wmm^ OF ND LIFE •ngr.V"i«>»J'<'-/t?V in IS aass__Sf ^r Book JC% Copyri§htl^°_4 1 7 . 2. . cassmam ceposac FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING AND FARM LIFE FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING AND FARM LIFE FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING AND FARM LIFE BY EDWIN JACKSON KYLE, B.S., B.S.A., M.S.A. Professor of Horticulture and Dean of the School of Agriculture, The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, AND ALEXANDER CASWELL ELLIS, A.B., Ph.D. Professor of the Philosophy of Education, The University of Texas. ILLUSTRATED CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON Copyright, 1912. 1922, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS DEn^'22 )C1AG90763 ^ I PREFACE While there have been great strides in recent years in the development of text-books on elementary agriculture, the best texts are still unsatisfactory in many ways. The defects complained of arise largely out of the fact that these texts are usually prepared by busy scientists who, though they may know agriculture, have made little study of the mental proc- esses of children, have had little or no experience in teaching children, and are not very familiar with the exact conditions in the schools in which the texts are to be used. The result is that the subject-matter has not always been wisely chosen in the light of children's natural interests and needs, nor has the subject-matter that was chosen been organized in a care- ful, pedagogical manner, by starting always with the known, leading to the unknown through the known, and making the study a closely knit, coherent, living whole. Indeed, several of the texts are mere collections of articles on a dozen or more varied topics written by specialists in different institutions and without any common plan of organization or method of pres- entation. The children are not introduced gradually to the new technical terms, nor are proper apperceptive bases first laid before attempting to present the more complex processes of plant or animal growth. It was thought that by combining the efforts of the agri- cultural professor with those of the pedagogue it would be VI PREFACE possible to provide a text-book on elementary agriculture that would have the advantage of the accuracy and scholar- ship of the specialist in agriculture, and have also the organi- zation and pedagogical manner of presentation given to it by the specialist in education familiar with the conditions in the rural schools. All of the chapters were therefore first pre- pared on a uniform general plan by experts in the several fields and turned in to the pedagogical editor, who attempted to put each chapter into more teachable form and to organize the whole. It is believed that because of the carefully graded steps in the subject-matter, the preparation that is always provided for each new subject, and the simple language used the pupil can in this text cover with little difficulty much more ground and learn more complicated processes than he can with the usual text. It was also the purpose of the authors to provide a book that did not stop with giving mere advice about farm prac- tices to be memorized by the pupils, but taught first of all the fundamental principles of plant and animal growth and reproduction and of soil management. In this way the pupils are made able to understand the reasons for farm practices and to criticise any old or new practice independently. By emphasizing these far-reaching principles first, the thousand and one details of practice in the study of farm crops and animal husbandry which are later given become a matter for simple reasoning instead of a mere dead weight to be carried in memory. In order still further to develop the powers of observation, exercise the reason, and connect the lessons with the daily life and home needs of the pupils, lists of suggestive questions, exercises, and problems are provided for each subject. PREFACE Vll It is an astonishing fact that no text-book has given to the work of the farmer girls and farmers' wives more than a pass- ing mention. Undoubtedly, the conditions in the country schools make this problem difficult, but it is believed that, with the aid of the experts in domestic economy and rural teaching who generously co-operated, a very valuable be- ginning has been made in this text in enabling the school to give somewhat the same preparation for her life work on the farm to the farmer girl that is now given to the farmer boy. We have in general tried to broaden the conception of the course in elementary agriculture from that of a mere treatise on raising plants and animals for sale to that of a means of preparation for living intelligently and happily, as well as profitably, on the farm. It is a great pleasure to express here our appreciation of the assistance generously given by our colleagues in prepar- ing this book. Members of the faculty of the Agricultural and Me- chanical College of Texas prepared material for chapters as follows: Professor J. C. Burns, Professor of Animal Hus- bandry, the chapters on animal husbandry, cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, and the care and feeding of animals; Professor J. 0. Morgan, Professor of Agronomy, the chapters on farm crops and manures, fertilizers and rotation; Professor J. W. Ridgeway, Professor of Dairy Husbandry, the chapter on the care of milk and its products; Professor C. M. Evans, Superintendent of Agricultural Extension, the chapter on silos; Professor R. J. Potts, Professor of Highway Engineer- ing, the chapter on roads; Instructor E. F. Ferrin, the chapter on poultry. In every case the limits of an ele- mentary text necessitated cutting down and modifying the VIU PREFACE valuable material and illustrations furnished. Assistance in securing illustrations or criticism and suggestions were also received from Professors G. S. Fraps, State Chemist; Wilmon Newell, State Entomologist; G. S. Templeton, S. A. McMillan, and Harper Dean. From the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Pro= lessor H. Ness gave assistance through criticism and sug- gestion, and Director B. Youngblood and Mr. J. M. John- son, Expert in Farm Management of the United States Department of Agriculture, stationed in Texas, prepared the material for the chapter on farm planning and ac- counting. Of the faculty of the University of Texas we are indebted for valuable criticism and suggestions on the first twenty- eight pages to Professor F. DeF. Heald; on plant growth, reproduction, and soils to Dr. I. McK. Lewis; on plant growth, farm crops, the garden, orchard, and shade-trees, and plant enemies to Instructor C. H. Winkler. The ma- terial for the chapter on the soils and climate of Texas was prepared by Professor F. W. Simonds, Professor of Geology; that for the chapters on the farm home and farm sanitation, home and school grounds, the preparation and use of foods, cooking in the one-room country school and sewing in the one-room country school was taken from the manuscripts of forthcoming Bulletins of the University prepared by Miss Mary E. Gearing, Professor of Domestic Economy; Miss Amanda Stoltzfus, Lecturer on Rural Schools, and Mrs. Mary Heard Ellis. To Mr. H. B. Beck, University land- scape gardener, we are indebted for valuable suggestions on yard plants and plantings. We are also indebted to Professor O, S. Morgan, of Co- PREFACE Di lumbia University, for very helpful criticisms and suggesti^s on many of the chapters. While the authors would make every acknowledgment to their generous colleagues for the excellence of the material in the several chapters, we wish to accept entire responsibility for any inadequacy or inaccuracy that may have resulted from the revision and reduction of the material to its present form. The many acknowledgments due for courtesies in the use of illustrative material are made in the body of the text. To Mr. D. T. Stephens we are indebted for the preparation of a large part of the drawings in the first four chapters, and to Miss Florence Rhine for several drawings in later chapters. We wish to express also our appreciation of the great assist- ance given by both the editorial and art departments of the publishers. E. J. Kyle. A. Caswell Ellis. Austin, Texas, August 1, 1912. PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION Ten years of increasing use in the schoolroom and farm home have demonstrated the soundness of the material and the plan of organization of this text, so that for this new edition few changes were needed in the essential chapters. The lists of references have been thoroughly revised; the chapter on poultry has been rewritten to include new and valuable material. The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Professor T. J. Conway of the A. & M. College of Texas for valuable assistance in the revision of the chapter on poultry, and to Professors J. O. Morgan, A. T. Potts, G. S. Temple- ton, S. W. Bilsing, and J. A. Clutter for assistance in revising the references for further study. E. J. Kyle. A. Caswell Ellis. College Station, Texas, September 1, 1922. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER While the school should not try to force farmers' sons to become farmers, any more than it should force doctors' sons to become doctors, or merchants' sons to become merchants, it should at least stop leading the farmer's children directly away from the country and into the town. The teacher should encourage the natural interest w^hich both country boys and girls, and town boys and girls, have in growing plants and animals; should show them how agriculture is receiving the best thought of many of the most intelligent men and women in the world; how it offers to them not merely a happy and useful life, but as great a field for the exercise of intelligence and character and the application of scientific methods as do commerce, law, medicine, or any other field of effort. If the subject is fairly presented in both town and country schools it will attract not only such farmers' sons and daughters as are suited to farm life, but other children whose talents lie in this direction. Whether one ever engages in farming or not, his sympathies and out- look in life and his usefulness as a citizen will be vastly broadened by a well-planned study of the problems of agriculture. Before one begins to teach agriculture or any other sub- ject, he should get a clear idea of the ends to be attained in teaching that subject. With no definite end in view, one xi xii SUGGESTIONS FOB THE TEACHER wanders aimlessly about, arriving nowhere. With wrong conceptions of the aim of the course, the teacher may greatly injure the minds of the children he is guiding. Is the aim of the school course in agriculture to teach children certain facts and principles concerning farming and to have them gain a certain amount of skill in farm operations? Undoubtedly it is; but this is not all. Those children who will be farmers will be something else besides; they will be human beings with rich and varied mental ca- pacities that need exercise and opportunity to develop. In a word, the farmer is a man, and his course in agriculture should not only teach him about farming operations, but such subject-matter should be selected, and such methods employed in teaching, that, while he learns his agriculture, he learns also to use effectively his mental and moral powers, and to understand better his relation to his neigh- bors, to nature, and to the Author of nature. As an inheritance of the Middle Ages, men held for many centuries the absurd idea that man's greatest powers, such as imagining, conceiving, generalizing, and reasoning, were best trained when studying a certain small set of subjects that had no immediate, practical application in life, such as ancient languages and formal logic. The fact that in the study of a certain subject the truths learned or the skill acquired had such application seemed in their eyes to take away from the study its power to broaden the mind. For this reason certain subjects were spoken of as giving culture, and others that gave immediately practical knowledge were supposed to give no culture, or even to be opposed to cult- ure. Now, this is a totally false way of looking at the mat- ter. The fact that knowledge is, or is not, of immediate use SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER Xlil is not what determines its value in cultivating and broaden- ing a child's mind. The essential question is, Does the knowledge in question broaden his sympathies, refine his taste, develop his imagination and reason, and give him a new tool, new method, or new principle that he can use for further thinking in this or in other fields? Teaching the bare fact that something happened in Rome on a certain date is not giving the child culture, but pointing out the deadly results of animal gratification and of the unworthy use of wealth in Rome teaches a lesson that has applications all through a child's life and is of the highest cultural value. Just so, teaching the child the bare fact that a certain fer- tilizer is good for cotton, and a certain food good for hogs, has no special cultural value, and may have very little value for his future farming; but helping him to learn how plants and animals grow and are nourished, and to apply these principles to cotton or pig culture, gives him a kind of men- tal exercise that will help him in all similar problems in life. Moreover, it gives him certain general principles of feeding and of growth that will make his thinking clearer when later he tries to care intelligently for his own body or provide for his family or his nation. It is not the subject you are teach- ing that determines whether you are cultivating the minds of your pupils, but the character of the subject-matter selected within that subject and the methods employed in teaching it. For this reason great care has been exercised in this book to select those great but simple, far-reaching principles that underlie successful farming and farm life, and to show by concrete observations how these principles apply, instead of teaching merely unrelated facts and con- crete methods of doing farm work. Don't require pupils to XIV SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER memorize all the varieties of cane or milo, or all the sec- tions in which each crop is raised, or the exact numbers of hogs in Iowa, or the exact limits of weights for Tamworths, or other such details. The exact figures and other details are given in the text merely to round out the picture for the child when studying, to give definiteness and to increase interest. It is worse than a waste of the child's time to have him memorize from day to day masses of details which he forgets in less than a week. The needed details regarding a few crops and animals especially important for the neighborhood may be thoroughly mastered and held in mind by reviews. We would urge the teacher not to be satisfied with merely getting the children to understand the explanations and our illustrations, but always to stimulate them to exercise their own reasoning powers by finding other applications of these principles in their own experience or observation. To help the teacher, we have provided all through the book sugges- tive questions and problems for the pupils. Insist on the pupils thinking these answers out, or working them out for themselves. Don't tell them the answers, but help them to think for themselves. We have provided also definite ob- servation problems and tests and experiments, so that pupils may get practice in reading and following directions, in observing carefully, in recording accurately their observa- tions, and in drawing rational conclusions. We have care- fully selected such problems and experiments as are not beyond the powers of the fifth or sixth grade boy or girl. While it is difficult for children at the beginning to carry out directions carefully, record observations accurately, and reason clearly, most of them soon learn to do these things SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER XV if required to do so and if properly encouraged. The exer- cise of their new power and the recognition of their own new strength give them great pleasure and increase their interest in the work. Each child should have his own note- book, and keep it carefully all through the course. Remem- ber that the children get new power by doing and thinking things out for themselves, and not from the teacher's doing things for them or telling them about what others have done. It takes more time and intelligence on the part of the teacher at first to get the children to do things right themselves, and to think for themselves, than it does to do things for them and think for them; but when the pupils have once learned to think and do for themselves, they progress more and more rapidly as they go, whereas, by the other plan, they get weaker and weaker and need more help as the course advances. A child that has germinated a seed, marked the root and stem according to directions, watched to find out how each grows, and has written a record of his observation, will not only remember the results easily, but will be better able to work out some other new problem for himself; whereas the child that merely reads about how roots and stems grow, or is told about it by the teacher, is likely soon to forget it, and is no more able to work out a new problem at the end of his course than he was at the start. Again, the course in agriculture should be correlated with the other work of the school. The lessons in agriculture should help the spelling and reading work by requiring cor- rect spelling in the note-books and papers, and by having the children read interesting bulletins and nature poems and literary masterpieces dealing with farm life and the country. XVI SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER They should help the geography study by arousing interest in such questions as the relation of climate to production, the arithmetic study by sums in farm mathematics, and all science classes by pointing out the practical applications of the principles of these sciences in the daily work of life. In fact, agriculture properly taught enriches and enlivens every other study in the school by helping to connect these with the daily life and daily needs of the pupils. It gives the pupils not only facts and principles that will help them to get greater returns from their labor on the farm, but it starts new lines of interest and opens up to the young minds broad fields for future study in the varied sciences, some of whose principles they have learned to appreciate in their study of agriculture. It is hardly possible for any average child to work all of the problems, perform all of the experiments, make all of the observations, and write all of the reports suggested in the book. Circumstances and local conditions are so varied that no single set would suit all equally well. The large number given makes it easy to find a set suited to practically any condition. A part of the experiments may be performed by the teacher as demonstrations before the class, part may be omitted when first going through the book and given on the review, thus giving freshness to the work. At times it will be well to assign one part of the problems and observa- tions to one set of pupils, and one to another, and let each report to the whole class. Sometimes it would be best for only one pupil to try out a problem in his home plat and let all observe the results. Other observations and reports are better made by the class as a whole in company with the teacher, especially those demanding visits or rambles over SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER Xvil the neighborhood. It is especially desirable to have the children work on the problems at home. In this home study, free discussion with parents should not only be allowed but encouraged. When strong differences of opinion are devel- oped, do not try to settle the matter by argument, or by assumption of infallibility, but arrange a definite experi- ment and test the matter in the experimental garden, and have the boy do the same in his home plat. At times par- ents will not agree with your teachings. This is no reason for worry. Don't set yourself up to know it all, and don't treat your patrons' views with disrespect. State your reasons for your views and then decline to argue, but agree to put the matter to an experimental test. Making such an experiment will be a most valuable lesson for both pupil and parent. Always encourage the planting of the home patch by each child, and have him carry out in this patch work similar to that done in the school garden, and also larger operations than can well be undertaken in the school garden. The work in agriculture should be a uniting link between the home and the school. The child should carry into the home through his text-book, his home problems, and his home patch all the valuable things that he learns in the school, and the school thus become the centre of interest to which both children and parents look for information and guidance. CONTENTS FAGB Preface, v Suggest; ONS FOR THE Teacher xi CHAPTER I. Introductory 1 II. Plant Growth 10 III. How Plants Are Reproduced 46 IV. The Soil 75 V. Manures, Fertilizers, and RotxVtion . . . 107 VI. Tillage and Farm Implements 134 VII. Farm Crops 151 VIII. The Garden 205 IX. School Garden and Farm 223 X. Fruit-Growing and Shade-Trees .... 236 XI. Plant Enemies 258 XII. Animal Husbandry and Cattle . . , . .291 XIII. The Care of Milk and Its Products . . . 335 XIV. Horses 346 XV. Sheep 366 XVI. Hogs . . 385 XVII. Poultry 400 xix XX CONTENTS CHAPTEK PAGE XVIII. The Care and Feeding of Animals .... 412 XIX. Farm Planning and Accounting .... 427 Appendix I. Roads . 439 Appendix II. Silos 446 Appendix III. Boys' Corn Clubs and Corn-Judging . 448 Appendix IV. Tables 456 Glossary 460 Index .......... 463 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Frontispiece : Tilling the soil — the old way. TilHng the soil — the new way. The farmer sustains all Modern tomatoes and the originals from which they were developed The wooden plow of our early ancestors The "Oil Pull" gang plow . The old long horn and Prince Welton, champion two old Hereford year- Jerry Moore, the corn-club boy, and part of the 228 bushels of corn raised by him on one acre in 1910 Different types of so-called seeds An opened bean-seed that has been soaked Seed germinators made of two plates . The rag-doll germinator The sand-box germinator . The root hairs of a young radish-plant The root hair penetrating the soil The cross-section of a small root An easy method of studying the working of osmosis The method of planting seeds at different depths that their growth may be watched A young bean-plant just coming up A woody stem with terminal and lateral buds PAGE 2 7 11 12 12 13 14 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 XXU ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 20. An easy method of catching some of the water transpired by a plant 25 21. A cross-section of a leaf 26 22. A simplified diagram to illustrate the carrying of food ma- terials 29 23. A quarter of the stem of a tree 32 24. The cross-section of a young stem 34 25. The working of capillary attraction 36 26. Various types of familiar cells . . . . » . 37 27. Cell division 38 28. Healing tissue that the plant throws out to cover a wound . 38 29. The mass of adventitious buds thrown out by a hickory . 39 30. Roots and stems marked so as to study growth ... 43 31. A peach-blossom cut in two and a morning-glory ... 47 32. The process of fertilization of the ovule by the pollen . . 48 33. Male and female flowers of the pecan 49 34. The manner in which insects help to fertihze some flowers . 51 35. The effect produced by hybridization of two different kinds of squash 52 36. Cotton and tomato blooms prepared for cross-fertilization . 53 37. The crossed stigma covered with bag and labelled . . 54 38. The wide range of variation shown in plants from seeds of the daisy 55 39. Kale, cabbage, and cauliflower, and the original plant from which they came 57 40. Reid's yellow dent corn 58 41. Reproduction of blue grass by stolons .... 60 42. The Irish potato and the enlarged underground stems or tubers 60 ILLUSTRATIONS XXlll riGTJRB PAGE 43. A layered tip of raspberry taking root .... 61 44. The method of propagating grapes by layering ... 61 45. Cuttings of rose, grape, and fig, and proper position of cut- ting in soil 62 46. A rooted begonia-leaf cutting 63 47. The method of making the whip or tongue graft ... 64 48. The process of cleft-grafting 65 49. A young cleft graft of pecan growing on a hickory . . 66 50. The steps in the proper method of shield-budding . , 68 51. The stages of ring-budding and a young ring bud growing . 69 52. A shortened and more convenient form of standard ring- budding tool 70 53. The new growth from buds placed on top of an old pecan which was sawed off for that purpose . . . .71 54. Illustration of how the films of capillary water pass from particle to particle in the soil 81 55. Experiment to illustrate the effect upon growth of the air in water 82 56. Comparison of soil with humus and dust mulch with soil without either 83 57. An inexpensive equipment for testing the water-holding capacity of soils 86 58. An inexpensive equipment for testing the capillary rise of water in soils 88 59. Illustration of how the dust mulch prevents the rise of water to the surface of the soil 89 60. An irrigation canal on the Pecos River at Rock Cut . . 91 61. A flowing well in Glen Rose, Texas, and a pumped well near Midland, Texas 94 62. The method of laying tile drains 97 XXIV ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE FA6XI 63. An inexpensive home-made level with which terraces may be laid out 100 64. Diagram showing amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash used by 1,000 pounds of cotton-seed and by 500 pounds of lint cotton 107 65. Comparison of production of corn with horse manure and without fertilizer ....... 108 66. Proper and improper methods of saving manure . . .112 67. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the cells of root tubercle of a legume ......... 115 68. Tubercles on roots of soy-bean . . . . . .116 69. Illustration to show that the limit of the crop is set by the most deficient food element 117 70. The effect of the absence of nitrogen, potassium, or phos- phorus 121 71. Millet grown with and without potassium chloride . . 123 72. Comparison of production of corn grown without fertilizer and that grown with potassium chloride . . . 124 73. Diagram showing yield of wheat with and without rotation at Rothamsted Experiment Station .... 128 74. Effect of plowing upon the soil 136 75. Effect of the curve of the plow 137 76. Planting '.n wet and in dry soil 138 77. Four types of plows 139 78. Disk sulky plow_ 140 79. Disk harrow 141 80. Spike-tooth harrow 141 81. Acme harrow . o 142 82. Plank drag 142 83. Fourteen- tooth harrow , . 142 ILLUSTRATIONS XXV riGUHE PAGE 84. Five-tooth harrow ....... 143 85. Two-row sulky cultivator 143 86. Single corn and cotton planter 144 87. Double sulky corn and cotton planter 144 88. Manure spreader 145 89. Combination garden tool 145 90. Corn shredder and silo filler in operation .... 146 91. The use of an engine on the farm 147 92. Cotton leaves and cotton bolls, upland and sea island . . 153 93. Relative lengths of different varieties of cotton . . . 154 94. Cotton-stalk thirty-three inches high 155 95. A good stalk of cotton 156 96. A poor stalk of cotton 157 97. Yield of seed and lint from selected and unselected cotton- seed 158 98. Field of cotton in Cherokee County, Texas . , . 159 99. Boone County white corn and the corn from which it was developed 164 100. Differences in stalks due to differences in seeds . . . 165 101. Differences in yield of corn due to differences in seeds . . 166 102. The results of test of fifteen ears of corn .... 167 103. Comparative yield of five highest and five lowest yielding ears at Story County, Iowa, station .... 169 104. Differences in oats due to differences in seeds . . .171 105. The root system of corn 173 106. Heads of milo maize and Kafir corn from near Dalworth, Texas 175 107. Field of milo maize from near San Benito, Texas , . 176 XXVI ILLUSTRATIONS riGXJRE 108. Effect of bacteria on the growth of red clover 109. Pea-nut plant from the Panhandle 110. Gathering and stacking pea-nuts 111. Cow-peas in corn rows in Johnson County, Texas 112. Field of cow-peas , . . 113. Soy-bean field 114. An alfalfa-plant only a few months old 115. Stem of sugar-cane 116. Field of sugar-cane at La Feria, Texas 117. Types of rice 118. Five-year breeding plan for cotton or other crop 119. Plan for a half-acre garden .... 120. A home-made garden reel .... 121. A home-made sled marker .... 122. A horse cultivator for garden use 123. An inexpensive wheel hoe .... 124. A hot-bed 125. Tomato-plants ready for setting in the field 126. Handy box for use in seeding or transplanting in 127. The right and the wrong way to set out plants wi 128. Transplanting . . . . . 129. Onions trimmed ready for transplanting 130. Paper and tin shields for young plants 131. A good layout for a half-acre school garden 132. A good planting plan for the pupil's individual plot 133. PAGE 179 180 181 183 185 186 187 194 195 197 200 207 208 209 211 212 213 214 the hot-bed 214 th a dibber 215 216 217 220 224 224 A view in the practice school garden at the University of Texas 225 ILLUSTRATIONS XXVU PIGtrRE PAOB 134. A good set of tools . . . ] 226 135. A good showing; a happy boy 227 136. School-boys' corn, school farm, Uvalde, Texas . . . 227 137. A view of the school farm, Bonham, Texas .... 228 138. Home-canned fruit on a Texas farm 237 139. A four-year-old fig orchard at Algoa, Texas . . . 238 140. Planting in squares 240 141. The equilateral triangle-planting plan .... 240 142. The effect of dynamiting upon the root system of a tree . 241 143. Pruning nursery trees ........ 243 144. A tree pruned to direct growth 244 145. The right way to cut off the old stem 244 146. The Munson system of grape culture 245 147. A young vine that shows how grapes flourish in the South- west 246 148. Clean cultivation 247 149. Peas in the middles 247 150. Gathering apples . 248 151. A young fruiting pecan-tree 249 152. Right and wrong method of cutting large limb from a tree . 250 153. Decayed tree after and before being filled with concrete . 252 154. School-boys grafting an apple-tree ..... 253 155. An inexpensive cage in which to keep insects for study . . 258 156. Effect of spraying black rot on grapes 259 157. The Colorado potato-beetle 260 158. The cotton-boll weevil c « « • • • . 261 XXVlll ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURB PAGE 159. A square punctured by boll-weevil and a weevil maturing within the boll 261 160. Chart showing the spread of the cotton-boll weevil , . 263 161. The cabbage-worm 264 162. Nymph and empty pupa skin of grasshopper . . . 265 163. A typical insect 266 164. A bucket spray pump 267 165. A barrel spraying apparatus 268 166. A power spraying apparatus 269 167. Apples from a sprayed tree 270 168. The foods of some helpful birds and wild animals . . .271 169. San Jose scale 273 170. Lady-bird beetle 274 171. Wheat rust 275 172. Peach mummy caused by brown rot 276 173. The bacteria that cause pear blight 277 174. Spores of brown rot of peach 277 175. Potato infected with scab, and sound potato . . . 278 176. Ordinary cotton and Dillon wilt resistant cotton . . 279 177. Good and bad farming 292 178. Inferior feeder, choice feeder, and fat steer .... 295 179. Points of the beef animal 298 180. Wholesale cuts on the steer 301 181. Shorthorn bull 304 182. Champion Hereford bull 306 183. Aberdeen-Angus bull c e 307 184. Galloway bull 309 ILLUSTRATIONS XXIX FIGURK PAGE 185. Points of the dairy COW 311 186. Blood supply of the udder 314 187. Colantha Fourth's Johanna, showing typical wedge shape of the dairy cow 316 188. The wedge when viewed from above or in front . . . 317 189. Champion Jersey bull 319 190. Jersey cow 321 191. Guernsey cow 323 192. Ayrshire cow 325 193. Red polled cow 329 194. Cattle tick depositing eggs 331 195. Plan of ridding ranch of cattle ticks 332 196. Pure and impure milk as they appear under the microscope . 335 197. Progeny of a single germ in milk in twelve hours . . 336 198. Sanitary and unsanitary pails 337 199. Sanitary cow barn 338 200. Cross-section of dairy barn 339 201. Model dairy barn, Wisconsin State fair grounds . . . 340 202. Milk-testing set 343 203. Points of the horse 347 204. Thoroughbred trotting horse 349 205. APercheron 353 206. A Clydesdale 356 207. A five-gaited saddle-horse 358 208. A French coach stallion 359 209. A hackney stallion . . « 330 210. A Belgian stalHon 361 XXX ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 211. A Shire stallion 362 212. A good team of mules 363 213. Points of the sheep 367 214. Mutton cuts on sheep . 368 215. Method of judging sheep 370 216. Method of judging sheep 371 217. A wether in fleece . 373 218. A wether shorn 374 219. Good mutton type 376 220. Types of sheep 379 221. Types of sheep 380 222. Angora buck 382 223. Wholesale pork cuts on live animal 386 224. Wholesale pork cuts on carcass 387 225. Points of the hog 388 226. Tamworthsow 391 227. Lard type of hogs .393 228. Wigwam hog cot 395 229. Litter mates 397 230. Eggs from the average hen and eggs from a good-laying hen 401 231. Chicken with strong constitution and chicken with weak constitution 402 232. Convenient feeding and watering devices .... 403 233. Model chicken-house 405 234. Sources and uses of various elements 415 235. A one-hundred-and-sixty-acre farm poorly planned , . 428 236. Same farm replanned 429 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 237. Fac-simile of page in farm diary 238. Copy of page in farm diary 239. Cross-sections of earth road 240. A good road 241. A road before and after use of split-log drag 242. A good form of split-log drag 243. Boys' Corn-Club exhibit .... 244. Boys' Corn Club 245. Boys and Girls' Milo Club 246. A member of the canning club . 247. An exhibit of the Girls' Canning Club's work 248. Good butt and tip . . . ... 249. Two excellent ears 250. Good and poor ears 251. Shapes of kernels XXXI PAGE 433 435 440 441 443 444 448 449 449 450 451 451 453 453 454 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING AND FARM LIFE CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY 1. Agriculture the Most Important of All Industries. — Agriculture is the most important of all industries, because it is the one without which none of the others could exist. If the farmer produced no crops everybody would starve, ex- cept the few who could live on wild plants and dress in ani- mal skins. If the farmer grew no crops the railroads would have practically nothing to haul, the factories would have practically no material out of which to manufacture their goods, the merchants would have practically nothing to sell, and nobody would have money with which to buy, the lawyers would have no clients who could pay them, and the doctors, preachers, and teachers would all have to starve with the rest or live like the savage. The farmer is the foundation of our civilization, for, when he fails to support them, all the other occupations fall to the ground. 2. How Agriculture Has Developed. — Agriculture is al- most as old as the human race. The early savage learned first to eat the plants and fruits as they grew wild, and to catch and eat the wild animals. Then he learned to tame and use, that is, to domesticate (do-mes'ti-kat), the wild n FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING animals. These herds of domesticated animals were driven from place to place as the food or water supply was used up in one place. Later, man learned to gather the seed of wild plants, and to sow and cultivate patches of those plants that gave him food or clothing. These were planted on one spot till it would no longer yield a good crop, and then the man or tribe moved over to another spot and let the old one grow wild again. This is the way the savage farmed. Next, man learned that, by plowing the weeds and grass under and let- ting the land rest a year he could again produce a good crop on it. This is called the bare fallow. Then man learned that by putting manure on the soil he could continue to get good crops on the same land. Next, it was found that the planting of a certain kind of crop one year would make the land give a bigger yield of some other crop the following year. This is rotation (ro-ta'shiin) of crops. You will learn more about this when you study the lesson on crop rotation. Finally, man found just what the different plants were made of, and Fig. 2. The farmer .sustains all. INTEODUCTORY 3 learned that the few ch(;micals that the growing plant takes out or the soil could be gathered from other places on the earth and put into the ground ready for the young plant to use in growing. These chemicals that are put into the ground for the plant to feed on are called fertilizers. 3. Agriculture Enables the Earth to Support More People. —The earth could support only a few people when all de- FiG. 3. Numbers 1 and 3 represent the original tomatoes from which our Hue modern tomatoes, 2 and 4, have been developed. pended upon wild plants and animals for food. It could support more when cultivated as the savage cultivated it, or with the bare fallow; after better methods of cultivation, the use of manure, of fertilizers, and of crop rotation had been discovered, it became possible to use all the land year after year, and to support a great many times as many people as could formerly be supported. 4. Greatest Improvements in Agriculture Have Come in Recent Years. — While for thousands of years a gradual improvement in agriculture has been going on, there has been an especially rapid improvement during the past hun- dred years, since farm matters have been studied more carefully. Better kinds of plants and animals have been FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING developed, better farm tools invented, better methods of tillage dis- covered, new ways of killing crop pests learned. Fig. 4. The wooden plow of our early better WayS of harvest- ancestors. . . Courtesy of the U. S. Department of ing, preserving, and gricuture. marketing the crops, and dozens of other things. A good example of the way plants have been improved by study and careful breeding is found in the sugar beet. The best sugar beets in 1812 yielded only eight pounds of sugar per hundred pounds of beets. So much better kinds have been bred that the average for the United States in 1907 was twelve and nine- tenths pounds of sugar per hundred pounds of beets, and an especially fine kind gave twenty-two pounds per hundred. Fig. 5. The'" Oil Pull" Gang Plow which, in a demonstration in 1911, with three engines, did the work of 100 men, 200 horses, and 50 plows, plowing 14 acres an hour at a fuel cost of 6i cents per acre. Courtesy of the Oliver Plow Co. Pig. 6. The old long horn and I'rince Welton, champion two-year-old Hereford. 6 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING By applying in similar manner to animals the principles of breeding, we have produced the big Durham and Hereford cattle, and the fine Jersey and Holstein cows in place of the little wild scrub stock, and have the fine Poland-China, Duroc-Jersey, and Berkshire hogs that grow as large in six months as the old wild hogs used to grow in six years. The American Indian used to cultivate his crop with a clam shell tied to a pole. The early settlers used a wooden plow. Then the iron plow was invented, then the sulky plow, and finally the great steam plow that opens a dozen fur- rows at once and at the same time grubs out the brush. Our grandfather thought his new iron plow, with which, by hard labor, he could cultivate an acre a day, was a won- der. Now, his grandson can ride and more easily cultivate fifteen acres a day with his double-row sulky cultivator. By methods used in 1830, it took sixty-four hours of a man's labor to produce an acre of wheat; in 1900 it took just two hours and fifty-eight minutes. Our improved methods and machinery enable one man to cultivate on the farm about what it took five to cultivate in 1850. In the same way the study of the last few years has taught us to stop cutting corn roots by deep plowing, to keep a dust mulch on the ground to hold in the moisture, and scores of other valuable lessons. 5. Corn Made in Spite of Drought. — By using newly dis- covered methods of conserving the moisture in the soil, farmers have raised in west Texas twenty-five bushels of corn per acre with only one-half inch of rainfall from plant- ing to harvest, and forty bushels with one and a half inches of rain. Fifty years ago not a grain of corn could have been produced with that little rain. INTRODUCTORY 7 6. What You Will Learn in this Course. — As we go on from chapter to chapter, you will learn how these things are done. You will also learn how to use the little bacteria (bak-te'ri-a), that are so small you can not see them with the naked eye, to gather plant food out of the air for your Fig. 7. Jerry Moore, the com club boy, and part of the 228f bushels of corn raised by him on one acre in 1910. plants, how to make your fields richer and richer each year, how to gather and market your crop to better advantage, how to procure for your farm home the comforts of the city home, with all the quiet joys of the country, too, and you will learn scores of other interesting and helpful things. 7. What Dr. Knapp's Boys Have Done. — Dr. Knapp, the well-known government expert in agriculture who started our demonstration farms, corn clubs, hog clubs, and canning 8 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING clubs, says that we can yet make the average yield from our land eight times what it is. This sounds impossible, but it is not. Right at the start, the farmers on Dr. Knapp's demonstration farms, by using better methods, are reported to have raised on the average in 1911 S5 per cent more cotton and 93 per cent more corn per acre than their neigh- bors made. The little corn club boys also have learned how to beat their fathers raising corn. Jerry Moore, a South Carolina boy, raised 228f bushels on one acre; an eleven- year-old Missouri boy raised 222 bushels, and an Alabama boy 212 bushels. In 1911 in Louisiana ten boys raised an average of 120^ bushels of corn to the acre, at an average cost of 19 cents per bushel, with an average profit of S67.70 per acre. One boy produced 150f bushels to the acre, at a cost of 16i\ cents a bushel. Ira Smith, in Arkansas, raised 119 bushels on an acre, at a cost of only 8 cents a bushel; and Floyd Gaynor, a fifteen-year-old Oklahoma boy, raised 95 bushels to the acre, at a cost of 8 cents a bushel. That year was an extraordinarily hard year for corn in Texas, many old and successful farmers not raising an ear; yet thirty-one of Dr. Knapp's boys in west Texas produced an average of 60 bushels per acre, at an average cost of 24 cents a bushel. Sixty-five Texas boys raised over 50 bushels to the acre, and eleven-year-old Johnnie Bryant raised 114 bushels. 8. What You Can Do.— What has been done by a few in corn raising can be done by every intelligent boy, not only with corn, but with all other crops. But to do this you must learn the secrets of nature, how plants grow, how they feed themselves from soil and air, how they are bred and improved, how to protect them from their enemies, how to INTllODUCTORY 9 use labor-saving tools and devices, how to improve your soil from year to year, how to keep your stock strong and healthy, how to keep your farm home attractive and keep yourselves healtfey, happy, and eager for work, how to gather and market your crops, and how to keep your farm accomits so that you will know just which crops pay best for your labor and time. To learn everything about all of these is the work of a lifetime, or many lifetimes, but in this first course you will learn the most important facts and general principles, and will learn how to study these farm problems for yourselves in the future. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 1. Do you know any one who farms now the way the savage farmed? 2. Give an account of some one in your neighborhood who has used the bare fallow. Can you find out how much was produced on the land the year before the* fallow, and how much the yea-r following? 3. Can you give an actual case of manuring land, and tell how much manure per acre was used, and what increase it produced in the crop? (Be sure that the manure caused the increase. How could you make sure that the manure caused the increase?) 4. Give an actual case of some one who practises rotation, and tell what crops make up the rotation. Can you get any figures showing how much the rotation helped the land? 5. If a farmer had more land than he could use, what would he gain by raising fifty bushels of corn on one acre rather than twenty- five bushels per acre on two acres? 6. Name all the ways in which the people would have to get food and clothing if all the farms failed entirely for a year. CHAPTER II PLANT GROWTH 9. What We Are to Learn. — You have now seen some of the wonderful advances that have been made in agriculture, and learned that still greater improvements can yet be made. This past progress was made possible by first learning how plants grew, how they got their food, and how they multi- plied, how they were improved by breeding, how they were affected by favorable and unfavorable conditions, and so on. Let us now learn these laws of plant growth ourselves. Then we shall understand the reasons for doing the things we now do in raising our crops, and shall be able to think out still better methods in the future. In this chapter you will learn how the plant starts from the little seed, how it gets strength to burst its coat, how it gets food materials from the earth and from the air, how it forms its different parts, and how each of these parts helps the plant in its growing, how the roots take the crude food materials from the soil, how this food material is carried through the stem up to the leaves, how it is made into plant food in the leaves and other parts of the plant, so that it can be used by the plant in building more plant substance, and then how the prepared food is distributed to all parts of the plant. We shall also learn how the plant produces a new seed or a new plant, and how we can by breeding and selection make this new plant different from and better than the old one. 10 PLANT GROWTH 11 10. The Seed. — As most farm plants are raised from seed, let us begin with the seed. Many so-called seeds are not simply seeds, but are fruits, or parts of fruits, containing one or more seeds. The so-called seeds vary in many ways. Some are large as an egg, such as the alligator-pear's; others Fig. 8. Different types of so-called seeds, which are in reality true seeds with parts of the fruit adhering. are smaller than the mustard-seed; some are encased in hard shells and hulls, like the hickory-nut; others are in- closed in soft pulpy substance like the orange-seed; some have soft down on them and float in the air, like the thistle- seed; while others have sharp spines like the cocklebur or the beggar-louse. But all seeds serve the same purpose of producing the new plant, and all true seeds are made up of three distinct parts. There is, first, an outside coat or seed- case, usually thin and tough, which protects the parts in- side. Second, there is the little embryo (em'bri-o). The embryo is the new plant itself, often showing plainly begin- 12 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING nings of a stem, leaf or leaves (called plu-mule), and root (called rad-i-cle). Third, there is a small mass of highly concentrated food, on which the embryo must feed till it can grow roots and leaves strong enough to gather its own food ma- terials directly from the earth and air, and manufacture them into plant food. This reserve food, as it is called, is made up chiefly of starch, sugar, protein, and oil, in varying proportions, and is the main part of the nuts and grains that we eat. In the pecan, it is the rich oily meat of the nut; in corn and wheat it is the white starchy part of the grain that makes our flour and meal. We also eat the little embryo. This embryo is easy to see in corn, where we call it the germ. 11. The Seed is Alive. — The dry, lifeless-looking seed is not a lifeless thing, like a chip of wood; but its living germ will never grow till the right conditions for its growth are Fig. 9. An opened bean- seed that has been soaked till the seed-case has softened and the seed begun to germinate. d is the cotyledon; e is the sprouting radicle; / is the plu- mule; g is the loosened seed- case. Fig, 10. This shows a seed germinator made of two plates and two layers of canton flannel or of blotting-paper. The cloth or paper is moistened thoroughly and the seeds laid between the folds. Then this is placed in one dish, a little water is added, and the other dish or a pane of glass used to cover and prevent evaporation. On the right is shown a modification of this, made by Inverting one deep dish in another containing water and then plac- ing the seeds between folds of a cloth which is placed on the bottom of the in- verted dish in such manner as to allow the edges of the cloth to hang down in the water. ri? 04 '!f ir il' ir 31^ is' II' II" If If %{ <»•• ti -«4 PLANT GROWTH 13 Fig. 11. The rag-doll germinator, consisting of a piece of canton flannel with a number of little squares, usually two or three inches square, marked on it with indeli- ble ink or pencil, and each niimbered. This is first moistened thoroughly, the seeds are laid on the squares, a record is made of what is on each square, and then the whole cloth rolled up, beginning with the darkly shaded part at the bottom. The shad- ing represents a damp sponge or rag, placed there to make the roll larger and easier to roll. When rolled up, the end of the "doll" is placed in a ves- sel of water, so that the cloth will soak up a con- stant supply of moisture for the seeds. supplied to it. In this state in whieh it is alive, but not active, it is called dormant (dor'mant). When the right conditions for growth are supplied the seed, it becomes active and begins to grow. The first growth is called gcr- inination (jer-mi-na'shiin) . 12. What Starts the Seed to Grow- ing. — ^Take a few seeds of the bean or other common plant and place them in a seed germinator. In from six to twelve hours you will notice that the beans have absorbed some water and increased in size. In a short time the seed-case bursts and a white sprout appears, which is the beginning of the new plantlet, or little plant. The seed has now begun to germinate. Let us see under what conditions a seed will germinate, and under what conditions it will not germinate; then we shall know what conditions to provide in the soil when we plant seeds. We can make three experiments and find out for ourselves what makes a seed ger- minate. 13. First Experiment. — Place six beans in a can of moist soil and keep it moist for a few days. Place six in a can of perfectly dry soil and keep it dry. When the beans in the moist soil have germinated, dig up those in the 14 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING dry soil and see what they have done. If you find that the beans in the dry soil have not germinated, and those in the moist have, what does this show about water being nec- essary for germination? If seeds must have moisture in Fig. 12. The sand-box germinator, which consists of a box about four inches deep with lioles in the bottom for the escape of water. Ttiis is filled half full of sand or sawdust and a cloth is laid over this and marked into squares. The seeds are placed on these squares and covered first with a cloth the size of the box and then with a cloth which is made large enough to ex- tend above the top of the box all around. Then the box is filled with sand or sawdust, thoroughly watered and kept moist. When it is time to examine the seeds, the covering is lifted off by raising the top cloth without disturbing the seeds. If it is not desired to examine the seeds, but merely to see how well they germinate, the cloths are not necessary. In this case the box is laid off in squares by means of string tacked across the top. In cool weather the box may be made eight inches deep and filled with four inches of horse dung and then the sand placed on top of this. The manure serves to keep the box warm. Courtesy of the Department of Agriculture, University of Minnesota. order to germinate, then what must the farmer watch for and get his land and seeds ready for, so that he can make use of it when it comes? In the chapter on the soil, you will learn how to cultivate your land so as to hold the moist- ure in it for weeks, and by winter and early spring plough- PLANT GROWTH 15 ing make It possible for your seeds to germinate even if no rain* should come at the planting season. 14. Second Experiment. — Take two cans two-thirds full of fresh water and boil one can for ten minutes, and in this way drive out all the little particles of air that are naturall}- in the water. Then pour oil on top of this can of boiled w^ater till the water is covered with oil about an eighth of an inch thick. This film of oil will prevent any air getting down into the boiled water again. Now place some seeds of rice or water-cress in the can of boiled and oil-covered water that has no air in it, and the same kind of seeds in the other can of water that has not had the air boiled out of it. Watch these seeds for several days and see which ones begin to germinate. If you find that the seeds in the water that had the air boiled out of it have not started to germinate, while those in the water with the air still mixed in it have begun to germinate, what does that show to be necessary besides water to make seeds germinate? Beans, corn, and most other farm plants require more air for germination than is present even in fresh water. This being true, what would happen to these seeds if immediately after being planted such a long hard rain fell that the free air was all packed out of the soil, and the soil so filled with water that no more air could get down to the seeds? Ask at home if that has ever happened on your farm. 15. Third Experiment. — Take two cans of moist soil and plant six beans in each. Put one of these where it will keep warm day and night, with a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees, and place the other in the refrigerator at home, or out-of-doors where it will be kept cold, with a temperature near freezing. After three or four days examine the seeds 16 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING in both cans and see if both are sprouting ahke. If you should find that the beans in the warm soil had begun to sprout, and those in the cold soil had not, what would this show to be necessary for the germination besides moisture and air? If seeds are planted in spring when the ground is still cold, what will happen? If, later in spring, after the ground is warm and seeds are planted, there should come a long, cold, rainy spell, what would happen? If the cold weather lasted very long after the seeds were planted, what would probably happen before they got a chance to ger- minate? Has this ever happened on your farm? 16. Differences in Seeds. — There are great differences in seeds. Some require a very warm seed bed to germinate, such as cotton, while others, such as oats or rescue-grass, can germinate with much less heat. Some seeds require also less moisture and less air than others do. If the cold is not too great, many seeds will germinate in cool weather, but do it more slowly than when warm. Beet seeds that germi- nated in three days at a temperature of sixty-five degrees, took twenty-two days to germinate at a temperature of forty-one degrees. 17. How Roots Grow. — When your bean-seed has got the necessary amount of heat and air and water to germi- nate, you will see that it first swells, and then a tiny white sprout bursts out of the hull between the two divisions of the bean. This little white sprout is called the radicle (radi'-kl). The word radicle is made from the Latin word radicula, which means a little root. As soon as it gets out of the seed-coat, the radicle turns down and makes its way into the moist soil to form the root of the plant. This root must gather food material from the soil for the young plant, PLANT GROWTH r '-m or the plant will starve as soon as it has used all the reserve food in the seed. If there is no moisture in the soil, the root can get no food materials from that source, for plants, like babies, can take in only liquids. If the ground is packed so hard that the tender radicle cannot force its way among the soil particles and come in contact with the little films of water covering these soil particles, then the plant can get no food materials and must die, or can get so little that it can- not grow. What does this show us that we must do to all seed beds before the seeds are sown, if we wish the young plants to grow? If the soil is not too hard, this radicle grows on down into it and makes the main root, or tap-root, as it is called, while upon its sides grow the branching roots called lateral (lat^- hairs on a young radish- ^ ^l\ , Txi'ii" 11 plant. The drawing on er-al; roots. Lateral is also from an old the left shows the soil Latin word, latus, which means the side. haL.'''^^'"''^ '"^ "'' From the sides of both the main root and the lateral roots grow out thousands of little fine root hairs. 18. What Roots Do. — Neither the tap-root nor lateral roots are able to take in any food material directly from the soil, but serve to hold the plants steady and give a large surface from which root hairs may grow out. These tiny root hairs grow out from the new growth of both the tap-root and laterals. Some of these hairs are too small to be seen with the naked eye, there being in some cases nearly forty thousand growing out from a square inch of root surface. These are so tender that they are usu- 18 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING ally torn off when we pull a plant out of the ground, but you can see them easily if you will germinate corn or oats in a germinating-dish. Figure 13 shows the mass of root hairs on the roots of a young radish-plant. It is Fig. 14. The root hair (d) penetrating the soil, as seen under the micro- scope. Note the black soil particles with the films of water (6) surrounding them. Also note the air spaces (a) among the soil particles. Note that the root hair is a continuation of a single cell in the outer membrane of the root. through these soft root hairs that the plant takes in all the food material it gets from the soil. These hairs reach out between the particles of soil and absorb through their skin- like covering the water and various kinds of food materials that are dissolved in the water that is in the soil. This raw, unprepared liquid food material then passes through the root hairs into the roots and on through the stem up to the leaves to be prepared, so that the plant can make it into its own substance. PLANT GROWTH 19 19. How Root Hairs Take Food Materials. — The proc- ess by which the thin mem- brane of the root hair, which has no mouths or holes in it, lets the liquid food material come into the root is very remarkable. You can see this same process going on if you will take a lamp chim- ney and tie a piece of well- ^^^ ^5 The cross-section of a washed and softened bladder «™^^i ^«o* ^? '^ ^^^^^ZT^-fJ^^^: croscope. Note the root hairs (c), the over the end, or, better still, epidermal cells (&). and the fibi-o-vas- cular bundles ( a) through which the take a tube shaped like the liquid plant-food materials pass up to 1 • 1 ^^^ stem and on to the leaves, one m Figure 16 and tie the bladder tightly with a waxed thread over the large end of this, so that it will hold liquid when poured into it. Then pour into the chim- ney, or tube, either molasses or strong brine till it is half full or more. Then fasten the chimney in a jar or large bot- tle of fresh water, so that the water in the jar is just level with Fig. 16. An easy method of studying the ^J^g molaSSCS Or Salt working of osmosis. The dilute liquid in the outer vessels passes into the stronger solution solution in the tubc. in the inner vessels in the same way that the i • p soil water passes into the root hairs of the plant. Leave thlS f Or an 20 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING hour and see if the liquid inside the tube has not risen higher than the water level in the bottle. If it does this, does that show that some of the water from the bottle has passed through the bladder into the tube and increased the amount of the fluid there? This passing of a liquid through a membrane is called osmosis (os-mo'sis). It is by this process of osmosis that the tiny thread-like root hairs take in all the food materials that the plant gets from the ground. You see that the plant can take in only such food ma- terial as is in liquid form dissolved in water in the ground. When all the water is dried out of the ground, then the plant is not merely unable to get any water, but is unable to get what else? 20. How the Plant Gets Its First Food. — We have seen now how the lit- tle radicle bursts out of the seed, grows down into the earth, forms the main tap-root, and throws out lateral roots, and how the tiny root hairs develop on the new parts of all roots, grow out among the soil particles, and soak up liquid food material and send it back into the roots. Now let us see next what the other parts of the seed are doing while all this is going on. Let us see how the plant gets ready a stem and branches and leaves to receive the crude food materials gathered by the roots, manufacture these into true plant foods, and dis- tribute this food to all parts of the plant. 21. Reserve Food of Plants. — If you will watch a bean- seed growing in the soil, you will see that soon after the point Fig. 17. Shows the method of planting seeds at different depths in such way that tlieir growth may be watched. PLANT GROWTH 21 of the little radicle begins growing downward, the other end of the germ, which is called the plumule (plu'miil) be- gins to grow upward and to drag along with it the two large parts of the bean, which look at first as if they are thick fat leaves. These two thick oval pieces are sometimes called seed leaves. They do not, however, behave like green leaves, but are full of concentrated food, which w^as manufactured and placed in the seed by the parent plant. This food reserve supplies the germinating plant with nourish- ment until it can develop the root hairs, stem, and leaves to gather food materials and man- ufacture its own food. These thick leaf-like pads of food are called cotyledons (kot-i-le'duns) . All seeds have this reserve food in them, but all do not have the two cotyledons, nor do all plants draw them through the soil when sprouting, as do the beans. The grains and many others have only one package of reserve food than two cotyledons. Sometimes this reserve food, instead of being inclosed within a part of the embryo, is attached to the embryo, or may even merely surround it. As the plumule of the bean grows upward into a stem and the tiny leaves unfold and grow, you will notice that the cotyledons Fig. 18. A young bean- plant just coming up with coty- ledons (a) thick and full of re- serve food. In the centre the same plant a few days later is shown with cotyledons (&) empty of food and wrinkled. On the right is a young plant that has been stunted in its growth by the removal of the cotyledons too early, thus depriving it of its reserve food. A few plants have more 22 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING get thinner and thinner, and after several days shrivel up, and after a week or so more fall off. Can you see why this happens? 22. How the Plant Develops Stem, Branches, and Leaves. — The way the stem of this young plant, or seedling, as it is called, grows is interesting. If you will take a bean that is just out of the ground, or one that has just begun to grow in the germinator, and will put marks in water-proof ink every eighth of an inch along the stem, and then look at these same marks twenty-four to forty-eight hours afterward, you will see that some parts of this stem are growing much faster than others. The most rapidly growing part is just behind the tip and is called the growing point. The stem elongates most rapidly just back of the growing point. This growing point grows rap- woody stem idly upward, forming the stem, and soon leaves m^n^aitfudand ^^^ branches bud out on the side. These side several lateral branches are called lateral branches. The bud buds. on the end is called the terminal (ter'mi-nal) bud. This word terminal is made from another Latin word, terminus, which means the end. If you will open up care- fully and examine the growing tips of main stems and lat- erals of some woody plant, you will see that on the outside there are close-fitting scale-like modified leaves, called bud scales, which protect the tender growing point and the tiny undeveloped leaves within. As these leaves begin to grow and the growing point pushes out, the protecting scales are burst, and the new leaf or leaves unfold and grow, while the growing point pushes on. With herbaceous (her- PLANT GROWTH 23 ba'shus) plants like the bean, the growth is similar, except that there are no protecting bud scales. 23. Peculiar Ways of Growing. — Each variety of plant has its own peculiar way of growing; some stems stand erect, as the oak; some lean on other things, as does the grape- vine, and some lie flat on the ground, as do the melon vines. Some send out leaves and branches in pairs, opposite each other, at regular intervals along the stem; some have their leaves come out singly, first on one side and then on the other side of the stem and branches; some come out on all sides at the same level, and some in yet other ways. Why some plants always act one way, and others another, we do not as yet fully understand. That question is not important for us; but why any plant grows at all, and just how it manages to do so, is most important to know if we expect ever to grow crops. In order to understand how the stem can elongate and throw out these leaves, we must look in- side the plant and see first how it is constructed and just how it gets its food and makes out of it the new leaves, stem, branches, and other things. By studying this one step at a time it will soon all be plain. 24. How the Plant Gets Crude Food Material.— You know now that the bean has leaves, branches, stem, roots, and root hairs. Practically all plants dealt with on the farm have these same parts. Each part has its own work to do for the good of the whole plant, including itself. We are now ready to see how each of these parts of the plant helps the plant to get food and grow. You w^ill remember that the roots are covered with root hairs, which by osmosis take in the food materials that are dissolved in the water in the ground. In addition to this, these root hairs, by the 24 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING small amount of acid that they give out, dissolve some of the substance of the soil itself, which is then taken up by the water present and absorbed by the root hair. The whole plant is made up of a mass of small cells similar to the root- hair cells, in having a membrane surrounding them, but differing from each other in size, shape, and other ways. The liquid food material, once inside the root-hair cell, passes on into the adjoining cells by osmosis through the cell membrane, just as it passed from the soil to the root hair. From these root cells it is passed through tiny tubes extending in sections up through the stem and branches out into the ribs and veins of the leaves, and finally is spread out into all the tissues of the leaf. The leaf is a wonderful kitchen and chemical laboratory combined for the plant. Here in the leaf the plant does some things that no man has yet been intelligent enough to learn how to do. Here the crude food material that is drawn up from the soil through the root hairs, roots, and stem is mixed with other material taken from the air, and new foods are made that are sent back all over the plant to build up its tissues and to store reserve food. A little later we shall look at the struct- ure of the stem and see by what means it carries the sap back and forth, up and down the plant at the same time. 25. What Crude Food Material is Made Of. — Let us now see what the crude food material is made of, what it is changed into in the leaves, and how this is done. The raw food material that comes up from the roots is in large part water, and that taken in by the leaves is a gas that is free in the air. The plant manufactures its food mainly out of water and this free gas which is called carbon dioxide (kar'bon di-6ks'id). The plant, however, cannot live on these alone. 1 PLANT GROWTH 25 Dissolved in the water taken in by the plant are a number of different food materials. If this food material were not dissolved in a liquid form, it could not pass through the roots and stem up to the leaves to be made into foods and then pass back over the entire plant to feed all the parts as it does. There are just a few of these sub- stances in the soil that plants make their foods from, and all plants and animals use practically the same ones, but in different combinations and proportions. You will learn the names of these in your lessons on the soil. When the crude food material reaches the leaves, a part of the water is used by the plant in making the plant food, which is later made into new plant sub- stance. The larger part passes out of the plant in the form of vapor, mainly through openings in the leaf. This giving off of water vapor by the plant is called transpiration (tran-spi-ra'shiin) . 26. How the Plant Gives Off Water. — Transpiration goes on all the time, but most rapidly when the air is dry and the sun is shining on the leaf. You can catch some of the water transpired by a plant if you will follow the directions given under Figure 20. In Figure 21 you can see the structure of a leaf as it appears under the microscope, and can see the openings through which the greater part of the water Fig. 20. An easy meth- od of catching some of the water transpired by the plant. The card-board is slitted and fitted closely around the plant, and then the glass is turned over the plant so that very little of the water vapor given off by the plant can escape. Soon the air is so saturated with this transpired water vapor that it is deposited in drops on the inside of the glass. 26 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING passes out of the leaf. The amount of water passed off from a plant is surprising. In this way a full-grown apple-tree will give off about two hundred and fifty pounds of water in a day, or over thirty-five thousand pounds during one growing From three hundred to five hundred pounds of season. 'f e \d Fig. 21. A cross-section of a leaf as it would look under the microscope. Note (1) the outside layer of epidermal cells (a) on top and bottom; (2) the stoma (c) through which the water vapor mainly passes off and the air passes in; (3) the green chlorophyl bodies (6) ; (4) the water-tubes {d) through which the crude food materials come up; and (5) the phloem (/) through which the digested food passes back over the plant. water pass through and out of the ordinary plant for every pound of dry matter left in it. Of the material left in the growing plant, very little is solid matter. Often as mu^n as nine-tenths is still water. This is why green plants weigh s, much more than dried ones do. Corn, for example, at roasting-ear season is over eighty per cent water. 27. Ho-7 the Plant Makjs Starch and Sugar. — While the excess water is being transpired out of the leaf, the leaf is taking in from the air Uie carbon-dioxide gas, one part of PLANT GROWTH 27 which supplies the material that will make up fully half of the solid matter of the plant. This material is carbon, which we can see left as charcoal when wood is burned without sufficient air. All this solid carbon then comes out of the air in the form of a gas and not from the soil at all.* The leaf has special little openings through which to take in the carbon dioxide and give off water. These are mainly on the under side of the leaf, and are so small that the naked eye cannot see them. Figure 21 shows you how these look under a microscope. They are called stomates (sto'mats), or stomata (sto'ma-ta). One of them is called a stoma (sto'ma), which is an old Greek word meaning mouth. The under side of an apple leaf has more than one hundred thousand of these stomata to each square inch. When this carbon dioxide from the air comes into the leaf it is united there with the water brought up from the roots. Water is made up of two substances, called hydrogen and oxygen. When this water is united with the carbon of the air, it makes a new compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, called a carbohydrate (kar-bo-hi'drat). The two * It may puzzle you to see how an invisible gas can contain a solid thing like carbon, but, if you will remember what you know about water, you will see that the same substance can exist in the form of either a gas, a liquid, or a solid. Cool water below thirty-two degrees and it becomes a solid called ice. Heat it above 212 degrees and it becomes a gas called steam. If you could run a strong current of electricity through a vessel of water, you would see that this hquid could be broken up into two gases, one called oxygen (6ks'I-j6n) and the other called hydrogen (hl'dr6-j6n). In like manner the chemist can put two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, together in the proper manner and form a liquid — water. You see, then, that the same substance may exist as a liquid, a solid, or a gas; and, out of a liquid compound a gas may be taken, or out of a gaseous compound a sohd may be taken. Such changes and such making and breaking up of compounds are going on constantly in nature. 28 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING important carbohydrates made in the leaf by uniting the carbon from the air with the hydrogen and oxygen brought up in the form of water from the soil are starch and sugar. 28. The Plant Both Makes and Digests its Food.— This making of starch and sugar by the plant out of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen is quite a different thing from diges- tion of foods by men and other animals. It is not digestion at all, but manufacture of food. This manufacturing of foods no animal can do. Man and all animals are dependent upon the plants for the manufacturing of all their foods. We eat these prepared foods when we eat plants or eat animals that live on plants. Then we have to digest these prepared foods. The plant can manufacture its own foods from the crude food materials in the soil and air, and then later it, too, has to digest this food before it can turn it into new plant substance, in a way very similar to that by which man digests these same foods. 29. How the Plant Turns Starch into Sugar. — In most plants the main part of these carbohydrates in the leaf first appears in the form of little starch grains, but as these cannot be dissolved in water they cannot be taken up in the sap and passed back from the leaf down the stem into the roots and other parts of the plant to feed it. The leaf then has to digest this starch, or turn it into a form in which it can be dissolved in the sap of the plant and passed around, just as we have to digest food in our stomach and intestines before it can pass into our blood and be carried in our blood over our body to feed every part. The starch is therefore now turned into sugar, which is dissolved by the watery sap in the leaf. In this form it is passed back along through PLANT GROWTH 29 the inner bark down the stem and branches to every part of the plant. 30. How the Plant Uses Carbohydrates. — This sugar food is used in many ways by the plant. Some is later changed back into starch, some is modified by the addition or subtraction of certain things and made into oil, and into another very important set of compounds which we shall study later. A part of these products are used by the plant in growing, in building new buds, leaves, stem, and roots; a part is deposited in seed as reserve food to start a new set of plants growing; and a part is deposited as reserve food within the plant itself for fut- ure use. The peach-trees, for instance, must deposit each year enough reserve food to support them next spring, while putting out their blos- soms and getting their leaves started and developed enough to commence again the manufacture of food out of the raw food materials sent up in the sap from the roots. You can often taste the plant sugar in the sap that is passing down the inner bark of a tree. It is this sweet sap of the maple- tree that is caught and boiled down to make maple-syrup and maple-sugar. The tuber of the potato is largely a mass of reserve starch, put there by the plant for future use. very much simpli- fied diagram to illustrate roughly how the crude food materials are carried up the layer of outer new wood, and the digested plant food is brought back down the phloem just outside the cambium layer. Adapted from Stevens's "Introduc- tion to Botany." 30 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING This shows very briefly and incompletely the way the plant takes its raw liquid food material from the soil, passes it up the stem to the leaves, and there adds material taken from the air and makes up new compounds which are dissolved again in the sap and passed back down the stem and around to every part of the plant. To tell all the details of the work done by the plant in getting its food would take a long time and confuse your mind now. All of this you can learn later. There are just two more very important points that you should know more about now: first, that there is a special substance in the leaf that helps to make the starch and sugar for the plant; and second, what that other very important set of food compounds is which the plant makes. These two things we shall now learn about. 31. How Leaf Green Helps the Plant Manufacture Food. — In Figure 21 you will see that the leaf has within its cells some little bodies called chlorophyl (klo'ro-fil) bodies. When exposed to sunlight these bodies develop in them a green substance called chlorophyl. It is this which gives the green color to the leaves. If the plant gets no light, this chlorophyl does not develop. That is why plants grown out of the light are pale. It is the action of this chlorophyl and the sunlight which splits the water and the carbon dioxide to pieces in the leaf, and makes possible the formation of the new compound, the carbohydrate, out of the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen set free. Without chlo- rophyl and sunlight, then, the ordinary plant could manu- facture no carbohydrate. As we shall see later that all other plant foods are made by changing or adding to these carbohydrates, it is plain that the whole growth of the plant is dependent upon this action of the chlorophyl and sun- PLANT GROWTH 31 light in the leaves. There are certain plants that have other ways of getting carbohydrates, and all plants can make a little in green parts outside their leaves, but the ordinary farm plant gets practically all its carbohydrates from the action of sunlight and chlorophyl in the leaves. 32. How the Plant Builds New Living Gubstance. — While the chlorophyl bodies are helping part of the carbon taken from the air by the leaf to join with the water and make carbohydrates for the plant, a part of these carbohydrates is being combined with a substance called nitrogen (ni'tro-jen) and some of the other substances that we saw are also in the sap which comes up from the roots. The new compound W'hich is made by this process is called j^rotein (pro'te-in). There are many kinds of proteins, mado in dl.Terent parts of different plants. This protein is carried along with the carbohydrates in the sap to all parts of tlie plant, and helps to nourish the plant protoplasm (pro'to-plazm), which is found in every living part of the plant. Protoplasm is the most wonderful substance in the world, for it is the basis of all plant and animal life. When the plant is growing, the protoplasm is in an active state; when the plant is dormant, the protoplasm is still there, but it is not active. When the parent plant forms a seed, a small portion of the protoplasm of the old plant goes into the seed. When the seed germi- nates and grows, this protoplasm grows; and w-henever a cell of the plant divides and thus forms a new cell, the protoplasm in the old cell divides and part goes into the new cell. If it did not do this, the new cell could not live. This protoplasm likewise cannot live and continue to grow in the cells unless the plant has protein. Thus, you see, the plant cannot live without nitrogen and the other sub- 32 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING y 5a stances brought up from the soil. If you will strip the green bark from a tree or bush and run your hand over the inside of the bark, you will feel the thin, slippery film which is a mixture of sap and proto- plasm that is spilled from the broken cells there. 33. The Layers of the Stenio — We have seen that raw liquid food material is passed up the stem to the leaves, that it is then mixed with the raw tood material taken from the air, and then this newly prepared food is passed back down the stem and out to the various parts of the plant. Let us now see how the stem is constructed so as to make possible this proc- ess. Figure 23 shows you one- fourth of the stem of a tree cut crosswise. You will notice that first on the very outside of the stem is a hard outer bark (a), and at the centre are rings of hardwood (/). The hard outer bark is dead, and the central hardwood has prac- tically no share in carrying the sap. The tough outer bark serves to protect the delicate inner bark, and the dense hard centre, or heart, of the tree serves mainly to strengthen the stem so that it can hold the great masses of leaves and young branches up to catch sunlight and air. At one time this heart wood was composed of active cells through which Fig. 23. A quarter of the stem of a tree. Some of the details are exaggerated for the sake of clearness. a represents the rough dead outer bark, 6 the dead fibrous inner bark, and c the cambium layer. The phloem is not represented, but is just outside the cambium and on the inner surface of & ; d represents the layer of new wood, and / the nu- merous annular rings of old wood. The medullary rays going from the centre to the bark are not plain, though traces of them are seen, espe- cially at e. PLANT GKOWTH 33 the sap passed, but as the plant became older these cells became clogged with various substances which rendered them inactive. Often you can see a tree in which this central part has become diseased and rotted away, leaving only the bark and the new outer part of the growing wood standing. Such trees may continue to grow, because the layers that pass the food supply up and down the tree are still active. Looking again at Figure 23, you will see that next to the rough outer bark, there is an inner fibrous bark (b), also dead, but inside this is a thin layer of soft bark, too thin to show well in this cut. Just at the boundary line between the bark and the wood is a very thin compact layer (c), called the cambium (kam'bi-iim) . Just inside the cambium is the layer of soft sappy new wood (d). When you peel the bark off a young sapling, the split occurs at the cambium. The soft new wood is left on the sapling, the watery cam- bium is split, and the soft inner bark is left inside the hard bark. The soft inner bark, the cambium, and the ring of soft new wood are the three important layers concerned in growth and are the ones we shall study. The raw sap coming up from the roots to the leaves usually and mainly passes up tubes in the new wood, and the prepared food passes down tubes in the soft new bark. This being true, what would be the result if you cut through the bark of a tree down to the cambium all the way round, but did not cut into the new wood? What different result would fol- low if you cut on through the new wood all around? 34. How the Crude Food Material Passes Up the Stem and How the Prepared Food Passes Down. — You remember that the liquid food material passes from the soil into the root hair cells by osmosis, and then passes on in by osmosis 34 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING through other cells till it reaches some tiny tubes which conduct the liquid up through the layer of new wood from the root to the leaf. The exact make-up of these tubes is too complicated to go into here. We only need to know that they are made of a special type of elongated cells which by overlapping and fitting end to end afford an easy line of passage through the new wood for the up-going sap. In a similar way, there are special elongated cells in the soft inner bark which make up a series of tubes through which the pre- pared food, or elaborated (e-lab'o-ra-ted) sap as it is called, comes back from the leaves and is distrib- uted over the plant. These tubes are not evenly dis- tributed through the new wood and bark, but occur in groups or bundles that are called fibro-vascular (fi-bro-vas'kti-lar) bundles. These vascular bundles show plainest in a young stem. Figure 24 shows how these look in the year-old stem of the Dutchman's Pipe cut crosswise. The drawing is not complete, and is exaggerated in some respects to make the matter clearer. You see the young bark (e) with the tough layer of fibres in it (6), and, inside this, the thin cambium layer (c). The seven fibro-vascular bundles are seen lying, each one with part of its tubes just outside the cambium and part just inside (a to w). The tubular part of the fibro- vascular bundle that is outside the cambium in the soft inner bark, and through which the prepared food is con- Fig. 24. The cross-section of a young stem, e represents the outer layer of bark ; 6 the layer of tough fibres in the bark; c the cambium. Seven fibro-vascular bundles are shown lying across the cam- bium, with the phloem at a and xylem at w. — After Bergen and Caldwell. PLANT GROWTH 35 ducted, is called the iMoem (flo'em), and that inside the cambium in the layer of new wood and through which the crude food material passes up is called the xylem (zllem). 35. Movements of the Sap. — Unfortunately, the circula- tion of the sap is not so simple as this account makes it, nor are all the vascular bundles situated exactly as these are shown, but this gives a rough, general idea of the usual, main flow of sap. It differs in different types of plants. In addition to the flow up the xylem and down the phloem, there is some passage constantly going on from cell to cell in all directions by osmosis, and at times some prepared food gets into the xylem, and likewise some raw food material gets into the phloem. For instance, in early spring reserve prepared food rushes up in the xylem to start new leaves, and the sap also regularly passes in and out from centre to outside of the stem through passages in the medullary (med'iil-la-ry) rays that are shown in Figure 23. Again, food has at times to pass up the phloem as well as down. All this you will learn about later. Now we need to keep in mind especially that the main general flow of raw food materials is up to the leaves through the tubes of the fibro- vascular bundles in the new wood, and the main general flow of prepared food is from the leaves back down the phloem in the inner soft bark. 36. What Forces the Sap Up the Stem. — The next ques- tion is. What forces the sap up the stem along these tiny tubes in the fibro-vascular bundles? Where these tubes have joints in them at the junction of two cells, the fluid passes by the same process of osmosis by which it passed into the root hair. In addition to this, three other forces 36 FUNDAMENTALS OF FAKMINd are working. First, the outer cells of the root become filled with fluid by osmosis. Their membranes are stretched and they press in on the cells inside them and tend by this root pressure, as it is called, to force the fluid out of the roots and up the tubes. Second, the water is being evaporated out of the leaf constantly at the top of the tubes, and this produces a sort of suction which helps to draw the water up the tubes. Third, these tubes are exceedingly fine, so fine that they are called capillary (kap'il-la-ry) tubes. This is from the I.atin word capillus, which means a hair. In all such fine tubes there is a force called capillary attraction, which tends to force liquid to climb up higher and higher on the sides of these tubes. Figure 25 shows you how you may see this force work- ing in a glass tube. It is this same capillary attraction which causes the oil to rise in the fine tubes produced in a lamp-wick by the closely twisted cotton fibres. You will see later that this force is very important for you to keep in mind, for capillary attraction not only helps to cir- culate the sap in the plant, but helps also to circulate the water in the soil. By understanding this law, you can learn to keep the water in the soil and save your crops from drought. We have obtained a general idea of how the plant gets its food and passes it round to make growth possible. Now let us see just how the well-fed plant goes about increasing its size and adding new stem, branches, and leaves. Fig. 25. The working of capillary attraction in tubes of different diam- eters. PLANT GROWTH 37 37. How the Stem Increases Its Size. — You have learned that the plant is made up of a mass of little cells of various shapes and sizes. All plants and all animals are made up of such cells. Some of these cells are so small that many thousand laid end to end would not extend an inch. Figure 26 shows you how some single cells look under a powerful microscope. The growth of a plant (or animal) is brought about by the cells of the plant dividing and each thus forming two new cells and then each cell grow- ing large, dividing again, and so on. Not all cells in a plant are doing this, but the cells in the cambium layer surrounding the woody part of the stem and the cells in the growing point on the end of the stem, which might be thought of as the cambium on the end, are, during the grow- ing season, rapidly dividing, division then develop, and thus increase the length and thickness of the stem. It is then, in this cambium layer, which has such a rich food supply, that the cells divide and produce the new cells which increase the thickness of the tree. On the inside new wood cells are formed next to the wood cells alreadv there, and on the outside new bark cells //r h ^ •••••, Fig. 26. Various types of famil- iar single cells, the tliree above being different types of cells met with in any ordinary plant, while those below are common types of bacterial cells. These new cells formed by 38 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING next to the bark already there. These cells tend slightly by elongation to lengthen the stem also, but the main lengthening comes from the addition of new cells by divi- FiG. 27. This shows in a very condensed form how the single cell divides. This division of cells followed by an increase in size of the young cell is the process by which all plants and animals grow. sion at the growing point on the end, and by elongation of cells just back of the growing point. 38. Outer Bark and Inner Cells. — ^As the new cells are added to bark and wood, and the stem thus enlarged, the old outer bark is burst by the pressure. The new bark will later be burst by the addition of still newer cells, and thus the rough dead outer bark with its deep cracks, which we see on old trees, is gradually formed. A layer of large new cells is developed during the rapid-growing season, and one of small cells during the slow-growing season. This makes part of the wood more dense than the other part, and in this way are Fig. 28. This shows the healing tissue that the plant is throwing out to cover the wound made by sawing oflf a small limb. At b is represented a longitudinal section, showing the masses of healing tissue (d) thrown out by the cambium. At c the same plant is shown with the bark per- fectly healed and the wound covered com- pletely by new wood and bark. PLANT GROWTH 39 formed the rings which we see w^hen a tree is cut crosswise. These rings each repre- sent a season of uctive growth, and, as this usu- ally happens only once a year, they are called annular (an'nu-lar) rings, from the Latin word annuSjWhich. means a year. By counting these rings it is usually possible to tell how old the tree was when cut down. In plants that have no cambium layer, of which we speak later, there would, of course, be found no an- nular rings. 39. How the Plant Heals Wounds. — This same cambium layer which forms the new cells for regular growth has the power of doing two other things that are of the greatest importance in the life of the plant. First, when a plant is Fig. 29. The mass of adventitious buds thrown out by a hickory that has been cut off with the pur- pose of later budding these young sprouts with fine varieties of pecans. A large number of the new branches here have been cut off. 40 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING wounded the cambium layer produces a healing tissue which soon fills up and heals over the wound with new growth unless the wound is very large. Even then the plant may for years steadily fill in the wounded places by a constant building in of new tissue. This is a very important matter that you will learn more about when you study pruning, budding, and grafting. All budding and grafting are made possible by this power of the cambium layer to make heal- ing tissue and fill up cuts and unite two separated surfaces. 40. How the Plant Saves its Life. — The other thing that the cambium layer does, which often saves the life of a plant, is to form new buds. At times a tree or other plant gets broken, or cut off back to a single stem, below which there are no branches or buds. In this case, and at times in less serious cases, new buds are formed in the cambium layer. These buds force themselves out through the bark and thus give the plant a new set of lateral branches on which are again developed the leaves, which the plant must have to gather and digest its food. These new buds formed in an emergency in the cambium layer are called adventitious (ad-ven-tish'iis) buds. The clusters of sprouts that grow out on a sawed-ofi^ tree trunk are partly from adventitious buds and partly from ordinary buds that were before dormant. 41. Plants That Have No Cambium Layer. — In a great many of our farm plants there is no definite area of growth or cambium layer, nor does the sap circulate through cer- tain layers, as with the kinds of plants we have studied. The raw food material passes up through vascular bundles that are irregularly distributed throughout the stem, and the food passes back down through difi^erent tubes in the same bundles. If you will break a corn-stalk and pull it PLANT GROWTH 41 apart, you will see these vascular bundles appear as long, tough fibres, pulling out of the pith. In this class of plants are all the grasses, including corn and small grain, which are merely grasses grown primarily for their seed. It is an interesting fact that all these plants without the definite cambium layer have only one cotyledon. Plants with one cotyledon, such as com and cane, that do not have the special cambium layer, cannot heal cuts in themselves in the same way that plants do which have the cambium layer, nor can they develop new adventitious buds and save them- selves if they are broken or cut off below the terminal bud. For the same reason such plants cannot be grafted or budded. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 7. Name some seeds having down on them; some that have wings on them. What purpose do down and wings serve the seeds? 8. Name some seeds having hooks or spines on them. What purpose do hooks or spines serve the seeds? 9. Germinate beans and corn in a germinator, cut them open and point out the seed-case, the reserve food, and the embryo in each. What is the difference in the way the reserve food is stored in these two? 10. Find out how long each of the following seeds will remain dormant without losing its vitality: cotton, corn, wheat, oats, alfalfa, peas, pea-nuts. (See the Appendix.) 11. If the tiny soft root hairs take in all the food materials for the plant from the soil, what happens to the plant when it is torn out of the soil and replanted in another place? In what ways does the plant show the effects of this? When the transplanted plant gets plump again and begins to grow, what do you know must have taken place down on the roots? 12. If the root hairs which take in the water and food materials grow mainly at the tips of the roots and on the new roots, where should you put water or manure for a large tree — near the trunk of the tree or farther out? Why so? 42 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 13. Which is the better in transplanting, to pull the plant and roots out of the ground, or to take up the roots together with the soil surrounding them and put both the soil and roots into the new place? Why is it best to do as you say? 14. Take a pan of water and put it on the fire and watch it closely. What makes the little bubbles that you see forming in the water and coming to the top before the water gets hot enough to boil? Where was this air before the water was heated? 15. Take a glass or jar of water and gently put into it some lumps of soil. As the water goes into the pores of the lumps of soil and fills them, what happens that proves the soil has air in it? 16. Let us see in which direction the liquid always passes in osmosis. Could it pass out of the root hair into the soil instead of from the soil into the root hair? Take one ounce of saltpetre and dissolve it in a pint of water. This solution is stronger than the sap in a potato. Call this solution one. Take one-eighth of an ounce of saltpetre and dissolve it in a gallon of water. Call this solution two. This solution is weaker than the sap in a potato. Now cut some slices of Irish potato, about one- eighth inch thick, and put some of these in solution one and some in solution two. Osmosis can go on through the cell walls of a potato just as it does through the membrane of a root hair. Look at these potato chips after a while and see if both lots are still plump, or if one is plump and full of water and the other is limp, and some of the water has passed out of it into the solution. Did the juice pass out to the weaker or to the stronger solution? 17. When we pour strong salt water around a plant and it wilts, what has happened? How could you revive it? Try it and see if it will revive. 18 Sprout a bean or grain of corn between blotting-paper or cloth and mark the root lightly with water-proof ink at intervals of one- eighth of an inch. Replace it in the germinator and watch the growth of the root to see what part of the root grows most. Then mark in the same way the stem of a young bean that has just sprouted out of the soil and see if the stem grows in the same manner as the root grows. 19. Fill a jar with good, moist, loose soil and, as you fill it, plant against the side of the jar, so that they can be seen from the outside, five grains of corn, one at one inch from the top, one at two, one PLANT GROWTH 43 at three, one at four, and one at five inches. Keep the soil moist and watch the grains from day to day, making notes of the process of germination as you see the grains through the glass. Through how many inches of soil can the corn-plant grow when depending upon the reserve food alone? 20. Plant a dozen each of radish, bean, and other seeds in moist soil; cover with soil and press down the soil on the seeds. Plant the same number of seeds at the same time in the same soil alongside these seeds, only cover these loosely with soil. Note which seeds come up first, those packed or those not packed. Why do these come up sooner than the others? (Remember what the seed must get before it can germinate.) 21. Remove a half-grown oat-plant and a wheat-plant from the earth with a shovel, taking up with each a large amount of the soil still in position. Then soak this soil in water and wash it away by pouring over it gently a stream of water. When the roots and root hairs are clean, ex- amine them carefully and see what they are like. Note if there are any differences in the roots of the wheat and the oat. 22. Germinate a bean-seed in the earth and keep a daily record telling when it was planted, the condition of soil and temperature, when it appeared above ground, and what it did each day for ten days. Make drawings every three days. 23. Plant six bean-seeds. When they come up clip both cotyledons off two plants, one cotyledon off two, and leave two un- touched. Note the results. Fig. 30. At the left, in each case, the root and stem marked so as to study ho'.v each grows. On the ri^ht, the separation of the figures shows the result of growth. 44 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 24. Draw a cross-section of a stem, showing where each part that we have studied is situated. 25. Plant three bean-seeds in good soil in each of three small cans or pots. As soon as they germinate, put one in a dark closet or box, one in the room near a window, and one out in the open sunlight. From day to day make a note of the results. Can you tell what makes each plant behave as it does? 26. Explain why it is that when an old field grows up thickly with trees the weeds and grasses that were before in the field die out. 27. Place a glass jar over a plant that is growing in a can or pot, and after twenty-four hours note the drops of water deposited on the inside of the jar. Where does this water come from? 28. Remove the jar from the plant mentioned in No. 27, and water the plant well. Then cover the top of the can or pot with card-board cut to fit closely, or with several folds of cloth, so as to largely prevent the water from evaporating from the surface of the soil. Now weigh the plant, pot and all. Weigh it again next day. Why does it weigh less now? Find out the amount of water lost when the plant sits for ten hours in the sun, and then the amount lost during ten hours in darkness. Why is less lost during darkness? 29. Plants often wilt in sunshine and look plump again the next morn- ing. What effect has this wilting on transpiration? Why? 30. If there are forty-eight full-grown apple-trees on an acre of land, how many gallons of water will be transpired by them in a season? It takes eight pounds to make a gallon. 31. Weigh six good-sized corn-stalks. Then hang these in the air till thoroughly dry and weigh again. What per cent of the corn- plant was water? 32. Where do trees get the food with which to put out new leaves each sprmg 33. If a tree stored all its reserve food in an extra large crop of seed this year, what would it have to start growing with next year before it got its leaves? Did you ever know of a tree killing itself in this way? 34. Why do young sprouts come out from the roots of certain trees when they are cut down? 35. How does girdling trees the year before cutting them down pre- vent the roots sending up sprouts afterward? PLANT GROWTH 45 36. How do potatoes manage to sprout and grow on the Hoor without being planted? 37. Why are these sprouts pale yellowish instead of green when tlie potato sprouts in the dark cellar or closet? 38. Partially burn a match and examine the black charcoal left. Of what is this composed? When the carbon is completely burned and only ashes are left, where has the carbon gone? 39. Burn sugar, starch, and meat, and see if you can see any sign of carbon in them. 40. Name some farm and garden plants that store starch, some that store sugar, some that store oil. 41. To show that the root hairs secrete an acid, take a piece of polished marble, such as a broken bureau top, put wet sawdust on this and plant a seed in it. Keep it moist till the seed germinates and the plant develops several leaves. Then turn the sawdust off the marble and note the fine lines made on the surface of the marble where the root has been against it. This is due to the acid from the root hair dissolving a small quantity of the marble. 42. Animals, including man, take oxygen out of the air when breath- ing, and put into the air carbon dioxide. The plants take car- bon out of the air and put into it oxygen. What would finally happen to man and all animals if the plants did not do this? 43. Girdle a young sapling, cutting completely around the tree down to the cambium layer, but not into the new wood. Watch this tree carefully till the end of the growing season and note what results. Watch it also the following year. Explain the reason for each result. 44. Cut a young sapling in the same way, only cut down through the layer of new wood all around. Note the results and explain them. 45. Cut off a short section of the stem of some young plant, such as the bean, with leaves growing on it. Stick the lower end of this stem in red ink and notice how the fluid passes up the vascular bundles in the stem and on into the ribs and veins of the leaves. Try this also with a monocotyledonous plant, such as corn, and compare the results, 'i'lic references for further reading on plant growth are given, to- gether with those on reproduction, at the end of Chapter III. CHAPTER III HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 42. Three Ways of Reproducing a New Plant. — We have seen how the plant takes food material, manufactures its food, and grows as a single plant. Let us now see how it produces a new plant. This is done in three ways: by seed, by spores, or by division. Some plants reproduce them- selves in more ways than one. We shall not consider spores at this time, but shall study reproduction by seed and by division. 43. The Parts of a Flower. — In addition to having buds which open and develop into leaves, most plants have other buds which open and develop into flowers. It is in these flowers that seeds are formed in a most interesting way. Figure 31 shows a peach flower split in two. You will notice on the outside the small half leaf and half scale-like sepals (se'pal). These were greenish in color, covered the flower, and protected it before it opened. All these sepals taken together are called the calyx (ka'liks). Next inside the calyx are the large petals (pet'al), which make the pretty white or pink showy part of the flower. All of these petals taken together are called the corolla (ko-rol'la). While these two parts of the flower, especially the corolla, are the ones usually noticed, they are not the important parts. Many kinds of flowers fail to have one of them and some fail to have both. The calyx serves merely as a protection, and the corolla 46 HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 47 serves partly as a protection and partly to attract insects, which are needed to help some flowers make seed, as we shall see later. Inside of the corolla you will notice the stamens (sta'menz) and the pistil (pis^til). It is through these that the plant produces a seed. 44. How the Seed is Made.— If you should cut open one of these pistils you would find in the base of it a little thing that may become a seed. This h a — -^— — — (-rsT^Lf^TLZ called an ovule ^ (o'vul). This ovule, however, can never become a perfect seed till it is fertilized by a powder, called pollen (poKlen), thrown out by the stamens. The plant makes this ovule, and at the same time makes also this pollen powder, but it makes one inside the pistil and the other inside the stamens. They must get together before the seed will develop. As soon as the ovule is ready to be fertilized by the pollen, the pistil exudes a sticky substance on its upper end, and the stamens split open and spill out their pollen grains, which fall on the sticky end of the pistil. There these small grains of pollen germinate somewhat as a seed would, and send down through the pistil a tiny thread-like tube, which is too small to be seen with the naked eye. This tube sent down from the pollen grain will, in a short time, reach the ovule, pierce its wall, and allow the contents of pollen tube and ovule to mix Fig. 31. A peach-blossom cut in two, and be- si:l3 it a morning-glory. Note the pistil (x), made up cf the stigma (/), the style (g), and the ovary (d), with its ovule (c) within. Note also the anthers (ft), the petals of the corolla (a), and the calyx (c). 48 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING and thus to fertilize the ovule, so that it can complete the making of the tiny embryo and the storing of the reserve food for the embryo in its seed-case. The falling of the pollen on the stigma is called 'poUenation (pol-le-na'shiin) . If, then, the pollen tube goes down and mixes its contents with the ovule, it is a com- plete fertilization. The low- er end of the pistil in which the seed is formed is called the ovary (oVa-ry). This word comes from the Latin ovum, which means an egg. These ovules, as you see, serve a purpose in plants similar to that served by eggs in animals. The top end of the pistil is called the stigma (stig'ma), and the slender supporting stem is called a style. Some plants have no style. In these, the stigma is directly on top of the ovary. The stamen like- w^ise has distinct parts. On the top is the little box that holds the pollen, called the anther (another). Below this is the slender supporting stem called the filament (fira-ment). These stamens and pistils in dif- ferent plants are of all sorts of shapes and sizes, and in vary- ing numbers, just as the calyxes and corollas of different plants vary in many different ways. All that is necessary to produce a seed is that there be a stamen that develops Fig. 32. The process of fertilization of the ovule by the pollen. Note how the pollen-tube extends down into the ovary and comes into contact with the ovule. When more than one seed is to be developed, a tube must be sent down from a pollen grain for each ovule, a represents the pollen grain; 6 represents the anther of the stamen from which the pollen falls; c repre- sents the pollen-tube; d represents the ovule with several cells in it; e repre- sents the ovary; / represents the corolla; and g represents the calyx. HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 49 pollen and a pistil that starts the development of one or more ovules, and then that somehow the pollen grain get on the top of the pistil and send its little thread-like tube down and fertilize the ovule. As soon as the pollen has by some means reached the stigma, and the pollen tube has gone deep enough to reach the ovule, the seed in the Fig. 33. The male flowers (y) and female flowers (x) of the pecan. Which are borne on the new wood? Where are the others borne? ovary develops rapidly. If, however, no pollen falls on the stigma, or the tube sent down by the pollen is unable to reach the ovule, no seed is produced. Usually in these cases the ovary dries up, the flower soon dies, and no fruit is produced. This is a frequent cause for failure in the crop of peaches, pecans, and other fruit and nut crops. Some fruits, however, will develop in spite of a failure in fertilization and consequent lack of seed, as, for example, the banana, or seedless grape, or seedless orange. 45. Male or Female Flowers. — Usually, both stamens and pistils are made on the same flower, but some plants make 50 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING their pistils in one set of flowers and their stamens in another set, as the pecans and wahiuts do. Some other kinds of plants, such as the willows, the date-palms, and some of the wild grapes, make flowers with only pistils on one plant and flowers with only stamens on another plant. In both these cases there may be uncertainty about the pollen getting from the staminate (stam'i-nat), or male, flowers over to the pistils of the iJistiUaie (pis'ti-lat), or female, flowers. In such cases the pollen, which is usually a very fine powder, is blown over by the wind, or the insects, which go in and out of the flowers to gather nectar, carry the pollen from the anthers of the male flowers and brush it upon the pistil of the female flowers, and in this way pollenate them. In our field corn, for example, the pollen is usually blown from the tassels, which are masses of male flowers, or stamens, upon the silk of the corn, which is a mass of female flowers, or styles and stigmas, that lead down to the corn ovules below. Sometimes, even when plants have both stamens and pistils on the same flower, these are so situated that it is difficult for the pollen to get from the anther to the stigma. When the anther stands above the stigma the pollen falls easily on it, but when the anther is lower than the stigma, either the flower must hang downward, or the wind must blow the pollen, or some insect must come along and carry it from one to the other on its body. The flowers with white and yellow or other light-colored corollas attract night-working insects especially. The odors of some flowers and the little drops of sweet liquid called nectar in the blossoms of others also attract insects. It was impossible for the Smyrna figs to bear their delicious fruit when cultivated in America un- til the little insects that feed in their blossoms and carry to HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 51 them the pollen from male fig blossoms were brought over here also from Smyrna. In order then to produce seed, the plant must have food enough to produce the flowers, the germs, and the little stores of reserve food in the seed. We shall see later that certain foods are used in larger proportion by the plant in making seed, while certain other foods are used in larger proportions in making stems and leaves. When the plant has the right food and makes both the ovule in the ovary and the pollen in the anther, the ovule still may not get fertilized, and hence no seed ever de- velop. In your questions and prob- lems you will have a chance to think out how some of these failures may come about. 46. Crossing and Improving Plants. — If the perfect seed is a result of the union of the substance from the pollen and the substance in the ovule, we should naturally expect that, if we put the pollen of a round, flat squash on the stigma of a long-necked squash, the seed coming from this union would have in it a mixture of the characters of the two. This is just what happens. These mixtures of two varieties of the same plant resulting from the pollen of one variety falling on the stigma of the other, and fertilizing the ovule, are called crosses, or hybrids (hi'brids). Carrying the pollen of one plant to the pistil of another is called cross-pollenation. You can see what splendid opportunity this gives us to improve our varieties of farm plants. One can cross a big- FiG. 34. The manner in which insects help some flowers to get fertilized by brushing pollen on stigmas that would not otherwise be easily reached by the pollen. 52 FUNDAMENTALS OF FAIiMING boiled, heavy-yielding cotton-plant that is not early enough, on an early one that does not have so good a boll, and get a variety that has a mixture of the earliness of one parent and the big bolls and big yield of the other. Or, he can cross a variety of corn that has a fine root system that enables it to Fig. 35. This shows the eflfect produced by hybridization of two different types of squash. Note the wide variety of combinations of qualities of the two parents. The long crookneck on the left in the upper row and the flat scallop on the right in the lower are the two parents. Courtesy of the Macmillan Company. From Warren's Elements of Agriculture. gather plenty of food material and resist drought, but which makes only fair-sized ears of corn, on another variety that does not have such good root system and drought-resist- ing qualities, but has large ears. By doing this he may get a hybrid that both resists drought and has big ears. Mr. Burbank in California, Mr. Munson in Texas, and many others have in this way produced fine new varieties. Mr. Munson, for example, has crossed the hardy, wild, sour Texas grapes upon the delicious but delicate Northern and Eastern grapes, and produced hybrids that have the hardy HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 53 / growth of one parent and the dehciously flavored grapes of the other. There are hundreds more of hybrids that need to be worked out now to give us plants better suited to our Western chmate. A trouble with hybrids is that seeds from them may not come true afterward; that is, the seed of a fine hybrid melon may produce a melon that is not like the parent, but like some one of the grandparents, just as a child may not be like either his father or mother, but resemble one of Fig. 36. On the left is a cotton bloom with corolla and stamens cut away ready for cross fertilization and the flower ready to be covered with a bag. On the right is a tomato bloom, x shows the plant before the unripe stamens have been cut away, y shows the flower ready to bag with stamens removed. the great-grandparents. This failure to come true to the parent is called variation. When the variation is due to the cropping out of some quality that belonged to one of the ancestors back of the immediate parents, it is called reversion (re-ver'shiin). This can sometimes be bred out of a hy- brid and it can be often made to come true, but the way of doing it will have to be learned later. 47. How to Cross Plants. — Let us now learn how to cross two plants. Select two plants belonging to the same species, the flowers of which ripen at the same time. Just before the corolla of the flower has opened, and before the anthers 54 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING have opened and let any of the pollen spill, either open up or cut away carefully the corolla, so that you can get at the stamens. Carefully cut away with small scissors or very sharp knife the anthers, making sure that no pollen is left in the blossom. Cover this flower immediately with a small, thin paper bag, and tie it so that no pollen can come to it, either from the wind or an insect. Then exam- ine this flower daily un- til you find it has ripened enough for the pistil to exude the sticky matter on its stigma. Now take the pollen from a flower of the variety that you wish to cross on it, and gently dust this pollen on the stig- ma, and immediately Then label this flower and Leave it covered . Fig. 37. The crossed stigma protected by a paper bag and labelled. cover it again with the bag. make a record of what you have done, for several days until the ovule or ovules are fertilized and the fruit or seeds begin to form. Since crosses often fail, it is advisable to make several, and to make them on differ- ent days, so as to make more sure that you get one or more to live. The larger the number of crossed seeds you prepare, the greater the probability is that one of the plants coming from these seeds will contain a desirable combination of the various qualities that were in the two parent plants.* These * The plants resulting from crosses do not in the first generation show mixtures of single characters, as, for example, of color; but they HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 5? seeds should be planted well separated from any patch of related plants and carefully watched. If a specially favor- able cross is secured, the flowers of this should be protected from the pollen of neighboring plants to increase the chance of its seed reproducing the same fine plant unmixed. By Fig. 38. This illustrates the wide range of variation shown in plants from the seed of the daisy. Courtesy of the Macmillan Company. From Warren's Elements of Agriculture. continually selecting and protecting the plants that come true each year, and planting only their seeds, you may soon have seeds that will breed true practically all the time. When you take an advanced course in plant breeding, you will learn a shorter and surer way to make your hybrid come true to seed, but it is too complicated for you to learn now. show new combinations of characteristics of one parent with other characteristics of the other parent. For example, the first generation may show the shape of one parent combined with the color or flavor of the other. The production of blends of two differing single charac- teristics, such as a mulatto skin from the mixture of white and black, is rare and not well understood. 56 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING In making crosses, the best results have usually come from crossing plants that do not differ very widely, and both of which represent desirable types. In this way many good varieties have been produced. 48. Variation in Plants. — One peculiarity about the re- production of plants by seed is so important that we must study it carefully, for it is the greatest means we have of improving our farm plants. This fact is that even when the seeds of a plant have been fertilized by pollen from the same plant, the seeds will not all produce plants exactly like the parent plant. Some will produce plants that are just the same as the parent, some will be better, and some not so good. The next generation will be different from the parent in many ways. We have already learned that this failure of the offspring to reproduce the parent exactly is called variation, and have seen that the variation may be due to the cropping out of a characteristic of one of the ancestors of the parent plant. There are other causes of variation, but this matter is too complicated to discuss in your first course. In a row of cotton or any other plants, even when the whole row is planted from the seed of one plant, you will notice various types of plants. These differences are due partly to variation. If now you take the seeds from the best stalk in the row, while they too will vary somewhat, and may be partly cross-pollenized from some poor stalk near by, they will tend to reproduce this specially fine stalk and even a few better ones. By constantly repeating this selection, and always taking the best specimens for your seed, you will constantly get a better and better variety. 49. Results of Selection. — It is by this process of selection of favorable variations and breeding and multiplying them that practically all of our finest varieties of farm and garden and ^'ntwllon'^Z'Ln^^^^^^^ ^^j?? ^^ ^^"ation. selection, which are illustrated Sw ^^''' ^^^ cabbage, and the cauliflower Adapted from Bailey's Encyclopedia of Horticulture. 58 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING plants have been produced. As each different soil and cli- mate will best suit a somewhat different variety, there re- mains still a great work to be done by each intelligent farmer in watching for favorable variations in the crops on Fig. 40. Reid's yellow dent corn, showing the results of fifty years of selection. his land, and then protecting these, saving the seeds sepa- rately, planting them in a separate place, and, by repeated selection, breeding up the variety best suited to his partic- ular locality. This is a particularly interesting and valuable work for our boys and girls to do. By careful selection, the fine Boone County V\^hite, the Reid's YeHow Dent, and the gourd seed corn were bred from variations of ordinary corn. All the kinds of roses we have are but variations of the HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 59 simple wild rose that have been selected and carefully bred. All of our varieties of cotton are the results of variations being carefully selected and properly bred. In Wisconsin they have selected and bred a variety of oats that increased the State's yield fifteen million bushels a year. By careful selection it would be possible in a few years to secure varieties of cotton suited to different sections that would add a million bales a year to the crop of Texas, without increasing the amount of land cultivated a single acre. The same is true to a greater or less extent of every State and with every farm crop. 50. Plants May Reproduce by Division. — A plant may also reproduce itself by means of some branch or root or leaf of the plant touching the ground, and sending out roots of its own, and developing a top of its own, so that it can draw its food directly from the earth and air, and not be dependent longer upon the old roots from which it originally sprang. The new plant then may be separated entirely from the parent plant. This is called reproduction by division. Some plants, such as the potato and the banana, produce so few seeds that it is easier to reproduce them by division. Others, such as the peach and the apple, are so sure not to come true to seed that it is only by division that we can reproduce them with any certainty of what we shall get. ;So many of our farm, orchard, and vegetable crops are of this kind that it is very important that we learn the chief methods of reproducing plants by division. Plants make new ones by dividing themselves in three ways, and they are divided by man in four ways. These seven methods of reproduction by division are as follows: 1 . Creeping Stems. Many plants develop horizontal stems called stolons (sto'lons), which throw out roots and send up 60 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Fig. 41. See how the blue grass re produces itself by stolons. a culm, or new shoot, at cer- tain points along the stem, called nodes. These stolons may be above ground or below. When below ground thay are called root stocks. You see examples of these stolons above ground in the blackberry, dewberry, and most perennial vines. In such plants as Johnson grass and Bermuda grass you see the underground stolons or root stocks. 2. Enlarged Stems. At times a great mass of reserve food is stored in a stem, and one or more new germs, or buds which will develop a new plant, are formed in this enlarged stem, or tuber, as it is called. The Irish potato is one of these enlarged stems or tubers. 3. Enlarged Root. The mass of reserve food and the new germ or germs may be stored in an enlarged root, instead of an en- larged stem. We see such in the common sweet potato. 4. Layering. Man often helps out the p J. . . i Fig. 42. The Irish potato and the enlarged process OI division by imderground stems or tubers. HOW PLANTS AKE REPRODUCED 61 V^»jm bending stems over and covering them with earth to force them to throw out new roots and new shoots. This is called layering. In the rasp- berry, for example, the tip of the stem is bent to ^ .o ^t ^ ^ ^v, *• ^ ^u ^ Fig. 43, Note how the tip of the rasp- the ground and fastened berry takes root and grows when layered. there, or covered with a little soil, whereupon it throws out roots underneath and sends up a new shoot on top. The next year this new plant is cut loose from the parent plant and will grow. This is called tip layering. With the grape, the best plan is to dig a long trench about two inches deep, and, after laying the vine in this, the whole is covered over with soil, leaving only the tip out. This cane will throw out roots and send up stems at each joint, and each of these may be separated and planted elsewhere the next year. With some other plants, such as the gooseberry, the soil is simply piled up twelve to eighteen inches high around the plant as it stands. The new shoots and roots are formed in this soil, and are ready for separa- tion in one or two seasons. 5. C uttings. Most plants that divide naturally and many that do not divide natu- Jertag'*- ™' '"'*°'' °' propagating grapes by ^^jj^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^jg_ 62 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING cially divided by cutting off a piece of the stem, or root, or, in a few cases, a piece of leaf, and placing this under proper conditions. Nearly all plants with a cambium layer can be propagated by cuttings. Some plants are best Fig. 45. Cuttings of rose (a), grape (6), and flg (c). At d the proper position of the cutting in the soil is shown. reproduced by one kind of cutting and some by another kind. Some cuttings grow in water, but they usually do best in sand. Likewise, the best season for making cuttings varies. As a general thing, cuttings of fruiting plants are best made when the wood is dormant, in the late fall. This gives the cambium layer time to heal over the wounded surface before the growing season begins. These cuttings should be from wood of the past season's growth, and usually should be six or eight inches long. A cutting may be longer or shorter than this, and it may have only one bud or several buds, but usually cuttings six inches in length, with two or three buds, grow best. The bottom end of the cutting should be made just below a bud, and HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 63 the top end from one-half to one inch above a bnd. Figure 45 shows how the cutting should be placed in the soil. As soon as the growing season has begun, these cuttings will throw out roots at the lower buried joints, or buds, and the exposed upper bud will start a shoot. Cuttings usually grow better in soil that has very little organic matter in it, as the little bacteria* and f2ingi (fun'ji) living on the organic matter often at- tack the exposed cut surface and cause decay. For this reason cuttings are often rooted in coarse sand. The soil should be moist but not soaking, and should be well drained. The air should be moist and of uniform temperature also, for best results. With cuttings that are hard to root, bottom heat is frequently applied with good results. After cut- tings are started they should be care- fully cultivated and kept free from weeds and grass, as their roots are near the surface. 6 and 7. Grafting and Budding. Instead of cutting off a piece of the plant and planting it in the soil to make it grow, 'we can insert it in the body of another plant and let it grow there. If the part cut off and inserted in the other plant is a bud with a bit of surrounding bark, the operation Fig. 46. A rooted begonia-leaf cutting. * Bacteria are little one-celled plants that have no chlorophyl in them, and with a few important exceptions cannot manufacture car- bohydrates out of the raw food materials in soil and air. They must, therefore, live on other plants or animals, either dead or alive, and take their prepared food from them. Fungi differ from bacteria in having many cells and a more complex structure. 64 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING is called budding; if the inserted piece is a part of a stem, it is called grafting. Plants must be closely related, else it is not possible for one to be budded or grafted on the other. Usually, the}' should belong to the same variety, but some- times even different species may be budded, as, for example, the peach may be budded upon the plum. When the transplanted bud or graft lives and grows out of the other plant, all the limbs, leaves, and fruit developing from the bud or graft remain true to the variety from which the bud was taken, in spite of the fact that the raw food material is furnished by the root of the plant in which the bud or graft was planted. This makes it possible to put buds or grafts from fine varieties on trees or vines that bear natu- rally poor fruit, and thus force them to bear good fruits in- stead of poor. Most of our orchard trees have long been treated this way, and now the nut trees are beginning to be treated in the same way. Both budding and grafting are easy to learn. 51. How to Graft. — Nearly all grafting work is done when the plant is dormant. The plant upon which the piece is grafted is called the stock, and the part that is transferred is called the scion (si'iin). There are many forms of grafting, but the three most important are tongue grafting (or whip Fig. 47, The method of making whip, or tongue, graft. the HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 65 grafting, as it is also called), cleft grafting, and bark grafting. Tongue grafting is used mostly on young seedling stocks less than an inch in diameter. For plants larger than that, and especially in top working old trees, some form of cleft graft- ing or bark grafting is generally used. 1. For the tongue graft the stock should be about the size of a pencil. The scion should be as near the same size FILLINO WITH PAPER REMOI/E SACK im-3M££l(S Fig. 48. The process of cleft grafting. as possible, and should have two or more buds on it. Cut .the stock off with a slant, so as to give a cut surface 'about three times as great as it would have been if cut square across. Then set the knife blade about one-third the distance down from the top of the cut surface and make a vertical incision about one-half inch long. (See Figure 47.) Trim the scion in similar manner, join the two together as shown in Figure 47, wrap with a string, or press stiff clay around to hold the two in place. Knives should always be thoroughly cleaned before cutting into a plant and, as far 66 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING as possible, neither the hands nor anything else should be allowed to touch the cut edges. As it is the cambium layer that throws out healing tissue and unites the stock and scion, thus al- lowing sap to flow from one to the other, it is necessary to use care in fitting the graft so that the cambium of the scion is placed in con- tact with the cambium of the stock. When this is done, it is easy for healing tissue to unite these, and for the circula- tion of sap from one to the other to start up soon. 2. The cleft graft may be used on small nursery plants also, but it is usu- ally employed on the large plants in putting tops of fine varieties of fruits or nuts on common trees. In cleft grafting, the stock, for best results, should not be over three inches in diameter, while the scion should be the same size as in tongue grafting. In top working an old tree cut back the central limbs with a square cut to stubs four to Fig. 49. A young cleft graft of pecan growing on a hickory. HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 67 six inches long. Smooth the end, then drive down a graft- ing knife one or two inches as shown in Figure 48. With- draw the knife and keep the incision open with a sharpened stick. The scion should now be trimmed to a wedge shape as shown, with the inside thinner than the. outside to make a perfect fit, and one bud left on the outside near the top. The split edges of the limb should now be cut away in such shape that when the stick is withdrawn the scion will fit tightly in the cut as shown in Figure 48. The scion should now be quickly but gently forced down in the cut, the cambium layer of the scion being carefully placed directly against the cambium of the stock. The stick is then with- drawn. As soon as the scion is in place all cut surfaces should be covered with warm grafting wax, and a string tied around the stump, so as to help hold the grafts in place. A good grafting wax is made by using four parts of rosin, two parts bees-wax, and one of tallow, by weight. These are cut in small pieces, melted together over the fire in a vessel, and poured into water to cool. It is then made into balls, and heated later as wanted. 52. How to Bud Plants. — Budding is usually best done during the plant's active growing season. As in grafting, it is necessary that the two plants be closely related, and that the cambium layer of the bud be brought into connection with the cambium layer of the stock. The three most im- portant forms of budding are the shield bud (or T bud), the patch hud, and the chip bud. Nearly all fruit and ornamental trees are propagated by the shield bud, while the chip and patch buds are best with nut trees. 1. The shield bud is used mostly on young nursery stock about the size of a pencil, though it is sometimes used also 68 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING in top-working old trees. In budding, usually a branch about the size of the stock and containing several leaf buds is cut from the tree you wish to propagate, and the leaves are at once cut off so as to leave about half an inch of the stem of the leaf, or petiole (pet'i-6l), as it is named. This branch is called the bud stick and must be kept wrapped in damp cloth or moss. When ready to begin work, first pick v1 Fig. 50. The steps in the proper method of shield-budding. out a smooth place on your stock and make a slit through the bark for about one inch in length up and down the stock. Then at the top of this incision make a cross-cut, about one- quarter inch long, giving your incision the shape of a T. In making these incisions be careful to cut through the bark and cambium, but not into the young growing wood. Then cut a bud from your bud stick by placing the blade of a sharp knife about one-quarter of an inch below the bud and cutting upward to a point about the same distance above the bud, but leaving the cut strip still adhering to the bud stick at its upper end. Then withdraw the knife and cut through the bark at the top of the strip that was split off by the first cut. Then, by catching hold of the petiole of the leaf, lift HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 69 Iff .!ll the bark entirely free from the wood, as shown in Figure 50. Then open the cut on the stock by lifting up the bark in both directions from the cross-cut, and slip the bud from the scion under the bark of the stock, as shown in Figure 50. The bud should then be wrapped as shown, with either raffia, twine, waxed cloth, or similar material, so as to hold the two cambium layers close together and to keep out water, air, and dust. In ten days or two weeks the bud should have united with the stock, and the wrapping should be removed to al- low circulation of sap and growth. Part of the stock above the bud and other . ^'?- ^i- On the left aii the stages of ring-budding, and on the right a success- buds close to the inserted f^l young ring bud growing. bud should be removed when the bud is inserted, or later when the wrappings are removed. This throws more sap into the bud and forces it out more rapidly. It also makes the stock less likely to be broken by the wind. When the bud has grown about six inches long, all the top of the stock above the bud should be cut off to further force the growth of the bud. 2. Ring-budding is in general the same as shield-budding, except that the cross incision at the top extends entirely around the stock, and another cross incision is made at the lower end of the upright incision, also entirely around the stock. A similar cut is made on the bud stick and the entire ring of bark with the bud at its centre is taken off the bud 70 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING stick. The ring of bark is also removed from the stock and the ring of bark and bud from the bud stick are put in its place, as shown in Figure 51. This is then wrapped in the same manner as the shield bud. Here again it is necessary for the two cambium layers to be put in contact with each other, hence it is very necessary to have the piece of bark from the bud stick exactly fit the place prepared for it on the stock. To make this cer- tain, it is best to use a regular ring- budding tool, such as is shown in Fig- ure 52. The stock and bud stick are both cut with the same pair of parallel knives, and hence there must be a perfect fit. When the ring of bark from the bud stick will not reach entirely around the stock, a strip of the bark of the stock is left so as to fill the surface evenly 53. How to Succeed in Budding and Grafting. — In all kinds of budding it is especially important that the knives be kept clean, that the cut surfaces and inner bark be not touched by the hands or other things, that the work be done quickly in order to expose the cut surface as little as possible to the air, and that the cambium layers be carefully brought into contact. If these directions are followed, if fresh budding wood and vigorous stock are used, and if the Fig. 52. A shortened and more convenient form of the standard ring-budding tool which was de- vised by Mr. H. A. Halbert and Dr. Ellis, a repre- sents one of the cutting blades; b represents the hole for looking at the bud ; c represents a small blade for slitting and raising the bark. Fig. 53. The new growth from buds placed in the top of an old pecan- tree which was sawed off for that purpose. Courtesy of E. E. Risien. 72 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING buds are watched afterward, the wrapping not removed until the buds have started growing, and all sprouts that would rob the bud of its nourishment are kept cut off, you are sure to have success in budding and grafting. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 46. Collect a blossom of each of the following plants, make a drawing, and label each part: peach, plum, strawberry, pea, bean, cotton, 47. Examine a peach, pear, or plum tree before it has budded out in spring, and see if there is more than one kind of bud on it. Draw the branch, showing the buds, and describe each kind. Note later into what each kind develops. 48. Examine the branches of a budding pecan-tree carefully, and find both the male and female flowers. Can you tell now why the pecan crop fails if there is a long rainy spell during blooming season? Can you also see why pecan seeds do not usually come true, but are mixed? 49. Find a male grape-vine and a female grape-vine. Tell how they differ in appearance. 50. Bring in a flower in which the pollen would fall easily on the stigma. Bring in another flower in which it would be difficult for the pollen to get on the stigma, and find out how the pollen is car- ried in this last case. 5L Select in the field, make notes on, and bring to school especially desirable variations found in one of the following plants : cotton, corn, oats, wheat, cane, milo, Kafir, peas. Plan with your teacher a scheme for breeding and developing this desirable variation. (See the lessons on cotton and corn.) 52. Make and root cuttings of each of the following: rose, fig, grape. Root, by layering, a blackberry and a grape. 53. Select and cross-pollenate two good types of cotton-plant. Save the seeds from those that live, plant them separately, and watch for desirable hybrids. In spring do the same for garden peas, and in summer for field peas and watermelons. 54. In September and October plant apple, peach, and plum seed, to have stock on which later to bud and graft. Plant pecans in January and February. HOW PLANTS ARE REPRODUCED 73 55. Just before the buds begin to swell in spring, cut off some twigs about as thick as a pencil from the tree bearing the best pecans, and bearing most regularly in your neighborhood. Keep these in a cool place, buried in moist sand, till the buds on the pecan- trees are beginning to swell. Then saw off the tops of two vigorous young pecan-trees, that are about three inches in diameter, about six or seven feet from the ground. Put two cleft grafts in the top of each tree. If either of these grows, keep all natural sprouts cut off about the graft. If any graft fails, let the natural sprouts grow till they are the size of your finger, and then ring bud these as directed in this chapter with buds taken from your best tree. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING Also consult for fuller list of references on this and all other topics Encyclopedia of Agriculture and the Classified List of Publications of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. "Botany: with Agricultural Applications," J. N. Martin. "Plant Physiology," B. M. Duggar. "Practical Botany," Bergen and Caldwell. * "Principles of Plant Culture," E. S. Goff. "Principles of Breeding," E. Davenport. "Plant Breeding," L. H. Bailey. * "Elements of Agriculture," G. F. Warren. * "Rural School Agriculture," Chas. W. Davis. Farmers' Bulletins: No. 157. "The Propagation of Plants." No. 229. "Production of Good Seed Corn." No. 253. "The Germination of Seed Corn." * The books marked with an asterisk (*) present the subject with a minimum of technical terms, hence are especially suitable for the public- school library. Farmers' Bulletins may be secured free from the Na- tional Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. As new bulletins are issued constantly, no list can long remain complete. Any one who desires information should write to the National Department of Agri- culture, the State Department of Agriculture, the State A. and M. College, and the Experiment Station for lists of available bulletins. 74 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING No. 266. "Top Working Orchard Trees." No. 334. "Plant Breeding on the Farm." No. 376. "How to Grow Young Trees for Forest Planting." No. 408. "School Exercises in Plant Production." No. 428. "Testing Farm Seed in the Home and Rural School. No. 433. "Directions for Making Window Gardens." No. 471. "Grape Propagation, Pruning and Training." No. 501. "Cotton Improvement Under Weevil Conditions." No. 700. "Pecan Culture." No. 710. "Bridge Grafting." No. 948. "The Rag Doll Seed Tester." Experiment Station Bulletins: No. 54. "Rules and Apparatus for Seed Testing." No. 186. "Elementary Exercises in Agriculture." Texas Department of Agriculture Bulletin : No. 19. "The Pecan and Hickory in Texas." No. 55. "The Propagation of Pecans." The A. and M, College of Texas Extension Service Bulletins: No. B. 55. "Propagating Pecans." No. B. 21. "Top- Working Pecan Trees." Texas Experiment Station Circular: No. 20. "Patch-Budding Large Limbs of Pecan Trees". CHAPTER IV THE SOIL 54. The Study of the Soil. — We have seen that plants send their roots down into the soil to gather food materials with which to manufacture the foods that nourish them. Let us now see how this soil has been made, of what it is composed, what the plants take out of it, and how we may arrange to keep the soil supplied with the food materials needed by the plant. 55. The Earth^s Surface Once Had No Soil. — For unknown thousands of years there was no soil at all upon the earth. The surface of the earth was everywhere either rock or water. All soil had its beginning in the breaking and pulverizing of the rock. The main forces that have been and still are work- ing upon the rock and pulverizing it and producing soil are the sun, water, air, plants, and animals. 56. How the Sun Helps to Make Soil. — ^You know that heat expands most things and that when they cool they contract. Perhaps you don't know that the same amount of heat will make some things expand faster than others. The rock crust is heated by the sun by day and cools off again by night. Some parts of the rock expand more than others, because they are made of material that expands more rapidly from heat. The expanding at different rates of the various substances in the rock causes these substances to pull loose from one an- other. Likewise, those parts of even the same substance 75 76 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING which are more exposed to the sun, heat more quickly and expand more rapidly than do the parts less exposed. Be- cause of this the heated parts pull away from the other parts that are not so heated, just as the outside of a glass bottle when dipped suddenly into boiling water will expand at once, pull away from the cooler part, and break the bottle before the inside gets hot enough to expand and keep up with it. This constant expansion and contraction produced by the heat of the sun has always been cracking and pulling apart the ex- posed surface of the rock crust just as you have seen it crack a cement sidewalk. This force would, of course, do most work where the heat and cold are extreme and where the changes are sudden. 57. How Water Helps to Make Soil.— The water, first faUing as rain, has passed for millions of years over these rocks, and has worn them by rubbing, and dissolved them, or otherwise changed them by chemical action. When the water has car- bon dioxide in it, as you will soon see that it frequently has, it dissolves the rock much faster. The water further breaks up the rock by getting into the cracks and freezing there and bursting the rock. After the rocks are broken, the water grinds them finer by rolling them against each other, and frequently carries them great distances. You have often seen the mass of well-worn stones of all sizes that are deposited along the beds of our rivers and creeks. However, the great- est amount of material carried by the water is the lighter and more finely powdered soil which is suspended in the water as mud and deposited over the fields in the valleys. All river bottom-lands and other lowlands are deposits brought there by the water. In addition to the wearing and grinding and carrying of rock and soil by the streams of water, there THE SOIL 77 are, in high cold mountains, rivers of ice and snow that flow along, though extremely slowly, dragging and grind- ing rock as they go. These rivers of ice are called glaciers (gla'shers). At a very remote date, when the climate of the world was very different from what it is now, there were much larger caps of ice at each pole than there are now, and these huge caps of ice spread out and flowed in the form of, many glaciers toward the equator. These immense glaciers broke off great masses of projecting rock and ground them to pieces as they dragged them along. In this way they carried along and crushed great quantities of stone and helped to make a considerable amount of soil in the northern part of our country. As they melted long before Texas was reached, we have no glacial soil in Texas or the Southwest. 58. How the Air Helps to Make Soil. — ^The air wears the surface of the rocks, by blowing piece against piece, just as the water does, only more slowly. It is also constantly chang- ing some of the rock by a chemical combination of a substance in the air with some substance in the rock, just as the oxygen of the air unites with all exposed iron surfaces and forms rust. When a rock is being worn and in other ways changed by water and air, it is said to be iveathering. Rock that has been changed and broken up by water and air, or by other means, until it is all in fine pieces, is said to be disintegrated (dis- in'te-gra-ted). 59. How Plants and Animals Help to Make Soil. — ^The plants that first began to grow on the earth were of a low order, such as could live in the powdered and ground-up rock. Upon the death of these plants, this vegetable matter was added to the soil. This added not merely that much matter, but the decaying vegetable matter held water and air in the soil bet- 78 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING ter than they had been held before, and also gave rise to an acid which helped to dissolve the rock faster. The acid given out by the roots of the plants also helped to dissolve the rock, and the roots growing into cracks soon expanded and split the rocks farther apart. The bodies of the animals that ate the plants likewise went into the soil after their death. These decaying animal bodies had a similar effect to that produced by the plants. In addition to this, the worms and other ani- mals that live or burrow in the soil open it and move enormous quantities of soil from one place or one depth to another. 60. Of What the Soil is Composed. — The soil, then, is this finely divided surface of the earth in which plants may grow. Its composition is nothing like so simple as most people sup- pose. It is by no means mere dead matter. Besides the various sized particles of the ground-up and disintegrated rock, and the decaying or decayed bodies of plants and ani- mals, the soil contains innumerable millions of microscopically small living plants and animals that feed upon the dead and living organic matter in the soil. In the innumerable pores in the solid matter are vast quantities of water, air, carbon- dioxide, and other gases. 61. How Soils Are Named. — Soils are named and classified in various ways. The most common way is according to the size of the particles composing the soil. Soil composed of the finest particles is called clay soil. This is a misleading name, for clay is often used to refer to a particular kind of fine soil that comes from the disintegration of a certain class of rocks. However, in agricultural books any extremely finely divided soil is called clay. The particles of a purely clay soil are so fine that they cannot be distinguished separately with the eye, nor can they be felt separately when the soil is mashed be- THE SOIL 79 tween the fingers. Some clay soils have particles less than "2 5 o¥ of an inch in diameter. Next above the clay in fine- ness comes the silt, which is the fine soil deposited by streams or pools of water. Then come, in order of fineness, very fine sand, fine sand, medium sand, coarse sand, and gravel. These need no explanation. Names are given to soils also in accord- ance with the amount of vegetable and animal matter in them, and the condition of decay of this matter. If there is a great mass of almost pure vegetable matter, not very much decom- posed, it is called peat. This soil is found in swamps where rich vegetation has fallen year after year into the water and has been so covered that it has not thoroughly decayed. This decaying mass is often dug up, dried, and used as fuel. Such soil is not used for farm crops. When the vegetable matter is very plentiful but is more decayed, it is called muck. This makes a rich, black, loose soil that holds much water and, if properly drained, supports finely a few special crops. A soil that has some clay, and enough sand to make it loose, is called a loam. A fine soil that has been deposited by the water is called a silt. Practically all soils have more or less vegetable matter mixed with the other particles. Many soils are mixt- ures and have compound names, such as sandy loam, grav- elly loam, clay loam. These are so easily understood that they need no explanation. A sticky clay soil that is hard to plow is called a heavy soil, and a loose sandy soil that is easy to work is called a light soil. As a matter of fact, a yard of clay soil is lighter than a yard of sand ; that is, it weighs less. A soil that warms up quickly is called a warm soil. A sandy soil that drains well and is open for the free circulation of air is usually warm, while a sticky, tight, clay soil is usually a cold soil. The upper and more porous layer of the soil, which has 80 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING the organic matter in it and has been greatly modified by the action of the air and water, is usually spoken of as the soil, while the compact, hard, usually lighter colored layer below, which has little or no organic matter in it, and has been less affected by air and water, is called the subsoil. 62. What Purpose Each Part of the Soil Serves.— We have seen now that the soil is made up of rock particles and de- cayed or decaying vegetable and animal matter. It is filled with water and air, and contains billions of microscopic living things. Let us see now what part each plays in the produc- tion of our farm crops and how we can use each to the best advantage. 63. The Rock Particles in the Soil. — The rock particles make up the bulk of most soils and give 65 to 95 per cent of the weight. These particles, when disintegrated and dissolved in the soil water, furnish the plant the original mineral food ma- terials. They also act as a reservoir for holding the water, air, decaying vegetable matter, and other things. As it is the thin film of water surrounding each little particle of soil that does not flow away at once, and is left for the use of the grow- ing crop, you can see that the finer the soil the more of this valuable soil water it can retain, because there is a greater amount of surface for holding the water in a cubic foot of small particles than in a cubic foot of large particles. The sum of the surface areas of all the particles in any soil measures its water-holding capacity. It has been calculated that the sum of the surface of all the particles in a cubic foot of soil is 37,700 square feet, when each particle has a diameter of only ToVo of an inch. This is about the actual diameter of the particles in a coarse river-bottom silt. Clay is much finer than this. Just as the finely divided soil exposes more sur- THE SOIL 81 face to hold water, so it exposes more surface to be acted on by the water, air, and other things in the soil. In this way more food material is constantly being disintegrated for the plants that are growing in the soil. 64. Water in the Soil. — The most important element in the soil is the water, because it is itself a most important food material, and it is the means of dissolving all the other food materials so that they can be taken in by the root hairs of the plants. After a heavy rain, every pore in the soil is filled with water, but very soon all the free water in the larger pores drains away, leaving a thin film surrounding and ad- 1 • , 1 , . .1 Fig. 54. This shows how the films hermg to each tmy soil par- of caplUary water pass from particle tiVlp TVik mn««5 nf filmo: nf *° Particle of soil, passing always tlCie. 1 niS mass or nims or toward the dry particle. water left is called cayillary water, because it is held and moved from place to place in the soil by capillary attraction, about which you have al- ready learned. It is this capillary water, filled with dis- solved food materials, that is the mainstay of our farm crops. This water moves very slowly in every direction, pass- ing from particles that are wet to particles that are drier. In this way, as the surface particles of the soil are dried by the sun and wind, the water passes up from below to these dry particles by capillary attraction, just as oil passes up a wick as fast as the blaze burns it off at the end. In the same manner, as fast as the root hairs soak up the soil water surrounding them, the soil water moves by capillary attraction from the neighboring moist particles to these dried particles and thus gives a continuous supply to the plant as long as there is any 82 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING capillary moisture near by, and as long as the pores of the soil are not too large for the water to pass by capillary attraction. 65. Air in the Soil. — Most good soil is about half air space. After a rain, or where not properly drained, the water fills this space, pressing out the air. Plants, as you have learned, must have air to live. A few plants can get enough air out of the soil water to live, but most farm plants demand more air than is contained in water, and will as surely drown in water-soaked soil as a man will in a pond, though they drown more slowly. The air in the soil Fig. 55. The water in the bottle on the left S C T V C S Several pur- is fresh, that in the one on the right has had ^^^jp^ Tf pnntain«; frpp the air boiled out of it and other air is pre- POSeS. II COntdins iree vented from entering by the film of oil on top. i^itrOijen which is in The cuttings were put into the bottles at the ^ same time. Note the effect of air in the water part changed intO a Sol- upon growth. tip • ^i m uble lorm m the soil, so that the plant can absorb it. You will soon learn that there are in the soil some especially helpful little microscopic organisms* (or'gan-izmz) that are able to take the free nitrogen of the air which the plant cannot use, and work it into a soluble nitrogen compound which the plant can use. Unless there is a plentiful supply of air in the soil these little organisms are not active. Not only is this true but, * Organism is a general term which may refer to either a plant or an animal, and organic matter is a general term which refers to the matter of the bodies of either plants or animals. THE SOIL 83^ when the soil is full of water, another group of organisms in the soil that tear down soluble nitrogen compounds gets es- pecially active and destroys the soluble nitrogen food materials that are already in the soil. The yellowing of plants when the water stands long on the soil is thought by some to be due to the lack of nitrogen. 66. Organic Matter in the Soil. — The decaying organic matter in the soil is called humus (hu'miis). It is usually the humus which gives the dark color to the soil. While it is possi- ble to grow" a plant in pure sand, if all the food materials are added in chemi- cal form, it can be said that for practical field pur- poses humus is necessary for all successful crop production. Humus serves many good purposes. As dead bodies con- tain practically the same substances that they do when living, they give back to the soil a good part of what the plant took from it when growing. In addition to this, humus serves four other good purposes. First, it increases the water-holding capacity of the soil; second, when a soil is too tight, it helps to loosen it up and get air into it, and when it is too loose it helps to fill the large pores and bind the soil to- gether; third, it furnishes food for and encourages growth of helpful bacteria that change the insoluble nitrogen into sol- FiG. 56. If humus had been added to the soil on the right and a dust mulch had been maintained on it, it would have held its water as did the soil on the left. 84 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING uble nitrogen compounds; fourth, while it decomposes, it sets free carbon dioxide, which, when mixed with the water in the soil, helps it to dissolve more food materials for the plant. You see then that the value of humus is far greater than the mere value of the food material contained in the bodies of the dead organisms that compose it. 67. Living Organisms in the Soil. — While worms help to make the soil porous and to decompose some of the vegetable matter, the greatest work done by living organisms in the soil is that done by very small plants — moulds, yeasts, and bac- teria. The little bacteria are so small that they can be seen only with a strong microscope. It takes about 150,000 of the smallest of them to stretch an inch, and it takes about 25,000 on the average to measure that much. They are one celled plants, and can multiply every few minutes by each di- viding into two, just as you saw that the cells in the cam- bium layer of the tree do. The number of these little plants in the soil is astonishing. A soil poor in bacteria would have over 20,000,000 per ounce, while a rich soil might have many billion in an ounce. Some bacteria are very harmful, des- troying the useful nitrogen compounds in the soil, but the vast majority of them are of the greatest use. They cause the decomposition of the humus in the soil. Some tear down especially the carbo-hydrates, some the fats, and some the proteins. The insoluble proteins are broken down and part of the nitrogen is changed to ammonia which is in turn changed to a soluble nitrate which the plants can use. If it were not for the action of these bacteria, all plant and animal life would soon cease. The plant, as you have seen, takes the crude food materials (water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen compounds, etc.) and makes them into sugar, starch, fat, THE SOIL 85 and proteid foods, which the animals, including man, must have to live on. These foods the animals eat and return at once in large part to the soil as manure. Later on, all of the remainder not returned as manure is returned to the soil in the dead bodies of the animals. In this way the soil gets back everything that was taken from it. But the roots of the plant cannot take in the fats and proteids and other compounds in the manure or in the bodies of the dead ani- mals or even of the dead plants until these are changed. If something did not step in to break up and change these insoluble organic compounds into simple soluble crude food materials again, the soil would soon become a mere mass of corpses and all plants would starve for want of food ma- terials on which to live. Here is where the little bacteria come in. They tear down the dead organic matter and help to prepare the crude food materials for the use of the growing plants again, and thus complete the circle, so that the round of nature can go on and on forever. In addition to tearing down the organic compounds, the action of the bacteria has a valuable indirect result. During the process of decomposition of the humus, acid gases are produced which help with the decomposition of the rock particles. Some of these bacteria also take free insoluble nitrogen out of the air and make from it soluble nitrogen compounds. 68. How to Improve the Soil. — ^We have now seen that the soil is composed of finely divided rock particles, of organic matter in various stages of decay, of Hving organisms, and a varying quantity of water and air, which fill the pores and take up about half of the space of a good soil. Let us now see how the soil can be treated so as to make it most favorable to the growth of the plants rooted in it. If we will keep in. 86 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING mind what we have learned about the way plants feed, and the composition of the soil, we can soon reason out what is neces- sary to do in order to favor the growth of plants. 69. How to Make the Soil Hold More Water.— We have seen that plants can take food materials from the soil only in Fig. 57. of soils. An inexpensive equipment for testing the water-holding capacity i Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. liquid form, and hence that, without a supply of water, the plant can get no food material at all from the soil, no matter how much is there. Many of our arid Western lands are rich in food materials, but crops starve to death in them from want of water. Then, the first essential of good farming is to keep plenty of moisture in the soil. We have seen that after a rain the soil has in it not only capillary water, but free water that fills the larger open spaces between the soil particles. The valuable water for the crop, as we have seen, is the capil- lary water left surrounding the tiny soil particles after the free I THE SOIL 87 water is drained away. In order to increase the amount of this water left in the soil, the first thing to do is to break the soil into as fine particles as possible and thus give more sur- face for the films of water to stick to. Some fine clay soils can hold as much as forty pounds of capillary water in a hundred pounds of soil, while some very coarse soils hold as little as five pounds per hundred. Breaking the land also makes more large pores, and hence, when a rain falls, less of it runs im- mediately off. Of this water that is caught in the large pores, a part runs off into springs and streams, a part may go down and be left as a reservoir of free water, or may diffuse itself as capillary water further in the soil. However, land that has been broken and opened up tends to pack together again. One of the best things to prevent this and to help keep such land porous and capable of holding water is a plentiful supply of humus in the soil. Some land has the opposite trouble. It is coarse and open, so that the water drains out too rapidly, there being only the small amount of surface of the large soil particles for the films of moisture to stick to. In such land humus helps to fill the pores, delay the water, and furnish surface to which the films of capillary water can adhere. In order, then, to increase the water-holding capacity of soils, we should break our land deep and thoroughly, and put into it plenty of organic matter such as manure and turned under vegetation. 70. Capillary Water Moves Toward the Dry Particles. — ^As soon as the water is in the soil, it begins to come out. The free water is carried down by the force of gravity, and the capillary water begins to move slowly toward the surface of the soil. As rapidly as the sun and w^ind evaporate the water that is on the soil particles at the surface and these become FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING dry, the capillary water on neighboring particles moves up from the wetter particles below to these dry particles. This water is then evaporated and still more water comes up from below by capillary attraction and is in turn evaporated. This continues as long as there is any capillary water in the soil, for capillary water moves constantly, though slowly, toward the dry particles. While the fact that capillary water moves always toward the dry parti- cles and causes the wa- ter to be lost from the soil by evaporation, it is the salvation of the plants, for, as we have seen, in the same way, as fast as the root hairs take up the water from the soil particles next to them, the soil water from other particles near by moves by capillary attraction over to these dried particles and thus keeps the root hairs supplied with water. In this way a twenty-five-bushel-per-acre crop of wheat uses on the aver- age about five thousand pounds of water per day, or a million pounds in a season, for each acre. While the plant takes an immense quantity of water from the soil in growing, the loss of water from evaporation of the capillary moisture from the surface of the soil may be much greater. It has been estima- ted that on a hot, dry, windy day as much as 40,000 pounds of water may be lost by evaporation from the surface of one acre of ground. That is as much water as is used by the Fig. 58. An inexpensive equipment for test- ing the capillary rise of water, in soils. The chimneys should have fluted tops in order to admit water freely to the soil. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. THE SOIL 89 plants In producing from 400 to 500 pounds of green corn or wheat. 71. How the Dust Mulch Prevents the Loss of Water. — The important question, then, is, how can this evaporation of capil- lary water from the surface of the soil be . prevented? The only practical way to do this is to prevent this water ever getting to the surface and being exposed to the wind and sun. You have often noticed that when all the soil around was baked dry and hard, there would be moisture in the ground under a pile of old stones or brick-bats. This is because the stones protected the top of the soil from the sun and wind, and the air spaces in between the piled brick and stone were too large for the moisture to pass over them by capillary attraction and come to the top of the pile and be evaporated. You have often seen how the soil is kept moist in the same way when protected by a board lying on it close enough to prevent the air circulating freely over the surface of the soil, yet not close enough to allow water to pass freely by capillary attraction from the soil on through the board. This shows us how we may save or conserve the moisture in our soil. We cannot put boards or rock piles all over our field, but we can by proper shallow cultivation put all over the tops of our fields a layer of an inch or so of loose soil that is so open and Fig. 59. This shows how the dust mulch prevents the rise of water to the surface of the soil. The capillary water passes freely through the small spaces between the packed particles of soil below the line A B, at which the mulch begins. Above that the larger open spaces prevent the rise of the water by capillary attraction. 90 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING porous and has such wide air spaces between it and the soil below that the capillary water cannot pass over these spaces and get up to the surface to be evaporated and lost. While there will be some points of contact at which water can pass upward, these will be so few that the loss will be very small as compared with what it would be without this dust mulch, as such a layer of loosened top soil is called. 72. Dry Farming. — So successful is this system of conserv- ing moisture, that in some sections where enough water for a crop never falls in one year, the water falling one year has been caught and held in the soil until the next year by breaking and opening up the land before the brief rainy seasons so that it will better catch the rain, and by harrowing it as soon as pos- sible after each rain to make a dust mulch to hold the water. In this way, the water falling during one year is added to that which falls the next year, and thus enough water is secured to grow a good crop every other year, instead of making a failure every year, as was done before this was learned. In most parts of the Southwest there is enough rainfall to produce a crop each year, but the dry air, hot sunshine, and frequent winds make it especially important that every means be used to prevent the moisture in the soil coming to the surface by capil- lary attraction and being wasted by evaporation. Now that we have learned the principles of water conservation, the matter is in our own hands. 73. Supplying Water to Crops Artificially. — In addition to the above methods of keeping a supply of water in the soil, it is often possible to add by artificial means a great deal to the natural supply of water furnished by rainfall. Over a third of the land of the United States is too dry to produce a crop without some artificial means of providing water. The fur- THE SOIL 91 nishing water artificially to the crop is called irrigation (ir-ri- ga'shun). A very large part, though by no means all, of this waste land may be made to yield fine crops by irrigation. Lands in Texas that were before worth only a dollar or two an acre have, since irrigation has been provided, brought two or three hundred dollars per acre. Irrigation has been prac- FiG. 60. An irrigation canal on the Pecos at Rock Cut. Courtesy of "Farm and Ranch." tised for thousands of years. The laborers of Egypt used to carry the water from the River Nile in vessels and pour it on the plants. Later, wheels were so placed that the current of the stream would turn the wheel and by machinery lift to a higher level a part of the water, which would then be led by pipes and ditches to the field. Some of the Indians prac- tised irrigation in our country before the white men came, but the great progress in irrigation has come in very recent years. 92 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Fifty years ago there were less than 100,000 acres irrigated in the United States. Now there are over 10,000,000 acres under irrigation and the rate of increase is rapid. 74. Not All Sections Can Be Irrigated. — In a large part of our arid land irrigation is not possible, because there is not a sufficient supply of underground water to be pumped from wells, nor is there enough rainfall to supply surface water for irrigation even if all of it were saved. In other sections there is plenty of water, but it contains substances which would accumulate in the soil if it were used for irrigation and would soon poison the land so that no crops would grow. For ex- ample, the water in the upper Brazos is slightly salty, and if used long for irrigation would ruin the land. The water from many of the flowing wells contains so much of salt or soda or of certain sulphur compounds that it cannot be Used for irri- gation. Before using water for irrigation one should always have it carefully analyzed to see if it has harmful substan- ces in it that would accumulate in the soil and ruin it in a few years. Occasionally, even when the water itself is harm- less, it cannot be used for irrigation because of the nature of the land. This is true at times of soils that have un- derneath them a layer of alkali (aKka-li), or other substance injurious to plants. The water when flooded over the field goes down to this poison layer, dissolves some of it, and brings some of this poison up to the surface by capillary attraction. The poison, being in this way brought up where the plants will absorb it, destroys the crops. When unintel- ligently used, irrigation is as great a danger as it is a blessing when properly used. 75. Methods of Irrigation. — The methods of irrigation are many, but are not hard to learn if you will study the bulletins THE SOIL 93 to which you are referred. There is space here only to give a very general idea of a few methods. At times a small stream or part of a river is led by a canal from its regular chan- nel and carried along until there has been fall enough in the land for the bottom of the canal to be about level with the top of the ground. The water is held in the canal by banks built partly above the level of the ground. From this large canal smaller canals branch off and distribute the water to different fields. Then, each field has running through it a series of smaller ditches coming from the canal. Into these ditches the water from the small canal is turned whenever the crop needs water. Sometimes these ditches are close enough together for the water, by soaking through the banks, gradually to wet all the land. More often the ditches are broken at certain places when water is needed and the water allowed to pour over the field. The field must be nearly level, and the ditches laid off with care. Often the water, when let out of the ditch, is led down the rows in the field. At other times the field is simply flooded all over. In many cases the water is pumped by en- gines from a stream or lake through pipes to a canal or to the field, and then spread over the field by ditches or by other means. In many places wells are bored and the water pumped or allowed to run into a large tank, from which it is led by pipes or small canals and ditches over the field. In some places, especially on truck farms, a net-work of pipes is raised on poles over the field. These pipes have holes bored in them, so that when the water is turned into them they sprinkle an artificial rain over the crop. In other places the pipes are laid under the ground and the water turned into these so that the supply of water goes directly to the roots of the crop, and less of it is lost by evaporation. 94 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 76. Irrigation in Texas. — Along the Rio Grande, especially around Brownsville and Laredo, great quantities of formerly almost waste land are now irrigated from the river and pro- ducing remarkable crops. In the Toyah Valley and Fort Stockton region, water for irrigation is secured from springs and small streams. Around Barstow the water is taken from Fig. 61. A flowing well in Glen Rose, Texas, and a pumped well near Midland, Texas. the Pecos River. Around Beeville and in the section south- west of San Antonio, and lately in many other parts of Texas, large wells are sunk and water pumped into tanks for pur- poses of irrigation. In Somervell County and in many parts through central Texas flowing wells are used. In fact, every month or so brings an account of some new section in Texas in which it has been found practicable to use irrigation either from wells or surface water. THE SOIL 95 77. The Need of Conserving and Using Wasted Water. — The saving of wasted water and applying it to tlie fields is one of the most important economic matters before the people of our State. Enough water goes to waste in floods in our State to add millions to our annual production. Each year more and more of this water should be conserved and used. A good way to learn more about irrigation by practical experience on a small scale is to study the bulletins on this subject and then prepare a garden spot near a tank on your place and irrigate a vegetable garden. Every farm in a dry section that has a tank should have at least an irrigated garden. 78. How to Keep Air in the Soil. — We have seen that all plants must have air to hve, and that in a good soil about one- half of the space is taken up by air. As the soil settles down and is packed by the rains, the pores in it are made smaller and smaller, and the air is slowly squeezed out. The result is that the favorable bacteria in the soil do not flourish, as they too need air; nor is the free nitrogen of the air changed into sol- uble nitrogen compounds as rapidly. The remedy for this is simple. First of all, before the crop is planted, the soil should be broken deeply and turned again until the particles are well broken apart and plenty of air is mixed with the soil. Then, after each rain, when the patter of the water on the surface has run the top of the soil together and largely closed the pores, this tight crust, which tends to shut off the entrance of air and the circulation of air in the soil, must be broken by cultivation as soon as the land can be worked. The same loose mulch which we saw makes it difficult for the water to come out of the soil also makes it easy for the air to get in. 79. The Injuries Resulting from Water-Soaked Soil. — Whenever water enters the soil, this water takes the space that 96 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING has been occupied by air and drives out that much air. A completely soaked soil has therefore no space left at all for air, and contains only so much air as is contained in the water. We have seen that only a very few crops can live with so little air. It is therefore necessary to get the surplus water out of the soil in which most crops are growing in order to allow the air to get to the roots. The water-soaked soil also encourages the growth of the injurious bacteria which tear down and destroy the valuable nitrogen compounds already in the soil. Fortunately, in most soils the free water goes down rapidly to a point below that reached by the roots of ordinary farm crops, and rests in the permanent bed of ground water, or it goes down until it strikes a layer that it cannot penetrate, and runs along over this layer until it finds an outlet in some spring or stream farther down the hill. There is, however, a great deal of land which is so close that water penetrates it so slowly that the average farm crop dies for want of air before the free water escapes after long rains, or before the water which runs into this soil from the soil of neighboring higher ground can find its way out. Such soil often has below the top soil a still closer subsoil, which makes the passing down of the water im- possible. In all these cases of soils that are soaked with water near enough the surface to shut the air from the roots of farm crops, it becomes necessary to drain the soil in order to let in air. 80. Soil Drains. — ^The simplest method of draining surplus water from land is to dig ditches in the field, so that the water in the soil will seep into these open ditches, and to so plan the ditches that they lead the water off to a creek or other natural drain near by. The depth of these drainage ditches and their distances apart in the field should vary according to THE SOIL 97 Fig. 62. The method of laying tile drains. the nature of the land. The usual ditches are from two to three feet deep and located from fifty to one hundred feet apart. The planning of these ditches may be easily learned from the references given. While open ditches will drain the land, they take up a deal of space, interfere with cultivation, and require frequent cleaning out. They should be made with sloping sides and when not very deep should be made so sloping that they can be driven across. In order to avoid the disadvantages o f open ditches, un- derground tile drains are coming to be used more and more. These tiles are usually made of earthenware, in short, open joints, and are laid in trenches at about the same level that the bottom of an open ditch would be placed. The tile is then covered com- pletely, and the trench filled up even with the surface of the soil so that the entire field may be cultivated. The free water as it settles down goes into these drains, which are so planned as to lead the water gently off down the hill to some natural drain. The method of laying these is easily understood from Figure 62. When the drains are laid, a carefully prepared diagram should be kept showing the exact location of each drain, as occasionally these tiles become choked by roots, and have to be opened and cleaned out. If no chart is made when they are laid, it is difficult later to find a pipe when repairs are needed. In certain districts great drainage canals 98 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING are dug, and all the surrounding fields are drained into these. The details of these large drainage plans you can learn, too, from your references. 81. Effects of Drainage. — Drainage has several good ef- fects. First, it lets air into the soil and thus promotes growth; second, it makes the soil warmer, and because of the warm air being able to circulate deeper in drained soil it warms up quicker and is sooner ready for planting in spring; third, it enables the crop to stand drought better. At first this seems strange, but it is easy to understand. In the poorly drained soil the roots stay near the surface, as they cannot get sufficient air lower down. Later in the season, when drought comes and the water is dried out of the top soil, the plant starves because it has no roots down in the deep, moist soil. When the free water has been properly drained out of the soil, the plant roots go deeper down into the soil, and hence, when the drought dries out the top and the upper roots can get no food materials, these lower roots deeper down in the still moist soil can con- tinue to supply the plant. 82. How to Keep Bacteria and Plant Food Materials in the Soil. — We have seen how the needed supply of water and air can best be kept in the soil. If we can learn now how to keep a supply of bacteria and of plant food materials in the soil in such form that the plants can use them, the growing of our crops will be put upon a safer basis. Let us now see how this can be done. The supply of bacteria and the supply of plant food material are so closely connected with each other that they can best be considered together. 83. How the Soil Is Exhausted. — Before we can intelligently plan to keep a suppl}^ of food materials in the soil and pre- vent its becoming exhausted, we must learn what it is that THE SOIL 99 causes exhaustion of the soil. The first step in remedying an evil is to remove the cause of the trouble, but before we can do this, we must find out what the cause is. Most people think that the taking of the crop from the land is the cause of its exhaustion. The crop does take food materials from the soil, but this is only one of four main causes of loss of fertility. Soil unwisely handled may lose a great deal more from other causes than from the removal of the crop. The four main causes of soil exhaustion are: (1) surface washing, (2) leach- ing, (3) loss to the air, and (4) loss through removal of vegeta- tion. Let us now see how each of these takes place, and how it may be prevented. 84. Loss by Surface Washing and How to Prevent It. — ^You have all seen the muddy water flowing off after a rain. This water is carrying away quantities of soluble food materials dissolved in it, as well as quantities of small particles of the soil itself. The faster the water moves the larger the amount and the larger the size of suspended particles it carries. On steep hillsides in many cases the entire soil is in this way car- ried away to the streams and lowlands.* To prevent this sur- face washing, the first thing to do is to open up the soil and get plenty of humus in it. This will enable more of the rain to soak in and leave less to wash away. Next, the land should be terraced, or protected with hillside ditches, and the crop * Professor Salisbury says: " It has been estimated that the Missis- sippi River carries to the Gulf more than 400,000,000 tons of sediment each year, or more than a million tons a day. It would take nearly 900 daily trains of 50 cars each, each car carrying 25 tons, to carry an equal amount of sand and mud to the Gulf. . . . " The amount of matter carried to the sea in solution each year by all the rivers of the earth has been estimated at nearly 5,000,000,000 tons. This is about one-third as much as the sediment carried by the rivers." 100 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING rows run so that the water will flow around the hill and run off more slowly. If the water is delayed longer on the soil, more of it will soak in, and the amount of material it can carry is lessened. Even after all terracing and ditching that are practicable are used, some land is still so very sloping that the soil washes badly when cultivated. All such land should be covered with a sod and used for pasture, orchard or forest, the roots of the sod and trees being the best means of holding the land. The sod . 12' should contain such plants as Bermuda grass and Japan clover, which grow Fig. 63. An inexpensive home-made level with in Warmmonths and which terraces may be laid out. _ ' ^ others which grow in the cold months, such as bur-clover and rescue-grass. 85. How to Make a Terrace. — A terrace is simply a bank of soil extending around a hillside and so constructed that it is level, or nearly so, all along. The effect of this long level bank is to stop the surface water as it rushes down the hill. This delayed water then runs along the upper side of the ter- race and accumulates until the top of the water reaches the top of the terrace. Then the additional water flows over the terrace all along in a thin sheet. In this way it goes more slowly and does not wash the land as it does when rushing down in narrow streams. Simple terraces may be laid out by any thoughtful boy with the cheap-home made terrace level shown in Figure 63. Start at the top of the hill and with the aid of your level find a spot that is three feet lower than the top. Then, from this spot as a starting point, run a line around the hill, keeping it always practically level with the starting THE SOIL 101 point. Place stakes along to mark this line. This will be the line of your first terrace. Then find a spot three feet lower than this line. Lay off your second terrace line on a level with this spot. Continue in this way laying off terrace lines until you reach the bottom of the slope. On very steep hill- sides it may be necessary to make your terraces with more than three feet drop, but this is usually undesirable. Having all your terrace lines now staked out, run a furrow along each, following the stakes closely. Leave about two feet of hard unbroken ground below this furrow, and upon this hard ground throw furrows from each side until a fair-sized bank is made all along the line. Wherever for any reason the bank is not level after the plowing, it must be finished with other tools until the top of the entire bank is practically level and the bank is about equally strong all along. Sow on this bank seeds of rapidly growing plants with strong fibrous roots that will hold the bank together, such as peas, clover, or oats. It is especially desirable that some winter growing plant should also grow on these terraces to strengthen them against the winter rains. 86. Loss by Leaching. — In addition to the surface water, the free water that fills the pores of the soil after each rain and passes on down dissolves great quantities of soluble food ma- terials present and carries these down below the reach of the roots of ordinary farm crops, or carries them out to the val- leys and empties them into the streams. Disintegration is going on all the time in the soil, and soluble food materials are being formed. If no crop takes these up before a heavy rain comes, they are dissolved in the free water and largely carried away. In the winter months when the heavy rains usually fall, many fields have no crops growing on them to utilize the 102 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING soluble food materials present, so these are leached out and lost. In many cases more is lost this way each year than is consumed by the crop. 87. How to Prevent Leaching. — The means of preventing leaching are very similar to those for preventing washing. Deep breaking of the land and filling it with humus so that it will hold more of the water in its pores by capillary attraction is the first step. In addition to this, we should see to it that at practically all seasons of the year some crop is growing on the land, so that the soluble food materials may be taken out of the soil as soon as they are formed and utilized by the plants, and not left to be leached away by the rains. Our mild climate favors the action of bacteria and the rapid disintegration of the soil and the making of soluble food materials during fall and winter and early spring. We should therefore keep our fields covered during these seasons with grains, other grasses, clovers, and similar cover crops, in order to save our land from leaching, 88. Loss of Nitrogen to the Air. — In addition to the loss of food materials to the water, at times large quantities are lost to the air. The harmful bacteria which tear down the soluble nitrogen compounds* set free a quantity of nitrogen which escapes into the air. These denitrifying bacteria flourish in soil that has an excess of water and a poor supply of air, and in soil that is acid. The means of preventing this loss are obvious. If wet, the soil should be well drained and opened up so as to hold an ample supply of air. If acid, the soil should have lime added to it to correct this acidity. The method of testing a soil to see if it is acid is simple. Dig down into the soil and press a piece of blue litmus (lit'mus) paper * These are called denitrifying (de-ni'trl-fl-Ing) bacteria. THE SOIL 103 against the moist soil. If the soil is acid, the htmus paper will turn red or pink. The amount of lime needed depends upon how acid the soil is. From five hundred pounds to a ton or more per acre are used. After a certain quantity has been applied, and time allowed for it to be diffused through the soil, another test should be made, and the lime added until the soil is either neutral (nu'tral) or slightly alkaline (al'ka-lln). Alkaline means the opposite of acid. Such a soil will turn red litmus paper blue. Neutral means neither acid nor alkaline. 89. Plants Take Material From the Soil in Growing. — Let us now see what the crop takes out of the soil. We plant about ten pounds of seed corn on an acre. If everything is favorable and a hundred bushels of corn are produced on this acre, that will give 5,600 pounds of corn and about 6,000 pounds of stover. The tiny embryos in that ten pounds of seed corn have therefore taken about 11,590 pounds of mate- rial from the soil and air. Plainly we cannot continue to take such enormous quantities of material out of the soil and air year after year and put nothing back without finally exhaust- ing the supply. But before we can plan intelligently to put back, we must know what the substances are which the plant uses. 90. How to Find Out What the Plant Uses in Growing.— It is not easy to find out of what a plant is made. You or I can tear a pie to pieces and see that it is made of apple and sugar and flour, but if we then try to find what the fiour is made of, we have to use a microscope to recognize the tiny starch cells, the gluten, and other parts. There we have to quit, but a trained chemist can take the starch or gluten, or a drop of the water in the apple, and tear each of these apart by delicate operations and learn what they are made of. He can, as you 104 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING know, run a current of electricity through the water and spHt it up into the two gases hydrogen and oxygen. At last, even the chemist comes to something that he cannot split any further, as, for instance, the hydrogen and oxygen. The tear- ing up of a compound and finding what it is made of is called analysis (a-nal'i-sis), and the place in which such work is done is called a laboratory (lab'o-ra-to-ry). You know that any substance that can be analyzed into two or more simpler things is called a compound, and one that is absolutely simple and cannot be analyzed further is called an element. Iron, silver, gold, carbon are some of the elements with which you are familiar. 91. Only Ten Important Elements in Plants. — There are less than eighty elements in all the world, everything we know being one of these elements or a combination of them. Strange to say, it has been found that all plants and all ani- mals are made of the same elements. Of these elements there are ten especially important ones. Other elements are found in animals and plants, but the following ten are the necessary ones, without which no plant or animal can live : Carbon Oxygen Hydrogen Nitrogen Phosphorus (fos'fo-rQs) Potassium (p5-ta,s'sl-um) Magnesium (mag-ne'zhi-um) Calcium (kai'sl-um) Iron Sulphur 92.. Only Three Elements in Danger of Exhaustion. — The carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen make up ninety-five per cent of the plant. As these are secured from the air and water, we need not consider them further here. The supply of carbon dioxide is practically inexhaustible, as all animals are con- stantly breathing out a fresh supply into the air. It is esti- THE SOIL 105 mated that the human race alone gives off more than 50,000,- 000 tons of this gas per day. The supply of water has already been considered. The calcium, iron, sulphur, and magnesium are used only in small amounts, and are usually in the soil in practically inexhaustible quantities, so that these four also need not concern us. Occasionally calcium is needed. This is easily supplied in the form of lime, which is a calcium com- pound. The three elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, and po- tassium, are used in considerable quantities, and all soils are liable to be exhausted of one or more of these if not intelli- gently handled. 93. How Plants Exhaust the Soil of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. — Every hundred-bushel crop of corn takes out of the soil 150 pounds of nitrogen, the amount of phosphorus found in 52 pounds of phosphoric acid (a compound of phos- phorus), and the amount of potassium found in 85 pounds of potash (a compound of potassium). The cotton crop which produces a 500-pound bale takes out of the soil 100 pounds of nitrogen, the phosphorus found in 40 pounds of phosphoric acid and the potassium found in 65 pounds of potash. Simi- larly all other plants take these elements in large quantities out of the soil. On the other hand, analysis of soils has shown only a limited quantity of these substances in the soil. Analy- ses made of 49 soils in different parts of America showed an average of 3,000 pounds of nitrogen, 4,000 pounds of phos- phoric acid, and 16,000 pounds of potash per acre. A bale- to-the-acre crop of cotton takes out 100 pounds of nitrogen. You can see that at this rate such a crop would exhaust the soil of nitrogen absolutely in thirty years, if it could be grown that long, and if no fresh nitrogen were put into the soil. A kundred-bushels-to-the-acre crop of corn would, under similar 106 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING conditions, exhaust the nitrogen in twenty years. If the nitrogen were exhausted, no plant could grow, no matter how much of other food materials remained, as plants cannot live without nitrogen. 94. The Nature of the Soil Tends to Prevent Permanent Exhaustion. — Fortunately, the complete exhaustion of the soil is not as easy as the above would suggest. Two things tend to prevent this : the nature of the soil itself, and the work of the wise farmer. The nitrogen and other elements in the soil are never all in a condition in which they can be used by the crop at one time. The plant can use only so much of the material as is in a soluble form, so that it can be taken in by the root hairs. The material that is in a condition to be used by the plant is called available food material. Only a part of the total food material in the soil is at any one time available. If a field that has been exhausted by continued cropping is allowed to rest a few years, it will produce again, because disintegration wull have gone on in the soil and some more of the food material will have been changed into available form. Food materials will have been prepared also by the bacteria. The soil thus tends to save itself and renew its own fertiUty. This is, however, a very slow and expensive process. The farmer can, by intelligent handling, prevent the land ever needing a rest. Indeed he can gather profit- able crops each season, and still make his soil richer and richer each year, if he will arrange to supply the soil with the needed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. CHAPTER V MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 95. How the Farmer May Add Plant-Food Materials to His Soil. — Let us now see how the farmer may most econom- ically add to the supply of food materials in the soil. The principal methods of doing this are: 1, turning under stubble and other vegetation; 2, adding manures; 3, adding fertil- izers; 4, growing special crops that encourage nitrogen-fixing bacteria. We shall now study each of these methods. 96. Turning Under Stubble and Other Vegetation Adds Food Material. — Fortunately, the part of most of our field crops which is sold contains only a portion of the food mate- rial taken from the soil by the plant. In cotton, for example, only about one per cent of the material that made the lint came from the soil, so that if the farmer returns the stalks and seed, the soil will get back nearly all that it lost. The stalks which bore the lint in a five-hundred-pound bale alone contain food materials that would cost about nine dollars if bought as fertihzer to add to the soil. The NITROGEN 31 LBS. PH05. ACID 13 LBS. POTASH \2 LBS. NITROGEtt 1.7 LB5., PflOS ACID 0.5 L5. I POTASH 2.3 LBSl Fig. 64. Showing the large amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash used by 1,000 pounds of cotton-seed and the very small amounts used by 500 pounds of lint cotton. 107 108 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING seeds are, however, much richer in the needed food materials. Figure 64 shows you the large amounts of nitrogen, phos- phoric acid, and potash taken away in the seeds. The plant- food materials in the stalks of a hundred-bushel com crop after the grain is harvested would cost, as fertilizer, over eighteen Fig. 65. On the left no manure or fertilizer used and no corn produced. On the right 15 tons of horse manure used with yield of 65 bushels per acre. dollars. The plant-food materials in the stubble and straw of a thirty-five-bushel crop of oats are worth over thirteen dollars. The facts are similar in the cases of other crops. This shows how very important it is to turn back under the soil all stubble and stalks before they lose a great part of their value by decay and by giving off nitrogen into the air. In addition to the plant-food materials added directly by the turned -under vegetation, we have already seen that by en- couraging the growth of bacteria, and through other effects on the soil, the humus adds perhaps even more to the avail- able supply of food materials indirectly than it does directly. MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 109 Recall these effects and consider them again. The farmer, then, who burns his stubble and straw is burning money, for when vegetable matter is burned nearly all its fertilizing value is wasted, leaving little except the small amount of potash in the ashes. 97. Manure: What It Is and What Are Its Values. — A large part of our farm crops is fed to animals. Of the ele- ments in this food which the plants took from the soil dis- solved in water, the animal retains in its body only about fifteen per cent, giving back in its manure eighty-five per cent. The manure consists of the solid dung and the liquid urine. The urine contains more than twice as much of the valuable elements per ton as does the dry manure. The value of manure for fertilizing depends upon the animal from which it comes and the food which the animal has eaten. Horse manure is richer than cow or hog manure, but not so rich as sheep or poultry manure. A ton of horse manure contains from seven to twelve pounds of nitrogen, five to eight pounds of phosphoric acid, and nine to twelve pounds of potash, depending largely upon the foodstuffs used. At the price now paid for these fertilizing materials, the amount in a ton of manure would be worth from $2.25 to $3.60. You have already seen that the manure, in addition. to the value of the food materials which it contains, is of perhaps greater value to the soil in holding moisture, keeping the pores open, adding useful bacteria, supporting those already there, and in giving off acid gas that helps with the dissolving of the rock particles. In experiments carried on for several years in New York and Ohio, it was found that the crops of hay and oats yielded $2.58 worth of additional produce for each ton of manure put upon the land, while crops of wheat, clover, and potatoes yielded $2.96 worth for each ton. no FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING These figures by no means measure the full value of the manure, because a large part of the fertilizing value of manure remains in the soil many years. This is proved by experi- ments at Rothamsted, England, where a field continued to give an increased yield from the effect of long use of manure for thirty years after the manure was applied. Two fields, as nearly equal as could be found, were cultivated alike for twenty years. On one, fourteen tons of manure per acre were used annually. On the other no manure was used. For the following thirty years both were cultivated alike again, no manure being applied to either. At the end of this time the effect of the manure was still being shown. The land which had been manured produced on the average for the last ten years 2,900 pounds of grain to 1,300 pounds produced by the unmanured land. 98. Amounts of Manure from Different Animals. — ^The manure produced each year for each thousand pounds weight of the animal or animals is shown by Roberts to have approximately the following values: horses, $42; cows, $39; sheep, $46; hogs, $80. The total amount produced by each kind of animal is shown in the following table: Horse Cow. , Sheep Hog.. DRY MANURE 12,000 lbs. 20,000 " 760 " 1,800 " LIQUID MANURE 3,000 lbs. 8,000 " 380 " 1,200 " 99. How the Value of Manure Is Lost. — The first waste ^ of manure results from the failure to save the liquid manure. If the urine is not saved, about half of the value of the MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 111 manure is lost. The next waste occurs when the manure is left out in the weather or is not kept properly covered or sufficiently wet. A large part of the valuable food materials in the manure is in soluble form, so that if the manure is left in the rain these are leached out and carried away in rain-water. Some of the nitrogen is changed to ammonia and passes off to the air in the form of a gas. A large part of the other materials of the manure which are so valuable in loosening the soil and supporting soil bacteria is slowly changed by the oxygen of the air and lost when manure is left exposed. If the manure is allowed to become dry, these changes and this waste go on more rapidly. In tests made at the New Jersey Experiment Station manure exposed to the weather lost over fifty per cent of its value in four months. At the Ohio station exposed manure when used on a crop was found to have a value of $2.15 per ton, while the value of stable manure was $2.96. When twenty-three cents' worth of acid phosphate was added to the stable manure its fertil- izing value was $4.80 per ton. At Cornell 4,000 pounds of manure were exposed from April 25 to September 25, at which time it weighed only 1,730 pounds. The nitrogen in this manure had fallen from 19.60 to 7.70 pounds, the phosphoric acid from 14.80 to 7.70 pounds, the potash from 36 to 8.65 pounds. The value of the plant-food mate- rials had fallen from $6.46 to $2.38, a loss of sixty-three per cent. 100. How to Save Manures. — The first thing to do toward saving all the value of manure is to save the liquid manure, either by having a water-proof floor in your stable or by keeping sufficient litter in the stable to absorb all urine. All manures should be kept under cover until hauled to 112 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING the field, and never allowed to lie exposed to the air and rain. Even under cover the manure needs attention. It should be packed down to press out the air and retard the action of bacteria, and kept wet enough to prevent heat- ing, which drives off nitrogen. Even when properly wet, there will be some giving off of nitrogen, and in order to save this, the manure heap should be covered with loam, sawdust, or straw. Loam is best, as this absorbs thir- teen pounds of nitrogen to the ton, whereas sawdust ab- sorbs eight and straw only four. Still better results are obtained from manure if a compost is made. The United States Department of Agriculture gives the fol- lowing directions for making a compost heap and applying the compost to the land. 101. How to Make a Com- post Heap. — *' Locate the compost heap in an old shed, or build a shed, with any kind of cheap material for a roof. Spread on the ground a layer of stable manure 8x10 feet, 6 inches deep. Over this spread 100 pounds of acid phos- phate or ground phosphate rock. The phosphate rock Fig. 66. The top picture shows the usual method of saving manure, by which about one-half of its value is lost by leaching and by giving off ni- trogen to the air. The stable at the bottom has a cement floor to save the valuable liquid manure, and a cover to protect the manure from rain and leaching. This farmer also wets the manure occasionally, adds rock phos- phate, and covers the pile with loam and straw to catch the nitrogen that is set free. — After Duggar. MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 113 answers as well as the acid phosphate and costs about half as much. Continue these alternate layers until the manure is used up, or until the pile has become inconveniently high. To these layers might be added straw, leaves, mould, or other litter, adding 100 pounds ground phosphate rock to each ton of material used. Be sure to wet all thoroughly. When the compost heap is completed, cover it about 4 inches deep with good loam or with forest mould. 102. How to Apply the Compost. — "When applying two tons per acre or less, the best results can be obtained by putting the compost in the furrow and bedding out on it. Be careful not to bury too deep, especially on clay soils. When using more than two tons per acre, it is better to scatter broadcast. "Bearing in mind the supplemental value of the cow-pea, it is safe to say that by using compost at least fifty per cent can be added to the productiveness of the average one- hundred-acre farm, and that simply at the cost of a few tons of acid phosphate and a little labor. With the barn-yard manure and with the cow-pea at his service to save and gather nitrogen for him, the average farmer is simply wasting his money when he continues to buy nitrogen in commercial fertilizer when he could easily produce all that his land needs upon his farm." 103. Green Manures. — In addition to turning under stub- ble, it is sometimes advisable to turn under an entire crop. The green crop thus plowed under is called green manure. Green manuring provides a method of rapidly adding humus to the soil. Among the best crops for this purpose are cow- peas, velvet-beans, soy-beans, clover, and sorghum. Usually crops should be fairly mature before being turned under. 114 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Such green manuring should not take place immediately be- fore the planting of a new crop, especially one of small grain. Cover crops are frequently sown in the fields at the last cul- tivation, grazed during the winter, and turned under in the spring. This is an especially valuable practice, as it furnishes grazing, saves the land from loss of fertility in winter, and adds valuable humus besides. All green manure should be turned under at least two weeks before the new crop is planted. 104. Green Manure or Stock Feeding. — The question is often asked whether it pays better to plow under a crop or feed it to stock, put the manure on the land, and sell the stock. This depends upon so many circumstances that no general answer can be given. As over eighty per cent of the fertilizing elements of the crop is left in the manure after being fed to stock, it is usually wise to pass the crop through stock before putting it into the soil. But, if the soil is very low in organic matter, the quickest way to replenish this is to plow under an entire crop, as more than fifty per cent of the organic mat- ter is lost when fed. In each case one would have to consider the needs of the soil, the work involved in each method, the access to markets, and other factors before he could intel- ligently decide which procedure would pay best. This will be further discussed under Animal Husbandry. 105. Plants that Add Nitrogen to the Soil.— Although there are millions on millions of tons of free nitrogen in the air and circulating in the soil, four-fifths of the air being ni- trogen, plants cannot use this as food material. It must first be made into a soluble compound. You have learned that certain bacteria in the soil can take free nitrogen and help to make it into a soluble nitrogen compound. The MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 115 Fig. 67. This shows the nitrogen-flxing bacteria in the cells of the root tubercle of a legume. scientists have found that there are certain plants upon the roots of which these nitrogen-fixing bacteria thrive. These plants are the legumes (leg'umz), such as peas, clovers, pea- nuts, alfalfa, bur-clover, soy-beans, velvet-beans, and vetch. If you will examine the roots of these plants, you will see lit- tle wart-Hke nodules scattered over them. These are called tubercles (tu'ber-klz), and contain millions of these bacteria. The plant feeds on the nitrogen compound made by the bacteria on its roots, and de- posits the nitro- gen in its stem, leaves, roots, and fruit. If the whole plant is later turned under, all this soluble nitrogen is added to the soil. When the pea-vines that would produce a ton of hay are turned under, $10.00 worth of plant-food material is added to the soil. The roots alone, if left in the soil, add greatly to its fertility, as about thirty per cent of the plant-food mate- rial is in them. The growing of legumes and the production of barn-yard manure offer the most economic method by which the farmer may steadily improve his land and in- crease his income. 106. The Most Deficient Food Element Sets the Limit of the Crop. — We know that one variety of crop uses more of one substance and another variety uses more of some other substance. We know also that some land is well sup- pHed with one substance but lacking in some other. In such a case the material of which there is a plentiful supply 116 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING cannot be used by the plant any longer than the supply of the deficient element holds out. For example, if a soil is deficient in nitrogen but well supplied with potash and phos- phorus, the crop can use no more of the potash and phos- phorus after the small sup- ply of nitrogen has been used up, because the plant can make no new growth unless its food contains its proper proportion of nitro- gen. There may be enough potash and phosphorus in a soil to produce one hun- dred bushels of corn to the acre, but if there is only enough nitrogen to produce twenty bushels, then that is all the field will yield. The most deficient element sets the limit of the crop. 107. What is a Com- mercial Fertilizer? — What has been said above shows why at times it is more economical to supply just one food element rather than to add a manure which contains many elements. At other times special combinations of elements can be got together that meet the needs of a particular soil and a special crop more economically than would manure. If we have a field slightly deficient in phosphoric acid, but amply supplied with nitrogen and potassium, then we should merely waste the seven pounds of nitrogen and nine pounds Fig. 68. This shows the tubercles on the roots of a soy-bean. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 117 of potash in the manure if we apphed a ton of manure in order to secure the five pounds of phosphoric acid in it. To meet such conditions artificially prepared materials are applied to the soil for the purpose of supplying the especially needed plant-food ma- terial or materials. Such artificially prepared ma- terials are called com- mercial fertilizers. While occasionally other ele- ments need to be sup- plied, practically all fertilizers supply either nitrogen, potassium, or phosphorus, or some combination of these. We shall now give the names and a brief ac- count of the chief ma- terials used in commer- cial fertilizers, show how to calculate the value of mixed fertilizers, how to find out what fertilizers to use, and how to prepare them. 108. Fertilizers That Supply Nitrogen. — ^The usual com- mercial fertilizers furnishing nitrogen are sodium nitrate, sul- phate of ammonia, cotton-seed meal, dried blood, and tankage. Nitrate of soda is found on the west coast of Chile. It con- tains about fifteen per cent of nitrogen in a very soluble form, and therefore should be added only in small amounts and while the plants are growing. If put on the soil long before Fig. 69. Just as the tub can be filled no higher than the shortest stave, so the crop can grow no larger than is allowed by the most deficient necessary element in the soil. — After Halligan. 118 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING the plants are ready to use it, the nitrate will be dissolved and washed away by the rain. When spread broadcast over the ground, it is so rapidly dissolved and carried down by the moisture in the soil that young plants will show the effect of it and become greener within a week of the time it is applied. It is especially valuable for use with plants growing during the cool weather. Sulphate of ammonia is obtained from coal, and contains about twenty per cent of nitrogen. It does not wash out of the soil so readily as nitrate of soda. Cotton-seed meal is what is left of the cotton-seed after the oil and hulls are removed. It contains nearly seven per cent of nitrogen, together with some phosphate and potash. As the meal must decompose before the nitrogen is in a form that the plant can take in, it should be put into the ground before the crop is planted or at the time of planting. Dried blood and tankage are materials coming from slaughter- pens, the blood containing eight to thirteen per cent and the tankage six to ten per cent of nitrogen. These must be changed in the soil also before the plant can use them, and hence are usually applied to crops that have a long growing season. 109. Fertilizers Supplying Phosphoric Acid.— ^The prin- cipal source from which the phosphorus in commercial fer- tilizer is obtained is rock phosphate. Beds of this are found in Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and Canada. This rock is ground and sold as rmv phosphate. In this condition it is not soluble in pure water, and hence cannot furnish the plant-food material, but in a soil supplied with bacteria and humus it is slowly changed into a soluble form and affords the cheapest supply of phosphate for the crop. It must, of course, be placed in the soil some time before it is needed by MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 119 the crop. The ground phosphate rock may also be treated with sulphuric acid before being put into the soil, and in this way the phosphorus changed to soluble form. Rock that has been so treated is sold as acid phosphate, and con- tains usually from twelve to sixteen per cent phosphoric acid. This, although soluble, does not leach out of the soil so read- ily as a nitrate, and is best applied before or at the time of planting. Bones are another source of phosphatic fertilizer. Bone is sold ground as bone meal, steamed as steamed bone, and burned as bone ash. The raw bone contains eighteen to twenty-two per cent phosphoric acid and two and one-half to three and one-half per cent nitrogen. Steamed bone and bone ash contain more of the phosphoric acid. 110. Fertilizers Supplying Potash. — The important mate- rials supplying potash are kainit, muriate of potash, and sul- phate of potash. Kainit contains twelve to fifteen per cent potash, and the other two about fifty per cent each. These are readily soluble. 111. How Fertilizers Are Valued. — The laws of Texas and many other States require that all commercial fertilizers be plainly labelled. The label must state what per cent of the different food materials the manufacturer guarantees to be in the fertilizer. The State chemist each year finds what each of the fertilizing materials costs at retail in the large markets of the world and publishes this price as the standard of value for that year. For instance the standard values set for 1910-11 were: PER LB, Available phosphoric acid in mixed fertilizers and bat guano . . 6 Total phosphoric acid in tankage and bone 4 Nitrogen in mixed fertilizers and bat guano 20 Nitrogen in bone and tankage 19 Potash 6 120 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING With these prices known it is easy to tell the value of a mixed fertilizer. For example, if a ton of fertilizer contain? four per cent available nitrogen, eight per cent available phosphoric acid, and two per cent potash, its value can be found as follows: 1 ton = 2,000 lbs. 4% of 2,000 lbs. = 80 lbs. 80 lbs. nitrogen at $0.20 = $16 . 00 8% of 2,000 lbs. = 160 lbs. 160 lbs. phos. acid at 0.06 = 9 . 60 2% of 2,000 lbs. = 40 lbs. 40 lbs. potash at 0.06 = 2.40 Total $28.00 In this way we learn that the ton of fertilizer contains 80 pounds of nitrogen worth $16, 160 pounds of phosphoric acid worth $9.60, and 40 pounds potash worth $2.40, which gives a total value of $28. This represents the value of the unmixed materials. A fair selling price would require that to this be added the cost of mixing, sacks, transporta- tion, and a reasonable profit for the manufacturer. Before buying fertilizers one should write to the agricultural ex- periment station for the bulletin giving the fertilizer law, the valuations of materials for the year, and the analyses of the various brands sold in the State. The commercial value dis- cussed above is no measure of the agricultural value of the fertilizer. It matters not what fertilizing materials may cost, if a ton of fertiUzer caused an increase of forty bushels of wheat, and wheat sold at a dollar, the value of that fertilizer to the farmer would be forty dollars, less the additional ex- pense of handling the fertilizer and the extra forty bushels of wheat. 112. Complete and Incomplete Fertilizers. — A fertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash is called a complete fertilizer. One containing only one or two of MANURES, FERTILIZERS, AND ROTATION 121 these is called incomiMe. Most commercial fertilizers are complete or mixed. As each soil and crop is likely to have need of a different combination of the fertilizing materials it is usually best not to buy a complete fertilizer, but to determine first what the field needs and then to purchase these materials only and mix your own fertilizer. 113. How to De- termine What Fer- tilizer is Needed. — By analyzing the soil and crop the chemist can tell what food ele- ments they contain, and what the plant takes out of the soil. In this way he is of great help in finding out what fertilizer to use. But the effects of bacteria and of several other things which influence the crop are not considered when the chemist analyzes the soil and the crop, so that his analyses, while they help, cannot tell us exactly what fertilizer to use on a par- ticular field with some special crop. This is more easily and correctly found out by making an experiment on a series of small plats in the field. If, for example, you wish to know Fig. 70. This shows the effect of the absence of nitrogen, potassium, or phosphorus. The pot on the left lacks potash, the next lacks nitrate, the next lacks neither phosphate, potash, nor nitrate, the last lacks phosphate. Courtesy of the Texas Experiment Station, College Station, Texas. 122 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING what fertilizer to use in a certain field for corn, select a part of the field that fairly represents the soil, and lay off side by side a series of plats of one-twentieth of an acre each and number them. Plant and cultivate the corn alike in each, but put different amounts and varieties of fertihzers on each plat in such a manner as is shown in the diagram below. The amounts to be used would vary with different fields and crops. The amounts in the diagram are given merely as illustrations. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ^ ^ pT! j:3 c3 ^ % la c3 ii ^ ^ H ^^i£ .■ M mt f^p'^ ^ Fig. 109. Pea-nut plant from the Panhandle. Cut on the left, courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture; on the right, courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." on alfalfa. In fact nearly all the different kinds of legumes have their own particular bacteria, and if the right kind of bacteria is not in the soil, it must be added before the legume can be grown successfully. This addition to the soil of material containing the proper bacteria is called inoculation (in-oc-u-la''shun). The best way to inoculate a field is to add to it soil that contains the proper bacteria. For example, if one wished to inoculate an acre of land for alfalfa, he would apply to it about two hundred and fifty pounds of soil from a field that was growing alfalfa successfully. This would 182 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING be sprinkled on as would a fertilizer and harrowed into the land. Inoculation does not have to be repeated every year, as the bacteria live from year to year in the soil. All legumes do not need inoculation. For example, the bacteria that grow on the roots of cow-peas are present in nearly all soils and would not have to be added. We shall speak of only a few of the most common legumes. 173. Pea-nuts. — The pea-nut plant is an annual, growing from one to two feet high, depending upon the variety grown and the soil. The fruit, or seed, which is not a nut at all, is borne in pods underneath the surface of the soil, on tips of stems. These stems start out from the axils of leaves above ground and, after blooming, push their way into the soil and there develop the seed. 174. Varieties. — Two well-defined types of pea-nuts are recognized : those with large pods and those producing small pods. A common representative of the former group is the Virginia pea-nut, used for roasting. The Spanish pea-nut is the small-podded variety. These are used mostly for mak- ing confectionery and feeding hogs. 175. Soil and Fertilizers. — The pea-nut does best on a loam soil containing plenty of lime and not too much humus. If barn-yard manure is used, it should be applied to the preceding crop, so as to give it ample time to decompose thoroughly before the nuts are planted. Nitrogenous fertil- izers are seldom applied, as the pea-nut can secure its own nitrogen from the air. Potassic and phosphatic fertilizers are largely used. 176. Planting and Cultivation. — The land should be plowed and prepared as for corn, but with even greater care. The large-podded nea-nuts are usually planted about R h o '^ O 184 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING the time corn is planted, while the Spanish pea-nuts may be planted considerably later, at any date from the time that cotton comes up until about July 1 . The small-podded pea- nuts, which usually produce an erect growth, are generally planted in rows about twenty-four to thirty inches apart, and from four to eight inches apart in the row. For the large-podded varieties the rows should be from thirty to thirty-six inches apart. A weeder should be run over the land after the pea-nuts are planted and before they have come up. After the plants are up, a fine-toothed cultivator should be used, and cultivation should be frequent, keeping the soil finely pulverized, so that the plants will have no difficulty in producing the pods. One or two hoeings are usually necessary, depending upon the abundance of weeds. 177. Harvesting. — Pea-nuts intended for seed or market should be harvested before frost. A common method of harvesting is to run under the row on each side with a turn plow from which the mould-board has been removed. This plow should be run at sufficient depth not to tear the pods from the branches. The plants are then lifted by hand or with a fork and stacked, usually on the same day that they are dug. The plants should be stacked with the tops turned outward and the stacks made as slender as possible. They are capped with grass or straw. 178. Cow-peas. — The cow-pea is the most important Southern legume. It is grown on the widest variety of soil of any Southern hay crop. It fits into almost any system of crop rotation that the farmer wishes to practise, and is valuable either as hay, pasture, or seed crop. A crop of cow-peas may be grown after small grain comes off in the FARM CHOPS 185 spring, before small grain is seeded in the fall, or between two crops of small grain. They are generally grown as a secondary crop, being sown at the last cultivation of corn, except in regions of very dry summers, where they must be sown earlier. They may be either pastured off, used for Fig. 112. Field of cow-peas. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." seed production or for hay. They are often planted in drills between the corn rows, or between the hills of corn in the same row. In either case they are allowed to mature and the seed is harvested. Twenty bushels per acre is a good average yield. Cow-peas should never be planted until the soil gets thoroughly warm. Deep preparation of the soil is not essential to the successful growth of cow-peas, though on heavy clay soil it is very profitably employed. When sown 186 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING broadcast, from one to one and one-half bushels of seed per acre are required. When sown in drills, one peck of seed is usually enough. Acid phosphate makes up the bulk of the fertilizer used, although considerable amounts of kainit are under certain conditions desirable. No nitrogen fertilizer is Fig. 113. Soy-bean field. A good legume for hay and for building up the soil. From Halligan's Fundamentals of Agriculture. Courtesy of Messrs. D. C. Heath &, Co. necessary. Cow-peas should be harvested for hay when the most mature pods are beginning to turn yellow. One and one-half tons of hay per acre is a good average yield. The soy-bean is rapidly coming into favor in some parts of the South-west. It possesses advantages in some respects over the cow-pea for certain localities. These should be studied carefully in the bulletins and tested on every farm. I FARM CROPS 187 179. Alfalfa. — Alfalfa is grown primarily for hay, but is sometimes used for pasture, soiling, or silage. Owing to the large amount of palatable hay produced, together with the fact that this hay contains a high percentage of protein, there is no more valuable forage plant in sections where it can be readily grown. 180. Description. — A sin- gle plant of alfalfa ordi- narily produces from five to twenty-five erect stems growing out from a single crown. These stems range in height from eighteen to thirty (sometimes sixty) inches, depending upon the soil upon which it is grown. Plants growing alone may produce from one hundred and fifty to two hundred stems. The arrangement of the leaves is somewhat different from that of true clover, the lateral leaflets being borne on the side of each leaf stalk instead of at the end, as in the clovers. The stems are rather slender, making a hay of excellent quality. The seeds are borne in a much-twisted seed-pod having when mature a corkscrew appearance. Alfalfa pro- duces a very deep-growing tap-root. These roots have been known to grow to a depth of forty-five feet. On ordinary soil the usual depth is probably from five to ten feet, depend- FiG. 114. An alfalfa-plant only a few- months old. The roots are three feet long. Under very favorable conditions alfalfa roots are known to have run over forty feet. 188 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING ing upon the character of the subsoil and the distance of standing water from the surface of the soil. Under suitable conditions the root tubercles begin to form about two or three months after sowing. 181. Alfalfa Regions in Texas. — Alfalfa may be success- fully grown on the black prairie and Fort Worth prairie soils of central and northern Texas when it escapes root rot, to w^hich it is very subject. The river bottom soils of east Texas when well drained are also adapted to alfalfa-grow- ing. In recent years alfalfa has been successfully grown on certain areas of the ** red-bed " soils in north-west Texas, although the deficient rainfall in this section makes it very necessary for the alfalfa farmer to put forth every effort for conserving soil moisture, such as early plowing to enable the soil to store up easily the rainfall, and the maintenance of a loose mulch until planting to prevent loss of water by evaporation. Considerable alfalfa is grown under irrigation in the arid sections of south-west Texas. 182. Essentials to Success in Alfalfa-Growing. — The fol- lowing are essential to successful alfalfa-growing: 1. The soil must be well drained to a depth of three or four feet. Alfalfa is a deep-rooted plant, and the presence of surplus or standing water in the upper three or four feet of soil is detrimental to its growth. 2. The soil must be fertile. Alfalfa should not be sown on land that does not possess fer- tility enough to produce two-thirds of a bale of cotton or thirty-five or forty bushels of corn per acre. 3. The soil must contain a rather large amount of lime. Alfalfa gets its nitrogen from the air as a result of the growth of tubercle- forming bacteria on its roots. These bacteria w^ill not thrive in an acid soil. The soil must be alkaline, and if sufficient FARM CROPS 189 lime IS not naturally present, from one thousand to one thou- sand five hundred pounds of slaked lime per acre should be applied and incorporated with the soil at least two weeks before the seeds are planted. 4. The bacteria that grow on the roots and form the nodules must be present. As a rule, when alfalfa is grown for the first time in a locality, the soil should be inoculated. This is best done by the method out- lined in paragraph 172. 5. The soil must have deep and thorough preparation. Weeds and grass will easily kill out alfalfa, hence the preparation of the seed-bed should be such as to get rid of weed seeds. 6. Good seed must be planted. Alfalfa seeds are often put on the market in a low state of vitality, and the farmer should always test the germinating power of the seeds before they are planted. 7. There must be sufficient moisture in the soil when the crop is planted to germinate the seeds. Failure very often results from sowing alfalfa during a dry season when there is little moisture in the soil. Fall sowing is generally better than spring sowing, as in this way the young plants get the start on the weeds in spring; but unless a suitable season can be obtained in the fall it is better to wait and seed in the spring. 183. Amount of Seed to Sow. — Most farmers sow too little seed. Twenty or twenty-five pounds per acre should be sown. Alfalfa does not spread by root stocks or stool out, like wheat or oats, and unless sufficient seed is sown a good stand need not be expected. 184. Time of Cutting. — Alfalfa should be cut when the second growth is just starting. By examining the base of the plants the farmer can easily tell when the second growth of young stems is being put out from the crown. This is the time for cutting. This is usually when the crop is about 190 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING one-tenth in bloom. If cutting is delayed until the second growth is far enough advanced to be clipped by the mower, the yield of the succeeding cutting will be greatly lessened. 185. Curing the Hay. — Alfalfa hay should not be left in the swath exposed to the sun for more than two or three hours. Many farmers put it in small cocks immediately upon cutting. The cocks should be small and carefully made so as to shed rain. The curing process will go on fa- vorably under these conditions, while at the same time the leaves do not become so dry as to shatter when the hay is handled. If mould should occur, the cocks may be opened up for a short time. In arid regions, immediately after cut- ting, the hay is raked into windrows eighteen to twenty-five inches deep and is cured in the windrow. The hay is hauled directly to the stack from the windrow, often by means of " buck rakes." Any method of curing, to be successful, must be such as to avoid the loss of the leaves, as these are the most nutritious portion of the plant. Good alfalfa gives from three to six cuttings a year, yield- ing from three and one-half to four and one-half tons of hay per acre. Where it is irrigated and the growing season is long, more cuttings and heavier yields are obtained. 186. The Clovers. — To this group of plants belong red clover, white clover, crimson clover, alsike clover, and mam- moth clover. These are known as the true clovers. Japan clover (lespedeza, les-pe-de'za) and bur-clover, while com- monly classed as clovers, are not in any way related to the above plants, and are not true clovers. Bur-clover is closely related to alfalfa. The true clovers most commonly grown in the South are the crimson, red, and white. Crimson clover is an annual, and therefore has to be seeded every FARM CROPS 191 year. It is seeded in the fall and will produce a crop of hay in time for corn to be planted on the land the next summer. About twenty pounds of seed per acre are sown. Red clover is a perennial. It is primarily a hay plant, but is sometimes used for pasture. It grows best on fertile land containing considerable lime. In the South it is best sown in the fall at the rate of ten or twelve pounds of seed per acre. White clover is primarily a pasture plant, and is seldom grown for hay, owing to its prostrate, or creeping, habit of growth. It is usually sown in mixtures of grass-seed for pasture at the rate of from two to six pounds of seed per acre. Bur-clover is an annual, but reseeds itself readily. It makes its growth in the late fall and early spring, and hence is a good supple- ment to pasture grass mixtures, giving good grazing at a season of the year when the grasses are dead. Japan clover is an annual, making its growth during the summer months. It is used primarily for pasture, but some hay is produced from it. Japan clover often covers waste land that has been abandoned because of its poverty, greatly aiding in restoring this land to productiveness. Its value is too little appre- ciated by Southern farmers. Sugar-Cane 187. Sugar-Cane : Its Importance. — Sugar-cane is a coarse grass grown in tropical and semi-tropical countries for its stems, the juice of which is used for the making of sugar and syrup. It differs from ordinary sorghum (commonly called cane) in containing a higher percentage of sugar in its juices, and also in not producing seed in this country, and only spar- ingly in tropical countries. Sorghum produces an abundance 192 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING of seed in a compact panicle at the top of the plant. The sugar-cane is used primarily for sugar-making, while sorghum is used for making molasses. The plants of sugar-cane vary in height from eight to fifteen feet. The stems are usually close-jointed and very leafy. Sugar-cane was probably the first plant used in the manufacture of sugar. It is still one of the most important crops for this purpose, notwithstand- ing the great increase in the culture of other sugar-yielding plants within recent years. 188. Roots. — As a usual thing sugar-cane does not pro- duce a prominent tap-root. A number of the finer roots, however, go deep into the soil, thus enabling the plant to secure moisture. The roots of sugar-cane do not branch as profusely as do the roots of corn. From the lower nodes, or joints, of the plant roots also come out above the ground, go down into the soil, and serve to brace and nourish the plant. 189. Varieties. — No satisfactory classification of the vari- eties of sugar-cane has as yet been made. The most gen- erally used classification is that which is based upon the color of the stalk. Three classes are recognized: 1, the green and yellow group, in which the stalks are uniformly green and yellow; 2, the red group, in which the stalks are of a reddish color; 3, the striped group. 190. Sugar-Cane Regions. — The important sugar-cane regions in the United States are found in southern Louisiana and southern and eastern Texas. In Louisiana cane is grown from New Orleans to within about one hundred miles of the Texas line. In Texas it is grown in the lower Brazos and Colorado bottoms, in creek valleys in east Texas, and in the lower Rio Grande Valley. FARM CROPS 193 191. Soil. — Sugar-cane requires a well-drained, deep, sweet soil. Owing to the large amount of water which is passed through the plants during their growth, the soil must have a high water-holding capacity. Almost any fertile soil in the sugar-cane belt supplying the above conditions can be profitably used for this crop. In plowing the land for cane, steam-plows are often used, breaking the soil in some sections as deep as eighteen to twenty inches. All soils cannot be plowed to this depth, as the subsoil is often of such a nature as to make it inadvisable to bring very much of it to the surface. However, deep plowing must be the rule for sugar-cane. 192. Fertilizers. — The best fertilizer for sugar-cane is stable manure. This is seldom produced in sufficient quan- tity to supply the needs of the crop, and the use of artificial fertilizers is resorted to. The usual custom in disposing of the crop is to extract the juice, burn the remainder of the crop, and return the ashes to the soil. This aids in main- taining the supply of phosphorus and potassium, but it re- sults in the loss of organic matter and nitrogen. As a result the most commonly purchased ingredient for cane fertilizer is nitrogen. A soluble fertilizer, such as nitrate of soda, is usually applied to the surface of the soil after the crop has made a portion of its growth, and is worked into the soil by cultivation. The less soluble materials, such as dried blood, tankage, and fish refuse, should be added earlier and mixed rather deeply with the soil. On acid soils lime is very bene- ficial. 193. Planting. — In this country sugar-cane does not pro- duce seed. In tropical countries some varieties produce a small amount of seed, while others do not produce any. 194 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING The seed produced is inferior, and has a very weak germinat- ing power. Plants produced from seed grow very slowly, requiring several years to attain full size. For the above reason sugar-cane is propagated by planting the stripped stalks, or from cuttings made from stalks. The buds, or eyes, located at the joints of the cane grow and produce plants. A very common method is to plant the entire uncut stalk. The land is first thrown up into high beds, with drainage furrows between. These beds are from four and one-half to seven feet wide. A furrow is opened in the top of each bed with a double mould-board plow, and a double row of cane is planted in the bottom of the furrow. With this method about four tons of cane are required to plant an acre. Planting is best done in the fall, although some cane is planted in February and March. Another com- mon practice is to plant the cane in hills. In this case there are three common methods ap- plicable : 1. Laying the ** seed-cuttings " horizontally in the row, with the eyes, or buds, facing lat- erally. 2. Placing the cuttings on a slant of about forty degrees, with the upper end protruding from the soil. 3. Placing the cuttings vertically in the soil, with the upper end of the cutting protruding. These cuttings are spoken of as ** seed-cane." This " seed- cane" is usually covered only an inch and a half to two inches deep, especially in irrigated regions. Fig. 115. Stem of sugar- cane, showing the "eyes" at the joints from which the plants grow. FARM CROPS 195 194. Culture. — During the first few months after plant- ing, the cane is actively cultivated, usually with a one-horse cultivator. The object of this cultivation is to keep down Fig. 116. Field of sugar-cane at La Feria, Texas. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." weeds and stimulate the growth of the cane. Shallow cul- tivating is much preferable to deep cultivation. 195. Harvesting. — The cane must be harvested before frost. However, the longer the cane can be allowed to grow in the fall the higher the percentage of sugar. The crop is harvested by hand, no successful harvester having as yet been invented. Immediately after the cane is cut, it is taken to the mill and ground. If the gri;iding is delayed more than twenty-four hours after cutting, fermentation be- gins and the quality of the juice is injured. 196 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 196. Yield. — Twenty to twenty-five tons of cane per acre is a fair yield. Often more than this is produced. A ton of cane yields from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty pounds of sugar. This gives more than three thousand pounds of sugar per acre. As much as four thousand five hundred pounds of sugar per acre have been produced. Rice 197. Rice and Its Distribution. — Rice is an annual be- longing to the grass family. It is grown for its grain, which is borne in a spreading panicle somewhat resembling that of oats. This grain is more widely used as a food material than any other cereal. It forms the principal article of diet for more than one-half of the world's inhabitants. Asia produces more rice than any other continent. Next to Asia comes Europe, followed by North America. The leading rice-producing States in the United States are Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, South CaroHna, and Georgia, producing a total of from twenty to twenty-five million bushels of rough rice. Of this amount, Louisiana produces about twelve million bushels and Texas about ten million bushels. 198. Types and Varieties. — There are two types of rice grown in this country. These are upland rice and lowland rice. The upland rice is grown on relatively dry soils with- out irrigation. The lowland rice is the more important type. There are few varieties of rice grown in the United States. In the Eastern States white rice and gold seed rice are grown in considerable ^quantities. In Louisiana and Texas the most important varieties are Honduras and Japan rice. The Honduras rice produces a rather large grain, and is not FARM CROPS 197 so easily blown down because of the stiff straw produced. The Japan rice produces a short thick grain, and the plants do not grow as tall as Honduras rice. It is said to yield more grain than Honduras. 199. Rice Soils in Texas and Louisi- ana. — The rapid de- velopment of the rice industry in Texas and Louisiana has been due to the opening up of large areas of prairie land in south-east Texas and south-west Lou- isiana. These rich drift soils have shown a remarkable adaptation to rice. They have heavy clay subsoil, and for that reason are very retentive of moist- ure, and, being practically level, are especially adapted to irrigation. They are sufficiently far from the coast to be free from storms and the attacks of birds. 200. Preparing the Ground. — Rice land is usually plowed in the spring. The better the soil is pulverized the greater Fig. 117. Types of rice. On the left Honduras rice, on the right Japanese rice. From Halligan's "Fundamentals of Agriculture." 198 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING is the yield. Deep plowing is more satisfactory than shal- low plowing, although rice does best in a rather compact soil. This compact condition can easily be produced by the use of a heavy roller after the land has been plowed. The plow should be followed in a short time by the disk harrow and then by the smoothing harrow. 201. Sowing. — Rice should usually be sown from March 17 to April 20 for best results. Drilling rather than broad- cast sowing is preferred, as a more uniform stand can be attained. Broadcast sowing is still very common, but this practice should be discarded. One to two bushels per acre is sown. 202. Germination. — Very often the seed germinates poorly because of too little moisture in the soil. Some farmers let on enough water to saturate the ground immediately after sowing, drawing off at once any surplus water. A few sprout the seeds before planting by placing bags of rice in water. However, if the soil is dry when these germinated seeds are sown, failure is sure to follow. 203. Irrigation. — Rice is best produced on land which can be kept flooded from the time the plants are six to eight inches high until near the time of maturing. Therefore land must be chosen that has some convenient supply of water for irrigation, has a retentive subsoil, and is practically level. In Louisiana and Texas the water used for irrigation is pumped from bayous and rivers, or from underground wells. By means of pumps and a system of canals the water is brought to the highest part of the fields. Low levees, or em- bankments, are constructed throughout the fields, chiefly with the plow, so that the water can be maintained at a uniform depth through the different portions of the field. FARM CROPS 199 This depth should be from three to six inches. The water is appHed when the plants are about eight inches high, and a constant circulation of the water is maintained by a continu- ous inflow at the highest portion of the field and an outflow at the lowest portion. The water should all be drawn off in time for the soil to get firm before harvest-time, as this allows the use of improved machinery in harvesting the crop. The irrigation takes the place of cultivation in keeping down the weeds. 204. Harvesting. — Where the water can be drained off the land, rice is best harvested with the self-binder. It is flrst put up in shocks in the field and capped in such a way as to shelter the heads from sun and rain. It remains in the shock until the straw is cured and the grain is hard. Threshing is done in the same manner as with other grains. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 92. Bring in a cotton-plant and point out the main stem, primary limbs, and fruiting limbs. 93. Examine five cotton-bolls, each from a different stalk, and make a record of the number of locks in each boll, number of seeds in each lock, and any points in which the bolls differ. 94. Find three different varieties of cotton in your neighborhood and describe each. 95. Dig carefully around a cotton-stalk standing in the field and see what effect would be produced by cultivation two inches, three inches, four inches, and five inches deep. 96. Select the best stalk of cotton in your father's field. Gather the cotton, pick the seeds by hand, and plant these away from all other cotton. Cut out all poor stalks before they bloom, save seeds of the one best stalk again, and pick by hand and plant as before. Use the seeds of the other stalks to plant a large seed patch, and continue this selection for five years in accordance with the system shown in the diagram on the next page. 200 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 97. Select six of the best stalks in your father's field, and enough of the poorest stalks to furnish a quantity of cotton when gathered equal to that obtained from the six best stalks. When ready to plant, take an equal quantity of the ordinary gin-run seed planted on the farm and plant side by side, in separate rows, first, the mixed gin-run seeds; second, the seeds from the selected plants; third, the seeds from the very poor plants. Cultivate all alike, and keep a record of the amount produced by each variety of seeds. Then calculate how much cotton would have been pro- duced on the entire farm by planting altogether from each kind of seed. I'JYEAR 2VYEAR 3?P /EAR 4IfYEAR 5THYEAH 1 PLANT 500 PLANTS ACRE GENERAL CROP 1 ^ 1 PLANT 500 PLANTS 1 ACRE GENERAL CROP \ 1 PLANT . 500 PLANTS 1 ACRE ' \ 1 PLANT ^ 500 PLANTS / Fig. 118. Five-year breeding plan for cotton or other crop. After Webber, ''Yearbook U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1902.' 1 PLANT 98. Draw and label the parts of an actual corn-plant. 99. Bring in corn-shucks which show that shucks are modified leaves. 100, Dig down in the row of a growing corn-field, and make note of how the feeding roots are distributed. Plant corn one, two, three, and four inches deep. After four weeks, dig up the plants and note the character of each, espe- cially the character of the roots, and tell which is the best depth to plant on that soil. Plant rows of corn from grains taken from tips and butts, and parallel to these plant rows from the middle parts of the same ears. Keep a record of results. 103. Select the five best ears in your father's corn-field, and next year plant the seed in an ear- to-row test, far away from all other corn; 101 102. FARM CROPS 201 cut out all poor stalks before they develop any pollen, and de- tassel alternate halves of each row. Save the cross-fertilized corn from the detasselled stalks separately for seed. 104. When the corn in the experiment above is gathered, calculate how much corn your father would have raised if all his seed-corn had been as productive as the best ear of this lot. 105. Select the best five ears from the detasselled stalks in experiment six, and the best five ears from the other stalks. Plant these side by side, cultivate exactly alike, and note how much each produces. 106. Select fifty ears of your father's seed-corn and test for germinating power. 107. In a section where there is a fair supply of winter rain, and some rain during spring and early summer, but long drought during June, July, and August, what qualities must a grain have in order to be successfully cultivated? 108. Collect and describe as many varieties of Kafir and durra as you can find in your community. 109. Make a selection of especially fine stalks of either Kafir or durra growing on your farm, and breed up a finer variety by the same methods given for corn and cotton. 110. Find plants of Japan and bur clover. Draw and describe each and bring the plants to school. 111. Examine the roots of each kind of legume in your neighborhood, find the tubercles, and make notes of the different characteristics of each, drawing them. 112. Select seed from especially fine plants of peas or other legumes and breed an improved variety. 113. Get your father to help you make the following experiment: Plant peas in the rows of half the corn in one field. Also sow rescue- grass and bur-clover seed, about fifteen pounds per acre, at the last cultivation of this same half. Gather the peas for seed and graze the clover and grass till the spring plowing, when all sod is turned under. Plant cotton, or corn and peas, again on both halves of this field. Keep account of cost of seed and labor, and of value of all crops raised on each half of the field, and of the value of the grazing. Find out whether the legumes and grass paid, and if so, how much. (A great deal of the value of the legumes and green manure is still in the soil after the first year, and will add to whatever crop is grown on the land for several years.) 202 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 114. Sow one acre of peas broadcast. Sow another one in rows and cultivate. Keep account of cost of seed and labor, and find out which pays best. 115. In a very dry climate, would it be better to plant peas broadcast or to plant them in rows and cultivate? Why do you think so? 116. Plant test rows of six varieties of peas and two varieties of soy- beans on your corn land. Give all equally good land and the same cultivation, and see which is best suited to your needs. Try this in a dry season and in a wet season. 117. Make a drawing of a complete rice-plant, if this crop grows in your neighborhood. 118. An acre of land contains 43,560 square feet. A gallon of water contains 231 cubic inches. How many gallons of water does it take to flood an acre field one inch deep? How many to flood it one foot deep? How many six inches deep? 119. Select the best five rice-plants in your field, plant fifty seeds from each of these, one foot apart, in rows one foot wide the next year. Plant these five rows on the edge of the rice-field from which the wind usually blows. Watch the plants, weigh the grain from each fine plant, and again select the best. Plant these seeds next year and keep this up till you have bred up a variety that will uniformly give large yield. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING Books treating a large number of crops of the variety indicated by their titles. "Field Crops for the Cotton Belt," J. O. Morgan. "Southern Field Crops," J. F. Duggar. "Forage Plants and Their Culture," C. V. Piper. "Forage and Fibre Crops in America," T. F. Hunt. "The Small Grains," M. A. Carleton. "Clovers and How to Grow Them," Thomas Shaw. Alfalfa. "The Book of Alfalfa," F. D. Coburn. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 339, 636, 757, 865, 944, 982, 1021, 1185, 1229. FARM CROPS 203 Beans. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 289. "Beans." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 962. ''Velvet Beans." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 973. "The Soy Bean." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1275. "Bean and Pea Weevils." Texas A. and M. College Farm and Home Hints on Soy Beans and ■ Velvet Beans. Clovers. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 455. "Red Clover." Farmers' Bulletin, nos. 579, 646, 1142, on crimson clover. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 693. "Bur Clover." Farmers' Bulletin, nos. 797, 820, 836, 1005, on sweet clover. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1151. "Alsike Clover." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1143. "Lespedeza as a Forage Crop." Corn. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 537, 773, 992, 1149, 1175, on growing corn. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 739, 872, 875, 891, 915, 950, 1025, 1029, 1046, 1124, 1176, on insects and diseases of corn. Texas Experiment Station Bulletin, no. 276, "Corn Variety Ex- periments," and no. 270, "Black and Yellow Moulds of Ear Corn." Cotton. Burkett and Poe, "Cotton." Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 501, 1098, 1262, on the cotton boll weevil. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 555, 831, 890, 1187, on insects and dis- eases attacking cotton. Cow-peas. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1148. "Cow-peas: Culture and Varieties." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1153. "Cow-peas: Utilization." A. and M. College of Texas Bulletin, "Peas and Peanuts." Oats. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 420. "Oats: Distribution and Uses." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 436. "Winter Oats for the South." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 892. "Spring Oat Production." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1119. "Fall Sown Oats." 204 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Pea-nuts. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1127. "Pea-nut Growing for Profit." Potatoes. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 533, 868, 1064, 1190, 1205, 1225, on grow- ing Irish potatoes. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 970, 999, 1020, 1059, on growing and stor- ing sweet potatoes. Rice. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 673. ** Irrigation Practice in Rice Grow- ing." Farmers' Bulletin, no. 1086. "Insects Affecting the Rice Crop." Rye. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 756, 894, on culture of rye. Sorghums. Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 477, 724, 827, 965, 972, 973, 1137, 1147, 1158, on production and uses of various sorghums. Texas Experiment Station Bulletins, nos. 195, 204, 236, 261, 269, 275, 279, 285, 294, on several varieties of sorghums, their culti- vation and feeding values. Vetch. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 515. "Vetches." Wheat. Farmers' Bulletin, no. 885. "Wheat Growing in the Southeastern States." Farmers' Bulletins, nos. 1006, 1011, 1058, 1083, 1213, 1224, 1226, on insect pests and diseases of wheat. CHAPTER VIII THE GARDEN 205. Home-Gardening Differs From Truck-Growing. — Raising a home vegetable garden is quite different from trucking, or raising vegetables in large quantities for the market. Trucking is practicable only where the soil and climate are favorable and the transportation and market- ing of the produce are easy. In trucking large fields and special equipment for tillage and marketing should be used. In the home garden the aim is to furnish the family a sup- ply of fresh wholesome food at all seasons and add an at- tractive feature to farm living. The surprises and delights in growing the variety of plants found in a garden are many. Only a few farmers can profitably be truck -growers, but every farmer should have a good home garden. The growing of truck is very important in Texas, but in an elementary work treatment of this must be omitted and the space given to the more generally needed home garden. 206. Value of the Garden. — The farmer probably gets a larger return from the time, money, and land devoted to a vegetable garden than from any other expenditure on the farm, provided it is intelligently managed. At the University of Illinois a careful account was kept of a half-acre vege- table garden for five years. During that time the garden produced an average of one hundred and five dollars' worth of vegetables per year at a cost for seeds, labor, and in*^ 205 206 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING secticides of thirty dollars per year. A vegetable garden is valuable not merely because it produces foodstuff worth so much money, but also because it furnishes at all seasons of the year the fresh green foods that are necessary for the best health and working efficiency. Meat, bread, molasses, and dried vegetables all the time do not give an economical or wholesome ration. The human system needs for its best development the fresh foods with phosphates and acid juices in them, just as the plant needs phosphates. With a prop- erly planned garden and suitable berry bushes, grape-vines, nut and fruit trees, all of which take only an acre or so, the farmer has over half his food supply at practically no cost, and has it fresher and better than it could be bought at any price. 207. Location and Soil. — For the average family a half acre will furnish an abundance of vegetables all the year. The garden should be near the house for convenience in car- ing for and gathering the vegetables. A well-drained spot somewhat protected from the high winds should be chosen. The soil should be a sandy loam or clayey loam. Coarse sand or heavy clay makes a poor garden soil. If such must be used, the character should be improved at once by the ad- dition of manure, green manure, well-rotted chips, leaf mould, ashes, lime, sand, or whatever is needed to make a loose, rich, finely pulverized soil. The soil must be given humus enough and be broken deep enough to hold moisture well. When practicable, the garden should be located where it can be irrigated from the tank. Often a very small amount of water will save a vegetable crop. The garden spot should be thoroughly broken and ten to twenty-five loads of stable manure turned under in the fall in time to allow for decom- THE GARDEN .001- 207 AVM3AiaO as, 208 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING position. Before the seeds are sown the soil should be plowed and replowed, disked, harrowed, and dragged until it is thoroughly pulverized, settled down, and the surface levelled and covered with a fine mulch. 208. Shape and Arrangement. — The garden should have a wide gate to admit wagon and team, should be oblong, so that the rows may be long, and should be so planted that the tillage can be done largely with teams. The rows should ex- tend the entire length of the plat, and should not be less than thirty inches apart for the use of the horse cultivator, and fifteen inches for the hand wheel cultivator. Small square patches worked by hand make gardening needlessly burden- some and expensive. The grape-vines and berries are usually planted on one side of the vegetable garden, the grapes in rows about twelve feet apart, and the berries in six or eight foot rows. Blackberries and dewberries should be in every garden in the Southwest, and in almost every section some of the numerous varieties of bunch grapes, especially hybrids created by crossing the Eastern grapes on our native wild ones. Valuable arbor grapes produced by the same crossing are now on the market. Where no other grape can be planted a few of the wild grapes for making jelly, jam, and grape juice should be placed where they may be easily gath- ered. Occasionally a few of the vegetables which cannot Fig. 120. A home-made garden reel. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. THE GARDEN 209 stand the hot sun may be grown under the arbors. Mint and parsley beds should be planted somewhere in the garden or yard near a water supply, as they need frequent watering. While these have no food value in themselves, it has been proved that attractive decoration and appetizing flavors given to foods tend to increase their digesti- bility. 209. Garden to Furnish Fresh Food at all Seasons. — A w e 1 1-managed garden should furnish food at all seasons of the year. The same season varies in character from year to year and, of course, there are great differences in the climates of the Gulf Coast and the Panhandle, so that no statement would fit all sections; but a few general suggestions will help to guide the beginner. In the climate of Austin, as early as January, one may plant the hardy vegetables that a light frost will not kill, such as turnips, radishes, lettuce, spinach, mustard, cabbage, onions, carrots, beets, and garden peas. Occasionally a very cold spell will kill some of these, and they will have to be replanted. In case they escape there will be radishes and greens in February, and a plentiful supply of vegeta- bles in March and April. All of these may be planted Fig. 121. A home-made sled marker. Courtesy of the University of Illinois. 210 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING again in February when Irish potatoes are planted. Tomato, sweet-pepper, and egg-plant seeds should now be planted in boxes in the house or in a hot-bed. In March the same veg- etables that are planted in February may be planted again, except the turnips, carrots, spinach, and lettuce, which are not usually profitable after the warm weather sets in. The early varieties of cabbage may be set out now, or even earlier, but these usually do better when grown in fall and winter. Okra, beans, and field peas also may well be planted in March. In April okra, beans, field peas, butter-beans, squash, pumpkins, corn, watermelons, cantaloupes, and cucumbers should be planted. The tomato, pepper, egg- plant, and sweet-potato slips should now be set out. In May okra and late corn may again be planted, and more tomato-plants be set out. An early and late variety of each of the above vegetables should be planted, and string beans and corn should be planted about every three weeks to give a succession of crops. The above should give an abundance of vegetables from March to August. Tomatoes, okra, po- tatoes, and pumpkins should run on till frost. If tomatoes are picked late in the season when full-sized, but still green, they may be wrapped in paper and stored in a dark cellar, kept until frost, brought out, and ripened when wanted. Tomatoes, butter-beans, peas, beans, okra, pumpkins, and corn should be canned and kept for use at all seasons. Butter- beans, peas, beans, and okra should be dried. Tomatoes, pumpkins, and Irish and sweet potatoes should be stored. The fall garden may be begun in August if there is a fa- vorable season. Now the winter-growing vegetables, such as cabbage, lettuce, spinach, beets, turnips, salsify, and winter radishes, should be planted. The roots of asparagus and the THE GARDEN 211 berries may now be set out. If the season is unfavorable in August the same vegetables should be planted in September, with Bermuda onions and shallots. In many sections all these vegetables make good crops when planted in October. They will furnish fresh green food all winter and into the early spring. Some crops should be growing on all parts of the garden at all seasons of the year. As the growing season of many Fig. 122. A horse cultivator for garden use. vegetables is only a few months, it is possible to secure two or three crops each year from the same land, if ample manure and fertilizer are added. 210. Cultivation. — Wherever water can be secured for irri- gation the crops are of course made more certain and the vegetables more tender. It is useless to plant most vegetables unless the soil is very fertile and well supplied with moisture. Good tillage and repeated additions of humus and fertilizing material make a good garden possible even in dry sections 212 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING and without irrigation. At times it is necessary in addition to the dust mulch to cover the soil with a mulch of leaves, chopped straw, hay, or other material that will hold in the moisture. The methods of planting and cultivating each vegetable are easily learned from the directions on the seed packages Fig. 123. An inexpensive wheel hoe for cultivation of the garden. and from the references given at the end of this chapter. The general principles of plant growth, tillage, and fertiliza- tion which you have learned will enable you to apply or to modify intelligently these directions to meet your needs. In planting, the seeds should usually be covered to a depth about equal to three or four times their own thickness. The soil should be pressed down closely upon them either by roll- ing or tramping, and then loose soil raked over the packed soil to hold the moisture. The soil must be kept constantly stirred and no weeds allowed to grow and scatter their seeds. THE GARDEN 213 All fence rows and corners should be kept clean even in winter months, to prevent as far as possible the harboring of insects. By planting in long rows after some such plan as is shown in Figure 119, it is possible to do nearly all garden cultivation with the horse cultivators. Where rows are too narrow for this, the type of wheel hoe shown in Figure 123 does excellent work with far less labor than when hand hoes and forks are used. 211. Hot-Beds and Cold-Frames. — In order to have very early vegeta- bles it is often best to plant during cold weather in the house in boxes, or in a specially prepared bed and frame out of doors. Figure 124 illustrates a convenient form of out-door arrangement, called a hot-bed. A hole is dug about a foot deep and as large as the hot-bed is to be or larger. This is filled with damp horse manure that is beginning to heat. On this the wooden frame is set. About six inches of good garden soil is placed inside the frame and soil is piled up outside all around the base. The decomposition going on in the manure serves to keep the soil warm. Such frames may be of any size. They should be from eighteen to twenty-four inches deep on one side, sloping down to twelve or eighteen inches on the opposite side. As they must be covered with sash, it is well to have a shape that some cheap stock size of sash will fit. Three by six and four by eight feet Fig. 124. A hot-bed. 214 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Fig. 125. Tomato-plants ready for setting in the field. Note the large amount of soil carried with the roots. are convenient sizes. They should be nar- row enough to enable one to reach across easily. Where manure is not used and no bottom heat is pro- vided, such a frame is called a cold-frame. At times these are covered with cloth instead of glass. The hot-bed and cold-frame offer protection not only against cold but to some extent against insect pests. Plants that are started in such frames are tender and must be gradually hardened by first raising and later taking off the covering on mild days, thus by degrees exposing the plants to the weather. Any one can make a hot-bed, and the ex- pense is so small that every family can have one. 212. Transplanting. — ^You have learned that in transplanting the delicate root hairs are usually torn from the roots as they are taken from the soil. ---•vi^B'^^-'- Fig. 126. Handy box for use in seeding or when plants are transplanted while in hot-bed in order to in'^rease their size. THE GARDEN 215 Fig. 127. The right and the wrong way to set out plants with a dibber. and because of this the plant is unable to make any head- way after being transplanted until new root hairs are de- veloped. In many cases the plant never recovers. This injury may be largely avoided by planting the seeds in small pots or cans and transplanting the plant and soil together. A similar result can be secured by planting in a shallow box like that shown in Figure 126. By fastening one side of this box with screws or nailing it lightly so that it may be easily removed, it is possible to cut around the plant with a trowel and remove it and the soil together, so that the roots and root hairs are undisturbed. Frequently the plants are transplanted once in the hot-bed while very small, being reset about four inches apart. When this is done they grow more vigorously, and a larger mass of soil and root can be taken up with each plant when it is carried to the garden. Transplanting is best done on damp days or late in the afternoon. If the soil is not thoroughly moist, water should be poured into the hole and the loose soil drawn in and lightly pressed upon the roots. After this, more loose soil should be drawn around the plant over the wet spot to hold in the moisture. It is important when trans- planting to trim carefully all bruised roots and to take off an amount of the top to correspond to the amount of the root lost. Unless the soil and plant are moved together, with the roots left undisturbed, the roots should be care- 216 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING fully spread out before being covered with soil. Figures 127 and 128 show clearly the right and wrong ways to trans- plant. 213. Watering Plants. — Plants should not be watered while the sun is shining on them. The water should be put on late in the afternoon or early enough in the morning to Fig. 128. Transplanting. The roots of the plant on the left will never grow ■well. The plant in the centre is set too high. Tiie one on the right is cor- rectly planted. soak in well before the sun gets hot. Frequent shallow water- ings are not as good as occasional thorough soakings of the soil, because in surface wetting most of the water is lost by evaporation, and the growth of a very shallow root system is encouraged. After the water has gone down and the surface begun to dry, the crust should be broken or cov- ered with a mulch before the water has time to come to the surface and be evaporated. When water is poured around individual plants or run down a trench, the wet places should be covered with dry soil as soon as the water has soaked in. THE GARDEN 217 214. Saving Seeds. — Seeds imported from the North have the advantage of maturing somewhat earher than home- grown seeds, and those bought from a rehable seed house are less apt to be mixed than are those grown at home. On a great seed-breeding farm each crop is planted widely removed from all that might cause a mixture. Although home- grown seeds may not be quite so early in maturing, and may be some- what mixed by being grown close to other varieties, they have some ad- vantages. You can be sure that your seeds come from plants that are adapted to your climate and soil and from fine individual specimens. With bought seeds you usually have no assurance on these points. In saving seeds select only the best specimens from the type of plant that you wish; allow the fruit to ripen fully and then dry the seeds thoroughly in the sun before putting them away. They should be placed where they will be dry, Fig. 129. Onions trimmed ready for transplanting. a" +J CO CO 5^ CO fl Sj is i^ CO CO CO • CO CO CO >i >. >i S >» OOO Oo o o o o o® o oo 000"^i0 CO CO CO t» p>» >» ,/>»>> OO goo '-'^ . S--^-^ w O O 53 50 o o 2" 00^000"^ 0-- ^ .u^ S| afi Qa (NM o'"' o a > +j o -^ •- )0*^00 ) CO GO CO CO o.isv. c <»2.o^ :^ :a fl to S O fl o co^-j a -tilMrHCOrH .S 3 ao _ _i O) (D © O O O O u q fl c! CI S o o o o o aj OJ 0^ (D ® jW W .>>.>>>». WW K-. WW>j.>>>sW >» •3 ct >> >j^ cS ^ ce ce w >»>>{« f>3>iC^ w c^ c3 >> c3 00^ ,^ '^rHOO^Cr. ^05^^ ^^, ,00 ^ ^r-l ■^OO"^OOMOiMOOOOC0OO(NOOC0O CD'-iCJi-iascO'-HCD^'-H CO «005 i-iO5O5'-H-> ^ (3 w 03 00 _ CD 00 ■c P^oo • bC rt)t^M ffl Mcoffl ;^ = C3ieS = c CI fl • fl C! fl fl G c c c fl a G fl >^ '^ 00 CO +J 00 00 ( ^ (>■' rH CO '*-' 1-1 rH , O O +^ +^ Q +J 4^ . (M.-ilM^.-H.-lT-icOOO'-KMCO'-i'-H- O O G O O ' +i +^ .G +i 4i i 00-* 00 22 00 00 ^ COMr-HrH 2o ^CO flpfl • • G 4^««CO "^(NCO 5 CD 00 CO .2 .2 .2 .2 ■ .2 .2 .2 CO CD CO CD i^ CO CO CO CO CO CO CO ^ CO CO CO 00^000 +j +j Q +j +:j +i TtHQ-^OOO SCHOOL GARDEN AND FARM 235 No. 934. "Home Gardening in the South." No. 1044. "The City Home Garden." No. 1242. "Permanent Fruit and Vegetable Gardens." The A. and M. College of Texas Extension Service : Bulletin No. B-44. "A Home Garden." Farm and Home Hints on "Growing and Pruning Tomatoes" and "Storing Irish Potatoes for Fall Planting." CHAPTER X FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 224. The Home Fruit Garden and Commercial Or- chards. — With fruits as with vegetables we must first learn about the home fruit garden. The growing of fruits in large quantities for the market or commercial orcharding must be left for later study in the references and in advanced courses in horticulture (hor'ti-kul-tur), the branch of agricult- ure which deals with garden and orchard crops. Horticult- ure comes from the Latin words hortus, a garden, and cul- tura, cultivation. Fruit-growing for the market is a very profitable business in many parts of Texas, and as soon as more growers learn the science of horticulture it will be more so. A study of the home fruit garden, or home orchard, will be the best beginning in this subject. 225. Value of Home-Grown Fruits. — For thousands and thousands of years before man learned to plant field crops and vegetables, or to cook his food, fruit made up a large part of his diet. Sound ripe fruit is still one of the most wholesome and delicious of foods. We need such food in both summer and winter to keep ourselves at the highest point of physical and mental power. At present a large part of the market fruit is picked when green, is ripened un- naturally, and is frequently stored for long seasons in great refrigerators, so that it is not only expensive but often taste- less and unwholesome when it reaches the consumer. Every 236 FEUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 237 farmer at very small expense can produce at home far better and more wholesome fruit than he can buy; for the tenderest and most delicious varieties of fruit are not usually raised for the market, as, with a few exceptions, they do not keep Jt-i^._ I^^^HE . ...ia ■ 111 ^1 1 ^' 3 i^ 1 ! Fig. 138. Home-canned fruit on a Texas farm. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." well nor stand the rough handling in shipping. Let us therefore learn how to grow fruits at home. 226. Fruits at All Seasons. — It is possible to have a succession of fruits ripening during almost the entire grow- ing season, and to finish out the year with stored fruits, grape juice, canned and dried fruits, marmalade, jams, and fruit butters, all prepared at home at small expense. With fruits as with vegetables, no one list will suit all sections. Oranges and lemons which grow in south Texas will freeze in central Texas. Apples that make splendid crops in north 238 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Texas, do not succeed as well in south Texas. Cherries and gooseberries which are popular in the North cannot stand the hot, dry summer of the Southwest. Each one must learn by inquiry and experiment just what fruits grow well in his locality. If possible, every home should have some of Fig. 139. A four-year-old fig orchard at Algoa, Texas. each of the following: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, plums, apricots, peaches, pears, apples, per- simmons, figs, grapes, and, in the semi-tropical districts, oranges, lemons, and pomegranates. The strawberries give the earliest fruit, followed by the other berries, the plums, apricots, apples, peaches, and pears. There are so many varieties of peaches which ripen at such different seasons, and grow well over such a wide area, that a well-selected orchard will furnish fresh peaches from June until late fall. Apples have even a wider distribution. Every wise farmer FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 239 should test out new fruits and new varieties occasionally, as only in this way can he learn just what is suited to his soil and climate. However, in most cases, it is best to plant such fruits as neighbors and near-by nurserymen have tested and found suitable. 227. Where to Locate the Orchard. — The orchard should be located on a hill-side, where the drainage is good and where the trees are somewhat protected from the cold winds. If planted in a bottom, the trees are apt to bloom too early and cause the crop to be destroyed by late frosts. Fungus diseases also are more troublesome in valleys. No one soil suits all fruits equally well. All demand good drain- age. The plum, quince, and pear do best on a heavy soil, peaches on a rich sandy loam. Some varieties of grapes do well on a heavy soil, some on either a heavy or a light soil, and some only on a light soil. The soil should not be very rich in nitrogen, as this tends to produce too much vine and little fruit. If there is no soil perfectly suited to a mixed orchard, it is possible to improve it greatly before the trees are planted by adding sand, ashes, humus, or whatever is needed by each fruit to the particular spot on which it is to be planted. 228. How to Plant an Orchard. — Orchards are usually planted in regular rows according to the plan shown in Figure 140. The equilateral triangle method shown in Figure 141 gives a more even distribution on the land and enables one to put more trees on the same amount of ground without crowding. The rows should be carefully laid off and trees so planted that the straight rows show plainly from all directions. Peach-trees are usually set about six- teen to twenty feet apart, apples from thirty to forty feet, 240 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING O o-vr-"C;>- • I 11.1 y o o Oi oi f; I I (^AOn:.0....l..^ ^ O- -0-- 6- -6- Fig. 140. Planting in squares. bunch grapes in rows eight, and blackberries in rows six feet apart. You have already learned about transplanting, and there- fore know before being told that fruit trees should be moved when dormant, that from one-half to two-thirds of the top should be cut off, that the roots should be disturbed as little as possible, should never be allowed to dry, should have all bruised and broken parts trimmed off smooth, should be spread out in natural order in the ground, should be set in Q:-VoVt:-1R--:!— <>— ^ "<>— ^•— P \ ">'») / \ / ^ '' ^ / \ Fig. 141. The equilateral triangle-planting plan, which, by giving a better distribution over the land, allows more trees per acre without crowding thaii does the square-planting plan. FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 241 moist soil, and should have the soil packed closely around them. While it is usually not practicable to move soil and root together, it is well to take as many healthy roots as possible. As soon as dug the roots of the young tree should be covered with a moist wrapping, carried to the orchard, Fig. 142. The tree on the right was planted in a hole that had been dy- namited. The hole on the left had not been dynamited. Note the increased root growth and deeper rooting in the dynamited hole. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." and never uncovered until the hole is dug and all is ready, so that the roots can at once be covered with soil. The hole for a tree should be dug large enough to re- ceive the roots in natural order. If the roots are too long to do this economically, they should be cut back somewhat. They should not be doubled up. The soil should be loosened up a spade's depth below the bottom of the hole. Unless the top soil Is very deep it is usually advisable, after the hole is dug and before the tree is set, to bore down with an earth auger about three feet below the bottom of the hole and 242 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING break up the subsoil with a blast of d^^namite. This is very easy to do, and is not dangerous work if the proper precau- tions are used. The directions are given in pamphlets sent out by the manufacturers upon request. It is not advisable for young boys to attempt the use of dynamite. The dyna- mite loosens the soil and makes large storage room for soil water, so that the roots of the plant not only go down more easily but have a better water supply. When the hole is being dug the top soil should be thrown on one side, as it is usually the best soil, and should be put back into the hole immediately touching the roots. Manure should not be placed in contact with the roots, though it is sometimes advisable in poor land to put some well-rotted manure in the hole away from the roots and in the soil that is used for filling in above them. The trees should be set in the orchard as deep as they grew in the nursery or about two inches deeper. The soil should be tramped well around the roots and loose soil raked over the surface of the packed soil. 229. How to Handle Bought Trees. — When trees are bought from a nursery-man they should be planted out as soon as received. Each should be taken from the wrapping only after the hole is prepared and when it can be imme- diately covered with moist earth. Many transplanted trees die because the roots were allowed to lie exposed to the air until they were dried out. In case it is not practicable to plant the trees as soon as received, open up in a well-drained spot a sloping trench deep enough to admit all the roots and a bit of the stems of the young trees. Place the trees in this close together and cover with moist earth, packing it in carefully so that the roots are in close contact with the moist soil. If the soil is not moist, water should be poured into FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 243 the hole before the final layer of loose dirt is drawn around the trees. This temporary placing of plants in the soil for protection is called "heeling in.^^ If the soil is well drained and is kept moist, heeled-in plants will keep perfectly until a favorable transplanting season. 230. Pruning.— All fruit trees, bushes, and vines require pruning, both to improve their appearance and to promote the most advantageous fruiting. Usually from one-fourth to one-half of the annual growth should be cut off for the first two years after planting. After this the pruning needed dif- fers according to the cir- cumstances and to the kind of fruit. The gen- eral aims of pruning should be to take out awkwardly shaped limbs, thin out the lateral branches so that sun- light can get in to the fruit, cut back the long branches so that they will not break with fruit, promote the growth of fruiting branches, and so direct the growth that the tree will be well proportioned and symmetrical. Trees should be pruned when dormant, though at times additional summer pruning is advisable. Many leading horticultu- rists now hold that summer pruning is very desirable, and that the shock thus given the tree tends to cause it Pig. 143. Pruning nursery trees. On the right the tree is improperly pruned, not enough being taken off. The one in the centre is correctly pruned. — After Halligan. 244 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Fig. 144. Pruned to direct growth. The growth will be in the direction taken by the topmost bud left when the branch is cut ofif, as this bud grows most rapidly. This being true, in what di- rection will each limb in the cut above grow ? to fruit better. It is a well-known fact that when trees are severely in- jured they tend to put their ener- gies at once into fruiting, as if the tree were trying to make sure of leaving a new generation in case of its death. The apple and the pear bear their fruits upon short branches of the previous year's growth, called /rmim^r spurs, which, grow out from limbs that are one year or more old. The bear- ing shoots are not usually the long ones near the ends of the branches. In pruning care must be taken, there- fore, not to cut off too many of the short fruiting spurs. The peach bears on wood of the last sea- son's growth, but directly on the branches instead of on spurs. With the peach cut- ting back the long branches is necessary in order to limit the crop and prevent the tree's breaking. The Japanese plum fruits on both spurs and year-old wood, and may well be cut back similarly to the peach. The quince bears its fruit at the end of new shoots of the present season's growth, so that the pruning must be such as will stimulate new growth without goinsr so far as to limit too greatly the Fig. 145. The right * * „, 1 1 p -x xi, way to cut off the old crop. I he grape also bears iruit upon tne stem after the new , , p ,, , 1 ' -I 11 budded branch has shoots 01 the present season, wnicn usually got started. FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 245 come out from canes of the past season. For this reason the vines should be cut back severely each year, as the long canes of old wood bear no fruit. The Munson system of training, as illustrated in Figure 146, is recognized as standard, unless it is desired to make an arbor. The diagram makes this so plain that explanations are unnecessary. Even when the TOP VIEW OF TRtaiS Fig. 146. The Munson system of grape culture. From "Foundations of American Grape Culture." shade of an arbor is desired, better results will be secured if the vines are planted close together, and the lateral branches trained out in regular order, and the canes cut back each year in a manner similar to that illustrated in Figure 146. Under this system the new growth will soon cover over an entire arbor each year, if the old canes have been properly trained and trimmed. In pruning the grape, care must be taken not to cut the vines just as the sap is beginning to flow in the spring. They may be safely cut later in the season, but the proper time for pruning is when the vine is dormant. Blackberries and raspberries also need severe pruning, as they bear their fruit on short shoots growing out from canes of the previous season's growth. Strawberries bear best the first year, and after two years should be taken out and room given to young plants. 246 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 231. Cultivation. — Fruit trees need cultivation for the same reasons that other plants need it. If weeds are left to absorb the food materials and water, and the soil allowed to crust over and the water to evaporate, a rapid growth of the trees cannot be expected. When trees are young and Fig. 147. A young vine that shows how grapes flourish in the Southwest. the roots short, it does no harm to plant vegetables or other shallow growing crops among them, but after the trees have been planted a few years, the soil should be cultivated clean during the growing season of the trees, so that the constant soil mulch will hold the water in the soil for the use of the trees. After the middle of the summer a fall crop of clover, oats, bur-clover, or other winter cover crop should be planted, as this protects the soil from winter washing and leaching Fig. 148. Clean cultivation. Fig. 149. Peas in tlie middles. 248 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING and supplies vegetable matter to turn under in the spring. If a legume is planted in this way, or in the middles earlier in the season, the amount of manure or fertilizer that should Fig. 150. Gathering apples. The temperature fell to 17° at flowering time, but the orchard smudges saved this crop. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." be added is greatly lessened. Trees cannot be expected to bear heavy crops each year unless food materials are supplied. It is especially necessary that an abundant supply be given when a large crop is being borne, as the tree must during this season lay aside enough reserve food to mature all its fruit, I FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 249 and also enough to start the new crop the next year, and sus- tain the tree until its new leaves are developed. It is usually unwise to allow the trees to bear very heavy crops. Peaches especially should be thinned, so that they are about five Fig. 151. A young fruiting pecan-tree. The early fruiting varieties bear the second year after being budded and occasionally the first year. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." inches apart on the stem. This increases the size of the fruit and, by lessening the drain on the tree, makes it more likely that a crop will be produced the next year. 232. Protection From Cold. — In our changeable climate the loss of an entire fruit crop from early blooming and a late frost has been a serious drawback to the growing of fruit. Often the entire crop could be saved by protecting the 250 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING orchard one night. It has been found possible to do this economically, even in our windy country, by the use of slow- burning orchard fires, or smudges, as they are called. These fires are usually made by burning crude oil in the orchard in vessels which hold two or three gallons of oil, and are so constructed as to keep a slow fire burning for many hours on one filling. These have been known to raise the tem- perature of an orchard six to eight degrees. Where there is much wind the change in tem- perature is not so great. An- other protection for the orchard is a row of ever- green trees on the side from which the cold winds usually come. Now that the use of these protections is understood, it is possible to save the fruit crop practically every year at a very small expense. 233. Nut-Trees. — Every country home should have a few nut-trees. The native walnuts, hickories, and pecans grow in almost all sections when properly cared for. It seems probable that the budded and grafted Persian walnut, or " English walnut " as it is usually called, will also grow in many sections. Certainly the fine thin-shelled pecans, Fig. 152. No. 1. Limb cut off too far from the tree and cannot heal. No. 2. The same limb with the heart decayed and the decay carried into the heart of the tree (after Davis). No. 3. On the lower branch the right point at which to cut off a limb is shown. A cut should first be made one-third through on the under side of limb at A, in order to prevent splitting the tree. Then saw through from above at B. The upper branch illustrates the best method to follow when a very large limb is to be cut off and the danger of splitting is very great. Saw first at A, and then saw above a little fur- ther out on the limb until it breaks off. Then the limb may be easily cut off properly at C D. FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 251 the most delicious of all nuts, grow to perfection over a very large part of the Southwest. These trees grow and bear on the plains and on high hills, but do best along the river bottoms. For many years it was thought that pecans would not bear till ten or twelve years old, but varieties are now found and propagated which bear within two years of the time they are budded. Occasionally nuts are borne the first year after the tree is budded. With these early fruiting varieties, such as Halbert and Texas Prolific, which are most delicious ^' paper-shell " varieties, it is now possible to have a young pecan orchard bearing fair crops almost as soon as a peach orchard, if one cultivates and fertilizes properly the young trees. Furthermore, the best-selected varieties of pecans bear regularly. Wherever there is a native pecan-tree that is not giving a good annual crop of nuts, it should be cut back and grafted, or budded with a standard variety in the manner explained in Chapter III. When budded on large trees, the new buds grow much more rapidly than when set on nursery stocks, and hence a large fruiting is secured much earlier by budding on the old trees than by setting out a young orchard. 234. Shade-Trees. — ^The comfort and beauty of shade- trees are so much enjoyed by all that it is surprising to see so many homes and towns without shade. The fact that it takes so long for a tree to grow large enough to give shade is undoubtedly the principal cause of this neglect. Let us remember the joy and comfort given us by the trees planted by those who went before us, and prepare for our descendants and for our own middle life and old age by planting the splendid, long-lived trees, such as oak, elm, hickory, and pecan. Even in ten or fifteen years these trees will give 252 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING considerable shade. It is best when planting these slow- growing, long-lived trees to plant in between them the quick-growing, short-lived ones, such as the umbrella china- berry, the Cottonwood, and sycamore. The hackberry is a tree of fairly rapid growth that makes a fine shade, will grow Fig. 153. Decayed tree after and before being filled with conrete. in almost any soil, stands drought well, and is comparatively free from insect attack. An objection to it is that it is very difficult to grow grass or flowers under it or near its roots. The proper methods of planting and caring for trees have already been given, and the methods of protecting fruit, nut, and shade trees from the ravages of insects and diseases will be given in the next chapter. FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 253 Warning should be given against the bad habit so often practised of sawing off short the stems of large trees, six inches or more in diameter, when transplanting, and of severely cutting back large shade trees every few years. When a tree is transplanted, the cambium layer is unable Fig. 154. School-boys grafting an apple-tree in a neighbor's yard under the direction of the teacher. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. to heal over the wound if the stem is cut off at a point at which the diameter is six or more inches. Decay will there- fore soon enter the tree. The transplanted tree, when large, should be cut off higher up where the diameter is not over three or four inches, and the lateral branches thus left on 254 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING the stem should be cut back, leaving stubs one or more feet long. Care, however, must be taken not to allow more leaves to grow the first year than the crippled roots can sup- ply with water. After the first year or so, unsightly branches should be cut out, the growth balanced and directed by prun- ing, and long limbs that are in danger of being broken by the wind cut back, but wholesale severe cutting spoils the natural gracefulness of the branches and retards the growth. 235. Filling Decayed Trees. — ^Through unwise pruning or through other mishap, many fine trees get decay in the heart wood. Unless arrested this will soon eat out all the heart wood, so that the tree will break in the first severe wind. Such decay may be arrested, and the life of the tree indefinitely prolonged, by proper treatment. All of the de- cayed material should be carefully cut away and cleaned out, the entire cavity washed thoroughly with an antiseptic solution* and then filled with concrete. The concrete is usually made with one part cement and two parts sand, or with equal amounts of each. The cavity is completely filled up to the edge of the growing wood, as shown in Figure 153. When the cement is set, the entire surface is covered over with coal tar, to make sure of filling all cracks. If properly done, this will prevent further decay, and if the opening is not too large, it will be covered slowly by new tissue thrown out by the cambium layer. 236. The Arrangement of Shade-Trees. — In the chapter on the School and Home Grounds, the proper arrangement of trees, shrubs, and flowers will be explained. * The Bordeaux mixture and the formahn solution given on page 282 are good antiseptics for this purpose. An antiseptic (an-tl-s6p'tlk) is something that destroys the germs which produce disease. FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 255 QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 132. How much land is devoted to fruit on your farm? Give the num- ber of trees or vines of each kind. 133. Select a spot for an orchard on your place and state why you select this spot, describing soil, subsoil, drainage, and protec- tion. 134. Make out a planting plan for a home orchard for your family, giving a diagram of the proposed orchard and the location of each tree, bush, and vine, with names of varieties. State why each variety is selected. 135. State what you would do to the soil around each of the kinds of trees or vines that you plant. 136. State how you would handle this orchard each year, and what returns you should expect each year. 137. Working in pairs, let each two pupils set out under direction of the teacher either in the school orchard or at home at least two kinds of fruit trees and vines, getting actual experience in root and top pruning, and in correct planting. 138. Heel in correctly some young trees. 139. By use of the school orchard and of neighboring orchards, let each pupil, under the direction of the teacher, practise in pruning: (1) to direct growth, (2) to prevent breaking, (3) to regulate fruiting, and (4) to improve the appearance. 140. Prune and train two grape-vines according to the Munson system, and leave two equally vigorous vines of the same variety to run freely. Make an accurate measure of the fruit produced by each of these for tliree years. 141. Why is it better to have a tree bear 100 peaches that fill a bushel measure rather than 200 peaches that only fill the same measure? First, which crop will bring most money? Second, which will make the greater drain on the soil, and why so? Third, which will make the greater drain on the tree and make it less likely that the tree can bear a good crop the follow- ing year? Why so? 142. Make careful records each year of the number of hours it would be necessary to protect the orchards from cold in your locality. Compare the cost of such protection and the cost of the fruit losses. 256 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 143. How many nut-trees are there on your place? If there are any, cut off and top graft and top bud some of these. If there are none, plant nuts, and bud or graft the seedlings with fine varieties. Buds can be bought usually for a cent or two each from neigh- boring nursery-men. 14 i. Let each class plant one or more shade-trees on the school grounds, planting some slow-growing trees, such as the pecan, and some rapid-growing ones. 145. Find a decaying tree in the grounds or in a neighbor's yard, and with the aid of the teacher give a demonstration of filling the cavity with concrete. 146. Find edible wild fruits in your locality, pick out especially desirable specimens, transplant these, and see what improvement can be made in them by cultivation, by variation and selection, and by hybridization. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING "Productive Fruit Growing," F. C. Sears. *' Fundamentals of Fruit Production," Gardner, Bradford and Hooker. ''Productive Small Fruit Culture," F. C. Sears. "Modern Fruit Marketing," B. S. Brown. "Manual of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits," P. Popenoe. "Manual of Fruit Insects," Slingerland and Crosby. "Principles of Fruit-Growing," L. H. Bailey. "How to Make a Fruit Garden," S. W. Fletcher. "Fruit-Growing in Arid Regions," Paddock and Whipple. "Foundations of American Grape Culture," T. V. Munson. "Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing," F. A. Waugh. "Bush Fruits," F. W. Card. Farmers' Bulletins: No. 157. "Propagation of Plants." No. 181. "Pruning." Nos. 440, 1246, on insects and diseases of peaches. No. 471. "Grape Propagation, Pruning, and Training." No. 482. "Pear and How to Grow It." Nos. 492, 662, 675, 722, 938, 1065, 1120, 1160, on insects and dis- eases of apples. I FRUIT-GROWING AND SHADE-TREES 257 No. 643. "Blackberry Culture." No. 728. ''Dewberry Culture." No. 908. "Information for Fruit Growers About Insecticides, Spraying Apparatus, and Important Insect Pests." Nos. 917, 918, 1266, on growing and packing peaches. Nos. 1026, 1027, 1028, 1043, on strawberry culture. No. 1261. "The Avocado: Its Insect Enemies and How to Com- bat Them." Forest Service Circulars, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture: No. 61. "How to Transplant Forest Trees." No. 130. "Forestry in the Public Schools." No. 157. "A Primer of Conservation." Year Book Reprint, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture: No. 519. "Prevention of Frost Injury to Fruit Crops." Texas Experiment Station Bulletins: No. 208. "The Fig in Texas." No. 293. "Cultivation and Care of Trees on Texas Farms." The A, and M. College of Texas Extension Service Bulletins: B. 56. "Pecan Culture in Texas." Vol. 3, No. 1. "Tree Planting Needed in Texas." No. 29. "Peaches in Texas." CHAPTER XI PLANT ENEMIES 237. Varieties of Plant Enemies. — The enemies of the farm, garden, and orchard are usually grouped into five classes: (1) weeds, which injure crops by depriving them of Hght, water, and food materials; (2) animals and birds (while most birds are very helpful to crops through destroy- ing harmful insects, a few do considerable damage) ; (3) parasitic plants, such as mis- tletoe; (4) insects; (5) diseases. In this course we shall consider only the insects and diseases, leaving the others for later study. 238. Losses from Insects and Diseases. — The annual losses from insects alone in this country are estimated at from three hundred million dollars to seven hundred million dollars. The loss on the potato crop alone is six million dollars, on cotton fifteen million dollars, on corn thirty-seven million dollars, on stored grain sixty million dollars. The Hessian fly destroys each year about five million dollars', the chinch-bug seven million dollars', and the boll-weevil eight million dollars' worth of crops. In many cases the losses were formerly much greater than they now are. In 1880 the cotton-worm alone did fifty million dollars' worth of damage. 258 Fig. 155. An in- expensive cage in whicli to keep insects for study. Fig. 156. Black rot on grapes: above, sprayed; below, unsprayed. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 260 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING The losses from insects in Texas alone are estimated at fifty million dollars a year, about ten times the annual appropria- tion by the Legislature for all purposes, seven times as much as the State spends on its public schools, and eighty-five times as much as it appropriates for all the higher educa- tional institutions. Effective means of combating many of these pests are now known and new means are constantly being discovered. It is estimated that if all farmers knew and applied what is now known about con- trolling insects, two- thirds of the crops lost each year could be saved. The year- ly losses from dis- ease are even larger than those caused by insects. These also can be largely prevented by making use of the knowl- edge already gained by scientific study. 239. Why Insect Pests Have Increased.— There are many reasons why insects injurious to cultivated plants have increased in recent years. For these same reasons they will increase still more in future if proper precautions are not taken. In the first place the wild trees and plants have Fig. 157. The Colorado potato-beetle: a, bee- tle; 6, masses of eggs ; c, half-grown larvae; d, ma- ture larvae. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. PLANT ENEMIES 261 Fig. 158. from the side; The cotton-boll weevil: A, as seen from above; B, as viewed C, larva; D, pupa. All about five times the natural size. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. been cut down and the land put under cultivation, so that the insects which formerly fed on wild plants must now feed on cultivated crops. These crops are grown with more cer- tainty and regularity than the wild plants were, and hence Fig. 159. A, square punctured by boll-weevil, showing the flaring back of the bracts; B, the weevil maturing within the boll. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 262 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING support the insects better. Then, too, the cultivated places, which used to be more or less separated from one another, are coming more and more to be contiguous, so that the pests can pass directly from one field to another. Again, as more kinds of new plants are cultivated, the varieties of insects that attack these are multiplied and brought to our attention. Probably most effective of all in scattering these plant enemies have been the improved means of transportation. Both in- sects and diseases are shipped into new districts along with foodstuffs, seeds, or nursery plants. It is for this reason that the transportation of seed, nursery stock, or other mate- rial likely to spread disease or insects should be strictly regulated by law. 240. The Spread of Black Rot, Boll-Weevils, and Colo- rado Beetles. — There are many remarkable examples of the spread of plant diseases. One of the most notable is the spread of the black rot of grapes. When the early settlers came to America they found the wild grapes here afflicted with this disease, which was then unknown in Europe. They sent some of these native vines back to Europe, with the result that this disease soon broke out in the European vineyards. Ever since that time this disease has caused great losses in the vineyards there, which must even yet be carefully sprayed to prevent very serious dam- age to the crop. We have in America two recent instances of the rapid spread of a new insect pest. The ordinary potato-beetle, commonly called the '' potato-bug," first appeared in the potato fields of Colorado about 1855. It had been living in that State on wild plants akin to the potato, and when the cultivated potato was brought to Colorado by settlers the PLANT ENEMIES 203 beetles attacked it and throve on it so well that they multi- plied and spread rapidly over the country. By 1864 they had extended to the Mississippi, and in 1874 reached the Fig. 160. Chart showing the spread of the cotton-boll weevil. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. Atlantic States. The Mexican cotton-boll weevil crossed the Rio Grande about 1892. It had for years infested the cotton of Mexico, and in some districts had forced the abandonment of cotton cultivation altogether. In less than twenty years this pest spread nearly all over Texas, and is now ravaging the fields of Arkansas, Louisiana, and other Southern States, 264 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING It will doubtless soon cover the entire cotton-growing area of America. 241. What Must Be Known to Combat Plant Enemies. — These facts show how extremely important it is that we ob- tain a knowledge of •-"~ "^^^%^\ //0^---^^^ these insects and dis- ^ ■ ■' eases, and of the means of controlling them. While the damages of only a few can be entirely prevented, it is possi- ble to reduce greatly the damage of all, and to prevent their rapid increase and spread. Let us then first see what insects are, and how they live and multiply, for it is by knowing their habits and life his- tory that we learn how to destroy or prevent them. After this we shall study the causes of plant diseases and learn the means of controlling them. 242. Insects. — Insects are the most numerous of all forms of animal life visible to the naked eye. They vary greatly in appearance, but all have three pairs of legs and three dis- tinct parts to their bodies, head, thorax, and abdomen. To the head are attached the feelers, or antennoB (an-ten'ne), the eyes, and the mouth parts. The thorax has three seg- FiQ. 161. The cabbage-worm: a, female but- terfly; 6, egg, end and side views; c, larva on leaf; d, suspended chrysalis. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. PLANT ENEMIES 265 ments, to each of which is attached a pair of legs. In the adult stage one or two pairs of wings are also usually at- tached to the thorax. In nearly all cases insects hatch from eggs, and pass through several different forms before reach- ing their final shape. The typical insect passes through four stages, the egg, the larva (larVa), the puya (pu'pa), the adult, or imago (i-ma'go). The larva may be entirely unlike the adult into which it will develop, as in the case of the caterpillar, which is the larva of a butterfly or a moth. During the larval stage the worm- like creature usually eats vora- ciously, does its great damage to crops, and grows rapidl}^ until the skin hardens and refuses to grow further. Then it goes into a dor- mant-looking state and is called a pupa. The larva may spin a web case around itself, in which it lives as a pupa, or it may go into a cell in the ground or attach itself to a plant. While in its case the pupa (or chrysalis (kris'a-lis) as it is called in the case of the butterfly) undergoes a wonderful change, and in due season comes out in the new form of the full-grown insect; as, for example, the ugly larval caterpillar pupates and comes out a beautiful butterfly or moth, and the cutworm becomes a moth. While the four stages — Qg^, larva, pupa, adult — are the usual stages, many insects omit one or two of Fig. 162. Above, nymph of grasshopper in natural position; below, the empty pupa skin. Courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 266 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING these. For example, grasshoppers and several other insects are quite like the adult when hatched and have no pupa stage at all. These when young are called nymph- instead of larvae. Many kinds of insects after passing through their various stages of growth and becoming adults live only long enough to deposit eggs, not even living to see their own young hatched. Others, like the boll-weevil, may live through a season, producing several sets of off- spring. The time required by insects to pass through all their various stages, or life cycle (si'kl), as it is called, varies from a few days or few weeks in most cases to many years in a few cases. Insects live from one season to the next often only in the form of eggs or pupge. In other cases the adults that may be still active at the approach of cold weather hide away under leaves or grass or trash or bark or in basements, or burrow into the ground and remain quiet until spring — occasionally even being frozen without caus- ing death. This spending of the winter in an inactive state is called hibernation (hi-ber-na'shiin). In spring \ \%xm\^ ( EIO V' 1 n^^ ^ Yrr^^ o^?-V!^— jSo ^ tr I 5j|OWv\\ mq^ Sf^rfe Ve--/^ S— — ^ 5p,- < ■< g a '3 i bD a '1 t 1 1 a, bfi 1 G 1 _G G i" ■§ 03 1 a ^ M .22 -^ 2 111 INI _G 1 CO a |« ^-5 G 03 1 1 42 2 1 1 G 43 bi) _c G 03 'a 1 bb _G 1 1 1 2 a 1 G a 1 1 1 1 43 1 ^G hC _G ll 2 1 1 bC 2 1 1 1 43 o a .a 1 1 'S- CO G 1 2 G G o 286 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING fungi with which they come into direct contact, so that absolute thoroughness in spraying is essential to success. Every fungus or insect left untouched serves to start a new generation. For destroying insects injurious to stored grain and other farm products, carbon bisulphide, or " high life," as it is often called, is used in the following way: Place the bisul- phide in a vessel on top of the material to be treated and cover the pile with blankets or tarpaulin. The bisulphide gives off poisonous fumes that are heavier than air and pour down into the pile. The whole must be kept tightly inclosed for twenty-four hours. If a tight box can be used, the cloth cover may be left off. In cold weather the vessel may be set upon a warm brick, but no fire (not even a lighted pipe) should be brought near it, as the gas is exceedingly explosive. The fumes are poisonous, and hence should not be breathed. Use one pound to every thousand cubic feet of space to be fumigated. In fumigating grain, from one to three pounds per hundred bushels are used. In order to destroy an ant bed, pour three ounces of the bisulphide into a shallow pan and set beside the entrance to the bed. Invert a tub over the pan and the entrance to the bed, and pile soil around the bottom of the tub to pre- vent the escape of the gas to the air, and force it all down into the bed. Close all other entrances to the bed with soil and leave for twenty-four hours. This is more effec- tive if applied while the earth is moist and warm. To prevent oat smut, concealed smut of wheat, and scab of Irish potato, formalin is used. Grain is moistened in a solution of one ounce of formalin to three gallons of water and kept moist for two hours, after which it is dried. Care PLANT ENEMIES 287 must be taken that it is not allowed to come in contact with smut again before being planted. Potatoes ustd for seed should be soaked for two hours in a solution of one ounce of formalin to two gallons of water in order to kill the scab. 251. Caution — Danger. — As arsenic, asenate of lead, Paris green, carbon bisulphide, formalin, and most other insecti- cides and fungicides are poisons, they should be hardkd with care, always labelled, and never left in reach of chil= dren, stock, poultry, or other animals.* QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 147. Make a list of the harmful insects in your neighborhood, and col- lect a set of bulletins that deal with these. 148. Collect two varieties of biting insects. Draw and describe each. 149. Collect two varieties of sucking insects. Draw and describe each. 150. Place the eggs of some insect in such a cage as is shown in Figure 155, and make notes from day to day of the development. Watch some insect and, if possible, get eggs just as they are laid. Be sure to give the larva3 plenty of fresh food. 151. Make a list of the birds of your neighborhood. Find from the references what each one lives on at each season of the year. If you have a common bird the food of which is not given in the references, kill a few at different times of the day and seasons of the year, and make a note each time of the contents of the craws. 152. Find all of the kinds of helpful insects in your community. Bring some of each of these for the school garden. 153. If any insect or disease has afflicted your father's farm, study this pest in the references, write out a practical plan for combating it. Show this to the teacher and, when it is approved, carry it out and report results. 154. What fungus plant diseases are in your community? How should each be treated? 155. What bacterial plant diseases are in your community? How should each be treated? 288 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 156. What plant diseases in your community are due to infected soil? How could this be remedied? 157. Find out any cases of loss from insects in your neighborhood and, with the help of the teacher, calculate the amount this insect costs your county. 158. Find an orchard or yard affected with scale. Secure permission to treat it and, with the teacher's help, plan and carry out a treatment. 159. Keep a lookout for some immune plant in a crop that has been destroyed by some insect or disease. Save seeds and see if you can breed a resistant variety. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING "Diseases of Economic Plants," Stevens and Hall. "Insect Pests of Farm, Garden and Orchard," Sanderson and Peairs. "Insects and Insecticides," C. M. Weed. "Fungous Diseases of Plants," B. M. Duggar. Farmers' Bulletins: No. 279. "Method of Eradicating Johnson Grass." No. 606. "Collection and Preservation of Insects and Other Ma- terials for Use in the Study of Agriculture." No. 650. "San Jose Scale and Its Control." No. 657. "Chinch Bug." No. 660. "Weeds: How to Control Them." No. 662. "Apple-tree Tent Caterpillar." No. 670. "Field Mice as Farm and Orchard Pests." No. 702. "Cottontail Rabbits in Relation to Trees and Farm Crops." No. 725. "Wire Worms Destructive to Cereal and Forage Crops, with Control Measures." No. 739. "Cut Worms and Their Control in Corn and Other Crops." No. 747. "Grasshoppers and Their Control in Relation to Cereal and Forage Crops." No. 766. "The Common Cabbage Worm." No. 832. "Trapping Moles and Utilizing Their Skins." PLANT ENEMIES 289 No. 843. "Important Pecan Insects and Their Control." No. 856. "Control of Diseases and Insect Enemies of the Home Vegetable Garden." No. 868. "Increasing the Potato Crop by Spraying." No. 872. "The Bolhvorm or Corn Ear Worm." No. 890. "How Insects affect the Cotton Plant and Means of Combatting them." No. 896. "Rats and Mice." No. 915. "How to Reduce Weevil Waste in vSouthern Corn." No. 925. "Cabbage Diseases." No. 932. "Rodent Pests on the Farm." No. 933. "Spraying for Control of Insects and Mites Attacking Citrus Trees in Florida." No. 945. "Eradication of Bermuda Grass." No. 950. "The Southern Corn Root Worm and Farm Practice to Control It." No. 1029. "Conserving Corn from Weevils in the Gulf Coast States." No. 1038. "The Striped Cucumber Beetle and Its Control." No. 1041. "Eelworm Disease of Wheat and Its Control." No. 1061. "Harlequin Cabbage Bug and Its Control." No. 1083. "The Hessian Fly." No. 1086. "Insects Affecting the Rice Crop." No. 1102. "The Crow in Its Relation to Agriculture." No, 1166. "Poison Ivy and Poison Sumach and Their Eradica- tion." No. 1 169. "Insects Injurious to Deciduous Shade Trees and Their Control." No. 1217. "The Green Bug or Spring Grain Aphis." No. 1220. "Insect and Fungous Enemies of the Grape." No. 1246. "The Peach Borer: How to Prevent or Lessen Its Ravages." No. 1260. "Stored Grain Pests." No. 1262. "The Boll-Weevil Problem." Bulletins, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas : No. 124. "The Pecan-Case Bearer." No. 187. "Sprays and Spraying." 290 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Bulletin of Texas State Department of Agrioultiire: No. 60. "The Control of Destruotive Animals." The A. and M. College, of Texas, Farm and Home Hints: "Rat-proofing Farm Buildings." "Ant Control." "Rodent Pests." "Boll Weevil Control Measures Practicable in Fall and Winter, CHAPTER XII ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 252. The First Reason for Raising Stock on the Farm.— We have already seen that heavy crops take out of the soil large quantities of the food materials necessary for plant growth, and that unless these are put back into the soil the land will soon become too poor to produce a good crop. We have also seen that when the crop is fed to animals and the manure properly saved and put back into the soil, between eighty and ninety per cent of the valuable plant-food ma- terials are thus returned. On the other hand, if the crop is sold and carried off the farm, the farmer must constantly pur- chase large quantities of expensive fertilizers or his fields will soon not repay him for the labor of cultivating them. This is why the thoughtful farmer should always raise enough live- stock to eat practically all the foodstuffs produced on his farm. By feeding his crops to stock and then selling the stock, he retains at home in the manure nearly nine-tenths of the value of his crop, and sells the animals for as much as, often for more than, he could have sold the crop. 253. Other Reasons for Raising Stock. — Besides this there are seven other advantages that in most cases come from raising stock on the farm instead of raising only cotton, grain, and other plant crops. First, the raising of some live- stock necessitates the growing of hay, clover, alfalfa, peas, pea-nuts, and other cover crops and legumes which add 291 292 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING BAD FARMING THE FARM f A 5^^. Animal (2 \ (C^L K...^^ MARKE GOOD FARMING THE FARM /;:^^fneralY\N. 1 J, PlantY ' o SEWER WASTE MARKET Fig. 177. The upper figure illus- trates poor farm management: the minerals in the soil are converted _ into plant crops and four-fifths of sewer the products are carried off the farm waste to the market, while only one-fifth is fed to stock and thus left on the farm in the form of manure. The lower figure illustrates good farm management: the same minerals in the soil are con- verted into plant crops, but only one-tenth of these . is taken off the farm to market, the other nine-tenths are fed to stock. The stock leave on the farm in their manure seven-tenths of the minerals that were taken from the soil and carry away only two-tenths when they are sold in the market. O SEWER WASTE humus, and in some cases nitro- gen, to the soiL This diversifying the crops also makes farming more certain, as then no one fail- ure due to unfa- vorable season or insect pest can affect all the crops of any one year. Second, this di- versification and the stock-feeding distribute the la- bor of the farm more evenly through the year, instead of causing great rushes at special seasons. A good part of the work of feeding stock for market comes in late fall and winter when the crops are out of the way. Third, there are always ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 293 remnants of crops and a great deal of grass left in fields that can be gathered at no expense by animals and converted into salable meat. Fourth, a considerable part of the expense of harvesting and of hauling out fertilizer is saved with many crops by turning into the field the stock, which do their own harvesting and drop the manure in the field. Fifth, when several thousand pounds of crops are fed to stock, there are only a few animals to be driven to market instead of the several thousand pounds of produce to be hauled. This saves time and teams. Sixth, in most cases, except where markets are very near or the soil and climate are es- pecially adapted to some particular crop, more money can be made by devoting a considerable part of the farm to raising stock and the crops that feed stock economically than can be made by raising all market crops such as cotton. Seventh, the raising of stock makes farming more interesting and attractive to both old and young, and broadens the thinking of the farmer. It is therefore perfectly plain that except under very special circumstances every farmer should raise at least enough live-stock to consume all the food crops that a well-planned rotation, including legumes and winter cover crops, would demand on his farm. 254. Texas Especially Adapted to Stock-Raising. — Texas is especially adapted to stock-raising. The mild winters and long growing season make it possible to have green food in the field all the year, and to allow the stock to exercise and to gather their own feed in large part nearly all the time. Such expensive barns and long winter feeding as are demanded in the North are not required, nor are the dangers of diseases caused by close housing so great. Furthermore, such a large part of the food eaten does not have to be used by the animal 294 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING in keeping warm. With her vast acres of pasture land and mild climate, Texas should develop her stock-raising rapidly, now that practical methods of handling the cattle tick and other animal pests and diseases have been learned. 255. The Loss From Raising Scrub Stock. — The cattle tick, through interfering with the bringing of finer pure- bred stock into the Southwest, has cost and is costing this section tens of millions of dollars a year. Texas in 1910 had 7,131,000 beef cattle. This was about twice as many as any other State had, Iowa, the State with the next largest number, having only 3,611,000. The Texas cattle, however, were val- ued at only $15.30 her head, while those in Illinois and Wyo- ming were valued at $26.40, and those in Montana at $27.40. If Texas beef cattle were raised to the same quality as those of Montana, $86,000,000 would be added to the wealth of the State. In 1910 Texas had 1,137,000 dairy cattle, valued at only $25.50 apiece, while New Jersey dairy cattle were val- ued at $47.50 a head. If Texas dairy cattle were raised to the same quality as those of New Jersey, over $25,000,000 would be added to the State's wealth. It takes nearly as much labor and feed to raise a scrub as it does to raise a pure-bred or high-grade animal. The raising of scrub stock is therefore very wasteful and unintelligent. In for- mer years, when there were millions of acres of cheap land, it was possible to make a profit from scrub stock turned out to graze with very little oversight. Now, with higher- priced land and the country rapidly being broken up into small farms and ranches, the ranchman and farmer can no longer afford to waste time and food on scrub stock. When Herefords and Shorthorns will weigh two thousand pounds, it is poor economy to raise scrubs that weigh one thousand A...A s^^Mi?^^^^S*^^P^^: — .^ ^HJ Fig. 178. Above, ari inferior feeder; in the centre, a choice feeder; below^ a fat steer of the correct type. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 296 FUNDAMENTALS OF FAKMING or less. When Jerseys or Holsteins (Horstinz) will produce from five hundred to over a thousand pounds of butter a year, is it sensible to feed milk cows that produce only a hundred and fifty pounds per year? 256. How to Improve the Quality of Stock. — While it is not practicable for all farmers at once to buy and raise only pure-bred stock, it is practicable to grade rapidly a herd at small expense by breeding only from pure-bred males. As you know, the parents of a scrub do not belong to any particular breed, but are a mixture of many inferior types, whereas both parents of a pure-bred belong to the same breed of selected stock. The result of this is that when a pure-bred male is crossed on a scrub female, the offspring, which is called a grade, is more likely to resemble the pure-bred male parent than the scrub female. For ex- ample, if a pure-bred Hereford bull is used, nearly all the calves will show the fine Hereford qualities. None of the males of these half-bloods, as the offspring of a full blood and a scrub are called, should be allowed to breed. The female half-bloods should be crossed again with a pure-bred and thus secure a three-quarter pure grade. These similarly being crossed with a full-blooded bull will produce calves that are seven-eighths pure, or high grade. For practical beef and dairy purposes, such high grades are nearly as good as pure-breds, but they would not bring high prices for breeding purposes. Grade bulls should not be used for breeding, as with a mixed ancestry the calves from them would not be apt to come true. As long as the grade fe- males are always bred to a pure-bred bull, however, the calves are very apt to possess the qualities of the good stock. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 297 257. What Must Be Known to Get Highest Profit From Stock-Raising. — In order to get the greatest profit from his stock-raising the farmer must know two things : First, what kinds of animals and animal products — meat, milk, butter, wool, and eggs — the market demands and pays best for; sec- ond, how to produce these at the least cost. In order to produce at the least expense animals that will bring the high- est prices, three things must be learned. These are: First, live-stock judging; second, live-stock breeding; third, live- stock feeding. Let us now study each of these. 258. Live-stock Judging. — Live-stock judging is the basis of all success in stock-raising. If one does not know what are desirable points in an animal he will not know how much to pay for animals that he buys, nor what to charge for those that he sells, nor will he know which animals to select and breed from in his herd. One horse sells for 1500, while an- other that looks very much like it to the untrained observer brings only $150. One bull sells for $50, while another that does not look very different to the average boy sells for $500. Let us take up the several farm animals in turn and find out what points are important and what relative value should be given to each different quality. CATTLE 259. Classes of Cattle. — Cattle are divided into three classes: heef cattle, or those raised for beef; dairy cattle, or those raised for their milk and butter; dual-yuryose cattle, or those raised both for beef and for milk and butter. Each of these classes has its special points which have definite values in estimating the quality of the animal judged. These can be learned thoroughly only by study of actual cattle with the 298 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Fig. 179. Points of the beef animal: 1, muzzle; 2, face; 3, eyes; 4, fore- head; 5, ears; 6, poll; 7, jaw; 8, neck; 9, shoulder vein; 10, shoulder; 11, dewlap; 12, chest; 13, brisket; 14, breast; 15, arm; 16, knee; 17, shin; 18, hoof; 19, fore-flank; 20, crops; 21, ribs; 22, back; 23, loin; 24, rump; 25, hips, or hooks; 26, hind-flank; 27, purse, or cod; 28, tail-head; 29, pin bones; 30, thigh; 31, twists; 32, hocks; 33, shank; 34, tail. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. aid of a trained judge, but with the aid of pictures and the following descriptions any boy or girl may make a good start in learning to judge cattle. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 299 260. Beef Cattle.— Beef cattle are divided into: (1) ''fat steers," meaning those ready for the butcher; (2) ''feeders," meaning those that are ready to be fattened for the butcher; and (3) "breeding cattle," meaning those used for breeding purposes. The fat steer for which the butcher pays the highest price is one that will dress out the highest per cent of salable meat and that carries the maximum amount of this meat in the regions from which the most valuable cuts come. In order to meet these requirements the fat steer must have a broad, deep, low-set, smooth, compact form with straight top and under lines. He must show especially high development in the ribs, loin, rump, and thighs, which are the regions of the high-priced cuts. He must possess good quality, as in- dicated by fine, soft hair, loose, pliable skin of medium thick- ness, even, firm, mellow flesh, and clean, medium-sized, dense bone. He must be in good condition, as indicated by a deep, even covering of firm flesh, especially in the region of choice cuts. The scrub steer with swayed back, high flanks, nar- row, shallow body, long legs, probably large paunch, coarse bone, thick hide, coarse hair, and thin covering of flesh not only dresses out a low per cent of salable meat, but too large a proportion of this meat is located in the regions of the low- priced cuts. Figures 178, 179, 180 will make this descrip- tion clear. The score-card on the next page presents the points in detail to be considered in judging fat cattle and shows the relative value of those points. The score-card is of great aid to the beginner in stock-judging, in famiharizing him with the ideal type, in enabling him to distinguish clearly and fix in memory the points to be observed, and to judge in a system- 300 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING SCORE-CARD From Circular No. 29, Purdue University BEEP CATTLE FAT SCALE OP POINTS GENERAL APPEARANCE— 40 per cent 1. Weight, estimated lbs. Actual lbs. according to age 2. Form, straight top and underline; deep, broad, low set, stylish, smooth, compact, symmetrical 3. Quality, fine, soft hair; loose, pliable skin of medium thickness; dense, clean, medium- sized bone 4. Condition, deep, even covering of firm, mellow flesh; free from patches, ties, lumps, and rolls ; full cod and flank indicating finish .... HEAD AND NECK— 7 per cent 5. Muzzle, broad; mouth large; nostrils large and open 6. Eyes, large, clear, placid 7. Face, short; jaw strong 8. Forehead, broad, full 9. Ears, medium size; fine texture 10. Neck, short, thick, blending smoothly with shoulder; throat clean, with light dewlap FORE-QUARTERS — 9 per cent 11. Shoulder vein, full 12. Shoulders, smoothly covered, compact, snug, neat 13. Brisket, trim, neat; breast full 14. Legs, wide apart, straight, short; arm full; shank fine BODY — 30 per cent 15. Chest, full, deep, wide; girth large; crops full. . 16. Ribs, long, arched, thickly and smoothly fleshed 17. Back, broad, straight, thickly and smoothly fleshed 18. Loin, thick, broad 19. Flank, full, even with underline HIND-QUARTERS— 14 per cent 20. Hips, smooth 21. Rump, long, wide, level; tail-head smooth; pin bones wide apart, not prominent 22. Thighs, deep, fuH 23. Twist, deep, plump 24. Legs, wide apart, straight, short; shanks fine, smooth Total . points deficient STAND- ARD 12 stu- dent's score cor- rected 100 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 301 atic way. As soon as these purposes are accomplished, further use of the card is not necessary. The student should then be able to judge and criticise an animal without referring to the Fig. 180. Wholesale cuts on a steer: 1, round; 2, loin; 3, flank; 4, rib; 5, plate; 6, chuck; 7, shank. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. card. After becoming proficient in judging a single animal, comparative judgments of two or more animals maybe made. The feeder steer is the one not yet fat but ready to be fattened for the market. The ideal feeder is one that will make the most economical gains in the feed lot and will when fat meet the ideal of the fat steer. The difference between the ideal feeder and the ideal fat steer is a matter of condition, or flesh covering. The most important points to be con- sidered in feeders are the following. The body should be deep and wide, the top and bottom lines straight, legs short, and general appearance smooth and compact. The depth and thickness are not, of course, as great in the feeder as in the 302 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING fat steer, but the more pronounced they are in the feeder the greater they are Ukely to be in the fat steer. A wide back, well-sprung ribs, wide, thick loin, level, long, wide rump, giv- ing squareness to the hind-quarters, thickly fleshed thighs, and deep twist are demanded to make sure of large valuable cuts when the animal is fat. The skin should be loose, pliable, and of medium thickness; the hair soft and glossy; the bone clean, dense, and of medium size. Medium-sized bone is pre- ferred to small bone, because it has been found that animals possessing medium-sized bone have better constitutions and when fed give larger return than do those with small bones. The loose, pliable skin and the glossy hair indicate good digestion, which is essential to economical gains in the feed lot. While not fat, the feeder must possess a large amount of flesh or lean muscular tissue, otherwise it will not dress out a large per cent of good quality of meat when fat. The feeder should have a strong constitution, as is indicated by deep, wide chest, large nostrils, large muzzle and mouth, bright, clear, quiet eyes, short, broad head, well-arched deep ribs and low flanks, giving large capacity for food. The butcher does not care for large head or large paunch, but in the feeder they are desirable, as they indicate ability to make good use of food and make rapid gains in the feed lot. Breeding cattle when thin should represent ideal feeders and when fat ideal fat cattle; but in addition to this they should possess qualities which indicate that they will breed regularly and that the offspring will resemble their parents. No mat- ter how good the animals may be as individual specimens, they will not do as breeders unless they can reproduce their kind with regularity. The following points should be looked for in breeders. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 303 1. The animal should be true to his type; that is, the Here- ford should have the characteristics of the Hereford and the Jersey of the Jersey. The distinguishing features of each type have been fixed in it by long years of carefully breeding only animals of this type. Those that are good representa- tives of the type are therefore more apt to be able to transmit this type to their offspring than would a specimen that had varied from the type. An animal capable of doing this is spoken of as prepotent. 2. The animal should possess the characteristics of the sex to which it belongs. Such animals are more apt to be prepo- tent. The bull should show the following masculine char- acteristics: bold expression in eyes; full forehead; thick neck, surmounted by heavy, well-developed crest; heavy, though not coarse, shoulders, giving him a strong, vigorous, burly ap- pearance. The female should show the following feminine characteristics: mild expression in eyes, refinement of head and horns, neck slender and shoulders light as compared with the bull, more width and prominence of hips than the bull, and a generally gentle appearance. 3. The constitution must be strong, as only animals hav- ing such can stand the strain of producing offspring regularly and at the same time transmit to the offspring their strength and vigor. The signs of a strong constitution you have just learned in studying the feeders. 261. Breeds of Beef Cattle.— There are eight breeds of beef cattle recognized in the United States: Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen- Angus, Galloway, Polled Durham, Polled Hereford, Sussex, and West Highland. The first four are considered the principal breeds. Only the first three have gained prominence in Texas. 304 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING The Shorthorn. This breed originated in England, proba- bly from the old Teeswater and Holderness stock, in the counties of York, Durham, and Northumberland. Short- horns are sometimes improperly called Durhams. As early as 1780 the special selection and breeding were begun which Fig. 181. A Shorthorn bull. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. produced this remarkable beef type, possessing easy-feeding qualities, early maturity, and thick flesh of good quality. The breed has long been prominent and steadily improved. In size the Shorthorn ranks first, bulls at maturity weighing two thousand to twenty-two hundred pounds. Many weigh as high as twenty-five hundred pounds. Cows weigh four- teen hundred to sixteen hundred pounds, some as high as two thousand pounds. The color may be pure red, pure white, red and white spotted, or roan, which is a mixture of red and white. The breed is sometimes called the '^reds, whites, and roans." The horn, which is a well-marked ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 305 characteristic of the breed, is . usually short and small, preferably curved forward, with the tips bending inward and upward. The breed is noted for wide back, strong loin, and square, well-developed hind-quarters. It is criticised because of length of legs and lack of heart girth, as shown by insufficient fulness back of shoulders, in the crops and fore-flanks. As milk producers they rank first among the beef breeds. The Shorthorn is especially adapted to the farm, but not so well adapted to range conditions, particularly where ex- posed to severe winters, as the Hereford. Shorthorn bulls are used on the ranches, however, by many cattlemen be- cause of the marked improvement produced in the size of the stock. The Hereford is a native of Hereford County, England, the breed having originated early in the eighteenth century in efforts to produce a breed better suited to the production of fine beef by grazing. The Hereford is shorter of leg and some- what more compact in appearance than the Shorthorn, but weighs practically as much. The color is remarkably uni- form; the face, breast, top of neck, legs usually from slightly below the knee and hock down, the belly, and switch of tail are all white. The rest of the body is red. The breed is often called the "white face." The head is shorter and broader than that of the Shorthorn, the horns longer and keener toward the tips. The horns are white or waxy yel- low, and spring forward and usually down with a graceful curve. The Hereford is especially noted for its excellent constitution, thick middle, beautiful front, and early ma- turity. The most common defect in the form is light hind- quarters, owing to a drooping, peaked rump and poorly 306 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING developed thighs. The American breeders especially have in recent years greatly improved this breed in this respect. Hereford cows rank very low as milk producers. Many Herefords have been imported and, because of the Fi 1S2. Druid of Point Comfort, grand champion Hereford bull 1908-1912. Courtesy of Lee Brothers. excellent grazing qualities and adaptation to ranches, have been distributed rapidly over the western ranges. Hereford bulls are of immense value in grading up common herds be- cause of the transmission of their fine beef qualities and ability to stand hard conditions. On account of hardiness and early maturity, Hereford steers stand in front rank as feeders. Aberdeen- Angus. This breed of hornless cattle originated in and around the county of Aberdeen, in Scotland, taking its ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 307 name from the county and a near-by locality. While some- thing had been done before, the real work of improving this breed began about 1815. iVberdeen-Angus cattle are not as large as Shorthorns and Herefords, but are more cylindrical f * . . V ^ ■ l^^n m^^^- . i^j^^j^P^^^^WPi^^^ i Fig. 183. Aberdeen-Angus bull. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. and compact in shape and are remarkably heavy for their size. Bulls weigh two thousand to twenty-two hundred pounds, cows fourteen hundred to fifteen hundred pounds, both sexes frequently passing these marks. The breed is noted for its smoothness, high percentage of dressed beef, and the superior quality of the meat. The standard color is black; though occasionally solid reds appear. The poll, or top of the head, is a well-marked characteristic. It should be clearly defined and prominent, and there should 308 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING be no traces of rudimentary * (ru di meii'ta ry) horns. The cows produce more milk than Herefords, but less than Short- horns. This breed was first brought to America in 1873, and has become quite widely spread and popular considering the short time it has been here. It has gained much favor in the upper Mississippi Valley and in the Western and South- western States. The bulls are excellent for grading up a herd, and the steers make excellent feeders. The absence of horns makes it possible to feed them in close quarters without danger of their injuring each other. While good on the range the Aberdeen-Angus is hardly the equal of the Hereford in this respect. The Galloway originated also in Scotland, in the ancient province of that name. Little is known of its origin, but its improvement was begun early in the eighteenth century. On account of the cold, damp climate and the mountainous nature of the country the cattle were obliged to have very robust constitutions, which is a noted and important point in favor of the Galloway. It is the smallest of the principal beef breeds, usually very short of leg and long of body. The head is hornless, but, unlike the Aberdeen-Angus, the poll is rather flat. The hair, instead of being short and smooth as that of the Aberdeen-Angus, is long and shaggy. The breed is often called the "shaggy coat.'' The hides often bring high prices for use in making rugs, robes, and overcoats. The color is black, with reddish or brownish tint frequently occurring in the black. The breed is criticised for lack of spring and fulness of rib, thin covering of loin, and slow * A rudimentary horn is one that makes a beginning but never de- velops. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 309 response to generous feeding. On these points it is now being rapidly improved. Galloways were introduced into the United States and Can- ada early in the nineteenth century, but have gained more favor in Canada than in the United States, where they are not Fig. 184. GaUoway buU. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. nearly so popular as the three leading breeds. Its strong constitution, long, thick hair, and ability to find food make it well adapted to the cold Northwest and to the mountains. It is not well adapted to the warm South. There are a few Galloways in Texas, principally in the west, where Galloway bulls are used to some extent in grading up the herds. Polled Durham cattle had their origin in the United States. About 1870 pure-bred Shorthorn bulls were bred to hornless 310 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING COWS and the offspring that inherited the hornlessness of the mother but the other quaUties of the Shorthorn were se- lected, and by continuous breeding and selection the polled breed of Shorthorns, called Polled Durham, was produced. Those bred in this way are called ''single standard." Another breed of polled cattle was developed by selecting a few pure- bred Shorthorn bulls and cows that varied from the normal in having no horns. These were bred to each other and the polled feature fixed in the offspring. Polled Durhams that originated in this way are called "double standard." A Polled Hereford breed of cattle has been developed re- cently also in the United States by breeding to each other Herefords that did not have horns. The Sussex breed originated in England and the West Highland breed in the highlands of Scotland. The first is solid red and nearly as large as the Hereford, and is possibly related to this breed. The latter is a low-set, shaggy moun- tain type. Neither has any prominence in America. 262. Dairy Cattle. — A good dairy cow will return in milk and butter for a given amount of foodstuff a larger amount of human food than will the hog, sheep, chicken, or steer. This fact coupled with the ever-present demand for the prod- ucts of the dairy make dairying, when properly conducted, a most profitable business. No kind of live-stock will as a rule yield a larger return from an acre of land than dairy cat- tle. In States that are thickly populated, and in which land is expensive, dairying is usually one of the chief occupations. 263. Texas is Especially Suited to Dairying. — In many of the more thickly populated sections of Texas dairying has made considerable advance in recent years, but the State is still wofully behind in this important field. As a rule farm- ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 311 ers keep a very poor grade of cows and do not handle the milk and butter in a scientific way. The result is that not half the butter is made that should be, and so large a part of that made is of such poor quality that when Wisconsin butter ^_j^ p If- ^ ^' 'SBBp"/ ^m. *^p L 4 ' '''. ^9 t /^^^^-' . i •W^ Fig. 185. Points of the dairy cow: 1, muzzle; 2, face; 3, forehead; 4, eye; 5, ear; 6, jaw; 7, neck; 8, withers; 9, shoulder; 10, foreleg; 11, crops; 12, chest; 13, back; 14, ribs; 15, barrel; 16, loin; 17, hips; 18, rump; 19, pin bones; 20, tail; 21, escutcheon; 22, thigh; 23. udder; 24, teats; 25, milk veins; 26, milk wells; 27, hind leg. Courtesy of A. O. Auten. is quoted in the market at thirty cents a pound, Texas country butter is quoted at fifteen cents. Here, where the cows can stay in the open all the year and can every day find fresh, green, succulent food, which is especially important for dairy cows, it is a discredit to our intelligence and industry to continue longer to buy our butter from States that have the ground covered with snow for three months of the year. We 312 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING cannot hope to compete with other States as long as we use cows that produce one hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds of butter a year, while they use cows that produce five hundred pounds, or even eleven hundred and twenty-six pounds, as the Jersey, Jacoba Irene, did, or twelve hundred and forty-seven pounds, as the Holstein, Colantha Fourth's Johanna, did. Our farmers and farmer boys and girls must learn about the judging, breeding, and feeding of dairy cat- tle, and about the production of milk and butter, before the State can take the high position in dairying that its natural advantages entitle it to hold. Let us begin the study now. 264. Judging the Dairy Cow. — A dairy cow may be looked upon as a factory which takes in raw material in the shape of food and makes it into milk and butter fat. If this were all that had to be considered, the best dairy cow would be the one that yielded the largest amount of milk and butter fat from the smallest amount of food. By measuring the food given and the milk produced and testing the per cent of fat with the Babcock test * each day, one could keep rec- ords that would make it possible to judge the quality of the cow accurately. But at times dairy cows must be judged when they are not giving milk, and when there are no records to go by. Furthermore, there are other qualities besides capacity for milk production that must be considered, such *This is a test which was originated by Professor Babcock, of the University of Wisconsin, for finding out the percentage of butter fat in milk. A little sulphuric acid is added to a bottle of milk, which causes the fat to be separated from the rest of the milk. The bottle is then rotated rapidly in a machine in such manner as to bring the cream to the top of the bottle. A scale is marked along the top part of the bottle by which the per cent of cream present can be seen at once. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 313 as capacity to produce regularly offspring that will inherit the fine qualities of the parent, and capacity to maintain vigor for a number of years. For these reasons it is necessary to learn to judge the qualities of a dairy cow by her physical make-up in a manner similar to that by which the qualities of beef cattle are judged. 265. How Milk is Produced in the Cow. — In the beef type of cow the food consumed is in part turned into flesh and stored within the animal's body, but in the dairy type the food is turned into milk which is constantly being taken away from the body. We should therefore expect the two types to be very different in appearance. But before we can know what the differences are and intelligently determine what is the best type for dairy purposes, we must know more about the means by which milk is produced in the cow. The parts most concerned in the production of milk are the digestive organs, the blood, the lungs, the heart, the udder, and the nervous system. The digestive system must be strong enough to enable the cow to consume and digest a large quantity of food in order to produce a great quantity of milk. She should therefore show a large middle, or '^ barrel," as it is called. The bloody lungs, and heart. After the food has been di- gested or changed into a condition to be utilized by the ani- mal it passes through the walls of the intestines into the blood. The material from which milk is to be formed thus becomes a part of the blood, which now goes through a large vein to the right side of the heart. From here it goes to the lungs to be purified by the air that is breathed in. It then returns to the heart, this time to the left side, and from there is pumped through the arteries to the various portions 314 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING of the body. A part of it passes through a large artery under the backbone to the hind-quarters. Here this artery sends out a large branch, which in turn throws out several smaller branches that distribute the blood throu^^h all the regions Fig. 186. The blood supply of the udder. Arteries (in white) lead from the heart to the udder, veins (in black) lead from the udder to the heart. From Circular No. 29, Purdue University of the udder. After the blood has passed through the udder it appears on the outside of it in what are called the milk wins. These pass along the belly for some distance in front of the udder, enter the body walls through milk wells, and carry the blood back to the heart. It is thus seen that the heart, lungs, arteries, and veins are of great importance in the manufacture of milk. The part ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 315 played by the heart and lungs shows that it is very important for the cow to have a deep, wide, full chest, indicating that these organs are well developed and that she possesses a strong constitution. The size of the milk veins and milk wells is an indication of the amount of blood that passes through the udder to supply material for the manufacture of milk. On this account it is important that they be large. The udder. It is in the udder that the process of making milk from the material supplied by the blood is carried on. The udder serves also as a reservoir for the milk after it has been made until withdrawn by the process of milking. It is especially important that the udder have a large capacity, and to this end it should be attached high behind and carried well forward. The quarters should be even and free from fleshiness. When empty it should appear to consist of folds of soft, pliable, elastic skin. The nervous system, represented by the brain and the spinal cord with its branches, controls the action of the various or- gans of the body. In the dairy cow it is very important that the nervous system be strong and well developed in order that the organs concerned in the manufacture of milk may carry on their work most effectively. The cow with a ner- vous system of this kind is spoken of as having a nervous temperament. This does not mean that she is irritable and excitable, as the term often implies, but that she possesses a strong set of nerves that has the various organs of the body under good control. The nervous temperament in the dairy cow is indicated by a lean yet vigorous condition, showing that the feed she consumes is being used chiefly in the pro- duction of milk and not in the laying on of flesh. An animal of this temperament is active and wide awake. The tempera- 316 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING merit of the beef animal differs from that of the dairy animal, being what is called a lymphatic or lazy temperament, which is conducive to the laying on of flesh. Dairy cows that show Fig. 187. Colantha Fourth's Johanna, the Holstein-Friesian cow that gave 27,432^ pounds of milk in one year. From this milk 1,247.8 pounds of butter were produced. Note the typical wedge (B A C) shape of the dairy cow. Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin. a beefy tendency are not utilizing their food for milk produc- tion as they should. 266. The Dairy Type. — Having learned the parts of the dairy cow that are chiefly involved in milk production, we are now in a position to understand the dairy type. We can see that the digestive organs and the udder, on account of the important work they perform, should be highly developed. We can see also that the dairy cow should be lean in condi- tion. A lean head, a rather long, thin neck, lean, thin withers, thinly fleshed back, ribs, loin, and rump, and thin, long thighs characterize the nervous temperament. The ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 317 good dairy cow must also be wide of loin, hips, and rump. The high development of barrel and udder, the width of the loin, hips, and rump, together with the thin neck and lean condition throughout, give the dairy cow a wedge-shaped form. Three wedges may be seen, as indicated in Figures 187 and 188. This peculiar type which is so closely associ- ated with high milk produc- tion has been intensified in each breed of dairy cattle by many years of careful breed- ing. The points in detail to be considered in judging dairy cows are given in the score- card on the next page. 267. Breed Type.— In ad- dition to judging the dairy cow by the points indicated on the score-card as a milk pro- ducer, she should be judged also as a breeder. The points to consider here are the same as those given for the breeder type when discussing beef cattle. 268. The Dairy Bull. — The dairy bull may be judged by the records of his daughters as milk producers, but this method can be applied only to old bulls. The more common method is to judge by his agreement with a certain type proved to be valuable, and by the records of his ancestors. A bull from good parents, grandparents, and great-grand- FiG. 188. Note the wedges B A C and DAE, characteristic of the dairy- type. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 318 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING SCORE-CARD From "Judging Live Stock," by J. A. Craig DAIRY CATTLE COW SCALE OF POINTS GENERAL APPEARANCE Form, inclined to be wedge-shaped Quality, hair fine, soft; sliin mellow, loose, me- dium thickness; secretion yellow; bone clean, fine Temperament, nervous, indicated by lean ap- pearance when in milk HEAD AND NECK Muzzle, clean cut; mouth large; nostrils large. . Eyes, large, bright, full, mild Face, Ifean, long, quiet expression Forehead, broad Ears, medium size, yellow inside, fine texture. . Horns, fine texture, waxy Neck, fine, medium length, throat clean, ll:;lit dewlap FORE-QUARTERS Withers, lean, thin Shoulders, light, oblique Legs, straight, short; shank fine 30DY Chest, deep, low, girth large with full fore-flank Barrel, ribs broad, long, wide apart; large stomach Back, lean, straight, open-jointed Loin, broad Navel, large HIND-QUARTERS Hips, far apart, level Rump, long, wide Pin bones, or Thurls, high, wide apart Tail, long, slim; fine hair in switch Thighs, thin, long Escutcheon, spreading over thighs, extending high and wide; large thigh ovals Udder, long, attached high and full behind, ex- tending far in front and full, flexible; quarters even and free from fleshiness Teats, large, evenly placed Mammary veins, large, long, tortuous, branched with double extension; large and numerous milk wells Legs, straight; shank fine Total stand- ard points deficient stu- dent's score cor- rected 6 6 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 10 10 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 4 2 20 5 5 2 100 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 319 parents is more likely to be a good breeder than one the an- cestors of which are not of such merit. In judging the dairy bull the following points are especially important: 1. He should be typical of the breed he represents. Fig. IS'J. Fouiitaine's Chieflain, cliampiuii Jersey bull. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. 2. He should show in general the spare, angular form characteristic of the dairy cow. 3. He should show distinctly the nervous temperament, as indicated by an active, wide-awake appearance and lean con- dition. 4. He should possess good quality, as indicated by dense, clean bone, soft hair, and loose, pliable skin of medium thick- ness. 5. He should show a strong masculine character, as indi- cated by bold expression of eyes, burly head, strong horns, 320 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING well-crested neck, and comparatively heavy though not coarse shoulders. The front of the dairy bull is necessarily much heavier than that of the dairy cow, but he should not show the same relative width of hips. 6. He should possess a strong constitution, as indicated by a deep, wide chest, large nostrils, bright, clear eyes, and a general appearance of health and vigor. 7. He should possess a large, capacious barrel, indicating plenty of room for food, for it is important that he be able to stamp this characteristic on his offspring. 8. He should possess a strong back, long, level rump and light, thin thighs, and should be cut up high in the twist. Thick, beefy thighs and deep, full twist are objectionable. 9. The rudimentary teats should be of good size and evenly placed, as they indicate to some extent the size and position of the teats in the female offspring. 269. Breeds of Dairy Cattle. — The breeds of dairy cattle mentioned in order of popularity in the United States are: the Jersey, the Holstein-Friesian (Horstin-Fre'zhan), the Guernsey (Gurn'zy), the Ayrshire (Ar'sher), the Broivn Siviss, the Dutch Belted, the French Canadian, and the Kerry. The Jersey came from a little island of that name in the English Channel, and is probably descended from two French types of cattle that had been taken to the island. As early as 1763 the interest in breeding a fine dairy type was strong enough to get a law passed forbidding the bringing to the island any cattle from France except for immediate slaughter. Soon similiar laws were made against cattle from other coun- tries. Since 1833 the most rigorous selection has been car- ried on, with the result that the Jersey excels all other breeds in quality of milk and in beauty and refinement. In size ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 321 the Jersey ranks from medium, to small. An average bull weighs about 1,300 pounds and an average cow about 850 pounds. There is, however, wide variation in weights of both bulls and cows. The color also varies considerably, a fawn-like color predominating. It may be a yellowish, red- FiG. 190. Jersey cow. Courtesy'jof A. O. Auten. /dish, grayish, brownish, or silvery fawn. Some are de- scribed as orange or lemon fawn, and others as squirrel gray or mulberry black. White markings often occur, but are not in favor. The Jersey is especially noted as a producer of rich milk, that is milk that contains a high percentage of butter fat. It is also noted for the comparatively large size of the fat globules in the milk, this being a great advantage on account of causing the cream to rise and separate easily. 322 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING The Jersey cow, Jacoba Irene, No. 146443, A. J. C. C, holds the record of her breed for butter production in an official test. She produced in one year 17,253 pounds of milk, from which was made 1,126 pounds 6 ounces of butter. The importation of Jersey cattle to the United States be- gan early in the nineteenth century, but importations did not become frequent until 1850. The Jersey is the most popular breed in the United States, and is now found in every State. Jersey cattle are numerous in Texas, where they have been in strong favor for many years, almost to the exclusion of other breeds. They are more widely distributed over the world than any other dairy breed. Holstein-Friesian. The native home of this breed is Hol- land. Little is known about its origin, but it is claimed that cattle of the Holstein-Friesian type have been kept by the people of Holland for the production of milk, butter, and cheese for over a thousand years. The size of the breed is greater than that of any other dairy breed. The average weight of mature cows is from twelve hundred and fifty pounds to fourteen hundred, and of mature bulls from nine- teen hundred to two thousand pounds. It is not uncommon for weights of both cows and bulls to exceed these figures. The color is black and white spotted, sometimes black pre- dominating and sometimes the reverse. Black on the legs is considered objectionable. The Holstein-Friesian cow is fa- mous for the large quantity of milk she produces. In this re- spect she is far ahead of all other breeds. The cow Colantha Fourth's Johanna, No. 48577, A. H. F. A., holds the world's record for quantity of milk in an official test. She pro- duced in one year 27,432 i pounds of milk, from which were made 1,247.8 pounds of butter. The milk of the Holstein- ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 323 Friesian is not rich in butter fat, but a large quantity of but- ter is generally produced on account of the large yield of milk. Holstein-Friesian cattle were probably first brought to the United States by the early Dutch settlers of New York. Fig. 191. Guernsey cow. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. Since about the middle of the nineteenth century many im- portations have been made. The breed has become well distributed, though it has not gained the popularity of the Jersey. It would be well if a larger number of cattle of this breed were owned in Texas, for as yet the breed has not been given the attention in this State which its merit demands. The Guernsey. This breed, the native home of which is the islands of Guernsey and Alderney, in the English Channel, 324 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING near the island of Jersey, has high merit. Several herds of Guernsey cattle are owned in the United States, chiefly in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. The breed, however, has not gained the prominence to which its merit entitles it. There are few Guernseys in Texas, though there is no reason why they should not do well here. The size of the Guernsey is generally larger than that of the Jer- sey, the average weight of mature cows being about a thou- sand and fifty pounds, and of mature bulls about fifteen hun- dred pounds. In color animals of this breed may be either yellowish, brownish, or reddish fawn, with white marking frequently occurring on body or legs. The Ayrshire. The native home of this breed is in the county of Ayr, in southwestern Scotland. In size the breed ranks as medium, the average weight for mature cows and bulls being about the same as stated for the Guernsey breed. The color is white, with red or brown markings. The breed ranks high in yield of milk, which, however, is only fair in quality. Ayrshire cattle have been exported from Scotland to many different countries. In North America they are found chiefly in Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and in the New England and Eastern States of this country. The Brown Swiss is a large rather beefy breed of dairy cattle whose native home is in Switzerland. On account of its beefy tendency it is classed by some as a dual-purpose animal. The Dutch Belted breed had its origin in Holland, where it has been chiefly developed by the nobility of that country. The color is peculiar, being black, with a wide belt of white around the body between the shoulders and the hips. From the dairy stand-point the breed does not rank high. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 325 The French Canadian breed of cattle originated in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is supposed that the foun- dation stock of the breed was imported from France by the early settlers before 1665. The breed has been kept pure Fig. 192. Ayrshire cow. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. for over a hundred years. It is noted for its vigorous, robust constitution. The color is generally black, though a brown brindle sometimes occurs. Though French Canadian cows rank well as milk producers, the breed is not distributed to any extent outside of Quebec. The Kerry breed of cattle originated in western Ireland. It is a small breed, black in color and very hardy. The cows rank well as milk producers and the quality of the milk is 326 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING SCORE-CARD From "Judging Live Stock," by J. A. Craig RED POLLED CATTLE COW SCALE OP POINTS OBJECTIONS Scurs, or any evidence whatever of a horny growth on the head. Any white spots on body above lower line or brush of tail. COLOR — Any shade of red. The switch of tail and udder may be white, with some wiiite rvmning forward to the navel. Nose of a clear flesh color. Interior of ears should be of a yellowish, waxy color Objections — An 'extreme dark or an extreme light red is not desirable. A cloudy nose or one with dark spots. HEAD — Of medium length, wide between the eyes, sloping gradually from above eyes to poll. The poU well defined and prominent, with a sharp dip behind it in centre of head. Ears of medium size and well carried. Eyes prominent; face well dished between the eyes. Muzzle wide, with large nostrils Objections — A rounding or flat appearance of the poll. Head too long and narrow. NECK — Of medium length, clean cut, and straight from head to top of shoulder, with inclination to arch when fattened, and may show folds of loose skin underneath when in milking form .... SHOULDER — Of medium thickness and smoothly laid, coming up level with line of back Objections — Shoulder too prominent, giving the appearance of weakness in heart girth. Shoul- der protruding above line of back. CHEST — Broad and deep, insiiring constitution. Brisket prominent and coming well forward .... BACK AND RIBS — Back medium long, straight and level from withers to the setting on of tail ; moderately wide, with spring of ribs starting from the backbone, giving a rounding appear- ance, with ribs flat and fairly wide apart Objections — Front ribs too straight, causing de- pression back of shoulders. Drop in back or loin below the top line. POINTS deficient STAND- ARD stu- dent's SCORE cor- rected 10 14 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 327 SCORE-CARD (Continued) RED POLLED CATTLE COW SCALE OF POINTS HIPS — Wide, rounding over the hooks, and well covered QUARTERS— Of good length, full, rounding, and level; thighs wide, roomy, and not too meaty. . . Objections — Prominent hooks, sunken quar- ters. TAIL — Tail head strong and setting well forward, long and tapering to a full switch LEGS — Short, straight, squarely placed, medium bone Objections — Hocks crooked, legs placed too close together. FORE-UDDER — Full and flexible, reaching well forward, extending down level with hind-udder. HIND-UDDER— Full and well up behind TEATS — Well placed, wide apart, and of reason- ably good size Objections — Lack of development, especially in forward udder. Udder too deep, "bottle- shaped," and teats too close together. Teats vmevenly placed and either too large or too small. MILK VEINS— Of medium size, full, flexible, ex- tending well forward, well retained within the body ; milk wells of medium size HIDE — Loose, mellow, flexible, inclined to thick- ness, with a good, full coat of soft hair Objections — Thin, papery skin or wiry hair. CONDITION— Healthy; moderate to liberal flesh evenly laid on ; glossy coat ; animal presented in good bloom Total GENERAL DESCRIPTION— Cow medium wedge form, low set, top and bottom lines straight ex- cept at flank, weight 1,300 lbs. to 1,500 lbs. when mature and finished. STAND- ARD 10 100 POINTS DEFICIENT stu- dent's SCORE COR- RECTED 328 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING good. The breed is not generally found outside its native home. 270. Dual-Purpose Cattle. — Dual-purpose cattle have been bred for both beef and milk production. From what you have learned of the beef and dairy types it should be clear to you that both beef production and milk production cannot attain the highest degree of development in the same animal. We therefore find the dual-purpose type first class neither for beef nor for milk. Cattle of this type, how- ever, meet the demand of many farmers for animals that will be superior to the dairy breeds for beef and superior to the beef breeds for milk. The two breeds of dual-purpose cattle of the most importance are the Red Polled and the Devon. Red Polled. In the early part of the eighteenth century there existed a small, thin-fleshed, red-brindled, or dun-col- ored polled type of cattle in Suffolk, England, noted for its milk-producing qualities. About the same time in Norfolk there existed a type of cattle described as blood-red in color, with white or mottled face, having horns and possessing a strong tendency to fatten at an early age. These cattle were poor milkers, but of very good beef qualities. The red polled breed originated in a crossing of these two types. Careful selection was practised and the result was a polled dual- purpose breed, solid red in color. Mature males weigh from eighteen hundred to twenty-two hundred pounds and mature cows from eleven hundred to sixteen hundred pounds. Red polled cattle were not imported into the United States to any extent until after 1873. They are now very well dis- tributed throughout the Mississippi Valley States. They ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 329 seem well adapted to Texas conditions and several promi- nent herds are owned in this State. Devon. The native home of this breed is in the counties of Devon and Somerset, England. The origin of the breed is obscure, but it is thought that it is directly descended from Fig. 193. Red polled cow. Courtesy of R. F. Hildebrand. the native wild cattle of Great Britain and that it is one of the oldest of the British breeds. The size of the Devon is quite variable. As a milk producer the Devon holds only a medium rank. Animals of this breed were probably among the first pure-bred cattle to be imported to the United States. Though the breed is now fairly well scattered over the United States, it has never gained much popularity. Very few Devons are found in Texas. 330 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING The Cattle Tick 271. Cause of Tick Fever. — One of the most expensive diseases the South has ever known is the cattle "tick fever," as this disease is now called. For many years the losses through this fever from death, quarantine, and other effects have been estimated at over $40,000,000 a year. The scien- tists of our Agricultural and Mechanical College and of the United States Department of Agriculture have now dis- covered the cause of this fever and devised methods of com- pletely eradicating it. The fever was found to be caused by parasites which are taken in by ticks when biting infected cows. The parasites are then carried to other animals that are afterward bitten by these ticks, and are even transmitted to the eggs of the tick, and in this way to the next generation. 272. Valuable Results of the Discovery. — When it was found that ticks caused the fever, and that they could be removed from cattle by oil and other dips, the rigid quaran- tine against Southern cattle was modified, and a consider- able part of this expensive handicap was removed. Perhaps the worst injury from the tick arose out of the fact that about four-fifths of the fine-blooded cattle imported into the Southwest to breed up our scrub herds were given the fever. As they were less resistant to the fever than the native cattle, most of them died. This prevented the rapid improvement of our stock. The scientists next discovered that by injecting some of the blood of a native cow directly into a well one, the healthy animal would be given the fever. The fever properly transmitted in this way is not especially dangerous, as is shown by the fact that only five per cent of the animals infected die, whereas eighty per cent ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 331 die from the fever caused directly by tick bite. The fever caused by direct inoculation, as this method is called, makes the animal immune to the disease thereafter in all forms. Now that this has been learned it is possible to import and . * ^^ ^ ?» fm^ BB^K^^mdO^' r i r Fig. 194. Cattle tick depositing eggs. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. inoculate the finest young bulls and heifers and breed up our low-grade herds economically. This great handicap being removed, the South can now come rapidly to the front in the raising of fine-blooded cattle. 273. Exterminating Ticks.— By careful study of the habits and life cycle of the ticks, a method of entirely ridding the pastures of them has been devised, and the ticks have been cleared out of a large number of States and will soon be 332 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING wiped out of the United States. Investigators found that the grown female tick, when filled with blood, drops from the cow and lays about three thousand eggs. In warm weather tiny ticks soon hatch out and climb upon vegeta- tion, where they are rubbed off by passing stock. As ticks can live only on blood, if no animal of the right kind is found, they finally starve to death. In summer they can live without food for about three months and in winter much longer. The method of exterminating ticks is simple. The cattle are brought in from the pastures about once in two weeks and dipped in a solution that kills the ticks. In this way the only young ticks that can live to reproduce, namely, those upon the cattle, are killed before they have got their fill of blood and have dropped off and laid a new lot of eggs. This method does not necessarily kill all the ticks in a pas- ture, because there are other varieties of ticks that live on other animals. It does destroy the particular variety of tick that lives on cattle and transmits tick fever. In this way it clears the pasture of infected, fever-producing ticks. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 160. Make a list of all the reasons for and against raising stock on your farm. 16 L How many beef cattle are on your farm ? What is their value per head? How could their value be increased in a practical and economical manner? 162. How many dairy cattle are on your farm? How much milk and butter per year does each cow produce ? How much more would these pay per year if each one produced one-half as much as the Jersey Irene ? ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE 333 163. Make what you consider a practical plan for live-stock raising on your farm. Discuss this with the teacher and then at home. 164. How many of each of the following could be raised on your farm without interfering with the crops now grown there: 1, cattle; 2, horses; 3, sheep or goats; 4, hogs; 5, chickens and other fowls? 165. How many breeds of cattle are there in your community and what are they ? 166. Find what kinds of pure-bred cattle are in your neighborhood and, together with the teacher and remainder of the class, make a visit, inspect, and score each Variety. 167. Find and score one good specimen of each of these types: good feeder, poor feeder, fat steer, good breeder, poor breeder. If teacher and pupils can go together to a county or State fair and practise judging it will be very helpful. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING *'A Study of Farm Animals," C. S. Plumb. ''Judging Live Stock," John A. Craig. ''Types and Breeds of Domestic Animals," C. vS. Plumb. "Our Domestic Animals," C. W. Burkett. Farmers' Bulletins: No. 206. "Milk Fever and Its Treatment." No. 350. "The Dehorning of Cattle." No. 380. "The Loco-Weed Disease." No. 439. "Anthrax, with Special Reference to Its Suppression." No. 569. "Texas or Tick Fever." No. 612. "Breeds of Beef Cattle." No. 614. "A Corn-Belt Farming System Which Saves Harvest Labor by Hogging Down Crops." No. 666. "Foot and Mouth Disease." No. 720. "Prevention of Losses by Stock from Poisonous Plants." No. 790. "Contagious Abortion in Cattle." No. 857. "Screwworms and Other Maggots Affecting Cattle." No. 949. "Dehorning and Castration of Cattle." No. 1008. "Saving Farm Labor by Harvesting with Live Stock." No. 1057. "Cattle-fever Tick," 334 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING No. 1068. "Judging Beef Cattle." No. 1069. "Tuberculosis in Live Stock." No. 1073. "Growing Beef on the Farm." No. 1135. "The Beef Calf: Its Growth and Development." No. 1167. "Essentials of Animal Breeding." No. 1218. "Beef Production in the Corn Belt." Bureau of Animal Industry Circulars, U. S. Department of Agriculture : No. 31. "Blackleg: Its Nature, Cause, and Prevention." No. 68. "Diseases of the Stomach and Bowels of Cattle." No. 89. "The Preparation of Emulsions of Crude Petroleum." (For cattle parasites.) No. 97. "How to Get Rid of Cattle Ticks." No. 98. "Some Unusual Host Relations of Texas-Fever Tick." No. 141. "Foot and Mouth Disease." No. 175. "The Control of Bovine Tuberculosis." Bureau of Plant Industry Circulars, U. S. Department of Agriculture: No. 15. "Some Practical Suggestions for the Suppression of Bovine Tuberculosis." No. 25. "The Ox Warble." No. 456. "Cropping System for Stock Farm." CHAPTER XIII THE CARE OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 274. What is Necessary in Dairying. — The first necessity in the economical production of milk, butter, and cheese is well-selected dairy cows. After securing cows of the right type one must then learn to handle the milk and butter properly and to feed economically before he can secure the largest return from his herd. Let us see what good milk and butter are and how they are produced. Later we shall study feeding. 275! What Milk Is. — We have seen that in the good dairy cow a large supply of blood is carried to the udder, where there are organs which can utilize the j? _*S>0 • Jp materials brought by the blood in man- ufacturing milk. As the milk is made from the materials in the blood, the Fig. 196. On the left, pure freshly drawn milk i. PI .,, as it looks under the microscope; on the right, quahty oi the milk impure miik. depends to a certain extent upon what food materials are in the blood, as well as upon the kind of milk-secreting organs there are in the udder. This is why milk from cows that are being fed on clover and peas has a different flavor from that produced by cows that are fed on cotton-seed meal. When cows have been 335 336 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING eating onions, for example, the flavor of the milk is directly affected. The composition of milk varies with different breeds, and even with different individuals of the same breed. As a ,./;!:yV::;«. rule Holstein milk, ^:mV,'.V.'. for example, has ^1^^- x ANIMAL SOURCES MINERAL VEGETABLE Air Wal-er MINERAL Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen Carbohydrates and Fats ANIMAL Heat — ►-( Energy Fat Proteins —^ Lean Meat •Bone Potassium Sodium Calcium Sulphur Magnesium iRon Phosphorus Fig. 234. For the sake of clearness certain details are omitted in the above diagram. For example, bone has some other matter in it besides ash, and pro- tein has in it some of the elements in the lower group of minerals. The diagram is in general correct and affords a good summary to keep in mind. tributed as the carbohydrates, though all plants contain a little. Pea-nuts, cotton-seed, and soy-beans are especially rich in fat. 318. Mineral Matter in Animals. — ]\Iineral matter is found in all parts of the animal — in the blood, digestive fluids, and protoplasm, as well as in the bones. From two to five per cent of the animal body is mineral. These minerals are also in all plants, and are usually obtained by animals in suf- ficient quantities from any ordinary food. On a highly con- centrated ration given to penned pigs or chickens there may be a deficiency of mineral matter, which is usually suppUed 416 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING to the pig in the form of ashes, and to the ehicken in the form of shell or cut bone. 319. Air, Shelter, Exercise, Rest, and Kind Treatment. — We have seen that all energy, even that by which the heart beats, the lungs expand and contract, the digestive system works, and other internal bodily activities are carried on, comes from the combination of oxygen with the compounds in the bod}'. For this and other reasons a plentiful supply of fresh air through well- ventilated stables is essential to the highest success in stock-raising. On the other hand, cold draughts are dangerous, while standing out in the open through cold and stormy weather is injurious and uses up food for heat that should go toward flesh and energy produc- tion. Properly constructed stables and sheds, therefore, should be provided, having clean, dry beds so that animals may lie down and rest in comfort. It has been proved that a steer gives off from thirty to fifty per cent more heat when standing than when lying down, showing the increased amount of energy consumed in maintaining a standing po- sition. A well-ventilated, comfortable shelter for stock, therefore, quickly pays for itself. Animals differ from the engine in having a digestive sys- tem and assimilating powers by means of which they are able to repair the wear and tear of their own parts. They differ also in having minds that influence the activity of their di- gestive systems. Therefore all animals must be given exer- cise to improve appetite and digestion and to stir up the circulation of the blood, which helps to build new tissue and to carry off waste material from the body. They must likewise be given rest always before wear of the tissues is too great to be easily replaced. They must have kind treat- THE CARE AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS 417 ment, as the digestive system and other bodily organs do not work so well when animals are irritated and abused. 320. Proportion of Concentrates to Roughage in Rations. — A food, such as wheat or corn or cotton-seed meal, that contains a large per cent of nutriment is spoken of as a concentrate, whereas a coarse, rough food, such as hay or sorghum or fodder, that contains a comparatively small per cent of nutriment is called a roughage. The proportion of concentrates to roughage in the rations of animals varies greatly, and depends upon the class of animals fed, the pur- pose in view, and the character of the feed. Roughage, being generally cheaper than concentrates, should be utilized as much as the demands of the particular animal will allow. Generally speaking, growing stock, stock kept for breeding purposes, and idle horses may be given much the greater portion of their food in roughage. Fattening cattle usually give the best returns when the amount of concentrates in the ration is almost double the amount of roughage. On the other hand, dairy cattle generally produce milk most eco- nomically when the amount of roughage is about twice the amount of concentrates. Fattening sheep do best usually when roughage constitutes a little less than half of the ration and concentrates the remaining portion. Horses doing hard work require a ration of more than half concentrates, whereas horses doing light work may get along well on a ration made up chiefly of roughage of good quality. Many people allow horses all the roughage they will eat. This is not wise, as animals will overeat just as people do. The horse does not have a large stomach, hence feeding over twelve or fifteen pounds of hay to an average horse does harm instead of good. Owing to the nature of the hog's digestive system this animal 418 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING cannot utilize much coarse, bulky material, and therefore its ration must be made up practically altogether of concentrates. However, hogs may utilize advantageously tender green forage plants. 321. Diet Should Be Varied and Mixed. — It is always best to vary the diet from time to time, and to feed a mixed ration, as experience has shown that good flavor and variety improve the appetite and digestion of stock as well as of man. The daily ration should contain part roughage, part concen- trates, and part green succulent food. It is highly desirable that a portion of succulent or juicy food, either grass, fresh green crops, silage, turnips, or other root crops, be used all the time. 322. The Basis for Calculating Animal Rations. — By careful chemical analyses it has been found just how much each ordinary foodstuff contains of these veral nutrients (nu'tri ents), as the proteids, fats, and other materials that give nourishment are called. By repeated experiments it has also been found how much of each of these nutrients animals of different kinds and sizes need per day to supply their wants. The results of these analyses and experiments are given in Tables I and II. From these tables one can calculate for any animal the amount of each kind of foodstuff that should go into its ration, as the amount of food given in one day is called. A ration that contains the nutrients in such proportion and amounts as will meet, without excess of any nutrient, the full requirements of the animal is called a balanced ration. It is very important that animals be fed a balanced ration. If the ration is not balanced because of a lack of sufficient quantity of some nutrient, then the animal will be undernourished. It will not grow properly or will THE CARE AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS 419 TABLE I.— AMOUNTS OF DRY MATTER AND DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN COMMON FOODSTUFFS A modification of a table in Henry's " Feeds and Feedings " CONCENTRATES Dent com Corn and cob meal Kafir corn Ground Kafir-corn heads . Milo-maize seed Ground milo-maize heads. Oats Wheat Wheat bran. Wheat shorts Barley Rice Rice polish Rice bran Cotton-seed Cotton-seed meal Dried brewers' grains .... Wet brewers' grains Cow's milk Skim milk Cow-pea Soy-bean Tankage ROUGHAGES Cotton-seed hulls , Corn stover , Bermuda-grass hay Johnson-grass hay Oat hay Prairie-grass hay Sorghum hay Cow-pea hay Alfalfa hay Oat straw Corn silage Sorghum silage Sweet potato Common beet Mangel Flat turnip Rutabaga TOTAL DRY MATTER IN 1 LB. .894 .849 .901 .864 .910 .903 .896 .895 .881 .888 .892 .876 .892 .903 .897 .930 .913 .230 .128 .094 .854 .883 .930 .889 .595 .929 .898 .860 .908 .914 .895 .919 .908 .264 .239 .289 .115 .091 .099 .114 DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN 1 LB. CRUDE PRO- TEIN .078 .044 .052 .042 .049 .042 .088 .088 .119 .130 .084 .064 .079 .076 .125 .376 .200 .049 .034 .029 .168 .291 .501 .003 .014 .064 .029 .047 .030 .039 .092 .105 .013 .014 .001 .008 .012 .010 .009 .010 CAR- BOHY- DRATES .668 .600 .443 .424 .448 ,450 .492 .675 .420 .457 .653 .792 .586 .388 .300 .214 .322 .094 .048 .053 .549 .233 .332 .312 .449 .456 .367 .429 .441 .393 .405 .395 .142 .135 .229 .079 .055 .064 .081 .043 .029 .014 .012 .013 .011 .043 .015 .025 .045 .016 .004 .053 .073 .173 .096 .060 .017 .037 .003 .011 .146 .116 .017 .007 .016 .008 .017 .016 .022* .013 .009 .008 .007 .002 .003 .001 .002 .001 .002 * Determined by Texas Experiment Station. 420 FUNDAMENTALS OF FAKMING TABLE II.— AMOUNTS OF FOOD REQUIRED PER DAY BY VARIOUS ANIMALS PER 1,000 POUNDS OF LIVE WEIGHT From Henry's " Feeds and Feeding " 1. Oxen At rest in stall At light work At medium work At heavy work , 2. Fattening cattle First period , Second period Third period 3. Milch cows when yielding daily 11.0 pounds of milk 16.6 pounds of milk 22.0 pounds of milk 27.5 pounds of milk 4. Sheep Coarse-wool Fine-wool 5. Breeding ewes With lambs 6. Fattening sheep First period Second period 7. Horses Light work Medium work Heavy work 8. Brood sows 9. Fattening swine First period Second period Third period PER DAY PER 1,000 LBS. LIVE WEIGHT DRY MATTER 30 30 26 27 29 32 30 20 24 26 DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS CRUDE PRO- TEIN LBS. 0.7 1.4 2.0 2.8 2.5 3.0 2.7 1.6 2.0 2.5 3.3 1.2 1.5 2.9 3.0 3.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 2.5 4.5 4.0 2.7 CAR- BOHY- DRATES LBS. 8.0 10.0 11.5 13.0 15.0 14.5 15.0 10.0 11.0 13.0 13.0 10.5 12.0 15.0 15.0 14.5 9.5 11.0 13.3 15.5 25.0 24.0 18.0 LBS. 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.4 NUTRI- TIVE RATIO 1 11.8 7.7 6.5 5.3 6.5 5.4 6.2 6.7 6.0 5.7 4.5 9.1 8.5 5.6 5.4 4.5 7.0 6.2 6.0 5.9 6.3 7.0 THE CARE AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS 421 TABLE II.— AMOUNTS OF FOOD- REQUIRED PER DAY BY VARIOUS ANIMALS PER 1,000 POUNDS OF LIVE WEIGHT (Continued) 10. Growing cattle, dairy breeds AGE IN AV. LIVE WT. MONTHS PER HEAD, LBS. 2-3 150 3-6 300 6-12 500 12-18 700 18-24 900 11. Growing cattle, beef breeds 2-3 160 3-6 330 6-12 550 12-18 750 18-24 950 12. Growing sheep, wool breeds 4-6 60 6-8. 75 8-11 80 11-15 90 15-20 100 13. Growing sheep, mutton breeds 4-6 60 6-8 80 8-11 100 11-15 120 15-20 150 14. Growing swine, breeding stock 2-3 50 3-5 100 5-6 120 6-8 200 8-12 250 15. Growing fattening swine 2-3 50 3-5 100 5-6 150 6-8 200 9-12 300 PER DAY PER 1,000 LBS. LIVE WEIGHT DRY MATTER 23 24 27 26 26 23 24 25 24 24 25 25 23 22 22 26 26 24 23 22 44 35 32 28 25 44 35 33 30 26 DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS CRUDE PRO- TEIN 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.8 1.5 4.2 3.5 2.5 2.0 1.8 3.4 2.8 2.1 1.8 1.5 4.4 3.5 3.0 2.2 2.0 7.6 4.8 3.7 2.8 2.1 7.6 5.0 4.3 3.6 3.0 CAR- BOHY- DRATES LBS. 13.0 12.8 12.5 12.5 12.0 13.0 12.8 13.2 12.5 12.0 15.4 13.8 11.5 11.2 10.8 15.5 15.0 14.3 12.6 12.0 28.0 22.5 21.3 18.7 15.3 28.0 23.1 22.3 20.5 18.3 LBS. 2.0 'l.O 0.5 0.4 0.3 2.0 1.5 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.4 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.3 NUTRI- TIVE RATIO 1 4.5 5.1 6.8 7.5 8.5 4.2 4.7 6.0 6.8 7.2 5.0 5.4 6.0 7.0 7.7 4.0 4.8 5.2 6.3 6.5 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 7.5 4.0 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.4 422 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING not be able to do as much work as it should. If the ration is not balanced because of an excess of some nutrient, then food is being wasted, and often the animal is injured, as the excess puts a needless strain on the digestive system. The basis, then, of successful and economical stock-feeding lies in using a balanced ration. This ration would naturally differ with different animals and with the same animal under different conditions. Working and growing animals need a larger proportion of proteids, whereas fattening animals need a larger proportion of carbohydrates and fat. Let us now see how to calculate a balanced ration. 323. How to Calculate a Balanced Ration.— Suppose that we need a ration for a 900-pound dairy cow giving 22 pounds of milk per day, and the foodstuffs on hand are cotton-seed meal, corn, sorghum hay, and cow-pea hay. By consulting Table II we find that such a cow weighing 1,000 pounds needs 29 pounds of dry matter, 2.5 pounds of digestible protein, 13 pounds of digestible carbohydrates, and .5 pound of fat. A cow weighing 900 pounds will therefore need nine-tenths of this, or: dry matter, 26.1; protein, 2.25; carbohydrates, 11.7; fat, .45. There are several combinations of the mate- rials at hand that would give these amounts of nutrients. The best plan is to take first as a trial ration the amounts that you would judge to be about right; then calculate from the table the amounts of nutrients in that ration and correct deficiencies or excesses of any nutrient by additions or changes until the ration practically agrees with the re- quirements. As all dried foodstuffs have about ten per cent of water in them we shall need ten per cent more than 26.1 pounds, or 29 pounds, in order to get the 26.1 pounds of dry matter. This 29 pounds should consist of about 9 pounds THE CARE AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS 423 of concentrates and 20 pounds of roughage, though these need not be exact, provided the proper amount of each nutrient is present. Let us use for the first trial ration 9 pounds of corn, 10 pounds of sorghum hay, and 10 pounds of cow-pea hay, and see how much of each nutrient that would give. Referring to Table I we find the amounts of nutrients in each of these foods and multiplying the amount in 1 pound by the number of pounds used we get the follow- ing: PROTEIN CARBO- ^ HYDRATE FAT 9 lbs. corn= 9 X .078 lbs. protein 9 X .668 lbs. carbohydrate 9 X .043 lbs. fat 10 lbs. sorghum hay = 10 X .039 lbs. protein 10 X .441 lbs. carbohydrate = 10x.022Jbs. fat 10 lbs. cow-pea hay = 10 X .092 lbs. protein 10 X .393 lbs. carbohydrate = 10 X. 013 lbs. fat .702 6.012 '.387 ' .390 4.410 '.22b" ' .920 3.930 .130' ' Total nutrients in the ration = Total demanded by the standard = 2.012 2.25 14.352 11.7 .737 .45 Comparing the total nutrients found in the trial ration with the standard ration we find .24 pound less of protein than is required, 2.65 pounds more of carbohydrates and .287 pound more fat than are required. In order to meet the requirements we must either increase the amount of 424 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING cow-pea hay to supply more protein and decrease the amount of sorghum hay to decrease the amount of carbohydrates and fat, or we must decrease the amount of corn to reduce the carbohydrates and add some cotton-seed meal to increase the protein. Let us next try this: 6 pounds of corn, 10 pourds of sorghum hay. 10 pounds of cow-pea hay, and H pounds of cotton-seed meal. Referring again to Table I we get the fol- lowing : ( PROTEIN CARBO- HYDRATE FAT G lbs. corn = 6 X .078 lbs. protein 6 X .668 lbs. carbohydrate 6 X .043 lbs. fat 10 lbs. sorghum hay = 10 X .039 lbs. protein 10 X .441 lbs. carbohydrate = 10x.022 1bs. fat 10 lbs. cow-pea hay = 10 x .092 lbs. protein 10 x .393 lbs. carbohydrate 10 x .013 lbs. fat 1.5 lbs. cotton-seed meal = 1.5 X .376 lbs. protein = 1.5 X .214 lbs. carbohydrate = 1.5x.096 1bs. fat .468 4.008 '.258° ' .390 4.410 '.220 ■ .920 3.930 '.130' ■ .564 .321 '.144 Total nutrients in the ration = Total required by the standard = Differences = 2.342 2.25 12.669 11.700 .752 .45 .092 .969 .302 j This ration still does not meet the exact requirements, but IS close enough to it for practical purposes. Of course, the THE CARE AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS 425 exact ration could be obtained in a few more trials, but such exactness is not necessary, as the standards are not them- selves absolutely exact. There are differences in the diges- tive powers and demands of animals of the same weight, and there are slight differences in the composition of hays and other foodstuffs when grown under different conditions, so that perfectly exact fitting to the standard is not required. The standards, however, fit the ordinary animal closely enough for practical purposes, and should always be con- sidered in feeding animals. Following the plan shown above you should now calculate rations for several different animals. Rule your note-book and write out everything just as it is done above. This seems quite complicated at first, but after a few examples it becomes easy. At first it is best to make a ration out of only three foodstuffs, as that is simpler. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 198. Draw a plan of the barn lot, barn, and stock shed on your place, give a description of them and tell in what respects they are right and in what wrong. 199. Make a plan for a barn lot, barn, and stock shed for your farm that meets the requirements indicated in this chapter. 200. Weigh the rations given two different kinds of stock on your farm. Calculate the nutrients in these, and if they are not nearly in accord with the standards, prepare rations out of the foodstuffs used that are properly balanced. 201. Try to plan another practical ration for these animals that will accomplish the same result at less expense. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING ''Feeds and Feeding," Henry and Morrison. "The Feeding of Animals," W. H. Jordan. 426 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING Farmers' Bulletins: No. 578. "Making and Feeding Silage." No. 655. ''Cottonseed Meal for Feeding Beef Cattle." No. 666. "Colts: Breaking and Training." No. 724. "Feeding of Grain Sorghums to Live Stock." No. 743. "The Feeding of Dairy Cows." No. 777. "Feeding and Management of Dairy Calves and Young Dairy Stock." No. 825. "Pit Silos." No. 855. "Homemade Silos." No. 873. "Utilization of Farm Wastes in Feeding Live Stock." No. 874. "Swine Management." No. 906. "The Self-Feeder for Hogs." No. 909. "Cattle Lice and How to Eradicate Them." No. 949. "Dehorning and Castration of Cattle." No. 954. "Disinfection of Stables." No. 972. "How to Use Sorghum Grain." No. 1030. "Feeding Horses." No. 1179. "Feeding Cottonseed Products to Live Stock." No. 1181. "Raising Sheep on Temporary Pastures." No. 1218. "Beef Production in the Corn Belt." No. 1229. "The Utilization of Alfalfa." The A. and M. College of Texas Extension Service Bulletins: No. B-39. "The Underground Silo." No. B-49. "Silo Construction." Texas Experiment Station Bulletins: No. 203. "The Productive Values of Some Texas Feeding Stuffs." No. 242. "Hardening of Pea-nut-Fed Hogs." No. 245. "Feeding Values of Certain Feeding Stuffs." No. 263. "Rations for Fattening Steers." f CHAPTER XIX FARM PLANNING AND ACCOUNTING Planning the Farm 324. Most Farms Are Without Plan. — An examination of the farms in any community reveals the fact that but few of them have any well-marked-out plan along which to de- velop. Fields are irregular in size and shape, often incon- veniently arranged and located, necessitating much travel to get to them. Numerous corners in them render the fields difficult to cultivate, and make the full utilization of the land impossible. Irregularity in size of the different fields in- creases the difficulties encountered in planning satisfactory cropping and rotation systems. Buildings and fences are improperly located, thus interfering with economy in operat- ing the farm. Regard does not seem to have been given to the location of roads, lanes, runs, and pastures for stock. The orchard and the garden seem to have been located by chance, rather than in accord with any well- thought design. 325. Plan for Economy in Operation. — Good plans will save time and labor and allow the best and most economical use of equipment and the most complete and profitable utilization of the land. Plan to avoid unnecessary fences and field divisions. The dividing of tillable land into small fields is extravagant of fencing, wasteful of land and of labor and time in cultivating. To fence a square field of two and a half acres requires eighty rods of fencing. Allowing a strip 427 428 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING six feet wide around the field immediately inside the fence for turning uses up seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-six square feet, or seven and fifteen one hundredths CORN.FORAGE AND OTHER CR0P5 ROAD Fig. 235. A 1 60-acre farm with poor plan of fields and poor cropping system. 1, dwelling; 2, barn; 3, tenant-houses. per cent of the field. To fence a square field of ten acres calls for only twice the amount of fencing necessary for the two-and-a-half-acre field, while the land necessary for turning is only fifteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-six square feet, or three and sixty-seven one hundredths per cent of I FARM PLANNING AND ACCOUNTING 429 the field. The time consumed in turning in cultivating the two-and-one-half-acre field is twice as great in proportion to the area worked as in the ten-acre field. A forty-acre field FIELDS A.B.andC CULTIVATED IN THREE OR SIX YEAR ROTATION. ROAD Fig. 236. The same 160-acre farm replanned for systematic management. 1, dwelling; 2, barn; 3, tenant-houses; 4, tool-house; 5, shed for calves and other young stock; H, yard and grove about house; I, orchard; J, garden; K, calf pasture; L, barn lot. would have a proportionately greater advantage over the ten-acre field. Long Fields permit of better use of machinery, teams, and labor in tillage than short ones, especially when rows are run 430 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING only one way. In proportion to the area covered, there is just half as much time and land consumed in turning when rows are doubled in length. On a fairly smooth-lying farm when the fields are made rectangular instead of square, each may have an entrance comparatively close to the barn and house, thus rendering them more quickly accessible, saving time and travel in going to and from work. Uniformity in size of fields is desirable, especially when it is important that the income from crops remain constant from year to year. The planning of cropping systems then becomes simplified, and satisfactory rotations may be more easily carried out. Before deciding upon the number of cultivated fields there shall be on the farm, the rotation or cropping system must be considered. For a three-year rota- tion three fields are sufficient. For a longer rotation more fields are desirable, or the larger ones may be divided between two or more crops. Each of the cultivated fields should be accessible either through a lane or pasture, so that teams may enter and crops be removed without going over crops growing in the other fields. 326. The Pasture. — Work stock render better service and last longer if they have a good pasture in which to graze while not at work. A good pasture affords the very best and cheapest food for live-stock, minimizes the danger from loss of hogs from disease, and reduces the cost of every pound of pork produced. On all general-purpose farms the past- ure is an essential to good management. It may perhaps be dispensed with on some of the smaller places where truck and orchard farming are followed exclusively. The pasture should be within easy reach of the farm, should be so ar- ranged that it can be divided into two or more fields to avoid FARM PLANNING AND ACCOUNTING 431 the necessity of different kinds of stock being together at times when one is hable to interfere with the welfare of the other. Hogs and cows with young calves will often be sub- jected to much annoyance by mules and by some horses. The pasture does not require frequent cultivation, and may therefore be on land somewhat uneven. It should have shade enough to give stock ample protection from storms and the heat of the sun. Beyond this Hmit, trees may be- come a disadvantage. Good, strong fences should surround every permanent pasture. Well-fenced pastures reduce the need of fences around other fields and on other p'arts of the farm. The pasture should be large enough to accommodate all the stock necessary on the farm. It should be so planted and handled as to furnish grazing during the entire growing period of the year. 327. The Wood Lot. — It is well on the general cotton, grain, and live-stock farm to reserve land enough for a wood lot to give the annual fuel supply and from which material, such as posts, usually needed in keeping up the place may be cut. Lands unsuited to cultivation, such as rough areas, fields remote from the centre of the place, or those of doubt- ful value in producing regular crops, may be devoted to tim- ber-growing. Land set apart for woods should be made to grow trees of value. Others should be worked out. The timber lot should be so managed as to give some harvest each year. It is wise to exclude stock from the lot upon which new trees are being started. The timber lot should not be used as a pasture unless the lot is extensive in area and the number of stock to run in it is very limited. 328. The Homestead. — ^The homestead should be con- venient to the main parts of the farm. It should be on a 432 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING well-elevated site, convenient to roads and main lines of travel. The dwelling-house should be far enough from the public road for the inmates to escape the dust, annoyance, and noise due to travel, but not so far as to be inconvenient of approach. On a farm of one hundred and sixty acres or more, the house may be located from one hundred to two hundred yards from the road. On a smaller place, and espe- cially with a small house, it may be closer to the road. The Barn, the building second in importance on the farm, should be at a convenient distance in the rear of the house. There should be a number of trees between the house and the barn, both in order to cut off objectionable views and to serve as a protection of one building from the other in case of fire. The barn should be large enough to house the farm produce and furnish quarters for the stock. It can and should be of artistic design and good, durable construction without being excessively expensive. There should be a ivork-shop combined with a tool and im- plement shed or house. This building should be placed at a distance of at least one hundred feet from the barn and at a point easily accessible. Near the run for calves and other young stock there should be located quarters for young stock. This building calls for nothing expensive in structure, but should be substantially built. There should be a few well-planned poultry-houses, located at some distance from the barn and tool-house, planned with a view to sanitation. These buildings should be portable and may well be located in the orchard a part of the year. The hog-houses should be portable and located near to or in the hog pasture. At times they may be placed in the OUTLINE MAP OF FARM Designate each Jicld by a Idler and note acreage and crop hereon Fig. 237 Fac-simile of page in Farm Diary on which map of farm is drawn. 434 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING fields and lots in which some special crops are being grown for the hogs. 329. Tenant-Houses. — When the farm is larger than one family can work, provision should be made for tenant-houses. The location of these houses should receive more thought than is usually given such matters. Place them not too close to the barn, nor too far away. Usually they should be placed on the opposite side of the barn and lots from the cultivated fields. Make them comfortable, and give them a good coat of paint occasionally. Have a garden for each one. Atten- tion to such little details makes the places desirable and goes a great way toward solving the labor question. Farm Accounting 330. The Simplest System. — Though it is not possible for us to make a complete study of farm accounting at this time, we will call attention to the simplest method as yet devised, which was prepared by the office of Farm Manage- ment, United States Department of Agriculture. 331. The Farm Diary. — This is a book seven and three- quarter by nine and one-quarter inches in size, and con- tains, in addition to a page upon which the farmer draws the plan or outhne of his entire farm, a special page for every day in the year. Figure 237 is a fac-simile of the page upon which the plan or outline of the farm is drawn, and Figure 238 is a copy of the page upon which the farmer writes the daily notes upon work performed by men and teams. 332. Explanation of Daily Notes. — A " man-hour " is one man's work for one hour, and a '' horse-hour " is one horse's work for one hour, so that if a man works from six o'clock FARM PLANNING AND ACCOUNTING 435 until eleven-thirty in the morning, and from one o'clock until six o'clock in the afternoon, he works ten and one-half " man-hours." If he uses two horses to a cultivator, his team WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1912 HOURS 1 MAN HORSE 6.00 to 11.30 A. M., John plowed field "A" 6.00 to 11.30 A. M., I repaired fence around field "A" 11.30 A. M. to 1.00 p. M., noon. 1.00 *o 6.00 p. M., John plowed field "A" 1.00 to 6.00 p. M., I planted cow-peas on oat-stubble in field "C" 5i 5^ 5 5 11 10 10 Weather: Cloudy, threatening rain. Jim returned from college to-day. RECEIVED PAID OUT Coke, Murphy Co., for 1 ton oat hay Smith & Jones, for 10 bu. Irish potatoes, at $1.25 For 4 lbs butter at 35c $17.00 12.50 1.40 1.00 For 5 doz. eggs, at 20c . For 1 grade Jersey heifer, 6 mo. old $9.00 16.85 For groceries, as per bill of this date $31.90 $25.85 Fig. 238. Copy of daily page from Farm Diary. The page in the diarj^ is, of course, blank, and such matter as that printed above would be written in from day to day. has worked twice ten and one-half hours, or twenty-one "horse-hours." In addition to keeping an account of the work performed by men and teams, this page is also used for comments on the weather, the family, social events, etc. It will be observed that on June 5 the weather was cloudy 436 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING CORN ACCOUNT Year 19, ACRES DB. CR. Plowing, at per acre Harrowing, at per acre Harrowing, at per acre Disking twice, at per acre Planting, at per acre . . Seed-corn bushels, at per bushel . . . First cultivation, at per acre Second cultivation, at per acre Third cultivation, at ... . per acre Fourth cultivation, at per acre Hoeing, at per acre Commercial fertilizer, at per acre . . . Other fertilizer, at per acre . . . Harvesting, at per acre Cost of marketing Rent, at per acre Or interest on investment in land Interest on investment in equipment (teams, tools, machinery, etc.) Taxes Other items of expense, per acre Other items of expense, per acre Other items of expense, per acre Other items of expense, per acre Other items of expense, per acre Corn sold bushels, at per bushel. . . Corn kept for own use bushels, value .... per bushel Fodder sold Fodder kept for own use, value Silage tons at Totals Total profit (or loss), $ Profit (or loss) per acre, $ Note to teachers: The teacher should explain the outline of the corn- crop account in detail, having the pupils take assumed cost figures and make estimate upon the cost of an assumed corn crop. It is also ad- visable to make similar outlines for such crops as wheat, oats, cotton, Kafir, milo, sorghum, cow-peas, and alfalfa. FARM PLANNING AND ACCOUNTING 437 and threatening rain, and that Jim, a son of the farmer, re- turned from college. At the bottom of the page is left space for making record of the daily receipts and expendi- tures, so that the farmer may know from time to time whether or not he is taking in more money than he is pay- ing out. If a farmer will keep this kind of record from day to day throughout the year, it will be very easy for him to know whether he is paying out more than he is taking in, and to figure out at the end of the season what it cost him to pro- duce each crop and how much he received from it. Similar records should be kept on the cost of producing live-stock. 333. Crop Accounting. — In order to determine which of our crops are returning satisfactory profit, it is important that we keep an account of each crop grown on the farm. We must first determine the total cost of production, and after deducting that from the market value of the crop produced, we get the total profit. The outline on page 434, prepared especially for the corn crop, shows how these crop accounts should be kept. With slight modification, it can be rearranged so as to be suitable for keeping record of the cost of any other crop. QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 202. With the help of the teacher and your parents fill in the blanks in the corn account and calculate the profit or loss on an assumed crop of corn. 203. Make the changes necessary in the form shown for a corn account and calculate in the same way the profit or loss on a crop of peas and one of cotton. 204. Plant a small crop of your own and keep an actual account, using the diary and crop-account forms. 438 FUNDAMENTALS OF FARMING 205. Draw a pl.in of your fjitlicr's farm sliiillar to Fijijuro 230, jiiul write a criticism, showing what is good and what not good in the plan, giving reasons in l)otli eases. 200. Make an improved farm phin for your father's farm, and give your reasons for making such changes as you make. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING "How to Keep Farm Accounts," H. L. Steiner. "The Farmstead," I. P. R()l)erts. Farmers' Bulletins: "Farm Bookkeeping." "System of Farm Cost Accounting." "The Use of a Diary for Farm Accounts." "Farm Household Accounts." "Selecting a Farm." "Planning the Farmstead." "Methods of Analyzing Farm Business." "Farm Inventories." Texas Experiment Station Bulletin : No. 204. "Farm Records and Accounts." No. 511. No. 572. No. 782. No. 904. No. 10S8. No. 1 132. No. 1139. No. 1182. APPENDIX I ROADS The Benefits of Good Roads. — It is difficult to make a list of all the benefits of good roads, but the following are among the most important: 1. Good roads decrease the cost of hauling by enabling a team to pull heavier loads and to make a trip more quickly. 2. Good roads make it possible to produce a greater variety of things on the farm. There is not much inducement to raise a certain crop if it is very difficult to get it into town quickly and in good condition. This is especially true of fruit and vegetables, chickens and eggs, and milk and butter. These are among the best money-making products of the farm, but their production is generally limited to farms within a few miles of the towns because of the shameful condition of the coun- try roads. 3. Good roads enable a farmer to sell his produ(;ts when the market is right, while bad roads may keep him away from market just when prices are best. 4. Good roads are firm and smooth after rains, and therefore allow farmers to do their hauling when the teams are not busy with the ploughs. 5. Good roads give a wider choice of market. If the prices are bet- ter in some town a little farther away the farmer can take his products there if the roads are good. 6. Good roads tend to equalize the business on the railroads and in the towns and to keep market prices more stable. This is because the normal amount of business between town and country can go along all the time if the roads are good, whereas, during the time when roads are very bad the entire business of a community is at a standstill. 7. Good roads induce tourists to travel in the country and often control the location of summer homes. Tourist travel is not always appreciated, but it is very valuable to any community both socially and financially. 439 440 APPENDIX I 8. Good roads make possible the rural mail delivery. This is one of the greatest social and educational benefits to any country. 9. Good roads make it possible to build up the country schools by consolidating several small district schools to make a first-class school with higher courses and better equipment. The improvement of our ilPER ^7- Fig. 239. Standard cross-sections for first and second class earth roads. Iowa Roadway Commission. From Ilalligan's "Fundamentals of Agriculture." country schools is one of the most important public questions. We must have good roads before we can do much with the country high schools. 10. With better facilities for travel and transportation men always adopt more liberal views of life and become better citizens. For in- stance, in hilly and mountainous countries, travel is always difficult and infrequent. The result is that in such districts, even in the old settled States, we often have the most shocking outbreaks of crime and law- lessness. With good roads through these districts such conditions would gradually pass away. 11. Again, no one wishes to live shut off from friends and neighbors. Building good roads has the same effect as bringing the people closer together because of the greater ease wdth which they can get from place to place. With good roads all through the country we can get to the neighbors with comfort, can get the doctor quickly when he is needed, can go to social gatherings with pleasure, and can attend church or school with convenience. We can keep better stock, better vehicles. 442 APPENDIX I and better harness, adopt more improved agricultural methods, and raise a greater variety of crops. Building an Earth Road. — The right of way for a first-class road must never be less than forty feet and would better be fifty or sixty feet. The graded portion of an earth road from ditch to ditch should be at least thirty feet. A greater width will be needed when the ditches must be large and wide. If the road is in a timbered country, the first thing to do is to take out the trees and stumps. If the ground is at all level, the crown can then be built up and the side ditches be cut out with the large four-wheel grader. It usually takes six or eight horses to pull these graders, but they will do the work much more quickly and make a better road at less cost than can be made in any other way. It will usually be necessary to use plow and scrapers at some places. Drainage. — Drainage is probably the most important thing about any road, especially an earth road. An earth road built of hard earth would be a good road all the time if it were not for the water. The first step in draining a road is to make the water that falls all over the surface of the road to run at once into ditches at the sides. This is done by making the road higher in the middle than at the sides, or making a crown, as this is called. The next step is to make the water flow away from the road along the side ditches until it comes to some creek or other natural outlet. Laying out the side ditches correctly is a very important matter, of which you can learn in the references. Maintenance: the Road Drag. — Making needed repairs and keeping the road in good condition is called maintenance. No road, not even one of gravel or rock, can be made so good that it will last long with- out being taken care of. With earth roads this consists principally in keeping the ditches clean, repairing culverts, filling washes, and drag- ging the surface after rains. The most important thing in mainte- nance of an earth road is the dragging of the surface after every rain. We know that if any travel goes over an earth road just after a rain, while it is still wet, there will be tracks and ruts. If these are allowed to dry and harden it will be weeks and sometimes months before the road becomes smooth. The next rain comes and catches the road with ruts and holes. The water stands in these instead of flowing to the side ditches as it should. This standing water softens the soil at the 'i yf^^f^^ff^ k| m m' wft". >-*>' 'J W-r r 1 1 i f^ ; .■„ '' ..-..■ • ' vi ;■ ■'■i? ij 1 ^^^^^ll Fig. 241. Above, the road after the rain; below, the same road after the ) of the split-log drag. Courtesy of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 444 APPENDIX I bottom of the hole so that the first wheel that runs into it goes down. That is how the worst ruts and mud holes are formed. No road, whether of earth, gravel, or rock, can possibly be good long if it has ruts or uneven places on the surface in which water will stand after rains. On a dirt road all this can be prevented by dragging the road just after rains and thus scraping off the ridges and filling up the holes. Various kinds of drags may be used. Some use a piece of railroad rail, some a flat drag made by nail- ing overlapping timbers together, some a drag made of two halves of a split log or of two tim- bers two inches by twelve fastened together as shown in Figure 270, some a factory-made metal drag. In pulling any one of these over the road one should allow the end next the ditch to be somewhat ahead of the other end. The drag will then push a little earth toward the centre and thus help pre- serve the crown of the road. Any of the above types of drag will do the work if used properly and at the right time. The time to use a drag is soon after the rain, while the ground is a little too wet to plow. When thus used, the drag smooths out the rough places and keeps the road ready for travel. It tends to make the surface "cake" and harden and thus soak up less water at the next rain. Most important of all, it preserves the crown of the road and allows all the water to run quickly into the ditches at the next rain. The making and maintenance of sand-clay, gravel, macadam, and other types of roads, as well as the principles of laying out roads, you can learn from the references. Fig. 242. A good form of split-log drag. APPENDIX I 445 QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS, AND EXERCISES 1. Are roads built and kept in order in your county by bonds and taxation? How are the expenses met? 2. Make a list of the advantages that would come to your com- munity if there were good roads. 3. Why is it right and best to issue bonds and lay out, grade, and surface roads properly rather than continue mending a bad road in a cheap way from year to year? REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING Farmers' Bulletins: No. 311. *' Sand-clay and Burnt-clay Roads.'* No. 338. "Macadam Roads." No. 505. "Benefits of Improved Roads." No. 597. "Road Drag and How Used." APPENDIX II SILOS Definition. — A silo is an air-tight structure for the preserving of green forage crops such as corn, sorghum, cow-peas, and Kafir corn in their original green state. The material preserved in a silo is called silage or ensilage. It fills the same place in the diet of live-stock that canned fruits and vegetables do in the diet of people. We are all famil- iar with the value of green vegetables as a means of keeping the body healthy. Grass is just as necessary to live-stock, but since we cannot always have green grass in the winter-time or during seasons of drought, we build silos to preserve forage crops in their green state. When the silage is placed in the air-tight silo in the green state it ferments, be- comes very hot, and causes the formation of carbon dioxide in the silage, which forces out all of the air. This kills the bacteria and keeps the silage in a sweet condition. Uses of the Silo. — Silos are valuable in several ways. First, they furnish green food for the live-stock all the year round. Second, they preserve the entire stalk in such a form that it can all be eaten by ani- mals, while if it were cured dry the stock would waste a large percent- age of it simply because they cannot eat the hard dried stalk. Third, when the season turns out so dry that corn or a similar crop would not produce any grain, it may be harvested while still green and pre- served in the silo, whereas if it remained in the field all the fodder would dry up and be destroyed by sun, wind, and rain. Kinds of Silos. — The first silo was a square pit dug in the ground. This was filled with green fodder and soil was thrown over the top. This silo was inconvenient because it was hard to get the silage out of it. The next kind was the square silo above ground. This kind was dis- carded on account of its being difficult to exclude the air from the square corners. Wherever air gets in, the silage moulds and spoils. Almost all silos now are built above ground and are built round. They may 446 APPENDIX II 447 be constructed of wooden staves, stone, brick, concrete blocks, rein- forced concrete, tile with cement lining, or steel. They must be tall, so that the weight of the silage will be great enough to force out most of the air by packing, and they must be air-tight. Animals That Eat Silage. — Silage is more important probably for dairy cattle than any other class of live-stock, as it is necessary for them to have green or succulent food to give large amounts of milk. The dairy cow will eat from thirty to seventy-five pounds of silage per day according to her size and capacity. The silo is also very important in the feeding of beef cattle, as it keeps them in good condition and induces them to eat a large amount of foodstuffs that can be raised cheaply. A fine quality of silage is often fed to horses and mules to great advantage. It has too much juice in it to be used advanta- geously as a food for hard-worked horses or mules. The effect is very much the same as that of fresh grass when fed to such horses or mules. Silage is not a satisfactory food for hogs or poultry. They eat the grain in it, but will not eat anything else except a few of the tenderest blades. Crops Used for Silage. — The best crops for use as silage are corn, sorghum, Kafir corn, milo-maize, and cow-peas. Sometimes such crops as alfalfa, clover, and Johnson grass are also used. Alfalfa and clover usually contain too much moisture to make a good quality of silage, as the moisture tends to cause the silage to sour. Time to Harvest Silage Crops. — The crop should be fully mature before it is cut for the silo, as otherwise it will contain too much moist- ure and will make what is known as sour silage. Corn should be placed in silos just as the ear begins to harden and the kernels begin to dent. Kafir corn, milo-maize, and sorghum should be placed in the silo as soon as the seeds are ripe. REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING Farmers' Bulletins: No. 878. "Making and Feeding of Silage." No. 825. "Pit Silos." No. 855. "Homemade Silos." APPENDIX III BOYS' CORN CLUBS AND CORN-JUDGING How Clubs are Organized. — Under the direction of the teacher a boys' corn club may be formed at any school, but the usual unit of organization is the county. Usually the county superintendent of pub- lic instruction issues a call explaining the purpose of the club and in- FiG. 243. The Smith County, Texas, Boys' Corn-Chib exhibit. Courtesy of ''Farm and Ranch."' viting all boys between ten and eighteen years of age who are inter- ested to meet at the county-seat on a certain date. The object of the club is generally explained by both the superintendent and by one of the travelling lecturers of the United States Department of Agriculture. The club is organized and the names of the members are sent to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Va- rious helpful bulletins and suggestions are then sent by the department to each boy. Usually prizes are offered by local men or business firms 448 i-'iG. 244. The Upshur County, Texas, Boys' Corn Club. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." Fig. 24.'). 'I'he Boys and Girls' Milo Club, Haskell County, Texas. Courtesy of " Farm and Ranch." 450 APPENDIX III for the best results secured by any boy in the country, and State prizes are offered for the best results in the State. One boy from each State is at times given a trip to Washington as a part of his prize. Fig. 246. A member of the canning club gathering tomatoes from her garden. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Basis for Awarding Prizes. — The prizes are awarded on the following basis: a. Greatest yield per acre 30 per cent b. Best exhibit of ten ears 20 per cent c. Best written account showing history of crop . . 20 per cent d. Best showing of profit on investment based on commercial price of corn 30 per cent Total 100 per cent APPENDIX III 451 Pig. 247. An exhibit of the Girls' Canning Club's work. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. How to Secure Information. — Full details of the methods of organ- izing and conducting corn clubs, tomato clubs, and other agricultural and home economics clubs may be secured from the county demonstra- tion agent, the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, or the Na- tional Department of Agriculture. These will send helpful bulletins and often give personal assistance in organizing the club. Corn- Judging. — Corn- judging is a very important part of corn-breed- ing. There is no absolute standard, as there is more than one type of corn, and a standard for corn grown on one type of soil and under Fig. 248. On the left, a good butt and tip; on the right, two faulty butts. Courtesy of Professor J. A. Jeffery, of the Michigan Agricultural College. 452 APPENDIX III one set of climatic conditions would be unsuited to corn grown under widely different conditions. There are therefore several methods of scoring corn which differ in some details. The following score-card is one widely used. CORN SCORE-CARD 1 Trueness to Type or Breed Characteristics 10 2 Shape of Ear 10 3 Color: a. Grain 5 b. Cob 5 4 Market Condition 10 5 Tips 5 6 Butts 5 7 Kernels: a. Uniformity of 10 b. Shape of 5 8 Length of Ear 10 9 Circumference of Ear 5 10 Space: a. Furrow between rows 5 b. Space between kernels at cob 5 11 Percentage of Corn 10 Total 100 A sample of corn for judging or exhibition consists of ten ears. The several points are judged in the following manner. Directions for Judging 1. Each ear should have the special characteristics of the type to which it belongs. In scoring cut one-half point for each variation in type of kernel and for each ear that varies from type. 2. The shape should be cylindrical, very slightly tapering, rows should be straight from butt entirely over tip. Cut one-half point for each poorly shaped ear. 3. Both kernels and cob should be free from all evidence of crossing. White corn should have white cob and yellow corn red cob. Cut one- tenth point off for each mixed kernel and ten points off for a cob of wrong color. Fig. 249. Two excellent ears. Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Fig. 250. The ear at the left Is too short and thick, though good in other re- spects; the second is a desirable ear; the third has an enlarged butt and irreg- ular rows; the fourth is too slender. From the University of Wisconsin Circular of Information No. 8. 454 APPENDIX III 4. Corn should be ripe, firm on cob, sound, free from injury or dis- ease, bright in color. Cut one point off for each diseased, injured, im- mature, or chaffy ear. 5. Kernels should extend over the tip in regular rows and be of uni- form size. Cut one-fourth point for badly covered tip, one-half point for every inch of exposed tip, one-eighth point for every eighth inch of ex- posed tip. 6. Kernels should be well rounded, the shank or ear stalk equal to about one- third of the total diameter of the ear. Cut one-half point for every uncovered butt, three-tenths point for butt covered with flat or small kernels. 7. The kernels should be alike in size, shape, and color. The shape should be that of a wedge, the tip full and plump. Cut one point for each ear with kernels not uniform and one-half for each ear with poorly shaped kernels. 8 and 9. The length and circumference should be up to standard for the variety for the section in which the corn is grown. In gen- eral, the circumference should be equal to three-fourths of the length. Take the sum of the excesses and deficiencies in length and cut one point for each inch; do .the same for the circumferences and cut one- half point for each inch. 10. The furrows between rows should be small and there should be no space between kernels in the row, nor any noticeable space between the kernels where they join the cob. Cut one-fourth point for furrows one thirty-second to one-sixteenth inch, and one-half point for furrows Fig. 251. A study of kernels. The upper three kernels are well proportioned and occupy completely the space between the circumference of the ear and the circumfer- ence of the cob. The upper right-hand two kernels are poorly shaped and leave a lot of unoccupied space. The lower right-hand two kernels show how the white rice pop- corn kernels occupy the space. The lower two kernels are of the shoe-peg type. The left two kernels show the relative shape and position of flint kernels as compared with the upper three dent kernels. Courtesy of Professor J. A. Jeffery. APPENDIX III ,455 one-sixteenth inch or wider. Cut one-fourth to one-half point for each ear that shows noticeable space between kernels at the cob. 11. The per cent of shelled corn should be equal to the standard for the variety. Usually well-matured corn should give eighty-five to eighty-seven per cent grain. Cut one point for each per cent short of standard. APPENDIX IV LENGTH OF TIME SEEDS MAINTAIN THEIR VITALITY AVERAGE YEARS Barley 3 Bean 3 Beet 6 Buckwheat 2 Cabbage 5 Carrot 4 Celery 8 Clover 3 Corn 2 Cucumber, common 6 Egg-plant 6 Flaj: 2 Hop 2 Lettuce, common 5 Millet 2 Muskmelon 5 Mustard 3 Oats 3 Onion 2 Orchard grass 2 Parsnip 2 Pea-nut 1 Peas 3 Pumpkin 5 Radish 5 Rape 5 Rye 2 Salsify 2 Soy-bean 2 Squash 6 Timothy 2 Turnip 6 Watermelon 6 Wheat 2 456 APPENDIX IV 457 QUANTITY OF SEED SOWN PER ACRE Alfalfa (broadcast) 20-30 lbs. Alfalfa (drilled) 15-20 lbs. Barley 8-10 pks. Beans (field) 2-6 pks. Blue-grass (sown alone) 25 lbs. Brome grass (sown alone) , . . . 12-20 lbs. Buckwheat 3-5 pks. Cabbage I- 1 lb. Carrot 4-6 Iba. Clover (alsike alone) 8-15 lbs. Clover (red alone) 10-18 lbs. Corn ^ &- 8 qts. Corn (for silage) 9-11 qts. Cotton 1- 2 bu. Cow-pea I-I2 bu. Flax 2-4 pks. Mangels 5-8 lbs. Millet 1-3 pks. Oats 2- 3 bu. Potato 6-20 bu. Potato (recommended) 15-18 bu. Pumpkin 4 lbs. Rape 2-8 lbs. Red-top (recleaned) 12-15 lbs. Rice 1- 3 bu. Rye 3-8 pks. Sugar beets 15-20 lbs. Sweet potato l^- 4 bu. Timothy 10-20 lbs. Timothy and clover: Timothy 10-15 lbs. Clover 4-10 lbs. Turnip (broadcast) 2-4 lbs. Vetch (hairy) 1 bu. plus 1 bu. small grain. Wheat 6- 9 pks. 458 APPENDIX IV WEIGHT AND MEASURE OF FEEDSTUFFS ONE QUART ONE POUND FEED WEIGHS MEASURE Cotton-seed meal 1.5 lbs. 0.7 qt. Wheat middlings (flour) 1.2 lbs. 0.8 qt. Wheat middlings (standard) 0.8 lb. 1.3 qts. Wheat mixed feed 0.6 lb. 1.7 qts. Wheat bran 0.5 lb. 2.0 qts. Whole oats 1.0 lb. 1.0 qt. Ground oats 0.7 lb. 1 . 4 qts. Wholewheat 1.9 lbs. 0.5 qt. Ground wheat 1.7 lbs. 0.6 qt. Whole corn 1.7 lbs. 0.6 qt. Corn meal 1.5 lbs. 0.7 qt. Corn and cob meal 1.4 lbs. 0.7 qt. Corn bran 0.5 lb. 2.0 qts. Hominy meal 1.1 lbs. 0.9 qt. Corn and oat feed 0.7 lb. 1.4 qts. Whole barley 1.5 lbs. 0.7 qt. Barley meal 1.1 lbs. 0.9 qt. Whole rye 1.7 lbs. 0.6 qt. Rye meal 1.5 lbs. 0.7 qt. Rice bran 0.8 lb. 1.3 qts. Rice polish 1.2 lbs. 0.8 qt. Cotton-seed hulls 0.26 1b. 3.8 qts. Alfalfa meal 1.0 lb. 1 .0 qt. Molasses (blackstrap) 3.0 lbs. 0.3 qt. APPENDIX IV 459 AVERAGE LEGAL WEIGHTS PER BUSHEL OF SOME FARM PRODUCTS WEIGHT, IN NAME OF MATERIAL POUNDS Apples 48 Apples (dried) 24 Barley 48 Bfeans 60 Buckwheat 52 Carrots 50 Clover-seed 60 Corn (ear) 70 Corn (shelled) 56 Cotton-seed ^ 32 Flax-seed 56 Kentucky blue-grass (seed) 14 Millet 50 Oats 32 Onions 57 Peas 60 Potatoes '(Irish) 60 Potatoes (sweet) 55 Rye 56 Timothy-seed 45 Turnips 55 Wheat 60 GLOSSARY (The number indicates the paragraph in which the word is defined and the pronunciation given. When the word occurs in the Appendix, the reference gives the number of the Appendix.) Adventitious 40 Alkah 74 Alkahne 88 Analysis 90 Annular 38 Antennae 242 Anther 44 Bacteria 6 Balanced ration 322 Bare fallow 2 Boll 137 Bordeaux 248 Budding 50 Bud-scales 22 Calcium 91 Calyx. 43 Cambium 33 Capillary 36 Capillary water 64 Carbohydrate 27 Carbon 27 Carbonaceous 316 Carbon dioxide 25 Casein 279 Chlorophyl 31 Chrvsalis 242 Clay.... 61 Commercial fertiUzer 107 Concentrate 320 Corolla 43 Cotyledons 21 Cross-pollenation 46 Culm 50 Cultivator 129 Cutting 50 Denitrifying 88 Disintegrate 58 Division 50 Domesticate 2 Dormant 11 Dust mulch 71 Elaborated 34 Element 90 Embryo 10 Ensilage Appen. IV Excreta 347 Fertilization 44 Fertihzer 2 Fibro-vascular 34 Filament 44 Fungi 50 Fungicide 248 Germination 11 Glacier 57 Grade 256 Grafting 50 Green manure 103 Growing point 22 Half-blood 256 Harrow 128 Herbaceous 22 Hibernation 242 High grade 256 Horticulture 224 Host 246 Humus 66 I Hybrids 46 « Imago 241 Inoculation 172 Irrigation 73 Laboratory 90 Lactic-acid bacteria 276 Larva 242 Lateral 17 Layering 50 Legume 105 460 GLOSSARY 461 Lespedeza 186 Life-cycle 242 Litmus paper 88 Loam 61 Lock 137 Maize 147 Medullary 35 Mohair 296 Muck 61 Neutral 88 Nitrogen 32 Nitrogenous 316 Node 50 Nutrients 322 Nymph 242 Organism 65 Osmosis 19 Ovary 44 Ovule 44 Panicle 148 Parasite 247 Pasteurizing 281 Peat 61 Petal 43 Petiole 52 Phloem , 34 Phosphorus 91 Pistil 43 Pistillate 45 Plant food 28 Plant- food material 28 Plantlet 12 Plumule 21 Poll 261 Pollen 44 Pollenation 44 Potassium 91 Prepotent 260 Primary branches 137 Protein 32 Protoplasm 32 Pupa 242 Radicle 17 Reserve food 10 Reversion 46 Root-hairs 17 Root pressure 36 Root-stock 50 Rotation 2 Roughage 320 Rudimentary 261 Saprophite 247 Scion 51 Seedhng 22 Sepals 43 Silage Appen IV Silt 61 Spiracles s 243 Sputum 347 Stamens 43 Staminate 45 Sterihze 281 Stigma 44 Stock 51 Stolons 50 Stoma 27 Stomata 27 Stomates 27 Stover 162 Style 44 Tap-root 17 Tassel 148 Terminal bud 22 Tillage 119 Tuber 50 Tubercle 105 Udder Figure 185 Variation 46 Weathering 58 Xylem.... 34 INDEX (Numbers refer to paragraphs.) Aberdeen-Angus cattle, 261 Accounting, farm, 330-333 Agriculture, importance of, 1; im- provement in, 2-4 Alfalfa, 179-185 Angora goat, 296 Animal bodies, composition of, 314 Animal rations, basis for calculat- ing, 322 Animals, care of, 319; diet of, 321 Annular bud, 52 Anther, 44 Arab breed of horse, 286 Arsenate of lead, 250 Ayrshire cattle, 269 Babcock test, 264 Bacteria, 50; cause of plant dis- ease, 247; on roots of legumes, 171 Balanced ration defined, 322; how to calculate for animals, 323 Bark, outer and inner cells of, 38; uses of, 33 Barn, the, 328 Basement, 340 Belgian horse, the, 287 Berkshire hog, 300 Birds as insect destroyers, 246; in- jurious, 237 Black rot, 240 Black rust, 247 Boll-weevil, losses from, 238; spread of, 240 Bordeaux mixture, 250 Bran mash, 250 Breeding animals, 256, 260, 267, 268, 305 plants: crossing, 46, 47; five- year breeding plan for cot- ton, 204; improving corn, 151-154; variation and se- lection, 48, 49 Brown Swiss cattle, 269 Bud, adventitious, 40; terminal, 22 Budding, 50-53; nut trees, 233 Bulk necessary in diet, 385 Butter, 279 Calyx, 43 Cambium, described, 33; plants without, 41; uses of, 38-40 Capillary attraction, 36; water, 64 Carbohydrates, defined, 27; in plants, 317; use of, by animals, 317 Carbon bisulphide for destroying insects, 250 Carbon dioxide, 25 Cattle, beef, breeds of, 261; judg- ing, 260; classes of, 259; dairy, returns from, 262; dual-pur- pose, 270 Cheese, 280 Chester White hog, 300 Chicken-house, 308 Chickens, breeds of, 310 Chinch-bug, losses from, 238 Chlorophyl, 31 Churning, 279 Churns, 279 Clovers, 186 Clydesdale, the, 287 Coach-horses, 284 Colantha Fourth's Johanna, 263 Cold-frames, 211 Colorado beetles, 240 Compost, 100-102 Concentrates, 320 Concrete filling for decayed trees, 235 Copper sulphate, 250 Corn, 147-163; ear-to-row test of, 153, 154; Egyptian, 165; judg- ing, App. Ill; made in spite of drought, 5; testing, 152, 154 462 INDEX 463 Corn-club boys, 7 Corn clubs, App. Ill Corolla, 43 Cotswold sheep, 293 Cotton, 136-146; crop, loss on, 238; worm, losses from, 238 Cotyledon, defined, 21; plants with one, 41 Cow, dairy, judging, 264, 268 Cow-peas, 178 Cream, composition of, 278 Crop accounting, 333 Crop limit set by most deficient food element, 106 Cops, for, silage, App. II; rota- tion of, 115-118 Crossing plants, 46, 47 Culm, 50 Cultivation, 126 Cultivators, 129 Curtains, 335 Cuttings 50 Cutworm, 215 Dairy bull, 268; cattle, breeds of, 269; type of cow, 266, 267 Dairying, suited to Texas, 263; what is necessary in, 274 Devon breed of cattle, 270 Diary, farm, 331, 332 Diet, of animals, 321 Disease, resistant varieties of plants, 249 Disease, plant, losses from, 238 Disintegration, 58 Dorsethorn sheep, 293 Drains, 80, 81 Draft-horses, 284; breeds of, 287 Dry farming, 72 Ducks 311 Duroc-Jersey hog, 300 Durra, varieties of, 165 Dust mulch, 71 Dutch belted cattle, 269 Ear-to-row test, 153 Eggs, how to keep fresh a year, 312 Embryo, 10 Farm, accounting, 330-333; plan, 324-329; products, tabic giv- ing legal weights per bushel, App. IV; school, 220 Fat in the dietary of animals, 317 Fat steer, 260 FeedstufTs, table giving weights and measures of, App. IV FertiKzer distributors, 131 Fertihzers, 106-114 Fields, plan for, 325 Filament, 44 Five-year breeding plan, 204 Flowers, male and female, 45; parts of, 43 Food, amount required per day by animals, 323; how used by ani- mals, 313 Foods, green, use of, to animals, 315 Formalin for plant diseases, 250 French Canadian breed of cattle, 269 French coach-horse, 286 Fruit garden, home, 224 Fruiting spurs, 230 Fruits at all seasons, 226; value of, 225 Fruit trees, cultivation of, 231 Fungi, cause of plant diseases, 247; spores of, 247 Fungicides, 250 Galloway, the, 261 Garden, home fruit, 224; and inex- perienced teacher, 223; home vegetables, 205-2 10 ; pests, means of protection against, 215 ; plant- ing table for, 214; records and reports, 221; school, 216-223; seeds, 219; tools, 218; truck, 205 Gasolene-engine and farm machin- ery, 133 Geese, 311 German coach-horse, 286 Germination, defined, 11; experi- ments in, 13-15 Glaciers, 57 Goats, 296 Grafting, 50-53 464 INDEX Green manure or stock-feeding, 104 Growing point, 22 Guernsey, 269 Guineas, 311 Hackney, the, 286 Hampshire Down sheep, 293 Hampshire hog, 301 Harrows, 128 Heehng-in trees, 229 Hereford, the, 261 Hessian fly, losses from, 238 Hog-houses, 328 Hog industry, 297 Hogs, breeds of, 300, 301; care of, 298; classes of, 299; for breedmg purposes, 299; judging, 299 Holstein-Friesian, 269 Home garden, 206-210 Homestead, the, 328 Horse, the, 282; raising, 283 Horses, breeds of, 286, 287; judg- ing, 284, 285; types of, 284 Horticulture defined, 224 Hot-beds, 211 House, care of, 339; convenience and simplicity of arrangement of, 335; fly, 358 Houses, tenant, 329 Humus defined, 66 Hybrids, 46 Immune varieties of plants, 249 Implements, result of improved, 120; shed for, 328 Inoculation for legumes, 172; for tick fever, 272 Insecticides, 250 Insect pests, reasons for increase of, 239 Insects, described, 242; losses from, 237; manner of feeding and breathing of, 243; means of combating, 244, 245; natural enemies of, 246 Irrigation, 73-76; for rice, 203 Jacoba, Irene, 263 Jersey, 269 Judging, cattle, 260, 264, 268, 269; hogs, 299; live-stock, 258; horses, 284, 285; sheep, 290 Kafir, varieties of, 165 Kerosene emulsion, 250 Kerry breed of cattle, 269 Kitchen, 336 Knapp, Dr., 7 Lady-JDird beetle, 246 Layering, 50 Leaching, 83; how to prevent, 87; loss by, 86 Legumes, defined, 105; planted in orchard, 231; value of, 170 Leicester sheep, 293 Lime, hydrated, 250; sulphur spray, 250 Lincoln sheep, 293 Live-stock, judging, 258 Machinery, care of, 134 Manure distributors, 131 Manures, 97-105; green, 104 Merino sheep, 294, 295 Milk, composition of, 275; danger in, 277; how produced in cow, 265; pail, 276; souring of, and prevention of souring of, 267; sterilizing and pasteurizing, 281 ; veins, 265; wells, 265 Milo, 165 Mineral matter in animals, 318 Mules, 288 Mutton, sheep, 292, 293 Nitrogen in protoplasm, 32; loss of, to air from soil, 88 Nodes, 50 Nutrients for animals, 313, 318 Nut-trees, 233 Orchards, 224-232; protection of, from cold, 232 Osmosis, 19 Ovary of flower, 44 Ovule, 44 Oxford Down sheep, 293 Pacer, 286 INDEX 465 Parasitic plants, 237 Paris green, 250 Pasture, 326 Pea-nuts, 173-177 Percheron, the, 287 Pests, means of combating,238-240 Petal, 43 Petiole, 52 Phloem, 34 Pistils, 43 Plant, composition of crude food of, 25; growing point of, 22; how builds new^ living substance, 32; how develops, 22; how gets crude food material, 24; how gets first food, 20; how gives off water, 26; how heals w^ounds, 39; how makes starch and sugar, 27-29; how saves its life, 40; how uses carbohydrates, 30; food materials, 95, 96; reserve food of, 21 Plant diseases, causes of, 247; con- trol of, 248 Plant enemies, varieties of, 237 Planters, 130/ Plants, crossing and improving, 46 ; disease-resistant varieties of, 249; how to bud, 52; how to cross, 47; ten elements in, 91; that add nitrogen to soil, 105; variation in, 48; ways of repro- ducing, 42 Plowing, 122-125 Plows, 127 Poland-China hog, 300 Polled Durham, 261 Polled Hereford, 261 Pollen, 44 PoUenation, 44; cross-, 46 Potato crop, loss on, 238 Poultry, 302-312; feeding of, 306, 307; houses, 308, 328; protec- tion of, 308, 309 Protein, described, 32; foods for animals containing, 316; in ani- mal body, 316 Protoplasm described, 32 Pruning fruit trees, bushes, and vines, 230 Rambouillet sheep, 295 Ration, balanced, for animals, 313 Rations for animals, basis for cal- culating, 322 Reapers, 130 Red polled cattle, 270 Red rust, 247 Reproduction of plants, 42 Reserve food, 10, 21 Rice, 197-204; soils in Texas and Louisiana, 199 Ring bud, 52 Road-horses, 284 Roads, good, App. I Root, hairs, 17; lateral, 17; pres- sure, 36; stocks, 50; tap, 17 Roots, 17-19 Rotation, of crops, 2," 115-118; as a means of combating insects, 245 Roughage in rations, 320 Saddle-horses, 284, 286 Sap, circulation of, 35, 36 School, farm, 220; garden, 216-223 Scion, 51 Seeds, differences in, 16; germi- nation of, 11-15; how produced, 44; parts of, 10; table giving length of vitality and amounts to sow per acre, App. IV; veg- etable, imported and home- grown, 214 Selection, results of, 49 Sepals, 43 Separator, 278 Shade-trees, severe cutting back of, transplanting, 234 Sheep, classes of, 291; in America and Texas, 289; judging, 290 Shield bud, 52 Shire, the, 287 Shorthorn, the, 261 Shropshire sheep, 293 Silage, App. II Silos, App. II Smudges, use of, 232 Soil, acid test for, 88; drains, 80; earth once without, 55 ; how ex- hausted, 83-94; how improved. 466 INDEX 68-82, 94-95; how made, 56-59; how named, 61; of what com- posed, 60, 63-67; varieties of, 61 Sorghums, 164-169 Southdown sheep, 293 Soy-bean, 178 Spraying for fungus diseases, 248 Stamen, 43 Stem, circulation of food in, 34; how increases size, 37; structure of, 33 Sterihzation of infected soil, 248 Stigma, 44 Stock, 51; for soup, 403; scrub, disadvantages in raising, 255; how to improve, 256; raising, in Texas, 254; reasons for raising, on farm, 252-253 Stolons, 50 Stomata of leaves, 27 Stover defined, 162 Style, 44 Suffolk, the, 287 Sugar-cane, 187-196 Sulphur for insects, 250 Surface washing, 83, 84 Sussex breed of cattle, 261 Tamworth hog, 301 Tenant-houses, 329 Terrace, how to make, 85; level, 84 Thoroughbred horses, 286 Tick fever, cause of, 271; value of discovery of cause of, 272 Ticks, exterminating, 273 Tillage, advantage of, 121; defini- tion of, 119; implements of, Chapter VI Tool and implement shed, 328 Tools, garden, 132, 217 Transpiration, 25 Transplanting trees, 228; vegeta- bles, 212 Trap crops, 245; piles of rubbish, 245 Trees, fiUing decayed, 235; prun- ing, 230, 234; transplanting, 228 Trotter, 286 Truck garden, 205 Tuber, 50 Tubercles, defined, 105; on roots of legumes, 171 Turkeys, 311 Udder, 265 Variation and selection, 48, 49 Water, in animal body, 315; wasted, need of conserving, 77 Watering plants, 213 Weathering defined, 58 Weeds, 237; supporters of insects, 245 West Highland cattle, 261 Whale-oil-soap emulsion, 250 Wind-break, 232 Wood lot, 327 Workshop, 328 Xylem, 34 Yorkshire hog, 301