MANUAL 
 OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 Public Schools 
 
 State of Vermont 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 Prin. G. LELAND GREEN, 
 State School of Agriculture, Randolph Center, Vt. 
 
 Asst. Prin. LEO C. COOK, 
 State School of Agriculture, Randolph Center, Vt. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS J. ABBOTT, 
 East Bethel, Vt. 
 
 Issued by the Department of Education 
 
 1911 
 
 ST. ALBANS MESSENGER CO. PRIRT. 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/manualofagricultOOverm 
 
MANUAL 
 OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 Public Schools 
 
 State of Vermont 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 Prin. G. LELAND GREEN, 
 
 State School of Agriculture, Randolph Center, Vt. 
 
 Asst. Prin. LEO C. COOK, 
 State School of Agriculture, Randolph Center, Vt. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS J. ABBOTT, 
 
 East Bethel, Vt. 
 
 Issued by the Department of Education 
 
 1911 
 

 K 
 
 / 
 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 
 
 State of Vermont, 
 Montpelier. 
 
 My dear Fellow Teacher: — 
 
 On account of the increasing interest in agricultural edu- 
 cation and the growing demand for helpful material, this 
 pamphlet on Agriculture is issued. Most agricultural texts 
 produced are either too general in their treatment of the 
 subject or too foreign to local conditions to be serviceable. 
 The great staple crops of the country and their extensive culti- 
 vation are usually , treated, and the texts are, consequently, 
 not applicable to the circumscribed and intensive agriculture 
 that must be practiced in Vermont. Therefore it is hoped that 
 this pamphlet may help to focus instruction in this important 
 subject upon local and immediate conditions and methods. 
 
 It is foreseen that many of those who will attempt to give 
 Instruction in Elementary Agriculture have not received special 
 training therefor, and hence will be compelled to give much 
 study to the subject and much time to investigation. And so, 
 not only to furnish helpful material, but to assist in avoiding 
 aimless processes, fruitless experimentation and waste of time, 
 this pamphlet is issued. 
 
 Agriculture, as an economic subject, is largely mathemati- 
 cal and is best adapted to those transition years between 
 childhood and youth, or to the grammar grades of the elemen- 
 tary schools. It is applied arithmetic. But Agriculture, as 
 a scientific subject, finds its rightful place in the secondary 
 schools. All grammar grade pupils, especially those in the 
 rural schools, can be and should be taught the business of a 
 farmstead, such as the profit of a potato crop or a herd of 
 cows, the cost of fencing a field or raising a colt, the increase 
 of a timber tract or flock of sheep, the interest on an invest- 
 ment in hens or an orchard, the discount on machinery or 
 fertilizer. But the science of Agriculture requires more ma- 
 turity of mind, a capacity for analysis, an intelligence in 
 experimenting, and power to make correct observations and 
 
4 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 deductions. Hence, on account of the immaturity and limita- 
 tions of the pupils, it cannot be profitably taught in elementary 
 schools. On the other hand, it can be profitably taught in the 
 secondary schools, for the reason that the students have 
 reached the experimental and reflective period in life, a period 
 in which they desire to know cause and effect, to find out the 
 relationship of things and to discover the forces of life. In 
 teaching scientific Agriculture, it must be remembered that 
 it is not an individual science like^ physics, chemistry, min- 
 eralogy, geology, zoology or botany, each of which deals with 
 a particular phase of the natural forces or phenomena, but it is 
 a composite; it is a science of sciences, it deals with all phases 
 and forms of physical nature. Because it is of this character 
 it should not be taught as supplementary to the individual 
 sciences, but as complementary; it should be the subject into 
 which the individual sciences merge. 
 
 As Agriculture is Vermont's chief occupation, as it is the 
 environment of most of the students in the secondary schools, 
 as it is the source from which comes the large part of the 
 revenue for the maintenance of the public schools, as it is the 
 sine qua non of all industries and occupations, it has a feasible 
 and legitimate claim to a place in the curricula of the second- 
 ary schools of Vermont. 
 
 The term Agriculture would better be confined to that 
 phase of the subject presented in the secondary schools, and 
 Nature Study to the preliminary work carried on in the 
 elementary schools. This distinction in terms seems advisable 
 on account of the difference in the nature of the child and in the 
 character of the instruction to be given. The child in his 
 childhood years epitomizes the human race in its struggle and 
 growth. He is trying to familiarize himself with and adjust 
 himself to his environment. Nature has fitted his budding 
 mental powers for this. Observation and memory are at full 
 tide. He sees objects and remembers names. He is accumula- 
 tive. He gathers a vast amount of hetereogenous matter which 
 he digests and assimilates later. Not only is this mass the 
 natural material for the development of his powers of observa- 
 tion and memory, but his mental development by such means 
 and material is necessary for future work and success. 
 
 Thus it will readily be inferred that a practical and profit- 
 able study of Agriculture is based primarily on Nature Study, 
 both for material and for method of procedure. 
 
 Nature Study deals with the obvious, the concrete, the 
 whole; rather than with the symbolic, the abstract, or the 
 part. Nature Study is environmental; Agriculture is utili- 
 tarian. Nature Study considers objects in their natural rela- 
 tions ; Agriculture considers them in their application. Nature 
 
for the Public Schools. 5 
 
 Study uses qualitative terms; Agriculture, quantitative terms. 
 Nature Study deals with the processes of nature for her own 
 ends; Agriculture deals with them for human ends. Nature 
 Study is cultural; Agriculture is economic. In short, Agri- 
 culture is Nature Study plus human direction toward human 
 ends. The grasses may be studied in their forms and growths 
 as Nature Study ; but when studied for the purpose of improv- 
 ing the quality or increasing the product, the subject be- 
 comes Agriculture. A stream may be studied in its course 
 and cascades, in its volume and speed, as Nature Study; but 
 when studied in its uses to man for various kinds of mechanical 
 and domestic purposes, it comes within the realm of Agricul- 
 ture. Therefore, on account of these differences in aim, 
 methods and ends, it seems advisable to apply the term Nature 
 Study to work in elementary schools, and Agriculture to work 
 in secondary schools. 
 
 The genetic order is culture, economy, science, and this 
 dictates the order in which the general subjects should be pur- 
 sued. 
 
 Believing that more Nature Study in the elementary 
 schools and more Agriculture in the secondary schools will 
 enrich the courses and render school work more attractive and 
 profitable, I remain 
 
 Very sincerely yours, i 
 
 MASON S. STONE, 
 
 Superintendent of Education. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Introduction, 11 
 
 Abstracts from address by the late President M. H. Buck- 
 ham, on "Agriculture in the High School", 11 
 Soils, 13 
 Formation of Soils, 13 
 Exercise 1. To show that soil is largely of rock origin. 
 
 2. To illustrate the action of air and of 
 
 heat and cold upon soil formation. 
 
 3. To show the eifect of gravity upon soil 
 
 transportation. 
 
 4. To illustrate the solvent effect of water in 
 
 soil formation. 
 
 5. To illustrate the abrasive effect of moving 
 
 water in soil formation. 
 
 6. To show the effect of moving water on soil 
 
 transportation. 
 
 7. To illustrate the abrasive work of ice in 
 
 soil formation. 
 
 8. To show that plant life tends to form soil 
 
 from rocks. 
 
 9. To show that animal life has bearing upon 
 
 soil making. 
 Classification of Soils, 17 
 
 Exercise 10. To indicate the difference in origin, form- 
 ation, nature and usage of soils. 
 Soil Yhysics, 19 
 
 Exercise 11. To show pore space in general and pore 
 space in soils in particular. 
 
 12. To show that soils contain air. 
 
 13. To show that soils are composed of parti- 
 
 cles of various sizes. 
 
 14. To show the different temperatures of 
 
 different soils. 
 
 15. To show the percolation or downward 
 
 passage of water. 
 
 16. To show that water rises by capillarity 
 
 from below upwards ; to illustrate 
 that soils take up moisture and the 
 distance it can rise. 
 
 17. To show the water absorption powers of 
 
 various soils. 
 
8 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Page 
 
 18. To show how roots take moisture from the 
 
 soil. 
 
 19. To show the effect of mulching and of 
 
 cultivating soils. 
 . 20. To show whence the dew comes. 
 
 21. To illustrate the effect of plowing manure 
 
 under. 
 
 22. To show that humus and lime have favor- 
 
 able effects upon clay soils, flocculat- 
 ing, opening, mellowing them. 
 Soil Chemistry, 28 
 
 Exercise 23. To familiarize the student with the com- 
 mon elements of plant food. 
 
 24. To illustrate the way in which humus is 
 
 formed in the soil. 
 
 25. To show how soils may be tested for 
 
 acidity. 
 
 26. To show how to make a judicious choice 
 
 of a fertilizer. 
 Plant Life, 32 
 
 Seed Germination, 32 
 
 Exercise 27. To study the^rocess of germination in a 
 general way. 
 
 28. To determine if moisture is necessary to 
 
 germination. 
 
 29. To determine if heat is necessary for 
 
 germination. 
 
 30. To determine the effect of light upon 
 
 germination. 
 
 31. To determine the effect of air upon grow- 
 
 ing seeds. 
 
 32. To determine if the viability of seed de- 
 
 pends upon the size. 
 
 33. To determine if the viability of seeds de- 
 
 pends upon age. 
 
 34. To determine if the viability of seeds de- 
 
 pends upon color. 
 
 35. To define the length of time required for 
 
 healthy seeds to germinate. 
 
 36. To find out if the cotyledons of a seed are 
 
 of any use. 
 
 37. To determine if there is any difference in 
 
 germination of corn from different 
 parts of the cob. 
 
 38. To determine the relative purity of various 
 
 grain and grass seeds. 
 
for the Public Schools. 
 
 9 
 
 Plant Growth, 
 
 Exercise 39. To determine the best depth for planting 
 various seeds. 
 
 40. To determine if air is essential to plant 
 
 growth. 
 
 41. To determine if heat is essential to plant 
 
 growth. 
 
 42. To determine if light is necessary for 
 
 plant growth and the influence of di- 
 rection of light upon the growth di- 
 rections of root, stem and leaf. 
 
 43. To determine if water is necessary for 
 
 plant growth. 
 
 44. To determine the effect of different kinds 
 
 of soils and fertilization upon plant 
 growth. 
 
 45. To determine the effect of gravity upon 
 
 plants. 
 
 46. To determine if a plant gives off or 
 
 transpires water. 
 
 47. To illustrate the habit of the growth of 
 
 plant roots. 
 Crop Studies, 
 
 Exercise 48. To determine the composition of plant 
 tissues. 
 
 49. To familiarize the student with legumes. 
 
 50. To enable the identification of the most 
 
 common grasses by means of their 
 heads and leaves. 
 
 51. To enable one to identify the most com- 
 
 mon weeds by their seeds. 
 
 52. To identify various legumes and forage 
 
 crops by means of their seeds and 
 heads. 
 
 53. To recognize the different kinds of buds. 
 
 54. To note variations in any crop with a view 
 
 to • selection for ultimate improve- 
 ment of stock. 
 
 55. To note variation in corn. 
 
 56. To show how to propagate certain com- 
 
 mon plants. 
 
 57. Sundry suggestions concerning individual 
 
 and school collections, field trips and 
 miscellaneous work. 
 
 Page 
 36 
 
 41 
 
10 
 
 Mamtal of Agriculture 
 
 Forestry, 
 
 
 Exercise 58. 
 
 To learn 
 
 59. 
 
 To learn 
 
 60. 
 
 To study 
 
 61. 
 
 To study 
 
 62. 
 
 To show 
 
 63. 
 
 To show 
 
 64. 
 
 To show 
 
 65. 
 
 To make 
 
 66. 
 
 To study 
 
 Animal Life, 
 
 
 Exercise 67. 
 
 To famili; 
 
 Page 
 49 
 
 68. 
 
 69. 
 70. 
 
 Score Card, 
 
 References, 
 
 the tree flowers, 
 the tree seeds, 
 tree seed distribution, 
 tree seed germination, 
 height growth, 
 diameter growth, 
 basal area growth, 
 saw mill observations, 
 the rotting of wood. 
 
 To familiarize the students with the com- 
 mon nutrients in animal and human 
 food. 
 
 To teach how to formulate a balanced ra- 
 tion. 
 
 To test milk for its butter fat content. 
 To test cows as to their dairy abilities. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 Vegetables. 
 Cheese. 
 Butter. 
 Dairy Cattle. 
 
 53 
 
 57 
 
 61 
 
fo7^ the Public Schools. 11 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A manual on elementary agriculture for use in Ver- 
 mont schools, — one which shall consist of simple exercises, ex- 
 planations and observations, one which requires only every 
 day appliances, one in which each exercise is replete with 
 question marks, — such a manual ought to be well worth while, 
 and such the present issue is meant to be. 
 
 It is the product of several persons. The matter dealing 
 Vvdth elementary forestry (exercises 58-66) is written by State 
 Forester A. F. Hawes, while the remainder is the product of 
 three graduates of the Agricultural Department of the Uni- 
 versity of Vermont, Principal G. Leland Green and instructor 
 Leo C. Cook of the State School of Agriculture at Randolph 
 Center and Thomas J. Abbott, of East Bethel. Mr. Green 
 and Mr. Abbott contributed Exercises 1 to 26, 47, 67 to 70, 
 while Mr. Cook furnished the matter dealing with plant life, 
 Exercises 27-46, 48-56. Many of the exercises are furnished 
 with references to state and governmental publications which, 
 if in print, are free for the asking. A list of a few desirable 
 books is given at the close of the manual. 
 
 Abstract from an address on ''Agriculture in the High 
 School" by the late President Matthew H. Buckham of the 
 University of Vermont. 
 
 ''Agriculture, in the new and broad sense which it now 
 carries, is not only a cultural subject but a vital subject, one 
 which touches universal life in so many ways, touches in so 
 many essential and inevitable ways the life of every man, 
 woman and child in the community, that to know of it what 
 is to each one knowable is an obligation; that to be ignorant 
 of it beyond necessary limitations of opportunity and capacity, 
 is negligence and waste of life." 
 
 # ^ ^ %^ -]^ ^ ^ 
 
 "The new agriculture which has to do with the new earth 
 and to which every human being has such vital relation as to 
 make the knowledge of it obligatory, and the teaching' of it 
 to every pupil the duty of public education — what is it? It is 
 the science and the art which concerns itself with all man's 
 relations to this physical globe, including the Avater within it 
 and the air surrounding it. Arnold Guyot wrote a great 
 epoch-making book on the ways in which the earth affects man. 
 George P. Marsh, our greatest Vermont scholar, wrote a great 
 book showing how man affects the earth. The new agricul- 
 ture, considered as a topic in general education, partakes of 
 both these views. Its postulate is that this earth which the 
 Creator has given to the children of men. He has richly endowed 
 
12 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 with capabilities which it is their province to discover and ap- 
 propriate; that whereas in the past it has been the source to 
 man of much toil, privation, disease, destruction, terror, it has 
 countervailing resources which if wisely used would increase 
 indefinitely man's health, wealth, energy, and enjoyment of 
 life; that we have only begun to guess what it has in store for 
 that coming race who will know how to use the new earth; 
 that some time men will learn to 'replenish and subdue the 
 earth and have dominion over it,' and to get from land and 
 water and air, from heat and frost, from gravity and elec- 
 tricity, from wind and rain and tides, from all known and 
 now unknown natural forces and agents, more and better food 
 to eat, purer air to breathe, better clothing to wear, easier 
 tillage, larger crops, better control of insect and bacterial life, 
 better paper than that made from wood-pulp, a better berry 
 than the strawberry, a better apple than the Northern Spy, a 
 sweeter flower than the rose — in short, lightened labor, an 
 ampler table, healthier dwellings, better education, and more 
 time for it, larger and fuller and truer lives. 
 
 " 'But this is much more than agriculture.' Yes, it is, 
 but agriculture has more openings into this broader field than 
 any other subject, and does in fact lead into it on all sides. 
 Agriculture is not a simple science, but a group of sciences, 
 each one of which is linked with all the others, so that you 
 cannot know even a little of one without knowing something 
 of others." 
 
 W W •?? -v? ^ ^ w 
 
 "In fact a little learning in any of the subjects with which 
 iagriculture deals convinces us that to know agriculture fully, 
 is to know well nigh all that is knowable, and on the other 
 hand to k:now and to teach any subject, however elementary, 
 proper to agriculture, is to open a window which looks over 
 some broad section of the new earth." 
 
 ''I have spoken of agriculture in the High School only as 
 a cultural study. But the study of it pursued in the spirit I 
 have suggested, would actually be a vocational study to at 
 least this extent: it would enable those who afterward follow 
 agriculture as a vocation to choose it intelligently and delib- 
 erately, and not as an almost necessary incident of being 
 brought up on a farm. It would do more than this, it would 
 so present the possibilities of agriculture as to induce more of 
 the vigorous and capable young lads of a rural community to 
 choose it as their calling and to follow up these initial studies, 
 with those more strictly vocational applications of modern 
 science to agricultural art, M^hich would put them in line with 
 the great movement now advancing toward the full conquest 
 of the new earth." 
 
for the Public Schools. 13 
 
 GENERAL OUTLINE OF EXERCISES. 
 
 Object: — Title of experiment. 
 
 Materials : — Different kinds of apparatus, (inexpensive 
 and home made). 
 Material' needed for experiment. 
 
 Directions : — 
 
 Observations : — Tabulate whenever possible. 
 
 Conclusions: — State everything on mathematical basis so 
 far as possible. 
 Use percentages whenever possible. 
 
 SOILS. 
 
 Formation of Soils. 
 
 EXEECISE 1. 
 
 Object: To show that soil is largely of rock origin. 
 
 Materials: A few samples of soils; leaf mold. 
 
 Directions : Rub a pinch of each soil in the fingers ; place 
 it between the teeth. Note its gritty feeling. Compare with 
 finely powdered rock ; note both the likeness and unlikeness 
 thereto. Place a handful of each on a hot stove and note the 
 changes. Do all of these things also with leaf mold. The 
 blackening is evidence of organic matter; the grittiness of 
 rock origin. Drop soil into water. Note its insolubility. 
 
 Reference : Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 199-202. 
 
 EXERCISE 2. 
 
 Soils are formed in many ways. Among the more im- 
 portant agencies are: air; water (acting chemically to dis- 
 solve and mechanically to rub and abrade) ; ice; life action. 
 
 \ Object: To illustrate the action of air and of heat and 
 cold upon soil formation. 
 
14 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Materials: Any old stone building or old grave stones; 
 any rock which has been etched by wind driven sand, or 
 flaked by temperature changes; lamp chimney, fruit jar. 
 
 Directions: Note a pane of ground glass. How did it 
 become opaque? In the desert, in semi-arid regions, on the 
 seashore and elsewhere, sand driven by the wind wears away 
 the rock. 
 
 Note the easy scaling off of the outside layers of many old 
 rocks or stones, due to uneven expansion and contraction 
 caused by temperature changes, (heat and cold). The break- 
 ing of a cold tumbler when boiling water is poured on it, or of 
 a hot tumbler, stone or lamp chimney when ice cold water i^ 
 dashed on it, illustrates this effect, although in an extreme way. 
 
 Note at the foot of cliffs the pile of rock fragments of un- 
 even sizes. These usually fall because the pores and crevices in 
 the face of the cliff fill Avith water, which expands in freezing, 
 thus breaking off the masses which fall to the base of the cliff. 
 
 Illustrate by freezing water solid in a closed fruit jar. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 205-209; Vt. 
 Exp. Sta. Bulletin 154, pp. 715-716. 
 
 EXERCISE 3. 
 
 Object: To show the effect of gravity upon soil trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Directions: Observe the results of landslides, of the 
 down hill creep of soils in moist places; how fences once 
 straight sometimes show curves in moist places. Why are 
 valley soils richer than hill soils? What part does gravity 
 play in this condition? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, p. 214; Vt. Exp. 
 Sta. Bulletin 154, p. 710. 
 
 EXERCISE 4. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the solvent effect of water in soil 
 formation. 
 
 Materials: Limestone rock, glasses, salt, etc. 
 
 Directions: Observe in limestone regions, the caves, sink- 
 holes, etc. caused by solution of the rock. Note the honey 
 combing of limestone rock. Note the ''fur" on the inside of 
 an old tea-kettle. AA^hat is it? How did it get there? What 
 bearing has it on this matter? What makes waters hard? What 
 causes mineral waters? What makes iron rust? What 
 
for the Public Schools. 15 
 
 causes some soils to be red? Why are rocks in desert regions, 
 etc. highly colored? And why are their colors mostly reds 
 and yellows ? 
 
 A heated water, or one containing carbonic acid gas, dis- 
 solves rock more readily than does cold or ordinary water. 
 Take two glasses of water, one hot, one cold. Stir into each 
 all the salt that can be dissolved. In which one can you dis- 
 solve the larger amount of salt ? "When the glass of hot water 
 cools, what happens? 
 
 Reference: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 209-215. 
 
 EXEECISE 5. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the abrasive effect of moving water 
 in soil formation. 
 
 Materials: A brook; a meadow; a pail of water. 
 
 Directions: Moving water is an active agent in rock de- 
 struction. Note the rounded, water-worn pebbles in the brook. 
 Why are they all thus rounded? Note the effect of rain on 
 the brook; on the loose soil on a hillside. Why does water 
 become roily after a hard shower? Note the sorting of soil by 
 streams. Illustrate by pouring a pail of water on the ground 
 where the soil is loose. How are valleys formed? How are 
 river meadows made? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 216-229; Vt. 
 Exp. Sta. Bulletin 154, pp. 710-715. 
 
 EXERCISE 6. 
 
 Object: To show the effect of moving water on soil trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Material: A stream in freshet; a pail of water; a fruit 
 jar. 
 
 Directions: Note the muddy appearance of streams in 
 times of high water. Note the deposits where streams over- 
 flow their banks. Dip up a pail of water from a roily river 
 or brook and let it settle. Examine the sediment and note 
 in a glass fruit jar the way it is lain down in layers of different 
 finenesses. 
 
 What is a river delta? Why are deltas formed? Why 
 do valleys of most rivers widen toward their mouth? What 
 makes great river plains like that of the Mississippi? Is the 
 movement of soil by water harmful or helpful? Are these 
 river muds apt to be fertile or sterile soils? If fertile, Avhy? 
 
16 Manual of Agnculture 
 
 This transportation of soil by water may be a good or a bad 
 thing, according to circumstances; according to whether a soil 
 is put into better location or a worse one, or whether it is 
 carried to sea and lost. Note how man can control and modify 
 these movements by controlling vegetation; by keeping the 
 land clad with grass, or with forests. Note differences in the 
 character of the waters running off from grass land or wheat 
 land and from bare, unoccupied land. Why is the former 
 usually clear and the latter apt to be muddy? Would a sandy 
 or clayey soil be the more apt to be borne away by water? 
 What relation has the slope of the land to the amount of 
 water which runs off and the rapidity of its run-off? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 219-229; Vt. 
 Exp. Sta. Bulletin 154, pp. 710-713. 
 
 EXERCISE 7. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the abrasive work of ice in soil 
 formation. 
 
 Material: A stony field; a glaciated landscape. 
 
 Directions: Outline the work of the prehistoric glacier. 
 Use pictures of modern glaciers showing their work. Note 
 glacial scratches on flat topped ledges. Observe glacial 
 boulders, erratics, etc. Account for the multitudinous stones 
 in New England soils. Describe the grinding effect. Why are 
 New England mountains and hills rounded? Why is New Eng- 
 land full of little ponds and lakes? Why are such not found 
 South or West? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 230-236. 
 
 EXERCISE 8. 
 
 Object: To show that plant life tends to form soil from 
 rocks. 
 
 Materials: An old stone wall; a piece of marble. 
 
 Directions: Observe the effect of roots when they pene- 
 trate rock crevices. See how they tend to expand and to split 
 the rock asunder. Observe the same action in hard soil. The 
 expansive power of growing vegetation is almost beyond be- 
 lief. A generation ago a squash was put into a harness at 
 Amherst, Mass., and lifted nearly 5,600 pounds. 
 
 Scrape from an old stone wall a patch of lichens. Notice 
 how soft is the rock directly underneath as compared with the 
 
for the Public Schools. 17 
 
 exposed rock. Note the number of lichens on a given length 
 of old stone wall. 
 
 Put a smooth, polished piece of marble in a flower pot or 
 tin can of earth and then grow grass, oats or some other crop 
 in the pot in such a way that the roots must pass over the 
 smooth surface. After a few weeks take out the piece, wash 
 it off carefully and notice the tracery of the roots at the point 
 where they ran over the smooth surface. Roots exude an 
 acid which dissolves rock. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 236-239. 
 
 EXERCISE 9. 
 
 Object: To show that animal life has bearing upon soil 
 making. 
 
 Materials: An ant hill; a shovel wherewith to dig for 
 worms. 
 
 Directions: Dig into the ant hill. Note the ramification 
 of the galleries. Note the fine appearance of the soil. Note 
 the immense number of workers. What effect does their 
 activity have upon the opening up of the soil? "What effect 
 does the breath of the ants have upon soil solution? What 
 effect does the decay of their bodies have on soil solution? 
 
 Set a boy digging for worms. Let him make an estimate 
 of the number of worms in a given area. Note how the worms 
 open up the soil. Note particularly on a rainy morning or 
 after a rainy night, the castings of the earth worms on the side- 
 walk. These casts are simply the excreta of the earth worms, 
 which eat soil and, along with it, much leaf mold. They use 
 the latter for food and the former for grinding purposes. The 
 soil is decidedly bettered as a result of its passage through 
 their bodies. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 143, pp. 239-242. 
 
 Classification of Soils. 
 
 EXERCISE 10. 
 
 Object: To indicate the differences in origin, formation, 
 nature and uses of soils. 
 
 Materials: Samples of all the different kinds of soils to 
 be found in the vicinity. 
 
18 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Directions: There are several different soil classifications 
 formulated in accordance with the origin, characteristics, and 
 usage of the soil. 
 
 (1) Classification according to origin shows whether the 
 soil is a sedentary soil, that is to say, one derived from the 
 rocks immediately underlying; or a transported soil, that is to 
 say, removed from the place where the original rock lay. All 
 New England soils are transported soils. Most of them 
 are glacial or drift soils. See if you can find evidence that the 
 Vermont soils are largely of glacial origin. Are Vermont 
 soils uniform in thickness? Why are they stony? Do they 
 appear to be of uniform composition? (See exercise 7). 
 
 Alluvial soils are those transported by running water and 
 deposited in river valleys at stream mouths. They are more 
 finely pulverized than are drift soils. Find examples. Are 
 they fertile and well suited to farming purposes? (See exer- 
 cise 6). 
 
 The classification according to characteristics is based 
 upon the size of particles. Thus we have : 
 
 Stones, — Coarse, irregular or rounded rock fragments or 
 pieces of rock. 
 
 Gravel, — Coarse fragments and pebbles ranging in size 
 from an inch or so in diameter down to 1/25 of an inch. 
 
 Sand, — Soil particles ranging from 1/25 of an inch down to 
 1/ 500 of an inch in diameter. Sand may be divided into 
 coarse, medium, fine and very fine. 
 
 Silt, — ^Fine soils ranging from 1/500 to 1/5000 of an inch 
 in diameter. Silt feels very fine and smooth when rubbed be- 
 tween the fingers, especially when moist. Silicon used for 
 scouring knives is a very good illustration of silt. Obtain a 
 little at the grocery store and become familiar with it. Silt 
 is sticky like clay when wet. 
 
 Clay, — The finest or rock particles, 1/5000 of an inch and 
 less in diameter. Too small to imagine. Clay is very slippery 
 and sticky when wet. Whiting and yellow ochre from the 
 paint shop are good illustrations of clay. 
 
 Humus, — This is decaying vegetable and animal matter. It 
 is dark brown or almost black in color; decaying leaves and 
 woods are examples. 
 
 Soils composed of the above materials: 
 
 Sands or Sandy Soils, — These are mixtures of different 
 grades of sand and small amounts of silt, clay and organic 
 matter. They are light, loose and easy to work. They pro- 
 duce early crops and are particularly adapted to early truck 
 and fruit, but are too light for general farming. 
 
for the Public Schools. 19 
 
 Loams are mixtures of sand, silt, clay and organic matter. 
 Sandy loams are about three-fifths sand and two-fifths silt 
 and clay. They are tilled easily and raise good corn, but are 
 a little too light for general farming. 
 
 Clay loams contain more clay than anything else. They 
 are hard to work, being stiiS and sticky, but are considered 
 the strongest soil for general farming. Gravelly and stony 
 loams are not easily worked and are well adapted to fruit, 
 forest and pasture. 
 
 Pure clay soils are generally too hard and sticky for 
 general farming, but when they can be tilled they are special- 
 ly adapted to hay, pasture, wheat and corn. 
 
 Swamp muck is a dark brown or black swamp soil' con- 
 sisting of large amounts of humus or decaying organic 
 matter, mixed with some fine sand and clay. It is found in 
 low, wet places. 
 
 Peat is also largely vegetable matter, consisting of tough 
 roots, partially decayed leaves, moss, etc. It is quite dense 
 and compact and in some regions is used for fuel. When 
 subjected to further heat and pressure, peat becomes coal. 
 
 Classification in accordance with usage deals with corn 
 soils, grass soils, potato soils, wheat soils, etc. This might be 
 termed the farmer's home-made classification. 
 
 For a full discussion of soil classifications, see Vermont 
 Experiment Station Bulletin 154, pp. 706-732. 
 
 Make collections of all the different kinds of soils about 
 your school. Use small bottles for receptacles and label each 
 soil carefully. 
 
 References : As above ; also Ohio Sta. Circ. 39 ; U. S. Dept. 
 Agr. Bureau of Soils, Bulletin 55, "The Soils of the United 
 States." 
 
 Soil Physics. 
 
 EXERCISE 11. 
 
 Object: To show pore space in general and pore space 
 in soils in particular. 
 
 Materials : Samples of various soils, rock or pebbles ; 
 tumblers, fine cloth. 
 
 Directions: Fill a tumbler or other clear glass dish with 
 pebbles and note the spaces between the pebbles. Pour in 
 water to fill the spaces, measuring the amount required. Re- 
 peat the experiment with each of the different soils, both loose 
 and compact, tabulating the results. (With the clay consider- 
 
20 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 able time will be required for this exercise, which must be 
 done carefully or the results will be entirely misleading.) 
 What was in the spaces before the water was poured in? Tie 
 a piece of fine cloth over the top of each vessel and turn it 
 over, allowing the water to run out into a dish. Measure the 
 amount that runs out in each case ; in five minutes, in one hour, 
 and in twenty-four hours, comparing with the amounts poured 
 in at first. (The latter part of this exercise illustrates the 
 water-holding power of soil of different kinds.) 
 
 EXEKCISE 12. 
 
 Object: To show that soils contain air. 
 
 Materials: A few flower pots or tin cans, several kinds 
 of soil. 
 
 Directions: Fill a flower pot or tin can with soil and 
 press it down fairly tight. Now submerge it in a pail of 
 water. Note that air bubbles rise from the soil, proving that 
 the soil contains air. 
 
 Take equal volumes of clay, sand and humus in three 
 small cans. Add water in each case until it comes to the sur- 
 face of the soil. In which case is the most water used? Does 
 the volume of water indicate roughly the volume of air in the 
 soil? Figure out the percentage of air space in each of these 
 soils. This you can do if you have used measured amounts 
 of water and of the soil, using the rule of proportion. 
 
 EXERCISE 13. 
 
 Object: To show that soils are composed of particles of 
 various sizes. 
 
 Materials: Samples of as many different kinds of soils 
 as can be found in your vicinity. 
 
 Directions: Having collected the samples of sand, loam, 
 clay, peat, muck, etc., place a handful of each in a jar and 
 shake well, pouring off the water after a minute's wait. Slowly 
 evaporate this residue to dryness, meanwhile allowing the 
 muddy water to settle for, perhaps, an hour. Then, pour off 
 the clear portion. Compare the dried residues from each 
 soil, which will be essentially sand, silt and clay. Note the 
 varying proportions of each in each soil. The loam will be 
 found the best soil thus to study, as it is the most even mixture 
 of the various soil particle types. Study the different types 
 of soil. Compare them as to color, size of particles and consist- 
 
for the Public Schools. 21 
 
 ency and behavior when wet and- when dry. Note the kind 
 and appearance of plants growing on each. 
 
 Why should the first dried residue be of coarser particles 
 than the second, and the second coarser than the material re- 
 maining suspended in the muddy water? "Why should soils 
 differ in type, color and in size of particles'? Why do clays 
 wet readily and sands wet much more slowly? Why do differ- 
 ences occur in the temperatures of different soils? AVhy does 
 grass grow better on clay loams than on sandy loams and corn 
 better in a sandy region than on clay? 
 
 EXERCISE 14. 
 
 Object: To show the different temperatures of different 
 soils. 
 
 Materials: Samples of soil, lamp black or soot, chalk, 
 piece of black cloth, piece of white cloth, boxes. 
 
 Directions: Soil temperatures depend primarily upon 
 their texture, color, slope, moisture content and cultivation. 
 Soils of a sandy texture, of a dark color, on side slopes and rel- 
 atively dry, warm up more readily than do their well moistened 
 and shady opposites. This is not saying, of course, that 
 the light colored soil on a south slope might not be warmer 
 than the dark colored soil on a north slope. In other words 
 "circumstances alter cases", and the dominant condition deter- 
 mines the outcome. 
 
 Place a band of black cloth and one of white cloth around 
 the bare arm at the same time. Go out into the sun. Note 
 if there is any difference in the warmth under the two bands. 
 Apply the results by reasoning to black soils and to light soils. 
 
 Take two boxes of soil of the same character; cover one 
 with a thin layer of lamp black, cover the other with a thin 
 layer of chalk. Set the two boxes in the sun. If a ther- 
 mometer is available, take the temperature of the two soils. 
 Feel of the soil in the two boxes and note differences in 
 temperature, if any. Why should one soil be warmer than the 
 other? What color of clothes does one wear in the winter? 
 What in the summer? Why? What does black do to heat 
 rays that white does not? Why? 
 
 Fill two boxes, one Avith sandy soil and one with clayey 
 soil. Expose them to the sun at the same time. Note which 
 is the warmer. When you go in bathing was the sand on 
 the 'beach hotter than was the ordinary soil? Was it hotter 
 than the water? Why? Which warms up the faster? Which 
 cools down the faster? What relationship has the large 
 
22 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 amount of water which the clay holds to its being cooler than 
 the sand? 
 
 Set two boxes of soil in the sun, one quite wet, the other 
 dry. Which is the warmer? Why? Put a little alcohol, 
 ether, or gasoline on the back of your hand. Why is it cold? 
 
 Take two boxes of the same kind of soil and so place 
 them that the rays of the sun strike one vertically, and the 
 other at a considerable slant. After an hour or two use a 
 thermometer and determine which is the warmer. Why is 
 one of these warmer than the other? Why are the tropical 
 regions warmer than the temperate regions? Why is summer 
 warmer than winter? Make a diagram showing how the sun's 
 rays strike at the equator and at the poles, and on these boxes. 
 
 Having made all of these trials, list them all and bring 
 together the factors that influence soil temperature. 
 
 EXERCISE 15. 
 
 Object: To show the percolation, or downward passage, 
 of water. 
 
 Materials: Lamp chimneys, soils, cheese cloth. 
 
 Directions: Fill a lamp chimney closed at the bottom 
 with a tightly tied piece of cheese cloth, with some one of the 
 soils to be tested. Similarly fill other lamp chimneys with the 
 other soils. Pour water upon the top of each ^^column of soil 
 and note the percolation of the water through it. Pour the 
 water either out-of-doors or over a pail or sink, in order to 
 lessen the likelihood of damage from slopping. Does the 
 water stay in the tubes? In which one does it pass through 
 the most quickly? In which one the least quickly? Compare 
 the various kinds of soil in this respect. Measure the amounts 
 of water percolated through each chimney in a half an hour. 
 
 Pour a pail of water on the ground in a level place. 
 Where does it go? What can you say about the power of 
 sand to hold the rain which falls upon it? Its power to take 
 up moisture from below? Why is it well to run the roller 
 over a sandy soil ? Why is the water more likely to run off the 
 surface of a clayey soil than of a sandy soil? How may the 
 clay be opened (compare exercise 22) ? What may be done 
 to the sand to make it hold the water better? 
 
 EXERCISE 16. 
 
 Object: To show that water rises by capillarity fr'om 
 below upwards. To illustrate the way soils take up moisture 
 and the distance it can rise. 
 
for the Public Schools. 23 
 
 Materials: Lamp wick, blotting paper, lump of sugar, 
 samples of soils, lamp chimneys, cheese cloth, pans. 
 
 Directions : Place the pieces of lamp wick, blotting paper 
 and the lump of sugar so that one end of each just touches 
 the surface of either water or ink. Note carefully what 
 happens. 
 
 Take as many lamp chimneys as you have samples of 
 soil. Tie a piece of cheese cloth over the end of each. Then 
 fill them with clay, sand, fine peat and the various other soils 
 that are at hand, one soil to each chimney. Place the chim- 
 neys, cheese cloth end downward, in a pan containing about 
 an inch of water. Note the differences in the rate and extent 
 of rise in, one hour, one day, two days and longer. Note in 
 which the water rises highest. Why does it rise highest? 
 Note which rises quickest? Why does it rise quickest? Is 
 the chimney in which the water rises quickest, the one in which 
 it rises highest? 
 
 Capillary attraction draws liquids upwards in small tubes. 
 The smaller the diameter of the tube, the higher the liquid 
 may rise. Which soil contains the smallest pore spaces or 
 tubes? What is the object of compacting soil over seeds? 
 Which soil will draw water up most easily? Which will pull 
 water the fastest from below? 
 
 After this experiment has been completed, fill some tubes 
 half full of soil and put in a handful of green grass or cut 
 straw, then fill up with soil. Set the tubes in water again 
 and note the results compared with the first trial. Explain 
 the particular bearing of this trial upon the plowing under 
 of the grass. Repeat, using well decayed manure. Compare 
 with exercise 21. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 12:3, "The Moisture 
 Relations of the Soil." 
 
 EXERCISE 17. 
 
 Object: To show the absorptive powers of various soils 
 for water. 
 
 Materials : Sand, clay, loam, leaf mold, five tin cans each 
 holding water, with holes in the side and with a string for a 
 bail; spring balance. 
 
 Directions: Fill a can two-thirds full with dry sand, 
 another with clay, another with loam, another with mixed 
 clay and leaf mold, another with mixed sand and leaf mold. 
 
24 
 
 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Wet each one and water each one until thoroughly wet, drain 
 fifteen minutes and record results as follows : 
 
 Sand 
 
 Sand and leaf 
 mold 
 
 Loam 
 
 Clay 
 
 Clay and 
 leaf mold 
 
 Weight of can 
 
 Weight of can and soil. . . 
 
 Weight of soil 
 
 Weight of both with water 
 
 Weight of water 
 
 Percent of water 
 
 The last moisture column, the percent of water, of course, 
 will be calculated by dividing the weight of water by the 
 weight of soil. Which soil absorbs the most water? Why? 
 Which the least? Why? What relationship has this trial to 
 the practical handling of soils in crop growing? 
 
 Dip a pebble in water. Note how the water is held upon 
 it as a film. What effect would the breaking of a pebble have 
 upon its water holding capacity? If it was broken into two 
 pieces? Into four pieces? Into forty pieces? Into four 
 thousand pieces? Why does sand hold less water than clay? 
 What effect upon the water capacity of a soil has the condition 
 and amount of its organic matter? What is organic matter? 
 If you should dip a piece of bread and a pebble into water, 
 what difference would you observe in the manner in which 
 the water is held? Note that organic matter, typified by the 
 piece of bread, becomes soaked, while inorganic matter, typi- 
 fied by the pebble, does not. Will a sponge, which absorbs 
 water, hold more than a rock, which simply has a film upon it? 
 
 Since plants obtain their food by absorption from the soil 
 solution, and since the film of water which surrounds the soil 
 particles absorbs this food, what effect has the thorough tillage 
 of soil upon the amount of water absorbed? Which dissolves 
 the quicker in a cup of coffee, two lumps of sugar or two 
 teaspoonfids ? Why? Why has the old adage "tillage is 
 manure" validity? How do plants get their food from the 
 soil? 
 
 EXERCISE 18. 
 
 Object: To show how roots take moisture from the soil. 
 
 Materials: An egg, a candle, a small glass tube three 
 inches long and one-quarter inch wide, a wire, a bottle. 
 
for the Public Schools. 25 
 
 Directions: Eemove a part of the egg shell the size of a 
 nickel from the large end without breaking the skin beneath. 
 This is easily done by gently tapping the shell with the handle 
 of a pocket knife, picking off the small pieces. Similarly re- 
 move the shell from the small end over a space about as large 
 as the end of the glass tube. Cut a piece one-half inch from 
 the lower end of the candle, and bore a hole just the size of the 
 glass tube. Noav soften and then fasten one end of the piece 
 of candle with the hole in it onto the small end of the egg in 
 such a manner that the hole in the candle comes over the hole 
 in the egg. Heat the wire and with it solder the piece of 
 candle more firmly to the egg, making a water tight joint. 
 Place the glass tube in the hole in the candle, pushing it clown 
 till it touches the egg. Then, with the heated wire, solder the 
 tube firmly in place. Now run the wire down the tube and 
 break the skin of the egg just under the end of the tube. Fill 
 the bottle with water till it overflows and set the egg on the 
 bottle, the large end in contact with the water. In an hour 
 or so the contents of the egg will be seen rising in the glass 
 tube. This happens because the water is making its way by 
 osmose into the egg through the skin, which has no openings, 
 so far as can be discovered. If the bottle is kept supplied with 
 water as fast as it is taken up by the egg, almost the entire 
 contents of the egg will be forced out of the tube. 
 
 In this way water in which plant food is dissolved enters 
 the slender root hairs and rises through the plant. 
 
 EXERCISE 19. 
 
 Object: To show the effect of mulching and of cultivat- 
 ing soils. 
 
 Materials: Half a dozen ten pound sugar' pails or similar 
 vessels, lamp chimneys, various soils numbered from 1 to 6. 
 
 Directions: Fill each sugar pail within two inches of the 
 top with loam. Slowly pour in water in equal amounts on 
 each pail, a small cupful at a time, until the soil is well moisten- 
 ed, but not flooded. Or, as an alternative, mix up all the soil 
 before putting into the pail with water for uniform moisture 
 content. Leave No. 1 untouched after it has been moistened ; 
 on No. 2 place a layer of straw or sawdust an inch deep ; on 
 No. 3 a layer of dry dust an inch deep. Stir No. 4 daily to 
 a depth of one inch; No. 5 daily to a depth of two inches; No. 
 6 daily to a depth of three inches. Set them all together in 
 a row under the same temperature, light and air conditions. 
 At the end of two weeks empty out the soil from each pail and 
 
26 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 compare the soil and moisture conditions. If scales are avail- 
 able, weigh each pail of soil at the beginning and again at 
 the end of the trial. In case you make weights, tabulate your 
 results carefully and make comparisons, you will find dif- 
 ferences in these weights before and after treatment. Which 
 pail has lost the most and why? What did the layers of dust 
 and sawdust and the stirring accomplish? Of the three which 
 have been stirred, what one has lost the most moisture and 
 why? Can you control the rate of evaporation? Is it desir- 
 able to control this rate? Which of the various methods used 
 give the best results and which is the most practical on a 
 large scale? 
 
 What is evaporation? Fill two dishes of equal size with 
 water, put one on the stove and the other on a table or desk 
 where it may remain for a number of days. What becomes of 
 the water in the dish placed on the stove? 
 
 Wet the back of one hand keeping the other dry. Swing 
 both hands briskly in the air. Is evaporation equal to temper- 
 ature ? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 123, "The Moisture 
 Relations of the Soil." 
 
 EXERCISE 20. 
 
 Object: To show whence the dew comes. 
 
 Materials: Pitcher of ice water, sheet of glass or tin. 
 
 Directions: What is dew? Whence does it come? Set 
 a pitcher or glass of ice water in a room and watch it for a 
 few moments. Note where the dew is heaviest in the morn- 
 ing. Place a piece of tin or window glass horizontally just 
 above the grass during the growing season and look at both 
 sides, top and bottom, in the morning. Does all the dew fall 
 or does much of it rise? Repeat this exercise, placing the 
 glass or tin very closely to the surface of the soil, surrounding' 
 the surface with glass, tin or oiled paper, so that if any water 
 appears on the surface of the glass, it must come from the soil. 
 
 How could there be water in a soil that appears to be so 
 dry? Is its passage from the dry soil an advantage or dis- 
 advantage? If the latter, can it be lessened? Is the relation- 
 ship between capillarity and evaporation a help or hindrance 
 to the farmer who understands it? What is the law of con- 
 densation of water vapor? Does it condense on a cool or warm 
 surface ? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 123, "The Moisture 
 Relations of the Soil." 
 
for the Public Schools. 27 
 
 EXERCISE 21. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the effect of plowing manure under. 
 
 Material: Two lamp chimneys, a quantity of dry fine 
 soil, some finely cut straw or chaff, some well rotted straw and 
 manure. 
 
 Directions: Tie a cloth over the bottom of each chimney. 
 Fill the chimneys three-quarters full of soil. In one, put an 
 inch of cut straw, pushing it well down together. In the other, 
 put an inch of the rotted straw, likewise pushed down. To 
 each add more fine soil, filling each chimney. Set each chim- 
 ney in a pan in a half inch or more of water. Allow it to stand 
 for several days. 
 
 Note the rise of the water. Does it pass through the 
 straw as quickly as through the rotted material? Why? 
 
 The straw and rotted material represent material plowed 
 under, lying in the bottom of the furrow. The soil on top rep- 
 resents the furrow slice. Apply the lesson of this experiment 
 to farm practice. In which condition do you think a crop 
 would suffer least from dry weather? When should strawy 
 manures be plowed under? When should new ground be 
 broken up? Should spring or fall be chosen for these pur- 
 poses? Why? 
 
 EXERCISE 22. 
 
 Object: To show that humus and lime have favorable 
 effects upon clay soils, flocculating, opening, mellowing them. 
 
 Materials: Clay, humus, lime, two glasses of water. 
 
 Directions: Take three equal portions of clay. Wet 
 them thoroughly. Mix with one portion a considerable amount 
 of humus or leaf mold, with another a small amount of lime, 
 leaving the other alone. Make each of these into a mud ball 
 or a mud pie and put them away to dry. On the following 
 day examine each of them. Which is the more mellow ? Which 
 crumbles in the fingers the more readily? 
 
 Put a teaspoonful of fine clay into each of the two glasses 
 of water. Stir them or shake them very vigorously. To one 
 add a pinch of lime. Allow them to stand for an hour. Which 
 settles the quicker? Why? 
 
 Lime tends to flocculate clays, i. e. to gather the fine 
 particles together into larger particles. Humus tends to open 
 up and make clay more porous. What is the object of making 
 a clay soil mellower, more workable? What are the faults of 
 clay? 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 99, (Limes and Lim- 
 
28 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 ing) ; Vt. State Com. Agr., Farmers' "Week Bulletin (Article on 
 Limes and Liming) ; Do. Second Annual Report, (Ditto) ; 
 U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bulletin 77, on ''The Practice of 
 Liming"; Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 135, "Soil Deterioration and 
 Soil Humus." 
 
 Soil Chemistry. 
 
 EXERCISE 23. 
 
 Object: To familiarize the student with the common 
 elements of plant food. 
 
 Materials: Water, charcoal, flowers of sulphur, sand, 
 lime, salt, magnesium ribbon, a piece of iron, a piece of alumi- 
 num ware. 
 
 Directions: If a chemical laboratory is a part of the 
 school equipment, the teacher should demonstrate oxygen, 
 hydrogen, nitrogen and show phosphorus, chlorin, potassium, 
 sodium, as well as the other elements concerned in plant feed- 
 ing. Some can be shown, however, without the chemical 
 laboratory. Water is composed of 2 gases, hydrogen and 
 oxygen. It may be decomposed into these gases by an elec- 
 trical current. Charcoal is an impure carbon; so is ordinary 
 coal. The diamond is a pure carbon. Burn a match. Why 
 does it turn black? Sulphur is a yellowish material which 
 will burn with choking vapor. Strike an ordinary match. It 
 is the sulphur which burns with the blue flame; it is the sul- 
 phurous acid which causes the choking fumes. Sand is a 
 combination of silicon and oxygen. The ordinary salt of our 
 table is a combination of the metal sodium and yellowish green 
 gas, chlorin. Lime is made up of the metal calcium and the 
 gas oxygen. Magnesium ribbon and the piece of aluminum 
 ware are pure, or nearly purej metals, as is also the iron. 
 
 Plants use 14 or more elements, — 4 derived from the air 
 (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon), and 10 derived from 
 the soil (silicon, phosphorus, chlorin, sulphur, potassium, 
 sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum). 
 
 Reference: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 99, "Deficient plant 
 food." 
 
 EXERCISE 24. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the way humus is formed in soils. 
 
 Materials : A decaying tree trunk, loams, sandy soil, peat 
 or muck. 
 
for the Public Schools. 29 
 
 Directions: The larger proportion of soil is made up of 
 disintegrated rock structure. However, all soils contain more 
 or less organic matter in a more or less state of complete de- 
 cay. This decaying and decayed organic matter is known as 
 humus, and furnishes a large share of plant food for plant 
 growth. The decaying of organic matter and the formation 
 of humus are brought about by bacteria, fungi and molds. 
 The conditions which favor their rapid growth and active 
 work are moisture, warmth, darkness and the presence of 
 organic matter for food. It is by the death and decay of 
 plant structure that in the course of time a thin film of organic 
 matter is formed each year. In the course of ages this film 
 becomes thicker so that it will support the largest trees. 
 
 Note the decaying tree trunk. Note the successive steps 
 in its destruction from the unchanged wood to the completely 
 broken down structure. 
 
 Note the obvious differences in appearance between sand, 
 clay, loam and muck. Put a handful of each upon a hot stove 
 and note that sand and clay do not blacken while the loam 
 and muck do. The blackening is due to the burning or char- 
 ring of humus or organic matter. Take five tin cans; in one 
 place sand, in the next clay, in the next peat or muck, in the 
 next loam, in the next a mixture of clay, sand and muck. Grow 
 in each of these a small crop like oats or wheat. Water each 
 one and notice the difference in the growth in favor of those 
 cans containing humus. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 135, "Soil Deteriora- 
 tion and Soil Humus." 
 
 EXEECISE 25. 
 
 Object: To show how soils may be tested for acidity. 
 
 Materials : Samples of soil, some rain water, litmus paper 
 strips (red and blue), vinegar, lemon juice or other acid, am- 
 monia, lime water, potash, or strong suds made from washing 
 powder. 
 
 Directions: Soils sometimes become sour through the ac- 
 cumulation of acid. This more commonly occurs in low lands 
 and swamps than elsewhere, where it can be remedied by drain- 
 age ; but it also occurs in uplands. Acidity is injurious to most 
 crops. It is often the principal cause of clover failure. The 
 presence of injurious proportions of acid may be detected by 
 the use of litmus paper and may be corrected by the addition 
 of lime, using from 500 to 2,000 or more pounds per acre. 
 
30 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Put a small piece of litmus paper of each color in each of 
 the above fluids. Note what happens. Note the distinction 
 between acid, alkaline and neutral. Pour a little vinegar into 
 diluted ammonia in which is floating pieces of the two litmus 
 papers. Note what happens. See if you cannot so mix them 
 that the paper will be just on the border line, neither red nor 
 blue. When red, the fluid is acid; when blue, alkaline; when 
 on the border line, neutral. 
 
 Get soils from different places. Take a handful of each 
 and make a rather thick mud pie by using rain water or some 
 absolutely neutral water. With a perfectly clean knife, pre- 
 ferably rinsed before using in some of this water, make a 
 slash in each pie, put in a piece of litmus paper, (do not touch 
 with the fingers as the fingers are apt to be acid), close the 
 slash on the litmus paper, leave it for 4 or 5 minutes, re-open 
 the slash and take out the paper. Einse it if necessary in 
 some of the rain water. Notice if the color is distinctly 
 changed. If it has become distinctly red, the soil is acid. If 
 it becomes more blue, it is probably alkaline, which is a com- 
 mon situation in this part of the country. 
 
 Carefully note the kind and appearance of plants growing 
 on distinctly acid soils and upon the neutral soils. Learn to 
 know the calciphiles (lime lovers) and calciphobes (lime 
 haters). See page 102 of Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 99 in this con- 
 nection. Select a plot where the soil is distinctly acid and 
 seems to be fairly even in character. Divide it into three parts; 
 on one of these put lime, or marl, or ground limestone, or land 
 plaster, on another put wood ashes, leaving the third untreated. 
 Sow clover seed on all three plots and note the results. \i 
 any farmers in your vicinity use lime or plaster or wood ashes 
 or marl, find out the results. 
 
 References: The same as to exercise 22. 
 EXERCISE 26. 
 
 Object: To show how to make a judicious choice of a 
 fertilizer. 
 
 Materials: Samples of crude stock for making fertilizer 
 (nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, tankage, ground bone, 
 acid phosphate, muriate of potash) ; samples of mixed fertiliz- 
 ers; a clean fertilizer sack. 
 
 Directions: Study the matter in the current fertilizer 
 bulletin of the Vermont Experiment Station under the head 
 of ''the relation between selling price and valuation." Note: 
 
for the Public Schools. 31 
 
 1. That the cheaper the goods the more the plant food 
 they contain costs. 
 
 2. That the higher grades usually purvey the most plant 
 food for a dollar invested. 
 
 Study crop needs. Learn that foliage crops use nitrogen 
 largely; grain crops, phosphoric acid; fruits and many vege- 
 tables, including potatoes, potash ; not to the exclusion of other 
 forms of plant food, yet preponderatingly. Learn what nitro- 
 gen, phosphoric acid and potash are. 
 
 Study soil origin and needs. Note that sandy soils are 
 usually poorer than clay soils ; that the latter need more potash 
 than the former. 
 
 Consider the advisability of buying your nitrogen in the 
 form of clover and alfalfa seed (thus gathering nitrogen from 
 the air) ; and in the form of concentrated feeds for cows 
 (cottonseed and linseed meals, distillers and brewers dried 
 grains, wheat offals) rather than in fertilizers. 
 
 Bearing in mind the relative high cost of cheap fertilizers; 
 having soil and crop needs in mind, and having bought nitro- 
 gen in part as above; choose your fertilizer accordingly, using 
 as guides the guaranty of the manufacturer and the analysis 
 of the Experiment Station. 
 
 Study the fertilizer bag and the Station bulletin. Learn 
 what the guaranty means. Read the statement made in the 
 bulletin about guaranties. 
 
 Compute the "valuation" of a fertilizer by multiplying 
 the percentage of nitrogen, of soluble, reverted, and insoluble 
 phosphoric acids, and of potash by the "trade values" of the 
 year, and multiply by 20 to put on a ton basis. Compare with 
 selling price. Find how many cents' worth of plant food are 
 sold for a dollar. Directions are found in each year's fertilizer 
 bulletin. Have each scholar find out what fertilizer is used at 
 home; determine whose father has made the best purchase. 
 
 Make, if practicable, school garden trials with various 
 fertilizing materials. Apply to Dean of the Agricultural De- 
 partment of the University of Vermont for directions and sug- 
 gestions. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletins 99, (Concerning Ferti- 
 lizer Buying: Plant Food); 116 (How, when and what to use 
 for commercial fertilizers) ; 143 (The service of a fertilizer 
 control); Circular 7 ("Plant Food Combinations"); and the 
 current issue of fertilizer bulletin. 
 
32 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 PLANT LIFE. 
 
 Seed Germination. 
 EXERCISE 27. 
 
 Object: To study the process of germination in a general 
 way. \ 
 
 Materials : Common dinner plates or tin pieplates ; pieces 
 of cloth or filter paper, fourteen by seven inches ; porous germ- 
 inating cups are the best when available; a dozen large beans 
 (Lima beans are excellent for this purpose) and a dozen ker- 
 nels of corn for each student. 
 
 Directions: Examine dry beans and corn and, then com- 
 pare with some which have soaked in water over night. 
 Diagram cross and longitudinal sections of each (x2) at dif- 
 ferent stages, (a) soaked a few hours, (b) when caulicle first 
 pierces seed coats, (c) when caulicle is one inch long; labeling 
 cotyledon, caulicle, plumule, seed coats and endosperm. "Write 
 a short description of germination in bean and corn comparing 
 wheneyer possible. Answer the question as completely as you 
 can: — What conditions are necessary for germination? 
 
 EXERCISE 28. 
 
 Object: To determine if moisture is necessary for germ- 
 ination. 
 
 Materials: Four cigar boxes, dry sand and forty beans, 
 peas, or corn kernels. 
 
 Directions: Two days before planting of seeds fill boxes 
 with sand, jar lightly, level and dry thoroughly. Divide seeds 
 into lots of ten and weigh. Plant ten seeds in each box, one- 
 half inch deep. To two of the boxes add water and keep sand 
 moist, while sand in others is kept dry. Label each box keep- 
 ing all in warm place. Leave until the seedlings in two of 
 the boxes appear just above soil surface. Remove seeds from 
 each box, examine, weigh and find percent increase or de- 
 crease. Write conclusions. Tabulate results. 
 
 EXERCISE 29. 
 
 Object: To determine if heat is necessary for germina- 
 tion. 
 
 Materials: Same as for Exercise 28, with the addition of 
 ordinary thermometers. (Comparative results may be obtained 
 without the thermometers). 
 
y for the Public Schools. 33 
 
 Directions : Fill boxes with sand ks in exercise 28 ; 
 plant ten seeds in each box and keep moist. Place two boxes 
 near stove or in some warm place in room. The other two 
 boxes may be placed where it is not too cold. Sink ther- 
 mometer bulbs in sand to depth that seeds are planted in each 
 of the boxes. Eead thermometers daily, both forenoon and 
 afternoon, and tabulate results. Leave until seedlings appear 
 in two boxes. Remove seeds from all boxes and examine. 
 With advanced students this experiment may be carried out 
 to find maximum and minimum germination temperatures. 
 
 . EXERCISE 30. 
 
 Object: To determine effect of light upon germination. 
 
 Materials: Sand, glass tumblers, beans, corn, peas, 
 squash, etc. In some schools, boxes with one side made of 
 glass may be obtained. 
 
 Directions: Plant seeds next to glass, so that they can 
 be observed, place some in dark closet or cellar and some in 
 strong light. Record when plantlets appear and note any 
 differences. Grow plants in dark and in light for a consider- 
 able period and compare. For checking experiment, plant 
 some seeds in centre of tumblers and observe. 
 
 EXERCISE 31. 
 
 Object: To determine effect of air upon growing seeds. 
 
 Materials : Saucers, boxes or tumblers, clay, various kind 
 of seeds. 
 
 Directions: Fill one saucer or box with clay loosely 
 packed, and one with clay that has the consistency of putty. 
 The putty condition of clay may be obtained by working the 
 clay in the hands with water. Plant ten seeds in each. Press 
 the putty clay tightly over the seeds. Cover each with glass 
 to prevent too rapid drying, place in warm window. At the 
 end of three or four days examine and record results. 
 
 EXERCISE 32. 
 
 Object: To determine if the vitality of seeds depends 
 upon size. 
 
 Materials: Germinating plates and cloths like Exercise 
 27, corn, oats and other seeds. 
 
34 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Directions: Pick out twenty large and twenty small 
 seeds of beans, corn, oats, radish, etc., and place between moist 
 cloths. Examine frequently and note relative quickness in 
 germination of the two different lots. Eecord in tabular form 
 and reckon in percents of total germination and amount of 
 germination at different times. 
 
 (Note — The Exercise may be extended by planting seeds 
 in soil and measuring seedlings from time to time. Eaclishes 
 grown in school garden from large and from small seeds may 
 be observed for comparison in regard to crop production, if 
 time permits) . 
 
 EXERCISE 33. • 
 
 Object: To determine if the vitality of seeds depends 
 upon age. 
 
 Materials: Germinating plates and cloth as in Exercise 
 27. Seeds of beans, corn, peas, lettuce, etc., of different ages. 
 
 Directions: Have each student take twenty-five seeds 
 each, of as many different lots, of as many different ages as 
 possible. Place seeds upon moistened outing flannel between 
 dinner plates. Note first germination and each day count all 
 others. Record and tabulate, finding percent of total germ- 
 ination. 
 
 EXERCISE 34. 
 
 Object: To determine if the vitality of seeds depends 
 upon color. 
 
 Materials: Plates and cloth as for Exercise 27. Seeds 
 of beans, radish, peas, etc., in good quantity. 
 
 Directions: Select ten well colored seeds of each kind 
 and ten dull or light colored seeds. Place upon moistened 
 cloths between plates for germination. .Note number of germ- 
 inations each day, tabulate and find percent of total germina- 
 tion. Ascertain cause in all cases of germination failures. 
 
 EXERCISE 35. 
 
 Object: To find the length of time required for healthy 
 seeds to germinate. 
 
 Materials: Plates and oblongs of cloth. Seeds of ail 
 common garden vegetables. 
 
 Directions: Have students take lots of twenty-five seeds 
 each of two or three different kinds of seeds ; place upon moist 
 
for the Public Schools. 35 
 
 cloth between plates, and record daily germination. ^Ascer- 
 tain first germinations and average length of time required, 
 recording different conditions under which experiment was 
 performed (temperatures, etc). From all the reports, make 
 table showing length of time required for germination, and 
 have each student preserve copy in note book. 
 
 EXERCISE 36. 
 
 Object: To find out if the cotyledons of a seed are of 
 any use. 
 
 Materials: Peas or beans, large perforated corks. 
 
 Directions: Sprout several peas or beans on blotting 
 paper or damp sawdust and when the plumules appear, cut 
 the cotyledons away very carefully, taking care not to injure 
 the plumule. Place these on a perforated cork together with 
 others not mutilated, allowing the caulicles to extend into a 
 jar of water. Let them grow a few days and record results. 
 
 See Bergen, Elements of Botany, Fig. 7. 
 
 EXERCISE 37. 
 
 Object: To determine if there is difference in germina- 
 tion of corn from various parts of the cob. 
 
 Materials : Box four inches deep and twelve inches square 
 filled with clean sand ; an ear of corn and a foot rule. 
 
 Directions: Take an equal number (ten to twenty-five) 
 of seeds from the tip, the middle and the butt of ear. Plant 
 in separate rows, cover evenly and water from time to time. 
 Note and record time plants are one inch in height, and meas- 
 ure height each day for two weeks. Average the growth of 
 individual plants of each lot. 
 
 Carry out the same trial in garden and tabulate results of 
 growth and yield. 
 
 EXERCISE 38. 
 
 Object: To determine the relative purity of various grain 
 and grass seeds. 
 
 Materials: Seed oats as put out by dealers, clover seed. 
 Various grass seeds may be used for advanced work. A hand 
 lens is very useful, although not absolutely necessary. 
 
 Directions: Secure price of each sample and name of 
 dealer. Run duplicate tests of each sample. Each sample 
 should be thoroughly mixed by turning back and forth on a 
 
36 
 
 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 sheet .of paper. "Weigh out three grams (one dessert spoon- 
 full), spread on white sheet of paper. Separate the seed into 
 three piles; (1) good plump seed; (2) weed seeds; (3) chaff, 
 dirt, broken and shrunken seed, etc. Weigh each lot if scale's 
 are available and identify the weed seeds. Record results of 
 whole class and place in note books. Find percent of good 
 seed for tabulation, cost per bushel, cost per bushel of pure 
 seed and number of weed seeds per bushel. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletins 94, 146; Farmers' 
 Bulletins of- the U. S. Dept. Agr. 123, 260, pp. 3-6 ; Mass. Exp. 
 Sta. Bulletin 121. 
 
 Plant Growth. 
 
 EXERCISE 39. 
 
 Object: To determine the best depth for planting various 
 seeds. 
 
 Materials: Box of soil, olive bottles eight inches high 
 or Mason jars so plants may be observed. Twenty seeds each 
 of beans, peas, corn, clover, oats, etc. 
 
 Directions: Plant two seeds of each kind at depths of 
 %, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 inches. With a large class divide the work 
 and give each different kinds of seeds. Put a little soil in 
 bottom and six inches from top plant seeds, put in another 
 inch of soil and plant seeds until jar is full, arranging seeds 
 in a spiral fashion. "Wrap black cloth around jars to exclude 
 light. Record date at which each comes up and tabulate re- 
 sults from whole class. 
 
 Depth planted 
 
 Corn 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Beans 
 
 Peas 
 
 Radish 
 
 % inch 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 inch 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1% inches .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Note vigor of plants planted at various depths. AVhich 
 should be planted deeper, peas or beans, and why? One rule 
 is to cover those seeds which bring up their cotyledons with 
 five times their thickness of soil and those which do not bring 
 up their cotyledons with ten times their thickness. Why this 
 difference? In what ways does the temperature, character of 
 soil . and amount of moisture influence depth of planting? 
 What is the purpose of rolling or "planking"? Is it more 
 desirable with large or small seeds? In a wet or dry season? 
 
 References : U. S. Dept. Agr. ; Farmers ' Bulletin 218, page 
 17; Osterhaus, Experiments with Plants, page 138. 
 
for the Public Schools. 37 
 
 EXERCISE 40. 
 
 Object: To determine if air is essential to plant growth. 
 
 Materials: Tumblers or tin cans, jars, various kinds of 
 seeds including sunflower and two potted plants. (Do not 
 use valuable plants). 
 
 Directions: (1) Sprout beans, peas and sunflower under 
 water. Check results by a lot on blotting- paper and one in 
 water boiled to drive air out. Eemove shells carefully from 
 sunflower seeds and germinate in boiled water which fills a 
 bottle up to the tightly fitting rubber stopper. 
 
 (2) Grow potted plant with water covering soil and 
 germinate seeds in tumblers or tin cans with soil completely 
 saturated. 
 
 (3) Grow potted plant in a sealed jar for a short time. 
 
 EXERCISE 41. 
 
 Object: To determine if heat is essential to plant growth. 
 
 Materials: Moss, tumblers, seedlings of various plants, 
 beans, peas, corn, turnip, etc. Growing slips of geranium or 
 coleus. 
 
 Directions: (1) Freeze moss and note if growth is stop- 
 ped. Immerse a second lot in boiling water and note growth. 
 
 (2) Invert tumbler over various seedlings and note 
 effects. 
 
 (3) (For advanced students). Determine best temper- 
 ature for growth of bean, pea, geranium, etc. 
 
 EXERCISE 42. 
 
 Object: To determine if light is necessary for plant 
 growth and the influence of direction of light upon the growth 
 directions of root, leaf and stem. 
 
 Materials : Various seedlings of different kinds of plants, 
 bean, pea, corn, etc. Young plants of geranium or coleus. 
 
 Directions: (1) Grow pairs of plants, one in dark cellar 
 and one in window. Record measurements and appearance. 
 
 (2) Compare potatoes sprouted in window with those 
 sprouted in cellar. Visit a forest and notice how on the edge 
 of the woods, the large limbs are on the side next to the open 
 
38 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 field, while those within the forest have long smooth trunks. 
 Does this habit of growth have any economic bearing? 
 
 (3) Expose geraniums or coleus to the light of a window 
 taking care that all the illumination comes from one side. 
 Note effect and compare with similar plant having light from 
 all sides. 
 
 (4) In Exercise 41 (2) is light a factor? 
 
 (5) Tie white screen cloth over a tumbler and upon this 
 place several sprouted peas. Place in shoe box lined with 
 black cloth or paper and in one end cut a circular opening 
 the size of a silver dollar. In this place a piece of paper in 
 the form of a tube to admit light. 
 
 EXEKCISE 43. 
 
 I ■ 
 
 Object: To determine if water is necessary for plant 
 growth. 
 
 Materials: Small plants of any kind, flower pots and 
 germinating dishes if available, chalk box, cotton. 
 
 Directions: (1) Take two tin cans or pots in which plants 
 are growing, (corn will answer). Put under like conditions 
 except that water is withheld from one. Note effects. 
 
 (2) Investigate cacti, corn and some aquatic plants and 
 determine upon what the amount of water used by the plant 
 depends. 
 
 (3) Have hydroptism shown by fastening pea seedlings 
 by means of rubber bands to the round surface of germinating 
 cups or to surface of small flower pot. Immerse lower end 
 in water and cover with closed flower pot. Fill a chalk box 
 with moistened cotton or filter paper and cover with wire or 
 cloth screen. Fasten upon this screen several sprouted peas 
 with caulicles % of an inch long. Invert the box and set at 
 an angle of forty-five degrees. Note growth of the peas and 
 show how it illustrates hydroptism. 
 
 (4) Repeat Exercise 28 if conclusions cannot be drawn. 
 
 References: Osterhaus, Experiments with Plants, pp. 95- 
 99. 
 
 (5) Plan a field trip and make lists of plants accordin-.' 
 to location, viz., pasture plants, field plants, swamp or marsh 
 plants, lake shore plants, etc. Does amount of moisture tend 
 to make plant societies? 
 
for the Public Schools. 39 
 
 EXERCISE 44. 
 
 Object: To determine the effect of different kinds of 
 soils and fertilization upon plant growth. 
 
 Materials: Different kinds of garden seeds, boxes or 
 four-inch pots, filled with sand, fertile loam, clay, peat, subsoil 
 and sawdust. 
 
 Directions: (1) Plant seeds in different kinds of soil and 
 expose as nearly as possible to the same conditions. Deter- 
 mine which thrives best. 
 
 (2) Fill seven four-inch pots or boxes with pure sand. 
 Add plant food as follows : — 
 
 1. Nothing. 
 
 2. Ten grams lime. 
 
 3. Ten grams lime, one gram potassium sulphate or 
 chloride. 
 
 4. Ten grams lime, one gram acid phosphate. 
 
 5. Ten grams lime, one gram nitrate of soda. 
 
 6. Ten grams lime, one gram each of the compounds 
 used in numbers 3, 4, 5. 
 
 7. A half pint of manure. 
 
 Thoroughly mix the materials with the sand and plant 
 five or six grains of corn or beans in each. Eecord growth of 
 plants, noting differences of color and the amount of growth. 
 
 References: Osterhaus, Experiments with Plants, page 
 139-160. 
 
 (3) Advanced students, or the teacher, may grow water 
 cultures. Quart milk bottles may be used buried in sand to 
 exclude light from roots. Fit tops with corks in which 
 sprouted corn is wedged. Distilled water must be used. Pre- 
 pare six bottles and add nothing to No. 1 except distilled 
 water. No. 2 is to contain the complete nutritive solution as 
 follows : — 
 
 A. Distilled water, 500 cu. cm. 
 
 B. Potassium nitrate, 0.5 gram. 
 
 C. Ferrous phosphate; 0.5 gram. 
 
 D. Calcium sulphate, 0.25 gram. 
 
 E. Magnesium carbonate, 0.25 gram. 
 No. 3, Omit B. 
 
 No. 4, Omit C. 
 No. 5, Omit D. 
 No. 6, Omit E. 
 
40 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Eecord growth of each and note differences. Make a list 
 of the several elements necessary for plant growth. See Exer- 
 cise 23. Remember that the supply of carbon comes from the 
 carbonic acid of the atmosphere. 
 
 Eef erence : Strasburger, A Textbook of Botany, page 173. 
 
 EXERCISE 45. 
 
 Object: To determine if a plant gives off or transpires 
 
 water. 
 
 Materials : Young plants of geranium or coleus, peas, box 
 of sawdust with one side fitted with pane of glass. 
 
 Directions: (a) Lay a plant with straight stem upon its 
 side and notice any change. Is light a factor? If so, aim to 
 overcome it. 
 
 (b) Plant sprouted peas next to glass in jars or olive 
 bottles in various positions and watch their growth. A box 
 with glass front is best if it can be obtained. 
 
 EXERCISE 46. 
 
 Object: To determine if a plant gives off or transpires 
 water. 
 
 Materials: Two or three geraniums, corn, or bean plants. 
 Glass dish or bell jar. 
 
 Directions: (1) Pot a plant in tight tin can and pour 
 melted paraffin over soil, in order to stop any loss of moisture 
 therefrom. Weigh carefully and determine loss of moisture, if 
 any. A small opening may be made in the paraffin and plant 
 watered by means of a funnel, weighing carefully the water 
 used. In this way the trial may be carried on indefinitely 
 and rate of transpiration determined under varying conditions 
 of light and temperature. 
 
 (2) Cover a small plant with glass dish or bell jar and 
 note deposition of moisture. 
 
 (3) Compare geranium leaves when one has its petiole 
 (stem) in water and the other has its blade in water. In order 
 to help answer the question how water enters the plant im- 
 merse stems in red ink or eosin solution for two or three hours 
 and examine by cutting cross sections of stems. Treat a car- 
 rot or parsnip in the same way and then answer the question. 
 
for the Public Schools. 41 
 
 EXERCISE 47. 
 
 Object: To illustrate the habit of the growth of plant 
 roots. 
 
 Materials: A field or garden, pick ax, shovel, sharp 
 stick, a tin or iron quart dish, several buckets of water, a well 
 developed corn plant. 
 
 Directions : Dig a hole about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide, 
 5 to 6 feet deep, close to the plant, letting one side come about 
 
 4 or 5 inches from the base of the plant. The hole should run 
 crosswise, not lengthwise, of the row. Pour water from a 
 pitcher about the base of the plant and wash away the soil 
 from the roots, gently loosening the soil with a stick, thus 
 hastening the work. Then carefully expose the roots along 
 the side of the wall, tracing them as far as possible laterally 
 and as deep as may be, taking care to loosen as little as possi- 
 ble from their natural position. In what part of the soil are 
 most of the roots? How deep do they penetrate? How near 
 do they come to the surface? How far do they reach out from 
 the parent plant? Corn roots usually penetrate the soil 4 or 
 
 5 feet deep and many extend within 2 inches of the surface. 
 Only a few will be found where the soil has been plowed or 
 cultivated. What relationship do these facts have upon the 
 effect of deep plowing and of shallow cultivation? How deep 
 should the soil be disturbed between the rows? What rela- 
 tionship does the wide spreading of the roots, 5 or 6 feet from 
 the parent plant, bear to the application of fertilizers? Should 
 fertilizers be put simply in the row or hill, or spread uniformly 
 throughout the surface soil? 
 
 Crop Studies. 
 
 EXERCISE 48. 
 
 Object: To determine the composition of plant tissues. 
 
 Materials: Dry beans, potatoes or apples and lettuce 
 heads. 
 
 Directions: Take 75 or 100 grams of raw potato, cut in 
 thin slices and steam thoroughly for two or three hours to kill 
 the individual cells. Take care that water is not allowed to 
 come in contact with the potato so as to wash out some of the 
 starch. Dry in oven until the weight is constant. Determine 
 percent of water. Grind up some beans and subject to same 
 process and also treat lettuce in the same way. In one trial 
 the water content in potatoes was 81%, in beans a little over 
 11% and in lettuce over 97%. For advanced classes the dry 
 products may be placed in iron dishes and the carbonaceous 
 
42 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 matter burned. Add a small amount of boiling water and 
 bring contents of dish to a boil. Filter and evaporate filtrate 
 to dryness and weigh. Result will be amount of soluble ash. 
 Dry residue and filter paper, ignite and weigh, and result will 
 be amount of insoluble ash. 
 
 EXEECISE 49. 
 
 Object: To familiarize the student with the legumes. 
 
 Materials: At least three of the following legumes: red 
 clover, alsike clover, alfalfa, black medic, sweet clover, hairy 
 vetch, field peas. 
 
 Use fresh specimens if possible, but dried specimens may 
 be used which have been dug up and tied in bundles without 
 pressing. Study and describe with the aid of the following 
 outline : 
 
 Leaves. Spirally arranged; two-rowed; abundant; me- 
 dium; not ■ abundant ; oval; elliptical; cordate; obcordate. 
 
 Leaflets. Number; palmate; pinnate; smooth; hairy; 
 edges smooth; serrated. 
 
 Leaflets. Sketch ; length ; width. 
 
 Midrib. Ending in leaflet; ending in tendril; neither. 
 
 Stipules. Sketch ; attached to petioles ; not attached to 
 petioles. 
 
 Stems. Height; diameter one inch from base; erect; 
 spreading; decumbent; trailing. 
 
 Stems. Round ; square ; hairy ; smooth ; stolonif erous ; not 
 stoloniferous. 
 
 Branches. None; few; many. 
 
 Inflorescence. At end of leaf-bearing stem or branch, 
 springing from axil of leaf. 
 
 Inflorescence. Raceme; umbel; capitulum. 
 
 Flowers upon maturity. Reflexed; not reflexed. 
 
 Calyx. Length of anterior tooth compared with other 
 teeth. 
 
 Petals. United; free; white; red; pink; purple; blue; 
 yellow; persistent; not persistent. 
 
 Prepare a paper upon the "Value of the legumes as forage 
 crops. ' ' 
 
 References: Bergen. Elements of Botany. 
 
\ 
 
 for the Public Schools. 43 
 
 EXERCISE 50. 
 
 Object: To enable the identification of the most common 
 grasses by means of their heads and leaves. 
 
 Materials: Dried bundles of the various grasses. Heads 
 of the principal grasses preserved in 3 percent formalin are 
 excellent for study. 
 
 Include timothy, barn-yard grass, June grass, orchard 
 grass, red top and the foxtails. 
 
 Directions: With Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin No. 94 in hand, 
 describe head and leaf of each grass as fully as possible. Get 
 the general characteristics. Correlate this with a field trip 
 identifying as many kinds of grass as possible and complete 
 description in notebook, noting kind of soil preferred by each, 
 relative amount of moisture, etc. Make a list of pasture 
 grasses, dry meadow, wet meadow, and sand grasses. 
 
 EXERCISE 51. 
 
 Object: To enable one to identify the most common 
 weeds by their seeds. 
 
 Materials : Small vials containing weed seeds which have 
 been collected from year to year by previous classes. 
 
 Directions: In fall take a field trip and collect seeds of 
 various weeds. These may be partially cleaned and put into 
 small vials, properly labeled, for reference. Put up a dupli- 
 cate set without label, but with number corresponding with 
 the original set, for class use. Make lists of roadside weeds, 
 pasture weeds, meadow weeds, etc. 
 
 With Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 94, Nevada Exp. Sta. Bul- 
 letin 38 and Mich. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 260, most of the .weed 
 seeds may be identified. 
 
 EXERCISE 52. 
 
 Object: To identify various legumes and forage crops 
 by means of their seeds and heads. 
 
 Materials: Select and preserve in 3 percent formalin the 
 whole fruit (head) of as many of the legumes mentioned in 
 Exercise 49 as possible. Copy of Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 94 
 for each member of class. 
 
 Directions: Study at least three, including red clover. 
 The following outlines may be used, and when adjectives do 
 not apply others may be suggested. 
 
44 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Calyx. Number of teeth ; relative length of inferior tooth,- 
 persistent; easily removed. 
 
 Calyx tube. Hairy; smooth; number of ribs. 
 
 Corolla. Number of petals ; free ; united ; persistent ; easily 
 removed ; smooth ; hairy. 
 
 Pod. Roundish; kidney-shaped; elongated; straight; 
 twisted; opens longitudinally; opens transversely. 
 
 Style. Persistent; deciduous. 
 
 Seeds per pod. Extreme numbers; usual number. 
 
 Threshing. Seeds easily removed; seeds difficult to re- 
 move; reason. 
 
 Seed. Viewed from two largest diameters; round; oval; 
 elliptical ; kidney-shaped. 
 
 Seed. Viewed from two smallest diameters; round; oval; 
 flat. 
 
 Seed. Orange; yellowish . brown ; yellow; reddish; red; 
 green; yellowish green; dark olive-green; black. 
 
 Hilum. Round; oval; elongated. 
 
 Radicle. More than half the edge; half the edge; less 
 than half the edge. 
 
 Radicle. Tip prominent; tip not prominent. 
 Reference : Hunt : Cereals in America, page 151-52. 
 
 EXERCISE 53. 
 
 Object: To recognize the different kinds of buds. 
 
 Materials: Twigs of apple, plum and cherry. 
 
 Directions: Study the external appearance of the buds 
 and note any difference in appearance; then cut longitudinal 
 and cross sections and find pure leaf buds, fruit' buds, and 
 mixed buds. If care is taken, the miniature flowers in the fruit 
 buds may be seen. Place twigs in water to watch their de- 
 velopment. Horse chestnut buds are excellent for bud study 
 when available, 
 
 EXERCISE 54. 
 
 Object: To note variations in any crop with a view to 
 selection for ultimate improvement of stock. 
 
 Materials: Spring balance, pail, spading fork or hoe. 
 
for the Public Schools. 
 
 45 
 
 Directions : Obtain permission to go into a nearby potato 
 field and dig twenty hills or more. "Weigh and count the large 
 (marketable) and the small potatoes. Tabulate results accord- 
 ing to the following : 
 
 
 Large 
 
 Small 
 
 Hill 
 
 Number 
 
 Weight 
 
 Number 
 
 Weight 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Note the variation in individual hills. Considering the 
 sum total of good points for each hill, which hill would be the 
 most desirable for seed? Should only large potatoes be used 
 for seed? If used, would there be small potatoes? 
 
 In noting different hills, does a change in environment 
 affect variation? May cultivated varieties be improved by 
 proper selection? What are the best methods for selecting 
 tomato seed or seed corn? 
 
 In the same manner study variation in peas and beans. 
 
 References: Hunt: Cereals in America, p. 14-26. "The In- 
 fluence of Environment on the Origination of Plant Varieties", 
 Year Book of the Department of Agriculture 1896, "Hybrids 
 and their Utilization in Plant-breeding", Year Book 1897. 
 "Improvement of Plants by Selection", Year Book 1898, 
 
 EXERCISE 55. 
 
 Object: Same as for Exercise 54, (variation in corn). 
 
 Directions: Visit a nearby corn field and have each 
 student study ten hills, noting number of stalks in each hill, 
 the number of suckers, of ears, of barren stalks and the aver- 
 age number of ears per stalk. If corn is planted in drills 
 instead of hills similar facts may be noted. 
 
46 Manual of Agriculture. 
 
 Obtain data for the following table : 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 Height of 10 stalks . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Height of ear 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Length of shank of ear 
 Length of ear 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Direction of ear 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Number of leaves 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 What are suckers? What is a shank? What is the usual 
 direction of the ear, and what effect upon its direction does 
 a long slender shank have? Notice the great variations in 
 different plants. To what extent are these variations heredi- 
 tary? What are other causes affecting variation in the char- 
 acter of the ear? From what kind of ear should seed be 
 selected? What uncertainty concerning the ear? What may 
 result from pollen coming from a poor stalk? 
 
 Reference: U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bulletin, No. 229. 
 
 I 
 
 EXEKCISE 56. 
 
 Object: To show how to propagate certain common 
 plants. 
 
 Materials: Stems of currant, gooseberry, grape, gera- 
 nium and leaves of begonia. Copies of U. S. Dept. Agr., 
 Farmers' Bulletins 157 and 218 for each student "are very use- 
 ful. 
 
 Directions: (1) Have students make the cuttings in each 
 case and have some of these planted in boxes in the school- 
 room and upon the school grounds or school garden. En- 
 courage students to grow such cuttings at home. 
 
 References : U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers ' Bulletins 157, 218. 
 
 (2) Exercise in budding. This is an optional exercise 
 and unless there is plenty of time it better not be attempted, 
 as it has to be done in early September. 
 
 Same references as above, 
 
 (3) Exercise in grafting. Have each pupil make several 
 root grafts. Always graft from desirable varieties. These 
 
for the Public Schools. 47 
 
 may be taken home by students and grown in home orchard 
 or garden. 
 
 (4) Exercise in pruning. Have several hand saws and 
 sharp jack-knives. First determine the principles of pruning 
 and objects desired, then obtain permission to prune some 
 neglected orchard. 
 
 References: "The Pruning Book", L. H. Bailey, Macmil- 
 
 lan Co. 
 
 EXERCISE 57. 
 
 Sundry Suggestions. 
 
 This work should be persistently followed up throughout 
 the year remembering that the value of a collection depends 
 upon its attractive arrangement and proper labeling. Suit- 
 able cupboards will be provided if valuable collections are 
 once collected. 
 
 (1) Have the common grasses collected and tied in 
 bundles properly labeled. A label should contain the scienti- 
 fic name, the common name, place, locality, date and name of 
 collector. Example: Phleum pratense, timothy or herds- 
 grass, Montpelier, upland meadow, July 16, 1911. A. B. 
 Brown. Have seeds of each of the grasses placed in small 
 vials and labeled. 
 
 (2) Do the same with the grains. 
 
 (3) Follow the same with the common weeds. 
 
 (4) Have collections made of the leaves and fruits of 
 the trees and shrubs of Vermont. This may be supplemented 
 by making a collection of twigs before the buds open and of 
 the different woods. 
 
 Reference: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin, No. 73, "The Trees 
 of Vermont", 146, "Vermont Shrubs and Woody Vines." 
 
 Field Trips. 
 
 (1) Notebooks should be taken on all field trips and if 
 possible the entire afternoon, or if this cannot be done, from 
 three o'clock to five-thirty, should be employed. 
 
 Study plant societies, viz., pasture, woodland, swamp, bog, 
 meadow, dry, sandy soil, etc. 
 
 (2) Study forest conditions; determine if lumber is in 
 prime condition to cut. "What kind of trees has past treat- 
 
48 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 ment favored? Make a list of the trees and estimate percent 
 of each on acre. Estimate number of board feet on an acre. 
 Visit land suitable for reforestation and study methods. (See 
 Exercises 58-64). 
 
 (3) Make lists of plants as found on particular soils, as 
 clay, sand, rich loam, etc. 
 
 (4) Study plant diseases. Students should be taught to 
 recognize the most common of fungus diseases. Call their at- 
 tention to the way in which fungi are propagated by spores. 
 Compare with bread mold which may be studied profitably. 
 
 References : Mass. Exp. Sta. Report, 9, p. 57. H. Marshall 
 Ward, Diseases of Plants. 
 
 (5) Study of insect enemies. Learn to recognize the in- 
 sect enemies of plants which are the most destructive. Study 
 the different stages in life of each. Note those injurious to 
 plant by chewing and those that suck the juices. The subject 
 of spraying with bordeaux mixture may be taken up and used 
 for a special exercise. For directions, consult Vt. Exp. Sta. 
 BuUetin 113. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 (1) Have students find number of cubic feet and weight 
 of one bushel of corn on the cob. Repeat with shelled corn. 
 "What part of a bushel will a bushel of corn on the cob make 
 when shelled? 
 
 (2) Measure hay in mow to find number of tons. 
 
 (3) Protection afforded by corky covering of plants. 
 Select two potatoes and two apples of equal size. Pare one 
 and obtain weights of both. Hang over stove and weigh 
 every day. Tabulate results and compute percent of total 
 weight lost. Another student may place his under ordinary 
 room conditions. What does this teach about care of apples 
 and potatoes and value of potatoes cut by hoe in digging? If 
 loss from unpared potato is less, give reason. Upon what does 
 the usefulness of the potato depend? What is the use of the 
 pulp of the apple to itself? 
 
 (4) For advanced classes find effects upon growing 
 plants of various strengths of salt solutions. Start with 1 
 percent solution and work down to more dilute solutions. 
 
for the Public Schools. 49 
 
 FORESTRY. 
 
 Forestry is a subject which cannot satisfactorily be studied 
 out of a book or in the laboratory. The teacher should take 
 the students for field excursions or assign definite periods for 
 outdoor study. Many questions will arise which are not men- 
 tioned in these few exercises, whose only purpose has been 
 to start the students thinking along forestry lines. It is not 
 enough in our nature studies to create a love of the forest. 
 That is inborn with every child, but when he becomes a land 
 owner he is forced by the struggle for existence to treat his 
 forest as an income producer. It is, therefore, important that 
 the young generation understand the fundamentals underlying 
 forest growth, so that they shall consider the forest as a crop 
 to be harvested and grown again and not as a mine or a quarry 
 to be exploited and abandoned. 
 
 Exercises 58 and 61 will necessarily have to be studied 
 in the spring ; 59 and 60 in the fall ; while the remainder 
 may be taken at any time most convenient for getting into 
 the woods. 
 
 EXERCISE 58. 
 
 Object: To learn the tree flowers. 
 
 Directions : Watch the trees of your region in the spring 
 to see if they have flowers of any kind. Make a list of the 
 trees in the order in which their flowers appear. Describe or 
 draw the difilerent flowers. Do you see any resemblance be- 
 tween the flowers of different trees as the birch and poplar? 
 If so, what trees have similar flowers 1 If correctly noted, this 
 will show which trees are related. Look particularly for the 
 small flowers of the pine, spruce, or tamarack. 
 
 Reference: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 73, ''The Trees of Ver- 
 mont." 
 
 EXERCISE 59. 
 
 Object: To learn the tree seeds. 
 
 Materials: Collections of different kinds of tree seeds, 
 pine cones, etc. 
 
 Directions: Some trees ripen their seed in the spring, 
 but most of them in the fall; so the latter (September or 
 October) is the best time to study this exercise. What trees 
 have nuts? Under pine and spruce trees you may find cones. 
 These are not the seed, but the seed grow in the cones. If you 
 
50 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 do not find any seed in the cones you have collected, climb the 
 tree and pick some cones that have not opened. Dry these 
 out in the sunlight of the window and note the seeds. Where 
 are the seeds in the cone and how many of them? Why were 
 there no seed in the dry cones on the ground? How would 
 you go to work to collect a lot of seed of spruce, birch, ash and 
 
 oak? " i 
 
 1 
 
 Reference: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 73, ''The Trees of Ver- 
 mont. ' ' 
 
 EXERCISE 60. | 
 
 Object: To study tree seed distribution. 
 
 Directions: In the fall go into a pasture where there are 
 a few scattered butternut or beech or hickory or other nut 
 trees. Notice how far away from these trees you find the 
 nuts. If it is on a hillside, how far down the hill do the nuts 
 roll? You may find a pile of nuts hidden somewhere. If so, 
 who collected them? Go into the woods when the wind is 
 blowing in the fall and try to find some seeds being carried 
 by the wind. You will notice that some of them twirl around 
 in the air and seem to sail farther than others. What makes 
 this? What kind sail farthest? Out in the pasture on the 
 edge of the woods, how far from the woods can you find the 
 seed of maple and ash ? On a pleasant day after the first fail 
 of snow in the fall, go into the woods and try to find tree 
 seeds on the snow. What do you find the most of? Is it be- 
 cause there are more large trees of that kind, or because the 
 seed is more plentiful and can be blown long distances? If 
 this happens every year you would expect a great many little 
 trees of this kind. 
 
 EXERCISE 61. 
 
 Object: To study tree seed germination. 
 
 Directions: This exercise should be studied in the spring. 
 If there is a cider mill near you, visit the pile of pulp in May 
 or June and see if you find anything growing on it. Get down 
 on your hands and knees under the old maple tree by the road- 
 side and try to find some little maples. Do you find many? 
 What becomes of them? Why don't they grow up? Go into 
 the sugar orchard and see if there are little maples there that 
 are growing up into good trees to take the place of the old 
 ones. If not, why not? If you have a pond or lake or river 
 near you, go along the shore and see if you find any forest 
 seedlings coming up just above the water line. What kind 
 
for the Public Schools. 51 
 
 are they and why should they grow here? Find an old de- 
 cayed log or big stump in the woods. Is there anything 
 growing on it? Sometimes you will find a straight row of big 
 trees that started in that way. 
 
 EXERCISE 62. 
 
 Object: To show the height growth of trees. 
 
 Materials : Rule, paper and pencil. 
 
 Directions: Go where there are some young spruce or 
 pines growing. Select some that are not too tall. Note that 
 the limbs grow in whorls at different heights. At the top of 
 the tree will be found a cluster of buds. What relation have 
 these buds to the whorl of limbs? How can one determine 
 the age by the whorls? Note the age and height of ten trees. 
 With the ruler measure the last year's growth; that of 1 year 
 ago ; 2 years ago, etc. Which year did the tree grow the most? 
 Find this out for several trees. Was it always the same year 
 or different years? What was the greatest growth made in a 
 single year? 
 
 EXERCISE 63. 
 
 Object: To show the diameter growth of trees. 
 
 Materials: Ruler, paper and pencil. 
 
 Directions: Go to some woodlot which has been recently 
 cut and where the stumps were sawed off so that the rings 
 show plainly. Note which kind of trees have rings that are 
 easiest to count. Count the rings on ten trees of one kind but 
 of different diameters making record of the diameters and 
 ages. Are the oldest trees also the biggest in diameter? Is 
 the rate of growth uniform throughout the age of the tree? If 
 not, can you think of any reasons for a change ? At what period 
 in the life of each tree did it make the most growth? During 
 the past ten years do you find that any one year was parti- 
 cularly favorable to diameter growth? If so, does it corre- 
 spond to the year that the trees made a good height growing in 
 Exercise 62? 
 
 EXERCISE 64. 
 
 Object: To show basal area of growth of trees. 
 
 Materials: Ruler, paper and pencil. 
 
 Directions: Go to the same place as last exercise or a 
 similar cutting. Find the diameter of one tree at the age of 
 20, again at 30, 40 and 50. The diameter can be considered as 
 
52 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 twice the radius. Take all the readings on the same radius. 
 Subtract the diameter at 20 years from that at 30 and divide 
 by the diameter at 20 to get the percentage of growth. Do 
 the same for the other ages. "What was the area of the cross 
 section at 20, 30, 40 and 50 years. Get this by the formula: 
 A equals K^. Obtain the percentage of increase of area as of 
 diameter and compare the two. This gives an idea of how 
 rapidly a tree grows. 
 
 EXERCISE 65. 
 
 Object: To make observations at the saw mill. 
 
 Materials: Ruler, paper and pencil. 
 
 Directions,: Visit a saw mill if you can get permission. 
 Watch the man who handles the log and saws off the boards. 
 He is the sawyer, and is paid more than the other men, be- 
 cause he has to know the best way to saw up a log. Notice 
 that when a new log goes in, he first saws off slabs with the 
 bark. In some mills the sawyer cuts these slabs off the four 
 sides and makes a square log first ; in others he saws the boards 
 off the round log. In the first case the boards will be square 
 edged; in the second, they will have bark on the edges and 
 are called round edged. Which way does your sawyer do? 
 What kind of logs have the greatest waste in slabs? What 
 other form of waste is there? Did you notice any part of the 
 trees wasted in the woods? The sawyer usually marl^ a 
 number on each board as he takes it from the saw — what does 
 this mean? 
 
 EXERCISE QQ. 
 
 Object: To study the rotting of wood. 
 
 Materials: Paper and pencil, ax or hatchet. 
 
 Directions: Find a place where some trees have been 
 recently cut; or secure permission and cut down one or two 
 trees. Note the difference in color between the wood in the 
 center of the tree and that near the outside. Which is the 
 heart wood and which sap wood; and which is the drier? 
 Which part do you think would last longest? Find, if possi- 
 ble, an old fence post or clothes reel that has been taken out 
 of the ground. What part of it rotted most; heart or sap; 
 above or below the ground? AVhat kind of wood are most of 
 your fence posts? What kind is used for railroad ties? In 
 the woods find some old logs that have been on the ground a 
 long time. Cut into them with your ax. Do you find any of 
 these sound inside? If so, what kinds? 
 
for the Public Schools. 53 
 
 ANIMAL LIFE. 
 EXERCISE 67. 
 
 Object: To familiarize students with the common nu- 
 trients in animal and human foods. 
 
 Materials : (1) A piece of lean meat, the white of an egg, 
 a piece of cheese (preferable skim-milk cheese or Edam 
 cheese), "gum" made by chewing wheat kernels. 
 
 2, Sugar, starch, a piece of linen or cotton cloth. 
 
 3. Butter, lard, olive oil. 
 
 Directions: The materials listed above are: 
 
 1. Proteids. Flesh makers. 
 
 2. Carbo-hydrates. (Carbon and elements of water). 
 Heat producers, source of fat storage and formation. 
 
 3. Fats. Heat producers, source of fat storage. 
 
 Learn to recognize each. Make simple tests of recogni- 
 tion as follows : 
 
 1. Burn a feather, hair, wool; note the characteristic 
 odor, different from that of burning starch, for example. 
 
 2. Boil starch in water and starch a cloth. Boil flour, 
 oatmeal or potato, and note if the product will starch a cloth. 
 
 Drop a drop of iodine into a starch solution. What hap- 
 pens? The reaction denotes the presence of starch. Try it 
 in a cold solution; then warm it gently. 
 
 3. Make a grease spot on clean white paper. Drop a 
 drop of ether on it and let it evaporate. 
 
 "Whether it is a boy or a cow that is being fed; whether 
 the meal consists of soup, meat, and pie, or hay, silage and 
 grain; boy and cow alike eat and digest proteids, carbohydrates 
 and fats. These nutrients are what keep us alive and warm, 
 and enable us to work. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin, 144, ''Concerning 
 Feeding Stuffs"; 152, "Principles and Practice of Stock Feed- 
 ing. ' ' 
 
 EXERCISE 68. 
 
 Object: To teach how to formulate a balanced ration. 
 
 Materials: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 152. A collection of 
 the more common hay grasses, cereal crops, forage crops and 
 the more common grain feeds sold in the community. 
 
 Directions: In order that an animal should be properly 
 nourished and do profitable service, it is necessary that it 
 
54 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 should have ample supplies of food of the right kind and that 
 the nutrients should be fairly well proportioned. A cow, for 
 instance, cannot make the curd of her milk out of starch. She 
 must have protein, and if she is stinted in the supply of that 
 nutrient which is needed to make this portion of milk, she 
 simply cannot make milk, any more than figs may grow on 
 thistles. The supplying of a ration which will afford a given 
 animal the right amount and the right proportions of the 
 several nutrients, is termed the furnishing of a "balanced ra- 
 tion." Different amounts and different proportions are fed 
 to different animals for different purposes. The rations used 
 in fattening an ox or a hog, for working or for trotting horses, 
 to make a cow give a large mess of milk, or a hen to lay a lot 
 of eggs ; all these differ. They contain the same nutrients, but 
 in different proportions. 
 
 There are a multitude of good combinations of the rough- 
 ages and concentrates for various kinds of feeding. By the 
 use of the tables in bulletin 152 of the Vt. Exp. Sta. and the 
 printed matter descriptive of their use one can formulate a 
 balanced ration which is likely to be satisfactory. (The di- 
 rections will be readily found in the bulletin in question for 
 it is thoroughly indexed. The matter on pages 37 to 44 of 
 bulletin 144 will be found of service in this connection. 
 
 References: As above: Also U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' 
 Bulletin 22, "The Feeding of Farm Stock." 
 
 EXERCISE 69. 
 
 Object: To test milk for its butter fat content. 
 
 Materials: Babcock tester and outfit, sample jars (light- 
 ning fruit jars to be preferred), samples of milk. 
 
 Directions: Steps in the process: 
 
 1. Sampling. 
 
 2. Preparation. 
 
 3. Pipetting. 
 
 4. Adding acid. 
 
 5. Whirling and water adding. 
 
 6. Reading. 
 
 1. Sampling-. Mix the milk (entire milking) by pouring 
 back and forth at least thrice, sampling immediately. Com- 
 posite sample is advised. See item 2 in exercise 70. 
 
 2. Preparation. Shake sample in jar gently to loosen 
 cream that may stick to the sides of jar. Remove cover. 
 Pour backwards and forth several times, at least thrice. 
 
for the Public Schools. 55 
 
 3. Pipetting. At once draw milk into pipette to point 
 above the mark in the neck and place the finger on the end to 
 hold it. Loosen the finger slightly till the level lowers to 
 the mark, "17.6 c. c." Run the milk into the test bottle, held 
 at an angle, blowing out the final drops. 
 
 4. Adding Acid. Fill the acid measure to or slightly 
 above the mark with sulphuric acid. Pour it carefully and 
 slowly into the bottle, holding the same at a slant. Then mix 
 the contents by a rotary motion, the mouth of the bottle being 
 held away from the face, until all the curd has disappeared, 
 and for sometime thereafter. Do not mix insufficiently, but 
 take plenty of time shaking the bottle. If the acid is spilled 
 on the clothes, person, table or elsewhere, drench with water. 
 Always have plenty of water close at hand in case of accident. 
 
 5. Whirling and water adding. Place the bottle in the 
 centrifugal, balancing with a similar bottle (filled) on the 
 opposite side. Whirl at the stated speed (700-1200 revolutions 
 per minute according to the make of the machine) for an inter- 
 val of at least 5 minutes. Stop the machine, and add boiling 
 hot water to the bottle until the fat is raised to the base of the 
 neck. Whirl again for 2 minutes. Add boiling hot water 
 with care to bring the fat into the neck. Whirl for one 
 minute. 
 
 6. Reading. The reading is accomplished by the sub- 
 traction of the bottom reading from that of the top, taking 
 the latter from the top of the curve. The reading should be 
 made at once while the contents are hot. There should be 
 provision made for keeping the contents of the tester hot dur- 
 ing the operation (hot water, steam, oil stove, or otherwise). 
 
 7. Cleaning. Empty bottles promptly. Rinse with hot 
 water containing washing powder to cut the grease. Rinse 
 again with clean hot water. 
 
 For more detailed explanations (which are important, for 
 the above is a bare outline and does not dwell on many of the 
 details to the extent that their importance merits), see the 
 book of directions issued with each tester by manufacturers. 
 
 If the school does not own a Babcock, borrow from a 
 creamery or a farmer. Perhaps neighboring schools can club 
 together in its purchase. 
 
 References: Books of directions issued by manufacturers 
 of apparatus; N. H. Exp. Sta. (Durham, N. H.), Bulletin. 
 
56 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 EXERCISE 70. 
 
 Object: To test cows as to their dairy abilities. 
 
 Materials: Scales, record sheet, Babcock outfit. 
 
 Directions: 1. Weigh the milk three days monthly and 
 at the end of the year add the records and add a zero at the 
 end for the year's record. 
 
 2. Sample (composite sample, 4 to 8 consecutive milk- 
 ings, preserved with formalin or corrosive sublimate) twice or 
 thrice a year as suggested by the Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 128 
 (which see for directions). 
 
 3. Test the sample (See exercise 69). 
 
 4. Multiply weight by test, dividing by 100. This gives 
 butter fat in pounds. Multiply by 1.1-6 for butter. 
 
 5. Example: 12 months record weights=426 lbs. 426 
 xl0=4260. Average test 4.6. 4260x4.6-100=186. 186x 
 1.1-6=217. 
 
 "What is the use of weighing milk? What is the use of 
 testing milk? Can one tell from milk weight alone the worth 
 of a cow? Why not? Can you tell from milk test alone the 
 worth of a cow? Why not? Can one tell from both the 
 worth of a cow? Why not? What other factor is needed? 
 Is it easy to keep food records? Is it not practicable to keep 
 records with one's cows? Do all cows make a profit? Do 
 many make losses? Can you tell the one from the other by 
 their looks or surely in any other way? Is not knowing what 
 they do in terms of pounds of milk and butter and what they 
 eat in terms of pounds of food better than going it blind? Of 
 what use is it to keep cows which do not pay their board bills ? 
 
 6. Compare cows thus tested. 
 
 Urge neighboring farmers to form a cow testing associa- 
 tion. There are 11 such in operation in Vermont with over 
 6,000 cows under test. There ought to be ten times as many. 
 Write to Hon. 0. L. Martin, State Commissioner of Agricul- 
 ture, Plainfield, Yt. for free bulletin on this subject. 
 
 References: Vt. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 128, ''The Testing of 
 Cows"; Vt. State Com. Agr. Bulletin on "Cow Test Associa- 
 tions." 
 
for the Public Schools. 57 
 
 SCORE CAED FOR POTATOES. 
 
 Will they be Profitable? 
 
 (From the Farmer's Standpoint.) 
 
 I. Will They Yield Well? i. e., 
 
 Produce Well 25 points 
 
 1. SIZE OF TUBERS. Individual potatoes 
 should be fairly large, indicating strength and 
 constitution. 
 
 2. NUI^IBER IN THE HILL. Hills with 
 only a few good sized potatoes are undesir- 
 
 1 able, also hills with a large number of under- 
 sized potatoes. 
 
 3. COMPACTNESS IN THE HILL. They 
 should be compact enough to gather easily, 
 
 ' and spread enough not to push out of the 
 ground. 
 
 II. Will They Sell? i.e.. Are They What the Mar- 
 
 ket Demands and Are They Attractive in 
 Appearance 25 points 
 
 1. SIZE. Potatoes should be large and 
 of imiform-size. 
 
 2. SHAPE. Tubers should be similar in 
 shape and free from deformities and irreg- 
 ularities. 
 
 3. SKIN. Skin should be firm, clean, 
 bright and clear, uniform in color. A white 
 skin, other things being equal, is preferable. 
 
 4. SOUNDNESS. Potatoes should be free 
 from scab, rot, sunburn and bruises, also from 
 damages due to bad handling. They should 
 not be hollow. 
 
 in. Will They Cook AAMl and Economically? 25 points 
 
 1. MEALINESS. When boiled and baked. 
 Potatoes which are immature, large and coarse 
 or with a thin papery skin, and also those 
 grown in heavy, wet clay soils are liable to be 
 soggy. 
 
 2. COLOR WHEN COOKED. They should 
 have uniform, white color throughout 
 
58 Marnial of Agriculture 
 
 and should not turn yellow or dark upon stand- 
 ing. Potatoes should be free from brown or 
 blackish spots, and from dark or reddish 
 streaks, especially near the stem and under 
 the eyes. 
 
 3. EVENNESS IN COOKING. The dif- 
 ferent potatoes and the parts of each potato 
 should cook quickly and uniformly. Potatoes 
 which are hard and watery when cooked, or 
 those having hard watery spots, or with a 
 tendency to be yellow, will cook unevenly. 
 
 4. FLAVOE. They should have a sweet 
 pleasing taste. Sunburned, sprouted, im- 
 mature potatoes, or those which have been 
 exposed to the light, will have a bad flavor. 
 
 5. EYES. Deep or sunken eyes, and those 
 protruding in clusters, are objectionable, and 
 cause a large loss in preparation for cooking. 
 
 IV. Do They Show Breeding? 25 points 
 
 1. TRUENESS TO TYPE. Indicated by 
 the uniformity in size, shape, color and other 
 characteristics of the tubers. 
 
 2. FREEDOM FROM MIXTURE. A mix- 
 ture of varieties is objectionable, because of 
 difference in manner of growth, time of 
 ripening and in keeping and storing qualities. 
 
 SCORE CARD FOR MOST VEGETABLES. 
 
 Form — Should be smooth, regular and correct for variety. .15 
 
 Size — Moderate to large, but not overgrown 10 
 
 Color — Characteristic of variety when mature 20 
 
 Uniformity — All specimens in an exhibit should be uniform 
 
 in size and color 20 
 
 Quality — Determined by appearance only 15 
 
 Freedom from blemishes — discount for blemishes of any 
 
 kind 20 
 
 Score Card for Cheese. 
 
 Flavor 50, texture 25, color 15, finish 10, total 100. 
 
 Score Card for Butter. 
 Flavor 45, body 30, color 10, salt 10, package 5, total 100. 
 
for the Public Schools. 59 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICUL- 
 TURAL COLLEGE. 
 
 Score Card. 
 
 FOR JUDGING DAIRY CATTLE. 
 
 General Apperance, 10. 
 
 Age, estimated, .... years ; corrected, ... .years; weight, 
 estimated, ... .pounds; corrected, .... pounds ; form, 
 
 spare, light fore- quarters, triple wedge-shape 7 
 
 Quality, skin rather loose, thin and mellow, hair fine 
 and soft with abundant, yellow secretions 3 
 
 Head, Neck and Fore-Quarters, 20. 
 
 Muzzle, mouth and nostrils large 1 
 
 Eyes, prominent and bright, with gentle, quiet expres- 
 sion 1 
 
 Face, clean cut and lean 2 
 
 Forehead, broad and dished 1 
 
 Neck, long and lean, clean at the throat making abrupt 
 
 juncture with the shoulders 5 
 
 Withers, thin and prominent 5 
 
 Shoulders, light and oblique 2 
 
 Crops, spare fleshed 1 
 
 Legs, short and straight with fine shanks 1 
 
 Body, 30. 
 
 Chest, sufficiently developed to insure good vital capac- 
 ity 2 
 
 Ribs, long, broad, open and well sprung below 2 
 
 Back, straight with prominent open spines 2 
 
 Loin, broad and spare 2 
 
 Flank, thin and high arching 1 
 
 Abdomen, long, broad, open and well sprung below. . . .12 
 
 Abdominal muscles and navel well developed 2 
 
 Milk veins, long, tortuous and branching, prominent. . 8 
 
 Milk wells, well forward, large or numerous 4 
 
 Udder and Hind- Quarters, 40. 
 
 Udder, large size and capacity, elastic 6 
 
 Fore-udder, extending well forward, full in form 8 
 
60 Manual of Agriculture 
 
 Hind-udder, well up behind, full in form and elastic .... 6 
 Teats, convenient and uniform size, squarely placed and 
 
 well apart 5 
 
 Hips, prominent and well apart 2 
 
 Rump, long and level, wide and roomy pelvis 4 
 
 Thurls, wide apart and high 1 
 
 Thighs, long, thin, wide apart, incurving with open twist 6 
 
 Tail, long and fine with good switch 1 
 
 Legs, short, straight, wide apart with good shanks .... 1 
 
 100 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICUL- 
 TURAL COLLEGE. 
 
 Working' Score Card for Dairy Cows of Any Breed. 
 
 The working dairy cow must have : — 
 
 1. Vigor and Health — indicated by 20 
 
 deep chest 
 bright eye 
 active manner 
 loose elastic skin 
 oily hair 
 medium flesh 
 open nostrils 
 
 2. Capacity for taking food — indicated by. 45 
 
 large barrel 
 
 long, deep and wide 
 
 triple wedge shape 
 
 3. Milk giving disposition — indicated by 35 
 
 being thin when well fed 
 loose structure (long tail) 
 large, loose udder 
 large branching milk veins 
 refined, feminine expression 
 
 100 
 
for the Public Schools. 61 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Every teacher is urged to get and use as many of the fol- 
 lowing references as possible. The bulletins are, for the most 
 part, free for the asking, and the books here mentioned may 
 be secured at a nominal price. 
 
 Publication. Author. Publisher or Address. 
 
 Bulletins, Vt. Experiment Station, Burlington, Vermont. 
 
 Farmers' Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 First Principles of Agriculture, Goff & Mayne, 
 
 American Book Co., N. T. 
 Agriculture for Beginners, Burkett, Stevens & Hill, 
 
 Ginn & Company, Boston. 
 Elementary Agriculture, Hatch & Haselwood, 
 
 Eow, Peterson & Co., Chicago. 
 First Book of Farming, Goodrich, 
 
 Doubleday, Page & Co., N. Y. 
 Elements of Agriculture, Warren, Macmillan Company, N. Y. 
 Practical Nature Study, Coulter Patterson, Appletons, N. Y. 
 Experiments with Plants, Osterhout, 
 
 Macmillan Company, N. Y. 
 Soil Physics Laboratory Guide, Stevenson & Schaub, 
 
 Orange Judd Company, N. Y. 
 Physics of Agriculture, King, (Madison, Wisconsin). 
 
 Soil, Lyon & Fippin, • Macmillan Company, N. Y. 
 
 The first five of the above named books are well adapted to 
 rural schools, at least for use of the teacher. The book by 
 Hatch and Haselwood is very strong on application of arithme- 
 tic. The "Laboratory Guide" is adapted to schools having a 
 good laboratory with some equipment, but contains much that 
 may be modified and adapted to rural school conditions. The 
 last two books in the list are intended for college work, but 
 are valuable as reference books for the more advanced work in 
 high schools. 
 
 Sundry pamphlets published by makers of farm machinery 
 and fertilizers contain much that is distinctly helpful. In 
 most cases these may be had for the asking. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 002 744 543 3