Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1903-12-14
PHOENIX. ARIZONA. DEC, IA, 1908.
PiaI.t Food From the Air.


William Crooke in his famous address
before the British Association, pre-
dicted universal dearth of bread in
the next generation. He endeavored
to show that the wheat producing soil
OF the world is wholly unequal to the
ever increasing strain put upon it.;
that the number of bread eaters had
grown from 371,OOO,OOO in 1871
to 516.5OO,O0O in 1898; that the
wheat growing areas could not
possibly increase in the same
ratio and their production per acre
was constantly declining because the
nutrients required by the plant are not
fully restored TO the soil.
There was only one way of salvation
for n hungry world and that was
through the door of the chemical lab
oratory. All plants must have nitro
gen in order to thrive and nitrogen in
ant substances in nature. Every square
yard of the earths surface has nitro
gen gas pressing down on it to the ex-
tent of abolt seven tons-but this is
in the free state and plants demand it
fixed in the soil"
Nitrogen was to be the fairy god
mother to save the world from famine,
and Sir William predicted that the
problem of the fixation of atmospheric
nitrogen would be solved in a few
days. 1t had already been discovered
that by passing a strong inductive cur
rent between terminals the air takes
fire. burns with n terrible flame, and
produces nitrous and nitric acids. This
discovery he believed was likely to
lead to tie development of a mighty
industry destined TO solve the great
food problem in spite Of the fact that
barnyard fertilizers are wickedly vast
ed, that grano Las disappeared and
that the nitrates OF Chill VIII becOm"
exhausted in from twenty TO thirty
years.
The premises of Sir William and the
food scarcity he deduced from them
We're stoutly and it is believed, suc-
cessfully, contested; but his striking
prophecy as to the practicability of
the fxation of atmospheric nitrogen
for the purpos of agriculture is COM
ing true, and it is a matter of vas i'm
portance TO the farming and other
material interests Of the nation.
As plants cannot use nitrogen as
100 1Lor,,is+s md rL,-cicists arc NOW
making every effort to devise mechsn-
ical means for securing nitrogen from
the air in a fixed form. Very satisfac-
tory results have been obtained i'm the
past two years by the use of electricity.
and the latest yearbook of the depart
ment of agriculture says there is good
reasons to believe that it will soon be
possible TO place upon the market a
manufactured nitrate of soda or nitrate
of potash that Will be superior in quail
ity to the deposits found in Chill and
will compete with them in price.
But still greater progress toward the
same end is being made in other direc-
ton. 1t has been know for many cen
turtles that many soils, lying fallow
for n considerable time, gain in nitrates
without the aid of any manure or min
eral fertilizer. 1t was not known until
recent years that this increase al
nitrogen content is due to a few forms
of soil bacteria which have the power
of fixing free nitrogen from the air
and making it available for plant food.
In his annual report for 1901 the sec
rotary of agriculture called attention
TO a new method OF cultivating these
soil bacteria. In his report for LAST
year he announced that the new meth
cd had been perfected during 1902 and
that the nitrogen gathering power of
u bacteria grown by this method
had been found to be five times as
great as the ordinary forms found in
nature. 1t has been supposed that
these forms of bacteria were naturally
developed only on the roots Of legum-
nous crops such as beans, clover, peas,
lentils, peanuts and others; but it has
been proved that they have a much
wider range of activity. Alfalfa is the
best of all.
Not only methods of propagation but
also of the safe distribution of these
nitrogen gathering bacteria have now
been perfected. Within the past few
months the department of agri-
culture has been engaged in
the wholesale propagation of these
bacteria and in sending them
TO farmers for the incubation of seed
crops. The organisms are thoroughly
dried and sent by mail in small pack
ages OF absorbent cotton each pack
age containing 100000 bacteria
enough for the fertilization of an acre