232 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



Since cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa add atmospheric nitro- 

 gen to the soil and at the same time are the best feeding 

 materials, it follows that these crops should hold an impor- 

 tant place in every system of crop rotation. By proper 

 rotating, by proper terracing, and by proper drainage, land 

 may be made to retain its fertility for generations. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Why are cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa so important to the farmer? 



2. What is meant by the protein of a food ? 



3. Why is it better to feed farm crops on the farm to animals 

 rather than sell these crops ? 



SECTION LI FARM TOOLS AND MACHINES 



The drudgery of farm life is diminished in a large meas- 

 ure by the constant invention or improvement of farm 

 tools and machines. You each know, perhaps, how tire- 

 some is the old up-and-down churn dasher that has now 

 pretty generally given place to the "quick coming" 

 churns. The toothed, horse-drawn cultivator has about 

 displaced " the man with the hoe." The grass sickle, 

 slow and back-breaking, is everywhere getting out of the 

 way of the horse mower and rake. The old heavy, sweat- 

 drawing grain cradle is slinking into the backwoods, and 

 in its place we have the horse, or steam-drawn harvester 

 that cuts and binds the grain, and even threshes and 

 measures it at one operation. Instead of the plowman 

 wearily making one furrow at a time, the gang plows 

 of the plains cut many furrows at one time, and instead 



