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[Illustration: Frontispiece. Proper soil and climatic conditions, good seed and good culture produce good yields.]
By
A. D. Wilson
Superintendent of Institutes and Agricultural
Extension, College of Agriculture,
University of Minnesota
and
C. W. Warburton
Agronomist, Bureau of Plant Industry, United
States Department of Agriculture
1912
Webb Publishing Co.
St. Paul, Minn.
[Copyright Page]
Copyright, 1912,
By
Webb Publishing Company.
In preparing this manual of the field crops of the United States, the needs of the secondary schools where agriculture is taught have been kept particularly in mind. The development of agricultural high schools and of agricultural courses in the regular high schools has been so rapid in the past few years that the demand for suitable text-books is as yet largely unfilled. The instructors in these schools have been compelled to adapt to their uses college texts on the leading agricultural subjects, to supply the necessary matter in the form of lectures, or to supplement the necessarily brief treatment which is given these subjects within the limits of a single volume covering the whole field of elementary agriculture. It is hoped that the present book will prove to be a useful basis for instruction in the subject of field crops.
It is manifestly impossible to discuss each individual crop as fully as some instructors may desire and yet keep within the limits of a usable volume. Consequently, the discussion has been made as brief as is consistent with completeness, and repetition has been avoided by numerous cross-references. Suggestions have also been made for supplementary reading in the way of Farmers' Bulletins, which may be obtained free from the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D.C., and of standard volumes, most of which should find a place in the school library. In addition, the local experiment station should be drawn upon for such of its publications as may prove useful.
One other feature needs comment. The laboratory exercises which appear at the end of each chapter are merely suggestive; as in the class-room, special emphasis
6 Preface
should be given to the particular crops which are of importance in the region where the instruction is given. Frequent visits should be made to farms in the vicinity, and as many of the crops as possible studied at first hand. Small plats of some crops not common in the community may well be grown on the school farm to supply illustrative material.
While the book is designed primarily for text use, the authors trust that it will also be of interest to farmers and to those who desire to become farmers. The results of many experiments have been embodied in the text, as have also the practical experiences of many good farmers. The aim throughout has been to make a simple, practical, readable manual.
Our acknowledgments are due to various officials of the United States Department of Agriculture, and to the Ohio, Kansas, and Minnesota experiment stations for illustrative material.
A. D. Wilson
C. W. Warburton.
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