2 ' -^ ' ' . • Practical Farming 



Modern agriculture is largely the child of chemistry, 

 and its future development must always depend to a 

 great extent on the investigations of the chemist. But 

 closely aUied to this science is the science that takes in 

 the study of Hfe, and helps us to understand the life of 

 the low forms of plant life that make diseases on our 

 crops, and teaches us how to combat these and the insect 

 enemies that annoy us. The science, then, of Wolog^ 

 becomes a very essential aid to the farmer. 



Our work is mainly the study of the soil and its treat- 

 ment in the production of crops. 



The science of geology treats of the for- 



The Geologi- Elation and growth of the outer crust of the 

 cal Origin , , ^ . . , , . . , 



of Soils • globe. It mvestigates the composition of the 



crust, the processes which have contributed 

 to its growth through the long untold ages since the earth 

 was a molten mass, and the elemental influences that have 

 helped to bring the earth into its present form. This 

 science takes into consideration the elevation and depres- 

 sion of the land, the formation of rocks of various sorts 

 under and above waters, and the decay and wasting of 

 the rocks that make the foundation of the soils that cover 

 the outer surface. 



Geologists have found th^t the crust of the earth has 

 ^een formed in successive layers known as strata. It is 

 evident that as these layers have been placed one above 

 another by various causes, the uppermost layer must be 

 the youngest, unless by some cataclysm of nature the rocks 

 have been pressed together and thrust one under the 

 other. This is always evident from the foldings and 

 faults, so called. Where upheavals through volcanic 



