Blocking (Lumber, Fillers between framing members): This displays any items that need to be placed between the framing studs of the wall. Site work and preparation - site excavation, sewer installation and basic drainage details. Foundation construction - construction of a concrete full depth basement including a walkout. 1st floor deck construction - framing the first floor deck with engineered lumber products and water resistant sheathing. Wall construction - erection of pre-fabricated and site built walls. Roof construction - erection of pre-fabricated roof trusses, roof sheathing and asphalt roofing system. Exterior trim and siding - installation of vinyl siding and vinyl trim details. HVAC - installation of high efficiency boiler system, general plumbing and high velocity A/C. Electrical - rough wiring, installation of smart home technology and finished electrical products. Insulation - Installation of dense packed cellulose insulation in the wall and loose cellulose in the ceiling space. Drywall - Installation of drywall systems. Finish carpentry - installation of cabinetry, door and window trim and misc. finish carpentry details. Flooring - flooring installation and options. Painting - painting systems and methods. Horticulture: The science and art that deals with plant propagation, cultivation gardening, crop production, plant breeding and genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology. The work particularly involves fruits, berries, nuts, ornamental plants, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs, and turf. The basic elements of landscape design are: Color, as defined by color theory, Form, Line, Scale, Texture. These five elements must be considered in designing both the landscape and softscape of your property, the latter consisting mainly of gardens, lawns, shrubs and trees. Scale is simply the size of one component relative to adjacent components. The element of form is defined as the shape of a plant and the structure of its branching pattern. Trees come in many shapes (especially if pruned), including columnar and globular shapes. Since texture is primarily a visual matter in landscape design, we often rely on the relative size of a plant's leaves to draw conclusions about its perceived texture. Yes, plant texture is highly relative: it refers to how the surface of the object is perceived, relative to the objects around it. Thus the plant texture of one bedding plant, for example, might be considered more or less coarse than that of an adjacent plant, due to differences in leaf size. The element of line refers to the fact that the viewer's eye movement or flow can be governed by the arrangement of plants and their borders. Eye movement is unconsciously influenced by the way plant groupings fit or flow together, both on the horizontal and vertical planes. Because the effective application of these principles in your own backyard can raise the value of your real estate significantly. In planning a landscape design it is necessary to work with the "principles" that stem directly from the basic elements. Since this introduction to backyard landscape design is meant as a practical guide, the goal is not to provide abstract definitions, but examples that the do-it-yourselfer can implement immediately in a backyard landscape design. Three principles of garden design apply to the overall "feel" of the landscape: namely, proportion, transition and unity. Landscape plants should be arranged so as to conform to these principles. Proportion is the sense that the size of the individual components (the landscape plants) or groups of components in a landscape is consistent with the landscape as a whole. In other words, the idea behind proportion is very similar to that behind the basic element, scale. But the difference is that, while "scale" is a neutral term, "proportion" is based on the premise that something is either "in proportion" or "out of proportion." A garden design that is out of proportion is one that is marred by abrupt transitions or by the lack of transition. For instance, a five-foot high stone wall might elegantly set off a large home, but would make a small home look all the smaller. The landscaping of the latter suffers from a lack of transition: the height of the wall is too close to that of the house. Transition, simply put, refers to gradual change. Conforming to a sense of proportion is, in turn, one characteristic of a landscape or garden design that exhibits unity. Unity or "harmony" has been achieved when the viewer senses that all the landscape plants in a garden design complement each other and have been chosen with one over-arching theme in mind. The placement of landscape plants in a thoughtful manner regarding their form is one method for promoting a unified feel. For instance, small trees flanking a driveway or an entrance should have the same form. Repetition also promotes unity. Like all good things, however, unity can be pushed too far. Introduce some variety, or "contrast" into a landscape, too. One way is through the use of landscape plants that vary in texture. The element, texture is subtle enough that it can be employed to inject variety into a garden design without destroying unity. The next triad of principles for home landscape design, like proportion, transition and unity, are interrelated: namely, rhythm, balance and focalization. They all pertain to controlling a viewer's eye movement. Rhythm in general is the patterned repetition of a motif. In your home landscape design, the motif could consist of the landscaping plants used, for instance. Landscaping plants of one type could be planted in a row or hedge, effectively channeling the viewer's gaze in one direction, rather than another. The essential element here is line, since nothing controls eye movement more readily than a straight line. The objective of utilizing such a motif is to direct eye movement, unconsciously, in a manner that is most conducive to appreciating the home landscape design in question. For instance, perhaps the situation of your land holds the potential for a magnificent vista, but your current home landscape design does not take full advantage of it. Or perhaps you have a piece of statuary in your front yard that you want to show off. But if your front yard is full of other interesting items, it might be too "busy" for that item to receive sufficient focus. These and other problems of rhythm can be solved through an understanding of balance and focalization. Balance refers to consistency of visual attraction and applies to all five of the basic elements: consistency with form, with texture, etc. Understanding balance is, in turn, important for an understanding of focalization. Focalization is the forcing of the viewer’s perspective to a focal point. While it can be achieved through various means, more intense focalization is created through the use of balanced, consistent arrangements of elements. Let's return, then, to the two problems of home landscape design interjected above. The first is a problem of framing and can be solved by using bold, straight lines. The second, a problem of drawing attention to one component in a busy front yard, could be solved by reducing clutter, opting instead for a minimalist style; and through the use either of color or of line. The statue could be surrounded with color that would direct the viewer's eye (focalization) unconsciously to that area. Using landscaping plants with flowers that are red or yellow en masse would do the trick nicely. So would an appropriate use of line. For instance, a straight path of paving stones leading up to the statuary, or bedding plants arranged so as to form a straight edging that will focus the viewer's gaze in the intended direction. It will be seen from the foregoing discussion that the principles of home landscape design refer to nothing more ethereal than simply arranging the landscaping plants selected in combinations that bespeak a well-reasoned plan. Home landscape design is the province not of wizardry, but of planning, problem-solving and a "principled" approach. Proper pruning enhances the beauty of almost any landscape tree and shrub, while improper pruning can ruin or greatly reduce its landscape potential. In most cases, it is better not to prune than to do it incorrectly. In nature, plants go years with little or no pruning, but man can ruin what nature has created. By using improper pruning methods healthy plants are often weakened or deformed. In nature, every plant eventually is pruned in some manner. It may be a simple matter of low branches being shaded by higher ones resulting in the formation of a collar around the base of the branch restricting the flow of moisture and nutrients. Eventually the leaves wither and die and the branch then drops off in a high wind or storm. Often, tender new branches of small plants are broken off by wild animals in their quest for food. In the long run, a plant growing naturally assumes the shape that allows it to make the best use of light in a given location and climate. All one needs to do to appreciate a plant's ability to adapt itself to a location is to walk into a wilderness and see the beauty of natural growing plants. Pruning, like any other skill, requires knowing what you are doing to achieve success. The old idea that anyone with a chain saw or a pruning saw can be a landscape pruner is far from the truth. More trees are killed or ruined each year from improper pruning than by pests. Remember that pruning is the removal or reduction of certain plant parts that are not required, that are no longer effective, or that are of no use to the plant. It is done to supply additional energy for the development of flowers, fruits, and limbs that remain on the plant. Pruning, which has several definitions, essentially involves removing plant parts to improve the health, landscape effect, or value of the plant. Once the objectives are determined and a few basic principles understood, pruning primarily is a matter of common sense. The necessity for pruning can be reduced or eliminated by selecting the proper plant for the location. Plants that might grow too large for the site, are not entirely hardy, or become unsightly with age should be used wisely and kept to a minimum in the landscape plan. Advances in plant breeding and selection in the nursery industry provide a wide assortment of plants requiring little or no pruning. However, even the most suitable landscape plants often require some pruning. The guidelines presented in this publication should be helpful when pruning any plant.
Reasons for Pruning: To train the plant, to maintain plant health, to improve the quality of flowers, fruit, foliage or stems, to restrict growth.
Pruning should follow a definite plan. Consider the reason or purpose before cutting begins. By making the pruning cuts in a certain order, the total number of cuts is reduced greatly. The skilled pruner first removes all dead, broken, diseased or problem limbs by cutting them at the point of origin or back to a strong lateral branch or shoot. Often, removing this material opens the canopy sufficiently so that no further pruning is necessary. The next step in pruning is to make any training cuts needed. By cutting back lateral branches, the tree or shrub is trained to develop a desired shape, to fill in an open area caused by storm or wind damage or to keep it in bounds to fit a given area. To properly train a plant, one should understand its natural growth habit. Always avoid destroying the natural shape or growth habit when pruning unless maintaining a close watch over the plant, for after a period of time it attempts to assume the more natural growth habit. Make additional corrective pruning’s to eliminate weak or narrow crotches and remove the less desirable central leader where double leaders occur. After these cuts have been made, stand back and take a look at your work. Are there any other corrective pruning cuts necessary? If the amount of wood removed is considerable, further pruning may need to be delayed a year or so. Remove water sprouts unless needed to fill a hole or to shade a large limb until other branches develop.
Broad-leaved evergreen---an evergreen plant with broad leaves that are not needle-shaped.
Caliper---refers to the diameter of a tree. In nursery-landscape practice, caliper is measured 6 inches above the ground level up to and including 4-inch diameter size and 12 inches above the ground level for larger sizes.
Candle---refers to early spring growth of pine shoots before needle expansion.
Central leader---the main stem of the tree from which other branches develop. In most cases, it is the trunk.
Crotch---the angle developed between two connecting branches.
Deciduous---plants that normally have leaves only during the growing season and lose their leaves during the dormant season.
Dieback---the dying back of stems due to adverse weather conditions, insects, diseases or other causes.
Dormant---the period of the year when a plant is not growing.
Espalier---to train a plant on a wire or trellis against a wall or other support.
Lateral---a branch originating from the main trunk.
Multiple stemmed plants---plants with more than one stem form the base compared to plants with only a central leader.
Narrow-leaved evergreen---an evergreen plant with leaves that are needle-shaped.
Permanent branch---a branch that is part of the major growth habit of the tree, usually originating from the trunk.
Radial branch spacing---the distribution of branches around the trunk of a tree.
Scaffold branching---a permanent branch originating from the trunk and becoming a part of the major branching or framework of the tree.
Shearing---cutting back plants with hedge shears resulting in a very formal growth habit. Limit shearing to hedges, topiary or where a formal garden is to be maintained.
Sucker---a vigorous shoot originating from root or stem tissue below ground.
Temporary branch---a branch usually originating from the trunk that is removed by pruning after permanent branches have been selected.
Terminal---tip ends of branches.
Thinning---removal of connecting branches to point of origin or shortening the length of a branch by cutting to a lateral.
Training---to dictate the development and growth of a plant by physical means, such as pruning.
Vertical branch spacing---distribution of branches up and down the trunk of a tree.
Water sprout---vigorous shoot arising from the trunk or older branches.
Wound---area where the bark of a plant is cut or damaged.
Wound dressing--- a specially formulated material often called pruning paint, which is applied to tree wounds.
When to Prune
Pruning can actually be done at any time of the year; however, recommended times vary with different plants. Contrary to popular belief, pruning at the wrong time of the year does not kill plants, but continual improper pruning results in damaged or weakened plants. Do not prune at the convenience of the pruner, but rather when it results in the least damage to the plant. There is little chance of damaging the plant if this rule is followed. In general, the best time to prune most plants is during late winter or early spring before growth begins. There are exceptions to this rule, and they will be noted under the discussion of the specific plant groups. The least desirable time is immediately after new growth develops in the spring. A great amount of food stored in roots and stems is used in developing new growth. This food should be replaced by new foliage before it is removed; if not, considerable dwarfing of the plant may occur. This is a common problem encountered in pruning. It also is advisable to limit the amount of pruning done late in summer as new growth may be encouraged on some plants. This growth may not have sufficient time to harden off before cold weather arrives resulting in cold damage or winter kill. Prune plants damaged by storms or vandalism or ones with dead limbs as soon as possible to avoid additional insect and disease problems that may develop.
Pruning Equipment
To know and practice the rules of pruning is most important, but of equal importance is using the correct tools. Equipment can be limited to a few items if the proper ones are selected. Select tools that will do the job, keep a sharp edge, and are relatively easy to sharpen and handle. Good equipment properly cared for does a better job and lasts longer. Store equipment in a dry room; keep it sharp and in good operating condition. When pruning diseased plants, disinfect all shears and saw blades after each cut to prevent spreading disease to healthy plants. An example of this is pruning fire blight from pears, pyracantha or cotoneaster. Use alcohol or bleach to disinfect equipment between each cut when pruning diseased plants. Mix at the rate of one part bleach to nine parts water. At the end of the day, oil the pruning equipment well to avoid rusting. There are many kinds of hand pruning shears. Most of them are designed for cutting stems up to 1/2 inch in diameter. Attempting to cut larger branches risks making a poor cut and/or ruining the shears. Two common styles of hand shears are the scissor action and the anvil cut. In scissor action shears, a thin, sharp blade slides closely past a thicker but also sharp blade. These usually cost more but make cleaner, closer cuts. In anvil cut shears, a sharpened blade cuts against a broad, flat blade. Lopping shears (loppers) have long handles that are operated by both hands. Even the least expensive can cut material 1/2 inch in diameter. Better ones can slice through branches of 2 inches or more, depending on species (i.e. oak is tougher than ash) and condition (i.e., dead wood is tougher than live wood until decay sets in). Pole pruners usually have a cutter with one hooked blade above and a cutting blade beneath, similar to a large pair of lopping shears. The cutter is on a pole and is operated by pulling a rope downward. Poles can be made of several materials and can either be in sections that fit together or that telescope. Wooden poles are sturdy but heavy, while aluminum poles are light but can conduct electricity if they touch an overhead electrical wire. Fiberglass or some type of plastic compound is probably the best pole material. Poles can be fitted with saws, but these are usually very frustrating to use. Use of pole pruners can be dangerous. Material cut overhead can fall on the operator (unless it hangs up in other branches). The user should exercise caution and wear head and eye protection. Hedge shears are used mainly for shearing plants into hedges or formal shapes. The most common type is manually operated; however, if large areas of hedges are involved, power-driven shears may be more practical (Figure 3). Pruning saws, either rigid or folding, are very useful for cutting larger branches that are too large for hand shears. Tree saws are available for removing large tree branches. Pruning saws, which usually cut on the pull stroke, are preferred over a carpenter's saw because they cut faster and easier. The teeth in these saws are set for a wider cut allowing the sawdust to kick out resulting in less binding in green wood. Bow saws are good only where no obstructions exist for a foot or more above the area to be cut. Gas powered and electrical chain saws come in a variety of sizes. They are best suited for removing trees and cutting firewood, but can also be used to prune live plant material. Only professional arborists should use power saws for pruning up in trees because of safety concerns. Other tools, which are sometimes necessary, are chisels, gouges, pruning knives and mallets. These all come in handy when repairing storm damage wounds or other wounds. Care of Tools Clean and oil tools regularly, including wiping an oily cloth on blades and other metal surfaces. Keep cutting edges sharp; several passes with a good oil stone will usually suffice. Paint, varnish or regularly treat wooden handles with linseed oil. Use tools properly. Don't twist or strain pruners or loppers. Keep the branch to be cut as deeply in the jaws and near the pivot as possible. Don't cut wires with pruning tools.
In recent years, much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of using a wound dressing on large cuts. Traditionally, wound dressing or pruning paint is used only on cuts larger than an inch in diameter. However, scientists have found that wound dressings are strictly cosmetic and have little to do with preventing insect or disease damage to the wound area. Pruning paint may, in fact, slow down the healing process. In general, wound dressings are not recommended or necessary, with one exception. On oak trees in areas of Texas where the oak wilt disease is prevalent, wound dressing should be used to help prevent the bark beetle from spreading the disease through the pruned surface on a tree.
To encourage rapid healing of wounds, make all cuts clean and smooth. This requires good, sharp pruning equipment. Do not leave stubs since they are usually where die back occurs. Avoid tearing the bark when removing large branches. The following provides some specifics on pruning techniques. Most woody plants fall into two categories based on the arrangement of the buds on the twigs and branches. In general, the bud arrangements determine the plant’s typical growth habit. Buds may have an alternate or an opposite arrangement on the twigs. A plant with alternate buds usually is rounded, pyramidal, inverted pyramidal, or columnar in shape. Plants having opposite buds rarely assume any form other than that of a rounded tree or shrub with a rounded crown. The position of the last pair of buds always determines the direction in which the new shoot will grow. Buds on top of the twig probably will grow upward at an angle and to the side on which it is directed. In most instances, it is advisable to cut back each stem to a bud or branch. Selected buds that point to the outside of the plant are more desirable than buds pointing to the inside. By cutting to an outside bud, the new shoots will not grow through the interior of the plants or crisscross. When cutting back to an intersecting (lateral) branch, choose a branch that forms an angle of no more than 45 degrees with the branch to be removed. Also, the branch that you cut back to should have a diameter of at least half that of the branch to be removed. Make slanting cuts when removing limbs that grow upward; this prevents water from collecting in the cut and expedites healing. To "open" a woody plant, prune out some of the center growth and cut back terminals to the buds that point outward. In shortening a branch or twig, cut it back to a side branch and make the cut 1/2 inch above the bud. If the cut is too close to the bud, the bud usually dies. If the cut is too far from the bud, the wood above the bud usually dies, causing dead tips on the end of the branches. When the pruning cut is made, the bud or buds nearest to the cut usually produce the new growing point. When a terminal is removed, the nearest side buds grow much more than they normally would, and the bud nearest the pruning cut becomes the new terminal. If more side branching is desired, remove the tips of all limbs. The strength and vigor of the new shoot is often directly proportioned to the amount that the stem is pruned back since the roots are not reduced. For example, if the deciduous shrub is pruned to 1 foot from the ground, the new growth will be vigorous with few flowers the first year. However, if only the tips of the old growth are removed, most of the previous branches are still there and new growth is shorter and less vigorous. Flowers will be more plentiful although smaller. Thus, if a larger number of small flowers and fruits are desired, prune lightly. If fewer but high quality blooms or fruits are wanted in succeeding years, prune extensively. The collar is an area of tissue containing a chemically protective zone. In the natural decay of a dead branch, when the decay advancing downward meets the internal protected zone, with an area of very strong wood meets an area of very weak wood. The branch then falls away at this point, leaving a small zone of decayed wood within the collar. The decay is walled off in the collar. This is the natural shedding process when all goes according to nature's plan. When the collar is removed, the protective zone is removed, causing a serious trunk wound. Wood-decay fungi can then easily infect the trunk. If the pruned branch is living, removing the collar at the base still causes injury. When cutting branches more than 1 1/2 inches in diameter, use a three-part cut. The first step is to saw an undercut from the bottom of the branch about 6 to 12 inches out of the trunk and about one third of the way through the branch. Make a second cut from the top, about 3 inches further from the undercut, until the branch falls away. The resulting stub can then be cut back to the collar of the branch. If there is danger of the branch damaging other limbs or objects on the ground, it should be properly roped and supported, then carefully lowered to the ground. All too often trees are topped ("dehorned") to reduce size or to rejuvenate growth. In either case topping is not a recommended practice; Topping is the process whereby a tree is cut back to a few large branches. After 2 to 3 months, regrowth on a topped tree is vigorous, bushy and upright. Topping seriously affects the tree's structure and appearance. The weakly attached regrowth can break off during severe wind or rain storms. Topping may also shorten the life of a tree by making it susceptible to attack by insect and disease. Thinning is a better means of reducing the size of a tree or rejuvenating growth. In contrast to topping, thinning removes unwanted branches by cutting them back to their point of origin. Thinning conforms to the tree's natural branching habit and results in a more open tree, emphasizing the branches' internal structure. Thinning also strengthens the tree by forcing diameter growth of the remaining branches.
Young trees can be trained using pruning techniques which will help promote plant health and long life. The first pruning after trees and shrubs are purchased consists of removing broken, crossing and pest-infested branches. The traditional recommendation of pruning up to one-third of top growth when transplanting to compensate for root loss is no longer valid, according to recent research. Excessive pruning at transplanting reduces leaf area, which decreases the amount of plant energy generated which are needed to create a healthy root system. When transplanting woody plants, the only necessary pruning is the removal of broken or damaged branches. The central leader of a tree should not be pruned unless the leader is not wanted, as is the case with some naturally low-branched trees or where multiple-stemmed plants are desired. Trees with a central leader, such as Texas red oak, sweet gum or magnolia, may need little or no pruning except to eliminate branches competing with the central leader. These competing branches should be shortened. Some pruning may be necessary to maintain desired shape and to shorten extra vigorous shoots. The height of the lowest branch can range from a few inches above the ground for screening or windbreaks, to more than 7 feet above the ground near a street or patio. Removal of lower limbs is usually done over a period of years beginning in the nursery and continuing for several years after transplanting until the desired height is reached. The concept in training a tree called "the trashy trunk" refers to this gradual raising of the lowest branches of a tree. Lower branches on the main trunk help create a thicker trunk more quickly. A common mistake in pruning young trees is to strip them of small branches leaving only a tuft of leaves at the top of the tree. This training is incorrect and forms a weak "buggy whip" trunk. Remove lower limbs when they reach 1 inch in diameter. This prevents permanent scarring of the trunk caused by removing larger limbs. Another important concept in training trees is light versus heavy cuts. This refers to the length of the branch being removed and the desired growth response of that branch. On a young, vigorously growing branch, if the terminal end is lightly cut back (less than 6 inches), then lateral branching is induced up and down the branch. On the contrary, if this branch is heavily cut back (from 6 inches to several feet), the one or two buds located just below the cut are forced and grow at a very rapid rate. The importance of this pruning concept lies in the development of bushy, well-shaped trees through light pruning and the often-desired invigorating effect of heavy cuts. For greater strength, branches selected for permanent scaffolds must have a wide angle of attachment to the trunk. Branch angles less than 30 degrees from the main trunk result in a very high percentage of breakage, while those between 60 and 70 degrees have a very low breakage rate. Vertical branch spacing and radial branch distribution are important. If this has not been done in the nursery, start it at transplanting. Major scaffold branches of shade trees should be vertically spaced at least 8 inches apart and preferably 20 to 24 inches apart. Closely spaced scaffolds have fewer lateral branches resulting in long, thin branches with poor structural strength. Radial branch distribution should allow five to seven scaffolds to fill the circle of space around a trunk. Radial spacing prevents one limb from overshadowing another, which in turn reduces competition for light and nutrients. Remove or prune shoots that are too low, too close or too vigorous in relation to the leader and to selected scaffold branches. The home gardener should limit pruning of mature trees to smaller branches that can be reached from the ground. Leave the trimming of large branches and work off the ground to professional arborists who are skilled climbers and have proper equipment and insurance. Trees generally require less pruning than other ornamentals in the landscape but may occasionally need corrective pruning to maintain health and vigor. Mature trees are generally pruned only for sanitation, safety or to restrict size. Trees are best pruned during the dormant season. This is especially true for oaks to help prevent the spread of oak wilt. An experienced tree professional can easily distinguish between live and dead wood in winter. Winter pruning is often preferred because it is easy to visualize shaping when foliage is gone. Such work can also be done at a lower cost in winter because fewer precautions are necessary to avoid garden and flower bed damage and cleanup is easier.
Injuries to trees that expose the wood or kill the bark may allow insects or disease organisms to enter the tree. Proper treatment protects the tree and promotes faster healing. Few trees reach maturity without receiving one or more wounds from a variety of sources. Yet trees have survived for centuries to become the oldest living creatures on earth despite wounding. Some recent work has involved dissecting trees in an effort to understand how they compartmentalize and close an injury. Trees do not heal in the true sense of the word. Injured tree tissue is never repaired and returned to the former state as is a cut on a person's hand. Trees react by closing the wound and compartmentalizing or isolating the injured tissue from the surrounding tissue. During compartmentalization enclosure, contents from the injured cells leak onto the uninjured surface where they oxidize and form a barrier to prevent further infection. Then the most recently laid down wood is altered as is the tissue around the injury. This is accompanied by discoloration, the extent of which depends on the kind of tree, the vigor, kind of wound, location of the wound and the time of wounding. New growth rings are laid down the following spring and new tissue begins to grow over the injured tissue. Over a period of time, the new tissue closes the wound. Homeowners can help the plant compartmentalize the damage more rapidly than it does in nature. If bark has been crushed or stripped from the trunk, remove the injured bark, shape the wound. Cut away all damaged bark and remove isolated scraps from the wound area. For fastest healing, shape the edge of the wound, as nearly as possible, to an elongated ellipse. If this shape cannot be obtained, shape the top and bottom of the wounded area so they come to a point, even if the wound must be enlarged slightly. Remove all splintered wood and smooth the surface of the exposed area with a chisel. Some true injuries result in cavities or hollows within the main trunk or large branch of a tree. For many years gardeners have tried to fill these cavities with bricks, concrete and other materials in an effort to seal the cavity from rain, insects and diseases. Armed with the knowledge of the plant's ability to compartmentalize any wound it is not recommended to fill tree cavities. If water does not drain easily out of the cavity, many arborists will recommend trimming the cavity opening so that water can drain out. If this is not possible, a weep hole may be drilled into the bottom of the cavity to allow water to drain freely. Other than these actions, simply keeping the cavity clean of debris and leaves is all that is recommended. For a year or more after a tree has been struck by lightning, it is often difficult to determine the extent of damage since much of the injury may be internal. Trees that seem badly damaged may live while others apparently only mildly injured may die. If the tree can be saved, remove all shattered parts and damaged limbs; then smooth and paint exposed wood. In storm-damaged trees, remove all broken branches and reshape the tree as well as possible at the particular time. Try to encourage new branch development in areas with broken branches. Broken trunks, split crotches or cracked limbs often are mended by restoring the damaged part to its original position and holding it there permanently. Consult professional arborists to install screw rods or cables in trees where this work is necessary.
Pruning recommendations for most deciduous shrubs consist of thinning out, gradual renewal and rejuvenation pruning. In thinning out, a branch or twig is cut off at its point of origin from either the parent stem or ground level. This pruning method results in a more open plant; it does not stimulate excessive new growth, but does allow room for growth of side branches. Considerable growth can be cut off without changing the plant's natural appearance or growth habit. Plants can be maintained at a given height and width for years by thinning out. This method is best done with hand pruning shears, loppers or a saw, but not with hedge shears. Thin out the oldest and tallest stems first. In gradual renewal pruning, a few of the oldest and tallest branches are removed at or slightly above ground level on an annual basis. Some thinning may be necessary to shorten long branches or maintain a symmetrical shape. To rejuvenate an old, overgrown shrub, remove one-third of the oldest, tallest branches at or slightly above ground level before new growth starts. The general pruning procedure shown for crape myrtle applies to many large shrubs and small tree species. If a shrub is grown for its flowers, time the pruning to minimize disruption of blooming. Spring flowering shrubs bloom on last season's growth and should be pruned soon after they bloom. This allows for vigorous summertime growth and results in plenty of flower buds the following year. Some shrubs that bloom after June usually do so from buds which are formed on shoots that grow the same spring. These shrubs should be pruned in later winter to promote vigorous shoot growth in spring. Hedges are a row of plants that merge into a solid linear mass. They have served gardeners for centuries as screens, fences, walls and edging. A well-shaped hedge is no accident. It must be trained from the beginning. Establishing a deciduous hedge begins with selection of nursery stock. Choose young trees or shrubs 1 to 2 feet high, preferably multiple-stemmed. When planting, cut the plants back to 6 or 8 inches; this induces low branching. Late in the first season or before bud-break in the next season, prunes off half of the new growth. The following year, again trim off half. In the third year, start shaping. Trim to the desired shape before the hedge grows to its desired size. Never allow plants to grow untrimmed to the final height before shearing; by that time, it is too late to get maximum branching at the base. Do not allow lower branches to be shaded out. After the hedge has reached the desired dimensions, trim closely in order to keep the hedge within chosen bounds. Evergreen nursery stock for hedging need not be as small as deciduous material and should not be cut back when planted. Trim lightly after a year or two. Start shaping as the individual plants merge into a continuous hedge. Do not trim too closely because many needle-bearing evergreens do not easily generate new growth from old wood. Hedges are often shaped with flat tops and vertical sides; however, this unnatural shape is seldom successful. As far as the plant is concerned, the best shape is a natural form, with a rounded or slightly pointed top and with sides slanting to a wide base. After plants have been initially pruned to include low branching, maintain by trimming the top narrower than the bottom so that sunlight can reach all of the plant leaves These questions often arise: How often should a hedge be trimmed? When should I trim? Answers depend to some extent on how formal an appearance is desired. In general, trim before the growth exceeds 1 foot. Hedges of slow-growing plants such as boxwood need to be trimmed sooner. Excessive untrimmed growth will kill lower leaves and will also pull the hedge out of shape. Trimming frequency depends on the kind of shrub, the season and desired neatness. What can be done with a large, overgrown, bare-bottomed and misshapen hedge? If it is deciduous, the answer is fairly simple. In spring before leaves appear, prune to 1 foot below desired height. Then carefully trim for the next few years to give it the desired shape and fullness. Occasionally, hedge plants may have declined too much to recover from this treatment, making it necessary to replace them. Rejuvenating evergreen hedges is more difficult. As a rule, evergreens cannot stand the severe pruning described above. Arborvitae and yew are exceptions. Other evergreen hedges may have to be replaced. Tools What tools should be used to trim hedges? The traditional pair of scissor-action hedge shears is still the best all-round tool. It cuts much better and closer than electric trimmers which often break and tear twigs. Hand shears can be used on any type of hedge, while electric trimmers do poorly on large-leaved and wiry-twigged varieties, and sometimes jam on thick twigs. Hand shears are also quieter, safer and less likely to gouge the hedge or harm the operator. Hand pruners are useful in removing a few stray branches and are essential if an informal look is desired. Large, individual branches can be removed with loppers or a pruning saw. Chain saws are not recommended for use on hedges. The problems with pruning vary with the different uses of vines. Vines left unpruned for many years become unattractive. They harbor wasps, collect trash and lose their landscape effectiveness. Prune them to prevent such hazards. Vines usually cover an arbor or wall. Used in these ways, they are easily pruned to give a clean, well-kept appearance for displaying flowers or fruit. Some vines, such as honeysuckle and winter creepers, grow so fast and thick that considerable pruning may be necessary while other species need little pruning. Prune most vines in Texas during the dormant season from February to May. Prune dead, diseased or damaged vines back to healthy wood. Cut interfering branches of woody vines such as trumpet creepers or wisteria back below the point of interference or at the junction with the main stem. Prune out the top one-third of overgrown or elongated stems. Prune old mature stems that are declining in vigor by one-third or more. Each year, prune stems of trumpet creepers and wisteria to promote new growth and flowers. Prune back the top of the plant to force out new branches. Give special attention to wisteria because considerable confusion exists about pruning and flowering. Pruning wisteria extensively during dormant season encourages rampant vegetative growth the next spring. Instead, in July prune out the long, straggly growth leaving those branches needed for climbing. This is more likely to induce flowering than anything else. Cut shoots back one-third to one-half their length, which includes the production of short spurs upon which next season's flower clusters are borne. Wisterias bloom abundantly if planted in well-drained soil and full sun, watered well the first growing season and pruned in the summer. Espalier plants are trained in patterns on a flat surface such as a fence or wall. With proper care, plants can be trained into almost any desired plant. Usually, one is willing to maintain such training indefinitely; however, it is best not to develop such a plant. Usually, it's easier to start with a trained plant purchased from a nurseryman. If a trained plant is not available, use a 1-year old plant. Most espaliers require pruning throughout the growing season to maintain the desired shape. In most cases, it's better to have some type of a guide or wire on the wall to encourage the plant to move in that direction. Pruning groundcover usually is necessary only to remove unhealthy tissue or to promote spreading. Vigorous groundcovers include honeysuckle, winter creeper, Asian jasmine, Vinca minor, Vinca major and English ivy. These groundcovers may be mowed with a rotary lawn mower or cut back to 4 to 6 inches in height every few years to keep them vigorous, neat and well manicured. The best time to do this is in the early spring after danger of frost has passed but before the new growth starts. Rose plants need pruning to tidy up their appearance; control size; and improve their vigor, growing habits and bloom. Pruning methods vary according to the type of rose plant. In South and Central Texas, roses usually are cut back more severely than in North Texas. This is due to the longer growing season, resulting in larger bushes. To keep them in bounds, spring pruning usually is more drastic. Prune about 3 to 4 weeks before the average date of the last killing frost in your area. Roses have a very low chilling requirement to break dormancy. A few weeks of cold weather in December fulfills this requirement and new growth begins the first warm spell in January or February. If pruning is done too early, the new growth begins at the base of the plant. A sudden cold spell in late February or early March can severely damage or kill the plant. If pruning is delayed, the new growth will still be in the top of the unpruned canes and only upper portions of the bush will be damaged in a late freeze. An exception to this rule involves climbing roses which need to be pruned after flowering in early spring. Probably no other aspect of growing roses has aroused as many questions as has the subject of when and how to prune roses. By following a few simple rules you can improve their appearance and vigor and control the quality and quantity of the flowers. Pruning roses dates back to the nineteenth century when rose growers began to severely prune their plants to produce larger blooms for show. Unfortunately, plant longevity was of secondary importance to these exhibitors. Some fundamental practices of pruning roses correctly in all gardens, regardless of type, are: 1) remove any canes that have been damaged by insects, diseases or storms; 2) remove one of two canes which may be rubbing one another; or 3) remove canes that are spindly or smaller in diameter than the size of a pencil. After pruning, according to these general recommendations, cut hybrid teas, florabundas, grandifloras and polyanthas back to 12 inches for large flowers and 18 to 24 inches for many smaller sized flowers. Climbing roses generally are pruned to renew plant vigor by removing the old canes since the most productive and finest blooms on climbers are produced on canes that arise from the bottom of the plant the previous year. These newer canes produce more desirable growth and flowers. Since the canes may become quite long, it is necessary to prune them back so they are maintained in the desirable area. Old fashion or antique roses require much less pruning than modern roses. Left unpruned old fashion roses will naturally obtain a rounded shrub shape. Pruning of these roses should be confined to some shaping of the plant, removal of damaged branches, and judicious trimming back to encourage growth. On all roses, consider the cutting of the flowers as a form of pruning. When gathering roses, always leave at least two sets of leaves on the branch from which you cut the flower to insure plant vigor. When removing faded, spent flowers, cut only as far as the first five-leaflet leaf. When making cuts on the ends of branches, cut at 45 degree angles above an outside bud 1/2 inch above the bud with the lowest point on the side opposite the bud, but not below the bud itself. When removing branches, never leave stubs since these die and can cause problems on the plant later. Always remove branches by cutting to a lateral branch or bud, or back to the base of the rose plant. Pruning is a horticultural practice that alters the form and growth of a plant. Based on aesthetics and science, pruning can also be considered preventive maintenance. Many problems may be prevented by pruning correctly during formative years for a tree or shrub. Pruning is really the best preventive maintenance a young plant can receive. It is critical for young trees to be trained to encourage them to develop a strong structure. Too many young trees are pruned improperly or not pruned at all for several years. By then it may become a major operation to remove bigger branches, and trees may become deformed. At planting, remove only diseased, dead, or broken branches. Begin training a plant during the dormant season following planting. Prune to shape young trees, but don’t cut back the leader. Remove crossing branches and branches that grow back towards the center of the tree. As young trees grow, remove lower branches gradually to raise the crown, and remove branches that are too closely spaced on the trunk. Remove multiple leaders on evergreens and other trees where a single leader is desirable. Pruning young shrubs is not as critical as pruning young trees, but take care to use the same principles to encourage good branch structure. When planting bare root deciduous shrubs, thin out branches for good spacing and prune out any broken, diseased, or crossing/circling roots. When planting bare root deciduous shrubs for hedges, prune each plant to within 6 inches of the ground. Newly planted shrubs require little pruning if they were container-grown or were dug with a soil ball. Leave the pruning of large trees to qualified tree care professionals who have the proper equipment. Consider the natural form of large trees whenever possible. Most hardwood trees have rounded crowns that lack a strong leader, and such trees may have many lateral branches. 1. Crown Thinning-selectively removing branches on young trees throughout the crown. This promotes better form and health by increasing light penetration and air movement. Strong emphasis is on removing weak branches. (Don’t overdo it on mature trees.) 2. Crown Raising — removing lower branches on developing or mature trees to allow more clearance above lawns, sidewalks, streets, etc. - Crown Reduction — removing larger branches at the top of the tree to reduce its height. When done properly, crown reduction pruning is different from topping because branches are removed immediately above lateral branches, leaving no stubs. Crown reduction is the least desirable pruning practice. It should be done only when absolutely necessary.
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- To remove large branches, three or four cuts will be necessary to avoid tearing the bark. Make the first cut on the underside of the branch about 18 inches from the trunk. Undercut one-third to one-half way through the branch. Make the second cut an inch further out on the branch; cut until the branch breaks free.
Before making the final cut severing a branch from the main stem, identify the branch collar. The branch collar grows from the stem tissue around the base of the branch. Make pruning cuts so that only branch tissue (wood on the branch side of the collar) is removed. Be careful to prune just beyond the branch collar, but DON’T leave a stub. If the branch collar is left intact after pruning, the wound will seal more effectively and stem tissue probably will not decay. The third cut may be made by cutting down through the branch, severing it. If, during removal, there is a possibility of tearing the bark on the branch underside, make an undercut first and then saw through the branch. Research has shown wound dressing is not normally needed on pruning cuts. However, if wounds need to be covered to prevent insect transmission of certain diseases such as oak wilt, use latex rather than oil-based paint. The late dormant season is best for most pruning. Pruning in late winter, just before spring growth starts, leaves fresh wounds exposed for only a short length of time before new growth begins the wound sealing process. Another advantage of dormant pruning is that it’s easier to make pruning decisions without leaves obscuring plant branch structure. Pruning at the proper time can avoid certain disease and physiological problems: Pruning at the proper time can avoid certain disease and physiological problems: To avoid oak wilt disease DO NOT prune oaks during April, May, or June. If oaks are wounded or must be pruned during these months, apply wound dressing to mask the odor of freshly cut wood so the beetles that spread oak wilt will not be attracted to the trees. To avoid increased likelihood of stem cankers, prune honey locusts when they are still dormant in late winter. If they must be pruned in summer, avoid rainy or humid weather conditions. Prune apple trees, including flowering crabapples, mountain ash, hawthorns and shrub cotoneasters in late winter (February-early April). Spring or summer pruning increases chances for infection and spread of the bacterial disease fire blight. Autumn or early winter pruning is more likely to result in drying and die-back at pruning sites. Some trees have free-flowing sap that “bleeds” after late winter or early spring pruning. Though this bleeding causes little harm, it may still be a source of concern. To prevent bleeding, you could prune the following trees after their leaves are fully expanded in late spring or early summer. Never remove more than 1/4 of the live foliage. Examples include all maples, including box elder, butternut and walnut, Birch and its relatives, ironwood and blue beech. Trees and shrubs that bloom early in the growing season on last year’s growth should be pruned immediately after they finish blooming. Shrubs grown primarily for their foliage rather than showy flowers should be pruned in spring, before growth begins. Shrubs that bloom on new growth may be pruned in spring before growth begins. Plants with marginally hardy stems such as clematis and shrub roses should be pruned back to live wood. Hardier shrubs such as late blooming spireas and smooth (snowball) hydrangeas should be pruned to the first pair of buds above the ground. After the initial pruning at planting, hedges need to be pruned often. Once the hedge reaches the desired height, prune new growth back whenever it grows another 6 to 8 inches. Prune to within 2 inches of the last pruning. Hedges may be pruned twice a year, in spring and again in mid-summer, to keep them dense and attractive. Prune hedges so they’re wider at the base than at the top, to allow all parts to receive sunlight and prevent legginess. Every year remove up to one-third of the oldest, thickest stems or trunks, taking them right down to the ground. This will encourage the growth of new stems from the roots. Once there are no longer any thick, overgrown trunks left, switch to standard pruning as needed. With few exceptions, evergreens (conifers) require little pruning. Different types of evergreens should be pruned according to their varied growth habits. Spruces, firs and Douglas-firs don’t grow continuously, but can be pruned any time because they have lateral (side) buds that will sprout if the terminal (tip) buds are removed. It’s probably best to prune them in late winter, before growth begins. Some spring pruning, however, is not harmful. Pines only put on a single flush of tip growth each spring and then stop growing. Prune before these “candles” of new needles become mature. Pines do not have lateral buds, so removing terminal buds will take away new growing points for that branch. Eventually, this will leave dead stubs. Pines seldom need pruning, but if you want to promote more dense growth, remove up to two-thirds of the length of newly expanded candles. Don’t prune further back than the current year’s growth. Arborvitae, junipers, yews, and hemlocks grow continuously throughout the growing season. They can be pruned any time through the middle of summer. Even though these plants will tolerate heavy shearing, their natural form is usually most desirable, so prune only to correct growth defects. The right tools make pruning easier and help you do a good job. Keeping tools well-maintained and sharp will improve their performance. There are many tools for pruning, but the following will probably suffice for most applications: A good pair of pruning shears is probably one of the most important tools. Cuts up to 3/4 inches in diameter may be made with them. Lopping shears are similar to pruning shears, but their long handles provide greater leverage needed to cut branches up to 11/2 inches in diameter. Hedge shears are meant only for pruning hedges, nothing else. They usually cut succulent or small stems best. Hand saws are very important for cutting branches over 1 inch in diameter. Many types of hand saws are available. Special tri-cut or razor tooth pruning saws cut through larger branches — up to 4 inches in diameter — with ease. Pole saws allow for extended reach with a long handle, but they must be used carefully as it’s difficult to achieve clean cuts with them. Small chain saws are available for use on larger branches. Operators must wear protective clothing and exercise caution when using them. Never use chain saws to reach above your shoulders, or when you are on a ladder. Art, science, and industry of managing the growth of plants and animals for human use. In a broad sense agriculture includes cultivation of the soil, growing and harvesting crops, breeding and raising of livestock, dairying, and forestry (see Animal Husbandry ; Crop Farming ; Dairy Farming ; Forestry ; Poultry Farming ; Soil Management ). Regional and national agriculture are covered in more detail in individual continent and country articles. See also separate articles on the states of Australia and the U.S. and the provinces of Canada. Modern agriculture depends heavily on engineering and technology and on the biological and physical sciences. Irrigation, drainage, conservation (qq.v.), and sanitation (see Engineering: Sanitary Engineering) each of which is important in successful farming-are some of the fields requiring the specialized knowledge of agricultural engineers. Agricultural chemistry deals with other vital farm problems, such as uses of fertilizer (q.v.), insecticide, and fungicide (see Fungicides; Pest Control), soil makeup, analysis of agricultural products, and nutritional needs of farm animals. Plant breeding (q.v.) and genetics (q.v.) contribute immeasurably to farm productivity. Genetics has also placed livestock breeding on a scientific basis. Hydroponics (q.v.), a method of soilless gardening in which plants are grown in chemical nutrient solutions, may solve additional agricultural problems. The packing, processing, and marketing of agricultural products are closely related activities also influenced by science. Methods of quick-freezing and dehydration have increased the markets for farm products (see Food Processing and Preservation; Meat-packing Industry). Mechanization, the outstanding characteristic of late 19th and 20th-century agriculture, has eased much of the backbreaking toil of the farmer. More significantly, mechanization has enormously increased farm efficiency and productivity. See Agricultural Machinery. Airplanes and helicopters are employed in agriculture for such purposes as seeding, transporting perishable products, and fighting forest fires, and in spraying operations involved in insect and disease control. Radio and television disseminate vital weather reports and other information that is of concern to farmers. WORLD AGRICULTURE Over the 10,000 years since agriculture began to be developed, peoples everywhere have discovered the food value of wild plants and animals and domesticated and bred them. The most important are cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, corn, and rye; sugarcane and sugar beets; meat animals such as sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs or swine; poultry such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys; and such products as milk, cheese, eggs, nuts, and oils. Fruits, vegetables, and olives are also major foods for people; feed grains for animals include soybeans, field corn, and sorghum. Separate articles on individual plants and animals contain further information. See also Grasses; Hay; Legume; Silage. *** Agricultural income is also derived from nonfood crops such as rubber, fiber plants, tobacco, and oilseeds used in synthetic chemical compounds, as well as raising animals for pelt. The conditions that determine what will be raised in an area include climate, water supply, and terrain. See also Climate; Ecology; Water Supply and Waterworks. Nearly 50 percent of the world's labor force is employed in agriculture. The distribution in the late 1980s ranged from 64 percent of the economically active population in Africa to less than 4 percent in the U.S. and Canada. In Asia the figure was 61 percent; in South America, 24 percent; in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, 15 percent, and in Western Europe, 7 percent. Farm size varies widely from region to region. In the late 1980s, the average for Canadian farms was about 230 ha (about 570 acres) per farm; for U.S. farms, about 185 ha (about 460 acres). The average size of a single landholding in the Philippines, however, may be somewhat less than 3.6 ha (less than 9 acres), and in Indonesia, a little less than 1.2 ha (less than 3 acres). Size also depends on the purpose of the farm. Commercial farming, or production for cash, is usually on large holdings. The latifundia of Latin America are large, privately owned estates worked by tenant labor. Single-crop plantations produce tea, rubber, and cocoa. Wheat farms are most efficient when they comprise some thousands of hectares and can be worked by teams of people and machines. Australian sheep stations and other livestock farms must be large to provide grazing for thousands of animals. The agricultural plots of Chinese communes and the cooperative farms held by Peruvian communities are other necessarily large agricultural units, as were the collective farms that were owned and operated by state employees in the former Soviet Union. Individual subsistence farms or small-family mixed-farm operations are decreasing in number in developed countries but are still numerous in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. A "back-to-the-land" movement in the U.S. reversed the decline of small farms in New England and Alaska in the decade from 1970 to 1980. Nomadic herders range over large areas in sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and Lapland; and herding is a major part of agriculture in such areas as Mongolia. Much of the foreign exchange earned by a country may be derived from a single commodity; for example, Sri Lanka depends on tea, Denmark specializes in dairy products, Australia in wool, and New Zealand and Argentina in meat products. In the U.S., wheat, corn, and soybeans have become major foreign exchange commodities in recent decades. The importance of an individual country as an exporter of agricultural products depends on many variables. Among them is the possibility that the country is too little developed industrially to produce manufactured goods in sufficient quantity or technical sophistication? Such agricultural exporters include Ghana, with cocoa, and Burma (Myanmar), with rice. On the other hand, an exceptionally well-developed country may produce surpluses that are not needed by its own population; such has been the case of the U.S., Canada, and some of the Western European countries. Because nations depend on agriculture not only for food but for national income and raw materials for industry as well, trade in agriculture is a constant international concern. It is regulated by international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and by trading areas such as the European Community. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN directs much attention to agricultural trade and policies. According to the FAO, world agricultural production, stimulated by improving technology, reached a record high in the late 1980s. Further, agricultural output in developing nations increased 41 percent during the 1977-88 periods, as compared to a rise of 9 percent in developed countries. On a per capita basis, however, food production rose by only 12 percent in developing nations, and less than 1 percent in developed countries. See also Food. HISTORY The history of agriculture may be divided into four broad periods of unequal length, differing widely in date according to region: prehistoric; historic through the Roman period; feudal; and scientific. Prehistoric Agriculture Early agriculturists were, it is agreed, largely of Neolithic culture. Sites occupied by such people are located in southwestern Asia, in what are now Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey; in southeastern Asia, in what is now Thailand; in Africa, along the Nile River in Egypt; and in Europe, along the Danube River and in Macedonia, Thrace, and Thessaly. Early centers of agriculture have also been identified in the Huang He (Yellow River) area of China; the Indus River valley of India and Pakistan; and the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, northwest of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The dates of domesticated plants and animals vary with the regions, but most predate the 6th millennium bc, and the earliest may date from 10,000 bc. Scientists have carried out carbon-14 testing of animal and plant remains and have dated finds of domesticated sheep at 9000 bc in northern Iraq; cattle in the 6th millennium bc in northeastern Iran; goats at 8000 bc in central Iran; pigs at 8000 bc in Thailand and 7000 bc in Thessaly; onagers, or asses, at 7000 bc in Jarmo, Iraq; and horses at 4350 bc in Ukraine. The llama and alpaca were domesticated in the Andean regions of South America by the middle of the 3d millennium bc. According to carbon dating, wheat and barley were domesticated in the Middle East in the 8th millennium bc; millet and rice in China and southeastern Asia by 5500 bc; and squash in Mexico about 8000 bc. Legumes found in Thessaly and Macedonia are dated as early as 6000 bc. Flax was grown and apparently woven into textiles early in the Neolithic period. The farmer began, most probably, by noting which of the wild plants were edible or otherwise useful and learned to save the seed and to replant it in cleared land. Long cultivation of the most prolific and hardiest plants yielded a stable strain. Herds of goats and sheep were assembled from captured young wild animals, and those with the most useful traits-such as small horns and high milk yield-were bred. The aurochs seems to have been the ancestor of European cattle, and an Asian wild ox of the zebu, the humped cattle of Asia. The cat, dog, and chicken were domesticated very early. The transition from hunting and food gathering to a dependence on food production was gradual, and in a few isolated parts of the world has not yet been accomplished. Crops and domestic meat supplies were augmented by fish and wildfowl as well as by the meat of wild animals. The Neolithic farmers lived in simple dwellings-in caves and in small houses of sun-baked mud brick or of reed and wood. These homes were grouped into small villages or existed as single farmsteads surrounded by fields, sheltering animals and humans in adjacent or joined buildings. In the Neolithic period, the growth of cities such as Jericho (founded c. 9000 bc) was stimulated by the production of surplus crops. Pastoralism may have been a later development. Evidence indicates that mixed farming, combining cultivation of crops and stock raising, was the most common Neolithic pattern. Nomadic herders, however, roamed the steppes of Europe and Asia, where the horse and camel were domesticated. The earliest tools of the farmer were made of wood and stone. They included the stone adz; the sickle or reaping knife with sharpened stone blades, used to gather grain; the digging stick, used to plant seeds, and, with later adaptations, as a spade or hoe; and a rudimentary plow, a modified tree branch used to scratch the surface of the soil and prepare it for planting. The plow was later adapted for pulling by oxen. The hilly areas of southwestern Asia and the forests of Europe had enough rain to sustain agriculture, but Egypt depended on the annual floods of the Nile to replenish soil moisture and fertility. The inhabitants of the so-called Fertile Crescent, around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, also depended on annual floods to supply irrigation water. Drainage was necessary to prevent the carrying off of land from the hillsides through which the rivers ran. The farmers who lived in the area near the Huang He developed a system of irrigation and drainage to control the damage caused to their fields in the floodplain of the meandering river. Although the Neolithic settlements were more permanent than the camps of hunting populations, villages had to be moved periodically in some areas, as the fields lost their fertility from continuous cropping. This was most necessary in northern Europe, where fields were produced by the slash-and-burn method of clearing. The settlements along the Nile, however, were more permanent, because the river deposited fertile silt annually. Historical Agriculture Through the Roman Period With the close of the Neolithic period and the introduction of metals, the age of innovation in agriculture was largely over. The historical period-known through written and pictured materials, including the Bible, Near Eastern records and monuments, and Chinese, Greek, and Roman writings-was devoted to improvement. A few high points must serve to outline the development of worldwide agriculture in this era, roughly defined as 2500 bc to ad 500. For a similar period of development in Central and South America, somewhat later in date, see American Indians. Some plants became newly prominent. Grapes and wine were mentioned in Egyptian records about 2900 bc, and trade in olive oil and wine was widespread in the Mediterranean area in the 1st millennium bc. Rye and oats were cultivated in northern Europe about 1000 bc. Many vegetables and fruits, including onions, melons, and cucumbers, were grown by the 3d millennium bc in Ur. Dates and figs were an important source of sugar in the Near East, and apples, pomegranates, peaches, and mulberries were grown in the Mediterranean area. Cotton was grown and spun in India about 2000 bc, and linen and silk were used extensively in 2d-millennium China. Felt was made from the wool of sheep in Central Asia and the Russian steppes. The horse, introduced to Egypt about 1600 bc, was already known in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The ox-drawn four-wheeled cart for farm work and two-wheeled chariots drawn by horses were familiar in northern India in the 2nd millennium bc. Improvements in tools and implements were particularly important. Metal tools were longer lasting and more efficient, and cultivation was greatly improved by such aids as the ox-drawn plow fitted with an iron-tipped point, noted in the 10th century bc in Palestine. In Mesopotamia in the 3d millennium bc a funnel-like device was attached to the plow to aid in seeding and other early forms of drills were used in China. Threshing was done with animal power in Palestine and Mesopotamia, although reaping, binding, and winnowing were still done by hand. Egypt retained hand seeding through this period, on individual farm plots and large estates alike. Storage methods for oil and grain were improved. Granaries-jars, dry cisterns, silos, and bins of one sort or another containing stored grain-supported city populations. Indeed, without adequate food supplies and trade in food and nonfood items, the high civilizations of Mesopotamia, northern India, Egypt, and Rome would not have been possible. Irrigation systems in China, Egypt, and the Near East were elaborated, putting more land into cultivation. The forced labor of peasants and the bureaucracy built up to plan and supervise the work of irrigation were probably basic in the development of the city-states of Sumer. Windmills and water mills, developed toward the end of the Roman period, increased control over the many uncertainties of weather. The introduction of fertilizer, mostly animal manures, and the rotation of fallow and crop land made agriculture more productive. Mixed farming and stock raising were flourishing in the British Isles and on the continent of Europe as far north as Scandinavia at the beginning of the historical period, already displaying a pattern that persisted throughout the next 3000 years. According to region, fishing and hunting supplemented the food grown by agriculturists. Shortly after the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus described the "Germans" as a tribal society of free peasant warriors, who cultivated their own lands or left them to fight. About 500 years later, a characteristic European village had a cluster of houses in the middle, surrounded by rudely cultivated fields comprising individually owned farmlands; and meadows, woods, and wasteland were used by the entire community. Oxen and plow were passed from one field to another, and harvesting was a cooperative effort. Rome appears to have started as a rural agricultural society of independent farmers. In the 1st millennium bc, after the city was established, however, agriculture started a capitalistic development that reached a peak in the Christian era. The large estates that supplied grain to the cities of the empire were owned by absentee landowners and were cultivated by slave labor under the supervision of hired overseers. As slaves, usually war captives, decreased in number, tenants replaced them. The late Roman villa of the Christian era approached the medieval manor in organization; slaves and dependent tenants were forced to work on a fixed schedule, and tenants paid a predetermined share to the estate owner. By the 4th century ad, serfdom (q.v.) was well established, and the former tenant was attached to the land. Feudal Agriculture The feudal period in Europe began soon after the fall of the Roman Empire, reaching its height about ad 1100. This period was also that of the development of the Byzantine Empire and of the power of the Saracens in the Middle East and southern Europe. Spain, Italy, and southern France, in particular, were affected by events outside continental Europe. In the Arab period in Egypt and Spain, irrigation was extended to previously sterile or unproductive land. In Egypt, grain production was sufficient to allow the country to sell wheat in the international market. In Spain, vineyards were planted on sloping land, and irrigation water was brought from the mountains to the plains. In some Islamic areas, oranges, lemons, peaches, and apricots were cultivated. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, and such vegetables as spinach and artichokes, as well as the characteristic Spanish flavoring saffron, were produced. The silkworm was raised, and its food, the mulberry tree, was grown. By the 12th century agriculture in the Middle East was static, and Mesopotamia, for example, fell back to subsistence level when its irrigation systems were destroyed by the Mongols. The Crusades increased European contact with Islamic lands and familiarized western Europe with citrus fruits and silk and cotton textiles. The structure of agriculture was not uniform. In Scandinavia and eastern Germany, the small farms and villages of previous years remained. In mountainous areas and in the marshlands of Slavic Europe, the manorial system could not flourish. Stock raising and olive and grape culture were normally outside the system. A manor required roughly 350 to 800 ha (about 900 to 2000 acres) of arable land and the same amount of other prescribed lands, such as wetlands, woodlots, and pasture. Typically, the manor was a self-contained community. On it was the large home of the holder of the fief-a military or church vassal of rank, sometimes given the title lord-or of his steward. A parish church was frequently included, and the manor might make up the entire parish. One or more villages might be located on the manor, and village peasants were the actual farmers. Under the direction of an overseer, they produced the crops, raised the meat and draft animals and paid taxes in services, either forced labor on the lord's lands and other properties or forced military service. A large manor had a mill for grinding grain, an oven for baking bread, fishponds, orchards, perhaps a winepress or oil press, and herb and vegetable gardens. Bees were kept to produce honey. Woolen garments were produced from sheep raised on the manor. The wool was spun into yarn, woven into cloth, and then sewn into clothing. Linen textiles could also be produced from flax, which was grown for its oil and fiber. The food served in a feudal castle or manor house varied-depending on the season and the lord's hunting prowess. Hunting for meat was, indeed, the major nonmilitary work of the lord and his military retainers. The castle residents could also eat domestic ducks, pheasants, pigeons, geese, hens, and partridges; fish, pork, beef, and mutton; and cabbages, turnips, carrots, onions, beans, and peas. Bread, cheese and butter, ale and wine, and apples and pears also appeared on the table. In the south, olives and olive oil might be used, often instead of butter. Leather was produced from the manor's cattle. Horses and oxen were the beasts of burden; as heavier horses were bred and a new kind of harness was developed, they became more important. A blacksmith, wheelwright, and carpenter made and maintained crude agricultural tools. The cultivation regime was rigidly prescribed. The arable land was divided into three fields: one sown in the autumn in wheat or rye; a second sown in the spring in barley, rye, oats, beans, or peas; and the third left fallow. The fields were laid out in strips distributed over the three fields, and without hedges or fences to separate one strip from another. Each male peasant head of household was allotted about 30 strips. Helped by his family and a yoke of oxen, he worked under the direction of the lord's officials. When he worked on his own fields, if he had any, he followed village custom that was probably as rigid as the rule of an overseer. About the 8th century a 4-year cycle of rotation of fallow appeared. The annual plowing routine on 400 ha would be 100 ha plowed in the autumn and 100 in the spring, and 200 ha of fallow plowed in June. These three periods of plowing, over the year, could produce two crops on 200 ha, depending on the weather. Typically, ten or more oxen were hitched to the tongue of the plow, often little more than a forked tree trunk. The oxen were no larger than modern heifers. At harvest time, all the peasants, including women and children, were expected to work in the fields. After the harvest, the community's animals were let loose on the fields to forage. Some manors used a strip system. Each strip, with an area of roughly 0.4 ha (about 1 acre), measured about 200 m (about 220 yd) in length and from 1.2 to 5 m (4 to 16.5 ft) in width. The lord's strips were similar to those of the peasants distributed throughout good and bad field areas. The parish priest might have lands separate from the community fields or strips that he worked himself or that were worked by the peasants. In all systems, the lord's fields and needs came first, but about three days a week might be left for work on the family strips and garden plots. Wood and peat for fuel were gathered from the commonly held woodlots, and animals were pastured on village meadows. When surpluses of grain, hides, and wool were produced, they were sent to market. About 1300 a tendency to enclose the common lands and to raise sheep for their wool alone first became apparent. The rise of the textile industry made sheep raising more profitable in England, Flanders, Champagne, Tuscany, Lombardy, and the region of Augsburg in Germany. At the same time, regions about the medieval towns began to specialize in garden produce and dairy products. Independent manorialism was also affected by the wars of 14th- and 15th-century Europe and by the widespread plague outbreaks of the 14th century. Villages were wiped out, and much arable land was abandoned. The remaining peasants were discontented and attempted to improve their conditions. With the decline in the labor force, only the best land was kept in cultivation, and in southern Italy, for instance, irrigation helped to increase production on the more fertile soils. The emphasis on grain was replaced by diversification, and items requiring more care were produced, such as wine, oil, cheese, butter, and vegetables. Scientific Agriculture By the 16th century, population was increasing in Europe, and agricultural production was again expanding. The nature of agriculture there and in other areas was to change considerably in succeeding centuries. Several reasons can be identified. Europe was cut off from Asia and the Middle East by an extension of Turkish power. New economic theories were being put into practice, directly affecting agriculture. Also, continued wars between England and France, within each of these countries, and in Germany consumed capital and human resources. A new period of exploration and colonization was undertaken to circumvent Turkey's control of the spice trade, to provide homes for religious refugees, and to provide wealth for European nations convinced that only precious metals constituted wealth. Colonial agriculture was carried out not only to feed the colonists but also to produce cash crops and to supply food for the home country. This meant cultivation of such crops as sugar, cotton, tobacco, and tea and production of animal products such as wool and hides. From the 15th to the 19th century the slave trade provided needed laborers, replacing natives killed by unaccustomed hard labor in unfavorable climates and substituting for imported Europeans on colonial plantations that required a larger labor force than the colony could provide. Slaves from Africa worked, for instance, in the Caribbean area on sugar plantations and in North America on indigo and cotton plantations. Indians were virtually enslaved in Mexico. Indentured slaves from Europe, and especially from the prisons of England, provided both skilled and unskilled labor to many colonies. Ultimately, however, both slavery and serfdom were substantially wiped out in the 19th century. See Peonage; Plantation; Slavery. When encountered by the Spanish conquistadors, the more advanced Indians in the New World had intensive agricultural economies but no draft or riding animals and no wheeled vehicles. Squash, beans, peas, and corn had long since been domesticated. Land was owned by clans and other kinship groups or by ruling tribes that had formed sophisticated governments, but not by individuals or individual families. Several civilizations had risen and fallen in Central and South America by the 16th century. Those met by the Spanish were the Aztec, Inca, and Maya. The scientific revolution resulting from the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment in Europe encouraged experimentation in agriculture as well as in other fields. Trial-and-error efforts in plant breeding produced improved crops, and a few new strains of cattle and sheep were developed. Notable was the Guernsey cow breed, still a heavy milk producer today. Enclosure was greatly speeded up in the 18th century, and individual landowners could determine the disposition of land and of pasture, previously subject to common use. Crop rotation, involving alternation of legumes with grain, was more readily practiced outside the village strip system inherited from the manorial period. In England, where scientific farming was most efficient, enclosure brought about a fundamental reorganization of landownership. From 1660 on, the large landowners had begun to add to their properties, frequently at the expense of small independent farmers. By Victorian times, the agricultural pattern was based on the relationship between the landowner, dependent on rents; the farmer, producer of crops; and the landless laborer, the "hired hand" of American farming lore. Drainage brought more land into cultivation, and, with the Industrial Revolution, farm machinery was introduced. It is not possible to fix a clear decade or series of events as the start of the agricultural revolution through technology. Among the important advances were the purposeful selective breeding of livestock, begun in the early 1700s, and the spreading of limestone on farm soils in the late 1700s. Mechanical improvements of the traditional wooden plow began in the mid-1600s with small iron points fastened onto the wood with strips of leather. In 1797, Charles Newbold (1764-1835), a blacksmith in Burlington, N.J., introduced the cast-iron moldboard plow. John Deere, another American blacksmith, further improved the plow in the 1830s and manufactured it in steel. Other notable inventions included the seed drill of the English agriculturist Jethro Tull, developed in the early 1700s and progressively improved for more than a century; the reaper of Cyrus McCormick in 1831; and numerous new horse-drawn threshers, cultivators, grain and grass cutters, rakes, and corn shellers. By the late 1800s, steam power was frequently used to replace animal power in drawing plows and in operating threshing machinery. The demand for food for urban workers and raw materials for industrial plants produced a realignment of world trade. Science and technology developed for industrial purposes were carried over into agriculture, eventually resulting in the agribusinesses of the mid-20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries the first systematic attempts were made to study and control pests. Before this time, handpicking and spraying were the usual methods of pest control. In the 19th century, poisons of various types were developed for use in sprays, and biological controls such as predatory insects were also used. Resistant plant varieties were cultivated; this was particularly successful with the European grapevine, in which the grape-bearing stems were grafted onto resistant American rootstocks to defeat the Phylloxera aphid. See Pest Control. Improvements in transportation affected agriculture. Roads, canals, and rail lines enabled farmers to obtain needed supplies and to market their produce over a wider area. Food could be protected in transport and shipped more economically than before as a result of rail, ship, and refrigeration developments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Efficient use of these developments led to increasing specialization and eventual changes in the location of agricultural suppliers. In the last quarter of the 19th century, for example, Australian and North American suppliers displaced European suppliers of grain in the European market. When grain production proved unprofitable for European farmers, or an area became more urbanized, specialization in dairying, cheese making, and other products was emphasized. The impetus toward more food production in the era following World War II was a result of a new population explosion. A so-called green revolution, involving selective breeding of traditional crops for high yields, new hybrids, and intensive cultivation methods adapted to the climates and cultural conditions of densely populated countries such as India temporarily stemmed the pressure for more food. A worldwide shortage of petroleum in the mid-1970s, however, reduced the supplies of nitrogen fertilizer helpful to the success of the new varieties. Simultaneously, erratic weather and natural disasters such as drought and floods reduced crop levels throughout the world. Famine seemed to be imminent in the Indian subcontinent and was common in many parts of Africa south of the Sahara. Economic conditions, particularly uncontrolled inflation, threatened the food supplier and the consumer alike. These problems became the determinants of agricultural change and development. See Energy Supply, World; Environment; Food Supply, World. AGRICULTURE IN THE U.S. In North America, agriculture had progressed further before the coming of the Europeans than is commonly supposed. Until the 19th century, agriculture in the U.S. shared the history of European and colonial areas and was dependent on European sources for seed, stocks, livestock, and machinery, such as it was. That dependency, especially the difficulty in procuring suitable implements, made American farmers somewhat more innovative. They were aided by the establishment of societies that lobbied for governmental agencies of agriculture (see Agriculture, Department of); the voluntary cooperation of farmers through associations (see Cooperatives; National Grangem); and the increasing use of various types of power machinery on the farm. Government policies traditionally encouraged the growth of land settlement. The Homestead Act of 1862 and the resettlement plans of the 1930s were the important legislative acts of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 20th century steam, gasoline, diesel, and electric power came into wide use. Chemical fertilizers were manufactured in greatly increased quantities, and soil analysis was widely employed to determine the elements needed by a particular soil to maintain or restore its fertility. The loss of soil by erosion (q.v.) was extensively combated by the use of cover crops (quick-growing plants with dense root systems to bind soil), contour plowing (in which the furrow follows the contour of the land and is level, rather than up and down hills that provide channels for runoff water), and strip cropping (sowing strips of dense-rooted plants to serve as water-breaks or windbreaks in fields of plants with loose root systems). See also Dust Bowl. Selective breeding produced improved strains of both farm animals and crop plants. Hybrids of desirable characteristics were developed; especially important for food production was the hybridization of corn in the 1930s. New uses for farm products, by-products, and wastes were discovered. Standards of quality, size, and packing were established for various fruits and vegetables to aid in wholesale marketing. Among the first to be standardized were apples, citrus fruits, celery, berries, and tomatoes. Improvements in storage, processing, and transportation also increased the marketability of farm products. The use of cold-storage warehouses and refrigerated railroad cars was supplemented by the introduction of refrigerated motor trucks, by rapid delivery by airplane, and by the quick-freeze process of preservation, in which farm produce is frozen and packaged the same day that it is picked. Freeze-drying and irradiation have also reached practical application for many perishable foods. Scientific methods have begun to be applied to pest control, limiting the widespread use of insecticides and fungicides and applying more varied and targeted techniques. New understanding of significant biological control measures and the emphasis on integrated pest management have made possible more effective control of certain kinds of insects. Chemicals for weed control have become important for a number of crops, in particular cotton and corn. The increasing use of chemicals for the control of insects, diseases, and weeds has brought about additional environmental problems and regulations that make strong demands on the skill of farm operators. In the 1980s high technology farming, including hybrids for wheat, rice, and other grains, better methods of soil conservation and irrigation, and the growing use of fertilizers has led to the production of more food per capita, not only in the U.S., but in much of the rest of the world. U.S. farmers, however, still have the advantage of superior private and government research facilities to produce and perfect new technologies. Government Price-Support Policies One of the recurring problems of American agriculture in the 20th century has been the tendency of farm income to lag behind increases in the costs of production. The problem began in the 1920s, following a period of exceptional prosperity for U.S. farmers. The period 1910-14 was later taken as a standard for the level of farm prices in relation to the general price level and formed the basis for a concept called parity, aimed at maintaining farming as an essential part of the U.S. economy. After the outbreak of World War I the U.S. became the chief source of food for the warring nations of Europe, with U.S. farmers bringing some 16 million additional ha (about 40 million acres) of land under cultivation and investing heavily in new land and equipment. These measures raised production levels until 1920, when the European demand for U.S. farm products suddenly declined and prices began a continuing downward spiral. Although attempts were under way to ease the economic difficulties of the farmer, farm income had not begun to recover when the Great Depression of the 1930s intensified them even more. By 1932 the level of farm prices was only about 65 percent of the 1910-14 average. Farmers continued to produce almost as much as before, and even increased their production in an attempt to maintain their income. That succeeded only in lowering farm prices further. By comparison, manufacturers could control their production, thereby maintaining price levels to a certain degree. Although prices for industrial goods declined, they did not drop as severely as farm prices, so that by 1932 farmers were receiving only 58 cents from the sale of their products for every dollar they had to pay for non-farm items. The federal government, which had done little in the 1920s to help farmers, initiated remedial programs during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. One approach was to reduce the supply of basic farm commodities. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 provided payments to farmers in return for agreements to curtail their acreage or their production of wheat, cotton, rice, tobacco, corn, hogs, and dairy products. The act was declared unconstitutional in 1936, but in 1938, after several changes in the membership of the U.S. Supreme Court, a second Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed under which production quotas were set as before. Payments were financed from taxes imposed on processors and were based on the parity concept. The government also lent money to farmers to enable them to withhold crops from the market when prices were low and to store the produce so that it might be available in poor crop years. A third method to limit production provided payments for shifting acreage of soil-depleting crops such as corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, and rice to soil-conserving plants such as grasses and legumes and for carrying out soil-building practices. In 1939, an all-risk crop insurance program was initiated for interested farmers to prevent economic distress in case of crop failure for hail, floods, and other natural disasters. Until World War II the problem of low farm prices was not basically a result of overproduction. Rather, it was a consequence of the cycles of business and weather, and of problems of internal distribution, transportation, and credit. Following World War II, however, overproduction became a serious problem. Both during and immediately after the war, farm prices were generally high. Because production costs also were high, parity payments remained in force. Federal transactions in surplus commodities, principally the sale of such commodities at prices less than those paid to farmers, proved costly for the government. To reduce costs of the federal farm program, the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the substitution of flexible or variable price supports for the rigid 90 percent of parity that was in force. A bill authorizing a sliding scale of payments at 82.5 percent to 90 percent of parity on the basic commodities was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1954. The Agricultural Act of 1956, otherwise known as the soil-bank program, authorized federal payments to farmers if they reduced production of certain crops. A subsidy plan was formulated whereby farmers would be paid for converting part of their cropland to soil-conserving uses. In practice, the farmers shared the costs of planting trees or grasses and received annual payments compensating them for the economic loss incurred by the removal of some of their land from production. The Department of Agriculture in the administrations of Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson during the 1960s made control of overproduction a primary goal of farm policy. Farmers were offered what was in effect a rental payment for a part of their land that would be taken out of production during the following year. At the same time, measures were undertaken to expand the export market for agricultural products. During this period the ratio of a farmer's per capita income to that of a non-farm person increased from about 50 percent to about 75 percent. Direct subsidies for withholding agricultural land from production were phased out in 1973, as a result of a proposal by President Richard M. Nixon. In the same year, net farm income swelled to $33.3 billion. Poor grain harvests throughout the world, particularly in the Soviet Union, prompted massive sales of U.S. government-owned grain reserves. World climatic conditions also helped keep demand for U.S. produce high through the mid-1970s. Toward the end of the decade, exports lessened, prices dropped, and farm income began to fall without a corresponding decrease in costs of production. U.S. net farm income in 1976 fell to $18.7 billion. In 1978, a limited, voluntary output restriction was begun by President Jimmy Carter. Called the "farmer-held grain reserve program," the action took grains off the market for up to three years or until market prices reached stated levels. The program was intended also to provide an adequate reserve, lessen food-price gyrations and combat inflation, give livestock producer’s protection from extremes in feed costs, and contribute to greater continuity in foreign food aid. On Jan. 4, 1980, President Carter declared a limited suspension of grain sales to the Soviet Union in response to that country's invasion of Afghanistan. Additional restrictions included a prohibition on sales of U. S. phosphate. Despite the grain embargo, the U.S. continued to honor a 5-year agreement already in effect that committed it to sell 8 million tons of grain to the Soviets yearly. The year 1980 was an election year, and despite efforts by President Carter's opposition to void the embargo, it continued. Administration officials argued that the Soviets had never been a major customer or even a reliable buyer. U.S. farmers maintained, however, that the action was at their expense and had made 1980 one of their worst years. In fact, U.S. farm exports in 1980 reached an all-time high of $40 billion, but the continued rise in costs of production and an extremely hot summer with accompanying droughts affected many farmers adversely. A new crop insurance program, passed by Congress in the fall of 1980, offered relief from such conditions rather than having to rely on disaster loans, which amounted to $30 million for feed alone in that year. Whether the 1980 grain embargo had a strong effect on the USSR was a matter of conjecture. Beef production dropped 16 percent, pork was off 10 percent, and milk production fell 4 percent, but by the end of the year the Soviets had apparently obtained their needed grain from other sources. When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he lifted the embargo and extended the agreement that allowed the USSR to purchase 8 million tons of grain yearly from the U.S. The two nations then signed a new 5-year agreement in 1983 that obliged the Soviet Union to import a minimum of 9 million tons of U.S. grain every year. Farming Regions The U.S. has ten major farming areas. They vary by soil, slope of land, climate, and distance to market, and in storage and marketing facilities. The states of the northeast and the Lake states are the country's principal milk-producing areas. Climate and soil there are suited to raising grains and forage for cattle and for pastures. Broiler farming is important to Maine, Delaware, and Maryland. Fruits and vegetables are also important to the region. The Appalachian region is the major tobacco-producing area of the nation. Peanuts, cattle, and dairy production also are important. Beef cattle and broilers are the major livestock products farther south in the states of the Southeast; fruit and vegetables and peanuts are also grown. Florida has vast citrus groves and winter vegetable production areas. In the Delta states, principal cash crops are soybeans and cotton. Rice and sugarcane are grown in the more humid and wet areas. With improved pastures, livestock production has gained importance in recent years. It also is a major broiler-producing region. The Corn Belt, extending from Ohio through Iowa, has rich soil, good climate, and sufficient rainfall for excellent farming. Corn, beef cattle, hogs, and dairy products are of primary importance. Other feed grains, soybeans, and wheat also are grown. The northern and southern Plains, extending north and south from Canada to Mexico and from the Corn Belt into the Rocky Mountains, are restricted by low rainfall in the western portion and by cold winters and short growing seasons in the north. But about 60 percent of the nation's winter and spring wheat grows in the Plains states. Other small grains, grain sorghums, hay, forage crops, and pastures help make cattle important to the region. Cotton is produced in the southern part. The Mountain states provide yet a different terrain. Vast areas are suited to cattle and sheep. Wheat is important in the north. Irrigation in the valleys provides water for hay, sugar beets, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. The Pacific region includes California, Oregon, and Washington plus Alaska and Hawaii. In the northern mainland, farmers raise wheat, fruit, and potatoes. Dairying, vegetables, and some grain are important to Alaska. Many of the more southerly farmers have large tracts on which they raise vegetables, fruit, and cotton, often under irrigation. Cattle are raised throughout the region. Hawaii grows sugarcane and pineapple as its major crops. Agricultural Resources The total land area of the U.S. is about 917 million ha (about 2.27 billion acres), of which about 47 percent is used to produce crops and livestock. The rest is distributed among forestland (29 percent) and urban, transportation, and other uses (24 percent). Approximately 161 million ha (about 399 million acres) make up cropland resources. Almost 83 percent of cropland is cultivated, including about 23 million ha (about 57 million acres) used for wheat, about 30 million ha (about 74 million acres) used for corn, and about 25 million ha (about 62 million acres) used for hay. More than 50 percent of croplands are prime farmland, the best land for producing food and fiber. The nation has another nearly 400 million ha (almost 1 billion acres) of nonfederal rural land currently being used for pastures, range, forest, and other purposes. About 27.5 million ha (about 68 million acres) of this land are suitable for conversion to cropland if needed. Recent Changes The history of agriculture in the U.S. since the Great Depression has been one of consolidation and increasing efficiency. From a high of 6.8 million farms in 1935, the total number declined to 2.1 million in 1991 on a little less than the same area, about 397 million ha (about 982 million acres). Average farm size in 1935 was about 63 ha (about 155 acres); in 1991 it was about 189 ha (about 467 acres). About 4.6 million people lived on farms in 1990, based on a new farm definition introduced in 1977 to distinguish between rural residents and people who earned $1000 or more from annual agricultural product sales. The farm population continues to constitute a declining share of the nation's total; about 1 person in every 54, or 1.8 percent, of the nation's 250 million people were farm residents in 1990. Total value of land and buildings on U.S. farms in 1990 was $658 billion, substantially less than the value in 1980. Value of products sold was $170 billion per year. Overall net farm income was more than $46 billion in 1989, of which government subsidies accounted for 23 percent. Not including real estate, major expenditures by farmers in 1989 were for feed ($22.7 billion); fuel, lubricants, and maintenance ($13.1 billion); hired labor ($11.9 billion); fertilizer ($7.6 billion); and seed ($3.7 billion). Outstanding farm debt in 1989 was $146 billion, of which about 55 percent was owed on real estate. Interest payments on the mortgage debt were about $7.6 billion per year. In 1980, a report based on projections by the U.S. government stated that in the next 20 years world food requirements would increase tremendously, with developed countries requiring most of the increase, and food prices would double. Less than five years later, however, the U.S. farmer was enveloped in a major crisis caused by exceptionally heavy farm debts, mounting farm subsidy costs, and rising surpluses. A number of farmers were forced into foreclosure. The ailing Farm Credit System, a group of 37 farmer-owned banks under the Farm Credit Administration (q.v.) appealed to the government for a $5 to $6 billion fund that would keep the system solvent despite the weak national farm economy. After initial resistance, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in December 1985 designed to create the Farm Credit System Capital Corp. to take over bad loans from the system's banks and to assume responsibility for foreclosing or restructuring distressed loans. In December President Reagan also signed the Food Security Act of 1985, legislation designed to govern the nation's farm policies for the next five years, trim farm subsidies, and stimulate farm exports. Agricultural Exports The U.S. is the world's principal exporter of agricultural products. In 1989 the value of produce exported was about $39.7 billion, including roughly $1.5 billion in donations and loans to developing nations. A substantial percentage of the wheat, soybeans, rice, cotton, tobacco, and corn for grain produced in the U.S. are exported. The principal foreign markets for the products are Asia, Western Europe, and Latin America. Japan heads the list of individual countries that import U.S. farm products. the excitement!
We put smiles on people’s faces! Our Humanities Class History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the study of all events in time, in relation to humanity. There is much debate over history's classification of academe, for instance in the United States the National Endowment for the Humanities includes history in its definition of a Humanities (as it does for applied Linguistics). However the National Research Council classifies History as a Social science. History can be seen as the sum total of many things taken together and the spectrum of events occurring in action following in order leading from the past to the present and into the future. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. The word "science" is older than its modern use. Through the influence of positivism, the word has become a short-form for "natural science". It is a recent development that society has become the object of an organized body of knowledge which can be standardized and taught objectively, while following its own rules and methodology. In ancient philosophy, there was no difference between mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics. Only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between "scientific" disciplines and others. Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods, and Plato mixes geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge. What would happen within decades of his work was a revolution in what constituted "science", particularly the work of Isaac Newton in physics. Newton, by revolutionizing what was then called "natural philosophy", changed the basic framework by which individuals understood what was "scientific". While he was merely the archetype of an accelerating trend, the important distinction is that for Newton, the mathematical flowed from a presumed reality independent of the observer, and working by its own rules. For philosophers of the same period, mathematical expression of philosophical ideals was taken to be symbolic of natural human relationships as well: the same laws moved physical and spiritual realities. In the realm of other disciplines, this created a pressure to express ideas in the form of mathematical relationships. Such relationships, called "Laws" after the usage of the time (see philosophy of science) became the model which other disciplines would emulate. Auguste Comte (1797–1857) argued that ideas pass through three rising stages, theological, philosophical and scientific. He defined the difference as the first being rooted in assumption, the second in critical thinking, and the third in positive observation., encapsulates the thinking which was to push economic study from being a descriptive to a mathematically based discipline. Karl Marx was one of the first writers to claim that his methods of research represented a scientific view of history. This framework, still rejected by many With the late 19th century, attempts to apply equations to statements about human behavior became increasingly common. Among the first were the "Laws" of philology, which attempted to map the change over time of sounds in a language. It was with the work of Charles Darwin that the descriptive version of social theory received another shock. Biology had, seemingly, resisted mathematical study, and yet the theory of natural selection and the implied idea of genetic inheritance - later found to have been enunciated by Gregor Mendel, seemed to point in the direction of a scientific biology based, like physics and chemistry, on mathematical relationships. In the first half of the 20th century, statistics became a free-standing discipline of applied mathematics. Statistical methods were used confidently, for example in an increasingly statistical view of biology. The first thinkers to attempt to combine inquiry of the type they saw in Darwin with exploration of human relationships, which, evolutionary theory implied, would be based on selective forces, were Freud in Austria and William James in the United States. Freud's theory of the functioning of the mind, and James' work on experimental psychology would have enormous impact on those that followed. Freud, in particular, created a framework which would appeal not only to those studying psychology, but artists and writers as well. One of the most persuasive advocates for the view of scientific treatment of philosophy would be John Dewey (1859–1952). He began, as Marx did, in an attempt to weld Hegelian idealism and logic to experimental science, for example in his Psychology of 1887. However, he abandoned Hegelian constructs. Influenced by both Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, he joined the movement in America called pragmatism. He then formulated his basic doctrine, enunciated in essays such as "The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy" (1910). This idea, based on his theory of how organisms respond, states that there are three phases to the process of inquiry: - Problematic Situation, where the typical response is inadequate.
- Isolation of Data or subject matter.
- Reflective, which is tested empirically.
With the rise of the idea of quantitative measurement in the physical sciences, for example Lord Rutherford's famous maxim that any knowledge that one cannot measure numerically "is a poor sort of knowledge"; the stage was set for the conception of the humanities as being precursors to "social science." Some social science subfields have become very quantitative in methodology. Conversely, the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary nature of scientific inquiry into human behavior and social and environmental factors affecting it have made many of the natural sciences interested on some aspects of social science methodology. Examples of boundary blurring include emerging disciplines like social studies of medicine, sociobiology, neuropsychology, bio-economics and the history and sociology of science. Increasingly, quantitative and qualitative methods are being integrated in the study of human action and its implications and consequences. The rise of industrialism had created a series of social, economic, and political problems, particularly in managing supply and demand in their political economy, the management of resources for military and developmental use, the creation of mass education systems to train individuals in symbolic reasoning and problems in managing the effects of industrialization itself. The perceived senselessness of the "Great War" as it was then called, of 1914–18, now called World War I, based in what were perceived to be "emotional" and "irrational" decisions, provided an immediate impetus for a form of decision making that was more "scientific" and easier to manage. Simply put, to manage the new multi-national enterprises, private and governmental, required more data. More data required a means of reducing it to information upon which to make decisions. Numbers and charts could be interpreted more quickly and moved more efficiently than long texts. Conversely, the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary nature of scientific inquiry into human behavior and social and environmental factors affecting it have made many of the so-called hard sciences dependent on social science methodology. Examples of boundary blurring include emerging disciplines like social studies of medicine, neuropsychology, and bioeconomics and the history and sociology of science. Increasingly, quantitative and qualitative methods are being integrated in the study of human action and its implications and consequences. Universities throughout the world consider the study of the social sciences as vital for the future of society, and most cater for many degrees in the multiplicity of social science fields. In the United States, a degree candidate who has studied a field within the social sciences may earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, particularly if the field was within one of the traditional "liberal arts" - such as history - or may earn a Bachelor of Science degree, as the social sciences constitute one of the two main branches of "science" (the other being the "natural sciences"). In addition, beginning in the 20th century, specialized degrees have been created at some institutions specifically for a social science - such as Bachelor of Economics degree, though such specialized degrees are relatively rare in the United States. Anthropology is the holistic discipline that deals with the integration of different aspects of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Human Biology. It includes Archaeology, Prehistory, Physical or Biological Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology and Ethnography. It is an area that is offered at most undergraduate institutions. The word anthropos (άνθρωπος) is from the Greek for "human being" or "person." Eric Wolf described sociocultural anthropology as "the most scientific of the humanities, and the most humanistic of the sciences." Economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. The word "economics" is from the Greek οἶκος [oikos], "family, household, estate," and νόμος [nomos], "custom, law," and hence means "household management" or "management of the state." An economist is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university degree in the subject. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by Lionel Robbins in 1932, is "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." Without scarcity and alternative uses, there is no economic problem. Briefer yet is "the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants" and "the study of the financial aspects of human behavior." Economics has two broad branches: microeconomics, where the unit of analysis is the individual agent, such as a household, firm and macroeconomics, where the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole. Another division of the subject distinguishes positive economics, which seeks to predict and explain economic phenomena, from normative economics, which orders choices and actions by some criterion; such orderings necessarily involve subjective value judgments. Since the early part of the 20th century, economics has focused largely on measurable quantities, employing both theoretical models and empirical analysis. Quantitative models, however, can be traced as far back as the physiocratic school. Economic reasoning has been increasingly applied in recent decades to social situations where there is no monetary consideration, such as politics, law, psychology, history, religion, marriage and family life, and other social interactions. This paradigm crucially assumes (1) that resources are scarce because they are not sufficient to satisfy all wants, and (2) that "economic value" is willingness to pay as revealed for instance by market (arms' length) transactions. Rival schools of thought, such as heterodox economics, institutional economics, Marxist economics, socialism, green economics, and economic sociology, make other grounding assumptions, such as that economics primarily deals with the exchange of value, and that labor (human effort) is the source of all value. The expanding domain of economics in the social sciences has been described as economic imperialism. Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization). To educate means 'to draw out', from the Latin educare, or to facilitate the realization of an individual's potential and talents. It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning and draws on many disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology. The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. (Some believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some parents' playing music or reading to the baby in the womb in the hope it will influence the child's development.) For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide far more instruction than does formal schooling (thus Mark Twain's admonition to "never let school interfere with your education"). Family members may have a profound educational effect — often more profound than they realize — though family teaching may function very informally. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation & life, soil, water and landforms are produced and interact. As a result of the two subfields using different approaches a third field has emerged, which is environmental geography. Environmental geography combines physical and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment and humans. Geographers attempt to understand the earth in terms of physical and spatial relationships. The first geographers focused on the science of mapmaking and finding ways to precisely project the surface of the earth. In this sense, geography bridges some gaps between the natural sciences and social sciences. Historical geography is often taught in a college in a unified Department of Geography. Modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks to understand how the world has changed in terms of human settlement and natural patterns. The fields of Urban Planning, Regional Science, and Planetology are closely related to geography. Practitioners of geography use many technologies and methods to collect data such as remote sensing, aerial photography, statistics, and global positioning systems (GPS). The field of geography is generally split into two distinct branches: physical and human. Physical geography examines phenomena related to climate, oceans, soils, and the measurement of earth. Human geography focuses on fields as diverse as Cultural geography, transportation, health, military operations, and cities. Other branches of geography include Social geography, regional geography, geometrics, and environmental geography. Law in common parlance, means a rule which (unlike a rule of ethics) is capable of enforcement through institutions. The study of law crosses the boundaries between the social sciences and humanities, depending on one's view of research into its objectives and effects. Law is not always enforceable, especially in the international relations context. It has been defined as a "system of rules", as an "interpretive concept" to achieve justice, as an "authority" to mediate people's interests, and even as "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction". However one likes to think of law, it is a completely central social institution. Legal policy incorporates the practical manifestation of thinking from almost every social sciences and humanity. Laws are politics, because politicians create them. Law is philosophy, because moral and ethical persuasions shape their ideas. Law tells many of history's stories, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. And law is economics, because any rule about contract, tort, property law, labor law, company law and many more can have long lasting effects on the distribution of wealth. The noun law derives from the late Old English lagu, meaning something laid down or fixed and the adjective legal comes from the Latin word lex. Linguistics is a discipline that investigates the cognitive and social aspects of human language. The field is traditionally divided into areas that focus on particular aspects of the linguistic signal, such as syntax (the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences), semantics (the study of meaning), phonetics (the study of speech sounds) and phonology (the study of the abstract sound system of a particular language). However, work in areas like evolutionary linguistics (the study of the origins and evolution of language) and psycholinguistics (the study of psychological factors in human language) cut across these divisions. The overwhelming majority of modern research in linguistics takes a predominantly synchronic perspective (focusing on language at a particular point in time), and a great deal of it—partly owing to the influence of Noam Chomsky—aims at formulating theories of the cognitive processing of language. However, language does not exist in a vacuum, or only in the brain, and approaches like contact linguistics, Creole studies, discourse analysis, social interactional linguistics, and sociolinguistics explore language in its social context. Sociolinguistics often makes use of traditional quantitative analysis and statistics in investigating the frequency of features, while some disciplines, like contact linguistics, focus on qualitative analysis. While certain areas of linguistics can thus be understood as clearly falling within the social sciences, other areas, like acoustic phonetics and neurolinguistics, draw on the natural sciences. Linguistics draws only secondarily on the humanities, which played a rather greater role in linguistic inquiry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ferdinand Saussure is considered the father of modern linguistics. Political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Fields and subfields of political science include political economy, political theory and philosophy, civics and comparative politics, theory of direct democracy, apolitical governance, participatory direct democracy, national systems, cross-national political analysis, political development, international relations, foreign policy, international law, politics, public administration, administrative behavior, public law, judicial behavior, and public policy. Political science also studies power in international relations and the theory of Great powers and Superpowers. Political science is methodologically diverse. Approaches to the discipline include classical political philosophy, interpretivism, structuralism, and behavioralism, realism, pluralism, and institutionalism. Political science, as one of the social sciences, uses methods and techniques that relate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis, case studies, and model building. Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology differs from anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology in seeking to capture explanatory generalizations about the mental function and overt behavior of individuals, while the other disciplines rely more heavily on field studies and historical methods for extracting descriptive generalizations. In practice, however, there is quite a lot of cross-fertilization that takes place among the various fields. Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior, and of the overall processes of a system, and not simply the biological or neural processes themselves, though the subfield of neuropsychology combines the study of the actual neural processes with the study of the mental effects they have subjectively produced. Many people associate Psychology with Clinical Psychology which focuses on assessment and treatment of problems in living and psychopathology. In reality, Psychology has myriad specialties including: Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Mathematical psychology, Neuropsychology, and Quantitative Analysis of Behavior to name only a few. Psychology is a very broad science that is rarely tackled as a whole, major block. Although some subfields encompass a natural science base and a social science application, others can be clearly distinguished as having little to do with the social sciences or having a lot to do with the social sciences. For example, biological psychology is considered a natural science with a social scientific application (as is clinical medicine), social and occupational psychology are, generally speaking, purely social sciences, whereas neuropsychology is a natural science that lacks application out of the scientific tradition entirely. In British universities, emphasis on what tenet of psychology a student has studied and/or concentrated is communicated through the degree conferred: B.Psy. Indicates a balance between natural and social sciences, B.Sc. indicates a strong (or entire) scientific concentration, whereas a B.A. underlines a majority of social science credits. Social Work is concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their human impacts. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social Work is the profession committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the enhancement of the quality of life, and to the development of the full potential of each individual, group and community in society. Social refers to human society or its organization. Stem "soci-" which is from the Latin word socius, meaning member, friend, or ally, thus referring to people in general. It is a social science involving the application of social theory and research methods to the study and improves the lives of people, groups, and societies. Social work is unique in that it seeks to simultaneously navigate across and within micro, mezzo, and macro systems -in order to sufficiently address and resolve social issues at every level. Social work incorporates and utilizes all of the social sciences as a means to improve the human condition. Social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge derived from research and practice evaluation, including local and indigenous knowledge specific to its context. It recognizes the complexity of interactions between human beings and their environment, and the capacity of people both to be affected by and to alter the multiple influences upon them including bio-psychosocial factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development and behavior and social systems to analyze complex situations and to facilitate individual, organizational, social and cultural changes. In social work research there is a great deal of traditional research, both qualitative and quantitative being carried out, primarily by university-based researchers, but also in different fields, by researchers based in institutes, foundations, or social service agencies. Meanwhile, the majority of social work practitioners continue to look elsewhere for knowledge. This is a state of affairs that has persisted since the outset of the profession in the first decade of the twentieth century. One reason for the practice-research gap is that practitioner’s deal with situations that are unique and idiosyncratic, while research deals with regularities and aggregates. The translation between the two is often imperfect. A hopeful development for bridging this gap is the compilation in many practice fields of collections of "best practices," largely taken from research findings, but also distilled from the experience of respected practitioners. One of the most prominent organizations promoting social work research science is The Society for Social Work and Research which is a non-profit professional society incorporated in the State of New York in 1993. The Society is devoted to the involvement of social workers, other social work faculty, and social work students in research and to promotion of human welfare through research and research applications. Sociology is the study of society and human social action. It generally concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, communities and institutions, and includes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. The sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. Most sociologists work in one or more subfields. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix "-ology" which means "study of," derived from Greek, and the stem "soci-" which is from the Latin word socius, meaning member, friend, or ally, thus referring to people in general. It is a social science involving the application of social theory and research methods to the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions. It is a relatively new academic discipline which evolved in the early 19th century. Because sociology is such a broad discipline, it can be difficult to define, even for professional sociologists. One useful way to describe the discipline is as a cluster of sub-fields that examine different dimensions of society. For example, social stratification studies inequality and class structure; demography studies changes in a population size or type; criminology examines criminal behavior and deviance; political sociology studies government and laws; and the sociology of race and sociology of gender examine society's racial and gender cleavages. Sociological methods, theories, and concepts may inspire sociologists to explore the origins of commonly accepted conventions. Sociology offers insights about the social world that extend beyond explanations that rely on individual quirks and personalities. Sociologist may find general social patterns in studying the behavior of particular individuals and groups. This specific approach to social reality is sometimes called the sociological perspective. Sociologists use a diversity of research methods, including case studies, historical research, interviewing, participant observation, social network analysis, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building, among other approaches. Since the late 1970s, many sociologists have tried to make the discipline useful for non-academic purposes. The results of sociological research aid educators, lawmakers, administrators, developers, and others interested in resolving social problems and formulating public policy, through sub disciplinary areas such as evaluation research, methodological assessment, and public sociology. New sociological sub-fields continue to appear - such as community studies, computational sociology, network analysis, actor-network theory and a growing list, many of which are cross-disciplinary in nature. The social sciences share many social theory perspectives and research methods. Theory perspectives include various types of critical theory, dialectical materialism, feminist theory, phronetic social science, assorted branches of Marxist theory such as revolutionary theory and class theory, post-colonial theory, postmodernism as well as the related intellectual criticalism and scientific criticalism rational choice theory, rational criticalism, social constructionism, structuralism, and structural functionalism. Research methods shared include a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative methods. The social sciences are sometimes criticized as being less scientific than the natural sciences, in that they are seen as being less rigorous or empirical in their methods. This claim has been made in the so-called Science Wars and is most commonly made when comparing social sciences to fields such as physics, chemistry or biology in which corroboration of the hypothesis is far more incisive with regard to data observed from specifically designed experiments. Social sciences can thus be deemed to be largely observational, in that explanations for cause-effect relationships are largely subjective. A limited degree of freedom is available in designing the factor setting for a particular observational study. Social scientists however, argue against such claims by pointing to the use of a rich variety of scientific processes, mathematical proofs, and other methods in their professional literature. Flyvbjerg (2001) has argued that the discussion of whether natural science is more scientific than social science is futile; social science is best practiced as phronesis, whereas natural science is best practiced as episteme, in the classical Greek meaning of the terms, and both have important if different roles to play in the production of knowledge in society. It has been argued that the social world is much too complex to be studied as one would study static molecules. The actions or reactions of a molecule or chemical substance are always the same when placed in certain situations. Humans, on the other hand, are much too complex for these traditional scientific methodologies. Humans and society do not have certain rules that always have the same outcome and they cannot guarantee to react the same way to certain situations. A third criticism is that social sciences tend to be compromised more frequently by politics, since results from social science may threaten certain centers of power in a society, particularly ones which fund the research institutions. Further, complexity exacerbates the problems, since observed social data may be the result of factors which are hard to evaluate in isolation. Not all institutions recognize some fields listed above as social sciences or as being only social scientific. Some disciplines have characteristics of both the humanities, social and natural sciences: for example some subfields of anthropology, such as biological anthropology, are closely related to the natural sciences whereas archaeology and linguistics are social sciences, while cultural anthropology is very much linked with the humanities. Note that social science methodologies are being incorporated into so-called hard science fields like medicine, where a three-legged stool to the understanding of physical well-being is now emphasized in the medical curriculum: biological, socio-psychological, and environmental. the excitement!
We put smiles on people’s faces! Our Basic Auto Repair Class-Auto Mechanics101 Introduction to the Basics on how to change a tire, check the oil and coolant levels, jumpstart a battery, and handle other emergency roadside situations. The word “automobile” means self-moving. Before the automobile, most people traveled on land from one place to another by foot, train, bicycle, or horse and carriage. Today, there are millions of vehicles on the roadways. It is illegal to dispose of used motor oil improperly. Most oil change locations will accept dirty oil for disposal free of charge. A regular service is one that is recommended having done at a specific interval, i.e. annually or biannually. Another reason is to replace parts that wear out or get plugged up regularly, like filters or spark plugs. A scheduled service is a service recommended by the manufacturer at a specific mileage or date interval, i.e.: 30,000 miles or one year. These services will be listed in your vehicle owner’s manual. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is an important number on a vehicle. This 17-character number is located on the left side of the dash. Left and right sides are determined by sitting inside the vehicle facing forward. You can see this number as you look in through the windshield from outside the vehicle. This number also appears on the vehicle certification label on the inside of the driver’s doorjamb and also on the vehicle’s title card. The VIN contains information specific to that vehicle. Automotive parts stores may use this number to find the correct replacement parts for a vehicle. The date of manufacture and the model year of a vehicle may differ. Manufacturers produce millions of vehicles each year by continuous manufacturing. Vehicle assembly lines rarely shut down. The model of a vehicle refers to the specific type of make. The model year of the vehicle is not necessarily the year in which it was built. The date of manufacture is listed inside the driver’s door, on the vehicle certification label. This is the actual month and year that the vehicle rolled off the assembly line. Several different types of vehicles are designed to meet consumer demands. Examples include: pickups (e.g., sport utility vehicles (e.g., sport utility trucks (e.g., compact cars (e.g., full-size cars (e.g.,), mini-vans (e.g., full-size vans (e.g., and sports cars (e.g.,
The size of the engine is the combined volume of the cylinders. Engine size can be found on the EPA sticker under the hood. Common engine configurations include inline, opposed, slant, or “V”. The number of cylinders within the engine block is also used to identify the type of engine design. Engines have 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12 cylinders.
Automobiles allow people to work many miles from where they live, sometimes commuting hours each way. In a little over one hundred years, automobiles have become common to almost every household in the United States. With an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road and demand for oil increasing, fossil fuel prices will certainly increase. Even today, manufacturers are beginning to produce hybrid electric vehicles and are experimenting with hydrogen-powered fuel cells that may eventually diminish our reliance on fossil fuels regular oil changes will extend the life of your vehicle and enhance its performance. Because contaminants are regularly deposited into your car's oil resulting in sludge that decreases your engine's performance you should get an oil change approximately every three months or 3,000 miles.
Oil Change Equipment
Before getting started with your oil change; make sure you have the following materials on hand.
3/8-drive socket set
Combination socket set and/or closed and open ended wrenches.
Oil filter wrench
Oil receptacle such as a pail or old kitchen pot
Two plastic milk containers (with screw on caps).
Oil funnel
Some old rags
Latex gloves (optional)
Jack and two jack stands New oil filter (see owner's manual for specifications)
New oil to refill the engine. (The back page of your vehicle's manual should indicate grade and number of quarts.) Before you begin, be sure to have a planned method for disposing of your dirty oil. Step 1: Identify a flat space to work in your drive way or garage for you to perform the oil change. Drive the vehicle around the block to heat up the engine and its contents. Step 2: Turn off your engine, put the car in Neutral and set the emergency brake firmly in place. Step 3: Open the hood on the vehicle. Locate the oil cap and remove it so that the oil can drain more quickly.
Jack the vehicle up, one side at a time and place the jack stands under a convenient and safe place. (Never mount your car on a jack only - you must use jack stands.) Get on the ground and locate the bottom of the engine. Loosen the oil drain plug using the correct socket or wrench from your set by experimenting with each until you've found one that nicely fits over the nut. Step 4: Once the nut is cracked, loosen it carefully, using caution. Loosening the nut too much or too quickly will cause the oil to spill out. Position your pan according to the way the oil drain plug is positioned. If the plug points sideways move the pan away from the plug a little so that the oil streams in the pan and not all over your grounds. Once correctly positioned, loosen the plug entirely. Most of the oil should drain in about two minutes.
Step 5: Look up into the engine and locate the oil filter, Retrieve your oil filter wrench. Slip the oil filter wrench onto the old filter and turn the wrench in a counterclockwise motion. Again, use caution. Loosening the filter too quickly will spill out hot oil. Usually, after breaking the initial seal you can twist the old filter by hand. Make sure your face is clear of the area and pour the contents of the filter into the receptacle or pan.
Step 6: Coat the rubber edges of the new oil filter. With a clean rag, wipe off the round metal circle on the engine where the oil filter fits and put the new filter in place. Hand tighten the new filter about 1/2 or 3/4 of a turn. If it doesn't tighten simply fit the wrench back onto the filter and tighten it the same manner it was loosened, but this time tightening in a clockwise motion. Step 7: Clean the drain plug prior to reinstalling it on the engine oil pan. Thread the drain plug back into its hole. Tighten it up with the socket or wrench. Step 8: Pour the content of the old oil into your milk bottle using the funnel. Wipe the funnel clean and seal the milk carton with its lid. Place the old oil filter into a plastic bag for later disposal at your nearest recycling center. Now place your clean funnel over the oil spout underneath your hood and deposit as many quarts of oil as directed by your vehicle's manufacturer. Replace the oil cap and close the hood.
Step9: Place a metal pan or old piece of carpet under you vehicle. Start your engine and let idle for 5 minutes. Make sure to look underneath your vehicle for oil leaks. If your vehicle is leaking, it's probably best to have it corrected by an oil change station. Crime, especially theft, continues to increase in California. Be careful at all times. Lock your suitcases and do not leave temptation lying about on a car seat Leave valuables at home or lock them in the trunk. On the streets, it's best to avoid discussions with people who have hard-luck stories: Although there are plenty of legitimate beggars, there are even more con artists trying new ways to part you from your money. Do not accept food or drink items from strangers, including children. There have been incidents where these have been drugged to aid robbery. Carjacking is a fact of life in California. If you're in a car downtown, keep the windows rolled up and your doors locked at all times. If you are involved in a minor collision, especially at night, drive on to the nearest police station. Do not stop to assist with any roadside emergency—this may be a ploy. You should not offer rides to anyone you don't know, and it's best to drive with a companion whenever possible. Student demonstrations are often advertised days before the event. When they take place, avoid the city center, the rally grounds and areas around the universities. Don't offer anybody anything in public spaces, restaurants or pubs, however friendly they are. This could lead to a familiarity that might be hard to shrug off. Be firm but friendly. Shopping trips, errands, and after-school activities are ideal times to sharpen "around the town" driving skills. Although young people have naturally quick reflexes, they haven't developed good driving judgment; only time behind the wheel can give them that. Many states require only six hours of supervised driving time, but most professional driving instructors suggest at least 40, and in all kinds of conditions -- nighttime, rain, sleet, snow, rush hour, high-speed, etc. Set a good example when you yourself are driving. Stick to the speed limit, use your turn signal, wear your seat belt, and show respect to other drivers on the road. Do not wear expensive jewelry or watches, and don't walk around with a camera hanging around your neck. Be aware that backpacks can easily be pilfered or slashed while on your back, and fanny packs can be ripped off. Some thieves specialize in jostling and robbing you on overcrowded public transport, so take a taxi instead and be sure to lock your passenger doors once inside. The CONTENTS of your Roadside or Emergency Response Kit should contain : tow rope tin can or tin cup flashlight Candles water Windshield scraper/brush Blanket First Aid Kit Whistle Matches/lighter Flares Booster cables Food Reflective vest can opener Map Fuses Tools Compass Emergency tire repair/tire inflation can (Gunk®) Do not stand in front of or behind a vehicle when someone else is trying to rock the vehicle out of a stuck situation. Do not eat snow as it takes a huge amount of calories to melt the snow and it also reduces your body temperature. Do not fall asleep while the candle is burning. Always be careful with open flames. Windshield scraper/brush. Self-explanatory Matches or Lighter. Waterproof and windproof matches are suggested by many organizations that promote emergency kits. Booster cables. In order to avoid disappointment, do not buy the cheapest set you can find. Consider investing in a variety of spare electrical fuses that are compatible with your type of vehicle. Water. Don’t let it freeze and don’t store it where it will leak on other emergency items that you need to keep dry. Do not use flares if you suspect a fuel leak. A reusable alternative is the reflective triangles. They are portable and reusable. The only down side is they need a light source in order to be seen whereas a flare can be seen from any angle of approach. Caution, this item may not be reliable in the severe cold. Read the instructions. Roadside Emergency Kit Dos and Don’ts: Do become familiar with your kits contents and limitations. Do Plan ahead and review your emergency kit contents at lease semi-annually to ensure all items are accounted for and in good repair. Don’t’ forget to restock your kit after each use. Do check all batteries regularly. Do place a copy of this list in your kit as an inventory check sheet. Do store as many items as you can in one container dedicated for this purpose. Don’t keep this to yourself; make sure everyone that uses the vehicle is aware of the importance and location of the emergency kit. Do make necessary adjustments to customize the kit for your needs in the case of an emergency such as any essential medications you may need. Don’t make kit too big as it will become cumbersome and only end up getting left behind to make room for other things. All car seats rated by NHTSA meet Federal Safety Standards & strict crash performance standards. While all rated seats are safe, they do differ in their ease of use in four basic categories: NHTSA Ease-of-Use 5-Star Ratings
NHTSA uses a five-star rating system to help consumers evaluate the four basic category ratings.
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