The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-02-11

rhe Minute Organisms which Produce
Our Food.

Ouf ROOD.
DIR. Niley. head of the Department
Of Agriculture. i'm his recent lecture in
this city, disabused the minds of n
large audience of the very commonly
accepted opinion that the soil is Il dead
material. He teaches that TO be fer
tile II must be teeming with minute
organisms of many different varieties.
soil absolutely devoid of these is al
most us Ineffective as so much iron
Or brass filings would be. For an eX-
ample he mentioned the wonderfully
Itch muck lands OF Florida. i'm the at
:empted development of which millions
of dollars have been fruitlessly ex-
oended. This soil contains all the
elements essential 10 plant nutrition
and growth. but it is also so acid in
reaction that the several organisms
are unable to develop and consequent
ly failure after failure has followed.
BY neutralizing the acidity or sourness
Of the soil with lime an environment
suitable for the bacteria to develop
in results. Lantern slides were shown
illustrating test crops grown in this
Florida muck soil treated with lime.
and as ii occurs naturally. In the for
mer case an immense crop resulted,
while in the latter the growth from
the same seeding was very scanty in,
deed. All decaying organic matter is
reduced to assimilable form by a cycle
of life processes of different bacteria.
The first step is the conversion of such
organic matter into ammonia, which
ie lfCI IAt-
Der of bacilli and bacteria. Ammonia.
cal matter is next converted by an.
other organism land only one organ.
ism has been discovered that can pro.
duce this change) into nitrous acid.
When the material has reached this
stage still another single invisible bac-
terium completes the conversion of
nitrous acid into nitric acid, which is
the only form In which nitrogen, the
most essential element of plant food.
is assimilable. If soil is sterilized
by heating to Il sufficiently high tenn
perature and all these invisible organ
isms destroyed. and it is protected
from incubation with others of their
kind. then it is impossible to mature
anything in such Il soil 1t has been
killed. These organisms bear the same
relation to plant assimilation that the
ferments of digestion bear to animal
assimilation.
One Of the most interesting lantern
slides showed n crop that was pro-
duced in a sterilized soil by merely
scratching it with an inoculated point
DR.. Niley compared this to the human
vaccination, which is just now so WV
idly in almost everybody's mind. The
virus, or germs, are introduced into
the soil by scratching it, just as the
virus is introduced into the system by
scratching the arm with a prepared
point.
England's continued remarkable fer
tility, through centuries of cultivation,
was explained as being attributable
to the chalky formation of the land
This has resulted in a soil in which
there is an abundance of lime, and,
therefore, one adapted to bacteria de
velopment These continually prepare
the food for plant assimilation, thus
preserving the soils fertility. Soil
may become sterile through continued
farming, owing to the exhaustion of
all the elements upon which the or
ganisms feed, but when these are
added in the shape of fertilizers the
soil regains its original fertility.
In the light of recent knowledge add
ing lime to u soil is not beneficial be-
cause it is a plant food, but because
1t provides the proper environment for
the development of the minute organ
isms, some of which even assimilate
nitrogen from the air.
The bacteria of fermentation are
also beHg investigated by the Depart
ment, and hopes are held out that the
Preventative industries Of this coun-
try such as wine cider. beer, etc.
will within a few years be on a par
with the best In the world. This is
particularly true of the cider indus
try. The Department has had n spe-
cial agent in Europe studying the best
cultures for producing a superior quail
ity Of cider. and cultures are now be.
ing made in Washington laboratories.
DR.. Niley volunteered the promise that
within year or two these cultures
would be ready to be placed in the
hands Of the country, when America
would be as able to produce as fine
a cider as ever was made i'm Norman
die or any other part OF the world The
farmer will first storilize his apple
juice, and then inoculate IL with pure
culture, and not trust to luck. as at
present The Dalata5ility and flavor of
the scientific produce will be immeas-
urably superior 70 the hit or miss
product of to-dry.