The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-04
TEUR's GREAT WORK.

From Germany comes the announce
ment of the success of a series of novel
experiments carried ON by Professor
| Noble of Tharand, in Saxony, which,
in the opinion of scientific men, seem
destined to be the beginning of revo-
luEion N farming. Those who follow
closely the technical journals are aware
that some months ago Professor Noble
announced that he had been able to
make pure cultures of bacteria for
the purpose of promoting tine growth Of
certain plant forms. Their specific of
flee was to promote the absorption of
nitrogen by legumdnous plants and to
his new cultures, therefore, he gave the
name nitrogen"
The invaSion of the field of agricul-
ttre by the bacteriologists is TO the or
dlllaTy understanding at least strange
enough But i'll follows legbtflnajtely
upon the remarkable discoveries and
researches of PaSteur concerning the
work OF mfcro-or organisms in countless
processes which have hitherto been re-
Sa1aad as a purely chemical nature
Those whose notions of naGural science
nave been derived chiefly from such
text books as are in use in the public
schools will recall that one of the con-
captions inculcated therein is that the
action of fire and the decay of piece
OF wood for example, are simply differ
emit terms OF exactly the same process,
namely, Of oXidizadion. The view for
neI1y held was that the difference be-
tween the Two was simply one of
rapid1ty in operation.
Perhaps the greatest work of Pasteur
was to show that the process of decay
l[tlHi Df
slantly going on all over the earth's
surface is due to the action of micro
scopic organisms, or bacteria. Suisse
quent research has demonstrated that
OF these germs there are many varieties
anu thdL in one way or another. they
play tremendous part in almost every
life process. The functions of bacteria
IN the dairy are now Well understood
ana the use of the latter is now gen.
eral by all Intelligent dairymen. The
various changes which milk undergoes
are all traced 70 tine action OF its mi
crobic den1zens, and with this advance
IN knowledge lit is now possible to keep
milk perfectly fresh even in the hottest
summer for a long period.
The making of butter cheese and
koumyss, as we'll, is now conducted
With the aid OF pure cultures of bac-
terla, the manufacture and sale of
which mas become a regular business.
With the use of these cultures the
daiFynlaaI may secure fflah uniformity
of quality, taste and Color upon which
the success Of his business SO largely
depends.
1t was only a matter OF time when
meteorological research should extend
farther ami take up the mode OF Plant
growth Following upon Pasteur's dis
covery it was found that the soil of tine
field is literally teelning with millions
Of these minute forms of organic life,
ann finally 1T is now the CONCLUSION of
science that the fertility or barrennesss
of the sold depends upon the presence or
absence of certain germs The appar-
ent office of the latter is to take up the
different substances; in the soil and pre-
pare them for assimilation by the plant
Most Of the substances are required by
vegetable life in a, simpler form than
they are originally present and in some
way Of which as yet there is but scant
knowledge. the bacteria make over She
soil into such a condition that plants
may thrive
1t has long BEEN known thar nitro +
gen, wlhich is one of the prime Gle
mentsl of plant food, is absorbed by
plants; in the form of nitric acid or to