Productive farming

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Preface

This book is intended to suit the needs of rural schools of all kinds, and graded village and city schools chiefly below high-school rank. It is believed that many high-schools wanting a less advanced course in agriculture than is offered in more difficult books will find this text helpful. It is hoped that farmers and others pursuing a short course, a reading-circle course, a correspondence course, or a homereading course will find this volame of value. Such persons should read the exercises but probably omit the trial of some of them.

In the preparation of this book the writer has been aided very materially by a number of people. The ever-present memory of the boys and girls with whom the writer has associated as a schoolmate or as teacher in the rural schools and graded schools has been an inspiration and help in preparing every lesson to be studied by other such boys and girls. The many teachers of both rural and graded schools who have criticized the lessons as they have been presented by the writer have spurred him on to do his best in the making of this book. It is to such teachers and such boys and girls that this book should be dedicated, for they have been in the writer's mind every moment of the time.

Special acknowledgment is due to a number of persons who have helped in the preparation of the whole book or of special chapters. Professor Dick J. Crosby, Specialist in Agricultural Education of the United States Department of Agriculture, has read the first manuscript of the whole book and parts of the second draft. His suggestions and help have been so valuable that his name should go on the title page if he would allow it. He has read the proofs, and iv PREFACE

through him many photographs have been supplied by the Department of Agriculture. Cuts made from those photographs are marked "A. E." of agricultural education.

In like manner, Frederick C. Minkler, Professor of Animal Husbandry of the New Jersey College of Agriculture, has read the manuscript and proofs of several chapters on Animal Production, Animal Breeding, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Swine. Other Professors of the same institution have read the manuscript and proofs of a number of other chapters: Dr. Jacob G. Lipman, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, the five chapters on Soils and their Improvement; Professor Harry R. Lewis, Head of the Poultry and Dairy Departments, the chapters on Poultry Management and Cattle Products; Dr. John B. Smith, State Entomologist, the chapters on Insects and Bee-keeping; Professor Maurice A. Blake, Head of the Horticulture Department, the chapter on Fruit Production; Dr. Byron D. Halsted, Botanist and Plant Pathologist, the first chapter and the chapter on Plant Diseases and Spraying; Walter W. Shute, Instructor in Forage Crops, the chapters on Field Crops and on Alfalfa; Arthur J. Farley, of the Horticulture Department, the Sections on Spraying and the Tables of Insecticides and Fungicides; Dr. Myron T. Scudder, Headmaster of the Rutgers Preparatory School and Professor of the Science of Teaching in Rutgers College, has read manuscripts and proofs of the Introduction and the chapter on The Business of Farming. Mrs. Kary C. Davis has read and criticized the whole manuscript and corrected the proofs. She has made nearly all of the pen-and-ink drawings in the book. To all of these and others, including many farmers and teachers whose names do not appear, the author is greatly indebted for material aid and encouragement.

Photographs besides those already mentioned have been kindly furnished by the Agronomist and the Dairy Division of the United States Department of Agriculture. These

PREFACE V

are marked under illustrations : "An. I." for Animal Industry, and "PI. I." for Plant Industry. Credits are given with the name of the station to those furnished by State Experiment Stations: "Kans.," "W. Va.," "Wis.," "N. J./' "Minn.," "Maine," "Cornell." Professors Harry R. Lewis and Maurice A. Blake kindly supplied a number of photographs; animal photographs were also given by F. Warren Sumner, of Elizabeth, N. J., the White Wyandotte Hen; Thos. Wyckoff, Orchard Lake, Mich., the Rambouillet Ram; Cornell Cow?i/ryman, the Dorsets;Chas. Leet, Mantua, Ohio, Southdown Ewe; R. C. Parsons, Grand Ledge, Mich., Oxford Ram; A. T. Gamber, Wakeman, O., American Merino. Cuts have been loaned by the author and the J. B. Lippincott Co. from John B. Smith's "Insect Friends and Enemies," and "Economic Entomology."

The author will be glad to receive suggestions and corrections from teachers and others regarding any mistakes in the book.

The chapter on Cotton was added in the second edition. The third edition included a number of changes in the Appendix tables to bring the matter up to date. Suggestions to Teachers for additional exercises and projects were added to the Appendix. Changes and many additions were made through the text in both the third and fourth editions. Much of the new Part V was added in the fourth edition. The present Chapters XVI and XXXI were added. A Southern Edition was issued in 1919. In the fifth edition 1922, the Swine Chapter (XXVI) was rewritten, enlarged and adapted tohome project methods ;Chapters on Sheep, and Poultry were likewise much improved by the addition of matter on projects, debates, contests and fresh references.

Contents

Introduction. — The Teaching of Agriculture

Part I.— Plant Production

I. Structure and Physiology of Plants 8

II. Plant Improvement — C4oodi Seed 22

III. Propagation of Plants Without Seeds 35

IV. How Soils are Formed 44

V. Kinds of Soils — Their Characteristics 52

VI. Soil Moisture 60

VII. Land Drainage 67

VJII. Soil Improvement 71

IX. Systems of Cropping 88

X. Farm Crops 07

XI. Alfalfa Ill

XII. Cotton Production 117

XIII. Corn 133

XIV. Small Grains 154

XV. Potatoes 162

XVI. Tobacco for Market 175

XVII. The Principles of Forestry 178

XVIII. GARDENINe 191

XIX. Fruit Production 206

XX. Insects 220

XXI. Diseases of Plants — Spraying 246

Part V .—appendix— Reference Tables

I. Reference Books . i

II. List of Experiment Stations iii

III. Insecticides and Fungicides v

IV. Quantity of Seed per Acre and Legal Weights, ix V. Sample Pedigree of Pure Bred Cattle x

VI. Rules xi

VII. Fertilizer Formulas xii

VIII. Average Digestibility of Feeds and Their Fertility XV

IX. Feeding Standards xvi

X. Average Composition of Farm Manures xvii

XI. Distances Apart for Planting Fruit xvii

XII. Usual Distances Apart for Planting Vegetables xviii XIII. Suggestions to Teachers for Additional Exercises AND Projects xix

Index xxix

INTRODUCTION THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE

The demand for the teaching of agriculture in the public schools is growing stronger all the time. In many States of the Union and several provinces of Canada the subject has been introduced into schools very generally. Not only has the subject been taken up in the high-schools, but also in special schools started for the avowed purpose of teaching agriculture, manual training, and domestic economy.

This is in response to the verj^ general demand for more practical instruction. The feeling exists that the schools have been doing work too remote from real life; and that where the work has touched the life at all, it has been the city side or the commercial side rather than the productive side and the industrial side of life. Such training tends to lead all, or nearly all, young people away from rather than toward the industrial and productive callings. The census reports indicate that this tendency has aided in building up the cities and actually decreasing the population in many of the rural districts.

The interest in rural life should be kept up by the training received in country schools, and in all schools. A proper conception of the opportunities afforded in the country should be in the minds of all young people — whether they live in cities or in the country. The productive wealth o! the nation is from the country, not from the city. This wealth should be used to improve rural life rather than city life. All young people should learn of the opportunities for health, independence, happiness, and wealth afforded by the country. Those living in the country often fail to realize their blessings. They rush in dangerous numbers to the cities, until every legitimate city occupation is overcrowded. Hosts of them are left to seek livelihoods by devices and means that are at least not elevating.

The comforts and conveniences enjoyed b^' a few in the cities are very alluring to the young ambitious mind. Why not show that things better than these are in the country — and that many of these same comforts may be enjoyed by rural communities.

Suggestions to Teachers. — The teaching of agriculture is most easily done by taking up those subjects nearest at hand. Teach the lines of agriculture that will be most valuable in your community. If in a gardening section the special garden crops will be most interesting; in a dairy section study dairy breeds, the testing of milk, the dairy products; in the corn belt the class will delight in the study of corn improvement, the testing of seed corn, and the judging of corn by score cards.

There are certain chapters in this book which are fundamental and cannot be omitted. For example, Chapter I is necessary to the proper understanding of other plant studies. However, there are certain other chapters which may be taken independently at a time of year which suits the subject. The chapter on Forage Crops and perhaps others may well be used as reading lessons and then studied more in detail later.

How to Begin. — Enter heartily into the new subject without hesitation. Teach the newest things in agriculture. It will be easier for you to teach these than to teach the topics more familiar to the class. This is particularly so if the pupils are from farms. The field is so broad no one can know it all. Teach the facts which you know best and

THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 8

which are newest to the class: the making of spray mixtures; the prevention of certain plant diseases; the raising and use of special crops which should be grown, as, perhaps, alfalfa, or certain clovers; the green-soiling methods of feeding; use of catch crops and cover crops; the saving of Boil moisture. The best United States Farmers' Bulletins will help you along these newer lines and will give you new points on the old themes. Why? It is because the U. S. Department of Agriculture and fifty or more agricultural experiment stations are finding out new things in agriculture all the time.

Farmers' Bulletins. — References to United States Farmers' Bulletins are given at the close of the chapters. A complete list of Farmers' Bulletins can be had by writing to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D, C. Besides those listed at the close of the chapters, there are others that will be helpful in schools. Write for them. They are free to schools.

Make pasteboard holders for the Bulletins. Put labels on these so that a simple classification will be possible. Label them similar to the chapters in this book.

How to Use the Bulletins. — Teachers will find the United States Farmers' Bulletins very useful. Let us illustrate. No. 617, "School Lessons on Corn," is full of suggestions for teachers and others. It tells what to do and how to do it. The pictures are simple and plain. Most of the Bulletins are well illustrated and plainly written. Each of these Bulletins has a special use in teaching some definite subject. Have advanced pupils use the Bulletins as extra work, or as supplementary reading.

Time Saved. — If the objection is raised that there is no room in the schedule — no time — for a new subject because there are already too many subjects to teach, answer by Baying there is always room for a subject that will hold the pupils' interest. Such subjects, if practical, are the best in the school course.

Arranging the Schedule. — A "sliding schedule" may be made to admit agriculture without reducing the recitation time for other subjects, thus: First plan — On Mondays let agriculture take the place of the first morning recitation period; on Tuesdays, the second period; on Wednesdays, the third period, and so on through the week. Another plan would be to have agriculture three times a week, alternating with some three other subjects, — each of them being given four times a week. Another time-saving plan to use in the smaller rural schools is to combine several of the upper classes into one class when teaching a new subject like agriculture.

Correlation. — It is, indeed, a very good plan to correlate the work in agriculture with other subjects in school. The other subjects ^\all be made far more interesting to most of the pupils if agriculture is made the center of interest around which to group these other subjects.

School English is made more interesting by having pupils read and wTite and speak on those themes which are close to human life. Language comes forth spontaneously when the pupils have something real to tell or to write about. New words in this book or in the Bulletins should be woven into the spelling and language work.

A few arithmetical problems have been suggested in this book. These will serve to show that much of the arithmetic work of the school can be founded on agriculture or enriched by it.

One of the best ways to study local geography is to study the soils of the neighborhood (Fig. 1). Trips may be taken by the class to near-by places where examples of erosion are sho^^^l, or the action of ancient glaciers, or the cropping out of ledges of sedimentary rocks. Study soil-depths, soiltextures, and soil improvement. Take samples of soils and subsoils. The study of the ways in which soils are being formed all about the neighborhood is real geography.

THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 6

All this should be done not solely for the sake of agriculture, but for the sake of more interest in other subjects when the agricultural matter is introduced. There is as much or more cultural value in the teaching of a practical subject as in teaching any other subject in the school course.

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Fig. 1 . — Studying soils and potting plants. Graded school work in Virginia.

Use the Exercises. — The practical exercises offered in this book are simple and can be performed by pupils themselves with a little guidance. Pupils will be willing to supply the necessary articles in most cases. The exercises add much to the interest and also to the value of the work. The work should be directly with things, handling them, reasoning from them. Use also the exercises given in United States Farmers' Bulletins 428, 586, 606, 609, 617.

Suit the subject considered to the season so far as convenient. Seed testing is a good exercise for early spring. School garden work will come later. Do not fail to provide window boxes. The pupils will do the work gladly, and in the spring season fill them with germinating seeds and growing plants.

Teachers will find that agriculture will add a new interest to the whole school work. Exhibits of the school garden products may be made at the school in the fall. Prizes may be offered for the best products grown by the pupils in the home gardens. Money to buy prizes may be raised by charging an admission fee when the exhibit is made. If the exhibit is small, supplement it wit*h a suitable program.

A Community Center. — The public affairs of the community should center about the school much of the time during the school year.

The teacher may appoint committees to arrange the details of many events to be held at the school or at other near-by places in the name of the school. Hold corn exhibits in the fall or early winter and let students and others enter into corn-judging contests. Apple shows and vegetable shows may be held at separate times or in connection with the corn show. Poultry shows and dairy-product shows may be possible in some places.

Premium lists should be issued to the pupils to take home, or they may be published in local papers. Award cards may be issued in lieu of premiums; but the merchants or neighbors may be called upon to contribute suitable articles to be used as prizes. Read Circular 99, U. S. Office of Experiment Stations, on " Farmers' Institutes for Young People."

Boys' and Girls* Clubs. — The school should be the center for the organization of boys' corn clubs, or alfalfa clubs, or experimental clubs. Girls' clubs may be organized. They may follow nature study, or home gardening, or sewing, or basketry. Let the work of all these clubs be shown at the school on stated occasions. Read Farmers' Bulletin 562.

Special school exercises of an appropriate nature should be given on arbor day, bird day, corn day, alfalfa day, and other special days. Always have the patrons of the school present on these occasions. Make the school building the attractive center for the people of the community. The newer lines of education will connect with the life of the community at every point.

THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 7

Let school holidays and perhaps other days be filled with

historical or agricultural or other pageants suitable to the

season; have appropriate contests, school games, and good

sports. Let there be recreational diversion for old and young.

Appoint committees to cooperate in preparing for these

occasions.

Problems. — A few problems here will be suggestive and serve as sample problems to be placed on the board for pupils, from time to time.

1 . Calculate the number of cabbages on an acre if they are set as close as shown in Appendix, Table XII, allowing for one-fourth loss.

2. If cabbage worms destroy one-third of the above result, and the good heads bring 5 cents per head, what is the income for the acre?

3. What would be the money value of the heads destroyed by cabbage worms?

4. If a boy working at $1 per day can dust three acres of cabbage plants a day and keep off the worms, what is the profit for his day's work, if the material costs 90 cents?

5. A man has 500 young apple trees attacked by woolly aphis insects, which he wishes to spray with kerosene emulsion to save the trees. If six gallons of the stock solution given in Appendix, Table III, are required (diluted with ten parts water), calculate the cost of materials at present local prices for soap and kerosene.

6. If the use of the sprayers is worth SI and the labor can be done by two men in a day and a quarter, what is the total cost of the spraying job?

7. If a pair of bluebirds, in seeking food for their young in the nest, gather 120 worms from an old orchard each day, and each worm is thereby prevented from doing five cents' worth of damage to fruit, calculate the value of these birds in one nesting season of sixteen days.

8. A sohtary wasp collected for her brood thirty-eight apple worms, and thus prevented each of these worms from maturing and laying 200 eggs, each of which would have caused an apple to be wormy. Consider the apples each worth two cents more when not affected with the worms. What is tha value to man of this solitary wasp ?

9. A toad ate ten cutworms each night and thus saved a like number of tomato plants in my garden. What do you consider is a fair value of a tomato plant in cost and labor after it is set in the garden ? What is the value of this toad in three weeks ?

References. — U. S. Farmers' Bulletins 5S6 and 606, on Collection and Preservation of Material for Study of Agriculture. 2

Chapter I. Structure And Physiology Of Plants

The plants produced in field and garden form the food for man and nourishment for his live stock. Parts of plants are useful in the arts, as their oils for paint, their fibers for clothing, and their wood for buildings and fuel.

The parts of farm plants are broadly considered to be made up of (1) root, (2) stem, (3) leaf, (4) flower, and (5) seed.

Roots of plants are for three purposes: to hold the plant in place or prevent its blowing away; to take nourishment and moisture from the soil; and to serve as storage places for plant food.

In growing into the soil the tip of the root forces its way among the soil particles. For this reason there is a root cap or covering over the tip to prevent injury. The growth takes place a little back of the tip cap, or covering, at the end of the fine roots.

Root=hairs are formed on the fibrous roots a little distance from the tips. These are of fine growth, giving a plush or velvety surface to the root. The surface of all these fine hairs is very thin and is much greater in area than the surface of the roots. This allows moisture from the soil to pass through into the plant more easily.

Exercise. — To Show Root-hairs. — Plant a few kernels ot corn in moist sand or soil in a bottle with wide mouth.

Wrap some black or dark paper around the body of the bottle to exclude the light. Roots seek darkness. Keep the soil moist and in a warm room for a week or so. The growth of the young roots will then have reached the inside surface of the glass. Notice their very fine, plush-like appearance (Figs. 2a and 6). Notice also which grow in length faster during the first two weeks, the roots or the tops of the young corn plants.

Fig. 2a. — Corn grown in a bottle of soil. The dark paper around it excludes the light, so the roots may be studied by removing the paper.

Fig. 26. — Corn grown as in Fig. 2a, showing fibrous roots and root-hairs for absorbing moisture.

Exercise. — Root-hairs on Seedlings — Sprout some seeds of squash or beans in fo'ds of moist blotters between two plates until the roots are two or three inches long. Examine for root-hairs on these by holding them against a dark cloth or paper.

Stems of plants have several ^uses: They support the leaves and hold them up to the air and light. They serve as storehouses for the saving of starch, sugar, and other forms of nourishment for the future use of the plant. They are the channels of circulation of plant sap and the transfer of plant food from root to leaf and from leaf to root.

Exercise. — Sap Channels in Stems. — Put the stems of fresh plants into water colored with red ink. After a few hours cut off the stems and notice the stained places on the cut surface. Use for this exercise some woody stems, as willow, and others like celery or rhubarb, golden-rod, corn, tall grass, or other convenient plants.

The different ways in which the stems of various plants hold the leaves up to the light and air are interesting. Vines do this by climbing upon objects which they may find near them. Trees have rigid stems which hold the leaves high in the air. Those growing in dense forest clumps are taller and more slender than those growing in open places where there is plenty of light. This is also true of corn-stalks planted close or far apart.

The leaves of the plant have much work to do. They secure substances from the air, chiefly carbon dioxide, and change it into forms of food that will build up the plant or produce growth. The leaves also permit the escape of water from the plant into the air. Water is taken up by the roots, not by the leaves. There are large amounts of water given off by the leaves during the growth of the plants.

Exercise. — Plants Absorb Moisture. — Get the material shown in Fig. 3a. After the corn or other plant is a few inches high, start the experiment. Have the water line marked on the lard pails one inch above the bottom of the pots. Each day fill the water up to the mark, and record the amount required for each pail in two weeks. If the one wath the growing plant requires the most, where has the extra water gone to ?

Exercise. — Moisture from Leaves. — Arrange an experiment as shown in Fig. 36. The moisture which escapes from the leaves will partly be condensed on the inside of the inverted glass, and may be seen in fine mist or drops.

Leaf Structure. — Fig. 4 shows the cut edge of a leaf. Between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf there are many soft plant cells. These cells have very thin walls and are bathed by air. The air cavities are shown at A in the figure. All the cells showTi with dark grains in the figure contain the green coloring matter of the leaf. This is called chlorophyl (klo-ro-fil) . The use of this will be spoken of later.

Fig. 3a. — Growing plants absorb moisture from the soil. Two flower-pots with equal amounts of the same kind of soil are set in lard pails having water up to the line shown. Corn is growing only in the left one. (Agricultpral Education.)

Fig. 36. — Evaporation of water from leaves. The condensed moisture shows in the upper part of the glass inverted ever the growing plant. (Agricultural Education.)

Exercise, — Skin of Leaf. — Break a leaf partly in two in such a manner as to peel the surface away from the inner cells. This surface layer of cells is clear and contains no chlorophyl, as shovvTi in Fig. 4. The outer layer of cells is so thin and clear that sunlight may pass through and reach the green cells of the inner part of the leaf.

Air Openings. — Air may enter the leaf through small openings, chiefly on the under side. One of these openings is marked S in Fig. 4. These are called stomates, the word meaning "mouths." There are great numbers of the stomates on the under surface of leaves. They may be opened or closed according to the condition of the weather. This is done by the action of a pair of cells at the opening called guard-cells. The stomates are partly closed in dry weather. This keeps moisture from passing too freely out of the leaves into the air.

Plants Get Food from Air. — Growing plants take much of the substance which produces growth directly from the air. They use the carbon dioxide from the air which is given off to the air by the breathing of animals and by the burning and decay of wood. This plant-food from the air furnishes about ninety-five per cent of the dry weight of plants. It is through the leaves that this form of food is taken. The

S

Fig. 4. — Cross section of leaf. The inner cells contain chlorophyl; those near th* under side are loose to allow the free passage of air (A), Many brea tiling pores arc in the under skin. One shows at S.

breathing pores on the surface of green leaves allow the air to come in contact with the soft cells of the inner tissue (Fig. 4).^

Sunlight aids the plant in changing the carbon dioxide into starch or other organic food. Only those plants which contain the green coloring matter, chlorophyl, are able to use the carbon dioxide from the air and change it in this way. Mushrooms grow in the dark, and have no chlorophyl. Their food is not taken from the air nor from the real soil, but from the partly decomposed matter in the soil.

Exercise. — Need of Sunlight. — Place a board, box, or other object over the green grass of a lawn and let it remain for several days. Notice that the color is soon gone from the leaves. In time the grass would be killed. Celery is blanched by excluding the light from the stems. Why does a covering of straw or other thick mulch in a strawberry patch prevent the growth of weeds? What harm comes from the accidental covering with soil of young corn plants by the cultivator?

Exercise. — Leaves Seek Light. — Set some growing plants in the window for a few hours and notice that the leaves turn toward the light. Turn the plants around and see how long it takes for the leaves to face the light again.

Exercise. — To Show Presence of Starch. — Crack a few kernels of wheat or corn and treat them with a few drops of iodine. The change of color which follows is a proof of the presence of starch. This was stored in the seed for its future use. Starch turns blue when treated with iodine. The same trial made with potato, corn-pith, pith of tree twigs, and many seeds, will show the presence of starch.

Balance in Nature. — Animals use large quantities of oxygen from the air and return carbon dioxide to the air. Plants make use of the waste which animals breathe off. The plants break up this gas, retaining the carbon and giving off the oxj'gen. A small amount of oxygen is also used by plants. The carbon retained by the leaves and the water which the plants obtain from the soil are combined to form organic matter. This is chiefly starch at first, but it may be readily changed to sugar or other forms suitable for storage. In sugar-beets and sugar-cane the storage matter is largely sugar.