Agriculture: A Text for the School and the Farm - Special edition

Front matter

A Text for the School and the Farm

By

O. H. BENSON

Preface

The present volume attempts what has not yet been accomplished in elementary texts on agriculture — the combining of real practical information with concrete home and school projects to be carried out by the pupils. Agriculture, of all subjects, can not be taught from within a text-book. Nor, on the other hand, can it be well taught by the teacher who is not a specialist without a good text-book by means of which to unify the instruction and lead to an intelligent interest in the farm and its problems. Unless the pupils busy themselves with actual agricultural activities, tht study becomes mere theory and of doubtful value. This '.ext is a guide to concrete work and interest on the farm, in the garden and about the home.

Yet the text is more than a laboratory guide. It gives a large amount of practical, scientific information wholly without technical terms. Further, this information is always so immediately related to definite farm projects as to have meaning and application. Scientific facts and their use go hand in hand. Theory and practise are never divorced. The old maxim, <rLearn to do by doing/’ is constantly followed, and the doing made natural and worth while to the child by being connected with his home interests.

Hardly a day’s assignment occurs in the book, therefore, that does not present some real project for the pupils to carry out in connection with the farm or home life. Nor are the problems set the child lacking the information and guidance necessary to their intelligent solution. The re-

PREFACE quired facts, principles and descriptions are always at hand, and the problem or project made the means of teaching some valuable lesson in concrete form.

The authors believe that the elementary features of agriculture can be successfully taught without technicalities. It has been their aim to present a treatment so clear that students from fourteen to eighteen years of age could read and

profit by it even without a teacher. They have also tried to make the subject-matter so vital and helpful that all who are interested in agriculture, even practical farmers, will care to read it, and desire to carry out its lessons in practise.

Teachers will recognize and welcome the attempt to use the study of agriculture in bringing about a closer relation between the school and the home. Not only teachers, but county superintendents and agricultural agents will appreciate the many helpful suggestions concerning Demonstration Work, Play Contests and Agricultural Club Projects ; for these are coming to occupy an important place in agricultural education. The great amount of care given to make the lessons teachable through the outlining of many definite and practical laboratory, field and home projects will appeal to all who use the text, and save much time for the busy teacher.

The authors gratefully render their acknowledgments for much cordial help received from the staffs of various state colleges of agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture. Especially valuable have been the suggestions and material received from the colleges of agriculture of Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Alabama, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska.

Part I. Farm Crops Chapter

I Corn Culture pack

. 1

Corn the king of crops — The “corn belt” — The corn plant — Determining the stand — Stand in the home field — Corn enemies — Topics for investigation — Saving the seed — Types of corn — The selection bed — Corn judging with score-card — Testing the seed — Problems and experiments — Preparing seed for the planter — Seed bed and planting — Cultivating the corn — Harvesting and storing — The silo — Uses of corn — Topics for investigation — Corn demonstrations — Corn play contests — Corn club projects.

Bread the staff of life — Importance of wheat — The wheat states — Types of wheat — Topics for investigation — Growing the crop — Diseases and insect enemies — Treatment of fungous enemies — Treatment of insect enemies — Problems and experiments.

III Oats 80

Importance of oats as a crop — The oats region — Types of oats — Problems and experiments — Raising the crop — Harvesting and thrashing — Insect enemies and diseases — Topics for investigation — Wheat and oat demonstrations — Play contests — Club projects.

,IV The Potato . 98

Origin — Plant and tuber — Potatoes as a farm crop — The potato region — Growing the crop — Harvesting and storing potatoes — Seed selection — The “tuber-unit” method — Potato enemies — Problems and experiments — Potato demonstrations— Play contests — Potato clubs.

V Forage Crops . . . ... Ill

The place of forage crops — Important grasses and legumes— Region and extent of forage crops — Uses to which the forage plants are put — Problems and experiments— Demonstrations — Club projects.

CONTEN T S — ( Continued)

CHAPTER PAGE

Wide use of the clovers — Red clover — Study of the plant — Value of red clover on the farm — Raising red clover — Seed bed and seeding — Good seed — Harvesting — Enemies and their control — Other kinds of clover — Problems for investigation.

VII Alfalfa 133

Study of plant — Distribution of alfalfa — Alfalfa as a forage crop — As a renewer of the soil — Successful raising of alfalfa — Harvesting — Enemies — Topics for investigation.

VIII Other Legumes 146

The cow-pea — Cow-peas as forage — As a soil renewer —

The vetches — Varieties — Uses — Soy-beans — Uses and cultivation— Feeding value — The peanut.

IX Meadows and Pastures ........ 154

Importance of meadows and pastures — Requirements of a meadow — Meadow grasses and legumes — Mixtures for meadows — Care of meadows — Problems for investigation — Pastures — Requirements — Seed mixtures — Care.

PART II. HORTICULTURE X The Vegetable Garden ........ 165

Importance of garden — Location and soil — Plan — Table of planting and maturing — Garden culture — The hotbed — Insect enemies — Other enemies — Problems and experiments — Garden demonstrations — Play contests — Qub and canning projects.

XI The Fruit Garden 180

Profits and satisfaction — Soil and location — Plan — A variety list — Care of fruit garden — Enemies and their treatment — Spraying — Problems and experiments — Demonstrations — Play contests — Fruit clubs.

XII The Tomato 201

Importance of the tomato — Varieties — Raising the crop — Pruning and staking — Harvesting and marketing — Problems and experiments — Demonstrations — Play contests — Clubs.

CONTENTS— (Continued)

PAGE

CHAPTER

XIII Garden and Orchard Sprays 208

Indispensable in successful gardening — Bordeaux mixture — Use — Lime-sulphur — How made and used — Arsenate of lead — Mixing and applying — Paris green — Kerosene emulsion— How made and used — Resin-lime mixture.

XIV Home Canning of Fruits and Vegetables . . . 217

Value of home canned foods — Recipes for home canning — Time table for canning — Canning outfits.

PART III, THE SOIL XV Nature of Soil 225

Origin of soil — Nature of soil — Organic matter — Texture and its effects — Structure of soils — Structure and tilth — Erosion — Problems and experiments.

XVI Soil Fertility and Plant Growth 236

Plant food and soil fertility — Loss of fertility — Maintaining fertility — Barnyard manure as a fertilizer — Preventing loss from manure — Application to soil — Green manuring — Commercial fertilizers — Use of lime on soils — Crop rotation and fertility.

XVII Soil Moisture 251

Forms of soil water — Capacity of soils for capillary water — Tillage and soil water — Soil drainage — Surface and tile drains — Soil demonstrations — Problems and experiments — Soil play contests — Club woijc.

PART IV. FARM ANIMALS XVIII Farm Animals and Agriculture 265

Work animals — Animals that supply food — Other animal products — Topics for investigation.

XIX Cattle 272

Dairy cattle — Profitable and unprofitable cows — The dairy type — Selecting dairy cows by milk tests — Dairy breeds — Feeding for milk production — Producing clean milk — Beef breeds — Judging cattle — Tuberculosis in cattle — Experiments and problems — Demonstrations with cattle — Play contests — Club projects.

CONTENTS — (Continued)

CHAPTER PAGE

XX Horses 296

The horse-raising states — Classes of horses — Breeds — Judging horses — Common defects of horses — Care and training — Feeding: work rations — Topics for investigation— Demonstrations with horses — Play contests — Club projects.

XXI Swine 315

Pork region — Breeds of hogs — Care hog houses — Feeding : balanced rations — Diseases — Prevention and treatment of cholera — Problems and experiments — Demonstrations — Play contests — Club projects.

XXII Sheep 336

Importance on farm — Breeds of sheep — Feeding: rations — Experiments and problems — Demonstrations — Play contests— Club work.

XXIII Poultry 346

Importance on farm — Extent of industry — Breeds of chickens — Producing chickens — Hens and incubators — Testing eggs — Feeding chickens — Producing and marketing eggs — Housing poultry — Poultry diseases — Topics for investigation— Poultry demonstrations — Play contests — Club projects.

PART V. FARM ECONOMICS XXIV Farm and Home Management 375

Planning the farm — Administration of farms — Farm accounts — Important rules — Ten commandments of agriculture— Topics for investigation — The farm house — Other farm buildings.

XXV The Home Grounds and Wood Lot .... 389

Beautifying the home grounds — Trees — The lawn — The farm wood lot — Tree enemies — Problems and experiments — Demonstrations — Play contests — Tree and grounds club.

XXVI The County Agricultural Agent .... 401

Work of the county agent — Financial support — The county agent and the school — How to make use of the county agent.

CONTENTS— (Continued)

CHAPTER PACK

XXVII Farm Implements and Mechanics .... 408

Importance of implements and tools — Farm mechanics —

Use of cement — Shop work — Rope tying and splicing — Problems and experiments — Play contests — Club projects.

XXXVIII Road Building and Maintenance .... 420

Importance of good roads — Types of roads — Location of a road — Qualities making a good road — Construction of earth roads — Maintenance — Topics for investigation — Road demonstrations — Road clubs.

XXIX Birds and Other Insect Destroyers .... 432

Birds and their food — Birds helpful to agriculture — Harmful birds — Protecting birds — Topics for investigation — Other insect destroyers.

XXX Miscellaneous Information 441

How to remove stains — Location of colleges of agriculture and experiment stations — Distance apart for planting fruits and vegetables — Quantity of seed per acre for planting.

A modern farm scene with consolidated rural school and principal’s home in the foreground.

Chapter I

CORN is king of farm crops. The value of the corn crop is almost equal to that of cotton, wheat and oats combined, and totals more than a billion dollars annually. We feed our stock upon corn, eat it for our own food and use it in many other ways. The welfare and prosperity of millions of people are dependent on securing a good crop of corn.

Three-fourths of the corn crop of the world is grown in the United States. Each year we produce more than 2,500,000,000 bushels. Should we load this enormous crop into wagons, fifty bushels to the load, and allow twenty feet for each wagon and team, the line would reach about eight times around the earth at the equator.

Taking the whole country together, the average yield of corn per acre is slightly less than thirty bushels. The states best adapted to corn raising are Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana and Ohio. These seven states, which are called the “corn belt” of the United States, raise nearly half of all the world’s corn. In them the yield is somewhat over forty bushels to the acre. This is a much smaller crop than could be raised if the soil were enriched, and greater care and skill used in growing the crop. A large number of corn club boys in different states have produced as much as one hundred fifty bushels from an acre, and not a few in the southern states have raised more than two hundred bushels. One of the things we shall try to learn in this book is how to raise a larger crop of corn from our fields.

1. The Corn Plant

Corn belongs to the grass family ; that is, it is a member of the same group of plants as timothy, wheat, rye, or blue-grass.

In order to study the corn plant itself, each of the class will secure from a near-by field, or bring from home, a complete stalk of corn, taking care to save as much of the root as possible. Then use the text as a help in studying the plant.

The roots. — Examining the roots, do you find them tough and fibrous, or tender? Do the roots branch, or is there a central tap root? At earing time the roots of a vigorous plant may extend down several feet, and spread out so that they meet the roots from other hills. The ground of a corn-field may thus be completely filled with roots. In dry seasons the roots strike deeper than in wet seasons. Why ? Would you expect the roots to run deeper in a black porous soil, or in a hard clay subsoil?

Are there roots branching from the lower one or two joints of the stalk, thus starting from above the top of the ground ? Roots growing in this way are called brace roots. They act like the guy ropes of a tent pole, and hold the stalk erect in the winds. If these are broken off by close plowing, or destroyed by worms, the corn is easily blown down.

The stem. — How long is the stem ? What is its girth just above the root? How many leaves has it? From where do these start? How are they attached? Are the

A good stand of corn. The yield was 105 bushels to the acre. The boy tested the seed.

edges of the blades longer than the center? What proof have yon?

The length of the stem varies with different varieties of corn, and because of differences in the season or the soil. The range is from two or three feet to fifteen or twenty feet. The stem is divided by joints called nodes; the sections between these joints are called internodes.

Is the stem round, or flattened? Cut the stem across -and note the structure. Unlike most other grasses, corn is not hollow. The spongy substance with which the hard outside shell is filled is called pith. The threads found running lengthwise through the pith add greatly to the strength of the stalk.

The leaves. — The leaves are important in the growth of the plant, since in them the plant food is worked over and assimilated, and through them the respiration, or breathing, of the plant is done. The leaves are large, and hence have to stand much tugging in the wind. Are they stronger because of their sheath-like form of attachment ? Will they tear as easily in a strong wind if the outer edges are slightly longer than the center ? Large vigorous leaves indicate a healthy plant. In very dry weather, the leaves curl up from the edges. This is a useful habit, since the leaf when thus rolled up does not lose so much moisture as when fully open.

Tassel and silk. — Strip the husk carefully from an ear in the milk stage, without injuring the silks. How many silks are there? Where are the silks attached to the ear? While tassel and silk are borne on different parts of the plant, yet it takes both together to make the complete flower of the corn and produce the ear. The tassel represents the male part, and the silk the female part of the flower.

The work of the tassel is to produce pollen . This sifts off in fine grains just as the corn is silking. A particle of pollen lodges on the tip of a silk, and a growth is carried through the center of the tiny thread to its root, where the kernel forms. The pollen in this way fertilises the silks, one silk for each kernel of corn. If for any reason no fertilization occurs^ no kernels will be formed.

The pollen grains are very light, and may be carried by the wind for many rods, thus fertilizing the silks of other plants than their own. This is called cross-fertilisation. The reason different varieties of corn planted in near-by fields mix is because the pollen is carried from one field to the other.

Have you ever seen an ear with part of the kernels white and the rest red, or yellow? How is this to be explained ? A small patch of pop-corn planted near field corn turned out to be badly mixed, although the seed used was pure. How do you account for the mixture ?

2. Determining the Stand

In order to raise a full yield of corn we must first of all have a good stand. Corn is usually planted in rows about three and a half feet apart each way. On good corn land three stalks seem to make the best hill. It is plain that if the hills have but one or two stalks each, or if whole hills are frequently missing, there can not be a full crop.

Importance of a good stand. — Farmers often lose much of their labor and a large amount of money because of a poor stand of corn. It requires as much work to prepare the ground and cultivate the corn for half or two-thirds of a stand as if every hill was present and had its three stalks.

How is it with the farms in your own neighborhood? With your father’s farm? What kind of a stand do the corn-fields show? The best way to answer this question is to go out into the fields and count the hills. This is the way the scientist works ; he makes sure , and does not guess. We will therefore determine the stand on several plots selected from different parts of a field of corn and discover whether the farmer is losing labor and money because the stand is imperfect.

Preparing for field study. — Before going out to the field rule off four forms like the following in your note-book, each square to represent a hill of corn :

3. Record of Stand of Corn plot no.

Counting stand in the field. — Now go to a near-by field and select what appears to be an average plot of corn, ten hills square. Go through the plot carefully, counting the stalks in each hill, and recording the number in the proper square on your record sheet. Hills having more than three stalks are to be recorded as having only three, as three stalks to the hill make the best stand on average soil, if planted three and one-half feet each way.

Having completed the count on this plot, select three other plots in different parts of the field, count the hills and make the record in your note-book for each plot separately. We are now ready to estimate the stand for the entire field. To do this, we shall need to work out the following problems, keeping the results in our note-books :

1. If every hill had three stalks, how many stalks would there be on each plot? How many on all four plots ?

2. How many hills in each of the plots had three stalks ? Two stalks? One stalk? No stalk? How many stalks altogether in each of the plots? In all the plots combined?

3. What percentage of a perfect stand do all four plots average? If the entire field averages as good a stand as the plots, what percentage of a stand has it ?

4. How many acres in the entire field? How many acres did the farmer plow and tend which, because of an imperfect stand, raised no corn ?

5. What will this field probably yield to the acre? Suppose the ears would still average the same size, what would, it yield with a perfect stand ? At the market price of corn, what difference in value would this make per acre? For the whole field?

Counting stand in home fields. — After having made this study, you will naturally want to know about your home fields of corn. Therefore prepare other record sheets in your note-books, and count the stand on four different plots of your father’s corn, making careful records as you did in the first study. Then work out the five problems for the home field as you did for the field studied at school. Show the results to your father, and talk with him about p the cause of the imperfect stand. Also compare your results with the stand found in the home fields of other members of the class, and see if you can discover what produces the differences in stand. Barring bad weather at planting time, worms and other pests, at least a ninety-five per cent stand should always be secured.

Barren stalks and suckers. — Merely having the right number of stalks in the field does not insure a crop, however. These stalks must bear ears. There are two classes of stalks that are of no use, barren stalks and suckers.

Strong and vigorous-looking stalks may be barren. Barrenness may be caused by weak seed, injuries to the roots by worms or insects, diseases, poor soil, drought, or too thick planting. Suckers are but branches from the parent stalks, and have no root of their own. They are worse than useless, for they seldom bear ears, and are but a drain on the stalk which supports them. Suckers are caused by thin planting, especially in rich heavy land. There are also some strains of com which, through heredity, are likely to grow suckers. Seed from sucker-bearing stalks should not be planted.

Counting barren stalks and suckers. — We shall now determine the percentage of barren stalks and suckers in a field. Take either the plots already counted for stand or new ones, and go over them, counting the ears. Make a record sheet of squares as before. In these squares record (1) the number of stalks that has two ears, (2) that has one ear, (3) that has no ear. Do this for each of four plots ten hills square.

Summing Up Results

1. What percentage of the stalks bears two ears? One ear?

2. What percentage of stalks is barren? If this percentage holds for the entire field, how much is the yield reduced per acre, supposing the field as it now stands will yield forty bushels ?

3. What percentage of the stalks bears suckers? How many of the suckers had ears?

4. What do you judge was the cause of die barren stalks? Of the suckers?

4. Corn Enemies

Plants, like animals, are subject to certain diseases. Corn is usually a healthy plant, and not affected by as many diseases as some of the other crops. The most serious enemies of corn are various insects, such as the corn-root worm, the corn-root aphis or louse, the cutworm, the ear worm ; and such animals as gophers, squirrels and birds.

The corn-root worm. — This pest is responsible, over a large area of the country, for greater 16ss to the com crop than any other cause except poor seed, and often probably inflicts more damage than all other insects put together. It has been estimated that its damage in the corn belt alone exceeds 200,000,000 bushels annually. Because the root worm is very small and does its work under ground, it is seldom seen, and probably could not be identified by many farmers to whom it has caused thousands of dollars of loss. It is present in some degree in almost every corn-field.

At full size the root worm is about one-third inch in length, and as large around as a pin. It is whitish in color, with its head and the first segment of its body brown. The root worm hatches in June or early July, and reaches its full growth by the first of August. Soon after this it goes into the pupa state, and in a few days comes out a small green beetle. This beetle lays the eggs, which remain in the ground over winter and hatch the next generation of root worms the following spring.

As soon as the young worms are hatched out they enter

( \) The corn root aphis. (B) The winged female, (C) The common ear-worm moth. (D) The corn ear worm. (E) The corn root worm. (F) The beetle.

the roots of the growing corn, burrowing back and forth just under the outside covering. Half a dozen worms are sometimes found in the one root, and as many as two hundred in a single hill. The worm destroys the tender part of the root, which turns brown and rots off, leaving only the stubs of roots. As a result, the stalk of corn is deprived of its means of securing moisture and nourishment. It seems to stand still instead of making a vigorous growth, and fires badly during the dry weather of July and August. It is easily blown over, especially after a rain when the ground is soft. The yield is greatly reduced, and the ears are light and chaffy ; many stalks are barren. The growth of the plant is retarded, and the crop is later in maturing.

There is no way of stopping these pests once they begin on a field of corn. But the remedy is simple for the next year — wherever possible plant the field to some other crop. For this will leave the young worms with no food, and they will all die. The field can then be planted to corn again, and should be free from root worms for at least the first year. Usually corn should not be raised for more than two years in succession on the same field. Especially if the corn goes down in spots in August, and if the roots show the working of these worms, should com not follow the next season. If proper rotation of crops is practised, there will be little or no loss from the root worm.

The corn-root aphis or louse. — Second to the root worm, the worst enemy of corn is the corn-root aphis. This is a small louse, no larger'than the head of a pin, and of a bluish-green color. These lice are found in groups on the roots of corn, from which they suck the juices intended for the growth of the plant.

The corn-root aphis is always found accompanied by ants. Indeed, it is the ants which carry the lice to the com roots, or to the roots of certain weeds after the corn roots have become hard. The ants take this care of the aphis because it gives out a sweet substance called “honey dew,” upon which the ants feed. The presence of many ants in the corn-field, especially ant-holes in the hill, is a sign of the root aphis.

The worst damage by the aphis is done while the corn is very young. The lice sometimes destroy the roots even before the plant comes up. The effect of their work on the corn roots causes the plant to turn yellow and take on a sickly appearance. If they are very severe in their attack, the tips of the leaves become purplish, and the stem reddish in color. The yield of the crop is greatly reduced, and its ripening delayed.

Rotation of crops is one of the surest remedies against this pest Harrowing the held before the com comes up, or while it is small, interferes with the work of the ants, and hence checks the ravages of the aphis. Keeping the fields clean of weeds is also necessary, since the lice thrive on the roots of such plants as smartweed and foxtail.

Cutworms.— Cutworms do little damage except on sod land which has been in meadow or pasture for a num - ber of years. They are a grayish-brown color, and grow to an inch or more in length. Cutworms work at night, cutting the young stalk of corn off just at the surface of the ground.

One remedy for cutworms is the fall plowing of sod. thus exposing the insects to the freezing of winter. This will greatly reduce their number. A shorter rotation of crops, leaving the field in sod but one or two years, will also tend to destroy the cutworms.

Wireworms. — Wireworms also make their home in sod, and hence are worst in newly broken ground. They a*re the larvae of the click-beetle, whose eggs are laid in meadows and pastures in the fall. They hatch out as small reddish-brown worms in the early spring. The worms attack the sprouting kernel, and also bore holes through the young plant Fall plowing and rotation of crops are the best remedies against the wireworm.

The com ear worm. — The worm is usually found working in the tips of corn ears. It attacks not only corn, but cotton and many other plants.

The corn ear worm lives through the winter in the pupa stage, and comes out in the spring as a moth. There are several broods each season, but only the last does any great damage to the com. The harm done by the ear worm is not great, except to sweet corn intended for canning. There is no certain remedy known, though fall plowing is thought to reduce their number.