do not all know exactly zvliy they need feeding. Some of the reasons were mentioned in the last chapter. Let us name them all now : To repair the waste. To build up the body. 3. To keep the body warm. 4. To furnish energy for the body. 5. To make special products — milk, eggs, wool and the like. Repair of the Waste. — As the horse works, and the sheep or cow walks about in search of food, or even in the ordinary functions of life, the animal body is con- tinually wearing away. What child has not noticed the horses grow poor during the ''spring work" or ob- served that he himself has lost weight after great exertion! This loss in weight is the waste that must be repaired, and for this repair food is necessary. For this very reason farmers always feed their horses more when they work them hard. FEEDING THE STOCK 99 Why Growing Animals Need Plenty of Food. — Growing animals must not only keep this waste re- paired, but they must also increase in weight. For this reason they need more food in proportion to their size. First, waste must be repaired before the animal can grow ; then, whatever is left over, goes toward building up the body. Food Supply and Energy. — Work horses must feel strong; that is, they must be full of energy. But what is energy ? Simply this : pow^r to do work. A healthy man has more energy than a healthy boy. He has stronger muscles. He has greater power to do work and can endure more of it. So the horse to do work must have muscular energy. His muscles are formed from the food that he eats. Food Supply and Special Products. — The milk cow must have more food than the one that gives no milk. She must have food to build up her body, to repair the waste, to keep her warm, to furnish her with energy, and, besides this, she must have additional food out of which to make milk. Let her food supply decrease and she will at once show it in the reduced amount of milk that she gives. You have all noticed this shrinkage when the pastures get "short" in summer. So, too, the sheep must have extra food out of which to make wool, and the hen requires special food from which to make eggs. Kind of Food Needed Varies. — If a man were to start a shoe factory he would buy leather, pegs, nails and thread. These are the raw materials out of which 100 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE he makes shoes. If he were to start a chair factory he would buy lumber instead. That is, his selection of material would depend upon the kind of product he expected to manufacture. It is just the same in the feeding of farm animals. If milk is to be produced, then foods that make milk must be fed. If eggs are wanted, hens must be fed egg-producing foods. If work is to be done, then foods which make energy must be supplied. The horse is a machine to do work, the hen an egg-making machine, the cow a milk factory. Different foods are the raw materials ; eggs and milk, the manufactured products. Importance of Right Selection of Foods. — But, you say, we know that lumber is needed to make chairs; leather, nails and thread necessary in the manufacture of shoes ; but we don't know what will make milk and eggs. Well, you have grasped at the question that underlies the whole system of feeding, and until the farmer determines for himself the best and most eco- nomical food to be used in order to produce the de- sired results farming will not pay him its largest re- turns. Classification of Foods. — Foods are conveniently di- vided into three classes — fats, protein and carbohy- drates. These are big words, but they are easily un- derstood. Fats. — Butter, lard, tallow, and all kinds of oils come under the head of fats. Protein. — The white of an egg is almost pure pro- tein ; the sticky part of flour is protein ; the scum on the FEEDING THE STOCK 121 top of boiled milk is protein; the principal part of cheese, the curd, is protein ; lean meat is composed largely of protein ; glue is protein ; the hide, hair, wool and feathers of animals are largely protein. You all know the odor of burned feathers; any kind of sub- A PRIZE COACH HORSE. With such a horse as this who would want an airship? stance that scorches and gives off that odor contains protein. Carbohydrates. — Starch, sugar and vegetable fiber are called carbohydrates. In a certain sense fats, too, are carbohydrates, but they are usually put m a class 102 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE by themselves. When carbohydrates are spoken of in this book fats are meant to be inckided. Difference Between Protein Foods and Carbo- hydrates. — Now, the great difference between protein foods and the carbohydrates is this : Protein contains nitrogen and the carbohydrates do not. Nitrogen, as yon will remember, is the substance taken from the air by the bacteria on the roots of the legumes and added to the soil. You will also remember it as the principal one of the three plant foods that become exhausted from the soil. Balanced Ration. — By consulting the table at the end of this chapter you will readily learn the amount of protein and carbohydrates in the different feeding stuffs. A ^'balanced" ration is one in which there is about six times as much carbohydrates as protein. A ration containing a larger proportion of carbohydrates is called a "wide" ration : one containing less than six times as much carbohydrates as protein is called a "narrow" ration. By a balanced ration we mean the best ration to feed under ordinary conditions. For dry feeds the combined weight of both the protein and the carbohydrates should be equal to at least one-half the total weight of the ration. Different Uses of Foods. — Foods rich in protein are bone and muscle-formers. Those rich in carbohydrates are fat formers. Carbohydrates keep the body warm. If muscle is to be built up, then muscle-forming foods should be fed. Farmers have learned that corn alone is a good grain for horses only in the winter time. The FEEDING THE STOCK 103 reason is plain. Corn is rich in carbohydrates. These supply heat and produce fat. Oats are rich in protein, a muscle-builder, and furnish energy. In spring time it is muscle and energy that is wanted, not heat and fat. Special Foods Needed. — Sheep need food rich in protein. Why ? Wool is to be produced. Wool is com- posed principally of protein. Hens are expected to lay eggs. What should they be fed? Corn produces fat. A strictly corn diet should therefore be avoided. Eggs are composed largely of protein. Feed protein foods. The shells are composed of mineral matter. Lime, broken or ground bone, ashes and gravel should always be where the hens can get at them. In gen- eral : Nature has provided, in summer, proper foods for most farm animals, and the nearer summer condi- tions can be duplicated the greater will be the farmer's success. Special Proportions. — Pigs fed exclusively on a corn diet sometimes have weak bones. Why? Be- cause there is not enough mineral matter in corn out of which to make strong bones. Growing pigs should be fed protein foods, with plenty of mineral matter in them to form bone and muscle. Later, when fatten- ing time comes, fat producing foods, like corn, should be fed. In most foods there is an abundance of carbo- hydrates. The chief difficulty will be to provide suf- ficient protein to bring the ratio up to six to one ; that is, so that there will not be more than six times as 104 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE much carbohydrates as there is protein in the ration. In other words, for every six pounds of carbohydrates there should be at least one pound of protein. For young and growing animals it should be considerably more than that. As has been stated, fat is usually put in a class by itself, and not grouped with the carbohydrates as it is in this book. This is one reason : One pound of fat will produce about 2j4 times as much heat and energy as one pound of carbohydrates, so that one pound of fat is equal to 2^4 pounds of carbohydrates in feeding value. If we have i lb. of fat, ^^l lbs. of carbo- hydrates and I lb. of protein in a given ration, we have a ratio of 6 to i. In the following table the fat has already been added to the carbohydrates, so that, in order to find the nutritive ratio, it will only be neces- sary for you to use the following rule : Divide the total amount of carbohydrates in the ration by the total amount of protein. If the result is greater than 6, more protein should be added. This ratio is generally considered the best for all animals except those that are fattening, when a larger amount of cheaper carbohydrates can be fed with profit. Full grown animals can get along very well on a much smaller proportion of protein, while young, growing animals require a larger proportion than this, because protein is a bone and muscle builder. Economy in Feeding. — The great problem of eco- nomical feeding is to find those foods that will pro- duce the desired results with the least possible expense. FEEDING THE STOCK 105 It is not necessarily the cheapest foods that will do this. The Use of Scales. — In this connection, it may be well to call attention to the farm scales, something that should be found on every well-regulated farm. The farmer may, then, from time to time, experiment with different feeds, both as to cjuantity and kind, and by frequent weighings of the animals so fed, determine the effect of such feeding. Besides, scales are very handy in selling produce, weighing milk and in a thou- sand and one other ways. They are comparatively in- expensive, and will, with proper use, pay for them- selves in a very short time. Experimental Study of Foods. 1. Starch and sugar are pure carbohydrates. Get some samples of these, label them and start a collec- tion of carbohydrates. Add to this collection samples of foods rich in sugar and starch. Corn, wheat, rye, barley, mixed hay, silage, and all kinds of straw may be classed as carbohydrate foods. Place these sam- ples in bottles and label them properly. 2. To test seeds for starch, pulverize the seeds, boil them in water for some time, and soak a piece of cot- ton cloth in the water. Take out the cloth, dry, and iron it. Is it stiff or ''starchy" ? If so, where did the starch come from? 3. Test corn,, oats, wheat and rye for starch. Pul- verize a few seeds, pour over them a little boiling water, let stand a short time, and add a drop of iodine. io6 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE If the seeds contain starch, the water will suddenly turn blue or black. This is a very delicate and pretty experiment. 4. Many seeds contain sugar, for which every one knows the simplest test. To make the test sure, mas- tication should be slow and thorough. Even a slightly sweet taste indicates the presence of sugar. Test wheat, oats, corn, peas, squash seeds, and pumpkin seeds. 5. All seeds contain some protein. Every one knows the odor of burning feathers. This disagreeable odor is caused by the burning of the protein in the feather. Remove the germ from a kernel of corn and scorch it over a spirit lamp or on the stove. Does it give off an odor like that of burning feathers? If so, it contains protein. Test other seeds for protein. 6. Lean meat, the white of egg, wheat bran, oats, peas, middlings, cheese, malt sprouts, and clover hay are all rich in protein and ma}^ be properly called pro- tein foods. Add these to your collection, labeling them properly. To preserve the meat, eggs, and cheese they should be placed in dilute alcohol. 7. Nearly all small seeds contain much oil. To test for oil, crush the seeds on a piece of clean, white paper. If they leave a grease spot, the seeds contain oil. For further test, crush the seeds on a piece of white paper, and heat gently in the oven, being care- ful not to scorch the paper. A grease spot on the paper shows oil. Test flax seed, wheat, beans, sun- flower seeds, and any kind of nut for oil. FEEDING THE STOCK 107 Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletins. No. 22. — The Feeding of Farm Animals. No. 26. — Cotton Seed and Its Products. No. 49. — Sheep Feeding. No. 58. — The Soy Bean as a Forage Crop. No. 170. — The Principles of Horse Feeding. Table XI. Table showing digestible nutrients in feeding stuffs: POUNDS PER TON. Kind of Feed. Protein. Carbohydrates. Soy beans 210 800 Cow peas 210 800 Clover hay 1 70 920 Red top hay 95 980 Mixed hay 88 880 Timothy hay 56 920 Corn fodder ' 50 710 Rape, green 42 170 Corn silage 24 290 Oat straw 24 920 Sugar beet pulp, fresh 13 140 Rye straw 12 830 Wheat straw 8 740 POUNDS PER HUNDREDWEIGHT. Kind of Feed. Protein. Carbohydrates. *Cotton seed meal 40 40 *Linseed meal 32 42 *Gluten meal 25 60 Malt sprouts 18 46 Wheat bran 12 46 Wheat middlings 12 58 Brewer's grains, dry 10 50 Whole milk.* 3>^ 13 Skim milk 3 6 *These feeds are very rich in fat and should be fed sparingly. u\«? Fl.l-Ml-X lARV Ac^RICI'LTURF: POUNDS im:k ih sun.. Kind of Feed. PriMoiii. Carbohydrates. Dry pens i o 32 i^y^^ 5 39 l^^Tlcy 4 32 Corn y/^ 40 Oats 3 19 Table XII. Table showing approximate amounts of protein and carbo- hydrates required daily by farm animals of average size: Animal. rrotoin. Carbohydrates. Dairy cow j lbs. 1 j lbs. Work horse j lbs. ij lbs. Calves under 1 year i lb. lbs. riv;s, iivowinvi ' .. lb. 2]j lbs. Lambs, orowing' 1-5 lb. 1 lb. Note: This amount varies with the size and age of the animal. Fattening stock can be protitably fed a greater allowance of carbohydrates in the foim of grain, like corn and barley. Problems. I. Tlmv many pouiuls oi pfotoin in a Inishel of oats? Willi o:\is at ^:;o cents per Ini.^hol. what does this pi*o- tein co.>^t per jMninvl, disrej^aixUni;' the carhohvch'ates? _\ Mow many poinuls pi'cMein in a bushel of barlev? With h:ii-ley a.t 44 cents per bushel, what does pfoteiii in this form cost per ponml ? 3. Which is the cheaper feed at these prices? How much ? 4. What is the cost per poniul of protein in rye at 60 cents per bushel? 5. What is the cost per pound of protein in corn at 35 cents per bnshel? FEEDING THE STOCK uxj 6. At the above prices wliicli is tlie cheapest feed? 7. Which is probably the best iiiiid for fattening I)nr])oses? Why? «S. Sup])Ose all kinds of hay sell at the uniff^nn price of v$8 per ton. What is the price of protein per pound in each of the four kinds of hay ^\vcn above? 9. Which is the cheapest feed? ]o. What is the best kind of straw to feeil, and why? Jlow do we find the ''nutritive ratio"? What is the nutritive ratio of clover hay? Is it a balanced ration ? II. Find the nutritive value of all the feeds given in the tables. T2. Which are most nearly "perfect" feeds — i. e., which have a rati(j of about 6 to i ? 13. Which are the poorest feeds — i. e., which have the lowest ratio of protein? 14. Which are the feeds having the largest propor- tion of protein ? 15. Are any of the feeds given in the table so por^r that, in themselves, they are practically worthless? If so, name them. Illustration. — One Ion of mixed liay contains 88 lbs. protein and 880 lbs. carbohydrates. Its ratio is i to 10. Let us mix it with some other feed to bring the ratio up to about i to 6. We shall try peas. We shall feed i bu. of ground peas with every hundred lbs. of hay. Feed. Protein. Carbohydrates. 100 lbs. hay contain 4.4 44 60 lbs. peas contain 10. 32 160 lbs. mixed contain 14.4 y6 no ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Dividing weight of carbohydrates by that of protein {^^ by 14.4) we get a ratio of about i to 5. We have more protein than we need. Let us try again with J/2 bu. of peas instead. Feed. Protein. Carbohydrates. 100 lbs. hay contain 4.4 44 30 lbs. peas contain 5. 16 130 lbs. mixed contain 9.4 60 Again dividing (60 by 9.4) we get 6.3, about right, and a much cheaper feed. Now, how much of this ration shall we feed to a dairy cow? The table shows us that a cow needs about 2 lbs. protein daily, so this will be about enough for five days. One- fifth of each feed will give us as a result 20 lbs. of hay and 6 lbs. of peas for the daily ration. 16. With the ration given in the illustration, how long will a ton of hay last a cow ? 17. How many bushels of ground peas will be re- quired in the same time? 18. What will it cost to feed the cow for this time with hay at $7 per ton and peas at $1 per bushel? 19. Suppose she gives 25 pounds of milk daily on this ration. With milk at $1.20 per cwt., what is gained ? 20. Make a ration of clover hay and corn in the same way and figure its cost. 21. Make a ration of oat straw, clover hay, and ground peas. Experiment until you get about the right ratio, be- ing careful not to use more grain than is necessary. 22. Figure its cost at the current prices of feed. 23. How long will your ration feed a work horse? What is the cost of this feed for a horse for one day? FEEDING THE STOCK in 24. Make a ration of oats, hay and straw for work- horses. Add a httle cotton seed meal to supply pro- tein. When you get the ration ''balanced" figure its cost. You may have to try several times, but don't give up. Figure its daily cost per horse and compare with cost in last problem. 25. Pupils tell price of feeds, kinds grown on farm at home, stock to be fed, etc., as data for other feeding problems. CHAPTER XV THE THREE C'S— COWS, CORN AND CLOVER Diversified Farming. — All who understand the con- ditions are agreed that diversified farming will yield the largest returns with least waste to the fertility of the soil. But what is meant by diversified farming? When a farmer grows wheat to sell, and little else, that may be called wheat farming. If he depends upon tobacco alone, we call that tobacco farming. If he plants his entire farm to corn and feeds it to hogs for the market, we may properly call that kind of farming corn and hog farming. Whenever he engages in two or more kinds of farming his work becomes "diversi- fied." The greater the number of different things he raises the greater the diversification. Clover. — But we have agreed that it is not a good thing to raise grain or tobacco exclusively, for the market. We have learned that this kind of farming soon wears out the soil, and does not pay in the long run. We have learned, too, that milk products con- tain little soil matter and are therefore easy on the soil. We have observed that the animals usually sold off the farm contain but small quantities of soil matter in proportion to the feed that they consume. We now know that clover feeds upon the free nitrogen of the THE THREE CS— COWS, CORN AND CLOVER 113 air, and thus increases the store of nitrogen in the soil. We have learned that nitrogen is the principal ingre- dient in protein, the feed most sought after by the pro- gressive farmer. From an examination of the table, we find that clover hay is richer in protein than any cows IN A CLOVER FIELD. other kind of hay. A little calculation shows us that it contains about twice as much protein as redtop, three times as much as timothy, eight times as much as oat straw, fifteen times as much as rye straw, and thirty times as much as wheat straw. On average land a larger amount of clover, or some other legume adapted to the soil, can be grown per acre than of any other hay crop, and, since it adds nitrogen to the soil, it is by far the best hay crop to raise. Corn. — Another examination of the table reveals the fact that corn is one of the richest of grains, and since corn is one of the richest of fodders in feeding 114 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE value, and the yield is heavy, corn is an excellent crop to raise. Cows. — Cows are a constant source of income to the farmer, and, at the same time, they supply him with the cheapest and best of fertilizers. You will re- member that if the manure from a single cow were carefully saved during the year and applied to the soil its value as fertilizer would be nearly $20, besides im- proving the texture of the soil to a marked degree. A Good Combination. — Cows, corn and clover are a splendid combination for other reasons. Corn requires frequent cultivation and the soil is improved thereby. Weeds are exterminated, the ground is plowed deeper, and the manure is thoroughly mixed with the soil. Besides being an excellent feeding stuff, and adding nitrogen to the soil, clover is a splendid crop to sow with oats, following corn, offering an excellent oppor- tunity for rotation of crops, the advantages of which have already been pointed out. Other Advajitages of the Three C's. — With cows, corn and clover, the raising of sheep and hogs is made possible and profitable. The cows and clover furnish milk and pasture for the growing animals, while corn is one of the best of fat-producers. Tobacco raising can also be engaged in, if the farmer is careful not to exhaust the fertility of his soil by too frequent crop- ping with tobacco. Sugar beets, too, are a source of good income to the farmer, and if the factory is so located that the pulp may be had for feeding purposes, or for manure, they also can be grown with little loss THE THREE C'S— COWS, CORN AND CLOVER 115 to the soil. Sugar is a carbohydrate and, like butter, it is formed from the food matter which the plants get from the air and the water ; but it must be remem- bered that beets are heavy feeders and, if the return of the pulp is impossible, they, like tobacco, will sool wear out the soil. Kind of Farming Depends on Local Conditions. — The reader must not make the mistake of thinking A PRIZE PACKAGE.* that the system of diversified farming outlined here is necessarily the best system. The greatest flexibility is allowable, depending upon the location of the farm, the character of the soil, nearness to factories and markets, and various other conditions. But it is easily seen that in the North Central States, at least, cows, corn and clover should form the basis of any system of diversified farming. *This prize package was grown by Frank McConnell, a member of the Boys' Corn Club, of Hamilton County, Indiana. ii6 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 8i. — Corn Culture in the South. No. 199. — Corn Growing. No. 106. — Breeds of Dairy Cattle. No. 143. — Conformation of Beef and Dairy Cattle. Problems. 1. A ration for cows consists of one ton of clover hay with 10 bushels each of ground corn and oats. How long will this feed a cow, feeding two pounds of protein daily? 2. What is the total and daily cost of this ration with hay at $7, corn at 40 cents and oats at 30 cents ? 3. What will it cost to keep a herd of 12 cows for 200 days on this ration? 4. On another farm, timothy hay, oat straw, bran and oats are mixed in the following proportions : One ton each of hay and straw, 20 bushels of oats and 1,000 pounds of bran. Is this a balanced ration? 5. How long will this ration keep a cow? A herd of 15 cows? 6. With hay worth $7, oats 30 cents, straw $4 and bran 80 cents per cwt., what is the total cost of this ration? The cost per cow, per day? 7. What is the cost of feeding a herd of 12 cows for 200 days on this ration? 8. Compare the rations in problems i and 4. Which costs the more? Which is the nearer to a bal- anced ration? Which is likely to produce the better results in feeding? 9. Suppose 20 pounds of each ration to be the daily THE THREE CS— COWS, CORN AND CLOVER 117 allowance for each cow. How long would each ration last a cow ? What would be the daily cost ? 10. Which is the cheaper ration under these con- ditions ? 11. It must be remembered that in order to get the best results a cow should be fed about 2 pounds of protein daily. How much does she get with each ration, if fed 20 pounds of feed per day? 12. Disregarding the value of the carbohydrates, what is the cost per pound of the protein in each ration ? 13. A lack of protein means a smaller quantity of milk. Suppose cows fed on 20 pounds of the clover- corn-oats ration gave 20 pounds of milk daily, while those fed on the hay-straw-oats-bran ration gave but 15 pounds of milk daily. With milk at 80 cents per cwt., what is the gain by using the first ration? 14. Find the cost of each ration for a herd of 10 cows for one month. One day. 15. Now determine whether the cheaper ration is the more economical. 16. Which is the better ration to feed under the above conditions? 17. Make rations with different kinds of feeds, and figure the cost of the protein therein. 18. When you have finished, compare results and note that cows, corn and clover seem to go well to- gether and give the best results. 19. Pupils may bring data from home for similar problems. CHAPTER XVI THE DAIRY The Products of the Dairy. — Milk, butter and cheese are the products of the dairy. Whether the farmer should sell his milk, or" make it into butter or cheese, depends upon nearness to factories and markets, the relative price of milk products, and other local condi- tions. It must be constantly kept in mind that the sale of milk to consumers takes from the farm all the soil elements found in whole milk. The sale of cheese returns a portion of soil fertility with the whey, while the sale of butter removes practically nothing of a soil nature. The milk required to produce a ton of butter contains about 450 pounds of fertilizing sub- stances; the cheese made from the same amount of milk contains about, half as much of such substances, and the butter that this milk will produce contains less than five pounds of soil fertility. The reason is plain. Butter-fat is a carbohydrate, and carbohydrates, you will remember, come from the air and the water, not from the soil. Hence, with milk at the same price per hundred at both butter and cheese factories, it is far better to make butter than cheese for the market. THE DAIRY 119 Again, when butter is made, the skim milk is available to feed on the farm. Whey is of much less feeding value. The Milk Separator. — The use of the milk separator is increasing. This machine is a great time-saver. The skim milk may be fed warm and sweet, soon after being drawn from the cow. Only the cream need be hauled to the factory, and that but two or three times a week. JERSEY cow. Cleanliness in the Dairy. — Cleanliness is the watch- word of the dairy. This cannot be too strongly stated. Good milk, pure milk, sweet milk is essential, if good butter and cheese, capable of commanding the highest market prices, are to be made. Milk and milk prod- ucts are spoiled by bad flavors and bad odors. Bad flavors and bad odors in milk are caused by the cows' eating improper food and drinking impure water, and by uncleanliness on the part of the dairyman in the 120 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE care of the milk. Milk cows should not be allowed to drink stagnant or muddy water, or to eat ''tainted" food, as musty hay, cabbage, rape, garlic, wild onions, or ragweed. These will certainly impart a bad odor and a bad flavor to the milk, which the most careful handling will not remove. Bad Odors in Milk. — In the second place, milk is a verv o^reat absorbent, and should never be allowed to HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN COW. Stand around the barn, or in any other place where the air is filled with bad odors. Bacteria in Milk. — But the most fruitful source of bad milk is uncleanliness on the part of the dairyman in the care of the cow, and of the milking utensils. Milk should be kept pure and sweet. Sour milk, or bad milk, is caused by tiny bacteria, too small to be seen with the naked eye ; in fact, so small that they can THE DAIRY 121 only be seen with the aid of the strongest microscopes. Under favorable conditions these bacteria increase in numbers very rapidly. They seem to thrive best in warm, damp weather. They live everywhere — on the hay, in the bedding, on the clothes and hands of the milker, on the cow's hair, in the milk cans and pails, and in the air. New milk, freshly drawn from the RED POLLED COW. COW, contains none of these bacteria, but they soon get into it and begin at once their rapid multiplication. When they have increased sufficiently in numbers, the milk begins to smell and taste sour and "bad." Only care and cleanliness will prevent these bacteria from getting into the milk. If the bacteria are kept out, the milk will keep sweet for a long time. Heating it 122 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE to the temperature of 150 degrees kills these germs, and is one common way of keeping milk sweet. Necessary Precautions. — The milker should see to it that his hands are clean. Before sitting down to Open. Closed. •frr:r:^?i^^^ A BABCOCK TESTER. A CREAM SEPARATOR. milk he should carefully brush from the cow all dust, dirt, dandruff and loose hair likely to fall into the pail. He should have his milking clothes frequently washed and scalded to destroy the bacteria thereon, and he should remove the milk to a clean place, where the air is pure and free from bacteria, as soon as he THE DAIRY 123 possibly can. Aerating the milk — that is, allowing it to drain slowly through a strainer placed several feet above the can, where pure air can blow through it as it falls — will do much to remove any bad odors it may already contain. Pails and cans should be kept scru- pulously clean. They should be rinsed with boiling water after each milking to kill all bacteria that may A MODEL cow BARN. (Edgewood Farm.) adhere to them. If little particles of milk are allowed to stick to the rough places in the cans and pails, it is impossible to keep milk sweet in them, because the bacteria live and multiply in these particles. As soon as pure milk is placed in such utensils, these germs at once begin their rapid increase, and the milk spoils in a few hours. The whole secret of keeping milk 124 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE sweet lies in preventing the bacteria from getting into it. Selection of the Herd. — Next in importance to the care of the milk comes the selection of the herd. Since most creameries and cheese factories now pay by the test — that is, pay for the amount of butter-fat that the milk contains — it is important to the dairyman that his milk tests well, and that his cows give a reasonably large flow of milk. In general, no cow is profitable to the dairyman whose milk tests much less than 3 per cent of butter-fat. Neither is one which gives less than twelve pounds of milk daily, no matter how rich it is. Every farmer should own a small Babcock tester and test every cow in his herd. Such a tester, with directions and complete outfit for testing milk, can be bought for six or seven dollars. Each cow in the herd should be tested, her milk carefully weighed and her dairy value figured out. All unprofitable cows should be disposed of. The best cows in the herd may then be kept for breeding purposes. In this way the herd will be greatly improved and dairying made much more profitable. Experimental Study of Milk. In all comparisons of milk, samples should be taken under the same conditions and set at exactly the same depth. Test tubes are most convenient for experi- ments with milk. If bottles are used they should be tall and slender, and as nearly the same size as pos- sible. Sample bottles should never be filled above the THE DAIRY 125 point where the bottle begins to narrow towards the neck. 1. Compare samples of milk from different cows, noting the color. 2. Follow directions given above in the prepara- tion of samples. Set them aside in a cool place for twenty-four hours. Compare the thickness of the cream layers, being careful not to disturb the milk. Measure the cream with a rule. Which is the richest milk? What color was it when first set? What is always the color of very rich milk? What is the color of poor milk? 3. Take a sample of the first milk drawn from a cow, and another sample of the ''strippings" from the same cow. Place these samples in separate bottles, being careful to fill the bottles to exactly the same depth. Note the color of each. Set them aside in a cool place for twenty-four hours and then compare the thickness of the cream layers. 4. After a quantity of milk has stood in a can for thirty minutes, take a sample from the top of the can. Then plunge the dipper to the bottom and get a sample from near the bottom of the can. Place these sam- ples in bottles as before, note the color, and set aside for the cream to rise. Compare the thickness of the cream layers at the end of twenty-four hours. Which is the richer? Explain. 5. Take two samples of milk from the same sup- ply, under the same conditions. Set one in a very cool place and the other in a warm place, for a few 126 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE hours, and compare the thickness of the cream layers. Set aside for a few hours and compare again. What difference do you observe? 6. Into an unwashed bottle in which milk has been allowed to sour place a sample of fresh, sweet milk. Into another bottle that has been carefully cleaned and scalded place another sample from the same sup- ply. Set the samples side by side in a warm room and smell and taste them at intervals of from four to six hours. Record definitely the differences in preserva- tion of the two samples. 7. Take two samples from the same supply of fresh, sweet milk, and place them in dishes that have been carefully cleaned and scalded. Set one dish over night in the barn, or in some other place where the air is filled with bad odors. Set the other sample in the open air or in a well ventilated place where there can be no bad odors. Smell and taste of both next morning. Has the bad odor affected the taste or odor of the milk? From this experiment what do you infer regarding the effects of bad air upon milk to be used in making butter, or cheese, or for any other purpose ? Free Bulletins, XT. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletins. No. 29. — Souring of Milk and Other Changes in Milk Products. No. 42. — Facts about Milk. No. 55.— The Dairy Herd: Its Formation and Management. No. 57. — Butter Making on the Farm. THE DAIRY 127 No. 63.^Care of Milk on the Farm. No. 151. — Dairying in the South. No. 166. — Cheese Making on the Farm. No. 201. — The Cream Separator on Western Farms. Definition. — A per cent is a fraction whose de- nominator is 100. Thus: i-ioo is i per cent, 2-100 is 2 per cent, 5-100 is 5 per cent, and so on. There are three ways of writing per cents, thus : 2-100 = .02 = 2%. They all mean exactly the same thing. Problems. 1. How many pounds of butter- fat in 5,000 pounds of milk that tests 4 per cent? 2. A farmer owns a herd of 15 cows that average 24 pounds of milk per head daily. How many pounds of milk does he get in six months (thirty days each) ? 3. If this milk tests 3.5 per cent, and butter- fat is worth 25 cents per pound, what does he receive monthly for his milk ? How much per head ? 4. A farmer has a herd of 20 cows. The milk for the week weighs as follows: 420 lbs., 418 lbs., 408 lbs., 422 lbs., 417 lbs., 432 lbs. and 423 lbs., respec- tively. It tests 5 per cent of butter-fat, the price of which is 30 cents per pound. How much do the cows average per head in money for this week ? 5. A farmer hauls 43,250 lbs. of milk that tests 3.8 per cent to a factory. The price of butter-fat is 26 cents per pound. How much money should he receive ? 128 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 6. A farmer owns six cows : Bess, Spot, Brindle, Bos, Kate and Red. Bess gives 22 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 3.* Spot gives 15 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 4.2%, Brindle gives 30 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 3.0%, Bos gives 20 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 3.5%, Kate gives 14 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 3.2%, Red gives 24 lbs. of milk daily, which tests 5.2%. Figure out the dairy value of each. Which is the best cow? The poorest one? Classify them in order of dairy value. 7. Figure out the number of pounds of milk given by each cow in a month, and the value of it in butter- fat at 25 cents per pound. 8. Two herds of ten cows each are compared : The Jerseys average 18 lbs. of milk each daily; the Holstein-Freisians average 30 lbs. of milk each daily. The Jerseys test 5.4 per cent; the Holstein-Friesians test 3.2 per cent. Which is the more valuable herd? 9. With butter-fat at 30 cents per pound, what is the monthly average per cow of each herd ? 10. Pupils will furnish actual data from home for other dairy problems. CHAPTER XVII POULTRY Profit in Poultry-Raising. — There is no department of diversified farming that yields larger returns for the labor and money expended than the poultry yard, if properly handled. No farmer tries to get along without chickens, and many farmers' wives and chil- dren are made happy by the revenue derived from a flock of turkeys, ducks or geese. But poultry-raising has not been given sufficient attention on many Amer- ican farms. There is no more wholesome or nutritious article of food than eggs, and by most people poultry is highly esteemed as an article of diet. There is a steady demand for fresh eggs, and well-fattened young fowls always bring a high price in the market. On many farms the money received from the sale of eggs and poultry amounts to several hundred dollars annually. The labor involved in this industry is of a kind that can easily be done by women and children. The feed required is raised on every farm, and the necessary buildings are cheap and easily built. All these factors tend to make poultry-raising very profitable when thoughtfully and intelligently pursued. 130 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE Care of Poultry. — If necessary, chickens may be confined to somewhat narrow Hmits, but ducks, geese and turkeys usually thrive best when given free range of the farm. The reason for this is plain. Fowls are insect and seed eaters, and, when allowed to roam, select the kinds of insects and seeds wdiich they like best. But, when kept in confinement, man forces them to eat the things he provides; and, unless a special study has been made of poultry foods, they may not always be the ones the fowls themselves would select. Again, as has been said in another chapter, if hens are to lay eggs, they must be fed egg-producing foods. If confined they should have constant access to a box of grits, oyster shells, gravel, lime, charcoal, sand, ground bone, and the like, to be used in grinding their food, and out of which to make eggshells. They should be fed meat scraps, skim-milk, barley, refuse from the table, and other foods rich in protein out of which to make eggs. In winter time, green foods like cabbage, turnips, and silage should be given to them. Foods. — To repeat wdiat has been said in another place : "Nature has provided in summer proper foods for most farm animals, and the nearer summer condi- tions can be duplicated the greater will be the farmer's success." The winter food of chickens should, there- fore, consist of four kinds — minerals, which they get by scratching in summer; meat, to take the place of summer insects ; grains ; and green foods. Ungrate- ful, indeed, would be the hen who did not respond to this diet with a liberal return of eQ:^s. POULTRY 131 Insects as Food for Fowls. — One other fact in con- nection with the food of fowls is deserving of special emphasis here. Since their food consists so largely of seeds and insects, it is quite evident that they are worth all it costs to keep them in the assistance which they give to the farmer in devouring seeds of weeds and in holding insect pests in check. HEN HONORS. The Poultry House. — Like other farm animals, fowls must be protected from cold and storms. Their houses should be large, light, airy, clean, and dry. Chickens should have a ''scratching place" where they can get to dry dirt and scratch and wallow in it. Dust acts as a sort of insect powder, filling up the insect's breathing pores, and thus keeps the chickens free from lice. It is important that chickens have plenty of exer- 132 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE cise, and this they can get in winter if they have a warm and dry place where they can go to scratch. It is a common practice among poultry raisers to force them to scratch for their food by strewing it over a floor thickly covered with chaff or short straw. Cleanliness in Care of Poultry. — Poultry houses should be frequently cleaned and whitewashed to keep them free from bad odors and vermin. They should be well lighted by a row of windows, placed along the south side, and they should be built sufficiently warm to prevent the freezing of the chickens' combs and feet. Above all else, they should be kept perfectly dry to avoid disease. Laying Qualities of Poultry. — In the wild state, the hen laid but one setting of a dozen or fifteen eggs a year. This UAimber has been greatly increased by domestication until the "two-hundred-egg-a-year" hen is considered an easy possibility by many poultry rais- ers. If farmers will use care in selecting only the eggs from the most prolific layers for setting, they can, without doubt, greatly improve the laying qualities of their flock. Much, however, depends upon the selec- tion of a breed. Varieties of Foods. — The variety selected for farm use will depend largely upon the purpose for which the fowls are grown. There are some varieties espe- cially desirable for their laying qualities, others are adapted to the needs of the early spring chicken mar- ket, and still others which may be called general pur- pose fowls. The intelligent farmer informs himself as POULTRY 133 to the respective merits of the several breeds and selects the one best adapted to his needs. What is true in the selection of a variety of chickens is equally true of turkeys, ducks and geese and is left to the intelligent action of the farmer without further com- ment here. The bulletins named below will be of great GOOD MATERIAL FOR A PRODUCE ACCOUNT. value to the poultry raiser in making his selection and will give him other assistance and direction in the care and management of his poultry. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers* Bulletins. No. 51. — Standard Varieties of Chickens. No. 64. — Ducks and Geese, Breeds, and Management. No. 141. — Poultry Raising on the Farm. 134 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE No. 177. — Squab Raising. No. 200. — Turkeys, Varieties, and Management. Prolblems. 1. A flock of 60 hens average 80 eggs a year each. With eggs worth 1 5 cents per dozen, what is the vakie of these eggs? 2. How many bushels of corn will this buy at 40 cents per bushel? Of oats at 25 cents? 3. Suppose it takes only 12 bushels of corn, 5 bushels of oats and $7 worth of other food to keep this flock for one year, besides what they pick up for themselves. What is the profit over and above the cost of the feed? 4. What would have been the profit if they had laid 120 eggs each, instead of 80? 5. Ask pupils to furnish data for at least twenty other similar problems. CHAPTER XX SPECIAL CROPS Four Special Crops. — There are a few special crops, which, because of their increasing importance in agri- cuhure, demand our attention. Four of these will be considered in this chapter — tobacco, soy beans, pota- toes and truck crops. All of these crops are grown in the United States today, but, with the exception of potatoes, not in sufficient quantities to supply the de- mand. Until we do raise enough for home consump- tion, these crops will yield larger returns to the farmer than the other crops grown on the farm. TOBACCO. Tobacco a Heavy Feeder. — As we have already learned, tobacco is a heavy feeder and hard on the soil. With every crop of tobacco sold off the farm about twice as much fertility is removed as with any grain crop that the farmer raises for market. But we have agreed that grain farming does not pay. How much more unprofitable, then, is it for the farmer to raise tobacco extensively. There is but one way in which he can keep up the fertility of his soil, and that 136 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE is by the use of commercial fertilizers. In this way soil matter is bought and brought back to the farm to take the place of that sold with the tobacco. Extensive experiments have been made at the different agricul- tural stations to determine the kind and amount of A TYPICAL TOBACCO FIELD. (Oconto County, Wisconsin.) these fertiliers to use. The results show that they are even better than barnyard manure for this crop. The only way that the farmer can find out the kind and amount best adapted to his soil is by careful experi- ment. It must be remembered, however, that com- mercial fertilizers tend to harden the soil, while barn- yard manure improves its texture. SPECIAL CROPS 157 Kind of Soil Required. — Tobacco requires fertile, well-drained soil, rich in humus. Not every soil will grow good tobacco. Even on the same farm, places are found which seem to be especially adapted to its growth. Herein another danger lies. The farmer is likely to grow tobacco, year after year, on this same piece of land until its fertility is exhausted, or else he has robbed the rest of his farm by putting all of his fertilizers on his tobacco land. Again, such conditions make crop rotation impracticable. Cidtivation. — Moreover, tobacco requires thorough cultivation and careful attention in harvesting and cur- ing. These things are best learned by actual practice, and a discussion of them is beyond the province of this book. Tobacco Regions of Tennessee. — In 1908 Tennessee ranked fourth in total production and fourteenth in yield per acre of tobacco. Montgomery, Robertson, and Greene are the principal tobacco producing coun- ties of the state. SOY BEANS. The soy bean, or soja bean, is a comparatively new crop in Tennessee, and its great value as a forage plant should induce every farmer to grow it, especially where red clover fails. It is very rich in protein, gives a heavy yield of both forage and grain, and being a legume, improves the nitrogen content of the soil. On 3 o d D* 2 1— ( H^ ^ •-•i ■-s 02 03 ^ M 3 H 0) ■-5 w p -J fD << SPECIAL CROPS 159 all soils of average fertility it grows well without fer- tilizers. When the soil is poor an acid phosphate and potash mixture should be given at the rate of 200 to 400 lbs. per acre. Medium early varieties when planted in the early part of May can be harvested late in August, and can be followed by wheat or other winter cereal, which will provide winter pasturage and protect the soil from erosion, and also furnish grain. Cultivation. — Soy beans should be sown in drills just wide enough apart to permit of tillage. They do not do as well as cowpeas when sown broadcast, or drilled like wheat. As they grow very rapidly they seldom require more than three cultivations. For either hay or seed they should be cut when the lowest pods begin to turn. If allowed to stand until fully mature the pods burst open and most of the seed is lost. They are cured with some difficulty, as the stems are heavy, and, like cowpeas, the leaves fall easily. A rack made by wiring four poles together at the top, and spreading them tent fashion, wiring poles cross-wise near the base, is a cheap and good device for curing both soy beans and cowpeas. Feeding Value. — In a comparison of the feeding value of soy beans, cowpeas, and corn at the Ten- nessee Experiment Station, in which both the forage and grain of the plants was fed to steers, the greatest gain was made on soy beans, and the least on corn. i6o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE POTATOES. The Best Soil for Potatoes. — Potatoes of the best quality are grown on light sandy land, rich in humus. Heavy clay soils do not give way readily as the pota- toes increase in size, hence will produce smaller pota- toes. Potatoes should be planted about four inches deep, in rows three feet apart, and about eighteen inches apart in the row. Extensive experiments, carried on by the different agricultural stations, show that the seed potatoes should be cut in halves or quarters. When the price of seed potatoes is very high, they may be cut in smaller pieces of as nearly equal size as possible. No bad results have come from planting small potatoes, though one would naturally think that small potatoes, used as seed, would give small potatoes in return. It must be remembered, however, that the potato is not a seed, but an underground stem, and that it does not bear the same relation to the crop that the seed does. Like the seed, it serves as a storehouse for the growing plant, and if the pieces are of sufficient size to furnish this food matter, the next crop will not be affected by the size of the potato planted. Insects and Diseases. — The Colorado potato beetle is the most troublesome potato insect. It can be most easily killed by spraying with 3 lbs. of arsenate of lead mixed with 50 gallons of water, or four ounces of Paris green mixed with the same amount of water. SPECIAL CROPS i6i Either poison can be added to Bordeaux Mixture, which is a remedy for a fungus disease of the potato called potato rot, potato wilt, or blight. Scab is a common disease of the potato, causing the tubers to become rough in spots, and when badly infested mak- ing the potato small and unsalable. The remedy is a solution of formaldehyde. (See page 104.) Double Cropping Potatoes. — In some parts of Ten- nessee two crops of potatoes a year can be grown. An early variety, as the Triumph, is used. The land should be very rich and 1,200 lbs. per acre of high grade fertilizer can be used with profit on the potato crop. The first crop is planted in February or March, and high tillage is given to make the plants grow rapidly. It is harvested in June and the same land is planted with seed of the first crop. For best results the tubers used for seed must be as mature as possible. Some growers hasten maturity by digging early and placing the tubers in deep layers in the shade of a tree for two weeks. The most important point of success with the second crop is to have fresh soil in contact with the seed at planting time, and to prevent drying. In a dry season it is best to open a single furrow^ at a time, drop and cover the potatoes before another furrow is made. If the tubers are planted in dry soil they will remain dormant until moisture is provided, and sometimes this causes an entire loss of crop. The second crop is usually the smaller but brings a higher price, as it is sold for seed. i62 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE TRUCK CROPS. Vegetables grown for market are called truck crops. Many Tennessee farmers are finding "truck farming" more profitable than any other. The advantage of the truck crop is that it is sold early, bringing money when other crops are not mature. In almost all cases truck- ing is best combined with general farming. Tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, and cantaloupes are the prin- cipal truck crops of Tennessee. Salad onions, spinach, beans, sweet corn, asparagus, peas, and table beets have also been found profitable. West Tennessee pro- duces far more truck than any other part of the state, but truck growing is rapidly spreading to almost every section of the state. Profitable Truck Crops. — Most profit is made from early vegetables, hence a light, quick soil is preferred, since such soils warm readily in the spring of the year, producing an early crop. As all truck crops are sold and not fed, they are hard on the land, and require heavy applications of fertilizers. Such crops as cab- bage and tomatoes should be followed by cowpeas to be plowed into the soil, thus restoring the humus taken by the crop. A careful rotation, so planned as to in- sure each year a heavy cover crop to be plowed in, will improve the soil for truck crops. The reason why cabbage and tomatoes succeed best on bottom lands is because such soils are rich in humus. Uplands in many cases can be made better for early truck than bottom lands because they are better drained, and SPECIAL CROPS 163 a warm up" more quickly in spring. But they are not used because they lack humus. Every truck crop demands special treatment, and details cannot be given here, but the Department of Agriculture has issued bulletins on these special crops, some of which are listed below. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletins. No. 35.— Potato Culture. No, 354. — Onion Culture. No. 52. — The Sugar Beet. No. 60. — Methods of Curing Tobacco. No. 82. — The Cuhure of Tobacco. No. 83. — Tobacco Soils. No. 120. — The Principal Insect Affecting the Tobacco Plant. No. 129.— Sweet Potatoes. No. 61. — Asparagus. No. 94. — Cabbage. No. 220. — Tomato. No. 282.— Celery. No. 359. — Canning Vegetables. Tennessee Experiment Station Bulletins. No. 82. — The Soy Bean. Problems. 1. How many tobacco plants will be required to set an acre in rows three feet apart, the plants two feet apart in the row? 2. Tobacco is usually strung on laths to be cured. With twelve stalks to the lath, how many laths will be needed per acre? 144 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE- 3. If the stalks need four feet of vertical space and the laths are hung one foot apart in the shed, how many cubic feet of shed room will be required to house an acre of tobacco ? 4. Give dimensions of a shed for five acres of tobacco. 5. If the average weight of seed potatoes is four ounces each, and if they are cut in halves and planted in rows three feet apart and eigheten inches apart in the row, how many bushels of seed will be required per acre? 6. How many bushels will be needed if whole potatoes are used? Quarters? Eighths? 7. A sugar factory agrees to pay $4.50 per ton for all beets testing 14 per cent, or less, of sugar. They also agree to give an additional 25 cents per ton for each additional i per cent of sugar or fraction thereof over 14 per cent, if the fraction exceeds one-half per cent. What is the price of beets testing 13.7 per cent? 14 per cent? 14.3 per cent? 14.7 per cent? 15 per cent? 15.2 per cent? 15.6 per cent? 15.8 per cent ? 8. Mr. Smith's beets yield fourteen tons per acre and test 15 per cent. How much does he get per acre for his crop? 9. On two acres of ground Mr. Jones raises 73,680 pounds of beets which test 14.8 per cent. How much do his beets bring him in money per acre? 10. If Mr. Jones spends $56 worth of labor on his crop of beets, what is his net profit per acre? SPECIAL CROPS 145 11. How many onion plants will be required to set an acre in rows two feet apart, plants four inches apart in the row ? 12. If a boy can set nine plants per minute, how long will it take him to set them? 13. If these onions average four ounces each, how many bushels are raised on an acre? If they average six ounces? Twelve ounces? One pound? 14. What is the value of the crop in each case, at 60 cents per bushel? 15. If it requires fifty days of a boy's time, worth 75 cents per day, to raise an acre of onions, what will be his profit on an acre of four-ounce onions ? 16. Select seven potatoes as nearly the same size and shape as possible, from the same hill or similar hills. Cut one potato into four pieces and plant each piece in a hill; this will make four hills. Mark these four hills "Plat No. i." Cut the next two potatoes lengthwise into halves; plant each half in a hill and mark these four "Plat No. 2." Plant the remaining four potatoes whole, each one in a hill, and mark these "Plat No. 3." Give the same care and cultivation to each plat and, when they have matured, dig all the potatoes carefully and weigh the yield from each plat and tabulate as follows : Amount of Seed Planted No. Pounds of Yield Net Profit Plat No. 1 4 oz. Plat No. 2 8 oz. Plat No. 3 16 oz. 17. Pupils will furnish data for other similar prob- lems. CHAPTER XIX FAKM BUILDINGS Number and Kinds of Buildings. — That good, sub- stantial buildings are needed on every farm goes with- out saying. The number and kind, of course, vary with the size and location of the farm, and the special crops raised thereon. But a good house, barn, gran- ary, silo, carriage and tool house are almost indis- pensable on every farm. Attention to Arrangement. — Usually too little at- tention is given to the arrangement of these buildings, and, when they once have been placed, it is next to impossible to correct the bad effect of poor arrange- ment. The barn in front of the house, or on the wind- ward side of it, the hog house in front of the house, the barnyard between the house and the barn, the carriage house opening into the barnyard, and the vegetable garden in the dooryard, are some of the common mistakes. Location of the House. — The location of the house should receive first attention. It should be placed on an elevation sufficient to afford good drainage, four or five rods back from the road, leaving room for a FARM BUILDINGS 147 nice lawn in front. The barn should be placed at one side and farther back from the road. If possible, it should be so located that the prevailing wind will carry the barn odors away from the house. The barnyard noAxi M^KU ' VLII^ il g» i LMVmUUH ' -V ^ FARM BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS NEATLY AND CON- VENIENTLY ARRANGED. should be in the rear of the barn so that the view from the house will be unobstructed by high board fences, stables or sheds. A drive should lead from the road to the barn, and the horse stable and car- riage house should open onto this drive, so that the 148 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE farmer and bis sons will not be compelled to pass through the barnyard every time they hitch up a team. A walk of cinders, gravel or sand should lead from the house to the barn. Such a walk is cheap, easily built, and will always be clean and compara- tively dry. The vegetable garden can be placed any- FILLING THE SILO. where in the rear, near the house, where it will be convenient. The logical place for the well is between the barn and the house, where it can be used for both places, but not too near the barn. The silo should be attached to or near the barn, and, of course, the granary should be near by. Tool houses, tobacco sheds and all other outbuildings should be kept well FARM BUILDINGS 149 back from the road, so as not to obstruct the view from the house. The Construction of Buildings. — But Httle need be said about the construction of farm buildings. The careful farmer will adapt the buildings to the size of the farm, and his own special needs. The silo is the one farm building, however, that needs the most careful con- struction. The importance of silage as a feeding stuff is growing more apparent, but silage will not keep well in a poorly constructed silo. Whatever the type of silo the farmer chooses to build, four things must be ob- served : It must be air- tight, strong, perfectly smooth on the inside and placed on a strong, solid foundation. The Silo. — The silo must be air-tight, because the air contains germs that will set to work upon the silage and cause it to spoil and decay. Silage is something like canned fruit, in this respect. The silo must be strong, because the green feed with which it is filled is very heavy and solidly packed down. This exerts a tremendous SILO, VERTICAL SECTION. General plan for wood, brick, stone or cement silo. V — Ventilator. D — Doors, S— Air spaces, F — Stone founda- tion, C — Cement floor. When the silo is attached to the barn, the feeding and filling doors are usually placed on opposite sides, the feed- ing doors opening into the barn. I50 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE side pressure which will spring or burst the walls of a poorly constructed silo and admit air, causing the silage to spoil. It must be perfectly smooth on the inside, because silage should settle evenly. Projections, or rough places on the inner walls of a silo, will prevent this even settling, cause dead air spaces, which spoil the silage. It must rest on a strong, solid foundation, because the side pres- sure and weight at the bottom are very great. This pressure may burst a heavy stone wall — and the great weight will cause a silo placed on a poor foundation to settle out of shape and crack the walls. Silage Is a Satisfactory Feed. — If this building is so constructed as to provide for sufficient ventilation and to prevent freezing, and proper care is used in filling the silo, the silage will be a very satisfactory feed to use on the farm. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 32. — Silos and Silage. No. 126. — Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings. Measurements. Rules. 1. To find the area of a triangle multiply the base by one-half the height. 2. To find the circumference of a circle multiply the diameter by 3 1-7. 3. To find the area of a circle multiply the square of the radius by 3 1-7. 4. The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other sides. Note: Make a drawing before attempting to solve any of the following problems. FARM BUILDINGS 151 Problems. 1. How many feet of inch lumber will be required to build a pig pen six feet wide, four feet from peak to ground, and eight feet long ? ( See rules i and 4. ) 2. How many feet of inch lumber will be needed to board up the gables of a barn thirty feet wide, the peaks being twelve feet above the eaves? 3. How much lumber will it take to cover a corn crib with four-inch slats, placed one inch apart, the crib being twenty-four feet long, six feet wide at the bottom, eight feet at the top, eight feet to the eaves, and the peak three feet above the eaves? 4. How long will the rafters need to be for this crib if they are to project one foot? How many feet of 2x4 rafters will be required if they are placed two feet apart? 5. How many feet of 2x4 studding will be needed if they are placed the same distance apart? How many feet of roof boards will be required if they are allowed to project one foot at each end? 6. How many cubic feet must a bin contain in or- der to hold a thousand bushels? Make a list of con- venient dimensions for such a bin. 7. How many feet of two-inch plank will be re- quired to build a cylindrical tank fourteen feet across and two feet deep? What will be the cost of the lumber at $30 per thousand? 8. How many feet of band iron will it require to make three hoops for this tank ? 152 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 9. How many feet of inch lumber will be required to cover the inner wall of a "round" silo twenty-one feet across and eighteen feet high? How many feet of two-inch plank will be needed for a cover? What will be the cost of all this lumber at $25 per thousand ? 10. What will it cost to put a cement floor in this silo at 10 cents per square foot? 11. How many 2x4 studdings eighteen feet long and placed one foot apart will be required, and what will be their cost at $24 per thousand? 1 2. What will it cost for the lumber to floor a barn forty by sixty feet with two and one-half inch plank at $18 per thousand? 13. The peak of this barn is twelve feet higher than the eaves. What will inch lumber for sheeting the gables cost at $24 per thousand. 14. The rafters are made of 2x4, and twenty-seven feet long, placed eighteen inches apart. How much will they cost at $20 per thousand ? 15. What will be the cost of the sheeting for the roof at $16 per thousand if the roof projects two feet at each end? 16. What will it cost to shingle this roof with shingles worth $3.25 per thousand, laying them five inches to the weather and allowing for a double course at the eaves? 17. This building is placed on a wall twelve inches thick and eight feet high. What is the cost of the stone for same at $5 per cord? FARM BUILDINGS 153 18. What will it cost to fence a field sixty rods long and forty-five rods wide with a five wire fence, posts one rod apart, worth 5 cents each, staples 6 cents per pound (200 to the pound), wire weighing one pound to the rod, worth $4.50 per cwt., and labor amounting to $6? 19. What will it cost to build a five board fence around the same field, using twelve-foot boards, six inches wide, and worth $16 per thousand, posts 5 cents each, nails and labor, $15? 20. Pupils make and solve similar problems from data taken from actual conditions. CHAPTER XX FARM ACCOUNTS Keeping Accounts. — There are times when every farmer needs to keep accounts. Sometimes it is de- sirable to know just how much cash is received and paid out during the year. A simple cash account will show this. All kinds of accounts require two columns. These columns may be placed side by side at the right of the page, or the page may be divided with double ruling down its center, or two separate pages, facing each other, may be used. Whichever kind of ruling is used, the accounts are all kept in exactly the same way. The divided page method is used in this book. Cash Accounts. — In keeping a cash account the word CASH is first written across the top of the page. All cash received is placed in the cash space in the left hand side, and all cash paid out is placed in the cash space in the right hand side. At the extreme left of each side the date is placed, and between the date and the cash space the item, for which cash has been re- ceived or paid, is written. The total amount of cash received, or paid out, is easily found by adding the FARM ACCOUNTS 155 amounts on each side, and the difference of these two sums represents the cash on hand. Cash on hand should be carried over into the received side at the top of the next page, when any page is filled up with entries. If it is desired, the totals may be carried over into their respective columns instead, and the new page kept in exactly the same way as the pre- ceding page. This is all there is in keeping a cash account. It is a very simple and easy thing to do. For example : CASH. Date 1905 Item Rec'd Date 1905 Item Paid Jan i Cash on hand . $ 24 40 Jan. 2 Groceries $3 00 Jan. 8 For hogs 102 75 Jan. 15 For coal 14 40 Jan. 30 For butter .... 42 84 Jan. 17 For books 5 00 Feb. 1 For eggs 2 25 Jan. 20 For overcoat,... 12 00 Feb. 1 For rubbers 75 Study the above illustration, determine how much cash is on hand Feb. i, 1905, and on a blank sheet of paper, open up a new page in both ways as described above. Submit your work to your teacher to find out whether you are correct. Personal Accounts. — A personal account is kept in exactly the same way as a cash account. The name of the person is first written across the top of the 156 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE page. Whenever this person receives anything from the one keeping the account, this entry is made in the left hand side under the word debtor, and whenever he pays anything on this account, this entry is made in the right hand side under the word creditor, exactly the same as with a cash account. The dates and items are written in their proper places, which are the same as those for cash accounts. For example : JOHN SMITH. Date 1905 Item Dr. Date 1905 Item Cr. Sopt. 22 Tolpig $12 50 Oct. 3 By 3 days' work. $4 50 Oct. 10 By cash 2 00 Oct. 25 By 1 days' work. 1 50 Suppose that on Sept. 22, 1905, you sell a pig to John Smith for $12.50, for which he agrees to pay either in money or in labor at $1.50 per day. He works on Oct. i, 2 and 3. On Oct. 10 he pays $2 in cash, and on Oct. 25 he works another day. The account is kept in this manner. This account shows, in a brief manner, a complete history of this transaction. It gives all dates, which are of great importance in all accounts. It shows that John Smith owes you $12.50 for a pig, that he has already paid you $8 in labor and cash, and that he FARM ACCOUNTS 157 still owes you $4.50. When this is paid, it should be entered under the other items in the credit column, both columns added and the account closed by drawing two lines across the page below the account, like this : JOHN SMITH. Date ino5 Item Dr. Date 1905 Item Cr. Sept. 22 Tolpig $12 50 Oct. 3 By 3 days' work. $4 50 Oct. 10 By cash 2 00 Oct. 25 By 1 day's work. 1 50 Oct. 30 By bal. cash .... 4 50 $12 50 $12 50 PRODUCE ACCOUNTS. Sometimes the farmer wishes to know his profits on his cows, tobacco, beets or other things produced on the farm. It often happens that his wife wants to keep account of her profits on berries or poultry. Such an account is called a produce account, and it is kept exactly like a personal account. Suppose that you want to keep an account of your chickens. The word CHICKENS is first written across the top of the page. Whenever the chickens receive anything from you like feed or coops, this entry is made in the left hand column under the word debtor. Whenever they pay you anything in the form of eggs or young chick- 158 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE ens, this entry is made in the right hand cokimn under the word creditor. Study the following account: CHICKENS. Date 1905 Item Dr. Date 1905 Item Or. May 1 T* lumber for coops $ 3 20 May 30 By eggs for mo . . $2 50 June 2 To feed 75 June 30 By eggs for mo.. 1 80 June 30 To corn meal.. 2 40 July 30 By eggs for mo . . o 10 Aug. 1 To corn 3 00 Oct. 1 By yeoni chickeos . ■ ■ 6 00 1 Oct. 1 By youni chickens eat'o 3 00 Oct. 1 Profit 10 05 Oct. 1 By eggs eaten. .. 4 00 $19 40 $19 40 The above account shows that these chickens re- ceived from you a total of $9.35 in coops and feed, and that they paid you in eggs and young chickens, which you sold, and in other eggs and chickens, which you ate during the summer, a total of $19.40, giving you a profit of $10.05 '^^^ the investment. If farmers would form the habit of keeping ac- counts of their stock and their crops, much unprofit- able farming might be avoided, as attention would thus be directed to those products which, on the aver- age, 3'ield the largest returns for the labor and money expended. FARM ACCOUNTS 159 Problems. 1. A farmer's boy hires out to a neighbor for five months at $22 per month. He begins work April i, with $7.35 cash on hand. He receives his pay at the end of every month. April 2, he pays $2.75 for shoes. April 20, 25c for a straw hat. May 3, he spends $1.25 for a coat. May 31, he buys a colt for $42. July I, he pays $14.75 ^^r more clothing. July 4, he spends $2.35. July 20, he sells his colt for $55. August 15, he pays $6.50 for a watch, and, during the summer, he spends $4.85 for sundry small articles. Write out his account and determine how much cash he has on hand when his time is out. 2. Two boys rent for $4 a half acre of land on which to plant onions. They allow themselves 75c each per day for their time. It costs them $2 to get this piece of land fertilized and plowed. They each spend ten days' time planting and cultivating their onions, and four days more each when harvesting time comes. They sell $14.30 worth of green onions, and harvest 142 bushels more. For 100 bushels they get 75c per bushel, and 60c per bushel for the re- mamder. Write out their onion account, and find their profit. 3. A farmer runs an account with George White, a merchant. July 7, he buys a pair of shoes for $2.40 and has them charged on account. July 20, he takes in twelve dozen of eggs at 11 cents per dozen and gets 50c worth of sugar. August 3, he takes in twelve pounds of butter at 20 cents per pound and gets nine i6o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE yards of calico at 6 cents per yard, one pound of tea at 50 cents, four pounds of coffee at 18 cents per pound, and a barrel of salt at $1.25. August 14, he gets a pail of fish at 75 cents and 100 pounds of sugar at 5J^ cents per pound, and pays $2 in cash. How does his account stand on August 15? Write out this account with Geo. White. CHAPTER XXI FORESTRY Importance of the Forest. — Next to the soil itself, no other part of the earth, or its furnishing, is of such importance to man as the forest. Indeed, without the forest, past and present, there would hardly be any tillable soil. But it is also our chief source of building material and of fuel. It is, moreover, the great gar- ment of the earth, protecting and adorning it. Nature of the Forest. — The forest is much more than a collection of independent trees ; it is a great organism, composed of many parts, or elements, each dependent on the others. It has a very complex and varied life, comprising not only trees and shrubs, but also herbs, flowers, mosses, lichens, birds, insects, and higher animals in great variety, all dependent for their very life upon their combination and mutual service, in the great living thing we call the forest. Inflnencc of the Forest. — The forest exercises a great influence upon the earth and its inhabitants out- side of the forest limits. It is often the source of streams, and controls the water supply of surrounding regions. It breaks the force of winds and tempers the 1 62 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE climate. It supplies vegetable mold which is an in- dispensable element in fertile soil. And it affords recreation, and the highest forms of enjoyment to those who can get access to it. In short, the forest is one of man's greatest blessings, and yet it is the one which he has abused with most recklessness and ignorance. And in no part of the world has this reck- less waste been greater than in the United States, and especially in the North Central states. THE EDGE OF THE FUKEiST. Destruction of the Forests. — The forest was in- tended for use, but it was meant to serve man for ages, and not to be destroyed in the lifetime of a man. The great causes which have wrecked the forests and wiped them from the earth to so great an extent are (i) unwise and unregulated cutting by lumbermen, and (2) the prevalence of forest fires. These fires, occurring in seasons of drouth, are fed and made FORESTRY 163 destructive by the brush and dead tree tops, left as wreckage on the ground, wherever logging has been carried on. The fires are often started by the criminal negligence of hunters and campers in not putting out all remains of their camp-fires, or in other careless ways. Some of these fires have done immense dam.- age to the standing forest, and have caused great dis- tress and loss of human life. Among the most destruc- tive of these are the great Peshtigo fire of 1871, in Northeastern Wisconsin, and the Hinckley fire of 1894, in Minnesota. The Economic Use of the Forest. — The science and art of forestry has for its purpose the perpetuation and, at the same time, the economical utilization of the forest. It teaches men how to keep the forest alive by cutting out only the trees that have got their growth and are ripe, in such a way as not to injure or endanger the remaining growth. The younger trees are thus given more light and air and room to grow, while the undergrowth is also preserved. The "forest floor" of decaying leaves, rotten wood, and other debris is pre- served as a means of enriching the soil and, especially, of retaining moisture and preventing the rains from running ofif too quickly in surface wash and floods. Forestry also teaches the best ways of replanting, or ''re-foresting," areas in which the timber has already been wastefully destroyed. This art of prudently man- aging timber lands, so as to keep up their blessings to their owners and others, has long been practiced in European countries, particularly in Germany, and has i64 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE proved of the greatest advantage. The people of the United States are just v^-aking up to the necessity of such a course, and the United States Department of Forestry is now doing excellent service in educating the people to greater intelligence and foresight in the management of such remnants of our once magnifi- cent forests as yet remain ; though v^e are reminded of the old saying about locking the stable door after the horse is stolen. The new policy of our government in setting off Forest Reserves in the unsold lands of the Western States, particularly in the mountain regions, deserves the earnest approval and support of all citi- zens interested in the future welfare of our country. Lumbermen, generally, have blindly followed the ex- ample of the woman who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs ; and the future good of our land ought not to be left longer at their mercy. The Wood Lot. — But we need not look upon for- estry as a matter which concerns only the far off forests of the North and West. Every farmer who has a "wood lot" left ought to understand its prin- ciples and apply them to his own possessions. Care of the Wood Lot. — The importance of caring for the farm wood lot cannot be too strongly empha- sized. When our country was new and land had to be cleared to make room for the crops, farmers cared little for timber and less for wood. Great trees were cut down and rolled into the log heap. Good material for lumber went up in smoke, and in those days no one ever thought of saving wood. But now all is changed. FORESTRY 165 In many places the price of wood is exceedingly high. Good lumber is every year becoming harder to get. We have awakened to the fact that the farmer who has a wood lot on his farm has a valuable piece of property. Management of the Wood Lot. — A few acres of wood land, if properly managed, will furnish wood and other timber to the farmer for years to come. Now, what constitutes proper management of the wood lot? First, desirable young trees should be kept growing. Undesirable ones should be cut out and used for fuel or other purposes. Second, it is not, as a rule, a good plan to pasture the wood lot. Animals injure and destroy young trees by browsing upon them and gnawing their bark. Again, their sharp hoofs injure the roots, and their continuous tramping hardens the soil. Third, if grass is allowed to get into the wood lot it starves out the young seedlings or, at least, checks their growth. This is another good reason why the wood lot should never be pastured or seeded to grass. Fourth, old trees and dead trees should be carefully removed, the saw-timber saved, the limbs cut into wood, and the brush piled up neatly. As a rule, it is not a good plan to burn the brush. Many young trees are killed in this way. Fifth, when bare spots appear in the wood lot, young trees should be encouraged to grow there, either by planting seeds or young trees. Seedlings should be i66 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE thinned so that they will not starve each other out, and only the most useful, thrifty, and hardy kinds should be planted. Profit in the Wood Lot. — With a little care and at- tention on the part of the farmer the wood lot may be preserved and the land devoted to it be made to yield as large returns as other acres of the farm which are more carefully cultivated. Forests Prevent Droughts. — There are other good reasons why forests should be preserved in agricultural regions. The soil in the woods is very porous, and capable of absorbing large quantities of water, which runs off from cleared land and is wasted. This water is stored away as underground water. It feeds our wells and springs, and, moving upward, it increases the supply of capillary water in the soil, and thus be- comes available for the use of plants. It is well known that forest regions are seldom, if ever, affected by drought. Then, too, forests furnish homes for game, which all farmer boys delight in hunting, and for birds which feed upon insects that would injure our crops, if they were not held in check by the birds. Free Bulletins, XJ. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers* Bulletins. No. 54. — Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agricul- ture. No. 150. — Clearing New Land. No. 173. — A Primer of Forestry. FORESTRY 167 Problems. 1. At $6 per cord, what is the value of a pile of wood 240 feet long, six feet high and four feet wide? 2. A farmer gets six cords of wood from ten trees. With wood at $5.50 per cord, what is the value of these trees? 3. What is the value of a single tree at the same rate ? 4. Suppose there are fifty such trees on an acre, what is the value of the wood on this piece of land? 5. What is the value of a wood lot of fifteen acres at the same rate? 6. Suppose a farmer removes the five biggest trees per acre from his wood lot each year. If each tree makes ^ of a cord of wood, worth $6 per cord, and it costs 80c per cord for cutting, what profit does he make per acre on his wood lot? 7. Compare this with the profit on an acre of oats. 8. Compare it with the profit on an acre of corn. 9. What will the profit on a twelve acre wood lot be at the same rate ? 10. Compare this with the profit on twelve acres of meadow. 11. Pupils make and solve similar problems from data furnished by the teacher, themselves or their parents. CHAPTER XXII HOME AND SCHOOL GROUNDS Influence of Home Surroundings. — Beautiful home surroundings exert an educational influence on the young, and add to the enjoyment of life for all. The proper provision of such surroundings is, therefore, a matter of importance to all who have, or expect to have, homes in the country. The tasteful arrange- ment and proper planting of home and school grounds require much thought and study in order to insure satisfactory results. Principles of Landscape Gardening. — In all land- scape gardening two principles must be observed : First, care must be taken in the selection of what is to be planted. A bunch of flowers does not neces- sarily constitute a bouquet ; intelligence must be em- ployed in their selection and arrangement. So in the planting of grounds wisdom must be exercised in the selection and distribution of plants, trees, and shrubs in order to produce a pleasing and durable result. Consideration should be given to the nature of the surface and soil ; and the location of everything planted HOME AND SCHOOL GROUNDS 169 should harmonize with the lay of the land, concealing defects and emphasizing the attractive features. Second, the planting itself should be rightly done, so as to insure proper growth and permanence. Ar- bor Day has been celebrated by the planting of many thousands of trees throughout the Western States; but, in all probability, not 10 per cent of these are alive and in healthy growth at the present time. The A CORNER OF A WELL ARRANGED SCFIOOL GROUND. (Whitewater, Wis., Normal School.) practice of planting trees and naming them after great men, as Grant, Dewey, and the like, is a commend- able practice, if followed by proper care of the trees thus planted; but quite otherwise if the trees die and are consigned to the brush pile through neglect of our second principle. Application of Principles. — In order to apply these two principles successfully, it is necessary to make a I70 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE study of the grounds and also of the character- istics of trees and plants; their hardiness, their mode of growth, and their adaptation to the soil and other conditions. There are probably not more than a dozen kinds of trees, and as many species of shrubs, that are adapted to planting in small grounds, under ordinary conditions, in this climate. The proper loca- tion of drives and walks should receive due considera- tion before planting begins. Care should be taken not to plant trees too close together, or else there should be a definite plan for thinning them out as they approach full size. We should try to picture, not the small tree that we plant, but the tree that is to be. Selection of Trees for Planting. — Small, thrifty trees should ordinarily be selected for planting, rather than large ones. They are more likely to live and will be larger and more satisfactory at the end of a few years. If large trees are planted, they should be ''headed in" unsparingly, and staked firmly. No tree, large or small, should be planted which is blemished or imperfect, or without a good equipment of roots. Perhaps the majority of trees are practically ruined by the destruction of roots in the digging. Preparation for Planting. — In preparation for plant- ing, the holes should be dug at least four feet in diameter and two feet in depth. If the soil is hard and poor, it should be replaced by good earth ; and in every case the trees should be well mulched with coarse litter that will remain in place. The work of planting cannot be done rightly by one person alone; it re- HOME AND SCHOOL GROUNDS 171 quires two, one to handle the spade and one to handle the tree and adjust the soil properly around the roots, which should be spread out in their natural position. Do not use water in planting unless the soil is dry, and even then it is not best to use a great amount. Handling of the Trees. — In handling the trees be- tween digging and planting, great care is necessary to prevent the fine, fibrous roots — which are the really important ones — from becoming dry through exposure to sun or wind. The cut ends of all large roots should be re-cut smoothly with a sharp knife immediately before planting. Plants Adapted to School Grounds. — The following trees and shrubs have been planted on the grounds of a certain school, viz. : Arbor Vitge, Colorado Blue Spruce, Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Norway Spruce, Scotch Pine, Cut-leaved Birch, Norway Maple, Com- mon Barberry, Thunberg's Barberry, Dogwood, Golden Elder, Japanese Tree Lilac, Persian Lilac, Syringa, Rosa Rugosa, Russian Olive, Tartarian Honeysuckle, Spirea von Houttei, Snowball, Clematis, and Woodbine. Out of over 1,000 specimens planted, less than a dozen failed to live and thrive, since care was taken to follow the directions given above. Where to Secure Plants. — Some varieties of trees and shrubs may be dug in the woods, in some locali- ties ; but it is generally better, for school use, to get them right from the ground, from a reputable nursery- man, or from the gardens of people who are willing to 172 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE contribute them. Sometimes they can be procured without cost from State Experiment Stations. The planting of home grounds may, perhaps, be lesj elaborate than that of public grounds ; but it needs no less care and attention to right methods. Sucl' work "pays in the heart ;" and no other work pays sc well as that which tends toward happy, cheerful life. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletins. No. 134. — Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. No. 185. — Beautifying the Home Grounds. Extracts. No. 91. — Lawns and Lawn Making. Problems. 1. Measure the lot at home on which the hous( stands. How many square yards in it? How man} square rods? 2. Draw a plan by scale of this lot, locating build ings, trees, flower beds, etc. 3. Is there any way in which this plan might bi improved or the appearance of the grounds mad< more pleasing? 4. Draw another plan showing location of build ings, flower beds, trees, walks, and drives as yoi would like to have them arranged. CHAPTER XXIII SCHOOL GARDENING The Development of School Gardening. — It has been a common practice in several European countries, for fully a century, to conduct gardens in connection with schools. 'This idea of making gardening a part of school work is rapidly growing in favor in our own country. The garden is a matter of great practical importance to all people living in the country, and it can be made a useful adjunct to the work of almost any school, if intelligently managed. Value of the Garden. — The study of agriculture has rightly been made a required subject in the schools of some states, and this must include some attention to gardening. The home garden ought to be the best part of the farm. And no department of agriculture is so well calculated to develop in boys and girls the power of keen observation and love for the beauty, variety and harmony which nature exhibits as that of gardening. Therefore, it is important that w^e do something with school gardening in order to assist and encourage home gardening. Si::e and Shape. — The size and shape of the school 174 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE garden will depend, of course, upon the area and form of the lot. The nature and condition of the soil must be taken into account when we come to the decision of what shall be planted. Arrangement of School Grounds. — The school gar- den must not encroach upon the playground; play- grounds are an absolute necessity. If the school lot is GIRLS' SCHOOL GARDEN, YONKERS, N. Y. very small, the corners and strips along the fences may be used for garden purposes. If the grounds are large enough, the following arrangement is a good one: Place the flower-beds towards the front of the grounds, on each side of the front lawn. Back of the flower-beds, and next to the playgrounds, is a good location for shrubbery of various kinds. In the rear of the playground we may place the vegetable garden. Shrubs and vines may be planted along the back fence, with perhaps a border of wild flowers, ferns, etc. We SCHOOL GARDENING 175 shall then have an arrangement like this, viz., front lawn, paths, flower-beds, playgrounds, vegetable gar- den, wild flowers, vines, etc. The Flower Beds. — In the flower beds a variety of plants may be grown, but good sense will be necessary in their selection ; success will depend greatly on this. Such, hardy bulbs as tulips, crocuses, and narcissuses BOYS' SCHOOL GARDEN, YONKERS, N. Y. should be included for spring blooming. Peonies, iris, phlox and other hardy perennials should have a place, as they survive from year to year with comparatively little trouble. Of annuals, only the more robust and easily grown should be attempted, such as asters, pe- tunias, poppies, nasturtiums and zinnias. Regard should always be had to the water supply, as it is hard to grow beautiful flowers in hot weather without plenty of water. A flower bed withering for want of mois- ture is a sorry sight. Weeds, which grow rapidly and 176 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE rob the plants of light, water and food, should be carefully kept under. Essentials of Gardening. — In preparing the ground for planting, great care and patience should be exer- cised in enriching it and thoroughly pulverizing the top soil. Care should also be taken not to plant the seeds too deep, and not to let the surface become too dry while the seeds are germinating. These are funda- mental requirements in all gardening. List of Plants That May Be Grown. Vegetables : Peas, potatoes, sweet corn, pop corn, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, cabbages, cucumbers, radishes, beets, onions, par- snips, turnips, etc. Flowers, Perennials : Phlox, hollyhocks, sweet William, iris, hemerocallis, columbine, monkshood, etc. Annuals : Asters, four-o-clocks, marigolds, petunias, nas- turtiums, poppies, mignonette, sweet alyssum, phlox Drummondii, coreopsis, zinnias, sweet peas, etc. Bedding Plants : Verbenas, geraniums, salvia, etc. The above list might be greatly extended, but these are the things of easiest culture and surest returns. Probably no one will attempt to grow all of these in the same summer, but variety will be sought from season to season. It is better to grow a few things well than to attempt more than can be given thorough attention. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers* Bulletins. No. 218. — The School Garden. Extracts. No. 113. — Experimental Gardens and Grounds. CHAPTER XXIV HOME GAEDENING ^ General Statement. — What has been said about the school garden will, much of it, apply equally well to the management of the home flower garden. In con- nection with country schools, vegetable gardening will not often be undertaken, as that requires more room and is more naturally connected with the home life; but city school children often develop great interest in the growing of vegetables. Importance of the Garden. — Every family in the country should pay great attention to the garden, be- cause of the profit and satisfaction which it affords. No other part of the farm of equal area pays one- tenth as well, financially, as a well-cultivated garden. Yet the garden is very apt to be neglected, and left to itself by farmers generally, from the mistaken idea that other work is more important. It is important, moreover, that the children in the home be trained to take an active part in the garden ; for this furnishes one of the best means for stimulating a love for the beautiful and inspiring things of life. The treatment of the subject of gardening in this book must neces- 178 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE sarily be very general. Gardening includes something of agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture. It is not advisable that the garden should be very large or elaborate, so that its care will become burdensome. The flower garden should not be located directly in front of the house, but at one side. It is not well to place a flower bed in the middle of the lawn. Neither should the front lawn be crowded with trees and shrub- bery; there should be a good, clear stretch of grass, with the shrubbery around the skirts of it. The vege- table garden should be at the back of the house, or well to one side of the lawn and flower garden. It should be well fenced against poultry and other do- mestic animals. Preparation of the Soil. — The soil should be well fertilized with barnyard manure. Neglect of this is fatal to the best results. Weeds will grow in any soil, but good vegetables require good soil as well as good cultivation. In the preparation of the soil, and in planting, the following points should receive attention : (i) Plow carefully and well, so that all grass, weeds, manure, or litter will be thoroughly turned under. Do not plow when the ground is very wet. (2) Harrow and rake until the top soil is fine, removing sticks and stones. (3) The depth at which seeds should be planted depends, largely, upon the size of the seeds. Small seeds should be covered slightly but evenly. The character of the soil is also to be considered. In light, HOME GARDENING 179 sandy soil, or in situations exposed to the wind, plant- ing should be deeper than under other conditions. (4) Many people err in building up the beds too high above the level of the paths, as the soil dries out rapidly when thus raised. If the beds can be worked from both sides, which is better, they may be made four or five feet wide. If they cannot be worked from both sides, three feet is about the limit of width. (5) The seeds should be planted in rows far enough apart to admit of passing a hoe freely between them. Flower seeds should, as a rule, be planted in rows crosswise of the beds. Judgment should be ex- ercised as to the time of planting. Onions, peas and potatoes may be planted as early as the ground can be worked. Flower seeds, as a rule, should not be planted until the ground is warm and danger from frost is past. Sweet peas, however, may be planted early and very deep, All peas should be planted at least three, or even four, inches deep. They should be planted in rows running north and south and provided with proper support. (6) The transplanting of cabbages, tomatoes, etc., should be done on a cloudy day, or towards evening. Plants should be set rather deep, and shaded from the next day's sun by a shingle or other shield. (7) The surface of seed beds should not be al- lowed to become dry or hard during the time of germi- nation. After plants are above the surface, the ground should be frequently stirred to prevent its baking or drying out, and to keep down weeds, which are much i8o ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE more easily killed while they are young. Properly thin out the plants. Great harm is done by over-crowding. This is one of the most common mistakes. (8) All vines, as cucumbers, melons and squashes should be carefully watched as they show the first leaves, to protect them from the bugs. The best pro- tection is to sprinkle them, dry, with Hammond's "Slug Shot," a preparation which no gardener can afford to be without, as it is especially useful for de- stroying the slugs on cabbages, currant and gooseberry bushes, and rose bushes. It is much safer as well as cheaper than paris green. For potatoes, however, nothing else is so effective as paris green in water. Free Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. No. 94. — The Vegetable Garden. No. 154. — The Home Fruit Garden : Preparation and Care. No. 156. — The Home Vineyard, with Special Reference to Northern Conditions. No. 198. — Strawberries. No. 213. — Raspberries. CHAPTER XXV BARN PLAN AND VENTILATION (Explanation of Barn Plan on Opposite Page.) A — Feed chutes and ventilating shafts, 3^x4 feet. B — Feed bins, 3^x7 feet. C — Hay mows, 20x40 feet. D — Trap doors to stairs, 3x3 feet. F — Barn floor, 14x40 feet. G — Driveway, 10x55 feet. H — Horse stalls, 5x5 feet. I — Mangers, 3x5 feet. J — Al- leys, 5x15 feet. K — Alleys, 5x40 feet. L — Small feed spouts from bins. M — Mangers, 3 ^^7^x3 5 feet. O — Alleys, 2x15 feet. P — Cow spaces, 3^x4^ feet. R — Drop, 1x35 feet. S — S — Double doors. T — Win- dows hinged for ventilation. U — Alleys, 5x15 feet. V — Stairs to second floor. Suggested modifications of plan to suit convenience of builder: — Position and number of bins and feed chutes may be changed. Dimensions may be cut down by making alleys narrower. Horses may face wall. Partition may be left out. Doors may be hung on hinges instead of rollers, etc., etc. Importance of Ventilation. — In our efforts to pro- vide warm and comfortable quarters for our stock, we have overlooked, in many cases, the most impor- tant matter of all, — ^proper ventilation. l82 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE _— — — — A •B s-» A ck B F « A |2> S 1 A . ■■ ■ SEC ONI ftOOTJPLAH mm ^" "" T T 1 K M 1 T » P P P P P P P P ■ 1 ■ ■■- « ■— ■ ^ P P P p p p P P 4 ' " "" ' ^^ M 1 Fl R5T FLOOR PLAN PLAN FOR CONVENIENT TWO-STORY BARN. Dimensions 40x55 Feet. BARN VENTILATION 183 B VENTILATION PLAN. As we enter some stables on a winter's morning, after the barn has been closed all night, we are almost stifled by the odors and impurities that fill the air. These must be very harmful to the animals that are forced to breathe them over and over again. In such WINDOW VENTILATION PLAN. Note: The above is a modification of the "King System" of ventilation, a system in successful operation on some of our best dairy farms. i84 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE stables no provision is made for admitting fresh air, or for drawing off that which has become charged with impurities and robbed of its life-giving oxygen. Without doubt the alarming prevalence of tubercu- losis among cattle is largely due to this neglect. Plan for a Ventilated Barn. — This neglected feature of barn construction is deemed worthy of special men- tion in this book. On the following pages will be found detail plans for a barn provided with an ade- quate system of ventilation. A — Cross section, through feed chutes and venti- lating shafts, of the barn shown on preceding page. B — Cross section of the same barn, through ventilat- ing shafts, placed at the ends, on either side of the double doors. This method will, doubtless, be pre- ferred by some farmers, as it will allow of keeping feed chutes filled with hay, sufficient for several feed- ings. However, it is not a wise plan to leave hay throw^n down in the stables, as it will absorb the im- pure air and bad odors of the barn. In both cases feed chutes must be kept closed, in order to insure proper draft to ventilating shafts. C — Vertical section through floor, feed chute and ventilating shaft, show- ing trap door closed to insure proper circulation of air. D — Same, showing trap door open for feeding. E — Cross section of same at the second floor. Size of chute, 3x3^ feet. Size of ventilating shaft, J^x3j/< feet. F — Section through wall and window, showing sheetiron wind-shield, thrown back, and BARN VENTILATION i8s window open for summer ventilation. G — Same, showing shield in place for winter ventilation. Note I. This shield is made of sheet or galvanized iron, bent, as shown in sections E and F above, and screwed to the window frame. When in place it de- flects the air upward towards the ceiling, preventing drafts. The opening between this shield and the win- dow frame for the admission of air should be about two inches in width. When the shield is raised slightly, it allows the window to drop forward on its hinges at the bottom and to open fully. Note II. If round iron pipes are used for venti- lating instead of flues, they should be not less than fourteen inches in diameter. Their tops may be cov- ered with revolving hoods, specially constructed to create drafts. If less than four ventilating shafts are used, they should be large enough to have the same capacity. The bottoms of all ventilating shafts should open not more than one foot above the floor, and the«e openings should always be kept free from hay, straw or anything else that will prevent a free circulation of air. CHAPTER XXVIII CORN AND STOCK JUDGING The following score cards for com and stock judg- ing are the ones in use at the University of Tennessee and are here reproduced, by permission, with the hops that they will prove of value to those who are inter- ested in these more advanced phases of agriculture. They are easily understood and require no additional explanation. SCALE OF l>OINTS FOR SHEEP PfRFECI SCORf SIUOENI'S SCORE CORRECTED SCORE t 1 2 1 1 2 7. s. 9. 1 lb. 'ir. u. '• 14. r 16. 18. 20. 4 8 9 7 4 1 1 1 3 1 10 10 10 2 4 & 6 1 4 4 4 1' WKIGHT. according to .ige. 6 montlis. 60-90 lbs Yearliug. 100160 ll)s.. according to breed . FORM. deep, broad, level, low-set. stylish C'UALITY. bone clean .ncd firm, skin pink, hair silky, no tendency to co.irsencss over cheap cuts CONDITION, deep, even covering of firm flesh in regions of valnable 3 P 11. - Q. S 03 6 i'f HKAD. wool covering according to breed; month large, lips thin, (ace short, rehned. expression qiiitt: forehead bro.id. full: ears erect and Z'' wpru- =v,r.ri ii,;.v n 2 t a. SHOULDtR VKI.N. full, blending nicely into neck SHOlLDliR. evenly covered, compact and smooth on top - BKISKET. extending well forward breast wide 'j eo O CIIKST, full. deep. wide, crops, full; girth large, indicating constitu- BACK, broad, straight; ribs long, arched, thickly flashed LOIN, broad, thick, extending well forward _.- . ...„ KUMP. long, level, wide, no prominence at tail lisad; small dock THIGH, full, fleshod well down to hock -S 0. ^ tu'i<;t f.,11 H....P " l,Kr..«;, slr-niglil, ilirvrl; ..liii.il. <.iiinnth, fiii» * G. C>i;antitv. !nnp. 4e""ie «->"n ., QU.-^LITY, fine, pure; crimp, close, even - CONDITION, blight, sound, clean, soft, light TOTAL 100 xj:niversity of Tennessee COLLEGE OF ACJRICULTURE STUDENT'S SCORE CARD SCALE OF POINTS FOR BEEF CATTLE Student's Score Corrected Score I 2 1 2 A Wtidhl, according to age, yearling, 800 lbs.; two year, l-'OO lbs i \^ Foriii, ileei), broad, low-set. with straiaht top line and under- 5 n \ Quality: Hair, fine: bone, fine but strong; skin, pliable, mellow, even covering of firm flesh, especially in region of 10 A. Genera 38 Condition, prime; flesh, deep; evidence of finish, especially, marked in the cod, at tail head, flank, shoulder, and throat 10 \:: Temperament, neither sluggish nor wild Constitution, vigorous, robust; showing size and substance 3 6 s S. Head, clean, symmetrical; muzzle, broad; month and nostrils. £ = large; lips, mo-^.rately thin; eyes, large, clear, an" placid; face short, e.vprcssion, quiet; forhead. broad an,i '"•S' 0. 5 4 1 1 2 8 4 6 st: Nick, thick, sliort. tapering neatly from shoulder to head; /lO. Shoulder vein, full £ III. Shoulders, smooth, wellflesheil, compact on top requarl Points llriskcl, exleniliuL; well forward, but not too prominent; ,! /l,'>. Dewlap, I ight \14. I.egs.straigM and short; arm, full; sliank, fine, smooth Chest, full, deep, an'acl< Fetlocks, wide, str.iiglit : pasterns, strong, sloping •• ■ Feet, medium, even size, horii dense, frog prominent and cla- tic, bars strong, sole concave, heels wide, high Total. Perfect Score Students Score UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE STUDENT'S SCORE CARD SCALE OF POINTS FOR S>VINE PIRFECI SCORt STODENr'S SCORE CORRECTED SCORE a. « Class or Grade 1. Estimated weight lbs.; actual 1 2. Weight, according to age, 6-8 months. 200-250 lbs 3. Form, deep, broad, low. symmetrical, compact, standing squarely on legs 4. Quality, hair silky; skiu fine; flesh smooth: mellow and free from wrinkles 5. Condition, deep, even covering of flesh, especially in region of valuable ruts 6. Snout, medium length, not coarse 7. Eyes, full, mild, and bright S. Face, short, checks full. 9. Ears, fine, medium size, soft 10 Jowl, strong, neat and broad , 11. Neck, thick, medium length 12. Shoulder, broad, deep, full, compact on top.. = (£ I 13. Breast, advanced, wide.. g— 14. Legs straight, short, and strong; bone clean; pasterns upright; feet, medium size CO a. 15. Chest, deep, broad; large girth .'., 16. Sides, deep, lengthy, full ; ribs close and well.sprung. . . 17. Back, broad, straight, thickly and eveuly fieshed 18. lyoin, wide, thick, straight I 19. Belly, straight, even 20. Hips, wide apa't, smooth 21. Rump, long, wide, evenly fleshed, straight 22. Ham, heavily fleshed, plump, full, deep, wide 23. Thighs, fleshed close to hocts 24. Legs, straight, short, strong; bone clean;pasterns up right; feet, medium size TOTAL 6 10 10 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 2 2 4 5 10 9 2 2 2 10 2 2 100 Animal StiLcUttt DaU CORN SCORE CARD Name of variety Souixe of sample Numbei of sami)]e — Character of soil STANDARD OF VARIETY Ivcngth Percent of grain to cob Circumference - Number of rows per car POINTS Perfect Score First Score Corrected Score 1. UNIFORMITY. (a) EARS— Of sinie color, shape and di- men"%ions 5 (6) KEKNRLS — Of samo indentation and o 2. TRUENESS OF TYPE. Conforins to variet)' standard of width thickness, and indentations of ftrain . . 5 3. COLOR. All grains of same color — reJ cob with yellow trrains; white cob with white g-rains ; but red cob with white g-rains for Tennessee Red Cob variety .... 5 4. EAR. (3.) LENGTH— Conforms to variety standard 10 (6)' CIRCUNfFERENCE — Conforms to va- riety standard 5 1 (c) SHAPE— Cylindrical . 5 (d) TIP— Covered with grain 5 (e) BUTT — Evenly rounded beyor.d cob . . 5. KERNEL. 5 Ui SHAPE— Wedge-shaped 5 (6) UNIFORMITY- -Of like size and shape. (c) SIZE OF GERM -Large 5 5 6. SPACE. (a) Between rows- Close and without furrows 5 ib) Between grains — Without space between either tops or tips of grains in the row 7. PROPORTION OF CORN TO COB. 5 Conforms to variety standard 8. MARKET CONDITIONS. 15 Grains and cobs sound. Graitis not chalTy . 10 TOTAL 100 JUL IS 1909