Here is an article from a cyclopedia for schools. The farther you go in school, the more frequently you will need to consult such books. In such cases you should learn to turn quickly to the part of this article you want without reading it all through. Sometimes the topic you are looking up will be the same as one of the headings in the book. Often it will not. Instead of reading the whole article, however, you will generally be able to judge what heading is likely to cover your topic.

If you don't find what you want, keep looking. For example, if you wished to find more about wheat, oats, poultry or cattle you would turn to other volumes of this cyclopedia and read the special article on the subject you were seeking.

Your teacher will assign different individuals or different sections of the class one or more of the following topics covered in this selection. Of course you will not think that you have in this brief selection anything like a complete discussion of each of these topics. You will, however, find something interesting about each of them.

1. How much time it takes to raise a bushel of corn.

2. How barren areas can be made productive.

3. Four causes of progress in agriculture.

4. Four different kinds of agriculture.

5. Where America raises her cereals.

6. What agriculture does for each of us.

7. Good roads and the farmer.

8. Things the farmer has to fight.

9. Truck farming.

10. Where animals thrive.

11. Agriculture experiment stations.

12. Changes in agriculture methods.

Agriculture is the art of cultivating the soil to produce material for feeding and clothing the human race. It is the oldest of all occupations. "The first farmer," says Emerson, "was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of the land." Agriculture is also the most widely-extended of all occupations, and it lies at the foundation of all other industries. Daniel Webster once said, "When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization." Unless man were fed and clothed the race would perish.

Illustrating its Importance.

Mr. and Mrs. Adams with their children, John, aged 14, and Mary, aged 12, lived in the city. Like many other city children, John and Mary knew but little of the country, and did not seriously consider farming or anything connected with it. Their father and mother, however, had come from the farm, and they decided to help John and Mary to obtain correct ideas of the country and of a life such as they lived in their younger days.

"John, where did this bread come from?" asked Mr. Adams, at dinner.

"Why, mother bought it at the baker's, I suppose."

"Very well, but where did the baker get it?"

"Oh, I know," said Mary, "he makes it."

"But what is it made of?" continued the father.

"There is flour in it," said John, "and water, and—and—lots of other things."

"A boy never knows anything about cooking; let me tell," said Mary. "Bread is made of flour, water and yeast and—what else do they put in it, mother?"

"I don't see as you know much more about it than I do," said John.

"You children can learn how to make bread some other time," said Mr. Adams; "I want to know where the baker got his flour."

"He bought it of the wholesale grocer," replied John.

"Well, where did the grocer get it?"

"That is about as far as I can go," said John. "I have often wondered where all the things we eat come from, but I have so many things to study in school that I don't have time to read about anything more."

"Well," replied the father, "suppose we make a little study of these things at dinner. Let us begin with the bread. What you and Mary have said is true, but we need to look into the subject a little further, if we would know the real source from which we obtain bread and all other articles of food. The real source of all these is the farm, and were it not for the farmers all the people who live in the city, as we do, should soon be without food."

"Why, I never thought of that before; I never supposed the farmer amounted to much, anyway," said John. Mary expressed a similar idea, and both asked their father to tell them about those common articles of food which we all eat without giving a thought to the source from which they come or the labor required to prepare them for our use.

During the next few days Mr. Adams took the children on a number of imaginary journeys. With him they visited in fancy the great wheat fields of the Dakotas and Canada, the corn belt in Illinois and Iowa, the cattle ranches of Texas and Montana, the fruit orchards of the Pacific states, the dairy farms and creameries of Wisconsin, the sugar plantations of Louisiana, the beet farms of Michigan and Colorado, and the poultry farms near some of our great cities. Then he took them to far-off lands—to the coffee plantations of Brazil, the tea gardens of Formosa, the rice plantations of China and the spice groves of India.

Before these imaginary excursions were ended, John and Mary learned that everything they ate, except salt, came from a farm in some part of the world and that agriculture was carried on in every country. But Mr. Adams did not stop here. In the same delightful way he led the children to the study of cotton, flax, wool, and silk, so that they were convinced that we depend upon the farm for what we wear as well as for what we eat. In their minds the farmer at once became a very important individual.

Progress of Agriculture.—Agriculture began when the first man selected plants for his food. His next step was to scratch the ground with a stick and plant seed. Then he took a forked stick and made a plow of it. Two or more men hauled this plow while another held it in position. But this labor was too hard, so man tamed the ox and the ass and made them do the hauling and the carrying of his burdens, as well. From these simple beginnings, agriculture has advanced through the centuries until to-day traction engines haul over our great wheat fields gang plows that turn more than fifty furrows at a time. Later these same engines haul over the fields of ripened grain a machine which at one operation harvests, thrashes and sacks the grain ready for market—does everything, one humorist says, except to cash the check for the crop.

Such has been the progress in agriculture since the middle of the last century that the labor of producing a bushel of wheat with the most modern appliances has been reduced from a little over three hours to about ten minutes. Formerly it required four and one-half hours' labor to produce a bushel of corn; now it requires less than forty minutes. Then, it took thirty-five and one-half hours' labor to grow a ton of hay; now, it takes eleven hours and thirty-four minutes. But this is not all. Production has been increased many fold; new and better varieties of grains, vegetables, fruits and live stock are being constantly produced; the use of agricultural machinery has enabled the farmer to give more attention to the business side of his affairs, and the best farms are now operated on a systematic plan which includes both the fields and the home.

Causes of Progress.—While the progress of agriculture may seem to have been slow, it has advanced about as rapidly as other arts. The more rapid advance of recent times is due chiefly to the following causes:

Transportation.—It is of no advantage to the farmer to raise crops that he cannot market; therefore, good roads form one of the most essential conditions to his success. Of these the country has far too few, but railways have become so numerous that most farms are now within a few miles of a station if not directly on the railway itself. Increased facilities for marketing his crop have greatly increased the farmers' production.

Machinery.—The machines which have done most towards the progress of agriculture are the harvester, or reaping machine, the gang plow, the seeder and the horse hoe. What these have accomplished in reducing the cost of production is told in the preceding paragraph. Without these inventions cultivation of the large farms in the Prairie states and the Canadian provinces of the Northwest would be impossible. Many other machines have also contributed their share. Among these are the steam thrasher, the traction engine, the gasoline engine, and the cream separator. Moreover, we must not forget the improvement in the simpler farm implements such as the hoe, the spade, the rake, and the ax, which, by being made lighter and of better material than in the long-ago, have enabled those using them to do more work with less expenditure of strength.

Chemistry.—The application of chemistry to soils, plants, and fertilizers lies at the foundation of scientific agriculture. The farmer can now learn from the nearest agricultural experiment station what fertilizer is best suited to his soil and what crops he can grow with greatest success. Agricultural chemistry is now applied to the study of soils, of plant food and of fertilizers wherever there is an agricultural college.

Education.—Not many years ago the average farmer was glad to express his contempt for what he styled "book farming". Happily, that day is past, and agricultural education (see subheading, below) now occupies an important position in the educational systems of all civilized countries. In the United States and Canada the demand for graduates from agricultural colleges and high schools is greater than these institutions are able to supply. Furthermore, the outlook for supervisors and teachers of agriculture is so promising that young men from the city constitute no inconsiderable portion of the student body of these institutions. This is the beginning of a right sort of movement from the city to the country, and it is increasing.

Scientific Agriculture.—All the foregoing movements have combined to make agriculture a science as well as an art. The influence of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations extends to the remotest regions, and everywhere the trained scientist is helping the farmer to solve his problems and to make his farm more profitable. No longer can the old hit-or-miss methods maintain themselves in competition with the scientific methods of the "new agriculture", which in the near future will not only render productive vast areas still barren, but also reclaim the so-called "worn-out farms" and repopulate with prosperous families those which have been abandoned.

Prevention of Disease.—The application of scientific methods to the study of those diseases of plants and animals which are ever robbing the farmer of his profits constitutes one of the most important contributions of science to agriculture, and is saving annually millions of dollars to the farmers. While not all of these diseases are conquered, many of them have been; the ravages of others have been checked, and new victories are gained each year.

Insect Pests.—What has been said about the study of disease applies with equal force to the study of destructive insects. These pests also deprive the farmer of a portion of his income every season, and, now and then, they destroy his crop altogether. Through the discoveries made by the Department of Agriculture at Washington and in Canada by the same department of government, and at the various experiment stations, we are now able to deal successfully with these pests on the American continent.

Branches.—Agriculture is so widely extended over the earth and so varied in its industries that it is naturally divided into a number of branches. While many farmers are interested in several of these branches, each gives special attention to one or two. The farmer in the corn belt, for instance, makes corn the chief product of his land, but he must give enough attention to growing other crops and to dairying to produce sufficient food for his family and live stock, unless he would purchase this food at an expense considerably greater than would be required to raise it. Likewise, the dairy husbandman must raise most of the feed for his herd to make his business profitable.

The following are the chief branches of agriculture in America:

Raising Cereals.—In some regions the soil and climate are especially suited to raising cereals. For instance, Canada, Minnesota and North Dakota are adapted to raising spring wheat, and this constitutes their chief crop. On the other hand, Kansas is especially suited to raising winter wheat. Illinois and Iowa are the great corn states, because of the particular adaptation of the soil and climate of the corn belt to the production of this cereal. The growing of cereals is more widely extended than any other branch of agriculture.

Other Crops.—In some of the Northern states having a cool climate and in Southern Canada, flax is extensively grown on new soil. Potatoes are also successful in these regions. Oats is an extensive crop throughout the northern half of the United States and in most of the Canadian provinces. In Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and a number of the other Southern states, cotton constitutes the chief source of revenue. Fodder crops, including corn for ensilage, clover, timothy and alfalfa, are also of great importance in those localities where live stock is raised or dairying is the chief line of agricultural industry.

Horticulture.—Horticulture is that branch of agriculture which includes the raising of flowers, garden vegetables, and fruit. The growing of vegetables and other garden produce for market is usually called truck farming, and this branch of horticulture is very common near large cities and in those localities where soil and climate admit of raising two or more crops a year. The raising of fruit is probably the most extensive branch of horticulture, particularly in those regions which depend upon irrigation for their supply of water. All forms of horticulture are intensified farming—that is, the thorough cultivation of small tracts of land that is highly fertilized.

Live Stock.—Some localities are especially adapted to raising live stock. Iowa and Illinois, for instance raise large numbers of hogs, which are fattened on corn. Iowa also raises beef cattle. Kentucky is noted for its fine horses; Montana, Wyoming, and several other states contain extensive grazing lands where thousands of sheep find pasturage, and in Texas beef cattle are raised in large numbers.

Dairy Husbandry.—Sections of the country having a cool climate, an abundance of pure water, and soil adapted to growing alfalfa and other ensilage crops are suited to dairying, and this branch of agriculture is of great importance in those states.

Poultry.—The proceeds from the poultry raised in the United States exceed those received from the wheat crop; strange as this statement may seem, the hen is a mighty asset. Some poultry is found on nearly every farm, but there are numerous small farms which are devoted entirely to raising chickens, and when rightly managed, they prove a profitable investment.