Lawrence Trantow 
Fundamentals of Agricultural Science 

The book Fundamentals of Agricultural Science has been written primarily as a textbook for junior secondary students who take agriculture as a school subject. Agriculture is a human activity in which people use areas of land to produce food, clothing materials and other products. The latin word ager means a field, and dictionaries usually describe agriculture as the art or science of cultivating the ground. This is the oldest meaning of the word, but now it also means using the land to raise animals, fruit and other products. When early man turned from being a nomadic food-gatherer and began to live in settled communities, it became necessary for him to cultivate the soil so that he would have supplies of food close at hand. Agricultural education at any level succeeds only in so far as it involves the study of basic principles as well as the techniques of agriculture. In Parts 2 and 3, the first chapters deal with principles of fundamental importance, and later chapters deal with the application of principles to particular industries. The theory of school agriculture assumes its full significance when the pupil applies or tests theory in simple acts of observation and measurement. This edition includes metrication, updating of statistics, oilseeds, animal disease and chemical agriculture. It will prove as a useful reference book for the Rural Youth Organisation, and for the students in the agricultural colleges.