viii INTRODUCTION. 



the art that transforms substances of little use and little value 

 into products of greater utility and greater value. 



In a factory we may see art transforming wool into woven 

 fabrics; or we may see pig iron transformed into the finest watch 

 springs or cambric needles. Just so agriculture has become a 

 fine art. Agriculture takes fertilizers, manure, air, water, and 

 the forces of light and heat and through the laboratories and 

 workshops of nature, it transforms them into grain, flowers, 

 fruits and other products. 



These products are utilized by man directly, or indirectly 

 after the change that is wrought by domestic animals, whereby 

 we get leather, meat and wool; or by those special industries 

 that produce flour, sugar, oil, butter, and similar necessaries of 

 life. 



Agricultural production does not depend solely upon the 

 will of man, who directs its operations; it varies also according 

 to certain atmospheric conditions dependent upon the region and 

 upon the season; but science to a certain extent is sometimes 

 made to control the forces of nature. 



Agriculture is, therefore, a complex industry, requiring great 

 knowledege when well understood, for like the climate with 

 which its operations are directed, it is subject to extreme irregu- 

 larities and peculiarities. 



The agriculturist must understand the laws of cause and 

 effect; he must investigate the results of practical experiments. 

 Without observation, and improvement agriculture will fail. In- 

 telligence mixed with labor, and labor mixed with love of the art 

 will bring the greatest reward. 



Scope of the Subject. 



From the study of astronomy we learn something of the 

 origin of the earth, of the earth's movements and of their rela- 

 tions to the causes of the seasons and their influences on plant 

 and animal life. 



The astronomical facts of greatest importance to agricul- 

 tural science, are: the sun's heat; the revolution of the earth 

 around the sun; the obliquity of the earth's axis to the plane 

 of the ecliptic; and the rotation of the earth upon its axis. 



