INTRODUCTION 



AGRICULTURE now has a recognized place in both high 

 S( nools and colleges. If this progress in scientific study is 

 t( continue, it is necessary that the instruction be kept on an 

 e< ual educational basis with all other subjects. The courses 

 in agriculture must stand for good, solid work such as is typi- 

 ci 1 of the entire farming industry. There is a need for text- 

 b< oks that give the basic principles of the subject briefly 

 \v thout being superficial. To help in meeting this need a 

 series of books, to be known as the Farm Series, is being 

 prepared. The aim of each book will be to discuss the phases 

 oi its subject that are of most importance to the farmer ; that 

 is. to answer the farmer's questions, and to make these 

 answers in the form of underlying principles rather than as 

 rules. The positive advice or rules that may work in one 

 region may be absolutely wrong in another region, or at an- 

 other time in the same region. If one understands the prin- 

 ciples involved, he will be better able to change his practice 

 to meet the ever-changing conditions. Statements are often 

 made that a farmer should raise all his cows, that he should 

 produce winter milk, that he should build a silo. Such rules 

 have no educational value and usually have no practical value. 

 The real problem depends on the factors involved in each case. 

 For instance a few of the points that must be considered in 

 deciding whether or not to build a silo are the adaptation of 



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