The word _soil_ occurs many times in this little book. In agriculture this word is used to describe the thin layer of surface earth that, like some great blanket, is tucked around...
A wise man was once asked, "What is the most valuable improvement ever made in agriculture?" He answered, "Drainage." Often soils unfit for crop-production because they contain too...
We hear a great deal about the exhaustion or wearing out of the soil. Many uncomfortable people are always declaring that our lands will no longer produce profitable crops, and hen...
A good many years ago a man by the name of Jethro Tull lived in England. He was a farmer and a most successful man in every way. He first taught the English people and the world th...
In the early days of our history, when the soil was new and rich, we were not compelled to use large amounts of manures and fertilizers. Yet our histories speak of an Indian named...
You have perhaps observed the regularity of arrangement in the twigs and branches of trees. Now pull up the roots of a plant, as, for example, sheep sorrel, Jimson weed, or some ot...
Did any one ever explain to you how important water is to the soil, or tell you why it is so important? Often, as you know, crops entirely fail because there is not enough water in...
Occasionally, when a cook puts too much vinegar in a salad, the dish becomes so sour that it is unfit to eat. The vinegar which the cook uses belongs to a large group of compounds...
Showing how spores are borne] The little plants which make up these molds are called _fungi_. Some fungi, such as the toadstools, puffballs, and devil's snuff-box, are quite large;...
WITH EGG OF WEEVIL, AND SHOWING THE HOLE WHERE THE EGG WAS DEPOSITED Greatly enlarged] In from one to two weeks the grub or larva becomes fully grown and, without changing its home...
I have a milk cow with some trouble about her head, neck and shoulders, which causes her to rub herself enough to make raw spots and take off most all of the hair from the parts af...
If the corn is on the cob, four-fifths of its weight is corn; that is to say, 5 pounds of corn on the cob has 4 pounds of grain.
I have a very fine Jersey cow. I have had her to the bull every month, and can't get her with calf. In an isolated case of this kind there is probably some disease of the generativ...
What do birds do in the world? is an important question for us to think about. First, we must gain by observation and by personal acquaintance with the living birds a knowledge of...
All farm animals were once called _cattle_; now this term applies only to beef and dairy animals--neat cattle. Our improved breeds are descended from the wild ox of Europe and Asia...
Barley is one of the oldest crops known to man. The old historian Pliny says that barley was the first food of mankind. Modern man however prefers wheat and corn and potatoes to ba...
Take off the lower shoots whenever your knife is sharp. Do not let them grow another year. Theoretically, the best time to remove them is toward the end of the dormant season, but...
By a process known as _grafting_ you can force your tree to produce whatever variety of apple you desire. Many people raise fruit trees directly from seed without grafting. Thus th...
Although cotton was cultivated on the Eastern continent before America was discovered, this crop owes its present kingly place in the business world to the zeal and intelligence of...
When the white man came to this country he found the Indians using corn; for this reason, in addition to its name _maize_, it is called _Indian corn_. Before that time the civilize...
When the butter remelted, the yellow portion melted, leaving the white portion retaining its shape. The white portion did not taste like ordinary butter. The butter made from our c...
Stock-raisers select breeds that are best adapted to their needs. Plant-growers exercise great care in their choice of plants, selecting for each planting those best suited to the...
The oat plant belongs to the grass family. It is a hardy plant and, under good conditions, a vigorous grower. It stands cold and wet better than any other cereal except possibly ry...
When a fall growth is wanted for the soil, and it is preferred that the plants be dead in the spring, oats make a good catch crop. Thin land which is wanted for seeding to wheat an...