The First Book of Farming | Page 2

Soil texture 37
IV.--RELATION OF SOILS TO WATER 39 Importance of water to
plants 39 Sources of soil water 40 Attitude of soils toward water:
Percolation Absorption from below Power to hold water 40 The effect
of working soils when wet 45
V.--FORMS OF SOIL WATER 48 Free water 48 Capillary water 49
Film water 50
VI.--LOSS OF SOIL WATER By surface wash By percolation and
leaching By evaporation By transpiration How to check these losses 53
VII.--SOIL TEMPERATURE 57 How soils are warmed 58 How soils
lose heat How to check loss of heat 59 Conditions which influence soil
temperature 60 Value of organic matter 61
VIII.--PLANT FOOD IN THE SOIL 63
IX.--SEEDS 70 Conditions necessary for sprouting 70 Seed testing 75
How the seeds come up 77 Use of cotyledons and endosperm 79

X.--SEED PLANTING 81 Depth of planting: Operation of planting
Planting machines 81 Seed classification 85 Transplanting 87
XI.--SPADING AND PLOWING 90 Spading the soil 90 Plowing 91
Why we spade and plow 91 Parts of a plow 92 Characteristics of a
good plow 95 The furrow slice 96 How deep to plow 96 "Breaking out
the middles" 97 Ridging the land 98 Time to plow 98 Bare fallow 100
XII.--HARROWING AND ROLLING 101 Harrowing: Why we
harrow Time to harrow 101 Types of harrows 102 Rolling 106
XIII.--LEAVES 108 Facts about leaves 108 The uses of leaves to
plants: Transpiration Starch making Digestion of food Conditions
necessary for leaf work 109 How the work of leaves is interfered with
115
XIV.--STEMS 120 What are stems for? 120 How the work of the stem
may be interfered with 126
XV.--FLOWERS 128 Function of flowers 128 Parts of flowers 129
Functions of the parts: Cross pollination 130 Value of a knowledge of
the flowers 134 Fruit 136

PART II
SOIL FERTILITY AS AFFECTED BY FARM OPERATIONS AND
FARM PRACTICES
Chapter Page
XVI.--A FERTILE SOIL 141 Physical properties: Power to absorb and
hold water Power of ventilation Power to absorb and hold heat 142
Biological properties 143 Nitrogen-fixing germs 144 Nitrifying germs
145 Denitrifying germs 147 Chemical properties: Nitrogen in the soil
Phosphoric acid in the soil Potash in the soil Lime in the soil Great

importance of physical properties 147 Maintenance of fertility 150
XVII.--SOIL WATER 151 Importance of soil water 151 Necessity of
soil water 151 Sources and forms of soil water 153 Too much water
154 Not enough water 154 Loss of soil water 155 How some farm
operations influence soil water 156 Hoeing, raking, harrowing and
cultivating 158 Manures and soil water 159 Methods of cropping and
soil water 159 Selection of crops with reference to soil water 160
XVIII.--THE AFTER-CULTIVATION OF CROPS 164 Loss of water
by evaporation 164 Loss of water through weeds 165 Saving the water
165 Time to cultivate 166 Tools for after-cultivation 167 Hilling and
ridging 169
XIX.--FARM MANURES 171 The functions of manures and fertilizers
171 Classification 171 Importance of farm manures 172 Barn or stable
manure 173 Loss of value 173 Checking the losses 176 Applying the
manure to the soil 177 Proper condition of manure when applied 179
Composts 181
XX.--FARM MANURES, CONCLUDED 183 Green-crop manures:
Functions 183 Benefits 185 Character of best plants for green-crop
manuring 185 The time for green-manure crops 186 Leguminous
green-manure crops 186 Non-leguminous green-manure plants 191
XXI.--COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 192 The raw materials 192
Sources of nitrogen 193 Sources of phosphoric acid 195 Sources of
potash 199 Sources of lime 200
XXII.--COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS, CONTINUED 202 Mixed
fertilizers: What they are Many brands Safeguard for the farmer Low
grade materials Inflating the guarantee 202 Valuation 205 Low grade
mixtures 207 Buy on the plant food basis 209
XXIII.--COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS, CONCLUDED 211 Home
mixing of fertilizers 211 Kind and amount to buy 212 The crop 213
The soil 215 The system of farming 215 Testing the soil 215

XXIV.--ROTATION OF CROPS 219 Systems of cropping 219 The
one crop system 221 Rotation of crops 224 Benefits derived from
rotation of crops 230 The typical rotation 231 Conditions which modify
the rotation 232 General rules 233 Length of rotation 233
XXV.--FARM DRAINAGE 235 How surplus water affects fertility
235 Indications of a need of drainage 235 Drains: Surface drains Open
ditch drains Covered drains or under drains 236 Influence of covered
drains on fertility 237 Location of drains: Grade Tile drains 238
GLOSSARY 241

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The farm equipment--plants, soils, animals, tools, buildings
Frontispiece
Figure Facing Page
1. Specimen plants for study 6
2. The first effort of a sprouting seed 7
3. Germinating seeds with roots 7
4. To show that plant roots take water from the soil 10
5. To show that plant roots take food from the soil 10
6. A radish root, from which the stored food has been used