Agriculture for common schools

Front matter

AGRICULTURE

FOR,

COMMON SCHOOLS

Section I— Soils Chapter

I. The Origin of the Soil 1

II. The Make-up of the Soil 9

III. Physical Properties of Soils .... 15

IV. Drainage and Irrigation 24

V. Handling the Soil 34

VI. Farm Manures . . . * . . . .49

VII. Commercial Fertilizers 55

SECTION II— FARM CROPS VIIL Classification of Farm Crops .... 64

IX. Corn . .67

X. Wheat 80

XI. Other Cereals 88

XII. Roots, Tubers, Bulbs 96

XIII. Forage Crops ........ 105

XIV. Other Farm Crops 121

XV. Seed Selection 129

XVI. Rotations 133

vii

VIU

CONTENTS SECTION III— HORTICULTURE

CHAPTEK

PAGE

XVII.

I. Pomology

. 137

XVIII.

Propagation of the Fruits ....

XIX.

Tillage

XX.

Se'iting the Orchard and Caring for it .

XXI.

XXII.

II. Olericulture or Vegetable Growing .

XXIII.

Raising Plants

XXIV.

Some of the Common Vegetables

XXV.

III. Landscape Gardening ....

XXVI.

Plants that May be Used ....

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

Plant Diseases and Their Treatment

SECTION IV— ANIMAL HUSBANDRY XXX. Farm Animals: I — The Horse XXXI. Farm Animals: II — Cattle .

XXXII. Farm Animals: III — Sheep and Goats

XXXIII. Farm Animals: IV — Swine . . . .

XXXIV. The Breeding of Live Stock

XXXV. Some Terms Used in Live Stock Breeding

XXXVI. The Feeding of Animals . . . .

XXXVII. Balanced Rations and Feeding Standards .

XXXVIII. Selecting Animals AND Methods OF Feeding .

. 213

. 227

. 243

. 257

. 267

. 272

. 274

. 281

. 283

CONTENTS IX SECTION V— DAIRYING

CHAPTER PAGE

XXXIX. Dairying 290

XL. Composition and Qualities of Milk . . . 294

XLI. Producing Good Milk 299

XLII. Butter-Making 310

XLIII. Milk Products, Other than Butter . . . 319

XLIV. Testing Milk 325

XLV. About Bees 330

XLVI. Poultry 339

XLVII. Care of Poultry 348

Appendix C 363

Index 375

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

1. Land Damaged by Washing ...... 7

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

2. Plowing by Steam . . '. 18

Plowing by steam has become a popular method on many large farms, especially in the West and North-west. By courtesy of the Rural New Yorker, N. Y.

3. Crop Failure Due to Lack of Drainage ... 26

By courtesy of Prof. G. I. Christie, Purdue University.

4. A Walking Breaking Plow ...... 35

By courtesy of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, South Bend, Ind.

5. A Subsoil Plow 37

By courtesy of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, South Bend, Ind.

G. A Good Job of Plowing ....... 40

A reversible plow is being used.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

7. A Disk Harrow at Work 42

By courtesy of the American Harrow Co., Detroit, Mich.

8. The Root System of a Corn Plant .... 45

One of these large roots cut off in cultivating means much loss of moisture and food to the plant.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

9. A Two-Row Corn Cultivator 47

By courtesy of The Avery Co., Peoria, III.

0. Using a Manure Spreader ...... 52

Spread in this way manure gives best results. By courtesy of the Smith Mfg. Co., 158 E. Harrison Street, Chicago, III.

1. Result of Using Fertilizers on Wheat ... 56

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station. xi

Xll ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

12. Applying Lime to Land with a Special Machine . 62

By courtesy of the Ohio Experiment Station.

13. Putting in Shock is a Good Way to Save the Corn

Fodder Until it is Ready to be Shredded . . 68

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

14. A Harrow Tooth Cultivator 72

A good tool for preserving a soil mulch in tall com.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

15. Two Good Ways to Dry Seed Corn .... 75

The upper picture shows the seed ears hung to rafters of the tool shed; the lower picture shows racks made of lath and six-inch boards. Every farmer can use one or the other of these schemes.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

16. Testing Vitality of Corn — ^This is One of the Good

Methods 76

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

17. Good Seed Ears 78

Notice the cylindrical shape, straight rows, uniform kernels, and well-formed butts and tips.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

18. Poor Seed Ears 78

Notice that these ears show characteristics just opposite to those in the cut above.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

19. An Onion Field 103

A harvesting scene in an Indiana field.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

20. The Large Root System of the Clover Plant . . 108

Showing the large number of nodules on the roots. It is these that make the clover plant so beneficial to the soil. By courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture — Bureau of Plant Industry.

21. A Cow-Pea Plant 110

Some varieties produce more vines than this one.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

22. A Typical Soy-Bean Plant 112

Notice the nodules at the base of the plant and on the .roots. These are full of bacteria which gather nitrogen from the air. By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

ILLUSTRATIONS Xlll

PAGE

23. A Plot of German Millet Ready to Cut for Hay . 114

This patch was about five feet tall and made four tons of hay per acre.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

24. Filling a Silo 116

This is one of the best methods of preserving the com crop. By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

25. Sorghum for Green Feed 118

This field made eleven tons per acre of green feed.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

26. Methods of Grafting 143

By courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

27. A Basket of Fine Peaches 147

The large size and uniformity were secured by judicious thinning. By courtesy of the Ohio Experiment Station.

28. A Planting Board 151

An easy device for setting trees in line.

29. A Scene in an Indiana Apple Orchard . . . 156

One hundred and seventy acres are set in apples, principally Yellow Transparent, Grimes' Golden, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, Winesap, and Genet.

By courtesy of the Indiana Horticultural Society.

30. Hot-Beds Used for Starting Early Plants . . . 170

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

31. A Basket of Choice Muskmelons Raised in Southern

Indiana . 176

Notice the finely netted rinds.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

32. An Attractive Country Residence .... 182

Many homes could be made attractive by the planting of flowers, shrubs, and trees.

The home of K. E. Morgan, Otsego, N. Y.

33. San Jose Scale on Bark (much enlarged) . . . 191

Notice the peculiar shell-like covering of the insect. One must use a magnifying glass to identify the scale. By courtesy of the Ohio Experiment Station.

34. A Curculio Catcher 193

The insects are jarred on to the sheet and then swept into a

bucket and killed.

By courtesy of the New York iCprmU) Experiment Station.

XIV ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

35. The Peach Tree Borer and Its Work . . . '. 194

Masses of gum at base of tree infested with borers.

The adult insects.

Larvae on a trunk that has been injured.

By courtesy of the New York {Cornell) Experiment Station.

36. A Parasitic Insect 201

This one destroys tree borers.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

37a. Results of Spraying 203

The crop of one tree. The large pile is good fruit; the small pile poor.

By courtesy of the Ohio Experiment Station.

376. Results of Not Spraying 204

The crop of one tree. The piles of good and poor fruit are about equal in this case.

By courtesy of the Ohio Experiment Station.

38. A Power Sprayer Used in the Orchard at Purdue

University 205

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

39. A Potato Sprayer for Bugs and Blights . . 210

This kind is useful in large fields.

By courtesy of The Goulds Mfg. Co., Seneca Falls, N. Y.

A prize winning Percheron imported from France.

By courtesy of McLaughlin Bros., Columbus, Ohio.

41. Royal Prince, First Prize Three- Year-Old Clydesdale

Stallion ... 215

International Live Stock Show, Chicago, December, 1908. By courtesy of Alex. Galbraith & Son, Dekalb, III.

42. Minno 3577, a Champion German Coach Stallion . . 219

By courtesy of J. Crouch & Son, Lafayette, Ind.

43. Aiken Dillon, a Typical Roadster . . . 221

Owned by G. R. Cooke, Trenton, N. J.

44. Shetland Pony, General Shafter . . . . 224

A prize winner at many State Fairs.

By courtesy of Charles E. Bunn, Peoria, III.

45. Imported Merry Hampton 228

A typical Shorthorn.

By courtesy of The Farmer's Voice, Chicago, III.

ILLUSTRATIONS XV

PAGE

46. A Typical Show Herd of Hereford Cattle . . . 230

By courtesy of The Breeder's Gazette, Chicago, III.

Typical Angus Bull, three times champion of his breed at Chicago International Live Stock Shows.

Owned by D. Bradfute & Son, Xenia, Ohio.

48. Hood Farm Pogis 9th, 55552. A Typical Jersey Bull 234

By courtesy of Hood Farm, Lowell, Mass.

A typical Gaernsey cow. Two-year-old record — 14,009 pounds milk; 703 ppunds butter-fat in one year, being the world's record for age of all breeds.

By courtesy of Lincoln B. Wells, Langwater Farms, North Easton, Mass

50. Holstein-Friesian Cow, Aagie Cornucopia Pauline,

48426 237

Champion butter cow of the world from 1904 to 1907. Record — 659 pounds milk, 34 pounds 5.2 ounces butter in 7 days at the age of 4 years 11 months.

By courtesy of D. W. Field, Dutchland Farms, Montello, Mass.

51. A Group of Dutch Belted Cattle in Pasture . . 239

Part of the herd of G. G. Gibbs, Marksboro, N. J. By courtesy of The Practical Dairyman.

52. English Shorthorn Cow, Tulip Leaf, Owned by Lord

Rothschild, Tring Park, England . . . 241

Record — 10,502 pounds of milk in one year when 11 years old. She is a good specimen of the dual-purpose breeds. By courtesy of C. N. Arnett, Purdue University.

53. A Typical Cotswold 244

Owned by Alex. W. Arnold, Galesville, Wis.

By courtesy of The Farmer's Voice, Chicago, III.

54. A Shropshire, an Excellent Specimen of the Mutton

AND Wool Type 246

Note the blocky, compact form.

By courtesy of G. H. Davison, Altamont Stock Farm, Milbrook, N. Y.

55- Dorset Horn Sheep 250

By courtesy of C. E. Hamilton, Heart's Delight Farm, Chazy, N. Y.

56. A Rambouillet Sheep ....... 252

Notice that the form is less smooth and compact than in the mutton type.

By courtesy of Daniel W. Lesh, Markle, Ind.

XVI ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

57. Wensleydale Ewes in Pasture 253

This is becoming a very popular breed in England.

By courtesy of C. N. Arnett, Purdue University.

58. Angora Goats 254

By courtesy of George A. Philippi, Welcome, Wis.

59. A Typical Berkshire 258

By courtesy of A. J. Lovejoy & Son, Roscoe, III.

60. Nora P., 160,484, a Typical Poland-China . . 260

Owned by Purdue University.

Photo by C. N. Arnett, Purdue University.

Chester White.

By courtesy of C. G. Fisher & Co., Collinsville, Ohio.

The large Yorkshire, a type of the bacon breeds. Note the long deep sides.

Owned by Thomas H. Canfield, Lake Park, Minn.

63. Fyvie Knight, a Pure-bred Angus .... 276

Grand Champion fat steer at International Live Stock Show, Chicago, December, 1908.

By courtesy of Purdue University.

64. A High-Grade Steer in "Feeder" Condition . . 284

He made a daily gain of 3.08 pounds for six months in a feeding experiment.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station

65. A Poor Type of Steer for Feeding Purposes . . 285

This steer made a daily gain of .77 pounds for six months in a feeding experiment. Compare the form of this steer with that in Fig. 64.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

66. This is a Type of the Modern Dairy Barn, Fitted for

THE Production of Clean Milk 291

Notice the possibilities for sunlight and ventilation. The cement floors aid in cleanliness.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

67. A Profitable Herd of Dairy Cows .... 292

This herd made an average yearly record of 259.6 pounds of butter-fat per cow.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

ILLUSTRATIONS xvil

PAGE

Unfavorable Conditions for the Production of Clean AND Healthful Milk 301

During the cold months many milch cows are stabled in bams no better than this one.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

An Unkempt Dairy Cow 302

Clean milk cannot be produced from cows kept in this condition. By courtesy of the Illinois Experiment Station.

Washing the Udder before Beginning to Milk . . 303

By courtesy of the Illinois Experiment Station.

A Milking Machine at Work ...... 304

Many large dairies are using these machines. They lessen the labor of milking and keep the milk clean. The machine ia operated by compressed air.

By courtesy of D. H. Burrell & Co., Little Falls, N. Y.

This Cut Shows the Effectiveness of each of the Four Methods of Separating the Cream .... 305

Note the small loss where the centrifugal separator is used, shown by the print at the left.

By courtesy of the Indiana Experiment Station.

A Good Kind of Milk Cooler and Aerator , . 307

The milk is poured into the top and runs out of small holes, spreading over the surface of the lower part in which is ice-water.

By courtesy of The Champion Milk Cooler Co., Cortland, N. Y.

Where Much Milk is Bottled for City Delivery, a Machine which will Fill Several Bottles at One Operation is Desirable 308

This one fills four quart and five pint bottles at one time. By courtesy of Rice & Adams, Buffalo, N. Y.

A Lever Butter-Worker 317

By courtesy of the Wisconsin College of Agriculture.

A Babcock Milk Tester and Testing Outfit . . 326

By courtesy of The Creamery Package Mfg. Co., Chicago, III.

Location of Apiary 331

The trees give shade and the fence and buildings protect from winds.

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

Showing Queen, Worker, and Drone .... 332

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

A Mass of Honey-comb 334

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

XVlll ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

80. A Modern Bee-Hive and its Parts . . . 335

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

81. An Apiary in Winter Quarters . ... 336

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

82. Hiving a Swarm of Bees 337

By courtesy of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.

83. Plymouth Rock Cock and Pullet 340

Owned by U. R. Fishel, Hope, Ind.

84. A Rhode Island Red 341

Bred and owned by B. H. Scranton, Rising Sun, Ind.

85. Buff Cochin 342

Contrast the Cochin with Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Red. By courtesy of Arthur R. Sharp, Boston, Mass.

86. Prize-Winning Brown Leghorn Hen .... 343

Owned by Sophia C. & Lee Pitchlynn, Washington, D. C.

87. A Buff Orpington Hen 344

By courtesy of Will H. Schadt, Goshen, Ind.

88. A Pair of Pekin Ducks 345

By courtesy of George C. Wells, Farina, III.

89. A Toulouse Gander 345

First Prize at Madison Square Garden, New York City, Poultry

Show.

By courtesy of Webster A. J. Kuney, Seneca Falls, N. Y.

90. A Bronze Turkey 346

By courtesy of E. W . Ringwood, Oxford, Ohio.

91. An Incubator 349

By courtesy of Cyphers Incubator Co., Buffalo, N. Y.

92. The Laying and Breeding House Used at the Maine

Experiment Station for Experimental Work with Poultry 350

By courtesy of the Maine Experiment Station.

93. This Dozen of Black Minorca Eggs Won the First

Prize at the Lebanon, Ind., Egg Show, 1908. They

Weighed 32J Ounces 352

By courtesy of Otis Crane, Lebanon, Ind.

Introduction

While it is not the province of the pubHc schools, as at present organized, to teach the trades, it is their privilege and their duty to put the child in intelligent touch with the life about him and to use all of the means at hand in the process of education.

Much has been said about the tendency among boys to leave the farm for the town, and many attempts at explanation and justification have been made. While it is perfectly proper for the boy to leave his father's farm and seek his fortune in a crowded city, sometimes he has gone with the mistaken notion that he could substitute wit for work in life's contest, or because of a lack of appreciation of the dignity of labor. Sometimes, also, he has gone because he has failed to see his opportunities on the farm. The fact that he has not always bettered his condition has suggested a possibility of bringing about at least a more intelligent consideration of the question.

With the lessening of distance between town and country by telephone, interurbans, rural routes, with the conveniences of life brought to the very door of the farmer, with much of the drudgery of farm life removed by machinery, it looks as though the tide might turn from town to country, or at least as though the exodus from the farm might be stayed.

XX INTRODUCTION

AGRICULTURE THE DOMINANT INTEREST

An essential factor in education, which for the most part has been overlooked, is to be found in the environment of the child. One's power of interpretation is bounded by his experience, and yet we have gone on trying to fit a strange world down on to the child. We have expected him in some way or other to understand language and solve problems that are entirely foreign to him. This is neither good pedagogy nor good common sense. The school work must be based upon what the child brings to school with him. His life, his home, his vocabulary, his experience in the shop, in the quarry, on the farm, must furnish the concrete illustrations of the truth to be taught. It is the thing about which the child knows that interests him and that becomes the best means of interpretation.

The teacher, therefore, must be a student of community life as well as of text-books. He must be familiar with the institutions and interests of the community. He must know what the children know, how they think, and in what terms they express themselves.

Any new truth which the child gets must be related to what he already knows. The closer the teacher gets to the real experience of the child the more likely he is to awaken a live interest. In a rural community agriculture is the dominant industry. It determines the modes of life, the ways of thinking, and the basis of comparison. Therefore the problems in arithmetic can be more readily comprehended if they are cast in terms of the farm. The dominant industry or interest is the key that must unlock new truth.

Arithmetical truth must be cast in the concretest terms

INTRODUCTION XXI

possible. A little local coloring often takes the problem at once out of the realm of the strange. The actual market price of a commodity, with the actual amount bought or sold by an actual person, may transfer a problem from text to life. Language work becomes at once interesting if based upon actual experience. The child cannot write on abstract themes, but he can tell what he knows and he can be taught to tell this well. In geography it is the things about him that interest him, and through these alone he can interpret things that are foreign. With the presentation of every lesson the skilful teacher will seek the things at hand that may be the best media of interpretation.

Of course this calls for a complete knowledge of the community. The teacher should know the district in every detail — its extent in every direction ; its earth facts, such as streams, hills, valleys; its farms; its houses; its acreage in wheat, corn, and oats; its officers, and its religious life. These things he can use in his work to great advantage, in concrete application of the principles he is trying to teach. If he knows something of agriculture his work in a rural community will be much easier. If his knowledge is scientific, so much the better. Certainly he cannot hope to deal in an [intelligent way with the problems of a community with which he is unacquainted.

DIGNIFY WORK AND CREATE RESPECT FOR INDUSTRY

But aside from making the work concrete the dominant community interest may be made to serve another purpose. It may dignify work in general by creating respect for the industry in particular. Somehow the things at hand are not

XXU INTRODUCTION

appreciated. Farm life is not attractive to the boys and girls, and they turn their eyes toward the city. The occupations of the fathers do not appeal to the sons. There is a belief that something better is to be found, and so there is a lack of respect for the calling of the father. Furthermore, there is a lack of respect for manual labor and a belief that education can make it possible to live without work. As most of the boys and girls will be compelled to work with their hands, they should be taught early that labor is honorable and that idleness is disgraceful. By using the dominant industry the teacher can create a respect for it and at the same time show its possibilities. It can be shown that brain and muscle can accomplish just as much on the farm as in the city and that the chances for success are greater. It may not be the province of the public school to teach any trade or industry as such, but it is the province of the school to teach the boys and girls how to work and to put them in the path of honest living. This is the furpose of the work in agriculture.

SUGGESTED COURSE

The work offered in ithis text is intended for the children in the seventh and eighth grades and in the first and second years in the high schools. The text may be used to advantage as a reader in the sixth grade. When the course of study is too crowded the work may be taken three or four times a week, supplementary to nature study, or it may be taken before or after school.

This is a suggestion of what may be done by live teachers in the district schools and in the country and town graded schools. The work should be done in connection with arith-

INTRODUCTION XXUl

metic, spelling, language, geography, etc. These suggestions carefully worked out in the grades indicated, followed by a study of this book, will put the children in sympathetic touch with the community; it will inspire them with respect for honest labor of all kinds, and show them that there is a demand for brains on the farm.

For an application of the principles above discussed the teacher is referred to the section, ^^ Education and Agricidture," in the Appendix.

SECTION I— SOILS

Chapter I The Origin Of The Soil

In a study of agriculture the soil should first claim our attention. It is the foundation of all our study. Should we study farm crops we need to know what kind of soil is suited to each and how it should be handled to get good results. When we study the growing of fruits and vegetables we are interested in knowing, first of all, what kind of soil is best for each. In dealing with animals we are concerned about their food and that brings us back to the soil in which the plants producing the food were raised.

Making Soil. — 1. Weathering. — We have learned from

our geographies that at one time early in the history of the

Earth it was a mass of melted matter. After a time it

began to cool, and the outside of the ball hardened into

rock. The seasons kept on changing, the rain descended

and the temperature varied from time to time. The changes

were more than the solid rock could stand and it began to

crumble. Soil was formed. The action of the air and the

weather upon the earth crust is called weathering. The weathering of rocks has been the source of most of what we call soil. This process is still going on. The small pieces of gravel in the soil (in our fields) are being made smaller each year by the wear and tear of the winds and rain and by the freezing and thawing of winter. Wherever a gravel pit or stone quarry is opened many boulders and pieces of rock are thrown aside. The next spring after these have been exposed many rocks will be seen to be crumbling, while others do not seem to be affected. Some rocks are more easily broken up than others, but all will yield in time.

2. Plants. — Growing plants have had much to do in making soil and are still exerting an influence on the breaking down of rocks. We have all seen moss and lichens growing upon large boulders. In some cases there are two or three inches of material on the boulder. These plants are attacking the rock by means of the acids excreted from their root-like parts. The carbonic acid produced by the decay of the dead parts also tends to break up the rock. Sometimes the amount of material on the boulder is deep enough for large plants to grow in it. Then the decomposing action is all the greater, because of the greater activity of the real roots. Of course, all the action is very small for any one year, but when carried on for many years it amounts to a great deal. The material on the boulder is real soil, but in most instances it has been derived from the rock and the decayed vegetation.

We must not forget also that if there is ever so small a crack in the rock the tiny roots of plants will work their way into ^*t and make it larger and so let in the water which we shall see helps to tear the rock apart. The writer has seen a large boulder weighing several tons split in two pieces and a tree

THE ORIGIN OF THE SOIL 3

growing up between them. When this tree was young the crack was small, but as the tree grew the roots spread the crack wider and wider. Most of us have seen brick and cement sidewalks made uneven by the roots of trees growing under them.

Sometimes plants grow year after year in swampy places or in shallow ponds. At the end of summer the plants die down and fall to the ground or into the water. The next year a new growth of plants comes up and dies down again in the autumn. After this process has continued for many years there is quite an accumulation of vegetable matter on the ground or in the pond. This rots more or less and comes to be a kind of soil. If the rotting takes place under water, in which case it will not be very complete, peat is formed. Peat is generally rather solid and shows the original shape of the plants. It is on the road to form coal. But if the vegetable matter is exposed to the air and is sometimes water-soaked, and sometimes dry, it decays completely and forms muck. Muck is generally soft and spongy and does not show any trace of what it was formerly. Frequently muck has a good deal of sand and clay mixed with it by water which washes sand and clay particles over the vegetable matter.

3. Water. — Water has a great deal to do with the making of soil. Some rocks are porous and let a good deal of water soak into them. When the water freezes it bursts the rock, which gradually crumbles. Water will also dissolve some of the material of which the rock is made and in this way weakens its structure.

Doubtless we have all seen the water in a shallow stream rolling the gravel stones along on the bottom. As these pebbles roll along and strike against each other they knock off corners and become smaller and smaller until they are nothing but sand. The parts rubbed off are very small and are carried into still water where they sink to the bottom, and when the stream changes its course they appear as real soil.

Perhaps the most noticeable action of water is when it works in the form of ice. We have seen cakes of ice all covered with mud floating down stream in the spring. We have seen, too, where ice cakes have struck trees and knocked off the bark. We are told by geologists that centuries ago all of the North American continent as far south as the Ohio and Missouri rivers was covered by ice to a great depth. The ice moved slowly down from the north like a great river and carried everything before it. It gathered up great rocks, and shoved them along and rubbed them over other rocks. Of course, when these rocks were ground against each other pieces were broken off which were carried along and ground on other rocks, until great quantities were crushed into fine powder which we now call soil. All over the region covered by the glaciers are to be found large boulders which escaped crushing and were left behind when the ice melted. These boulders are nearly always rounded, owing to their being rolled over and over and coming in contact with other rocks.