Km^*^=: mmm 'V*»o teaching, has given him singular qualifications for so important a task. He here opens a bountiful storehouse of knowledge, and Ignorance, alone, is barred from its use. To lessen this ignorance, to bring the best knowledge of home affairs to the reach of all, to make every mem- ber of the household acquainted with such facts as can be profitably used — this has been the high aim of the author. He has in one book condensed, in brief yet simple and comprehensive language, what all should know of the all- important subjects, he treats. It is done in one volume of such size ■ that all can use it. The author needs no introduction to the reading public. In the capacity of author and journalist his constituency has for more than a quarter of a century been the whole American people — his name everywhere a household word. Nor is it confined to the limits of our own country; former books, the product of his pen, have reached the phenomenal sale of 50,000 copies beyond the confines of the American continent. His practical work has thus won its way to every English-speaking people. The publishers venture to congratulate the public, on this work — the master- piece of his matured years and experience. His design to bring in a single volume the greatest possible amount of information which all ought to possess, but which is to be obtained elsewhere only in works so voluminous and expensive as to render it inaccessible to the great masses, has been executed in a way to mark it a triumph, and the result is a work certainly calculated to make its way. It is — as its title indicates — a library in itself. It is confidently believed by the publishers that a work of so much scope, judgment and taste in the treatment of subjects (in) IV PUBLISHERS PREFACE. SO interwoven into the purposes and the successes of the lives of the great people will be received by them with unusual and hearty favor. The plan of illustrating every subject by pertinent, striking and well-executed engravings, will not fail to impress every one with its great value. The pictorial artist has lent his aid to the trenchant writer and together they impart a singular force and clearness that will render the book not only of easy understanding, but of most ready practical application. As a conspicuous example of Object-Teaching, as applied to the every-day affairs of home life, combined with apt, perspicuous written statement, it will impress itself favorably upon the most educated as well as less informed classes of society, who have not time for elaborate reading. It is said that he is a benefactor who makes two ears of corn or two blades of grass grow where one grew before, and in such light, it is believed that the production of this book will prove a veritable benefaction — the result of its teach- ings practically serving this end. The book is not made up, as is the case with too many books for the house- hold, as a thoughtless compilation with the aid of the scissors, from other authors, but is the work of a profound student of the subjects of which he writes, whose long life assiduously devoted to these subjects enables him to sift the grain from tbe chaff, and to present only such facts and directions as are of actual utility in the home. Coupled with this rare qualification is the use of a facile pen, for nearly forty years devoted to these subjects, which gives to the treatment a style at once concise, chaste, forceful and pleasing — one of easy comprehension by the most unlearned. Believing that it has unusual claims to popular favor, and that it will conduce to the welfare and success of all who may consult its pages and be governed by its teachings, it is committed to the consideration of the public with pride as well as confidence. THE PUBLISHERS. AUTHOE'S PEEFAOE. ^HIS book is intended for tlie average American citizen — for the Household and the Farm. It is intended for the man of work and business who has not the time nor disposition to plod through scores of volumes of elaborate dissertations on the subjects touching the affairs of his every-day life. It is dedicated to the household and the library of the poor. It is designed for the use of the father, the mother, the son and the daughter of the American family. It is hoped that by its teachings and use they will all fulfill the pui-poses of their lives and labor better — more successfully — more happily. If so, and by its directions and simple teachings the man and woman of work will be led to labor with more intelligent thought, and more pleasure and profit, the author will be abundantly repaid. The principles which underlie success or failure in the affairs of business or society are so momentous as to deter any one from undertaking the task of outlining them. But, encouraged by the flattering and really unexpected success and favor with which former works by the author have been received, the labor of preparing this work was undertaken. The information can not fail to be of general, even universal value. Because one has lived on the farm, or managed a household, it is no reason that eitBer has been done to the best advantage. So long as we see the many instances which occur of men, long experienced in business, failing, we may properly conclude that all is not yet known that needs to be known by even the experienced and the fairly successful; and it is quite probable that many, whom, by reason of the length of time they have been in business, the world regards as wise and skillful in managing their affairs, have yet much to learn. The aim of the author has been to produce a book which will give to all, who may 'honor it with their attention, advantages of information and knowledge not possessed heretofore in any ordinary library, and never in one volume, and which fathers may place in the hands of their wives, and their families, with the commendation that it contains the essence of the combined experience of generations of practical, thinking men; and that wisdom to which Solomon alluded when he said, "The merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold." (V) VI AUTHOR S FUEFACE. In the preparation of the work the object has been to preserve a clear and systematic arrangement of the several subjects, giving to everj'^ fact such plain statement as would make it of easy understanding, and its application made alike easy. To this end the work has been divided into eleven distinct departments, according to general subjects — these departments into chapters, which are again carefully subdivided, so as to make the whole of easy reference and consultation. In furtherance of this end an elaborate alphabetical index is appended so that in matters of frequent and general reference it will be most convenient. Its Objective Presentation by means of Charts, Maps, Drawings and Diagrams of all the more important features, adds, it is hoped, force and strength to the written word to materially aid the understanding. As a combination of Object-Teaching with simply written instructions — the methods of imparting knowledge so successful in our best schools — it is certainly more full than any book or combination of books yet published concerning the many important subjects embraced. The value of this double method of con- veying fact to the, mind through the eye by accurate and elegant illustration — as well as by simple word — cannot well be over-estimated. The perusal of the following pages and the effort to reduce its teachings to practice will, however, impress one with the admirable utility of this illustrative method of imparting practical fact. The prodigal liberality and broad enterprise of my publishers ha-^e, at an expense truly enormous, enabled me to utilize this superb method to an extent, which, I think I am safe in saying, has never been attempted in a book of like practical character in this or any other country. For this I am pleased to acknowl- edge my indebtedness, and believe I am in the bounds of truth when I say that every reader will be disposed to recognize a similar obligation. To preserve in the written text a style and method of easy comprehension, which will be in keeping with the accuracy, simplicity and elegance of the illustra- tion, has been the constant effort. Whether this important end has been attained > it is the province of the reader to decide. One idea that has sustained the author in the immense labor involved in the preparation of this volume is, that he may thus be useful to those living in the country districts, many of whom have no access to large libraries, and by inade- quacy of income are prevented from largely increasing their own. The hope has been to put within their reach a volume which, because of its wealth, variety and suggestiveness, shojild be a practical every-day library in itself. author's preface. VII Of matters concerning Live iStocJc no mention has been made except those of Farm Building, and Agricultural Law as connected therewith. In a previous work in connection with Dr. A. H. Baker, V. S., the author prepared and published a large book on the animals of the farm, the extraordinary success of which encouraged the preparation of this work, which is designed as a fit companion volume. Combined they cover, practically, it is believed, the entire subjects of Household and Farm interests — the one appropriately supplementing the other. In both it has been the aim to sift from the great mass of information, statistics and suggestions, in contemporary and newspaper literature, only, those matters of actual interest and every-day usefulness, and condense into space the most convenient for a hasty moment's reference; and yet to retain all necessary details to reward the leisurely perusal and study of the book with interest and great profit. It is believed that, whether read by the man of business, the farmer, the mechanic, the housewife, or the child, it will be a source of profitable knowledge, entertainment and pleasure. For special assistance in my work I desire to acknowledge my obligations to Messrs. Fuest & Bradley, of Chicago, who have made Farm Machinery a special study; to Mr. J. C. Vaugiian, of Chicago, widely known as an adept in all that pertains to general Floriculture; to Messrs. Ellwangee & Baery, of Rochester, N. Y., who have a world-wide reputation in what pertains to the Nursery, Ornamental and other' Trees; to Mr. H. DeVey, Superintendent o^ Lincoln Park, Chicago, for many ideas in Landscape Work and Ornamental Planting; and also to Dr. Loeing, Commissioner of Agriculture, at Washington, than whom no one has a truer practical knowledge of the manifold necessities of progressive Agriculture. The assistance asked has in each case been promptly and cheerfully accorded. To Mr. E. C. Simmons, of St. Louis, President of Simmons Hardware Company, the brilliantly successful man of business, I am likewise indebted for the use of many valuable cuts, illustrating, practically, the text in Third and ninth Departments. Trusting that it will be favorably received, I commit my book into the hands of that critic whose judgment has been so partial to my previous efforts, and which is deemed the best, most important and final — the practical reading public. JONATHAN PERIAM. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Part I. THE laOME AND FARM. MAKI^TG CONVENIENT, COMFOETABLE AND HAPPY HOMES. ANCIENT AND MODEEN AGKICULTUEE ILLUSTRATED AND COMPAEED. IIMPEOVED FAEM LMPLE- MESTS AND MACHINEEY. PEIXCIPLES .iND PEACTICE. CHAPTER I. BUILDIXG HAPPY HOMES. I— Contrasted Pictures. II— The Ideal Country Home. Ill— The Farmer's Wife. IV— The Overworked Wife. V — Sons and Daughters on the Farm. VI — Youthful Activity VII. — Adorning the Home. VIII — Improving the Homestead. IX — Sports of Childhood. X — l^essons from the Garden. XI — What we Hope to Teach 33 CHAPTER II. ANCIENT AND IIODEKN AGRICULTURE. I— The Value of Books. II — Agriculture Among the Savages. Ill — The Arizona Indians. IV — Mound Builders. V — Agriculture Defined. VI— Its Divisions. YIl — Its History. VIII — The Books of Mago. IX — Mago on Working Cattle. X — Eome's Agricultural Wfiters. XI — Chronicles of Columella. XII — Ancient Farms and Implements. XIII — Cultivate Little, Cultivate Well. XFV — A Fancy Farmer. XV — Arable Lands and Pastures. XVI^ Watei- Meadows. XVII — A Eich Meadow. XVIII — Eoman Eotation. XIX — Roman Small Grains. XX — Some Ancient Methods. XXI — Antique Crops. XXII — Crops Pulled by Hand. XXIII — Fallow Crops. XXIV — Ancient ^Harvesting. XXV — Eoman Fertilizers. XXVI— A Question not yet Settled. XXVII— Little and Often. XXVIII— Commercial Fer- tilizers. XXIX— Ancient Plowing. XXX— Plows. XXXI^Seeding. XXXII— Yield Per Acre. XXXIII — Mediaeval and Modern Agriculture 44 CHAPTER HI. MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. I— A Eevolution in Fifty Years. II— The Pioneer's Plow. Ill— The First Steel Plow. IV— The Webster Plow. V— The Plow of To-day. VI— The Art of Plowing. VII— Laying Out the Land. VIII— Turning the First Furrow. IX— The Back Furrow. X— Ee-Plowing. XI— Subsoil Plowing. XII — French Plowing. XIH— Implements for Smoothing and Disin- tegrating. XrV— Leveling, Compacting and Grinding. XV— The Plank Soil Grinder. ■ XVI— The Leveler. XVII— Implements of Cultivation. XiVIII— History of the Cultivator. XIX— One-Horse Cultivators. XX— Seeding Machines. XXI— The Grain Drill. XXII— Corn Planters. XXIII— Hai-vesting Machineiy. XXIV— Use Only the Best. XXV— Plow- ing Irregular Areas 31 IX X TABLE OF COXTEXTS. CHAPTER IV. PRIXCIPLES AXD PRACTICE. I— Study Your Farm. II— Analysis of the Soil Unneeessaiy. Ill— Soil Does Xot Wear Out. IV— Organic and Inorganic Matter. V— Economy of Fertilizei-s. Yl— Practical Test of Fer- tility. YII— Eolation and Crops. YIII— A Simple Botation. IX— Effect of Bad Seasons. X— Elaborate Eotation. XI— Grass-Seed and Meadows. XII— An Eastern ^lan on Kotation, XIII— A Sontliern Planter's Testimony. XIY— Eolation in Europe. XY— Substitution in Kotation. XYI— Potash and Phosphate Crops. X■\^I— Soft and Hard Ground Crops. XYIII— Science in Agriculture. XIX — Ignorance vs. Intelligence. XX — Soils and their Capabilities. XXI— Percentage of Sand in Soils. XXII— Absorbing Powei- of Soils. XXIII — Absorption of Oxj-gen by Ihe SoU 75 PARX II. PEACTICAL A>y'D SYSTE^SIATIC HUSBAXDEY. CEEE.U. CROPS AXD THEIR CUI.TIA'A'nOX. GEASSES, FODDEE .\XD EOOT CROPS. SILK CULTURE— SPECIAL CROPS. CROPS FOR SUGAR MAKIXG. VARIETIES ILLUSTEATED ^VXD COMPARED. CHAPTER I. CEEEALS AXD THEIR CULTIVATION. I— The Cereals Described. II— 'Wheat and Corn Belts. lU— Corn In the United States, n''— Different Kinds of Wheat. Y — Yariations Illustrated. YI — Proper AVheat Soils. YII— Pre- paring the Soil. VIII— Drilling Gives the Best Results. IX— Depth of Covering for AVheat. X — Time to Seed and Hai-vest. XI — Harvesting Wheat. XII — How to Shock the Grain. XIII— Importance of Good Seed. XIY— Pedigree Grain. XY— General Conclusions. XYI — Artiflfial Cross Fertilization. XYII— Eeputable Old Yarieties in the United States. XYIII — Rye and its Cultivation. XIX — Barley and its Cultivation. XX — Time for Sowing Barley. XXI — Harvesting and Threshing Barley. XXII — Xew Yarieties of Barley. XXIH- Oats and their Cultivation. XXIV— Export of Food Crops. XXV— Species of Oats— their Lati- tude. XXVI — Soil and Cultivation of Oats. XXVII — Harvesting and Threshing Oats. XXYIII — ^^'arieties of Oats to be Cultivated. XXIX — Biiekwheat. XXX — Seeding and Harvesting Buck\vheat 89 CHAPTER H. IXDIAX COEX, EICE, AXD SPECIAL CROPS. I — The Crop in the United States, n — How to Increase the Average. HI — Proper Manures for Corn. lY — The Cultivation of Corn — Plowing. Y — Preparing the Soil. VI — Planting the Crop. YII — Harrowing the Young Corn. YIII — After Cultivation of Corn. IX — How Often to Cultivate. X — Depth of Cultivation. XI — Harvesting the Crop. XII — Cutting and Shocking. XIII — Seed Corn. XIY — Cost of a Corn Crop. XV — Yarieties of Corn. X"\'l — Rice and its Cultivation. XA'Il — True Water Rice, or Commercial Eice. XVIH — Cultivation of Eice in Carolina. XIX— Management of Eice Fields. XX— Cultivatiug the Crop. XXI Flooding the Crop. XXH— Harvesting and Threshing. XXIII— Hulling for Market. XXIV Eice in the Mississippi Delta. XX^'— Some Special Crops 109 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER III. MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. PAGE I— The Value of Grass. II— What is Grass? Ill— How to Know Grass. IV— Testing the Value of Species. V — The Value of Accurate Knowledge. VI — Well-known Cultivated Grasses. XIL — Grasses for Hay and Pasture. VIH — Alist of Good Grasses. IX — ^Valuable Native Western Grasses. X — Disappesfrance of Native Grasses. XI — Valuable Inti'oduced Grasses, South. Xn — Bermuda Grass. XHI — Guinea Grass. XIV — Brome or Rescue Grass. XV — Seeding Meadows. XVI — The Alphabet of Agriculture. XVII— Sowing for Hay and for Pasture. XVIII — The Celebrated Woburn Experiments. XIX — ^A Summary of Meadow Grasses. XX — About Pastures. XXI — Genera, Species and Varieties. XXH — Favorite Pastm-e Grasses. XXin — Bent Grasses. XXIV — Orchard Grass. XXV — Grasses for Various Eegious. XXVI — Clover in its Relation to Husbandry. XXVII^The Seed Crop. XXVIII — Valuable Varieties of Clover. XXIX— Dutch, or White Clover. XXX— Alsike, or Swedish Clover. XXXI— Clovers for the South— Alfalfa. XXXII— Japan Clover. XXXIII— Mexican Clover. XXXIV— Importance of the Pulse Family. XXXV — Interchange of Grasses Between Nations. . . . 132 CHAPTER IV. SOILING, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. 1 — Soiling Compared with Pasturing. H — Soiling Indispensable in Dairy Districts. HI — Soiling as Against Fencing. IV — How to Raise a Soiling Crop. V — Corn and Sorghum for Soiling. VI — The Clovers as Soiling Crops. VII — Millet and Hungarian Grass. VIII — Prickly Comfrey. IX — The Advantages of Soiling. X — Results of Soiling in Scotland. XI — Root Crops for Forage. XII — Things to Remember in Root Culture. XIII— Preparing for the Root Crop. XrV — Sowing and Cultivating. XV — Harvesting Root Crops. XVI — Pitting and Cellaring the Roots. XVn— The Ai-tichoke 167 CHAPTER V. SILOS AND ENSILAGE. I — What is Ensilage? II — Silos and ETisilage Long Known in Europe. HI — Two Methods Illus- tiated. IV— The Father of Ensilage. V— Fermentation Should be Avoided. VI— What Ensilage May do. VII — The History of Ensilage. Vni — Feeding Value of Ensilage. IX — Ensilage in the United States. X — Effects of Fermentation in the Silo. XI — Size of Silos for Cei'tain Number of Stock. XU — How to Build a Silo. XHI — Practical Experience and Results. XIV — Perfect Food and Rations. XV — Some Statements of the Quantity Fed. XVI— Cost of Ensilage in Massachusetts. XVII— Building a Model Silo. XVIII— Practical Conclusions fi-om Careful Experiment 17S CHAPTER VI. TEXTILE CROPS AND FIBERS. I — Cotton: Its History and Cultivation. II — The Family to which Cotton Belongs. HI — The Soils for Cotton. IV — History of Cotton Cultivation in the United States. V— Increasing Import- ance of Cotton. VI— Cotton by States. VII— The Climate for Cotton. VIII— The Best Cot- ton States.' IX— The Cultivation of Cotton. X— Preparation of the Soil. XI— Tending the Growing Crops. XII— Flax and its Cultivation. XIII— Proper Soil for Flax— Seeding. Xri TABLE OF CONTEXTS. PACK XIV— Harpesting Flax. XV— Hemp and its CultivaUon. X^T— Raising a Crop of Hemp- Seed. XVU— Eaislng Hemp for Lint. XVIU— The Time to Harvest Hemp. XIX— Kottiug and Breaking for Market. XX— Conclusions on Flax and Hemp. XXI— Jnte ajid its Cultiva- tion. XXH- Growth and Harvesting of Jute. XXIII— Prepai-ing Jute Fiber. XXIV— The Kamie Plant in the United States. XXV— Soil and Planting. XXVI— Eamie is a Perennial Plant 194 CHAPTER yil. SILK AXD SILK-WORMS I— Silk Culture in America. 11^— Silk Producing Insects. HI — From the Egg to the Moult. IV— Varieties of the Silk-worm. V — Keeping and Hatching the Eggs. VI— Preparing to Feed the Worms. VII — Feeding and Care of Silk-worms. VIII — Moulting or Casting the Skin. IX — W^jnding Frames on 'Which the Worms Spin. X — ^Killing the W orms. XI — Eeeling the Silk. XII— Mai-keting Cocoons and Eggs. XLII — Food of the Silk-worm. XIV — Raising Mulberry Trees 211 CIL^lPTER VIII. SPECIAL CROPS — HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND S^^'EET POTATOES. I— Hop Growing in America. II — Cost of Raising. Ill — Establishing a Hop Yard. IV — The Proper Situation and Soil. V— Preparing for the Ci'op. VI— Trenching the Soil. VU — Setting the Plants. VIII— Care of the Hop Yard. IX— Cultivation in Crop Years. X— Picking the Hops. XI — Drying the Hops. XH — Management in the Kiln. XIII — The Cultivation of Tobacco. XIV— Soils and Situation for Tobacco. XV— The True Tobacco Belt. XVI — Raising the Crop South. XVII — Ti-ansplanting. Cultivating and Worming. XVIII— The Seed Bed. XIX— Raising Plants Xorth. XX— Preparing the Land. XXI— Planting at the Xorth. XXII— Proper ^Vay to Transplant Tobacco. XXIII— Cultivation. XXIV— Cutting and Curing Tobacco. XXV— The Tobacco House. XXVI— Twelve Rules for Tobacco Growers. XXVII— Peanuts, or Gouhers. XXVIII— The Cultivation for Pea- nuts. XXIX— Gathering the Xuts. XXX— After Management and Care of Seed. XXXI— Sweet Potatoes. XXXII— Field Culture of Sweet Potatoes. XXXIII— Keeping Sweet Pota- toes in Winter. XXXIV— Garden Cultivation 223 CHAPTER IX. CROPS FOR SUGAR-3IAKING. I— Sugar and its Manufacture. II— Cane and Other Sugars Compared. Ill— History of Beet Sugar in the United States. lA'— Our Two Great Sugar Plants. V— The Various Saccharine Products. VI— The Three Sugars Compared. VII— Cultivation of Sugar-Caue. VIII— CuUi- vatiou of Sorghvmi. IX— When to Cut Sorghum Cane. X— Cutting aud Handling the Cane. XI — Specitio Gravitj- as a Basis of Value. XII— Specific Gravity and Composition of Jniccs. XIII— Table of Juices. XIV— Value of Sorghum During Working Period. XV— Four Impor- tant Points. XVI— Valuable Canes South. X\ai— The Real Test of Value. XVIII— Table of Comparative Values During Working Period. XIX— The Manufacture of Sorghum. XX — Making Sugar on the Fai-m. XXI— General Conclusions. XXII— Maple Sugar, XXIII— Tapping the Trees. XXIV— Boiling and Sugaring. XXV— Sugaring Off. XXVI— To Tell When Sugar is Done. ... 246 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XIII Part III. AiiRANGEMENT OF FAEMS. HOW TO SECURE COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. FENCING AND DRAINAGE ART. FARM IMPROVEMENTS ILLUSTRATED. AND EXPLAINED. CHAPTER I. COMFORT ANB PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. PAGE I — Pioneer Fanning. H — Improving the Farm. Ill — True Success in Farming. IV — Look to the Details. V— Thrift and Unthrift Illustrated. VI— How to Select a Claim of Land. VH— Commencing the Farm. YHI — The Crops to Raise. IX — The Second Year's Crops. X— The Third Years "Work. XI— Wind-Breaks and Groves. XII— Starting the Orchard. XIII — How to Clear a Timbered Farm. XIV — Making a Clearing and Building the House. XV — Carrying up the Sides. XVI — ^Putting on the Roof. XVII — Building the Fireplace. XVni— Chinking the House. XIX— Deadening Timber* XX— The Work of Improvement. 271 CHAPTER II. FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEADING. I_Soils Indicating Variety of Crops. II— Adaptation of Soils to Crops. Ill— Adaptation of Crops to Localities. IV— Starting a Dairy. V— When to Sell the Crop. VI— Study the Probabili- ties. VII— ^Vhen to Hold the C)-op. VIII— How to Select a Farm. IX— Important Things to Consider. X— Situation of the Farm. XI— Some Things to be Remembered. XII — Leasing a Farm. XIII— Forms of Lease and Certificate. XIV— Plan for Laying Out a Farm. XV— A Garden Farm 286 CHAPTER III. FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. I — Relative Cost of Fences and Buildings. II — Cost of Farm Fences in the United States. Ill — The Cost of Fence Per Rod. IV — AVorra, or Vh-ginia Fences. V — Staking and Ridering the Fence. VI — Post and Rail Fence. VII — Preparing the Timber. VIII — Mortising the Posts and Sharpening the Rails. IX — Setting the Posts. X — Fastening the Rails and Finishing. XI — How to Build a Board Fence. XII — Sti-inging a Wire Fence. XIII-rSod-and-Ditch Fence. XIV — Compound Fences. XV — Portable Fences. XVI — Fencing Steep Hillsides. XA'II— Bars and Gates. XVIII— The Slide and Swinging Gate. XIX— Swing Gates and Slide Gates Explained. XX— Self-Closing Slide Gates. XXI — Southern Strap-Hinge Farm Gate. XXH— Double-Braced Gate. XXIII— Adjustable Swing Gate. XXIV— How to Pre- vent Posts from Sagging. XXV — Ornamental Gates. XXVI— Flood and Water Gates. XXVII— Stream Gate and Footway • 29S CHAPTER IV. FARM AND ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. I_Tho Poetry of Hedges. II— Advantages and Disadvantages of Hedges. IH- How to Prepare the Hedge-Row. IV— Setting the Hedge. V — Finishing the Planting — Cultivation. VI — Trimming the Hedge. VII — Ornamental Hedges. VIII — Ornamental Plants for Hedges. IX How to Plant the Hedge. X — Care of Deciduous Hedges. XI — Trees for Barriers and Protection "'' XIV TABLE or CONTENTS. CHAPTEE V. DRAtNAGE AND THE DRAINER* S ART. FACE I— The Importance of Draining. II— The Antiquity of Drainage. Ill— Ancient Writers on Drain- age. IV — Drainage Among the Greeks. • V — Drainage Defined. VI — Drainage Among the Komans. VII — Drainage by French Monks. VUI-^Some Fathers of Modern Drainage. IX —The Origin of Tile. X— Practical Men on Tile Drainage. XI— A Dry Surface May Need Drainage. XII— What an Ohio Farmer Says. XIIII— Draining in Indiana. XIV— Draining in Michigan. XV— Illinois Experience. XVI— A Right and a Wrong Way for Open Drains. XVII— Stock Water from Drains. XVIII— How to Excavate the Pond. XIX— Drainage and Fences. XX— The Formation of Underdrains. XXI— Various Means of Drainage. XXII — Stone-Laid Drains 324 CHAPTER VI. DRAINAGE AND THE DRAINER'S ART Continued. I— Slab and Pole Drains. 11— Tile Drains. Ill— Laying Out the Work. IV— Draining Tools. V— Grading the Ditch. VI— Leveling the Bottom. VII— Challoner's Level. VIII — Ijcveling froTn the Surface. IX— Altering the Grade— Silt Wells. X— The Water Carried by Tile. XI — Capacity of Soils for Water. XII — Velocity of Water in Tiles. XIII — Connecting Lat- erals with Mains. XIV— Draining a Field. XV— "HTien it Pays to Drain a Farm. XVI — Sinks and Wallows. XVII— Springs, Soaks and Sloughs. XVIII— Draining Large Areas. XIX— Lands Requiring Drainage. XX— Wet Weather Plants. XXI— How to Know Lands Requiring Drainage. XXII — Importance of Drainage to Stockmen 340 PART IV. RUEAL ARCHITECTURE. ILLUSTRATED PLANS AND DIRECTIONS FOR VILLAGE AND COUNTRY HOUSES. .BUILDING MATERIAL AND THE BUILDER'S ART. INCLUDING EVERY GRADE OF RESIDENCE, OUT-HOUSES, GARDEN AND ORNAMENTAL STRUC- TURES. MECHANICS AS APPLIED TO THE FARM. CHAPTER I. PLANS AND DIRECTIONS FOR COUNTRY HOUSES. I— Building According to Means. II— Improving the Old Homestead. Ill— An Elegant Country Home. IV— Farm and Suburban Cottage. V— When to Build. VI — The Provident Farmer's Marriage Settlements. VII— How to Build. VIH- What to Build. IX— Taste and Judgment in the Details. X— Where to Build". XI — A Hillside Cottage. XII— Ice-House and Preser- vatory. XHI- The Water Supply. XTV- House Drainage. XV— Ventilation 361 CHAPTER II. BUILDING MATERIAL AND THE BUILDER's ART. I— Building Material. II— How to Make Unburned Brick HI- Specifications of Farm and Other Buildings. IV — Outline of Specifications for House of Wood with Stone or Brick Founda- tions. V— Masonry and Mason's Work. VI— Carpentry and Carpenter's Work. VII TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV Page Painter's Work. VIII— Tinner's and Plumber's Work. IX— Contract for Performance of Obligations. X — How to Consult an Architect. XI — Glossary of Scientific Terms Used in Architecture 376 CHAPTER III. RURAL BUILDINGS, OUT-HOUSES AND GARDEN STRUCTURES. I— Farm Houses and Cottages. H — Cottage for Farm Hand. HI — Square Cottage. IV — Subur ban or Farm Cottage. V — A Pretty Eural Home. VI — A Convenient Cottage. VH— Farm House in the Italian Style. VIII — English Gothic Cottage. IX— Plan of Kural Grounds. X — School-House and Church Architecture. XI — Cliildren's Wigwam. XII — Eustic Seats and Summer Houses. XIII — Some Rural Out-Buildings. XIV — Poultry Houses and Chicken Coops. XV -Glass Structures. XVI— Smoke-Houses. XVU— The Farm Ice-House. XVIII — Privies and their Arrangement 393 CHAPTER IV. BARNS, STABLES AND CORN-CRIBS. I— Grouping Farm Buildings. II — A Complete Cattle-Feeding Barn. IH— Horse and Cow Barn with Shed. IV — Suburban Carriage-House and Stable. V — Sheep Barns and their Arrange- ment. VI — Hog Barns. VII — Granaries, Corn-Houses and Corn-Cribs. VHI — Kat-Proof Granary and Coru-Crib. IX — Corn-Cribs with Driveway. X — Section of Western Corn-Crib. 414 CHAPTER V. MECHANICS AS APPLIED TO THE FARM. I— The Farm Workshop. II — Mechanics' Tools on the Farm. Ill — Arrangement and Care of Tools. rV" — How to Keep Farm Implements. V — Sharpening Tools. VI — Proper Way to File an Implement. VII — Repairing Common Implements. VIII — The Farm Paint! Shop. IX — Putting lip Hough Buildings. X — Shingling a Eoof. XI — Making a Hay Eack. XII — Stone Fences. XIII — Moving Heavy Stones. XIV — For and Against Stone Walls. XV — How to Build the Wall. XVI— The Balloon Frame in Building. XVII— How to Build the Frame 426 Parx V, HORTICULTURE. VARIETIES AND CULTIVATION OF FRUITS, FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. THE PRACTICAL ART OF GRAFTING AND BUDDING. LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND LAND- SCAPE TREES. COMMON SENSE TIMBER PLANTING. INCLUDING FISH AND PISH CULTURE. CHAPTER I. ORCHARD, VINEYARD AND SMALL-FRUIT GARDEN. I — The Farm Orchard and Garden. II — Arrangement of the Home Orchai-d. Ill — How to Pre- pare for an Orchard. IV — Laying Out the Orchard and Planting. V— When to Buy Trees and When to Plant Them. VI — What Varieties to Plant. VII — Apples, their Cultivation and XVI TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE "Varieties. Vm— Pears, tlieir Varieties and Cultivation. IX— The Forms of Fruit Explained. X— Peaches. XI— Nectarines. XU— The Cherry XIU— Picliing and Packing Orchard Fruits. XIV— The Small Fruits. XV— The Vineyard. XVI— The Grapes for Farmers. XVII— Cultivation of the Cranberry 445 CHAPTER II. GKAFTING AND BUDDING. I— Grafts, Cuttings and Seedlings. H- The Grafter's Art. Ill— How to Graft. IV— Tools for Grafting. V— Grafting by Approach. VI— Grafting Old Orchards. VU— Cutting and Saving Scions. Vin— Grafting Wax. IX— Budding. X— When to Bud. XI— How to Prepare the Buds. XII— How to Bud. XUI— Spring Budding. XIV— Time to Cut Scions. XV— Grafting the Grape 481 CHAPTER III. VEGETABLE GARDENING. I — Economy of the Garden. II — How One Man Became a Gardener. Ill — Starting a Market Garden. IV— Troughs for Forcing Plants. V— The Number of Plants to Eaise. VI— The Hot-Bed. VII— Laying up the Hot-Bed. VIII — Market and Kitchen Gardening. IX — Water and Ventilation. X — How to Have Early Khubarb. XI — "Take Time by tho Forelock." XII — What to Kaise for Market. XIII — Economy in Cultivation. XIV — Preparing Vegeta- bles for Market. XV— How to Eaise Potatoes. XVI— -'Planting in the Moon." XVII— Potatoes Illustrated 491 CHAPTER IV. GARDEN FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. I — The Flower Garden. II — How to Cultivate Flowers. Ill — Select List of Flowers for General Cultivation. IV — Biennial and Perennial Flowers. V — Summer Flowering Bulbs. VI — Flowering Plants and Vines — Koses. VII — Flowering Shrubs. VIII — Climbing and Trailing Shrubs. IX — ^Flowering Trees. X — Everlasting Flowers and Ornamental Grasses. XI — Water Plants. XII— Trellises . . 507 CHAPTER V. LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND LANDSCAPE TREES. I— The Landscape Gardener's Art. II — Studying Effects. Ill— Design for a Village Lot. IV — Design for Secluded Grounds. V — Trees and Terraces — Tree Protectors. VI — Laying Out Curves of Walks and Drives. VU — Laying Out and Planting Flower Beds. VIII — Landscape Effects. IX — Trees for Landscape Planting. X — Tropical Plants 535 CHAPTER VI. FISH AND FISH PONDS. I— Fish on the Farm. II — ^Fishes for Cultivation. Ill — Kiver and Pond Fish and their Time for Spawning. IV — The Families of Kiver and Pond Fish. V— Rules for the Transportation of Fish. VI— Artificial Fish Breeding. VII— Hatching the Fish. VIII— Fish-Hatching Boxes. IX— Breeding Fish in Ponds. X— Carp Breeding. XI— How to Form the Pond 557 CHAPTER Vn. COMMON SENSE TIMBER PLANTING. I_Thc Ecotiomy of Timber. II— What Timber EeaUy Does for a Country. Ill— What Timber to Plant. IV — Our Experience in Tree Planting. V— The Poetry of the Forest 570 TABLE or CONTENTS. XVII PART VI. INSECTS AND BIEDS IN THEIE RELATION TO THE FARM. mSECTS IXJUKIOUS AND BEjSTEFICIAL. ILLUSTKATED CLASSIFICATION OF IKSEOTS. REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES AGAINST DAMAGE. BIEDS TO BE FOSTEEED OE DESTROYED. CHAPTER I. ENTOMOLOGY ON THE FARM. PAGE I — Practical Value of Entomology. 11 — Destroying Insects on Nursery Trees. Ill — Orchard Culture in Relation to Insects. IV — Care of Trees in Relation to Insects. V — Predatory Birds and Insects. VI— The Study of Insects. VII — The Classification and Anatomy of Insects. VIII — Divisions of Insects According to their Pood. IX — Noxious and Injurious Insects. ; 579 CHAPTER II. INSECTS INJUEIOUS_ AND BENEFICIAL. I — Plant-Lice. II — Scale Insects. HI — Plant Bugs. IV — General Means for Destroying Bugs. V — Eemedies for Chinch-Bugs . . .... .... . 595 CHAPTER III. INSECTS DESTROYING GRASS AND GRAIN. I — Insects that Prey Upon Grass. II — ^Insects Injuring. Clover. Ill — Clover-Leaf Beetle. IV — The Army Worm. V — Vagabond Crumbus. VI — Insects Injuring Grain. VII — The Sorghum "Web- Worm. VIII— Sugar Cane Beetle. The Smaller Corn-Stalls Borer. X— The Eice-Stalk Borer. XI— Grass-Worm of the South. XII— Corn Bill-Bug. XIII— The Corn or Cotton-Boll Worm. XIV — Eemedy for the Cotton- Worm, South. XV — Poisons for Worms. XVI — The Hateful Grasshopper or Locust. XVII — Eemedies Against the Grasshopper ' • . . . 617 CHAPTER IV. OTHER DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS AND THEIR ENEMIES. I — Insects Injurious to Trees. II — Insects Injurious to Coniferous Trees. Ill — Insects Injur- ing the Grape. ■ IV — Insects Injuring Fruit Trees. V — Leaf Rollers. VI — Apple Tree Case Bearer. VII — The Orange Leaf-^Notcher. VEH — Fuller's Rose Beetle. IX — ^Insects Injuring Plants. X— Snout Beetles. XI— The White Grub or May Beetle. XII— The Spanish Fly or Blister Beetle. XIII — Beneficial Insects— Lady Birds. XIV — Soldier Beetles. XV— Tiger Beetles. XVI— Other Beetles and Parasites. XVII— Conclusions. . 637 CHAPTER V. BIRDS IN THEIR RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. I-rBiids in the Economy of Nature. 11— What Birds Shall We Kill? Ill— Food of Some Common Birds. IV — Birds Classified by their Food. V — Birds the Natural Enemy of XMII TABLE OF COXTEXTS. Insects. VI— Birds to be CarefiiUy Fostered. VU— Bii-ds of Doubtful Utility. THI— Birds to be Exterminated. IX — ^I)estroyiug Insects 651 P^RT VII. FAEM LAW AXD ITS PEINTIPLES. LEGAL FOEMS AXD OBLIGATIONS. AGKICULTUI?AL LAW. STOCK, GAME AXD FEXCE LAW. SECUBES'G A HOMESTEAD. HIRING HELP, ETC. CHAPTEE I. FEIXCIPLES IX KURAL LAW. I — Law Governing Farmers' Animals. H — Liability for Injury by -Dogs. lU — Trespassing L'pon Property. IV — Division Fences. V — ^Kailway Fences and Trespass. VI — Kaihvays Kunning Through Farms. XH — Public Roadways. VIII^The Rights of the Public in the Road. IX — Avoiding Obstructions in the Road. X — Right of Way Over Lands of Others. XI — Liabilitj- of the Farmer for his Servants. XII — Rights Relative to Water and Drainage. XTTT — ^Liability of Dealers. , XTV — ^Hiring Help — Specific Wages. XV — What Is a Farm ? XVI— Getting a Free Farm. ' XVII— The Public Land System. XVni. Pre-Emption, Homestead and Timber-Culture Acts. XIX — Land Taken Under the Three Acts. XX— The Desert Land Act. XXI— Land Yet Open to Settlers. . . 661 CELAJPTER n. LAAVS RELATIXG TO AGEICtLTUKE. I — Needed Reforms in Farm Laws. EC — Laws that Every Farmer Should Know. HI — Fish and Game Laws. IV — Game Laws in Old and Xew Siate*. V — Laws Relating to Dogs. VI— Stock and "Estray Laws. VII— Stock Laws of the Xew England States. VIH— Stock Laws of the Middle States. IX — Stock Laws of the Southern States. X — Stock Laws of the Western States. XI — State Laws Relating to Fences. XII — Fence Laws in Gen- eral. XIH- Fence Laws in Xew England. XIV— Fence Laws in the Middle States. XV — Fence Laws in the South. XVI — Fence Laws in the Western States. XVII — Fence Laws of the Pacific Slope G74 CHAPTER m. LAAV FOEMS RELATIXG TO BL'SIX-ESS TRAXSACTIOXS . I Guarding Against Swindlers. U— Rules of Guidance in Business. IH — Rules Relating to Banking. FV' — ^Indorsements. V — Forms of Xotes! VI — Judgment Xotes. VH — Due- Bills, Receipts. Orders, Etc. VIH — Some Defenses Which May Defeat Payment of Xego- tiable Paper. IX— Remarks Concerning Xotes. X— Drafts Explained. XI — Remittances. Xn — Obligation for Married Women. XIH— Drawing up Important Papers. XIV— Short Form of Lease for Farm and Buildings. X\' — Agreements Between Landlord and Tenant. XVI— Wills. XVn— Power of Attorney. XVIII— Mortgage— Short Form. XIX— "War- ranty Deeds. XX— Bills of Sale. XXI— Bonds. XXII— Arbitration. XXIII— Award of Arbitrators. XXTV— Counterfeit Money. XX\'— Good Business Maxims. XXVI — Some Points on Business Law. XXVII — Definitions of Mercantile Terms. XXVUT — • Business Characters 703 TABLE or CONTENTS. XIX Part VIII. HOUSEHOLD AET AND TASTE. BEAUTIFYING THE HOME. DKESS AND TOILET ART. THE NURSERY AND SICK ROOM. RULES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH. REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES OF DISEASE. COOKING FOR THE SICK, ETC., ETC. CHAPTEK I. HOUSEHOLD ART AND TASTE. PAGE I— Beautifying the Home. II— Furnishing the House. Ill— The Parlor Furniture. IV— The Dining-Room. V— The Kitchen. VI— The Bed-Rooms. VII— The Cellar. VIII— The Water Supply. IX— Soft-Water Cisterns. X — Laying Down Carpets. XI — Painting and Kalsomining. XII — Arrangement of Furniture. XIII — House Cleaning. XIV — Sweeping and Dusting — ^Renovating Carpets • 725 CHAPTER II. THE PARLOR AND LIBRARY. I— The Rooms for Company. II— Guests of the House. Ill — Etiquette of the Parlor. IV — Entertaining Visitors and Guests.- V — Daily Duties Not Interrupted by Guests. VI — Going to Bed. VII — Servants and Parlor Service. VIH — ^Duty to Children. IX — What Constitutes Vulgarity. X — Parlor Decoration. XI — ^Decoration Not Necessarily Costly. XIT— A Rocking Chair. XIII— A Practical Family. XIV— Ingenious and Useful. . . .737 CHAPTER HI. THE DINING-ROOM AND ITS SERVICE. I — ^Dining-Room Furniture and Decoration. II — Table Etiquette. Ill — Carving at Table. IV — Carving Four-Footed Game. V — Carving Birds and Fowls. VI — Carving Fish. VII — The Service of the Table. VIII — Some Dishes for Epicures. IX — Queer Facts About Vegetables. X— The Use of Napkins 746 CHAPTER IV. DRESS, AND TOILET ART. I — Dress, Ancient and Modern. II — The Real Purposes of Dress. HI — Clothe According to Circumstances. IV— Mending Clothes. V— Altering Clothes. VI— The Kind of Clothes to Wear. VII — Taste in Ladies' Dress. VIII— Something About Color. IX— Toilet- Room and Bath. X— Garments Next the Skin. XI— The Care of Clothes. XII— The Care of Brushes and Combs 754 CHAPTER V. THE NURSERY AND SICK-ROOM. I— To Preserve Health and Save Doctors' Bills. II— The Care of Children. Ill— Nursery Bathing. IV — Duration of and Proper, Time for Bathing. V— Exercise of Children. VI— Study and Relaxation. VII— The Sick-Room. VIll— Cookery for Invalids. IX— Table of Foods and Time of Digestion. X — Some Animal Foods in their Order of Digest- ibility. XI — The Time Required to Cook Various Ai-ticles. XII — Cooking for Conva- lescents — Recipes and Directions. XIII— Jelly of Meat. XIV— Other Simple Dishes. XX TABLE OF COXTEXTS. PAGE XT— Gniels. XTI— Teas and Other KeJreshing Drinks. "S:\TI— Remedies for tbe Sick. XVIII— Doses and their Graduation. XIX— Disinfection. XX— Tests for Impurities in Water. XXI — Simple Poisons and their Antidotes. XXII — ^^'iruleut Poisons and their Antidotes. * XXHI- Health-Board Disinfectants. XXIV— How to Use Disinfectants. . . 761 CHAPTER VI. CONTEIBUTIOXS FROM FRIENDS OX HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. I — ^Value of Condensed Information. II — Origin of Our Household Recipes. Ill — Economy in the Kitchen— Washing Dishes. IV— The Damper in the Stove. V— Regulating Coal Fires. VI— The Use of Waste Paper. VH— Cleaning Soiled Marble, etc. VIH— Ver- minous Insects. IX — Cloth and Fur Moths. X — Book-Destroying Insects. XI — Kero- sene. Xn— The Laundry — Some Helps in Washing. XHI — Starching and Ironing. XIV. Bleaching Linens, etc. XV — Home-Made Soap and Candles. X^^— To Clean Silver. XVn — Sweeping. X V Ill--Papering, Kalsomining and Painting. XIX — Kalsomining. XX. —Painting. XXI— Spring House-Cleaning. XXII— Household Hint*. XXHI- Toilet Reci- pes. XXTV- Home-Made Wines. XXV— Home-Made Inks. XXVI— Recipes for Glue. XXVn— The Dyer's Art. XXVHl— Coloring , Dress and Other Fabrics. XXIX— Color- ing Yellow, Blue and Green. XXX— Scarlet and Pink. XXXI— Coloring Black, Brown and Slate. XXXH— Walnut Coloring-^Black Walnut. XXXIH- Coloring Carpet Rags. . 780 PART IX. PEACTiaiL, CO^BION SENSE HOIME COOIONG. KITCHEN ECOXOMY AXD KITCHEN ART. OV~R EVERY-DAY EATING AND DRINK- ING. RECIPES FOR ALL STYLES OF COOKIXG. EXCELLENT DISHES CHEAPLY MADE. ECONOMY OF A VARIED DIET. CHAPTER T. THE LARDER AXD KITCHEX. 1 The Meat-Boom. II — Hanging. Testing and Preserving Pork, etc. HI — ^Mutton and Lamb. IV — Calves and their Edible Parts. V — Beef on the Farm. VI — The Kitchen. VII — The Floor, Walls and Furniture. VEtl — Cleanliness Indispensable. IX — ^Kitchen Utensils. X — Chemistry of the Kitchen. XI — The Component Pai-ts of Meat. XH — ^A Famous Cook on Boiling. XIII— Boiled and Stewed Dishes. XTV— How to Ste\v. . . .809 CHAPTER II. SOME USEFDL RECIPES. I_Vegetable Soup. H— Clear Beef Soup. HI- Soups of Variotis Meats. IV— Fish Soup. V— Boiled Dishes. VT— Stewing. VII— How to Make Stock. VIII— To Clarify Stock or Soup. IX— To Color Soups. X — Roasted and Baked Meats. XI— Beef a la ;Mode. XII — Preparing the Boast, xij— Roast Saddle of Venison. XIV— Fowl and Turkey. XV— Baked Ham. XVI— Baked Beans. XVH— Broiling and Frying. X'VIU— Prepared Dishes Baked. XIX— Pastry for Meat Pies. XX— Ingredients for Meat Pies. XXI— Dishes of Eggs. XXn— Steamed Dishes 821 TABLE OB'' CONTENTS. XXI CHAPTEK III. SAUCES, SALADS, PICKLES AND CONDIMENTS. PAGE I — Sauces and Gravies. II — Salads and their Dressing. Ill — Various Made Dishes. IV — Pickles, Catsups and Coudinients. V — Leaves for Flavoi'ing. VI — Sour Pickles — Cucum- bers. VII— Chow-Chow. VIII— Piccalilli. IX— Sweet Pickles. X— Catsups. XI— Con- diments. XII— Flavored Vinegar. _ XI [I— Strawberry Acid 838 CHAPTEE IV. BREAD-MAKING. I — Selecting the Flour. 11— Some Things to be Remembered. Ill — ^Yeast and Yeast-Making. IV — Bread of Fine Flour. V — Heatiug the Oven. VI — Milk Bread, Potato Bread and Cream Bread. VTI — Eye Bread. VIII — Graham Bread. IX — Boston Brown Bread. X — Various Recipes for Bread. XI — Biscuits, Rolls, Gems, etc. XII — Oatmeal Breakfast Cakes. XIII — Rusks and Rolls 854 CHAPTEE V. PASTRY AND PUDpiNGS. I — Digestible Pastry. 11 — Pies for Dyspeptics. Ill — Mince Pies. IV — Rhubarb Pie. V — Some Every-Day Pies. VI— Tarts and Tart Crusts. VII— Fruit Short-Cake. vfll— Puddings and their Sauces. IX — Devonshire Cream. X — English Plum Pudding. XI — Oatmeal Pudding or Porridge. XII — Four Puddings of Potatoes. XIII — Brown Betty. XIV^ Some Good Puddings. XV — Dumplings. XVI— A Hen's 'N^est and the Sauce. XVII — Fruit Puddings. XVIII — Puddings of Grain. XIX — Miscellaneous Puddings. XX— Custards and Creams — Frozen Custard 862 CHAPTEE VI. CAKE-MAKING. I — Cake an Economical Food. 11— General Rules for Making Cake. Ill — Icing, Glazing and Ornamenting. IV — Recipes for Frosting. V — Ornamenting Cake. VI — Special Prepara- ' tions. VII— Fruit Cake, Dark. VJII— Rich Pound-Cake. IX— Miscellaneous Cakes. X— More Good Cakes. XI— Gingerbread and Other "Homely '" Cakes. XH-The Housewife's Table of Equivalents 875 CHAPTEE VII. BEVERAGES, ICES AND CANDIES. I_Pnre "Water as a Beverage. II— Tea and Coffee. Ill— How to Make Tea. PV— The Tea- Making of Various Peoples. V — A Cup of Coffee. VI — Chocolate. VH— Refreshing Drinks. VIII — Summer Drinks. IX — Tomato Beer. X — Ice Cieam and Water Ices. XI— Candy-Making. XII— Candied Fruit 884 CHAPTEE VIII. PRESERVING, DRYING AND CANNING FRUIT. _ I — Old and Kew Ways of Preserving. II — Canning Fruit. Ill — How to Preserve Fruit. IV — Canning Whole Fruit— Peaches. V— Canning Tomatoes. VI— Canning Vegetables. VII— Preserving in Sugar. VIH — ^Marmalade. IX — Jam of Apples and Other Fruits. X — Jellies. XI— Syrups — Blackberry, etc. XII— Drying -Fruits. XHI — Miscellaneous Recipes for Preserving. XIV— Brandied Peaches and Other Brandied Fruits. 892 XXII TABLE OF CONTENTS PART X. DEPORTMENT AND SOCIETY. SOCIAL FOKMS AND CUSTOMS. SELF-HELP, RULES OF ETIQUETTE, ETC. DIRECTIONS FOR LETTER-WRITING, ETC. COMPLETE SOCIAL GUIDE. CHAPTER I. PHILOSOPHY AND PRECEPTS OF ETIQUETTE. PAGE I— The Philosophy of Etiquette. II— Etiquette an Aid to Success. Ill — What it Inculcates. IV — Etiquette of Dining— How Many to Invite. V— Dinner Costumes. VI— Informal Din- ners. Vn — How to Receive Guests. VIII — At the Table. IX — How to Serve a Dinner. X— Family Dinners. XI— A Few Useful Hints. XII— Table Usages; What to Do and What to Avoid. XIII — Wines at Formal and Official Dinners. XTV — Sensible Hints for Dinner-Givers. XV — After Dinner. XVI — Breakfast and Supper. XVII — Luncheon — In- vitation and Service. XVIII— Etiquette of Dress and Conversation. XIX— The Golden Rule. XX— Things to Avoid. XXI— Calls. XXU— General Etiquette of Calls. XXIII— Evening Calls. XXIV— Visiting Cards. XXV— New Year's Calls 903 CHAPTER II. ETIQUETTE OF THE STREET, BALL, CHURCH, ETC. I— Street Deportment. II — General Rules of Street Deportment. III-;-Special Rules of Street Deportment. IV — ^Etiquette of Introductions. V — Salutations. VI — Riding and Driving. VII — Ball and Party Etiquette. VIH— The Supper, Dresslng-Room, etc. IX — Some Gen- eral Rules of Party Etiquette. X — Evening Parties — The Conversazione. XI — Concerts, Theatricals, etc. XII — Parlor Lectures. XIH — Church Etiquette. XIV — Etiquette of Visits. XV— Rules for General Guidance. XVI— Etiquette of the Funeral. XVII— Etiquette of the Christening — Godfather and Godmother — Presents, etc 919 CHAPTER HI. ETIQUETTE OF THE WEDDING, THE ROAD AND THE CAPITAL. Etiquette of Wedding Engagements. H— The Wedding. Ill— The Ceremony in Church. IV— Wedding Receptions. V— Etiquette of the Road— Traveling. VI— Ladies Traveling— The Escort. VII— General Rules for Traveling. VIII— Etiquette in Washington. IX — Etiquette of Shopping. X— Special Rules of Deportment. XI— George Washington's One Hundred Rules of Life Government 932 CHAPTER IV. FORMS, LETTERS, FRENCH PHRASES, ETC. I— Written Invitations to Dinner and Social Parties. II — Other Invitations— Evening Party. Ill- Acceptances and Regrets. IV— Friendly Invitations. V— Friendly Acceptances and Regrets. VI— Letters of Introduction. VII— Letters of Recommendation. VIII— Asking a Loan and the Reply. IX— Directing a Letter. X— Suggestions for Letter-Writers. XI— Stj'les of Cards XIT— French Words and Phrases in General Use. XIII— Treatment of Children. XIV— Seventy-five Cardinal Rules of Etiquette. XV — Alphabet of Etiquette 945 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXIII Part XI. MISCELLANEOUS. VALUABLE TABLES AJSTD EECIPES. FOODS, SPICES AST) CONDIMENTS. WEIGHTS, MEASURES, LEGAL FOKMS, ETC. CHAPTER I. FOOD PRODUCTS OF CO]VIMERCE. PAGE I — Flour and its Manufacture. II — Eye and its Products. Ill — Barley and its Products. IV — Oats and their Products. V — Maize and its Products. Yl — Beans and Peas and their Products. VII — ^Potatoes and Potato Products. VIII — Sage and Tapioca. IX — Choco- late and Cocoa. X — Coffee. XI — Tea. XII — Cotton-Seed Oil. XHI — Spices and their Adulteration — Pepper. XIV — Cinnamon ; How to Know it Pure. XV — Cloves and Allspice. XVI — Nutmegs and Mace. XVII— Ginger and its Preparation. XVIII — Capers — True and Spurious Kinds. XIX— The Tamarind. . • 961 CHAPTER n. LAW, COMMERCIAL AND OTHER FORMS. 1 — Indenture of Apprenticeship or for Service. II— Arrears of Pay and Bounty. Ill— Forms for Bounty Land. IV — Agreements and Contracts. V — Warranty Deed. VI — Mortgage of Personal Property. VH— Bills of Sale. VIH— Certificates, Eeleases and Discharges. IX — Powers of Attorney. X — Eevocation of Power of Attorney. XI — Proxy Eevoking all Pre- vious Proxies 971 CHAPTER m. TABLES OF WEIGHTS, DIMENSIONS, STRENGTH, GKAVITT, ETC. I— Tables of Weights. 11— The Meti-ic System. Ill — The Metric System Compared with Our Own. IV — Tables Eelating to Money. V — Foreign Exchange. VI — Specific Gravity. Vn — Earths and Soils. VIII — Cohesion of Materials. IX — Strength of Common Eopes. X— Human Force. XI— Heat and its Effects. XII— Capacity of Soils for Heat. XIH— Eadi- ating Power, Absorption and Evaporation. XTV — Temperatures Eequired by Plants. XV — Temperatures of Germination. XVI — Contrasts between Animal and Plant Life. XVH — Ther- mometers. XVni — Dimensions and Contents of Fields, Granaries, Corn-Cribs, etc. XIX — EainfaU in the United States. XX— Force and Velocity. XXI— Weight of Agricultural Products 982 CHAPTER IV. TABLES AND DIAGRAMS OF PRACTICAL VALUE. 1— Seeds and Plants to Crop an Acre. H- Vegetable Seeds to Sow 100 Yards of Drills. Ill- Plants per Acre at Various Distances. IV— Vitality of Seeds. V— Plants per Square Eod of Ground VI — ^Foretelling the Weather. VII — Comparison of Crops in Great Britain and XXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAG3 . the United States. VUI— Improved aud Unimproved Lands in the States and Territories. IX — Forest Areas — Em-ope and United States. X — Surveyed and Appropriated Lands in States and Territories. XI — Tables of Nutritive Equivalents, eto. XII— Table Shovk^ing Prices per Pound. XIII— Table of Interest at Six per Cent. XIV— Growth of Money at Interest. XV — Mean Duration of Life. XVI — ^Mortality Eates. XVII — How to Calculate Salaries and Wages. XVIII — The Earth's Area and Population. XIX — The World's Com- merce. XX— Pay of the . Principal Officers of the United States. XXI— Public Debt of the United States. XXII — The United States and Territories. XXIII — Diagrams giving Valuable Statistics, . . • . . . ' 1006 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOI^fS. A village (rural) home, 34 Rude home of the pioneer, .38 Nature's classic halls (waterfall) , . . . . 39 Window gardening, 40 The settler's tu'st home — log cabin, . . .41 Indian corn, ancient and modern, . . . 45 Early Greek implements of agriculture, . 4S Ancient Chinese plow, . . . . , ... 48 Ancient Koman agriculture {five illustrations), 51 Old Moorish plow, 58 Norman farm tools (six ^gwres), 59 Plowing in the Orkney Islands, 59 English steam plow at work, 60 Daniel Webster's plow, . . 62 Plow with chain for turning under trash, . 63 Plow with attachment for clearing trash, . 63 Gang stubble plow, 64 Stirring and stubble plow, ...... 66 Skim and trench furrow in trench plowing, 67 Trench plowing ten inches deep, ... .67 The furrow moved back, .67 Deep trench plowing, . 68 Double harrow, slanting teeth, 68 Harrow folded, . .68 Sectional field roller, 69 Soil grinder, . . 69 Walking cultivator, 71 Five-tooth cultivator, 71 Seed sower, 72 Diagrams for plowing fields (four figures) , . 74 Wheat without fertilizers, .... 77 Wheat w^ith fertilizers, . . 78 Illustrations of wheat (four figures) , .... S3 Wheat planted at different depths, . . .94 Caps for shocks (too ^^ares), 96 The shock^finished, 96 Hallet pedigree wheat (two sections) , .... 97 Heads of wheat (three figures), 100 Montana spring rye, 101 Winter barley — plant and head, 102 Annat barley, 104 Chevalier barley, ' 104 English barley, 104 Horse-mane oats, 105 White Russian oats, 106 Yellow dent corn, Ill White dent corn, '. 112 PAGE. Michigan yellow dent corn, 113 YeJlow flint corn, ■ 114- A field of shocked corn, . . 115 Corn horse for shocking, 116- Corn-shock binder, 117 Varieties of Indian corn (twenty illustrations) , 119' Michigan yellow dent corn, . . . . . 120 White dent or Parrish corn, . 120- Mammoth yellow dent, ... ... . 121 "North star corn, .... 121 Eight-rowed flint corn, 122 Waushakum corn, .... . ... 122' Silver white flint corn, . . 122 Wild rice of the Northwest, ... . 124 Grasses and clover, ....'.,.. 134 Flowering of grasses (thirteen illustrations) , . 136' Flowering of grasses (thirteen illustrations) , . . 137 Flowering of grasses (fourteen illustrations) , . 138 Flowering oi grsLSses (thirteen illustrations), . 139 Flowering of grsisses (twelve illustrations), . 140' Flowering of grasses (ten illustrations) , . . . 141 Timothy or cat's-tail grass, 143 The proper form of stack 144 Prairie blue joint (broom grass), . . . . 145 Buffalo grass (Buchloe), 146 Gama grass of the South, 147 Indian grass (sorghum nutans), 148 Mesquit grass, 148 Sweet-scented vernal grass, 150' Rye grass, ... ... 153 Tall oat grass, ... . 153; Blue grass (Kentucky) , ... . 158 Red-top (agrostis), 159' Orchard gi'ass, 160' Mammoth red clover, 161 White (Dutch) clover, 162 Alsike (Swedish) clover 163. Alfalfa or lucerne, 164 Japan clover (lespedeza), 164 Sorghum, 169' Hungarian grass, 170 Pearl millet, 171 Prickly comfrey, 172 Belgian carrot, 175 Mangel-wurzel, . . , 175 Parsnips (two cuts), 176' Carrots (two cuts), 176 (XXV) XXA'I LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Ked iUtringham carrot, 177 Jei'iisaleai artichoke, . 177 Tall corn close shocked, . . . . . 179 Dwarf corn iu two tieis, 179 Dwarf corn lu three tiers, 179 Ensilage illusti-uted — before covering, . . . 1 79 Ensilage illusn-ated— after covering, . . . 179 Ensilage illustrated — final compression, . . . 1 79 One of the earlier silos, ... 181 Section of double silo, 185 Spraying with poisoned water to desti'oy cot- ton worms, ... 202 Eamie roots and stem, ... 210 Silk-worm larva, full grown, .... 213 Silk-worm moth, . . . . . 213 Silk-worm cocoon, . . . . . . 213 Piedmontese silk-reel, . . . 217 Lath frame, . . 218 French silk-reeling machine, . . . 219 Plain view of old French reel, .... . 220 Hop kiln or dry house, 228 Tobacco plant iu blossom, 233 234 234 235 237 239 239 240 242 257 257 258 258 259 259 260 261 261 262 262 263 271 273 273 274 275 278 278 279 276 281 n, Tobacco moth worm, • Tobacco worm (lai-va), . . Pupa of tobacco worm, Tobacco plant properly set, • Tobacco house, Hand of tobacco, JVloth of tomato worm — destroys tobacco in the North, Peanuts — plants and tubers. Head of Liberian cane. Head of Neeanzana cane, . Head of wolf-tail cane. Head of black-top cane, Head of rice, or Egyptian cor Head of hybrid cane, . . Head of white mammoth cane, Head of early amber cane, Head of gray-top cane. Head of Oomseeana cane, Head of goose-neck cane. Head of Honduras cane. . . Modern prairie breaker, . A pioneer's cottage, , . . ■Ground plan of cottage, with lean-to. Shall I move the barn, or the tnanure pil( The successful farmer's model barn, Eeins for three horses abreast, Three-horse draft, .... Vertical breaking plow, . . Flat furrows breaking, . . . ■Orchard and wind break, . . e. PAGE. Adze-eyed mattock, 284 Dairy-house, elevations, 288 Butter worker, 289 Diagram of farm, . 295 A garden farm, 296 Panels of Virginia fence, 300 Looked Virginia fence, 300 Perpendicular staking and capping 301 Post-and-rail fence, 301 Post-hole auger, 302 Cast post maul, 303 Portable board fence, .... .... 304 End posts and braces for wire fence or trellis, 305 Fence for a hillside, 307 Slide and swing gate, 308 Gate swinging on rings, 308 Gate with strut, 308 Gate with tie latch, 308 Balance gate, .... 309 Sliding gate (two views) , . . . . ... 309 Eisiug gates (two views) , 309 Self-shutting upper hiiige, .... . ' . 310 Gate latch (half size), ... 310 Self-closing slide gate, 310 KoUer hangers, ■ . . 311 Heavy strap-hinge, 311 Southern strap-hinge farm gate (figured) , . . 312 Double-braced gate, ... 312 Adjustable swing gate, . . , ... 313 Ornamental gate and fence, . . ... 313 Incorrect form of water gate, 3l4 Correct form of water gate, .314 Stream gate and footway (two mews) , . . . :-il5 Corn knife, . . .... 318 Billhook 319 Norway spruce and arbor-vitse hedge, . . . 319 White or evergreen thorn, 320 Hedge clipper, ... 321 Osage orange as a tree, . : 323 Drainage of sloughs, 333 Deep-tiller plow for working ditches. . . . 334 Watering-box from under-drain, . . . 334 Drainage-map — space for water pond. . . . 336 Bound-pointed shovel, 337 Cross section of under-drain, 338 Flat-stone drain, 339 Kovind-stone drain, 339 Slab and pole drains (/our cuts) , . . . . 340 Tile di-ain, 341 Drainer's level 342 Finding the level 343 Protecting the bank, ... 343 German spade, 344 LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. XXVII Drainage tools (eight cuts) , 345 Silt well, 347 Ice or tile pick, 350 Connection of lateral with main drain, . . . 350 Diagram of drained field, 351 Draining water halls, . 352 Draining 160 acres, .... 354 Ashland, the home of Henry Claj', .... 362 Farm-house huilt from increasing profits, . . 363 Ground plans of farm-house {two figures) , . . 364 The old house remodeled, 364 Ground plan of house, . . ... . . 365 Farm or suburhan cottage, 366 First floor, farm cottage 367 Upper floor, farm cottage, 367 Parle of the farm cottage, 368 Farm stable and carriage-house, 368 Hillside cottage, ... 371 Ground plan, 372 Plan of attic, 372 Ground plan of horse barn, ....... 373 Maiu floor of farm barn, 373 Ice-house and preservatory, 373 Poor reservoir for fountain, 374 A plaiu farm-house, 393 Ground plan, No. 1, 394 Grouud plan, No. 2, 394 Cottage for farm hand, 394 First floor, square cottage, 395 Second floor, square cottage, 395 Suburban or farm cottage, 39G Ground plan, ... 396 A pretty rural home, ... 397 Ground plan of rural home, . .... 397 Ground plan of convenient cottage, .... 398 Second floor of same, 398 Farm house, Italian style, . . . . . 398 A convenient cottage, . 399 English gothic cottage, ... 400 Ground plan of English gothic cottage, . . . 401 Plan of rural grounds, .... .... 402 School and meeting house combined, . . . 403 Neighborhood primary school-house, . . . 404 Interior of primary school-house, 404 Scholar's wigwam, 405 A rustic seat, 406 Summer-house of bark, • 406 Square summer-house, . 406 An elegant summer-house, 407 Drinking fountain, 408 A wicket coop, 408 Barrel coop, , .... 408 Poultry house, 409 PAGE. Chicken and duck enclosure 40S> Lean-to propagating pit, ,. 410' Propagating and dry house, 410' Farm ice-house, 411 Outline drawings of earth-closets {two cuts), . 411 Reservoir earth-closet, ... . . . . 412 Brick smoke-house, .• 413 Framed smoke-house, . . .... 413 Subiu'bau carriage-house and stable, .... 414 Complete dairy barn elevation, . . ^. . . . 415 The stable floor, 416 Horse and cow barn, 416 Ground plan of barns and sheds, 417 Barn basement, .... 417 Feed box, 418 Sheep barn and sheds, 418' Wagon jack, 419 Improved wagon jack, ... .... 419 Plan of sheep barn and yai-ds, 419 Sheep dipping box, . . . .... 419 Ground plan of sheep barn and yards, . . . 420 Sheep rack for open yard, 420 Square hog barn with extended wings, . . .421 Corn crib of poles, 422 Ventilated granary, 423 Ground plan of granary, 424 Corn crib and granary, 424 Skeleton of crib, 424 Crib extended inwards, 424 Western corn crib, 425 A family set of tools (£weK«!/-one/(/M)-es), . .427 One end of tool -house (thirty figures) ^ . . 428' Second end of tool-house (thirty figures) , . . 429 View of one side of tool-house and workshop (123 figures), 430 The other side of tool-house and workshop (fifty -one figures), .... . . . 431 Improved saw-set 432 A saw clamp, . 433 Newly wooded singletree, 433 Open link, . . 434 Arm-chair turned back, . 434 The arm-chair closed, ... , . . . . 434 Mole trap, 434 Paint brush — best, . 435 Sash brush 435 Section of adjustable plumb and level, . . . 435 Simplest form of stone boat, ■ ■> . ... 437 One-story frame (balloon), , . .... 439 Diagonal lining, inside and out, ... . 440 Isothermal view, balloon frame 440 Canada reinette apple, . . 446 Tetafsky apple, .... 447 3i;xviir LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. •llai-ly Joe ajjple, 450 Hlgby sweet apple, 451 Nurseiy trees (/oMr^g'Mres), 452 Summer rose apple, 454 Grimes' golden apple, 455 Bonne dii Piiits ansault pear, 457 Frederic Clapp pear, . . • 458 Howell pear, . 459 Dix pear, '. 460 Paradise D'Automne pear, 461 Little Marguerite pear, 462 •George rv. peach, 463 liToblesse peach, 464 Nectarine or smooth peach, 465 Early Richmond and late morello cherry, . . 468 Black eagle cherry, ... 469 ■Governor Wood cherry, 470 Knight's early black cherry, 471 Fruit-picking ladder, 472 Grapevine treUis, 473 View of two canes trained to stake, .... 475 Trellis and vine, renewal system, 476 Short vine, cultivated cranberry, 478 Varieties of the cranberry (seven figures). . . 479 Saddle grafting, 482 Budding, pruning and grafting knife, . . . 483 Grafting by approach (^ue/g'M?-es), . . . ^.484 Stock and grafts (three figures), 484 Grafting chisel and wedge, 484 Budding knife, 487 Budding illustrated (/oTO- cMfs), 488 The wealth of the garden, 491 Hand cultivator, 492 Earlj' dwarf peas, . . . , 492 Phinney's early melon, 492 Long scarlet radish, . 492 Martynia 494 Sweet potato and vine, 495 Tripoli onion, . 496 Danvers yellow globe onion, . 496 Peppers, 496 Carrots (three figures), 496 Celery, 496 Parsnips (fftrec^g'wres) 496 French breakfast radish 496 Summer golden crook-neck squash, .... 496 Eggplant 496 The farm hot-bed, • 497 Kohl rabi, 499 Growing cucumbers in green-house, .... 500 Okra .... 501 How to cut potatoes for seed (two diagrams), . 504 Potatoes as they should grow 505 Potatoes, illustrated (eight eitts) , . . . . Crested moss rose (half size) , Pansies, .... . Moss pink, Perennial daisy, . . .... Caladium, ... Hybrid tea rose — La France, . ... Charles Lefebvre rose, . Countess of Serene rose, . . .... Louis Van Houtte rose, Flowers of white-flowering dogwood, . . Flowers of Japan quince, Eose-colored weigela, Variegated cornelian cherry, .... Dentzia blossoms, Fortune's forsythia, . . Double-flowering plum, Hydrangea otaksa, Syringa or mock orange, Silver bell (halesia), ' Meadow sweet (spirea) , . . . . . I^ance-leaved spirea, Japanese spirea, Guelder rose (viiurnum) , Clematis jackmanni, Hall's Japan honeysuckle; ■ Chinese wistaria, Flowers of magnolia speciosa, '. ... Kacemes of double-flowering horse chestnut. Double-flowering cherry, ... ... Flowers of double flowering thorn, . . . Flowers of catalpa speciosa, . . Chinese double-flowering crab. . . . Statice latifolia, . . . . Ornamental grasses, Water lilies • • •. Ornamental trellises (three illustrations), . English oak, .... Mulberry tree, Design for village lot Plan for secluded grounds, .... Trees massed for effect in height, .... Sodding terraces, . . Tree protector, . ... ... Transplanting trees, .... .... Road scraper, Flower beds (three diagrams) , Planting flower beds (three diagrams) . The great flower garden in Lincoln park, Chi cago, . A landscape effect in Lincoln park, Chicago Heavy wooded pine, .... ... Lamson's cypress, [■AGE. , 506 , 507 . 508 . 508 . 509 , 509 . 512 518 . 514 515 . 516 , 517 , 518 , 518 . 519 . 520 . 521 . 522 522 . .523 . 523 . 524 525 , 525 . 526 526 . 527 . 528 , 529 530 . 531 531 , 532 . 533 533 534 , 534 . 535 . 536 . 537 . 538 . 539 , 539 . 539 , 540 . 540 . 540 . 541 . 542 . 543 . 544 . 545 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXIX Magnolia glauca, 546 Siberian ai-bor-vitse, 546 White spruce, 54r Leaves of crisp-leaved maple, 548 Leaves of Wler's cut-leaved maple, .... 548 Leaves of Acutia-leaved ash, 549 Leaves of tricolofed-leaved sycamore, . . . 549 Leaf of fern-leaved beech 549 Fern-leaved beech, 550 Weeping birch, 551 Cut-leaved weeping birch, 552 White-leaved weeping linden, 553 Yellow wood (vergelea), 554 Scarlet maple, 555 Leaf of maple (variety tripartitum), . . . 555 English elm, .... 555 The ivory-nut plant, 556 Deciduous cypress of the South, 556 Persimmon tree, 556 Climbing fish, 557 A fish nursery, 558 Pond and fish-way 559 Black bass of the West, 560 Striped or brassy bass of the Mississippi, . . 5B0 Brook trout, 561 Artificial spawning of fishes' eggs, .... 563 Out-door hatching-box, 565 In-door hatching-box (/oMj-^f/Mres), . . . 566 Succession of hatching-boxes, 567 Artificial spawning bed, 568 Tllusti-ations of common insects (elevenfigures). 586 Beneficial insects (sixJee)i^g'Mres), 587 Pear-ti'ee lice {five illustrations) , 595 Plant lice magnified {ten illustrations) , . . . 596 Lice and scale insects magnified (seventeen illustrations), . . 597 Orange scale insect magnified (four illustra-. tions), ... . . . . . . . 598 Glover's orange scale magnifled (four illustra- tions), .... 599 Plant bugs (seven cuts) , • 002 Plant bugs (seven figures) , 603 Land bugs (six figures) ,■ ' 604 Land bugs (six figures), 605 Plant bugs (four figures), 606 Chinch and other bugs (sia;^g'««s), .... 607 Plant bugs (seven figures) , 608 Plant bugs (four figures) , 609 Plant bugs and bed bug (eteuera^srio'es) . . . 610 Corsair and reduvius (three figures) , . . . .611 Predatory bugs (six figures), 612 Predatory bugs (six figures), ........ 613 Water bugs (three figures) , 614 Water-hngs (two illustrations) , 615 Device for destroying chinch bugs, army worms, etc., . . 616 Clover-stem borer (fen ^g'j(m), . . ... 618 Clover-root borer (/oar ^S'Mj-es) , . ... 018 Clover-leaf midge, (four figures), . . . 618 Army worm, moth, pupa, and eggs (four figures) . 620 Army worm, larva, ; 620 Clover-leaf beetle (thirteen figures) , . . . 621 Lamp for killing night-flying moths 622 The vagabond crambus (J»e ^jfttres), . . . .622 Wheat isosoma (i«re^a'Mres), . 623 Wheat hopper, 623 Sorghum web worm (thirteen figures), . . . 624 The smaller corn-stalk borers (thirteen figures) , 624 Sugar-cane beetle, 625 Eice-stalk borer 626 Grass worm of the South, . 626 Moth of grass worm, 626 Corn bill bug, 627 Corn, cotton-boll or tomato worm, . . . 628 Spraying cotton from below, 630 Map of regions infested with locusts, . 632, 633 The Kiley locust gatherer, 635 The catalpa sphinx, 638 Osage orange sphinx, . . .... . 639 Pine-tree borer, . 640 Eesin-inhabitating deplosis, 640 Pine-leaf miner, 641 Juniper web-worm, . . 641 Lime-tree winter moth . 642 Flea beetle, 642 Apple-leaf sewer, 613 Orange-leaf notcher, . 643 Apple-tree case bearer, 643 Fullei-'s rose beetle (nirae^^Kres), 644 Melon worm and moth ... 644 Thacina parasite on melon worm, . . . 644 Asparagus beetles (three figures) , 645 Snout beetle, 645 Sweet-potato borer, 645 Distended May beetle, 645 Ladybirds of California (twenty -one cuts), . . 646 Nuttall's blister beetle, 647 Lady birds (six cuts) , 647 Soldier beetles (ten figures), 648 Tiger beetles (two cuts) , . . . ... 649 Soldier bug, 649 Ground beetles (tftree OT«.s), 649 'Chalcis Ay (seven figures) , . . ... 649 Epax apicaulis, 649 Lebia grandis (two cuts) ....... . . 650 XXX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Tachinafly (four figures), 650 Beautifying the home, 725 Glass case for house plants, 727 Aquarium, . . . '. 728 Walking fern 729 Pineapple and fruit, 729 Case of ferns, 729 Window plants in dining-room, 730 Tub filter, 731 Towel rack, 731 Carpet stretcher, 733 Kalsomine hrush, 734 Floor brush, 736 An oriel window, . . 740 Dragon-like ornament, 741 The living-room window, 741 Design for chair cover, . 742 The dragon chair, ■ • i ^42 Work-box and seat, 742 Scissois case, 742 A plant case, 743 A plant fumigator, 743 Plant-case bottom, 743 Sarah"s what-not, - 744 Moss water cooler, 744 Aleck's quilting frame, . . 744 Completely arranged dinner-table, .... "747 A dressed ham, 748 Sirloin of beef, 748 Fillet of veal, 748 Leg of mutton, 748 Eoast turkey, 749 Koast pig, 749 Trussed fowl (breast), 750 Trussed fowl (back) , 750 Pheasant, • .... 750 Partridge, 750 Pigeon (breast), 7o0 Pigeon (back), 750 Goose roasted, 750 Codfish head and shoulders, 751 Pan fish, .... 751 A piece of salmon, 751 Napkins about a decanter, 753 Folded napkins (three cate), 753 Infant bath tub, .763 Oval jelly mould, . ' 768 Jelly sieve, 768 Milk, poriidge or rice boUer, 770 Earth closets for invalids, 776 Adjustable stove damper, 781' Hog figured for cutting up 810 Dressed carcase of mutton, 811 Dressed lamb, 812 Carcase of veal, 813 Dressed ox, 814 Towel rack, 815 Roller towel 815 Clothes bars, 815 Eefrigerator, 816 Meat cutter, 816 Family meat cleaver, 816 Soup digester, 816 Mortars aud pestles, 816 Potato masher, 818 Tinned skewers, 818 Wooden steak maul, 819 Meat block, 819 Kouad-bottom pot, 820 Granite-ware stew kettle 820 Stew pot and lid, 821 Skillet and lid, . . . ; 821 Porcelain-lined fish kettle, 823 Brass kettle 823 Convex stew-pan, 827 Flesh fork, 830 Broiler and cover, . . 832 Oyster broiler, 833 Improved frying pan, 833 Vegetable or egg boiler, 836 Omelet pan, . . 836 Steamer 836 Soup or sauce strainer, ... . . . S3S Gravy strainer, . . 835 Salad washer, 840 Toaster and light broiler, 842 Pudding or timbale pan, 814 Mushrooms, 645 Colander, • . . 847 Preserving and pickling kettle, 850 Kitchen sieve, . . . . / 852 Kneading pan, 858 Corn-cake pans, 859- Wood rolling pin. . . • 859- Bake-pans for rolls, 861 Scalloped pie-plate, •. . . . 863 Oblong pie-plate, 864 Scalloped patty-pan, 865- Farina and pon-idge boiler, S6S Deep pudding-pan 868 Apple corer, 870 Oval pudding pan, ■ 872 Charlotte Eusse pan, 873 Beating bowl, 875- Octagon cake-mould, 877 Turk"s-head cake-mould, 877 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXI Sponge-cake pan, 878 Deep jelly pans, 878 Cake cutter, . . . . , 8S0 Cookie pans, ... 881 Water filter and cooler, . , 884 . Tea leaves, natural size, ... .885 Coffee roaster, 887 Ice-cream freezer, 889 Fruit and jelly press, . . . • 896 ninstrations showing forms of cards, . . 951, 952 Germination of the bean, ... .... 963 Germination of the pea, 963 Wild potato of New Mexico, 964 Young plant of Arabian coffee, . ... 965 Tea in the various stages of manufacture, . . 967 Diagram, production of corn, 1024 Diagram, production of wheat, . ... 1025 Diagram, export and consumption of cotton, 1026 Diagram, average rate of wages, groups of States, 1027 Diagram, number of miles of railroad built annually, 1028 Diagram, aggregate tons of freight moved, Erie canal, 1029 Hon. JONATHAN PEKIAM, Peontispiece. CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS AND COLORED DIAGRAMS. Woodland Home, as occupied by Farmer Thrifty, opposite page 33 Woodland Home, ten years later, in hands of Farmer Slack, .... opposite page 89 The Production of Cereals of the United States and the Various European Coun- tries compared, opposite page 110 Diagram showing Areas and Values op Indian Corn, Wheat and other Cereal Grains of the United States; also Hay and Cotton, (official), . opposite page 132 Diagrams showing the Acreage and Value op Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Hops and Rice , IN the United States, (official), . opposite page 224 Diagram showing the Number of Farms in the United States by Decades, opposite page 272 Diagram showing Forest Area, Acreage in Crops, Acreage in Farms and Total Farm Area of the United States, '. . . opposite page 272 Diagrams showing the Estimated Total Value and Total Number of each kind of Live Stock in the United States in January, 1882 (latest official statements) , opposite page 414 Diagrams showing the Value ait) Quantities of Beef, Hog Product, Butter and Cheese .Exported from the United States during the Year ending June 30, 1882 (latest official statement), • opposite page 426 Diagram showing the Increase of Population in the United States from 1790 to 1884 (official), opposite page 674 Foreign Population by Nativities, (census of 1880), opposite page 674 Diagram of the White, Colored, Chinese and Civilized Indian Population of the United States, (census of 1880), opposite page 674 Diagram of the Native and Foreign Population op the United IStates, (census of 1880), •' .... opposite page 674 Diagram showing Exports of Breadstuffs, Cotton and other Domestic Products, and Imports, from the latest official figures, opposite page 962 Part I. THE HOME AND FAEM. MAKING CONVENIENT, COMFORTABLE AND HAPPY HOMES. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE ILLUSTRATED AND COMPARED. IMPROVED FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. THE HOME AND FARM " Thy free, fair homes, my country! Long, long, in hut and hall, May hearts of native proof he reared To guard each hallow*d wall! And green forever he the groves, And hright the flowery sod, Where first the child's glad spirit loves Its country and its God!"— Felicia Hemans. CHAPTEE I. BUILDING HAPPY HOMES. CONTRASTED PICTURES. n. THE IDEAL COUNTRY HOME. III. THE FARMER'S WIFE. IV. THE OVERWORKED WIFE. ^V. SONS AND DAUGHTERS ON THE FARM. VI. YOUTHFUL ACTIVITY. VII. ADORNING THE HOME. VIII. IMPROVING THE HOMESTEAD. ^IX. SPORTS OF CHILDHOOD. X. LESSONS PROM THE GARDEN. XI. WHAT WE HOPE TO TEACH. I. Contrasted Pictures. IHERE is no sweeter word than Home ! Around the fireside cluster all that ..__ makes life beautiful, — Love, Trust, Charity, Truth and Beauty. There H'' husband and wife prove the loveliness of unselfish union. There the youth gains aspiration and the training for a noble life. There the maiden learns the sweetness of unsullied purity and gentle deeds. Much lies upon the man before he can be worthy of a happy home, much upon the woman. Some examples teach by warning, as others by furnishing models for imitation. Let us take a common case. A girl marries. She has been reared by an unwise though fond mother, whose slavish devotion to her children has made her an unlovely household drudge. She has been brought up to be that wretched thing, a gaudy slattern ; she is unkempt at breakfast and elsewhere at home, but gay beyond the household means for others ; is ashamed of, and discontented with, her surround- ings. City life to such an one is a cheerless, if not fatal, thing. After her marriage, the young couple live with her parents, and what the wretched home-education has taught grows into life-habit. Or, perhaps, they board in some house where idleness and gossip grow like noxious weeds, choking the possibilities of good. There is no wholesome work of head or hand ; a wretched life of complaint ensues ; the girl becomes the mother of children she is all unfit to rear: a querulous, 3 ■ m 34 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. discontented wife doing nothing — often unable to see anytliing to do — to aid in build- ing a Home. In the end, when her husband has won a house of his own, this woman drifts into a likeness of her mother. She is shrill-voiced, careless of raiment, old before her time, with no sign of the fair, calm matronly beauty, that second blossoming after seed-time, which should come to replace the young charm — the Indian summer, almost as fair as wakening spring-time. Her very love for her children works their hurt because there is no guidance. A VILLAGK HOME. The man is as often to blame, seeming to live for business alone, or vastly worse, only for boon companions. It is true that the wife, if she be one of those exce])tional beings who can answer harsh woi-ds or the more bitter neglect with a smile, who will make home sweet even when her own life is as ashes within her lips, will, in the end, win any man to home and duty. Of such women there are a few, — martyrs as worthy of our highest homage as any that ever perished at the stake. But such a. husl)and has no right to expect his wife to prove one of them. God's law BUILDING HAPPY HOMES. 35 is that " whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." The enforcement of this law is nearly always as speedy and obvious as it is ultimately certain. The man sows indifference, neglect, unfaithfulness, and he reaps bitter recriminations, domestic broils and jealousies, a full and hideous crop. II. The Ideal Country Home. In country life, the way is more smooth for both, though far from easy. The life of a farm is hard, especially so for the woman, but there is work for willing hands to do. There is the home to be made a haven of rest and sweet content. The wife should never forget her high ideal of home life, and that she must be the centre of its beauty. Though they have but a log hut amidst the wilderness, she may make that wilderness blossom as the rose- She may have small share of beauty, yet she may still be exceeding fair in her husband's eyes; Let them both remember it is not the harsh word that heals the breach. When the children come, let there be order, but remember children are not machines. Train them as you would a vine by daily, hourly care and thought; by example, not by hard rules. A child needs play, air, sunlight, and above all, love and sympathy. He needs a gentle mother-breast wherein to pour the. little griefs which, though quickly flown, are at the moment all as poignant as the weightier woes of later years. Teach by love. Teach by example. Be chary of stern precepts for which the child can see no reason but your arbitrary will. If you would have your child respect you — to say nothing of his love — never punish him in a spirit of anger. Never make him a promise without performing it. Remember, there are nearly always other and better modes of punishment, than beating him. Remove some present, or deny some expected pleasure, instead. Let him, if the fault be grave, feel your grave displeasure. Never scold. Govern firmly, but don't govern too much. Threaten seldom — never idly. The parent who tells a child, "If you do so-and-so, I will do so-and-so with you," and then weakly forgets both the broken command and the assigned penalty for it, merits and receives the child's contempt. In all things, remember the tremendous force of parental example. Long before he learns his letters, your toddling one has read your daily life through and through. He moulds his little life by the pattern you present him. For your child's sake, no less than your own, see to it, then, that your life is upright, true and pure. Oh, the tender grace arid sweetness of the home where love and duty reign supreme ; where the husband and father may cast off his load of daily care; where the wife and mother, grown lovelier by her self-restraint and thought for others, shines, beside the hearth the dearest and the sacredest of all created things. In many a home, even in these degenerate days, may such a wife and mother be found: A woman, not too pure and good For human nature's daily food, For wholesome pleasures, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses tears and smiles. 36 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. m. The Farmer's Wife. Fkom the day, when a bride, she has entered that house wherein the Home lies as does the sculptor's dream of genius within the marble block, needing the patient, loving toil to bring forth its lines of beauty ; through days or years of sorrow or of sunshine ; with many a rebellious thought, fancy or longing to be trodden down in the path of duty; amid griefs and heart-aches not merely to be endured, but to be made stepping-stones to a yet higher and nobler life. Through child-birth pain and weary illness — still guided by the light of Love and Truth — the true woman moves on, blessing all who come within her influence. " Her children rise up and call her blessed." Woe to the man who shall mar the happiness of the home life. And how many a farmer unthinkingly does this! He amuses himself; he goes to town to buy and sell; he hires labor when there is much to do, but he habitually neglects his fellow-toiler and helpmeet in the house. At the busy season the work heaped upon the "women folks" almost crushes the life out of them. All this is to his own future infinite loss. The life of too many farmers' wives is what no man could bear, and no woman should be made to suffer. It would be a standing shame to the men of America — a disgrace to our nation — ^if anywhere the women should become slaves without even the slave's holidays, as brutally sacrificed to the chase for the almighty dollar, as ever victim dragged before the throne of Moloch. As a child needs play, so men and women need some form of innocent pleasure. If " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," so from Jill it either crushes all her brightness and beauty, or else almost forces her to rebel against social and domestic law in search of a less intolerable lot. Work, the wife of a farmer must, but he should make the burden as light as possible. rv. The Overworked Wife. Does any reader recognize this picture of the overworked wife, drawn by Ella Wheeler, one of the most sympathetic poets of the West? If so, let him have a care, lest he, too, become such a tyrant to such a slave : " Up with the birds in the early morning — The dew-drop glows like a precious gem; Beautiful tints in the skies are dawning, But she's never a moment to look at them. The men are wanting their breakfast early; She must not linger, she must not wait; For words that are sharp and looks that are surly, Are what the men give when the meals are late. " Oh. glorious colors that clouds are turning. If she would but look over hills and trees; But here are the dishes, and here is the churning — Those things must always yield to these. BUILDING HAPPY HOMES. 37 The world is filled with the wine of beauty, If she could but pause and drink it in; But pleasure, she says, must wait for duty — Neglected work is committed sin. " The day grows hot, and her hands grow weary; Oh, for an hour to cool her head. Out with the birds and winds so cheery! So she must rise in the morning and make her bread. The busy men iu the hay-field working. If they saw her sitting with idle hands. Would think her lazy, and call it shiiking. And she never could make them understand. " They do not know that the heart within her Hungers for beauty and things sublime; They only know that they want their dinner. Plenty of it, and just ' on time.' And after the sweeping and churning and baking. And dinner dishes are all put by. She sits and sews, though her head is aching, Till time for supper and ' chores' draws nigh. " Her boys at school must look like others, She says, as she patches their frocks and hose, For the world is quick to censure mothers For the least neglect of their children's clothes. Her husband comes from the field of labor; He gives no praise to his weary wiie; She's done no more than has her neighbor, 'Tis the lot of all in country life. " But after the strife and weary tussle With life is done, and she lies at rest. The nation's brain and heart and muscle — Her sons and daughters — shall call her blest; And I think the sweetest joy of Heaven, The rarest bliss of eternal life. And the fairest crown of all will be given Unto the wayworn farmer's wife." e V. Sons and Daughters on the Farm. It is not necessary that the boy reared in the country should be a farmer. Farmers' sons often become leaders in trade, commerce, the arts, science, politics or letters. In fact, it is from the country that the vigor of the city is constantly recruited. Hence the necessity of educating every boy to fit him, not for some single groove in life, but to occupy any plane his talents and industry may enable him to reach. But does he choose the farm? There is here as high an ideal — as great a field for action as anywhere in the wide world. OO THE HOME AND FAKM JIANUAL. Nor are the daughters of the household, because they are the children of farmers, all, of necessity, to become farmers' wives. It may be happ3' for them if they do, for there is no condition in life where more true enjoyment may be had than in the tillage of the soil, in the rearing of stock, a well-kept garden, an orchard dropping luscious and healthful fruits, a comfortable dwelling, and well-kept grounds. These, every industrious family may have, however few the acres. We can no more control the affections of the dauo-hters than the talents of the sons. But much may be accomi^lished by so directing education that these talents and affections may be carried in natural channels. The boy who is the mere RUDE HOME OF THE PIOXEEK. drudge of the farm, and the girl that of the kitchen, will always be lookino- afar for that happiness denied them at home. It is the instinct of all youno- animals to play. By both his physical and mental constitution, the child reciuires exercise, to promote growth, harden the iKines, strengthen the muscles and sinews and recreate the brain. This must be found outside the daily routine of labor, whether it be of the farm, the workshop or the school. In directing these matters, nature must be counseled and co-operated with. She cannot be rudel}^ over-ridden and disregarded, without exacting a heavy penalty in a stunted and misshapen life. BUILDING HAP5Y HOMES. 39 VI. Youthful Activity. The idler is the product of bad training. He is peculiarly in danger of becoming vicious. Hence, when a child is inclined to be idle, otherwise than as the result of grinding overwork, care should be taken to arouse the natural activity. Some natures develop slowly, yet bear noble fruit. These need a stimulus ; others, unduly precocious, should be checked'. If the child becomes too early absorbed in study, the life may be brilliant, indeed, bat is likely to be short. The tree that too soon puts on fruitage is the tree that prematurely decays. There is no better place for the precocious youth than the farm. Let such watch the squirrels darting here and there in the groves, gather flowers in warm nooks in the spring, play in the new-mown hay in the summer meadows, fish or swim in brook or pond, go nutting in the autumn, and coast, skate or snare rabbits in the winter. It will round out and freshen the growth, and, when time again comes for study, re- newed health will enable the brain to carry its load. Thus the slow child should be led, and the too quick- witted one held back; but the lash in the one case, or too sharp a curb in the other, might be fatal. We must, in every case, try to wisely guide ; to be able to understand the nature of a child; to diagnose the mind, even as a good physician would an illness. The duties of parents do not end when the children are fed and clothed. The moral is higher than the physical. They must have a pleasant home, must be interested in all that is going on, and help in their small way to create beauty. Thus they will learn to love labor for what it brings, and to love beauty for what it gives. In after life, however successful one may be, the old homestead, even though it be but the simplest cottage, should be looked back to, as the place where the happiest days of life were spent; the remembrance of father and mother be cherished as those to whom the mistakes and successes of life might always be carried, as to careful counselors; the sisters and brothers, ever ready to assist with word or deed. NATURE'S CLASSIC HALLS 40 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. VII. Adorning the Home. Where'st;r the home may be, whether in city or country, it is little things that make np the household comforts. In cities little can be done, except to keep the surroundings, small though they may be, neat and tidy. The small yard, if any, may have a little green grass and a few plants; the windo\\'s, in an}^ event, should have a few pots of choice flowers. In the ordinary city home, great display' should not be thought of. A si)igle plant well grown is better than a window crowded full of ill- looking and untidy starvelings. The village home presents greater capabilities. A few handsome trees for shade, a smooth green lawn, with here and there a bed of WINDOW GiVEDENING. tlowers, running roses trained to the veranda, a clinging vine over the porch, and a path winding gracefully with gentle curves to the door, will si:)eak eloquently of taste and contentment in the owner. It will be a suggestion of happy, smiling children, a careful father, a fond and earnest mother. Inside you are sure to find neatness, order, and reliance one on another. The walls will not be bare of pictures, nor the windows of flowers, nor will there be wanting those little elegancies of feminine work that tell of taste and reflnement in e\'cry department of the household. There ma}^ not be wealth, but there will be something better — comfort. The husband ma_>' be at work all daj^ in his shop, the wife perhaps working at home, but it will be cheerful labor. BUILDING HAPPY HOMES. 41 VIII. Improving the Homestead. TriE workman in city or village, may not own his own home; the majority do not. The farmer usually owns the farm he works. He may he in debt, and, of course, his first endeavor must be to make himself and family free. Yet, even while doing this, there is many a labor of love that will make the place increase 3-early in value and beauty. An orchard may be planted, a vegetable garden culti- vated, and trees set out to shade the lawn between the house and the road. Fences may be repaired, and vines and trellis-work made to beau- tify the home. Such labor is scarcely felt, and as the years roll bj^ the ■e^-^'* cattle and horses, sheep and other stock will be increasino- and trrowuro; O o C in numbers, as the home increases in value and attractiveness. TUE SliTTLEE S FIEST HOME. IX. Sports Of Childhood. There is no aristocracy among children. If we see a child sneering at one not so well dressed as herself, or bragging about his parent's riches, be sure something is wrong at home. It is after we grow up, that wo really look down on those not so favored as ourselves. But if the proper training has been given in youth, the man or woman will have only kindly feelings, and a pleasant word for all, where the person is not bad at heart, and average human nature is not so. The well-bred child is as happy in sport, with one cleanly dressed child as another. Childhood is a true republic, where all contribute to the general weal. It is the dutj^ then, of the parents, to provide such amusements as ma}^ lie within their means. Skipping-ropes, swings, dolls, and other feminine articles for the girls, — ■ the coveted knife or hatchet, the little wagon or wheelbarrow for the boys, and the jolly ride behind the farm team that is pleasure always. If there is water near, both boys and girls should be taught to manage a boat, and, as a matter of precaution, both should learn to ,swim. Bathing dresses are cheap, and danger of accident will be lessened. Athletic sports should never be denied to boys, and girls should be allowed to race to their hearts' content. Dresses may be soiled, and clothes be torn. Such things inhere among the necessities of childhood. Indeed, we would give but little for the girl who never 42 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. soiled her dress, or the boy who never had a rent in coat or trousers. Far better these annoyances, when supplemented with the glow of health, the strength of muscle, and the innocent cheerfulness that come with them, than that children should always look as though they had. "just come out of a band-box.'-' As children grow, their sport may be directed in practical channels. Both boys and girls should be taught to gather plants. These may be studied, and thus the first lessons in botany taught. Let them learn to distinguish noxious plants from innocent ones; plants of use from what we call weeds (for weeds are simply plants out of place — many of them being valuable for their medicinal virtues). Even the chores about the farm may come, with a little instruction, to be- regarded as near of kin to play. The calves, and colts, and lambs are to be conciliated while being fed, the older animals taught that, although boys are sometimes rough, they are nevertheless kindly. Even the village boy and girl may thus be trained to love rural life, in the little attentions they bestow on the pet calf or lamb, and the thriving pig, reared although these may be, for the butcher. X. Lessons from the Garden. The garden everywhere may be made a never-ceasing source of pleasure, until even its labors will be eagerly sought. The preparation of the tiny seeds, the careful planting, the wonders of germination and growth, the blossoming and the ripe fruits, all will be enjoyed when we come to understand something of the mysteries of vegetable life. Why the South ripens the pineapple, the banana and the pomegranate; the Middle region the grape, the pear, the peach, and the ever-welcome apple. From whence we get the tomato, the melon, okra, egg-plant, the potato, and other exotics, not known beyond their native homes until civilization and commerce brought the products of the four quarters of the globe even to our doors; how fruits, vegetables and brilliant flowers have become possible about every home, even in lands but a few years ago supposed to be almost uninhabitable, — ^these and a thousand other enter- taining questions may be asked and answered in connection with the boy's work in the garden. Thus you train him in habits of thought as well as of industry. It is a great thing for your boy to rise to the conception that work is more than sweat and muscle — more even than the greasy dollars received for the crop. Why does the farmer and mechanic of to-day live more comfortably, and really better than the nobles of two hundred years ago ? Why have we a broader and wider intelligence to-day than in the old feudal times? Education has been different among the masses. Every man is his own master, and head-work directs the labor of his hands. Why are we, as a people, more prosperous and happy than others? It is the feeling that all honest labor is alike honorable, and that agriculture is the groundworh of permanent wealth. BUILDING KEW HOMES. 43 XI. What we Hope to Teach. When reliance on agriculture has ceased, nations have invariably receded from their high ppsition, and sunk into oblivion. The wonderful prosperity of the United States is due, almost solely, to the immense agricultural resources of the country, its wealth in grain, grass, stock, cotton, fruits, and other products; and this prosperity has continued in the face of enormous taxes and tariffs, partly rendered necessary by our great debt. The power of France to pay her huge war debt, and yet recuperate so quickly, was due to the fact, first, that the peasantry in a great measure own the soil, small fields though most of them be, and to the excellence of her agriculture; second, to the fact, that nearly all of the population are engaged in some productive industry. In this volume, the aim is practical and helpful. Our mission is to the homes of the great working classes, farmers, artizans, laborers, and all who work with hand and brain. We hope to show the farmer, for example, how he can better himself by better tillage, to explain and illustrate the value of grass, grain, drainage, textile and other special crops, and how to improve them; to exhibit, in its true light, the wealth of the orchard and garden, and how he may cheaply enjoy them. In short, we hope to make this work valuable, nay, indispensable, to all who own a rood of ground, by hints as to its cultivation and improvement with a view to founding there a happy and prosperous Home. CHAPTER II. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. I. THE VjtLUE OF BOOKS.^n. AGKIOIILTUEE AMONG THE SAVAGES. HI. THE AEIZONA INDIANS IV. MOUND BUILDERS. ^V. AGEICULTURE DEFESTED. VI. ITS DIVISIONS. VIL ITS HISTORY. . VUI. THE BOOKS OF MAGO. IX. MAGO ON WORKING CATTLE. X. ROME'S AGRICULTURAL WRITERS. XI. CHRONICLES OF COLUMELLA. XII. ANCIENT FARMS AND IMPLEMENTS. XIU. CULTIVATE LITTLE, CULTIVATE WELL._ XIV. A FANCY FARMER. XV. ARABLE LANDS AND PASTURES. XVI. WATER MEADOWS. -XVII. A RICH MEADOW. XVIH. ROMAN ROTATION. XIX. ROMAN SMALL GRAINS. XX. SOME ANCIENT METHODS. XXI. ANTIQUE CROPS. XXH. CROPS PULLED BY H.\N^D. XXIII. FALLOW CROPS. XXIV. ANCIENT HARVESTING. XXV. ROMAN FERTILIZERS. XXVI. A QUESTION NOT YET SETTLED. XXVII. LITTLE AND OFTEN. XXVIH. COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. XXIX. ANCIENT PLOWING. XXX. PLOWS. XXXI. SEEDING. XXII. YIELD PER ACRE. XXXIH. MEDIEVAL AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. I. The Value of Books. ^^OME of the processes, maxims and data that have come down to us from farmers of the remote past, are interesting as weU as instructive, and none more so than those which show the high estimation and honor in which this, the most important industry of mankind, was held by the ancients. It will also be instructive to observe how slow was the growth of agriculture among the moderns, after the advanced husbandry of the. ancients was lost in the darkness of the Middle Ages. It was not until the invention of printing, and the universal dissemination of knowledge, through books, giving the practical experience of the best minds in the profession, that improved methods of farming became possible to the masses. And yet there are fogies to-day, who sneer at what they call " Book Farming." But for books, the great majority of farmers and farm-laborers would still be mere serfs and beasts of burden, as they were three hundred years ago. But for the information published in good books the West could not have become the Granary of the World, and the South could not have supplied, as it now does, cheap cotton to clothe the people of all lands. II. Agriculture Among the Savages. Agriculture, as practiced by barbarous tribes of the present day, for instance, by some of our American Indians, consists simply of gathering grass-seeds, digging wild roots, and storing acorns for the winter's bread. This is the agri- culture of the Digger Indians of the Pacific slope. In the country east of the Mississippi river, the aborigines were one grade above this. Their squaws planted corn, beans and pumpkins with the rudest hand implements. They also gathered m ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTUEE. 45 nuts for winter use, but they were improvident to the last degree. The instinct or experience of the squaws taught them to hide the seed for the next crop in DJDIAN COKN— ANCIENT AND MODERN. holes in the ground, in order to save it from the rapacity of the "braves," when 46 THE HOME AND FAKM MANTTAL. their gluttony had consumed the general store. The seed-corn was buried in dry soil, the ears, with the husk on, standing on end. It is a curious fact that this method of keeping the seed corn is the best known for preserving its germinating quality. The reason is obvious. The grain is not dried down to extreme hardness, and in the partly-confined atmosphere, the germs slowly undergo the preliminary change necessary to prompt sprouting, just as do the seeds of forest trees under their natural winter covering of leaves. III. The Arizona Indians. The Zuni Indians, the Moquis, and some other tribes of Arizona and New Mexico, were far in advance of the more warlike savages, and yet far below respectable husbandry. Still, their methods are perhaps better than those practiced by the patriarch, Abraham. They raise a variety of crops, including fruit, and grind their grain in mills. They live in permanent dwelling-places, raise, spin and weave wool, and had, when the Spaniards first came among them, three hundred years ago, advanced beyond the condition of wandering barbarians. Driven from other homes by the savage Comanches and Apaches, they had fled to those arid regions, there to follow more peaceful avocations, far from their brutal conquerors. Are they an effete offshoot of the people whom the Spaniards found practicing a still higher art of husbandry in Mexico, Peru and Chili? That prehistoric people whose forefathers were saved from being engulfed in " Lost Atlantis," may have given civilization to the ancient Chinese, and, perhaps, through them to the ancient people of Asia, the so-called cradle of the human race. There is good evidence tending that way, even from the Chinese, who acknowledge that their civilization came from the eastward. The three representations of Indian corn, ancient and modern, are an interesting study, first, as showing the constancy of species to the original type ; and second, as illustrating the cultivation of maize in America, by a people, perhaps, more ancient than those of the so-called Old World. Fig. 1 represents a cob of Indian corn from one of the rock caves of Arizona. Fig. 2 shows the corn now cultivated by the Pueblo Indians of Arizona. Fig. 3 exhibits a nubbin, found with a mummy of ancient Peru, the date so remote that more than its geological age cannot be guessed. That nubbin was probably coeval with, if not .anterior to the Mound Builders, and they belong to so remote, a period that there is not even a tradition of them left. rv. Mound Builders. The Mound Builders, who once .occupied the whole Mississippi Valley, or, at least, its Eastern and Central portions, were undoubtedly far advanced in civilization. They were undoubtedly an agricultural people. They understood mining and the working of metals. They certainly had commercial intercourse with peoples, many hundreds of miles from their homes. But no tradition of them remained among the ANCIENT AND MODERN AGEICULTURE . 47 Indians found by the first settlers in America. Nothing is left of their civilization but the mounds, covered in many cases by gigantic forests. The skulls exhumed seem to show that they consisted of a superior and an inferior race, or caste, as was anciently the case in Egypt. V. Agriculture Defined. The word Agriculture is derived from two Latin words, ager, a field, and cultura, cultivation. From these words we get our word acre, originally a field, and our word culture. In its broad sense the word Agriculture is now used to express all that pertains to the farm and garden. The preparation of the soil, sowing, cultivating, reaping, and preparing the crop for market. It also includes breeding, feeding, fattening, care and training of farm stock, as given in the companion vol- ume to this, the " Cyclopedia of Live Stock, and Complete Live Stock Doctor." VI. Its Divisions. Modern Agriculture proper is embraced in two grand subdivisions: 1. Hus- bandry, or, as the latter term is now generally used. Agriculture, and in which sense it will be used in this work; 2. Horticulture. The first relates to the farm proper; the second to the garden. The word Horticulture, again, is derived from two Latin words, hortus, a garden, and cultura, from colo, to till — literally, the art of tilling a garden. This, again, in its broad sense, embraces all that relates to the orchard, the garden, the forest, and even landscape adornment. Agriculture, or husbandry, again, is subdivided into, 1, Field Husbandry,, and, 2, Animal Husbandry. Field Husbandry. — Field Husbandry is divided into grain husbandry, grass husbandry, seed husbandry, cotton planting, sugar-cane planting, sugar-beet hus- bandry, tobacco husbandry, and mixed husbandry. The latter is that pursued by the majority of farmers North, and by the planters South. It must embrace two. or more of the subdivisions named, as, for instance, hemp and tobacco in the North, and textile crops, as cotton and jute, in the South. But mixed farming usually embraces a variety of crops, and also the breeding and care of farm animals. Animal Husbandry. — This branch of agriculture is divided into horse breeding and rearing, mule breeding, cattle breeding and rearing, sheep husbandry, swine husbandry, poultry raising, stock feeding and fattening, and mixed animal husbandry. Horticulture. — This, the second grand division of Agriculture, may be divided as follows: Pomology, or Fruit Husbandry; Aboriculture, or all that per- tains to trees; Vegetable Gardening; Floriculture; Landscape Gardening; the Nursery, or the cultivation of young trees and plants; Seed Husbandry, and Mixed Horticulture, or a combination of two or more of the foregoing. VII. Its History. The history of agriculture is by no means perfect. Of the ancient agriculture of Southern Europe, Asia and Africa, we have the written record of the Bible, 48 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAI,. and the writings of the Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians. The writings of the Greeks on the subject are meagre ; their taste lay in the direction of art, and the agriculture of the country was left entirely to slaves. Their implements of tillage never reached the perfection of the Komans. Fig. 1 is the form of an implement scidptured on an ancient tombstone at Athens; 2, shows the ancient Grecian plow; 3, the spade; 4 and 5, EABLT GREEK IMPLEMENTS. hoCS. Among the Romans and the Carthaginians, the highest officers did not disdain to practice agriculture, when not engaged in battle or on the forum. By them, agriculture was considered the most honorable of professions, and the most illus- trious men of Rome and Carthage prided themselves on their skill in farming. Mago, the Carthaginian, was the father of agricultural literature. This was the great Mago, who is supposed to have lived in the time of Darius, and to have been the founder of the great Punic family from which came Hannibal. VIII. The Books of Mago The books of Mago on agriculture were twenty-eight in number. At the final destruction of Carthage, when the whole literature of the conquered nation was given over by the Romans to their African allies, these twenty-eight treatises were con- ANCIEXT CHINESE PLOW. sidered so valuable, that they were translated at the public expense. Hereen says there are thirty-one distinct passages in which the maxim's of the Carthaginian author are handed down to us. Curiously enough, none of these passages refers to the cultivation of grain. One gives directions for grinding or pounding grain, lentils, vetches and sesame. Another recommends the proprietor to reside on his farm, for. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. 49 " He to whom an abode in the city lies close at heart, has no need of a country estate." Mago condemned the practice of desti'oying bees when the honey was taken. He seems to have been well informed upon horticulture, for he gives directions for the cultivation of vines, nut trees, poplars and reeds. He asserted that in Africa female mules were nearly as prolific as mares, and Cato makes the same assertion. This is very different from modern experience, except in occasional instances in warm climates. IX. Mago on Working Cattle. Varro borrowed much from the writings of Mago, " which I make my herdsmen carefully read." Mago's directions for buying working oxen hold good, even to-day. He says: " The young oxen which we buy should be square in form, large-limbed, with strong, lofty, and dark-colored horns, broad and curly fronts, rough ears, black eyes and lips, prominent and expanded nostrils. Long and brawny neck, ample dewlaps pendant nearly to the knees, a wide chest and large shoulders, roomy-bellied, with well-bowed ribs, broad on the loin, with a straight, level, or even slightly depressed back. Round buttocks, straight and firm legs, by no means weak in the knee, large hoofs, very long and bushy tails, the body covered with thick short hair of a tawny color." There is no doubt that he understood "judging by the touch;" they should, he says, be very soft handlers. X. Rome's Agricultural Writers. Cato. — Cato claims precedence as first in time, and first in honor, among Roman writers on agi'iculture. He died in 150 B. C, at the age of eighty-eight. He was a practical farmer, and recommended precise, if not high, farming. He wrote more, however, in favor of economy than of improvement. Plutarch lashes him for heartlessly recommending the sale of worn-out slaves and oxen. Varro tlie Valiant. — Varro lived during nearly the whole of the century preceding the Christian era. A general and an admiral, he was a voluminous writer, but only two of his works have come down to us. In his De Re Rustica he frequently refers to operations on his own farm, but relies principally upon the authority of Mago and some Greek writers. An Orator's Testimony. — The writings of Cicero show some practical knowl- edge, but relate more to the pleasures than to the labors of agriculture. He regarded agriculture as an honor to princes, and the ornament and solace of old age. The Pastoral Poet. — The poet Virgil was born seventy years before Christ. His "Georgics" may be called a hand-book of agriculture. Its directions are ample, precise and practical. In it the imagination of the poet never clashes with the art of the farmer, however smooth the verse and elegant the diction. He has been accused of borrowing more than a foundation upon which to rear a structure 4 50 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. possessing all the charms of originality. No one who has read this didactic poem will quarrel either with structure or foundation. The first book treats of the proper cultivation of the soil. The second tells how to manage fruit trees. The third is on horses and cattle; the fourth on bees. If original genius did not belong to Virgil, his taste, skill and powers of versification have made his name remembered as the greatest pastoral poet of ancient or modern times. XI. Chronicles of Columella. CoLF lELLA, who was bom at about the Christian era, wrote twelve books on agriculture, and is supposed to have established the Merino sheep as a distinct breed in Spain. He was a native of what is now Spain, and had a farm in the Pyrennees. He mentions an uncle of his name, who greatly improved his flock by introducing African rams. Columella wrote more largely of his success in vineyardihg than in any ofber department of agriculture. Of his twelve books, two are on farming, three treat of the vine, the olive and orchard fruits, two are devoted to farm and domestic animals, one to poultry, one to bees, and three to the bailiff, his wife, and their respective duties — wine, vinegar and other domestic preparations, and the kitchen garden. From the fact that he excludes the sporting dog from domestic animals, the inference is plain, that he was well aware of their sheep-killing pro- propensities. The curs of our day are no less fond of mutton. Plinjs who died A. D. 79, was a diligent compiler, and not always discriminating. Palladius, who wrote A. D. 355, was voluminous, but a copyist of well- known writers. XII. Ancient Farms and Implements. That the agriculture of the Romans in their best days was in every way superior to that of a century ago, there is every reason to believe. Nor were their implements so crude and inefficient as they have been represented. They had no expensive machinery, but neither did America or other countries even so late as a hundred years ago. Because Attilius Regulus, hearing, while he was pursuing his conquests in Africa, that the bailiff of his estate of four acres was dead and his slave had run away, sent to the Senate a catalogue of his spades, rakes, hoes and spuds, with the threat that if they did not take care of his tools, and replace his bailiff and slave, he would return immediately home, we are not to take him as the average farmer, but rather as a suburban cultivator. The fact that sixty-two and a half acres were allotted to a plow, indicates superior cultivation and large estates, though estates were not generally so large as now. A Prophet's Patrimony. — The Book of Kings speaks of the Prophet Elisha plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, the prophet himself guiding one of the plows. This, according to the Roman allotment, would show him to have had some eight hundred acres of plow-land. Ancient plowing must have been superficial, as a rule. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. 51 for, with our superior implements, sixty acres to the team of horses is good work. As the ancients were given to caste, perhaps the labors of the farm were subdivided. It was the policy of the Eomans to limit the size of farms, and this was the genius of Carthaginian cultivation. The smaller farms, then as now, were the best cultivated. Columella is the author of the maxim, that the farm should be weaker than the farmer, denoting careful tillage. XIII. Cultivate Little, Cultivate Well. Pliny is the author of an oft-told and much-garbled story : C. Furius Cresinus, a freedman, became the object of much ill-will on the part of his neighbors, because he gathered from a small field much greater crops than they could from larger fields. They accused him of attracting the fertility of their fields through charms. A court day was appointed to hear the accusation. Cresinus fearing the result, when the tribe were about to bring in their verdict, brought his live stock and imple- ments into the forum, and with him came a stout serving-woman, who, Pisa says, was well-fed and well-clad. His iron implements were of excel- lent manufacture; the spades strong, the plow- shares powerful, and his oxen in high condition. "Here, Romans," he exclaimed, "are my charms ! But I cannot show you, or bring into the forum, my labor of thought, my vigils, nor the sweat of my brow." Thus, "a little farm well tilled," is older than Christianity itself. The cuts shows the more ancient implements of Roman agricul- ture and successive stages in crude improvements in the plow. 1, 2 and 3 are ancient Roman plows, of successive ages. 4 is the Roman yoke and means of attachments. 5 is the reaping-hook, and 6 the scythe, and they all belong to an age anterior to the Christian era. ANCIENT ROMAN TILLAGE. XIV. A Fancy Farmer. Pliny tells of a rich man who ruined himself by his prodigally expensive outlay in farming, and cites as the general opinion, ''nihil minus expedire quam agram optime colere," — nothing pays worse than fancy farming. A good many people are still learning this truth. By his expression, "bonis malis," is meant 52 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. that a thing should be done well and done cheaply. He holds to a middle course, and says a tenant working himself, and having a family to support, may do some things profitably, that a mastea* living at a distance and hiring his labor could not do without ruin. True enough, again, to-day. XV. Arable Lands and Pastures. Pasturing was recommended on the score that it required little outlay. Cato being asked, how can a man get rich quickest by farming, replied, " by being a good grazier." How next? "By being a middling grazier." The question being put a third time, the answer was, "by being a bad grazier." Columella admits that there can be no doubt that middling grazing is more profitable than the best management in any other line of agriculture. It would not 'be so accepted now. Indeed, Pliny, while admitting the truth of the first two answers, accuses Columella of "drawing a long bow" in relating the third, and says, Cato's inculcation was that we should use those means which bring the largest returns at the least expense. XVI. Water Meadows. Meadows were called by the Romans, prata, quasi parata — always ready to yield without culture. We all know the value of meadows, where they may be flooded at will, or watered. Cato's advice is to make them in preference to anything else, but says, if you cannot get water, nevertheless have meadows. Minute directions are given how to pass the water slowly and evenly over the land, so as to guard against stagnation; and says that too much water is as bad as too little. Columella admits that the grass from rich upland is better than that from watered land, but holds that from thin land, whether light or heavy, watering is the only means to bring a good crop. Precise instructions were given for renewing old and mossy meadows, by breaking them up. One plan was to, plow and thoroughly work one summer, and sow in the autumn with turnips or beans, and the next year with grain. The third year the land must be kept entirely clean of weeds of every kind, and then sown with vetches and hay-seeds. And special directions were given that the soil be made quite fine and smooth, so that there may be no impediment to the scythe. New-sown grass must not be fed to cattle, but the second year small cattle might be allowed to graze on it if the soil was dry and firm. Pigs were not allowed on meadows, on account of their rooting. The ancients did not have patent ringers. It was advised that early and weak meadows should be cleared of stock in January, if a full crop of hay was desired, but better lands might be pastured until February or March. Upon such meadows as could not be watered, a dressing of the greenest manure was advised ; and the pasturage of the aftermath was accounted as of nearly as much value as the crop of hay — not bad precepts to follow to-day. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE . 53 XVII. A Rich Meadow. The Campus Rosea was deemed the richest plat of land in Italy, ana it is this field to which may be traced the English story of the meadow-grass that covered by its growth the walking-stick of the owner — while he ate his dinner and smoked his pipe — so he could not find it. The Roman grass, however, required a whole night to accomplish the feat. Dickson thinks that a single mowing of a Roman meadow (it must have been a good one) would yield two and a half tons an acre. It is said that the mowing of a jugurum — three-fifths of an acre — ^was a day's work. The grass must have been heavy, or the Roman scythes duU. Grass was cut before the seed was ripe, and the most minute directions were given for curing and storing the hay. It must not be under-sweated nor overheated. Pliny thought when hay was stored too green, the sun set the ricks on fire. We know-better. It burns from accumulated heat within. Scythes were sharpened with oil-stones, and a horn of oil was fastened to the leg of the mower. Pliny first mentions stones that would whet a scythe with the aid of water. In Italy short scythes were used, and in Gaul long ones. The Romans certainly understood haymaking in its minutest details. XVIII. Boman Rotation. The usual rotation in Roman agriculture was most simple. It was a crop and a fallow. One-half of the arable land in grain and one-half fallow. One-third of the fallow land was sown to some crop to be cut green for feeding, and this alone was manured. Hence, three grain crops and one green crop were taken from the land for each manuring. In other words, the whole soil was. manured once in six years — better manuring than the average American farmer gives to-day. The naked fallow received three or four plowings in the season, besides the seed furrow. Wheat and barley were the principal bread grains. XIX. Roman Small Grains. Wheat. — ^White, red, black bearded, and smooth wheat are mentioned among the principal varieties. The Romans understood the varieties adapted to different soils. Siligo, triticum and far adoreum are named as the best sorts, and Pliny held that siligo sown in certain soils for three years in succession, would turn to triticum. Triticum is our botanical name for the wheat tribe. If siligo was what we now term a pedigree grain, there is no doubt that Pliny was correct. Choice seed will degenerate, whatever the species. Wheat was generally sown in the autumn, but, since it was also sown in spring — though this was condemned — they must have had spring varieties. Barley. — Barley was sown in September and October, and also in January and March. The spring sowing of barley was less condemned than spring sowing of wheat. The ancients doubtless thought wheat would turn to chess, for Pliny says 54 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAi.. that if oats are sown on a certain day of the moon, it will come up barley. Pliny probably, sometimes " said things sarcastic." He believed in books, for he thought no book was so bad that something good might not be learned from it. XX. Some Ancient Methods. SiviALL, grain was covered with a double mold-board plow, and it was considered a clumsy plowman who required an occator (a person to cOver in the seed) to follow. Another plan was to sow on the plowed ridges, and cover with rakes, so lightly that the ridges were not obliterated. The crop that was covered by the double mold- board plow was sometimes plowed once, after it had attained some height, but generally it received two hoeings, one m the autumn and another in the spring. This seems to have been universal, and sometimes three or four hoeings were given. Hand-weeding was also practiced, if necessary. The Romans were clean farmers. XXI. Antique Crops. Besides the cereal grains, pasture and meadow grasses and millet, the ancients cultivated green crops for soiling. Cicer (pulse) is mentioned. Vetch, lentil, lupin, fenugreek, peas and beans were commonly grown. Lucerne seems to have been much raised, and one sowing is said to have lasted ten, or, as Pliny says, thirty years. Hemp, flax and poppy were also cultivated. Pliny tells how flax was used for fine linen, sail-cloth, wicks, fish-nets, snares for wild beasts, and says that each thread in a breast-plate, then extant, of Amasis, King of Egypt, consisted of three hundred and sixty-five ply. Flax, then as now, was considered an exhausting crop. XXII. Crops Pulled by Hand. The word legum, or legume, seems to have been used to denote all plants or crops that were pulled by hand; for not only peas and beans, but flax, hemp, turnips, rape and radish were so gathered. Turnips were sown after five plowings, on dry friable soil, in manured rows, and thinned to eight inches apart. Pliny records a turnip weighing forty pounds, and says they were valuable in ornamental cookery, because capable of receiving six colors besides their own, one of them purple, — a fact that may be valuable to fancy cooks of the present day. The crop was subject to the fly, then as now. These pests were fought by steeping, by the use of soot, etc. Columella says that in Gaul turnips were fed to cattle and sheep ; and so England is not the only country where turnips may have been the sheet-anchor of agriculture. XXIII. Fallow Crops. The belief was prevalent among the ignorant that certain crops, even if gathered and carried away, improved the soil — a belief now disproved. Intelligent people knew better. Columella says: "Some tell us that a crop of beans stand in the place of a manuring of the land, which opinion I would interpret thus : not that one can ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTUUK. 55 make the land richer by sowing them, but that this crop will exhaust the land less than some others. For of this I am certain, that land that has had nothing on it will produce more wheat than that which has produced pulse the preceding yeai." We of to-day know well that a covered fallow — a crop sown and plowed under — is more enriching than a naked fallow. The ancients seem to have been aware of this, for they did sow, for plowing under, beans, vetches, and especially lupines. So it is quite probable that they used the naked fallow, as we do, for cleaning the soil of weeds. XXIV. Ancient Harvesting. The ancient mode of harvesting was by means of the sickle, not unlike that practiced one hundred years ago. They also harvested grain with a machine that gathered the heads in a comb-like arrangement, the straw being cut afterwards, probably with a scythe. The Romans, however, usually cut with the sickle, the straw being taken about the middle. This upper part was fed to cattle, after threshing, and the butts were used as bedding for stock. Some nations, according to Pliny, pulled the grain by the roots, imagining that disturbing the surface was beneficial to the soil. The shield of Achilles shows reaping by means of the sickle, and with much division of labor. Homer says the practice of rich men was to start a gang of reapers at each end of the field; and he likens their approach towards each other to that of the Greek and Trojan hosts in conflict. Reaping Machines. — Reaping machines were known in Rome. They are mentioned both by Pliny and Palladius, the latter saying that they were used on the large farms in Gaul. They were as primitive as they were unwieldy. Threshing. — Threshing was performed both with the flail and by tramping by cattle and horses; also by machines drawn by cattle, one having teeth and the other rollers. The grain was generally threshed immediately after harvest, and often in the fields where it was cut. Whei'e permanent threshing-floors were made, much care and skill were used. They were made of rolled and hard-rammed earth, mixed with lees of oil. Columella says the floor is better if straw is used with the mixture. Finely broken flint, such as macadam roads are now composed of, is also spoken of; also flagged earth, or a surface of flag-stones. Virgil is both precise and poetical in his description of a threshing-floor. Winnowing. — The grain was cleaned by throwing it from shovels against the wind. Some sort of fanning-mill must also have been used, for Columella recommends it, and Virgil mentions among the " duris agrestibus arma" this improvement, as "m,istica vannus Jacchi.'" XXV. Eoman Fertilizers. The ancients would seem to have been as careful savers of manure as the Chinese now are. The value of all animals on the farm as manure-makers is 5() THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. minutely estimated. Curiously enough, they considered the manure of water-fowl as of very little value. Pliny sneers at Columella for considering the manure of pigs not worth much. Possibly, Columella's pigs were poorly fed. The ancients, at least, understood that, "the richer the feed the better . the manure." Every available thing was used to increase the compost heap — leaves, litter-road scraping, etc. Both Pliny and Columella enjoin that the heaps shall be covered, so as to suffer neither by drying in the wind nor parching in the sun. Also, that the bottom be water-tight, so that the liquid parts cannot escape. "It is an idle farmer," says Columella, " who does not get together some manure, even though he keeps no cattle." He also delicately hints that the manure-pile need not necessarily occupy the front yard, so to speak. Oak leaves are recommended to be mixed in the pile, or else a stake driven through, " to prevent serpents breeding in the manure." This is no worse than some of the superstitions that prevail nowadays. XXVI. A Question not yet Settled. The value of fermented as compared with unfermented manure was much discussed by Roman writers. Cato and Varro held that manure heaped, turned and rotted down was stronger than green manure. Columella and Palladius held that the only good of fermentation was to destroy the seeds of weeds, and that it weakened the manure. Those who have prepared manure in water-tight yards, will probably agree with Cato and Varro. Palladius was a mere copyist at best. From where he got the idea that sea-weed should be washed before it is applied as manure, he does not say. Neither has a list of sidewalk farmers, other than himself, come down to us. Was Palladius the originator of the guild? XXVII. Little and Often. A LITTLE manure often applied was considered the best, and it was k;nown then, as now, that manure does not produce so great an effect on wet land as on dry. Why should it? Manure that is dissolved and escapes over the surface is lost. Dickson says that about eight hundred bushels of manure, well prepared, was an average Eoman cast. Not too much, certainly, when the land was only manured once in six years. It is not more than good modern gardeners apply annually, but, perhaps, more than the average farmer now gives his land even once in six years. XXVIII. Commercial Fertilizers. Limb and marl were much used for manure. Six varieties of marl are recorded. There was clayey for light lands, and sandy marl for stiff soils. A rock-like marl is mentioned, which did not become reduced for many years, and one kind brought from Britain, where it was dug from pits thirty yards (?) deep, is said to have held the fertility of the land for eighty years. The ancients seem to have known how to advertise their wares fully as well as the modern fertilizer man. ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. 57 XXIX. Ancient Plowing. The number of plowings the ancients gave their fallows prove that they were no mean plowmen. Dickson would have us believe that their ordinary plowing was nine inches deep, and, from the fact that Pliny says that, once in the fallow course, it was not unusual to attach six or eight oxen to a plow, the probability is that at such times the soil was deeply stirred. Their word sulcus meant a certain breadth stirred up, and the object of their fallow plowing was thoroughly to stir all the soil to an equal depth. They plowed narrow lines of equal breadth. A good Roman plowman would leave the surface so even that it would be difficult to tell the lines of soil moved by the plow. Each line must be perfectly straight. The characteristic of Roman plowing was precision. Because the plows had no mold-boards, as we understand the term, the plowman returned upon his own furrow, plowing back and forth. Plowing uneven breadths, sulco vario, was condemned. If the ground was left lumpy it was called scamna, and this was thought to bring a bad name to the land. Crooked plowing was called prcevaricare, and Pliny says this term was afterwards used in the law courts to designate those who testified falsely or told crooked stories. The word has come down to our time, to denote crookedness. The ridge upon which the grain was sown was called lira and porca, implying a ridge-backed sow. There are not a few plowmen nowadays who "prevaricate" and make "ridge-backed" sows of their two-back furrows. Cato forbade his bailiff to plow land when wet, to cart over it, or even to allow the treading of cattle, because it would not recover in three years. Various ancient authors say if you plow wet land you lose the whole season. How many farmers of to-day know this? Very few it seems, for they go on plowing, even stiff clay, year after year, when so wet that the fields dry into great lumps and clods somewhat softer only than half -burned bricks. XXX. Plows. It is generally supposed that ancient plows were pretty much after one pattern, and all of them of the crudest make. The more ancient ones, certainly, were mere pointed sticks, as we have shown. There is no proof that any of them turned a furrow completely over, and pulverized it. Neither did the plows of one hundred years ago. It is only within the last forty years that plows have been brought to moderate perfection. Adam Dickson, who wrote in the last half of the last century (in 1764, he published the first volume of a "Treatise of Agriculture") exhaustively investigated the construction of Roman plows. Here are his conclusions: The ancients had all the different kinds of plows that we have at present in Europe, though perhaps not so exactly constructed. They had plows without mold- boards, and plows with mold-boards; plows without coulters, and plows with coulters; plows without wheels, and plows with wheels. They had broad-pointed 58 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. shares and narrow-pointed shares. They even had, what he says, "I have not, as yet, met with among moderns — shares not only with sharp sides and points, but also with high-raised cutting tops.," Were we well acquainted with the construction of all these, perhaps it would be found that the improvements made by the moderns up to one hundred years ago, in this implement of cultivation, are not so great as many persons believe. XXXI. Seeding. The Romans had many good notions about sowing.. One was: "Early sowing sometimes deceives the husbandman ; late sowing, never — ^because the crop is always bad." Their usual mode of sowing was broadcast, or, more properly, overcast, like that of the ancient Egyptians. The sowing was always single-handed. Two-handed casting does not seem to have been knOwn. The Romans paid great attention to the seed. It must be sound, plump and well-formed. It was carefully selected in the field, while the crop was still uncut. The standard quantity of wheat sown per acre would seem to have been somewhat less than two and a quarter bushels. Two bushels seem to have been the least quantity, and two and a half bushels the maximum quantity per acre. OLD MOORISH PLOW. XXXII. Yield Per Acre. Vakbo claims ten bushels of crop for one of seed, in the average, and fifteen for one in very rich land. This was on the basis of about two bushels sown per acre. Cicero quotes the rich lands of Sicily as yieldmg eight for one, on the basis of two and a half bushels of seed per acre. He records that in Columella's time, over the greater part of Italy, the usual return was not more than four to one. Hence we see that in ancient agriculture, as in modern, the continued sowing of wheat always cauged ANCIENT AND MODERN AGRICULTURE. 59 deterioration of the soil. The rule will apply, and without exception, to all crops, unless due provision is made for re-fertilizing, or resting the soil. XXXIII. Mediaeval and Modern Agriculture. The Dark Ages carried the world almost back to barbarism. Then there was no progress. The Moorish plow was as good as the best. One much like it was used in Mexico fifty years ago, and probably is to-day in some portions of that country. If the implements shown by drawings preserved in the British Museum are an index to the agriculture of the early Norman period, it was crude, indeed, even making allowance for the art of drawing in those days. The illustration here shows the state of British agriculture soon after the Norman con- quest of England. 1 represents the plow and a rough hatchet or maul carried by the plowman for breaking the clods. 2 is a sower casting the grain. 3 is a reaper with reaping-hook. 4, threshing. 5, the scythe, and mode of sharpen- ing the blade. 6, beating and, breaking hemp. To show how slow was agricultural progress in some regions, we illustrate a plow in actual use in the Orkney Islands not more than forty years ago. The yoke is not a bad copy of the most ancient plow and yoke (Chinese) known, and supposed to have been common in the days of the Patriarch Abraham. An interesting com- panion picture to these is the modern English steam plow, worked by a stationary engine on each side of the field. The engines move forward from time to time, and anchor themselves as the plowing progresses. Steam plows moved by the traction power of the engine have so far been found im- practical, though many have been invented in England, and more in the United States, only to prove failures. In fact, steam plowing is not a success in America gen- erally. Horses and cattle, and their food, are too cheap. Besides, the necessary teams for the other farm work, and the marketing of the crops, will also do the cultivating. In the great corn region of NORSIAN FARM TOOLS. PLOWING IN THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 60 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. the country, it requires about the same teams and hands to do the cultivating that are required for the plowing. Besides, wood for fuel is becoming scarcer in the West every year, and it may long remain cheaper to raise corn for work-stock than to buy coal for steam plowing. CHAPTER HI. MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. I. A EEVOLUTION IN FIFTY YEARS II. THE PIONEER'S PLOW. III. THE FIRST STEEL PLOW. IV. THE WEBSTER PLOW. V. THE PLOW OF TODAY. ^VI. THE ART OF PLOWING. ^VII. LAYING OUT THE L.VND. — Vin. TURNING THE FIRST FURROW. — IX. THE BACK FURROW. — X. RE-PLOWING. — XI. SUBSOIL PLOWING. XII. FRENCH PLOWING. XIII. IMPLEMENTS FOR SMOOTHING AND DISIN- TEGRATING. XIV. LEVELING, COMPACTING AND GRINDING. XV. THE PLANK SOIL GRINDER. XVI. THE LEVELEE. XVII. IMPLEMENTS OF CULTIVATION. XVIII. HISTORY OF THE CULTIVA- TOR. XIX. ONE-HORSE CULTIVATORS. XX. SEEDING MACHINES. XXI. THE GRAIN DRILL. XXII. CORN PLANTERS. XXIII. HARVESTING MACHINERY. XXIV. USE ONLY THE BEST. XXV. PLOWING IRREGULAR AREAS. II. A Revolution in Fifty Years. |HE farm implements of fifty years ago were of the rudest construction, by i comparison with those of to-day. In Europe, and especially in England, some y progress was made from time to time, but until the investigations of Jefferson and others in the United States started the era of improvement in iron plows, there was no radical or permanent advance. The iron plow of Jethro Wood in 1819, marks the beginning of the revolution. II. The Pioneer's Plow. In a report to the New York State Agricultural Society in 1856, Mr. A. B. Allen thus describes the plows of the early part of the century: "A winding tree was cut down, and a inold-boai'd hewed from it, with the grain of the timber running as nearly along its shape as it could well be obtained. On to this mold-board, to prevent its wearing out too rapidly, were nailed the blade of an old hoe, thin straps of iron, or worn-out horseshoes. The land-side was of wood, its base and sides shod with thin plates of iron. The share was of iron, with a hardened steel point. The coulter was tolerably well made of iron, steel edged, and locked into the share nearly as it does in the improved lock coulter plow of the (then) present day. The beam was usually a straight stick. The handles, like the mold-board, split from the crooked trunk of a tree, or as often cut from its branches; the crooked roots of the white ash were the most favorite timber for plow handles in the Northern States. The beam was set at any pitch that fancy might dictate, with the handles fastened on almost at right angles with it, leaving the plowman little control over his implement, which did its work. in a very slow and imperfect manner." III. The First Steel Plow. We have seen plows such as Mr. Allen describes in use in the West considerably less than fifty years ago. In fact, up to foriy years ago, most of the ground [61 J 62 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. was broken with plows with wooden mold-boards covered with strips of iron. Middle-aged men may easily remember when their fathers first brought home the steel plow. It is a Western invention, without which our mucky soils could not have been successfully cultivated. It is an open question, whether Deere, of Moline, or Lane, of Yankee Settlement, near Lockpoil, Illinois, made the first steel plow. They both made the first mold-boards out of saw-plates. Then came cast plows, cast-steel plows, and next, plows of silver steel, so that now we have implements that will scour perfectly, if properly kept, even in the worst soils. IV. The "Webster Plow. The plow that the great " Expounder of the Constitution" helf)ed to make, and which he held, in breaking a piece of bad, gi'ubby land, at his home in Marshfield, was always a source of pride to the statesman. It was shown at the Centennial Exhi- bition, and attracted much attention. It was an immense, clumsy and heavy affair, drawn by a long string of oxen; and yet, forty years ago, it was not a bad ]plow for stumpy and grubby land. The engi'aving is an exact representation of this histoi-ic implement. The plow of to-day will do better work with half the team. V. The Plow of To-day. The plows of to-day may be said to have reached perfection. They combine lightness of draft, with great excellence of work. The notion is now dis- carded, that one plow can be adapted to all the uses of the farm. The different kinds of plows are now counted by hundreds. We have stirring plows, stubble jilows, deep tillers and subsoil plows. There are trenching plows, plows for turning meadow, pastures, broken sward, low-land and upland prairie. For laying flat inverted furrows, there is a special descrij)tion of plow, and also for lap furrows, and there are even plows for setting the fuiTows on the edge. MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. 63 The old cast plow is a thing of the past. For sandy or other soils that scour fairly the chilled plow is much used. The polished steel share cleaves its way in all difficult soils, doing its work perfectly; and in all soils not unusually trashy the debris. PLOW WITH CHAIN FOE TURNING UNDER TRASH. 4, is effectually turned under if the plowman attends to his business. For turning under growing crops and weeds there are so many appliances that it would be difficult to enumerate them. The chain drag and the trash cleaning attachment, shown in the PLOW WITH ATTACHMENT FOR CLEARING TRASH. illustrations, explain themselves. The object with every form of chain or hook is simply to catch the material to be plowed under and drag it forward into the position where the furrow in closing down will cover it. The longer the trash the less does it need pressing. Uneven or short material is the hardest to cover. The favorite plow in the great prairie regions of the West is the gang stubble plow, worked by three or four horses, as shown in the engraving on next, page. VI. The Art of Plowing. The furrows must be straight and even; whether the furrows be shallow or deep, the depth should be uniform. The lands once laid out straight and of uniform widths. i;-i THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. there is no trouble in keeping the furrows straight. Even in stumpy land and land with large rocks that must be plowed around, there is no need that the furx'ows remain permanently crooked. A little calculation at the proper points in narrowing the furrows or running them completely out, will soon bring the furrows straight again. There is nothing lost by this. There will be no more furrows to plow and the furrows are turned equal, to say nothing of the shocking appearance of a field plowed in a hap-hazard way. VII. Laying Out the Lands. Suppose the field is to be plowed in regular lands, two rods wide. Select four poles eight feet three inches long, and perfectly straight. Fasten a short flag to each pole, GANG STUBBLE PLOW. and provide two baskets filled with inch-square, sharpened pegs, twelve inches long. Let an assistant take two poles, one of the baskets of pegs, and a hammer, reserving a similar outfit for yourself. Measure on opposite sides of the field twice the length of a pole, and place it securely, one at each side of the field. Sighting along these, let the assistant advance one-quarter across the field, and set his second pole, moving it one way and another until you find it in a direct line with the other two. If the lands are very long, still another pole may be necessary. Drive a peg securely in each of these mai'ks. , Then the assistant measures four lengths of the pole, or two rods, from the next land at the end. You do the same, and then he sights for you to fix the second pole. Drive pegs as befpre, and so proceed until you have the whole field laid off. Then fix the flag-poles at the peg marks. VIII. .Turning the First Furrows. The next thing is to turn the back furrows, or two first furrows of each land. This is especially necessary when several plowmen are employed. Many who can do MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. 65 fair work, after a land is laid out, fail utterly in laying out or plowing the first furrows. They either plow crooked or make balks, or both. Others, again, will lay out lands correctly, and yet become inattentive to their work in plowing. The merit of a field of plowing is the poorest furrow laid — not the best — and the test of the work in laying out lands is to be able to drive a "fresh team" straight across a forty-acre field. Have the reins so they will carry the horses' heads rather wide apart, in order that the plowman can see between the team and to the stakes beyond. Arrange the lines so they will have about six inches or moi"e slack when the team is pulling, and hang on the left handle of the plow. Take the lines in one, two or three fingers of the left hand, in such a manner that a pull straight back will bring the team to the left. If you wish to turn to the right, carry the hand to the left and pull the line around the handle of the plow. Have the plow sharp and perfectly bright. A little practice will, by keeping your eye constantly on the stakes ahead, enable you to drive a straight furrow, however long the distance. But if the land is irregular, stakes enough must be set for you to have two always in line. If the team are fractious, plow them upon the land first laid out until they become steady. IX. The Back Purro-w. It is usual, in drawing the first furrow, to turn the plow somewhat over, so the share will cut less at the edge than at the heel — especially if the back furrow is to be turned into the first furrow made, thus cutting all the soil. Then in coming back, the plow should be so set as to do this, plowing a flat furrow-slice, with the off horse walking in the furrow. Twice up and back ought to prepare any land so the plowman following, will have clean furrows to begin with. Then make him keep them so. The lands as you leave them for the plowman should show two furrows, one on top of the others, and the other two sharply lapped against them. This is the plan that should be followed for all plowing, unless the ground is simply to be stirred, or in re-plowing land that was plowed in the fall. In the latter case, it is sometimes admissible to lap the first two furrows, one against the other. Then the merit of the work is that the first two furrow-slices turned, shall leave each furrow clean for the plowmen. Drainage Furrows. — Having laid out one land, proceed in the same manner with the others, until you have the whole field laid out. This often serA'^es the double purpose of regularity in the lands, and drainage, if wet weather ensues. If the eye is good, one may often save a week's time in drying the land, by plowing furrows through the field along the lines of natural drainage, as early as possible in the season, and previous to lajdng out the regular lands. Prairie or Sward. — In breaking prairie or sward land, the practice of laying the two first furrows together, so they just meet, is usually followed. We prefer cutting the two first furrows thin, and laying one on top of the other, thus cutting the whole of the soil. 66 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. X. Be-plowlng. ■ If the land has been fall-plowed, and is to be re-plowed in the spring, we prefer in laying out lands to throw two light furrows out to start with and then cover them back. This is the best plan unless it is desired to still further ridge up the soil, in which case the first furrow may be laid as previously directed. This plowing, however, should never be deep. The deep plowing, if necessary, should have been done in the fall, and the spring plowing should be done with a stirring plow, the notion being simply to loosen up the surface. Many persons do this with a corn cultivator. We STIRRING AND STUBBLE PLOW. have never found any saving in this, since the ground must be gone over several times in order to make the work equal to plowing. The stirring and stubble plow shown is much liked in the South and Southwest, and especially in Texas, as a plow for general use. It is used to best advantage in loams and other soils containing a fair proportion of sand XI. Subsoil Plowing. Many persons use the words subsoil plowing when trench plowing is meant. Trench plowing is inverting one furrow over another by one turning plow following in the track of another. Subsoil plowing is simply loosening up soil in the bottom of the furrow to a depth of four or six or more inches, as may be desired, and leaving the mellowed subsoil lying in the furrow to be again covered by the next furrow, the upper soil remaining on top. Subsoil plowing is not advantageous except on naturally dry soils or artificially drained ones. On undrained soils, when they become wet and sodden after subsoiling, the value of the subsoiling is destroyed. On drained soils, for special crops, it is of great value in increasing the depth of the tilth, and this will remain for years from a single subsoiling. XII. Trench Plowing. Trench plowing, as before said, is the inverting of one furrow on another, or the mixing the two furrow-sHces more or less together. The Michigan subsoil plow MODERN FARM lArPLEMENTS. fi7 is, in reality, a trench plow, inverting one furrow ui^on another. Many of the best gang plows are now fitted not only to perform this operation, but also to mix the soil. They are much used now for covering under sward, for special crops, by which a deep and cultivable tilth is left on the surface. The illustration shows the skin, or sod-slice, a, turning into the bottom of the furrow, c ; and b shows the thiclc sub-furrow and its twist, in the iDrocess of being inverted on the sod-slice. Trench j^lowing, in connection with manure, is prac- ticed in mellow soil, where deep tillage is necessary, as for root and other special crops. As a rule, deep trench plowing should never be done except where plenty of manure is used. And trench plowing should not be given to thih, poor soils. It skin add trench furrow, in trench plowing. often pays, however, say to a depth of eight inches, when it is necessary care- fully to cover under trash, leaving a clean surface for cultivation. Figure 1 shows trench plowing ten inches deep, the capacity of the plow for lifting having been exhausted at this dej^th. Now, if it is desired to go still deeper, the bank of earth must be removed as in Fisrure 2. In theory it seems easy. In practice it does not work. It may be partly done with the plow, but must be finished with shovels. By successive removals, and with proper plows, a dejith of twenty to twenty-two inches may be gotten with eighteen inches of clean furrow, as shown in Figure 3, provided the soil is a pretty firm loam. In lighter soils the furrow will be more largely filled, as shown by the dark line below, in Figure 3. The cuts ai"e used mainly to show the im- practicable nature of very deep trenching. Fortunately, the theory which advocated it some years ago is exploded. Deep trenching is now never done excejit for some special crop, and then only in con- nection with large quantities of manure. Subsoiling has taken its place. Fig. ]. TRENCH PLOWING, TEN INCHES DEEP. Fig. 2. THE FURROW MOVED BACK. 68 THE HOME AND FARM MANXTAL. The Subsoil. — When a subsoil plow is run in the teix-inch furrow, the subsoil is left pulverized in the furrow, and will fill the furrow quite half full, by reason of its lying lighter than before. A depth of sixteen inches may thus be obtained, and the subsoil will lie in the furrow up to the top of the dark line shown running to a point in Fig. 3. But it will be uni- formly, and you have the subsoil where In Chapter I, Part ITI, the subject Fig. 3. DEEP TRENCH PLOWING. it ought to be, in the bottom of the furrow will be again referred to. XIII, Implements for Smoothing and Disintegrating'. The principal smoothing and fining implement is the harrow. There are now many varieties of harrows, but only two principal forms are used, the one with teeth placed perpendicularly, the other with the teeth inclined more or less back. Some of them are arranged so they may be used at will, with the teeth slanting or straight. There are also many modifications of the principle involved in the harrow, by which curved and cutting teeth, or shares, are fixed in a frame for slicing the soil. There are also discs or hollowed wheels which slice and raise the soil. This latter device has also been applied to the cultivation of crops with more or less success, and also to plowing, the concave surface of the wheel throwing - the earth outward as it cuts its way through the soil. The Rotary Harrow. — One of the most perfect forms of the harrow, for simply stirring and disintegrating the soil, is the rotary harrow, which revolves as it passes forward, and which is adjusted by loading a box on top, more or less, with earth or stones. It has this advantage that, in revolving, the teeth free themselves of trash. It is useful on trashy and especially on compacted soils. The Double Harrow. — The form of harrow best adapted to the general uses of the farm is the square, double harrow, jointed in the middle for ease in lifting and freeing it from trash. "What- ever the fx-ame adopted, it is indispensable that the teeth may be easily removed for sharpen- full-sized harrow with teeth slanting. ing, and that, when replaced, they remain firmly fixed. The teeth should be of well- temjoered steel, and always sharp. A dull harrow is costly in its work, because inefficient. It is ahindrance that no good farmer will tolerate. The illustrations show, in two positions, one of the best forms of square harrows, the teeth of which may be used slanting or upright, single or double, and which will fold compactly for transportation. HARROW FOLDED. MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. 69 XIV. Leveling, Compacting and Grinding. There are various implements, of more or less intricate construction, for leveling, grinding or compacting the surface of the soil. Except the roller, the necessary implements may be made on the farm. The use of the smooth roller is now almost entirely abandoned, except when it is necessary to compact the surface. It has little of the grinding action that is necessary to break down lumps and clods. It simply presses them into the surface, to be again dragged out intact if the land is subsequently harrowed. The corrugated roller does grind, as well as compress, and hence is superior. For settling and compressing roads, the smooth roller is valuable, and its use is now pretty much confined to this purpose. SECTIONAL IRON FIELD ROLLER. On some soils, especially light, fluffy ones, requiring strong compression, the roller is indispensable. For breaking down clods, it has almost entirely gone into disuse. It simply presses them into the earth, and does not disintegrate them. It is, nevertheless, valuable for compacting meadows when they heave. It presses the soil firmly about grass and other seeds, and for a variety of uses on the farm, the sectional iron roller is best. XV. The Plank Soil Grinder. This has come to be one of the most efficient implements on the farm, for grinding down lumps and clods, and reducing the surface to a firm tilth. It has sufficient direct pressure to firm the surface, so as to bring the earth into direct and close contact with small seeds. To make this implement, select five two-inch hardwood planks, eight feet long and eight inches wide, and one of the same length for the forward piece ten inches wide. Spike or pin these together, lapping one edge on the other two inches, as in weather-boarding a house to hold it solid, slip over it ffr Wl NDER. Turn it over, and pin two strips from front to rear This is drawn over the field so the laps will not dig into .the soil, but A chain fastened to hooks two feet from each end, will form a triangular 70 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. hitching point, and if not heavy enough to do the work, a boy may ride when driving, being located at a suitable point so the implement will run straight. The cut fully explains itself, and shows the riding stool. XVI. The Leveler. This is another important and easily-made implement for the farm. Its use is to bring a field comparatively even and level, when flax, roots, or other special field crops are to be raised. It is made of four pieces, eight feet long, of 4x4 hardwood scantling, pinned together, sixteen inches apart, and so braced that each piece is firmly held. The front loXver edge of the first and third scantlings is rounded so they will incline to slip over the soil. The second and rear pieces are left with sharp edges. It is drawn by means of a chain, as shown in the plank grinder. The operator rides on a plank thrown across the top, changing his position as may be necessary to make the leveler run straight. The soil, where it projects, will be caught and deposited in the lower places. Its action is both grinding and smoothing, and, when necessary, the earth may be thrown to one side or the other, by a change of position of the driver. Its use, however, should be entrusted only to a good driver, and one of sound judgment, who will take advantage of any- thing that will assist in leveling the field. With this implement, a sharp harrow, and the grinding planks, a field may be put in condition for almost any garden crop. XVII. Implements of Cultivation. The implements already described are those principally used in the preparation of. the soil. The first two are indispensable to every farm. The two last named are indispensable for all crops that need a smooth, fine surface, as, for instance, grass. As an implement of tillage, the harrow plays an important part, especially the smoothing and other slender-toothed harrows, for stirring and loosening the surface of the soil. A sharp harrow is often useful for scarifying an old meadow, and especially a pasture when more seed is to be sown. If a field of wheat, or other grain, becomes badly crusted, a light harrow is needed. In the first cultivation of corn, and other hoed crops, its use is well known. The implement of cultivation, however, that has revolutionized the production of hoed crops, is that originally known as the straddle- row cultivator, and now as the walking cultivator, which completely finishes a row of corn each time through. XVIII. History of the Cultivator. Horse cultivators began to be used in the eighteenth century. Jethro Tull was che father of drill husbandry. From time to time, horse hoes were improved, and were at last developed into the straddle-row implement of the present day. It is said that the original idea was applied in England as long ago as 1701, but, while the principle — the cultivation of one or more rows at a time — is the same, the successive improvements have been so numerous and important, that now eight to twelve acres MODERN FARM IMPLEMKN'JVS. 71 may be cultivated to a man and team, in a day, much better than a single acre could have been done thirty years ago with the implements then in use. Not only is level cultivation accomplished, but hilling and ridging are much better done with .this WALKING CITLTIVATOR. implement than with the plow. The cut shows a cultivator with plows that may be reversed, to throw earth to or from the hill, or to press the earth equally to each side. XIX. One-Horse Cultivators. Notwithstanding the general use of two-horse machines, there are many farmers who still use the single five-tooth cultivator or some modification of it. The Eastern farmer whose corn planting in a single year would be between five and ten acres would have little use for the two-horse machine. The home of the latter implement is on the prairies. North and South, or where more crops are raised in large fields. Still the double or single shovel plow and the one- horse cultivator will not go out of fashion. In the smaller fields perhaps the most important single- horse implement that combines level and hill cultivation is the horse hoe. The Horse Hoe. — This is simply an improved shovel plow or bull tongue. From the top of the shares there is expanded a wing on each side. These are so adjustable that they may be set off at any required angle. They catch the earth as it is pressed outward, and move it slowly back into a ridge, lower or higher, as may be desired. Thus, excellent ridges may be raised for sweet potatoes, or crops FIVE-TOOTHBD CULTIVATOE. 72 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. requiring ridges; or, with it, any crop, such as potatoes, celery, etc., naay be hilled to the required height. During the early cultivation of the crop, the wings are not used, and the soil is simply stirred. The implement is not recommended for flat cultivation, but except this, it is most thorough in its work. A form known as the double-shovel plow gives better satisfaction in working corn than the five-toothed cultivator, and the latter is now mostly used for garden crops. XX. Seeding Machines. Seeding machines stand next to cultivating implements in the rank of useful farm tools. They are as indispensable in the garden as in the field, and not only save seed by distributing it more equally and regularly, but enable the cultivators, in drill husbandry, to cover the. seed to the exact depth wanted. They are not, however, confined to drills. There are broadcast sowers, with or without covering attach- ments. Probably the most valuable to the small farmer is that form which turns with a crank, and casts the seed in spiral circles from a cone-shaped orifice, distribu- ting the seed evenly and perfectly. One man will ,sow from ten to fifteen acres a day, and with the large machine — which maybe attached to any farm wagon — we have sown one hundred and ten acres of wheat in a day of ten hours XXI. The Grain Drill.. No person who makes wheat raising an important part of his farm work can afford to be without an improved force-feed grain drill. They will seed and cover at one operation, with a span of horses, from eight to twelve acres a day, and in seeding one hundred acres will save their cost in a single season. • For sowing all kinds of garden crops, or for field cultivation of root crops, the single-row drill will be found indispensable. The best of these now have markers attached, which mark the next row while seeding the first. They open the furrow, deposit the seed as desired — much or little — and cover as fast as a man can walk. For field work, a larger machine, drawn by a horse, is used. In fact, any of these! larger ones may be so drawn, by hitching the horse to the end of a light rope, six feet long, fas- cr.,=.T, o^T,r,.o tened to the machine. In this manner it is easily controlled, and if the horse swerves from the line, the drill may, nevertheless, be kept true. XXII. Corn Planters. Not less important to the farmer is the check-row corn pianter. Without it, the great cornfields of the West and South could not be planted. The check-row attach- ment is an important part of the machine. The corn is dropped with much more precision than can be done by a boy sitting on the machine, and besides, the marking MODERN FARM IMPLEMENTS. 73 of the land is entirely clone away with. It will plant from eight to twelve acres a clay much better than can be clone by hand, unless great care is taken. The seed is dropped in narrow and exact lines, a matter of no small importance in the subsequent cultivation, especially in harrowing the young corn, as it is less likely to be torn out by the harrow. XXIII. Harvesting Machinery. Next in importance to implements of cultivation, are harvesting implements. These are now of so many kinds, that a somewhat critical knowledge is necessary to determine the relative merits of one to another. With modern machinery on a Western or Southern farm, the master may ride and do perfectly almost all the work required to prepare the land, seed, cultivate, harvest and store away the crop. In pitching hay and grain on the wagon, some hand-work must be done. In pitching hay from the wagon to the stack or mow, machinery alone may be used; so also in gathering the hay from the windrow, and automatically carrying it on to the wagon. Hay is taken from the cock, and with a sweep is carried to the stack, deposited on a carrier, which raises it on the stack without touching it with the hand. It is mowed, raked, cocked, carried and stacked by machinery. Grain is cut, bound and delivered in lots of a dozen bundles, from the machine, ready for shocking. The steam thresher then separates the grain from the straw, separates the foul seeds from the good, bags it up, and keeps tally of the bushels. XXIV. Use Only the Best. The great improvements in farm machinery, that cause all these operations to be so perfectly performed, from plowing the field to cleaning the grain, have been made within the last thirty years. Any farmer who does not make use of them is far behind the times, and is working at such a disadvantage that he will surely be distanced in the struggle* for wealth. It is in the great agricultural region of the Mississippi Valley, lying between the slopes of the Alleghanies and the Eocky Mountains, and between the great Northern Lakes and the Gulf, and on the Pacific slope, that agricultural machinery may most economically be employed. The influx of population yearly pouring into this region from more eastern States, and from foreign countries, attests the ease with which farms may be made . and competence secured to the in-comer. How to do this most easily and economically, will be unfolded as this volume progresses. XXV. Plowing Irregular Areas. The New York State Agricultural Society had diagrams prepared, some years ago, showing how to plow irregular fields. It is often economical, especially in small fields, to plow without dead furrows. We here give these diagrams, and also the text fully explaining them. Dead furrows are a nuisance, especially where hoed crops are cultivated; and 74 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAIi. Kg. 1- when land is stocked down for meadows, deep dead furrows make an uneven surface for the mowers and horse-rakes to work over. When a field is plowed in lands beginning on the outside, turning all the furrows outward, and finishing the plowing in the middle of the field, there will be a dead furrow from every corner to the middle dead furrow of each land, and a strip of ground eight or ten feet wide on one side of every dead furrow will be trodden down firmly by the teams when turning around. Plowing a field without dead furrows is simply commencing at the middle and • turning the furrow slices all inward. If the plowing be done with a right-hanci p.ow the teams will "gee around," always turning on the unplowed ground. When a field is plowed in this manner there are no ridges or dead furrows, and the surface is even, so that the operation of any machine is never hindered. When sod ground is plowed in lands there is always a strip of ground beneath the first two furrow slices at every ridge that is not broken up. This is to a great extent avoided when the whole field is plowed as one land, and may be entirely avoided if back-furrowed. The accompanying diagrams will show how to plow a square field, or one of irregular boundary, com- mencing in the middle and finishing at the outsides. Fig. 1 shows a rectangular field. The plowman finds a point equally distant from three sides, measuring of course at right angles to the sides, and sets a stake. Then he finds the point equally distant from the three sides at the other end, and sets another stake. From these two stakes to the corners of the field he turns two furrow slices together, and then plows the field, being guided by them, and occasionally measuring to the outside to see if he is keeping his furrows of equal width at setting in and running out, and on each side. In Fig. 2, a four-sided lot, where the angles are not right angles, precisely the same rule is followed. In the case of the triangular field, the plowman begins by plowing about a single point, which, though awkward at first, may be executed with ease after a few trials. In the case of the irregular five-sided lot, rep- resented by Fig. 4, it is a little more diffic.ult to start exactly right, but the ruling gives a clear idea of how the furrows run, and it is always well to pace off frequently to the outside of the lot — or rather from the fence startino- at right angles to it — to be sure that the portion remaining un- rig. 4. plowed on each side, and at each end of each side, remains always of a corresponding width as the plowing progresses. Fig. 2. Pig. 3. CHAPTER IV. PRINOIPLBS AND PRACTICE. STUDY TOUB FASM. 11. ANALYSIS OP THE SOIL UNNECESSARY. III. SOIL DOES NOT WEAR OUT. IV. OEGANIO AND INORGANIC MATTER. ^V. ECONOMY OF FERTILIZERS. VI. PRACTICAL TEST OF FERTILITY. VII. ROTATION AND CROPS. VIII. A SIMPLE ROTATION. IX. EFFECT OF BAD SEASONS ^X. ELABORATE ROTATION. XI. GRASS-SEED AND MEADOWS. XII. AN EAST- ERN MAN ON ROTATION. XIII. A SOUTHERN PLANTER'S TESTIMONY. XIV. ROTATION IN EUROPE. XV. SUBSTITUTION IN ROTATION. XVI. POTASH AND PHOSPHATE CROPS. XVII. SOFT AND HARD GROUND CROPS. XVIII. SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE. XIX. IGNORANCE VS. mTELLIGENCE. ^XX. SOILS AND THEIR CAPABILITIES. XXI. PERCENTAGE OF SAND IN SOILS. XXII. ABSORBING POWER OF SOILS. XXIII. ABSORPTION OF OXYGEN BY THE SOIL. I. Study Tour Farm, ^HE best farmers are those who study the capabilities of their farms, with a view to the selection of the most remunerative crops. The first question to be decided in settling in new regions distant from markets, is. What crops will bear the farthest carriage without consuming their value? These are wheat, flax, and grass-seeds. And these crops, on new lands, are raised with the least outlay of labor. This sort of cultivation is, of course, ruinous to the land, and, if long persisted in, will certainly end in so reducing the fertility of the soil, that even other crops cannot be profitably raised. The soil must not only possess all the elementary substances necessarjr to the production of a crop, but it must, to yield the greatest return, have all these elements in excess of the requirements. And if only one of these elements is lacking or deficient, the crop is subject to such changes as not only to cease to be profitable, but often to become impossible to be grown. II. Analysis of the Soil Unnecessary. It used to be said by visionaries, years ago, that an analysis of the soil would give true indications of what it was capable of, so that if the lacking constituents were supplied, success was certain. The difficulty in all this is, that while the analysis of a soil will show correctly the constituents of that particular cube, it never shows the capabilities of a field. Even if it did show the constituents of a field, these con- stituents might be so locked up as to be valueless, or if not absolutely locked up (that is, insoluble, or not in a state in which they can be assimilated by the plant), the mechanical nature of the soil might be such as to render them inoperative. The fertility of a soil may be locked up in its gravel, sand or clay. The soil might not be able to give up its constituents from saturation of the soil by water, or its adhesion may be too great. Other reasons might be given to prove that analysis of the soil is often of little value as showing its fertility. Those mentioned are [75] 76 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. sufficient, aside from the constant fact, that the analysis of a six-inch cube of soil can never, even approximately, show the agricultural value of a field. III. Soil Does Not Wear Out. Soils do not wear out, as is generally supposed, from cropping. Soils vary in their capabilities of converting plant food as they do in their inherent qualities. A blowing sand lacks not only the inorganic elements of fertility, but is also incapable of arresting and holding the organic elements. And yet, sand is one of the most important constituents of the soil. The strongest arable clays contain from fifty to sixty per cent of sand, fertile loams sixty to seventy-five per cent of sand, and fertile sandy soils from seventy-five to eighty-five per cent of sand. As a rule, the more clay a soil contains, the greater its capability of taking and holding organic matter, and also the greater its composition of inorganic or mineral matter. IV. Organic and Inorganic Matter. The inorganic matter of soils is that produced by the breaking-down of the rocks of which all soils are originally composed. As a rule, the surface soil contains more organic, and the subsoil more of inorganic matter, though this rule is often reversed. The organic matter of soils is that formed by the decay of vegetable matter from generation to generation in the soil. Both are necessary to a fertile soil, for if either is lacking, plants will not produce seed. The organic matter produces woody fiber, starch, sugar, gum, gluten, albumen, etc. They may all be resolved into four elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, and are essential as assisting in the formation of inorganic compounds. The inorganic elements of soils are much more numerous, and it is important for the farmer to know those which are considered essential to the composition of all plants. They are given in tabular form as follows: NAME. FORMING. IN COMBINATION WITH. Chlorine, Chlorides, Metals. Sulphur, Sulphurets, " " Sulphuric Acid, Oxygen. " Sulphureted Hydrogen, Hydrogen. Phosphorus. Phosphoric Acid, Oxygen. Potassium, Potash, " " - . ' Chloride of Potassium, Chlorine. Sodium • Soda, ' Oxygen. " , '. . , Common Salt . Chlorine. Calcium Chloride of Lime, " " Lime, Oxygen. Magnesium, Magnesia, " Aluminum, Alumina, " Silicon Silica, " Iron, Oxide of Iron, " " Sulphuret of Iron, Sulphur. Manganese, Oxide of Manganese, Oxygen. • ' Sulphuret of Manganese, Sulphur. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 77 Iodine is also another element which in combination with metals produces iodides of the metals; but this element is not considered essential.. The most important of the above-named are sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, aluminum (the base of clay), silicon (the base of sand) and iron. Neither the organic nor the inorganic elements exist in plants in their simple state, but in combination with otjier substances, and to be taken up, must be in some form soluble in water. A soil to be fertile, we have said, must contain an excess of organic and inorganic matter, in a state capable of being taken up by a plant and converted into sap. To be capable of producing all the crops cultivated on the farm, the soil must consist of three earths — sand, clay and lime — intimately mixed; four gases, forming organic matter; and eleven or twelve inorganic elements, chemically combined. V. Economy of Fertilizers. The results of fertility cannot be better illustrated than by the specimens of ripe wheat shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. They are from the results of careful experiments in France. Fig. 1 shows wheat grown on good soil, without fertilizers; Fig. 2 (next page), wheat grown in the same soil, contiguous, the same year, and under the same con- ditions, except that the patch of No. 2 was enriched to the maximum with special fertilizers. The squares show the height and bulk of each. The product is given in the French terms, hectare — 2.471 acres (two and a half acres nearly) — and in kilogram — 2.2046 pounds (two and a quarter pounds nearly). The products were: No. 1, 2,640 kilograms of straw, and 903.11 kilograms of grain; No." 2, 6,931 kilograms of straw, and 3,790.46 kilograms of grain. Reduced to our measure, the fertilized portion produced 3,307 pounds of grain, or fifty-five (55) bushels and six (6) pounds per acre, and the unfertilized portion only thirteen bushels and six pounds per acre — a dif- ference of nearly forty-two bushels per acre in favor of fertilization. Analogous cases might be multiplied indefi- nitely. It would seem to be unnecessary. VI. Practical Test of Fertility. test is that the soil shall uniformly Fig. 1. WHEAT, WITHOUT FEETILIZEE. The practical produce plants from the seed sown that will make healthy and vigorous growth in average seasons, and ripen perfectly. If the soil will not do this, something is wrong with it.' It either lacks the proper organic or inorganic elements, oiv their mechanical mixture is at fault. The farmer must find out what the trouble is. A well-drained sandy loam, or clayey loam, will produce all the crops generally raised on the farm, if the rotation is such that one kind of crop follows another kind at the 78 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. proper intervals. And as no two species contain tlie same quantity or quality of organic or inorganic matter, it follows that the more widely plants differ in character, the better are they suited for rotation. Hence, turnips and wheat being widely different, and both naturally adapted to the climate of Great Britain, turnips are the great fallow, or cleaning, crop of that country. In the West, Indian corn is the great cleaning crop, and clover may be called our principal renovating crop. VII. Botation and Crops. In Europe especially, and in the older por- tions of the United States in a more limited degree, an elaborate rotation, with liberal appli- cation of manures, is found necessary to bring back the soil to a state of full fertility and keep it so. In the West, and in some portions of the South, a more simple rotation, with or without manure, is practiced. In newlj' settled districts little attention is paid to rotation, and less to manuring, except by the more sagacious settlers. The farmers raise wheat and flax until the soil begins to show signs of exhaustion, and then alternate with corn, or else seed down the land for mowing and pasture, making corn the principal grain-crop, and thus naturally gliding into stock husbandry, in the place of grain husbandry. The better-informed acquire stock as quickly as pos- sible, and before their soil refuses to raise wheat and flax. Those who do this early, make the most money ; for thus all but a small portion of that taken from the soil may be returned to it. The soil simply loses the phosphates of the bones and the nitrogen of the flesh of the animals sold. VIII. A Simple Rotation. The rotation in mixed farming is of the sim- plest kind. One-quarter of the, farm in small grain, three-eighths in corn, and three-eighths in F's- 2. pasture and meadow is a natural rotation. It WHEAT, WITH FERTILIZER j^ ^^.^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ onc-quartcr of the pasture must be broken every year. It yvould be inconvenient, but let us see how this may PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 79 be accomplished by dividing the farm into six fields. Take one hundred and sixty acres : A section of each field is shown below ; the figures at the top show the fields : 1 2 3 4 5 6 First Year, Corn, . . Wheat, . . Corn, . . Wheat, . . Grass, , . Grass. Second Year, . . . . Wheat, . . Corn, . . Wheal, . . Corn, . . Grass, . . Grass. Third Year, . . . . Grass, . . Wheat, . . Coni, . . Wheat, . . Corn, . . Grass. Fourth Year, . . . . Grass, . . Corn, . . Wheat, . . Corn, . . Wheat, Grass. Fifth Year, Grass, . . Grass, . . Corn, . . Wheat, . . Corn, . . Wheat. This rotation will give a cleaning crop of corn the year before every seeding of wheat or grass, and every third year one field of grass is to be plowed. This may be called a three-course crop, and it will be seen that it will require a long time to bring the fields into their original order again. In the third year, field six will be field one, and the entire rotation will not be complete so the fields occupy their original place until the twelfth year, a far better plan than the usual hap-haaard plan generally adopted. IX. Effect of Bad Seasons. Whatever the rotation, whether simple or elaborate, an unfavorable season may frustrate the best-laid plans. Winter wheat is liable to be destroyed by freezing. Winter and spring wheat are both subject to the depredations of the fly and other insects, often ruining the crop. We have known the corn crop destroyed by rain and flood to such a degree in one of the great corn counties in Illinois (Livingston), that the feed of the farm teams was not made, and all through June, and into July, the land could not be entered on for re-planting. We have seen whole meadows in Northern Illinois (Cook county), destroyed by the white grub (larvae of the May beetle), which eats the roots of meadow grass below the surface. We have seen, we repeat, such meadows, when the turf might be rolled up like a carpet. All these, and other contingencies, will interfere with the regular rotation, and often destroy the sequence. In such cases, the meadow must often be plowed up and lost entirely as a meadow, and cannot be recovered in less than two years. The loss of an annual crop, however, need not seriously interfere. The land may be fallowed, or some temporary crop put in for that year, or a fallow crop may be sown and plowed under. Hence the loss is light, and the regular crop of the next season may come in its turn. In no rotation can more than the general idea be followed. X Elaborate Rotation. In the foregoing, we have given the most simple rotation possible, as an example. Few far mere raise so simple a list of crops. Oats, barley and flax are generally raised. These all come under the same category as wheat. The cereal grains form 80 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. one year's crop, as a whole, and may be divided up to suit; but flax should not follow the cereals, nor should one cereal follow another. Sorghum, potatoes, roots, and all that class of crops, must have a place in the rotation. They should be allotted to the corn land. They are cleaning crops. Hungarian grass, millet, and other special forage crops may encroach either upon the small grain crops, or corn. Flax, hemp, and other fiber crops are exhausting, and must also follow the cleaning or fallow crop. No Rigid Rule. — The idea in all this, is not to lay down a system of elaborate rotation to be rigidly followed. This notion has long since been exploded. Every farmer must figure it out for himself, and select his own system as best adapted to his particular needs. But to reach the best success, a system must be adopted and adhered to, so far as possible. It is the want of system that costs money, or, what is the same thing, time. It is the knowledge as to the crops best adapted to a soil and climate, or the lack of that knowledge, that marks the successful farmer from the unsuc- cessful one. It is not the intention of this work to speculate upon what crops pay best, but to point out that which shall be of value to every reader to know, in the management of the farm. XI. Crrass-seed and Meadows. In the simple rotation already described, there may seem too little meadow and pasture. It is one adapted to new countries where the corn raised is supplementary to the grass crop. This brings the feeding resources of the farm, in proportion to that of grain raised to sell, as three-fourths of the first to one-fourth of the latter. As stock increases, the pasturage may be increased. A seed crop of grass and clover may be taken the first year, but when this is to be done, the grass — timothy, blue-grass, red-top, orchard-grass, fowl-meadow, etc., must be sown separate. Clover, whatever the variety, must be sown separate, until stock can be obtained. Then seed crops may be made profitable, since the seed will bear transportation long distances, and still yield a profit. The seed crop taken, the aftermath may be plowed under, and the straw converted into rough fodder and manure. It will always pay to seed grass with any cereal crop, with a view to turning it under out of its rotation, and independently of the meadow and pasture in their regular rotation. The notion is, not only to prevent exhaustion and keep the soil rich, but to make it richer. This is the true secret in all cultivation. Xn. An Eastern Man on Rotation. A SIMPLE and excellent rotation is given in one of the United States Agricul- tural Reports, as adopted by a gentleman in Vermont. This was on a one-hundred- acre farm, of which twenty acres were woodland. The farm had eight lots, of ten acres each. Labor was high, and since hay paid well, as much grass was raised as possible. In going through these eight fields in eight years, one ten-acre field would be in corn or roots ; the second year in wheat, barley, oats, or some other grain-crop seeded to grass; the next two years mowed for hay, and the next four years in PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 81 pasture, and about equally divided for the keeping of stock summer and winter, the owner to feed all the crops on his farm. By this system of rotation and feeding all the produce on the farm, it was estimated he could keep two-thirds more stock than the majority of farmers, and. the land would be all under cultivation. He estimated ten acres in hoed crops, ten acres in grain, and the roots at three hundred bushels of potatoes, or one thousand bushels of rutabagas or beets per acre, besides four or five hundred bushels of grain annually. XIII. A Southern Planter's Testimony. ■ Some years ago, a wide-awake Southern planter gave his plan of rotation, adapted to the cotton region, the farm containing five hundred acres of open land under fence, two hundred and fifty acres being devoted to arable purposes, and the rest to grazing. The writer held that the rotation might be as follows: 1, Cotton and corn in the same field in suitable proportions. 2, Oats sown in August on the cotton and corn land. 3, Eye, or rye and wheat, sown in September, the land having been twice plowed in order to kill the germinant oats. 4 and 5, Clover, if the land is in sufficient heart to produce it ; if not, the fourth year rest ungrazed, and the fifth year sheep and cattle penned upon it every night during the year, using a portable fence. An ordinary farm of five hundred acres, it was held, would support five huijdred sheep, besides the crops in the above rotation. The oats and rye should feed them during the winter nearly or entirely, without injury to the grain. Five hands would be sufficient to work such a farm and take care of the live stock. During the first year, the following results might be expected 'from an ordinary farm, without manure: 25 acres in cotton, 12 bales, at 15 cents, $ 900 25 acres in corn, 250 bushels, at $1, 250 50 acres in oats, 500 bushels, at 80 cents, 400 2o acres in rye, 200 bushels, at $1, 200 25 acres in wheat, 150 bushels, at $1.50, 225 Increase and mutton sales of 500 sheep, 600 Wool, 3 pounds per head, at 33 cents per pound, 495 Manure, at $1 per head, 500 $3,470 The Second Year. — This gives an average of six hundred dollars per hand for the first year, fully three times the average per hand in the Cotton States then. The next year the writer holds that the cotton and corn would be more than double by penning five hundred sheep at night on fifty acres, and says that ten sheep reg- ularly penned will manure well one acre in a year. Five hundred would, therefore, manure well fifty acres. He acknowledges that the appearance of the ground would not indicate this higb manuring ; but says it should be remembered that the liquid manure, which is equal in value to the solid, is not visible. If, in addition, a stock of cattle were kept and penned on the same fifty acres, then fertility would be increased in proportion. 6 82 ~ THE HOME AND FAEM MANTTAL. The experience of the last few years of those in the South who have applied themselves to diversified crops, where stock forms a prominent feature, shows that this is not overdrawn, and that the enrichment of worn farms by natural means is no more difficult there than in other sections of the country. XIV. Rotation in Europe. In Great Britain, and on the continent, the most elaborate systems of rotation and manuring are followed. Careful cultivation and liquid manure have made Flanders the agricultural model of many writers. In France the system of culture for field crops is equally elaborate and careful. The table below will give a rota- tion proposed in the early part of the century by order of the French government, arid will be interesting as showing the diversity of crops then cultivated. It is given simply as showing how a diversity of crops may be cultivated in localities that furnish a suitable market, as, for instance, the neighborhood of cities. Vetches are the only crop in the Ust not used in American agriculture. They may be substituted by any fallow crop, to be cut green. This rotation is as follows: riKST YEAK. ACEES. 30 Wheat 15 Clover 5 Turnips . I 5 Cabbages . ' 2KFiel(l Beet. ; 2>iCarrots . . 10 Oats . 5 Barley 10 Potatoes 3 Vetches 2 Beans ■;! Secokd Yeak. Acres. 5 Turnips . j 6 Cabbages 2iFieldBeet 24Carrots . I 10 Potatoes . : 3 Vetches . 2 Beans . . . 16 Wheat . 10 Oats . . 6 Barley 15 Clover . 16 Wheat . Third Year. Acres. 10 Oats 5 Barley . 15 Wheat ; 10 Potatoes . "1 3 Vetches . ' 2 Beans . . 15 Clover. 15 Wheat . f 6 Turnips . J 5 Cabbages 1 2iPieldBeet t 24Caiaots . FoDRTH Year. Acres. 15 Clover ( 5 Turnips . I J 5 Cabbages j ) 24rieldBeet 1. 24Carrots . j 30 Wheat . ( 10 Potatoes . ) i 3 Vetches . > ( 2 Beans . . ) ts . . J i-ley . . ) 10 Oats 5 Barley Fifth Year. Acres. 15 Wheat . . 10 Oats . 1 5 Barley . ; 6 Turnips . j 5 Cabbages i 2iFieldBeet ajCarrots. . . 10 Potatoes S Vetches I. 2 Beans . 15 Clover :1 Sixth Year. Acres. 10 Potatoes . 3 Vetches . ' 2 Beans . . 15 Clover. 10 Oats 5 Barley 15 Wheat .':! C 5 Turnips . j J 5 Cabbages ( 1 2iFieldBeet i I 2iCarrots . 15 Wheat Seventh Year. Acres. 30 Wheat. 15 Clover. 5 Turnips. 5 Cabbages. 2KrieldBeet. 2^0arrots. 10 Oats. 5 Barley. ; 10 Potatoes. 3 Vetches. ' 2 Beans. XV. Substitution in Rotation. However simple a rotation may be, or however elaborate, the crops must be selected with judgment, that is, with a view to the money they will bring. This is what marks the successful from the unsuccessful farmer. Nor need the rotation be a cast-iron one. A rotation, to be perfect, must be flexible — capable of having one crop substituted for another. But the general character must be stuck to ; and the main idea, enrichment of the soil and paying crops, must always be kept in mind. The more stock that can be fed, the easier will this quality of enrichment be retained. Hence the value of grass and clover in the rotation. PRINCIPLES AND PKACTICE. 83 Ten Ideals. — Ten ideals in agriculture may be stated, as follows : 1. — Grass, hay and corn make fat cattle. 2. — Cattle furnish manux-e. 3. — Manure ripens heavy crops of grain. 4. — A judicious rotation gives the greatest average yield. 5. — Cleaning crops prevent the growth of weeds. 6. — Weedy crops never gave large yields. 7. — Barren fields leave empty granaries. 8. — Good tillage is manuring with brains. 9. — Follow potash crops with phosphorous crops. 10. — And let the master's eye be vigilant over all that concerns the farm. XVI. Potash and Phosphate Crops. The crops that do well in a soil containing potash are corn, the grasses, clover and potatoes. Eye, barley, oats, and nearly all the garden vegetables, also, are fairly natural to such a soil. Wheat, sorghum, sugar-cane, the beet, where cultivated for sugar, and in fact all sugar crops, require a soil rich in phosphates. Barley, oats and flax like a soil rich in both phosphate and potash, and the same is true of the grasses and clover. Potatoes require phosphate for their tops and seed, and potash for their tubers. Sweet potatoes require plenty of phosphate. Soils rich in potash are generally rich, also, in humus or vegetable matter, and, if they also abound in phos- phate, will produce large crops of all the cereals, including winter wheat. But such soils are usually liable to heave; drainage will in a great measure obviate this. XVII. Soft and Hard Ground Crops. There are crops that require hard or firm soils, and others that must have soft soils, to give the best results. Among the crops natural to soft, or humus soils, are corn, Irish potatoes, flax, hemp, most textile crops, and most garden crops. The crops natural to non-humus soils, or firm soils, are wheat especially, the cereal grains generally, grass, clover, sweet potatoes, sorghum and all saccharine crops, including sugar-cane, melons and squashes, and among garden plants, flat turnips and onions. Hence the necessity of compacting soils rich in potash, and also those rich in the phosphates, on which such crops are grown. The nearest approach to bringing such soils into proper condition for these crops, is to cultivate upon a newly turned sward or upon a second year's plowing of sward. All such soils are assisted by tramping, rolling, etc., before sowing, only requiring a shallow harrowing on top. Sometimes it is difficult to get grass-seed to take on these light, fluffy soils ; but once growing, it soon becomes firm and luxuriant. The prairie soils of the West, as a rule, are rich in potash, and fairly so in the phosphates. The difficulty with wheat on such soils is heaving out, rust and lodging. They are bettei adapted to spring wheat than to winter wheat. Timber soils and all loess (sandy-alluvial) soils are adapted to winter wheat. As we go West, after crossing the Mississippi, the soil becomes better and better adapted to the cultivation of this crop. 84 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. XVIII. Science in Agriculture. The practical farmer has little or nothing to do with abstruse science. And yet, science has done much for agriculture within the last fifty years. Chemistry espe- cially has lent its aid in all directions, even in mechanical appliances. It has been called the corner-stone of agriculture, and in fact it is, since the growth of all crops is due largely to chemical action. The natural sciences are largely connected with agriculture. Botany teaches the structure and physiology of plants. Entomology treats of insects beneficial and injurious to crops. Zoology describes animals valu- able or destructive. Mechanical science has perfected implements of tillage and use. Veterinary science has rendered it possible for any intelligent farmer to treat the ordinary diseases of domestic animals without the aid of the professional veteri- narian. Such works as the Cyclopedia of Live Stock and Complete Stock Doctor give minute directions concerning all the animals of the farm, and most diseases incident to farm stock, and this one is so fully illustrated that everything is presented in the clearest manner. Manures requisite for any crop may now be bought or made on the farm. The soils adapted to particular crops may now be easily and accurately studied. Agricultural invention has fairly kept pace with other inventive progress within the last ten years, and they who read and reflect have profited thereby. Agriculture can no more stand still than can any other art. The conditions requisite to success are constantly changing, and must ever change. The middle-aged man who would be content with the agriculture of his father, must go back to the heavy eyeletted hoe, the scythe and reaping-hook, the old team-killing plow, the one-horse plow for cultivaitng, the flail or tramping-floor for threshing, and a spade-edge over a half- bushel for shelling corn. XIX. Ignorance v^. Intelligence. They who do not believe in books, and in improved agriculture, — and there are not a few such, — are toiling from twelve to fifteen hours a day to scratch a hard- earned pittance from an unwilling soil, while their better-informed neighbors are working less hours, reading more, using improved seed, implements and processes, and gaining a competence. Not by studying books a quarter of a century or a hundred years old, not works of theory and dry detail, but paragraphs and condensed and illustrated reading, that give ideas to be elaborated and made to fit, by each individual, his own particular wants. In other words, the application of agricultural truths, new and old, to the every-day labors of the farm. XX. Soils and their Capabilities. Among other things, every farmer ought to understand soils, their characteristics and capabilities. We are, for instance, in the habit of using the terms, " light " and " heavy" soils, just as we are in the habit of saying the air is " heavy," the air is " light," etc. When we say the air is " light," it is probably heavy, but it is bracing. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICB. 85 When we say it is heavy, it really is light. That is, the pressure on the barometer is not heavy. We say a soil is " light" because it is sandy and easily worked; heavy, when it is clayey; "hard," when it is dry, and "sticky" when it is wet. Better terms would be, "open" and "close." Only humus soils are really light. Sandy soils are the heaviest in gravity, and clay soils are lighter in weight than any others except those wholly or largely composed of vegetable matter. The following table from Schubler will be valuable. The first column shows the kind of soil, the second the weight per cubic foot, and the third the weight of one foot in depth per acre: KIND OF SOIL. AVEIGHT PER CUBIC FOOT. WEIGHT ONE FOOT DEEP PBK ACKE. Dry silicious or calcareous sand, . . . about 110 pounds, 6,792,000 pounds. *Half sand, half clay, " 96 " 4,182,000 tCommon arable soil, " 80 to 90 " 3,485,000 to 3,920,000 Stiff clay, " 75 " . . • 3,267,000 tGarden mold, rich in vegetable matter, . " 70 " 3,049,000 Peat earth, " 30 to 50 " 1,307,000 to 2,178,000 XXI. Per Cent of Sand in Soils. The composition of soils is important. They are designated as light, heavy, warm, cold, dry, wet, compact, porous, fine, coarse, hungry, leachy, loamy, sour, sweet, clayey, sandy, limy, marly. In fact, no two soils are precisely alike, and each acre of a field may differ essentially from the rest. Common sand, flint sand, alumina, lime, magnesia, potash, and various salts and metalloid compounds unite in various combinations to make up these soils. The humus, which gives richness and blackness of color, is chiefly derived from successive growths and decays of the vegetation for untold generations. The following statement shows the percentages of sand and clay, from pure clay (alumina and sand) to humus and peaty soils. 1. — Pure clay or pipe clay is sixty per cent silica and forty per cent alumina. 2. — Strongest clay soil (brick clay), pure clay, with five to ten per cent of sand that can be separated by washing. 3. — Clay loam, pure clay, with fifteen to thirty per cent of sand. 4. — Loamy clay, pure clay, with thirty to sixty per cent of sand added. 5. — Sandy loam, pure clay, with sixty to ninety per cent of sand. 6. — Sandy soil contains ten per cent or less of clay. 7. — ^Marly soils, from five to twenty per cent of marl, by weight, of the dry soil. 8. — Calcareous soils, twenty per cent or more of lime. 9. — Humus soils, from five to fifteen per cent of vegetable matter. 10. — Peat soils have sixty per cent or more of vegetable or organic matter 11. — Gravelly soil, in which gravel is a distinct constituent. 12. — Eocky soil, in which ledges appear, or which consists largely of boulders or other rock. * This soil would correspond to yvhat we call a sandy loam. t This soil would correspond to What we call a clay loatn. t This soil would coiTespond to our strong, rich prairie soils. 8(5 THE HOME AND FARM MAITOAL. XXII. Absorbing Power of Soils. The power of a soil to absorb water indicates its quality, since a soil that will absorb water and hold it, is generally fertile. Schubler presents this absorbing power as follows, for the soils named : KINDS OF EAETH. Silicious Sand, . Arable Soil, . . Sandy Clay, . . Loamy Clay, Brick Clay, . . Gray Pure Clay, G-axden Mold, . Humus, . . 1,000 Gkains of Earth on a Sukface of Fifty Square Inches Absokbed in 12 Hours. Grains. Water. 16 21 25 30 37 38 80 24 Hours. Grains. Water. 22 " 26 30 36 " 42 " 45 " 97 " 48 HOURS. Grains. Water. 23 28 34 40 48 50 110 72 Hours. Grain.s. Water. 23 28 32 41 49 52 120 Thus we see why dry pure sands are hungry soils. They cannot hold moisture, nor the soluble portions of manure, which are the only fertilizing elements. XXin. Absorption of Oxygen by the Soil. Grains. KIND OF EAETH. Cubic Inches Absorbed. 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 Silicious Sand, in a wet state, absorbed oxygen, . Sandy Clay, Loamy Clay, ' Brick Clay, Gray Pure Clay, Garden Mold, Arable Soil, * Humus, t 0.24 1.39 1.65 2.04 2.29 2.60 2.43 3.04 If the oxygen of the air is absorbed, as shown by this table, the carbon, hydro- gen and nitrogen of the air may also enter into combination if the conditions are right. The table from Schubler will show the power of one thousand grains of soil for absorbing oxygen, from fifteen cubic inches of air, containing twenty-one per cent of oxygen. Part II. PRACTICAL AND SYSTEMATIC HUSBANDRY. CEEEAL CROPS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. GRASSES, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. SILK CULTURE— SPECIAL CROPS. CROPS FOR SUGAR MAKING. ^ VARIETIES ILLUSTRATED AND COMPARED. PRACTICAL AND SYSTEMATIC HUSBANDRY. CHAPTEE I. CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. I. THE CEREALS DESCRIBED. II. WHEAT AND CORN BELTS. III. CORN IN THE UNITED STATES. IV. DIFFERENT KINDS OF WHEAT. V. VARIATIONS ILLUSTRATED. VI. PROPER WHEAT SOILs! VII. PREPARING THE SOIL. VIII. DKILLIN& GIVES THE BEST RESULTS. IX. DEPTH OF COVER- ING FOR WHEAT. Xl TIME TO SEED AND HARVEST. — -XI. HARVESTING WHEAT. XII. HOW TO SHOCK THE GRAIN. XIII. IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SEED XIV. PEDIGREE GRAIN. XV. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.: XVI. ARTIFICIAL CROSS FERTILIZATION. XVH. REPUTABLE OLD VARIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES. XVIH. BYE AND ITS CULTIVATION. — ^XIX. BARLEY AND ITS CULTIVA- TION. XX. TIME FOR SOWING BARLEY. XXI. HARVESTING AND THRESHING BARLEY. XXII. NEW VARIETIES OF BARLEY. XXIII. OATS AND THEIR CULTIVATIO V. XXIV. EXPORT OF -FOOD CROPS. XXV. SPECIES OP OATS— THEIR LATITUDE. XXVI. SOIL AND CULTIVATION OF OATS XXVII. HARVESTING AND THRESHING OATS. XXVIII. VAEIETIBS OF OATS TO BE CULTIVATED. XXIX. BUCKWHEAT. XXX. SEEDING AND HARVESTING BUCKWHEAT. * I. The Cereals Described. |HE cereals are the edible seeds of the grasses, or those cultivated for food. In the American usage, the cereals include wheat, rye, Indian corn, rice, barley and oats. In its broader sense, the word also includes sorghum, doura corn, some varieties of millet which are used as food by oriental nations and tribes, besides the seeds of the bene-plant (sesamitm) , a grain from which oil is expressed. The seeds of the bene-plaut are eaten by some tribes, and were once used to a limited extent for food by the negroes in the South. In this work we shall not have occasion to notice any of the cereals except wheat, Indian corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, rice and millet. Of these, wheat, rice and Indian corn are the most important food- plants of the world. In the United States, Indian corn is the most important food-crop, if we take into consideration its use for stock; wheat coming second. Of the food-crops of the world, as a whole, wheat stands first, rice second, Indian corn third, rye fourth; buckwheat, oats and barley coming last among civilized nations. Oats are coming more into use year by year as a staple article of food, in the shape of grits and meal, and are among the most nutritious of the cereals. Barley is becoming more important every year, being the chief ingredient in the manufacture of beer. All the cereals produce alcohol, by fermentation and distillation, but Indian corn is the great staple, and rye the next, for this purpose. For the manufacture of grape-sugar, or glucose (a saccharine product about forty per cent of the strength of 189] 90 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. cane sugar), Indian corn has within the last few years assumed great importance, and now employs immense capital in its production. II. Wheat and Corn Belts. With reference to wheat and Indian corn, the United States may be divided into three great belts, — the Atlantic, the Central, and the trans-Mississippi. The Atlantic belt produces about nineteen per cent of the wheat and corn; the Central belt, forty per cent, and the trans-Mississippi about forty-one per cent. In 1850 the percentage stood: Atlantic belt about fifty-one per cent., the Central belt forty-three, and the trans-Mississippi, six per cent of the whole crop — a wonderful exhibit of Western growth, which also forcibly shows how exhausted fertility of the soil and natural causes operate to change relative importance and values of crops cultivated. III. Corn in the United States. An idea of the great importance and value of the corn crop of the United States is given by the immense crop, averaging since 1878 about 1,500,000,000 bushels a year, and this notwithstanding the crop failure of 1882. The following table, prepared by the Department of Agriculture, gives in a compact form all the facts about the corn crop of the United States for a period of sixteen years, during which time the production increased more than threefold. Since 1878 the quantity raised and the percentage exported have steadily increased. TEAES. ACREAGE. TIELD Per Acre. TOTAL Product. Price Per Bushel. TOTAL Value OP Product. Total Value Per Acre. Com and Corn-Meal exported in the fiscal year closing June 30, following. m 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 : . . . . 1869 1870 1871 .... 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 15,312,441 17,438,752 18,990,180 33,306,538 32,520,249 34,887,246 37,103,245 38,646,977 34,091,137 35,526,836 39,197,148 41,036,918 44,841,371 49,033,364 50,369,113 51,585,000 Bush. 25.98 30.42 37.09 25.30 23.63 25.9 23.5 28.3 ' 29.1 30.7 23.8 20.7 29.4 26.1 26.6 26.9 Bushels. 397.839,212 530,451,403 704,427 853 867,946,295 768,320,000 906,527,000 874,320,000 1,094,255,000 991,898,000 1,092,719,000 932,274,000 850,148,-500 1,321,069,000 1,283,827,000 1,342,518,000 1,388,218,750 $0.69.9 99.5 46.0 68.2 79.5 62.8 75.3 54.9 48.2 39.8 48.0 64.7 42.0 37.0 35.8 31.8 $278,089,609 527,718,183 324,168,698 591,666,295 610,948,390 569,512,460 658,532,700 601,839,030 478,275,900 435,149,290 447,183,020 550,043,080 555,445,930 475,491,210 480,643,400 441,153,405 $18 16 30 26 17 07 17 21 18 49 16 32 17 74 15 57 14 02 12 24 11 41 13 40 12 S8 9 69 9 54 8 55 Bushels. 5,146,192 3,610,402 14,465,751 16,026,947 12,493,522 8,286,665 2,140,487 10,676,873 35,727,010 40,154,274 35,985,834 30,025,036 50,910,532 72,652,611 87,172,110 P.ct. 1.29 .68 2.05 1,85 1.62 .91 .24 .98 3.60 3.68 3.86 3.53 3.85 5.66 6.59 Average of whole period, . . . 35,930,407 26.7 959,174,938 52.3 501,616,287 13 96 Average 1863-'70. 28,650,703 26.8 768,010,845 '67.7 520,309,421 18 16 Average 1871-'78. 43,210,111 26.6 1,150,341,531 42.0 482,923,154 11 18 CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 91 Specially noticeable is the rapid increase in the corn product west of the Mississippi Eiver and in the Southern States. West of the great river, the settlement of new lands is rapid, and in the South the notion is constantly gaining ground, that it is cheaper, to raise corn than to buy it. The distribution of the corn crop is shown by the following table, except that the acreage has greatly increased in the South and in the country west of the Mississippi since 1878: Corn Crop 1878. CORN Crop ]S78. STATES. „ Bushels. Acres. Value. Bushels. Acres. Value. Maine, . . . . 2,180,000 • 54,500 $ 1,417,000 Tennessee, . . 37,422,700 1,939,000 $15,343,307 NewHampshire, 2,207,400 56,600 1,346,514 West Virginia, . 10,118,400 372,000 4,249,728 Vermont, . . . 2,275,500 55,500 1,819,790 Kentucky, . . 45,922,100 2,023,000 18,368,840 Massachusetts, . 1,260,000 35,000 781,200 Ohio, . . . . 108,643,700 3,113,000 35,852,421 Ehode Island, . 268,800 8,400 142,464 Michigan, . . 31,247,700 835,500 11,874,126 Connecticut, . . 2,220,000 75,000 1,376,400 Indiana, . . . 138,252,000 4,215,000 37,328,040 New York, . . 25,020,000 695,000 12,510,000 Illinois, . . . 225,932,700 8,337,000 56,483,175 New Jersey, . . 9,792,000 272,000 4,406,400 Wisconsin, . . 36,900,000 984,000 10,701,000 Pennsylvania, . 44 065,000 1,259,000 21,151,200 Minnesota, . . 17,106,900 449,000 4,961,001 Delaware, 4,500,000 180,000 1,755.000 Iowa, . . . . 175,256,400 4,686,000 28,041,024 Maryland, . . 11,209,500 477,000 5,044,275 Missouri, . . 93,062,400 3,552,000 24,196,224 Virginia, . . . 18,200,400 1,040,000 7,826,000 Kansas, . . 81,563,000 2,406,000 15,497,046 North Carolina,. 22,603,200 1,662,000 10,171,440 Nebraska, . . 54,222,000 1,291,000 8,675,520 South Carolina, . 12,276,000 1,320,000 6,629,040 California, . 3,467,250 100,500 2,080.3.50 Georgia, . . . 24,398,000 2,218,000 14,882,780 Oregon, . . 166,500 5,000 153,180 Florida, . . . 2,124,000 236,000 1,550,520 Nevada, Color- ■) Alabama, . . . 23,928,000 1,994,000 14,117,520 ado and the [ 2,670,000 89,000 1,602,000 Mississippi, . . Louisiana, . . 19,474,000 16,875,200 1,498,000 848,000 12,463,360 10,125,120 Territories, Texas, . . . . 58,396,000 2,246,000 25,694,240 Total, . . 1,388,218,750 51,585,000 $441,153,405 Arkansas, . . . 22,992,000 958,000 11,036,160 IV. Different Kinds of Wheat. The many varieties of wheat cultivated may be divided into two principal classes : hard wheats and soft wheats. The hard wheats are natives of warm or semi-tropical climates, and the soft wheats of cold climates. These are true wheats — that is, the seeds are not attached to the chaff. An inferior variety, but very hardy, is spelt wheat, also a hard wheat, but with the seed adhering to the chaff like barley. Another division is into bearded and smooth wheat, and still another, into red and white wheat. Polish wheat resembles rye; it is a hard wheat. St. Peter's corn, or one-grained wheat, is a variety in which the seeds adhere to the chaff, a whitish-seeded, flinty wheat, which makes a sweetish bread, and is sparingly raised in some portions of Southern Europe. Another variety, Emmer or Amel corn, is raised in the Alpine valleys; it is a vigorous, hardy and productive variety, used for bread, for cattle, and for making starch. The seeds are broadly furrowed, pointed at both ends, the upper end woolly, and the color grayish red, and very glassy. Favorite Varieties. — The varieties of wheat are so numerous, and so many new ones are coming to the front every year, that a list of them would be of little value. The practical farmer must experiment in a small way for himself before 92 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. adopting any new variety. Of spring wheats, club varieties have long been noted for early ripening on high, dry lands. Fife wheat does well on moister rich soils. Both these varieties are beardless. Of winter varieties, the May or amber wheats have the best general reputation. The only true way is to experiment each for one's-self, or accept the experience of those whose location and soil are similar. V. Variations Illustrated. To show variation in wheat, we give a series of four cuts, two of bearded and two of smooth or beardless wheat. Fig. 1 represents strongly bearded wheat (Mediter- ranean hybrid); Fig. 2, lightly bearded wheat (black bearded centennial; Fig. 3, a bald white wheat (Clauson), and Fig. 4, a red bald wheat, red blue stem. These are given, not with a view of showing varieties! but to illustrate some principal variations. [See next page.] VI. Proper Wheat Soils, The beist soils for winter wheat are those that are compact, and not liable to shrink and swell (heave) in freezing and thawing weather — soils rich in phosphates, lime and potash. The same soils suit spring wheat, except that spring wheat may be raised on soils that do heave somewhat. Very soft (fluffy) soils containing large amounts of humus are not at all adapted to wheat, since all such soils are liable to rust, mildew and smut, especially in moist seasons. If a soil is wet, it may be improved by under-draining. If it is a rich humus, as much of the prairie land east of the Mississippi is, it is worth more for other crops than for wheat. Well- drained sandy loams are the best wheat soils, since these lands are compact, and generally rich. The best wheat soils of the West and South lie in the undulating regions, and on the plains of Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific slope. VII. Preparing the Soil. In new soils, wheat may be sown among corn, in the latter part of August or in September. Or the corn may be cut and shocked, the land plowed, and the seed drilled in, in September in the North, and later in the South. On soils more worn, wheat may follow in the rotation, either on a clover by being turned five or six inches deep, or it may follow the seed crop of corn. Where sown on fallow land, the soil may be plowed three times, once as early in the spring as possible, and deep. Upon this at the proper time sow some crop to be plowed under. The last plowing should be shallow, only sufficient for the tilth, and not deep enough to disturb the crop turned under. After turning the fallow crop under, roll the ground to compact it thoroughly^ The more solid the under-soil, and the better the surface tilth, the greater the probability of a crop. If, from any cause, the wheat is destroyed, spring wheat may be drilled in or sown broadcast, unless it be frozen after the wheat has begun to "shoot" in the spring. If so, there may yet be time CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. y; Fig. 1. JIEDITEKUANEAN HYBEID. Fig. 2. BLACK BEARDED. Fig. 4. Fig. 3. BED BLUE CLAUSON WHEAT STEM. 94 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. to plant to com or to sow to some of the annual grasses — Hungarian or millet — for forage. VIII. Drilling Gives the Best Results. The quantity of seed must be determined by the nature of the soil and its conditions. As a rule, poor land requires the most seed, since the plant does not tiller so readily. Two bushels is heavy seeding broadcast; one and a half bushels per acre is the usual quantity. If the seed is drilled, one-quarter less may be used. Almost every one who has carefully noticed results, will admit that drilling the seed in gives the best crops. There is no use in going into an argument to prove this. Careful scientific experiment, as well as the experience of practical farmers in every part of the country, shows that drilling effects a saving o'f from, ten to thirty per cent in seed, and gives an increase -of five to twenty per cent in the crop gathered. IX. Depth of Covering for Wheat. Herb we give an object-lesson illustrating germination when planted too deep. The cut shows that when planted three inches deep the plumule throws out roots at a depth of two inches below the surface. In making that extra growth of one inch, the constitu- tional vigor of the plant is impaired, and this loss of vigor is in proportion to the J> increased depth below two inches from the surface, until planted at six inches in depth, the vitality of the seed is exhausted in reaching the surface. The same progression will apply to all seeds. Of barley sown twelve inches deep not a grain germinated. As a rule, the smaller the seed the less should be its depth of covering. For any one who has not experience with any particular seed, four times the diameter of the seed is a good depth to insure prompt germination in soil of average texture, always, supposing that the earth is in full contact with the seed, and that moisture is present. The cereal grains do not require a high temperature for germination; between forty-two and fifty degrees is about right. The Proper Depth. — ^From one to two inches is the proper depth for wheat — deepest in loose soils. The earth should be firmly pressed about the seed. The WHEAT PLANTED AT DIITERENT DEPTHS. CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 95 observation of intelligent farmers shows this, and the experiments of Petri prove it. Here are the results of his experiments, one inch being the best depth for germination. The seed sown being of a given quantity in each case: SEED SOWH TO THE DEPTH OP- Half inch . . CAME ABOVE GKOUKD IN— PKOPOKTION of plants WHIOH CAME UP. Eleven days Seven-eighths. .... All. . . . . Seven-eighths. . . . Thi-ee-fourths. . . . . One -half. . . . . Three-eighths. . . . . One-eighth. One inch Twelve days Two inches Eighteen days Three inches Twenty days Four inches Twenty-one days .... Five inches Twenty-two days . . . Six inches Twenty-three days . . . X. Time to Seed and Harvest. The avei-age time to seed and harvest wheat in different parts of the United States is given in the following table. It is compiled by the Department of Agricul- ture from answers from the different States, and also gives the average quantity of seed and the best wheat soils for the localities named : AVERAGE STATES. Time of Sowing. Bushels op seed Pek Aoke. Time op Harvest. BEST SOIL. Maine, . . . . May 15 to June, . IJ^bnsh.,. . . August 20 to 30, . . Sward corn stubble; high ridges; dry pasture. Clay loam; new upland; di- New Hampshire , April to May 20, . 13/2 to 2 bush., . August 1 to 20, . . ^ luvial ; black loam. Massachusetts, . April 10 to 25, . . IJ^ to 2 bush., . June 25 to Aug. 10, . Vermont, . . . May 1 to Sept., . 2 to 2)^ bush., . Last Aug. to Sept. 1, Loam clay : clay loam. New York, May 10 to Sept 1., l}i to 2 bush., . July 2 to Aug. 10, . Sandy loam; clay loam; loam mixed with gravel. New Jersey, . . Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, 1% to 2 bush., . June 28 to July 7, . Friable loam; loam; clay loam; sandy loam, rather stiff. Pennsylvania, . Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, IJ^ to 2 bush., . June 15 to July 15, . Light sandy ; clay soil ; sandy loam ; limestone ; do. clay, mixed with gravel; clay; do. ; clay and gravel. li to 2 bush.. Maryland, . . October, . . . . l}4 bush., . . . June, Rich loam; clay. Virginia, . Sept. 15 to Nov. 30, 1 to 2 bush., . . June 15 to July 15, . Clay; do. do.; clay and lime. South Carolina, . Oct. and Nov., . . 50 lbs June 1, . . . Clay. Georgia, . . . Sept. 15 to Nov., . % to 1 bush., . June 1, Eed mulatto. Alabama, . . . Sept. to Dec, . . >^ to 2 bush., . June to July, . . . Loam ; oak and hickory. Tennessee, . . Oct. 12, ... . 1 to 1>^ bush., . June 15, . . .' . . Dark loam ; all kinds. Kentucky, . . Sept. and Oct., . . 75 lbs., . . . . July, Clay. , Ohio, . . . . Sept. 1 to Oct, 25, 1 to 13-2 bush., . June 28 to July 20, . Oak and maple land; clay; do.; very warm; limestone; clay loam; yellow clay; clay; sandy. Indiana, . . . Sept. to Oct , . . 1 to 2 bush., . . June 15 to July 20, . Sand and loam; clay loam; clay ; improved clay ; loam do.; clay; sandy loam. Illinois, . . . Aug. to Sept. 30, . 1 to l}i bush., . May to July 1, . . Sandy loain; clay; oat or clo- ver stubble; clover; rich loam. Michigan , . . . Sept. 3 to Oct. 1, . IM to 1}4 bush.. June to July 30, . . Marl clay; clay and sand; oak; clay loam. Iowa, . . . Aug. 20 to Sept. 15, 90 lbs. to 13^ bu.. July 5 to 20, . . . Texas, . , . . Oct. 1 to Dec. 15, . 3^ bush., . . . May 1 to June 10, . Lime soil. 9(5 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. Cultivating. — ^There can be very little cultivation of the growing wheat under our system of tillage. We must have a much denser population, great division of farms, and very much cheaper labor first. A light harrowing in the spring if the ground becomes crusted, or a rolling if the land heaves, is almost all that can be done. Hence, the advantage of clean land and a thorough preparation of the soil. No crop that is largely composed of weeds ever yet paid the cultivator. XI. Harvesting Wlieat. The proper time for harvesting wheat is still open to discussion. The miller insists that wheat cut just in the dough state, and carefully cured, makes the most and the best flour per bushel. There is no doubt of it, but it costs more to harvest the crop, and the yield per acre is not so large. Will the miller, or rather the buyer in the market, pay more for wheat harvested in this condition than for wheat har- vested when fully ripe? No ! Then, the farmer will let his crop stand until it is so nearly ripe that there will be no difficulty in curing it in the shock and stack. In this, the farmer must so calculate, that the whole harvest shall be cut before the. grain crinkles down or shells from the head. If harvest facilities are not just what you desire, cut the first of the harvest rather green; the grain is good for milling, that is, it will ripen for milling, as soon as the grain, squeezed between the fingers, shows a fairly firm, pasty consistency. But that intended for seed should not only be fully ripe ; it must be taken from the very best part of the field and stacked separately from the rest. XII. How to Shock the Grain. The importance of careful shocking is almost always underestimated. Whenever there is danger of rain during harvest, this work should be done in the most careful manner. To do this, the sheaves must be properly placed, and the cap sheaves properly broken over to turn rain. If well done, it takes a long-continued storm to injure the grain. To illustrate the whole fully we have prepared these figures as a guide. SECOND CAP. riRST CAP. Stand four sheaves in a row, the two end sheaves slanting somewhat, and pressing against the others. Strike the butts firmly into the stubble, then place sheaves firmly against these, three on a side. This makes a round shock. For the first cap take a long, smooth sheaf, break all the heads back toward the band, to one side and the .other as shown in the cut. Lay it on the shock, throwing the heads each way, and with the butt to the east. Then break the second cap down at the band, spreading somewhat, and lay it on with the butt to the west. The shock will then look like the third figure, entitled " The Shock Finished," and, when fairly ™'^ shock finished. settled, will not be liable to be blown over by any ordinary wind. Let your shocks CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 97 run perfectly straight across the field, however long it may be, and at equal distances apart. The cost of shocking is hardly an appreciable quantity in the cost of a crop, and whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. It is a great comfort for the farmer to know, in bad weather, that his crop is safe. XIII. Importance of Good Seed. We have already shown that the ancients thought it worth while to select the best ears directly from the field. The best cultivators of to-day do this, and thus produce pedi- gree grain that sells for large prices. Every farmer should do this. If it pays the seeds- men it will pay the farmer. If in your exam- ination you find a head distinct in its character- istics, save it and plant it in an experimental plat. The success of Major F. F. Hallett, of Kemptown, England, in this line has been famous for many years. In 1874, he deliv- ered, before the Midland Farmer's Club, of Birmingham, an address, in which he stated his whole plan of operations. His mode of pro- cedure, results and general conclusions are given in the next two articles. But what is pedigree grain ? It is — and the same is true of all grains — seed selected and cultivated for years under the best possible conditions. The engraving shows an accurate and life-size rep- resentation of the wheat grown by Maj. Hal- lett. Compare this with the head of red blue- stem wheat, on page 93, also shown in its natural size, as taken from fields — the others represented being select heads. The compari- son will convince any intelligent reader of the importance of selection in seed. XIV. Pedigree Grain. "A GRAIN produces a plant consisting of many ears. I plant the grain from these ears in such a manner that each ear occupies a row by itself, each of its grains ,. occupying a hole in this row, the holes being twelve inches apart everyway. At harvest, after the most careful study and comparison of the plants from all these grains, I select the finest one, which I accept as a proof that its parent grain was the best of all, under the peculiar circumstances of that season. This process is HALLETT'S PEDI- GREE WHEAT. HALLETT'S PEDI- GREE WHEAT. 98 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. repeated annually, starting every year with the proved best grain, although the verifi- cation of this superiority is not obtained until the following harvest." ToMe showing the importance of each additional generation of selection. YEAH. SELECTED EAKS LKKGTH. CONTAINING. NO. OP EAKS ON FINEST STOOL. 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 Original ear, • . . . . . . . Finest ear . . . . Finest ear, .... Ears imperfect from wet season, . • . Finest ear, Inches. 4% 7% 'm Oi-ains. 47 79 91 123" '10' 22 39 52 Thus, by means of repeated selection alone, the length of the ears was doubled, their contents nearly trebled, and the "tillering" power of the seed increased fivefold. The following ■ table gives similar increased contents of ear obtained in three other varieties of wheat : '\AEIETIES OF WHEAT Original red, commenced 1857, . Hunter's white, commenced 1861, Victoria white, commenced 1862, Golden drop, commenced 1864, . GRAINS IN' ORI- GINAL EAR. GRAINS IN' IM- PROVED EAU. 123 124 114 XV. General Conclusions. 1. — Every fully developed plant, whether of wheat, oats or barley, presents an ear superior in productive power to any of the rest on that plant. 2. — Every such plant contains one grain which, upon trial, proves more produc- tive than any other. 3. — The best grain in a given plant is found in its best ear. 4. — The superior vigor of this grain is transmissible in different degrees to its progeny.. 5. — By repeated careful selection the superiority is accumulated. 6. — The improvement, which is at first rapid, gradually, after a long series of years, is diminished in amount, and eventually so far arrested that, practically speaking, a limit to improvement in the desired quality is reached. 7. — By still continuing to select, the improvement is maintained, and prac- tically a fixed type is the result. XVI. Artificial Cross Fertilization. The wheat plant, and the grasses generally, have perfect blossoms — that is, stamens or male organs; and the female organs, or stigma and ovary. Perfect seeds CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 99 of two races are selected and planted in separate patches of alternate rows of male and female, the individual seeds ten inches apart each Wdy, as shown in the diagram : No. 1. *M*M*M*M*M*M 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. M*M*M*M*M*M No. 2. *M*M*M*M*M*M 1. *p *Tp "F * p *!> *]?' 2. *M*M*M*M*M*M 1. *F *F *F *F *r*F 2. *M*M*M*M*M*M. 1. *p *]?' *ii' *F *F *F The notion is that No. 1 of the first plat shall fertilize No. 2 of the second, and vice versa. As soon as the anthers show, clip off all carefully from the lines marked 1 throughout one of the patches, 1 being supposed to be of one variety and 2 of another. From the other cut the anthers from all the lines marked 2, cover with gauze to keep off insects for three days, or until the anthers have lost all their pollen and shrunk up.. You will have the product of two races; the male of No. 1 with female of No. 2, and the male of No. 2 with the female of No. 1. From selections of the produce of these experiments you may preserve heads with distinct and valuable characteristics. The three cuts show some results in this direction. Fig. 1, White Kussian, is a beardless, white-chaff amber wheat. Fig. 2, Defiance, is also a beardless spring wheat, a cross of club wheat upon a variety from California. Fig. 3, Martin Amber, is a cross on Eed Mediterranean, having the quality in the young plant of lying close to the ground; beardless, an amber berry, with a thin hull. [See next page. J XVII. Reputable Old Varieties of Wheat. A REPORT from the Department of Agriculture on samples of wheat from various States at the Centennial Exhibition, shows the general estiniation of well-tested varieties, and is valuable for reference. In relation to new varieties, yearly appearing, every person must be guided by experiment, or by the advice of those who have tried them. The statement in relation to well-tested sorts, most of which will continue to hold their popularity, is as follows: In the New England States we find the Lost Nation, Tappahannock and Lancaster Eed Chaff, the most commonly cultivated; while samples of Arnautka, Canada, Hybrid, White Laisette and White Italian occur. New York adds Diehl, Treadwell, China Tea and other varieties. In the remaining Middle States and Maryland, Vir- ginia and North Carolina we find Fultz and Mediterranean grown ; Tappahannock, White Canada and Golden Chaff are also represented. Ohio has sent nearly the same wheats as are grown in Pennsylvania, only one name not previously occurring, that of "Todd" wheat, being observed. Indiana and Illinois grow Lancaster, Michi- gan, Amber, Tappahannock, Odessa Eed, Fultz, China, Missouri, Velvet, Early, Oran, Scotts, Egyptian, and two or three other varieties. In the Missouri collection we 100 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Fig. 1. Fig. 2 Fig. 3. [TE RUSSIAN DEFIANCE MARTIN AMBER AVHEAT. WHEAT. WHEAT. still find Fultz and Odessa, together with New York Flint, Independence Spring, etc. Iowa contributes Rio Grande, Canada, Fife and White Chili. Among the varieties grown in Minnesota are Scotch Fife, Eio Grande and China Tea, before men- tioned, with the addition of Eureka, Early Sherman and White Hamburg. Michigan sends Diehl, Gold Medal and White Mountain. The wheats of Kansas and Colo- rado, approaching in appearance those of California, are White Colo- rado, White California, Turkey and Colorado Eed Chaff, while Nebraska gives the names of Priest Spring, Otoe and Russian Club. Among the wheats of the Pacific coast, prin- cipally white wheats, the White Australian appears to be the general favorite. The White Chili is also grown, and such varieties as Canada Club, Jones, Propo, Pride of Butte and Nonpareil are represented in the collection. From Texas and New Mexico we have Sonora and Zara- goza. From the remaining Southern States the collection of wheats is very meager. The varieties of wheat that have originated apparently by accident or from peculiar culture, do not enjoy the surroundings necessary for con- tinuous product. The care of man is necessary to preserve or to render perfect the already improved varie- ties. That cross fecundation may be practiced was proved by Maund and Raynbird as early as 1851. In that year their specimens took the prize in the Ijondon exhibition. CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 101 / XVIII. Rye and Its Cultivation. Rye is comparatively little raised in the United States. It succeeds on thin, sandy land, not strong enough for wheat. As a crop for pasturing, or for plowing under, it is valuable if sown among corn in August, and should really find a place on every farm. It is not so liable to freeze out as wheat, and stands the winter better in almost every way. As the soil becomes, less adapted to wheat, rye will gain more and more in importance. There are few varieties. The white winter varieties should be sown, if the grain is to be harvested ; but for pasture and plowing under, the so-called black varieties are hardier. The rye raised in the United States is almost in the proportion of one bushel to fifteen of wheat, and as one to eighty of corn. Our ex- port of rye is from 200,000 to 500,000 bushels a year. The culti- vation and care are precisely like that of wheat ; but it is generally sown on a single plowing. Some attention has been paid of late years to improved varie- ties. The cut shows the so-called Montana Spring Rye, natural size. We think more attention should be paid to the spring varieties of this grain, in all that great portion of the West devoted to the raising of spring wheat. For a seed crop rye is sown the last of September in the North, as late as the last of October in the latitude of St. Louis, and even later farther south. The best rye flour is made from that raised on sandy land ; but rye is adapted to a great variety of soils not really wet. Rye is almost unknown for bread in the United States, though in the northern parts of Europe, notably in Russia and Germany, it is one of the principal bread grains. In the extreme northern portions of the United States, and on some sandy soils not well adapted to other grain, more or less rye is raised. But the propor- tion to other grains is very small, being not more than one to seventy-five of Indian corn, which has usurped its place for distill- ing and as food for horses. In this country it is principally culti- vated to furnish green forage for horses, and is usually sown broadcast in October, at the rate of a bushel and a half to the acre, or if drilled at the rate of one bushel to the acre. Of course the time of sowing and harvesting, as well as the quantity of seed to the acre, and soil best adapted to this grain, will vary with the latitude and climatic conditions. The following table, carefully compiled, will give more information as to the time of sowing, etc., than could be gathered into pages of description: MONTANA SPRING RYE. 102 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. AVERAGE Time of STATES. Time of Sowi NG. Bushels OP SEED Per Ague. Harvest. BEST SOIL Maine Fall and Spri ng, II4 bush New, burnt land. NewHarapshlre, Sept. and Ap ril, 1 to2bush.. July and Aug., . Sandy; silicious; newly cleared land, High, warm, light land. Massachusetts, . Aug. to Sept. .lto\l4 bush., . Vermont, . . . September, ■IJi tol>i bush., Last July to Aug. Light. New York, Sept. 1 to No^ r., . 1 to 2 bush., . . July 10 to 25, . Sandy and slate ; sand ; sandy loam, or gravel ; gravelly loam. " New Jersey, . . September 1, .Ibush., . . . July 1, . . . . Light, sandy loam. Pennsylvania, . Sept. 1 to 15, . 1 to 1)^ bush., . Last June to July Gravel; serpentine; stubble. Maryland, . . October, . . 1 bush., . . . . June, . . . . Light. South Carolina, . October, . . Ys bush., . . June, . . . . Gray land. Georgia, . . . September, .?^bush., . . . July, . Mulatto. Alabama, . . . October, . .i^bush., . . . May, . . . . Light. Mississippi, . . September, . >^ bush., . . . May and June, . Kich loam. Tennessee, . . September 1, . 1 bush., . . . June 15 to July, Black, thin loam. Ohio Sept. and Oct ., . 1 to 1>^ bush., . June to July, Clay; clay, light; sandy and warm oak and hickory clay. Indiana, . . . Sept. to Oct., . 1 to 11^ bush., . June 20 to July, Dry; just cleared. Illinois, . . . Oct. and Nov ., . 2 to 2>^ bush., . June 20 to July, Clay; or sandy loam. Michigan, . . . October 10, .IJ^bush., . . . July 15, . . . Clay or loam. Iowa, . . . . September, .2 bush., . . . July, . . . . XIX. Barley and Its Cultivation. There is no farm crop liable to so many vicissitudes, which reduce its market value, as barley. Were it not used in such immense quantities by brewers, in the manufacture of beer, its cultivation would be almost abandoned. Except in localities where the grain can be harvested bright and in good condition, it is now little culti- vated. Barley is less nutritious than wheat, but contains one-seventh more feeding value than oats, pound for pound. Strong dry loams and sandy soils give the best quality of grain, and very considerable care should be given to the preparation of the soil to have it light and mellow ; the prairie region of the far West, the plains, the valleys of the Rocky Mountain region, and the Pacific slope, where rain does not interfere with curing it '^^^ji B WN w II - properly, are the principal sources from which 7 ^^A. I'M IbJJ ^^^ brewers get their malting supplies. XX. Time for Sowing Barley. There is winter and spring barley, but the spring varieties are generally sown. There are two principal classes, the two-rowed and the six- rowed, and many varieties, some of them pedigree sorts. In the South, winter barley is usually sown ; in the North, spring barley almost universally. The usual yield on good land is from twenty to ^■.-^ m .xrm ATcrr, mi-Ar. tweutv-five bushels an acre, but under exceptional WINTER BAELET- PLANT AND head. u-i^^^j i CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 103 Circumstances as high as sixty bushels have been harvested. The time for sowing winter barley is about the same as for winter wheat. Spring barley should not be sown until the soil has acquired some warmth, or about three weeks before the usual time of planting Indian corn. The following table gives precise information, compiled from many sources in various States where barley is grown. STATES. Maine, . . . . NewHampshire, Massachusetts, . Vermont, . . . New York, . . Pennsylvania, . South Carolina, . Tennessee, . . Ohio, . . . . Indiana, . . . Michigan, . . . Iowa, . . . . When Sown. iJnst of May, . April; May, . May, . . . July 1, . . . AprillOtoMaylO March 15, . . September, . March 1, . . April 1 to May 1, April to Sept., April 15 to Mayl March to April 1 Aterage Seed Sown Per Acre. 2 hush., . . 23^ to 4 bush., 2)4 to 3 bush , 2 bush., . . 2 to 3 bush., . 13^ to 2 busli., 2 bush., . . 1 bush., . . 1)4 to 2 hush., IJi to lyi bush. % to 2 bush., \y^ bush., . . Time op Harvest. August, . . July 30, . . August 1, . . July 1 to Aug., June and July, May, . . . July 1, . . . July 1 to 25, . June 25 to Aug., July 7 to Aug. 1, July 1, . . . BEST SOIL. Black loam. High, warm land. Dry. Loam ; warm loam ; loam and muck ; sandy loam ; black sandy loam. Heavy cl»y ; sandy loam. Clay. Clay, mixed with sand; clay loam; loose do. Clay; do. loam; dry, sandy loam. Sandy loam; rich loam. XXI. Harvesting and Threshing Barley. Harvesting is the most difficult thing in making a crop of barley ; but the price of first-class grain will always pay for the trouble. Barley is never harvested until it is ripe, so the seed will germinate evenly ; but it should not be allowed to get dead ripe, else the grain will be dark-colored. When the red streaks, which run length- wise in the ripening grain, disappear, and the head begins to hang down, and the straw takes on a yellow hue, it is ready for the harvester. Where cured without binding, the grain sooner comes into condition, sweats more uniformly in the shock, and is somewhat better in color; but in all regions subject to rain, it is more easily protected from staining when bound. Sheaves should be small and of even size. This is easily regulated with self-binders. Threshing. — The threshing should never be done with a spike-thresher. A beater-machine is better, and the flail, or tramping out by horses, best of all. The reason of this is, that if the germ is injured — which is almost sure to be the case when it is threshed with the ordinary thresher — the value of the grain for malting is greatly diminished, for upon its germinating powers depends its value. After threshing, oare must be taken that the barley does not sweat in the heap or bin. Unless quite dry, it must be moved often until it is wholly cured. XXII. New Varieties of Barley. Among the better kinds of barley for malting, is the Chevalier, a pedigree variety that is in repute in England and France. In the United States, it has given great satisfaction wherever tried. It is a two-rowed variety. The Manshury, a six- 104 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. rowed sort, originated in Canada, and was new in 1882. It is recommended as standing up well in the richest soils, and superior for malting. Sibley's Imperial ANNAT BAKLEY. CHEVALIER BAELEY. ENGLISH BAELEY. barley originated in Vermont. It is a six-rowed variety, tillering freely, long in the CEKEALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 105 straw and head, and with jnedium beards. It is hardy and prolific, barley originated in Western New Yorli. It is a six-rowed variety, of stiff straw, medium height, and is especially free from crinkling down when ripe. Annat barley is a variety that has given good satisfaction. The cuts show the common English barley. Chevalier barley, and Annat barley, natural sizes. XXIII. Oats and Their Cultivation. The value of oats in the agriculture of the United States and Can- ada is enormous . However small the farm , oats are an important factor in the crop, and for feeding horses are considered a necessity in spring and summer. This crop really stands next in importance after wheat in the cereal crops of the country. For feeding young animals oats are coming more and more into favor every year, on account of their bone and muscle making properties. They are adapted to nearly all soils not really sandy or wet, and the straw is more useful on the farm than that of any other grain. Taking the year 1879, a fairly productive year throughout the country, we find the values of the principal crops of the United States to be as follows : Corn, $580,486,217; wheat, $497,030,142; hay, $330,804,494; cotton, $242,140,987; oats, $120,533,294; potatoes, $79,153,673 ; barley, $23,714,444; tobacco, $22,727,524; rye, $15,507,431 ; and buckwheat, $7,856,191. XXIV. Export of Pood Crops. The following table of exports shows that oats are one of the crops consumed at home. Both the years 1878 and 1879 were of fair Adams's heavy HORSE -MANE OATS. average export. PRODUCTS. BKEADSTOFFS AND OTHER PREPARATIONS. 1S78. 1S79. QUANTITY. Barley, bushels, Bread and biscuit, pounds, . Com, bushels, Corn-meal, barrels, . . . Oats, bushels, Eye, bushels, Eye-flour, barrels, . . . . Wheat, bushels, Wheat-flour, barrels, . . . Other small grain and pulse, . Other preparations of grain, . Eice, pounds, Total value of breadstuff s, etc., 3,921,501 14,392,231 85,461,098 432,753 3,715,479 4,207,912 6,962 72,404,961 3,947,333 631,105 $2,565,736 730.317 48,030,358 1,336,187 1,277,920 3,051,739 30,775 96,872,016 25,095,721 1,077.433 1,709,639 33,953 715,536 15,565,190 86,296,252 397,160 5,452,136 4,851,715 4,351 122,353,936 5,629,714 740,136 $181,811,794 $401,180 682,471 40,655,120 1,052,231 i;618,644 3,103,970 15.113 130,701,079 29,567,713 817,536 1,740,471 35,538 $210,391,066 106 THE HOME AND rAKM MANUAL. XXV. Species of Oats— Their Latitude. The following are acknowledged species of oats, the botanical name of which is Avena Sativa: Avena trevis, or short oat, which ripens early; it is raised in some parts of France as forage. Avena Fatua, or California oats, which is thought to be identical with White Tartarian oats. Avena Nuda, or hulless oats, an old variety, probably produced by cultivation. It has been known in England for more than three hundred years, and comes up again and again under new names. It is not valuable for general cultivation, on account of shelling so easily. Avena Orientalis, or Tartarian oats, probably brought into Europe in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Avena Strigosa, or bristle-pointed oat. The seeds are small, it is not productive, and may be called worthless. As a rule white oats are more salable, but the black and brown varieties are thought to be hardier and more prolific. The cut shows a panicle of White Russian oats reduced in size. The oat is essentially a grain adapted to cultivation in temperate and northern latitudes, and has both winter and spring varieties. The winter varieties are raised in the latitude of Kentucky and in the South. In Europe oats are cultivated as far north as latitude 64° to 65°. It is grown successfully up to the northern limits of the United States, and in Canada. The limit of successful culture reaches farther and farther northward, as we pass west to the Pacific coast. XXVI. Soil and Cultivation of Oats. Oats require rich, moist land. Any good Indian corn land will produce uniformly heavy crops of oats, except in seasons of early drought. Strong, fairly drained clays, and strong loams are adapted to this crop. Oats will not stand drought, nor hot suns. The best crops are raised in cool, rather moist WHITE RUSSIAN OATS. geasous. The table following is useful for reference. How and When to Plant. — As a rule, especially on strong and tenacious clay, the land should be fall-plowed, and as deep as the soil will admit. The sowing should not be too early, since the young crop is easily killed by freezing. A fair rule is to sow about a month before the time for corn-planting; but if the season is untoward, the sowing may be delayed up to the time for planting corn. But in all late sowings the crop is apt to suffer from heat and drought, so it is important to get the seeding done as early as the season will admit. Oats are almost always sown broadcast, two and a CEREALS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 107 half bushels to the acre. Three bushels an acre on land in good heart would be better, since the crop does not tiller much, and thick sowings give a more equal ripening of the grain. The seed should in no case be covered more than two inches, and the soil must be in firm contact with the seed to ensure prompt germination. STATES. Time of Sowing. Seed Per Acre. Time of Harvest. BEST SOIL. Maine, . . . . April to May, . . 2>g to 3 bush., . August 10 to 20, . Dry; gravelly. NewHampshii'e, April and May, 3 to 4 bush., . . August 1,. . . . Clay; sandy; free. Massachusetts, . AprillOtoM?iylO, •i)4 to 3 bush., . July 15 to Aug. 20, High, warm land. Vermont, . . . April to May 15, . March 15 to May 25 3 bush August, . . . . Light; sandy. New York, . . 1^ to 3 bush., . July 10 to Aug. 15, Loam and muck; loam; deep. black muck ; rich, sandy loaui . New Jersey, . . April 1 to 15, . . 2 to 2}4 bush., , July 20 to Aug. 1, Sandy loam ; clay. Pennsylvania, . March 15 to April 15 1 to 3 bush., . . July 10 to Aug. 1, Sandy loam; light; sandy; sandy loam; limestone do. Bich; moist. Maryland, . . April, 2 bush., . . . July Dry loam ; clay and lime ; sandy Virginia, . . . Feb. to April 1 . . 1)^ to 234 bush.. July 10 to Aug. 10, June 1 to last June, loam; do.; do. South Carolina, . Dec. to Feb., . . 1 bush., . . . Moist; sandy. Georgia, . . . Jan. to March 1 , . 1 to 1)4 bush., . June to July 1 , . . Slate loam. Alabama. . , . Nov. to April, . . ?^ to 1 bush., . May and June, . . Sandy loam. Mississippi, . . Oct. to Feb., . . 1 bush July, Light do.; clay. Tennessee, . . Feb. 15 to March, . 1)4 bush., . . . July 10, . . . Black loam, thin. Kentucky, . . March and April, . 48 lbs., . . . . July Ohio, . . . . March and April, , 2 bush., . . . June to Aug. 1 , . Loose loam ; do. do. ; clay loam ; sandy loam ; oak and hickory loam. Indiana, . . . March to May 1, . 1}4 to 2 bush., . July 1 to August, . Sandy loam; loam; clay; do.; do.; do.; sandy. Illinois, . . . March 20 to April 4 l}i to 2 bush., . June to Aug. 1, Sandy loam ; light loam ; sandy do. Clay or sand ; rich loam ; sandy. Michigan, . . . April 10 to 30, . . 2 to 3 bush.,. . July 7 to Aug. 1, . Iowa, . . . . April, 2 to 4 bush.. July 15 to Aug., Texas, . . . . February, . . . 1 bush., . . . May, XXVII. Harvesting and Threshing Oats. Oats are usually harvested before they are fully ripe. When fully ripe they shell easily, the hull becomes hard and glassy, and the straw is much reduced in value. Oats cure readily, and are seldom put in close, cajjped shocks. They are not easily injured by rain, and hence they are generally shocked by setting a row of sheaves leaning together, uncapped. Whenever the straw is found valuable, it will always pay to shock like wheat and barley, with two cap-sheaves to each shock. XXVIII, Varieties of Oats to Cultivate. In the South, where oats are subject to rust and blight, the winter varieties ax-e sown. The Eed Eust-proof is usually preferred. The White Winter oats is growing in favor on rich uplands and drained bottom lands. It stands the winter as far north as Virginia ; is said to be rust-proof, and improved by moderate grazing. In the North, the Black Tartarian is the most universally grown. It is the best of black oats. It is probably adapted to a greater variety of soil and climate than any other one variety. Among white oats, the Schoenen and Probsteier are generally 108 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. liked. Among newer varieties, White Zealand', said to be rust-proof; White Australian and White Russian (see cut) are yearly gaining in favor. XXIX. Buckwheat. The cultivation of buckwheat receives little attention in the West, and in the East it is sown principally as a secondary crop, where others have failed. It is some- times difficult to eradicate it the second season, since the seeds shelled out in harvesting, germinate the next season, producing a volunteer crop. Sandy soils, and indeed, rather poor sands, produce the best buckwheat for flouring. It is one of the best fallow crops for turning under green, or just at the time of blossoming. For a seed crop, the sowing should be so timed, that it will be in full seed at the time of the first frosts, since it requires cool nights to fruit properly. Sow about the fifteenth to the twentieth of June in the latitude of Maine and Minnesota, and later, even to the first of July, in the latitude of Philadelphia and Central IlUnois. XXX. Seeding and Harvesting Buckwheat. The plant is tropical and killed by the slightest frost. It was introduced origi- nally from Persia, and its name buckwheat is a corruption of beech-wheat, from the resemblance of its three-cornered seeds to those of the beech. The blossoms are eagerly sought by bees, from the abundance of honey they contain. The seed is sown on fresh-plowed land, at the rate of two or three pecks, or if very late, one bushel per acre. The seed should be covered lightly (one-half inch). At the time of the first frost the crop is cut, laid in gavels, and set together, without binding until dry. Then it is threshed with the flail, or tramped out by horses. The yield varies according to the seasons from ten to forty bushels per acre, and the seed approaches, in price, about that of wheat. There are few varieties. The Silver-hull is considered the best, but the common buckwheat is generally sown. Time of Seeding, etc. — The following table gives the desired information : STATES. Maine, .... New Hampshire, Vermont, . . . New York, . .. New Jersey, . Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oliio, . . Indiana, . Illinois, . Michigan, . lowii, . . Time of Sowing. Middle of Jnne, , June, Julyl, . . . . June 10 to July 20, July 13 to last June June 1 to last July, May 20, . . . . Mid. June to July 1 July 1 to Aug. 1, . June to July], . . SEED Per Acbe. y^ bush., . . y^ bush., . . y^to Yz bush., )| to i bush , !4 to 1 bush., >^ to 1 bush., 1 bush., . . J^ to 1 bush., >2 to 1 bush., 15 to 25 lbs., . Time or Hakvest. August; Sept., . September, . . Sept. 15 to Nov , June 15 to July 5, .: 'o to 2 bush., Jime 20, . . ' . . >e to 1>2 bush., September 15, . . Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, . October 15, . . . Sept. 20 to Oct. 1, Sept. to Oct. 1, . . ,' September, . . . J Aug. 10 to Oct. 10, . September 20, . ' BEST sou,. Silicious. Eich, sandy loam; saud and loam; deep black muck; light sandy. Sandy.. Slate; sandy loam; gi'avel or slate. Mountain. Loose loam; sandy; black, thin and compact loam. Clay; black loam. Sandy loam; wheat stubble; black muck. Light loam; light sandy do. CHAPTEE II. INmAN CORN. RIGB, AND SPECIAL CROPS. THE CROP IN THE UNITED STATES. II. HOW TO INCREASE THE AVERAGE. III. PROPER MA- NURES FdR CORN. IV. THE CULTIVATION OF CORN — PLOWING. V. PREPARING THE SOIL. ■ VI. PLANTING THE CROP. VII. HARROWING THE YOUNG CORN. VIII. AFTER CULTIVATION OF CORN. IX. HOW OFTEN TO CULTIVATE. X. DEPTH OF CULTIVATION. XI. HARVESTrbfG THE CROP. ^XH. CUTTING AND SHOCKING. XIII. SEED CORN. XIV. COST OF A CORN CROP. XV. VARIETIES OF CORN. XVI. RICE AND ITS CULTIVATION. XVII. TRUE WATER EICB, OR COM- MERCIAL RICE. XVIII, CULTIVATION OP RICE IN CAROLLNA. XIX. MANAGEMENT OF RICE FIELDS. ^XX. CULTIVATING THE CROP. XXI. FLOODING THE CROP. XXII. HARVESTING AND THRESHING. XXIII. HULLING FOR MARKET. XXIV. RICE IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. XXV. SOME SPECIAL CROPS. I. The Crop in the United States. |HE United States now raise as the average 1,600,000,000 bushels of corn yearly, an increase of 100,000,000 bushels per year, for the present decade, as compared with the last few years of the last decade. The American crop is seventy-eight per cent of the Indian corn crop of the world, the total production outside the United States being only 360,000,000 bushels yearly. And yet the general average yield per acre in this country is only about twenty -three bushels per acre , and the best average yield in the great corn year of 1880, only twenty-seven and a half bushels per acre, while authenticated yields of one hundred bushels per acre could be cited on one-hundred- acre fields, and special yields of one hundred and forty bushels to the acre on smaller areas. Whole counties have averaged sixty bushels, and some States forty bushels per acre in particular years. Taking all these facts, and remembering that no good farmer is satisfied with less than forty to sixty bushels in ordinary seasons, and it seems certain that a majority of farmers must be wofully negligent in their cultivation and recklessly inattentive to their best interests. Compariag Results. — Let us estimate the loss from ignorance, or bad cultiva- tion of the corn crop, as shown by the best average of the State and the general average of the country, remembering that the light averages are not in hilly, rocky, worn New England, but in countries of so-called virgin soil. Take the average annual yield at 1,500,000,000 bushels for the country, the general average of twenty- six bushels per acre, and the best State average of forty bushels per acre. Suppose the general average brought up to forty bushels, and the corn crop of the country would be increased fifty per cent, making a total of 2,250,000,000 bushels. At the average price of fifty-two cents, this would increase the annual value of the crop by flOO] f 110 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. over $390,000,000. Would this pay for the better cultivation of the crop? Even .those who do not believe in advanced farming, must admit that it would. II. How to Increase the Average. There are only three reasons why the average yield of corn is not forty bushels per acre, as the minimum crop. In no ordinary season should it go below that, over any large area. The causes which keep down the average are: 1, want of drainage; 2, want of manure; and 3, bad cultivation. There are also these three causes, which may reduce the crop locally: 1, destruction by insects; 2, an excessively wet season, pre- venting proper cultivation; and 3, excessive drought. Untimely frosts can hardly be taken into account, since they occur so seldom that drainage, by allowing earlier planting and steady growth, would entirely throw this out of the calculation, and it would also practically do away with danger of severe loss from wet and dry seasons. As it is, through all the great corn region of the West, our dry seasons are our best ones. "Drought scares the farmer, but water utterly destroys his hopes." Therefore, if the land needs drainage, attend to it at once. (See Chapter V, Part III, on Drainage.) It is the best investment, because it is a permanent one. If the soil lacks fertility, improve it by manure, a proper rotation, and by plowing under suitable crops. (See aiticles on Manure, Eotation and Fallow Crops.) III. Proper Manures for Corn. Corn is one of the gross feeders. IThat is, it is a humus-loving crop, and the roots feed upon any decaying substance. Barn-yard manure produces the best results. Ashes are valuable, since corn is one of the potash-loving plants ; plaster (gypsum) is good on sandy soils. Phosphate, guano and other commercial manures are always valuable, where they may be cheaply obtained. Barn-yard manure should be spread in the autumn, plowed under rather deep, and the land plowed again in the spring, but not so deep as to bring the manure to the surface ; then some special fertilizer should be added. Ashes, plaster, and other commercial fertil- izers should be applied in the spring broadcast, and lightly covered, say with a harrow. The roots will be certain to find it. The soil between the rows will become a perfect net-work of roots before the plant attains its full growth. Prize Crops. — Phe prize crops of corn are raised upon rich soil, heavily manured with green barn-yard manure, plowed under deep in the autumn before planting — not less than forty good loads per acre. In the winter cover the land with twenty loads of rotten manure and plow this in, say, four inches deep. Then use some commercial fertilizer for a surface dressing. We have raised one hundred bushels of field corn to the acre by this plan, using plaster and home-made manure of night-soil for surface dressings, and this without hoeing with the hand-hoe. By this plan we have also raised one thousand dozen of green corn per acre for the market. Farther on we will show how about forty bushels per acre were raised on a field of over twelve hundred acres — on land that had never been manured — and the cost. O )— 1 P4 < > w ffi H Q ^ < t/1 W . H p <1 w H p^ cn < Pi Q s W o 1— 1 u ?', D HH W P4 m H H k:, U fe O u U in J '^ < < W w oi Ph w O u Pi; o W CA) :z; o l—H H U P Q O p4 PLH W K H INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. Ill IV. The Cultivation of Corn — Plowing, It is a great mistake to suppose that fall plowing is not advantageous in the cultivation of corn. We speali of clay loams and clay soils, of course, such as raise our best crops. On sandy soils, fall plowing is not necessary, since such soils do not require the action of frost to mellow them. It is true, the spring plowing should not be omitted, but this is always superficial, never more than four inches deep, and may be done at the rate of three acres per day to the single plow. Besides the better disintegration of the soil, by freezing and thawing, when fall-plowed, the soil comes into condition earlier in the spring, absorbs warmth quicker, and as a rule may be worked much earlier than land not fall-plowed. V. Preparing the Soil. In the introduction to the chapter on cereal grains, we advised to follow with the planter immediately after plowing. This adviee is general. It is by no means true, however, that letting the soil lie for a week or ten days is injurious. On the contrary, it may be decidedly beneficial. In this case the land must again be made fine at the surface, and this kills one crop of weeds. In the case of fall plowing, there is nothing gained by letting the ground lie after plowing, and before planting. In the case of YELLOW DENT CORN. Two-thirds Natural Size. See page 119. spring plowing, without fall plowing, the planter must be guided by circumstances. Never neglect plowing for corn, when the land is in good condition, because the season is too early for planting; and never let the land lie unplanted, after plowing, when the season for planting has arrived. Loosening the soil, or smoothing it after fresh plowing, is best done by a sharp harrow, but harrowing must never be delayed until the weeds are up in a field to show green. The work of the harrow, to be effective, must be done just as the weeds are coming up, and this will be in about a week or ten days after spring plowing, according to the season. If you have not underdrained wet places, turn to the chapter on Artificial Drainage, and see how easily and cheaply the surplus water may be carried off. Only injury will result from plowing, harrowing or cultivating the soil when it is not in a thoroughly friable state. Then please remember that fully half the cost of raising a crop of corn, in the West at least lies in the proper plowing and fining the soil before planting. 112 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. VI. Planting the Crop. There are four pinncipal things to be remembered in planting a field of corn : 1, The rows should be perfectly straight. 2, The seed must be strong in its germ. 3, The planter must drop the seed accurately, and rather closely together, rather than widely spread. 4, Whatever the number of grains planted, more than four stalks should never be allowed to the hill ; three is better. If your farm is too small to allow you to own a check-row planter, hire your planting done by all means. There is no doubt but corn may be planted as well by hand as by a machine; but children and hired men will not do it, and, at best, it is tedious and costly. Do not plant too close. Three feet and a half is close enough between rows for the dwarf varieties, three feet eight or ten inches for the medium varieties, and four feet is not too much for the Mammoth Southern varieties. If you have been careful to lay out your first row straight, as in the directions for plowiqg, you may with care keep every other row straight, by means of a re-marker attached 'O'lfJAlli",', IwliiwiwiMMiiM^ mm ft!Stya*a iffli-jiftKruiiy :ti itoi'itiirtaas^wC'Oa WHITE DENT CORN. Two-tliiids Natural Size. See page 120. to the planter and the check-rower. Perfectly straight rows should add five bushels an acre to the crop, through the better cultivation possible thereby. There is no doubt that more corn may be raised per acre by accurately drilling so the stalks will stand twelve inches apart in the row, but, except in small fields, or where the inten- tion is to make a premium crop, the extra cost will not allow drill-cultivation to become profitable, especially in the great corn regions of the United States. VII. Harrowing the Young Corn. The harrowing is the best cultivation young corn ever receives. Of course, the ground must be measurably free from trash, and no sensible farmer plants on trashy ground. With the present perfection in plows, trash may all be so deeply turned under that the harrow will not find it, and as the corn gains size, the trash will be so decayed as not to interfere seriously with good work. The harrowing should be given with a sharp, light harrow, at the first indication of weeds, whether the corn is up or not. If the corn is just pushing through the ground, care must be taken. The o-erm is thus easily broken. Otherwise harrow the field without reference to INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND OTHER CROPS. 113 anything, except to destroy the weeds. If no weeds appear, and the top soil is not crusted, the harrowing may be delayed until the rows of, corn can be seen. It will often pay to harrow both ways, once before the corn is up and once after. After the corn is up we have always found it pay to have careful hands uncover such as may have been covered with trash and lumps. Two rows may be attended to each time, going across the field, using a forked stick, or better, one crooked at the end. The back of a hoe or rake is also useful for this purpose. VIII. After Cultivation of Corn. The hand-hoe finds no place in the cultivation of corn, except in very smg,ll fields ; in those so rocky or stumpy that horse implements cannot work to advantage. MICHIGAN YELLOW DENT CORN. Two-tliirds Natural Size. See page 119. or in fields where the weeds have got the full start of the crop. In all fields of this kind, the cultivation is attended with such disadvantages as often to bring the balance on the wrong side of the ledger. That is, it will be cheaper to buy corn than to raise it, unless the special purpose be to clean the land for other crops. A roller may be used with success in some cases, after the harrow, if the ground is very lumpy. "We have rolled corn eight inches high, and had it rise again all right; but the land should not be lumpy, nor need it be if the directions in relation to fall plowing have been followed. We repeat, never stir the land in the spring or summer unless it will work friably. A Busy Time. — From the time the corn is up four inches high the cultivator must be kept moving. In catching weather every hour must be improved when the soil is in condition. If rainy weather has interfered with cultivation, and weeds begin to show unduly, pay no attention to regular hours, work the men from day- light until it is too dark for them to see the rows at night, changing teams and paying for extra time. This kind of work often saves a crop, for if once the weeds get a full start it is difficult to overcome them. Remember always: the time to kill weeds is while they are young. Clean Crops. — No man ever raised a good crop who waited for the weeds to grow before cultivating his land. The primary object of cultivation is to keep the soil in such condition that it will admit air properly through its pores. Killing weeds 114 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. is only a secondary consideration. A weedy crop never pays its cost. A rich soil always grows weeds. They are easy to kill when young; when their roots get strong it is difficult. The Chinese, who have cultivated the same soil for over four thousand years, have a saying that, " a clean crop is always good." Their fields are kept as clean as a garden. IX. How Often to Cultivate. The cultivator should be kept going until the crop is so large that the stalks cannot be pressed under the arch of the implement. Whenever the surface is crusted from rain, moving the soil will be beneficial. Two harrowings and two to three plowings are what the average crop should get. The operation should be guided by the farmer's own observation of the necessities of the case. Wet, rainy weather interferes with cultivation, and the farmer who calculates on the basis of fifty acres to the hand, will, in bad seasons, not be able to do full justice to the crop; while in dry seasons sixty-five acres to the hand may be well plowed. Why? Because the team can work every day, and an average of eight acres a day will get over this area once in about eight working days. A field ought to be plowed over once every ten working days. YELLOW FLINT CORN. -Two-thirds Natui-al Size. See page 123. X. Depth of Gultivation. There is a diversity of opinion as to the proper depth of cultivation. Our expe- rience is that the cultivation should be to the depth of about three inches while the corn is younor, but after it has made good root, the cultivation should be superficial. By the time the corn is knee-high the soil becomes pretty well filled with roots. In moist weather if the roots are torn they will quickly recuperate; if they are torn in dry weather a decided injury ensues. After the corn begins to shoot, that is, to joint, and prepare for blossoming, cutting the roots is a decided injury. After this time the cultivation, if any be necessary, should be simply surface stirring, not more than an inch and a half deep. Eoots do not penetrate the soil by forcing their way through solid earth ; that is impossible. They find their way between the minute interstices which are always present, however compact the soil. If the surface is kept mellow, the sub-surface never becomes so compact but the pores are amply sufficient for the INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 115 roots. Corn is a fast-growing crop under heat and moisture. It is a crop that must have mellow soil to give the best results. Other crops, such as wheat, onions, etc., require compact — not hard — sub-surface. Deep cultivation is not required for what are known as hard or compact soil crops. It is decidedly injurious to the soft-soil crops after the ground becomes filled with roots. A safe rule for corn, is to give deep and clean cultivation while the crop is young; deep cultivation in the middle of the rows, while the corn is eighteen inches to two feet high. After that the cultivation should be shallow — simply sufficient to keep the surface fine and mellow. When the corn fully shades the soil, the earth will no longer be beaten down by the rain. It will not be liable to crust, nor will it become impacted or lose much moisture by evaporation at the surface. The roots will arrest all this. XI. Harvesting the Crop. There are two ways of securing the crop of corn — by husking on the hill, and by cutting and shocking, and husking from the shock. There are only three conditions under which corn should be husked and shocked: 1, when the fodder will pay for the A FIELD OF SHOCKED CORN. extra cost of cutting and shocking, and the extra cost of husking f vom the shock ; 2, when the corn is, to be fed to cattle directly from the shock; 3, when, from danger of early frosts, it becomes necessarj^ to shock the corn to assist it in ripening. It costs about as much to cut and shock an acre of corn as to husk an acre on the hill, or when the corn stands in the field as it grew. It takes twice as long to husk an acre of corn from the shock, and tie up and re-shock the corn, as it does to husk it standing in the field. Husking from the Hill. — A team should be allowed to every two men. The wagon should be provided with one wide extra side-board, with cleats on each side, so they will slip down easily over the ordinary side-board. This is to prevent the corn from flying over when thrown into the wagon. The wagon should always be to the right of the huskers if possible, and two or four rows may be husked at a time. A short board, ten inches wide, should slant into the rear of the wagon, for ease in shoveling out the corn. When the wagon is filled and goes to the crib, the remaining hand husks and throws the corn in piles on the ground, to be picked up on returning. By this means, if the corn is dry, about one acre may be husked a day by each good hand. We have known one man thus to husk seventy-five bushels in a day, and it is 116 THE HOME AND FARM MAlSfUAL. said that one hundred bushels have been husked in a day by one man. It is certain that a man will husk an acre of heavy, sound, dry, standing corn, easier than an acre of soft and inferior corn, even when the yield in the first case is double what it is in the latter. XII. Cutting and Shockingr. Cutting, shocking and tying corn, like any other work on the farm, must be done systematically. The rows of shocks must run continuously through the field, and at regular intervals. If set around a single hill, a corn-horse should be used to support the stalks until ready for binding. This consists of a strong, smooth paling twelve feet long, sharpened at one end, coRN-HOKSE FOR SHOCKING, with an inch and a quarter hole two feet from the end, and a pair of feet three feet beyond, as shown in the cut. A rod five feet long, sharpened at one end and fitting loosely in the hole, holds the corn until bound, when it is withdrawn and carried to the next shock. Cutting. — The diagram shows the manner of cutting, when forty-nine hills are _ _^. placed in a shock, to save travel in carrying the r "v ^ 'Y y^ ^ corn. Begin at a, and cut three hills as shown 1 „ i ,L I i on the dotted lines, and carry to the shock. ^ ^^ — ^ <^ ^ ^ ^ ■' . Then walk to b, and cut as designated, and so in succession until you get around back, and cut the three hills, beginning at i. Then bind firmly with a twisted hay-band. Shocking around Tables. — In the "West, where the fields are exposed to the full force of the winds, shocks are often made sixty-four hills square. By this plan the shocking places may be formed by twisting four hills diagonally together, so that what is known as a table is formed for each shock. Formed in this way, and CUTTING AND SHOCKING CORN. I i- j iU MI i J • Ui 1 securely tied, they will stand upright and secure against the strongest winds. One man goes ahead of the cutters, and forms these tables at regular intervals, by twisting two hills diagonally together, and then another two. Afterwards he returns and ties the shocks. Making the Bands. — Never trust to binding with corn-stalks or other material found in the fields. Get your blacksmith to make you an iron crank with a simple hook at one end. Before the hook is turned, slip a section of a rod suitable for gripping, and properly bored, upon the shank. To twist the bands, throw down a lot of hay upon the barn floor, shaking it up very light, moisten it, catch a little INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 117 with the hook, and begin walking backward, twisting as you go, while a boy feeds the hay to the hook. When you have gone the whole length of the barn floor, while the boy holds his end securely, slip your end off the hook and roll the whole into a ball, and pass a skewer through the end of the hay rope and ball, first tucking the end under so it will not pull out. Proceed in this way until you have bands enough for your field. You will be surprised to find how many you can make in a day. A Binder. — One difficulty in binding large shocks of corn is, that one man can- not put the hay-band around the top and draw tight enough. The illustration of implement to draw the tops of the shocks securely for binding, almost explains itself. A is a piece of hardwood inch board, two feet long, or more, and five inches wide, bored with three holes, the two outside ones to receive a ten-foot cord, and the center one to take the shank of the crank, C. The board is laid against the shock, the spindle-shank is thrust through the center hole, one end of the rope is passed through an outside hole and fastened to the crank, as shown at C. The rope is CORN-SHOCK BINDER. , jiuui J t-v. ii. j £ 4. j ^ i-i passed around the shock, and the other end fastened to a hook at the hole at the other end of the board. Then the crank is turned until the whole is drawn together, the hay-band is fastened above, and, the crank being let go, the spring of the shock holds all secure. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that the balls of band should be dipped in water before carrying to the field. By placing them out of the sun and wind, they will remain moist until used, and one ball may tie three or four shocks, the cut end every time being held by the skewer passing through the ball. XIII. Seed-corn. Seed-corn that will germinate surely is indispensable. Have you carefully selected at husking-time, or before, the soundest and most perfect ears, and attended to their careful curing? If not, lose no time early in the spring in selecting the best you have, again carefully sorting this over. From that you think is pretty sure to grow, shell a small quantity from a number of ears selected as they run, mix all well together, count out fifty grains, place them between folds of flannel cloth, kept con- stantly moist and at a temperature of fifty-five to sixty degrees, not more. Corn does not germinate at a temperature much below fifty degrees. Note the time it takes to sprout. If it does so in seven or eight days it is good. Ascertain the number of grains that come up promptly, and you can decide how much to drop in a hill. If your corn proves bad, buy good seed, whatever may be the cost. You cannot afford to risk uncertain seed. There are contingencies enough, even with the best seed. Never neglect carefully to select and save seed-corn in the autumn. XIV. Cost of a Corn Crop. There is no crop that varies more in its cost than corn. Manure, rough land, hand-hoeing and small fields are expensive. In the great corn region of the West the 118 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. cost is reduced to a minimum. Some years ago, while engaged extensively in general farming and stock-feeding in Central Illinois, every crop was itemized and correctlykept. Actual figures on a crop of corn from 1,225 acres were as follows. It must, however, be remembered that the smaller the area the more it costs per acre. Nevertheless, the smaller the field the greater the average yield. The field yielded a little over thirty- nine bushels an acre, and the tillage was at the rate of sixty-five acres to the man and team for cultivating. But the season was an exceptionally good one for working. Here are the figures : Fall plowing, S 600 00 275 bushels seed-corn @ 80c., 220 00 50 bushels seed-corn @ $1.50, 75 00 Manual labor, 1,958 13 Team labor, 1,174 25 ■54,027 38 This brings the corn ready to husk. The husking cost : 1,470 days manual labor, . . . : $1,837 50 735 days team work, 918 75 Thus the corn cost in the crib, , $ii,773 63 The crop was 48,225 bushels. That portion not fed on the farm brought 42 ^c. in the crib, making a total for 48,225 bushels of $20,495.63. Deduct from this the cost of producing the crop, and the balance is $13,691 for the crop, or $11.09 per acre for the use of the land. The men were all paid at the rate of $1.25 per day, and the teams were estimated at the same price for each double team. Every individual item was correctly charged, as plowing, harrowing, rolling, planting, cultivating, uncovering corn, etc., and there was even a charge of $13.20 for cutting and pulling weeds. Looking at the matter in another light, it will be seen that the whole expense of making the crop ready to husk, for man and team, was, counting man and team at $2.50 per day, at the rate of one and one-fifth days work per acre, or, in other words, counting the value of seed-corn, the cost of raising an acre of corn was $3.29 per acre. The cost of husking was $2.25 per acre, or, per bushel, nearly six cents; the whole cost of raising and cribbing the corn was $5.54 per acre, and the corn cost, in the crib, fifteen cents per bushel to raise, not counting ground rent. There is no reason why it should ever cost more for labor, in any clean, rich soil, free from stumps,' stones, or other obstructions. , A well-kept account book is always useful in enabling the farmer to tell exactly what any crop has cost, but it is a curious fact that hardly one farmer in a dozen ever keeps a record of the debit and credit on a farm. Book-keeping takes time, of course, but without it the farmer never knows on what crops he is making or losing money. A single book of, say, two hundred pages, with lines ruled for dollars and cents on the right, and one line on the left for the date of each entry, will be sufficient for most practical purposes. INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 119 XV. Varieties of Corn. The well-defined species of corn, true to type, are comparatively few. The varieties tolerably pure are many. The six principal species may be defined as " Oregon corn," Figs. 1 and 2, in which each grain is enveloped in a separate, husk; flint corn, Fig. 20, with hard, rounded grains; horse-tooth corn. Figs. 7, 13 and 19, with thin broad soft grains, roughened and scaly at the top ; sweet or sugar corn. Fig. 16, containing much gluten; rice or Guinea corn (popping corn). Fig. 3, and Tuscarora or flour corn. Fig. 5, the substance of the kernel being peculiarly soft and farina- ceous. The illustration shows twenty varieties, giving the forms of the grains. These are: Figs. 1 and 2, Oregon or so-called wild corn; Fig. 3, rice corn; Fig. 4, Jersey white flint; Fig. 5, Tuscarora; Fig. 6, Ohio white flint; Fig. 7, Ken- tucky white; Fig. 8, Virginia golden; Fig. 9, King Philip; Fig. 10, Yankee or eight-rowed yel- low; Fig. 11, Samassoit; Fig. 12, improved But- ton; Fig. 13, Ohio dent; Fig. 14, small eight- rowed yellow; Fig. 15, blood red; Fig. 16, Mexican black; Fig. 17, Oregon shoe-peg; Fig. 18, Canada pop-corn (flint corn); Fig. 19, white gourd-seal; Fig. 20, golden Sioux (very dwarf). All the varieties of dent corn are probably crosses from the species named. All dent corn is either white, yellow — or rather orange — red and speckled. Flint corn is white, yellow, dusky and red. Sweet corn is white, cream-colored or blue- black, but varieties of all the classes vary infinitely between the colors named. The varieties of field corn in best repute are either white or yellow. Dent Corn. — One of the oldest varieties of dent corn cultivated North is early dent, known also as Reynolds, Murdock and ninety-day dent. Varieties of this coi-n are knowia by many names. They will ripen perfectly even in the latitude of Minnesota. Another variety, larger than the above, the Hathaway or Michigan yellow dent, will ripen usually in one hundred days. It ripens up to forty-three and one-half degrees north. The illustra- tions on this page show the grain perfectly ; other cuts in this chapter show the ears of the several varieties, longitudinally and sectionally. VARIETIES OF INDIAN CORN. lio THE HOJIE AXU FAKM MANUAL. MICHIGAX YELLOW DEXT. is much used for table purposes corn. It is the earliest dent corn known. Of the mammoth varieties of white corn, Parrish coi'n, is well known and liked in the central corn zone. The illustration will show its characteristics. Blount's Prolific. — This is a white half dent variety. Originated by A. E. Blount, in Tennessee, who bred it especially to develop the tendency to produce several ears on each stalk. The result is that usually two, fre- quentlj' six, and even eight ears are produced on a stalk. The ears are about eight or nine inches long, eight to ten rowed, uniform in shape. Kernel white, hard, as broad as long, closcl}' packed on the cob in straight rows. It is adapted only to the middle and southern latitudes. Stalks above the average height; thcv sucker freely, hence the plant is well adapted for ensilage and fodder jourposes. Maryland Prolific. — This is a White dent variety. Matctlless. — A White dent corn, adapted to the Middle region and South. Originated by selection from the so-called Mammoth dent, in Pulaski county, Virginia. Ears about nine inches long by two and a fourth inches in diameter ; uniform in shape; fourteen to sixteen rowed. Kernels five-eicfhths of an inch long and of the ' ' horse-tooth " ' shape ; hard and of excellent texture, closel}- set upon the cob. Cob small for so large an ear, and white. Adams' Early {Burlington). — White dent. Ear about eitrht inches long, two in diameter ; twelve to fourteen rowed. Cob white, small. Kernel white, deeper than broad. This variety jy those who do not like the flavor of sweet the improved AVhite dent, or WHITE DEXT OE PARRISH COEN'. Ears nine inches long and upwards, two and one-fourth to two and one-half inches in diameter, slightly taperinir, well filled at both ends. Cob medium size, white. This is an improvement by selection from the ordinary Horse-tooth variet}' of the South. Kernel one-half inch long, narrow and thin, hard, white and glass}', closely set upon the cob. A popular variety in Maryland and Virginia. Adapted to middle and southern sections, where it is principally grown for use upon the farm — wheat, cotton or tobacco being the money crop. INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 121 BLUBIOTII "iELLOW DENT twenty-four in number, and the Southern Prolific — This h Horse Tooth {Southern While and FeZ/ow;).— Dent, South. . The original type of the large-cared dent varieties. The ears are ten inches and upward in length, two and a half in diameter, and nominally sixteen-rowed, but varying from fourteen to thirtj'-twd. The ker- nels are half-inch long and longer, broad and thick, rather soft in texture. The cob is large; color both red and white. This variety is ex- tensively grown in the South, and is well adapted for ensilage. Among the better known of the improved va- rieties of Mammoth Yellow Dent corn, adapted to growth in the middle corn region of the United States, are the Mammoth, or Chester County Yellow Dent, large, prolific, rows sixteen to stalks leafy, making desirable fodder. a red and yellow dent varietj', sixteen-rowed, adapted to the Aliddle region and South. It originated by selection and breeding for twelve years on the Missouri Agricultural College Farm. The ears are ten inches long and upwards, and a little over two inches in diameter; sixteen to eighteen rowed. The kernels are five-eighths of an inch long, closely set upon the cob, narrow and thick, dark to light red in color, yellow at the outer ends. Cob small and white. Little Red Cob. — A white dent, eighteen-rowed variety. Ears seven to nine inches long, two and a half inches through. Cob small and pale-red in color. Ker- nels white, five-eighths of an inch long, thick and narrow, quite hard and heavy. Stalk six feet high by one and a half inches through; very leafy and yielding a large amount of fodder. It is largely cultivated in Georgia; is an excellent stock corn, and adapted to the lower middle and southern corn-growing sections of the country. North Star. — Another variety, adapted to the North; ripening in Soutlicrn Minnesota and Dakota; is a red cob, twelve to sixteen rowed; variety known as the "North Star Yellow Dent," prolific and ripening in one hundred days. The cut shows its characteristics of cob and grain. Flint Corn — The flint varieties of corn are little grown in the West, except pretty far north, and even there the newer, extra- early varieties of dent corn are favorites. East of the Alleghanies and in Canada, the flint varieties are almost universally grown. For meal, the flint corn is superior, and the large round-grained varieties are used for hominy. flint varieties are also said 122 THE HOIME AND FAR3I IMAXUAL. to l>e weevil-proof : hut thi? i? not so, as all will testify who examined the foreign samples of tlint eoru at the Centennial Exposition. White Pearl or Hominy Corn. — This is the variety usually grown for homing' and samj). It is also the best variety for making hulled eorn. The stalks are large and tall, the grains pearly white and tiinty, ears nine inches and upward in length by one and a half inches in diameter. It is a southern \'ariety, ripening always up to forty degrees of latitude. Yankee Corn. — The Early Eight-rowed Flint or Yan- kee Corn may be rc^'arded as the t}"pe of the several varieties of yellow flint corn. The improved yellow flint has a small eob, a deep yellow grain, and among the earliest of any of the varieties. Its characteristics are shown in the cut, natural size. Waushakum Corn. — This is without doubt one of the best of eight-rowed flint varieties, and is strictly a pedigree corn, oricrinatino- by selection, and bavins: been imiiroved bv ElGHT-laiWEU FLINT ^ O . .^ "- coKx. careful cultivation by Dr. E. L. bturtevant. of ]Massacnusett>, well known throughout the country from his con- tributions to practical, scientific agriculture. The ear is perfect in shape : about nine inches long, eight-rowed ; about forty-five kernels to the row ; rows straight and even, full from tip to stem; the ears uniform in size from end to end. The kernels are compactly set upon the small cob, are flinty, dense and heavy. The section of ear shows its characteristics. Silver White. — Of white flint varieties the silver white flint, (U'iginated by II. E. Alvord. of WArsuAKUJi cukx. New York, is also a pedigreed variety, exceed- ingl}- early, hardy and prolific. Following are brief descriptions of some of the more reputable varieties of flint corn : Compton's Early {Yellow Flint).— Ten-rowed. Ears ten to twelve inches Ions, well filled, often two on a stalk. Kernels bright yellow, medium size. Stalk eiirht to ten feet high. Button ( Yellow Button). — Yellow Flint. SILVER WHITE FLINT r<,i;N. g.^j,^ ni,^p ^o tcu iuchcs loug, tcu to twelve rowed: rows close together: ears uniform, symmetrica], taperincr, well rilled at both ends. Kernel as broad as deep, bright yellow color, flinty: of superior qualit\- for meal. Cob above the averaire, white. INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 123 Early Canada {Canada Yellow). — Eight-rowed. 'Ear small, symmetrical, seven to eight inches long, tapering from butt to tip ; rows separated into pairs at the butt. Cob small, white. Kernel as broad as deep, compact, flinty, smooth, of a deep yellow color; of superior quality for meal. Stalk five or six feet high, slender, leaves not plentiful, bearing one or two ears near the ground. Matures very early. The yield is light on account of the small size of the ear, but its extreme earliness makes it very desirable for the more northern sections of the corn belt. Improved ELing Philip. — Copper-colored Flint; eight-rowed. Ears ten to twelve inches long, uniformly eight-rowed when pure. Cob below the average, pinkish white. Kernel copper-red, or brown, varying to yellow. Kei'nel large, somewhat broader than deep, smooth, glossy and hard. Stalk six feet high and upwards. In favorable seasons ripens in about ninety days. Longfellow ( Yellow Flint). — Eight^rowed. Ears ten inches long and upwards, some of them fifteen inches ; one and one-half to one and three-quarter inches in diameter; uniform, cylindrical shape, well filled at both ends. Cob small. Kernel very large, broader than deep. Red Blazed {Yellow Flint). — Blazed, or striped, with red. Ears large, well filled at both ends. Eight-rowed; early. Rural Thoroughbred Flint. — Dingy white Flint. Introduced by the Rural New Yorker in 1882. Ears eight-rowed, ten incites -long, often fifteen, and occa- sionally sixteen and seventeen inches, slightfy tapering. Cob large and white. The kernels are broad and short, a dull white in color, hard and flinty. The stalks have a habit of suckering to an unusual degree, making it of great value as a fodder plant. But one plant is grown in a hill. The main stalks frequently bear two ears. Sanford. — Dingy white Flint, eight-rowed. Ear eight to ten inches long, one and one-half inch in diameter; slightly tapering; rows separated in pairs by the rather large white cob; kernel broader than deep, hard. Stalks large and leafy. XVI. Rice and Its Cultivation. EiCE IS probably one of the earliest cultivated plants in tropical and sub-tropical countries. It was already known in China three thousand years before Christ, and in India it has been cultivated from time immemorial. The ancient Greeks and Eomans were well acquainted with it. It is said to have been brought to Sicily by the Arabians. It was introduced into Virginia in 1647 — probably the upland rice. The true water rice {oryza sativa) is said to have been introduced into South Carolina accidentally, by a vessel from Madagascar, which put into Charleston bay in 1694. Four years after that, in 1698, sixty tons were shipped thence to England. In Louisiana, its cultivation began in 1718. It is now cultivated in thirteen Southern States, both swamp and upland varieties. Upland varieties have been cultivated as far north as Missouri, Illinois, and even Iowa. In 1850, seven hundred pounds were raised in the latter State. It is not to be supposed that upland rice can be raised 124 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. with profit in the North. The cultivation has always been experimental, like that of cotton, and will always remain so, unless some varieties of the wild rice of the WILD RICE OF THE NOUTHWEST. iZizania Aguatica.) North (Zizania Aquatica) may perhaps be improved. Of this, three species are common, in still-running water and ponds, as far north as Minnesota. These species INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 125 are Z. Aquatica, Z. Miliacia and Z. Fluitams. It is a true rice, as the engraving of Z. Aquatica will show, which includes the inflorescence and grain. The following description of this plant is from the reports of the Department of Agriculture, at Washington: "The Sioux call it pshu, and the Chippewas man-om-in. It is a constant .article of food with the northern Indians of the lakes and rivers between the Mississippi and Lake Superior. This plant delights in mud and water five to twenty feet deep. When ripe the slightest wind shakes off the grains. After being gathered it is laid on scaffolds about four feet high, eight wide, and twenty to fifty long, covered with reeds and grass, and a slow fire is maintained beneath for thirty-six hours, so as to parch slightly the husk, that it may be removed easily. Its beard is tougher than that of rye. To separate it from the chaff or husk, a hole is made in the ground a foot wide and one deep, and lined with skins. About a peck of rice is put in at a time; an Indian steps in, with a half jump, on one foot, then on the other, until the husk is removed. After being cleaned the grain is stored in bags. It is darker than the Carolina rice. The hull adheres tightly, and is left on the grain, and gives the bread a dark color when cooked. The husk is easily removed, after being exposed to heat. In Dakota the men gather this grain, but all other grain the women collect. An acre of rice is nearly or quite equal to an acre of wheat in nutriment. It is very palatable, when roasted, and eaten dry." Upland Bice. — The upland rice is cultivated precisely like oats, being usually sown broadcast. It is more than probable, however, that a system of drilling and gang cultivation, such as is practiced with the sugar beet, would render this industry highly remunerative in the South, since it would not add more than five dollars per acre to the cultivation, while it would raise the product, per acre, from ten to fifteen bushels to thirty or forty and more bushels per acre. XVII. True Water Bice or Commercial Rice. The Carolinas, and other suitable rice districts south, are the best rice-producing region of the world. The rice of Mississippi and other Gulf States has, however, never equaled Carolina rice, raised on the alluvial lands on the brackish water system of the State, when proper measures are taken to keep out salt water, which is fatal to the crop. The cultivation is fully described in communications to the Department in Washington, from which we condense. The plan on the Savannah river is described in the following article : XVIII. Cultivation of Rice in Carolina. Main canals having sluices at their mouths are dug from the river to the interior about twenty feet in width; and, as they very frequently extend across the whole breadth of the swamp, they are more than three miles in length. The rice plantations are subdivided into fields of about twenty acres each. The fields have embankments raised around them, with sluices communicating with the main canal, that they may 126 THE HOME AND FAKM MAJSTUAL. be laid dry or under water separately, according as it may be required. Open ditches are dug over the grounds for the purpose of allowing the water to be more easily put on or drawn off. In all cases the water is admitted to the fields as soon as the seed is sown, and when the young shoot appears above ground, the water, is drawn off. In the course of a week the crop usually receives another watering, which lasts from ten to thirty days, according to the progress the vegetation makes. This watez'ing is chiefly useful in killing the land weeds that make their appearance as soon as the ground becomes dry. But, on the other hand, when the field is under water, aquatic weeds, in their turn, grow up rapidly, and to check their growth the field is once more laid dry, and the crop is then twice hand-hoed. By the first of July the rice is well advanced, and water is again admitted and allowed to remain on the fields until the crop is ripe. This usually takes place from the first to the tenth of September, and the water is drawn off the day before the erop is to be reaped, or long enough to dry the land for this operation. Large Capital Necessary. — Large capital is necessary in the cultivation of rice, as well as good judgment, especially on tidal lands. The banks must be kept in order, the drains and canals must be kept clear, and the sluices and valves must always be in repair. The rice-swamps also are unhealthy, and it is difficult to get labor when other work can be had; hence,. higher prices must be paid. Nevertheless, properly managed, the crop is remunerative, and rice plantations used to be the highest-priced lands in the South, — the best lands lying between twenty-nine and thirty-five degrees north latitude. The best variety is that known as Golden or Carolina rice. XIX. Management of Rice Fields. The authority previously quoted describes the management as follows. It is the most concise and comprehensive we have seen: Rice plantations are located above the junction of salt and fresh water, from the fact that rice, being an aquatic plant, requires a vast amount of fresh water during its growth ; salt water being fatal to it at all stages. These swamps are usually reclaimed by means of banks or levees, which are made high and strong enoiigh. to bar out the river. Smaller embankments, called check banks, subdivide that portion of the plantation lying between the main river embankment and the high land, into squares or fields, generally from fifteen to twenty acres in area. These squares are all subdivided again into beds or lands, of twenty-five or thirty feet width, by a system of main ditches and quarter- drains. Canals from twelve to thirty feet wide and four or five feet deep, are some- times cut from the river embankment, through the center of the plantation, to the high land, for the purpose of introducing or draining off the water to or from those fields situated far back from the river. Flood-gates. — Flood-gates or trunks having doors at both ends are buried in the embankments on the river, as well as in the canal embankments and the check INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 127 banks, those at the outlet of canals being so constructed as to permit the flat-boats to pass into the river. By means of these flood-gates or trunks the whole system of irrigation is carried on under the complete control of the planter, and the lands are flooded or drained at will. The canals and ditches being all carefully cleaned out, down to the hard bottom, the banks neatly trimmed and free of leaks — the flood- gates and trunks all water-tight, either to hold out or hold in water — the planter com- mences his operations, as early in the winter as possible, by plowing. These lands, being yearly enriched by alluvial deposits from the river, do not require deep plowing, four or five inches being generally sufficient to furnish a good seed- bed, and on account of the numerous ditches subdividing the fields, a single mule plow is always preferable. When lands are plowed early in the winter and nicely shingled, it is of very great advantage to put in a shallow flow of water, and suddenly draw it off, in severe weather, for the benefit of freezing the furrow slices. But it is not a good practice to flood deep, as the weight of water packs the land, which becomes run together by the action of the waves, and renders good harrowing afterward an impossibility. XX. Cultivating the Crop. Harrowing is usually begun only a few days previous to planting, in order that the seed-bed may be as fresh as possible, to encourage germination, and by its pliancy, permit the young roots to expand rapidly and take good hold on the soil, in order that the plant may resist the birds and a tendency to float. The operation of harrowing is one of the most important to the crop, and no consideration should induce the planter to slight it, as this is the opportunity afforded him for killing his potent and pernicious enemy — grass — the great obstacle all the summer-time. By breaking up every clod now, and exposing its roots and seeds to the action of the sun, half the battle is won. Immediately after the harrow comes the crusher, which implement is not abandoned until the field is reduced to garden tilth. Seed and Seeding. — ^About the tenth or fifteenth of March, up to the tenth or fifteenth of May, the process of drilling is carried on, seeding from two and a half to three bushels of clean seed per acre. At this Juncture two antagonistic systems are encountered, one known as covered rice and the other as open-trench rice. Both have their advocates. The first system, or covered rice, is where the grain is covered up in the soil two or three inches deep, as fast as it is drilled in, which thus protects it from birds, floating away, etc. The other, open-tx'ench, consists in leaving the rice entirely uncovered in the drill, and taking the risks alluded to, in order to save time and labor, the grain being soaked in thick clay water before seeding, to hold it to the ground. The seed being deposited, the flood-gates are immediately opened, and, if it be covered rice, and the ground pretty moist, the water is taken in as rapidly as the capacity of the gates may afford; and when it has attained a depth of twelve or eighteen inches, ot deeper, if the check banks can bear it, the water from the river is 128 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. then shut off, and the inside gate is closed, to hold in what water is on the field. The trash now rapidly rises and floats toward the banks, and it must be immediately hauled up with rakes, before it settles down on the rice. In the course of a few days the seed is carefully examined, and as soon as the germ or pip appears the water is drawn off the field to the bottom of the ditches, and kept out until the rice has two leaves. XXL Flooding the Crop. If the grain is planted by the open-trench system, as soon as the seeding is done, the water is led into the field gradually, until the land sobs and the rice sticks, then it is flooded slowly until the previously mentioned depth is attained; the water is then held until the rice has good roots, or begins to float, and is then drawn off carefully. Here all difference in the culture ceases. The rice having two leaves — or earlier, if the field is inclined to be grassy — the water is again let in to the same depth as before, completely submerging the plants, and is held to this gauge from seven to ten days, the planter being governed by the weather. If warm, seven; if cool, ten days. Then a lead is put in the gate, and the water let off gradually, until a general verdure is seen floating all over the field. At this point the water is stopped, and a mark set upon the gate as a gauge-mark. To this gauge the water is rigidly held for sixty or sixty-five days from the day it first came on the field. This flow, when properly managed, effectually destroys all tendency to grass, and promotes a vigorous growth of rice. It sometimes happens that, during this flow, the crop takes a check and stops growing. In this event to take off the water is fatal, as it will produce foxed rice; it must be held firmly to the gauge, and in a few days the plant will throw out new roots and go on growing. If the maggot attack it in this flow the water is drawn off for a day or two and replaced. And where water is abundant and easily handled, the maggot can generally be avoided by beginning, about the thirtieth day, to change the water once a week. To do so skillfully, both gates must be simultaneously opened at the young flood. The stale water wiU thus rush out and fresh water come immediately back with the rising tide to float the rice leaves and prevent them sticking to the ground in their fall. The Rice Maggot. — If the maggot gets serious the field has to be dried imme- diately and thoroughly. The maggot is a tiny white worm, which is generated by stale water, and attacks the roots of the plant, causing serious injury to the crop. The presence of the maggot may always be suspected by the stiff and unthrifty appearance of the field. If the land is fertile at the end of the sixty-day flow, it will be found, on drawing off the water, that the rice has attained a vigorous growth of about three feet, and is well stocked with tillers, while also, if the field is level, and the harrowing and pulverizing was thoroughly attended to before planting, no grass will be seen ; nothing but rice and the clean soil beneath. The field is kept dry now for about fifteen or twenty days, or until the land dries INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 129 off nicely and the rice takes on its second growth. And if there be no grass it ought not to be disturbed -with the hoe, as the hands, at this stage, often do more harm than good. This, however, does not apply to cat-tails and volunteers, which should, of course, be carefully pulled up by the roots, and sheafed and carried to the banks, to be disposed of by the hot sun. At the end of fifteen or twenty days, as above mentioned, the water is returned to the field as deej) as the rice and banks can bear, never, however, topping the fork of the former. This water, where circum- stances permit, is changed every week or two, by letting it off on one tide and taking it back on the next, and increasing the gauge with the growth of the rice. XXII. Harvesting' and Threshing. When the heads of the rice are well filled and the last few grains at the bottom are in the dough state, it is fit to cut, and as little delay is permitted as possible, as the rice now over-ripens very rapidly, and shatters in proportion during the harvest. The water may be drawn off the field from three to five days before cutting the grain, and the land will be in better condition for harvesting. .The rice is cut from twelve to eighteen inches from the ground, depending on its growth, usually from four to six feet high, and the gavels laid evenly and thinly upon the stubble, for the purpose of curing and permitting the air to circulate beneath it. Twenty-four hours in good weather is usually required to cure the straw, and the binding does not commence before this period, and never while the dew is on the straw. It is safer always to cut from sunrise to twelve o'clock, and bind the previous day's cutting from that hour to sunset. As soon as bound the rice is shocked up, and at the end of a week taken to the yard and stacked in ricks, thirty feet long, eight feet wide, and ten feet high. A stake, four feet long, is put into the rick at each end for daily examination, and as long as the stake does not become too hot at its point to be held by the hand, when suddenly drawn out, the rick is not to be interfered with, otherwise it is to be pulled down, aired, and re-stacked. Threshing. — So soon as the temporary heat is over the grain is fit for the thresher. As soon as the rice is taken from the field attention is immediately given to sprouting volunteer and shattered rice, providing the crop has not been allowed to remain in the field for an indefinite period beyond the week alluded to above. This is best accomplished by instantly flooding the field quite shallow, so as to promote fermen- tation, and drying it again eveiy twelve or fifteen days, for a day or two at a time. This process is continued until freezing weather sets in, and if the season has not been remarkably cool it will be found that most of this grain is destroyed. Threshing is performed by steam power. The main building is commonly built on a brick founda- tion, about sixty feet long by forty feet wide, having two stories and an attic; the first story being fourteen and the second twelve feet high, with what is called by work- men a square roof. At the side of this building is the engine-house and boiler-room ; and in front of the main building, a little distance off, is the feeding-room, which is connected with the second story of the same by a covered way which protects the 9 130 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. feeding cloth. In the second story is placed the thresher. The rice is brought in sheaves from the ricks to the feed-room, where hands are stationed for the purpose of placing it on the feed-cloth in close succession. The revolutions of the cloth thus keep a continuous stream of grain flowing into the cylinder, which in turn is relieved by the ralces seizing the straw, and after tossing out the grain they throw it out of a window in the rear into wagons below, kept ready to receive and carry it away. A good engine, with machinery, will thresh and clean, ready for market, one thousand bushels of rice per day. XXIII.. Hulling for Market. The rice as it comes from the machine is called rough rice. Twenty-five bushels. of good, well-cleaned, rough rice, weighing forty-five pounds per bushel, will make a tierce of six hundred pounds of clean rice fit for the market. The cleaning is usually done at city mills that are fitted for the purpose. The rough rice is first carried between very heavy stones, running at a high speed, which partially removes the rough integument, or hull chaff. This chaff is passed out of the building by spouts,, and the grain by similar means conveyed into the mortars, where it is beat or pounded for a certain length of time by the alternate rising and falling of very heavy pestles, shod with iron. These are operated by a revolving cylinder, armed with powerful levers, which, passing into a long opening in the pestle, about fifteen feet in length, raise it and let it fall suddenly into the mortars below. From the mortars, elevators take the rice to the fans, which separate the grain from the hulls. Thence it goes through other fans that divide it into three qualities, known as whole rice, middling rice, and small rice. The grain is finally passed through a polishing screen, lined with gauze wire and sheepskins, which revolve vertically at great velocity, giving it the pearly whiteness in which it appears in commerce. From the screen it falls immediately below into a tierce, which is kept slowly rotating, and struck on two sides with heavy hammers, all the time it is being filled, for the purpose of obtaining its greatest capacity. The tierce, as soon as full, is removed and coopered ready for market. Good strong land, well rhanaged, will average from forty to fifty bushels of rough rice — ten to. twelve hundred pounds of clean-hulled rice — per acre. The rough rice averages one dollar per bushel of forty-five pounds. XXIV. Rice in the Mississippi Delta. In the delta lands of the Mississippi the cultivation of rice is somewhat different from that of the tide lands of the Atlantic coast, and much less elaborate. The Mississippi usually begins to swell in the delta region about the end of February, and continues to rise until the first of June, from which time it again gradually subsides. It is thus in flood during the hot season. A ditch, having a sluice at its mouth, is dug from the river toward the swamp. The land immediately behind the levee being the highest, is cropped with Indian corn and i^otatoes; but at a little distance from the INDIAN CORN, RICE, AND SPECIAL CROPS. 131 river, where the land is lower and can be flooded, it is laid out in narrow rice-fields, parallel to the river, inclining off from the river's edge. The narrow strips are banked all around, so that they can be laid under water after the rice is sown. The land is plowed in March, and shortly afterward it is sowed and harrowed. As soon as the young plants appear above ground, the water is admitted for the purpose of keeping the weeds in check. The crop grows rapidly, and the depth of the water is gradually increased, so as to keep the tops of the plants just above the surface. There is a constant current of water flowing from the river into the fields and over the swamp, so that there is no stagnation, and the fields are not laid dry until the crop is ready to cut. The only labor that is bestowed in the cultivation of the crop is to pull up by hand the weeds, which are mostly grasses ; and this operation is effected by men going to the fields knee-deep in water. The produce varies from thirty to sixty bushels per acre. XXV. Some Special Crops. Flax, millet, Hungarian grass and canary-grass are largely cultivated in some sections for thfe seed. The only difference in the preparation of the soil from that for the cereals, is that the greatest care must be taken to bring the land into the highest possible tilth for sowing. Flax is sown at the rate of three pecks to one and a half bushels per acre, just before corn-planting time. Millet, Hungarian and canary-seed must not be sown until corn is well up and the nights warm, since it is easily checked by cold. Millet and Hungarian seed are sown at the rate of one-half bushel to three pecks, and canary-seed at the rate of three pecks to one bushel per acre. When fully ripe it may be cut and stacked, loose, for threshing, or harvested by binding and shocking. The cultivation of the more important special crops will be treated of in succeeding chapters. CHAPTER III. MBADO"W AND PASTURE GRASSES. r THE VALUE OF GRASS. H. WHAT IS GEASS? in. HOW TO KXOW GRASS. IV. TESTING THE VALUE OF SPECIES. V. THE VALUE OP ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. VI. WELL-KNOWN CULTI- VATED GRASSES. Vn. GRASSES FOR HAT AND PASTURE. ^VIU. A LIST OF GOOD GRASSES. IX. VALUABLE NATIVE WESTERN GRASSES. ^X. DISAPPEARANCE OF NATIVE GRASSES. XI. VALUABLE INTRODUCED GRASSES, SOUTH. ^XIL BERMUDA GRASS. ^XIII. GUINEA GRASS. XIV. BROME OR RESCUE GRASS. XV. SEEDING MEADOWS. XVI. THE ALPHABET OF AGRICUL- TURE. ^XVU. SOWING FOR HAT AND FOR PASTURE. ^XVHI. THE CELEBRATED WOBURN EX- PERIMENTS. XIX. A SUMMART OF MEADOW GRASSES. XX. ABOUT PASTURES. XXI. GENERA, SPECIES AND VARIETIES. XXH. FAVORITE PASTURE GRASSES. XXUI. BENT GRASSES. XXIV. ORCHARD GRASS. XXV. GRASSES FOR VARIOUS REGIONS. XXVI. CLOVER IN ITS RELATION TO HUSBANDRT. XXVII. THE SEED CROP. XXVIII. VALUABLE VARIETIES OF CLOVER. ^XXIX. DUTCH, OR WHITE, CLOVER. XXX. ALSIKE, OR SWEDISH CLOVER. XXXL CLOVERS FOR THE SOUTH— ALFALFA. ^XXXIL JAPAN CLOVER. XXXIIL MEXICAN CLOVER. XXXTV. , IMPORTANCE OP THE PULSE FAMILT.r — XXXV. INTERCHANGE OF GRASSES BETWEEN NATIONS. I. The Value of Grass. JIHE grass crop of the United States has a greater real value than any other one crop raised. The corn crop represents a greater apparent money value, and so does the wheat crop, the corn crop for 1881 having a money value of $759,482,170, and the wheat crop $456,880,427, while the hay crop was estimated at only $415,131,366. But the hay harvest is comparatively a small portion of the grass crop. In the average, hay is fed to stock in this country scarcely four months in the year, even allowing for horses and mules in the cities eating hay all the year round. On the other hand we see immense grazing areas, and millions of live-stock which subsist and grow fat throughout the whole year on grass, which they gather for themselves. Besides, hay does not form more than half the food of farm stock during the winter months. On the whole, therefore, it is safe to say that the pastures and meadows of the country undoubtedly represent four times the value of the hay crop. This would make $1,660,525,464 yearly, a sum greater than the combined values of the corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley and buckwheat crops by $189,568,261, the crops of the cereals named being computed for 1881 at $1,470,957,200. The cry used to be, "Cotton is king." Later it was, "Corn is king." Let us not forget that grass is king and always will be. II. What is Grass? It is found wherever other vegetation exists, from the jDolar regions to the equator. It is found growing in the crevices of inaccessible mountain cliffs, and in the most arid plains and watery marshes. But its true home is wherever life is most congenial to man. There it covers the soil with a cool mantle of green, giving of its [1321 Diagram showing Areas and Values of Indian Corn, Wheat AND other Cereal Grains of the United States; ALSO Hay and Cotton. (OFFICIAL.) Products Wheat Hay Cotton Other Cereal Oraius Quantity Prcduced 383,880,090 36,135,0114 5,400,000 487,N:M,4aO MEADOW AND PAt^TURE GKASSES. 133 wealth to the husbandman with the least outlay of expense. A good grass country is a fertile one. In its oitlinarv meaning, as used in the foregoing article, irrass is sinuilv the herbage eaten by stock. By a broader scicntilic classification, the grass family includes all the great food grains — t\ll the genera of plants, whose seeds not only furnish the most important portion of the direct sustenance of the human famil}', but whose herbage feeds all the animals used as food for man. This \ast order of plants contains, according to the late Dr. Darlington, some two hundred and thii'ty genera, and not less than three thousand species. Of these the Poa sub-family, the Phalaris sub-tribe, and the Panicum sub-tribe are most important in agriculture. The first contains wheat [Triticum). rye (^Secale), barley {Hordeum), oats (Arena), rice (0»7/~rt), and the largest number of the meadow and pasture grasses; tlie PJiaian's sub-tribe contains that grass of doubtful value, s\\"eet-scented vernal grass (Anthox- anthvm). and canary-grass (Phalarif): the Panicimi sub-tribe gives us Indian Corn (Zea), sug:vr-cane {Saccfiamm), sorghum, and many others, among them the famous Gama gitiss (Tripsacum). the fox-tail grass [Alopeciii-us) , and the panic grasses (Panicum). American Vaxieties. — ^Few countries are richer in natural grasses than the United States, yet we have compai-atively few varieties in general cultivation. England hjis two hundred ^ arieties of grass in cultivation : the United States less than twenty ireuerally disseminated. Yet we have about six hundred species native to our soil. Why have we so few cultivated varieties? We have depended upon England for the trial grasses. England is a moist, cool country ; the United States compai-a- tively a dry, hot one, in its summer temperatui-e. Hence the mistake in adopting English varieties that flourish under the continual dripping of rain and a compara- tively cool atmosphere. Yet two of the most valuable of so-called English grasses. one a most valuable hay grass (timothy), the other one of the most valuable for hay and pasture (orchai-d irrass). are distiuctiA ely and truly native American grasses. m. How to Know Grass. The following description of grass, by Professor W. J. Beal, of the Michigan Agricultural College, a most accomplished botanist, is concise and exact. As a first lesson in botany Prof. Beal says : "Take in }'our hand a sti-aight stalk of Indian corn — for this is a true grass. The leaves are on the alternate sides of the stem, one at each solid joint, making two i-anks or rows from top to bottom. As you look at a straight stem of grass, the leaves may appear to you right and left., or they may appear on the side of the stem next to j^ou and away from you. The leaves ha\e no teeth or notches along their edges. The,y can be stripped into many fibrous threads. i. e., the veins are nearly parallel with each other. Observe fiu'ther that the lower part of each leaf forms a sheath which surrounds the stem. This sheath may overlap. but never grows fast to the stem, except at the joint, nor does it close opposite the 134 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. main part of the leaf so as to form a tight tube. It is naturally split down to the joint, and may be uni-olled hke a scroll without tearing away part of it. In botany, it does not generally do to put very much stress upon the structure of the leaves, but in this case it is of much importance. Bearing Flowers. — "AH grasses in then* healthy condition bear flowers at some time of their hfe. The plan of the flowers is well illustrated by a head of chess, or rye, or wheat, or June-grass. Usually two or more flowers (sometimes one) are included within two short leaf -like bodies called glumes. Each perfect flower has from one to six (usually three) stamens, with anthers attached by a point (versatile). Outside the stamens are usually two small, green, leaf -like bodies called palets, one of which has two ribs, with a thin strip uniting them. In the center of the flower is never more than one pistil, making a fruit which is called a grain. The embryo, or germ of the plant, is just at one end, on the side, and is the part first eaten out by mice and squirrels in Indian corn. This is by no means all that applies to the botany of grasses, but enough for our present purpose. The Corn Flower. — "In Indian corn the flowers are of two kinds, each incomplete in itself. On the tip of the stalk thp branching tassel produces an abundance of fine dust called pollen. On the side of the stalk are one or more short branches, covered with a cluster of leaves, from the top of which extend a large- number of slender threads. The branches become the ears, the leaves about them the husks; the threads are often called silk. One of these long delicate threads runs down to each one of the embryo kernels of corn. That each may become a kernel, it is first necessary that a grain of pollen from the tassel should fall upon the silk. Hence it grows or thrusts out (the pollen does) a very delicate prolongation aU the way down to the young kernel." No person, after mastering these three paragraphs, can be deceived in the examination of any plant to determine whether it is a true grass or not. The final study of each species is of less consequence to the practical farmer. Few botanists understand them fully. The study is difficult from the minuteness of the organs, and the species and varieties are interminable and difficult to master. Grasses Illustrated. — This chapter is fully illustrated with exact representations of the more valuable grasses, including root, stalk, leaf and blossom or seed-head. For readers who may be interested in botany we also give full-page illustrations, enlarged, of the inflorescence of many grasses. The scientific names alone are given. Those treated of especially will also have the common name appended when known. GRASSES AND CLOVER. MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 135 Varieties are produced by the pollen of one falling upon another. If it were not for the prepotency of certain species in fertilization, inextricable confusion would ensue. Hence, in artificial fertilization the utmost care is used to ensure cross- fertilization. ( See Artificial Cross-Fertilization, Chapter IV., Section XIX., Part I.) Flowering Illustrated. — Eeferring to the full-page plates showing sections of the seed-heads and single flowers of a large number of grasses, any person can identify a grass by dissecting the flower and comjaaring it with the illustrations until it is found. Then, if you wish to find its common English name, look in the lists of grasses given on pages 156 and 157. It must be remembered, however, that many of our native grasses have no English name. This is especially true of the varieties now lately discovered. When the signs ? and % are affixed it shows that the plant has the male organs distinct from the female organs. As a rule, however, in the grasses, b*th organs are contained in the same blossom. Buffalo grass (Suchloa) shows the departure from this rule. Hemp and spinach have separate and distinct sexes. That is, there are distinctively male and female^ plants, each sex having its appropriate organs on its distinctive plants.- [See pages 136 — 141. j IV. Testing the Value of Species. Every progressive farmer should have an experimental plat of ground on which to test the qualities of different kinds of seed, and their adaptability to the soil and climate of his farm. Some of the agricultural colleges are adopting this plan, thus greatly simplifying the task of the farmers in this respect. The farmer's experiments should be conducted as follows : Experimental Patches. — Sow a patch with the experimental seed, here and there, in the field when it is being seeded down, being careful to stake and register the places so sown. Be careful that strictly pasture grasses be not sown with meadow grasses, and vice versa. Timothy, for instance, is a meadow or hay grass, and one of the best we have ; as a pasture grass, it is one of the poorest, if for no other reason than that it forms a bulb at the surface of the earth. Hence it will neither stand close feeding, close cutting, nor tramping. Blue-grass is the most valuable pas- ture grass we have where the soil is adapted to it. It forms a firm, smooth, compact sod, starts early in the spring, and grows late in autumn, furnishing the most valuable late autumn and early winter pasture, and kindly bears close feeding. It is not, however, a meadow or hay grass. Clover, on the other hand, is a good pasture plant, and a good meadow plant; sown alone it is one of the most valuable known as pasture for swine. In all other cases, however, it should form a mixture with the true grasses. 136 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL FLOWERING ll.LUSTKATEU. See pii^'e 1:!.5. JIEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. i;i7 FLOWKHINU ILLUSTitATED. Sc-e lia-e 135. 13.S THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. FLOWEPJNG ILLUSTRATED. St-e page 135. MEADOW AND PASTURE GEASSES. i;i!i HOLCUS LA NAT US 13 POA ALSODBS HORDEUM PHKTENSE 15 phuag.mttes communis. ERABROSTIS POABOIDES 22 LOUUM PERENNE Ely M US ST Rl AT US AHISTIDA PUHPURACCA DraiPli/froa jfa/i/rf iy Cm Itfarx. FLOWERING ILLUsTitATIJD. See page 1:;5. 140 THE HOME AXD FAR:*! MANUAL. MUHLENBERG/ A GLOMERA T/l FLOWElllXc; ILLUSTRATED. See pniiU 1:!5. MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 141 SPDROBOLUS INDICUS n PDA PR AT ENS IS MDHLEHRBmiA OIFFDSA AGROSr/S EIXARATA 18 TRICUSPIS SESLEHOIDES II LEPTOCHLOA MUCRONATA ON I OLA L ATI FOLIA 16 POA SEROTINA. PASPALVM LAEVE III ? " \ SETARIASETOSA DRAVINFROIAmimESV GEO KP.RX. FLOWERING ILLUSTRATED. See page 1:55, 142 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. V. The Value of Accurate EZnowledge. A BETTER test than that given in Section IV, would be to set apart a plat divided into squares of say, ten feet. Upon these squares the several grasses to be experi- mented with may be sown, and a record of the relative value of each may be arrived at. Where a certain kind of soil, as moist or dry, strong clay, loam or sand is designated for a given variety, such soil may then l^e selected for trial, but, as a rule, those varieties that are recommended as doing well on a diversity of soils will be the most valuable. Lists of these, and also well-known varieties adapted to particular soils, will be given farther on. Perhaps the reader will reply. What is the value of all this? Anybody knows grass. Ah! Do they? Very few, even of farmers, do. Nine-tenths of farmers would call clover and the other trefoils, grass, but they would not call the cereal grains, sorghum, sugar-cane and Indian corn, grass. A technical error like this does not cost them money. That they do not know the number of our valuable native grasses, and their relative adaptability to soils, and their relative value for pasture and hay, does cost them money — lots of it ! It is a great mistake to suppose a grass to be economically valuable for pasture because it is so for hay, and vice versa. The local names of the grasses are also often badly mixed. Timothy is called herds-grass in the New England States and in Michigan, and red-top is called herds-grass in Pennsylvania. In Great Britain, Timothy is called cat's-tail grass, a specific and descriptive name. The same con- fusion of names is true of many grasses distinctively valuable in the South. Hence, we shall give the specific name — known to all seedsmen — ^in parenthesis, in treating of the grasses. VI. Well-known Cultivated Grasses. The economical value of a species consists of, 1, its adaptability to a climate; 2, its adaptation to the soil; 3, its feeding qualities, and 4, its productiveness. Grasses for Dry Soils. — ^Many grasses of the first value in the cool and moist climate of England, are greatly lessened in value in the dryer summer climate of the New England States, and this disability becomes greater as we proceed west. For the reason that Timothy grass {Phleum praiense) will stand drought and heat comparatively well, and also the extreme cold of our winters, it has. become the great hay grass of the northern portion of the United States, and especially of the North- west. It also stands well on nearly all soils except dry, gravelly ones. The same is true of the Blue-grass of Kentucky (Poa pratensis) , and the Blue-grass of the North (P. compressa). Eough meadow grass {P. trivialis), and Fowl meadow grass (Poa serotina) are better adapted to moist meadows; and also all the poa family, as well as Orchard grass ( Dactylis glomerata), are not averse to partial shade in hot summer climates. , Grasses for Moist Soils. — ^Thebent grasses or Eed-top (agrostis), and Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), are especially valuable on moist, rather, open soils, MEADOW AMD PASTURE GRASSES. 143 but it is incorrect to suppose that any valuable grass is natural to a wet soil. No valuable grass ever grew naturally on a permanently wet soil. This is another of the things that the farmer must disabuse himself of. He must distinguish between wetness and moisture. The first means saturation with water; the other, saturation with the vapor of moisture — two very different things. A well-drained soil may be moist; it should never be wet. VII. Grasses for Hay and Pasture. In the North, Timothy and Red clover must form a large proportion of all the meadow (mowing) grasses raised. Timothy is in no sense a pasture grass, since tramping and close grazing destroy its bjilb, which is situated just at the surface of the soil. So does very close early mowing. In the United States pasturing usually follows mowing. That is, after a meadow has been mowed for one or two or three years, it is then often grazed until again ready to be broken up. Herein lies the value of a variety of grasses in seeding. Not only will a greater harvest of hay be given, but in pasturing, as the Timothy is killed and the clover dies, the other grasses sown will take their place. Hence short descriptions of some of the best should be given, with soils adapted to their growth. Of Timothy — a better name would be Cat's-tail — nothing more need be said. It is known and universally cultivated all over Canada and the United States, except in the South, where it is not adapted to the climate. VIII. A List of Good Grasses. The following list should be good in all average soils, and, except Timothy, are all good pasture as well as meadow grasses : Bent grasses — Eed-top (Agrostis vulgaris); upright bent grass (A. stricta). Fescue grasses — Meadow fescue (F. pratensis) ; hard fescue {F. duriuscula); sheep fescue {F. ovina); purple fescue {F. rubra); spiked fescue {F. loliacea). Foxtail — Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) . Rye grass — ^Perennial Rye grass (LoUumperenne). Cocks-foot grass — Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) . Timothy or Cat's-tail grass — {Phleum pratense) . Poa grasses — Rough meadow grass {Poa trivialis) ; Fowl meadow grass — (P. serqtina ) . TIMOTHY 144 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Their Qualities. — The list might be largely increased, but the idea of this work is always to keep within the bounds of practical experience. Of the grasses named, the Bent grasses make good grazing on arable soils, stiffening the sod. They are, in fact, better grazing than hay-grasses. Some of the fescues, notably Sheep's fescue, is native to the Eocky Mountain region. Meadow Foxtail is a native grass, and an excellent grass. Rye-grass is not always hardy until well established, but should be a good grass within 38° to 41° north latitude. Orchard-grass is a native, and very valuable on good loams or sandy soils. The two poas named are also natives ; the latter being a common wild- grass in the West, on bottom lands, and even forms a considerable percentage of the native grasses in the Rocky Mountain valleys. THE PROPEE FORM OF STACK. IX. Valuable Native Western Grasses. An immense number of species of native grasses have been catalogued for the Government by the various military and scientific expeditions sent out from tihie to time. Many of these have not yet received English names, as some Brown, Gama, Bunch, Buffalo grasses, etc. Here, again, confusion comes in. Sheep's fescue is called Bunch grass, so are some of the Gama grasses. The following table, gathered from the large number of varieties natural to the far West, will explain itself. [See plates of grasses.] SPECIES. 10, 11. 12. Broom grass — (Andropogon fureatus), .... . . ... Per cent. Broom sedge — (Andropogon scoparius), -• " Indian grass — (Sorghum nutans), •• " Drop seed — (Sporobolus heterolepis), •' Buffalo grass — (Suchloe dactyloides), " " 'Mesquitgvi\ss—(Boutelouaoligostachya), •' Cord grass — (Spartina cynosuroides), •' Fescue — (Festuca ovina), . " Fescue — (Festuca macrostnchya), •' " Kalm's, Brome — (Bromus Kalmii), . . ... ... .^ ^^ Fowl meadow — (Poa serotina), •' " Feather grass — (Stipa viridtda), ■ . " '• Missouri ROCKV RrvEU MOCNTAIN Ekgion. Region. 40 16 ■20 10 •20 12 12 1 5 5 10 2 2 20 n 8 S 6 The reader, by reference to the plates of dissections of grasses, will find 1, 2, 3, 5 and 11 under their scientific names, as given in the table. Where Pound. — In the above list it will be seen that 1,2,3 and 4 comprise ,the bulk of the grasses of the Missouri River region ; and 1, 2, 3, 4,6,8, 10, 11 and 12 MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 145 of the Rocky Mountain region. The first three, and the last, are native to the whole prairie, or the bottom-land region of the West; the first three comprising the bulk of the wild-hay cut. None of them, however, seed abundantly, except in moist seasons. No. 9 is an annual species and one of the bunch grasses of the mountain region. Buffalo Grass. — No. 5 is the famous or true Buffalo grass, and maybe recognized at once by its low, dense, tufted growth ; also, by its sto- lons, from which it spreads rapidly. It seldom if ever attains to the height of over two or three inches, except with its male flower stalks, which sometimes reach two or three inches above the leaf growth. There are, however, several plain and mountain grasses called Buffalo grass. The true Buffalo grass (Buchloe) grows most abun- dantly in the central region of the plains, and affords nutritious grazing for domestic animals ; yet its value as a winter forage plant is not to be overlooked, as its stolons remain green during the winter months, and, combined with the dead leaves, afford to close-grazing animals a reason- ably good living. In southern Kansas, the plant reaches its eastern limits, about one hundred miles west of Fort Scott. Gama Grass.— No. 6 of the table. The Muskit, Mesquit, Gama, or Gramma, grass, con- tains a number of species, the one named being the principal. The name by no means applies to the species or to the several species of the genus exclusively, but is given by the mountain men to several other species of different genera. It is a most valuable species for grazing purposes, but grows too thinly and too short to be cut for hay. It abounds chiefly in the mountain regions and the adjacent plain districts, and may be readily distinguished from species of other genera by its peculiar spikelets of flowers all arranged on one side of the rachis, and pointing in one direction. It supports on its stalks from one to three or four, and sometimes five of these spikes, which are purplish, or of an indigo-blue tinge. Its general height is about twelve inches, but in sterile locations much less. The leaves and stems are smooth, having no hairs. It is perennial. . Much of the beef of the Southwest is claimed to be the product of this grass. No. 10 is a slender, tall grass, with a handsome head of drooping or nodding spikes of flowers. Where it grows plentifully it gives excellent pasturage. Fowl Meadow Grass, No. 11, is well known, and No. 12 has a plentiful supply of leaves, and affords much mountain grazing. PKAIEIE BLUE-JOINT, OR BEOOM GKASS. (Andropogon Furcatus.) 146 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. X. Disappearance of Native Grasses. In the settlement of a new country the natural grasses soon disappear under close grazing and the constant tramping of herds. Hence the early necessity of turning attention to the presepvation of the more valuable varieties by cultivation and saving their seeds ; else recourse must be had to varieties already under cultivation. Experiment should be made in both directions, and especially with the grasses of the prairie and plains region of the West and Southwest. A natural grass region must necessarily contain species valuable for perpetuation. The hot, dry character of our summers, intensified as we go west, and our cold winters, often with bare ground, is not conducive to "the struggle for life" of moisture-loving plants against rank weeds. Hence the far West must be content with comparatively few si^ecies. "What is wanted on the great plains region is, plants that will do there, as far as may be, what Blue-grass has done for the central Western States, or those east of the Missis- sippi. Grasses with creeping root stalks would naturally be suggested, if strong and growing perennial. The Lyme Grasses. — Some of the Lyme grasses, or wild rye (^Elymus), have been recom- mended, and among them the following: Virginia Lyme Grass {E. Virginicus). A hardy species of early growth, producing an abundance of large, succulent leaves when young; a widely distributed species in America. Cultivation greatly accelerates BUFFALO GKASS— (iacAioe). j^g growth. It is a promising species. Siberian Lyme (E. Sibericus). Native of Europe and America, in the colder latitudes; would probably succeed well in the northern districts, where it is native. Canada Lyme {E. mollis), found on the shores of Lake Superior, and north. Grows early and spreads by its running root-stalks; foliage, when young, tender and juicy. It thrives rapidly well in a variety of situations different from its habitats (sandy shores) ; probably not adapted to a dry soil, but well worthy of trial; leaves broad, rather short, with a glaucous hue and strong wheat grass flavor. Some of the couch grasses {Triticum) will undoubtedly prove valuable. XI. Valuable Introduced Grasses South. Broo:m grass (^Andropogon scoparius) and other varieties of broom sedge, are said to contribute largely to the pastures of the dry, pine-woods regions of the South while yet young and tender. Drop seed (Muhlenbergia diffusa) forms the bulk of the woods pasture, after the rains set in ; not especially valuable, but abundant, and imparting an agreeable flavor to butter. 10 MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 147 Wild fescue, or oats grass (Uniola latifolia) is thought to be valuable; it is early, with rich foliage, vigorous in the South, and even found as far north as Penn- sylvania, delighting in damp, sandy loams, where it forms large tufts, affording abundant and early feed. When cultivated, it gives good croi3s of hay. Gama Grass of the Soutll. — This is well known as a rank, strong, growing grass. If cut before the seed-stems shoot up, it makes good hay, and may be cut several times in a season ; the fodder is said to be equal to corn fodder when cured. The seeds do not vegetate readily, and it is generally prop- agated from the roots, by setting out strips two feet apart each way, when if on good soil they will soon meet. It is a tall perennial grass, with solid culms, broad and flat leaves, and with flower-spikes from four to eight inches long, produced from the side joints or from the top, either singly or two or three together. The upper portion of these spikes is staminate or male, and the lower portion pistillate, and pro- ducing the seeds. It grows from three to six feet high, with large broad leaves, resembling those of Indian corn. XII. Bermuda Grass. (^Gynodon dactylon) is undoubtedly one of the most valuable of the grasses of the South, but long detested by cotton growers, as were all of the persistent grasses when the South was engaged in producing only, special crops. Now that diversified farming is more generally carried on, it is acknowledged to be one of the most valuable of Southern forage jilants. It rarely or never produces seed in the United States, and is propagated by chopping the roots into pieces, sowing them, and plowing them lightly under. It is a common pasture grass of the We^t Indies and other warm winter climates. Mr. Charles Mohr, of Alabama, in a communication to the Department of Agriculture, says it thrives in the arid, barren drift-sands of the sea-shore, covering them by its long, creeping stems, whose deeply penetrating roots impart firmness to a soil which else would remain, devoid of vegetation. It is esteemed one of the most valuable of our grasses, either in the pasture or cured as hay. Col. T. C. Howard, of Georgia, says, while we have grasses and forage plants that do well when nursed, we have few that live and thrive here as in their native habitat. The Bermuda and GAMA GRASS OF THE SOUTH. ( Tripsacum daciyloides,) 148 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Crab grasses are at home in the South. They are not only live, but live in spite of neglect; and when petted and encouraged, they make such grateful returns as astonish the benefactor. In relation to killing this grass, Colonel Lane says : "Upon any ordinary upland I have found no difficulty by close cultivation in cotton for tw'O years. It requires a few extra plo wings to get this sod thoroughly broken to pieces." Dr. J. B. Killebrew, late Commissioner of Agriculture of Tennessee, and well known for his careful investigations of grasses valuable in the South, writes that in Louisiana, Texas, and in the South generally, it is, and has been, the chief reliance INDIAN GRASS— (SORGHUM NUTANS.) MESQUIT GRASS. for pasture for a long time, and the immense herds of cattle on the southern prairies subsist principally on this food. It revels on sandy soils, and has been grown exten- sively on the sandy hills of Virginia and North and South Carolina. It is used extensively on the southern rivers to hold the levees and the embankments of the roads. It will throw its runners over a rock six feet across, and soon hide it from view, or it will run down the deepest gully and stop its washing. Hogs thrive upon its succulent roots, and horses and cattle upon its foliage. It has the capacity to with- MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 149 stand any amount of heat and drought, and months that are so dry as to check the growth of Blue-grass will only make the Bermuda greener and more thrifty, as has often been seen. When grazed it is said no other plant will smother it out. Tramping does not injure it, but if ungrazed. Col. T. C. Howard says, "Broom Sedge will certainly kill it out in three or four years." When it is required to return the field to cultivation, the land should be plowed very shallow, in the autumn, so as to set the furrows on edge as much as possible, to allow the action of frost and air. This is said to kill it as certainly as it will sugar-cane. XIII. Guinea Grass. This grass (^Panicum j'umeniorum') is sometimes confounded with Johnson grass (Sorghum halapense}, incorrectly called Guinea grass. The true Guinea grass is perennial, strong and vigorous, extending quickly by its creeping roots, by which it is always propagated. Where there is danger of freezing, roots suflacient for the succeeding year's crop must be protected by gathering and covering in a trench with earth, secure from frost, like the ratoons of sugar-cane. Set out in the spring, they will quickly fill the soil. In Alabama, if planted in April, the first cutting of the forage may begin late in May, and thereafter it may be cut every five or six weeks, until killed by frost, each succeeding crop being better and better. If cut when eighteen or twenty inches high the foi'age is sweet, tender, and said to be easily made into hay. Panicum Varieties. — There are a number of grasses in the South of the Panicum sub-tribe, as for instance Cocks-foot or Barn-yard grass, which makes fair fodder if cut early. Slender crab-grass, a native species of Southern crab-grass, is not valued. The true crab-grass (P. sanguinale) , Froiessov Killebrew thinks a fine pasture grass, although it has but few base leaves and forms no sward, yet it sends out numerous stems, branching freely at the base, and serves a most useful purpose in stock husbandry. He says : "Northern farmers would congratulate themselves very much if they had it to turn their cattle on while the clover fields and meadows are parched up with summer heat. It fills all their cornfields, and many persons pull it out, which is a tedious process. It makes a sweet hay; horses are fond of it, leaving the best hay to eat it " We may say that northern farmers can do very well without it, in the cornfields at least. However valuable in the South, in the North new corn and other summer forage plants well supply its place during the droughts of summer. There are a. number of panicum grasses in the South that are undoubtedly valuable, Texas, millet (P- Texanum) , would seem to be one of these. It is thus described: "An annual grass two to four feet high, sparingly branched, at first erect, becoming decumbent and widely spreading, very leafy, sheaths and leaves finely soft— hairy, margin of the leaves, rough; leaf blades six to eight inches long and one-half to one inch wide, upper leaves reaching to the base of the panicle, or nearly so; panicle six 150 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. to eight inches long, strict; the branches alternate, erect, simple, three to four inches long, with somewhat scattered sessile spikelets. A grass of vigorous, rapid growth. It is very leafy, the leaves broad, rather thin, sprinkled with short, soft hairs. It grows two to three feet high, but the spreading stalks are often four feet or more in length, growing very close and thick at the base, and yielding a large amount of food." XIV. Brome or Rescue Grass. Aj!fOTHEE grass that is gaining reputation in the South is a member of the chess family, a grass of many names, among them Brome grass, Schrader's grass. Rescue grass, etc. Its botanical name is Bromus uniloid.es, a so- called winter grass. In the Gulf States it seems to be much esteemed. Mr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, says of late years it has been found spreading in different parts of Alabama, making its appearance in February. It grows in tufts, its numerous leafy stems ranging from two to three feet high; it ripens seed in May, and aifords y I I in the earlier months of spring a much-relished nutritious \ I / food, as^well as a good hay. It will thus be seen that the South is well provided with valuable grasses, if the farmers will properly make use of what they have. In the hill region of the South and in the two Virginias, and the upland country of Tennessee, Kentucky, Mis- souri, and in Northern Arkansas, the clovers and northern varieties of grasses generally do well. XV. Seeding Meadows. The quantity of grass-seed sown per acre by the best farmers, and the number of varieties used in seeding SWEET-SCENTED VEKNAL GRASS, mcadows, and especially those that are to be pastured, seems to many men to be a great waste. The waste, however, comes from seeding on ill-prepared ground. No grass-seeds are large, and most of them are very minute. If left on top of the soil they often become so dry that they do not germinate. If sown too deep the germs never reach the surface, or only do so to die. The aim of every man should be to get the best return for his outlay. It never was yet gotten either by stinting seed or by slovenly cultivation. Eich soil, a fine tilth, and plenty of seed, will give heavy windrows of hay and deep pastures. As a rule, from ten to twelve pounds of seed are enough if the crop is intended strictly as a seed crop. For mowing, ordinary thick sowing would be about twenty pounds, mixing according to the varieties sown, say timothy twelve pounds, clover eight pounds, or orchard grass sefen pounds, timothy seven pounds, and clover six pounds. For mowing alone, timothy, red-top, orchard grass, meadow foxtail, fowl MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 151 meadow grass, and red clover will be the basis. For mowing and pasture add blue- grass and white (Dutch) clover for gi-azing, except for cattle, leave out timothy, but for pasture the more varieties the better. XVI. The Alphabet of Agriculture. A BIG herd makes a bare meadow. Bad grass, bad farming; bad farming, bad crops. Cultivate grass, and win wealth. Dank meadows give dreary dreams. Excellent herbage is an excellent heritage. Fat pastures make fat pockets. Grass is the governor, clover the crown, of agriculture. Heavy meadows make happy farmers. In the lea lies a lever of wealth. June-grass is a jolly good joke, say the kine. Kindly cattle come of good grazing. Lean kine are lean milkers Mean grass shows mean farming. "Nodding grass" is wealth to the owner. Old pastures, say the sheep, if you please. ■ Pastures prudently managed get better with age. Quick grass, quick profits. Rather than stint your meadow, stint your grain. Sweet pastures make sound butter; soft hay makes stout wool. Tall grass, thickly set, fills big barns.w Up to my ears in sweet grass, says the steer. Vain are the hopes of the farmer if the grass does not win. Wealth leaves when the fodder fails. Xanthium, the clot bur, never helped the grass. Yellow hay never comes to him who is zealous. Zeal in the meadow means weal in the wear. The adage (and it is older than the Christian era). No grass, no cattle; no cattle, no manure; no manure, no crops, covers the whole ground. It is as true to-day as when first spoken, and will continue to be so as long as agriculture lasts. XVII. Sowing for Hay and for Pasture. iNFOEMATfON under this head is most clearly presented in tabular form. The first table on next page shows the weight of seed and depth of germination. Those following on same page give the quantity of seed to be sown of each variety for hay, and for hay and pasture as adapted to various soils, with the total number of pounds to be sown per acre. 152 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. NAME OF PLANT. Timothy, clean, . . Orchard grass, Bed-top, .... Meado^w foxtail, Tall oat grass, . . Sweet-scented vernal, Crested dog's-tail, . Hard fescue, . . . , Sheep's fescue, . . Tall fescue, . . , CD r- -^ 56 12 5 7 6 26 10 14 14 CO Depth (inches) at-wliichgi-eat-. estNo. of seeds ■will germinate. 74,000 0-H 40,000 o-K 425,000 o-K 76,000 o-'A 211,000 %-% 71,000 o-'A 28,000 Va-A 39,000 0-}i 64,000 o-K 20,500 O-H NAME OF PLANT. Wood meadow grass, Kentucky blue-grass, • . English rye grass, . . . Italian rye grass, . . . Kough-stalked meadow. Red clover, White clover, . . . . Lucerne, Millet, Hungarian, ... u 1" Depth (inches) at which gx-eat- est No. of seeds ■will gei-minate. 15 173,000 0-H 14 243,000 0->4 20-28 115,000 h-y2 15-18 27,000 a-A 15 217,000 o-H 60 16,000 H-A 60 32,000 o-U 60 12,000 M-J^ 48 5,000 A-h 50 6,000 A-h GOOD MEADOW SOILS 1— Timothy, 2— Bed clover (biennial), . 3 — Bed clover (perennial), 4 — Orchard grass, . . . 5 — Meadow fescue, . . . 6 — Meadow foxtail, . . . 7 — Blue-grass, OQ P. Ml III 12 8 8 4 4 6 8 2 3 3 5 GOOD MEADOW SOILS. 8 — Bed -top, . . 9 — Eye grass, . . 10— Fowl meadow, 11 — White clover. Total, 5 g 27 SB'S « ca o n P 69Triticum repens E. B. i 70 Alopecurus agrostis 71JBromus usper E. B. 72' A. mexicana Hort. K. 73Stipa pennata E.B. 74ilella cairulea Cnrlis. 75PhaIariscanariensis...E. B. 76 Dactylis cvnosuroides. .Lin. Sweet-scent. vernalgi'.Brit. Sweet-scented soft gr. . Ger. Blue moor grass Brit. Alpine foxtail grass... Scot. Alpine meadow grass. .Scot. Meadow foxtail grass. -Brit. Smooth-stalked meadow / grass Brit. S Short bluish meadow / grass Brit. S Downy oat grass Brit . Barley-like fescue grass i Hungary. S Roughish meadow gr. .Brit. Glaucous fescue grass. .Brit. Smooth fescue grass... Scot. Purple fescue grass — Brat. Sheep's fescue grass... Brit. Common quaking gi*...Brit. Rough-head cock's-fcot t grass Brit. \ Nodding pencilled brome i gi-ass Eur. S Cambridge fescue gr. . . 8ril . Upright brome grass.. -Brit. Narrow-leavedmea.gr Bril. ' Tall oat grass or / Knot grass Brit. S Tall meadow grass Scot . Hard fescue grass Bril. Upright peren. br. gr..Brit. Common millet grass.. Brit. Meadow fescue grass. .Brit. Perennial rye grass Brit. Sea meadow gi'ass Brit. Spiked fescue grass.... Brit. Crested hair grass Brit. Crested dog's-tail gi-. . .Brit. IMeadow oat gi-ass Brit, Many fl. g. brome gr...Brit. Wall fescue grass Brit. Waved moun. hair gr. .Brit. Bulbous barley grass.. Italy. Reed-like fescue grass. Brit. Seaside brome grass... Ger. Tall fescue grass Brit. Floating fescue grass.. Brit. Meadow soft grass Brit. Pubescent fescue gr...Brit. Fertile meadow grass.. Ger. Striped-leaved reed gr.Bril . Bulbous-stalked cat ■'s-tail t grass Brit. S Meadow cafs-tail gr.. -Brit. Meadow barley gi-ass.-Brit. Flat-stalked mead. gr..Bnt. Reed meadow grass.... Brit. Water hair gi*ass Brit, Turfy liair grass Brit Yellow oat grass Brit, Barren brome grass. . . . Brit. Creeping soft grass — Brit Fertile meadow grass. .Ger. Fine bent grass Brit. Marsh bent gi-ass Brit. Creeping panic grass.. Brit. FiorinofDr. Richardson. .Brit. Narrow-leaved creeping / bent Brit. S Spiked fescue Brit. Brown bent Brit. Upright bent grass Brit. .Snowy bent grass Brit. Tufted-leaved bent gr. Brit. Green panic grass Brit. Lobed bent gi'ass Brit. Black or creeping-rooted / bent, bl. couch... Brit. S Creeping-rooted wheat / gr, or couch gr.. .Brit, s Slender foxtail grass. .Brit. Hairy stalked br. gi-...Brit. Mexican bentgr...S. Anier. Long awned fea. gr. ..Brit. Purple melic grass Brit. Common canary gr....Brit. Amer. cock's footgr-.N. A. E.B. 647 Host, N.A E.B. 1613 E.B. 1126 E.B. 1003 E.B. Peren, Peren, Peren Peren, Peren k Peren Peren, Peren Peren E.B. 585 E.B. 340 E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. 470 471 1106 1592 315 1140 1821 648 316 1204 1884 1412 1519 E.B. E.B. E.B. H.D. 1593 1520 1169 700 E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. 409 365 1315 1557 1453 952 1030 E.B. E.B. E.B. E.B. 1671 1189 850 1532 Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren, Annual Annual Annual Peren Peren. Peren. Peren Peren. Peren. Peren. Peren Peren Peren. Peren. Peren. Peren Animal Annual Peren Peren Peren. Peren Peren Peren Feren Peren. Peren. Peren, Peren. Peren. Peren. Annual Peren. Peren Pereii Peren Annual Peren. Peren. Peren. Peren. Peren. E.B. 730 E.B.1&)6 E.B. 848 E.B. 1172 E.B. 1310 E.B. 1356 E.B. 909 E.B. 750 Peren. Peren. Annual Annual Pereu. Peren. Peren. Annual Apr. Apr. 29 Apr. 30 May 20 May 30 May 30 May 30 June 21 June 25 June 20 June 24 June " June 24 July 14 May June June June June June June June June July July July July July July July July July July Brown sandy loam Rich sandy loam Light sandy soil Sandy loam Light sandy loam Clayey loam / Sandy loam S Bog earth and clay Bog earth and clay Rich sandy soil Manured sandy soil Man. light br. loam Brown loam Clayey loam Light sandy soil June 24 June 28 June June 28 July July 16 July 16 July 16 ' ' 16 Rich brown loam Rich sandy loam Light sandy soil Light sandy soil Ricli brown loam Brown loam July 16 June 28 July 1 July July ■July July 1 July July July July July July July July July July July July 10 July 10 July 12 July 12 July 14 July 14 July 14 July 14 July 16 July 16 July 16 July 20 July 20 July 20 July July July July July July July July July Aug. Aug. Aug. July July July July July July Aug. Aug. Aug. July 24 July 24 July 24 July 24 'Vug. Aug. Aug. Aug. July 24 July 28 July 28 July 28 July 28 July 28 Julv 2tt Julv 28 Aug. 10 Aug. 10 Aug. 2 Aug. 6 Aug. 8 10 Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug, Aug, Aug, .30 Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. \.ug. Ulg. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Sep. Oct. Rich clay loam Light sandy loam Rich sandy soil Light sandy soil Bog soil and coal ashes Rich brown loam Light brown loam Rich browu loam Saiuly loam Manured br. loam Rich sandy loam Clayey loam Light sandy soil Heath soil Man. clayey loam Clayey loam Clayey loam Black rich loam Str. tenacious clay Strong clayey loam Black sandy loam Clayey loam Black sandy loam Clayey loam Clayey loam Man. brown loam Man. gi'avelly soil Str. tenacious clay Water Str. tenacious clay Clayey loam Sandy soil Sandy soil Brown sandy loam Sandy soil Bog earth Man. sandy loam Bog soil Bog soil Man. light san.soil Brown sandy loam Bog soil Sandy soil Light sandy soil Light sandy soil Sandy soil Clayey loam Light clayey loam Light sandy loam Light sandy soil Black sandy soil Heath soil Light sandy soil Clayey loam Clayey loam Meadows Woods, moist mead. Pastures Scotch mountains Scotch Alps Meadows Mea. and pastures Meadows ' Chalky pastures Corn-fields Meadows Chalky pastures Mountains Mca. and pastures Dry pastures Pastures Soft moist soils DiT pastures Corn-lie Ids Meadows Arable lands Meadows Pastures Chalky pastures Woods Meadows Loamy pastures Salt marshes Moist pastures Sandy pastures Pastures istnies Poor past. , hedges Walls Dry soils & heaths Loamy pastures Hedges Sea-shores Meadows Ponds Moist meadows Woods Meadows Moist loams Dry pastures Mea. and pastures Meadows Walls Ditches Clayey pastures Pastures Rubbish Sandy pastures Meadows Mea. and pastures Marshy places Arable lands Moist places Moist places Meadows Clayey pastures Clayey pastures Clayey pastn res Clayey pastures Sandy Sandy pastures Arabic lands Arable lands Road -sides Moist sand, places Rich pastures Peat bogs Sandy pastures CuUivated fields Loamy pastures MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 157 ARRANGED IN THE ORDER OF THEIR FLOWERING. Kind of Roots. Produce, at the Time of Flowering, per Acre, ni lbs. Produce, when the. Seed is Ripe, per Acre, in lbs. Loss or Gain by Cutting when in Flowering, Loss or Gain by Cutting when in Seed, in Produce of the Latter- matli,per Acre, in lbs. General Character. Grass. Hay. Loss in liyins Nutri- tive Tiattcr Grass. Hay. Loss dryinj: Nutri- tive natter Nutritive Matter, ill lbs. Matter,inibs. Gross. ^futrl- tivc natter Loss. Gain. Loss. Gain. 1 Fibrous 7827 9628 2103 2441 6723 7087 122 610 6126 27225 6806 18.37 9628 4287 17606 311 2233 398 188 1600 188 1600 6806 17016 3828 1129 An eui-ly piislure grass. The most nutritive of early flower- Not desei'vlng culture, [iiig grasses. ing A vile weed on poor arable lands. . 6(1 7f 71 Fibrous 7- 71 Fibrous 74 A jroocl bnvn grass. Grown for lis seeds. T Fibrous 7C :::::;i;:::: 158 THE HOME AND FAKM MAITOAL. The Grass Family. — Taking the arrangement of Gray, the Gramineoe, or Grass Family, has for its tribe, 1, Poacem. This contains fifty-two sub-tribes, or genera, and includes not only all our true cereal grains, but also Indian corn, sugar-cane, and the most valuable grasses. A genus theft is an assemblage, or number of species, agreeing structurally and physiologically, in flowering, fruitage and perpetuation, having also a general resemblance in habit. A species comprises plants precisely alike in every character, capable of uniform, invariable and continuous perpetuation by natural propagation. A variety is the variation produced by accidental change in a species, and is not capable of uniform, invariable and permanent continuance by natural propagation. A hybrid is a plant produced by the mixture of two species. As a rule it is infertile — that is, not capable of propagation by seed. Hence hybrids and varieties are propagated by cuttings, grafting or budding. We have been thus precise in defining the meaning of terms, since, except among botanists, much con- fusion exists in relation to a subject which should be known to eyery farmer. Let us trace Blue-grass, for instance, because it is easily recognized. It belongs to the poa sub-family, or Poacem. Its generic name is poa, the ancient Greek name for grass, while its specific name is_ pratensis. Thus we have what may be called its surname, Poa, and its given name Pratensis, which we translate " green meadow grass," the name Kentucky Blue-grass being merely a local name, but generally adopted. It is indig- enous all over the North, on ■ suitable lands, from the New England coast westward, and, in fact, the seed is said to have been carried into Kentucky from Indiana, by the soldiers in General Harrison's famous campaign, in which the power of the great western Indian tribes was broken. XXII. Favorite Pasture Grasses. BLUE-grass, where' it is at home, or on good calcareous loams, is the best pasture grass known, giving early and late feed, but failing under the heats of summer, especially when dry. The Spear or June grass {poa compressa, from its flattish stalk) is of fully as much value on soils adapted to it; these are dry knolls, sandy loams, and dry, compact sandy soils. It is found from Northern Wisconsin to Tennessee. Eough-stalked Meadow grass (P- Trivialis) is an excellent pasture grass, except that it does not like hot suns. In cool, par- tially shaded soils, it stands the tramping of stock, and makes excellent pasture, and if not cut for hay stands the sun fairly well. BLUE-GRASS MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 159 There is a large family, many XXIII. Bent Grasses. This is the name given to what we call Red-top. of them excellent grasses, and especially noted for their tenacity of life. The common Red- top {A. vulgaris) is called Herds-grass in Pennsylvania, Burdin's grass in some sections of New England, and Red-bent and Summer- dew grass in other localities. The bent grasses thrive in soils deficient in lime, and hence in such soils supply the place of Blue-grass, to which it is next in point of value as pasturage. The whole family, however, are somewhat deficient in aftermath, but start early in the spring. White Bent or Fiorin (A: Alba) has had a variable experience in the United States. It likes a moist, fertile soil, and gives more late feed than Red-top. Creeping Red-top (A. stolonifera) is said to be a variety of this grass, and was called Fiorin by Richardson. It thrives on dry land and ought to be valuable. The Red-top grasses must not be confounded with the dreaded quitch or couch grass ( Triti- cum repens), which belongs to the wheat tribe. In some localities it is -well thought of, but it should never be permitted on arable lands. The bent family, on the other hand, though persistent, are not diflicult to kill. XXIV. Orchard Grass. There are two varieties of this most valuable grass, called in England Cock's- foot. One, Dactylis glomerata, is the variety best known in the United States. For dry, somewhat ojaen rich soils it is one of the most valuable of grasses. Stiff retentive clays are not adapted to it. It is a moisture-loving plant, but not the moisture of saturation. It also thrives well in the shade, and hence its name of Orchard grass. It is apt to form into tussocks, if sown thinly, but not when sown thickly, except on soil not adapted to it. It is indigenous to the whole of Europe, Northwestern Africa, Asia Minor and the United States, and is second, perhaps, to no other pasture grass in the country, since it starts early in the spring. It springs up quickly after being grazed or mown, and gives abundant pasturage in the autumn. Orchard grass flowers with Red clover, resists drought well, and in flesh-forming material is superior to Timothy, ranking with it as ten to seven in the scale of value. ' RED Tor. 160 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. XXV. Grasses for Various Regions. AuL the United States tuc^, Missouri and Kansas, north of, and including, Virginia, Tennessee, Ken- and also Canada, are natural grass countries. All the meadow and pasture grasse,s will thrive there, and the less known are worthy of trial. The follow- ing is a summary of grasses recommended for the following named States, south and on the Pacific coast, from returns sent to the Department of Agriculture, from practical cultivators in the States named: Alabama — Orchard grass, Kentucky blue-grass, timothy, herds-grass (red-top), Johnson grass, alfalfa and California clover. California — Timothy, large red clover, the millets, orchard grass, Italian rye grass, white clover, Guinea grass ( Panicum jumentorum ) , Ber- muda and alfalfa. Florida — Bermuda, alfalfa, Guinea grass ( Pan- icum jumentorum ) , orchard grass, Johnson grass and clover. Georgia — Kentucky blue-grass, orchard grass, herds-grass (called red-top in New England), timo- thy, the clovers and alfalfa, in the order named. . Idaho and Montana — All the grasses for bot- tom lands, and alfalfa for '.'bench lands." Louisiana — ^Kentucky blue-grass, orchard grass, Bermuda, timothy, herds-grass (red-top), the clovers and alfalfa. Mississippi — Orchard grass, herds-grass C red-top), the clovers, Kentucky blue- grass and the millets. Texas — ^Alfalfa, Bermuda, timothy, the clovers, orchard grass, Johnson grass and the millets, in the order named. "Washington Territory and Oregon — ^Italian rye grass, orchard grass, the clovers, tall meadow oat grass, Kentucky blue-grass, Texas mesquit and Bermuda. XXVI. Clover in Its Relation to Husbandry. Clover has a threefold relation to husbandry: as a seed crop, as a forage crop, and also for its wonderful power of renovating the soil. Its proper soil is a thoroughly drained loam or loamy clay. Soils that in drying out crack badly, or those subject to heaving, are not adapted to clover. Argillaceous, granitic, drained calcareous loams, red and other well-drained clays are all congenial to its growth, and, in fact, nearly all soils, except those quite sandy or wet. The first winter it is apt to suffer ORCHARD GRASS. MEADOAV AND PASTURE GRASSES. 161 if seeded in the fall, and hence should be sown in the spring. When sown alone it usually blossoms the first season ; if seeded with wheat, generally not until the next season. If the seed is to be taken, it should be sown alone, and for plowing under the same rule will apply. As soon as it is well up it should have two bushels of land- plaster (gypsum) per acre, especially on granitic soils. When sown for hog-pasture, for cutting green, or for turning under, not less than sixteen pounds of seed should be given per acre. If intended for seed, twelve to sixteen pounds will be sufficient. For plowing under, the Mammoth Red Clover (T. Pratense var.) is the best.. It grows four to six feet high, and produces enormously in root and top. Cattle do not like it much, but hogs do. XXVII. The Seed Crop. Sow as early in the spring as the soil will admit, on land prepared and leveled in the best manner, covering one-half inch deep. The first flowering is apt to blast, hence this is cut for fodder, and the later or summer growth is taken for seed. It is generally mown with a machine, allowed t© dry in the swath, raked into windrows, and, when thoroughly dry, either threshed directly with a clover huller or else stacked and threshed later. The yield is all the way from four to eight, or even ten bushels an acre. Six bushels is a good yield, and from the high price it bears, it is a good-paying crop in places remote from the great markets. The best seed is raised in the West, for there it is not in- fested with the seeds of Canada thistle, and other pestilent weeds. XXVIII. Valuable Varieties of Clover. Clover in England is called trefoil from its MAMMOTH RED CLOVER. botauical name TrifoUum, three leaved o*!- lobed. Botanists number about 160 species. At least eight of these belong to the Northern States, and there are a number of species in California and the Southern States. Thevarietiesmostgenerally cultivated are Bed clover (T. praiense), and White, or Dutch clover ( T. repens). Red Clovers. — Of the red clovers the more valuable are: biennial clover (T. pratense), perennial clover (T. pratense, perenne), meadow clover, medium or cow clover, as it is indifferently called ( T. medium), and buffalo clover ( T. reflexum). There are two so-called buffalo clovers: T. stolonifera, creeping buffalo clover, having a white blossom, and not valuable. The first mentioned has a large red blossom and hairy stem, and is worthy of extended trial. It is a southern rather than a northern variety, u 162 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. The clover known as common red clover has a large, spindle-shaped root. The stems of the plant are somewhat hairy; the leaves oval or obovate, often notched at the end, and having on the upper side of the leaf a pale spot. The flower heads are egg-shaped and set directly on the end of the stalk, rather than on the branches. The perennial variety, sometimes called cow grass, is reported to be indigenous to rich English pastures. It is de^nied by some that there is any difference between this and the common biennial variety. Mediiun Clover. — Medium clover |( sometimes called cow grass) is specifically known as zigzag clover, the stems are zigzag, rather smooth, the leaflets oblong, not notched at the end, and without spot. The flowers are a deeper purple and larger than the first-named species. The root is more fibrous or creeping, and the flowers are later. Otherwise it is the same, except it is perennial in its habit. Another variety of clover thought well of in Europe, is the crimson clover ( T. incarnatum) . It is an annual of great beauty, a native of Southern and Central Europe, and is sown there in autumn as a forage crop for the succeeding summer. It may be valuable south. XXIX. Dutch, or "WTiite Clover. . This is a perennial plant growing in a great variety of soils, but preferring a moist loam. If not indigenous to the United States, it is thoroughly acclimatized all over the North and West, and in Canada. It is one of the most important of our pasture plants in moist seasons ; it shows itself but little during dry ones. In moist seasons every field and lawn will be gay with its blossoms, and in some portions of Iowa it has such complete possession of the soil that large amounts of seed are saved. Mr. Charles Fox, in his text-book of agriculture, says there are two varieties of White clover essentially different in habit, the English variety being a strong growing plant, well adapted to meadows, frequently standing eighteen inches high when supported; and that the American variety, grown side by side, was short, adhering to the ground, wholly unfit for the meadow, which we all know it to be. He believes one a variety of the other, and considers them, economically, very distinct. Some English catalogues also claim that the American seed gives clover inferior in growth to the original variety. It is unnecesary to say this is simply an advertising trick. XXX. Alsike or Swedish Clover. WHITE OLOVEE. On soils too moist for Red clover, Alsike clover ( Trifolium hybridum) should MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 163 be sown. There is no doubt of the value of this clover, or of its hardiness. On rich land it is apt to lie partly flat at mowing time, and hence the land should be made smooth and level for the seed. Ten to fifteen pounds is sufficient to seed an acre fully. In its general appearance and habit of growth, it is intermediate between the com- mon red and the white clover. It is valuable for pasturage, growing rapidly after being eaten down, and furnishing a large amount of food during the season. The stems remain soft and succulent, never becoming so woody and hard as the red clover. It partakes of the creeping, spreading habit of the white clover, and yields well when cut for hay, being thick and close, lilthough not so tall in growth as the red clover. It may be mown for hay when the blossoms are mature. Its aftermath is dense and heavy, and both the hay and green plants are relished by cattle. It is a fibrous-rooted plant, like Dutch clover, and might be described as a giant white clover, if it were not for its blossoms. These, when they first appear, are only faintly tinged, but alsiiie clover. as they become fully opened they assume a pale-red tinge. This clover requires three years to attain its full vigor of growth. It is then essentially richer than red clover, containing, according to the analysis of Wolff and Knopf two per cent more of flesh-formers than red clover. XXXI. Clovers for the South— Alfalfa. The best name for this plant is Lucerne. Its botanical name is Medicago Sativa. In warm climates it is undoubtedly one of the most valuable of forage plants, especially where it may be irrigated in hot weather. There seems, then, almost no limit to its production. In the North, ft is not valuable, although it survives the winter up to forty degrees, but it cannot there compete with the true Red clover. In California it is the great forage plant, often growing wild. It is also widely naturalized in South America. In fact, in warm climates, on porous soils, it has the most extreme vitality, standing the severest drouths, but producing largely only under the influence of moisture. For Hay. — Of its cultivation and value South the Rev. C. S. Howard has written fully. He says that no grass or forage plant in cultivation at the North will yield nearly so much hay as lucerne at the South. In good seasons, and on land sufficiently rich, it can be cut four or five times during the year. An acre of good lucerne will afford hay and cut green food for five horses the whole year. Ten acres will supply fifty head of plantation horses. 164 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Soil and Cultivation. — ^It is useless to attempt the cultivation of lucerne on poor land. It will live, but it will not be profitable. There are certain indispen- sable requisites in the cultivation of lucerne. The ground must be good upland ; it must be made very rich ; it cannot be made too rich. It must be very clean. When the lucerne is young it is dehcate, and may be smothered with the natural weeds and grasses of a foul soil. Land which has been in cotton, worked very late, if made sufficiently rich, is in a good state of preparation for lucerne. The mantire you put upon it must be free from the seeds of weeds. Great depth of cultivation is necessary in preparation of the soil for lucerne. Ten pounds of seed are required for an acre, sown broadcast. Either early in autumn or early in February are good seasons for sowing lucerne. The seed should be lightly harrowed in, and then the surface should be rolled. Lucerne lasts a great number of years, the roots ultimate- ly becoming as large as a small carrot. It should be top-dressed every third year with some manure free from the seeds of weeds. Ashes are very suitable for it. The lucerne field should be as near as possible to the stables, as work- horses, during the spring and summer, should be fed with it in a green or wilted state. As lucerne is much earlier than red clover, it will be found a useful adjunct in hog-raising. Hogs are very fond of it, and will thrive on it in the spring, when it is cut green and thrown to them. XXXII. ^apan Clover. This is another leguminous plant of the South that, of late years, has attracted more and more attention. Cattle eat it readily, and sheep greedily. It has been called bush clover, from its habit. There are a numiber of plants of this genus Lespedeza. This one, L. striata, JAPAN CLOVER. stands the winters as far north as Tennessee and ALFALFA OE LUCEENE. MEADOW AND PASTURE GRASSES. 165 Kentucky. It is a low growing perennial plant and spreading. The leaves are small, three-lobed like clover, and numerous, growing on the poorest soils and standing the extremest drouths. It has now extended pretty well over the South, below thirty-six degrees, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. It is said to be a native of Eastern Asia and introduced from there. XXXIII. Mexican Clover. This is another southern plant recently introtiuced. It is not a true clover, but belongs to the same family of plants as coffee and ipecacuanha. Its botanical name is Richardsonia scabra. It has become extensively naturalized in some parts of the South. Under favorable circumstances it grows rapidly, with succulent, spreading, leafy stems, which bear the small flowers in heads or clusters at the ends of the branches, and in the axils of the leaves. The flowers are funnel-formed, white, about half an inch long, with fodr to six narrow lobes and an equal number of stamens inserted on the inside of the corolla tube. The stem is somewhat hairy, the leaves opposite, and, like other plants of this order, connected at the base by stipules or sheaths. The leaves are oblong or elliptical and one or two inches long. There is some conflict of opinion as to its value. It has been known in Florida for fifty years, and was regarded as a great pest among cultivated crops, which it certainly is. Since more diversified agriculture has prevailed in the South, adverse opinion is changing, and it is now regarded as of great value for feeding stock. Mr. Matt. Coleman, of Florida, says attention was first called to it there from the cavalry horses feeding on it greedily, and adds: "Hearing of this, I procured some of the seed and have been planting or cultivating it in my orange-grove from that time to the present as a forage plant and vegetable fertilizer. I find it ample and sufficient. It grows on thin pine land, from four to six feet, branches and spreads in every direction, forming a thick matting and shade to the earth, and affords all the mulching my trees require. One hand can mow as much in one day as a horse will eat in a year. Two days' sun will cure it ready for housing or stacking, and it makes a sweet, pleasant-flavored hay. Horses and cattle both relish it. The bloom is white, always open in the morning and closed in the evening. Bees and all kinds of butterflies seek the bloom." XXXIV. Importance of the Pulse Family. The pulse family, to which clover belongs, contains a large number of plants valuable to man both as food for himself and as forage for stock. Among those necessary to man as food are peas and beans, in their variety. For various purposes in the arts, for medicine, and other purposes, many might be named. The pulse family is a vast one, comprising more than four hundred genera. Among them are logwood, sandal-wood, the locust, indigo and liquorice. The tamarind, senna, the peanut, Gum Arabic, all belong to the pulse family — leguminous plants — besides the soy bean (a species of Dolichos), from which soy is made. Besides the clovers proper, 166 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. we have in this family of plants, peas, including the chick pea; beans, including the celebrated (so-called) cow-pea of the South — which, however, is not a pea, but is a bean [Dolichos) — there being many varieties, white, yellow, greenish, grey, red, purplish, black and spotted. The white varieties are eaten as food; but as food for cattle, pasture and hay, and as a crop in the rotation for plowing under, they have fully as much value in the South as has clover in the North. XXXV. Interotange of Grasses Between Nations. Before leaving this subject finally we wish to say a word on the value of the interchange of seeds and plants between different countries. The fact that a plant is indigenous tD a country does not prove that it is useful there. Some of the more valuable forage plants of the South, such as Alfalfa, Bermuda grass, Guinea grass, Japan clover, etc., are introduced species. The same is true of the North. It is more than probable that some of our western indigenous plains species may prove of value in Australia, since that climate, like our far western one, is dry and hot in summer. Australia has given to California the valuable Eucalypti. Our western grasses stand hot sun, and many of them extreme drought, as the Gama and other so-called Bunch grasses. The climate of Australia is mild in winter, which .our western plains are not, but there, and in the hotter southwestern regions, may be found grasses that may yet prove of great value there, aS many foreign varieties have been found valuable here. CHAPTER IV. SOILING, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. SOILING COMPAEBD WITH PASTURING. II. SOILING INDISPENSABLE IN DAIET DISTRICTS. III. SOILING AS AGAINST FENCING. IV. HOW TO RAISE A SOILING CROP. V. CORN AND SORGHUM FOR SOILING. VI. THE CLOVE BS AS SOILING CROPS. VII. MILLET AND HUNGARIAN GRASS. VIII. PRICKLY COMFRBY. IX. THE ADVANTAGES OF SOILING. X. RESULTS OP SOILING [IN SCOTLAND. XI. ROOT CROPS FOR FORAGE. XII THINGS TO REMEMBER IN ROOT CULTURE. XIII. PREPARING FOR THE ROOT CROP. XIV. SOWING AND CULTIVATING.— XV. HARVESTING ROOT CROPS. XVI. PITTING AND CELLARING THE ROOTS. XVII. THE ARTICHOKE. I. Soiling Compared with Pasturing. ^«OILING is the system of cultivating, cutting and feeding forage green, as dis- l!S tinguished from pasturing in the field. It pasturing in the field. It is only practiced in older-settled ^'' districts where land is comparatively scarce and dear, and manure plentiful, labor cheap, and the stock kept principally for use on the farm. It prevails in some portions of Europe, notably in Holland and Belgium, and in Great Britian. In the United States it can hardly be said to prevail, to the exclusion of pasturing in any of the farming districts. Its advantages are that no food is wasted, all the manure is saved, and all the land of the farm is thus enabled to produce its maximum of crops. Soiling, however, is coming to be regarded as of more and more importance year by year, in all those sections of the United States that are subject to summer drought,' to carry the stock over those seasons when pasturage is scant. Another advantage is that it gives working cattle a daily portion of green food, so essential to their health, without the labor of gathering it for themselves. In this view there can be no doubt of its economy, since the daily cutting and hauling is comparatively light, and the animals will do more than enough additional labor to pay the cost. II. Soiling Indispensable in Dairy Districts. In all the great dairy districts soiling is coming to be regarded as indispensable, . during July and August, in order to keep cows up to their full flow of milk, and also to enable the dairyman to protect them from torturing flies and mosquitoes ; thus they may be pastured in the early morning and in the evening, giving needed exercise, and kept under shelter during the heat of the day and at night. The question of profit and loss must be decided by every one for himself. When pastures are flush it would be folly to cut and cart fodder, but instances are rare where the same quantity of stock can be kept full-fed during the heat of summer as in the spring and autumn. This can only be done where irrigation is practiced. So far as fattening stock is concerned, corn is the cheapest feed, un- doubtedly, in the corn zone of the United States. Corn, or better, meal may form [IS7] 168 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. a portion of the daily feed of milch cows, but they must have succulent feed and an abundance of it, in order to keep them to their full flow of milk. Hence, some system of partial soiling should be adopted by every farmer who keeps milch cows, an important part of his regular farm economy. III. Soiling as Against Fencing. Where only enough cows are kept to furnish the family with milk, as in many districts where the " no-fence law" is in operation, and where stock is herded in summer, there is no doubt of the economy of soihng. The cost of fencing the farm into fields, in order that the pastui-es may enter into the regular rotation, is saved; in fact, the interest on this outlay would many times pay the cost of cutting and carry- ing the fodder for the few animals fed. On a farm in Central Ulinois, requiring the labor of sixty-five horses to work it, and where five cows were kept for milk and butter, all were fed green food in addition to their daily rations of grain during the summer. Two men and a team cleaned the stables, hauled away the manure, cut the grass and fed it, and took the entire care of the cows, besides doing various chores. The horses got about forty pounds of grass a day, what hay they would eat (very little), and the cows were fully fed on grass. The labor of not more than one man was required simply to cut and haul the fodder. This was sown: rye, clover, common meadow-grass, and later, sown corn-fodder. The cutting began when the crop was twelve to fourteen inches high, except the corn, which was allowed to grow two feet high, and all was cut with a mowing machine, and raked and loaded by hand. IV. How to Raise a Soiling Or op. Any land for a soiling crop to be cut green should be as rich as possible. The more luxuriant the growth, the better the swath, thus making a great saving in the labor of cutting and gathering. It will not do to depend on one variety for stock, for they soon tire of a single diet. A patch of Red clover — in the South alfalfa — one of Orchard-grass, one of Rye-grass, and one of rye may be provided. These will make your first cuttings, and if the ground is heavily manured, and there is plenty of moisture, these may be cut over once in four or five weeks and give a good swath. Millet, corn and sorghum should follow, to eke out these, and you will have a variety that stock will never tire of. It is better for swine to be fed in this way than to allow them to run in a pasture, since then you are not obliged to ring them, expos- ing them to the risk of becoming impregnated with contagious blood, and other infections. The grasses may be top-dressed to keep up the fertility. This should always be done with compost manure, not less than four loads of forty bushels each per acre per year, and if two bushels of plaster and one hundred pounds of super- phosphate be added, it will pay. It will also pay to have the soiling crop field as near the barn as possible. If you doubt the soundness of this advice, take a meadow of SOILING, FODDER ANp KOOT CROPS. 169 mixed grasses, top-dress it with twenty loads of compost manure, plaster, and super- phosphate, and watch the results. It will be a swath you cannot put a " scythe into clear up to the heel." No Wilted Fodder. — Whatever the soiling crop, be it corn, sorghum, millet, clover, meadow grass, or cow peas, the soil must be rich, else you will fail. You will also fail unless you cut it when quite green, or in its most succulent state. If you think it does not pay to haul the crop when it is heavy with moisture, you may wilt it. But good milk is not made from wilted plants. They are distasteful to stock, and are eaten only under, compulsion. Above all, do not let the cuttings lie on the wagon until they heat and begin to turn yellow. Distribute it as soon as hauled. Green grass and other fodder is in just the right state for heating. It will begin to get warm in half an hour if left in a pile. And certainly no humane man will force his stock to eat disgusting or distasteful food when it can so easily be avoided. We should almost as soon think One would take pleasure in having his family eat stale food. The taste of animals is fully as delicate as that of man. At least we may infer as much from watching them graze when not pressed by hunger. V. Corn and Sorghum for Soiling. Green corn and sorghum are among the most prolific plants that can be grown for soiling. Once the roots get established they feed greedily, and soon force the plants into dense growth if the soil is fully manured. Corn and sorghum should form a large portion of the feed, during August. These two plants with millet and Hungarian grass will carry the stock, with a fair variety of food, until the fall pastures become flush. The preparation of the soil must be looked to. If the ■ ground has been plowed early in the season, after heavy manuring, give it a light coat of compost, or at least half- rotted manure. Plow this under not more than four inches deep, bring your soil as level and smooth as possible and into the most perfect state of tilth. If you are certain your soil will be clean from weeds, sow three bushels of corn to the acre, broadcast, cover it in with the cultivator and roll the surface. If sorghum is to be sown, use a bushel and a half of seed to the acre, cover with the cultivator and then roll. If you are afraid of weeds interfering drill the corn, one and a half bushels to the acre, or sorghum three-fourths of a bushel, by going over the ground twice with the corn planter set to drill — ^the last time so' the rows will come between the previous ones. This will leave the rows twenty-two inches sorghum. apart, wide enough to work between with a narrow harrow or five-toothed cultivator. 170 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. In fact, by this system about all the cultivation may be done with the harrow, as directed in the chapter on Indian Corn . We' have never failed to get a smothering crop by drilling two bushels per acre with a grain drill set to feed properly and deep, and then harrowing with a light harrow, once each way, just as the weeds appear. Sorghum may be sown in the same way, from the grain drill and harrowed, or planted as directed for corn from the corn planter, if it have a drill attach- ment, which all good machines should have. VI. The Clovers as Soiling Crops. There are only two of the trefoils that give general satisfaction as soiling plants. These are Biennial clover {Trifolium pratense) , aMd. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The first thrives in the North, the latter in the South and in California; and in other mild rainless summer climates where the crop may be irrigated. The Yellow alfalfa or Burr clover of California (M. maculata), is recommended as most valuable in the South, or wherever it is hardy, and can thus have time to become established. It is not valuable in the West north of the latitude of Kentucky. The Cow-Pea for Forage. — The pulse family produces another plant that is of the greatest value in the South, viz, the Cow- pea — which, by the way, is a misnomer; it is really a bean (doUchos), of which there are many varieties, some being used for the table. The well-known asparagus bean is a dolichos. The Cow-pea, while of less value for soiling, is of great value to the South as a forage crop. In fact, it is one of the most useful of plants there as fodder, and for its value as a fertilizer when turned under green. All farm stock eat it. It will even thrive on poor soil, leaves the land in the best possible condition, and when sown in the corn-field makes excellent pasture for stock a^fter the corn is gathered. But care must be taken that greedy or hungry stock are not allowed to graze it heavily at first, else they will fill themselves so full that they will suffer from hoven or bloat, from the gas generated, HUNGAEiAJ* GRASS. ^nd perhaps die if not promptly relieved. VII. Millet and Hungarian Grass. There seems to be a general feeling against Millet and Hungarian grass for cutting and feeding green. There can be no possible reason for this except that SOILING, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. 171 these plants cannot be sown successfully until both the days and nights are warm. Hence it is not available for feeding until late, when there are other forage plants in plenty. Pearl Millet.— This plant {Penicillaria Spicata), also called Egyptian, or East Indian Millet, produces enormously and is coming more and more into favor in the South every year. It contains a large leaf surface. It does not mature its seeds in the North, but up to the latitude of about 40° attains full size for cutting. In the South, if cut when young, it will produce a second crop. Brown Dhoura. — Thist is a sorghum, also called Indian millet, Chocolate corn, Guinea corn, and Pampas rice. It is a valuable crop South, for its grain as well as for its fodder. Both these plants, and, in fact, all the sorghums and Indian corn, should be drilled two feet apart, which will allow cultivation with a five-tooth cultivator or scarifier, by drawing the implement closely together. Common and German Millet. — Common millet and German or golden millet are both ex- cellent fodder-plants, and both of thein are rapid- growing crops ; the first has a close head, the latter more open but with plenty of leaves. These may be sown as late, in the North, as the first of July, and make a crop of hay. AU the fodder crops are, however, often somewhat difiicult to cure, late in the season, and both these and Hungarian grass are better sown from the first to the tenth of June. The usual seeding is three' pecks to the acre, but for hay or fodder one bushel per acre is better. If you wish to make seed, drill one-half bushel of seed per acre, in drills two feet apart, covering the seed not more than half an inch deep. VIII. Prickly Comfrey. This plant, of which much has been said, for and against, we do not think of much value where there are other fodder plants to choose from. It has thick, broad, succulent leaves, produces enormously on rich land — up to forty or more tons of green fodder in a season, — endures the severest dlroughts, and in seasons of average moisture may be cut four or five times in a season. It is propagated by divisions of the roots, which may be set three feet apart, requiring nearly five thousand plants to the acre. Stock do not take kindly to it at first, but, must be taught to eat it. It is strictly a plant for dry soil, and should never be planted on low, wet ground. It is, indeed, a moisture-loving plant, but it must be the moisture of a fairly drained PEARL MILLET 172 THE HOME ANT) FARM MANUAL. soil, for its roots range deep. PRICKLY OOMFRET. Hence its power of withstanding drought. Those intending to experiment with this plant should remember that it is not the common comfrey of the United States, but an allied species (^Symphytum asperrinum) from the Caucasus. It is propagated and sold by nurserymen, and is also kept by some seedsmen. IX. The Advantages of Soiling. The advantages of exclusive soiling, that is, cutting and feeding green crops in summer, will never be acknowledged in the United States except near cities where land is valu- able, and on restricted areas. The late Josiah Quincy is the father of soiling in America; his claims, true enough, were: 1, It saves land; 2, it saves fecinng; 3, it economizes food ; 4, it keeps cattle in better 5, it produces more milk; 6, it increases the there is better docility and discipline of animals 9, there is increased order in condition and greater comfort; quantity and quality of manure ; 7, where it is used; 8, there is less breaking of fences; all business of the farm. Mr. Quincy's testimony in relation to soiling and the crops grown in Massachu- setts, the State where his operations were carried on, is, that one acre soiled from will produce at least as much as three acres pastured in the usual way, and that ' ' there is no proposition in Nature more true than that any good farmer may main- tain upon thirty acres of good arable land, twenty head of cattle the year round, in better condition, and greater comfort to the animals, with more profit, less labor, less trouble, and less cash advance for himself than he by the present mode expends upon a hundred acres." He further says, "My own experience has always been less than this, never having exceeded seventeen acres for twenty head. " To produce a suiBcient quantity and succession of succulent food — about one and a half or two square rods of ground to each cow to be soiled — sow as follows: "As early in April as the state of the land will permit, which is usually between the fifth, and tenth, on properly prepared land, oats at the rate of four bushels to the acre. " About the twentieth of the same month sow, either oats or barle}-, at the same rate per acre, in like quantity and proportions. " Early in May sow, in like manner, either of the above grains. " Between the tenth and twentieth of May sow Indian corn (southern dent being best), in drills, three bushels to the acre, in like quantity and proportions. " About the twenty-fifth of May sow corn, in like manner and proportions. SOILING, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. ' 173 " About the fifth of June repeat the sowing of corn, as above. " After the last-mentioned sowing, barley should be sown in the above-mentioned quantity and proportions, in following successions, on the fifteenth and twenty-fifth of June, and in the first week in July, barley being the best qualified to resist the early frosts." X. Results of Soiling in Scotland. Mr. Brown, of Mankle, Scotland, a farmer of extensive operations, made the following experiment in order to ascertain the comparative merits of soiling and pastuiiiig cattle. In the spring he took forty-eight Aberdeenshire bullocks which had been wintered in his farm-yard, and separated them into two equal lots, one of which he put to grass, while the other was soiled. The latter were fed on Swedish turnips until the clover was ready for cutting, and then the clover was given sparingly for a week, in order to avoid danger from over-eating, after which a full supply was allowed. The animals thrived exceedingly well until the grass got hard and withered. About the last of July, the clover having ripened, vetches were substituted, which were continued until the second crop of clover was ready for cutting. Ten of the soiled lot were sold in August, and the remainder of the two lots in September. The results are thus stated: The forty-eight cattle cost in purchase and wintering, £503 2s. The best ten of the soiled lot sold at £17 5s. each; the remainder of the two lots sold at £14 5s. each; the soiled lot thus bringing £377, and the grazed lot £342, a difference of £35 in favor of the soiled cattle. It required one and three- quarters acre of Swedish turnips, ^ight .acres of clover, and three acres of vetches to furnish the food consumed by the twenty-four soiled <;attle. The result of soiling exhibited decidedly the larger profit. XI. Boot Crops for Forage. Turnip culture revolutionized the agriculture of England. The cultivation of Indian corn in connection with western grass, making cheap beef, bids fair to revolutionize agriculture there again. The climate of the United States, with the exception of a small portion of the extreme north, is unsuited to the cultivation of .the white or round turnip on account of heat and summer drought. Even rutabagas are generally hot, tough and stringy. Another great objection to root crops is their cost, since they require much hand labor, and the roots cannot be grazed in the fields-, as they can in England. And yet the need of some succulent vegetable food in winter has been so widely felt, that among our best farmers more or less attention has been paid to carrots, parsnips and to the sugar and mangel beets. We have found that mangel wurtzel beets fully met the requirements for both cattle and sheep. We are as fully satisfied that ensilage, to be treated of in the next chapter, will fairly perform all that is claimed for roots, except in some special cases. Hence it will be necessary to treat only of the general requirements for the cultivation of root crops. 174 THE HOME AND FAKM JIANUAL. XII. Things to Bemember in Root Culture. Important things to be remembered in the cultivation of roots are : 1. Thej' cannot be successfully raised on land recently treated with green manure. Why? It inevitably causes the roots to grow forked, reducing their value, and largely increasing the cost of gathering and cleaning. Hence the land, unless compost manure is used, should have been manured heavily one or two previous seasons. 2. A root crop should never be raised except on land made as rich as possible with manure. Why, again? Because it costs as much to cultivate a poor acre as a rich one. The cultivation of roots involves an outlay of thirty dollars or more per acre for labor alone. 3. The cultivation of roots should never be undertaken on lumpy, trashy land, or on land otherwise difficult to work. It adds too largely to the manual labor of making the crop. These points carefully remembered, it will not be difficult to attain the best results for the least outlay. XIII. Preparing for the Boot Crop. The chief expense in the cultivation of root crops is hand-weeding the rows, and thinning — singling as it is called — ^the planta. Hence the necessity of perfectly clean land, and of having the seed sown in absolutely straight equidistant rows, on soil entirely free from lumps or trash, and thoroughly friable. The orifice of the drill that delivers the seed should also deposit it in knife rows, that is, one single narrow line. In this way the hand cultivator may be run within an eighth of an inch of the rows, and in large fields gang implements may be used, by which two or more rows may be cultivated at a time. These latter, however, are never used except in the most extensive market gardens, where forty or more acres of roots are grown, or where beets are grown by the hundreds of acres for making sugar. The writer has raised them thus, putting beets in the pits at a cost of three dollars and forty cents per ton, on an average yield of eleven tons per acre. It must be remembered that beets for sugar making are never to be much over one pound each in weight. On highly manured land, fifty tons of beets per acre, and of carrots and parsnips thirty or more tons per- acre, may be raised. To bring the soil into the best condition, it should be deeply fall-plowed. In the spring, when the soil will work thoroughly friable, it may be lightly replowed, harrowed, leveled with the leveler, and ground fine with the plank machine described in a previous chapter. The accompanying cuts show Fig 1, field carrot; Fig. 2, long mangel-wurzel beet. The shaded edges show the gi'ound line. XIV. Sowing and Cultivating. Field beets may be sown in drills thirty inches apart, and, in field culture, carrots and parsnips in rows two feet apart. This will allow the horse cultivator to SOILING, FODDER AND BOOT CROPS. 175 run between the rows, and after the plants have gained considerable size no hand- work need be done. Six pounds of beet-seed will be required to the acre, to ensure a stand against all contingencies. Each capsule of the seed plant contains from two to four seeds, and hence whether the land be weedy or not the plants must be singled. In all root crops the first thinning may be done with a narrow hoe or other implement; the subsequent thinning by hand. A wheel hoe (hand cultivator) will pay for itself every year in the cultivation of a single acre; and with such an implement one hand will keep from five to six acres free of weeds, going twice in each row, at every cultivation. Car- rots and parsnips will require about four pounds of seed per acre, to be sure of a stand, and allow for what the insects may destroy. Smgling.: — When the plants are up about three inches they must be singled, by hand, the beets to stand from nine to ten inches apart, and carrots and parsnips five to six inches apart. In thinning, steady boys may be employed. They must go down on hands and knees, astride of the rows, the spaces having been previously marked for them with the point of a hoe or a gang implement, cutting narrow lines. In extensive cultivation we have done this with a horse machine going across the rows. Weeding. — The weeders, whether boys or girls, must be properly instructed. Being on the hands and knees, the weeds, if any, having been pulled, one hand secures the bunch of plants to be operated on, while the other removes superfluous jDlants. If the plants are strongly rooted, it may be necessary to guard the plant to be left by holding the finger before it, close to the ground. The weeding is difficult to describe, but not difficult to learn. The ovei'seer should practice and experiment himself, so he may be able to properly instruct those under his charge. The subsequent cultivation is simply to keep down weeds. XV. Harvesting Root Crops. Fig. 1. BELGIAN CAKKOT. Fig. 2. MANGEL WURZEL. One of the most expensive operations, next to weeding, is harvesting. Beets may be easily pulled by plowing a deep furrow away from them with a one-horse plow". They should be laid in regular rows, two rows with the tops pointing together. 176 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Thus they are easily and quickly topped, by a man with a spade, ground sharp^ topping one row going one way and another the other. The tops are more easily gathered up. The beets are then to be placed in long piles and covered with the leaves, or else hauled directly to the pit or cellar. Eoots of any kind should never be allowed to be wilted by the sun. Parsnips and carrots are dug by hand or plowed out. In plowing, begin on one outside row, and turn a deep furrow away from the row, running about seven inches from the row. Pass around the field and plow another furrow as on the first side. Returning to the first furrow, plow another furrow as deep as possible, and as close to the row as you can work. If you are a first-rate plowman, you can hit it fairly; if not, you will here find it out. The roots are then to be puUed, or lifted with the spade, topped, and carried to the pits. In Europe there are various machines for digging roots. One that we made, and that would loosen five acres of beets per day, was simply two very heavy, properly curved coulters, each of them running under a row of beets. The digger was attached to the beam of a gang-plow, and drawn by four horses. Two varieties of parsnips are shown in the illustration. The one on the right is the hollow-crowned parsnip ; the one on the left is an intermediate variety between short and long. PARSNIPS. XVI. Pitting and Cellaring the Boots. Parsnips may be left in the ground all winter without injury. In the Channel Islands they are a favorite crop for feeding milch cows, and all stock are fond of them. Other roots must be housed or covered. Parsnips are best piled in long ricks, whether above ground or in trenches. Attention must be paid to ventilation, so that the roots shall not sweat and heat. If kept too warm they will sprout. All roots are ruined by freezing, except parsnips, salsify, onions and rutabagas. These when frozen must be thawed out naturally in the pits, kept dark, before being opened, in order to escape injury. The pits may be about three and one-half feet wide and three feet deep below ground, running to a sharp apex above, with small bundles of straw reaching from the bottom to the top at proper intervals. The whole should then be covered with straw, six inches thick; with a covering of earth at least six inches in depth or sufficient to carry off rain. . Let the straw ventilators extend above ground. At the approach of hard weather carrots. SOILIA'Ci, FODDER AND ROOT CROPS. 177 give another covering of six inclies oi straw and ten inclies of earth over this, pits will be safe from an_y ortliuary winter weather; but when a good crust has if very hard weather is feared, cover all with green manure litter. The cuts of carrots represent, the one at the right, the Danvers, the one at the left, the half long or intermediate varieties. For field culti- vation the large red, and the white (Belgian) varieties, are mostly used. They grow with a considerable jiortion of their leng^th out of the ground, thus making their harvesting easier. The last cut shows the red Altring- ham carrot, one of the lono:-rooted varieties. XVII. The Artichoke. A CHAPTER on soiling, fodder and root crops would not be complete without mention of the artichoke. It "was introduced into Great Britain from Brazil before the potato, but never met with much favor as an esculent. Until its value as food for swine was discovered in the AVest, it was used principally for pickling. It is very hardy, remaining in the ground all winter uninjured by our severest cold weather, and springing up the next season without farther cultivation than that given by hogs in rooting out the large tubers. They are, however, better, if the sections of the tubers are dropped in furrows four feet apart, and plowed once or twice, the yield in such cases sometimes reaching four hundred bushels to the acre. When iDartly grown, the tubers are round, but as they attain full become irregularly elongated. The color of the skin and Hesh is white, produce few branches, attain the height of six, and even eight feet. and the frozen, RED ALTRINGHAM. size, they the stalks and bear JERTISALEM ARTICHOKE. yellow flowers, similar to the garden sunflower, but much smaller. The cut repi'e- sents a tuber of the Brazilian variety, reduced in size. A native variety found growing in rich sandy bottoms of the West — the natural soil of the artichoke — is brown, smooth and long like the sweet potato ; they are eagerly sought by swine. 12 CHAPTER V. SILOS AND ENSILAGE. I. WHAT IS ENSILAGE ? II. SILOS AND ENSILAGE LONG KNOWN IN EUROPE. III. TWO METHODS ILLUSTEATED. IV. THE FATHER OF ENSILAGE. V. FERMENTATION SHOULD BE AVOIDED. VI. WHAT ENSILAGE MAY DO. VII. THE HISTORY OF ENSILAGE. VIII. FEEDING VALUE OF ENSILAGE.- IX. ENSILAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. X. EFFECTS OF FERMENTATION IN THE SILO. XI. SIZE OF SILOS FOR CERTAIN NUMBERS OF STOCK. XIL HOW TO BUILD A SILO.^ Xm. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE AND RESULTS. XIV. PERFECT FOOD AND RATIONS. XV. SOME STATEMENTS OF THE QUANTITY FED. XVI. COST OF ENSILAGE IN MASSACHUSETTS. XVII. BUILDING A MODEL SILO. XVIII. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS FROM CAREFUL EXPERIMENT. .j^ I. "What is Ensilage? f^HNSILAGE is a French word signifying the art of compressing into silos — ^pits, i^^S trenches, etc. — green crops, or other succulent vegetation; the word literally meaning the forage so preserved. Silo is the French name of the pit, trench or chamber in which the ensilage is stored. A silo, then, is simply a vat, cistern, or underground trench, water-tight at the bottom and sides, in which any vegetable sub- stance liable to ferment may be kept fresh by exclusion of the air The structure may be either entirely above or below ground, or partly above and partly below the surface. It is not even necessary that the silo be made water-tight in dry soil, nor is it necessary that it be bricked or stoned up in firm soil. Thirteen years ago, when raising beets and manufacturing them into sugar, in Central Illinois, the writer dug a square, deep excavation in clay soil, filled it with the crowns and leaves of the beets left in the fields when the crop was gathered, and covered them with two feet of earth. The leaves were thoroughly tramped while filling in, and the earth occasionally was pounded down as the whole settled. Twelve inches more of earth was added afterwards, and the ensilage came out in good con- dition, except a crust a few inches thick at top and sides, but in a state of vinous fermentation — what the German laborers called " wine sour." Still, unsupported earth silos are not to be commended. Properly supported with stone, or brick and cement, they are cheaper in the end. The earth covering, also, does not settle evenly, gas generates, and the ensilage puifs up and admits air. II. Silos and Ensilage Long Known in Europe. The art of preserving succulent food in tight cisterns has been known for many years. Brewers' grains have been so preserved. It is claimed that silos were known to the ancient Romans, but there is no good authority to show that green fodder was kept by them in this way. It is also asserted that the Mexicans so preserved their grain, [178] SlliOS AND ENSILAGE. 179 both green and matured, by this method. The Mexican Indians and the Indians of North America did often keep their corn in the husk in underground caves, but not under pressure enough to exclude the air. A dry situation was chosen, and the grain was kept in much the same way that is now in general use for preserving roots — nothing more. No.1 TALL COEN, CLOSE SHOOIvED. DWARF COEN, IN TWO TIERS. Na.3 ^"""^ DWARF CORN, IN THREE TIERS. The practical apphcation of air-tight silos for preserving green forage fresh and sweet, is a modern idea. The honor of the discovery belongs to the French. It is only within the last few years that the process, has received the careful attention of experimenters in the United States. Fio 4^ F,e.B BEFORE COVERING. AFTER COVERING. III. Two Methods Illustrated. FINAL COMPRESSION. The series of cuts numbered from one to six, exhibit two methods of forage mowed green. The first three show the proper plan of bundling 'Indian corn or sorghum, and of stacking together, when the fodder is to be cured in the field dry for winter use. Forage thus stacked will shed rain perfectly; this plan is in fact nothing but compact shocking. But this final binding must not be done until the bundles which form the shock are thoroughly air-dried. Fig. 1 shows simple close shocking of tall corn. Figs. 2 and 3 show the dwarf varieties; 2 in two tiers, and 3 in three tiers of bundles. 180 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Earth Silos. — The French plan of ensilage is exhibited by the cuts numbered 4, 5 and 6. Fig. 4 shows the ensilage when first piled and tramped, and before covering. It also shows the proper form of root pits. [See chapter on Raising and Pitting Roots.] Fig. 5 shows the ensilage as compressed both vertically and laterally by the weight of the earth piled on top, and Fig. 6 shows the ensilage as finally reduced by the earth pressure. Crevat's Experiments. — M. Crevat, after several years of experiment, recommends pits of the following dimensions: Depth, 2.30 meters (7.55 feet); length, 8 meters (26.25 feet), at the surface of the ground, sloping down to '7.40 meters (24.28 feet) on the bottom; breadth, 2.60 meters (8.53 feet) at the top, and 2 meters (6.56 feet) at the bottom. Each pit has a capacity for about 40 cubic meters (about 1,412^3 cubic feet) of fodder. M. Crevat has found reason to deepen the trenches and to contract their width, in order to lesson the expense of covering them with earth. The sides and ends are sloped, in order to allow an oblique, as well as a vertical, pressure from the superincumbent earth, and to make the upper surface of the fodder convex. In each of these pits about 10^ tons of green fodder may be packed. Two or three days' drying in the hot sun will reduce it about a third in weight. Many farmers prefer to dry the material in order to render it more easy of transpoi-tation. The trench is filled and the fodder piled up above the ground to a height equal to its' depth under the surface. The earth is then thrown upon the mass before fermentation commences. Two feet depth of soil will depress the pile at least a yard by simple pressure. After some days of fermentation it shrinks to less than half its original volume. The weight of the material, by condensation, increases from about 800 pounds per cubic yard to over 2,000 pounds. General Observations. — In some cases, the silos are mere pits, with walls of bare earth. In other cases, they are lined with brick or cement, either on sides or bottom or on both. Where the soil is excessively damp, the walls are built entirely or partially above the surface, and embankments are made for th.eir support. It is found necessary to exercise special care in covering the pits to entirely exclude the air. The dislocations in the fermenting fodder will often open fissures through the covering soil, and the air thus admitted will transform the process of fermentation into one of putrefaction.. Sometimes decidedly alcoholic fumes have been given off through the crevices in the covering. One case is noted in which the ensilage entirely failed, on account of using sand instead of earth as a covering. Different opinions prevail in regard to the propriety of cutting or chopping the maize into small frag- ments before packing in the trenches. In case the maize has become over-ripe, it is urged that cutting facilitates fermentation, which will render the harder portions as easy of mastication and digestion by farm animals as the softer portions. IV. The Father of Ensilage. To Mr. Auguste Goffart, a member of the Central Society of Agriculture of France, belongs the credit of a system of experiments by which green fodder, cut SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 181 ONE OF THE EABLIER SILOS. small, was kept in water and air-tight excavations in almost as good condition as when cut. In fact, the slight fermentation and breaking down of fiber, and the desiccations which the forage undergoes when thus stored, undoubtedly renders the coarser portions of the provender more digestible, the change being analagous, in a sense, to cooking. In 1852, Mr. Goffart built six underground silos of cemented masonry. They were small, having a capacity only of two cubic meters each. [The French meter is three feet three and one-third inches.] Maize, Jerusalem arti- choke, beets, sorghum, turnips potatoes and straw were experi- mented with; but not until 1873 did he have real success, and then only by a fortunate discov- ery. This was exclusion of air by strong pressure. Hence to this gentleman is undoubtedly due the perfection of this very valuable method of saving fodder for the winter months. The Best Results. — His testimony, and no one is better qualified to speak authoritatively, is that a silo built upon the ground gives the best results during the season from December to March, but that underground silos are better for spring and summer feeding. He recommends silos sunk two meters (about six feet six inches) below ground, and raised the same distance above. He feeds the upper portion during winter and the lower portion later. In the United States, however, ensilage will not be used to the exclusion of pasturage, and hence it will be economical for us to cut from top to bottom, section by section. V. Permentation should be Avoided. In an address at Blois, France, Mr. Goffart held that: " It is important to avoid all kinds of fermentation during and after ensilage. Fermentation can be prodrced whenever desired, and a few hours suffice to give all its useful effects. Take each evening from your silo the maize required for the next day's feeding, and in fifteen or sixteen hours after, however cold and free from fermentation when taken out, it will be quite warm, in full fermentation-, and the animals will eat it greedily. Eight hours later it will have passed the proper limit and it will spoil rapidly." With the cheap French labor, the cost of the ensilage, exclusive of that of raising the crop is about twenty cents per ton prepared and placed in the silo. VI. What Ensilage may Do. It will give us succulent food in winter and also enable any farmer to tide over 182 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. I the droughts of summer by saving the material in underground silos, and this at a minimum cost. By this means many waste products of the farm, such as clean, bright straw, may be added to the green forage to assist in taking up the superabund- ant moisture, thus reducing the whole to one homogeneous mass. Corn fodder is not a perfect food in itself; it may be made so by the addition of other matter, mill-stuff, bran, etc. To the dairyman ensilage is of great value, since it will keep the cows up to a full flow of milk continuously. To the shepherd it will allow the use of succulent food, so needful to sheep in winter. It will assist the breeder of young stock in keeping them in full growth and vigor in winter. It will be equally valuable to the breeder and feeder of fine stock, who, notably, spend large sums in artificial feeding stuffs. VII. The History of Ensilage. A COMMUNICATION to the Department of Agriculture at Washington, some ten years ago, shows that the preservation of fodder in silos has been practiced in Austro- Hungary for nearly eighty years, and in Germany previous to its employment in France, but since its introduction into the latter country it has been nowhere so elaborately developed as there. As we have already shown, the perfect results in France have only been reached through the most careful and laborious experiments, carried on through a long series of years. VIII. Feeding Value of Ensilage. M. Pasquat has deduced some valuable facts in relation to the feeding value of ensilage. It was found that maize fodder (green) has a feeding-value equal to 22 per cent of that of hay; rye fodder, 38 per cent; grass (green), 34 per cent; bright wheat-straw, 48 per cent. In a good forage ration for a milch cow, the ratio of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous matter should be as 1 to 5, or even as 1 to 4.5; for young animals, weighing between 250 and 300 pounds, as 1 to 3.3 ; for animals of 450 pounds, as 1 to 4; for oxen in absolute repose, as 1 to 8. Maize-forage cut green does not meet this requirement, as it shows a proportion of 1 to 9.24. The maize preserved with a mixture of straw, as at Cer9ay, approximates the standard, showing proportion of 1 to 4.81. Its increased per cent of fatty matter represents also a great advantage, being six times. greater than in the green maize. Other Facts. — ^M. Goffart finds that his preserved fodder is sufficient without any other food to keep his animals in fine condition. M. Houette, of the department of Yonne, has found by experience that the maize should be cut for preservation in silos as near as possible to its maturity, when it is more nutritive, the ears more developed, the stalks more firm, and the watery element less predominant. Being finely chopped before pitting, its fermentation in the silo will soften it and render it as palatable to animals as the freshly cut maize. He has been able to keep stock upon it to the last of May, and once as late as July, the fodder being in a condition but imperceptibly changed from that of its primary fermentation in the silo. Some SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 183 question has been raised as to the propriety of feeding fodder spoiled in the pits, but while no indications of injury from feeding it have been developed, it is justly con- sidered that it is more available as a plant-food than animal food ; hence it is thrown upon the manure-pile. Maximum Yields. — The comparative maximum yields of various fodder plants in France, by M. Leconteaux, is summarized, as showing extreme results, but those obtained, of the root crops noted, have often been largely exceeded. The results are given in the table : NAMES OF PLANTS. Caragua maize (a tall species of Indian corn), Sugar beets, ... Kye-grass witti liquid manure, jVIarcite meadows of Italy, .... . . Rutabagas, Potatoes, Cabbages, '. GEASS YIELD EQUIVALENT IN PER ACKE. HAT. Tons. Tons. , 66.96 16.73 35.68 11.63 35.68 8.97 28.85 7.21 21.41 5.35 9.81 4.90 17.8i 3.56 IX. Ensilage in the United States. '^ Mr. Francis Morris, of Oakland Manor, Maryland, had his attention called to the subject through a French newspaper early in 1876. On the fix'st of August, that year, he sowed five acres of corn in drills, at the rate of one bushel of seed to the acre. Three silos were bricked up inside a stone barn, each being ten feet deep, four feet wide, and twenty-four feet long (a single silo 12x12x24 would have been better). Early in October, the corn being in tassel, it was cut with a mowing-machine, drawn to the silos, cut into inch pieces, and mixed with about one-fifth its bulk of cut straw. The whole was placed in the silos, and well packed by trarnping as it was put in. It was covered with boards heavily weighted with stone, and when thoroughly pressed the weights were taken off, the whole surface covered with straw, and this with clay, well rammed down, to exclude air. On Christmas day a silo was opened, and the ensilage given to the milch cows of the farm. Two of them refused to eat it the first day; the others took kindly to it, and the second day all ate. After that, he says, horses, mules, oxen, cows, sheep and pigs all ate it from choice. Had Mr. Morris known at that time the superior methods now usea to exclude air, his success would have been still better. It was, however, the first fairly carried out practical experiment in curing ensilage in the United States. "Within the last few years dairymen in the West have eagerly seized upon the idea, and each year 184 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. sees more and better silos built in all the great dairy districts. The system may profitably be extended among those interested in other branches of agriculture. X. Effects of Fermentation in the Silo. M. Grandeau, a French experimenter, analyzed various specimens, as shown in the table below — the specimen from Bertin being taken from the silo of Monsieur Goff art, with the following results : COMPOXENT PARTS. Water, Siigiiv, Azotized matters, . . Non-azotized matters, Fatty matters, . . . Crude cellulose, . . . Ashes, Acid, . . . . GREEN MAIZE. MAIZE FKEE FROM STKAW, PRE- SERVED IN SILOS, CHATEAU BEKTIN. 81.28 0.58 1.22 10.40 0.25 4.98 1.29 100.00 81.28 0.15 1.24 9.58 0.36 4 91 2.25 0.23 100 00 MAIZE MIXED WITH STRAWjPRE- SERVED IN SILOS AT CEKSAY. 60.71 1.89 3.74 14.59 1.50 8.70 8. 43 0.44 100.00 STRAW AND CHAFF FROM CERSAY. 14.50 4.88 34.52 1..50 3.").50 9.10 100.00 M. Grandeau gives proportion of azotized to non-azotized matters as follows: In green maize, 1 to 9.24; in maize preserved free from straw, 1 to 8.14; in maize preserved mingled with straw, 1 to 4.81; in straw, 1 to 7.38. The fodder preserved with straw at Cer9ay shows a remarkable reduction in its percentage of water in straw. It also shows a saccharine element three times greater than that of green maize, while that preserved at Bertin free from straw retains but a fourth of its original quantity. The Cer9ay fodder also tripled the amount of azotized matter in the green maize, finding a large supply in the associated straw, while in the Bertin specimen it was but shghtly increased. Again, the Bertin fodder decreased its proportion of non-azotized matter, while that of Cer9ay borrowed largely from the straw. Both kinds of preserved fodder enlarged their proportion of fatty matter; that of Bertin less than fifty per cent, and that of Cer^ay sixfold. Of crude cellulose, the Bertin shows a slight decrease, while the Cer9ay about doubled its percentage. The proportion of ash increased twofold in the Bertin, and nearly sevenfold in the Cer9ay. Both kinds showed a perceptible development of acid, acetic and lactic. In the Cer9ay fodder, the maize was mixed with half its quantity of straw. As the result of his investigations, M. Grandeau came to the conclusion that the combination of straw with maize added very considerably to the nutritive value of the fermented fodder. In a subsequent statement, M. Grandeau explains that the specimen called green maize in his analysis was partly desiccated by contact with air and sun-heat. This would more particularly affect its percentage of water. From a specimen freshly cut, he obtained, by analysis, the following percentages: "Water, 86.20; sugar, 0.43; azotized matter, 0.90; non-azotized matter, 7.67; fatty matter, 0.18; crude cellulose, 3.67; ashes, 0.95. SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 185 FiB-.l M. Grandeau's conclusion in favor of the mingling of straw with the maize called forth considerable criticism, but after a careful reconsideration of the question he adhered to his opinion. The transformation of the buried fodder embraces two important elements of advantage: 1, the transformation of a part of the btarch and cellulose into sugar; and 2, the enlargement of the azotized matter by the destruction of a portion of the fecula of the cellulose. XI. Size of Silos for Certain Numbers of Stock. While ensilage may be kept more or less perfect in simple pits, eventually the cost is reduced by the best constructed silos. The silos need not be expensive, but they must be built thoroughly, because thorough building is cheap building in the end. The cut shows sections of a double underground silo. Rations for a Cow. — ^A cow will consume as a full ration from fifty to sixty pounds of ensilage a day. A cubic foot of ensilage weighs forty to fifty pounds, according to the material and pressure employed. One and a third cubic foot daily will keep a cow ; one cubic foot will feed a sheep a week, and fully one and a half cubic feet will be required daily for an ox. To feed a cow six months will require about two hundred and fifty cubic feet of section of double silo. ensilage. If you have two cows, a silo 10x10 feet, and ten feet deep, will hold about twenty-five tons, and be ample for six months' feeding. A silo lOxlOx 30 feet would keep six cows, on nearly full rations, or double that number when other food is used to supplement the ensilage — a practice we should advocate in the West, when other food is cheap. Hence the dairyman feeding half rations, that is, half ensilage and half other food, could feed thirty cows for six months from a double silo, each compartment being 12 x 12 feet and thirty feet long. An extra silo would tide double this number of cows over the usual six weeks of summer droughts. XII. How to Build a Silo. Build it so it may be entered directly from the feeding stables, and one-half below ground. Eight feet below and four feet above, the upper portion banked up with the excavated earth, would be better. There must be a double door at least five feet high and three feet wide for ease in emptying the silos, after the first section is removed to a level with the bottom of the door. The ensilage nearest to the door should be supported by planks fitting into an inset in the wall, next to the door, to be removed one by one as the ensilage is taken out. The Foundation. — The drainage under the foundation should be made perfect by means of a layer of coarse gravel and tile leading to a point below the bottom of 186 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL the silo. The bottom and sides should be built of stone, laid in the best hydraulic cement. If stone cannot be. had, hard-burned brick is the next cheapest good mate- rial. The bx'icks should be laid in cement and the whole inside and bottom thoroughly plastered with cement. The Superstructure. — This may be of lumber and the roof of shingles ; and if it is carried up one story above the silo, it will afford a useful workshop or room for storage of any kind. It will pay to finish the building in this way, as the extra expense will prove to be true economy in the end. The excavation may be mostly done with the plow and scraper, and the incline afterwards filled in by the scraper as the wall is built up. The cuts given will serve as a guide, so that any- bricklayer and carpenter can do the work. Directions for raising the crops to fill the silo will be found in the chapter on Soiling and Fodder Crops. XIII. Practical Experience and Results. In 1882 the Commissioner of Agriculture, Hon. George B. Loring, sent out twenty-six questions in relation to silos and ensilage, to which nearly one hundred answers were returned, from fifteen States, east, south and as far west as Nebraska; also from Canada. The information given in these answers was summarized under twenty-six heads, making one of the most complete and practical papers ever issued by the department. Here it is : 1. Location or Silo. — A few have been built at a distance from the stables, but generally the silos are located with reference to convenience in feeding, in, under, or adjacent to the feeding-rooms. Local considerations will determine whether the silo should be below the surface, or above, or partly below and partly above. This is not essential. Where the stables are in the basement of a bank barn, the bottom of the silo may be on the same level, or a few feet below, and the top even with the upper floor. This arrangement combines the greatest facilities for filling, weighting and feeding. 2. Form of Silo. — With rare exceptions the silos described show a rectangular horizontal section; a few have the "corners cut off," and one is octagonal. (The cylindrical form, of which there is no instance in the accompanying statements, seems to have obvious advantages. If under ground, a cylindrical wall is self-supporting against outside pressure, and may be much lighter than would be safe in any other form. If of wood and above ground, the walls may be stayed with iron bands. In any case, for, a given capacity, the cylindrical form requires the least possible amount of wall. ) A given weight of ensilage in a deep silo requires less extraneous pressure, and exposes less surface to the air, than it would in a shallow silo. For these reasons depth is important. If too deep, there is danger of expressing juice from the ensilage at the bottom. Where the ensilage is cut down in a vertical section for feeding, a narrow silo has the advantage of exposing little surface to the air. SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 187 3. Capacity of Silo. — The silos reported vary in capacity from 364 to 19,200 cubic feet. If entirely full of compressed ensilage the smallest would hold 9.1 and the largest 480 tons, estimating 50 pounds to the cubic foot. Practically, the capacity of a silo is less to the extent that the ensilage settles under pressure. This should not exceed one-fourth, though in shallow silos, or those filled rapidly and with little treading, it is likely to be much more. A temporary curb is sometimes added to the silo proper, so that the latter may be full 'when the settling ceases. 4. Walls of Silo. — For walls underground, stone, brick and concrete are used. The choice in any case may safely depend on the cost. In firm soils that do not become saturated with water, walls are not essential to the preservation of ensilage. Above ground, two thicknesses of inch boards, with sheathing paper between (the latter said, by some, to be unnecessary), seem to be sufficient, if supported against lateral pressure from the ensilage. 5. Covering. — A layer of straw or hay will serve in some measure to exclude air, but is not necessary. Generally boards or planks are placed directly on the ensilage. The cover is sometimes made in sections two feet or more wide; oftener each plank is separate. The cover is generally put on transversely, having in view the uncovering of a part of the silo while the weight remains on the rest. Rough boards, with no attempt at matching, have been used successfully. A little space should be allowed between the walls and cover, that there may be no interference as the settling progresses. 6. Weight. — Any heavy material may be- used. The amount required depends on various conditions. It will be noticed that practices and opinions differ widely. The object is always to make the ensilage compact, and thereby leave little room for air, on which depends fermentation and decay. In a deep silo the greater part is sufficiently compressed by a few feet of ensilage at the top, so that there is small percentage of waste, even when no weight is applied above the ensilage. Screws are used by some instead of weights. The objection to them is that they are not self- acting, like gravity. 7. Cost. — The cost of silos, per ton of capacity, varies from four or five dollars, for walls of heavy masonry and superstructures of elaborate finish, and fifty cents or less for the simplest wooden silos. Earth silos, without wall, can be excavated with plow and scraper, when other work is not pressing, at a trifling cost. 8. Crops for Ensilage. — Corn takes the lead of ensilage crops. Rye is grown by many in connection M'ith corn — the same ground producing a crop of each in a season. Oats, sorghum, Hungarian grass, field peas, clover — in fact, almost every crop valuable for soiling has been stored in silos and taken out in good condition. There are indications that some materials have their value enhanced by the fermen- tation of the silo, while in others there is loss. The relative values for ensilage, of the different soiling crops, can only be determined through careful tests, often repeated, by practical men. All thoughtful farmers would be glad to get more value from the bulky "fodder" 188 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. of their corn crops than is found in any of the common methods. There are accounts of plucking the ears when the kernels were well glazed, and putting the fodder into the silo. The value of such ensilage, and the loss, if any, to the grain are not sufficiently ascertained to warrant positive statements. 9. Planting and Cultivation. — Thorough preparation before planting is essen- tial. Corn, sorghum and similar crops should be planted in rows. The quantity of seed-corn varies from eight quarts to a bushel and a half for an acre. A smoothing- harrow does the work of cultivating perfectly, and with little expense, while the corn is small. 10. When Crops are at their Best for Ensilage. — The common practice is to put crops into the silo when their full growth has been reached, and before ripening begins. Manifestly one rule will not answer all purposes. The stock to be fed and the object in feeding must be considered in determining when the crop should be cut. On this point must depend much of the value of ensilage. 11. Yield of Ensilage Crops. — Corn produces more fodder per acre than any other crop mentioned. The average for corn is not far from twenty tons — which speaks well for land and culture. The largest yield from a single acre was fifty-eight tons; the average of a large area on the same farm was only twelve and a half tons. 12. Kind of Corn Best for Ensilage. — The largest is generally preferred; hence seed grown in a warmer climate is in demand. 13. Sweet Corn for Ensilage. — It is conceded by many that the fodder of sweet corn is worth more, pound for pound, than that of larger kinds, for soiling. Some hold that the same superiority is retained in the ensilage, while others think that the' advantage, after fermentation is on the other side. The sweet varieties generally do not yield large crops. 14. Preparing Fodder for the Silo. — The mowing-machine is sometimes used for cutting corn in the field — oftener the work is done by hand. Various cutters, having carriers attached for elevated silos, are in use, and are generally driven by horse, steam or water power. Fine cutting — a half-inch, or less — is in favor. It packs closer, and for this reason is likely to keep better than coarse ensilage. Fodder of any kind may be put in whole, and, if as closely compressed as cut fodder, will keep as well, if not better; but it requires much greater pressure. 15. Filling the Silo. — During the process of fining, the ensilage should be kept level, and well trodden. A horse may be used very effectively for the latter. Some attach much importance to rapid filling, while others make it more a matter of convenience. With the packing equally thorough, rapid filling is probably best. 16. Cost of Filling the Silo. — The cost, from field to silo, is vai-iously report- ed, from thirty-five cents — and in a single instance ten or twelve cents — for labor alone, to two dollars and upwards per ton ; though the higher amounts include the entire cost of the crop, not the harvesting alone. There is a general expectation that experience will bring a considerable reduction in the cost of filling. It is probable that, with a more general adoption of ensilage, the best machinery SILOS AND ENSILAGE. 189 will be provided by men who will make a business of filling silos. This could hardly fail to lessen the cost and bring the benefits of the system within the reach of many who otherwise would not begin. 17. Time from Filling to Opening Silo. — The ensilage should remain under pressure at least until cool, and be uncovered after that when wanted. 18. Condition of Ensilage when Opened. — In nearly all cases the loss by decay was very slight, and confined to the top and sides where there was more or less exposure to air. 19. Deterioration after Opening. — Generally the ensilage has kept perfectly for several months, showing no deterioration while any remained in the silo, excej)ting where exposed for a considerable time. It is better to uncover a whole silo, or com- partment of a silo, at once, and thus expose a new surface each day, than to cut down sections. 20. Value of Ensilage for Milch Cows. — Ensilage has been fed to milch cows more generally than to any other class of stock, and no unfavorable results are reported. There can be little doubt that its greatest value will always be found in this connection. Several feeders consider it equal in value to one-third of its weight of the best hay, and some rate it higher 21. Effects on Dairy Products. — There is a marked increase in quantity and improvement in quality of milk and butter after changing from dry feed to ensilage, corresponding with the effects of a similar change to fresh pasture. A few seeming exceptions are noted, which will probably find explanation in defects easily remedied, rather than in such as are inherent. 22. Value for Other Stock. — Ensilage has been fed to all classes of farm stock, including swine and poultry, with results almost uniformly favorable. Excep- tions are noted in the statements of Messrs. Coe Bros, and Hon. C. B. Henderson, where it appears that horses were injuriously affected. It should be borne in mind in this connection that ensilage is simply forage preserved in a silo, and may vary as much in quality as hay. The ensilage that is best for a milch cow may be injurious to a horse, and that on which a horse would thrive might render a poor return in the milk-pail. 23. Daily Eation of Ensilage. — Cows giving milk are commonly fed fifty to sixty pounds, with some dry fodder and grain. 24. Method of Feeding. — Experiments have been made in feeding ensilage exclusively, and results have varied with the quality of ensilage and the stock fed. It is certain that ensilage of corn cut while in blossom,. or earlier, is not alone suffi• O O TEXTILE CROPS AND FIBERS. 203 The Fiber. — This in coarse bagging .would cover, as baling, the whole cotton crop of the country. The textile strength of flax is rated as double that of East India jute, and yet, not one-fifth of the flax crop is utilized, although there are many mills in the West for working the straw, the reason being that other lines of manu- facture are more profitable. It is, however, an important product for the seed alone, the ci'op of 1881 being computed at 8,000,000 bushels, from 1,127,300 acres, an average yield of a fraction over seven bushels of seed per acre. Over 800,000 acres of this being in the States of Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Illinois. XIII. Proper Soil for Flax Seeding. It has been said that good barley land is good flax land. This means that flax likes a deep, open, warm, moist loam. In the West, new prairie and old turf lands are much used. Recent timber clearings are desirable if suitably drained, or any good corn land, or rich silicious soil in good tilth. Flax will grow well in any moist, deep, strong loam, upon upland. A hght, sandy soil should be avoided, as well as very low lands or river bottoms, upon which flax is very liable to mildew. Flax should be put in after some hoed crop, to be free from weeds. A weedy soil, in any location, should not be thought of in connection with flax, even when raised for seed alone. If fiber is also an object, the time and labor will be wasted on such land. Preparing the Soil. — On old land it is better that a pretty deep plowing be given in the autumn, and the area lightly replowed just before sowing. For the fiber, deep plowing is essential. ' To strengthen the fiber, three or four bushels each of superphosphate^ of lime, plaster, ashes and salt should be applied per acre. The soil must be brought into the best possible tilth, the seed sown evenly, and covered not more than half an inch deep. The usual quantity to be sown per acre, when seed alone is the object, is from one-half bushel to three pecks. One bushel per acre has given us the best results, since the ground is quickly covered and the crop ripens more evenly. Selecting the Seed. — The quality of the seed must be looked to. It should be clean, bright and heavy. The best time to sow flax is just prior to that of corn planting, or when the trees are beginning to green. A change of seed is necessary, since, in the West, the oily qualities rapidly deteriorate. East Indian seed is said to be the richest in oil, and next, that from Riga (Russian), and Rotterdam (Holland) is recommended. Quantity of Seed to Sow. — If lint and seed both are the object, one and one- half to two bushels should be used. In Europe, where fine lint is raised, three and even four bushels are sometimes sown. In this country, however, where the principal object is seed, one and one-half bushels to the acre is the maximum. The yield will always vary with the season and the quality of the land. The maximum may be stated ' at twenty-five bushels, but half this quantity per acre is an average even on rich soil. 204 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. XIV. Harvesting Flax. The time to harvest is when the lower portions of the stalk turn yellow, or when the seed-bolls show signs of shedding. Cut with a reaper that will rake off in gavels, since it is not necessary to bind it, the idea being to cure it as quickly as possible. Set the gavels up, one leaning against another, in regular rows sufficiently far apart for a wagon to pass between. Thresh with a machine having beaters instead of teeth, since the straw is apt to tangle in the latter. If the seed is not sold immediately, it should be spread and turned occasionally until fully dry, or it will heat. If the straw is to be sold for tow, it should be spread, in October, the product of about two to three acres upon one of grass land (unless very heavy), and then left until ready for the mill, say a month or longer. The water-rotting of flax for fine fiber requires much labor, pools of soft (river or pond) water, and much manipula- tion. There is, however, so little likelihood that the preparation of water-rotted flax will soon become an industry of importance in the United States, that the directions are not worth the space necessary for description. XV. Hemp and its Cultivation. Like that of flax, the hemp industry may be said to be declining. When great navies of sailing vessels traversed the ocean, vast quantities of linen were used for sails, and of hemp for cordage. Steam has decreased the number of sails, and most of them now in use are more cheaply made from cotton, and the fibers of other plants, and iron cordage has largely taken the place of hemp. In some portions of the country, however, it is still an industry of some importance, but water-rotting of hemp is not practiced in the United States, on account of the labor required in the process. When intended for lint it is simply dew-rotted. The Soil for Hemp. — The soil for hemp must be rich, deep, warm, loamy, and well drained — such land as will produce with good cultivation, fifty or more bushels of corn per acre. The seed will ripen perfectly up to forty degrees of latitude, and usually up to forty-three degrees in the Mississippi valley. The cultiva- tion of the crop for seed is practiced in some sections, and with profit. XVI. Raising a Crop of Hemp Seed. Land intended for seed must be in good tilth and well prepared by careful plowing. It should be laid off in straight rows, four feet apart each way, and planted in hills seven or eight seeds to the hill ; the same rules observed for cultivating corn will apply in the after-culture of hemp seed; when the plants reach the height of six or eight inches, they should be thinned to from three to four plants. Male and Female Plants. — Hemp plants are divided into male and female, the former producing the pollen or impregnating powder, the latter bearing the seed. TEXTILE CROPS AND FIBERS. 205 A very little observation will enable the grower to distinguish between them. As soon as the distinction can be made, the male should be drawn up by the root, when cheap labor can be had, leaving, however, here and there, one that the female plant may be properly impregnated ; the female is to be retained until its seeds are perfected, when it is to be harvested by cutting at the ground and removal to cover ; when cured, the seed may be threshed with a flail, cleaned, winnowed, and put up in barrels or sacks, perfectly dry, and out of the way of rats and mice until sold. XVII. Raising Hemp for Lint. If lint is the object, it is necessary that the seed be raised as directed in the pre- ceding section, for the lint crop is cut before the seed is formed. The soil must be prepared by deep and careful plowing, as directed for flax, and as carefully brought into a state of perfect tilth. The ground must be free from weeds, or once carefully weeded by hand after the crop is up. Sow from fifty to seventy pounds of seed per acre, preferably from a broadcast seeder, or from a centrifugal seeder, to insure even distribution. The seed ahould not be covered more than half an inch, and it is better, after sowing, to roll the land with a light roller. The sowing should take place at or immediately before corn-planting time. The plant, after it is up, is not affected by light frosts, but the seed itself is liable to rot in cold ground. In good weather the plants will show in a few days. XVIII. The Time to Harvest Hemp. When lint is the object, as is always the case in thick sowings, the time for cut- ting is indicated in two ways: 1, the crop changes from a deep green to a paler hue, and, 2, the leaves die and drop, beginning at the bottom. Hemp is of two sexes as before stated. The male plants bear the pollen and the female plants the seed, as in the case of spinach. That is dioecious, having staminate and pistillate flowers on dis- tinct plants. The male plants ripen two weeks before the female. In the United States, the pulling of the male plants before the female ripen costs more than will pay the benefit. A good indication of the time for cutting is given by the pollen of male plants rising in clouds from the field. ' " Cutting. — The cutting is usually done by a heavy hook made for the purpose, but large level fields may be cut by a reaping machine, made especially for this use. J. L. Bradford, of Kentucky, a noted hemp raiser, thus describes the process of har- vesting, rotting and breaking : If the crop is to be cut with the hook, the operator is required to cut at once through a width corresponding to the length of the hemp, and as close to the ground as possible, spreading his hemp in his rear in an even and smooth swath, where it remains exposed to the sun's rays until the stalk is properly cured, and the leaves sufficiently dry to detach easily. The hemp can be shocked with more compactness without the leaves than with them, and any operation having an influence upon the future security of the staple 206 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. from dampness or atmospheric influence is certainly important ; the perfect detach- ment of all the leaves should, then, in nowise be omitted. No time should be lost, after the stalk is cured, in getting the crop up and into neat shocks ; every additional day's exposure to sun, wind, rain or dew, is deteriorating its quality and subtracting from its quantity. The brighter the stock can be secured, the better. XIX. Betting and Breaking for Market. The same rule will apply to hemp that obtain in securing good hay. The operator, in taking up the hemp, uses a crook, often a rude stick cut from the branches of the nearest tree, about the length and weight of a heavy hickory walking-cane, having at the end of the stick a small branch making a hook. With this primitive but very effective tool he can rapidly draw the stalks into bunches of the proper size for sheaves. In operating, he throws his rude hook forward to its full length and suddenly draws it toward him, each motion making a bunch. This he raises quickly from the ground and with his hook, by a few well-directed strokes, divests the plant of its leaves. He then binds his sheaf with its own stalks, and passes on to repeat the operation. Shocking. — Other laborers follow and place the hemp into neat, close shocks of convenient size, securing the top by a neat band made of the hemp stalks them- selves, after the manner of shocking corn. Here it is suffered to remain until the whole crop is thus secured as soon as possible, selecting clear, dry weather for the operation. The whole crop is to be secured by ricking or stacking. The same rules are to be observed in stacking as with grain, the object being to keep the crop secure and dry until the projier time for rotting arrives. In the latitude of Kentucky about the middle of October is the proper time. The crop must be retained in the rick or stack until the summer heats and rain have passed, and frost appears instead of dew. Rotting. — The whole crop is then removed from the rick, and hauled back to the same ground on which it grew, there to be spread in thin swaths for rotting, where it remains Without turning until properly rotted. This is indicated by the fiber freely parting from the stalk, and the dissolution by the action of the elements of the peculiar substance that causes it to adhere thereto. This stage is only to be learned to perfection by practical experience ; yet the novice must have some information to enable him to begin, and it is easily acquired by a little observation. Bunching. — ^When the operator finds his hemp sufficiently rotted, the wooden hook is again brought into requisition for once more drawing the swaths into con- venient bunches. The hemp will have lost much of its weight, and can be bunched and shocked with less labor than at first; besides, at this last shocking, the binding is to be omitted entirely, the hemp is to be carefully and neatly handled, all tangling to be avoided, and placed again in shocks, and firmly bound at the top. Breaking and Dressing. — Then comes the last and crowning operation — break- ing and dressing the fiber or lint for the market. The peculiar break to be used, like TEXTILE CROPS AND FIBEKS. 207 the knife or hook for cutting, needs no description, being manufactured in hemp regions, at a cost of about five dollars each, and from long experience has been found perfectly adapted to the uses required. The beginner would save time and money by ordering a sample break, from which any carpenter can manufacture as desired. The crop is broken in Kentucky and Missouri, directly fro^ the shock in the open field by the removal of the break from shock to shock as fast as broken. In the North, owing to the severity of the climate, it would probably be necessary to remove the rotted hemp to the barn, where the labor of breaking could be more certainly performed. The coldest and clearest weather is the best for this operation ; in fact excess of dampness in the atmosphere suspends this labor altogether. The breaking irocess is laborious, yet more depends on the skill than on the strength of the laborer. XX. Conclusions on Flax and Hemp. The rich lands of the corn zone of the West are far better adapted to the culti- vation of hemp for the fiber, than more southern latitudes. If water-rotting were practiced, the fiber would undoubtedly be the best in the world. Ponds and streams are plentiful, and the high price of ordinary unskilled labor is the only thing against this process. Other crops, however, are as yet more profitable in this region, and will continue so to be until the population becomes dense enough to cheapen labor. Therefore we do not advise the raising of either flax or hemp for fine fiber. Both flax and hemp raising for the seed are profitable, to a limited extent, up to, and even above, the 40th degree of latitude. XXI. Jute and Its Cultivation. Jute is a plant known in the South for years, under experimental cultivation. It belongs to the mallow family. The fiber is in many respects superior to that of hemp. When American skill and ingenuity shall have found means to prepare the fiber cheaply for the loom, the cultivation of this plant will be a source of great wealth in the South. The time may soon come when the fibers can be cheaply separated. Jute (^Ooochrrus) is an annual, the two species cultivated in the United States being C. capsularis and O. olitorius. The first named being the better. The plants grow from five to seven feet high, and the quantity of seed sown, broadcast, is, on rich land, prepared as for flax or hemp, from fifteen to twenty-two pounds per acre. The plants are cut about three inches above ground, one month before the seed ripen. The best fiber is raised on deeply drained, moist, rich land. The seed should be sown as directed for hemp: that is, evenly distributed. The produce is all the way from 2,000 to 4,000 pounds per acre. The Gulf States contain the region best adapted to the cultivation of jute, which is thus described by a planter of Louisiana, one of the pioneers in its cultivation : XXII. Growth and Harvesting of Jute. The ground being well tilled and the seed properly sown, on wet days if possi- ble, the jute is left alone like wheat. No other care than that of drainage is necessary 208 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. until maturity. The cost of that first operation cannot exceed four dollars per acre, if the material is adequate and the management judicious. That expense, of course, does not include the value of the seed, because, after the first outlay, planters will provide themselves with it from the low lands, or from the weak spots of the plantation. In the bottoms, when we plant in drills for seed, a subsequent plowing or two will be necessary in the intervals to neutralize the encroachments of grass. In Louisiana that labor is a necessity principally for the purpose of combating the tall weed called wild indigo, which occupies the low grounds. That weed, also fibrous, is the only plant that keeps pace in growth with jute; all other plants are distanced and smothered by the shade of the jute. In the field, planted broadcast, no parasite can resist the vigorous and absorbing influence of jute. Even the hardy and noxious plant, commonly called coco in Louisiana, is destroyed after two seasons of broadcast cultivation. Harvesting. — The best period for cutting crops of jute is during the stage that precedes the blossoming, or, at least, the seeding. The fiber is then fine, white and strong. The monthly sowing graduates the maturing of the successive crops, which facilitates labor. April planting can be harvested in July, May planting in August, and June planting in September. Any late growth can be hai-vested in October, and even after, if no frost interferes. The plant stands green until frost dries it up; but even then it can furnish a good material for paper. The cutting operation is done with a mower or a reaper. The albumen of the plant makes it easier to cut than dry wheat. The reaper gathering the stems, bundles are made and cai'ried as fast as possible to the mill, where the textile is rapidly separated. XXIII. Preparing Jute Fiber. As fast as the fiber is turned out by the decorticating machine it is plunged into large vats filled with pure water, and left exposed to the heat of the atmosphere. Kept under at least one foot of water, the filament is disintegrated by the dissolution of the guins or resins which united it in a sort of ribbon. That process of fermenta- tion or rotting takes about a week in summer. With care and attention to the proper degree of rotting the fiber comes out almost white, lustrous, and fine like flax. The disintegration is known to be complete when the fiber assumes a pasty character. Then the rotted hanks are withdrawn, carefully washed in clear water, and hung up to dry in the shade. Care must be taken that the filament be well covered with water during the fermenting period, because atmospheric agencies tend to communi- cate to it a brownish color. After a few days of good weather it is ready to be shaken and twisted for baling like other textiles. That new process of rotting the separated filament, instead of whole stalks, combines different profitable results — the advantages of economy in labor, in value, and also in the integrity of product. Experiments in South Carolina, Florida and the Gulf States have shown that, wherever in the Southern States there is a hot, damp climate, and a moist soil of sandy dny or alluvial mold, jute can be profitably raised. April plantings were cut TEXTILE CROPS AND FIBEES. ■ , 209 in July, and the June plantings in September. Some of the stalks reached the height of fifteen feet, and the yield was in several cases at the rate of 3,500 pounds to the acre, yet this is probably an exception. XXIV. The Ramie Plant in the United States. Eamie, sometimes, but incorrectly, called china grass, is known botanically as Boehmeria tenacissima, and was introduced first into the United States in 1855. Since that time it has attracted more or less attention, but has never been cultivated with profit, on account of the cost of sepai-ating the fiber. Several machines have been invented for this, some mechanically, some with the aid of chemicals, but so far per- fect success has not. been attained. Tlie Ramie Fiber. — The fiber is of great luster and fineness, between flax and silk. It is used with silk and worsted in the preparation of fine fabrics. In China and India the cost of separating the fiber by hand is about $150 per ton; and the price in England, for the best prepared ramie, $350. A successful machine for reducing this fiber would bring the inventor a great fortune. The Dejjartment of Agriculture (Report for 1879) gives the following, which will be of value to intending cultivators : XXV. Soil and Planting. 1. Whether for nursery purposes or for cultivation, the land must be sufficiently elevated to receive the benefit of natural drainage, because the roots will not live long in a watery bottom. 2. The soil must be deep, rich, light and moist as the sandy alluvia of Louisiana. Manure supplies the defects in some lands in these respects. 3. The fields must be thoroughly cleared of weeds, plowed twice to the depth of eight to ten inches, if possible, harrowed as'much as a thorough pulverizing requires, and carefully drained by discriminate lines of ditches. Water must not be allowed to stand in the rows of the plant. The land being thus prepared, planting becomes easy and promising. December, January and February are the best months in which to plant. Roots, ratopns and rooted layers are the only available seed. They are generally four or five inches long, carefully cut, not torn, from the ipother plant. The dusty seed produced by the ramie stalks in the fall can be sown, but it is so delicate and requires so much care during the period of germination and growth that it seldom succeeds in open land. Furrows five or six inches deep and five feet apart are opened with the plow. The roots are laid lengthwise in the middle, close in succession if a thick stand of crop is desired, but placed at intervals if nursery propagation is the object in view. The first mode will absorb 3,000 roots per acre, but will save the labor of often filling the stand by propagation. The second mode will spare three-fourths of that amount of roots, but will impose the obligation of multiplying by layers. Being placed in the furrow closely or at intervals, the roots are carefully covered with the hoe. Pulverized earth and manure spread over the roots insure an early and luxuriant growth in the spring. Wben the shoots have attained a foot in height they are hilled 14 210 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. up like potatoes, corn and all other plants that require good footing and protection from the fermenting effect of stagnant water. The intervals between the rows being deepened by the hilling have also a draining influence, which can be rendered still more effective by ditches dug across from distance to distance, say fifteen feet. XXVI. Bamie is a Perennial Plant. Good crops are obtained by thickening the stands. The stems are then abun- dant, fine, straight, and rich in fiber. Close planting is then necessary, inasmuch as is prevents the objectionable branching of the stalks. The period at which the plant is ripe for cutting is indicated by a brownish tinge at the foot of the stems. The first cutting may be unprofitable on account of the irregularity and sparseness of the growth ; but if the stand is razeed and manured over the stubbles the ensuing cuttings will be productive. For that purpose the field must be kept clear of grass until the growth is sufficiently dense to expel the parasites by its shade. That necessary den- sity is obtained by means of the important laying process. This consists in bending down, right and left along the growing stand, the highest switches, and in covering them with earth up to the under tip, which must not be smothered. One of the causes of the perennity and of the vigor of the plant is the nourish- ment it draws from the agencies of the atmosphere. Con- sequently the leaves of the layers should never be buried under ground. When properly performed, laying is very profitable; it creates an abundance of new roots, and fills up rapidly the voids of the stand. After two years the plants may be so thick as to spread out in the rows. Then the plow or the stubble-cutter has to chop in a line, on one side, the projecting ratoons. If well executed, this operation leads to notable advantages. It extracts roots or fractional plants suitable for the exten- sion of the cultivation elsewhere; it maintains, as a pruning, a vigorous life, and develops a luxuriant growth in the stand. If always applied on the same side of the row, this sort of stubble-cutting has the remarkable advantage of re- moving gradually the growth toward ther unoccupied land in the intervals, and of pushing it into a new position without disturbance. That slow rotation preserves the soil from rapid exhaus- tion, and the i-amie from decay, through the accumulation of roots under ground. Of course this lateral plowing will not prevent the opposite row from receiving the benefit of hoeing after each crop. Experiments made in Louisiana have demonstrated the efficiency of that method, to which are due the preservation and propagation of the plant in that State, while it has been destroyed in other sections for want of similar care. KAMIE— ROOTS AND STEM, THKEE MONTHS' GEOWTH. CHAPTEK VII. SILK AND SILK- WORMS. [. SILK CULTURE IN AMERICA. II. SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. III. FROM THE EGG TO THE MOULT. IV. VARIETIES OF THE SILK-WORM. V. KEEPING AND HATCHING THE EGGS. VI PREPARING TO FEED THE WORMS. VII. FEEDING AND CARE OF SILK-WORMS. VHI. MOULTING OR CASTING THE SKIN. IX. WINDING FRAMES ON WHICH THE WORMS SPIN X. KILLING THE WORMS. XI. REEL- ING THE S1,LK. XII. MARKETING COCOONS AND EGGS. XIII. FOOD OF THE SILK WORM. XIV. RAISING MULBERRY TREES. I. Silk Culture in America. M||HE art of rearing and feeding the larvae of the silli-worm and reeling the fiber ^^g of the cocoons in which the egg has been previously killed, by baking, is '^^ called Sericulture. When the cocoons are raised in a small way by the children of a family, the baked cocoons are usually sold to the manufacturers. The following condensed history will be interesting: In Virginia. — The industry has been followed in America spasmodically since the cultivation of the mulberry was first encouraged in Virginia, by James I. The coronation robe of Charles.II. was spun from cocoons raised in Virginia. A state robe was made for Queen Caroline, in 1735, from silk grown in Georgia, and in 1749 the export of cocoons from the American Colonies, South, reached 1,000 pounds. The industry flourished steadily under a royal bounty until 1766, when the export was 20,000 pounds. The bounty being withdrawn the industry declined. In the Nortll. — In the latter part of the century the North became interested. In 1770 Dr. Franklin sent seeds, cuttings of mulberry trees and silk-worm eggs to Pennsylvania for distribution, and the next year a silk manufactory was established in Philadelphia. In New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, mulberry groves were more or less extensively planted, but the Revolutionary war put an end to the industry. It was revived in the beginning of the present century, so that over 10,000 pounds of cocoons were, in 1819, produced in Mansfield, Connecticut, alone. In 1840 the total domestic silk production in the United States was estimated at ■60,000 pounds, worth over $4 per pound. In 1844 the make was 400,000 pounds, worth $150,000. From this time the industry again languished, and in 1850 only 14,673 pounds were produced. The writer in 1832-36, then a boy, fed silk-worms in New Jersey from the street and pasture mulberry trees, the remains of the pre-revolutionary days, and in 1839 in northern Illinois from leaves gathered from the native mulberry, occasionally found growing on the sandy bottoms of the Calumet river. With the decline of the mu 212 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Multicaulis mania, which began in 1840 and raged some years, silk culture declined, and until within the last ten years but little attention was paid to it. Where Most Profitable. — The fact is, feeding the mulberry silk-worm cannot be profitable north of the 40th degree. Kansas, Mississippi and California are now the three principal nuclei of this growing industry. This last State, would, from its mild climate, seem eminently adapted to the industry. At the late French Exposition, California cocoons were among the finest shown. The leaf of the mulberry there attains the highest excellence in texture, and there is as a natural result excellence in the fiber of the cocoons. During the feeding season, Jrom June to October, there is exemption from rain, and no electric or other meteorological changes check the growth or kill the silk-worms. Loss there is said yet to be almost inappreciable, while in all other silk-producing countries it is rated at from twenty to thirty-three .per cent. Care Necessary. — The rearing of silk-worms entails much care and labor, and hence all should be warned not to rush into this industry without due investigation, and a careful study of its possibilities. II. Silk-Producing Insects. All insects which weave cocoons for the protection of their eggs produce a species of silk. Spiders produce silk exceedingly fine and strong, but they are solitary, kill and eat each other when colonized, and are not gregariou^. The common basket worni, which feeds indiscriminately upon deciduous trees, forms silk, but it must be carded, thus destroying its principal value. The ailanthus silk-worm (^Attacus cynthia) is a good silk-producing insect; is acclimated in this country, but experi- ments with it so far have not been conclusively satisfactory. Our native polyphema or cecropia yields good silk. Various insects of the genus Bombyx from Senegal, China and Bengal, and one from Japan, which latter feeds on the oak, have been received by the Department of Agriculture in Washington, but are considered of no greater value than our cecropia. The probability is that the true mulberry silk-worm (sericaria mori) will continue to be in the future, as it has been for ages past, in some of its many cultivated varieties, the most profitable. The perfect insect is a moth — scaly-winged insect — and belongs to the family called spinners. These have been broken by cultivation into numerous varieties, the qualities sought to be intensified being subjection to confinement, and quality of the silk product. III. From the Egg to the Moult. The intending cultivator of silk must study the nature and habits of the insect, the proper food, the manner of feeding, curing the cocoons and reeling the silk. This we propose to present in the most condensed form possible, since to give all these things in full detail would require a volume larger than this whole book. The practical points are all that is necessary for the beginner. The habits of the insects and their proper management have been carefully studied by Dr. Riley, United States Entomologist. From his reports we take the following facts: SILK AND SILK-WOEMS. 213 SILKWORM LAEVA FULL GROWN. Stages of the Worm. — The silk-worm exists in four states — egg, larva, chrys- alis, and adult or imago. The egg of the silk-worm moth is called by silk-raisers, the seed. Its color when first deposited is yellow, and this color it retains if unimpreg- nated. If impregnated, it soon acquires a grey, slate, lilac, violet, or even a dark-green hue, accord- ing to variety or breed. It also becomes indented. When diseased it assumes a still darker and dull tint. As the hatching point ap- proaches, the egg becomes lighter in color. Just before hatching, the worm within becoming more active, a slight clicking sound is frequently heard, which sound is, however, common to the eggs of many other insects. After the worm has made its exit by gnawing a hole through one side of the shell, this last becomes quite white. Each female produces on an average from three to four hundred eggs, and one ounce of eggs contains about 40,000 individuals. It has been noticed that the color of the albuminous fluid of the egg corresponds to that of the cocoon, so that when the fluid is white the cocoon produced is also white, and when yellow the cocoon again corresponds. The Moults. The worm goes through from three to four moults, the latter being the normal number. The periods between these moults are called ages, there being five of these ages, including the first from the hatching and the last from the fourth moult to the spinning period. The time between each of these moults is usually divided as follows: The first period occupies from five to six days, the second but four or five, the third about five, the fourth from five to six, and the fifth from eight to ten. These periods are not exact, but simply proportionate. The time from the hatching to the spinning of the cocoons may, and does, vary all the way from thirty to forty days, depend- ing upon the race of the worm, the quality of the food, mode of feeding, temperature, etc. ; but the same relative proportion of time between moults usually holds true. The preparation for each moult requires from two to three days of fasting and rest, during which time the worm attaches itself firmly by the abdominal prolegs. In front of the first joint a dark triangular spot is at this time noticeable, indicating the growth of the new head; and when the term of sickness is over, the worm casts its old integument, rests a short time to recover strength, and then, freshened, supple and hungry, goes to work feeding voraciously, to make up for lost time. SILK- WORM MOTH. COCOON 214 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. IV. Varieties of the Silk-Worm. Domestication has had the effect of producing numerous varieties of the silk- worm, every different climate into which it has been carried having produced either some changes in the quality of the silk, or the shape or color of the cocoons ; or else altered the habits of the worm. Some varieties produce but one brood in a year, no matter how the eggs are manipulated; such are known as Annuals. Others, known as Bivoltins, hatch twice in the course of a year; the first time, as with the Annuals, in April or May, and the second, eight or ten days after the eggs are laid by the first brood. The eggs of the second brood only are kept for the next year's crop, as those of the first brood always either hatch or die soon after being laid. The Trevoltins produce three annual generations. There are also Quadrivoltins, and in Bengal, a variety known as Dacey which is said to produce eight generations in the course of a year. Experiments, taking into consideration the size of the cocoon, quality of silk, time occupied, hardiness, quantity of leaves required, etc., have proved the Annuals to be more profitable than any of the polyvoltins. Varieties are also known by the color of the cocoons they produce, as Greens,, or Whites, or Yellows, and also by the country in which they flourish. The white silk is most valuable in commerce, but the races producing yellow, cream-colored or flesh-colored cocoons are generally considered to be the most vigorous. Japanese Eggs the Best. — Owing to the fearful prevalence of pebrine among the French and Italian races for fifteen or twenty years back, the Japanese Annuals have come into favor. The eggs are bought at Yokohama in September, and shipped during the winter. There are two principal varieties in use, the one producing white and the other greenish cocoons, and known respectively as the White Japanese and the Green Japanese Annuals. These cocoons are by no means large, but the pods are solid and firm, and yield an abundance of silk. They are about of a size, and both varieties are almost always constricted in the middle. Another valuable race is the White Chinese Annual, which much resembles the White Japanese, but is not as generally constricted. V. Keeping and Hatching the Eggs. The eggs should be kept in a cool, dry room in tin boxes to prevent the ravages of rats and mice. They are most safely stored in a dry cellar, where the temperature rarely sinks. below the freezing point, and they should be occasionally looked at to make sure that they are not affected by mold. If, at any time, mold be perceived upon them it should be at once rubbed or brushed off, and the atmosphere made drier. If the tin boxes be perforated on two sides and the perforations covered with tine wire gauze, the chances of injury will be reduced to a minimum. The eggs may also, whether on cards or loose, be tied up in small bags and hung to the ceiling of the cold room. The string of the bag should be passed through a bottle neck, or piece of tin, to prevent injury from rats or mice. The temperature should never be allowed to rise above 40° Fahr., but may be allowed to sink below freezing point without injury. SILK AND SILK-WORMS. 215 Hatching. — They should be kept at a low temperature until the mulberry leaves are well started in the spring, and great care must be taken as the weather grows warmer to prevent hatching before their food is ready for them, since both the Mulberry and Osage Orange are rather late in leafing out. One great object should be, in fact, to have them all kept back, as the tendency in our climate is to prema- ture hatching. Another object should be to have them hatch uniformly, and this is best attained by keeping together those laid at one and the same time, and by winter- ing them as already recommended, in cellars that are cool enough to prevent any embryonic development. They should then, as soon as the leaves of the food plant have commenced to put forth, be placed in trays and brought into a well-aired room where the temjDerature averages about 75° Fahr. Heat and Moisture. — The heat of the room may be increased about two degrees each day, and if the eggs have been well kept back during the winter, they will begin to hatch I'nder such treatment on the fifth or sixth day. By no means must the eggs be exposed to the sun's rays, which would kill them in a very short time. As the time of hatching approaches, the eggs grow lighter in color, and then the atmos- phere must be kept moist artificially by sprinkling the floor, or otherwise, in order to enable the worms to eat through the egg-shell more easily. They also appear fresher and more vigorous with due amount of moisture. Ventilation. — The building in which rearing is to be done should be so arranged that it can be thoroughly and easily ventilated, and warmed if desirable. A northeast exposure is the best, and buildings erected for the express purposie should, of course, combine these requisites. VI. Preparing to Feed the Worms. When the business of rearing silk-worms is carried on extensively, proper build- ings and appliances must be provided. The directions in this volume are intended simply for the use of families who incline to the industry, and have an airy spare room where the rearing may be carried on. Here only simple means will be employed. The author used to feed them in a well-ventilated attic, and had no trouble with disease, which has been so troublesome to silk-growers of late. Each day's hatching should be kept separate, that the moultings may be equal and regular in each colony. Shed Feeding. — Open or shed feeding has been employed with some success for family establishments. This, however, confines the whole business, particularly in the Northern States, to one or two crops in the season. In the South more can be successfully fed. These sheds may be cheaply made, by setting posts in the ground, from six to eight feet high, with a roof of shingles or boards. The roof should project two feet over the sides. There should be some protection to the ends and sides of the shed, as strong cotton cloth sewed together, with small rods across the bottom which will answer as weights, and also as rollers, which by the aid of a pulley may be rolled up or. let down at pleasure. 216 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. The width of the sheds must be governed by the size of the hurdles or feeding trays used. The length according to the extent of the feeding contemplated. Feeding-Shelves. — In fitting up the hurdles or feeding-shelves for a building twenty feet wide, it will require a double range of posts two and a half or three inches square, on each side of the center of the room, running lengthwise, and the length of the shelves apart, in the ranges, and each two corresponding posts, crosswise of the ranges, about the width of the two shelves apart. On each double range across the posts are nailed strips, one inch or more in width and about fifteen inches apart, on which the trays or hurdles rest, which may be drawn out or slid in as may be found necessary in feeding. The aisles or passages of a building of the above width will be four feet each, allowing two feet for the width of each single hurdle. The hurdles are of twine net-work. A frame is first made five feet long and two feet wide of boards seven-eighths of an inch thick, and one and a half inches wide. There should be two braces across the frame at equal distances of five-eighths by seven-eighths of an inch square. On a line about half an inch from the inner edge of the frame are driven tacks nearly down to their heads, at such distances as will make the meshes of the net about three-quarters of an inch square. .Good hemp or flax twine is passed around these tacks, forming a net by passing the filling double over and under the warp, or that part of the twine that runs lengthwise. This twine should be somewhat smaller than that running lengthwise. On a damp day the twine becomes tight; then give the netting two good coats of shellac varnish. This cements the whole together and renders it firm and durable. The varnish is made by dissolving a quantity of gum shellac in alcohol in a tin-covered vessel, and placed near the fire. It should be reduced, when used, to the consistence of paint. Another set of frames are made in the same way and of the same size, and covered with strong cotton cloth; this is secured with small tacks. Upon these the net frames rest, which serve to catch the litter that falls through from the worms. Hurdles made and supported in this manner admit of a free circulation of air, and the litter is then less liable to mould or ferment, and can be removed and cleaned at pleasui'e. VII. Feeding and Care of Silk- Worms. The eggs upon the papers or cloths will hatch in an atmosphere raised gradually from seventy to seventy-five degrees, in nine or ten days. But few worms will make their appearance on the first day, but on the second and third the most will come out; should there be a few remaining unhatched on the fourth day they may be thrown away, as they do not always produce strong and healthy worms. When the worms begin to make their appearance, young mulberry leaves cut into narrow strips should be laid over them, to which they will readily attach themselves; these should be carefully removed and placed compactly upon a cloth screen or tray, prepared for them, and other leaves placed upon the eggs, for the worms that still remain, which should be passed off as before. A singular fact will be observed, that all the worms SILK AND SILK-WORMS. 217 will hatch between sunrise and before noon of each day. Care should be taken to keep the worms of each day's hatching by themselves, as it is of the greatest importance to have the moultihgs and changes of all the worms as simultaneous as possible. . ' Young and tender leaves should be selected to feed the worms with ; these should be cut with a sharp knife into pieces not exceeding a quarter of an inch square, and evenly sifted over them. They should be fed in this way six or eight times in twenty-four hours, as near as possible at regular and stated periods, and it should be unnecessary to say that all access by rats, mice and birds must be shut off from the feeding-place. Move and spread the worms every day, except when they are moulting. Feed often with fresh leaves, give all the air you can, so that they do not blow away. After the first moulting, feed with short, tender twigs. They are easily moved and spread with the twigs in the morning when they are hungry. If they are neglected while young it is useless to feed them when they are old. After they pass the second moulting, if fed with care, they will eat the leaves so clean that they will need to be moved but once between each moulting, and that should be done just before they moult; but should their bed become foul, move them by all means. VIII. Moulting or Casting' the Skin. If the worms are well fed, not too thick on the papers, and the weather warm, they will moult nearly at the same time; that is, each day's hatching, and when they are kept separate and the papers marked first, second and third day, etc., you can feed them as they ought to be fed, and when they commence winding you can put up the bushes for them to wind in, as each lot commences. They ''-<: will not all need them at once, as they would if all ages were mixed. When all the frames commence winding at once they cannot be attended to in time, and many worms will be lost if there is no place provided for them. They will crawl over the frames and waste their silk ; even if they make a cocoon it will be of but little value. After the third moulting, feed with branches as long as they will lay on the frames. Keep the bed as even as possible. Let no leaves hang over the frame, lest some of the worms crawl out on them, others will cut them off, and leaves and worms will fall together to the ground. PIEDMONTESE SILK REEL. 218 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. When the worms get too large to lift with the branches, and they want moving, place five strips, three-eighths or one-half inch square, across the frames (the frames are three by four feet), the strips are three feet four inches long; so as to extend two inches over the frame on each side. Sift lime lightly over the whole bed till it is all white, worms and all; then lay branches lengthwise of the frame across the five strips. After feeding a few times the worms will all be on a new bed ; they will not stay among the lime in the old bed. They are then ready to move. Have a few duplicate frames ready ; lay two sheets of heavy brown paper that will cover the frame : if you could get one large enough to cover the frame it would be better. Give the worms a good feed, and as they come upon the upper bed, place two strips, four feet long, under the ends o'f the five cross strips. Two persons can then raise the worms up, while the third person slips the frame and the old bed out.and puts one of the duplicates in its place. The worms can then be let down, and they will keep eating as if nothing had happened. If it becomes necessary to move them suddenly, have four or five sharp-pointed sticks, slip them through the bed of branches just below the worms ; then proceed as before. Pick off what few worms remain on the frame; throw off the litter, and the frame is ready for the next move. IX. Winding Frames, on which che Worms Spin. A LIGHT frame, the length of the hurdles, two feet and four incnes wide, and made of boards one and a half inches wide, is filled crosswise with thin laths about one inch apart in the clear, and answers the twofold purpose of winding frame and mounting ladder. When the worms are about to spin, they present something of a yellowish appearance ; they refuse to eat and wander about in pursuit of a hiding-place, and throw out fibers of silk upon the leaves. The hurdles should now be thoroughly cleaned for the last time. The lath frames are used by resting the back edge of the frame upon the hurdle, where the two meet in the double I'ange, and raising the front edge up to the under side of the hurdle above, which is held in its place by two small . .,„„„„.„» wire hooks attached to the edge of the hurdle, showing LATH 1 RAME. _ O ' O an end view thus: A covering of paper or cloth should be applied to the lath frames. In using the hurdles and screens, remove the screen from under the hurdle, turning the other side up, and letting it down directly upon the winding frame. During the spinning the temperature of the room should now be kept at about eighty degrees, as the silk does not flow so freely in a cool atmosphere. The frame resting upon the back side of each hurdle renders this side more dark, which places the worms instinctively seek, when they meet with the ends of the laths and immediately ascend to convenient places for the formation of their cocoons. From these frames the cocoons are easily gathered, free from litter and dirt, and when they are required they are put up with great expedition. SILK AND SILK- WORMS. 219 Next to lath frames, small bunches of straw afford the best simple accommoda- tion for this purpose. Take a small bunch of clean rye straw about the size of the little finger, and with some strong twine tie it firmly about half an inch from the butt of the screw; cut the bunch off about half an inch longer than the distance between the hurdles. They are thus placed upright with their butt ends downwards, with their tops spreading out, interlacing each other, and pressing against the hurdles above. They should be thickly set in double rows about sixteen inches apart, across the hurdles. After the most of the worms have arisen, the few remaining may be removed to hurdles by themselves. In four to six days the cocoons may be gathered. While gathering, those designed for eggs should be selected. Those of firm and fine texture with round hard ends are the best. The smaller cocoons most generally produce the male, and those larger and more full at the ends, the female insect. Each healthy FRENCH SILK-REELING MACHINE. female moth will lay from four hundred to six hundred eggs. But it is hot always safe to calculate on one-half of the cocoons to produce female moths. Therefore it is well to save an extra number to insure a supply of eggs. X. Killing the Worms. This is done by subjecting the cocoons to heat. If baked, the cocoons are put in shallow baskets, placed in iron pans, and subjected to a temperature of two hundred degrees (not more), and kept there until the humming noise within, entirely ceases. Or the cocoons may be put in air-tight boxes, and taken to a steam mill, and the steam turned on for about twenty minutes. They may also be killed by subjecting them to a very hot sun for several days, carrying them under cover at night. But they must afterwards be thoroughly air-dried to prevent putrefaction. 220 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. PLA>fE VIEW OLD FEENCII REEL. XI. Reeling the Silk. In family sericulture it will not pay to reel. The cocoons had better be sold direct to the manufacturer, although carefully reeled silk is worth, per pound, enough more to pay fairly for the labor. One pound of reeled silk is made from three and two-thirds pounds of dry cocoons, in which the worms have been choked. It will hardly be necessary to describe the reeling of the silk, since those who go into silk- worm raising extensively enough ri fj c to permit reeling, can readily make themselves acquainted with the whole matter by instructions from the sellers of the machine. The illustration shows a French reel, and the one combining the principles upon which ail are founded. The automatic electrical silk-reeler invented by Mr. Serrell, formerly of New York, now of Lyons, France, may do for the indus- try what the cotton gin did for cotton, and the reeling of silk become profitable in the United States. The illustrations of the old French reel and of the Piedmontese reel in this chapter are given more as cui'iosities than for their practical utility. XII. Marketing Cocoons and Eggs. The following is a computation made by Dr. Riley, and published in 1878, of results for two adults, man and wife, for six weeks in the culture of silk-worms : Average number of eggs per ounce, 40,000. Average number of fresh cocoons per pound, 300. Avei"age reduction in weight for choked cocoons, 66 per cent. Maximum amount of fresh cocoons from one ounce of eggs, 130 to 140 pounds. Allowing for deaths in rearing — 26 per cent, being a large estimate — we thus get, as the product of an ounce of eggs, 100 pounds of fresh or 33 pounds of choked cocoons. Two adults can take charge of the issue of from 3 to 5, say 4, ounces of eggs, which will produce 400 pounds of fresh or 133 pounds of choked cocoons. Price per pound of fresh cocoons (1878), 50 cents. . Four hundred pounds of fresh cocoons, at 50 cents, $200. Price per pound of fresh cocoons (1876), 70 cents. Four hundred pounds of fresh cocoons, at 70 cents, $280. SECTIONAL VIEW OLD FRENCH REEL. SILK AND SILK-WORMS. 221 Actual sales in Marseilles, December, 1878, of choked cocoons, 15 francs per kilogram, or $1.66 per pound, which for 133 pounds choked cocoons would be $220.78. Price per pound of choked cocoons '1876\ $2.25 ; 133 pounds of choked cocoons at $2.25, $299.25. Freight, packing, commissions, and other incidental expenses, say $25, .making as the return for the labor of two persons for six weeks, at the present low prices, $195.78. Calculating on the basis of $1.50 per pound of choked cocoons, which as shown in the following estimates, a reeling establishment in this country could afford to pay, we get approximately the same amount, viz, $199.50. The same gentleman also gives estimates ujDon raising eggs as follows: Average number of eggs in an ounce, 40,000. Maximum number of cocoons for one ounce of eggs, 40,000. One-half of these, or 20,000, are females. Number of eggs laid by each female, say 300. Quantity of eggs from one ounce, 6,000,000, or 150 ounces. Deducting as probable loss from all causes combined, one-half, we have 75 ounces. Price of eggs in Europe, $2 to $5; say, $3 per ounce. Amount realized on one ounce, $225. On the basis of the first estimates two adults could take charge of the issue from four ounces of eggs. These would yield the sum of $900, and, even after allowing for the first cost of eggs, trays, commission, freight (which is light), extra time and labor (say another month), and incidental expenses, it leaves a very excellent return. XIII. Pood of the Silk-Worm. Besides their regular food, silk-worms will eat young, tender lettuce and Osage orange. It is a waste of time, however, to attempt to rear worms on lettuce. If they hatch too early, they may be fed on lettuce for a few days, until other leaves appear. Very young leaves from the tree must not be fed to the worms, except when they are themselves young. Wet leaves must in no case be fed. Hence, in rainy weather a supply of leaves must be on hand, or else they must be artificially dried before being fed. So, in feeding Osage orange, after the worms become partly mature, the soft and terminal leaves must not be fed. Dr. Riley says, neither of our indigenous mul- berries is suitable for food. He is probably correct. The experiment made by the writer, in Illinois, in 1839, with the red mulberry, was not successful. The white mulberry {Morus Alba), the variety known as multicaulis, and the black mulberry {M. Nigra) are valuable, and in the order named. The Moretti, a dwarf variety of the white mulberry, is said to be valuable from its abundance of large leaves. The Russian mulberry has lately been extolled, but not enough experi- ments have yet been made to determine its value. 222 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. XIV. Raising Mulberry Trees. To raise silk-worms one must first have the leaves. The mulberry, especially the white and multicaulis, grows readily from layers or cuttings. Set these in rows four feet apart, for ease in horse cultivation, and six inches apart in the row. When large enough to transplant, or when one or two years old, take out the plants, leaving the trees in the original plantation in squares four feet by four. As the plants again crowd, take out every other row and transplant. Thus in a short time you may have plenty of trees for foliage. In transplanting it is better to cut down the trees to within one foot of the ground. Transplant ten or fifteen feet apart, and, keep them dwarfs by annual cutting back. CHAPTER VIII. SPECIAL CROPS— HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. I. HOP GKOWING IN AMERICA. II. COST OF RAISING. III. ESTABLISHING A HOP YARD. IV. THE PROPER SITUATION AND SOIL. V. PREPARING FOR THE CROP. VI. TRENCHING THE SOIL. VII. SETTING THE PLANTS. VIII. CARE OF THE HOP YARD. IX. CULTIVATION IN CROP YEARS. X. PICKING THE HOPS. ^Xl. DRYING THE HOPS. — -XII. MiiJSTAGEMENT IN THE KILN.— XIII. THE CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO. XIV. SOILS AND SITUATION FOR TOBACCO.— XV. THE TRUE TOBACCO BELT. XVI. RAISING THE CROP SOUTH. -XVII. TR^VNSPLANTING, CULTIVATING AND WORMING, XVIII. THE SEED BED. ^XIX. RAISING PLANTS NORTH. XX. PREPARING THE LAND. XXI. PLANTING AT THE NORTH. XXII. PROPER WAY TO TRANSPLANT TOBACCO. XXIII. CULTIVA- TION. -XXIV. CUTTING AND CURING TOBACCO. XXV. THE TOBACCO HOUSE. XXVI, TWELVE RULES FOR TOBACCO GROWERS. XXVII. PEANUTS, OR GOUBERS. XXVIII. THE CULTIVATION FOR PEANUTS. XXIX. GATHERING THE NUTS. XXX. AFTER-MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF SEED. XXXI. SWEET POTATOES. XXXII. FIELD CULTURE OF SWEET POTATOES. XXXIII. KEEPING SWEET POTATOES IN WINTER. XXXIV. GARDEN CULTIVATION. I. Hop Growing in America. ^l||HE hop prevents fermentation, and adds an agreeable bitter to beer, ale and ^^ porter. To these qualities it owes its commercial value, England, Germany, W Austria and the United States being the principal sources of supply. In 1840, the quantity produced in the United States was 1,238,502 pounds. In 1850, this had increased to 3,496,850 pounds, of which the State of New York alone gave 2,536,299 pounds. In 1860, 11,010,012 pounds were grown, and two years later the crop exceeded 16,000,000 pounds. About this time, western farmers awoke to the profits of hop culture, and in 1867 the crop had, in some parts of this region, reached enormous proportions. Wisconsin, which has much valley land favorable to the cultivation, produced during the year named, 7,000,000 pounds, of which Sauk county alone gave 4,000,000, worth $2,500,000. In 1869, the hop crop of the United States was no less than 25,456,669 pounds', and from that time the acreage steadily increased. In 1876, it was over 60,000 acres, almost equaling that of England, then the greatest hop-producing country of the globe. In 1877, the year of largest production, the yield was 110,000 bales, of which 95,000 bales were exported. The acreage of the great hop-growing countries is as follows: United States about 70,000 acres; England, 68,000 to 70,000 acres; continental Europe, 76,000 acres. The year 1878 was a disastrous one to hop raisers, insects and meteorological conditions combining to ruin much of the crop. 11. Cost of Raising. In the West the product has often been enormous; 1,000 pounds per acre not being unusual, and the cost to the farmer as low as six cents a pound. In the [223] 224 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. Eastern States, the cost varies from twelve to fifteen cents, while in Kent, the famous hop district of England, the average cost of producing one hundred pounds is esti- mated at $24.30, or twenty-four and one-third cents per pound. The following figures given by a prominent hop-grower in Sauk county, Wisconsin, in the flush time of 1876, will explain the epidemic in the West. The hop yard contained four acres, the capital invested, including land, fixtures, poles, kilns, presses, etc., was $2,000. For 1877, his second year, his statement is as follows: interest on capital, ten per cent, $200; cultivation, setting poles, etc., $100; harvesting, curing, etc., $943; total expenses, $1,243. Eeceipts for 11,520 pounds of hops at sixty cents per pound, $6,912; net receipts for hop roots, $3,040; total receipts, $9,952; net receipts, $8,709, or 435 per cent on original investment. III. Establishing a Hop Yard. The principal reasons for failures of the hop crop, in the West, especially, are inexperience in the preparation of the land, careless cultivation, and the neglect of prompt measures to prevent the depredations of insects. A crop of hops pays a large sum of money per acre, and much labor must be spent to get it. The hop plant is always propagated by sets, or sections of the roots, and never from the seeds un- less the operator wishes some n«w variety. IV. The Proper Situation and Soil. Never put the hop yard in a situation where there is not a free circulation of ' air, and at the same time exemption from violent winds. , Avoid all cold, tenacious, poor or wet soils. Any of these will cause failure. In England the best hops are produced in the Farnham district, upon the outcrop of the upper green-sand, and on a deep diluvial loam lying in the valleys beneath ; in East Kent, upon a rich, deep loam, resting upon the upper chalk and plastic clay; in Mid Kent, upon the ragstone rock of the lower green-sand ; in West Kent, chiefly upon an outcrop of the upper green-sand and gault, and in the Hill Grounds, upon the upper chalk; in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, upon Hastings sand of the Wealden formation; and in the Worcester district, upon the marls of the new red sandstone. In the United States a deep, rich, sandy loam, tolerably firm, thoroughly well drained, rich in lime, the phosphates, potash and humus is the best — soil that will produce large crops of wheat, and one that will, not heave from freezing and thawing. If you have these conditions, or can make those you do not naturally have, including protection, "go ahead." If not, "go slow." V. Prepaiang for the Crop. The best English authorities have established the following rules in preparing the soil for hops, setting and cultivating, which we have adapted to 'American prac- tice: Having chosen the site for a new plantation, the grouftd is trenched, or subsoil- plowed, and the holes dug, early in October. The plants are raised by cutting off the Diagrams showing the Acreage and Value of Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Hops and Rice in the United States. (OFFICIAL.) Products VALUE Quantity Produced nice t 7,000,000 Pouiids 110,000,000 Hops L . «,<)00,UOO J Pou,ids 30,000,IM0 Sugar Pr(j(li cts 28,000,(X)0 Sufjiir Pounds Molassr.s Gallor 200,000,000 s 17,000,(X)0 Tobacco 44},(NHI,IM)() I'<>u.i-U l:,il,iHHl.(KH) SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 225 layers, or shoots, of the preceding year. These should have been bedded out in the preceding March or April, in ground previously trenched and well manured, which, by autumn, will have become what are termed " nursery plants," or bedded sets; or the cuttings themselves are planted out the same year ; but this plan is not recom- mended, although less expensive, since, in a dry spring, there is great risk of their dying. If the nursery plants be used, it is desirable to set them early. When cuttings are used, they are planted in squares, or triangles, at equal distances, generally from six to seven feet apart. The triangular planting possesses an advantage over the square, as, when three poles to a hill are employed, it allows the hop cultivator more completely to move all the ground on the outside of the poles, which is a matter of some importance. With regard to distances, as a general rule, six feet is preferred for square planting, and six and one-half feet for triangular. For very fertile grounds, the distances are further increased, sometimes to nine feet in square planting, having poles from twenty to thirty feet in length. In all these matters, however, the exer- cise of judgment is required. VI. Trenching' the Soil. Trenching is considered to be, in the first instance, the preferable mode of pre- paring the ground, especially when meadow or pasture land is to be broken up, where, indeed, it is almost indispensable. In this, as in every other case where trenching is adopted, care is taken not to bury the surface-soil too deeply, but leaving it within reach of the spade, when the ground is dug over the following year. Very deep trenching for hops, even when the top-soil is not buried deeply, is not advisable, and unless the soil is rich, plenty of well-rotted manure should be trenched under. Very deep plowing answers well, if the land be taken from arable cultivation, provided if be in a clean condition. When the ground has been trenched or subsoiled, if it be in " good heart," no manure is required at the time of planting; but if the ground be poor, it is desirable to dig small holes, about a foot square and fifteen inches deep, and put into the bot- tom of each hole a spit of good dung compost, or a few rags, hair, or any kind of animal refuse, but on no account to use guano or the salts of ammonia at this period. When large holes are dug as a substitute for trenching, it is almost always advisable to put in some manure, which should be mixed up with the soil, instead of being placed at the bottom of the holes. VII. Setting the Plants. If nursery or bedded sets are employed, one, two or three plants may be used to form a hill, according to the strength of the plants. One is sufficient, if it be a large, strong, healthy plant, and if great pains and attention be bestowed upon the subse- quent management. When cuttings are used, it is safest to plant five to each hill, which should be dibbled in around one as a center. Each cutting should have an inch of earth between it and its fellow. In the planting of new grounds, attention should 15 226 THE H03IE AND FARM MANUAL. be paid to the introduction of a sufficient number of the male plants. One hill in two hundred, or about six on an acre, are considered ample. They ought to be planted at regular and known intervals, in order that, in subsequent years, the cuttings saved from these grounds may not become indiscriminately mixed. The introduction of these male plants is a matter of extreme importance, and ought on no account to be neglected ; for it is an established and indisputable fact, that the grounds which pos- sess them are more prolific, and bring the hops to maturity earlier than those planta- tions which are deficient in them, and, in addition to these advantages, the hops are of a better quality. The subsequent cultivation of a new plantation requires constant attention. The ground must always be kept quite clear of weeds, and should have a good depth of pulverized soil. In the latter part of the spring, a light pole about six or seven feet high above ground, should be placed to each hill, if planted with "nurseries," and about four feet high if planted with cuttings ; to these, the young vines, as they shoot out during the summer, must be tied up. At the end of May, or the beginning of June, unless the ground is new and rich, a dressing of guano and superphosphate of lime should be applied, at the rate of 300 pounds of the former and 100 pounds of the latter per acre. This should be placed in equal quantities around each hill and hoed in, taking care not to allow any of the mixture to come in contact with the plant. Another and similar manuring should be applied in July, and after this, the hills should be earthed about six inches. The above quantities of fertilizers may appear extrava- gant, but it must be borne in mind that young hops cannot be too strong; for, unless they be very strong, they will not come into full bearing the next year. This recommendation is the result of a long and extensive experience. The cost, too, is often x'epaid in the same j'ear, by the growth of 200 or 300 pounds of hops per acre. When the hops from these nursery grounds are picked, the vines must not be cut, but the hops must be gathered from the sticks, as they stand, into small baskets. The vines and poles of this young plantation should not be removed until late in autumn, or when the plants have entirely ceased growing. Whatever the age, nothing should be done except when the soil will "work in a perfectly friable condition. It is especially dangerous to the crop to work the soil when wet. In the West, where land is not so valuable as in England or the Eastern States, we advise wide planting. It gives greater ventilation and ease of horse cultivation. In England, where the climate is moist, planting is done in raised hills. In the' West, if the land is well drained, level cultivation is best. Dwarf varieties should be selected, since they are richer in the constituents which make hops valuable. In setting the plants, manure should not be put in the hill, especially new, unfermented barn-yard manure, but a richer soil may be added on thoroughly worked old compost if the ground is not rich. The roots of the sets should be spread out caiefuUy, fine mold put around them, the soil pressed firmly and the earth heaped over them. Each hill should have two poles. In England the number is determined by the kind of hop. The Farnham, Canterbury White, and the Goldings are strong SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 227 growers, and require large poles, from fourteen to twenty feet long. The Grape varieties are smaller and need poles not exceeding ten to fourteen feet in length. VIII. Care of the Hop Yard. Lay out the ground in regular rows seven or eight feet apart by plowing or checking perfectly straight furrows each way. Manure should not be used in the hill when setting the hops, but, if necessary, very rich earth may be added. It is usual to place five cuttings in a hill. Three plants may be allowed for the distances here given, though two plants to stand are enough. The first year the yard may be planted with corn, potatoes, or any similar crop, between the vines, the hops being tied temporarily to short poles as previously directed, and the cultivation may be hill or flat according to the drainage or other features of the field. In well-drained soils not too retentive, fiat culture is the best. Pn the autumn two good shovels full of well-rotted compost manure over the crowns wiU serve to protect the plants during winter, besides enriching the soil and giving the plants a vigorous start in the spring. IX. Cultivation in Crop Years. After the first season, the hops should occupy the whole soil. Two poles are allowed to each hill ; these should be sharpened true and set deep enough with the bar to prevent danger of being blown down when weighted with hops. They are better if inclined apart at the tops. When the hops appear above ground two of the best should be selected for each pole, and, when they reach a height of two feet, be tied thereto with stocking-yarn, bast, prepared x'ushes, or other suitable material. All other vines should be cut just beneath the surface of the ground. The cultivation is simply to keep the surface of the soil clean and mellow, to destroy all weeds and supernumerary vines that may appear, to tie the vines to the pole until they twine and support themselves, and to watch for and destroy all insects that may appear. X. Picking the Hops. The Enghsh rule is that the hops are ripe when the seed has changed from a bright straw color to a pale brown, and emits its peculiar fragrance. Another rule is to pick when the hop becomes hard and crisp to the touch ; when the extreme petal projects prominently at the tip of the hop ; when the color is changed from a light silvery green to a deep primrose or yellow; and when, on opening the flower, the cuticle of the seeds is of a purple color, and the kernel, or seed itself, hard, like a nut. Even after the hop has attained a lightish-brown color no real injury to its quality will have accrued, and, for many purposes, such hops are most esteemed in the market ; but after the hops generally attain a dark-brown hue there will be a great loss, both in quality and weight. When in a proper stage of ripeness, four pounds of undried hops will make one of dry, and five pounds, scarcely ripe, are required to make one when dried. Before picking time the hop-grower should secure all necessary aid; and 228 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. that aid, when promised, under no circumstances should fail, as it so often does, in the harvesting of other crops. The hops are commonly picked in large boxes, containing from twenty-four to forty bushels. These boxes are divided lengthwise by a thin partition, and then subdivided into quarters. They are raised a little from the ground, and have handles at the ends. One man and four girls are allowed to each box. Each hand deposits the hops in his or her own division of the box, and a good hand can pick twenty bushels in a day without difficulty. They are generally paid by the quantity, at so much for the box-full. It is the business of the man to supply the boxes with poles, which he raises from the ground as needed, cutting the vines about a foot high ; to see that the picking is properly done, to remove the empty poles, clear them of the vines, and stack them in a systematic manner. In picking, the hops should be kept free from stems and leaves, and all blasted or immature ones should be rejected. The boxes should be emptied at least once a day; at all events, no hops should be left in the boxes over night. HOP lOLN OR DKY HOUSE. The picking finished, the poles are stacked wigwam fashion and bound at the tops, or else stacked so that nothing but the lower ends will appear; they must be kept from the ground. XI. Drying the Hops. In California and other dry, sunny climates, hops are sometimes dried in the sun, but in the end, it is everywhere cheapest to build a kiln or dry-house. This may be a simple affair, the lower room containing a stove, with as much radiating pipe as possible, and a room above with a slotted floor, upon which the hops are dried on cloths. A regular kiln, such as is used for curing malt, is better, when charcoal, coke SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 229 or anthracite coal can be used for fuel. Hops being from three-fourths to four-fifths water, soon spoil if kept in bulk in a green state. Hence the kiln is worked day and night, and the hops pressed into bales, of two hundred pounds each, as soon as dry. The Drying Eiln. — The best form of kiln for drying hops is undoubtedly one square and tight to prevent the escape of the heated air except at the ventilator in the roof. Paper orifices, regulated by sliding doors, are left near the ground to admit cool air to be warmed. The heat for ordinary farm use may be stoves, with plenty of pipe running around the heating-room. The illustration shows a dry-house twenty-two by thirty-two feet, with a kihi sixteen by sixteen feet. The stove-room is twelve by twenty-two and two and one-half feet lower than the level of the kiln. The drying-floor should be ten feet from the ground so that there may be no danger of scorching the hops in drying. This floor is formed of slats about one and a half inch each in width, and the same distance from each other. They are covered with a strong, coarse cloth, of open texture, so as to admit of a free transmission of the heated air from the kiln below. The drying-room should be of comfortable height for a person to work in it, and the sides should be lathed and plastered so that there may be no irregularity of the heat in the different portions of the room in high winds. The cloth for the drying-floor should be well stretched over the slats and firmly nailed. On this floor the hops are spread to the depth of six or eight inches. The proper thickness will depend somewhat on the condition of the hops ; if they are very full of moisture, they should be laid on quite thin; but if gathered when fully ripe, and in fine weather, a depth of ten inches will be allowed. XII. Management in the Kiln. The hops being spread as evenly as possible, the fires are immediately kindled in the kiln, and the temperature regulated to one uniform degree of heat. This, however, may be quite high at first, as there will be at that time but little danger of scorching the hops if the floor is sufficiently high. If the hops are rusty, or discol- ored from any other cause, it is usual to burn a little sulphur under them, which will bring them to a uniform appearance. This is done as soon as the hops are well warmed through, and feel somewhat moist. Great prejudice formerly existed against the use of sulphur in drying hops, but no objection is now made by the brewers, and it is generally thought that the use of it improves the appearance of all hops, and that it also facilitates the drying. During the drying processthe fires should be kept up, and there should be a free supply of fresh air below, sufficient to keep up a regular succession of heated air from the kiln, passing through the hops and out at the ventilator, carrying with it the vapor expelled from the drying hops. Dried by Hot Air. — Mr. Morton, the well-known English authority, states the principal points in drying hops. The great object with the hop-drier, he says, is to get rid of the condensed vapor from the green hops as quickly as possible, and the dry-houses should be so constructed as to effect this object perfectly. It must be 230 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. borne in mind that hops should be dried by currents of heated air passing rapidly through them, and not by radiation of heat. This is a distinction of the utmost importance, since success is entirely dependent upon a strict adherence to the former principle. In order to accomplish this effect, the space above the hops must be kept hot, and all the lower parts of the kiln cold, whereby the greater density of the cold air will force the rarefied air above, carrying with it the vapor from the hops, through the aperture or cowls upon the summit of the building. To aid this ascent of the heated air passing through the hops, a stream of heated air is sometimes thrown above the hops through a tube, thus adding greatly to the heat of the current passing through the hops, and giving it a greater ascending power. After Drying. — When sufficiently dried the hops should be allowed to cool off a little, if time can be afforded, otherwise there will be great danger that they will break in moving, or a portion of them shell off and waste. Ten or twelve hours are required to dry a kiln of hops. Two kilns may be dried in twenty-four hours by keeping the heat up through the night. A twenty-foot kiln will thus dry four hundred bushels in a day, as they come from the vines, making about seven hundred and fifty pounds of hops when dry. Do not let the heat slacken, but rather increase it, until the hops are nearly dried, lest the moisture and sweat which the fire has raised fall back and discolor the hops. For these reasons chiefly it is that no cool air should be suffered to come into the kiln while the hops are drying. After the hops have lain about seven, eight or nine hours, having left off sweating, and leap up when beaten with a stick, then turn them with a malt shovel or scoop made for that purpose ; let them remain in this situation for two or three hours more, until every hop is equally dried. They must not be turned while they sweat, for that will scorch and cause them to lose their color ; the fire may be diminished a little before they are turned, and renewed again afterwards; the heat should be kept as equal as pos- sible. It may be of service to use a thermometer, by marking upon it the degree of heat proper for drying hops, as soon as that degree is ascertained by experiment. The Cooling-Roora. — Mistakes are often exceedingly detrimental to the hops, and great attention is required by the drier, night and day, until finished. When they are thoroughly dry, which is known by the brittleness of the inner stalk (if rubbed and it breaks short), the fire should be put out and the hops taken from the kiln into the cooling-room. Here they should be spread out, not exceeding twelve inches in depth, and in a day or two will be ready to bale. Care should be taken to exclude a drying air from the cooling-room. The hops being dried, the next process is to bale them. This should not be done immediately after they are taken from the kiln, but they should be allowed to lie a few days in the store-room, till they become a little softened, otherwise their extreme brittleness will cause them to be much broken in baling, and the sample be thereby greatly injured. We have been particular in describing all the minutiae of cultivating, curing and baling hops, for they are important. No one should undertake this industry unless he is prepared to carry out the directions to the minutest detail. SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 231 XIII. The Cultivation of Tobacco. The tobacco crop of the United States is every year increasing in importance, and it is the belief of the writer, that in the valleys of some of the hill regions of the South will yet be found soils that will produce leaf equal to Havana tobacco. The product is sought the world over. It is one of the great money crops of the United States, and its area of production is constantly spreading wherever suitable soils are found, from Massachusetts to California, and from Wisconsin to the Gulf States. To show the value of the tobacco crop it may be mentioned that in 1869 the crop of the United States amounted to about 324,000,000 pounds against, in round numbers, 412,000,000 pounds in 1870; 410,000,000 in 1871; 505,000,000 in 1872; 502,000,000 in 1873; 358,000,000 in 1874; 520,000,000 in 1875; 482,000,000 in 1876; and 581,500,000 in 18,77. Afterwards this enormous production fell off, and in 1880 it was 446,296,889 pounds, worth $36,414,615. It is not safe for farmers to rush into the business unless they have a soil and chmate suited to the crop, and have also informed themselves thoroughly upon the best modes of cultivation and management. Proper houses for curing and packing the tobacco must also be provided. The plant will ripen wherever the Concord grape will, but it does not therefore follow that any soil that will produce the Concord grape will produce good tobacco. There is no plant that is more susceptible to influences of soil and situation than tobacco. XIV. Soils and Situations for Tobacco. Tobacco requires a deep, rich, thoroughly drained, friable soil, strong in potash and niter. A rich humus loam is usually rich in these constituents, if it be produced from a granite soil. Sandy loams are preferable, but whatever the soil, the situation must be protected from sudden changes of temperature, and especially from blowing winds, which would bruise the delicate leaves by whipping them about. Hence, pro- tected valleys are always sought. If the soil is not naturally rich in potash, nitrogen and the phosphates, it must be made so. Valley lands, protected from high winds, are excellent, and if manure can be had cheap, rather, light sandy lands, if not too dry, will make good crops. However good the land, manure will help it, since it costs little if any more to take care of an acre of good land, producing up to 2,000 pounds per acre, than one producing 800 to 1,000 pounds, and the large, choice leaves of uniform quality will sell for much more per pound, than the light, thin leaves. In fact, the measure of success in tobacco culture lies in the difference between six or seven cents per pound, and twenty-five or thirty cents per pound. The first will lose money; the latter will make money fast. No acre should produce less than 1,500 pounds, if the crop is going to pay. Not even then will the farmer make money if he raises five and six cent tobacco. XV. The True Tobacco Belt. The belt of country in which the best tobacco is grown in the United States lies 232 THE HOME AND FARM MANXJAL. between thirty-six and forty degrees, though much of the best cigar tobacco is grown in the West, well north, in Wisconsin, about the latitude of forty-three degrees. The best manufacturing tobacco, plug and chewing, is raised in Kentucky and Missouri. Virginia and North Carolina raise fine tobacco for smoking in pipes, and some of the Florida soils are celebrated for a cigar tobacco, second only to that of Cuba. The principal producing States are Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Ohio. Kentucky produces by far the largest quantity. In the Centennial Exposition twenty-one States were represented, which besides the hung-leaf exhibited ninety specimens of pressed leaf, the best sample being from Virginia. In cigar tobaccos, Connecticut produces the best, and Wisconsin the next best tobacco, if we except Floi'ida, which produces comparatively a small quantity, but of a high grade for cigar wrappers and fillers. What the country west of Arkansas and Missouri may do in the cultivation of tobacco (excepting California, which produces an excellent article), is yet to be learned. It is thought that Arizona contains lands that will produce leaf of the best quality. XVI. Raising the Crop South. The principles of tobacco raising are, of course, the same everywhere. Proper attention to the condition of the soil, judicious selection of plants, careful setting, thorough cultivation, effective precautions against the cut-worm in the spring, careful wonning during the season of the tobacco worm, topping in season, removmg suckers and pruning (removing the leaves next the ground) are all necessary. How this is done is well told by a southern tobacco planter of large experience. He says: Plenty of Plants. — Select good land for the crop ; plow and subsoil if in autumn to get the multiplied benefits of winter's freezes. This cannot be too strongly urged. Have early and vigorous plants and plenty. of them. It were better to have one hundred thousand too many than ten thousand too few. To make sure of them give personal attention to the selection and preparation of the plant bed, and to the care of the young plants in the means necessary to hasten their growth, and to protect them from the dreaded fly. Manure Liberally. — Collect manure in season and out of season, and from every available source — from the fence corners, the ditch-bank, the urinal, the ash pile. Distribute it liberally. Plow it under (both the home-made and the commer- cial) in February, about four inches deep, that it may become thoroughly incorporated in the soil, and be ready to answer to the first and every call of the growing plant. Often (we believe generally) the greatest part of manure applied to tobacco — and this is true of the bought fertilizer as well as that made on the farm — is lost to that crop from being applied too late. Don't wait to apply your dearly-purchased guano in the hill or the drill from fear that, if applied sooner, it will vanish into thin air be- fore the plant needs it. This is an exploded fallacy. Experience, our best teacher. SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 233 has demonstrated that stable and commercial manure are most effective when used in conjunction. In no other way can they be so intimately intermixed as by plowing them under — the one broadcasted on the other — at an early period of the preparation of the tobacco lot. Spring Cultivation. — Early in May (in the main tobacco b^lt between the thirty-fifth and fortieth parallels of north latitude), re-plow the land to about the depth of the February plowing, and drag and cross-drag, and, if need be, drag it again, until the soil is brought to the finest possible tilth. Thus you augment many fold the probabilities of a stand on the first planting, and lessen materially the subse- quent labor of cultivation. Plant on lists (narrow beds made by throwing four fur- rows together with the mold-board plow) rather than in hills, if for no other reason than that having now, if never before, to pay wages in some shape to labor, whenever and wherever possible horse-power should be substituted for man-power — the plow for the hoe. Plant as early as possible after a continuance of pleasant spring weather is assured. Seek to have a forward crop, as the benefits claimed for a late one from the fall dews do not compensate for the many advantages resulting from early maturity. Make it an inflexible rule to plant no tobacco after the tenth of July, in the tobacco belt we have named. Where one good crop is made from later planting ninety-nine prove utter failures. TOBACCO PLANT IN BLOSSOM. XVII. Transplanting, Cultivating and Worming. Take pains in transplanting, that little or no re-planting shall be necessary. The cut-worm being a prime cause of most of the trouble in securing a stand, hunt it assiduously, and particularly in the early morning when it can most readily be found. Keep the grass and weeds down, and the soil loose and mellow by frequent stirring, avoiding as much as possible cutting and tearing the roots of the plant in all stages of its growth, and more especially after topping. There are few cultivated plants more beautiful when in blossom than the tobacco plant, as the illustration will show. The white line shows the proper place for topping, to be varied according to the circumstances, and to be explained hereafter. When at all practicable — and, with the great improvement in cultivators, sweeps and other farm implements, it is oftener practicable than generally supposed — substitute for 234 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. hand-work in cultivation that of the horse. The difference in cost will tell in the balance-sheet at the close of the operation. Worming. — Attend closely to worming, for on it hinges in no little degree the quality and quantity of tobacco you will have for sale. A worm-eaten crop brings little money. So important is this operation that it may properly claim more than a passing notice. Not only is it the most tedious, the most unremitting and the most expensive operation connected with the production of tobacco, but the necessity for it determines more than all other causes the limit of the crop which in general it has been found possible for a single hand to manage. Therefore bring to your aid every possible adjunct in diminishing the number of worms. TOBACCO WORM MOTH. Killing the Moth. — Use poison for killing the moth in the manner so frequently described in treatises on tobacco, to wit : by injecting a solution of cobalt or other deadly drug into the flower of the Jamestown or jimson weed (^Datura stramonium), if necessary, planting seeds of the weed for the purpose. Employ at night the flames of lamps, of torches, or of huge bonfires, in which the moth may find a quick and certain death. In worming, spare those worms found covered with a white film or net-like substance, this being the co- coon producing the ichneumon fly, an enemy to the worm likely to prove a valuable ally to the planter in his war of extermination. Turn your flock of turkeys into the tobacco field, that they, too, may prey upon the pest, and themselves grow fat in so doino-. If these remedies should fail, sprinkle diluted spirits of turpentine over the plant through the rose of a watering pot, a herculean task truly in a large crop, but TOBACCO WORM, LAEVA. SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 235 mere child's play to the hand-picking process, for the one sprinkling suffices to keep off the worms for all time, whereas hand-picking is a continual round of expensive labor from the appearance of the first worm until the last plant has been harvested. Turkeys. — The writer's experience in raising tobacco in the North is that hand- picking is the only sure means of killing the worms. It costs money and time, but the difference in the leaf and the crop, in price, is what ensures profit. Turkeys are indefatigable hunters of the tobacco worm, and they will kill them after their hunger is satisfied. Topping. — The topping of the plants must be attended to in season, just at the time the buds appear. Prom eight to twelve leaves should be left to each plant, according to the richness of the soil. This will give strong growth, but the grower must exercise his judgment here weak ones. XVIII. The Seed-Bed, It is better to have few strong leaves than more Growing the plants is one of the most important things in tobacco culture. Without good, healthy plants, failure is prettj'^ certain. In the South a warm, sheltered situation of well-drained land is selected. This should be carefully dug over in the autumn or winter when dry, and so covered with brush that the soil Tnay be burned deep enough to kill the weeds lying near the surface. The beds may be burned over in February, March or April, according to the locality, and immediately sown, since the seed will not sprout until the earth has the proper temperature. Sowing. — ^After burning, hoe and rake the surface thoroughly, to a depth of two or three inches, and leave the surface fine and smooth. Mix the seed with dry ashes, at the rate of a large tablespoonful for each eighty square yards, and sow evenly, rake lightly, or better, tamp the whole carefully over with the rake, the handle being held upright. Cover carefully with brush, but not so as to exclude the sun. As soon as the plants require weeding, remove the brush carefully, at the same time thinning the plants where they stand too thick. In this way you will get fine, well-rooted plants for setting. XIX. Raising Plants North. In the North, raising plants is more difficult. The season is so short that the crop is often late in ripening. If the plants are placed in too warm a border they are apt to become chilled or killed by frost, and are seldom large enough for setting by the first to the tenth of June. "We have always had the best success by raising the plants in a cold frame — a compartment of boards sixteen inches high at the back, sloping to ten inches in front, covered with sashes, and containing four or five inches of fine compost soil. Caring for the Plants. — The seed may be sown in this bed about the first of April, and are easily cared for, readily protected against the fly, by dusting with soot PUPA OF TOBACCO WOEM. 236 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. or • fumigating with smoke. They are also thoroughly protected against frost at night, or too much wet, and are easily watered when necessary. If given plenty of ventilation to keep them growing slowly and healthily, and if exposed to the full influence of the air during the day, for two or three weeks before setting, they make stronger and better rooted plants than any grown out of door The writer's plan wks to start in a small hot-bed, and when the plants had leaves as large as a mouse's ear, to prick them out, two inches apart, in a cold frame. Thus we always had plants of uniform size for the first setting, and a bed of pricked- out plants, in a warm, open border, furnished plants for succession and filling in, when the stand had been destroyed by worms or otherwise. Every square foot will contain thirty-six plants, and the space required for an acre is not as large as at first would seem necessary. Transplanting. — Transplanting in the North should not be undertaken until cucumbers and melons will germinate and grow promptly, or until both days and nights are warm. In untoward seasons plants are set until about the first of July. From the first to the fifteenth of June is the proper time in Wisconsin, and a little earlier in Northern Illinois; about the first of June is the best time in the New Eng- land States. Of seed-leaf tobacco from five thousand to six thousand plants are set per acre, and of Havana six thousand to seven thousand, according to the size of plants your seed will produce. XX. Preparing the Land. In the North the ground for tobacco should always be deeply fall-plowed, turning under a liberal quantity of barn-yard manure. If the land has not been previously manured, twenty loads of fine manure should also be carted and spread in winter to ensure richness near the surface. About ten days before planting-time this should be turned under about four inches deep and the surface brought to an uniformly fine tilth. Marking the Land. — Mark the land in straight lines three feet apart, and with a single horse-hoe or double mold-board plow run through these marks, thus bedding up the land. Eun a harrow over the ridges lengthwise and then a plank to bring all fine and smooth. You will, then have a succession of flat, slightly raised beds upon which to plant. If you mark these beds crosswise, three feet apart, you will get 4,840 plants per acre. This is space enough for the largest Connecticut or Maryland tobacco. If you mark your squares two feet you will have 7,200 plants per acre, and this is cjose enough for the smallest Havana plants. Thus you may graduate your distances to accommodate plants of any size that one season's cultivation will show, according to the richness of the soil or variety of tobacco cultivated. It should always be remem- bered that the closer you grow your plants, according to soil, the better the crop as a rule. Smaller Squares. — Or if you choose to make your beds three and a half feet apart, then by marking across the beds thirty inches apart you will get 4,976 plants SPECIAL CEOPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 237 per acre. Marked two feet apart there will be 6,223 plants; if twenty incnes apart in the row 7,467 plants per acre. XXI. Planting at the North. Directions for planting, general cultivation, care, harvesting, drying, stripping and packing tobacco will apply to all parts of the country, allowances being made for differences in latitude and other conditions. Many tobacco growers pull the plants when the leaves are the size of one's thumb-nail, and simply press them into the ground when it is wet. This is never done. North or South, by the best cultiva- tors. We give the best plan, and in the end it is the cheapest, because it is the best. Never wait for rain in transplanting anything, provided the ground is in a fairly moist condition ; that is, f riably moist, or not really dry. Water the plants thor- oughly in the bed, and as soon thereafter as the soil can be worked, take out enough plants for the day's planting, beginning at about three o'clock in the afternoon, or if the weather is cloudy, work all day. Plant as late at night as you can see. Havana seed plants have long roots like cabbage, and are not so easy to set as Con- necticut seed-leaf, which has fibrous roots. Hence it is better to prick them out. XXII. Proper Way to Transplant Tobacco. When the plants have leaves about the size of a silver dollar, let a careful hand take them up and bring them to the field as wanted, arranging them in baskets on wet moss, so they can be easily handled and covered with a fold of damp cloth. The ground being properly marked, the planter takes a plant, makes a hole for it with one or two fingers, inserts the roots, pressing the earth firmly around it, but leaving a depression to hold a little water. This an assistant supplies from a water-can with a spout. If the earth is in good condition a gill is enough for each plant; if the soil is pretty dry more water must be given, and always in the depression which is left about the roots. Thus the hands, as many as are necessary, go on working with a deftness that is learned only by practice, and covering a large area of ground in a day. When the water has dried down, other hands, girls preferably, smooth the soil nicely to the plants, covering the watered surface with fine dry mold. The plants should be set as shown in the annexed cut; they will seldom suffer for want of moisture, and in ordinary weather will grow right along. It is the cheapest way in the end, and by no means slow, for an active hand will set 5,000 plants in a day. And when the work is thus done, in the best possible manner, there will be no baking or drying of the soil about the roots. This is true of plants of every kind and should be remembered. In setting on these raised beds the tobacco plant tobacco plants should be rather below the level of the surface, peoperly set. for as soon as the crop is fairly growing a little earth should be dressed up to them. 238 THE HOME AND FARM MANljAL. XXIII. The Cultivation. All other cultivation should be the same as that for corn or other hoed crops, thorough and frequent. No weeds dare be allowed at any time. In an average season the plant will mature sufficiently by the early part of August to dispense with further cultivation, but until the ground is fairly shaded, the cultivation must be thorough. When the plants have from fourteen to sixteen leaves, or when they begin to throw up the blossom shoots, pinch off the tops, and from time to time, as the suckers appear, pinch them out before they attain a length of three inches. If the suckers are allowed to remain, they will reduce the growth of the true leaves. The necessity of watching for, and killing cut-worms, after the plants are set, and destroying the horn (tobacco) worms as fast as they appear has already been pointed out. These must be attended to or the crops will be seriously damaged and may be ruined. No man should undertake to cultivate tobacco or any other special crop unless he is prepared to spend the time and money necessary to do everything in the best manner, since, upon this depends the ultimate profits. In the North the worm, larva of the tobacco sphinx, and also that of the tomato worm, an allied species, appear about July first, and feed on the leaf until the crop is secured. In fact, they frequently, if not picked off clean, cling to the leaves after the stalk is hung up. Usually, from three to four weeks from the time of topping, the plant will mature and be ready to cut. Uniform size of leaves, and a stiffness of the leaf, making it liable to break by bending and handling, are the surest signs of maturity. The lower leaves change color, and in some varieties the leaves present a spotted or mottled appearance. This must be carefully studied, and the beginner would do well to employ a man competent to judge, and who is also familiar with handling, hanging, drying, stripping, bulking and packing the crop. Otherwise, the beginner should experiment in a small way until he learns. Nowadays, however, the crop is usually sold in bulk, in the North, the buyer attending to the casing and shipping himself. XXIV. Cutting and Curing Tobacco. The time to cut must be determined by the condition of the crop. Sometimes it ripens unevenly. In this case, the portion that is ripe must be selected first. If the crop ripens up handsomely, it is better to cut altogether, since the inferior plants left are apt to be whipped and injured by the wind. The stalk is severed with a heavy knife (similar to a corn stalk knife), just above the ground, and at a single blow. Each stalk is laid on the ground to wilt, but it must not be long exposed to the sunt especially if it is hot; nor must it be cut with the dew on. Cut after the dew is off, but not during the middle of the day, when the sun is bright, as you must guard against burning while it is undergoing the wilting process, preparatory to spearing and handling in the removal to the shed. When wilted, so the plants may be handled without breaking the leaves, they are speared, spiked, or strung by the butts upon laths four feet long. Four or five plants are strung to each SPECIAL CROPS ^HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 239 Jath, and hung on proper frames, on a wagon or sled, for removal to the house. Some persons hang in temporary sheds in the field or near the house, for partial curing, but it is not a good plan. The house should be large enough for the whole crop. It should have ventilators at the top to pass Qut the foul air, and ventilators at the bottom to admit fresh air in windy weather. XXV". The Tobacco House. Ven-tilation and Drying. — The tobacco house may be arranged for four or five tiers of stalks. It should rarely or never be higher. The illustration shows the general arrangement — beams for hanging the tobacco, lath doors or shutters for ventila- tion, etc. The ventilation is important. In damp weather the house must be closed. In windy weather the leaves must not be blown about. If the dry heat of charcoal, coke, etc., is used for drying, it should be con- veyed in pipes running at proper intervals through the house and not within eight feet in curing, according to whether the demand TOBACCO HOUSE. of the leaves. Care must also be used is for light or dark tobacco. Stripping. — In December, and from that time on, when the weather is moist enough so the tobacco will be pliable, or "in case" for handling, stripping may commence. The tobacco should be assorted into three qualities, first, second and third, corresponding to best, second-best and inferior, and all leaves in a "hand" should be of uniform length. This assorting must be by competent hands. One man may take the best, passing the stalk to another, he selects the seconds, and another the inferior. These tied in bundles of twelve to sixteen leaves, and bound at the butts by a single leaf, constitute a "hand" of tobacco, as shown in the cut. Twelve leaves make a "hand" of the best wrappers; from fourteen to sixteen are often put into "hands" of seconds and thirds. Bulking. — This is a nice job, and requires the utmost care and watchfulness to bring the tobacco into the proper condition. If too damp, it will get hot, if too dry it will not warm up suflSciently to bring out the fragrance and color of prime condition. It will pay to hire a competent man until the owner is familiar with the process. The object is to have the tobacco dry out slowly, and to remain in proper' condition until ready for packing in cases, in the North, or in hogsheads in the South. These boxes, or cases, contain four hundred pounds, while the •HAND" OF TOBACCO. 240 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. hogsheads contain one thousand pounds each. The bulking is done between the sides of a frame as high as the bulk is to be carried, and wide enough to allow the leaf-tips to lap, one on the other, with the butts at the sides. A bulk three and a half feet high, and twenty feet longj should hold four thousand pounds. Bulk each sort by itself. In bulking, take the "hands" one at a time, laying them straight, over-lapping the tops one-third on the other, keeping the whole even, and pressing with the knees as you proceed, until the task is finished. Then remove the side- pieces, and cover all with blankets, weighting them down with boards if necessary. The bulks may remain until sold to the packer, watching it carefully to see that it does not heat unduly. If the fermentation is too strong the tobacco will blacken ; MOTH OF TOMATO WORM.— DESTROYS TOBACCO IN THE NORTH. if too little the flavor will not develop. To get the right effect requires the greatest care and judgment. XXVI. Twelve Rules for Tobacco Growers. 1 . The land must be rich and in good condition generally ; potash and nitrogen are essential to the cror, as well as friability and permeability of the soil. 2. The seeding in the seed-bed must be thick and even; to be afterwards thinned, to enable the plants to grow stocky and strong for transplanting. It is well to allow an ounce of seed for every two acres of tobacco, to allow for destruction by the fly and other insect enemies. 3. Do not transplant until the weather is permanently warm — the nights as well as the days. If once the plants are chilled the crop is injured. 4. After planting out watch carefully for cut worms, at daylight in the morning, and wherever a leaf is attacked find every worm before you quit. 5. Transplant promptly from a reserve bed of extra plants whenever you find a plant missing. SPECIAL CROPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 241 6. Cultivate thoroughly, always being careful not to break or injure the leaves. Careless workers will destroy more than the value of extra wages paid to careful men, 7. Watch for the appearance of the tobacco moth, which lays the eggs. It is well to have a plat of Jimson weed near, or of tobacco plants in flowers, to attract the moths. The flowers may be poisoned with a solution of cobalt, such as is used for killing flies. 8. When the worms — larvae of the tobacco moth, hatched from the eggs laid on the tobacco leaves — appear, go over the field twice a day, carefully, to kill them. Also hunt for the patches of eggs on the leaves and destroy them. 9. Top the field to twelve or fifteen leaves, as soon as the buttons — flower-buds — have generally appeared, and pinch out suckers before they grow three inches in length. Take off all lower leaves that sweep the ground. 10. Cut the crop when ripe, preferably with a sharp saw, and never allow plants to wilt when the sun is hot. Handle very carefully, to prevent injury in carrying to the house and in hanging, 11. Watch the ventilation in the house. The leaves must not hang near enough for one stalk of leaves to touch another. The wind must not blow them about and the vapors must be promptly carried away through ventilators at the top of the house. 12. In stripping, keep each grade by itself. Bulk carefully, and watch daily to see that it does not overheat. XXVII. Peanuts or Goubers. The peanuts, as known in commerce, are called ground peas, goubers, or pindars, locally, according to the part of the country where they are raised. The botanical name of the plant is Arachis hypogoza. Until comparatively a few years ago the supply came principally from the East Indian Islands and along the African coast. In these regions quantities are still raised for the oil, which is excellent for lubricating and burning, and equal, for culinary and table purposes, to olive oil. The nuts are also largely used for adulterating chocolate, and especially chocolate condiments. The gouber crop in the South is yearly increasing, especially in Tennessee. Vir- ginia, North Carolina, and the other Atlantic States, South, produce the best nuts, a sandy, or at least fairly arenaceous soil, containing plenty of lime, being necessary to produce full-meated nuts. Under good cultivation, the yield is sixty or seventy bushels, and from that to eighty bushels, per acre. When raised for forage, the vines make excellent hay ; the product is about half a ton per acre, cured. With proper care they may be raised as far north as forty degrees, but they are essentially a southern plant, being killed by the least frost. Except as a curiosity, they are hardly ever raised north of Virginia. XXVIII. The Cultivation of Peanuts. The cultivation is simple, and yet peculiar. The blossoms, when fertilized; hang down, grow into the ground and pierce it until the firm soil is reached, where the pods 16 242 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. form and ripen. Hence, the necessity of shallow cultivation. The soil should be plowed in autumn, and in the spring only surface-plowed, not more than three or four inches, to kill weeds. When all danger of frost is over, the soil is bedded up and prepared, as for tobacco, leaving only a slight furrow-mark between the rows. In the center^ of each of these beds, in a straight line, plant two seeds, at distances of eighteen inches; also have reserve plants, to fill the places of those that may be destroyed by cut-worms, etc. The cultivation is simply to keep down the weeds, preserving the shape of the beds until near the time of blossoming. A narrow cultivator is then run through the rows, followed by a horse team to earth up the plants. The earth is afterwards leveled to present a flat hill, in which the nuts are to form. If weeds or grass thereafter appear they must be pulled by hand. The illustration shows the vine, the root, and the nuts formed under the surface. ' XXIX. ©athering the Nuts. The crop is not harvested until the vines are touched by frost, for the longer the Vines grow the greater the number of sound pods, except in the ex- treme South, where the vines ripen fully. Hands follow the rows and loosen the nuts with pronged hoes or flat-tin ed forks. They are followed by others, who pull the vines, shake the earth from them and leave them turned to the sun to dry. In dry weather they will thus be sufficiently cured for shocking. The shocking is done somewhat after the manner employed for beans ; or they may be finally cured as beans sometimes are on scaffolds under sheds. Shocking. — The Tennessee plan is to provide stakes seven feet long, made sharp at both ends; then lay two fence rails on the ground as a foundation, but with supports underneath to afford free access to the air. The stakes are stuck in the ground at convenient intervals between the rails, the stacks built up around them, and finished off by a cap of straw to shed the rain. The diameter of the stack is made to conform to the spread of a single vine. After remaining about two weeks in the stack the picking should begin, taking off none but the matured pods. These are to be carried to the barn, and prepared for market by finishing the drying process, and then fanning and cleaning. The most tedious part of the work is picking. An expert discriminates at a glance between the mature and immature pods, but cannot pick more than two and a half or three bushels per day. PEANUTS— PLANT AND TtTBERS. SPECIAL CROPS ^HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 243 XXX. After-Management and Care of Seed. Unless the management; in the barn is carefully conducted there is great danger, where there is much of a bulk, that the peas will become heated and moldy. The condition in which the early deliveries are often made on the market renders this caution necessary. In fact, there is as much slovenliness in the handling of this crop as there is in regard to any other, perhaps more ; for the reason that so many inex- perienced persons engage in the culture every year.- Until the pods are thoroughly seasoned the bulk should be frequently stirred and turned over. A certain classifica- tion, in respect to quality, obtains in peanuts as in every other article of agricultural produce. The descriptive terms in general use are inferior, ordinary, prime and fancy: but these are not so definite as to admit of no intermediate grades. Seed Peanuts. — A matter of primary importance is to provide seeds of good quality for planting ; and in order to be assured of their excellence the planter should either raise them himself or buy them of a person on whose fidelity he can rely. If, after the vines are dug and they are lying in the field, they should be exposed to frosty weather, the germinating principle would be destroyed or impaired. As a merchantable article, however, their value is not affected. Neither should the nuts become the least heated or moldy ; nor should they be picked off the vines while wet, or before they are thoroughly cured. It is obvious, therefore, that the most careful attention is requisite in this matter. Previous to planting, the pods should be carefully shelled, and every faulty bean thrown out; not even the membrane inclosing the seed should be ruptured. It takes about two bushels of peanuts in the pod to plant an acre. XXXI. Sweet Potatoes. The sweet potato is another special crop that year by year becomes more impor- tant, especially since cheap railway facilities admit transportation for long distances, and improved methods enable the farmer to preserve them in good condition through the winter, and until late in the spring. There is now only about two months in the year when they may not be readily bought in the northern markets. Sandy soil, or a rather firm, sandy loam is the best for this crop. In soft land, especially if plowed deep, the tubers grow. long and stringy. The potatoes are never planted directly in the hill, but are grown from "slips" — sprouts three to five inches long — obtained by bedding the potatoes in a liot-bed, covered, with boards, to shed rain, and protect them from being chilled at night. As the sweet potato is killed by the slightest frost, the plants should never be set out in the field until the days and nights are warm. Planted from the first to the middle of June, good crops are raised up to, and even north of, forty-two degrees in favorable situations. A central Ohio farmer gives, in a nut-shell, all that is necessary for field cultiva- tion. For the garden it is cheaper to buy the plants than to raise them, two hundred plants being enough for a family of moderate size. Our authority, a thorough prac- tical farmer, says: 244 THE HOME AND FARM MANTJAL. XXXTI. Field Culture of Sweet Potatoes. "My plan is to place logs on a sloping piece of ground, say ten or twelve feet apart. I then drive small stakes, or pegs, in rows three feet apart, and eight inches high. The object is to have not more than seven or eight inches depth of manure, which should be fresh horse-dung, a mixture of hay, straw, corn-fodder, etc., trampled down level with the tops of the pegs. I then put a coat of loam, three inches deep, upon the top of the manure, which answers for the dressing the subse- quent year. I then place my tubers on, cover them from two to three inches deep, and then lay on boards, so as to keep theni efPectually covered from rain or cold until the plants are up. Drawing the Plants. — During the day, I let them have the sun, until I am sure they cannot be injured by frost. I sometimes water them, but not before the heat has somewhat subsided in the bed, which I ascertain by putting my forefinger through the covering. A very little warmth from beneath is sufficient; there is more to be apprehended from too much heat than too little. Some place a covering of saw-dust on top of the bed ; but this is entirely unnecessary. In this latitude, the beds should be made as early as the tenth or twentieth of April . The plants will be ready for drawing, from the eighth to the twentieth of May. Preparing the Ground. — I select ground, for growing the tubers, that will produce good corn. To manure just before planting will cause the plants to run to vines. Good loam, with or without sand, such as we call "second year's land," lying to the sun, yields best. It need not necessarily be sandy, to produce the greatest yield; on the contrary, good loamy land produces tubers of the best flavor. I plow the ground well, when dry, and harrow thoroughly. It would even be better to cross-plow it. Then I throw two " moles " together, about four feet apart", and see that the ground is well pulverized, in order that the list may be clear from clods, sods and trash, and that the land is in the best order to receive the plants. The time for transplanting is when the ground is what we call " dry." Planting. — The mode of planting is to make a hole with the hand, or other- wise, of the proper depth to receive the young plant ; and, when it is placed in the hole, I pour in half a gill of water, so that the earth may settle around the fibrous roots ; then, I draw the dry earth around the plant, and compress it a little with a hoe. In less than twenty-four hours the plant will be as vigorous as though it had never been removed. On good land, the distance of the plants apart should be from eighteen to twenty inches ; for thin land, fifteen inches will be sufficient. The yield, in this section, is from 100 to 150 bushels to the acre. I should state that the plants require to be hoed about as much as corn. The vines should be thrown on the ridges, out of the way, while dressing. In digging, I use a large, long, flat, three-tined fork, to throw the tubers out of the ground. When dug, I spread them to dry and wilt somewhat, preparatory to putting them up for winter, which requires much care. SPECIAL CKOPS HOPS, TOBACCO, PEANUTS AND SWEET POTATOES. 245 XXXIII. Keeping Sweet Potatoes in Winter. Sweet potatoes are easily kept through the winter in a room where the tempera- ture is about fifty degrees. A temperature materially lower than this will make them " frost-bitten," and if the room is much warmer than fifty degrees, it will sprout them. - Sweet potato houses are built secure from frost, heated to the proper tem- perature, and the potatoes are kept in bins one over another, each containing about a barrel. Any room of the temperature stated will keep them, if the potatoes have beer handled without bruising. They may be packed either in barrels or boxes, and kiln- dried or thoroughly sun-dried sand poured over them to fill the interstices, or boxes of uniform sjize, separated one fi'om the other by an inch space may be piled one above the other. In this way the potatoes will keep sound until spring. XXXIV. Garden Cultivation of Sweet Potatoes. Where a few plants are raised for family use in the autumn and early winter, the earth may be thrown up either into pretty high ridges or hills, and the plants set as directed, at any time after the season becomes permanently warm. Watch for cut worms, keep the soil clean, prevent the vines rocfting from the joints, by occasionallj lifting with the handle of a rake, and in the autumn you will have fresh potatoes thai will come in well for family use. Every farmer should plant from 200 to 500 vines. CHAPTER IX. CROPS FOR SUGAR-MAKING. SUGAR AND ITS MANUTACTUEE. U. CANE AND OTHER SUGARS COMPARED. ^III. HISTORY OF BEET SUGAR IN THE UNITED STATES. IV. CUE TWO GREAT SUGAR PLANTS. ^V. THE VARIOUS SACCHARINE PRODUCTS. VI. THE THREE SUGARS COMPARED. VII. CULTIVATION OF SUGAR- CANE. vm. CULTIVATION OP SORGHUM. IX. WHEN TO CUT SORGHUM CANE. X. CUTTING AND HANDLING THE CANE. ^XI. SPECIFIC GRAVITY AS A BASIS OF VALUE. XII. SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND COMPOSITION OF JUICES. XIII. TABLE OF JUICES. XIV. VALUE OF SORGHUM DURING WORKING PERIOD. XV. FOUR IMPORTANT POINTS. XVI. VALUABLE CANES SOUTH. XVII. THE REAL TEST OF VALUE. XVUI. TABLE OF COMPARATIVE VALUES DURING WORKING PERIOD. XIX. THE MANUFACTURE OF SORGHUM. XX. MAKING SUGAR ON THE FARM. XXI. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. XXIL MAPLE SUGAR. ^XXHI. TAPPING THE TREES. XXIV. BOILING AND SUGARING. XXV. SUGARING OFF. XXVI. TO TELL WHEN SUGAR IS DONE. I. Sugar and its Manufacture. ^PlNCE sugar has come to be thought one of the necessities of life, various plants l^m containing saccharine sap have been utilized for the manufacture of syrup, or sugar, or both. Sugar-cane and the sugar beet have been the most important of these ; the maple-tree standing next, until within the last few years, during which time, improved processes of separating tree sugar from the glucose of sorghum have come into use. From the author's earlier experiments, forty years ago, in concentrating the juices of the corn-stalk, and of water-melons, we were convinced that these plants would never afford merchantable sweets. Not so after experimenting with sorghum, in 1856. The saccharine material was there; the question remained, how to separate it cheaply. This has now been so answered by the chemist as to make it seem prob- able that within a very few years the West will be able to produce sugar from sorghum as satisfactorily as Europe has done from the sugar beet. How important this is will be understood when we mention, that, notwithstanding the gradual increase of the sugar production in the very narrow Gulf belt of the United States, which itself is only partially adapted to the production of cane sugar, this country grows only one-seventh of the sugar it uses. II. Cane and Other Sugars Compared. In 1875, we had occasion to investigate tuo sugar production of the world. The Island of Cuba alone produced 700,000 tons, yearly, and our Southern States only 75,000 tons. The annual production of cane sugar for the world was 2,186,000 tons, yearly. Of beet sugar Europe produced 1,317,626 tons, of which the little country of [246] CROPS FOR SUGAR-MAKING. 247 Belgium gave 79,796. This European sugar thus amounted to more than half the cane-sugar production of the globe, or more than one-third of the world's total sugar crop. The manufacture of true sugar from sorghum has not yet reached large figures, but since, in 1882, a single factory produced 319,000 pounds, while the aggregate of the whole country was only 500,000 pounds, it is simply a question of time when this industry must become one of the most important in the West. The manufacture of beet sugar has disappeared from the United States, only one factory, in California, being, we believe, now in operation. The Chatsworth, Illinois, enterprise failed long ago, and, lately, the one in Maine stopped. The causes of failure lie, principally, in the cost of manual labor, the strong nitrogenous quality of the land, and the difficulty in procuring competent persons for the direction of the intricate processes of manufacture. The author knows of what he writes, for he had charge of the initial enterprise in the United States, that at Chatsworth, Illinois, during the last three years of its existence. III. History of Beet Sugar in the United States. There have been, in all, seven large beet-sugar factories started in the United States during the last twenty years. Two in lUinois, two in Wisconsin, one in Maine and two in California. True success has been reached by none, and all but one have suspended. The manufacture of beet sugar requires an abundance of living water, intricate machinery, large capital, cheap labor in the production and working of the crop, and men of exact and scientific knowledge in the management of the factory. The same enterprise and money employed in the production of sorghum, will produce double the results. The time may come when the production of beet sugar may be profitable in the United States, yet with the cheaper labor of Europe, the industry does not flourish there as in former years. IV. Our Two Great Sugar Plants. The sugar-cane {Saccharum officinarum) and the sorghum cane {Sorghum vulgare) in some of its varieties, are, therefore, destined to produce the future sugars of the United States. The cultivation of the first-named plant is limited to the Gulf coast — Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Sorglium. — Sorghum culture in the United States is only limited by the finding of soil suited to the plant. The rich sandy soils of Minnesota have so far produced some of the best samples of sugar. Farther south, it is at home on any soil that will make good crops of Indian corn, though arable lands and well-drained sandy loams will always be found to give the best grades of sugar. This is true of all plants producing saccharine juices. Strong nitrogenous soils always act against the crystallizability of sugars, and in the case of beets,- are a bar to its production. Hence, as sugar producers, we shall have to deal only with the two plants mentioned, and with the maple-tree. 248 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. V. The Various Saccharine Products. Cane Sugar. — Cane sugar occurs in the ordinary sugar-cane, in the sap of the maple and the juice of the beet, without the admixture of any other kind of sugar. It crystallizes readily from a pure solution, in large oblique prisms. It rotates the plane of polarization to the right. It does not precipitate suboxide of copper from an alkaline solution of that metal (Fehling's test) at the boiling temperature. By being heated with acids, or by being boiled for a long time with water, it is converted into a mixture of grajDC and fruit sugar. Grape Sugar. — Grape sugar, or glucose, constitutes the white powder seen upon the outside of old raisins ; it also forms the sediment arising in old honey. It is found in connection with cane and fruit sugars in many fruits, and may be made artificially by the action of acids upon cane sugar, starch or wood. Made thus it is used in Europe for adding to wine musts which are weak in sugar. It crystallizes with diflSculty, forming cauliflower-like masses which, under the microscope, appear like fine— needles or blades, and in some conditions as six-sided tablets. It also polarizes to the right, but to a less degree than cane sugar. It is less sweet than cane sugar, one pound of the latter producing the same degree of sensation of sweetness as from two to two and a half pounds of grape sugar. At the boiling temperature it precipitates the copper of Fehling's test. While cane sugar has to pass into grape and fruit sugars before fermentation takes place, grape sugar ferments without further change. Pruit Sugar. — Fruit sugar occurs, as its name partly implies, in acidulous fruits with grape and cane sugars. It occurs also in molasses, as before stated. It is not capable of ciystallization, but exists as a syrup, or, when dried, as a transparent candy. It is as sweet as cane sugar. It rotates the plane of polarization to the left. At the boiling temperature it removes the copper from Fehling's test solution, like grape sugar. It ferments without passing' into any other kind of sugar. These are the most prominent differences between the three sugars. As "polarization to the right or left" cannot be suflSciently explained without many words, the unscientific reader is requested to accept that, " cane, grape and fruit sugars behave differently towards polarized light." VI. The Three Sugars Compared. A GREAT want of clearness rests in the public mind as to grape and fruit sugars, arising from the carelessness with which scientific men use the terms, employing the words "gi-ape sugar" or "uncrystallizable sugar" either to pure grape sugar, to pure fruit suo-ar, or to a mixture of the two. The mixture of grape and fruit sugars arising from the action of acids, ferment, or water upon cane sugar is called "inverted" sut^ar, "o^rape" sugar and "uncrystallizable" sugar; being thus named differently by different persons. "Inverted sugar" is the proper name, which is derived from the change of action upon polarized light from right to left. CROPS FOR SUGAR-MAKING. 249 The practical results of our present chemical knowledge of the sugars may be brieily stated, as follows: Grape sugar is practically uncrystallizable in the manufac- ture of cane sugar, as it remains in the molasses ; it is also much less sweet than cane sugar. Fruit sugar is as sweet as cane sugar, but does not crystallize. Cane sugar may be transformed into inverted sugar (which is a mixture of grape and fruit sugars) by means of acids, long boiling with water, and fermentation, etc. ; but neither of these last sugars can be changed again into cane sugar by any process known in chemistry. For practical purposes the difference of composition of the three sugars, as shown by their organic analyses, need not be discussed here. It is, however, important to note that they form compounds with salts, and that these combinations with the salts naturally in the vegetable juices associated with the sugars do not crystallize. In the compound of cane sugar with lime the cane sugar is not destroyed or "inverted" by boiling, but grape or fruit sugar in combination with lime are rapidly destroyed by boiling. VII. Cultivation of Sugar-Cane. It is not likely that the cultivation of the true sugar-cane can ever become a great industry in the United States. The small yield, even in the best sections of Louisiana, which gives but from 1,200 to 1,800 pounds of sugar to the acre, as against 3,000 to 5<000 pounds in the Mauritius, and occasionally even up to 7,000 pounds per acre in Cuba, is against it. That would suffice, to say nothing of the malaria of the sugar plantations; the larger cost of cultivation; higher price of labor, compared with tropical climates, where peon or slave labor is used. Of late years, attempts have been made to introduce the plan of delivering the cane direct to central factories for working. What this may accomplish in time remains to be seen. The system has worked well in the French West Indies, and large profits have been made. VIII. Cultivation of Sorghum. The cultivation of sorghum from the first preparation of the soil until the cane Ls ripe, is identical with that of Indian corn, with these exceptions: The soil should be reduced to a finer tilth than is generally made for corn ; the cane being delicate in growth, more care must be used in cultivation when it first comes up ; and the crop will be undoubtedly better for one thorough hoeing of the plants. If planted in check-rows, three and a half feet by three would be about right, four or five plants to remain in the hill. If drilled, which is much the best plan, the plants may stand eight or ten inches apart. When the seed is to be planted by hand, the seed should always be soaked until the germ is ready to appear. A pocket-full of kiln-dried corn-meal, in which the hand may be dipped occasionally, will help to prevent the seed from clinging. If the land is inclined to be wet after rains, the soil should be listed up for plant- ing on ; if well drained use level planting. The seed should not be covered more 250 THE H05IE AND FARM MANUAL. than an inch, and in the case of sprouted seed, half an inch is better. Never plant on trashy land. It should be as clean as a garden. When this is the case, you may drill the seed, and plenty of it, always pressing the soil pretty firmly to the seed. When the land is thoroughly dried, you may put a sharp-toothed harrow on the land, crossing the drills at right angles to thin the plants. Lumpy soil should never be planted with sorghum. Lumps, as a rule, result from plowing the land when too wet. The cultivator must decide for himself distance to plant, whether in hills or drills. For sorghum, good barn-yard manure, some phosphate (never nitrogenous manured and gypsum should be used. IX. When to Cut Sorghum Cane. It is fully established now that the cane must not be cut until the seed is about ripe, or fully developed and hard. Acco'ding to a late report to the Commission of Agriculture, taken from the results of 2,739 analyses of sorghum, the percentage of juice extracted from the stripped stalks gradually increases up to a certain point of ripeness, and then gradually decreases to the close of the season. The Process of Ripening. — The specific gravity of the juice, the percentage of sucrose (true sugar), the percentage of solids not sugar, and the exponent regularly increase, with one or two exceptions, until the close of the season ; the percentage of glucose (syrup product) in the juice as steadily decreases from the first. Hence, the cane should be allowed, as heretofore stated, to ripen. The want of knowledge on this point has done more to pi"event the cultivation of sorghum than all other things combined. Farther on will be given, with other matter, a table fully explaining this important point. X. Cutting and Handling the Cane. The cane should be cut near the root with a suitable knife, laid in piles, sepa- rated into convenient handfuls, the cuts leveled and presented on a table or suitable form, for cutting off the heads and that portion of the stalk not useful for crushing. The leaves can then be stripped before grinding, or not, as preferred. We favor stripping, but it is a question of the cost of labor. The cane should be kept from wet, and worked as soon as possible after cutting. Until worked it must not be piled so close as to heat. XI. Specific Gravity as a Basis of Value. The sugar-maker must take nothing for granted, unless the results, as shown by careful and accurate experiment, warrant it. The individual cannot make these for himself. The Department of Agriculture has done much useful work in this direction. The table on page 253 is of practical value to those engaged in sugar-making from sorghum. By reference to it the sugar-boiler can determine the composition of any juice of which he knows the specific gravity. These figures are averages drawn from all the analyses recorded, and although the different canes differ somewhat in the CROPS FOR SUGAR-MAKING. 251 composition of the juice for the same specific gravity, still these differences are not so great as to be of much. practical importance. In examining these tables it should be remembered that the results are valuable in proportion to the number of analyses from which each figure has been derived. If only those figures are examined which are based on ten or more analyses, it will be seen that the recorded results are very seldom exceptional. Among other points shown by this table, the following are important: 1. The amount of juice obtained seldom falls below sixty per cent, of the weight of the stripped stalks ; this percentage does not vary greatly throughout the season. 2. The amount of crystallizable sugar (sucrose) in the juice is at first little over one per cent, but it regularly increases with the increase of specific gravity. J^o one relationship is more evident than this close correspondence between the increase of specific gravity and percentage of sucrose in the juice; the average increase of sucrose for an increase of .001 in specific gravity (between 1.030 and 1.086) is 0.233 per cent. The following table shows the average increase of cane sugar corresponding with an increase Of .001 in specific gravity of the juice : Between 1.030 — 1.039=:. 164 per cent sucrose. Between 1.040 — 1.049^.167 per cent sucrose. Between 1.050 — 1.059=. 229 per cent sucrose. Between 1.060 — 1.069=. 250 per cent sucrose. Between 1.070 — 1.079=. 142 per cent sucrose. Between 1.080 — 1.086^.164 per cent sucrose. 3. It is a noticeable fact that the "solids not sugar" increase regularly and with almost the same rapidity that the glucose diminishes. One point, however, seems to be strongly suggested, namely, that the decrease in glucose bears a much closer relationship to the increase of organic solids not sugar than to the increase of crystallizable sugar. In other words, it seems at least possible that the commonly accepted idea that cane sugar is formed in plants only through the intervention of glucose may be a mistaken idea. This point is. a very interesting one and worthy of careful study in the future. 4. The percentage of total solids regularly increases, with a few exceptions, with the increase of specific gravity ; the average increase for each gain of .001 in specific gravity is 0.17 per cent of solids. 5. Experience has shown that the percentage of crystallizable sugar in the total solids of the juice should exceed 70 in order that good results may be had. XII. Specific Gravity and Composition of Juices. An inspection of the table indicates that these juices attained that percentage (see column headed " Exponent " ) when the specific gravity 1.066 was reached, and this exponent was maintained, arid even exceeded, until the specific gravity 1.086 was passed. After this the exponents are somewhat variable, because specific 252 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. gravities above 1.086 were not attained until quite late in the season, when the plants had nearly or quite ceased growing; also, the number of experiments for these higher specific gravities was smaller than for the lower figures. It is safe to say that the profitable working period for sorghum canes begins when the juice attains the specific gravity 1.066, and continues "until the specific gravity 1.086 is reached, and fre- quently even longer. During this period the canes here examined furnished on an average 61.9 per cent of juice from the stripped stalks. A good mill should furnish not less than sixty per cent on the large scale. Several manufacturers are willing to contract for mills to furnish sixty-five per cent. On the supposition that a good mill, yieldmg at least 60 per cent of juice from the stripped stalks, is used, the amount of sugar which should be obtained from 100 pounds of stalks is found by referring to the figures in the last column corresponding with the specific gravity of the juice obtained. For example, each one hundred pounds of stripped stalks, the juice of which has the specific gravity of 1.073, should actually furnish 5.51 pounds of cane sugar. Even better results than these have actually been obtained in several instances. In the same manner the yield of sugar can be calcu- lated from the weight of the juice by reference to the figures under the heading of "Available percentage of sucrose in juice." The study of the table will be interesting to all readers, and of great value to those who raise the canes, and especially so to the sugar maker. There are so many integers of value in the conversion of sacharine juices into sugar,, and so many contingencies to be met in all sacharine juices containing glucose combined or in connection with true sugar, heretofore very imperfectly understood, and not yet perfectly known, even by the best chemists, that great diflSculty has been experienced in particular cases in working even the true sugar-cane of the South. We are year by year coming to understand that money cannot be made m the working of sorghum in the hitherto crude methods of the farm. The abandonment of those methods and the better system now adopted have given the most gratifying results. Hence the value of the tabular information here given — dry reading except to those especially interested, but presenting at a glance just the information that is useful to those studying sugar making with a view to becoming experts. Take the item of density of juice, and its relation to the sugar product. Once the quality of the cane is known from actual working, and the average density of the juice, a fair estimate of the outcome can be made from other canes that have had similar conditions as to soil, culture, age, etc. So of all the tables given in this volume ; they are intended to show in the most condensed forms the actual practical deductions on the absolute practical facts, obtained from many experiments in a constant direction. CROPS FOE SUGAR-MAKING. 253 •easS. -IBn'B JO jaqratiit 1~-i 09 jn sjims pad -di-ns m asojonij inao jad aiq^tjeAV ro«-*iooooDqc5jrqooqoo-cz3c:c30i-.OT-;i:-«^iSco«i!oK id •aoint TIT OSO.TOITS ^UBO ro iq 00 00 CO « 1^. 0_ O I^- O CO M 00 O CT CO 1-1 0_ I>. O O O iq rH .C05Di-llt5T)<0>OOCOC::iOCOC3..-HC0iqi>;Or-;CTC0C0r-;-|;OC00QC5iqOCl-^rHC01^ CO -^* '^ '^di U5 lO >0 »0 CO CD O -ID lyS l>^ b^ t^ t>i l>^ OJ CO X CO OS 1—f ■.T13STTS :)OII Spi -lOS JO flTiaO .T3J 0'*i^:iTJHi>->Ob^ioiO)Ccqir^o»ooo.-HOt-.b-.-^oO'^Jr*T*0'<^COI>3b^C50500l--COOOOC^_C^C^COCOOlOOOt^i-HOic-CTOi-Ht^i?:!'^ococq(riiocooo5 C;OTt-OCDt-i(:)O-^OOGS0S0000Q0CD^»C0l>.-^*ooc50r-^c^«^^raoJt^coOTOr^(^^cc'*lC!CC>^-Qoa:Ol-<(^IcoT*^^o^:D^-coc:o OS o 1—1 1— 1 r- rH CN 1-1 CCi-H rH CO CO CD'rH CTt-COCOCOCOlOrHliOCOCDrOC^t-'rt^OrHCDI^OOC^COCOCli'T rHrHr-(C^rHCTC<)C^l-O.jr5O(MlO(MC0C0OQ0OO-C-r-OCOCqcOClb-OC^-^CDCOCOOCOOOrH-^fCO»OCO r-' rH rH rH rH rH rH CT ci -OT^^cocoos(^^ococorHCOTf'^^'rt.'^i>.oeoosc(rsco'»oco:DiOOcor-^co^coo3osciociioi>Ii>^ r^(^Je<^cN(^^:o(^^CQCs^co«cocOTJ"'^Tt■;CD »0 iO 1C5 CD corHrH(^^cocDcoco^-^-co^ost>.cococooi^-cocDOosocDcorHco'* OSrHr--Tj;rHOrHiOCOCOC^I>;t^Oi^rH-^^l>.r-;rH-TdJiCiOOrHr-'COlOCNCOr-t> »0I^^C0^>G0Q6cdc0cd0Scici0S05o'oOrHr-^rHrHrHCq(^i(?qc^C0^ •.TBStTS 50II Bpi CO GO rH Oi CO CO rH (M t* rHrHxJ^COCqCOlCCCCQCOOSincOlOb^CqrHCTh-OSOlOCOeOOSCDCOrHb-^ OSCDCO»OCOlOOt~-OSOS»rSt^COQnt~-.OSOSO;rHr-rHrHO(MCN(MTt*CO(Min -tos JO juao .taj rH rH rH rH (?^ rH r-i rH (?q rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH (^^ CT t?^ (^^ C^' Cq C^^ •asojo -Tis JO (jnao .laj o CI ^ CO lO (7^ lO 'Tj; r-H o C00S0SlOC0C0C0C0O0iC-3-f— 1 'cqrHrHC«il^^CTc^(^Jcocococo-^"^Tl^Ti^T|^lOiOlCcD'c6cdcDi^ •asoo -n[S JO cjuao .laj CD rH CO t^lO OS O i75 CO CO coco CO THrHCOTi^ceco^c^(^^■^r^cD(McoTJ^-^rHcocDOs^-cocoo^r^^(^J(^^occ^^cloo O-'^OSCOOSCCGSOC^rHlO'^TjJrHOCNrHiNt^CO t- tH-OS CO CO r-i rH -rf" rH CO •^COCO-TjtCOCOCOTPTJH-^-^TiiTl^TjHcOTlHTiiTl^COCOCOCOCO •aoraC JO *uaa Jaj S3 CO I-H CD O -t< coos CO O CO ■^ 00 OS wo lO CO -* CD COXrHeq-THrHt^COCD'MaOCm>.OCOrHOt?qGO'^'Tt^COGOOOl^rHCDlc::COCO b-OCDt--Tr005r^OC^C*JrHCOCOt>--^-^l>-OSU:5COOrHCOrHXCOOCOO (yil>CDb^lOCOOOCDO-H-OrHr-^cqCTCSTjJcO-^T)H»c\oc4cD<^^^ CDiO'«i<0-THlOCOCOCD^COCDCOCDCDCD»OCDCOCOCDCDCDCOCOCOCOCDCOCO •jSjia'BjS OTjioads I-H o rHClCO-^ (M (M -^i CM oooo CDt^OOOSOr-'7^CO-*iOCDl-^COOSOrH(MCO-flLOCDt^OOOSOrH(MCO^in) ^^'MfMCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO'*':^'*-rt"1--^'^'<+'*-tOl!::tiC»t:i oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo r-i r^ r-t r-i i-\ r-\ m a o 1-3 M 254 THE HOME AND FAEM MAIfCTAL. XIV. Value of Sorghum During Workiag Period. The chemist of the Department of Agriculture in Washington has made an exhaustive comparison between all the principal varieties of sorghum, and many varieties of corn, including rice or Egyptian corn, doura, sweet corn, dent and horse-" tooth corn. From the table given on page 256 it will be possible to judge accurately as to the comparative values of the different canes for sugar. These values are applicable more especially to the latitude of Washingtoif, and it will be seen later that certain canes which do not stand high in the list, when grown in this section, are very likely to prove valuable where the growing season is longer. Again, those which mature quickest and also have a long working period are the ones especially recommended for culture in more northern latitudes. In this table the canes are arranged in the order of their comparative value, as shown from the large number of analyses recorded. It must not be inferred, how- ever, that it is possible to state positively that this order may not be somewhat modified by future experience ; it certainly would be somewhat changed were any , one characteristic of the juice used as the basis of comparison to the exclusion of all others. It has been attempted to give due weight to all the factors which tend to show the good or bad qualities of the canes. XV. Pour Important Points. Among the points which have the most direct bearing on the determination as to the value of any cane for any locality are the following: 1. Other things being equal, that cane is best adapted to any locality which most quickly reaches the working stage, and longest continues workable. It will be noticed that, judged by this rule, the first eight varieties in the table on page 256 are superior to those that follow. It appears, also, that these varieties matured in from seventy- seven to eighty-nine days, and continued workable from eighty-seven to one hundred and seven days, or, on an average, over three months. It is very important to have suflScient time in which to work up the crop. 2. The average purity of the juice is another very important consideration. This is shown by the column headed " average exponent;" by this term is meant the percentage of pure crystallizable sugar in the total solids of the juice. As has already been stated in the discussion of the table of specific gravities, the exponent should not fall below seventy for the best results. 3. The average available sugar in the juice has very much to do with its value. The figures in this column were calculated by multiplying the figures in the column showing " average per cent sucrose in juice " by the corresponding figures for "aver- age exponent." 4. The pounds of juice per acre have much to do with the amount of sugar that can be obtained. CROPS FOE SUGAK-MAKING. 255 XVI. Valuable Canes South. •As will be seen, the various canes do not differ very materially in the percentage of juice they can furnish; hence, the pounds of juice per acre depend more directly upon the number and weight of canes which can be raised. By reference to the tables for each variety, it will be seen that several of the varieties standing low in this list (Honduras, Honey Top, etc. ) furnish canes much heavier than those standing near the first of the list; hence, if an equal number of such heavy canes could be grown on an acre, the amount of juice must be correspondingly greater. If, then, the quality of the juice from heavy canes is as good as that from the light, and the season for working is greater, the heavy canes would be preferable, because they would furnish the larger amount of sugar per acre. Unfortunately, this is not the case in this latitude. The first two columns in the table show that the heavier canes do not attain their full growth and maturity, in time to be worked up into sugar. It is fully believed that these heavy canes are well adapted to the more southern parts of the United States, and that in those regions they will reach full maturity in time to leave an ample working period. In fact, several examinations of canes sent from South Carolina a j^ear ago confirm these statements. If it be supposed, for sake of comparison, that an equal number of canes of each variety can be grown on an acre of land, the results given in the last three columns will show what amounts of stripped stalks, juice and available sugar can be obtained on an acre from each variety of corn and sorghum. The number of stalks per acre has been placed at 24,000, which is believed to be a fair estimate. In comparing these figures with those in the three columns just preceding them, which represent actual results of analyses, it will be seen that the figures do not differ greatly. XVII. The Real Test of Value. Aftee all, the real test of value for any cane is the amount of crystalized sugar that can be actually separated from the juice obtained from the stalks grown on an acre. This amount will depend very greatly on the quantity and quality of the canes, and upon the promptness and care with which they are worked up after cutting. The figures here given in explanation of the various points which have been discussed have been derived from very carefully conducted work, and they are offered as fair state- ments of what can and should be attained by careful workers. Among the essential points worthy of repetition are the following : 1. Select a cane that matures quickly, and has as long a working period as possible. Do not work the cane too early ; the seed should be well matured and quite hard, and the juice should have a specific gravity of 1.066 or higher. 3. After cutting the canes, work them up without great delay. It is best to draw directly from the field to the mill as may be needed. 256 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. ■d O ■i-t (U &D a O « a ■s P m •3 > (0 a p, o D o fe ga So <(« qH H 10 §^ OH 0«3 .Tad Bomi* •9.10B .led paddiJitS •ajo-e .tad .i-bStis aiq-BIiBAY •^.TO-B .Tad aomp •ajo-B .Tad SJ[TB^S paddiJ^S lO(^^cqoo«ciOS'^occ-^QO CD t- CO »0^iO CO -* ->* »0 M rH lO^(N^« OS^t^CD "r-Tr-Tr^'rH^crrr-rr-rr-rr^'r-rrH'c^f r^'rH^rH^i-H « r-i^i-^^r^ C^C^C^Cfl C^i-I (N i-H cq « CO (N C^ iO CO i-( CDOCO cob- b-O o o:> 10 t- 05 Ci U3 I— 1 O ira CD CO ca(N 00 CD CO -* "* 1-- ■r^ CO in CO O cq Ci I-HO COCO'«* b-(M I-H COb-i-l CO ir* cs IC UO LC3 t>.O5 00 CO CD CO i-H CDO GO CO O) r>- o »— oi o CO CO 00 rH IM i-H CO C5 >0 O i-H la 1— I rHTt^OTj^coir^CSt I— (I— li— ii— iC^i— II— 11— (T— 11— ir H la 00 cs a& CO I: 00 •CTCO 000 CO CO (N -<:t "* CS 0000 CDO '^ 00 t* 00 CO CD 00000 '^(M -^ OCO CO J>-(M CD O 000 O CO CM 'sf "^ 11:5 00 O .05C»COi— li— lC0t>-Tf^O»0 •oocoo«cDOSb-i— nooot-io»ni *TJ4»0(MCCO»0Cqi-'C0r-(^C0C0C0 Oco^:ico•rJ^»c^-H(^^TJ^o•ococo^ CDCO(>-050(MOt^»Oli:SCD(M'*t.(MlO H CM (N (M (N I— I cq r-l (N (M (N (N C-OCqO-^COQOCMt 2-iOlO'^CD(nOr I CO O O I— ( . O lO CD 10 I Oi I— < i-H "^ t>. Oi ZO 05 CD 05 05 O r-f >* O »ni O t* 10 oaoi 00 o coco 00 (M O 00 r-(05 l-H I— I l-H 050 i-H l>.l>CO CO 00 (M GO - o^cqo m I-H ■«# ifi 01 C5 COCOi-HC^lO(Mt>-COr •1^- OfHCqcDCDOn--- ^ O^ CC^CD_ 00^ i-H_ Cn^ '35^ b-_ c hS r-ror-rjH"»irrcrq"i>r^r-^c l?q CM fl» to i>- c: H !>. I— I (M CO C 5-^ r-CO-^C J r-H CD CO ^ CO 10 OS i t>.05 "* t>.0 CO coco i-l CO »ni oi ■^ 05 CO rH 1—1 i—t Tt< CI ^ i-lOiO CO CS rH OOCO 10 t* -^ lO CO <— > ec 05 CO^O^CD^CO^ uifo cd'io CD 1—1 OS ^ CM CO (M ■<# 00 •aoTTiC cjnao jad aS'BaaAV •a-BSus ajq'Bn'EA'B 4^uao J3d aS-B.TaAV i-ib^CM-^CJOCai-HCOCOi-iO-^t^t^GOCOCDOCOCqiOtMOiCOCOOiiOi-tCTOOr-J b-^i-l CD O CD 03 rHCDrHC^OCDOi-'i-cXi>-QOC^iO-Tt<»OlCDI>.lO(NCD'*»*_C0 00005COOl(3COC0 1C3 00qO C30Do6<3sooio5o6oo6oooooio5W05oio»05C005c3ioio50i>>ooiocDi> *^nan -odxa aS^aaAV tOS^"T^iOOOCOlOCOOCOt>OOCO»— iCOC3lOi>-COCOt--OSCOi— lOCMe01^Q0C0C0CDcr»00t*O3S rHl>-C^COCSCMI^-COOTf*(MOi— i(Mi— -I>-l^ CO rH O CO -r)! CO'-<# O^CM<^^CDrd^-^*CM*CO(M'cqcOOrHC=iI--^OcioOCMOCO)5»^;^ t>-^>.l^-^>•J^.^>.t»^>.l>.t*b^^>-t^^^t^^>l^-l^.^^^-.^>-l>.^>t*^^-l>.cDt>.t--t»cDcoco^-cocDCD aoraC UT epi -Tosjatiioatiao J ad aSBjaAV ■^COCOCOi— (OOOSOif— ilC5COCO"^CMt*OOOeOi-HC0005i— (■^lO'^CMCM 30>*i— icoi— loscoi— ico»ffl03incflcoTfj^ocDt>Tjjo»oo50sos(rqco -cob--^i6't>- OSrHOOi-ICMOi-'-^O ■aomC Tit asoon^S ^iiaa •Tad 8S,B.I9AV ■<(Mr-liM(M5qi-l- tH ^TjiTt<'Oi— lOiO(>JCM(MOS-^COCOCqCOO:CDCC HCqcOCOCqi--icOC^i-HTt5cOMCO(ricOCOCMCOr-icOCOC^COTt<.— '"^ (N O !>. GO CO \-i OS O 1-1 CD O •aomC m asojons ' g.'nao .Tad aS-BjaAY ■sae^l^u'B JO jaqTUTij^ OOCDb-OiTrHlOCOfM'^irHOCOuSCO-^COCDT-ICD— lC0CM':DCD'<1^C00^»0CD^:*I-lOTi»^•^l>«0 CO t- b- CO CO (M CO CO Cft lO t- CO (M CO CO Tf iO rtl CO CO Cq CO (M CO CO I— 1 CM CM CM (M •3ui3l.TOM JOJ Sj^-bp jo .Taqninii ■^jT.Tni'BTa o^ s^-Bpio Jaqinnsc CO o o CO gM o • o la to r*'Ht» M8,KM.(KV1 Acreage in crops Fallow and Hay 179,000,000 Acreajje in Farms 407,72=3,364 m ArreH*^** IU>1 in FarnJS l,908,8sa,595 Total Area Vniled States Acrfi- 2.311, 64J,959 C03IF0KT AM.) I'KOFIT 1\ THE II(.)MESTEAD. 273 If sixtccn-feet boards are used, cut in the middle for the vertical siding ; the building will be seven feet in the clear. The sills may be mortised for the Ijeams ; then nail two boards to the sills, at each corner, peri)endicularly, and stayed at the bottom with inch blocks. The beams for the second tloor may rest on stancheons cut seven feet long; the rafters sawed and nailed ; the sides boarded up; the floors laid; if more tiian the lower floor be used, the elevation nuiy be twelve feet, for attic bed-room, and the roof nuide of tarred paper, which is manufactured ex}jressly for this purjjose. A veranda may be added at any time, and again, a lean-to, as shown in the ground plan. This shows the original building k-v. B is a bed-room, p, pantry, and iv-s, wood-shed, com[n-ising the lean-to. Any person, wdth a saw, a square, a hammer and a short ladder, can do this work, with one assistant. It would be better to shingle the roof, and this should be done at the first opportunit}'. A PIOXEER'S COTTAGE. — o -o GROUND PLAN WITH LEAN-TO. III. True Success in Farming. Success in farming nf)wadays depends more up)on correct methods than upon grinding hard work. Good farmers do not go out in the morning and begin the daj^'s work in a haphazard way. If plowing is to be done, no time is to be lost in scouring the plows, while teams and hands are waiting. The plows have been thoroughly cleaned, rubbed dry and the metal parts slightly, l)ut evenl}', oiled. If the plow has been out of use for some time, the metal has been thinly painted with lamp-black and kerosene oil, and put away where this coating would not be rubbed off. Thus, the first furrow turned is as good as the last. Every tool should thus be kept in condition for service and duplicates of bolts ready to meet any small loss. The farmer should also be able himself to do riveting and minor repairs, and bad weather utilized for grinding or filing the cutting surfaces. Work should be systematized; done at the hours for Avork, and there should be other hours for rest and amusement. There should be a place for everything, and every- thing in its place. A time for labor, and a time for play. 18 274 THE HOME AXD FARM MANUAL. IV. Look to the Details. It is attention to details that makes the whole system of labor perfect. "Water furrows should be drawn at the proper time in the fields ; lands laid out correctly for plowing; the furrows straight and equal in depth and width, according to the soil and the requirements of the crop. On a well conducted farm there is no slighting of' work at the corners, or in the final plowing of headlands, and the hands are required to use constant care that every hill of a row is properly cultivated. If a field of grass or grain is to he cut, the first swath will be sti'aight and the second will be perfect. ' SHALL I MOVE THE BARX OR THE MANURE PILE - ' There will be no shirking or weaving by the team: they will have strength for their w(irk. from proper care and feeding, and will have been taught by kind, bul decisive training, just what is expected of them. The}' will be driven straight out at the end to the i>rf>per place to sto]i. The}' will be brought about so tiie machine M'ill enter coi-rectly and cut its full width at the first movement of the knives. The track clearer \\\\\ be adjusted exactl\' riirlit on the grass, will not interfere COMFORT AND PROEIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 275 with the working of the machine at the next round, and yet will be evenly spread to the sun. The sheaves of grain will be bound in equal bundles and of proper size, according to the ripeness and stoutness of the grain. The grass will be raked into straight windrows ; the hay-cocks even and of uniform size ; the shocks of grain in straight lines through the field, firm, and carefully capped. There is profit here; there has been no preventable loss, and all things have been done in the cheapest manner — cheapest, because most economically consistent with good work. So with every labor of the farm. V. Thrift and Unthrift lUusti^ated. Shall we give the other side of this picture? It may be seen in every neighbor- hood. There are men whose work is never done in season, nor well done at any time. Their implements are always " lying about loose," but too often the owner may be found " tight " enough at the village grocery. They are of that class who insist that " farming don't pay." Their farms are mortgaged, gradually run down, and are absorbed by their more enterprising neighbors. They " don't believe in book larnin," yet they have faith enough in their calling to think they may succeed in a new country. THE SUCCESSFUL FARMER'S MODEL BARN. The out-door indications are generally an index to the inner life. The surround- ings of the man who " never has time" will not be unlike the opposite picture. His implements will lie around ; his animals will rest where they can. He saves manure carefully — just where it is thrown out from the barn-stable. At last, the accumulations, which have been trodden under foot, increase, until a mountain rises, accessible only by strong-winged fowls. Something must be done. The indolent farmer says : "Yes, Johnny, I calc'late we must stratin out that manure. "We can't git the barn-door open any more." Sensible son. — " Why don't ye move the barn, dad? It'll be a heap easier." Will the barn be moved? No. Will the manure pile be carted to the fields? No, 276 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. there is no time. It will be " stratined out," and the mortgage, constantly accumulat- ing, will, at length, straighten out the indolent farmer. The Careful Farmer's Barn. — ^Let us look at another picture. There is neither waste nor extravagance here. Careful management and business tact have kept Farmer Skillful steadily on the road to success. First, a small barn was built. At the end of a few years it was shored up, a stone foundation put under it, and it was filled with stock. All manure made was hauled to the fields, and the yard kept perfectly clean. The central figure in the illustration shows the first barn. Additions were gradually made, until about the time Farmer Indolent, in the same neighborhood, was " calc' lating " to " strati n out that manure," Farmer Skillful's barn and yard presented the appearance shown in the companion illustration. There is nothing extravagant about this; nothing for show, but everything is solid and substantial. It fronts east, the main building is 35x45, the south wing, the first addition made, is 24x45, the north wing 30x50, and both lap on the main building ten feet. The basement walls are eight feet high by two feet thick. There is a cen- tral shed under each wing for manure, which is regularly carted out. This gives complete shelter for the store stock. VI. How to Select a Claim of Land, When settling in a new country there are many things that require careful thought. The intending settler should know something about soils, texture and com- position; drainage, water supply, above and below ground; summer and winter climate, and the general adaptability of the land to present and future crops to be raised. Much of this may be learned from books, but, so much is written that the beginner is befogged. A few salient points, however, may well be borne in mind : Rough Laud. — Do not choose rocky, unevenly broken land, rough steep hills, nor strongly rolling land, unless the principal feature is to stock, and not then unless the price is sufficiently low to offset the expense of bringing it into subjection. Unhealthful Soils. — Avoid land abounding in wet holes and marshes. These will be unhealthful. They may, indeed be drained, but this the new settler can rarely do. Valuable Soils. — Seek land gently rolling, if possible, or, if level, see that the soil is naturally dry; that is, that the impervious clay or rock lies far enough below the surface to ensure drainage. Vegetation as an Index to the Soil. — Observe the character of the vegeta- tion on the surface. The prairie dock, or compass plant, shows a rich, moist soil, adapted to Indian corn, or other soft-land crops. Hazel brush, the woody-rooted red root, amaranth, indigo weed, and short grasses indicate a good wheat soil — firm, fertile and dry. Horse weed, wild artichoke, and others of the sunflower tribe, show a rich, deep, warm soil, such as is usually found on arable river bottoms. All the sedges indicate cold, wet land. Thistles are found on rich, dry bottoms. Wild red- top, and the taller and more slender of the wild grasses, indicate good meadow land. COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 277 Hence, by carefully observing the natural vegetation of a country — for each soil grows its characteristic plants — a pretty good idea may be formed of the value of the land. For further information on this subject see chapters on grasses and on drainage. How to Test the Soil. — Provide yourself with a small ground auger. With this you may judge of the nature and value both of the surface and sub-soil. If it is black and sandy, or loamy and friable, a chocolate, or even light brown, it is usually fii'st rate. The color of the soil, is, however, not always an indication of its value. Ablack soil indicates a humus soil if very light in gravity, or if heavy in weight it may con- tain charcoal and humus combined. Many light-colored soils are excellent and lasting, especially for the cereals and grass. If the subsoil is a stiff, tenaceous, pasty clayj reflect before selecting it, unless it lies at a considerable depth below the surface. If hard-pan, reject it. Selecting the Situation. — Do not select the highest points for permanent resi- dence. They are less subject to malaria, but usually less fertile than the lower levels. He who can get the upland for the home and the low-lying land for crops, is fortunate. If there is an open grove, and living water, and if the vegetation is strong and varied in character, go no farther. The best possible home has been found, for arable lands contain the greatest variety of plants, while particular plants are confined to soils that have some peculiar texture or qualification. We repeat — the chapter on drainage, and that on grasses, wiU largely assist the intelligent reader in determining many points of value here. VII. Commencing the Farm. The first thing after securing the claim, is to make some kind of shelter. No matter how rough, let it be comfortable, and above all do not shut out the light. Let the situation be as elevated as possible, though it be only temporary. The turning and working of the sod, and the decay of rank vegetation always produce more or less miasma. Enclosures and a stable, of some kind, for stock, are next in importance. The stables must be proof against prairie storms, and the cold of winter. As soon as the grass is up three or four inches, set the breaking team to work, and keep on breaking — two inches or less is the right depth — ^until the first of July, or until the sod becomes too dry. It does no harm to break prairie when wet. It works easier, and this shallow breaking effectually kills all vegetation. VIII. What Crops to Raise. A SMALL piece of tender sod may be broken five inches deep for a garden spot, and perhaps to sow wheat, oats, rye, barley and flax sufficient for the next year's seed. A greater area of deep breaking than this is a waste of labor. A piece of tender sod may also be broken, three inches deep, for potatoes, which should be 378 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. planted in every third furrow, and about eighteen inches in the row. By turning over the sod in the autumn, a nice crop is often thus obtained, and one that requires no labor in cultivation. Plant as much corn as possible on the shallow breaking, by chopping seams in and through the sod, three feet apart, on every third furrow. Drop three grains in a place, step on it firmly to press the seam to the corn. It will give you feed and fodder, and sometimes pretty sound corn. As soon as the sod is thoroughly dead, you may begin to "back-set" the sod not planted to corn. This means turning the sod back, and as much deeper as the team can comfortably work, always remembering to keep the plowshare and coulter as sharp as possible, both in breaking and back-setting — the share by filing and the coulter by grinding on a good sharp-gritted stone. The time so spent is well spent. The ground thus re-plowed, may be sown to winter wheat and rye, and the corn land, re-plowed as soon as the corn is gathered, may be reserved for spring wheat, barley, flax and oats. Raise no more oats than is necessary for feeding, and no barley unless you can save it bright. No. 1 barley is worth about as much as wheat; discolored barley little more than oats. The chief dependence for many will be wheat and flax, since these two grains bear longer transportation than any other crop. Three Horse Teams. — In breaking prairie, and in fact, in all difficult plowing, use three strong horses abreast if you have them. The third horse is a good investment. Such a team walks right along, even and true, without difficulty, and will do half as much again plowing per day, with the same driver, as two horses will. Plowing day after day, although not exhausting to the driver,' is so to the team, and very few pairs of horses can be found that will stand a six weeks' or two months' campaign of breaking without failing. The third horse will make a difference in favor of twenty to thirty acres in the amount of breaking during the season, according to the quality of the team. Driving Three Abreast.— How to drive three horses abreast is shown in the figure. When the team becomes perfectly manageable, the hnes a, a, and 6, h, may be dispensed with, and the middle horse simply tethered to the inside bitts of the outside horses. Hitching Three Abreast. — How to hitch three horses abreast, in a simple way, is shown by the next cut. The evener is the same as that used for two horses ; the whiffletrees have each a long and a short arm, the long arm twenty-four inches in length and the short one, made of bar iron or steel ^ by ^ inch. Fasten by a REINS FOE THEEB HOESES ABEEAST. COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 279 THEEE-HORSB DRAFT. bolt, SO it will play; hitch as shown in the cut, being careful that each trace draws evenly, and it will work at plowing or with any other similar draft. Turning Flat Furrows. — To turn flat fur- rows, the mold-board of the plow must be of the proper shape. This is shown on page 271. The furrow must have the proper twist in passing over the mold-board. This is shown in the accompanying cuts, and the greatest possible thickness of furrow, in relation to its breadth, to do good work, is also shown. Observe well what has been said in relation to depth of furrow, in prairie-breaking. In turn- ing meadow sward, deeper breaking is advisable. A vertical view is also shown of the plow and furrow, with the common three-horse whiffletrees in ordinary use. IX. The Second Year's Crop. The second year, sow all the breaking of the previous year to wheat, principally. If flaxseed can be sold, also sow liberally of this, but the seed soon deteriorates and should be often changed. (See article on flax). Sow the wheat as early, in the spring as the soil can be worked. Later, sow what oats you need; then barley, if the price is fair, and later, just before corn-planting time, sow the flax. VERTICAL VIEW OF BREAKING PLOW. Diversity of Crops. — The advantage of a diversity of crops is, if one fails you can have another to depend on. You also prevent your harvest coming on all together, which is an important point. A small area — the best you have — should be reserved for the garden, for potatoes, and for a field of corn sufficient, with the oats, to feed the team and make meal . Upon this land haul all the manure you have made, and plow it well in. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuumiii FLAT FURROWS— BREAKING. From this time on, break all the new land possible, and chop in corn. It will 280 THE HOME AWD FARM MANUAL. make excellent feed for milch cows, calves, steers, working oxen and hogs. Backset this at the proper time for the next year's work. X. The Third Year's "Work. The third year's work will be a repetition of that of the first year, except that the whole of the first year's breaking should be sown to wheat, and with it, timothy, orchard grass and red clover ; each variety by itself. The object being, first the seed, because these seeds bring good prices and will bear longer transportation than any other product; they also bring cash. The First Pastures. — The timothy will, for two years, afford a good seed crop, as well as fall pasture for cattle, which alone must be thus fed, and they not permitted to eat too close. The clover will afford one crop of hay cut early, the second crop being taken for seed. The orchard grass will make valuable late pasture. This should be lightly pastured in the spring, and only when the land is dry. The same rules will apply, to timothy — ^that is, when it is up a good height, it may be pastured down once if you have stock enough to do so quickly. It must, however, be eaten even to give good seed. Clover must not be pastured in the spring, but may be cut for feeding to hogs and calves, or to milch cows, at night, if necessary. Permanent Pastures. — From this time, the crops may be more and more diversified, until all the land is broken and subdued. As the area of wild feed and hay diminish, meadows of mixed grasses, and a permanent pasture of blue-grass for spring, fall and winter feeding should be laid down. This should be done as soon as possible, because prairie hay is not economical, since all prairie grasses come late, and die with the first frost. XI. Wind-Breaks and Groves. In prairie countries, the question of timber is an important one. However cheap other fuel may be, trees are needed for poles, fence-posts, wagon-racks, levers, foundations for stacks and, more important than all, shelter for cattle and for the fields ; this last not the least in importance. The Timber Plantation. — The timber plantation should be placed where it will be easy of access, and where, at the same time, it will afford shelter for the farm buildings and stock. Planted timber has these advantages: you have the desired varieties just where you want them. Ash will give you timber where strength is required; catalpa is valuable for posts, stakes, etc.; pine, larch and spruce for beams and light poles ; chestnut, hickory, butternut and black walnut for their nuts, and all of the latter for their timber. In forming these, their uses must be borne in mind. Ten to twelve years bring the nut trees into bearing. The same length of time forms the most impervious wind-breaks of evergreens, and will give split posts from the catalpa. Willows and cottonwood are valuable at five or six years old, and all yearly increase in value. (See Part VI., Chapter VII.) How to Start a Grove. — Plant your grove as you would a corn field — in rows four feet apart, but thickly in the rows. These may be gradually thinned to form COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 281 wind-breaks, until the trees stand four feet by four. As they begin to crowd, take out each alternate row, one way, and then, again, the other. They will now stand eight feet apart. Still another thinning, at two operations, will leave them sixteen feet apart. When finally thinned to thirty-two feet each way you have a noble grove, that has paid its cost many times, and is still worth more than any equal area on the farm. Your wind-breaks have grown into noble timber, beneath which stock may find shade in summer and shelter in winter. The increased crops from your fields have many times repaid their cost, and the farm itself has become of far greater value than the bare acres would be. XII. Starting the Orchard. The wise man, beginning a farm far from nurseries, will provide himself, not later than the second spring, with material for an orchard, and will have prepared sufficient land for his permanent garden of small fruits, or at least for the plants. OECHARD AND WINDBREAKS. What are called maiden trees — ^trees one year old from the graft — may be ordered, or budded trees of the previous year. The Trees to Plant. — Root grafts of apples, pears and cherries; budded peaches; cuttings of grape, currant and gooseberry; young roots of raspberry and blackberry ; eyes of rhubard, for the kitchen garden ; and cuttings of cottonwood, white willow ancJ mulberry ; seeds of catalpa and the nut trees mentioned may be obtained. Later come seeds of ash-leaved, white-leaved and sugar maples, and of ash. The apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and the cuttings of the cottonwoods and willows may be planted in well-pulverized soil, in rows four feet apart by twelve inches in the rows; the cuttings, except those mentioned above, in two-feet rows by three inches in the row. Put nuts in rows eighteen inches apart by six inches in the row, and plant the other tree seeds thicker. Transplanting. — A year or two years later, remove to the position where they are permanently to stand. The first trees may remain in the rows three years. The other plants and the rhubarb should be taken to the garden the succeeding year. The Result.; — In the end you will see the economy of all this, when you find yourself three or four years in advance of your more tardy neighbors. Do not, however, hide your knowledge. Perhaps some will join you, and thus save expense 282 THE HOJIE AND FARM MANTJAL. in buying and transportation. Information as to the proper care of all these will be found in other chapters. XIII. How to Clear a Timbered Farm. The clearing of a timbered farm is a very different affair from opening up a prairie, and yet, aside from the hard labor of chopping and logging, not an unpleas- ant task. A man may not accomplish results so fast, but some comforts can soon be attained. When the timber is valuable, money may be earned at once by chopping and delivering the logs at the mill, either by hauling direct or to the nearest stream to be rafted. Saving Valuable Timber. — If not valuable for timber the trees may be cut, logged/ together in the usual way, and burned, the ashes sold for making potash, or leached and boiled on the farm. If tjjere be no present sale for them, the valuable logs, especially walnut and pine, should be rolled into triangular heaps, well raised from the ground, with skids between each layer, covered with a crotch and pole roof, and this again with bark', to shed the rain. They wiU thus remain for many years, with a little looking after, until increasing population demands the erection of mills for sawing. Of the oak, hickory, maple and other valuable hard woods, the first may be converted into posts, the second into firewood and the others into rails. XIV. Making a Olearing and Building the House. The first thing to be done is, of course, to build a shelter until a clearing suffi- ciently large for the house may be had. Trees for Shade. — ^When making this clearing always preserve the largest and finest of the forest trees for shade and beauty around the house. This is often neg- lected, and the result is, when the want is felt, small trees must be planted and a gen- eration pass before these reach a size which could so easily have been attained ' from the first. The Other Trees. — These are chopped, logged together and burned, reserving such logs as will run from ten to twelve inches through for building the house, which should be about fourteen by sixteen feet. When necessary, another building of the same size can be added, with a gallery and porch between them. Laying Foundations. — The logs having been cut and hauled, the four ground logs are laid and leveled ; saddles are chopped on the front and rear logs ; the two end logs are laid on these and notches are cut to correspond to the saddles of the longer logs. Thus, if straight, and none others should be taken, the logs will come nicely together so as to be easily chinked. For a log house 14 x 16 inside, the longer logs should be eighteen feet long, and the shorter ones sixteen feet, or the width of the logs on each side, and almost six inches more at each end for projection. The four bottom logs being laid, smaller logs, faced on one side, are placed along the ground. Upon these the floor is to be laid, and they should be so arranged COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 283 that, when the lower log is cut one-third away and faced to form the door-sill, this floor will come within an inch of that face — all this is, however, sometimes left until the last work in finishing. XV. Carrsdng Up the Sides. The first layer having been finished, continue to roll up the logs, spotting them true at the corners so they will lie closely together, until a height of six and a half feet, or more, is reached above the floor. Places for the door, windows and fireplace are now to be sawed out, and the ends of the logs held, by temporary slabs, nailed or pinned on, until permanent ones can be placed. A BuildiXLg Bee. — It is better still that all these pieces should have been hewed, the door and hinges, and the window frames gotten ready to be hung, for then those who have come, perhaps from a distance, to the " raising bee," may with- out delay assist in doing much valuable labor. The writer remembers helping at one raising when the settlements were so thin that two of the men came forty miles, swimming their horses over two rivers. The fireplace may well be four, or even five feet wide, and four feet high; fuel will be cheap, and much splitting of wood will thus be saved. The chimney and fireplace are, of course, to be built outside of the house. If the measurements have been correctly made, all this sawing-out may be avoided, but unless every log is most securely stayed, accidents are apt to happen. XVI. Putting on the Roof. When the house has reached a height of not less than seven feet above the ground floor, and eight is better, timbers are laid across and spotted, or notched and saddled, to the upper logs, so that when the floor is laid it will be level. These logs will sag less if they are face4 down on two sides, like scanthng. A ridge-pole is then raised and stayed, and upon this the rafters are laid. The roof may be one-quarter pitch, or even less. A good way, however, to pre- pare the foundation ' for the roof, is to carry it up with the gables, by placing the roofing logs, as the gables are raised, until the center is reached. Upon these shingles may be directly laid. The best possible form of roof, is to halve logs of the proper length and form them into troughs. These are securely spotted and pinned to the log forming the ridge and to those forming the sides of the house. Other troughs are inverted over these to break joints. No water will ever enter such a roof, if the logs are sound. The other way of forming a roof is with " shakes " — rough shingles — split out with a froe, as thin as possible, one shingle being lapped over the other, and each suc- cessive layer extending some distance down along the other one. When regular rafters are used, the ends of the house are often formed of these shakes or clapboards. The lower floor is usually laid with logs hewed thin and squared at the edges, and the upper floor, with clapboards jointed on the beams. In fact, so comfortable are log-houses — 284 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. warm in winter and cool in summer — ^that some wealthy people are beginning to lavish money on them, after the Norwegian style. XVII. Building the Fireplace. This should be of stone, if it can be procured. The chimney may be of sticks thickly plastered with mud. These sticks should be split out of hard wood, be almost two inches square, and are laid up cob-house fashion, in two parallel lines, one within the other. The space between is filled with thoroughly tempered clay, and the out and in sides thickly plastered with the same material. If carefully built, not carried to within six feet of the hearth, the clay well settled between the lines of sticks, and once or twice plastered, as it cracks, in drying, there is little or no danger of fire. In fact, the whole may be built thus, from the ground up, if a good backing of stone is given to the fireplace. It should, however, be not less than five feet wide by three feet deep, inside measure, and gradually drawn in, to ar height of five feet, until the inside measurement of the chimney will be not more than two feet by eighteen inches. ADZE-EYED MATTOCK. XVIII. Chinking the House. The doors, windows and fireplace being complete, and the floors laid, the spaces between the logs should be carefully chinked with pieces split running to an edge. These should be pinned to hold them in place, and the whole thoroughly plastered with well-tempered clay, thin enough to fill all cracks. Sometimes chopped spagnum or other moss is mixed with the mortar, and it is not a bad plan, since it serves, like hair, to bind the mortar. A ladder is arranged to give passage to the loft, and the house is then ready for the family, and welcome it will be to those who have been camping out for a month or two. A frame is made in one corner of the cabin for the bed, unless a veritable bedstead makes a part of the furniture. The fireplace may be omitted if the emigrant has a stove, though even if so, the fireplace is most healthful, and will be cheerful in winter. In summer the stove may occupy a shed, built of clapboards, and covered with bark. Nails may be used in place of pins, and shingles may be shaved. The log-house may be built of squared timber, halved together at the ends. A frame house would certainly be cheaper if the material can be bought or traded for. We are describing the manner of life where mills are not, and nails COMFORT AND PROFIT IN THE HOMESTEAD. 285 hardly to be thought of; and, so far as real comfort is concerned, in an humble way, there are many buildings of greater show less comfortable than a carefully built log-house. / XIX. Deadening Timber. The first crop is often raised under deadened timber, where the larger trees have been girdled by cutting out a narrow circle around the trunk down through the sap-wood, before the buds have started. The smaller timber is chopped and burned with the dry leaves and trash ; all saplings, say those under four inches through, and all bushes are grubbed with a mattock, to add to the fire. The best form of mattock is shown in the cut. Then the crop is sown or planted without plowing, and harrowed or hoed in, so far as small grain is concerned, and the corn and potatoes dropped where a place offers, and cultivated entirely by hand. This is tedious and slow, but all the heavily timbered farms of the country were originally opened in this way. The only revenue while the crop was growing was in the potash made from the ashes of the burned timber. There are, however, now but very few localities in the United States where the timber will not pay handsomely for the labor. Oak and hemlock bark is sought far and wide by tanners. The logs are sawn into timber and lumber by portable saw-mills, and the cord-wood finds a ready sale. XX. The Work of Improvement. The work of clearing and preparing the timber goes steadily on from year to year. Field is added to field, each being seeded to grass as soon as possible, until the smaller stumps can be drawn out. Up to the time when grass can be produced the stock subsist on what they can find in the summer, on mast in the autumn, and on the tender twigs and buds of the trees chopped in the winter. Hogs, except in a very inclement climate, will manage to live the year round, since the ground seldom freezes deeply in the dense forest, and nuts and roots furnish them with food. As field after field of grass is added, the calves grow up into cows, and butter and cheese are made. The idea in clearing timber farms being that all the stock possible must be carried; the only care necessary being not to keep too many animals until grass and hay can be made. It takes a great deal of browsing to support a cow, and it is a make-shift at best. Feeding grain raised in the laborious manner named must not be thought of. Only the necessities of the family should be looked after. When grass is produced add lo your live stock by every possible means. It is indeed hard labor to "hew a farm from the forest," yet it has many comforts not to be enjoyed by those who open and improve a prairie. Nevertheless we advise no one to take the timber farm, from choice, if the prairie may be had. Still, if the prairie farm is not available, do not refuse the timber because you are not a chopper. Two months' practice will enable you to swing the "woodman's axe" deftly, and in three months you can carry the broadaxe "true to the line." CHAPTER II. FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT— LEASING. I. SOILS INDICATING VAEIETY OF CEOPS. II ADAPTATION OF SOILS TO CROPS. in. ADAPTATION OF CEOPS TO LOCALITIES IV. STARTING A DAIRY. ^V. WHEN TO SELL THE CEOP. ^VI. STUDY THE PROBABILITIES. ^VII. WHEN TO HOLD THE CEOP. VIII. HOW TO SELECT A FARM. IX. IMPOKTANT THINGS TO OONSIDEE. X. SITUATION OF THE FARM. XI. SOME THINGS TO BE REMEMBERED. XII. LEASING A FARM. XIII. FORMS OP LEASE AND CERTIFICATE. XIV. PLAN FOR LAYING OUT A FARM. XV. A GARDEN FAR5I. I. Soils Indicating Variety of Crops. The crop best suited to the soil may generally be told by the natural or wild vege- tation found upon it. Hazel brush and red root (the hard, woody-rooted species) are indications of a good wheat soil. Why? They tell of a rich, and at the same time, firm soil. All the cereal crops will do well on such land. As a rule, our upland prairie soils are rich in the phosphates and potash. Heavy-timbered lands usually have what may be called hard or firm soils, well adapted to wheat, rye, sorghum, sweet potatoes, onions, and, when there is moisture enough, to flat turnips and the pasture grasses. The lower lands, covered with timber, often resemble what are known as soft soils; that is, they contain much humus, and are adapted to Indian corn, the common potato, garden crops, and the meadow grasses. II. Adaptation of Soils to Crops. Upon the prairie, both firm and soft soils are found. When stiff or gravelly clay comes near the surface, they are hard lands, adapted to winter wheat, barley, rye and oats, to sorghum, sweet potatoes and onions. When well fertilized, with barn-yard manure, they are also good for garden crops and the cultivated grasses. This hard soil will be prolific in a variety of rather short grasses, and of the low-growing flowering plants. The lower lands, where the grass is taller, and where sunflowers, various species of helianthus, iron-weed, wild artichoke and all that flower- bearing class thrive, or where are found the compass-plant or rosin-weed, are humus, and, generally, potash soils. Such lands are adapted to Indian corn, the common potato, to oats, and in a lesser degree, and when not subject to wet in the spring, to barley and spring wheat. Sorghum also does fairly well on some of these low-lying soils, especially when they have been drained. Drainage also fits them well for the > cultivated grasses. As a rule, the greater the variety of wild plants natural to the soil the better is the soil for general agriculture, for such variety shows that the soil is not [286] FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 287 oniy well drained, but that it contains a variety of the elements of plant-food in a soluble condition. III. Adaptation of Crops to Localities. When far from a market it would be unwise to cultivate much corn or oats, unless the farmer has stock to feed it to. If his stock is cattle and hogs he would still be wrong in raising large fields of oats to fatten them. His crops, as before stated; must be of wheat, barley, linseed, grass and clover seed. Live stock being his main object, hogs, being the most easily multiplied, come first, then horned cattle, and lastly, as the country becomes more settled and free from predatory animals, sheep. All these may be driven long distances on foot to reach a market. As stock increases, Indian corn is more and more largely raised and pastures are steadily increased. Later a regular rotation is established; then railroads come to lessen the cost of transportation, and crops become more and more diversified from the increasing demand as towns and villages spring up. IV, Starting a Dairy. The wise man is he who foresees what this increasing population naturally requires, and meets the demand. He, for example, obtains a herd of really good milking cows in advance of his neighbors. If there is not a good demand for milk, he has the best procurable machinery and implements put in for converting the milk into butter or cheese, and establishes his market. Others see that there is profit in this, and may solicit him to manufacture their milk also, and this often grows to a large and profitable business, the farmer almost unwittingly lapsing into the tradesman and manufacturer. A careful study of the various crops will, however, indicate many other lines of possible profit that may be built up by a careful study of soil, climate, locality, and the crojDs adapted to the increasing wants of a growing community. The Dairy-House. — A dairy-house, even though only an adjunct to the farm, is almost a necessity upon a large, well-managed country-place, and we herewith give a plan for the building required. The cut, however, contains several errors. The corner of the barn-stable is drawn too near, for, although the dairy must always be fairly near the milking-yard, it should be removed from all animal or other foul odors ; cleanliness being a neces- sary element of success. The eaves should also project more than is shown, or the dairy must be protected from the southern sun by an awning. The roof of the gallery or porch protects it there, and the porch itself serves for spreading tins and other utensils to dry and sweeten in the air. The Building Described. — The building occupies 24 x 30 feet of ground, and eight feet between floors. This will be sufiicient for the product of forty cows, or with improved fixtures, of more than that number. The lower floor should be divided into two rooms; one for butter, the other for cheese. The attic is the curing-room 2.S8 THE MO^IE AND FARM MANT'AL. for cheese, and has, besides the ventilator in the roof, open spaces in the sides which may be closed by wickets, and which serve to admit the air. > a o :3 3 An abundance of fresh, cold water, or of ice, must be at hand, as well as the necessary fixtures, including presses for cheese-making, tanks for setting cream, etc., FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 289 all of which should be of the best patterns. If the soil will allow, a cellar should be dug, and, in all cases, the drain-pipes and drainage must be of the most thorough character. Dairy Pixtxtres. — May now be bought com- plete, from certain dealers, who will supply everything required in a factory or creamery, from a steam engine to the simplest implement. The cut shows ouq of the many forms of butter- workers used. It is simply a slab, preferably of slate or marble, and has no sharp corners or BUTTEE-WOEKEE. i j. t. i j cracks to be cleaned. V. When to Sell the Crop. The knowledge of when and how to sell the crops of a farm, is among the most important of the many elements that go to make success in farming. The man who blindly accepts the prices bid by the grain buyer in his local market is apt to come out loser. The farmer can tell the value of his crop on the farm as well as anybody else, if he keeps himself informed as to freights, prices in central markets, insurance and storage. If he does this he can always get full value for his products, even if there is no competition among buyers, or if there is only one buyer in the market. The farmer can always ship direct to some reputable house in a central market, or he can combine with neighbors and do so. This will soon bring the local buyer to terms, since he can make some profit, as between the transportation rates that he gets and those which the farmer gets, who ships in smaller quatities. The farmer can often contract his whole crop for less money per bushel than he will sell one bushel for, and still make money. If he has kept himself informed on prices, and the probable crop of a given commodity, he may often contract to deliver at a stipulated time, and get far more money per bushel than his neighbor, who sells his crop in a kind of " hit or miss " way, a few bushels at a time, just as he feels in the humor for " going to town." VI. Study the Probabilities. The ideal time to sell is when the market is at the highest, or as near this point as possible. You cannot find this out by asking the village buyer. You could no more expect him to tell you that which might take money out of his pocket, than your neighbor could expect you to tell him of a trade that would take money out of your pocket. The man who waits day by day for the market to go higher, and then refuses to sell when it has fallen somewhat from the highest point, is very apt to sell at the low- est pi'ice. In like manner, the farmer who ships on his own account and holds until the highest market price is past, usually finds his produce reaching tide-water about the time the lowest market is reached. 19 290 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL The fluctuations of the market are caused by so many varying influences that the wisest often are deceived. But the farmer who carefully figures profit and loss, who carefully studies the probable markets, who makes up his mind what should be a fair price, and sells when that price is reached, seldom makes failures. He may not, indeed, make " a hit " every time, but the " good hits" will be so largely beyond the bad ones that he will have no serious cause for complaint. VII. When to Hold the Crops. In a country so large as the United States there is little chance that there will be a failure of a given crop all over the country in any one year. The transportation facilities and the increasing railway extension year by year, preclude famine prices in any locality. The man who holds a crop of grain, wool, or other perishable commod- ity, hoping to get famine prices, always gets beaten. The time to hold a crop is from seasons of general plenty and low prices to a season of scarcity and high prices. In this, storage, interest on the capital em- ployed, insurance against fire, insects and shrinkage in weight must always be taken into account. If the present price be so low that it will pay to hold in spite of all these items of expense, do so, but as a rule the best price in any one year is the best price for all time. VIII. How to Select a Farm. - The selection of a farm more or less improved requires not only taste and judg- ment, but the ability to estimate correctly the cost of making all those minor improve- ments which render a place desirable, as well as estimate the natural advantages" of the farm. Few of the farmers who have made these improvements are able to tell what they have cost, and not many who buy farms really appreciate their true value. A piece of land with partly worn fences and inferior buildings is really worth less than the raw prairie adjoining it. Never buy a farm with indifferent fences and buildings, unless the natural advan- tages are such as to compensate for these deficiencies. A good orchard, wind-breaks in suitable positions, a grove, careful drainage, a man can afford to pay liberally for. A stream of water on natural situations, for ponds; natural protection by hills or timber from storms are always to be taken into account The proximity of large bodies of water is often of great value in tempering a climate. A soil may be unproductive from bad management, and yet the real fertility may be little impaired. If the proposing buyer has made soils and their management a study, he may- profit thereby in buying such a farm. There are plenty of these for sale in the best neighborhoods. It is for this reason that eventually the best farms are graduallj' concentrated in the hands of a few keen persons. Their previous owners were poor farmers, and the soil is rather inert from bad management, than worn out by severe cropping. FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 291 IX. Important Things to Consider. The first consideration in seeking a new home, is soil; the next is situation; the third is water, and the fourth, drainage. We put drainage last, for the reason that very few farms really lack the slope necessary to natural drainage, though the diffi- culty arises sometimes that the outfall of the drainage lies on land beyond the limits of the farm. Testing the Soil. — The fertility of the soil can be judged pretty accurately by the vegetation growing thereon ; the texture by vax'ious means ; the depth by boring. If the surface soil, upon being wetted and kneaded, becomes pasty and tough, resembling putty, it indicates a stiff clay. If the subsoil contains some gravel, however little, it will indicate sufficient sand, also, for easy percolation of water. A black deep soil indicates humus, suitable for corn, oats, potatoes and grass. If it may readily be compressed under foot, spring wheat, barley and rye will do well oil it. If the soil is a chocolate color, or lighter brown, it indicates considerable sand. If of a light or ashen color (silicious clay), a wheat and fruit soil will be indicated. In this way a careful examination will enable any thinking man to decide pretty accu- rately as to the composition and capability of the farm. Plow and. Pasture Land. — The relative proportion of plow and pasture land must also be taken into consideration, though as a rule a good grain farm will be a good grass farm. Remember always that good grass is the foundation of successful farming. X. Situation of the Farm. The situation of a farm is not considered by the average farmer as of great importance, yet a good building site is often worth half the price of the farm. It should be sufficiently elevated to be above danger of miasma, and yet easy of access, and even on the largest farms not more than a quarter of a mile from a main road. The rise to the buildings should be easy, and, if possible, the whole farm should lie in view of the top of the house or barn. If a stream meanders through the farm or is capable of being turned to supply a pond, so much the better. Or if pipes may be laid to reach the house and barn it will be a valuable improvement. Oak, maple, hickory, black walnut, wild cherry and ash are the most valuable timbers. If the fences are in good order, and if the house — however small and rough — is well cared for as to its surroundings, you may be pretty sure the land has not suffered seriously. But, when you find a farm thoroughly in order, with buildings and fixtures, the full value will have to be paid. The owner will pretty well understand what it has cost, and the man who has once put his farm into perfect home condition is seldom in a hurry to leave it. Yet good, natural features unimproved are not rare to those who have the eyes to see them. Excellent places are plentiful in timbered districts where homes can be made, but the farms in timbered districts will average smaller 292 THE HOME AJST) FARM MANTJAL. than in prairie regions, and where there is an original growth of hickory, burr oak, black walnut, sugar maple, white wood (tulip tree), the soil and subsoil will generally be excellent. XI. Some Things to be Remembered. In Malarious Districts. — Do not select a farm in a malarious district, unless the situation is high. Even then it is better that you satisfy yourself as to the prob- able health of your family before buying. A very low-priced farm in such a district is to be very carefully investigated before buying. Costly Improvements. — Never buy a farm with costly improvements in build- ings and planting, if they are not suitable to your wants, unless the price is so low that you can afford to alter and reconstruct. A run-down farm, if the soil is there, is the place to improve to your liking; but be sure that the farm is adapted to the crops you intend to cultivate. A high and dry farm is not adapted to grass, neither is moist, cold land, subject to every sweep of the wind, adapted to fruit. But, if protected by wind-breaks, the wet, cold land, after drainage, will be excellent for grass; and, if not too tough, will make good grain land. If your system of farming requires large amounts of manure, a location near some city will greatly cheapen the cost of getting manure. The other remedy, and a good one always, is to keep plenty of stock. Rocky Farms. — Do not buy a rocky, hilly or stumpy farm, unless pasturage is your object, and then the price should be low. For stock, except sheep, the moderately level land is always the best. If the soil is stiff and wet, under-draining will cure it, and such soils when under-drained, are generally the most productive; but it will cost from fifty to eighty dollars for every acre you thoroughly under-drain. All this must be figured in. Too Much Land. — ^Do not buy too much land. The necessary repairs must be made, implements bought, the farm must be stocked, and a proper sum reserved for working capital. Fifty acres to each hand to be employed is fully as much as a good manager should undertake to work, even in the West, where the obstacles to thorough cultivation are less than in most other countries, unless stock-feeding is to be the principal object. Foresight Necessary. — Before you decide finally, remember that farming requires fully as much thought as any other business ; but all the requirements may soon be mastered by application. Farming is no longer the drudgery it was fifty years ago. The comforts and the elegancies are by no means to be overlooked. The man with five thousand dollars, or more, of capital, especially if he have a growing family, needing schools, may do far better to invest the money in an improved or partly improved farm, with schools, churches and society, rather than isolate them by going to the far "West, and buying himself "land poor." XII. Leasing a Farm. We do not advise any man who has money enough to stock a farm, however FAEMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 293 moderately, to lease. If, however, it is desirable to lease a farm, on account of the advantages offered by society, settlements and markets, nothing should be left to chance. Everything must be in black and white, and so plainly stated in the lease that there can be no room for dispute. Every permanent improvement made by the tenant should be paid for by the landlord, and every improvement made by the land- lord, at the request of the tenant, will become an additional consideration. Some leases are so carefully drawn, that the number of loads of manure to be made yearly is a condition, and to what particular crops these are to be applied; even the rotation of crops is often stipulated. The object, both of the tenant and landlord, is to get as good terms as possible for himself. In making a contract, of whatever kind, avoid all unnecessary words, and be sure that the meaning is clear. XIII. Forms of Lease and Certificates. We append here forms of a lease and certificates of landlord and tenant. Forms are usually printed, to be filled in, and it is necessary that this printed wording be carefully noted, as heretofore suggested. Here are the forms: INDENTUEE OF LEASE. This indenture, made the day of , in the year one thousand eight hundred and — , between of , in the county of , and State of , [State business of owner or agent] of the first part, and , of , in the said county, farmer, of the second part, WITNESSETH : that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the rents, covenants, and agreements hereinafter mentioned, reserved and contained, on the part and behalf of the party of the second part, his executors, administra- tors and assigns, to be paid, kept and performed, has leased, demised and to farm let, and by these presents does lease, demise, and to farm let, unto the said party of the second part, his executors, admin- istrators and assigns, all [insert full description of premises]: To have and to hold the said above mentioned and described premises, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators and assigns, from the daj' of , one thousand eight hundred and — , for and during, and until the full end and terra of years thence next ensuing, and fully to be complete and ended, yielding and paying therefor, unto the said party of the first part, his heirs or assigns, yearly and every year, during the said term hereby granted, the yearly rent or sum of dollars, lawful money of the United States of America, in equal quarter [or, half] yearly payments — to wit : on the day of [name the months intended], in each and every year during the said term: Provided, always, nevertheless, that if the yearly rent above reserved, or any part thereof, shall be behind or unpaid, on any day of payment whereon the same ought to be paid, as aforesaid; or if default shall be made in any of the covenants herein contained, on the part and behalf of the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators and assigns, to be paid, kept and performed, then and from thenceforth it shall and may be lawful for the said party of the first part, his heirs or assigns, into and upon the said demised premises, and every part thereof, wholly to re-enter and the same to have again, repossess and enjny, as in his or their first and former estate, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. And the said party or the second part, for himself and his heirs, executors and adminis- trators, doth covenant and agree, to and with the said party of the first part, his heirs and assigns, by these presents, that the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators or assigns, shall and will, yearly, and every year, during the term hereby granted, well and ti'uly pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said party of the first part, his heirs or assigns, the said yearly rent above reserved, on the days, and in the manner limited and prescribed, as aforesaid, for the payment thereof, without any deduction, fraud or delay, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents: [if so agreed, add: and that the said party of the second, part, his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall and 2it4 THE HOJEE AND FARM MANUAL. will, at their own proper costs and charges, hear, pay, and discharge all such taxes, duties, and assess- ments whatsoever, as shaU or may, during the said term hereby granted, he charged, assessed or imposed upon the said described premises ;] and that on the last day of the said term, or other sooner determination of the estate hei-eby granted, the said party of the second part, his executors, administra- tors, or assigns, shall and will peaceably and quietly leave, surrender, and yield up, unto the said partj-^ of the first part, his heirs or assigns, all and singular, the said demised premises. And the saii> PARTY OF THE FIRST PART, for himself, his heirs, and assigns, doth covenaut and agree, by these presents, that the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators, or assigns, paying the said yearly rent above reserved, and performing the covenants and agreements aforesaid, on his and their part, the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, shall and may at all times during the said term hereb)' granted, peaceably and quietly have, hold and enjoy the said demised premises, without any let, suit, trouble, or hindrance, of or from the said party of the first part, his heirs or assigns, or any other person or persons whomsoever. In witness vthereof, the parties hereto have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals this day of one thousand eight hundred and Signed, sealed, and delivered \ [Signatures and seals.'] in the presence of / [Signature of witness.] landlord's certificate of letting farm with stock and tools. This is to certift, that I have, this day of , 18 — , let and rented unto , of , in the county of , a certain farm situate in the town and county aforesaid, and bounded as follows [description] : with the appurtenances, and also with the use, profits, and behoof of the following named stock and farming utensils, cattle, horses, and stock now being or to be on the said premises within described, on and fi-om the day of , 18 — , during the time below stated — viz, [here describe all machinery, farm stock and, farming utensils] , on the said farm now remaining and being, and the sole and uninteiTupted use and occupation thereof, for the term of ^from the day of , 18 — , at the yearly rent of dollars, payable on the first daj' of January, with the refusal of the same for [state time of extension] years more at the same rent, upon the said -giving me notice in writing of his intention to renew the lease on or befoi'e the day of , 18 — . [Date.] [Signature.] tenant's certificate. This is to certify, that I have, this day of , 18 — . rented of , of , his farm. and have agreed to the following covenants, viz, [here describe every individual thing that is to be performed.] I also promise to use the horses, oxen, wagons, sleighs and other tools carefully, and to return them in as good condition as they are now, the necessary wear excepted, together with possession of the fai-m and buildings, on the day of , 18 — . [Date.] [Signature.] Chattel Security. — It is sometimes required that tenants pledge chattels as security for payment of rent, etc., or that they give secunty therefor. The first annexed form shows a tenant's pledge; the second, security for rent, etc. Append to the tenant's certificate of letting the farm, or the lease, the following: tenant's certificate pledging his chattels on the premises as security. And I do hereby pledge and mortgage to the said all my personal property of what kind soever which is or may be on the premises aforesaid, for the faithful performance of the covenauts herein, hereby authorizing the said , iu case of a failure on my part to perfonn all or any of said covenants, to take said property so pledged, and sell the same, and out of the proceeds of such sale to pay and discharge all rent, damages and expenses, which may at such time be due, and to pay over to me or my assigns the surplus moneys arising from such sale. [Signature of tenant.] FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 295 SECURITY FOR KENT AND PERFORMANCE OP COVENANTS. In consideration of the letting of the premises above described, and for the sum of one dollar, I do hereby become sm'ety for the pimctual payment of the rent, and performance of the covenants in the above written agreement mentioned, to be paid and performed by as therein specified; and if any default shall at any time be made therein, I do hereby pi'omise and agree to pay unto the landlord in said agreement named the said rent, or any arrears thereof that may be due, and fully satisfy the conditions of the said agreement, and all damages that may accrue by reason of the non-fulfillment thereof without requiring notice or proof of demand being made. Given under my hand and seal, the day of , 18 — . [Signature and seal.^ ANOTHER FORM. In consideration of the letting of the premises above described [or, for value received], I guarantee the punctual payment of the I'ent [and performance of the covenants] in the above agreement mentioned to be paid and performed by said lessee, without requiring any notice of non-payment or non-perform- ance, or proof of notice or demand being made, whereby to charge me therefor. [DiJe.] [Signature.^ '*■•=■*■■■- — ----TTIi""' ^-— '""""■"■-— ^ **= WW m:: 4\ ^^ — — PUBLIC HIGH -WAY DIAGRAM OF FARM. XIV. Plan for Laying Out a Farm. The careless, haphazard method so often practiced in laying out a farm and in dividing it into fields is well worthy of improvement. A careful study of the peculi- 296 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. arities of the farm is necessary in selecting the building site, laying out the farm roads, conveying water to the fields, and in deciding as to the proper sites for perma- nent pastures and wood-lot, if such is to be planted. As a rule it is better that the farm-house and other buildings should occupy a central position. Yet circumstances may prevent this. The configuration of the land may even render it necessary that it be on one corner of the farm. A ridge running diagonally through the farm may render this necessary. However it may be, the fields should be arranged both as respects rotation, and also so that each one may be reached by the farm road. Map of the Farm. — When no serious obstacles intervene, the diagram will show the a:rrangement of the house lot, garden, orchard, grove and home pasture, etc., in a location central upon one side of the farm, with private road, showing how every field may be reached : 1, is the house, back from the public road; 2, the lawn and house lot; 3, the kitchen garden, a parallelogram, for convenience in horse- cultivation; 4, small fruit, and dwarf fruit tree garden; 5, the barn-yard; 6, the orchard of standard trees; and 7, a home-pasture and artificial grove. It will be seen that every field is a parallelogram, or oblong square, showing gates leading to the several fields. The dotted lines show trees planted along the lines of fence, or they may be hedges for shade and shelter for stock. XV. A Garden Farm. Many persons in laying out a place are at a loss how to arrange a garden. The ground plan of "a garden farm," shows a forty acre lot, when gardening is the principal in- dustry. The house lot contains eight acres. The dark portions show shrubbery, planted thickly, and the smaller deciduous and ever- green trees for shade, etc. ; the light shaded portions at the sides and rear of the house may be used for dwarf fruits, asparagus, rhubarb, nursery stock, etc. Along the winding walk beds of flowers may be planted. Around the outer border of the place plant standard fruit trees, for shade and shelter. A road runs through the farm with a circle at the end for turning about, and caiaMtisc.'c there is a road around every field to cart a GARDEN faem. manure in, and to cart out the produce; this road space is also necessary for turning when working the land. FARMS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. LEASING. 297 These roadways may all be in grass, so that they may be utilized for hay-making or pasturing. A A, may be in orchard trees and small fruits; and B, C, D, E, F, G, will give ample area for gardening and other crops, and at the same time allow for rotation. If this plan is to form simply the farm-house place and lawn, and kitchen garden, etc., H and J may contain the garden and small fruits, F and G the home orchard and pasture, and the rest of the plat used, as desired, as part of the farm. CHAPTEE III. FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. RELATIVE COST OP FENCES AND BUILDINGS. U. COST OF FABM FENCES IN THE UNITED STATES. III. THE COST OF FENCE PER ROD. IV. WORM, OR VIRGINIA FENCES. V. STAKING AND RIDERING THE FENCE.- — VI. POST AND RAIL FENCE. Vn. PREPARING THE TIMBER.^ VIII. MORTISING THE POSTS AND SHARPENING THE RAILS. IX. SETTING THE POSTS. X. FASTEN- ING THE RAILS AND FINISHING. XI. ' HOW TO BUILD A BOARD FENCE. ^XII. STRINGING A WIRE FENCE. xni. SOD-AND-DITCH FENCE. XIV. COMPOUND FENCES. XV. PORTABLE FENCES. XVI. FENCING STEEP HILLSIDES.^XVII BARS AND GATES. XVIII. THE SLIDE AND SWINGING GATE. XIX. SWING GATES AND SLIDE GATES EXPLAINED. XX. SELF-CLOSING SLIDE GATES XXI. SOUTHERN STRAP-HINGE FARM GATE. ^XXII. DOUBLE-BRACED GATE. XXIII. ADJUST- ABLE SWING GATE. XXIV. HOW TO PREVENT POSTS FROM SAGGING. ^XXV. ORNAMENTAL GATES. XXVT. FLOOD AND WATER GATES XXVII. STREAM GATE AND FOOTWAY. I. Relative Cost of Fences and Buildings. |H0SE States of the American Union having cast-iron laws regulating the kind offence and the space between boards or rails, would do well to repeal them. It is a generally accepted fact that the fences of the country cost more than the buildings. They must be renewed, on an average, about once in twelve years. The Secretary of the "Wisconsin Stalte Agricultural Society, a few years ago, estimated the cost of the perishable fences of the State to be $40,000,000, reckoning one rod of fence at 85 cents. More recently, a careful and unprejudiced observer, Mr. David Williams, of Walworth county, Wis., says: " I have, with the assistance of a number of well-informed farmers of this county, made a careful computation of the first cost, annual deterioration, per cent, and cost of annual repair. There are sixteen townships, or seven hundred and fifty-six square miles, in the county. Estimating one-sixteenth as lake, ponds, or abandoned lands, gives five hundred and forty square miles, or 345,600 acres of improved or inclosed land. This, if fenced into 40-acre lots, will require five rods of fence to the acre (a careful estimate gives 25 acres as the average size of fields), or 1,728,000 rods of fence, exclusive of ornamental and village fences. Estimating one-eighth of this as division fence, and therefore duplicated in the foregoing estimate, and to include also temporary and comparatively worthless fence, will give in even numbers 1,500,000 rods of farm fence for the county, 100,000 rods for each township (one-sixteenth of the total area having been thrown out of the estimate as lakes, ponds or abandoned lands) of improved or inclosed lands. From carefully prepared data, I find about two-fifths to be highway fence, making 600,000 rods of highway fence for the county, and 40,000 rods for each township. " Estimating the cost of this fence at $1 per rod gives $1,500,000 for the county, and $100,000 for each township. Two-fifths of this for highway fences gives $600,000 FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. 299 for the county and $40,000 for each township, or a total cost of all farm fence of $4.34, nearly, per acre, and a cost of $1.73 per acre of highway fence. Estimating 10 per cent on first cost for annual deterioration and repairs, and 7 per cent interest on first cost, gives $275,000 as the aggregate annual cost of farm fence for the county, and $18,333.33 for each township. Fully two-fifths of this are for highway fence. If to this sum be added the cost of village fences — mainly made necessary by the per- nicious habit of using the highway. as a public pasture — the total cost of fence for the county will be swelled to the considerable sum of $1,750,000, and the annual cost to $297,500." II. Cost, of Farm Fences in the United States. The cost of the farm fences in the United States has been estimated at $1,350,- 000,000, and their annual maintenance at $250,000,000. Thirty years ago, the annual cost of repairing fences in Pennsylvania was about $10,000,000. The annual cost of fencing in New York State was placed at $13,500,000. In Illinois and some other Western States, fencing is not compulsory. The people of a county or town- ship can decide by vote, whether they will have fences at all, or what shall constitute a lawful fence. This should be the rule everywhere. No-Fence Laws. — ^When tried in Livingston county, Illinois, some years ago, the no-fence law worked excellently. We have had cattle herded within a few rods of standing corn, and they would take the road, morning and evening, quietly enough under the care of the herdsmen. It is cheaper to fence cattle in than to fence them out, especially in all neighborhoods where pasturage is not the principal industry. III. The Cost of Pence per Rod. The statute laws of the United States do not require fences. It is simply the law of custom, and many of the circumstances which originally gave countenance to the local laws have become obsolete. Let us take a section of land, which is six hundred and forty acres. To enclose this, will require 1,280 rods of fence, which at a dollar per rod, would 6ost $1,280. To divide this into 160-acre lots, would require 640 rods more of fence, or $640. To divide these again into forty-acre fields would require 1,280 rods more, or, in all, 3,100 rods of fence. The annual repairs on this will be at least t6n per cent of the cost, or $310. The smaller the farm the more the fences cost, since the fields are smaller. But the cost of the fence is not all; they diminish the cultivatable area. If enclosed by a hedge, at least half a rod in width of land will be lost. In fact little can be grown within eight feet of a hedge on either side. If a board or wire fence is made, the loss will be at least four feet, to say nothing of the harbor for weeds. In a section of land the loss amounts to nearly ten acres. IV. Worm, or Virginia Fence. The old-fashioned worm (Virginia) fences are seldom found outside timbered districts. They are unsightly, take up too much land, and are great harborers of 300 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. PANELS or VIRGINIA FENCE. weeds. They should be replaced at the first opportunity with post-and-rail, or other straight fence. Their only advantage lies in the ease of getting out the material, laying it up and transferring it when no longer wanted. How to Build. — ^The width — allowing eleven feet as the length of the rails — : should be four and a half feet, certainly never under four feet, from outside to out- side of "the worm," as the zigzag line of the fence is called. Set two lines of .stakes this distance apart. Then, the rails having been delivered as near the outside of one of these lines as possible, lay a rail on the ground, so that each of its ends projects beyond one of the stakes six inches. Then lay another rail, so that its butt shall , overlap by six inches one end of that first laid, and, being placed at an angle of, say, 130° to 140" thereto, so the other end of the second rail shall lie in line ^svith the other row of stakes. Reverse the angle of opening with each succeeding rail until you have one laid along the whole line, much in the shape of a number of capital W's, but more open, so laid as to touch, or, rather, to slightly overlap. Blocks eighteen inches long and six inches thick should be provided for every panel of fence. Place one of these blocks under each end, and bring every corner true to the line of stakes as you go back. Then, lay successive rails, from the point where you first began, to the far end, and walking back to the place of beginning, so proceed until you g6t six or seven rails in height, according to the intended height of the fence. As the fence is laid keep the corners vertical (in a direct line up and down), and of equal, height one with another, by laying the big end of the rail one way or the other, as occasion may require. V. Staking and Ridering the Virginia Fence. The fence is now ready for the stakes and top rails, or riders. The stakes are better if sharpened at one end and with the other end square. Make the holes for the stakes by thrusting the spade in the ground from, and diagonally with the corners, to receive the stakes, and at a proper distance so the stakes will not only lie kindly but at the same time receive and lock the rail. A little practice and observation will soon enable any one to do this deftly. When two stakes ar? set lay one end of a rail in the fork of the stakes, and the other on top of the next rail. Set two more stakes, lay on the rail as before, and so proceed — having reserved two of the heaviest rails for riders in laying the fence — until the whole line is staked. Then walk back and lay the remaining rail on top of all. The stakes are sometimes set in the middle of the panel instead of at the corners, but whatever LOCKED VIRGDJIA FENCE. FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. 301 PERPENDICULAR STAKING AND CAPPING. may have been said as to the advantage of this plan, the fence is neither so -strong against animals nor the wind, as when staked at the corners. The cut entitled "Panels of Virginia Fence" illustrates perpendicular staking and capping, which make a neat and firm fence. Here see an illustration of four sections of Vir- ginia fence with the caps laid parallel with the line of the fence. By this method one man can set the stakes, since both are on the same side of the fence. Straight Bail Pence. — Another simple and good way of making fence of rough rails is to prepare stout stakes, and also cross-pieces fourteen inches long. These are set in the ground, a cross-piece nailed on near the ground, the rails laid in, another cross- piece nailed, two more rails laid, the next two stakes set, and so, proceeding precisely as directed for laying up the rails for Virginia fence. In this case no caps are needed, but it is better to have the tops of the stakes square so that a cap-piece can be nailed on top to hold the last rails. Seeding to Grass. — If the strip of ground '"h. STRAIGHT FENCE WITH STAKES. on which a Virginia fence is laid is seeded down to blue-grass, red-top, orchard grass or some other persistent grass, say ten feet wide, it will prevent the growth of weeds and furnish valuable pasturage late in the autumn, and in the spring when the fields are not occupied with crops. The same rule will apply to all fences, whether wood, stone, hedge, ditch or wire. VI. Post-and-Rail Pence. The next most common fence, when timber is plentiful, is of heavy posts prop- erly mortised, and with rails properly sharpened to lap together in the mortises. The Best Posts. — The best posts are first, red cedar, and then catalpa, osage orange, locust, yellow or white cedar, bur oak and swamp oak, lasting in the order mentioned. The first two will last indefinitely ; the next two from twenty to thirty years, and the last two from ten to fifteen years, according to size and nature of soil. Here it should be remembered that a post should be not less than six inches square at the surface of the ground, and eight inches is better. From the place where the bottom rails are inserted the posts should be hewn flat down to three and one-half or four inches thick, preserving the full width of the post. The cut explains our meaning, and shows proper width of rails and spaces in inches. .*-^A^-*>a. . « gate resting on the common hook-and-eye hinge. At c is another form, the gate being raised at the outer end by means of the tie slot, one set of notches resting in others reversed, thus firmly held except when lifted out- At d is shown the old-fashioned and strong gate swinging on a pin, and so loaded at one end as to balance. It is not liable to sag, since the weight is perpendicular on the post, and is therefore not difficult to swing. It is usually latched by the top bar fitting into a gain in the post. At e and /are shown two sliding gates. The one at e rests on rollers supporting slats which traverse longitu- dinally. One end slides between two vertical posts, upon which the guide rests to keep it in position when closed, a bar working in a slot at the rear keeping it closed. At /is shown a gate the rollers of which keeps it level whether open or shut. Any farmer, if he is handy with tools, can make any of these gates, the cuts explaining themselves. The next illustration shows two views of a swing gate, that in opening, rises upon an incline on the lower hinge, so that the front part, when open^ shows as in the lower view. It is held open by the roller, after passing up an incline, passing into a slight depression, thus holding it open until again closed by hand. When released the gate is surely closed by its own gravity. The upper cut shows the gate closed. The various forms here given may be built according to any of the cuts, the slats being either horizontal or vertical. For small gates we show a form of upper hinge, that will shut the gate by its own gravity. There are now many forms of these kept in stock by hardware mer- chants. A latch is also shown, not easily opened by stock. EISING GATES. XX. Self-closing Slide Gates. Ant slide gate may be made self-closing by having the rollers pass up a slight incline, and may be held open by the rear roller passing into a slight depression. If SLIDING GATES. 310 THE HOME AND FAEM MANUAL. the gate is only partially opened, it will, of course, close itself by its own gravity. The illustration of a self-closing slide gate is intended to show two things : the manner SELF- SHUTTING UPPER HINGE. GATE LATCH— HALF SIZE. of building a square-picket fence, and a gate to correspond. The gate shown is for a footway. For a carriage gate, there must be another post at the rear, or a pro- jection from the fence to carry the rear roller, as shown by the brace and inclined plane beyond the fence. This gate has the following advantages for village and SELF-CLOSmG SLIDE GATE. suburban residents: it will not sag, and, therefore, large posts are not necessary; it clears all obstacles in its path, and closes surely, when relieved, by its own weight. This feature will recommend it to all who have suffered from wandering stock, and a self-fastener may be attached so no animal can open it. A Simple Slide Gate. — A simple slide gate is made thus : Two posts are united by a cross-piece below. One of the posts has a slit in its top to receive the FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. bll cross-bar. This bar passes at its other end into a mortise in the other post, and is fixed by a pin upon which it moves. The other end is made long enough to be shaped into a projecting handle. A perpendicular piece is attached to the cross-bar, connected by a pivot having at the lower end a ring that runs on the cross-bar. Rollers. — ^While upon the subject of slide gates, it should be remarked that, except for the very lightest gates, or all those that are re- quired to stand considerable pressure, rollers must be em- ployed, upon jWhich the gate runs. These are now sold of various styles and weights, from those moving the heav- iest barn-doors with ease to those adapted to light hand gates. There are so many patterns for gates and doors of various kinds, that it will not be difficult for the pur- chaser to be suited. The cut shows one of the more simple forms, applicable to gates and barn-doors, giving front, rear and side views. ROLLER HANGERS. XXI. Southern Strap-Hinged Farm Gate. The old-fashioned strap hinge assists largely in strengthening the swing gate, and in preventing it from swagging. For heavy gates of this kind the posts must be large and deeply set. In the South the heart-wood of the pitch-pine unites strength with stiffness, and is generally used; the form of gate shown in. the illustration HEAVY STRAr HINGE. annexed, is a favorite plantation gate, because it is simple, light, strong and durable. .In the North, oak or beech for the ends, with yellow pine bars and brace, and hemlock pickets may be used. The cut explains itself. By the scale below, each 312 THE HOME AND FAKM MANUAL. portion of the gate may be accurately determined. The manner of bracing — the diagonal brace dove-tailing into the upper, helps to prevent sagging. The latch guard and holder are of wood, and its simplicity of construction will commend itself /\ nninnnnrinnniiinn 1 x\ ip A SOUTHERN STRAP-HINGE FARM GATE. to any man who can use a square, saw and hammer. The usual form of strap hinges for gates, now used, is as shown in the cut on page 311. XXn. Double-Braced Gate. The cut here shows the manner of double-bracing a gate, dividing it into four equal triangles, the form here exhibited being a hand gate with spring fastening. This bracing gives the greatest strength and solidity. The dimensions for a gate nine ,or ten feet long are as follows : Bottom board three inches wide, lower space three inches, the rest of the boards are six inches wide, except the top board, which is seven inches. The spaces as shown, are six inches, except that between the two upper boards, which is four inches; but these may be varied according to circumstances. The front rail is 3x3 inches, and the rear rail 3x4 mortised nearly through, leaving only sufficient wood in the front and rear rail to protect the boards and hold them firm. The boards must fit DOUBLE-BRACED GATE. *^^ mortiscs wcll, be driven home and held with pins. The braces are four inches wide, one on each side, firmly nailed with clinch nails. Any farmer can make this gate, and no animal can break it. FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. 313 ADJUSTABLE SWING GATE. XXIII. Adjustable Swing Gate. When deep snow accumulates in winter, some plan must be used to allow passage through gateways without shoveling great masses of snow, to be again accumulated, perhaps, in five minutes. The accompanying illustration shows an easily constructed and simple gate, and one easily raised to a con- siderable height above the ground, in the case of deep snows. The upright A is six or seven feet long, and three and a half inches square, round at the top and bottom. The dark points indicate places for iron pins upon which the hinges (clasps passing around the post and up- right A') play. The hinges are shown at B. The second slat is cut short, as shown, to allow raising the gate. It may be necessary to keep cattle and horses from passing through the gate, and yet allow the passage of sheep and swine. This may be done by raising the gate to the required height. The gate thus made swings freely both ways, and may be fastened by a spring latch falling into a slot in the post. The eyes of the hinges must be large enough to allow the upright to pass freely up and down. The lower eye may connect with a shank passing through the post, A, and drawn tight by a nut. XXIV. How to Prevent Posts from Sagging. Gate-vosts sag because they are often too small or made of soft wood, and are not properly braced under ground. The post for a heavy gate should be of hard .wood not less than eight inches square, set four feet deep, perfectly plumb and braced under ground. For a heavy gate dig a trench five leet long for the heel-post of the gate. Frame the bottom of the post into a two or three inch hardwood plank, so the plank will project under the gate three feet from the post. Frame also a strong brace for the bed- piece to the post, tamp the earth solid about the post and it will never sag. For very heavy posts it is sonietimes framed and braced at the front, and at the right and left side, when the gate is to swing both ways. But for heavy gates the slide arrangement is better. XXV. Ornamental Gates. Ornamental gates .^^^.^ ornamental gates and fence. are now made in many designs, of a great variety of material, and from patterns always ready to be shown by manufacturers' agents, so that it is not necessary to elaborate them. The illustra- tion shows one pattern of ornamental gate in a square picket fence, including cased 314 THE HOME AKD FARM MANUAL. and capped posts. Any carpenter will undei'stand from this design the manner of putting up any ornamental fence, the material being furnished, since it is simply a question of casing and fitting each piece in its appropriate place. XXVI. Flood and Water Gates. AVhex farms are crossed by streams, water gates and fences are necessary. The approaches may be of any kind, preferably such as may be removed easily from the low grounds, in time of flood. In the current, the gates must be self-acting, so as to give the least resistance to the water, and arranged to free themselves readily from trash and debris brought down by the floods. Two forms of flood gate are shown in the cuts. The first is apt to catch and hold all trash, though swinging freely; the JWmrnm™™ 1 INCORRECT FORM OF WATER GATE. CORRECT FORM OF WATER GATE. other will allow obstructions to be freely disengaged and pass away. The first is simple, effective as a barrier to stock, easily removed when necessary, even to driving the sharpened crotched posts, but incorrect in principle, simply because the slats are put on the wrong way. They are constantly catching trash, and consequently, often choked. The second plan is correct, since it freely clears itself. A is the supporting pole, £ B, the flexible hinges, wires or chains supporting the frame, C, the cross-piece upon which the slats are firmlj' bolted or naQed with clinch naUs. In this form, when aquatic birds are to be prevented from passing, the slats may dip into the current ; if not, they should be just above the ordinary stage of water. XXVII. Stream Gate and Footway. It is often desirable to combine a stream gate and footway, and at the same time to arrange to raise the gate up in time of floods to allow free passage to the water, especially where there is a fall, or a swift current liable to sudden rise and fall, and perhaps carrying heavy trash. To do this the posts must be firmly set. The main figure shows the gate attached to upright posts with lever for raising the gate ; it can be used across a stream fifty feet wide. Iron rods a quarter of an inch thick pass through the long and short pieces as shown; c, c, c, are sections of chain ending in FENCES, HEDGES AND GATES. 315 solid shanks passing through the • revolving beam and fastened by nuts. When the gate is to be raised, as shown in the end figure, the lever revolves the beam, the gate STREAM GATE AND FOOTWAY. slides back thereon, and when the whole comes to a horizontal position it is secured. The end view shows the gate suspended on crotched posts, valuable when the banks are subject to washing. CHAPTEE W FARM AND ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. I. THE POETET OP HEDGES. n. ADVANTAGES AND DISADTAXTAGES OF HEDGES. HL HOW TO PREPAEE THE HEDGE-EOW. ^IV. SETTING THE HEDGE. Y. FDflSHING THE PIA.NTmG— CDL- TivATios — ^1. TEnnirsG the hedge. — vn. obnamental hedges. — vni. oenamextal PLANTS FOR BCEDGES. ^IX. HOW TO PLAN^T THE HEDGE. X. CAEE OP DECIDUOUS HEDGES. XI. TEEES FOE BAREIEKS AND PEOTECTIOST. I. The Poetry of Hedges. ^X the equable and moist climate of England, the hawthorn, hoUy, privet and ^P other shrubs or smaU trees, are well adapted to ornamental hedges. They bear ^(^ close cutting and training, and are perfectly hardy ; the last two holding their V foliage all winter. In our extremes of heat and cold, the rigorous winters of the northern States are apt to prove, if not fatal, at least most injurious, while western droughts and southern summer suns ai"e aknost as destructive. Around the haw- thorn, from its ebon bud until its flowers scent the gale; from when its shed petals whiten all around till winter sends, in berries, second bloom and decks its thorny boughs with gleaming scarlet, the poets, from Father Chaucer to the Idyls of the King, have hung their garlands. But, for us English of the West, the hawthorn tree has lived only in the poet's verse ; and now, alas I in this prosaic age, English hedges are becoming a thing of the past. Like the poet and the painter the}' produce nothing but beauty ; they cumber land which can grow gold in corn ; they harbor weeds hard to uproot ; they require time and labor to keep them in repair, for, left nntrimmed and untended, they lose, not only their beauty, but their use; unsightlj' gaps appear, and now the practical English farmer, under the close competition of America, finds he must sacrifice poetry to pelf. Thus America, hedgeless by climate, in revenge kills the holly and the hawthorn of English fields. II. Advajitagea and Disadvantages of Hedges. There is a practical use for the hedge in the protection it gives, especially in the timberless districts, to the fields and stock, and to this we may add the pleasure a well-kept hedge affords the eye. The disadvantages are, they are costly to keep in order; they harbor weeds; they take up much valuable land; they prevent evapora- tion from roads, keeping them wet and muddy, and, if not carefully trimmed, they are unsightly. The question of fencing is one of the most important the farmer in any district has to meet, and this becomes more and more serious as we advance be- yond the Mississippi, upon the vast plains, that were once considered a desert, but are [316] FARM AND ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 317 now found to be among the most productive lands of the West. But ingenuity has solved the problem of enclosing regions far distant from timber, through improve^ ments in wire fencing. The Osage orange has played an important, in many districts an indispensable, part in the settlement of many prairie regions of the West. It may do so still in some remote regions, but neither this plant nor the three-thorned locust ( Gleditschia) , the only two hedge plants really adapted to the West, will be able to hold favor with those who regard space and cleanliness in fencing. But, as in any other operation, every farmer must judge for himself as to the economy of hedging. We believe that, simply as protection to fields, and as shelter to stock from sweeping winds — lines, or, better, clumps of trees along boundaries and principal fields, will prove more useful than hedges. III. How to Prepare the Hedge-Row. Whether hedging ever again regains its hold upon public taste or no, it will be used on many farms and, eventually, in an ornamental way on every farm. The osage orange will only thrive on dry soil; wet land is certain death to it. Hence, in preparing for a hedge of this plant, it is necessary to raise a slight ridge, even upon high ground; over low places this must be of some height, and have a water- way beneath, where the accumulation of water is to be carried away. In fact, all hedge plants do better on a slight ridge in prairie land, that in spring is always partially or fully saturated with water. This ridge may be entirely made with the plow, harrow and leveler. Eight feet in width is none too much. Plow first as deeply as possible by throwing out the soil, leaving the dead furrow where the hedge is to stand. This should be done in the autumn. In the spring, as soon as the soil is in good condition, plow the furrows back, and again, deep. Three plowings should form the ridge, except in low places, where earth may be added with the scraper. Harrow and level until the tilth is perfectly fine and smooth, and leave the ridge to settle until wanted for planting. IV. Setting the Hedge. The hedge plants having been bought and sorted into best, second-best and culls, the hedge-row is economically prepared as follows : Draw a straight line along the center of the ridge. With a steady horse throw out the earth with a buU-tongiie plow or other implement that will move the earth to either side. Pass back and forth in this line, correcting it until it is perfectly straight and true. Upon a strong garden line, not less than two hundred feet long, sew strips of red flannel, at such distances as you wish your plants, say ten to twelve inches. One man, with a bright, sharp spade, walking backwards along the hne, thrusts in the spade, obliquely at every mark, presses the handle from him, and an assistant inserts the root. The spade is withdrawn, the earth is stepped on to compress it firmly about the bottom of the roots, leaving the plant fixed, and slanting somewhat, in the direction the work- men are going, the spademan working backwards. Care must be taken that, when 318 THE HOME AND FARM MANUAL. the earth is finally filled in around the plants, they are covered about an inch above the yellow portion of the root. To enable this to be done accurately, the line should be supported at proper intervals, at "the desired height. The object in opening the trench is, to save labor in planting, and by this means it may be accurately and speedily accomplished. v. Finishing the Planting— Cultivation. When thirty or forty rods of hedge has been set the bull-tongue may be used to carefully cover back the earth to the plants, after which they may be brought into line and the earth firmly packed around them, the sides of the ridge being left rough the better to kill the first weeds that start. So proceed until you have all youi' plants set, first the best, then the second best, throwing away all inferior plants. If you have raised the plants set all culls in nursery rooms for future use, and if you buy them stipulate for No. 1 plants and accept nothing else. These may be divided into firsts and seconds. The first season's cultivation may be wholly with the strad- dle-row cultivator, and the plants must be kept earthed so that the yellow root does not show. The second year's cultivation may be done with any implement that will throw shallow furrows to or from the plants. No trimming is necessary the first two years. The object is to get a strong root, especially in the North, where the plant is liable to damage in winter, until it is three or four years old. After this time it is nearly as hardy as the oak, on dry soils. VI. Trimming the Hedge. It has been found not a good plan to attempt to keep Osage orange in shape by trimming and shearing, as practiced for ornamental hedges. The most that can be done is to keep the upward growth within bounds by cutting back in the spring, and perhaps again in midsummer, to a height of five feet. This may be done with the COEN KMFE. common corn or cane knife. "When the stems of the plants have reached a diam- eter of about two inches it may be laid down. This is done by trimming up the sides so a man can work. The stems are then sawed two-thirds through with a rather fine saw, or cut and bent over in line by means of a very heavy pole, worked by a man on each side of the hedge, so the stems will lie at an angle of about 25 degrees. If they tend to rise they may be weighted down when necessary. This will reduce the height of the hedge to three feet or less, but the new growth will soon present an impenetrable barrier, and the following year the hedge will have attained its full height. All that will be required thereafter will be to prevent the branches rising above five feet by cutting the hedge to this height in the spring before the leaves start. FARM AND ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 319 and again at midsummer. This trimming may be done wit h a sharp corn k nife, or with a similar tool made for the purpose, as heretofore shown. The strong limbs may be hooked off with a bill- hook, as shown in this cut, or with a hedge-clipper to be shown presently. Forkeep- in