The First Book of Farming

ood in

the soil, and that a condition necessary for the root to do its work for t

er let us go to the plant an

some of it and pull apart; in turn break the branch, the cornstalk and the straw. The cotton does not pull apart readily nor do the others break easi

iodine diluted to about the color of weak tea. Rub a few drops of the iodine on the cut surfaces of the potatoes, parsnip, and the broken surfaces of the grains. No

cornstalk, beet root, turnip root, apple or cabbage.

You will find on the trunk and branches mo

bean, peanuts, Brazil nuts, hickory nuts, butternuts,

then wash the starch out of it by kneading it under a stream of running water or in a pan of water, changing the water frequently. The result will be a tough, yellowish gray, e

e the juice, then heat the clear juice, a substance will separate in a fla

G.

s of tubercles, the homes of n

G.

rcles or nodules, the homes of

and exposed parts are moist. In a potato or an apple we find a great deal of moisture. Pla

ff and there remains a dry portion. Heat the dry part to a high degree and i

tters, certain acids and other matters which give taste, flavor, and poisonous qualities to fruits and vegetables. More or less of all these substances are found in all plants. Now these ar

f certain chemical elements, some of which the plant obta

plants, the elements of which they are composed,

nts of which they are made. Sourc

e or woo

} Car

} Ox

ydrogen

and

rbon

xyg

s { Hydrog

trog

ulp

osph

phorus

tass

} Ca

gnes

Ir

} Ox

rogen

scription of these

ss gas, forms one

rless gas, forms

all organic matter; charcoal is one of its fo

forms four-fifths of the ai

a yello

a yellowish

a silver

owish solid. Fo

a silver

silver g

t in the soil but must also be there in such form that the plant can use them. The plant does not use them in t

ps. Professor Roberts, of Cornell University, tells us that an average acre of soil eight inches deep contains three thousand pounds of nitrogen. The nitrogen exists largely in the humus of the soil and it is only as the humus decays that

sphorus, potassium and calcium also exist in most soils in considerable quantities, but often are not available; thorough tillage and the addition of organic matter will help to make them available, and new supplies may be added in the form of fertilizers. Calcium is found in nearly all soils in sufficient quantities for most crops, but sometimes there is not enough of it for

hey do it through the acid of microscopic organisms called bacteria which live in nodules or tubercles on the roots of these plants (Figs. 34-35). Collect roots of these plants

ed eye but only with the most powerful microscopes. Some of these minute plants are great friends to the farmer, for it is largely through their work that food is made available for the higher plants. Some of them break down the organic matter and help prepare the nitrogen for the la