Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1897-07-23
Agricultural.
Inoculating the Soil.

Farmers in many sections Of the coun.
try are becoming interested in the claim
that each crop succeeds or fails accord
ing TO whether certain bacilli which are
necessary are present in the soil, and
experiments are being made TO demon
strate the truthfulness Of the claims
That field which is fertile, and which
never produced good stand Of clover,
can be induced TO do 30 by sowing few
bushels of soil from another field upon
which clover produced heavy crop,
may not appear probable to those who
have long labored under the mistake
that some lands cannot be made TO pro-
duce certain crops but agriculture has
advanced and science is laying bare the
errors of the past and opening the secrets
which have remained hidden. With
proofs of the facts" it is now known
that crops can be made to grow on soils
rich 10 plant food, but no matter how
abundant the store Of plant food it must
be prepared BY minute agents for that
purpose, which multiply with amazing
rapidity and which under favorable con-
ditions for their operations are capable
of doubling the yield Of crop because
they make perfect all the details that
may be essential for the growth and
maturity of the crop selected. 1t is also
q certainty that sooner or later every
farmer must understand these facts and
govern his operations accordingly.
The leguminous family Of plants (peas,
beans, vetches. clovers, etc ) have been
principally selected for experiment be-
cause it has long been known that such
plants derive nitrogen from the air. or
some source other than the soil, though
how such was accomplished was un-
known, but in recent years it was dis
covered that the roots Of such plants
we're covered with tubercles, or uarty
knots, which, when cut open and e1-
amined by microscope, developed that
these tubercles we're infested with ny
riads of microscopic plants, which were
denominated micro-organisus, being Sir
liar TO the bacteria which causes wine 10
ferment, milk TO sour. yeast to rise, and
form tubercles 10 the Lungs Of cOnsunP-
tives, though there are many different
kinds. and these heterogeneous have
the capacity for taking nitrogen from
the air and preparing it for the use Of
plants II the farmer BOWS clover seed
on field, and then applies fertilizer. be
should next "inoculate" the field with
the bacteria Of clover, which is done by
securing few bushels Of soil from come
field upon which clover has grown with |
in two years and broadcasting his field |
with it, the result being that in very |
short time be will have suficiency of
them by multiplication Of those brought
in the soil from the clover field
At the Louisiana Experiment Station,
where experiments have been made in
that direction, soil that would not grow
alfalfa was inoculated with the organ
isms necessary for such crop and there
after alfalfa made vigorous growth. But
it was found that each family of plants
had its own family of bacteria, as COW
peas would not be benefited by organ
isms from alfalfa, nor would clover,
beans. vetches or lumpines exchange
organisms. In German tests were made
and gave the same results. which have
20 firmly convinced the Germans Of the .
value Of using the organismslthat they !
now sell artificial cultures to farmers
who may require certain kinds, the name
OF this new substance being nitrogen"
and one can procure the ''clover brand"
or any other. 1t was found at the Louis
lana Station that the surface roots of
plants contained the most tubercles, and
that from two to three inches deep
showed tho most surface roots. bat be-
low three inches they gradually lessened
ia number Of tubercles. The expert.
ments throw much light en- the causes
OF poor crops when the conditions may
be apparently favorable, as all that the
soil may have needed was the organ
isms suitable for the plants to be grown,
the lesson being that when the farmer
aims TO grow something additional to-
his special farm crops be must procure
bacteria as well as the ed Of the plants