The Grenada sentinel., 1903-07-04
FARMER AND Pr ANTER.
AGR1cuLruRE IN SCHOOLS.
why Agricultural Science should he
Made y Part OF the Curriculum
OF Our Public Schools.

To this question there are very
many answers. We desire to call at
tention to few of them.
We say it should be taught in all
our schools because it is the leading
science. It is the broad foundation
upon which many sciences rest for
their usefulness. We know it has
not been so considered. There are
many good and sufficient reasons why
it was not thought to be a science at
all.
But that day is passing. A brighter
day is dawning.
This world was not made by acci-
dent, neither does it continue to ex-
ist by accident.
Everything moves by law. Gods
laws in nature are simple and beau
tiful and unchanging.
If We were capable of fully grasp
ing these, then science would be prop
erly defined AZ Gods way of doing
things.
But as our knowledge is so limited
and imperfect it is better to say that
as far as we are concerned science is
what we know of Gods way of doing
things.
The science of medicine is what we
have learned of Gods way of health
and disease and how we may apply
His remedies for the cure of disease.
The science of astronomy is what
We have learned of Gods way of bal
ancing worlds and systems of worlds
| in space and keeping them in harmo-
NOUS movement to the rythm of time.
The science of mathematics is what
! We have learned of the relations and
combinations of numbers.
In the same way we define tie sci
| ence of agriculture TO be what we
have learned of Gods way or laws of
| fitting the soil to the production of
plants and plants to the finding in the
soil the support and food necessary
| for growth.
We do know enough of these to con-
stitute a science and we can teach
enough of them to make the study OF
agriculture a scientific study.
To illustrate: we have learned that
water constitutes three-fourths Of
the vegetables and animals upon the
face of the earth. That twenty-three
per cent. of the remaining fourth is
air. That only three per cent. is min
! eral. And that is all that the soil
furnishes direct to the plant life.
| We know that water carries and
feeds this fourth to the plants. We
| know that plants can not use solid
food. That everything must be given
to them dissolved in water.
We know that where there is no
water there is no life. 1.-The
Water of Life" is not a mere fig
ure of speech, but law of the uni
verse.
Thus we learn that we are abso-
lutely dependent upon water and
plenty of water Tor success in farm
ing.
We have learned that God supplies
us plenty of water for this purpose
but we have just begun to learn how
to use this ample supply. Instead OF
permitting it to run away from our
farms, we can store il away for tu'
ture use.
We have long known that when we
stirred water and soil together we
made mud, and when we dried this
mud we made bricks. But in violation
of the plain law we went right on and
plowed the soil when it was wet, and
when it dried we had millions of sun
dried brick-bats. We plowed OF
scratched about three inches deer
and with our feet and th1e mules feet
and the plows feet, we packed the
subsoil into strata six to ten inches
deep, so hard that water could not
penetrate it readily.
This hard-pan caused the water t<
run off the farm and carry with il
the finest and richest of our soil. Al
this was in violation of Gods laws
And the violation gave us gullies ant
CALLED hill sides and bleached soils un
til millions of acres have been ruined
for farm purposes.
We have learned better than that
The science of agriculture as it cal
now be taught, teaches to plow onl!
when the soil is dry. TO make dus
instead of mud.
1t teaches us to break this hard
pan and let the water sink into th'
earth when it rains. It teaches u
that we can in this way store ava,
the excess Of our winter rains fol
summer use. And that it will in re
sponse to the beautiful laws of capil
larity come back in the summer tt
feed the hungry plants in time o
need.-Southern Cultivator.
THE CNITI1RE OE ALFALFA.