EFFECTIVE FARMING 



CHAPTER I 

 GENERAL VIEW 



Agriculture fundamental. 



Agriculture as art, science, and business. 



Divisions of agriculture. 



Farm possibilities. 



VERY interesting and important is the study of agriculture. 

 It is essentially a study of nature. The scene of agriculture 

 is the out-of-doors. It is associated with weather, clouds, 

 sun, and open sky. It is founded on the soil, itself so complex 

 that we do not yet understand it fully ; in the soil the changes 

 are involved, due to many chemical reactions-, the movement 

 of fluids, and the work of millions of microorganisms, all modi- 

 fied by rainfall, frost and heat, structure, action of roots, 

 manipulation by the farmer, and many other conditions. Every 

 seed is a mystery, containing within itself a living plant pos- 

 sessing wonderful possibilities. Under the proper conditions, 

 this seed grows, the resulting plant bearing stems and leaves 

 and flowers and fruit, all fashioned out of the abundant atmos- 

 phere and earth. Many of these plants become the food of 

 animals, and their elements later appear in meat, milk, wool, 

 and in the muscles and the power to pull a load. Constant 

 change is the order of nature ; the farmer utilizes these changes 

 in the production of his crops and live-stock. The better he 

 understands them, the greater success and satisfaction should 

 he have in his work. 



1. Agriculture fundamental. Agriculture is the produc- 

 tion of plants and animals useful to man, together with the 

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