Armour's Hand Book of Agriculture (Classic Reprint)

Within recent years interest in agriculture has been growing very rapidly. Railroads, banks, chambers of commerce, and many large industries have organized departments of agriculture. A new impetus has been given to agricultural education, and agricultural colleges and experiment stations have begun to receive large appropriations and to flourish as they never did before. The farmers are more alert mentally, and are making better use of the soil, which shows a healthy reaction from this universal interest in the subject. Many factors are back of this new interest in agriculture. In the first place, all are beginning to see that agriculture is the only vocation that can maintain an independent existence. For in it, men can find their food, clothing and shelter, and with these life can be sustained. In the second place, all are beginning to understand the importance of the soil as our universal source of supplies. We are beginning to realize that the soil can be wasted or it can be conserved in a state of permanent fertility, and that universal interest may set machinery in motion to preserve it permanently before the thinning process has gone too far. While agriculture is perhaps the most important vocation of man, civilization is based on successful agriculture, plus a healthy system of transportation, commerce, manufacture and industry. It is based on the proper contact of man with man and nation with nation, which is not possible without an efficient system of transportation. Farmers realize thoroughly that agriculture is a fascinating business or Vocation only when to its necessities are added comforts and amusements. They know that to make these possible requires skilled workmen and talent not engaged in agriculture. In other words, civilization requires that populations be so divided that only a sufficient number will be producing to furnish food and cl
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)