228 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



eries are now established all over the country, and experi- 

 ments are being made in the manufacture of beet sugar. 

 As far as soil and climate are concerned, we can certainly 

 produce all the sugar we need for home consumption, and 

 a great deal more. Experiments must determine whether 

 it is cheaper to produce it at home or import it from abroad. 

 In many instances American farming is still very waste- 

 ful, as compared with the best methods followed in Europe. 

 In Europe the fibre of flax is the most valuable part of that 

 crop, while the seed is merely a valuable by-product. In 

 this country we use the seed only, and burn the valuable 

 fibre or let it rot. Along roads and in waste places hemp 

 grows luxuriantly. It has no doubt been introduced with 

 birdseed, and is now disseminated by wild birds. Most 

 people do not even know that this plant produces the seed 

 for which they pay about ten cents a pound as canary food, 

 and that it produces an excellent fibre for twine and textile 

 fabrics. Our wild birds appreciate the seed and also the 

 fibre. Let the children twist small strings out of flax and 

 hemp fibre. Why waste the fibre of flax and hemp, and 

 then pay a big price for imported linen and for manilla 

 and sisal fibre ? 



See the following Farmers' Bulletins: No. 21, Barnyard Manure; 

 No. 27, Flax for Seed and Fibre ; No. 40, Farm Drainage ; No. 43, 

 Sewage Disposal on the Farm ; No. 44, Commercial Fertilizers ; No. 

 46, Irrigation in Humid Climates. 



43. Influence of Agriculture upon Man. 



If we wish to inquire into the influence agriculture has 

 had upon man, we only need to compare the life of white 

 men. with that of our North American Indians. The latter 

 knew of no " Sweet Home " ; they had no fatherland. The 

 different tribes roamed over their large hunting-grounds, 

 following the migrations or abundance of the game on which 

 they depended. They had not even progressed to the stage 



