PEACTICAL AGRICULTURE 



I. COUNTRY LIFE AND FARMING 



MANY young people dislike country life and think that they 

 would be happier living in cities ; but if their desires were realized, 

 they would often find themselves somewhat disappointed. In 

 the country there is plenty of pure fresh air, abundance of sun- 

 light, and plenty of room for exercise and development, while the 

 reverse is often true of our large centers of population. 



On account of the height of the buildings in some portions 

 of our large cities but little sunlight can find its way into the 

 living rooms. In the tenement districts the homes are often 

 overcrowded, and it is not unusual for one to find whole families 

 living in a single room. 



In the country there is always plenty of room, and such cramped 

 conditions of living are never necessary. In fact, there are many 

 reasons why we should prefer country life to city life, and why 

 we should look upon farming as a most desirable calling. Upon 

 farming, other occupations very largely depend for food and sup- 

 plies. Of course there is a vast difference between good farming 

 and the growing of crops in a haphazard way. People seem to 

 think that crops can care for themselves after the seed is planted, 

 and that the farmer's business is to cultivate the soil, destroy the 

 weeds, and grow food enough for his own use. Were this true, 

 farming would be very simple, and any one without training or 

 experience could be a successful farmer. Farming is something 

 more than the mere production of raw food materials from the 

 soil. It is concerned not only with the growing of the staple 

 grain, forage, and fiber crops, and the raising of stock, but also 

 with the general management of lands and farms. Each kind 

 of crop grown removes certain elements from the soil necessary 

 for plant growth, and if the crop is taken away from the farm, 



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