TSG I*. Cornell University Library S 495.T56 Agriculture, 3 1924 003 324 849 AGRICULTURE BY MAMIE C. TEX FOR EIGHTH YEAR To Harmonize with the Illinois State Course of Study, Sixth General Revision. TREATS ALL THE WORK ON EIGHTH YEAR AGRICULTURE. Seventh Year Agriculture at same price. Eighth Year Agriculture at same price. Seventh Year Geography at same price. Eighth Year Geography at same price. Seventh Year Grammar at same price. Eighth Year Grammar at same price. Seventh Year History at same price. Eighth Year History at same price. Seventh Year Physiology at same price. Eighth Year Physiology at same price. Seventh Year Question Book, same price. Eighth Year Question Bootc, same price. Send all Orders to: MAMIE C. TEX, Taylorville, lU. Hatt QfoUege of Agricultute At (SrOtmll IniJJcraitB 3t^aia, 5f. g. Hibtarg AGRICULTURE BY MAMIE 0. TEX FOR EIGHTH YEAR To Harmonize with tlie Illinois i State Course of Study, Sixth General Revision. ' TREATS ALL THE WORK ON EIGHTH YEAR AGRICULTURE. Seventh Year Agriculture at sarpe price. Eighth Year Agriculture at same price. Seventh Year Geography at same price. Eighth Year Geography at same price. Seventh Year Grammar at same price. Eighth Year Grammar at same price. Seventh Year History at same price. Eighth Year History at same price. Seventh Year Physiology at same price. Eighth Year Physiology at same price. •Seventh Year Question Book, same price. Eighth Year Question Book, same price. Send all Orders to: MAMIE 0. TEX, TaylorviUe, lU. FOREWORD As there is no Eighth Tear Agriculture on the market adapted to the demands of our present Illinois State Course of Study, I present this booklet. It is my aim to adapt it to the use of any class in the Eighth Year following our present Illinois State Course of_ Study. No pains have been spared to make it as, accurate and complete as possible. It is not to be presumed that this booklet contains all that might be said on each topic, but such material is given as the average liighth Year pupil can understand and assimilate. '/. In conclusion, this volume is submitted to you, my dear pupils and eo-workers, with the hope that it will perform its mission as designed. MAMIE C. TEX, Taylorville, Illinois. August 25, 1919. FIRST MONTH INSECTS Special Attention to Insects Encountered in Connection with Farm and Garden Projects In beginning the study of insects, it is well to recognize clearly at the start that all insects are not pests, but may be of actual benefit to the farmer or gardener, and that some insects may be pests under some circumstances and an aid to the farmer under other conditions. Keeping these two ideas clearly in mind, let us take up the study of insects in general. As we all know, the animal world is divided into many classes, at the head of which stands man, the human animal. Much lower in the scale of life comes the insects, "Inseeta," as they are biologically known, from the Latin verb insecare, meaning "to cut." This name is applied to them not as some of you may think because of their bad habits of cutting and eating thing^, but because of the peculiar shape of their body. They have three clearly defined body regions, head, thorax and abdomen. Catch a fly and examine it closely. You will find it to have three separate parts to its body. Most insects have only three pairs of legs, and usually two pairs of wings. Most o'f them have antennae or feelers which project from the head, usually near the eyes, which are nearly always very prominent. The hind legs are always the largest and best developed. , Just as the animal kingdom is divided up into numerous divisions, just so is the inseeta class divided into subdivisions. Under the inseeta class, we may include bugs, beetles, bees, flies, butterflies, moths, and many others. For the benefit of those who care to classify animals, the following outline is given. 1. Arthropoda (ar throp'o da) . Under this head come all animals with jointed limbs and articulated bodies. Its four most important classes are : 4 FIRST MONTH I. Myriapoda (mir i ap'6 da) . II. Arachnida (a rak' ni da) . III. Crustacea (krus ta'shea). IV. Insects. I. Myriopoda. (Thousand legged worms.) 1. Centipedes. 2. Millipedes. II. Arachnida. 1. Spiders. 2. Scorpiones (skor'pi us) . 3. Daddy-long-legs. 4. Mites. 5. Ticks (some forms). III. Crustacea. 1. Lobsters. 2. Shrimps. 3. Crabs. 4. Barnacles. 5. Worm lice. 'IV. Insects. 1. Diptera (with 2 wings). a. Mosquitoes. b. Gnats. c. House flies. d. Ticks (some forms of). 2. Coleoptera (koleop'tera). a. Beetles. b. Weevils. 3. Lepidoptera (lep i dop' te ra) . (Larv« are called cater- pillars.) a. Butterflies. b. Moths. 4. Hymenoptera (hi me nop'te ra) . (Membrane winged ) a. Bees. b. Wasps. c. Ants. d. Saw flies. e. True gallflies. FIRST MONTH 5 5. Orthoptera (or thop' te ra) . a. Grasshopper. b. Criekfets. c. Roaches. d. Katydids. 6. Neuroptera. This group includes such insects as cannot be classed under the preceding classes. The insects included under the first four classes have four totally different life stages • — egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In the Neuroptera this is also true, but it is not so in the Orthoptera or Hemiptera. In these the metamorphosis is so gradual that there is no clear dividing line from one stage to the next. 7. Hemiptera (he mip'ti ra) . a. Heteroptera, or true bugs. b. Homoptera, aphids, leaf hoppers. c. Physopoda, or thrips. For the most part, we let the word "bug" cover all and any class of insects which we find on farm or garden. But while this term is a convenient one, it is by no means a scientific one, nor is it a just one, for the various forms of insects have their peculiar characteristics, likes and dislikes, just as human beings do, and it is only by studying these, that we can come to any clear idea of the treatment each kind will require. Since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, it may be well to find out, if possible, what will prevent an attack of garden and farm pests. Men who have made a study of the subject for years, find that proper cultivation and the observance of hygenic princi- ples are the best possible preventatives for all pests to which one's garden lays liable. These men have found out that the cultivation of large areas of any one crop, too close crowding of trees and plants, forcing, and lack of proper cultivation are the chief aids to plant pests of various kinds. "When one stops to consider that each year the loss to vege- table crops through pests is fully 20 per cent of the entire crop, one sees how extremely necessary it is that farmers possess a better knowledge of ways and means of combatting these nuisances. The "up-to-date" farmer knows that many pests may be checked or wholly eradicated by Improved farming methods. He also gives consideration to the time and place of g FIRST MONTH planting, and that crop rotation is not only beneficial to the soil but most destructive to many pests. Burnmg over fields after harvests is one way to destroy such pests as live above the surface. Cub worms, aphids, grasshoppers, some beetles, and many other insects which live on or near the surface may be destroyed in this way. The boll weavel of the South taught the farmers of that section the necessity of diversified farming to control this pest. They have found that crops of different kinds must be grown, or cotton raising will have to be given up entirely. Fall plow- ing aud cultivating are other methods of eradicating pests. Disking has been found especially effective against the fall army worm. Another help to the careful farmer is cooperation with his neighbors. For a man to attempt to combat success- fully pests which sometimes sweep over whole counties, is utter folly ; but the united efforts of all the farmers of a section may do much to destroy the invader before much harm has been done. But perhaps the two greatest aids in combatting farm pests are clean methods of farming and constant vigilance. "Weedy corners in fields, piles of trash, and unburnt rubbish, and unplowed fields are merely invitations to insect enemies. Con- stant watchfulness on the farmer's part will more than repay for time and trouble. A pest which today may be merely mak- ing its appearance, in forty-eight hours may be beyond control. Usually, the appearance of pests will be first noticed along the- edges of fields. Perhaps the most common pest with which the average gardeners have to deal is the cut worm. Sooner or later anyone who attempts to raise a garden will come across this enemy, for he is what is known as a "general feeder"— that is, he eats almost everything. There are numerous species of this pest, and they rank as one of the greatest enemies of the American gardener. They are especially destructive to such plants as tomato or cabbage, which must be reset, also to young corn or potatoes, which are just coming above, the ground. They are the larvae of owlet moths, and work at night. There are so many species of cut worms that it is impossible in a work of this scope to describe all of them, but all have the same soft, smooth, round body, varying from light grey to brown or even black. FIRST MONTH 7 Some are spotted or marked with stripes. They work at night ; then they lie curled up in the ground near the plant they have destroyed, until the next night, when they feed again on some other plant. The eggs are usually laid on grasses and weeds, which spring up in the fall after the crop is harvested. These hatch out, and the larvae feed until cold weather drives them into the ground. Later they enter the pupa stages, which vary in length for from three to even eight weeks, then hatch out as moths. The "greasy cut worm" is so called because of its greasy appearance. It is a dull, dirty-brown color, with greenish undersurface. It will e^t any part of a plant, and often cuts down plants six or more inches in height. It generally cuts them about one inch above the ground. The "granulated cut worm" is so called because of the very small, round, black spots which cover its body. The "variegated cut worm" is one of the most destructive of all and is so called because of its mottled appearance. There are many methods of combatting cut worms, and circumstances must decide the method to be used. Bran mash or young clover treated with Paris green often prove effective as poison baits. Another way to prevent injury to young plants is to wrap the roots of the plants in paper before resetting. Bordeaux mixture has been found very effective in treating this pest. If the plants to be watched are few in number, hand picking is to be advised. The army worm and fall army worm, required much the same treatment as ordinary cut worms. In farm fields infested with these pests, it is often necessary to burn over the whole field, while fall plowing and thorough cultivation will also do much for their destruction. There are two forms of caterpillars not included in the cut worm class — "naked and hairy caterpillars." However, as most of them feed on useless plants they are of little interest to this work. The "garden webworm" is an example of pest which is a pest only under some conditions. It usually feeds on useless vegetation, but may attack garden crops. It is so called because it draws together edges of a leaf, by means of a web, thus 8 FIRST MONTH making a shelter from where it crawls out only when it feeds. Paris green has proved a very effective remedy for this pest. The beetles are among our most destructive insects. The leaf beetle takes many forms, the twelve-spotted cucumber bug being the most common in this region. The flea beetle is so called from its habit of jumping from one plant to another. The potato flea and cabbage flea are well known tjrpes of this pest. Arsenical and Bordeaux mixtures are recommended for ridding one 's garden of these insects. Other beetles found in vegetable gardens are the Blister Beetles, Striped Blister Beetles or Potato Bug, and the Three- lined Blister Beetles. These are especially destructive to potatoes, beans, peas, beets, tomatoes, melons, radishes, cabbage and squash. The old hand method of "bugging," or the use of Paris green are stand- ard remedies for this pest. Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and katydids are all closely related. Grasshoppers are migratory or non-migratory, the former being the most harmful. They develop in enormous numbers, and move in such numbers that they darken the face of the sun. These raids occur most often in semi-arid regions. The red-legged locust is one of the most common of our grass- hoppers. The Rocky Mountain Locust is one of the most destructive of .our locusts, and it was to its work that during the years 1874-7 Kansas, Nebraska, and neighboring states owed their enormous loss in crops. The differential locust is usually found along roadsides and in timber lands, and when it enters fields, it becomes very destructive. White grubs are another pest with which gardeners have to deal. As there are several hundred distinct kinds of grubs, they will be treated as a class. They may be described as soft, large, whitish, or yelloT^ish worms, bodies wrinkled, and some- what hairy, yellow or brown heads, with the body enlarged at the back portion. They usually are curled up almost in a circle, and crawl on their sides. They are the larvae of the June beetle, a large, shinning, brown beetle, known to every one from its habit of flying into lighted rooms at night and bumping against walls and ceilings. In the larvae stage, they are very destructive to grasses and root crops, also to corn and young FIRST MONTH 9 trees. The beetles also cause much damage to foliage of young orchards, where they feed at night. In infested fields, fall plowing is an effective aid in their extermination. Rotation of crops should be so planned that beets, corn, potatoes or other crops which are subject to injury from the white grub should be followed by crops that are immune. Wire worms are another pest with which the farmer is often confronted. They are the offspring of the click beetle or snap-bugs, which are so called because of the peculiar habit they have of leaping into the air with a sudden snap when they fall upon their backs. They feed upon various vegetable crops, such as potatoes, turnips, etc. The worms are wire-like, smooth, nearly round, hard, and yellow or reddish in color. They are exceedingly hard to kill and do not readily yield to any known remedy. Among the most widely known plant pests are the aphides, plant lice, leaf hoppers, and other related forms too numerous to mention. These all secure their food by suction. They are usually soft-bodied and green, very small, with long legs, antennae, and often thin, gauzy wings. The melon apis is one of the best known of this type. All of them live through several life cycles each year. For the most part they are found on the under surface of leaves, but some feed on roots, as is the case with he grape phylloxera, which lives underground and pro- duces galls. Kerosene emulsion is one of the best known reme- dies for these pests. Tobacco extracts are also good, but each must be applied in a fine spray to the underside of the leaf. INSECT PESTS The following list is by no means complete, but may help the amateur gardener locate and exterminate some of his more common enemies. Asparagus beetle is slender, blue black in color, red thorax, yellow or dark blue wings. It is about one-fourth of an inch in length and may be held in check by destroying parts of plants infected with the larvae, or eggs. Fresh air slacked lime applied early in tlie morning is also good. Pea weevil is about one-fifth of an inch in length, is black with white and brown markings. It lays its eggs in the green pea, these hatch into larvae, and when the pea is planted develop 10 FIRST MONTH into beetles. Late planting and holding seed over a season are both recommended as remedies. The bean weevil is closely related to the pea weevil. Unlike the pea weevil, many generations will spring up in the same seeds, hence, the beans must be fumigated or subjected to heat. Weeviled beans should never be planted. The Seed Com maggot attacks and scrapes the roots, stalks, and stems of plants underground. Its parent looks like the common house fly. Beans, peas, and corn are most severe suf- ferers from it, but cabbage, turnips, radishes, beets, and other vegetables frequently are destroyed by it. Mineral fertilizers help to check its spread; hellebore and carbolic acid emulsion are also good, while hand picking is especially effective. The Spinach Flee Beetle is black with a reddish-yellow thorax. They are especially destructive to beets. Their habits and ways to exterminate them have been discussed earlier in this work. The cabbage is a vegetable especially liable to attacks from pests. The cabbage maggot, an imported pest, is becoming more troublesome each year. Carbolic acid emulsion has been found to be effective. Hellebore applied around the roots has been found good also. The cabbage worm is the worst of all garden pests. The white butterfly is its parent. The female has two black spots on its fore wing, while the male has but one. The best remedy is Paris green, and should be used when the plants are first set out. The worm itself is green, soft, and burrows into the heart of the cabbage. The Striped Cucumber Beetle measures about two-flfths of an inch in length. It is yellow, striped with black, and black head. They attack cucumber, squash, and melon plants early in the season. Lime is one of the best known remedies. The Squash Vine Borer is hard to detect, but the presence of a yellowish-brown powdery excrement which it drops from its place in the stem of the plant, will denote its presence, as well as the sudden wilting and dying down of the leaves. The ■parent is a clear-winged moth. The outer wings are a bright olive brown, with greenish reflections. The body is marked with red, orange, black, and bronze. The larvje look much like grubs. Fall harrowing and spring plowing are beneficial in FIRST MONTH 11 exterminating this pest, and squashes should not be planted on ground in two successive years, if these bugs are known to be present. More species of pest attack corn than any other known vegetable. Over two hundred are known to attack the corn plant. Of these about twenty attack the seed, almost thirty the roots, about eighty the stalk, about one hundred twenty the leaf, about twenty the tassel, and nearly fifty the ear. The others attack the dried ear. Among the pests the most com- mon are : The Com Root ApbiS; which is a bluish green, and caused injury while the plant is young, resulting in wilting, and stunted growth. Com Root Worm is slender, thread-like, and soft, white or yellowish in color, and it feeds on the underground stems. Its parent beetle is yellowish green, wings marked with twelve black spots, known sonietimes as the twelve-spotted cucumber beetle. The Common Stalk Borer is sometimes called the heart worm. It works in the corn stalk, and also attacks tomatoes, potatoes, pepper, and other vegetables, and some flowers. The Com Ear Worm is almost too common to need men- tion. It works at the tassel end of the ear, and soon leaves the ear in a disgusting condition. The brown fruit chafer, flea beetles, wire worms, grubs, and numerous others attack corn also, but have been discussed earlier. Methods of Combatting Insect Pests Methods of combatting insect pests are numerous, many of which have been mentioned earlier. Co-operation by farmers and truck gardeners is one of the most effective if the pest occurs in large numbers. But to do this effectively, it is necessary that one know the habits, charac- teristics, and life cycle of the insect to be exterminated. In some cases clean cultivation, fall plowing, and rotation of crops will prove beneficial. Care should be taken to not plant crops on soil known to be infected with insects which feed on that particular crop. If the space to be covered is not too large, there are many effective insecticides which may be used. Some 12 FIRST MONTH may be prepared at home, but as most of them are on the market, unless they are required in quantities it is often cheaper and more satisfactory to buy them already prepared. There are two classes of insecticides— known as external or contact poisons and internal or stomach poisons. The former are effective in cases where the pest has a delicate, thin body covering, while the latter must be resorted to when the former is not effective. Paris green is one of the most useful of the internal poisons, and may be used in the dry form, or in a solution. The latter is applied as a spray, and is made by using a pound, of Paris green, a pound of lime with seventy-five to one hundred gallons of water. The strength of the solution must be varied for the plants to be sprayed, delicate foliage requiring the weaker solution. Arsenate of lead is less harmful to growing plants, and quite as effective as Paris green if properly used. It is usually in a paste or putty form, and must be worked in a little water before being added to the spray tank. London purple was at one time much used but is no longer recommended, as it is almost impossible to get it pure, and if adulterated, is apt to be caustic and burn tender plants. Arsenite of copper is less readily procured than Paris green, but is more rapid in its effects. White arsenic is dangerous when used alone in solutions, but is excellent to prepare poisoned baits for cut worms, and grasshoppers. Arsenite of lime is made by boiling one pound pure white arsenic, two pounds lump lime, and three gallons of water. Dilute with two hundred gallons of water before using as a spray. Some have raised objections to using arsenical prepara- tions on vegetables soon to be eaten, but experiments have shown, that vegetables so sprayed are by no means dangerous. Gillette has shown that a person would have to eat twenty- eight cabbages at one time to get enough poison to harm him, if the cabbages were sprayed in the ordinary way. Lime is one of the best aids of the farmer in preventing insects. It is especially effective against soft, moist insects. FIRST MONTH 13 It kills by contact, by burning holes in their bodies. It is useful in combatting many larvae, slugs, and snails. Gas lime is especially good for use on ground infested with white grubs. It should be applied in the fall after the crop is out, at the ,rate of four barrels to about one hundred square feet of ground, or one and one-half tons to the acre. Hellebore is less dangerous than insecticides containing arsenic, hence is often recommended for vegetables which will be eaten soon. It is used for slugs, cabbage worms, and related pests. Use as a spray, one-half an ounce to two gallons of water. Of the contact poisons, kerosene emulsion is perhaps the best for such pests as plant lice, plant bugs, and soft-bodied insects. It is made by using two gallons of kerosene, one-ha^f pound of whale oil soap, and one gallon of water, one quart of soft soap may be substituted for the whale oil soap. This emulsion should be diluted with from fifteen to twenty parts water. Sometimes a stronger solution may be used to advan- tage. One disadvantage in using this remedy, is that it is necessary that it come in contact with the pest, and this necessi- tates spraying the under sides of the leaves. Carbolic acid emulsion is prepared by using one gallon oi water, one pound of soap, one-half gallon of crude carbolic acid. This must be diluted with from twenty-five to fifty parts of water. It is used against root maggots, on corn, cabbage, onions, etc. Formalin is recommended in treatment of the potato scab. Use eight ounces to fifteen gallons of water. Both hot and cold water are efiEective insecticides. Ice-cold water is especially good in treating plant lice, while water heated to a temperature of one hundred fifty can be applied to plants with little damage to the plant but much to the pests. There is still another class of insecticides which kill by suffocating the pests. Pyrethrum has been carefully tested and found to be very effective against certain forms of aphides, small plant bugs, and household pests. Tobacco comes under this third class, and will be effective in certain cases but is being less used than formerly. Nicotine 14 FIRST MONTH extracts are growing in favor, and are good to use against aphides; white fly, thrips, and other soft-bodied bugs in green houses. Sulphur is applied either alone as a specific against the red spider, mixed with air slacked lime, or with the kerosene soap emulsion. NoTE.= — This list is by no means a complete one — it is merely suggestive, .and it is hoped that the student will he interested enough to read up in various farm journals and compile a more complete list of insecticides needed in his neighborhood. Natural Foes of Insect Pests Two of the greatest foes to garden pests are chickens ancl toads. A flock of chickens or turkeys will do more to clean out grubs and related pests from a field than many expensive contrivances. Toads also help the farmer in his fight, and for this reason should be protected. Most birds are insectivorous and should for this reason be protected. This is also true of reptiles. Against locusts, turkeys are especially effective. Pigs are very fond of white grubs,, and if turned into a field will soon rid it of these pests. Chickens, if allowed to do so, will often follow a plow all day, feasting on the grubs as they are plowed up. The Taehina fly, wasps, mites, and predaceous ants are also enemies of the white grub. Ducks are fond of the asparagus beetle, and are valuable aids in ridding one 's garden of this pest. But in his fight on pests of garden and farm, the farmer is often aided by a class of helpers of which he too often knows nothing. These are insects known as natural enemies, and either devour, or prey upon as parasites, upon the garden or field pests. This is true in the ease of the cabbage worm, which has a natural enemy known as Pteromalus pupanun, a fly-like creature. It is also parasitized by what is known as Apanteles glomeratus. The natural enemy of the cucumber beetles is the Celatoria diabiotical, a small fly-like creature which grows as a maggot within the body of the beetle, and kills it when it issues. FIRST MONTH 15 More than thirty species of insects prey upon the potato beetle, the Lebia grandis, being one of the most important. This list of natural enemies might be continued almost indefinitely, for our knowledge of these creatures is enlarging every day, until it seems that soon we will find that every insect has its enemy, much as every plant has its insect pest. Science is doing much in this direction, and we are coming to leara that many insects we once considered enemies live by preying on those that are truly our enemies. Certain fungi and diseases of bacterial origin might properly come under this head, but will be better understood when certain facts of botany have been mastered. Beneficial Insects Beneficial insects have been touched upon in the preceding topic, and may be properly divided into two classes — those which feed externally upon their prey, and those which live in the bodies of their hosts. The lady bug is perhaps of the most valuable of predaceous insects. They are especially valuable in destroying aphids, and scale insects. They also devour numerous forms of soft-bodied larvae. The fiery ground beetle, as well as several other forms of ground beetles, live at the expense of the larvae of other beetles, cut worms, and various forms of caterpillars. The Lebia is a good example of this, in that it follows the Colorado beetle everywhere, and does much to limit its numbers. Soldier hvigs live off moths and soft larvse. Robber flies, spiders, daddy-long- legs, and syrphus are among the insects which feed off of other ' insects. The latter are especially useful in destroying aphids. Mites and wasps may also be considered in the list of insects which prey upon other insects. The parasite enemies of insects cannot be reckoned upon as of special value in ridding one's garden of noxious insects, because too often they are too slow in action to prevent imme- diate damage being done to one's garden, but they are useful in preventing insects from increasing to damage crops in future years. ^g FIRST MONTH It is in the Hymenoptera family that such creatures are most often found. They are usually dainty and wasp-like. The ehaleis fly, the braconids, the egg parasites, and the ichneumon flies are of this type. So useful did the Apanteles glomeratus prove in combatting the cabbage worm that m 1883 the United States Government introduced it into this country. It has since proved very effective. Propagation of Plants by Cutting One of the chief ends and aims of all forms of life seems to be for each to perpetuate itself, to reproduce its species, and if not to multiply its numbers, at least to carry through to a later generation, its kind. In the vegetable kingdom, this is done chiefly in three ways : 1. Seeds. 2. Bulbs. 3. Runners. Our most common garden vegetables are types of the first, as : lettuce, radishes, turnips, carrots, tomatoes, etc. In the second class, that of bulbs, we find more of this type of propagation among flowers than among vegetables. Most kinds of onions are of this type, while tulips, hyacinths, and many other flowers are examples of propagation by means of bulbs. Many plants produced by runners are known by the botan- ical name of "Cryptogams," meaning plants that do not pro- duce flowers or seeds. Of this class of plants the ferns are the highest type. These spread rapidly by their creeping root stalks, and every housekeeper who has divided and re-potted her ferns knows how rapidly they spread after this treatment. There is a particular kind known as the walking fern. The new plant is begun by the tip of the frond rooting. Many seed plants, however, are propagated by means of roots and root stalks. The sedges are good examples of this type of plant which will grow horizontally for some distance, then will send up a shoot which finally becomes an independent plant. The locust and silver leaf poplar often prove themselves nuisances on lawns from their habit of sending up sprouts which will later develop into independent trees. FIRST MONTH 17 Some seed plants renew themselves by means of their branches. Our most common examples of this are the rasp- berry and blackberry bushes. The branches of these plants will root at the end and thus form new plants. The strawberry sends out long runners which put out roots, and thus propagates itself. There are many other means by which plants propagate themselves than by these here mentioned, but as they are not met with in the average garden or farm, will be left to the province of botany, where they properly belong. However, propagation of plants by cutting both hard and soft woods will later be discussed, since these may be of practical value in farm, garden, or orchard. Propagation of Plants by Seeds In our study of the propagation of plants by means of seeds, it may be well for us to understand just what we mean by seed. There is no confusion in our minds when we speak of a peach seed or cherry seed, but when we speak of a grain of wheat or corn as a seed, we are really referring to what is the whole fruit, just as the peach or cherry entire is the whole fruit. Our nuts for the most part are fruits, while what we know as the kernel is really the seed. The so-called Brazil nut, how- ever, is really a seed, with a very hard testa. It would be well for the teacher to have students make a list of fruits and give a list of the edible parts. Have them compare such fruits as the apple, peach, pear, and quince with wheat, corn, and barley, then with walnuts, hickory nuts, and chestnuts. Have them look up the history of the Brazil nut, and find out what sort of fruit this nut is taken from. Follow- ing is a list of the various kinds of fruits. Have them show what the true seed is in each: Stone fruits : Pepo or Gourd fruit : 1. Peach. 1. Pumpkin. 2. Cherry. 2. Squash. 3. Plum. 3. Cucumber. 4. Apricot. 4. Watermelon. 5. Prune. 5. Muskmelon. 18 FIRST MONTH Pome fruits: Berry: 1. Pear. 1- Tomato. 2. Apple. 2. Grape. 3. Quince. 3. Currant. 4. Gooseberry. 5. Persimmon. The orange, lemon, and lime, known as hesperidium, are merely modifications of the Berry fruit. In our study of seeds, one of the most interesting and neces- sary phases of the subject is their manner of dispersal. Nature seems to have endowed plants with almost human intelligence in regard to providing means for scattering the seeds. This is accomplished in two ways — either by apparatus they themselves possess, or by artificial means. Some fruits are known as explo- sive fruits, so named because when they burst open, when the seeds are ripe, they do so with great violence so that the seeds are scattered to quite a distance. The various kinds of balsams, the blue violet, the witch-hazel and many other common plants are of this type. Many seeds bear a tuft of hairs or winged arrangement, which will enable them to ride upon the wind for long dis- tances. The maple and dandelion seeds are types of this kind. Most of us are familiar with our tumble weed. This is so shaped that it will blow for miles, losing but a few seeds at a time. The tickle grass is one of our most common tumble weeds. Many seeds are so arranged that they will float long dis- tances on water, and are thus scattered to many far-away spots of the earth. Some of our most troublesome weeds are provided with seeds contained in burrs. These catch in clothing or the hair of animals and are carried, often to foreign lands. It is said that a buffalo was sent as a present to the king of one of the Malay Archipelago Islands. Clinging to the buffalo 's hair were many queer seeds— the like of which had never been seen on the island, but in a few years, this plant had soon become a nuisance to the people of the island— all propagated from the seeds in the buffalo 's hair. The edible parts of fleshy fruits serve to attract birds. Th.> birds m turn seize the fruit in their bill, fly away, eat the fruit, FIRST MONTH 19 drop the seed, and the purpose of the fruit has been accom- plished — the seed is given a chance in life, in a place uncrowded by others of its kind. Neither plants or animals in their natural state make unre- warded efforts for the benefit of other animals or of mankind, hence we can begin to understand why the fleshy part of so much fruit is tempting to both man and animals, while its seeds are either bitter, as in the lemon and orange; hard, as in the cherry and peach; or small and indigestible, as in the berries. The study of plants and their adaptability to their sur- roundings is a most interesting study, but cannot be taken up in a work of this nature. The student will later in his study of botany take up the study of ecology, and then find with what human intelligence it seems, some plants have adapted them- selves to their environment, and not only lived, but perpetuated their species where other plants died. Propagation of Plants by Bulbs Not a great deal of attention will be given to bulbs in this work, because on the average farm they form but a very small part of garden plants. What bulbs are is known to every school child. The onion in the vegetable kingdom and the hyacinth in the flower kingdom are well known types. The bulb is really an underground bud which sends out roots from below. It has overlapping scale, like leaves, and has this peculiarity that its flowers or the bulb itself has a decided odor, as is the ease in the lily and onion. ■ Propsigation of Plants by Runners Runners are another way in which plants may reproduce their kind. Some plants, such as the raspberry, strawberry, and grape, are not readily increased by seeds or cuttings, and only with great difficulty by budding and grafting. Hence they must be propagated in an entirely different matter. This class of plants is usually iuereased by runners or what is sometimes called ' ' layers. ' ' By simply bending a branch into the soil one may usually accomplish his end. Sometimes it is necessary to hold the branch in place by means of a forked stick. If the bark is thick and tough, due often to a dry season, the branch is partly cut off, with a slanting cut, ending just under a bud. 20 FIRST MONTH The branch must be buried in moist earth and in seasons of drouth carefully mulched. It is well to make a small excavation in which to lay the stem. Runners may be put down either in the autumn or spring. It may even be done in midsummer if the stalk used is the growing wood, if it is mature and firm. The pear, apple, and quince may also be propagated in this way, and if the work is done in the spring or summer, will usually be well rooted by autumn. This means of propagation is more easily carried out in a wet season, for then the bark is more tender and pliable. Many ornamental trees and shrubs are propagated in this way. The part of plants known as suckers are really spontaneous runners which spring from buds on the roots. The raspberry is largely multiplied by these. Soft and Hard Wood Cuttings We have seen that most plants are propagated by seeds, bulbs, or runners. While we might say that all plants might be reproduced in one of these ways, it would not be true to say that they all are. It is just another instance where man has attempted to improve on nature and succeeded. This variation in the means of plant propagation is found in that class of plants which are by nature reproduced from seeds. Grown under the same conditions year after year, seeds will show little or no variation in the plants resulting. But should the environment be changed, conditions of moisture be varied, "and, above all, intensive cultivation be employed, new varieties will develop. This is undoubtedly the cause of most of our finest fruits. A pear is a pear, but generations of cultivation have so changed it, that there are now many, many varieties, each distinct in shape, color, flavor, and time of maturity. This is also true of the apple, peach, and similar fruits. All this seems perfectly simple and according to nature, but scientists have found out a surprising thing about seeds. In fruit trees, a seedling — that is, a tree grown from a seed — tends to revert to the original type and not one in a thousand is better or even as good as the tree which produced the seeds. Some other means must then be employed in propagating the kind, and here man begins his improving — on nature process. The student is not to understand that no improvement of a type is made from growing seeds, for this is just what Van FIRST MONTH 21 Mons of Belgium and Knight of England did with astonishing success, but this means is so uncertain and success is met with but once in hundreds and even thousands of trials, that it is most obvious that the markets of the world could not depend on it for the millions of fruit trees required each year to stock the world's orchards. Cross poUinization has been employed in many experiment stations with wonderful success, but, like seedling, its results were too slow and uncertain for market requirements. Hence, it was found necessary to discover some more certain and quicker means of plant propagation. This was done by cutting, grafting, or budding. Every leafbud on a fruit tree, is really an embryo branch, and requires but separate roots to form an independent tree, but there is not enough food material in a leafbud to keep up the growth while new buds and roots are forming. Hence, an entire shoot or cutting must be taken. Such plants as the currant, grape, gooseberry, and quince are fre- quently propagated in this manner. Some trees which have a large pith succeed better if a portion of the last year's growth is taken off with the branch, while in large, strong, woody shoots, success is more certain if the branch is taken off where the branch joins the previous year's growth. Autumn and winter are the best time to make cuttings. The cuttings may be eight to twelve inches in length, and all buds except a few at the upper end removed. Grafting Grafting is an entirely different process from cutting, yet its underlying principle is the same. There are many, many ways of grafting. Indeed, there are so many that the average beginner is more than bewildered with their endless number. For this reason, the present discussion will be limited to a brief discussion of the main principles of the work, rather than a general discussion of the various means. The main difference between grafting and cutting is that in the former process the branch is inserted in a growing stock of a tree, while in the latter, the cutting is put in direct contact with the ground. In grafting, the stock of the tree supplies the roots and sap for the branch inserted, and thus the two become firmly united by means of the new growing wood. 22 FIRST MONTH The two things necessary to secure a successful graft is that the sap must have an uninterrupted flow into the grafted branch, and that the forming wood must reach downward with- out break into the inner bark. Here comes the difference between grafting hard and soft woods, for should the inner bark of the graft rest wholly on the wood of the tree, there can be no upward movement of sap, and hence the graft will die. In soft wood the line of division is not so small, hence less care is needed with these. But as most of the soft woods are pithy, these are usually propagated by cuttings being put into the ground rather than by the grafting process, hence this present discussion will be held to deal only with methods found most successful with the hard woods. In grafting, four things are essential: The cut must be made smooth and clean, and the two parts brought at once into contact. Second, permanent pressure must be applied so that the parts be held firmly together. Third, the line of divi- sion between wood and inner bark of each must coincide. Fourth, the external air and moisture must be excluded until the permanent union has taken place. The latter is secured by various forms of grafting wax composed of rosin, tar, and beeswax. Grafts may be cut in autumn or winter. Those cut in the autumn are usually more vigorous, if carefully packed in a moist place during the cold months. Veneer grafting is the mode most used by persons who have not made a close study of agriculture, yet it has its good points and is most highly recommended by many. It consists in removing the outer barks of both stock and graft and then bringing the cambium layer of each into contact. The dis- advantage of this form of grafting, lies in the fact that great care must be taken to keep the parts in position until the union takes place. Many people who graft do not realize that union does not take place between the hard wood parts of tjie branch and stock but only in the growing parts — the cambium layer, and the young sap wood. Peach, grafting is rarely successfijl, but plum and cherry succeed well when performed very early in the spring. Pears and apples may be grafted later, after the buds have swollen. FIRST MONTH 23 As soon as a tree begins to grow after being grafted, all the buds must be removed from the stock in order that all the sap be sent into the graft. If a larger tree is grafted, remove the buds only from the branch on which the graft is fixed. Budding Budding is somewhat similar to grafting, and consists in inserting the bud of one tree, together with a bit of its bark, and a little of the wood beneath the bark of some other tree, upon the face of the new growing wood. To bud a branch, a lengthwise slit of about two inches is made in a branch, then a cross cut is made at the top so that the whole cut forms the letter T. The bark only is cut. This is then pressed gently back, and a bud taken off of the present year's growth is inserted. Connected with the bud must be about one or one and one-half inches of bark and growing wood. This is gently forced down into the T-cut made in the stock, and the whole held in place by some bandage such as raffia. The bud shoots should be cut when the terminal bud has formed. The bud, after being inserted, remains dormant until the following spring. Then the stock should be cut off two or more inches above the inserted bud. All other buds must be removed, and all the sap is then turned into the one bud. The peach, the apricot, and the mulberry, while difficult to graft successfully, are easily increased by budding. Annular budding is a method of budding used on trees which have a very hard wood or very thick bark, such as the walnut and magnolia. This is done by taking a ring of bark off of the stock to be budded. Then a corresponding ring with the bud to be used is made to fit the place on the stock where the bark has been removed. In successful budding there are five things very necessary : 1. One must have a thrifty growing stock, whose bark peels easily. 2. The time must be right. The cambium layer must be just right to insure success. 3. Buds must be well matured. 4. A sharp knife must be used in order that the buds will be properly cut. 24 FIRST MONTH 5. A proper amount of pressure to hold the bud in place. Summer is the best time for budding-, while spring is the best time for grafting. Budding is simpler than grafting and the beginner is apt to have better success with it than with grafting. It is the chief way of increasing our peach trees, since grafting is rarely successful in the North on peach trees. Grafting, however, has this in its favor, th^t it will succeed on older and less vigorous trees. Grafting also requires less care afterwards, since no ligatures need be removed, nor do the stocks have to be later headed down. Before one can become successful at this work, he must first realize the limitations as well as the possibilities of bud- ding and grafting. At one time it was believed that grafting could be per- formed between every species of trees and shrubs. We know this to be untrue. Success is more certain if the graft and stock are closely related. Varieties of the same species unite the most freely, as a pear grafted onto a pear. Species of the same genus come next, as a pear grafted on a quince. Genera of the same natural order show the least success in grafting, as a pear on an apple. Beyond this, success is impos- sible, as a pear upon a plum or cherry tree. However, there are exceptions to this, as to every rule ; for instance, most species of cherry cannot be grafted on the wild cherry, though they are of the same genus. In order that no confusion may arise in the pupil's mind as to the value of grafting, it is well to point out that seedlings or inferior stock may be made valuable and productive by the process. One good peach tree will supply enough buds to event- ually produce a whole orchard of fine trees. Another advantage of grafting may well be mentioned. Many kinds of trees — as, for instance, the Grimes Golden apple —usually have a comparatively short life, while if they are grafted to other sturdy stocks, their bearing period may be increased years. Strange as it may seem, the budded or grafted shoot never partake of any of the characteristics of the stocks upon which they grow. They run true to their parent tree. Instances are on record where nurserymen have traveled across continents FIRST MONTH 25 and paid thousands of dollars for a single tree of superior fruit. The buds from this tree may make it possible for people almost all over the world to enjoy the flavor of this particular variety, while if it were not for budding or grafting, the market could be supplied from but the one tree. Budding and grafting are fascinating work, and may be very successfully performed by the students on trees around the school grounds. Encourage them to try, especially if young timber is near. Government bulletins are available on the sub- ject, and the student should be encouraged to send for and to read them. No part of the farm holds greater possibilities of pleasure and profit than does the orchard. Care of the orchard is pleas- ant and easy, and can be seen to when other work is slack. Therefore, the students are urged to experiment on trees on their home grounds and then report progress in later months to the class. SECOND MONTH DOMESTIC ANIMALS List of Animals Raised in the District Perhaps the chief place of all domestic farm animals may be given to the horse. To this animal, the cow is a close second. Pigs and sheep are also of great importance. Among fowls, the chicken ranks first, while ducks, geese, and turkeys are also found in almost every barn yard. Pigeons, guineas and various other fowls are usually kept as pets or as curiosities rather than as an important part of farm life. Bees are found on many farms, where fields of clover furnish them abundant honey materials. Dogs are no longer the necessary animal on farms they once were, when large flocks of sheep ranged over the open prairies. Tet there are few farms without a dog and often several cats. Last, but not least, come the birds, which abound in farm orchards. That they are, for the most part, true friends to the farmer is fast being recognized throughout the land. These various animals will be discussed at length during the following month 's work. Value — Place of Live Stock in Systems of Farming When discussing the value of domestic animals to man, it is almost impossible to make any statement that will be an exaggeration. One is very safe in saying that it is to the horse, cow, sheep, and dog that man today owes much of his educa- tional, social, and financial progress. If we will but notice the uncivilized nations of the world today, we find that their knowl- edge to the use of animals is limited. The nation today that depends upon man as its beast of burden for fatiguing work is the nation backward in everything that pertains to civilized life. One of the greatest drawbacks to the American Indian was his lack of a beast of burden. Women were forced into doing the work now done on our farms by horses or tractors ; hence, the family life suffered, and civilization came late the SECOND MONTH 27 Indian's way. Just as man gained dominance over the wild animals of the fields and forests, just so did he ascend in the scale of civilization. The wild horse, trained and harnessed, took from man's shoulders the drudgery of the field. This gave him greater leisure for social and educational intercourse. The sheep yielded its flesh for food and its wool for clothing. No tribe can be termed civilized until certain standards of dress have been reached, and it is quite safe to say, that few tribes or peoples ever re'ached these standards to whom sheep were unknown. The part that cattle have played is likewise impor- tant. Once cattle became known to a tribe, their fiesh and milk made, the chase and hunting of wild game unnecessary. Thus man took another step upward in his quest of civilization. When we think of the high-grade stock on our farms of the present day, we find it hard to believe that their ancestors years ago were all wild, and roamed the prairies and forests as wild animals, yet such was the ease. Another surprising thing is that of all the thousands of animals domesticated and trained for use, these all belong to just a few species. Another surpris- ing fact is that they are almost entirely herbivorous. The cat is really the only carnivorous animal man has ever domesti- cated.' More than 12,000 mammals have been listed but only about twenty have been proved of use as agricultural animals. Among birds, less than one species in a thousand has ever accepted a settled life with man. In order that an animal might prove useful to man, it must meet certain requirements. Would it prove useful as a draft animal? Would it provide food or clothing? Would it serve as a companion to man? Every animal we find on our farms today fulfills one or more of these requirements. But these are merely the primary requirements of domestic animals. Two other requirements were almost equally neces- sary. They were that the animal in question should produce young in captivity, and should thrive under the changed envi- ronment and artificial conditions of their new life. Hence, we see that to domesticate an animal means more than capturing and training that particular animal. It means that there must be a certain amount of intelligence in the animal that will enable it to adjust itself to changed conditions ; to acquire new habits, rear its young, and become of service to man. Every 28 SECOND MONTH animal on our farms today is in this sense an artificial produc- tion, and by no means the result of nature alone. It is merely another ease where man has stepped in and improved on nature. While, without doubt, chief place should be given to the burden-bearing animals as man's aids in developing tribes into civilized nations, the animals which gave him clothing ranks high. In the early days, skins and wool gave man coverings which enabled him to live in places too cold, without their protection. If we but look at the leather trade today, we realize the immense part that leather plays in modern life. Not only is it used in articles of clothing, but all around the house and barn do we find it in even the most common .articles. Not the least value of domestic animals is the fact that they are a most valuable source of food. No nation which raises large numbers of meat animals, is ever in serious danger of famine. Hence, by increasing the stability of the food supply, this type of domestic animal has added to human progress. Meat, dairy, and poultry products afford at once a most satis- fying and efficient addition to our food supply, and history shows that in regions where these foods are largely used, the human race has made its greatest progress. Aside from the material benefits derived from domesticat- ing animals, there is another good man has gained, perhaps not so discernible, but none the less real. This is the habits of care and responsibility, and of mercy, which care for dumb creatures has instilled into man. "We do not hesitate to speak of a man who willfully mistreats any dumb creature as a "brute," mean- ing, he is no better than a savage. The very dependency of the creatures under the farmer's care are often the means of awakening in him, a sympathy, and of broadening his civilized motives. In general, the above shows in a brief way, man's debt to domesticated animals, and their place in the systems of farm- ing. In this connection, it might be well to give some of the more immediate benefits from keeping live stock, before pass- ing on to their actual value and returns in dollars and cents. Some animals, such as sheep and hogs, make it profitable as well as possible to use land that for agriculture would be useless. In the West, cattle graze over vast areas too dry for other purposes. SECOND MONTH 29 Farm animals make use of various farm crops, such as hay, cornstalks, straw, etc., which would be utter waste if they did not eat it. Fully one-third of the total digestible nutrients of the corn crop remains in the stover after the ears are removed. These feeds, eaten by cattle, sheep, and hogs, are converted into milk, meat, wool and leather through the agency of the farm animals. Another phase of this same advantage is that these food products may be fed, and the resulting food and clothing transported at less cost and in less space, where they are needed, than the originals could have been. Perhaps one of the most direct result of keeping farm animals is the fact that manures taken from barns and lots where such animals are kept form one of the chief means of land improvement. We now come to the actual value of farm animals, and products of farm animals. Since the last few years have been so largely influenced by the war, in order that one may have a more definite notion of the value of farm stock in normal times, the following statistics are taken from 1910. In 1910 there were 20,625,432 dairy cows on regular dairy farms, with 1,170,338 such cows not on regular farms. The total value of the former was $706,236,307, and of the latter $47,000,000. The total number of all cattle in the United States was over 63,600,000, with a value of over $1,500,000,000. The num- ber of horses was over 23,000,000, valued at more than $2,500,- 000,000. Number of mules, 4,480,000, valued at $564,766,000. Asses and burros, 122,200; value, $14,901,000. The grand total of mules, horses, asses and burros being 27,618,242, with a value of over $3,085,460,000. The number of swine for the year 1910 was 59,473,000, with a value of $409,414,568. Sheep numbered 52,838,748, with a value of $234,664,528. Goats, 3,029,795; value, $6,542,000. Making a total valuation of $5,296,421,619. The average value per head of dairy cows was about $35. The average of all cattle was about $24.50, while that of horses was $108.87; of mules, $126.06; asses and burros, $121.94; pigs, $6.88; sheep, $4.44; goats, $2.16. The following table shows the, value for the years 1916-17. From it we see the total value of all farm animals in 1916 was $6,020,670,000, and in 1917 was $6,685,020,000. 30 SECOND MONTH HORSES 1 MULES | COWS No. "Value. No. Value. No. Value. 1916 1917 21,159,000 21,126,000 $ 2,149,786 2,174,629,000 4,593,000 4,639,000 $522,834,000 548,864,000 22,108,000 22,768,000 $1,191,955,000 1,358,435,000 1 OXEN 1 OTHER CATTLE SHEEP No. Value. No. Value. No. Value. 1916 1917 39,812,000 40,849,000 $1,334,928,000 1,465,786,000 48,625,000 48,483,000 $251,594,000 346,064,000 67,766,000 64,453,000 $ 569,573,000 791,242,000 In considering the value of farm animals, it is also well to consider the value of their produce as well. Hence, the follow- ing table of butter, cheese, and milk may be of interest. In 1909, 624,764,653 pounds of butter were made in fac- tories and 1,619,415,263 in factories and on farms together. In the same year there was a total of 320,532,181 pounds of cheese made, while the same year, 5,813,699,474 gallons of milk were produced. In 1910, there were 282,110,164 chickens raised, and 11,027,- 213 other fowls, making a total of over 488,468,000 fowls, with a total of 1,591,311,371 dozens of eggs produced. From these figures, imperfect as they may be, we get some idea of the real value in dollars and cents of what our farm animals mean to us. Each farmer may have but a few animals of moderate value, but the grand total throughout the United States makes one that constitutes a real part of our national wealth. CATTLE Study of a Cow as a Type of Animal Cattle, according to their zoological classification, are mam- malia, as is also man. Mammalia occupy the highest class among vertebrates — that is, animals with back bones; Any animal which rears its young on its own milk belongs to the mammalia. All mammalia are more or less covered with hair. They also are more intelligent, hence have larger brains in comparison. Breeding has changed the general characteristics of cattle until beef and dairy cattle vary much in general form as well as in color. The greater number of cattle have horns, are covered SECOND MONTH 31 with hair, which varies from stiff, coarse hair to soft, silky hair, found in some breeds of dairy cattle. The different features will now be discussed separately. Body Covering of the> Cow A cow has a somewhat heavy skin covered with short hair. Both the texture of skin and hair varies greatly. In beef breeds the hair and skin will often be found much coarser and heavier than in the dairy breeds. On some breeds, the hair is soft, short and smooth, as in the Jersey breed, while on others it is long, with a curly tendency, as in the Hereford breed. However, one must not take for granted because a jcertain type is a beef type that its skin and hair is coarse. Take the Angus, for instance. Its skin is soft and pliable, and its hair fine. The Galloway breed have long, wavy, silky hair, which protect them from the severe winters and make them especially well suited to withstand rigorous climates. As a general rule, the better breed a cow is, and the truer it runs to that breed, the finer and smoother will be its skin and hair. Sense Organs of the Cow Perhaps the most noticeable feature of a cow's face is its nose, the shape and color varying in different breeds. It may be smooth and straight, as in the Angus, or slightly enlarged and upturned, as in the Galloway. The nose tip is not covered with hair. The nostrils are large and, in the better breeds, delicately shaped. The eyes are prominent, usually set wide apart, somewhat at the side of the head. The ears are small, medium, or large, depending on breed, and are opposite or slightly above the line of the eyes. The ears are covered on the outside with hair. The color of the inside is often indicative of breed or personal characteristic of the animal. This is especially true of the Jersey. Mouth of the Cow Since the most important part of a cow's mouth is the teeth, they alone will be considered here. As in the case of 32 SECOND MONTH all domestic animals, the teeth furnish a fairly accurate means of judging the age of a cow. The calf often has a pair of central milk teeth at birth. There are incisors in the lower jaw only, the upper being pro- vided with a cartilaginous pad. At about eighteen months of age, the permanent teeth replace the milk teeth. These are about two times as broad as the milk teeth, hence are readily recognized. The second pair appear at twenty-seven months of age, the third at thirty-six months, and the fourth at forty-five months. After this age, the wearing of the teeth is depended on to denote age. After ten years of age, little change takes place. The teeth are adapted to an exclusively herbivorous diet. Stomach of the Cow Like a cow's teeth, her stomach is adapted to a strictly herbivorous diet. It is divided into two portions, each sub- divided. The first is known as the rumen or paunch, receives the food as it is eaten. Then when the cow is quiet it is regur- gitated into the mouth, and chewed by the molars, hence "chewing the cud." Then it passes the second time into the second division, the honeycomb or reticulum, thence to the manyplies, or omasum, and lastly to the abomasum or true stomach. Feet ajid Toes of the Cow The cow is an "ungulata" or hoofed animal. This class of animals is almost always herbivorous, the canines are rarely well developed, the molars numerous, and suited to grinding the food, are more or less flattened, and frequently have folded enamel. The legs of ungulatse are exclusively locomotor arrange- ments, and permit free motion. The clavicles are absent. The feet touch the ground only by the tips of the toes, which are enclosed in hoofs. The cow belongs to the group known as artiodactyla or animals with an even number of toes, while the horse belongs to the Perissadactyla or animals which have the middle toe developed into a hoof. The cow really, walks upon her two middle toes, each of which is provided with a hoof. The rudimentary toes at the back are digits which have disappeared as far as their usefulness is concerned. SECOND MONTH 33 It would he well if the teacher could secure a skeleton of a cow's leg and show how the metacarpals and metatarsals are greatly elongated, the ankle and wrist being raised from the ground to such a height that they are often confused with elbow and knee. The radius and tibia are becoming more developed at the expense of the fibula, which is becoming rudimen^ry and the ulna, which is often developed throughout its whole length, other times only in its upper part, and is more or less fused with the radius. History of Cattle Cattle were the first animals domesticated. Some hold that our earliest cattle were domesticated from wild cattle that roamed over Europe and Asia at early times. Others hold that cattle originated in Asia, and were later taken to Europe dur- ing the great Aryan migration. The ancients secured no great degree of development. That was left for later centuries. Within the last two hundred years, great attention has been paid to breeding until now there are over three hundred dis- tinct breeds of cattle. The most valuable breeds have come from Great Britain and northwestern Europe. The two main classes of cattle at the present time are dairy and beef cattle. The dual purpose cattle are those that combine qualities of both beef and dairy types. DAIRY BREEDS OF CATTLE Characteristics of Each Dairy Breed There are two distinct types of cattle — first, the dairy type, and second, the beef type. These types are determined by the demands made on the animal. In the dairy type, the udder is the most important organ, but in the beef type, it is important only to rear the young calf. In the beef type, it is necessary that the body be plump and full, and that the animal take on flesh and fat readily. In the dairy type, this quality is a real detriment. Since the dairy type is kept for the milk, it will secrete, and since its food should go to produce milk and not meat and fat, the body will be thin. Since the secretion of milk takes place in the udder, the rear development of the dairy type will be large, and since the milk production depends 34 SECOND MONTH largely upon the digestive tract, and therefore a large milk yield calls for a large digestive tract, this will add to the rear development. Fleshiness is always objectionable in the dairy type, and while the general outline may vary, the following is typical. In general appearance, a dairy cow resembles a triple wedge. A side view shows greater width of body behind than in front. From the rear and top, she gradually widens from the chest to the hips. From the front and top, she gradually widens from the withers backward, and down to the abdomen, ■ There are four major breeds of dairy cattle in the United States. They are: Jerseys, Holstein-Priesian, Guernseys, and Ayrshires. All four types have horns. The Jerseys are the smallest, averaging from 800 to 1,200 pounds. They are usually fawn-like in color, though this varies from yellow, red, to grey, brown, or silver fawn. It is low and muscular in form. The head, short, lean, and small. The horns are often crum- pled, are small, often waxy and black tipped. The ears are small, well formed, and yellow colored on the inside. The body is round and large, the neck short ; the tail, long and fine. The Holstein-Friesians are the largest of the dairy cattle, averaging 1400-2000 pounds. They come from Holland, and are black and white in color, white predominating. The head is lean and long, with straight nose. The horns should be short and curve inward. A white horn with a black tip is usually a mark of the pure breed. The neck of the female is long and slender, but in the male is large and arched. The hips are large with thin thighs. The Guernseys weigh from 1000-1500 pounds and are a yellow fawn. They probably have the same French ancestors as the Jerseys. It sometimes has white on the legs and under the body. It has a medium-sized head, with a buff colored muzzle. The horns range from white to amber or deep yellow. They are medium in length, and curve inward and upward very gracefully. The neck is fine shaped and short, but the shoulders are angular. The Ayrshire breed is of Scotch origin and weighs 1000- 1400 pounds. It is medium in size and borders on the beef type. Red, white, and brown predominate in colors. Often red and white are found, with the white predominating. The SECOND MONTH 35 head is of medium size, with a straight face. The horns are long, white, and often have black tips. They curve outward and upward, and often turn back at the ends. The animal has a perfectly straight back from base of horns to the tail. The Dutch Belted cow from Holland, the Brown Swiss from Switzerland, the French Canadian from Canada, and the Kerry from Ireland are minor breeds of dairy cattle which will not be discussed here since they are little known in most parts of this State. Care, Shelter, Food, Good Dairy Rations Perhaps no other part of a farmer's work calls for the care that his milk cows require. To produce clean, wholesome milk, requires care and work. The cows must be curried daily to remove dirt and loose hairs. The udder and rear parts should be clipped to remove the, long hairs that catch and hold the dirt. The udders should be wiped with a clean, damp cloth before milking. Care must be taken that cows are fed clean, nutritious foods, and none that will contaminate the milk in taste. Plenty of clean, fresh, drinking water that is free of all contamination should be provided. One cannot produce clean milk in unsanitary surroundings, hence the stables must be kept clean. The stables should be free of dust and cobwebs, as well as manure and litter. Plenty of light and good ventilation are of utmost importance. The floors should be of cement, and the stalls cleaned twice each day. The stable yard should be clean and well drained. Plenty of bedding should be provided, and should be changed fre- quently. Old straw is perhaps the best bedding, but shavings, leaves, and similar .substitutes may be used. There are many factors that enter into the consideration of food for dairy cattle. Perhaps the chief of these are: age of animal, weight, milk given, and the general characteristics of the animal itself. Armsby's standard gives a cow 1.25 pounds of digestible protein for each 15 pounds of milk; 1.5 for each 20 pounds, and 1.75 pounds for each 25 pounds of milk. The Wolff -Lehman standard requires for a cow weighing 1,000 pounds, and giving 11 pounds daily of milk, 25 pounds 36 SECOND MONTH of dry matter, 1.6 protein, 10 carbohydrates, and .3 fat. If the cow gives 22 pounds of milk daily, the rations should be 29 of dry matter, 2.5 protein, 13 of carbohydrates, and .5 fats. In considering the feeding of dairy cattle, we must con- sider it from the point of winter and summer feeding. In the early pasture season, the cows usually need no additional food besides what they get from the pastures, but later in the season when the pastures get short, it is often necessary to feed silage, grain, or to cut forage, and feed it to the cattle green. In the ease of heavy milkers, even when the pastures are good, it is well to give a mixture of wheat bran, and oats. Soiling or the cutting of green crops and feeding them fresh is a most economical way of feeding cows, but requires much extra work. Beginning May 15 and continuing to Octo- ber 15, the following would prove a good soiling system : Rye— May 15-31. Alfalfa or wheat — June 1-10. Red clover — June 11-20. Clover and timothy — June 21- July 1. Oats and vetch — July 1-5. Oats and peas — July 6-10. Corn, or second cutting alfalfa — July 11-31. Corn, or second cutting clover and grasses — August 1-31. Corn, or third cutting alfalfa — September 1-30. Rape — October 1-15. Winter feeding is the most expensive, and upon the cost of the cow's winter food depends the dairyman's profit or loss. The food should average 7 to 10 pounds of grain per day, 15 to 20 pounds of dry forage, or 30 to 40 pounds of succulent food with 5 to 10 pounds of hay. Mill refuse, together with rye, corn, oats, barley, and wheat, are the chief cereals fed cows. These are determined by price of foods, yield of cows in milk, and dry foods fed with them. Clover, alfalfa, mixed hays, and corn stalks are the usual dry forage. Feed all the hay the animal will eat with relish. Silage, tubers, and roots are the chief succulent foods. Thirty to forty pounds of succulence is the average amount fed. Silage is the preferable feed of the succulent group. SECOND MONTH 37 Corn is the chief crop used for silage, and is second only to grass in stimulating milk production. Mangels are the most important root crop as a succulent feed. They are easily digested, palatable, and stimulate the milk flow. MILK Composition of Milk We are too apt to think of milk as a beverage rather than as one of our most satisfying of foods. But careful analysis shows that it is very rich in proteids, fats, sugars, and mineral matters. The mineral matter constitute about seven-tenths of 1 per cent of the entire weight of milk, more than in any other common food. Fats constitute about 4 per cent of the weights, proteids about 3.3 per cent. Proteids are found in buttermilk as the casein. Milk contains about 5 per cent of sugar, but this is milk sugar, and much different from the sugar used in ordinary cooking. Albumen is another important constituent of milk, but in a much smaller percentage than the casein. It resembles the albumen in egg white. Unlike the casein, it does not curdle when milk sours, but remains in solution in the whey. This proteid is found in much greater quantities in human milk than in cow's milk. Different Practices in Handling Milk There are almost as many different ways of handling milk as there are people who handle it. However, they all resolve around the three main ones in use at present. Each has as its object the removal of the cream — the lighter part of the milk — from the milk proper. The shallow pan method was the one used mainly a generation ago, but since fifteen to twenty per cent of the cream was lost in this way, it has largely been given over for other methods. This method was to place milk in pans from three to four inches in depth, then put in a cool place. In twelve to twenty-four hours, the cream came to the top, and was then skimmed off. The next advancement made in the handling of milk came when the deep pan came into use. Cans twenty to twenty-two inches in height are used. The cans are filled with the milk, cooled to 40° and allowed to stand twenty- four hours before skimming. However, this method is also 38 SECOND MONTH wasteful, since by it five to fifteen per cent, or even more, of the cream is lost. The most modern and economical method of obtaining the cream from the milk, is by a first-class sepa- rator. Separators of some type are familiar to most farm children. Perhaps it might be well here to mention the inventor of the first really successful cream separator. He was Dr. Grustav De Laval, a native of Sweden, who died in 1913. His invention was made in 1879 and has almost entirely revolution- ized the dairy business, not only in Europe but also in America. Not only has the separator saved more of the cream for the dairy man, but it makes it possible to feed the warm milk back to pigs, calves, and chickens. At this stage, it is sweet and warm, and contains all its sugar, much of which iS changed to lactic acid, once fermentation has begun. Digestive disorders seldom occur in pigs or calves fed with this fresh, warm milk. Milk Products Without hesitancy, one may say butter is the chief milk product. In composition this is about 85 per cent fat, 11 per cent water, 4 per cent salt, and 1 per cent casein. Color, flavor, texture, and general appearance are considered in grading butter. In color it should be a bright, golden yellow. The flavor is impossible to describe. It is said that the Arabs centuries ago first discovered the art of butter making, when butter was formed when milk was carried in a goat's skin on a camel's back. From this primitive chum, the art has been perfected up to the dasher churn of our grandmother's day, to the box and barrel churn now in use. A detailed discussion of butter making is not possible here. Cheese is perhaps the next most important milk product, and is made by coagulating milk with a ferment from the calf's stomach. Milk rich in fat makes more and better cheese than thin, blue milk. Cream cheese should contain 37 per cent water, 34 per cent fat, 24 per cent casein, and 5 per cent ash. Cheese is one of our most economical foods since 95 per cent of it is digested when eaten. Cottage cheese is one of our best known cheese since it is made at home. Cheddar is one of the best known makes of this country. Until the war, most of. our fine cheese was imported SECOND MONTH 39 from Holland and Switzerland or France, but cheese making now is making great strides in this country, and once trade is resumed on a pre-war basis, it is hoped the European markets will find we have products that will rival their best. Some of the best known of the imported cheese are : Limberger, given its peculiar odor by specific fermentation during ripening. Swiss cheese, which is flavored with herbs and by certain native pastures when the cows feed. It is world-widely known. The French Roquefort cheese is made both from goats' and cows' milk. It is made by mixing moistened bread with clotted milk. It is dried, salted, and then placed in mountain caves to ripen. Cheddar, Cheshire, and Stilton are the most famous English cheese. The round Dutch cheese, colored red, and called Edam, from a town of that name in Holland, comes from Holland, and is made of partly skimmed milk. Brie and Camembert are .soft French cheese of fine flavor. Ice Cream is another important milk product. This may be made of milk, cream, or a combination of each, with fruits, flavor, sugar, eggs, gelatine, or various other foods. If made of good, pure milk, or cream, it is an important article of diet and is rapidly taking its place on our tables in the warm months, instead of the heavy cakes and pastries to which we have so long been accustomed. Milk Powder is also an important milk product. This is made by evaporating tbe milk. It has the advantage over the usual forms of liquid and condensed milk in that it may be transported long distances at much less cost. It is used largely by confectionary shops, and for the most part is made of > skimmed milk. Condensed Milk is of two kinds — sweetened and unsweet- ened. The former is prepared with cane sugar. It is used not only for home use but much in the making of ice creams, by bakeries, candy factories, on steamers, and places where fresh milk is not readily obtainable. Other minor milk products are milk sugar, and buttermilk. The latter is sold under various names, due mainly to the lactic 40 SECOND MONTH organisms used in its preparation. Lactic milk preparations are said by some physicians to be very healthful and to prolong human life. Care of Milk— Essentials in Clean Milk Production In the care of milk there are four things extremely neces- sary, if one wishes to have sweet, wholesome milk or other dairy products. These are: Clean vessels, protection from air and dust, proper .temperature, and protection from flies. Milk very readily absorbs odor or bacteria when exposed to the air, or placed in dirty vessels. The bacteria may be the harmless sort which are found everywhere, or they may be those of conta- gious diseases or those which cause digestive trouble that prove so fatal to babies. Bacteria multiply rapidly while the milk remains warm — that is, 50° F. or above. Cleanliness and a low temperature are extremely necessary if one would have good milk. No milk should ever be bought anywhere that is sold from the open can or other container. Practically all the milk sold now is bottled milk that the law compels the seller to pasteurize. When the milk has been delivered, the bottle should be carefully wiped off and put in a refrigerator at once. The milk should be emptied from the bottle only as used, and under no circumstances should milk once poured from the bottle, be poured back in the bottle, if there remains any milk in the bottle. To do so may cause the whole to sour. The paper cap should always be used to cover the bottle. There seems to be little need to urge on thinking people the necessity of protecting milk from flies when we know that on the average, each fly carries at all times about 1,250,000 bacteria, many of them bacteria of tuberculosis, typhoid, and cholera infantum. But our care of milk should not end with the bottle itself, but should extend to the refrigerator or cellar where milk is kept. Daily and constant care is needed to keep these sweet and clean at all times, yet if one but thinks that on these depend the health of all who use the milk, little urging will be needed. The essentials of clean milk production have been touched upon in a previous topic, but an additional word here may be SECOND MONTH 41 wise. Constant vigilance is the price of clean milk, and this vigilance begins first with the cow. No cow should be milked which is not sonnd physically. Next her feed and drinking water must be good, fresh, and abundant. Her stable or stall should be clean, airy and well ventilated. The cow herself should receive daily care, while the milker 's hands and clothing must be clean. Duck cloth that is washable makes ideal milkers' outfits. The buckets should be clean, and with small opening at the top. As soon as the milking is finished, they should be covered with clean cloths. All utensils used for milk should first be rinsed, washed, and scalded every time they are used. Do not wash them in the dish water. Nor is it necessary to dry them — scald and drain, preferably in the sun. Dairymen are fast coming to the point where they no longer grumble at the time such precau- tions are taken. They believe in ' ' Safety First. ' ' Testing for Butter Fat for Quantity Two things determine whether or not a cow is profitable — thei quality and quantity of her milk. The quantity is more easily tested — and is done simply by weighing the milk each day, but testing for quality is slightly more complicated, but plays such an important part in dairying that no dairyman can afford to neglect it. This may be done by the Babcock tester, a device which separates the fats from the other solids, and weighs them. This Babcock tester may be purchased from any dairy supply company for about $5 or may be ordered through a hardware dealer. By its use a farmer can soon ascertain which of his cows are paying, and which are not. If one wishes to grade up his herd by breeding, this is one of the best ways to select his cows for breeding purposes. Testing Projects Many country homes now have some means of testing milk. These should be discussed in class, and examples brought to school if practicable. 42 SECOND MONTH BEEF CATTLE Characteristics of Beef Type, Compare with Dairy — Type of Cattle Beef cattle may be divided into two general classes- first, strictly beef cattle, and second, dual purpose breeds. The former are valuable mainly for the production of meat, and have been bred and developed so that they will produce a maxi- mum amount of beef of superior quality. The dual purpose type are intended to produce a fair amount of good meat, while the cows are expected to give a good flow of milk. The breeds of beef cattle in the United States are : Shorthorn, sometimes called Durham, Polled Durham, Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus, and Galloway. With the exception of the Shorthorn, these cows are not heavy milkers. The milk- ing tendency accompanies that shape of body which prevents the animal from yielding the greatest amount and the highest quality of beef. A good beef-bred cow should give only enough milk to nourish a good healthy calf. Among the dual purpose breeds we find certain types of the Shorthorn, together with the Red Polls and Devons. In the beef type, since it is desirable that the animal fatten readily, the food should go to produce flesh. The quality of the flesh in various parts of the body varies greatly, hence it is desirable that beef cattle take on flesh in those parts yielding the valuable cuts of meat. Take, for instance, the lower leg, usually sold as soup meat. This cut will sell for one-half to two-thirds less than the porterhouse taken from the back. In general, the beef type resembles a brick set on edge. It offers parallel lines whether viewed from side, top, or bottom. The animal is as deep in front as behind. The animal is stocky and compact, almost straight of line from ears to tail. The back is broad from shoulders to hips. "Blocky" is a term often applied to the ideal beef type, and well describes the compact, squareness of form. But the dairy type is much different. Viewed from the three angles, she presents a wedge shape. She is angular rather than compact, while her rear development is much greater than her front. SECOND MONTH 43 Beef Breeds, Characteristics; Uses The Shorthorns are natives of England, have horns, and weigh 1400-2000 pounds. In color they are red, white, and roan. It 'is the largest breed of beef cattle, and closely approaches the ideal beef type. The head is short, and between the eyes, is broad. The horns which are small and short usually curve for- ward. The neck is short and thick, the back broad and straight. The rump is long, broad, and level. The thighs and quarters are deep, long, and thick, the flesh being well toward the hocks. The short legs have small, clean bones, and strong joints. They have a very good disposition. The Hereford, like the Shorthorn, is also hornless and originated in England. It weighs 1400-2000 pounds, and is red and white in color. It takes its name from Hereford County, England, where it originated. It is one of the oldest breeds of cattle in England. The head is short, with a broad, slightly dished face. The horns are white or yellowish, which spring forward and up in the cows, but down in the bulls, with a graceful curve. The neck is short and smooth. The chest is broad with often an over-developed dewlap. The back is straight with long, wide, well-sprung ribs. The rump, however, is less well developed than in the Shorthorn, while the thighs are thin, lacking thick- ness and depth. They are also not so gentle in disposition as the Shorthorns. However, their three main points of excel- lence are : 1. They take on fat at an early age. 2. They are unexcelled as baby beef producers. 3. They do well on open range grazing. The Aberdeen Angus cattle are hornless and are natives of Scotland. They range from 1400-1800 pounds, and are black in color. The head of the Aberdeen- Angus is short, with promi- nent forehead, which tapers at the poll. The ribs are well sprung but rounded, which does not give the broad back found in the Shorthorns. The rump slopes a good deal, while the thighs are thin. While in some points the Aberdeen-Angus is inferior to the Shorthorn, its owners insist its meat is superior in flavor to that of the Shorthorn. 44 SECOND MONTH The Galloway are the smallest of the beef breeds, ranging from 1200-1800 pounds. In color they are black, and, like the Aberdeen-Angus, are natives of Scotland and hornless. It is a very old breed and its origin is obscure. Its long, shaggy coat of hair fits it to thrive in cold climates. It has a well-shaped head, but less peaked at the poll than the Aberdeen-Angus. Its back is straight from poll to tail head, but its ribs are deficient in Spring. Some hold that the Galloway do not mature as early as the other types of beef cattle, but they produce a very high grade of meat, fine in grain and flavor. The Galloway is of a very active temperament. It is the hardiest of all beef cattle, while its hide is very valuable because of its long, silky hair. It is used to make robes, coats, and such articles. Among the dual purpose cattle are the Pblled Durham cattle, natives of England, and hornless. They average 1400- 2000 pounds in weight, and are red, white, or roan in color. They are very similar to the Shorthorns and are often called the homeless Shorthorns. The Devon cattle are natives of England, have horns, are red in color, and weigh 1200-1800 pounds. It has graceful, upturned, black-tipped, waxy horns, and is very symmetrical in general appearance. It has often been called deer-like, owing to its natural refinement, and nervous disposition. The oxen of this breed ranks high. The Red Polled come also from England, and are hornless. They are red in color and average 1200-1800 pounds in weight. It is often given first rank among the dual purpose breeds. It lacks in massiveness, and shows many dairy-breed features. Sussex cattle are natives of England, have horns, weigh 1200-1800 pounds, and are red in color. This breed resembles the Devon except its general appearance is coarser, has greater size, and is beefier. The West Highland breed is of Scottish origin. It has horns, is red or black in color, and is the smallest of its class, weighing 900 to 1200 pounds. It is especially noticeable because of its shaggy coat of hair and small size. It also matures late, fattens slowly, and is very nervous in disposition. It is hardy and rugged and very attractive in appearance. The quality of its meat is unexcelled. SECOND MONTH 45 The uses of the beef breed are for meat purposes alone, while the dual purpose type may serve either the purpose of dairy or beef cattle. The dual purpose type is often preferred by the farmer for this reason, especially if he keeps but a few head at any one time. Care of Beef Cattle One of the greatest needs in the successful raising of beef cattle is regularity in watering and feeding. Another impor- tant point is the securing of good stock to begin with. It is usually too expensive to make any great purchase of pure-bred stock to begin with. It is far better to "grade up" on native stock. The cattle feeder should never be tempted to fatten heifer calves from good cows for beef. They should be kept for breeding purposes. Good pasturage is one of the most essential features of summer feeding. A feed bunk proves of great help in feeding grain. This is three feet wide, fifteen feet long, and two and one-half feet high. This will accommodate twelve to twenty cattle. Many cattle men make use of the self-feeder, where it is necessary to economize on labor. Others do ijot like them. Shade, either natural or artificial, must be provided during the hot season, when the excessive heat and flies do much to excite a herd of feeders, so that they may stampede and injure one another. One of the important factors in feeding cattle is an abundant supply of fresh, pure water at all times. A mud hole is no place to allow cattle to drink. The hotter and dryer the weather, the more water cattle need, and the scarcer it is apt to be, especially if one has to depend on hand pumping to sup- ply it. Salt should be placed under a shed or other protection, where the cattle have free access to it. Winter feeding is no less important, and much more expen- sive than summer feeding. One of the greatest- winter essentials is proper shelter. The fattening steer does not require the warm quarters required by the dairy cow, but it does require dry quarters, and a dry, comfortable bed. The feed lot should have a good drainage and some natural protection. For the location of the feed lot, a south slope is best. A muddy feed lot is hard both on man and beast. In many sections of the corn belt the soil is of such a nature that a paved feed lot is 46 SECOND MONTH the only logical solution of the matter. This should have a grade of at least one inch to each six feet. When the natural drainage is good and the character of the soil such that entire paving of the lot is not necessary, to pave it around the water tank, forage racks, and feed bunks may prove sufficient. It is never wise to combine dry forage racks and feed bunks. Bach should be separate. Such feeding places should be , built in sheltered positions but not necessarily under sheds. Food and Balanced Rations of Beef Cattle Since cattle feeders have found out that young animals fatten more readily than old ones, the experienced feeder chooses his cattle accordingly. To make even a fair profit the cattle feeder must have animals that will make rapid and eco- nomical gains in the feed lot. A rapid and economic feeder will not possess much flesh at the beginning o'f the feeding period. The quantity of food required for feeding depends on the age, weight, condition, and individuality o'f the animal, as well as upon the kind of food. For this reason, it is impossible to give any arbitrary rule for feeding, but this may be taken as a working basis. For an animal 2-3 months old, weighing 160 pounds, 23 pounds of dry matter, 4.2 protein, 13 of carbohydrates, and 2 of fat are required. 3-6 months, weight 330 pounds, 24 pounds of dry matter, 3.5 of protein, 12.8 carbohydrates and 1.5 of fat. 6-12 months, weight 550, requires 25 pounds dry matter, 2.5 protein, 13.2 carbohydrates, and .7 fat. 12-18 months, 750 pounds in weight, requires 24 pounds dry matter, 12.5 carbohydrates, .5 fat. 18-24 months; weight 950 pounds, 24 pounds dry matter, 1.8 protein, 12 carbohydrates, and .4 fat. During the first period of fattening cattle, 30 pounds of dry matter are required, 2.5 of protein, 15 of carbohydrates, and .5 fat. During the second period, 30 pounds of dry matter, 3 of protein, 14.5 of carbohydrates, and .7 of fat are required. SECOND MONTH 47 During the third period, 26 pounds of dry matter, 2.7 pro- tein, 15 of carbohydrates, and .7 fat ar.e required. Some stock men purchase large numbers of cattle in the fall in order to feed up such roughage as corn stalks, stra^w, inferior clover hay, seeded clover, and such. This is an eco- nomical way of disposing of such crops, and cattle so fed in the winter fatten readily when turned on pasture in the spring. This roughage increases their feeding capacity, and cattle so fed during the winter show much more rapid summer gains than those fed a heavy grain feed during the winter. However, if this method is used, the latter part of the feeding period must be used to reduce the paunch and round up the steer. Summer feeding on pasture has many advantages over winter feeding, in that no bulky foods are to be handled, no bedding to provide, no lots to clean, and many other tasks requiring time and labor are eliminated. There are two methods of summer feeding — pasturing with no grain and pas- turing with all the grain they will eat. Which method one uses will depend upon the amount and condition of pasture available, cost of grain, and condition of animals. Cattle fat- tened wholly on pasture cannot be brought to the point of perfection that grain fattened cattle can be, and hence do not bring as good price on the market. For this reason, it is usually more profitable to feed some grain along with the pasture. Care should be used in turning on grass too suddenly in the spring. The first day two hours in the afternoon is enough, the next day, they may be turned out at noon, but not till the third or fourth day should they be allowed to remain out all day. Turning them on succulent grass, especially clover or alfalfa wet with dew or rain, is very apt to cause bloating in the cattle. Many factors enter into the consideration as to how much grain to feed cattle while on grass. If a thick fat is desired, they should be fed throughout the summer. Cattle intended for fall market need not be fed until the pastures get short — usually in July. Others feed from the beginning of the season and plan to sell along in mid-summer before the pastures fail. Some prefer corn as a feed alone, but for young stock, it is perhaps wise to feed something in addition that is rich in pro- tein, as linseed or cotton seed meal. 48 SECOND MONTH For the farmer who is short of pasture space, but has an abundance of corn and dry forage, winter feeding is usually the most profitable. This system has its advantages over sum- mer feeding, in that the work can be done when the farmer is less rushed with farm work. The cattle are not troubled by lack of water and flies. It also forms a way to secure quick returns from forage crops as well as grain, since the steers are on the market before farm spring work begins. The kind and amount of winter feed depends mainly upon the age of the animals. Young animals will need a grain feed from the begin- ning, but older animals usually fatten if the grain is fed for sixty days before marketing. The kind and amount of grain depends largely on the dry roughage. The following standard tables will give some idea of amounts and kind of food required. Study of Standard Tables Fattening cattle. Dry Crude Carbo- Matter Protein hydrates Fat 1st period 30 2.5 15 .5 2nd period 30 3 14.5 .7 3rd period 26 2.7 15 .7 This table follows the Wolff-Lehman Standards, and is suggestive rather than arbitrary. External conditions, age of cattle, etc., must be, taken into consideration also. Marketing Perhaps no part of the cattle raisers' work is more impor- tant than the marketing of his finished product. This is done in one of the following ways— either by slaughtering them him- self or "on foot," or alive. The former is the more profitable in some regions, but since all our great cities have stock yards with their attendant slaughtering and packing houses the latter has become more common. The shipping of live stock has reached such a large growth that special cattle cars have been built for this purpose, and often whole trains will be composed of them alone. The stock yards of East St. Louis and of Chi- cago are both well known centers of beef cattle trade in Illinois. SECOND MONTH 49 Note.— ifawe students bring in reports of market quotations, lists of commission Arms, and other matters in connection with these two markets. Have them also give instances of some local man zvho has topped the market with animals of any sort. Also discuss with them charges made by commission men, charge for "yardage," how cattle are graded first into (a) beef cattle, (b) butcher stock, (c) cutters and canners, (d) stackers and feeders, (e) veal calves. These are subdivided into prime, choice, good, medium, common, and inferior; also discuss Government inspec- tion and quarantine. This can be made a most interesting and profitable topic, if handled rightly. Encourage pupils to bring agriculture papers to school, to read, and discuss them. Cuts of Beef In studying the cuts of beef, it would be well to have an outline sketched on the board and then have the students locate the parts. The following is merely suggestive : Using this diagram it would be well for the teacher to show how the beef type of animals have the flesh in the parts 50 SECOND MONTH that furnish the best cuts of beef. Have students compare cost of different cuts ; 75 per cent of the value of a beef steer is in the valuable parts, the rest — 25 per cent — being in the less valuable cuts. What are included in the former? What in the latter? Care of Herds and Calves The care of cattle has been discussed along with the treat- ment of both dairy cattle, and will be given only as a resume here. Beef cattle should be given either natural or artificial pro- tection during the heat of summer, also plenty of good, fresh water. In winter, they should be protected but need not be housed as warmly as dairy cattle. The feed lot should not be allowed to degenerate into a mud hole. Dairy cows need warmer quarters than beef cattle, and require more attention to their surroundings and for them- selves in order that the milk production may be sanitarj\ Every farmer has his own ideas about raising calves and no one can make statements in regard to their care that some will not dispute. Some prefer to have the calf with the cow for about ten days, other prefer to separate them the third or fourth day, or even the second, if the calf is strong. If hand feeding is resorted to there is danger of overfeeding the calf and causing serious digestive disturbances. While the calf is still young it is best to feed it the milk of its own mother, while it is still warm. This should be done three or four times a day, and about one and one-half to two quarts each time. At four weeks of age, the change to skim milk may be made. This change should be made gradually, about one pound each day being skimmed. In this way, the change is made without the calf's noticing it. After two or three weeks ,of age, the calf should be taught to eat a little grain. This is done easiest by putting a little in the pail after the calf has finished drinking. At six weeks old, the calf should have daily one pound of the following mixture : Corn meal, three parts ; three parts ground oats,' three parts wheat bran, and one part linseed meal. If it is desired that the calf have no horns, as soon as the young horn can be felt with the hand, clip away the hair, wrap a SECOND MONTH 51 stick of caustic potash in paper so as to protect one 's hand, dip the end of the stick in water and rub this upon the growing tip of the horn until the skin begins to loosen up and turns red. Care should be used not to touch the surrounding skin. In a few days the place heals over, and no other application is necessary. Note — Teacher should have students report 'in class on calves they have raised, bred, treatment given them, results and Unal disposal. THIRD MONTH HORSES The Horse as an Animal; Characteristics; Types of Horses Like the cow, the horse is a mammalia, or milk-fed animal when young. It is also an ungulatis, or hoof animal, but is a perissodactyla, that is, the hoof is developed on the middle toe, instead of being an artiodaetyle, like the cow, that has a hoof developed on the two middle toes. There are two distinct types of horses — the light and heavy. The former is used in light, swift work, while the latter or draft horses are the real beasts of burden. It has many characteristics which mark it off from animals in general. Perhaps the first of these is its higher degree of intelligence. A good horse seems almost to show human intelli- gence. It is also capable of being trained to a degree unat- tained by sheep, cows, or any other animal except the dog. Breeds of horses differ so much in characteristics that it is difficult to make any statement that will hold good for all. Hence, the personal characteristics of each breed will be dis- cussed under the separate heads or breeds. As was said before, there are two types of horses^the light and heavy. The light type is further divided into run- ning, trotting, pacing, saddling, coaching, and various other types. While all light types have some points of similarity, the various types have sharply distinguishing features. The light type is usually tall with long limbs. The animals are narrow, but deep in front. It has been well compared in body formation to the greyhound. In a general way, the draft type resembles the beef cattle. It is massive, rather blocky in shape, limbs short, and resembles the bull dog in shape. Weight is the one main feature of the draft horse. At maturity a good draft horse should weigh 1500 to 2400 pounds, according to his class. THIRD MONTH 53 History of the Horse The horse is one of the oldest known animals, yet its use as a work animal is of comparatively recent origin. During Biblical times, the horse was used merely as a means of locomo- tion, and the oxen as the beast of burden. This is true in some respects in Europe at the present time, and especially true in Asia. Within the last generation, oxen were used in the United States in farm work, and that their use has been discontinued is due to two factors — the American demand for speed, and the increasing use of cattle for meat purposes. The origin of the horse is really unknown, having been known to civilization from early times. The wild horse of Europe is undoubtedly the original source, but centuries of breeding have developed many types much unlike the original animal. The beautiful horses of Arabia are famous the world over, but their owners have always proved most secretive as to * their breeding and ancestry. Different Breeds of Horses in Neighborhood Since this work is to be used in various sections of the State, a general survey of the more common breeds will be given. The horse is very susceptible to climatic conditions and quickly shows it in change in general appearance. In the tem- perate regions, where we find fertile, grassy plains, we find horses noted for size and strength. For this reason, it is the plains of Prance and Germany that have produced our heavy draft breeds. These regions are the source of these horses. But these animals have lacked quality and activity so essential in a first-class draft animal, so by breeding with light horses, these points have been improved. Each of the draft breeds has been founded on the light horse. The light breeds in turn have been improved by inter- breeding with Arabian horses. The Thoroughbred horse is one of the most popular with English sportsmen, and is really the source, together with the Arabian horse, of all the light breeds of quality. It is a native of England. It stands 14 to 14% hands high, weighs 800-1000 pounds. In color it is bay or brown and is used mainly for 54 THIRD MONTH racing. The history of the Thoroughbred is obscure. Its origin was probably the original stock of the country, bred up by Eoman horses brought over in the days of Caesar. German horses were also used in breeding up the stock, and Spanish horses were later introduced. Charles II. of England was the first to bring into the country the Royal mares from Arabia, and other parts of the Orient. The late part of the Seventeenth and the early Eighteenth Century saw the greatest advance- ments in this breed. The Thoroughbred has a fine, lean head of moderate size. The eyes are prominent and intelligent, while the medium sized ears are carried well up. The neck is long and fine and joins shoulders sloping obliquely back. The chest is narrow but deep, and the body cylindrical. The croup is long and level, and the tail carried gracefully. The distinguishing feature of the breed is the hindquarters, which are long with strong muscles, of great driving power. The knee and hock joints are medium in size and strong, while the legs above are strong, with distinct muscles. The feet are of medium size, are wide, and high at the heel. The action is one of the most important features, and should be straight, free, and easy. Because of generations of breeding for races over long, straight tracks, the Thoroughbred has developed great endurance at high speed. The Arabian horse, as its name implies, is a native of Arabia, is 14 to 14% hands high, is bay or white, and is used mainly for riding. It weighs 800-1000 pounds. Little is known of the early history of these horses. Some say the great endur- ance of these horses is due to the dif&culty they found in secur- ing pasturage, so that all but the most hardy died. Others say there is a peculiarity of the scanty Arabian horses which goes to produce fine, firm bone. However that may be, the finest horses of this type in the world are found among the migratory Bedouin tribes of Arabia. Compared to the Thoroughbred, the Arabian is more stylish and less angular. The Arabian horse has a shorter body, with longer ribs, and more curved, thus giving the body a straighter underline. The legs are shorter. He has great endurance and stamina, and has a more stylish carriage of head, neck and tail than the Thoroughbred, but is not nearly the equal of the latter in speed. THIRD MONTH 55 The American Saddler is a native of the United States, is 15-11/2 to 15-2% hands high. It is bay, black or brown, is used for either riding or driving, and weighs 950 to 1050 pounds. This horse was really the product of necessity, for in the early days of our country, before we had railroads, the horse was the- sole means of transportation. Thus the use of the saddle horse became very common and in our southern States, especially Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri, much attention was given to breeding this type of horse. Because of the fact that Kentucky made so many improvements in this breed it is often spoken of as the Kentucky saddle horse. The Thorough- bred was used largely in breeding up this animal, and most of the noted saddlers today are descendants from Denmark, a noted Thoroughbred. Compared to the Thoroughbred, it is taller and heavier. It has greater symmetry of form, and greater style in carriage of head, neck, and tail. It has a very easy gait, which is very distinctive. They are divided into two classes, according to their gaits — the walk-trot-canter horse, and the gaited saddle horse, which walks, trots, canters, racks, and does one or more of the three slow gaits, the running walk, the fox trot, or slow pace. The former is the most usual saddle horse. The Standard Bred is also a native of the United States. It is 15% to 15% hands high, weighs 900-1150 pounds, is used for driving or racing, and is bay, brown, or black in color. This breed is a road type and includes both pacers and trotters — ■ indeed, the same horse may pace one time and trot the next. It is of American origin, but has been graded up by trotting horses imported from England. The English Thoroughbred played a great part in its improvement. A Thoroughbred, Mes- senger, imported in 1788, and Bellfounder, imported in 1822, did much to improve this breed. Hambletonian 10, a descend- ant of Messenger and a Standardbred horse, was perhaps one of the most noted horses ever born in America. The Standard- bred is America's principle race horse, and speed at the trot is the main requirement. In shape this breed is rather angular with prominent, strong joints. The ribs are more or less notice- able. It has a straighter underline than the Thoroughbred, mainly because of its longer ribs. Powerful trotting or pacing action is essential. It must be true, and vary neither to right or left. 56 THIRD MONTH The famous Dan Patch was one of the most famous of this breed. In 1903 at Memphis race tracks he made % mile in 56 seconds. The same year at Macon, Ga., he made 2 miles in 4.17 minutes, while in 1905 at Memphis he made 1 mile in 1.551/4 miautes. In 1874 Lady St. Clair of this breed made 5 miles in 12.54% minutes in San Francisco. The Coach Breed of horses is really a cross between the light and draft horses; yet since it tends more to the former than to the latter, it usually is classed under that head. They are distinguished for stylish action, yet useful for heavy coach or carriage work. They owe their origin mainly to the Thor- oughbred and Arabian horses, which were bred with the heavy draft horses, and produced a breed smaller in size than the draft horse, yet more stylish in action and of greater endurance. The Hackney Coach is a native of England, weighs 1000- 1200 pounds, is used for park driving, is chestnut in color, and stands 15% to 15% hands high. It is blockier in form than any of the other breeds of the coach horses. It is short legged, has a big, broad back, intelligent head, neat neck, strong, power- ful loins, and a perfect shoulder. The stylish, attractive action, especially of the knees and hocks, that is its chief merit. Up to the time of the auto it was in especial demand for fashionable driving. The French Coach horse is a native of .France, but is not known by that name there but by the name Demi-Sang or half- blood. This name was at first given to offspring of Norman Draft Horses and English Thoroughbreds. It stands 15 to 16 hands high, weighs 1200 to 1350 pounds, is used for coach driv- ing and is bay, or brown chestnut in color. The French Gov- ernment has done much to encourage this breed, and to its aid, the French coach horse or Demi-Sang owes its present perfec- tion. In general outline, it is not so smooth as the Hackney. It is a larger horse, has good body length with long, slightly- arched neck. It has larger bone and more powerful muscles. The action, instead of being high and flashy, as in the Hackney, is longer and more powerful. The German Coach horse was developed in northwestern Germany. It varies much in size and weight, from 16 to 16% hands high, and from 1350 to 1450 in weight. It is used for THIRD MONTH 57 heavy coach driving, or as a general utility horse. In color it is black, brown, or chestnut. It lacks the smooth outline and the symmetry of the Hackney. The action of the trot is longer, and lacks the high stylish action of the Hackney. The following are the main breeds of draft horses : Percheron, French Draft, both natives of France; Clydes- dale, a native of Scotland; Shire and Suffolk, both natives of England, and the Belgian, a native of Belgium. All are used for heavy hauling. The Percheron Draft horse was developed especially in the region of La Perche, although they are found all throughout northwestern France. Oriental horses played a big part in the development of this breed. In the Eighth Cen- tury, during the Saracen invasion, great numbers of Arab, Barb, and Turkish horses were brought into the country. For over 200 years the French Government has aided much in the improvement of the draft horses. The Percheron is 15%-17 hands high, is grey or black in color, and weighs 1800-2300 pounds. It is the most important draft breed in America. In form it is heavy and low set. Its weight is right for the ideal draft animal. The head is large and slightly heavy. Its face is straight, with large nostrils. The neck is short, strong, and well crested. The back is short, the chest deep and broad, the loins smooth with heavy muscles. On top the body is rather short, but long below. The ribs are strongly arched, and give a great depth. The croup is broad and wide, but with a steep- ness not desirable. The joints are medium, but strong and legs heavily muscled. The feet are large. The action is strong and true, and good both in trot and walk. It is a good mover, and if surpassed in this respect at all, is by the Clydesdale. The French Draft horse includes a number of types. Indeed, the Percherons may be included in this number. It is ^common to refer to any draft horses brought from France as French draft horses, but this includes such as the Bretons, the Ardennais, the Picardys, the Nivernais, the Percherons, and the Boulonais. The Clydesdale Draft horse weighs 1800-2300 pounds, is a light bay, and stands 16 to 16% hands high. These horses owe their excellence to early interbreeding with the English horses, and to the soil of Scotland, which is able to support by forage 58 THIRD MONTH large framed animals. Baron of Buchlyvie, a Clydesdale draft horse, sold for $47,500, the highest price ever paid for a draft horse. The Clydesdale differs from the Percheron in its action, its hairy legs, and in its markings, which are a white blaze on the face and one or more white feet. From the backs of the legs there is a heavy growth of long hair called the feather. It has longer legs than the French draft, the body is longer and lighter, and the nose is often slightly Roman. The Shire stands 16 to 17 hands high, and weighs 1800- 2300 pounds, and is light bay in color. In color and feather of the legs, it much resembles the Clydesdale, but in shape, more the Percheron. It is perhaps more powerfully built than either, but lacks their graceful action. This is perhaps due to its straight shoulders, and short, heavily muscled legs. The Belgian draft horse stands 16-17 hands high, weighs 1600-2300 pounds, and is bay, brown, or black in color. This breed is unlike other draft breeds, the result almost entirely of its own surroundings, and no one breed has been instru- mental in aiding its improvement. It is even more compact than the Percheron, and has the maxiinum weight for its size. It has a very full breast, very broad and deep back, and the greatest body girth of any breed. The rump is short and steep, and has the objection of a low set tail. The nose is straight; it has no feathers on the legs as have the Shire and Clydesdale. The Suffolk draft horse stands 16-17 hands high, weighs 1600-2000 pounds, and is chestnut or bay. This breed is little known in America. It is smaller than the other breeds, although it has greater body depth and circumference than the French horse. Because of the small number of ponies in this region, they will not be discussed at length here. The chief breeds in America are: Shetland, Welsh, Exmoor, Arabian, Hackney, and the Mexican and Indians, which dealers do not recognize as breeds. In the South these ponies are called Mustangs ; in the central and western states they are called Bronchos, and in the North, they are often spoken of as Cayuse. THIRD MONTH 59 Care of Horses Perhaps the one great essential in the care of horses is proper grooming. Nothing adds so much to the beauty and luster of the coat as this. On reaching the stable the horse should be unharnessed, fed, given a thorough grooming and blanketed. The legs should be given a thorough and quick brushing. It is well for the farmer to remember that time spent on the horses at the end of the day's work is worth twice that time spent in the morning. The teeth of a horse needs frequent attention also. If the milk teeth do not come out in the proper time, they should be pulled with forceps. As the permanent teeth wear the inside of the lower and the outside of the upper molars may become sharp, and irritate lips and tongue. If this condijfion exists, it should be remedied with a guarded rasp. A horse should be clipped over the entire body. It not only improves the appearance of his coat, but also prevents his tak- ing cold, since the animal does not get so warm. It also makes the horse easier to keep clean. If horses are not to be protected from cold and wet during the winter, they should not be clipped in the fall. A good, liberal bed should be provided for the working horse. This should not be allowed to become dirty, since foul bedding lessens the rest of the animal and tends to produce disease. Old straw makes the ideal bedding, as it is dryer and more elastic. However, if straw is high, substitutes may be used. Blankets for horses are indispensable in cold, wet weather. When a horse is very hot and sweating, he should not be blanketed until he has ceased to steam ; otherwise the blanket will become wet, and remain so all night. In a quarter of an hour the horse should have cooled off, but during this time, he should not remain in a draft. In summer, blankets may be left off, if the stable is screened. The summer blanket should be of clean, light-weight material. Whenever the nights begin to get cool, if the heavy blanket is resumed, a heavy growth of hair will be prevented, and clipping may be unnecessary. If the horse is clipped, he should be very heavily covered for a while. The use of the outdoor blanket is even more important 60 THIRD MONTH than the stable blanket. If one is going to stop but a short time, the temptation comes not to use the blanket, but in cold weather it is much safer to do so. During all the active life of the horse the feet require frequent attention and care. Bach evening after a horse returns from work, the sole of the foot should be examined and all dirt or other materials remov,ed. A small hay hook with a sharpened point is good for this work. If the hoofs seem dry and brittle, they should be kept oiled with linseed or olive oil or some good hoof ointment. Horses confined to the stable should have their hoofs trimmed to prevent their growing out long. Shoe- ing should be done only by a competent horse shoer, and the shoe fitted to the hoof after it has become cooled. Sick horses often need rest and care rather than medicine and many veteri- nary bills may be saved by a little care and attention as to bedding, covering, and proper food. It is well, if medicine must be given, never to put it in food or water, unless it is tasteless and odorless. Housing of Horses There are several desirable ways of housing horses. Where means permit, there should be a separate horse barn. In addi- tion to this, there may be a shed open on the south, which is usually sufficient to winter colts except in extreme weather. The main requirements for a horse barn is that it be dry, sani- tary, and reasonable secure against cold winds. The quarters should be kept clean, and comfortable bedding provided. A coal tar disinfectant used occasionally is a wise precaution against lice or other parasites. Feeding of Horses It may be well to begin with the feeding of the young colt in discussing the question of feeding, as to the age of weaning the colt, conditions must decide. It is usual to wean them at five or six months of age. The colt may be fed grain or simply turned out on the grass, if it has been accustomed to grass. However, in the ease of draft horses, feeding is advisable. Good, clean clover hay is usually liked, while timothy is commonly fed. Well cured alfalfa is one of the best, but if fed should be THIRD MONTH 61 used in conneetion with timothy or corn fodder. Sheaf oats may be added for variety, but the colts should never be given an excess of dry feed. Oats, corn, and peas, ground, are suitable cereals. Bran and oil meal may be fed to supply protein and give variety. Silage and cottonseed meal are not suited to colts, but sliced carrots and sugar beets are good for them. Until the colt is two years old, not over one pound of grain per lO'O pounds live weight should be given. Equally important are salt, good water, plenty of fresh air, and exercise for the young colt for the first year. Colts should be changed from dry feed to pasture gradually. For working horses there is a great variety of foods, but the one rule applies to all — ^it must be clean, wholesome, and sound. Many diseases may be traced to the feeding of moldy hay and grain. During the winter when not at work, less grain is necessary, but when spring work begins, the same animal will require less hay and more grain. Plenty of clean, fresh water is one of the greatest needs of the horse. It is the most fastidious of all animals about its drinking water, and will often go thirsty before it will drink dirty or tepid water. Three times a day is none too often to water horses, and if they are at work, oftener. When horses are at heavy work, the noon feed should be largely of grain. A drink after being fed is a kindly consideration at any time. Regularity is one of the essentials in earing for horses. They learn to expect their feed in a certain order, and not only dissatisfaction but even digestive troubles are likely to result if this order is disregarded. Oats, corn, and timothy hay are perhaps the standard rations for horses, but clover and alfalfa are also good and may be fed in varying amounts. Red clover hay on some farms furnishes the sole diet of horses during winter months. It makes little difference what roughage is fed, provided concen- trates are fed that will balance up the diet. If legume hay is used, the concentrates need not be high in protein, but if timothy, or corn stover, or other carbonaceous foods are fed, bran or oil meal should also be given. Oats are and have long been considered the ideal feed for horses of the light type, but for work or draft types, their value has perhaps been over- estimated. 62 THIRD MONTH Corn is a good feed, but if fed in connection with corn stover or timothy, the feed eontaias too little protein. Then oats, bran, or oil meals may be added. These may be given in large quantities two or three times a week, pr in small quanti- ties daUy. They may be fed dry or in mashes. Barley is fed ia many stables, especially to breeding horses. Cottonseed meal is becoming more common as a feed but should be fed with caution, not over a pound or two a day. The carrot is perhaps the best root crop for the horse. Only a few should be given, two or three times a week. Salt should be provided in rock form and be procurable by the horse at all times. The condition of the horse, the season, weather, and work performed are all important factors in deciding the question of feed. Hence, only suggestions rather than rules can be given here. The Wolff-Lehman Standards may be taken as a fairly safe guide. Per 1000 pounds live weight at light work, the dry matter required will be 20 pounds, protein, 1.5 ; carbohy- drates, 9.5; fat, .4. For medium work, 24 pounds dry matter, 2 protein, 11 carbohydrates, and .6 fat. For heavy work, 26 pounds dry matter, 2.5 protein, 13.3 carbohydrates, and .8 fat. Breaking of Horses In breaking horses and especially in handling young colts, one of the first things that must be insisted upon is that the animal under no circumstances ever be scared. A reliable trainer never allows any one to chase or throw at a young colt. The use of the halter should be taught early, first by leading, then by driving. From the very beginning the young colt should be taught to be handled, but one should be careful in handling the ears, the flanks, and the backs of the fore legs, as these parts are very sensitive. Never catch a colt around the neck. In catching it one hand should be put under the neck, the other under the hams. Colts caught in this way will let one walk up to them, while if caught around the neck, are often approached with difficulty. In training to the use of the halter, select an old one that has been used recently, preferably by the mother. But it should be strong. Never pull on the nose band. To do so may result in later deformed necks or face lines. In THIRD MONTH 63 teaching the colt to lead he should be taken over familiar groimd, as to the water trough and back. He should never be pulled along, but coaxed. In fact, the harder the man pulls forward, the harder the colt is apt to pull backward. How- ever, if he refuses to follow by coaxing, take a small rope. Tie a ring to one end. Put this quietly over the colt's back just in front of the hips with the ring on the under side of the body, so that when the other end of the rope is put through the ring, the rope will be drawn tightly around the flanks. Pass the rope under the body between the fore legs, then through the halter ring. Pull gently on the halter, then if the colt shakes his head and refuses to move, pull gently on the rope. Don't hurry him, but give him time to get used to the notion, and he will soon follow without trouble. The next lesson should be that of driving with the lines. At about two years of age, he should be trained to the use of the bit. This is perhaps one of the most important parts of his training, for should his mouth be ruined as a eolt, it may result in imperfections never later overcome. A biting harness is valuable in accustoming the eolt to the bit. When the harness is properly adjusted he should be turned into the familiar lot, and left to accustom himself to the new arrangement. Harness A colt should be trained from the first to stand still while being harnessed. One that is continually on the move is never more than half trained at best. When he has grown accus- tomed to the bit, he may be harnessed. Never use new harness the first time, but strong harness that has been used by horses the colt knows. It is best to put the harness on for the first time when the colt is tired. Let him smell of it if he wishes, then put it on him quietly — just as if he were an old horse. Never throw the harness on. It will do more to frighten him than anything else. Be sure the harness fits. Should it abrade the back or tail, a vicious horse may be the result. Then the colt may be hitched either single or double. Nothing more than mere suggestions can be given here, but the one invariable rule is gentleness and quietness in handling a colt. They are nervous and sensitive to a fault, and the trainer must inspire the colt with a sense of trustfulness and lack of harm or danger, 64 THIRD MONTH and, above all, should the trainer remember that the chief future usefulness of the horse wiU depend upon the training and treatment during the breaking period. Harness that is properly fitted and comfortable adds much to the efficiency of the horse. Many owners are thoughtlessly cruel to their horses by using poorly fitted harness and irritating bits. There are many bits on the market many of which are intended and are useful only as punishments. For a tender mouth, a good sized leather or rubber covered straight bit is perhaps the best. The bit should fit the mouth and not be too long. Sometimes it is necessary to try several bits before a suitable one is found. Once that a horse has grown accustomed to a bit it is often difficult to get him accustomed to any other. The curb bit is •often used on high stepping animals, but should never be used by any one unfamiliar with it, or it may prove an instrument of torture to the animal. The chief rein should be properly adjusted. The day of the extreme checks has fortunately passed. The over check and the side cheek are the two most popular. The former was first intended for trotters, but has been also adopted for driving horses. By it the horse's head is held in such a position that he is unable to see the ground in front of him, and also lessens his efficiency at pulling. But the horse should always be reiued slightly. Unless so reined, he is apt to grow careless in his gait, and to attempt to eat while standing. This allows the harness to slip down, and may lead to accidents. Great care should be taken in fitting the collar. Every animal should have his own collar that has been properly adjusted. Breast harness is permissible only for light driving. Many hold that in importance to the collar and bit comes the crupper. This should be carefully fitted, since sores on the tail lessen the reliability of any horse. The use of fly nets is advisable, but since they are expen- sive and require time in adjusting, many drivers have dispensed with them. However, if flies are very troublesome, some sort of protection may become necessary. Good canvas ones are not on the market at reasonable prices, and are very efEective in protecting horses both from flies and sun. Before one leaves the subject of harness, it seems well to saj- a word in regard to the care of this part of the horse's equipment. It is most THIRD MONTH 65 important that the harness be kept scrupulously clean at aU times. This is especially true of the collar, saddle or crupper. These parts rest directly on the horse's skin, and unless they are kept free of dust and sweat, sores are apt to result. Every farmer knows how sore shoulders lessen the efficiency of his horses during the heavy work season. Essentials of Good Horsemanship Perhaps the one great essential of good horsemanship is a sympathetic knowledge and understanding of horses. No per- son who does not understand and like horses can ever succeed in handling them. The famous jockeys of all times have been small, but never nervous in temperament. Between them and their mounts there was an understanding little less than human. Horses are always shy of strangers, and resent familiarity on their part. Some people are naturally timid around animals. This type will never make good horsemen. A horse soon learns his driver. Indeed, the horse more often knows his driver better than the driver knows his horse. The following experience of the writer is typical and can be duplicated by any one who has handled horses. A few sum- mers ago, the writer was spending the summer on a farm in Christian County. The family horse was of the coach type, and a most intelligent animal. One afternoon the farmer's wife and I started to town, but the horse seemed tired, literally dragged itself along, till the temptation to "push on the lines" was almost irresistible. After finishing. our errands we started homeward, the poor horse seemingly as weary as ever, but on the way, we stopped at a neighbor 's and got the farmer. No sooner had he climbed into the buggy and gathered up the lines till the horse picked up his ears, arched his neck, began stepping in true coach horse style, and the distance home was finished in much less time than it would have been had he still had the farmer's wife as driver. Another essential of good horse^nanship is confidence — confidence not only in yourself but in your mount. A person who doubts his ability to handle a horse never handles him. He must know, and make the horse know, he is master. 66 THIRD MONTH Another essential is never frighten a horse. If he sees something strange, let him examine it until he satisfies his curiosity, for his interest at first in the strange object may be merely curiosity, not fear. A horse should never be allovsred to run avray. Once this has happened one can never be sure when it may happen again. Another essential is kindness. The horse is one of the most sensitive of animals, and re-acts very quickly to kind or harsh treatment. The Arabs have bred the most VFonderful horses in the vs^orld, vrith dispositions vsrithout equal in the world, but the Bedouin treated his horse as a member of his family. It slept with him in his tent. It shared his rugs, it ate from his hand, and he would sooner part with his right hand than with his horse. For this reason, the securing of Arabian horses for breeding purposes has presented difficulties met with in no other line of animal buying. Owing to limited space, little can be given on this most important subject here, but those interested in it may with profit secure and read "Notes on Equitation and Horse Train- ing, ' ' published by the United States War Department. Methods followed in the United States are discussed at length in this work. SWINE List Breeds of Swine in District; Characteristics of Each "We found there were two types of cattle — beef and dairy— and two types of horses — light and draft. We also find there are two types of hogs^lard and bacon, but for various reasons the latter is so little known that many people can justly claim that they never heard of it. The lard type is by far the more common throughout the United States, principally because corn is the chief feed of hogs in the United States, and as it is defi- cient in ash and protein, tends to produce fat rather than lean meat. For this reason it is often called the American type of hog. The bacon type is raised mainly in Denmark, Great Britain, and Canada. The principle breeds of the lard type are : Poland-China, Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc-Jersey, aiid Hampshire. The Tamworth and Large Yorkshire are the two main breeds of the bacon type. THIRD MONTH 67 The lard hog is low and compact. Its body is wide and deep, with shoulders full but not coarse. The hind quarters are full and carried out straight to the tail. The flesh should be carried well down to the hock. The flesh should be heavy and evenly distributed over the whole body. Market condi- tions control the weight. The demand now is for lighter animals — those from 175 to 250 pounds bringing the best price. The Poland China perhaps lead in number and favor in the United States at the present time. They are natives of our country. They are medium in size, black in color, and have drooping ears. It was developed in southern Ohio, in the Miami River valley. Several foreign breeds were used in grading up the original stock. The Poland China hog is black with six white points — white on the face, tip of tail, and feet. The face is straight with medium length head. The body is broad and deep, back curved, and low rump. The legs are short and well formed hams. The Berkshire hog perhaps is next in number. It is a native of England, is medium in size, black in color, and has short, erect ears. Its color and marking is similar to the Poland China — black with six white points. The head of the Berk- shire is short and dish faced. In body, it lacks both the depth and width of the Poland China, but it has a level, straight back, and long, level rump. There is much less arch to the back of the Berkshire than to the Poland China. The quality of the meat of the Berkshire is preferred by many to the Poland China since there is much less external fat, but far better "marbling." The next in favor is perhaps the Chester White. This type is divided into three groups, each with somewhat different origin. They are : the original Chester White, Todd 's Improved Chester White, and the Ohio Improved Chester White. The Chester White is a native of the United States. It is white, large in size, and has drooping ears. Its head is of medium length, with face straight. The large ears are drooping. The body has not the width or depth of the Poland China, but the back is straighter. The quality of its meat ranks between that of the Poland China and Berkshire. The Duroc Jersey originated in the United States. It is medium in size, has drooping ears, and is red in color. Its 68 THIRD MONTH origin is unknown, but perhaps owes its color at least to the Guinea breed brought from Africa, red hogs from Spain, or those from Portugal. In many points it is very similar to the Poland China. Its head is of medium length, somewhat dish faced, and ears drooping. The back is broad and deep, but straighter than that of the Poland China. Their meat is similar in flavor and quality, but where corn fed is too fat for foreign trade. The Hampshire hog originated in America. It is black with white belt. Its ears are erect, and the body is medium in size. The breed is easily distinguished by a white belt which runs around the body at the girth. The head of the Hamp- shire is. of good length, and the face straight. The ears are erect and bend somewhat forward. Its body lacks the length, breadth, and depth of the Poland China hog. It is held by its admirers that the meat of the Hampshire is unsurpassed in quality by tkat of any of the other lard type. The two bacon types are known as the Tamworth and Yorkshire. They are both of British origin, and little known in the United States. The bacon type is very different from the lard type, having a longer body, longer legs, lighter in neck and shoulders, and less width of back. The characteris- tic point is the spring of the ribs, giving great depth to the body. The color of the Tamworth varies from light to dark red. The Yorkshire is white. Those interested in swine, and the different breeds, should write to the Department of Agriculture, "Washington, D. C, for Bulletin 765. Study of a Pig as an Animal; Body; Shape; Covering; Feet; Sense Organs Like the cow, the hog is an ungulates of the order Artio- dactyla. It has the two functional toes, skin with bristles, and snout, proboscis-like. It is a non-ruminantia or does not chew a cud, like the cow. It is both herbivorous and carnivorous, yet at present, is mainly the former, though in the wild state, was found to be carnivorous. The body of the hog varies according to breed and feeding. The lard type is usually marketed around 200 pounds, while the bacon type frequently go 500 to 700 pounds. The color THIRD MONTH 69 varies from black, to black and white, and various shades of red. The shape of the body varies from the short legs and heavy hams and shoulders of the lard type to the long legs, narrow hams, and long, rounded sides of the bacon type. The body of the hog is covered with coarse hair or bristles. These are an indication of quality in the hog. The hair in the best breed of hogs is rather fine, free of bristles, lies close to the body, while the skin should be smooth, without wrinkles or roughness, due to scurf. The snout of the hog varies much, according to its breed. In the Berkshire it turns abruptly upward, while the Poland China has a straight snout. In the Tamworth and Hampshires, the snout is very long and straight from the tip of the nose to the ears. In any breed, the eyes should be rather wide apart, clear, and prominent. Folds of fat around the eye are common defects. The carriage of the ears depends of the breed, but they should never be large and coarse. They should be smooth in texture and neatly joined to the head. The pig's foot has two functional toes protected by hoofs. The pastern, or part just above the hoof, is apt to be a weak point in heavy bacon hogs. The undeveloped toe at the back is called the dew claw. History of Swine The wild hog that formerly roamed over Asia, Europe, and Africa is the ancestor of all of our important breeds of swine of the present day. The original wild hog was coarse, active, and powerful. He was swift in flight, but vicious when attacked. His head was large, and bony, well covered with stiff bristles. His jaw was powerful and fitted with long, cruel-looking tusks. His back was long and muscular, and for his home, he selected moist, dark places, concealed by forest undergrowth. His chief diet was roots, fruits, and plants, and sometimes, snakes, worms, or flesh of any kind. These wild animals often lived 30 or 40 years. From early times, the flesh of the hog has been highly esteemed^ as food, and in Germany and England in the early days, wild boar hunting was one of the most popular sports. It is not strange then that England, which is a meat-eating nation, should early domesticate these animals and develop a 70 THIRD MONTH breed suited to their needs. Most of our breeds, while devel- ' oped in this country, owe their ancestry to English origin. Care of Swine Most of the diseases to which hogs are liable are due to carelessness or indifference in management of swine. Most hogs have lice or fleas. A hog whose vitality is drained by these vermin is much more likely to be susceptible to disease than one free from them. One of the first things to be observed in beginning hog raising is the careful selection of a breed. One should con- sider the breeds raised around him, local conditions, and market demands before making his selection. All newly purchased hogs should be dipped in a coal tar disinfectant before bein^ allowed the run of a pasture. This precaution may save much time, money, and trouble later. Feeding Swine for Market No farm animal will turn food into flesh as quickly as the hog. If healthy, no other farm animal is so easily cared for. It requires little shelter, and will eat anything. There is one rule that never varies, and that is the larger and older the hog, the more food that is required to fatten it. There have been many experiments made as to preparing the food for pigs, but at best, the results have been most contra- dictory, and show that conditions and food used have much to do with the efSciency. Some advise that the feed should be ground, but this depends both upon the feed and the age of the animals. If com is very hard and dry, it should be ground. With the small grains, such as peas, millet, and beans, it is best to grind it. Some recommend soaking the grain. Others oppose it, sayiug that if soaked, hogs tend to eat it without chewing. However, if soaked, it is more palatable, and succulent. Few now recommend cooking pig food. If cooked, the cooker should contain a variety of foods, as cereals, root crops, and the like. At about three weeks of age, young -pigs will usually show indications of trying to root, or eat the mother's THIRD MONTH 71 feed. They now should be given sweet, fresh milk about three times daily. Do not let the milk be sour, or trouble will result. A few days later, a gruel of bran and shorts may be given. Between seven and ten weeks is the best time to wean. Hogs are usually fattened and marketed before they are one year old. If the hogs are to be marketed light, the fatten- ing process will begin much earlier, than if heavy lard hogs are desired. Winter and summer feeding are quite different. Small droves usually fatten quickest. The hogs should be uniform in size, age, shape, and color. Pigs should be put on full rations gradually. Their appe- tites should always be kept keen. They should be fed both mash and dry grain, if possible. Meal and skim milk makes the ideal food. They make better and more rapid gains if they have access to green forage. It is more profitable if possible to cut and feed the forage, for this prevents their using up their flesh in rustling, and also supports more hogs on less pasture. Cool, fresh water and abundant shade are two very important factors in the summer fattening of hogs. Hogs cannot perspire, and therefore suffer much during the heat of summer. To avoid this, many feeders plan to sell by the first of July. "Winter feeding requires much different foods, and better results will be gained if foots, such as turnips, sugar beets, potatoes, artichokes, or even pumpkins are added for variety. Skim milk for succulence excels all else for winter feeding. Mashes, as used for summer feeding, are also good. Sweet, clean clover or alfalfa should be fed from a rack as dry forage. Lots free from mud and dry quarters are especially desir- able as winter quarters for hogs. If corn is fed, the quarters need not be as warm as if more succulent food is given. The Wolff-Lehman Standards give to fatten growing swine 2 to 3 months of age and weighing 50 pounds, 44 pounds of dry matter, 7.6 protein, 28 carbohydrates, 1 fat. At 3-5 months of age, weighing 100 pounds, 35 dry matter, 5 protein, 23.1 carbohydrates, and .8 fat. At 5-6 months of age, weighing 150 pounds, 33 of dry matter, 4.3 protein, 22.3 carbohydrates, and .6 fat. At 6-8 months of age, 200 pounds in weight, 30 dry 72 THIRD MONTH matter, 3.6 protein, 20.5 carbohydrates, and .4 fat. At 8-12 months of age, 300 pounds dry matter, 3 protein, 18.3 carbo- hydrates, and .3 fat. This refers to 1000 pounds live weight. Hog Houses While the average hog does not need an upholstered cage, he will undoubtedly do better if properly housed. Plenty of light and good ventilation are of prime importance in the pig house. It should be dry and well drained. There are two types of houses that are to be recommended — ^large house and individual houses or cots. Large houses are apt to be expensive and hard to clean. They are also apt to be located where pasture is not readily accessible. The individual hog house is to be recommended for several reasons. First, it is apt to be more sanitary since it may be i-eadily moved from one place to another. It gives Mrs. Pig more privacy when she is raising her little Porkers, and in case of disease, it makes segregation of the animals an easy matter. As it can be constructed from odds and ends of lumber around the farm, its cost is slight. Care and Management of Brood Sow and Pigs Milk is the first food of the young pig, but by the time it is three or four weeks old, it should be having middlings, shelled corn, or cornmeal and skim milk. "Slop" should be fed early. This should be fresh, clean, and sweet. This should be fed the young pigs in a separate pen from the older pigs. They with the mother should have the run of pastures where they have clover, alfalfa, or other -forage crops. The great fattening food is corn, but as long as the young pigs depend on their mother for at least part of their feed, this need not be given in large quantities. Mother and young pigs should be separated from the other swine, both because there is danger of the young one's becom- ing injured, and because the mother will take better care of the little ones if alone with them. They should have plenty THIRD MONTH 73 of clean, fresh water, and plenty of shade in the summer. They should have a separate house to themselves, which is clean, airy, and well provided with bedding. Diseases of Hogs and Treatment As a rule, swine suffer from fewer diseases than any other farm animal, yet these diseases are more serious than those which the farmer has to treat in other animals. The three chief plagues of the swine raisers are : Cholera, swine plague, and tuberculosis. The two former are much more virulent than the latter, and probably cause farmers and stockmen in the corn belt greater financial losses than any other disease known. All three are infectious diseases. Cleanliness and sanitation may do much to prevent the spread of these diseases. At present there are serums on the market that promise much in eradicat- ing these evils, but their results have been more or less con- tradictory, so that some farmers are still depending more on prevention than on cure. The Government from time to time issues bulletins on this subject, and swine raisers and breeders would do well to keep in touch with developments along these lines through these bulletins. Cholera is a germ disease and the only precautions that need be taken are those that will keep the germ away from the herd. Every farm should have a quarantine lot, where animals that do not seem well should be placed and watched. Also all new stock purchased should be placed here under observation for at least six to eight weeks. Tuberculosis is a more treacherous disease, and is often not discovered until the hog is slaughtered. Government examina- tion made of all carcasses often reveals the presence of this disease when it was unknown before. It is often best, if hogs are known to have tuberculosis in advanced stages to kill them and burn the body, rather than risk infecting others. In the case of valuable animals, a veteri- nary 's advice should be secured. A farmer may recognize hogs that are taking the cholera by their actions and appearance. They refuse feed, lie in the shade, the hair becomes rough, the eyes red, and with a sticky 74 THIRD MONTH discharge. There is usually a slight cough. The walk will be uncertain and the hind legs weak. The skin will become blotched and red, and if a post mortem is made, ulcers are usually found along the intestines. With cholera, an ounce of prevention is worth ten pounds of cure, and if cholera is in the neighborhood, notify the State authorities and ask to have the herd inoculated. FOURTH MONTH SHEEP Study of Animal Like the horse and Cow, the sheep is a mammalia. Like the cow, it also has a stomach containing four divisions. Types of Sheep It, like bath horse and cow, is of two types — ^the mutton type, and the wool type. As their names indicate, the former is raised for its flesh, and the latter for the wool it will produce. The mutton type demands a full, plump body, while the wool type demands as much skin surface as possible, and in this type the skin is thrown into folds. Type and Breeds in the Community There are three wool type breeds in the United States. They are : American Merino, Delaine Merino, and Rambouillet. The American Merino is really of Spanish origin, but since it has been so greatly improved in the United States, it is spoken of as a native of this country. It is white in color, its wool varies from two to three inches in length, while the fleece will weigh from 12-25 pounds. The animal itself will weigh lOO-lSO pounds. Its head is small, with white nose and ears. The ewes are hornless, but the rams have heavy twisted horns. The skin should be a bright pink in color. Along the head, breast, shoulders, and lower sides, thighs, and rump, it often lays in folds. It produces the finest wool of any sheep. This wool contains an excess of oil, often as much as 60 or 65 per cent of the total weight. The Delaine Merino is also white and a native of the United States. Its wool varies from three to five inches in length, while the weight of the fleece is ten to twenty pounds, and the weight of the animal 100-150 pounds. Material spun from its 76 FOURTH MONTH wool is very durable, and has great strength. In a general way, this breed is similar to the American Merino. There are several families of the Delaines and they vary a good deal from each other, henee the Delaines can not well be compared with any other breed without making statements that will be 'false to one or other of the fainilies. The Rambouillet is a native of France. It is white, with wool three to four inches in length. The animal weighs 150-185 pounds, while the fleece weighs 10-15, pounds. The. Rambouillet is somewhat larger than the American merino, and has a somewhat smoother body. It has also been criticised for a too great length of leg, and a coarseness of bone. There are seven breeds of mutton sheep, all having their origin in England, cixcept the Cheviot, which is claimed by Scotland. The Southdown is gray in color, with rather a short wool two or three inches in length. The animal will weigh 125-175 pounds, while the fleece average four to eigkt pounds. It was the first of the mutton breeds to be improved, and has long been the favorites of royalty. The head is of medium size and hornless, with the face well covered with wool. The neck is short and thick, shoulders full and broad, back straight, ribs well arched and long, hind quarters long, with a rump broad, square, and full. The skin is a bright pink, and the fleece should be compact, of medium length, and contain some oil. The wool is white. The Shropshire breed is of obscure origin, but was devel- oped and improved upon by Samuel Meire of recent date. The color of its points is dark brown. Its wool is three or fotir inches in length. The animal weighs 155-225 pounds, while the wool weighs eight to twelve pounds. It is one of the heaviest of the mutton breeds. Its head is hornless and is covered witTi wool almost to the end of the nose. It is usually taller than the Southdown. In color, points, and length of wool the Hampshire breed resembles the Shropshire. But it is larger in size, being from 180-250 pounds, with a fleece that weighs five to eight pounds. The early history of this breed is unknown but marked improve- ment on it began in 1834 when William Humphrey of Oak Ash, FOURTH MONTH 77 Newbury, England, began cross breeding witb Southdowns. The Hampshire is larger and coarser than the Southdowns. The ears are large and drooping and the face and legs almost black. The Oxford Down is one of the largest breeds of mutton sheep, weighing 200-325 pounds, with a fleece of six to ten pounds in weight. Its wool averages four to six inches in length, and the color of its points is brown. This breed is of comparative recent origin in the county of Oxford. It is larger and coarser than the Southdown, has a longer fleece, and darker points. It has a longer and coarser fleece than any other of the mutton breeds. The skin is somewhat bluish, with black spots, and sometimes hairs in the fleece. However, these objec- tions are being rapidly overcome by careful breeding. The Suffolk Down weighs 180-240 pounds, with a fleece weighing five to eight pounds. Its length of wool is three to five inches, while the color of its points is black. It is the result of cross breeding between the old Norfolk and the Southdown breeds. It is one of the most conspicuous examples of success- ful cross breeding found among sheep. It has a black face, clean, long, black legs, black ears, which are rather large, with a tendency to droop. While the Suffolk and Hampshire resem- ble each other, the former may be distinguished by the bareness of the head, which is usually quite free of wool. The Dorset is a pure white sheep, weighing 150-225 pounds, fleece weighing six to nine pounds, and wool in length three or four inches. This is one of the oldest distinct breeds of sheep, no other having been bred into it. Both male and females have horns. It is larger and longer of body and leg than the South- down. The face and legs are pure white. The Cheviot breed originated in the Cheviot hills separat- ing England and Scotland. It weighs 150-225 pounds, with a fleece six to ten pounds in weight, and wool five to eight inches in length. The legs of this breed, as well as the face, are white and free of wool, while the body is closely covered with a long, soft, pure white wool. It is very hardy and active in tempera- ment, being characteristically Scotch in this respect. There are four breeds of sheep known as the long wool breeds of mutton sheep. They all originated in England, with 78 FOURTH MONTH the exception of the Black Paced Highland, which is a native of Scotland. These are : the Leicester, Cotswold, Lincoln, and the Black Faced Highland. The length of the wool varies from six to ten in the Leices- ter, eight to fourteen in the Cotswold, ten to eighteen in the Lincoln, and eight to fourteen in the Black Paced Highland. In weight they vary from 180-240 in the Leicester to 200- 265 in the Cotswold, and 275-350 in the Lincoln. In the Leicester breed, the fleece is excellent for coarse wool, and lies in spiral locks all over the body. The face is covered with fine hairs, which are soft and white. The Cotswold resembles the Leicester, but is larger and has longer wool. The head is the distinguishing feature of the Cotswold, in that it has curls or locks which hang over the forehead, and often extend to the nostrils. The Lincoln breed is the largest and longest fleeced breed of sheep ia Britain. The Black Paced Highland is a native of Scotland. It is the oldest breed of sheep in Britain, and little is known of its origin. Both male and female have horns. Those of the male are spiral, but those of the female are small, thin, and but slightly curved. Its fleece is long and coarse. The legs and face are black. Value of Sheep The value of the sheep on farms cannot be overestimated. In the first place, no other material can quite take the place of wool as clothing. Not only as garments, but for use all over the "home, wool is unsurpassed as a fabric. Not only do sheep produce clothing material, but its flesh is very palatable and nutritious. Since the sheep is usually freer of diseases than either the hog or cow, it is a more sanitary and safer meal than that of either of the above. Its chief value to the farmer is that sheep will thrive and do well on land too poor and barren to be of any other use. Through the use of sheep great areas of semi-desert lands have been made of great economic importance. The sheep requires about twice as much digestible organic matter per 100 pounds gain as the pig, but since much of the sheep's food is roughage, this stalk is to the sheep's advantage. FOURTH MONTH 79 Note. — For anyone contemplating sheep raiA-ng, Builetins No. 8io, "Equipment for Farm Sheep Raising"; No. 576, "Breeds of Sheep for the Farm," and No. 840, "Farm Sheep Raising for Beginners," all of which may be secured by writing to the Depart- ment of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, will prove of great value. Characteristics of a Good Fleece The five foUowiiig points are the characteristics by which a good wool is judged: 1. The density of the wool or the number of fibers to the square inch. 2. The textile strength or the weight each can bear without breaking. 3. Its color and gloss. 4. Its elasticity or ability to curl up after being stretched. 5. The length when uncurled and stretched. There are two general classes of wool — the combing grades, including the fine and short grades, and the carding wool that includes the long and coarse grades. Merino wool is the chief wool on the American market, and is used in making all fine woolen clothes, yet the coarser grades are much used in materials requiring weight and strength. Care of Sheep and Lambs High, dry lands are the ideal locations for raising sheep. However, they may be raised almost anywhere except on wet, swampy land. No one unless he has sufScient land to insure a change of grazing pastures can expect to find sheep raising very profitable. They do better on short, fine grasses than on coarse, high feed. However, if they are turned out to clean up brushy land — which they will do to a great extent — they need not be expected to produce a high grade of wool or good lambs. Grain feeding is scarcely profitable or necessary when one has good grazing lands. One hundred pounds per year is the maximum that is likely to prove profitable under any con- ditions for an ewe and her lambs. Roots and sileage furnish cheap feed, and are especially valuable for ewes in the winter 80 FOURTH MONTH The main essentials of sheep barns are dryness and free- dom from drafts. Sheep stand the cold well, except the young lambs. Protection from winter rains and snowfall is necessary. Sheep never thrive well in close, ill ventilated barns. Woven wire, rails, or boards should be used as fencing. While sheep require the least care of any farm animals, one should not make the mistake of thinking success can be made of sheep raising without giving time or work to it. The wants of sheep are entirely different from those of any other farm animal and especially at lambing time, constant day and night care is often required to save both lambs and ewes. Stubble and stalk fields form good fall sheep pasture, if fed before the fall rains. Later, clover and grass pasture may be used, when stubble and stalk fields are exhausted. A good field of blue grass is excellent where the winters are open. Green rye pastures in the fall are excellent as succulent feed. Sheep should never be allowed to lose in weight. A good test can be made by frequent examination of the bones along back can be made by frequent examination of the bones along the back or loin. Cornstalks, straws, and the legume hays form a good winter feed. Cow-pea, clover, and alfalfa are good and may be used as the sole feed until a short time before lambing. Wheat and oat straw are better than barley and rye straw. Tim- othy hay is not recommended. Only silage from good, mature corn should be fed. It must never be frozen, moldy, or spoilt. Not more than three pounds of this should be fed daily. One- fourth to one-half pound of cottonseed meal may be given dailj', if pasture is soft and green. Ewes should have plenty of exercise in the winter, but they should never be allowed to be chased by dogs. Their fleece must never be allowed to become rain soaked ; if they do, pneumonia may result. Dry snow is not harmful, as they easily shake it off. The lambing season is the harvest time for the shepherd, and constant care is demanded at this time. Much of his profits depend on the number and condition of the young lambs. In cold weather, the lambs must often be wrapped in hot blankets. Milk should be given freely. The lamb should be returned to its mother as soon as possible to keep her from disowning it. FOURTH MONTH 81 The lambs' should be docked when ten to fourteen days old. This adds much to the cleanliness and appearance of the sheep. It also raises its selling price on the market. Ewes should be watched to see that they are giving sufficient milk for their young. Late spring or early summer is the best shearing time, though in some localities, sheep are sheared twice a year — both spring and fall. It should be done on a warm day, but before hot weather begins. Hand shears were formerly used but now hand power machines are coming into general use. They are more rapid, the ewes are injured less, and smoother, neater work is done than by the hand shears. Shortly after being shorn,. the sheep should be dipped to free them from ticks, lice, and other skin diseases. The dipping should be done in the morning so the sheep will be dry by night. If the lambs are to be sold at three to five months of age, they should run with the mother up to that time. Stomach worms are one of the greatest menaces to the sheep raiser. These live in the fourth stomach. On farms where sheep have not been previously, they are not likely to prove dangerous until the second or third year. Lambs should be ready for the market from three to five months of age. The sooner they can be marketed the better because the younger they are the cheaper they can be made gain. Young lambs should be taught to eat while young. A trough for grain and a rack for hay should be made accessible to the lambs. The food should always be fresh, clean, and free from mold. When ten to sixteen days old, the lambs should begin to nibble at the grain. Pea green alfalfa is one of the best early feeds. This should be of the second or third cutting. Sweet wheat bran is also good. Linseed meal is also good mixed with the bran. Until the lambs are five or six weeks old, all their feed should be crushed, or coarse ground oil meal is usually relished, too. Cleanliness is one of the most necessary things in feeding young lambs. Any feed left uneaten should be removed and the trough occasionally seruobed with lime water. Raising lambs on pasture alone can not be recommended usually. Unless the lambs have had some grain, they are 82 FOURTH MONTH usually very likely to suffer from stomach worms. They also make smaller gains in hot weather, and unless they have learned to eat, when the ewe's milk begins to be scanty, the young lambs will suffer accordingly. The dry lot method has been tried by some breeders to escape stomach worms. By this plan, the sheep do not leave the lot until they are weaned, then they are put on clean, fresh pasture. The practice of grazing sheep in forage crops until the lambs are marketed, is increasing, especially in sections where land is high and where stomach worms are troublesome. Wheat or rye, fall sown, are first used. Spring sown oats and peas are next used. Later the first ground is plowed and sown in cereal or to rape or soy beans for later use. This plan requires much more work, but produces the greater amount of feed from the same ground as well as minimizes the danger from worms. In 1915 at the University of Illinois, three lots of ewes and lambs were reared under the three conditions of Dry Lot, Pasture with Grain, and Forage Feeding. The average weight from the dry lot method was 66.1 pounds with a ratio of net returns at 100 per cent. Thfe pasture with grain fed lot aver- aged 64.4 pounds, with a ratio of net returns at 131.8 per cent. The forage lot averaged in weight 72.4 pounds, with net returns of 195.7 per cent. Lamb Project If any student has raised lambs, have him give his experi- ence with them. Encourage students to try out some plan of raising Iambs. THE HOME AND SCHOOL Methods of Heating; Stove, Jacketed Stove, Hot Air Furnace; Steam, Etc. The open fire place is at once the best and the most inex- pensive way of heating a room. It is the best way because it furnishes not only heat but also ventilation. In the early days this was the common means of heating schoolhouses, but it was wasteful of fuel and required much care. But for these reasons FOURTH MONTH 83 it has almost vanished from homes and sehoolhouses. But of 1,296 rural schools reporting to the United States Bureau of Education from nineteen States, but one reported an open fire- X place as a means of heating. However, the open fireplace as a means of heating a room has many advantages. It is cheery ; it furnishes a place to dry damp clothing. It creates a circulation of air, and is an excellent means of ventilation. About one-half of the small town and rural schools are still heated by the box stove, usually placed in the center of the room. This is one of the worst possible means of heating, for in severe weather, those who sit near the stove are much too warm, while those in the far parts of the room are cold. Some relief may be obtained by keeping a pan of water on top of the stove. This tends to add moisture to the air. This means of heating schoolrooms should cease, as there are many better means available now. The jacketed stove is a step upward in the heating line. Any ordinary stove may be changed into a jacketed stove at very little expense. To do this the stove must be moved to one corner of the room, inclosing it all except the door, with a sheet iron casing, set six or eight inches from the stove. This space must be connected with the outside air by means of a carefully constructed fresh air duct. The jacket must fit closely to the floor and around the stove door, and extend above the top of the stove several inches. As the stove heats up, the air around it will become warm and lighter, and rise rapidly over the room. Then the fresh air from the outside rushes in and takes its place. A little study of the various types of jacketed stoves now on the market will show their advantages over the old-time box stove. Not only is the warm air more evenly distributed by this means, but also a supply of cleaQ, pure air is furnished. However, their effect- iveness as ventilators vary with the weather — being much more effective in severe than in mild weather. They are expensive to begin with but are to be recommended in all schools where furnace heat is not possible. They are far more common in the North than in the South. About one-third of our rural schools are supplied with them. 84 FOURTH MONTH The hot air furnace is on the same principle as the jacketed stove. However, it has these advantages. It is in the base- ment, will heat a greater number of rooms, and is much cleaner than any type of stove. The hot air furnace is a great aid in securing ventilation in cold weather. It is the cheapest of all central methods of heat- ing to install. It requires less skill to manage than either a hot water or steam furnace. It is better suited to mild weather, where a little heat is needed during the morning and none at mid-day. It requires no attention when not in use, as there are no boilers or pipes to drain. One can add moisture to the air very easily by keeping the water pans of the furnace filled. However, there are various disadvantages that may arise from the use of a hot air furnace. Most of these are caused by the furnace not being properly installed or properly tended. Low pressure steam as a means of heating large school buildings has come into general use in very cold climates in the past decade. This means has many advantages in heating large rooms and buildings, but in general is not practicable in the one room schoolhouse. The boiler room may be in a separate building and the one set of boilers may be used to heat several buildings. The heat furnished is a comparatively steady heat, and may either be furnished direct to radiators in the room, or fresh air may be warmed and then conducted to the rooms. In general, it is more economical than the hot air furnace, but it requires skilled engineers to operate the boilers successfully. It is not especially well suited to mild climates, as it heats up slowly and cools off also slowly. It requires constant care, even when not in use. Hammering noises are often a nuisance in the schoolrooms, where radiators are used, and the danger of breaks and leakage is great. Steam heating apparatus requires more care than almost any other sort, unless it is* hot water. The repairs on it are usually expensive, and there is more or less danger attached to its use, owing to the confined steam. The systems of hot water heating correspond in many ways to steam. They are better suited, however, to mild climates since the water need not be heated to such a degree to start circulation as the steam system requires. FOURTH MONTH 85 Experiments to Show Convection Currents A good discussion of heating and convection currents will be found in the first month of the Seventh Tear Geography as prepared by the author of this work. However, a slight dis- cussion will be given here. We all know that air when heated becomes lighter. For this reason the temperature of any room if taken at both ceiling and floor will be found to be much warmer at the top than at the bottom of the room. Since it is difficult if not impossible to see the heat waves radiating and rising from the heated stove, put a shallow pan of water on the top of the stove. As it begins to boil, notice how the steam rises, often to some dis- tance above the stove before it begins to disperse throughout the air. The hotter the steam and the denser it is, the higher it will rise before spreading out. As long as it is much hotter than the surrounding air, just so long will it continue to rise. Or if one wishes to note how cold air quickly settles down, let him some cold day open a window both at the top and at the bottom, when the room is very warm. If the hand is held at the top of the opened window, he can feel the warm air rushing out, while the fact that one's feet soon become thor- oughly chilled, proves that the cold air is rushing in and forc- ing upward the warm, light air. The Process of Burning Burning is such a common sight, that it no longer causes us any surprise, yet it really is a chemical process where definite things occur ending in definite results. Suppose we put a lump of coal on the fire. The hot coals heat up the coal until it reaches the burning or combustion point. Then the chemical action begins. The carbon in the coal unites with the oxygen in the air. The coal is consumed, reduced to ashes, heat is released, and carbondioxide results. By the action of the heat the coal has been reduced to its elements, and energy in the form of heat has been released. Conduction By conduction we mean the transmission of heat, electricity or the like by means of a substance or body capable of readily 86 FOURTH MONTH transmitting such forces. Heat, we speak of, as being con- ducted, given off by radiation, or transmitted by convection. A very common example of conduction of heat is that shown by a spoon left in boiling liquid. While the bowl of the spoon alone may be immersed, the handle will soon be so hot it can not be touched by the bare hand. The conductivity of va,rious substances differs greatly. Wood is a very poor conductor, hence wooden handles are used on many kitchen utensils. Iron and steel are excellent conductors, while aluminum is poor. Some substances may be a good conductor of heat, but a poor conductor of electricity, as rubber, and vice versa. Some sub- stances are such poor conductors, they are insulators, or non- conductors. Asbestos is a non-conductor of heat, while rubber is a non- conductor of electricity. Radiant Heat It is a well known fact of physics that all objects give off heat. Even cold objects give off heat even though in a very slight degree. If an object gives off more heat than it receives or takes back, its temperature is lowered and it grows cold, but if it receives more than it gives off it becomes hot. We often speak of the radiant heat of the sun, but the radiant heat of any article is just as much a fact as that of the sun except in a much less degree. It is owing to the principle of radiant heat that we are able to cook by means of heat. The Pireless Cooker The fireless cooker is a good example of radiant heat, being turned back upon itself, and thus used again. The article to be cooked is heated to the desired temperature, then put in the fireless cooker, where the cooking is finished. The principle is this : Surrounding the vessel is a layer of some non-conductive material, as cork or asbestos. When the radiant heat of _ the vessel containing the food comes in contact with this non- conductor, the heat is turned back to the vessel, and the cooking temperature is maintained. FOURTH MONTH 87 The Refrigerator The refrigerator is built upon much the same principle as the fireless cooker, except in this case, heat is to be kept out, and cold 'kept in. This is done by the same means — the use of a non-conducting material. The better the refrigerator, the lower will be the temperature maintained. The thermos bottle which is now found in most homes, is constructed in an entirely different principle. It is based on the fact that heat or cold must have some conducting medium, either of material or air. To prevent this, the thermos bottle is really made of two bottles, one hanging inside but not touch- ing the other. The temperature of the inner bottle cannot pass to the outer bottle because of the vacuum which has been made between the two bottles. The lining of the outer bottle is mirror-like, and this reflects the heat or cold back to the orig- inal bottle, thus maintaining a low temperature or high tem- perature, as the case may be. The Ice Cream Freezer The ice cream freezer is built upon the principle that by taking heat away from & substance, the temperature of the substance may be lowered to the freezing point. The heat from the mixture is radiated more rapidly than it is taken back, hence the result is a freezing temperature. This discussion of heat and heating can be made but little more than suggestive here. If possible, the teacher should have the class perform experiments to show conduction, convection, and radiation. A good experiment to show convection may be performed by having a bottle of concentrated ammonia and another of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Hold them close together, uncork both bottles, and when the fumes from the open bottles rise, and mingles, a smoke will be formed, showing the path through the air, taken by the united fumes. Great care must be exercised in handling the acid, as its action on clothing or flesh is very disastrous. By performing this experiment near the cold or hot air pipes of a hot air furnace, one may test whether the furnace is in good working order or not. Pupils should be •encouraged to read further on the subject in elementary books on Physics and scientiflc papers. FIFTH MONTH WATER SUPPLY The Drinking Water in the School and Homes One of the most important questions to be decided upon around a home is the question of water supply. There are two general sources of water supply — surface waters and under- ground waters. Surface waters may be divided into ponds and flowing streams. The use of these is largely confined to stock and laundry purposes. The water in flowing streams has its origin as all surface water in rainfall. If the source is drainage, it is perhaps too badly contaminated for domestic purposes. The water flowing over surface of the soil will carry along with it in solution many impurities and soluble minerals from barn manure which renders its use distasteful. Surface water also comes in contact with many human wastes that renders its use dangerous. During some seasons of the year there is also much decaying vegetable matter that will render surface water dangerous. However, if such water flows for some distance through a stream with rocky or gravel sides, it may be purified till it is safe. The action of sun and air in purifying water is also remarkable. A stream that is fed by underground tile drains is more apt to be safe, since to reach the tile the water has filtered through several feet of ground. The nature of the soil will have much to do with the purification that has taken place. But tile-fed streams can usually be counted upon only a small portion of the year, since, during the dry months, they dry up. In some localities ponds are depended upon to furnish water during the summer months for stock. In some cases, they are often relied upon for house use. Some ponds are formed by a natural depression, others by a natural draw, and others have been scooped out to the depth of two to four feet. They are usually found where the soil i's a heavy clay, thus FIFTH MONTH 89 holding the water till it is evaporated or used out. As long as it rains frequently and is cool, these ponds form a very good source of water supply for stock, but during the hot months when the water is low, and becomes stale, many forms of plant life -develop which render the water unfit for animals of any kind. Among underground waters, springs form one of the most ■satisfactory forms for farm use. Springs, so called, are of many kinds, but the term spring can really be applied only to that decided stream of water which emerges from the ground with a more or less constant flow. Sometimes seepage veins are called streams, but these are really wet weather streams, and are dry most of the year. They are really the result of water running from a water-bearing stratum over a somewhat large area. The flow from these is very irregular. At times it is well defined and strong, at others it may spread over a large area and result in a swampy condi- tion. Again it may cease, and then break out in some other location. The nature of the .waters of these springs varies with the kind of soil through which they flow. It is usually hard and contains iron. An artesian spring is rarer and far far more valuable than the former type. Its waters bubble up out of the earth, and if confined in a pipe, may rise to some height. As a general rule, the water of these springs is pure and very cold. If eontaini- nated it is usually from the surface water. If it is contaminated it will become disturbed and show turbidity after heavy rains. Springs whose waters are intended for human use, should be protected from surface wash, leaves, and other foreign material. But the greater part of our water is secured from wells. As a rule, the water is pure. There are three types of wells — each of which will be discussed at some length. These are dug, driven, and drilled wells. But before continuing the discussion of wells, it may be of some use if one would consider for a minute the amount of water used around the home in one day. There is but one thing more necessary to man's existence and that is air. Until one is deprived of plenty of pure, clean water, he can never realize 90 PIPTH MONTH what a Heaven-sent gift it is. Civilization never reaches its greatest development in places where there is not an abundance of water. A great deal of our commercial, industrial, agricul- tural, educational, and civil life depends upon our water supply. If at first this seems an exaggeration, a moment's considera.tion will bear out the truth of the statement. In planning on the water supply around the farm, home, or school, there should be a very definite idea as to what the demand will be. On the average a cow will require ten gallons per day, a horse twelve, a hog two, and a sheep one. If a house has bathroom equipment, each person in the house will use on the average of twenty gallons per day, but if no such equipment is provided, eight to twelve gallons will prove to be a fair average. This, of course, includes water used for laundry purposes. Many farm homes have, in addition to wells, cisterns. These are of great use to the farm wife, especially if the well water is hard, but are scarcely a safe or satisfactory source of drink- ing water, since the water is apt to have a characteristic color and odor. However, if they must be depended upon, careful construction and cleanliness may do much to remove these objections. If the house roof is slate, tile, or similar material, and is allowed to wash well before the rain water is turned into the cistern, the water may be kept in good condition. Adequate filters also should be provided. Cisterns are practical for home use, but are scarcely to be recommended for schoolhouses. Like the school building themselves during the last ten years, the school water supply has undergone many changes. The old-time well and moss-grown bucket are a thing of the past. "Wells of various types with concrete curbs and modern pumps have taken their place. Children drink a great deal of water, and it should be pure, clean, and cold. Wells; Kinds; Sources of Water in Each As was said above, there are three general types of wells — dug, drilled, and driven. The former was the original type and in the older sections of country is still the most common. This was true because a farmer and his helpers could dig it without special tools or expensive equipment. However, these wells are FIFTH MONTH 91 only practical where a good supply of water is found with fifty feet of the ground. This is the usual maximum depth for a dug well. The hole may vary from four to eight feet in diam- eter. In order that the cleaning of the well later may be accomplished more easily, it is better not to have the diameter too small. It is also desirable to have the well large enough to store a considerable amount of water, since these shallow wells do not usually strike a heavy flow of water. In many cases dug wells do not strike any definite vein of water, but depend upon seepage water, hence a large storage chamber is very necessary. Again, very strong veins are struck, and the well may fill very rapidly. In case a slow vein is struck, in order to get an adequate supply it is sometimes necessary to dig until several such veins are encountered. A well may be walled up with brick or stone. It is done without mortar or cement. The top should be laid with cement mortar for at least eight feet below the surface. This prevents rats, mice, toads, and other vermin getting in and also shuts out surface wash. A concrete slab is the most desirable curb. This slab should be cemented down to the top of the well, and thus make the well proof against surface contamination. The water in dug wells always comes from gravels, sands, clays, glacial drift, and similar loose formations of soil. It is usuall.y of a mineral nature because in its course through the ground, it dissolves many minerals. Iron is nearly always found, as is calcium and magnesium. Such are rarely objectionable. The drilled well is next in importance to the dug well, and in the newer regions is found very largely. It is well suited to all parts of the country, since it may be sunk in rocks of all kinds, and to the depth of thousands of feet if necessary. How- ever, the average well is not over three hundred feet deep. An iron casing, five to eight inches in diameter, is usually used, but after rock is struck this casing is continued but a few feet further. The question of surface pollution is not a serious one with a drilled well, provided the top of the easing is properly protected. The water of drilled wells comes from the same sources as that of dug wells, as well as any of the rock forma- tions, which usually furnish a supply of water. Sandstone and limestone furnish by far the greater part of our water supply. Sandstone is the chief of all rock formations as a water bearer. 92 FIFTH MONTH It gives up its water readily, and the water as a rule is not highly charged with minerals. The water from limestone is usually hard, but does not usually contain many other minerals. The water from limestone is much more apt to be impure than that from sandstone. In concluding the subject of drilled wells, it may be. well to point out a few of its drawbacks. It is usually expensive to drill, it has little storage capacity, hence unless a strong vein is struck, is apt to be unreliable, the water stands in the pipes, hence is apt to have an iron taste. The pipes rust and corrode. Yet it is by far the most satisfactory of all wells. It is adapted to all regions, it may go ten feet or several thousand, it may be deepened at little expense, it can be located anywhere, and is little influenced by long, dry seasons. Driven wells are usually found in regions where water is found within 50 or 75 feet of the surface. It is not suitable for regions where stones and such are apt to be encountered. In driving a well, a pipe of one and one-half inches in diameter is fitted with a special drive point. This is driven down until a strong flow of water is encountered. If the water is close to the surface, a common pitcher pump may be used, but if more than thirty feet below the surface, a three-inch pipe is used. The w^ter of such wells is usually pure, and is found in sands and gravels. There is no danger of surface seepage, and as sand is a good filter, the water is well washed before it goes into the pipes. Artesian wells need scarcely to be mentioned here, since they are found only in limited areas. Sands and sandstones or glacial materials furnish many fiowing wells. They are rarely found in limestone regions. Sanitary Placing of Wells with Reference to Bams and Other Buildings There is less need to consider the location of the drilled or driven well than there is to consider that of the dug well, but even though surface drainage does not play such an impor- tant part in these, some consideration should be given to their location. The dug well should always be placed at the highest point of the surrounding ground. This is so that the surface FIFTH MONTH 93 wash will be away from rather than toward the well. The distance from cess pools, barns, outhouses, and such must vary with the nature of the soil. From fifty to one hundred feet is safe in heavy clay soil, sandy or loam soil, where seepage is very slow. This is especially true if the well is deep, and has a distinct vein, of heavy flow, and seepage water does not supply the source. If the well is shallow, and seepage water is the source, especially if the soil is of a loose, open nature, two hundred or even three hundred feet would be a far safer dis- tance for the location of all objectionable out buildings. Water and Health Impure water is one of the many causes of sickness. If an epidemic of fever or such disease breaks out, the source of the water supply is at once looked into. In many cases it will be found to be contaminated. Until Chicago and St. Louis looked into the question of the disposal of their sewage and the source of their water supply, frequent epidemics broke out, taking a great toll of life. Mil- lions were spent by each city in assuring an uncontaminated water source. In St. Louis, the source is the Mississippi River. Great intake towers were built, and enormous settling basins constructed. The result is water that is clear and clean. Indianapolis faced the same question. The source of the water supply for this city was the White River, and filter beds were built to purify these waters. Chicago turned her sewage into the Illinois River, and thus prevented the contamination of the lake water, her source of water supply. Throughout the. length and breadth of our land today, people are awakening to the dangers of contaminated water. Forms of Water — Vaporization; Condensation; Ice As we all know, water may assume one of the three forms — vapor, liquid, or solid. In the vapor state, we call it steam, in the liquid, water, and in the solid, ice. Water boils at the temperature of 100° Centigrade and steam is formed. If a glass of cold water is held in the steam arising from a boiling kettle, the steam is condensed, and gathers on the glass in the form of drops of water. Therefore, 94 FIFTH MONTH to condense steam, its temperature must be lowered. This same water may be converted into a solid by still further lowering its temperature to 1° Centigrade or 32° F., known as the freezing point. Note. — Teacher should have students point out various ways these three forms of water are met with in their daily life, and the various uses of each. AIR Facts Concerning the Composition of; Movements of and Changes of Air Air consists of a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen in a prac- tically constant ratio, together with a small amount of other gases, and with a very variable amount of aqueous vapor. It was not until the middle of the last century that Priestley discovered that air was a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. The proportion by volume is 21 of oxygen to 79 of nitrogen, and by weight 23 of oxygen to 77 of nitrogen. The other constitu- ents of air are carbonic acid, which occupies three-ten- thousandths by volume, traces of ainmonia, ozone, and argon, an element recently discovered. , Oxygen is the active vitalizing principle in air, that which makes human life possible. The proportions of oxygen and nitrogen vary but little whatever the altitude, being practi- cally the same on mountains as at sea level. The difference in mountain air is due to its density and temperature. The nitrogen in the air represents the negative element, which lessens the activity, and energy developed by the com- bustion of the oxygen. In this way it tends to prolong life, because in pure oxygen life would be used up too rapidly. Nitrogen is less dense than oxygen, hence renders the air better suited to carry sound and sight. Dust is another constituent of air which is found univer- sally, though the particles are less numerous over the ocean and over mountains at high altitudes. When one begins the discussion of the movements and changes of air, it is seemingly a hopeless task to attempt to treat it in any limited space. General facts alone can be given here, but if one is interested he is advised to consult "The FIFTH MONTH 95 Story of the Earth's Atmosphere" by Douglas Archibald, pub- lished by D. Appleton & Co., New York. This is one of the best discussions of the subject the writer has encountered and is so interesting it reads like a novel. In 1735 Hadley made the first serious attempts to account for the more obvious .facts of the general circulation of the air. He attempted to account for the trade winds, but his theories were later found false. The French mathematician, in 1837, named Poisson, showed that the air in the northern hemisphere deviated to the right of its path, and to the left in the southern. In 1856 Mr. Perrel, afterwards professor in the United States Weather Bureau, using Poisson 's premise, worked out our pres- ent explanation of the< general circulation of air. From our geography work, we have found how rainfall and the general circulation of the air are related. We have found that in high altitudes rain is due to cyclonic storms, but in the trade wind and equatorial zones, the shifting of the doldrums determine the rainy season. The general circulation of the air determines not only the prevalent direction of both surface and upper air, but also in large measure determines their velocity. In the United States the mean velocity of the wind in miles per hour is 9.5, in Europe 10.3, in Southern Asia 6.5, and in the West Indies 6.2. . The movements of the air are much affected by the nature of the surface over which it blows. Hilly or forest land retards its motion, while over water it moves much faster than over even level land. In the interior of continents, it is much more sluggish than on the sea coasts. Over the North Atlantic it is as much as twenty-nine miles per hour. As one ascend 's from the earth's surface, an increased velocity is found in the wind. For every one thousand feet of ascent, about two miles per hour is added to the velocity. In winter this velocity is further increased. The height of our atmosphere has never been measured— in fact, will probably never be — but it is certainly not more than one hundred miles. We perhaps should not know when the top was reached, for it just grows rarer until the exact line of ending is uncertain. Dr. Berson of Berlin in 1894 ascended to a height of 30,000 feet, and by inhaling oxygen was enabled 96 FIFTH MONTH to observe his instruments and conditions around him. His thermometer showed 54° below zero P. Above six miles, man can not live without artificial assistance. Above 15,000 feet, permanent habitation is not to be desired. Ventilation of Home and School; How Secured The subject of ventilation is one that has received so much discussion during the last decade, that little need be said here. In houses supplied with a hot air furnace, the ventilation is to a great extent taken care of by the furnace. Some buildings are equipped with special ventilating systems, more or less per- fect. However, one need not resort to these, in order to have pure air. Windows opened at the top afford a simple means of ventilation. Bed room windows should remain open during the entire year. Transoms are efficient means of securing good ventilation. Recess periods and noon hour afford opportunities to ventilate schoolrooms. A teacher, however efficient, is not doing her full duty by her students who does not see that the air of the schoolroom is kept pure. If necessary to open win- dows for a few minutes during school hours, give the students a brisk bit of calisthenics. Work Done by Air; Wind MiUs and Piunps The chief use of wind mills now is in the operation of pumps. Wind is the motive power, and for this reason it is one of the most economical machines on the farm, but is of limited use. It should be found on all farms, since in cost it is in reach of every one. In construction it is too well known to need description. Since the wind is an uncertain element, sufficient water should be kept stored to last at least three days. Besides being used to pump water, the wind mill to a limited extent has been used to grind feed, and to run various machines. The wind mill requires little care aside from frequent oiling and tightening of the nuts. What is true of the average pump, holds good for pumps used in connection with wind mills. At present wind mills are mostly employed in pumping water for storage or irrigation. They are found in the greatest numbers in the middle United States and in Australia. There are more than a million in the central part of the United States. FIFTH MONTH 97 A geared wheel, twenty feet in diameter, will furnish five horse power in an eighteen mile an hour wind. Pumps depend on the suction of air for their operation. The air is drawn up through the pump proper by working the handle up and down. As the air is exhausted, the water from below is drawn up, and as long as the pumping is kept up, a steady flow is maintained. Chain pumps, bucket, and pitcher pumps, as well as piston, and all forms of suction pumps are constructed on the same principle. Vacuum Cleaners There are so many kinds of vacuum cleaners now on the market it is impossible to describe them except in a general way. They are both electric and hand power. Both work on the same principle, however. A vacuum is created by means of a motor or bellows. Suction is produced strong enough to carry the dirt along with the air current. The du,st is conducted through openings into boxes or tubes, or bags, from which it may be removed at the operator's convenience. SIXTH MONTH 'WEATHER By the term weather we mean the condition of the atmos- phere in respect to temperature, moisture, precipitation, sun- shine, wind, dust, and electricity. "When the word is mentioned, we immediately think how hot or how cold it is, whether it is raining or the sun is shining, whether the wind is blowing, and so on. It requires only a moment's reflection to convince one of the great influence the weather must have upon the farmer and his work. Especially is this true of a large State with considerable variations in climate, such as Illinois. Influence of Weather on Farm Activities The kinds of crops that can be raised in any section of the" country depend' on the kind of weather that generally prevails there during the growing season. There are, however, fre- quently variations from the general climatic conditions, and it is these that influence the activities of the farmer. Every boy and girl is familiar with the delay which a rainy early spring causes in the planting of corn. Every one knows what an unexpected frost or freeze will do to tender plants. The farmer must adjust his activities, therefore, to meet these changes in weather conditions. According to the record of the Weather Bureau, Illinois Section, the precipitation, or rainfall, at Greenville was the lowest on record for April and there was quite a deficiency throughout the central division. There was little sunshine in the northern part of the State, but vegetation made satisfactory progress in spite of this. There was heavy rainfall in the north, and this retarded plowing somewhat. However, in the central and southern sections o^here, as we have said, there was not much rainfall, plowing went on rapidly and by the close of April much planting had been done. Some corn had even come up in the southern counties. This will show, in a rather striking way, the difference between the activities of the farmers in the SIXTH MONTH 99 the southern and northern sections. Most of the small grain was sown early in the month, but needed more rainfall in the south half of the State. The report also states that winter wheat was in excellent condition and that but little would have to be abandoned. We have already mentioned the fact that the farmer must deal occasionally with an unexpected freeze. On the 25th and 26th of April the minimum temperature stood at 25° to 32° in the northern and central sections of the State, and a severe frost followed extending, even over the southern counties. Reports say that peas, beans, and potatoes that were up were killed. In the northern and central counties, the fruit was hardly far enough advanced to be injured, but in the southern counties much was killed. In Greene, Pike, and Calhoun almost 30 per cent was destroyed. During the past month and year, not a great deal of dam- age was done by storms. The snowfall for March was almost normal, but for the year the average will run on only about fourteen inches. Farmers generally count on heavy coverings of snow to help the wheat crop, by protecting it from severe winds and freezes. In March there was some damage done to wheat by flooding, and traffic on the highways was blocked in some counties, particularly in La Salle. In April, high river stages prevailed in the Illinois and the upper part of the Missis- sippi River. The following, taken from the April report, will show the comparative data for the State for the years 1917, 1918, and 1919: Temperature. Precipitation. No. of Days. 1917 Mean 49.8 Av. 4.76 Clear 11 1918 " 47.9 " 5.39 " 10 1919 " 53.4 " 2.50 " 11 Note. — Pupils who are interested further in the work should address the Weather Bureau Office, Springfield, Illinois, asking for the Climatological Data Bulletins for March, Apti'l, May, and June. These may be had free of charge. The bulletin for any month may be had for the asking. By looking these over care- fully, 'one may find out- the weather conditions for any part of the State during the month. In the records comparisons are made zvith former years. Competent persons keep records in various parts of the State on temperature, rainfall, and other conditions, ioo SIXTH MONTH and send these to Springfield to be used in compiling these bulletins. Sixty-ftve persons reported during the month of April. Keep Weather Record One of the most interesting and profitable things that can be done is to keep a weather record. This may be done by using a sheet ruled somewhat as follows: FEBRUARY WEATHER RECORD. Temperature. | Precipitation. | Kind of Day. DAY. i m •a m o i < 1 i o • m u Vi s t o a OJ O i ■3 >> •a o S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 , 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SIXTH MONTH 101 Clouds Every pupil is sufficiently familiar with a cloud to know what it is, but a more careful study of the subject is needed in this connection. The term cloud is used to denote the mois- ture of the atmosphere changed from an invisible state to minute particles that float for a long time in the air. Qf course, these par- ticles are so small that they cannot fall through the ordinary atmosphere on account of its resistance. The moisture of the air is condensed into particles of water by a reduction in temperature. Everyone knows that if air comes into contact with a cold solid, the latter will become covered with dew ; and if two masses of warm-moist and cold-moist air come in contact, a slight cloud is formed. Also moist air may be cooled by radiation of heat and, when it gets to the dew point, a fog or cloud appears. However, the principal cause of the formation of clouds is yet to be mentioned — dynamic cooling. Air expands when it is brought under lower pressure and in expanding uses up its latent heat. Consequently in rising over a mountain or when raised by its own buoyancy, it expands and cools and clouds are formed. Note. — It is a very interesting work to keep a record of the days that are cloudy and partly cloudy during each month and comparethe records. Rainfall Whenever the moisture is sufficiently condensed, it falls as rain. From what we have already said, it will appear that the distribution of rain over the earth 's surface depends largely on the influences that force air to ascend. On hot days when the surface of the ground or water are heated, the lower layer of air becomes highly heated and rises. Clouds are formed and showers generally follow. Often an ocean breeze rises high enough on a mountain side to become cooled and form a cloud followed by rainfall. There is an area of low pressure that passes eastward over the United States throughout the year and particularly in the winter. This allows a moist warm wind to meet a cold dry wind, and above the cold wind is formed a layer of clouds. These are found on the southeast aild south- west sides of the area of low pressure. 102 SIXTH MONTH Every pupil should know what a rain gauge is. It is an apparatus to catch the rain and measure its equivalent depth on the ground. A very simple one can be made by using a vertical cylinder into which one may place a graduated stick and read off the depth of the water. The United States Weather Bureau furnishes a self -registering gauge to any of its observers. The self-registering gauges may be had at very reasonable prices. The Weather Bureau and Its Work The Weather Bureau of the United States was authorized by act of Congress in 1890. It provided that it should be estab- lished on and after July 1, 1891, and be attached to the Depart- ment of Agriculture. Section 3 makes clear the duties of the bureau : "That the Chief of the Weather Bureau, under the direc- tion of the Secretary of Agriculture, on and after July 1, 1891, shall have charge of the forecasting of the weather, the issue of storm warnings, the display of weather 'and flood signals for the benefit of agriculture, commerbe, and navigation, the gauging and reporting of rivers, the maintenance and opera- tion of seacoast telegraph lines, and the collection and trans- mission of marine intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation, the reporting of temperature and rainfall condi- tions for the cotton interests, the display of frost and cold-wave signals, the distribution of meteorological information in the interests df agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States, or as are essential for the proper execution of the foregoing duties. ' ' We too often think only of the bureau's work in forecast- ing the weather, but it also does another very important line of work in its climate and crop service. An accurate and com- prehensive record of meteorological conditions are kept for this purpose. The following important facts about the bureau should be carefully remembered: 1. Of the 190 regular stations of the Weather Bureau, 45 are designated as clitaate and crop service sections. Under the official in charge, there is a crop service section usually com- SIXTH MONTH 103 prising a single State. Ours is the Illinois Section, Weather Bureau Office, Springfield, Illinois. Any one may address Clarence J. Root, meteorologist, at the State Capitol, and he will send bulletins or answer questions of interest. 2. There are also more than 3,000 voluntary observation stations, whose records of temperature, precipitation, wind direction, cloudiness, etc., are kept by public spirited persons with instruments furnished by the Government. The records of these voluntary centers are sent each month to the section centers and used in compiling bulletins to be sent free to farmers for the asking. These bulletins not only treat of the weather conditions, but also show how various meteorological features of the month compare with the same features of corre- sponding months of previous years. 3. Unusual events in weather receive special attention — as, earthquakes, storms, floods, etc. 4. An annual summary is issued each year at each of the section centers. It should be of unusual interest to every farmer. Suppose you write a letter to Springfield, asking for the past year's summary. 5. During the growing season of the crops, the work of the centers is augmented by weekly reports of crop conditions and progress as influenced by the weather, forwarded by about 14,000 crop correspondents. In addition to this, weekly bul- letins are published at Washington. These bulletins are free. Are you getting your share? Value of Using Free Bulletins From reading the bulletins one gathers much valuable information. He can learn which agricultural products ma>- be successfully grown in a given locality. He will be guided in selecting a good farm or homestead. He can also find out what is going on in farming in other States and sections of the country. Again, he will learn many lessons in applied science that he never knew, and will become a better farm manager. The time when one can farm by guessing has passed. Only those will be really and truly successful who keep abreast of the times. Consequently read good books and the State and Government "bulletins. Write for some of them today. 104 SIXTH MONTH LIGHTS AND LIGHTING Methods of Artificial Lighting Employed in the Home In the days of our great grandparents the methods of light- ing the home were limited to the tallow-dip and the candle. As these were the best known, and, in fact, the only ones known, people got along very well. But we have advanced a long way from those methods now, and they seem primitive indeed., "With the advent of the various types of kerosene lamps, homes came to be very much better lighted. Then came the more modern methods of lighting by the use of gasoline, acetylene, and elec- tricity. "We do not mean to say, of course, that every farm home is now lighted by these last named agencies, but that many farmers are making use of them and probably in the near future many more will do so. At the present time the use of candles has almost disap- peared. They may, however, be seen occasionally because of their convenience in case of emergency. "When other lights fail, for example, it is an easy matter to light a candle for a few minutes until they are repaired. Plumbers make use of the candle quite frequently in their work, especially when working in a dark corner. As to the expense of the candle, it is practically negligible. Kerosene Lamps. According to reports, the first kerosene lamp was patented in 1859. Soon there were a score of applications and from twenty to eighty a year until about 1880. The simplest form of the kerosene lamp consists of the bowl, wick-holder, wick, and chimney. The bowl, of course, is the fount for the oil. The wiek-holder is more commonly called the burner. It con- sists of a perforated platform device for raising and lowering the wick, and a dome surrounding the upper part of the wick. The perforations in the platform permit the passage of air to the flame, and the dome directs the currents of air against the flame. The operation of the lamp is so simple that anyone can understand it. The oil is drawn up through the wick by capil- lary attraction, where it is turned in a vapor by the heat of the SIXTH MONTH 105 flame. The carbon and hydrogen of the vapor unite with the oxygen of the air and produce the light. You have perhaps learned from your physiology that when there is combustion, carbon dioxide and water are given off. That is precisely what happens here. If a lamp is allowed to burn for a long time in a tightly closed room, the air becomes very impure on account of this carbon dioxide. The directions for the care of the kerosene lamp are very simple. Always keep the bowl well filled with oil and the wick properly trimmed. The wick should not be allowed to become too short. Certainly it should never be so short as to barely touch the oil. This kind of economy is not economy at all. If the flame discharges black soot which begins to accumulate on the chimney, this is a sign that there should be regulation of the air supply, the trimming of the wick, or similar needs. There are several varieties of kerosene lamps. These we may enumerate as follows : the flat-wick lamp, the round-wick lamp, the mantle lamp, the pressure lamp, and the angle lamp. The best known is perhaps the flat-wick lamp, which generally has a wick an inch or an inch and one-half in width. It often furnishes light for sixty hours on a single gallon of good oil. The round-wick lamp is such that the wick is drawn into the shape of a cylinder, and the air may pass to the flame from both sides. It will be interesting for you to bring to school the burner of such a lamp as this and show the class how it works. The mantle lamp makes use of a mantle, suspended above the flame, by means of which a soft and pleasing white light is produced. The mantle is made somewhat as follows : A cotton netting is soaked in a nitrate of thoria and then burned, leaving only the framework of the net. This is next soaked in a solu- tion of gun cotton in ether and castor oil. This gives firmness to the mantle. Of course, this material is burned off when the mantle is placed in position in the lamp. Keep the wick care- fully trimmed at all times, but this does not mean that all the dark portions should be removed. It simply means that it should be smooth and even. Often a wick trimmer is furnished with lamps of this kind. The cost of these lamps should not exceed $6 or $8. The pressure lamp is one that does not make use of a wick, but supplies the fuel by pressure. The angle lamp has the burner placed at an angle so that the wick is almost hori- 106 SIXTH MONTH zontal. It makes use of a double chambered bowl, the oil in the outer one being always kept at the same level. Gasoline Lamps. Perhaps before discussing the types of gasoline lamps, we should pause to notice the nature of gasoline. As you probably have learned, crude petroleum is made up of carbon and hydro- gen, which readily unite with oxygen in burning. It happens that it contains a number of compounds of these two elements. These pass off one at a time by distillation. Gasoline is first driven off, being very light, next the napthas, and then kero- sene. Gasoline of the poor qualities on our markets is much like kerosene. Good gasoline has a density of about 0.65 and gives off inflammable vapors at ordinary temperature. The price of gasoline has rapidly increased in the past few years so that it is not widely used for lighting. Two Kinds of Gasoline Lamps. There are two kinds of gasoline lamps, those that furnish the fuel to the burner by gravity pressure, and those that fur- nish it by air pressure. The former type of lamp has the bowl suspended above the burner. There is, of course, always danger in case of a leak, and for this reason the kind is being rapidly replaced by the air-pressure lamp. The air-pressure lamp raises the fuel to the burner under pressure applied to the gasoline. Often a hand pump is used to force several pounds of air pres- sure on the liquid. The air is pumped right into the bowl or tank. A mantle is generally provided for the pressure lamp, and there is a device for volatilizing the gasoline so that it can be consumed as a gas. Some lamps of this kind may be obtained for as low a price as $10 or $12. By means of ike hollow-wire system gasoline can easily be used to light a whole residence, church, school, or store. The system consists of a pressure tank and a hand pump, hollow wire for conveying the gasoline, burners, and fixtures. The tank should generally be placed outside the building or, at least, where there is no danger of setting fire to the liquid. There should be a pressure gauge on the tank, and the tank SIXTH MONTH 107 should hold from five to ten gallons. In filling the tank, it is well not to put in too much gasoline. Some say that it should be filled three-fourths full of the liquid, this leaving room to force in enough air to provide the desired pressure. As the use of gasoline is somewhat dangerou's, the hollow wire and pipes should always be tested carefully and the tank kept free from fire. Chandeliers of various kinds are used in the farm home. Often they consist of a single light and globe, but frequently two-light and three-light devices. A hanging chain enables the light to be drawn low. The cost of the air-pressure, hollow-wire lightiag system is comparatively inexpensive. Before the war it did not much exceed $200, but now probably will reach $250 or $300. Do you know of a farm home, church, store, or other place which uses the hollow-wire system of lighting? If so, you should visit the place and make a more thorough study of this method of lighting. How Was the tent at the last circus you attended lighted ? If by gasoline, what type of lamp was used ? Aceytelene Lamp. Although acetylene gas has been known for over fifty years, its use for lighting purposes is very recent. The gas is formed by the action of calcium carbide on water. Calcium carbide is made by combining coke and lime in the heat of an electric furnace. It is dark gray in color and very hard. It is prepared in different grades, some coarse and some very fine. As water will cause acetylene gas when brought into contact with it, calcium carbide must be kept absolutely dry. It is packed for shipment, therefore, in air-tight cans. It is estimated that one pound of carbide will produce about six cubic feet of gas. Acetylene gas has been found to be one of the hydrocar- bons, but much heavier than gas of the natural variety. When ignited it produces a somewhat smoky flame. When it is used in the proper type of lamp with a good burner, it gives off a very pretty light, almost white. What are the advantages of acetylene? First, its odor is pungent, but not so offensive as gasoline. Second, it is said to use less oxygen from the air and so give up less carbon dipxide. 108 SIXTH MONTH Third, it does not explode in its natural state. Fourth, it is less poisonous than natural gas and other varieties. Let us notice the details of the acetylene lighting system. There must, of course, be a generator, the most important part of the whole" thing. This is a device consisting of a container for the carbide and the gas produced from it and a means of feeding the carbide into the water. The device for feeding the carbide into the water must be so constructed that it will cease to cause the material to fall into the water when the tank is full of gas. This mechanism is somewhat complex, and would require too much space to be given here. If, however, you have an acetylene system of lighting you should endeavor to under- stand it in every respect. In this case you should study all directions furnished by the company installing the plant, and also you should read a good work on acetylene and acetylene lighting. It is doubtful whether one should use any system of lighting unless he understands its mechanism. In studying the subject, consult drawings of the different parts of the system. In this way you can understand things better. In the generating chamber of the system a gallon of water should be used for each pound of carbide in the generator. There are two kinds of generators — the carbide-feed generator, and the water-feed generator. The former, allowing the carbide to feed into the water, is considered the better because there is not so much waste. There are a few cautions that must be observed in the use of acetylene. The generator should be placed outside the house. Do not test either generator or pipes with a match or any flame. Do not fill the generator by the use of artificial light of any kiad. Pill in day time. The water must not be allowed to freeze in the generator. Have your acetylene plant installed and tested by an expert. Then follow directions as carefully as possible in using the system. The cost of acetylene systems has, of course, advanced since the war, but formerly one eould be installed for about $300. Perhaps the cost now would reach $400 or $450. SIXTH MONTH 109 4. Electric Lights Although electricity has been used in cities and towns for a number of years, it has only been in recent times that its use for lighting the farm home has been employed. Plants for the home can be obtained in either low-voltage or high-voltage systems, but the low-voltage system is much more commonly used. The word volt means the unit used to measure the pres- sure that causes the currents to flow. It is analogous to water pressure. Every lighting plant for the home must have a gen- erator, a storage battery, and a switchboard. The generator is the machine used to produce the electricity, and it is driven usually by a gasoline engine. The brushes, the important part, must be kept clean. As often as needed, they should be freed from dirt and oil, some of which accumulates from oiling the machinery. The storage battery may be understood if we exam- ine its structure. Take a copper plate and a zinc plate and immerse them in a solution of sulphuric acid, the latter being, of course, a weak solution. Connect the plates with a wire and notice the current of electricity. The acid works on the zinc plate, producing zinc sulphate. If, now, an outside current be run into the battery through the copper plate side, the zinc sulphate will be deposited on the zinc plate and it will be restored to its original state. This is called a storage battery when several such cells are united. Lead plates are also used in storage batteries. Batteries should be bought ready for use, and then properly cared for. The best authorities warn farmers against injury to the battery by the use of impure electrolyte or by failure to maintain it at its proper density. The battery may also be injured by being over-charged or discharged, or by being charged or over-charged too fast. Before the advance in cost of material and labor a system of electric lights could be installed for about $500, but now $600 or $700 will be nearer the amount required. As compared with the other methods of lighting, electricity is far superior. There is no danger of an explosion, no offensive odor, and little danger from fire. It is noiseless and practically without heat. The quality of the light is especially good. The tungsten burner, of course, should be used, as it is superior to the cheap carbon lamp. 110 SIXTH MONTH In locating the electric system, place it in an out-building, if possible. If this cannot be done, place it in the basement and set your machinery close together. The choice of fixtures must rest with personal taste. There are so many varieties of fixtures and globes that one should hardly attempt an explanation. If the ceiling is clear and white, it is better to use a white globe so placed as to cast the' light up to the ceiling, thus giving indirect light. This not only looks better, but produces a light that is not so trying on the eyes. If fixtures for direct lighting are used, care should be exercised in order to have the lights placed at the proper height. Light Produced by a Flame; a Glow In a general way, we have covered this point. Most of the kerosene lamps produce their light by a fiame, and gas and acetylene also may be used in this way. When, however, the mantle is used, the flame is reduced to a bright glow. "We have already discussed the mantle and its structure and have noted the fact that it makes a muph more beautiful and pleasing light. The electric light is produced by passing a current through a very fine coil of wire, producing an extremely bright glow. We have noted that the tungsten burner was better than the carbon burner. This is because the glow is much brighter and clearer. The carbon burner can be determined by the dark red color of its glow. Most Efficient Methods of Lighting There is no doubt that acetylene and electric systems of lighting, when properly installed, are the most efficient. The cost of putting such plants in is, of course, slightly* higher, but the quality of the light is much better. A system of electric lighting must, however, be considered as best. The reasons are obvious : First, as we have already said, the light is better ; second, it is noiseless and odorless ; and third, it is safer. Acety- lene is safer and better than gasoline, its gas being less poison- ous and less combustible. The hollow-wire system of lighting by gasoline, which we have before mentioned, is next to acety- lene in value. It is practically safe when the pressure tank is SIXTH MONTH 111 located outside and when the wire and pipes are kept free from leaks. If the expense of these is too great, then the kerosene lamp should be used ; but if this be used, one of the best should be obtained. Very good results; with either the flat-wick or round-wick lamp, may be had if one will keep the wick trimmed well and adjusted properly. Matters are greatly helped by the use of good kerosene and new wicks. The candle has its place, too, but hardly can it be considered among the modern, ef&cient methods of lighting. SEVENTH MONTH POULTRY Study of a Chicken Unlike the other animals studied this year, the chicken is a biped, or an animal with two legs, and belongs to the avis, or bird family. Its general appearance is too well known to need discussion. Body Coveringf The greater part of the body of the chicken is covered with feathers. Usually the upper part of the head or comb, the bill, and feet are free of this covering. This depends largely on the breed. Some breeds have feathers on the legs, pthers have none, some have but small, smooth feathers on the head, others have heavy neck feathers almost in a ruff form. The comb and wattles differ in the various breeds so much that they may be considered distinguishing marks of the breeds. This is true also of the feet and legs. In some breeds they are white, in others yellow or orange, in others black. The quality and color of the feathers are also distinguishing marks of breeds, and will be discussed as each breed is taken up in detail. Feet and Wings Beginning with the knee joint, the shank of the chicken extends to the toes or claws. This shank is sometimes partly covered with feathers and again is smooth, according to the breed. There are three toes extending forward, and one back- ward. As the fowls grow old, a spur develops at the side back above the back toe. Bach toe ends in a prominent curved nail. The color of the shank depends on the breed. The wing of a chicken is composed of three main parts. The part which joins the body is known as the wing bow, and is usually covered with fine, soft feathers. The second part is the wing coverts, forming the wing bar. The third part is SEVENTH MONTH 113 mainly bone and skin, is short and bears the feathers known as the flight coverts. Just back gf these feathers, and attached to the second part of the wing are the primaries, or flight feathers, while back of these attached to the main part of the wing are the secondaries or wing bay. Sense Organs The chicken, like most animals, has two eyes and two ears. The eyes are placed one on each side of the head, usually in a 'line with the beak. The ear lobes hang below and somewhat back of the line of the eye. Food Procuring Organs The chicken's food procuring organs are the beak and toes. The latter are provided with strong, curved nails, which not only can secure a good living for the fowl in question, but which will also work havoc in the garden should their owner find the gate open. Types of Chickens There are four general classes of chickens. They are: (1) egg type, (2) meat type, (3) general utility, and (4) orna- mental breeds, noted for style or as game breeds. The egg type is bred with the idea of securing the greatest egg produc- tion possible, while the meat type is intended for table use. The general utility type combines the best points of each, and ranks well either as an egg or meat tj^pe. The ornamental breeds are little raised in this country. Breeds of Chickens in the Neighborhood; Characteristics of Each There are one hundred four standard varieties of chickens raised in this country. However, the standard varieties may be divided into four general classes: 1. General purpose breeds, including the American class, the Orpingtons, and the Houdans. 2. The meat or table breeds, such as the Dorkings, Indian Games, and the Asiatic class. 3. Egg breeds, including the Mediterranean, the Dutch class, and the Redcaps. 114 SEVENTH MONTH 4. Ornamental breeds, such as the Polisli, Creve Coeurs, the Game, and the Game Bantam class, the Oriental Game, and various others. In Class 1, we find the Plymouth Eocks, the most popular of all breeds of poultry, as a general purpose fowl. It is greyish white in color, each feather crossed by narrow, parallel bars of dark blue black. It is medium size, with broad, full breast, moderately large head, bright red, upright comb, yellow beak and shanks, and a large, bright red or bay eye. They are hardy and mature early. They are good layers the year around. Their eggs are brown in color, averaging eight to the pound. They are good sitters and mothers. The standard weight ranges from nine and one-half pounds for cocks to six and one-half pounds for pullets. The Wyandotte ranks next to the Plymouth Eock as a general purpose fowl. They average about one pound less in weight than the Plymouth Eocks, but are hardy and are prolific layers. Their flesh is sweet, juicy, and tender. There are eight varieties of the Wyandotte breed, the difference in color being the only distinguishing mark. The Silver Wyandotte has a silvery white plumage, with regularly marked black on the breast. The Golden Wyandotte is marked the same except it is golden bay instead of white. The other varieties, the Part- ridge, Silver-penciled, and others, are less known. The Javas are one of the oldest of the American class. They enjoyed great popularity at one time because they were so pro- lific, but at present are having to give place to newer breeds. They are good mothers, good layers, and mature early. In size, they are about like the Plymouth Eocks. Dominiques are similar in plumage. They have rose combs, and bright yellow legs. They are good layers, and mature early. The Rhode Island Red is one of the newer breeds that enjoys great popularity. They are hardy, medium in size, lay brown-shelled eggs, are good sitters, and good mothers. The single comb and the rose comb are the two varieties of this breed. They average in weight from cocks at eight and one- half to pullets at five pounds. They are a rich, brilliant red in color, with black wings and tail. The hens are somewhat lighter in color than the cocks. SEVENTH MONTH 115 In tHe meat or table breeds among the Asiatics, we find the Light Brahma at the head. These have been known by various names, perhaps the most common being Gray Shanghais. In color, it is white and black, white predominating. A standard- bred bird should show no other color. The shanks are well feathered, with feathers extending down the middle toe. They are the largest of all domestic poultry and do well in confine- ment. They average twelve to thirteen dozen eggs per year. They lay well in winter. Their eggs are large, averaging about seven to the pound. They are excellent in flavor and of a rich brown color. They do not mature as early as some others, and as sitters and mothers are just fair. They are good for table use. There are four varieties of Cochins, all popular with breeders. They are hardy and lay fairly well in winter. They are medium good fowls for table use and their eggs are of fair size. The Buff variety is one of the most popular.' They are a rich, golden buff color. They have heavy leg and toe feathering. The Partridge Cochin, being more difficult to breed, is less knovra. The Black Cochin is a rich, glossy black, while the White Cochin is pure white. The Langshans are a popular breed of Asiatics. They are the smallest and most active of this class. Their flesh is of fine flavor, tender, and fine grained. They average twelve to thirteen dozen eggs per year. They are good sitters, good mothers, and the chicks are hardy and mature early. Because of their similarity in looks, the Black Langshans are sometimes confused with the Black Cochin. There are two varieties of Langshans — ^the Black and the "White — ^the Black having glossy, metallic-looking feathers, with a greenish sheen. The White Langshans are pure white. In Class III — the egg breeds in the Mediterranean— we find the Leghorns at the head. They are the best known of the egg- producing class. There seems to be no doubt that this breed originated in Italy. The Leghorni? hold much the same place in the poultry house as a Jersey cow does in the barn. They are excellent foragers, light eaters, and mature early. The pullets often begin laying when four or five months old. They average one hundred fifty to two hundred eggs per year. The 116 SEVENTH MONTH eggs are pure white, and average ten to the pound. For table use they are small. They are non-sitters. They must be warmly housed in winter if they lay well. There are eight standard varieties of Leghorns: Single' Comb Black, Silver Duck "Wing, Single Comb and Eose Comb Buff, Single Comb and Rose Comb Brown, and Single Comb and Rose Comb White. The Minorcas rank next to the Leghorns in laying quali- ties. They are very similar in looks to the Leghorns. Their origin is in doubt but some contend they came from Minorca Island in the Mediterranean Sea. They are one of our most profitable breeds of poultry. While they are good for table purposes, their chief value is as egg producers. They lay the year round but are non-sitters. Their eggs are white and aver- age eight to the pound. They are hardy, mature early, and ar^ good foragers. The comb of the Minorca is larger and bulkier than that of tlie Leghorns. The ear lobes are pure white. There are three varieties of Minorcas — Black, White, and the Rose Comb Black Minorca. In weight they average nine pounds for Single Comb Black cock to five and one-half for Single Comb White Minorca pullet. The Dorkings come under the meat or table breeds and are of English origin. They are one of our oldest of domestic fowls. Its chief distinguishing mark is the fifth toe, which grows out behind, a little above the foot, below the spur. Its flesh is white and very delicate. They are not good layers but are good sitters and mothers. There are three varieties — the White, Silver Grey, and Colored. The White is really the purest as to breed. Its color is pure white; comb, bright red, and shanks and toes white. The Silver Grey Dorkings are marked with black. The Colored Dorkings are black and straw color, while the female may show dark salmon on the breast. Dork- ings differ in weight from nine pounds for colored cock to five pounds for white. The Orpingtons are the latest importation from England. They are an all round, general purpose fowl of good size and good layers. Eggs are brown shelled. There are ten different varieties of this breed. ' The weight ranges from ten pounds in cocks to seven in pullets. The Buff Orpington is perhaps the most popular, and should be a rich, golden buff. SETBNTH MONTH 117 In the egg breeds in the Dutch class, the Hamburgs ranks first as egg producers. They are not sitters, light eaters, and good foragers. Their eggs are small and white shelled. Since the ornamental class is bred very little in this region, it will not be discussed here. If interested, consult Farmers' Bulletin No. 51, Standard Varieties of Chickens, by George E. Howard. Feeding; Housing; and General Care of Chickens Like all farm animals, chickens demand a balanced ration. But since heavy demands are made upon the hen in egg pro- duction, some elements are essential in her feed not required by other animals. Grit is one of these. It is useful not only in furnishing material for the egg shells, but in grinding up the food in the gizzard. Since most of the grits on the market contain little or-no lime, this must be fed in the form of cracked oyster shells or mortar. Meat is also an essential part of every poultry ration. This holds good for both grown and growing fowls, whether of the egg or meat type. From ten to fifteen per cent of the daily feed should be meat. It may be fed in the form of beef scraps, skim milk, or green bone. There must also be a daily feeding of green stuff. Mangles may be used in the winter, and clover pasture in the summer. Such food promotes health and aids in digestion. The grain ration should be one-half to two-thirds whole grain and one- third to one-half cracked or ground feed. Fowls may prefer the whole grain but in the laying season, food should be sup- plied that is readily used by the system. The Cornell Univer- sity Poultry Department advises a ratio of 1 :4.0 for the growing chick; for the egg-producing hen, 1:4.8, whUe the fattening fowl requires a ration with a ratio 1 :7.5. Young chicks do not require feed for from twenty-four to forty-eight hours after hatching, since the yolk of the egg has been enclosed in its body, and supplys nourishment for this period. The first feed given young chicks may be stale bread dipped in milk. Ground corn soaked in milk is also good. Fine grit, charcoal, and granulated bone should be fed along with the ground feed after the first few days. For the first few days, the young chicks should be fed five times a day. Then 118 SEVENTH MONTH this may be reduced to four and later to three. They should be fed all they will clean up. Peed just enough to satisfy them. It is a good plan to feed over a light litter of straw, so they wiU have to scratch for it. Green food should be given twice a day. The night feeding should be heavy. Fresh, clean water should be furnished the chicks at all times. It should be given in some sort of drinking fountain that will not allow the down of the chick to become wet. The flock should be sorted occasionally, and the stronger taken from the weaker. This prevents injury to the weaker ones and gives them a better chance at their feed. The growing chick should have plenty of exercise. Free range should be given them. But they should never be per- mitted to run in moist, boggy land, but on a dry, southern slope. Under normal conditions, the hen lays more in the spring than at any other season of the year. Hence, if we wish to feed for egg production, our aim should be to continue spring con- ditions as much as possible. If allowed free range, the hen in the spring will feed on fresh, tender grasses, bugs, and worms. This ration, or a similar one, combined with a slight grain ration, forms a good egg-production feed. About one-half as much mash or ground feed should be fed as whole grain. Beets, cabbage, green clover, sprouted oats, fresh, green clover, or other succulent food should be fed unless the fowls have free range. Bone, charcoal, grit, and oyster shells should be accessible at all times.- All food and scratch litter should be sweet and clean, free of all mold and mustiness. These are liable to cause serious digestible troubles. The laying hen should be fed up to her capacity to eat. Dry food fed in a hopper is a most satisfactory way of feeding dry foods. Mineral matter may be given in the form of oyster shells, ground bone, or bone meal, or green cut bone. In feeding for table use or meat production, an entirely different method must be followed. Some confine from twenty- five to fifty fowls, in a small yard or pen, others use crates, holding four to six fowls each. Ten days to three weeks are usually required to put fowls in proper shape for the market. Before the fattening process is begun, they must be dusted with insect powder to free them of all vermin. The greatest care should be used that they are not overfed at the beginning SEVENTH MONTH 119 of the fattening process. All the utensils around the pens must be kept sweet and clean. Beef scraps, skim milk, and grain are the best fattening foods. Some feeders prefer to have the grain fine ground and soaked in sour milk. Broilers are the chicks marketed at six to twelve weeks of age. These vary from three-fourths to two pounds. The roasters fatten most profitably at three to four months of age, and should weigh at least six pounds. Poultry houses should be clean, comfortable, and well ven- tilated. Most of the diseases of poultry are traceable to unsani- tary housing conditions. The poultry house should be placed in a dry, well drained location, preferably on a southern slope, if this is possible. The poultry house should at least face the south, so that in the winter it can get all of the available sun- light. Four to five square feet of floor space should be allowed for each chicken. The colony house and the long house are the two general types of poultry houses. The colony house is intended to accommodate a small flock or colony and may be portable or non-portable. The portable house is usually placed in runners and drawn from one place to another. This type has many advantages over the non-portable, since after harvest, the houses may be taken to the fields and all the loose grain cleaned up. This also provides more'free range, and a greater supply of bugs and worms. The long house is less expensive to build and makes earing for the birds easier, but the chickens have less range, require more feed, and greater care must be used in keeping the yard clean. The scratching shed is one of the most valuable parts of the chicken lot. It is an ordinary shed, inclosed on three gides, and attached to the chicken house so the chickens can go in as they will. It provides both freedom and exercise for the fowls. It is advisable to have the windows low and wide and both glass and cloth provided in order to insure proper ventila- tion. One square foot of glass and one of curtain surface should be provided for each sixteen square feet of floor space. The floor may be of cement, dirt or sand. The latter are advisable, providing they can be kept dry and clean. If used they should be higher than the surrounding land. Just what interior fixtures and labor saving devices are used depends much on the number of fowls, and the time pos- sible to give to their care. If one begins the poultry business 120 SEVENTH MONTH for profit, and on a large scale, the sooner one becomes ac- quainted with. labor saving devices the better, but if the flock is small and kept only for home use, it will scarcely prove profitable to invest in much expensive equipment. There is no animal, not even the dairy cow, that is more susceptible to housing conditions and general care than the hen. Many things may cause a hen to cease laying. Excessive heat or cold, fright, too little feed, and change of location are some of the most common causes of cessation of egg production. Great care must be exercised in selecting eggs for hatching purposes. Eggs from strong fowls should be used. They should be uniform in size and true in color to that particular breed. Either natural or artificial incubation may be used. However, perfect as an incubator may be, it rarely equals the mother hen herself, provided she is wisely selected. Incubators of one hun- dred to two hundred egg capacity are hardly to be recom- mended, because of the fact that in a machine of this size moisture, temperature, and other vital factors are hard to control. A machine of six hundred to one thousand egg capac- ity is usually much more economical in the end. If artificial incubation is used, artificial brooders must be provided. The first need of a young chick is heat. The tem- perature should vary from 90° to 100° P. for the first three or four weeks. It is always better to have too much rather than too little heat, provided the chicks may have an opportunity to get away from it, if they wish. Selecting Hens for Laying Purposes ; for Breeding The egg type is neat and trim, very active, and upstanding. The body is spare and the legs long. A hen likely to make a good layer may usually be classed as small or medium. Its disposition will be nervous and active. They fly readily, are alert, and easily frightened. A good layer will mature early. Feathers, comb and wattles will develop early. Rapid feather- ing and rapid molting show great constitutional vigor. A good layer usually is a "non-sitter." They are excellent foragers, being active and industrious. The layer to do well must be given a good range. If she is, she will secure the greater part of her own living. The molting period is a good time to select fowls for breed- ing purposes. A fowl that molts rapidly is of a strong, vigorous SEVENTH MONTH 121 constitution. In making this selection, a fowl with a deep, long wedge-shaped body should be chosen, if the breeding is done for egg production. Two year old hens are to be recommended, since they are more mature than pullets, hence they lay more perfectly developed eggs. One male should be selected for each fifteen to twenty-five hens. For best results choose only the eggs from the hens selected that are normal in size, perfect in shape, true in color, and of good, firm shell. Incubators and Brooders An incubator is really an artificial hen which depends on man to do its thinking. With good eggs, most makes of incu- bators will give good results, providing reasonable care is exercised in its management. There are two types of incubators — ^hot water and hot air. The former is recommended when one thousand or more eggs are to be hatched at one time, but for the smaller numbers, hot air is perhaps to be preferred. Top heat is essential. It must be liniform. The tempera- ture of a brooding hen is about 104°. Fresh air is of prime importance and each machine must, therefore, possess sufScient ventilation. A certain degree of moisture is also essential, but the air must never be saturated. No especial type of incubator can be recommended here. Each new one that appears on the market has some point of advantage over its predecessor. As a general rule, however, it may be stated that the machine which nearest follows the hen 's method of hatching is most likely to be successful. Printed directions are sent out with each incubator and these directions should be followed faithfully, since they are based on the experience of experts in handling that particular make. The incubator should be placed where the temperature is more or less uniform. It should be airy but free of drafts. The place selected for the incubator often determines whether or not the hatching will be successful. Be sure it sets level. Always test it out for at least twenty-four hours before placing any eggs in it. The eggs should be turned regularly twice a day from the third to the eighteenth day. After this, they need not be turned. The cooling of the eggs requires practice. At first it is done 122 SEVENTH MONTH when they are turned. After the seventh day, once each day, the eggs are removed from the machine until they become cool. After the eighteenth day, they are not cooled. After the eighteenth day, the incubator is closed and not opened until the hatch is completed. Twenty-four hours before the brooder is to be used, it should be heated to make sure it is dry and warm. The temperature should be at 95° when the newly hatched chicks are placed in it. They will raise the tem- perature to 96° or even 98°. This should be maintained for the first week, then gradually lowered till it reaches 90° at the end of two weeks. From this on a temperature of 75° is sufficient in the hover. There are many makes of brooders on the market, some of intricate design, others so simple they may be duplicated at little expense by the home workman. It is essential that the brooder be placed in a dry, light place, that an even tempera- ture be maintained, and that there be plenty of space and good ventilation. Other Kinds of Barnyard Fowls Turkeys, ducks, geese, and guinea fowls are the chief barn- yard fowls besides chickens. Turkeys are the only one of our barnyard fowls that are natives of America. They are undoubtedly descended from the American wild turkeys which were found wild over the greater part of North America. The wild turkey is easily tamed, especially if the eggs are hen hatched. There are six varieties recognized. They are the bronze, the Narragansett, buff, slate, white, and black. They are the largest of our barn yard fowls, and because of their size, are profitably raised for their meat. The turkey is nervous in disposition, and does not do well if penned up. It is a rover by nature. The hen will lay from thirty to forty eggs in a season, but as the young are somewhat difficult to raise, many young are lost. Ducks rank perhaps next to turkeys in importance. Their eggs are little in demand except for hatching. There are at least ten different breeds and twelve varieties recognized. The adult will weigh from seven to ten pounds for the male, and six to eight for the female. They have some advantages over SEVENTH MONTH 123 chickens, in that they are more free of diseases than chickens. They also require less care, if they have free access to a pond or stream. Geese are raised for both their feathers and meat. There are at least six breeds and seven varieties which vary much in size, shape, and color. The males weigh twelve to twenty pounds when full grown. In size they rank second to turkeys. They are less extensively raised than ducks, since to do well they must have access to water at all times. Guinea fowls are occasionally found on farms, but because of their semi-wild nature they cannot be classed as an economic bird. They refuse to make their nest except in hiding and if disturbed while sitting, will leave the nest and not return. There are at least four varieties of guinea fowls. They are natives of Africa. Since their flesh has a game taste, it is often sold and served as various kinds of wild fowl. Broilers pass as quail on toast, and the larger ones as pheasants, grouse, or pra;irie chickens. They have a distinctive beautiful covering of feathers, and a harsh, discordant cry that is very different from all other barn yard fowls. Value and Characteristics of Each Fowl In economic importance there is no doubt that chickens rank first of all barn yard fowls. Turkeys are easily second, because of the size they attain — some of the Bronze males going over thirty pounds. The census .of 1900 showed that there were 233,598,085 chickens and guinea fowls on farms in the United States. The turkeys numbered 6,599,367; geese, 5,676,863, and ducks, 4,807,358. The same statistics showed that about 89 per cent of all the farms of the country kept poultry, and that the total value was $136,891,877. More than 250,000,000 chickens and other poultry are consumed every year for meat. This may be a surprise to many who do not realize that poultry for many centuries has supplied a large proportion of the food of man. Scarcely a country in the world but what recognizes that the poultry industry is an important part of the agriculture industry. Under the term poultry, we can probably class only those fowls bred either for their flesh or eggs. For this reason, car- rier pigeons cannot be called poultry, nor can pea fowls, bred for ornament, nor wild game come under this heading. 124 SEVENTH MONTH Chickens, geese, ducks, guinea fowls, and pigeons, used for eating purposes, are the chief kinds of poultry bred in this country. In some places, and especially, in Europe, pheasants, quail, swans and pea fowl are bred for table purposes and there- fore may be included. The Gallinaeeae, or comb bearers, include chickens, tur- keys, pheasants, guinea fowls, and quail. They resemble each other rather closely in habits, and are distinguished by having white or light colored meat on breast and wings. This differ- ence is' not well understood, but scientific investigation has proved that this lack of color is due to the absence or partial absence of hemoglobin in the blood. This substance seems the product of muscular activity, and in birds that walk rather than fly; it is not developed in breast or wings. The Columbidae, or dove, family, includes all pigeons. They seem to stand between the comb bearers, or Gallinaeeae, and Natatores, or swimmers. Ducks, geese, and swans belong to the last class, and are characterized by the long, thick bill, and web feet. Marketing Poultry and Eggs. One can not discuss the subject of marketing poultry with- out a brief treatment of their preparation for the market. In this country there is usually no separate branch of the industry devoted to the iEattening process. However, in Europe the rear- ing and fattening is done in entirely different places. In this country, the poultry raiser merely changes the diet and habit of the birds. Some advocate the small pen, others the crate method, while others contend that poultry allowed to run at large fatten more readily and cheaper than those confined. At present, experiments seem to show that birds confined in small pens, and allowed some exercise, produce better flesh when brought to the markets. • The poultry of the U. S. is marketed in two ways; either live or dead. Both have their disadvan- tages. If sold alive, one can be sure that the fowl purchased is fresh, but there is the added trouble of killing and dressing, while unless plenty of feed and fresh water is furnished the chickens, there is apt to be a serious loss from shrinkage with the attendant loss of flavor and flesh. The inhuman way in which much of the live poultry is handled has caused many SEVENTH MONTH 125 states and cities to pass laws in regard to the care of them while displayed for sale. If birds are killed before marketing, the utmost care should be taken to see that every possible rule of cleanliness is observed. Filth and dirt around any food is disgusting, but around meat it is positively dangerous, since it may lead to rapid decay of the flesh. All birds should be penned up and not fed for at least two hours before killing. This insures that the crop will be empty, as well as the intestines. The best way to kill the bird is to sever the main artery found in the roof of the mouth, then to hang the bird by the feet, head down, where it will quickly bleed to death. As soon as dead, the bird should be dry picked. Scalding may be resorted to if the bird is for home consumption, but is apt to give the skin a drawn, hard look. Care should be taken in removing the feathers that the skin is not torn. The animal heat should be driven out by cool- ing at once. Not to do so is to invite rapid decay. Some poul- try men plump out the birds by putting them in cold water. This is not injurious if they remain but a few minutes, but any soaking until they swell beyond their normal size is not only injurious, but fraudulent. If housewives would refuse to buy fowls so treated the practice would soon be discontinued. 'The flesh of fowls so treated is apt to be whiter than that of fowls not so treated. The body will have a sleek, plump look, and the flesh will be hard to the touch. Decomposition of such flesh is more sudden and sooner than that of birds not washed. As soon as the animal heat leaves the body "rigor mortis" sets in. This stiffens the flesh and tendons until they become hard.. The fowl should not be used now for at least twelve hours, or until this has passed away. Great care should be taken not to use flesh which has begun to decompose, for decomposition is often the herald of ptomaines, virulent poisons. Some people argue that birds keep better drawn than undrawn. The writer prefers drawn birds, for the fact that the intestines contain more or less moist digested material which rapidly gives off its odor and soon taints the whole fowl. Birds if drawn, and rinsed with clean salt water, will keep sweet two or three days longer than undrawn birds. There is a widespread distrust of cold storage birds and eggs. This is founded on real facts and unless great care is taken in handling the cold storage products, they are unfit for 126 SEVENTH MONTH human consumption. But if properly managed, cold storage fowl is not only healthful, but makes it possible for one to have the meat at less cost than one could obtain the fresh. A temperature of 50° F. will keep poultry sweet a week or more, but if intended for longer storage a dry temperature of 34° F. or less is necessary. October till May are the usual cold storage months. Older fowls keep better in cold storage than do younger birds. Many of the delicate game birds do not keep well in any temperature. The main thmg to know in buying cold storage products is how long they have been out of cold storage. Such products spoil much quicker ^than fresh ones, and if used at once are all right, but must not be used if they have been unpacked too long. Different methods are employed in packing cold storage products. Some times the birds are frozen before packing. This is done at a temperature of 5° to 10° F. and then kept at about 30° F. However, most people hold that freezing destroys the fine flavor of poultry, and as frozen meats decompose very rapidly after thawing, ordinary cold storage is preferable. There are many things to note when selecting poultry. A good fresh bird will be well rounded, showing no bony angles around the breast bone. The legs should be short and plump. The skin should be a clear yellow and free from blotches or dark spots. The flesh should give greatly when pressed by the finger. It should never be flabby or hard. A fresh bird will have soft, moist, limber feet and the eyes will be bright and full. If the bird is a cold storage one, its wings and legs will probably be close to the body because it has been packed in tightly with oth- ers. If fresh, its wings will hang in a natural position. The breast bone of a young fowl is easily bent. The feet of a young fowl are soft and smooth, but hard and rough ia an old fowl. ' A young bird has short, sharp claws, but an old bird has long, blunt ones. Turkeys up to twelve months have black feet. Up to three years old they are pink; after this they turn a dull grey. Eed feet are a sign of age in a pigeon. The flesh of the breast of a pigeon will show dark through the skin if the bird is an old one. In ducks and geese, the wind pipe furnishes the best test of age. In a young bird it is soft and flexible. In an old one it is hard and fixed. Some times the wings of turkeys, geese and ducks are left unplucked. "When so left, they give a clue to SEVENTH MONTH 127 the age of the bird. If the quills at the tip are sharply pointed the bird is young, but if blunt it is probably old. The Ameri- can farmer is slowly but surely learning the folly of keeping an oversupply of cocks, and as they bring a lower price when put on the market for food, the up-to-date poultry raiser usually caponizes them. The meat of capons is unexcelled for table use ia flavor. Capons also take on flesh more rapidly and with less food than regular fowls. The meat is juicy and tender, and the body several pounds above normal chickens. The demand for capons is an increasing one in the American mar- kets, and the wise poultry man is meeting the demand more fully each year. The marketing of eggs is not as complicated a matter as that of marketing poultry, yet the day has passed when the thrifty farmer will start to town with a market basket filled with eggs, and trust to luck, and the good roads movement that they will all arrive safely. Many farmers now sell their eggs to huxters who make weekly trips through the country buying the farm- ers ' produce. They are usually packed in crates holding twelve or more dozen. For retail trade in the city, paper cartons hold- ing twelve eggs are used. Parcel post has opened up an ave- nue of marketing for many farmers, yet this has not been the success it was hoped it would be, owing to the care with which the eggs must be packed and the expense in sending back their empty containers. Note — Most farm boys and girls have or have had some experience in keeping poultry of some kind or other. Lead them to discuss their experiences. Explain any difficulties they may have met and suggest possible improvement. Some poultry jour- nal should be kept on the school library table for reference. Have them discuss the various breeds, advantages and defects. Make the subject of real practical benefit to the students. EIGHTH MONTH BIRDS Identification of Common Birds The study of birds and their habits is one of the most facin- ating bits of work the average boy or girl can undertake. The country child has a great advantage over the average city child in this work, but since parks are becoming more numerouus, the -city child has also an excellent opportunity to become acquainted with the feathered friends of the woods. Two things are necessary in studying birds — ^unlimited patience and some help — either that of a bird lover or a good bird guide. A field glass is also of great aid but the average keen eyed youngster will not find this absolutely necessary. Many arbitrary divisions have been made in classifying birds. They-are often divided into the following main groups : (1) diving birds; (2) swimmers; (3) wading birds such as herons and storks ; (4) shore birds such as snipes and sandpip- ers; (5) the Gallinaceous birds such as grouse, partridge, and bob-whites; (6) Columbae, including pigeons and doves;; (7) birds of prey such as hawks, owls, and vultures; (8) wood peckers; (9) goatsuckers, and (10) perching birds. There are also other minor divisions which are little known in the region of Illinois. The first four divisions will not be treated here because they are not familiar to this locality. The Bob-White is a Gallinaceous bird, and one of the most celebrated game birds in the U. S., where it is found from N. Dakota east and from Texas north to the British provinces. It 's nest is made in sheltered spots along the road side of dried grasses. Ten to twenty pure white eggs are laid each season, but rainy weather often destroys many of the young. They are familiar to most farm boys and girls by their short legs and necks, brown compact bodies, and white throats. All the birds mentioned in this work may not be found in this state, but are given because native to the region east of the Mississippi, south of Canada, and west of the Gulf states, although they may also be found in other regions. EIGHTH MONTH 129 Among the birds of prey found in this region are the (1) Turkey vulture; (2) Marsh Hawk; (3) Cooper's Hawk; (4) Red Tailed Hawk; (5) Rough Legged Hawk; (6) Bald Eagle; (7) Barn Owl; (8) Great Gray Owl, and (9) the Screech Owl. The Turkey Vulture is about thirty inches long, blackish brown, naked red head. In flight the tips of the wings curve upward. Two eggs are laid for one sitting in hollow stumps, under logs, between rocks, &c. The eggs are creamy or bluish white spotted with brown and faint markings of lavender. The Marsh Hawk is very abundant in many sections. For two years the bird is reddish brown, after this it becomes very light colored. Both plumages show a white patch on the rump. Field mice form a large part of their diet. Their nests are made in swamp ground. It is usually well lined with grasses and rushes. They lay from four to seven pale bluish white eggs. The Red Tailed Hawk is best known in the east, where it is called "Hen Hawk." It is one of the handsomest of the larger 'hawks, and the adult is easily distinguished because of its reddish brown tail. Snakes, mice and lizards are its main diet and very occasionally young chickens. The nest is made in tall trees of sticks, weeds and trash. The eggs are .two to four in number, white and sometimes spotted with various shades of brown. The Rough Legged Hawks are heavy, large birds of prey, with completely feathered legs. It is arbout 22 inches long and has a whiteish head, neck, breast and tail. The remainder is a blackish brown. Their nests are usually built in trees. They lay three eggs, bluish white in color, splached with dark brown. The Bald Eagle is found sparingly throughout all of North America. It is most abundant along the Atlantic coast. It has a white head and a white tail after it becomes three years old. Before this time they are blackish. It is about thirty-four inches in length and has a wing expansion of seven feet or more. Birds two years old are larger than the adults. Fish is their main food, which they often steal from the Osprey, car- rion and ducks, which they catch on the wing. Their nests are massive structures of sticks, usually in tall trees. They usually lay two white eggs. The Barn Owl is very common in the southern states. It is one of the lightest colored of the owls and has a long pecu- 130 EIGHTH MONTH liarly hooded face, from which it is often called monkey faced Owl. Its plumage is yellowish buff, slightly barred with black. It will nest in almost any concealed place, hollow trees, barns, or holes in barrels. It lays from four to six pure white eggs. The Great Gray Owl is the largest of American Owls, being about twenty-six inches in heighth. Its plumage is very light and fluffy, dark grey in color, mottled with white. The face is large, the eyes small and yellow. Their nests are usually built in pine trees of sticks. They lay from two to four white eggs in May or June. The Screech Owl has two color phases, being a yellowish brown or grey, and black and white. They nest in hollow trees, especially in decayed apple trees. They are also found in aban- doned barns. Mice, meadow moles and small birds are their chief diet. Their eggs are five to eight in number and are white. Among the Woodpecker family we find the (1) Hairy Woodpecker; (2) Yellow Billed Sapsueker, and (3) the Red- headed Woodpecker. The Hairy Woodpecker is found from North Carolina to Canada and east from the plains. They lay their eggs in holes in tree trunks or limbs. They usually use the same hole year after year. The eggs are glossy white, from three to six in num- er. They are nine inches long and have white outer tail feath- ers which are unspotted. They are similar to the Downy Woodpecker, which has the outer white tail feathers, spotted with black. The Hairy Woodpecker is much more shy than the Downy Woodpecker which often associates with other birds. The Yellowbellied Sapsueker is one of the most handsomely marked of the woodpecker family. They are easily recognized by the red crown and throat (white on the female) bordered with black, with yellowish underparts. These are slightly injurious to cultivated trees, but are the only species of the woodpecker family that are. The eggs are four to seven, glossy white, and laid in holes in trees usually far above the ground. The Red-headed Woodpecker is a beautiful species with a bright red head, neck, and breast, glossy blue-black back, wings and taU, and white underparts, rump, and secondaries. It makes its nest in trees, telegraph poles, or under the eaves of buildings. They are rather quarrelsome among themselves. ' EIGHTH MONTH 131 and with other birds. They sometimes tear down the nests of other birds and destroy the young. They feed upon ants, larvae, fruits and berries. They lay four to eight .white eggs in May and June. The Northern Flicker is a variety of large woodpecker, some times known as a Tellowhammer. They have a brownish tone to the plumage, barred on the backs, and spotted on the breast with black. Some have a golden yellow lining to wings and tail. It has a red crescent on the nape and the male has black moustache marks. They have the undulating flight com- mon to all woodpeckers and show the white rump patch con- spicuously when flying. They lay five to ten very glossy eggs anywhere they can make a hole for them. Goatsuckers are long winged birds, with small bills, but very large mouths. Their plumage is mottled black, brown and white. Their food is mainly insects which they catch upon the wing. The Whip-poor- Will is a species well known by sound, but scarcely at all by sight. It rarely leaves its place of hiding before dark. It is much like the night hawk from which it may be distinguished by the absence in the wings of any white markings, and by the white tip of the outer tail feathers of the Whippoorwill. They fly very quietly through the air after nightfall. Their two eggs are laid on the ground among dead leaves usually in dense woods. They are grayish, white, or cream color, marbled with pale brown and grey and with faint markings of lilac. The Nig'ht Hawk is a species of the Goatsucker, much like the Whippoorwill. It does not have the mouth bristles as the latter bird does, but it has a forked tail with a white band near the end, and with a white band across the primaries, the latter mark showing very plainly during flight. They are very com- mon in the cities as well as in the country, where they lay their eggs upon gravel roofs. The eggs are grayish in color, marbled, blotched and spotted with darker shades of grey. The Humming Bird belongs to the same general family as the goatsuckers, that of the Maehrochires. The ruby throated humming bird is the only humming bird found east of the Mis- sissippi. It is between three and four inches long, with green upper parts, and a bright red throat. It makes a beautiful nest 132 EIGHTH MONTH of plant fibers and down. This is covered with green moss, and attached to a limb of a tree usually well out of reach from the ground. It lays two white eggs in May or June. The birds most common and most numerous in this locality belong to the 10th group, that of Perching Birds, or the order or passers. Of the Perching Birds, the Phoebe or Bridge Bird is one of our most useful. It is so called from its habits of building in or around bridges. The nests are made of moss, mud and grass, and lined with feathers. They are greyish in color and "very useful in that they feed on insests and beetles almost entirely. Four or five eggs are laid each year. The Pee-wee is one of the best known birds in open woods, where its call of pee-a-wee or pee-wee may be heard. Their nests are built on. the limbs of trees of fine grasses and covered on the exterior with lichens. They are very shallow and resem- ble a knot on the limb. They lay three or four cream colored eggs, spotted at the large end, in a wreath reddish brown and lavender. The Prairie Homed Lark has a pale yellow throat with a line of white over the eye and forehead. In the Mississippi valley they are the most common of the nesting birds, and build on the ground in meadows and cultivated fields. The nests are made of grasses lined with feathers or horse hairs. They raise two or three broods each season. They lay three or four olive buff eggs, thickly sprinkled with drab and lavender. The Blue Jay is one of the prettiest of the Jay birds and is too well known to need description. It is a cruel, quarrelsome bird. In fall, winter and spring they feed on chestnuts, berries, seeds, insects, grains, lizards, etc., but during the summer they feed on the eggs and young of other birds. They usually build near the ground, almost anywhere, the nests being made of twigs and fine rootlets. In May they lay four to six eggs of a greenish buff color, spotted with olive brown. The Crow is very shy and cunning, and is the sworn enemy of every farmer. They build their nests preferably in the tops of tali pines. The nests are made of sticks and lined with root- lets. The eggs from four to seven in number range from a bluish white in color to a light green, and are spotted with shades of brown and lilac. EIGHTH • MONTH 133 Thfi Bobolink is well known in the east where his sweet call often given on the wing is much loved. During May and June he sings all day long to his sparrow-like mate, sitting on her eggs concealed in the meadow grass. They are sociable birds and often several pair will nest in the same meadow. The nests are built in a hollow of the ground, lined with grass, and the top slightly arched to conceal the eggs, which are a greyish white, spotted with grey, brown and lilac. They are four or six in number and are laid in June. The Red Winged Blackbird is a very familiar bird around grain fields in the fall where they often do much damage. They also do much good at other seasons because of the weed seed and insects they destroy. Their nests are made of grasses placed in bushes ia swamps *or over water, or again on the ground in clumps of grasses. The eggs number three to five, are bluish white and boldly spotted with dark brown and pur- ple. The body of the bird is black with red wings with white markings. The Meadow Lark is more frequently heard than seen. His note is a high pleasing flute like whistle, with variations. It has a yellow breast with a black crescent. Their nests are skillfully concealed on the ground among the tall grasses of the meadow. In May or June they lay four to six eggs, white, speckled with reddish brown and purplish. The Baltimore Oriole is easily distinguished by its orange flame color, and its black head. Elms are the favorite places for their nests, which hang like tiny swinging baskets. They are often five inches wide by ten long, and are built of fiber and bits of string. The eggs are white, streaked with black, brown or grey. The Purple Finch is a very sweet songster. They breed in orchard trees, or evergreens, usually about three-fourths the way up. The nests are made of fine weeds and grasses and lined with horse hair. The eggs, usually laid in June, are greenish blue, spotted with dark brown. The Goldfinch is one of our sweetest songsters from May until September. They are the latest of our nesting birds, building in late August or September. The nests are built in bushes, generally within fifteen feet of the ground, of fiber plants and thistle down, firmly woven together. They lay from 134 EIGHTH- MONTH three to six plain bluish white eggs. They are yellow in color, with dark wings spotted with white. The tail is dark as is also the top of the head. There are at least twenty-five varieties of the sparrow family in the United States. Because the English sparrow has proved such a nuisance, we have come to condemn all the rest of the sparrow tribe. The English sparrow was imported from England, and increases in such alarming num- bers a bounty was finally put on its head. They build unsightly nests of loose straw anywhere, and lay four to eight eggs in a set, with four to eight sets a season. Their eggs are whitish, spoted with grey and black. The Vesper Sparrow is a streaked greenish buffy and white bird distinguished by its chestnut shoulders and white tail feathers. Their loud piping whistle may often be heard in weedy pastures in the east. They build in the hollow of the ground, lined with grasses. The eggs, four to five in number, are dull white, blotched with light brown and lavender tints. The Lark Sparrow is a handsome bird with the sides of the throat and a spot on the breast black, while the sides of the crown and ear particles are chestnut. • They are very sweet singers and always welcome. They usually build in the ground, but some times in bushes or even in trees. The nests are made of grasses and weeds, and the eggs which are usually laid in May are white, marked at the large end with black lines and spots. The Chipping Sparrow is sociable not only with other birds, but also with man, unless a locality is overrun with English sparrows. You will find these tame birds in vines, bushes and trees. They have a reddish brown bordered by black, with a black line running through the eye. Their nests may be found almost anywhere and are made of fine grasses and weed stems, lined with hair. They lay three to five eggs of a bluish green, slightly speckled at the large end with brown and lavender. The Field Spairow is found abundantly along road sides in thickets and barren hillsides. They build their nests of stems of weeds and grasses, either in trees, bushes, or on the ground. They are the birds whose high piping notes are most often heard in the hot, sultry summer days. Their eggs are pale bluish white, speckled with yellowish brown, and greyish pui*- ple. EIGHTH MONTH 135 The Son|^ Sparrow is abundant, especially in eastern locali- ties, where he is a great favorite. They are sweet and persist- ent singers along roadsides, pastures, gardens and door yards, if there are no English sparrows near. They build either on the ground, or in bushes. The nests are made of grass and weed stems, lined with fine grasses or horse hair. They lay two or three sets of eggs each season, three to five at each set. They are white or greenish white, and some times are very heavily blotched with many shades of brown. Others are almost clear. The Swamp Sparrow is a common dark colored bird which frequents swampy places, where it breeds. Because of its shy habits it is often unknown in the localities where it really is abundant. Its nest is usually built on the ground in places where walking is uncertain and treacherous. The eggs are much like those of the Song Sparrow, but are usually darker, more clouded and smaller. The Cardinal is one of our most beautiful birds. It is firey red and crested, and are found around dwellings as fre- quently as in wooded localities. Their nests are nearly always within ten feet of the ground, built in bushes, branches, vines, or brush heaps, of twigs, coarse grasses, weeds, bits of bark, or leaves, and lined with fine grass or hair. They often lay two or three sets of eggs each, season, with three to five white or pale bluish white eggs in each set. The Rose Breasted Grosbeak is a beautiful black and white bird with a rosy red breast and under wing coverts. It is one of the most pleasing of our songsters. They nest in bushes and trees, usually six to twenty feet from the ground, and seem to prefer scrubby apple trees. They lay three to four eggs, grenish blue in color, spotted at the larger end with reddish brown. The Indigfo Bunting is a rich indigo on the head and neck, shading off into a blue or bluish green on the upper and under parts. In some localities they are very abundant in thickets, along roadsides, and open wood where their sweet song is heard. It resembles somewhat the song of the Goldfinsh. Their nests are built at low elevations in thickets and vines and in very substantial structures, of leaves, grasses and weeds, being lined with fine grasses or hair. The eggs are a pale bluish white and are laid in June or July. 136 EIGHTH MONTH The Blue Grosbeak is smaller than the Eose Breasted Grosbeak and is a deep blue with the wings and tail blackish, and the lesser coverts and tips of the greater coverts, chestnut. It nests in low bushes or vines, and is fairly common ia its range. The nest is made of rootlets and weed stalks, grasses, and some times leaves. The three or four eggs are bluish white and unmarked. The Dickcissel is a sparrow like bunting with a yellow breast patch, yellow line over eye and on side of throat. The throat is black, chin white, and wing coverts chestnut. They are very common in bushy pastures and on the. prairies. Their song is simple and persistent, and usually very welcome as it is most often heard on very hot days when other birds are quiet. Their nests are built almost anywhere that suits their fancy, on the ground, in clumps of grass, in bushes, clover pastures, thistles or low trees. The nests are built of weeds, grasses, leaves and rootlets lined with fine grasses. The bluish white eggs are three to five in number. The Scarlet Tanager is a beautiful scarlet and black bird. The body is red while the wings and tail are black. They breed in orchards, woodlands, or small pine groves. They are quite birds, but their low warbling song is heard at a great distance and is readily recognized because of its peculiarity. They nest upon horizontal limbs or poles, usually four to twenty feet above ground. Their nests are frail structures of twigs, weeds and rootlets. The eggs are greenish blue, spotted with various shades of brown. The Swallows, also a nesting bird, belong to the family. Hirundiaidae. The Purple Martin is a large lustrous steely-blue swallow, which readily adapts itself to its surroundings. Throughout the east beautiful bird houses provided by land owners are found, often modeled after modern residences, and housing twenty to thirty pairs of martins. Soap boxes seem to provide as choice nesting places and in them they make their nests of weeds, grasses, mud and feathers. In June and July they lay four to six white eggs. The Cliff Swallow may be easily recognized by its brownish throat and breast, whitish forehead and buff rump. They build very peculiar nests, often flask shaped. It is made of mud and EIGHTH MONTH 137 fastened to the face of a cliff or under the eaves of a building. The entrance to the nest is small, but the nest itself is rounded. The eggs are creamy white, spotted with brown. The Bam Swallow is the most beautiful and graceful of the swallow family. It flys in long, graceful sweeps, curves and turns, its lengthened outer tail feathers streaming behind. They nest in sheds, barns, or wherever they will not be dis- turbed. Their nests are made of mud and attached to rafters. The outside of the nest is rough, but the inside is warmly lined with feathers. Their eggs cannot be distinguished from those of the Cliff Swallow. The Tree Swallow or White Bellied Swallow is vivacious and active. It nests around houses, either in the city or the country. If English sparrows are kept away, they will nest in homes provided by man. Their nests are made of straws and grasses, lined with feathers. The eggs are four to six in num- ber, and plain white. The Cedar Wax Wing is a very gregarious bird and usually goes with others in large flocks. During the breeding season these split up into smaller groups and nest in groves, orchards, or in almost any kind of tree. The nests are often quite bulky, being made of string, grasses, strips of bark, mosses, etc. The eggs are dull greyish blue in color, speckled with blackish brown. They are often known as Cherry Birds because of their great fondness for cherries, both wild and cultivated. They also are fond of berries and insects, which they catch upon the wing. Their only notes are a strange lisping sound, often barely audible. The Shrikes belong to the Laniidae family. The Logger- head Shrike is greyish above and white below. It is about nine inches in length. It has black wings, tail, and ear patches sharply defined. It has white outer tail feathers and primaries. It nests in hedges or heavy brush, preferably thorn bushes. Their nests are mere piles of rubbish. In May, they lay four or five eggs. They are bold and cruel birds and feed upon insects, rodents and small birds, in the chase of which they show great skill. The Red Eyed Vireo is a most persistent songster and fre- quents groves, open woods, or roadsides. Their eyes are brown, scarcely more red than those of any other species. Their nests 138 EIGHTH MONTH are swung from the forks of trees, usually within ten feet of the" ground. Their nests are so well built they often hang for several seasons. Their three or four eggs are usually laid in May or June and are white, slightly speckled with a blackish brown. The Cowbird often lays its eggs in the Vireo 's nest. The Warbling Vireo is not as well known as the former, but is quite as abundant. Their nests are smaller and placed higher above ground. Their song is more musical and sweeter than the former. The Yellow Throated Vireo is wholly unlike any others of the Vieros. It has a bright yellow throat and breast, the upper parts are greenish, while the wings and tail are grey. The latter has two white bars. The eggs are four or five in num- ber, pinkish or creamy white, and speckled at the larger end with reddish brown. The nests are basket shaped affairs, often beautifully made and covered with lichens. The White Eyed Vireo has white eyes, is yellowish green on the sides and with two prominent bars across the, wings. They have no particular song, but a strange medley of notes resembling those of the Shrike. They nest in tangled thickets near the ground. The nests are larger and not always sus- pended. They lay three or four eggs in May or early June. They are white, sparingly speckled with brown. The Warblers are the most beautiful, useful and interesting birds that we have. They are useful in that they feed largely upon injurious insects. They are very active, always flitting from branch to branch, and showing their plumage to the best advantage. Their songs are simple but effectively delivered, and their nests are clever works of architecture. The Black and White Warbler is usually seen creeping along branches much in the same manner of a Nuthatch. They are of great value to man. Their nests are placed on the ground in swamps or woods. They are built of strips of bark and grass, placed among leaves, usually by a stone, stump, or fallen tree. They lay three to five eggs, white, finely speckled with reddish brown. The Worm Eating Warbler can always be identified by the three light buff and two black stripes on the crown, and narrower black stripes around the eye. They feed largely on the ground, among dead leaves. The nest is made of leaves, EIGHTH MONTH 139 grasses and rootlets, lined with hair or fine grasses, usually placed under the shelter of some small bush. In June or July they lay three to six white eggs marked with chestnut or lav- ender. The Yellow Warbler is a common species that is wholly yellow, being more or less greenish on wings and tail. The male is streaked on the sides with chestnut. They nest any- where in trees and bushes, in woods, parks,, or dooryards. The nests are usually placed in upright forks of trees and is made of fibers, fine grasses woven compactly together, and lined with plant down and hair. They lay in May or June greenish white eggs speckled with brown and lilac. The Cerulean Warbler is a beautiful bird, light blue-gray above, streaked with black on the back, white below, with a grayish-blue band on the breast and streaks on the sides. They have two wide white wing bars and spots on the outer tail feathers. They build their nests usually in the forks of trees twenty or more feet from the ground. The nests are made of fibers, rootlets, etc., lined with hair. The eggs are white or a pale bluish white, speckled with reddish brown. The Chestnut Sided Warbler may be readily known by the white underspots and the broad chestnut stripe on the flank, and yellow crown. They live in low brushes in open woods or pastures, nesting usually within three feet of the ground. The nests are often concealed beneath the leaves in the tops of small bushes. The nests are made of grasses, weed stems, and some fibers, but their nests lack the wooly appearance of the Yellow Warblers. Their eggs are white or creamy white, speckled with brown and grey. The Bay Breasted Warbler has the crown, throat and sides a rich chestnut, underparts white, forehead and face black. They choose coniferous trees in swampy places for their nests, niaking them of rootlets, bark shreds and placing them in hori- ontal forks five to twenty feet above the ground. The three or four eggs are laid in late May or June, are white, usually heavily spotted with amber, reddish brown, or gray. The Black Poll Warbler is black and white and has a solid black cap. The underparts are white, streaked with black on the sides. While they bear some resemblance to the Black and White Warbler, they do not have the creeping habits of that species. They nest in stunted pines or spruces, making 140 EIGHTH MONTH their nests at low elevations of rootlets and lichens, lined with feathers. The eggs are a dull white, splotched with neutral tints. The Sycamore Warbler has grey upper parts with two white wiag bars, the throat and breast are yellow, the cheeks and the streaks on the sides are black. The nests are usually on horizontal branches of sycamores and are three to five in number, pale greenish white, speckled at the larger end vidth reddish brown or grey. The Oven Bird is sometimes known as the Golden Crowned Thrush, because of its brownish orange crown bordered with black. They live only in the woods, building their nests on the ground, arching over the top with rootlets and leaves, the nest itself being made of grasses and leaves. The eggs are four to six in number, wjiite, glossy and spotted with brown and lilac. The Mocking Bird nests about houses, open fields, woods and roadways. Their nests are bulky afEairs of twigs, leaves and grasses, placed in trees and bushes at low elevations. The eggs, three to five in number, are dull greenish blue, spotted with brown. The Cat Bird is a well known mimic and frequent^' open woods, bridges, and hillsides. Their nests are usually low in trees and constructed similarly to the Mocking Birds. Their eggs are laid in May or June, three to five in number, are a bright bluish green in color, and are unmarked. The Brown Thrasher is a handsome songster, is often found nesting near the Catbird. The nests are similar, but that of the Thrasher is usually more bulky. They lay three to five eggs in May or Jime. The eggs are white or greenish, pro- fusely spotted with brown. The Carolina Wren is a well known loud voiced songster found along streams, walls, brush heaps or thickets. They nest in almost any suitable nook or corner, in hollow trees, in stumps, around buildings, in bird boxes, in brush or bushes. The nest is made of all sorts of trash and if exposed is arched over. There are often several broods raised each season. The eggs are white, speckled with brown and lavender. The House Wren is a familiar noisy little fellow, and is the most common of the wren family. They are found in woods, swamps, fields, pastures, around houses, in bird houses, or in any nook that may suit them. They lay from three to nine EIGHTH MONTH 141 eggs in a set, and frequently three sets a year. The eggs are pinkish white, but are so thickly dotted with brown, that they appear to be almost a plain salmon color. They fill any cavity they choose for a nest with twigs, grass, feathers or hair, and . here lay their eggs. The Nuthatches and Tits belong to the family Sittidae. The White Breasted Nuthatch is a creeper, and" runs up and down trunks of trees. Their plumage is grey and black above with a black crown and white below. They nest in holes in trees, usually in deep woods. They build at any elevation from the ground, often iu deserted woodpecker's holes. They line the cavity with feathers and strips of bark. During April and May, they lay four to nine white eggs, speckled with brown and lilac. The Eed Breasted Nuthatch has reddish brown underparts and a black stripe through the eye. They lay four to six white eggs spotted with brown. The Tufted Titmouse has a grejdsh crest and upper parts and is white beneath with brownish sides and black forehead. These noisy birds nest in natural cavities or holes left by wood- peckers. They are found at any elevation, and line the bottom of the hole with leaves, bark, or hair, and during April to May lay five to eight eggs, speckled with brown. The Chickeadees are the favorites with almost everybody of all North American birds. They breed in holes of trees, in orchards or woods and in bird boxes. They line the hole with fine grasses and feathers, and in May or June lay five to eight white eggs dotted wtih brown. The Carolina Chickadee has little or no white edging on the wing coverts. Otherwise they are much like the above. The Kinglets belong to the same family as the "Warblers, that of the Sylvidae. The Ruby Crowned Kinglet is about 4% inches long. It has a partly concealed patch of red on the head, not bordered by black. They build their nests in coniferous trees, any height , from the ground. They lay four to nine eggs, creamy white, flecked with brown. The Blue Grey Gnatcatcher is a graceful bird, blue grey above, with a black forehead, central trail feathers and white underparts. They usually build at a good distance from the ground. ,The nests are made of plant fibers and down, lined 142 EIGHTH MONTH with cottony substance and hair, and covered on the outside with lichens to match the limb on which it hangs. The eggs are bluish white, speckled with chestnut. Thrushes and Bluebirds belong to the family Turidae. The Wood Thrush has a brightly spotted breast and is one of the most handsome of the Thrushes. They breed in thickets and damp woods. Their nests of leaves, straw and grasses are usually placed in the low trees, four to ten feet from the ground. They are rough looking bulky structures. During May or June they lay three or four greenish blue eggs of about the shade of a Robia's. The Robin nests in trees, in orchards, woods, around houses, or in almost any conceivable place. The nest is made of grasses, firmly cemented together with mud, and lined with fine grasses. Their eggs are bluish green, and may be found any time from May until July or even August, since they raise several broods a season. The Blue Bird usually builds in cavities of trees within 20 feet of the ground in bird boxes, or in any suitable crevice they may find around buildings, provided the English sparyow is not allowed to bother them. They begin to lay in April when they lay three to six pale bluish white eggs. They raise several broods each season. The cavities are usually lined with grasses and feathers. Note — The above brief outline is by no means a complete study of the birds of the neighborhood. If from it the student is led to identify even a few of our common birds, its mission will have been accomplished. It is merely suggestive and it is hoped that the students will be interested enough to continue the work farther, and secure one or more of the many excellent bird boohs or guides now on the market. Value of Birds. Birds around a home are valuable both because of their beauty and song, yet if these alone are not enough to make one encourage them to build near one's door, then the realization of their economic value surely will. During their nesting season the old birds have to work early and late to supply their young with food, and therefore make valuable insfect destroyers. They feed largely upon grubs, cut worms and similar worms, which later in the season may cause the gard- ener or farmer much damage. Not long ago an actual count EIGHTH MONTH 143 was made of the number of chinch bugs and destructive worms found in a bird's crop, and it totaled a surprisingly high num- ber. The American farmer is just making up to the real value of his feathered friends and is acting accordingly. Protection and Care of Birds. When we once realize that birds are of benefit around a home, the next question is how can they be attracted and cared for? This is not as difficult as it may at first seem. In winter one can attract them by placing food for them. If done regu- larly, soon they will come daily to their lunch counter for their meals. During the spring, bits of wool, strings feathers or material which they can use to line their nests with will be appreciated. In the hot summer months a place where they can drink and bathe will have frequent visitors. Above all, build bird houses. If properly built and placed, few will go through the season displaying the "To Let" sign. For years the martin, the house wren, the tree swallow and the blue bird were the only ones that people thought would occupy ready built houses. Now it is known that many others which form- erly ignored' man-built houses are occupying them. Titmice, Nuthatches and "Woodpeckers build new houses each year. Red headed and gold fronted woodpecker will occupy built houses, while the downy woodpeckers has been known to find such a place a satisfactory home for his young offspring. Robins, brown thrashers and song sparrows prefer homes open on two sides. While some birds are satisfied with almost any sort of lodging, others require homes built to suit their require- ments. Wrens and bluebirds will build in tin cans wired in convenient localities, but ehickeadees and nuthatches won't. Wood is the most satisfactory building material. In order to shut out rain, entrance holes should be sunk lower than the nest. Do not leave protruding nails or screws. A perch at the front is not best, since it often invites the chattering sparrow. All houses should be able to be opened so they may be cleaned easily. Provide for ventilation but prevent drafts. If painted, they should be a grey or green if in trees or if on poles, white. If students are interested in this subject, they should write for Farmer's Bulletin 609, Bird Houses and How to Build them, by Ned Dearborn. On page 4 of this bulletin is given a table of dimensions of nesting boxes for the various species of birds which is very valuable. 144 EIGHTH MONTH IMPROVING THE HOME GROUNDS. The Lawn and Its Care. Americans within the past generation awoke to the fact that there was more in life than mere money getting. This awakening has extended not only to the middle and wealthy classes, but to the poor as well. One of its most noticeable results has been in the increased attention paid to the home and home grounds. Our parks and recreation grounds are but a further development of this same movement. Perhaps in the country this has been of the slower growth, owing largely to conditions there, rather than to greater indifference. On the farm there are so very many necessary things to be done that there is little time for the things one merely wishes to do. But so firmly fixed is the idea becoming in the modern up-to- date farmer's mind, that a beautiful well kept home and lawn is just as necessary as a well stocked barn or feed lot, that throughout the length and breadth of our land today, beautiful rural homes are now the rule rather than the exception. In the pursuit of a beautiful home and grounds, the average farmer is usually at an advantage over his city neighbor. In the first place, he practically always has a greater stretch of space ; in the second, there are usually wonderful old trees, some of them native forest trees, that are generations old, and the third point of advantage is that he usually is better financially able to make improvements than his salaried brother of the city. Almost one of the first requisites of a beautiful farm lawn is a fence. A lawn over which farm animals and fowls wander at will cannot and never will be a thing of beauty. Concrete walks, skillfully laid out, are also a great aid in securing a neat lawn; however, a weU kept gravel. walk is equally attractive, but requires more care. White is always an attractive color for a house in the rural districts, and since it is away from the smoke and dirt of the city, is usually a thoroughly practical color. One of the most attractive country homes the writer has ever seen in Illinois was in Christian county several summer ago. A gravel drive curved between a line of great oaks up to a large white house set well back in a spacious lawn. The old time shutters were painted a soft green which seem to melt into the green of the bendmg trees, while a bright note of color was lent by the EIOHTH MONTH 145 almost endless number of scarlet geraniums bordering walks, drives and porcbes. It was a most effective arrangement, and one requiring but a few bours of care each week. Cbickens and pigs there were most surely around that farm somewhere, but that farmer had , learned that chickens and pigs should have a place and be kept in it. One of the most common mis- takes in planning a lawn is to cut it up into patches, placing old time flower beds here and there with little regard for line or detail. Modern methods of horticulture are forcing the realization home that there is nothing more attractive in the way of lawn decoration than long unbroken stretches of well kept grass. This does not mean grass knee high, gone to seed, or filled with weeds. A lawn mower has now become around every home not a convenience merely, but a necessity. Its judicious use aids much in keeping a lawn in order. A word of caution is needed to the city yard owners. That is, a lawn should never be watered when the sun is shining on it, nor should the grass be kept mown too closely during the dry, hot summer months. To do so may result in its burning out. Often it is advantageous to add lime to the lawn. The best sort to use is the ordinary ground limestone (Calcium carbon- ate) or air slacked lime. These are the easiest to handle and to obtain. Kentucky blue grass makes the most satisfactory grass, but is slow in starting, so it is recommended that it be sown with red top and English Rye. Manure may be applied either in spring or fall, preferably the latter. Shrubs, Their Characteristics; the Placing of Shrubs; Border Planting; Foundation Planting. Shrubs may be divided into many classes, and by different methods, but the main question that arises in the mind of a prospective purchaser for garden or lawn is size. As far as the habits of growth are concerned, shrubs may be divided into the three classes : 1. High growing, used largely as backgrounds. 2. The medium growing shrubs known as fillers which may be used before the high growing shrubs, just back of No. 3, the low growing or dwarf shrubs. These are known as facers. In addition to the question of size, we also have the question of 146 EIGHTH MONTH shape. Some are upright, some arching or bending, . some spreading. In addition to the above characteristics, that of flowering should be carefully considered when shrubs are planted. Color, size, and time of flowering are all very important. In the first place, great care should be taken to keep colors that clash apart. Pink and red, pink and purple, purple and red, and like combi- nations should never be placed together. However, if the blooming time of the two colors is different, it does nOt matter if they are planted together. Unless some very definite color scheme is being worked out, it is beter to have variety in color. In choosing, the "Weigela one may have white, rose and red. The lilacs also offer a vari- ety of colors to choose from. The time of blooming is also another most important con- sideration. "We should so select our shrubs that there will be a combination blooming period. If we select those that bloom all at the same time, the blooms come and go, and the yard is soon without flowers. Beginning in the early spring even before the leaves appear, we have the Forsythia, eomomnly known as Fortune's Golden Bell, or simply- as Golden Bell. These bright yellow bell like flowers appear before the leaves, and lawns dotted with the bright bushes present a beautiful appearance. The Red But or Cercis comes next and adds a flaming note of color to the spring landscape. The Dentzias are next and are fol- lowed by the magnificent Spirea Van Houttei, which many call the one best shrub. It forms a beautiful billowy white mass whenever in bloom. After its blooming season is over it also makes an attractive shrub, because of its fine foliage and beau- tiful rich green. The Mock Orange or Syringa is the next shrub that blooms. Because of the profusion of its sweet wax- like blossoms it has long been a universal favorite. The High Bush Cranberry blooms a little later and is all too little known in this neighborhood. It is not only an attractive spring bloomer, but brilliant scarlet fruit soon follow the bloom. Such bushes' and shrubs serve to attract birds to build their nests near, and anything that encourages these feathered friends is a decided asset. Tamarix Africana is also a beautiful shrub little known here. Its beautiful soft pink is different from any other shrub. EIGHTH MONTH 147 and has been described by one admirer as spray from an ocean breaker. June is preeminently the month of roses. It is difficult to limit the discussion of roses to a few pages, if one says any- thing at all about them. Perhaps there is no flower that so thoroughly satisfies every requirement of flower lovers as roses do. In the first place, the variety of colors is almost endless. All known shades of yellow from the Persian yellow, a well known variety of our grandmother's garden, to the long cop- pery buds of the Sunburst, are found. The pinks range from the dainty cream white pink of the Clio to the warm rose pink of the Magna Charta. The reds show an endless variety from the soft red of the Liberty rose to the velvety black of the Gruss and Teplitz. The white roses are endless. The white Killarney is a favorite with many because of its double waxy leaves. The Kaiserin A. Victoria is another favorite among the white roses because of its beautifully shaped buds. The La France is also an old time favorite for its full beau- tiful flowers. They are very large, double, and a most thor- oughly satisfactory cut flower. But the most remarkable rose that has appeared on the market in a long time is the Paul Neyron. Its long, straight, sturdy stalks grow to a height of five feet or more, bearing immense flowers of a deep rose color. The stems are nearly thornless, and the buds very desirable for cutting. Among the most satisfactory roses the writer has had experience with, however, are the Richmond, and the Gruss and Telitz. Both bear magnificent velvety blossoms of dark crimson, beautiful and lasting. They also withstand the win- ters well without much protection. From the Gruss and Tep- litz, flowers may be cut from May till November. One can not omit at least some mention of the Ramblers in their discussion of roses. The three most successful ramblers are the well known Crimson Rambler, Dorothy Perkins, which bears immense clusters of double pink, fragrant flowers, and the Baltimore Belle, likewise a pink rambler, a well known old time favorite. All three succeeds with little care, and are most ornamental if trained over fences, porches, or lattices. Many unsightly fences and buildings may be turned into things of beauty if covered with these runners. That they grow best if little disturbed was most forcibly demonstrated to the writer last summer. On a trip through the country, the party stopped 148 EIGHTH MONTH at a house to inquire their way. Closer inspection revealed the house to be vacant, and the yard run wild. In the tangled thicket at the side of the house was a crimson rambler partly supported by a broken frame, Such a profusion of blossoms never graced- a trained vine as loaded the branches of that vine which ran in a riot of color for fifteen or twenty feet in every direction. The roses were a wonderful rich crimson color, and each flower was between one and two inches in diameter. Had that rambler been in many a person's yard, no amount of money would have induced them to part with it. In discussing flowers that bloom in June, the lilacs should receive their share of attention. No landscape planting is com- plete without lilacs. They have been a prime favorite for years with all flower lovers, but new methods of budding have given us shades and sizes our grandfolk knew nothing abdut. Spirea Billardi is a spreading shrub that grows to the height of five or six feet and flowers usually in August and hold over until early fall. In the fall we have the Hydrangeas and the Hibiscus, or Eose of Sharon. The latter comes in a variety of colors and is too little known. Its chief objection seems to be that it is easily winter killed. Among the shrubs bearing berries in addition to the High Bush Cranberry already mentioned, may be given the Barberry, bearing long red berries which last throughout the winter, the Snowberry, which bears large clusters of snow white berries in the fall and the Rosa Bugosa, which bears its red berries throughout the summer the same time shrubs are blooming. The Placing of Shrubs. The placing of shrubs is a most important question, and one likely to be undervalued by the amateur lawn maker. In planting shrubs, we must bear in mind that we wish, con- sciously or unconsciously, that the finished product will be a harmonius whole, with the house the center from which all other decorations radiate. To secure this, we must not set shrubs here and there promiscuously wherever chance shows a bare spot. First a large open front lawn must be left. If small, its apparent size may be increased by effective shrub grouping. The view from the front of the house should never be obstructed" unless the house is placed too near the public street, and the desire is to screen it from view. Often unsightly fences EIGHTH MONTH 149 and buildings need to be screened from view. This will be dis- cussed further under our treatment of vines. The main use of shrubs around a house is to make it blend with the landscape to form a connecting length between horizon and house as it were. If one wiU but consider for a moment all the old deserted houses he can remember, he will find those that are half hidden by bending trees, tangled vines and over- grown shrubbery, do not present as desolate forlorn appearance as some tall, gaunt house perched upon a bleak hill top unguarded by tree, bush, or shrub. . Unless a garden is intended as a formal garden, one should avoid monotony in shrub planting. On the other hand, one should avoid patching effects. The nice distinction between the two marks out the skilled landscape gardner from the ama- teur. Border Planting and Foundation Planting. There are two chief methods of planting — border and foundation planting. The tall groups should be used for foun- dation planting, and always planted first. If in a round clump they should be put in the center; if at the side of a building, they should be placed in the background. Then in front of or around the foundation shrubs, we may use the medium size shrubs or fillers. Then next we may plant the dwarf shrubs or facers. A very important thing to remember in planting shrubs is to remember that nature very rarely ever places a single specimen of shrub alone. She always plants them iu groups, hence to avoid the spotted, patchy look so often seen in yards and gardens, several of each kind of shrubs should be placed in small groups. Vines. Vines are very adaptable plants and inay be used in various ways. Around the porches they are useful to give greater privacy. Hall's Honeysuckle is a favorite for this, as is the Chinese Wisteria, the Japanese Clematis, and Ameriiean Ivy, a very artistic effect is often obtained by a combination of two or more of these vines. The Dorothy P.erkins rose, Japanese Cle- matis, and American Ivy make .a good combination, as do the Chinese Wisteria, Dorothy Perkins rose and Climbing Ameri- can Beauty rose. The American Ivy, Baltimore Belle rose, and Hall Japan Honeysuckle are also good "mixers." 150 EIGHTH MONTH Any of these combinations are also excellent for arbors that one wishes entirely covered. Unsightly objects may be quickly covered with American Ivy, "Wisteria or Dorothy Per- kins roses. American Ivy and Boston Ivy are the best plants to use in covering houses. They cling to the wall by means of their own stems, and over brick, stone, or concrete houses, form a most delightful covering. They also make the houses much cooler in summer. The famous old castles throughout Europe have been covered for centuries by ivy vines. Honeysuckles and Dorothy Perkins roses are recommended for covering steep banks. Flowering Plants; Hardy Perennials, Some Good Varieties for Illinois. Among the hardy flowering perennials we find many well known popular flowers. Chief among these are thePaeonies, or Pineys, of our grandmother's garden. These range in color from pure white, shell pink, salmon, rose, to deep crimson. Phlox come in white, pink, and red, and any border of hardy perennials is incomplete without the Phlox. The Blanket flower is one of the best of the perennials. It has large daisy-like flowers, with dark reddish brown centers blending through all shades to orange crimson at the petal tips. It grows about two feet high. The Foxglove grows about four feet high, blooms in July and August. It is a well known favorite with rose colored bell shaped flowers, densely arranged at the ends of slender branches. Chrysanthemums range from white, yellow, various shades of red, pink, blue, and purple with wonderful combinations of different colors. The better known garden type is pink, white, or yellow, and grows about three feet high. Crolden Glow is an excellent tall growing, hardy perennial plant, with immense bunches of bright golden yellow flowers as large as dahlias on slender stems. It often grows seven feet tall. The Iris of various kinds and colors is justly popular. The Japanese Iris has red flowers, borne on stout stems three feet tall. It blooms in June and July. The German Iris blooms in May and June, and is blue, white or yellow. E3IGHTH MONTH 161 MaOlous are hardy perennials resembling the old time HoUyhoek. It grows to be five feet tall, blooms in July and August, both pink and white flowers. The Rocky Mountain Columbine -grows to the height of about two feet. In early spring, it bears showy, light blue flow- ers on slender branches. The Oriental Poppy is a thrifty grower, and often reaches three feet or more. It has imense flowers of a bright flaming scarlet color, wearing at the base of the cut, formed by the petals, a maltese cross of purple black. The Wind Flower is a very attractive, rapid grower. The flowers are pure white with yellow center. It blooms from August till November. It is two to three feet in height. Placing for Color Effects. Little need be said on this subject in addition to what has already been said. Care should be taken not to plant flowers whose colors clash too near together. As a general rule, flowers with vivid glowing colors make most effective back grounds, while dainty delicate colors usually show up best if used against a background of plain green. Avoid monotony in a color scheme. The Golden Bell and Red Bud of early spring are daring bits of color that lend charm to the plain green of the earlf foliage. However, if anything is planted as a formal border, as tulips or geraniums, along walls or drive, a more symmetrical look is given to the arrangement if the flowers are of the same color and kind. Be careful in setting roses to keep pink and red ones sepa- rated, also yellow and red ones. The question of placing for color effects is largely one of taste, however, and what would be a riot of beauty to one might be a clash of colors to another. It is a subject upon which even landscape gardeners differ, and as each person's lawn is largely for his own enjoyment, if it suits him and gives him pleasure, it will at least have accomp- lished part of its mission. Annuals. Annuals are those flowers which must be replanted each season. These include some of our most beautiful summer flowers, but are usually much more trouble than the biannuals or perennials. They require more care, and during the dry 152 EIGHTH MONTH months require frequent waterings. Perhaps the most popular of the annuals are Nasturtiums. If planted early they have their blooming season oyer before the dry weather begins. Their spicy fragrance and vivid colors make them especially welcome as table flowers, when arranged in low bowls. The sweet pea comes somewhat later than the nasturtium, but easily rivals it in favor. There is a peculiar daintiness both of form and color about this flower that endears it to all flower lovers. However, since the vines soon die, if the flowers are not gath- ered, it requires almost daily care to keep a good crop of flow- ers in bloom. Asters and Cosmos are the popular fall a,nnuals and are justly so. Both require little attention and reward one with a profusion of gorgeous colored blooms during the fall. The students should add to this list of annuals, giving their experience in the past in raising the various kinds. Projects in Improving the Home and School Grounds. Every child naturally loves beautiful things and if given the chance, will work to secure them. If parents and teachers would but make use of this desire, many improvements could be made both in the home and school grounds. If any care to do so by writing to Stark Brothers, Louisiana, Mo.j many useful and valuable suggestions will be given them without charge in regard to beautifying home and school grounds. A group of skilled landscape gardeners are kept who will personally answer any questions and submit drawings if desired of proposed improvements in lawns. It is suggested that teachers form clubs whose aims will be to undertake and carry out certain improvements around the school grounds.