ALVA AGEE, M.S.

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
ACTING DEAN AND DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF
AGRICULTURE AND EXPERIMENT STATION OF
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE

ILLUSTRATED

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1912

All rights reserved

Copyright, 1912,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1912.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Pages
Introduction [ 1-11]
In lieu of preface 1
Natural strength of land 2
Plant constituents 2
Organic matter 4
Drainage 6
Lime 7
Crop-rotation 8
Fertilizers 9
Tillage 10
Control of soil moisture 11

CHAPTER II

The Need of Lime [ 12-22]
The unproductive farm 12
Soil acidity 13
The rational use of lime 14
Where clover is not wanted 16
Determining lime requirement 17
The litmus-paper test 19
A practical test 20
Duration of effect 21

CHAPTER III

Applying Lime [ 23-35]
Forms of lime 23
Definitions 24
The kind to apply 26
The fineness of limestone 27
Hydrated lime 27
Stone-lime 28
Ashes 30
Marl 31
Magnesian lime 31
Amount per acre 32
Time of application 34

CHAPTER IV

Organic Matter [ 36-45]
Office of organic matter 36
The legumes 38
Storing nitrogen 39
The right bacteria 41
Soil inoculation 42
Method of inoculation 43

CHAPTER V

The Clovers [ 46-58]
Red clover 46
Clover and acid soils 47
Methods of seeding 48
Fertility value 49
Taking the crops off the land 51
Physical benefit of the roots 52
Used as a green manure 52
When to turn down 53
Mammoth clover 54
Alsike clover 55
Crimson clover 56

CHAPTER VI

Alfalfa [ 59-70]
Adaptation to eastern needs 59
Fertility and feeding value 60
Climate and soil 61
Free use of lime 62
Inoculation 62
Fertilization 63
A clean seed-bed 64
Varieties 65
Clean seed 65
The seeding 66
Seeding in August 67
Subsequent treatment 68

CHAPTER VII

Grass Sods [ 71-79]
Value of sods 71
Prejudice against timothy 72
Object of sods 74
Seeding with small grain 75
Seeding in rye 76
Good soil conditions 77

CHAPTER VIII

Grass Sods (Continued) [ 80-89]
Seeding in late summer 80
Crops that may precede 81
Preparation 83
The weed seed 84
Summer grasses 85
Sowing the seed 85
Deep covering 86
Seed-mixtures 88

CHAPTER IX

Sods for Pastures [ 90-97]
Permanent pastures 90
Seed-mixtures 91
Blue-grass 91
Timothy 92
Red-top 92
Orchard grass 93
Other seeds 93
Yields and composition of grasses 93
Suggested mixtures for pastures 94
Renewal of permanent pastures 96
Destroying bushes 96
Close grazing 97

CHAPTER X

The Cowpea [ 98-107]
A southern legume 98
Characteristics 99
Varieties 99
Fertilizing value 100
Affecting physical condition 101
Planting 101
Inoculation 103
Fertilizers 103
Harvesting with livestock 104
The cowpea for hay 104
As a catch crop 106

CHAPTER XI

Other Legumes and Cereal Catch Crops [ 108-119]
The soybean 108
Fertility value 109
Feeding value 109
Varieties 110
The planting 111
Harvesting 112
The Canada pea 113
Vetch 113
Sweet clover 115
Rye as a cover crop 116
When to plow down 117
Buckwheat 118
Oats 119

CHAPTER XII

Stable Manure [ 120-128]
Livestock farming 120
The place for cattle 121
Sales off the farm 122
The value of manure 124
The content of manure 125
Relative values 126
Amount of manure 127
Analysis of manure 128

CHAPTER XIII

Care of Stable Manure [ 129-138]
Common source of losses 129
Caring for liquid manure 130
Use of preservatives 131
Spreading as made 132
The covered yard 133
Harmless fermentation 135
Rotted manure 135
Composts 136
Poultry manure 137

CHAPTER XIV

The Use of Stable Manure [ 139-148]
Controlling factors 139
Direct use for corn 140
Effect upon moisture 141
Manure on grass 142
Manure on potatoes 143
When to plow down 144
Heavy applications 144
Reënforcement with minerals 145
Durability of manure 147

CHAPTER XV

Crop-rotations [ 149-158]
The farm scheme 149
Value of rotation 150
Selection of crops 151
An old succession of crops 152
Corn two years 153
The oat crop 154
Two crops of wheat 154
The clover and timothy 154
Two legumes in the rotation 155
Potatoes after corn 156
A three-years' rotation 157
Grain and clover 158
Potatoes and crimson clover 158

CHAPTER XVI

The Need of Commercial Fertilizers [ 159-170]
Loss of plant-food 159
Prejudice against commercial fertilizers 160
Are fertilizers stimulants? 161
Soil analysis 162
Physical analysis 163
The use of nitrogen 164
Phosphoric-acid requirements 165
The need of potash 166
Fertilizer tests 167
Variation in soil 168

CHAPTER XVII

Commercial Sources of Plant-food [ 171-187]
Acquaintance with terms 171
Nitrate of soda 171
Sulphate of ammonia 178
Dried blood 173
Tankage 174
Fish 175
Animal bone 175
Raw bone 177
Steamed bone 178
Rock-phosphate 178
Acid phosphate 180
Basic slag 183
Muriate of potash 184
Sulphate of potash 185
Kainit 185
Wood-ashes 185
Other fertilizers 186
Salt 186
Coal-ashes 187
Muck 187
Sawdust 187

CHAPTER XVIII

Purchasing Plant-food [ 188-197]
Necessity of purchase 188
Fertilizer control 189
Brand names 191
Statement of analysis 191
Valuation of fertilizers 193
A bit of arithmetic 194
High-grade fertilizers 196

CHAPTER XIX

Home-mixing of Fertilizers [ 198-208]
The practice of home-mixing 198
Effectiveness of home-mixing 198
Criticisms of home-mixing 199
The filler 202
Ingredients in the mixture 203
Materials that should not be combined 207
Making a good mixture 207
Buying unmixed materials 208

CHAPTER XX

Mixtures for Crops [ 209-219]
Composition of plant not a guide 209
The multiplication of formulas 209
A few combinations are safest 210
Amount of application 211
Similarity of requirements 213
Maintaining fertility 215
Fertilizer for grass 216
All the nitrogen from clover 218
Method of applying fertilizers 218
An excess of nitrogen 219

CHAPTER XXI

Tillage [ 220-229]
Desirable physical condition of the soil 220
The breaking-plow 221
Types of plows 221
Subsoiling 223
Time of plowing 223
Method of plowing 224
The disk harrow 225
Cultivation of plants 227
Controlling root-growth 227
Elimination of competition 228
Length of cultivation 229

CHAPTER XXII

Control of Soil Moisture [ 230-236]
Value of water in the soil 230
The soil a reservoir 231
The land-roller 232
The plank-drag 233
The mulch 233
Mulches of foreign material 234
Plowing straw down 235
The summer-fallow 235
The modern fallow 236

CHAPTER XXIII

Drainage [ 237-246]
Underdrainage 237
Counting the cost 238
Where returns are largest 239
Material for the drains 239
The outlet 240
Locating main and branches 240
The laterals 241
Size of tile 241
Kind of tile 242
The grade 243
Establishing a grade 243
Cutting the trenches 244
Depth of trenches 245
Connections 245
Permanency desired 246

ILLUSTRATIONS

Alfalfa and Corn in Indiana [ Frontispiece]
Facing Page
A Good Crop for a Poor Soil [ 4]
Red Clover on Limed and Unlimed Land [ 20]
Turning down Organic Matter with a Gang Plow [ 36]
Red Clover on the Farm of P. S. Lewis & Son, Pt. Pleasant, W. Va. [ 51]
Alfalfa on the Ohio State University Farm [ 61]
Curing Alfalfa at the Pennsylvania Experiment Station [ 68]
A Heavy Grass Sod in New York [ 73]
Good Pasture Land in Chester County, Pa. [ 90]
Sheep on a New York Farm [ 96]
The Cowpea Seeded at the Last Cultivation of Corn in the Great Kanawha Valley, W. Va. [ 106]
Texas Calves on an Ohio Farm [ 121]
In the Fertile Miami Valley, Ohio [ 126]
Concrete Stable Floors [ 131]
Corn in the Ohio Valley [ 140]
Penn's Valley, Pennsylvania [ 151]
In the Shenandoah Valley [ 155]
Plat Experiments [ 167]
In the Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania [ 189]
On the Productive Farm of Dr. W. I. Chamberlain in Northwestern Ohio [ 210]
Deep Tillage [ 222]
Making an Earth Mulch in a New York Orchard [ 233]
Drain Tile [ 239]
The Lure of the Country [ 246]