The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-01
A NEW USE FOR GERMS.
THEY ARE TO BE EMPLOYED N AG-
RICUITUHE.
Tickle the Soil With bacteria bind
the Earth VIII Laugh with n


out and Vaccinaie his potato iieId' ''''''S
insurlng a GOOD crop. 10 must be admit
,ed thar t.ctario1oe,y has advanced Ia an
-. I'm. e,r ,,l,,,lsy. and sdratra-
SN'e"' N'''' N'ii9 ava
tlon. fclhaps lnocuidte "ou4N pe Nv
ter word TO use in THIS connection, for II
Il not ,scct,,a matter which the farmer
a, ..-,., 49,. 49,. ...i..,..5., ~. t,,f..t
% 'e0V'i''''' '-ieN ~ '
into his ields, but a mlciope Whicn pro-
duces nitrogen for the Use Of The crops.
Such bacteria rroduced b,- what IS known
- ..o,,,.,,ro :, ~. $50, .rt,e-isli,, rror,.
eN''u'0' "' '-'HN
gated are already on lhe HlaIAe' "'''
though the industry Is still 10 us infancy.
the Feasibility, Of produciug rich soils by
,roo,,t,,t,,, - -, ,7.,,,,r,,-,tea
.,
some time ago BerlheloL the ce'e''a ''V
French chemist predicted that the time
mas coming vybe, the chemist in his laIo-
ratorv would manufacture unlimited quan-
tbe occuDat-on of The man with a hoe
would be gone. Or. II. w. Wiley. chief
chemist of The department of agriculture.
says of the dreams Of NJ Berthelot:
This savant boldly proclaimed that
synthetic chemistry had already made
such progress as to warrant abe oxpectl-
ton that In DAYS not far distant the Voca-
cording to his philosophy. the areas de-
voted 70 agriculture would be planted TO
forests and parks and The whole world
would be made pleasure garden in which
men no longer doomed 20 earn their bread
by the sweat of their brow, would roam
at Will, while the chemist IN his labora-
tory would supply them with unlimited
stores Of nutritious food"
Sir William Crookes, president of the
British Association for the Advance ment
of Science, in an address before that as
ISOLATION, TO quote DR.. Wiley again.
again raised the ghost Of starvation,
which has been periodically nodted be-
fore men since HE times of Nautilus Ac-
cording 10 Sir William, the starvation
which is imminent TO humanity win be
due to the scarcity Of wheat and the fail
ure of the wheat crop VIII be due to a
lack Of assimilable nitrogen"
Sir Williams argument was briefly as
follows:
Wheat Is the great source OF bread OF the
most advanced and progressive nat ons Of
the world
The area panied 10 wheat is now prac-
tically as great as ii ever can be.
The natural fertility of the wheat fields
is diminishing rapidly, due to loss of avail
per acre cannot be greatly increased.
In about thirty years the increase in the
when all the wheat win be eaten. and act
ual hunger for bread viii be established.
The only way to avoid the world famine
for bread is 10 increase the stores of avail
able nitrogen.
The deposits of natural nitrogen are not
large enough to supply indefinitely the in
ereasing needs of agriculture
The activity of nltifylng organisms also
WIZ not be sufficient TO meet the demand
The sole resource, therefore, seems to be
the chemical discovery of fixing nitrogen
and TO this end the electrical pro cess seems
best adapted, and probably the vast energy
OF the Niagara water power might be de-
voted TO this purpose, Between the dark
picture of a starving world whose only
hope Is in Niagara Falls, as set forth nv
SIR William Crookes, and that fascinating
picture portrayed by BerthelOt are the
great nitrate beds of Chlfe, and who shall
say how many more yet undiscovered. and
more than all this, new and rapidly devel-
oping knowledge of incubation. which
practical chemistry is now getting in work
ing order.
For years and years the farmer has inoc-
ulated his fields, wiyhoat knowing il. when
ne p,owed in a growth of clover peas.
beans or other plants of the kind known as
aegumlnous.
he knew that by raising such crops and
ploWing them in the fertility of his field
along and tells him why. 1t seems that
these plants are infested with little ami
mails so small 20 require a microscone
10 see them, that they are busy night and
day putting The nitrogen of the air into
such shape that it can be used by plant
life. DR.. Wiley says of these little work.
ers: I'm so far as is definitely known. The
Ieguminosae, that is the family Ia ,,,b,cb
clover, peas, bean and similar plants no
long, are the only plants capable of SIM
porting The parasitic life of these nltrifv-
ing bacteria, From time immemorial II
had been noticed that such plants often
had small nodules. on their roots from, the
size of shot TO the size of a nea Tbase
were formerly supposed to he evidences
of a diseased condition. some ten wars
ago ii was discovered that these nod,,los
were inhabited by bacteria which bave-tbe
faculty of converting free nifrooen M
forms suitable for plant nutrition Tine
what was supposed to be the effect az q
disease Is found in fact TO be a Inost use-
full form of bacteria"
The discovery of these sanisms has
led to a systematic cultivation Of 49,,