The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-08-19
A special to the New York Sun saws:

A special to the New York Sun says:
The government has in store for the
farmers OF the country an interesting
gift. 10 many it will seem like magic.
To others who have for a few years
kept abreast OF the subject OF soil in
oculation it will not seem so marvel
lous.
In 1885, a German scientist, Hellrie-
gel announced that he had discovered
that there exist in the soil a vast num-
Der of minute microscopic organisms
which make their homes in tubercles.
or nodulcs, on the roots of leguminous
plants, such us clovers, vetches, peas,
beans and locust trees. These little
creatures, he showed, perform valua-
bic service for the plants in which they
live. They pay for their subsistence
by catching from the air nitrogen
which the legumes could not them
selves take into their systems in gas
eouS form, reducing it to nitrate in
combination with some other element
taken up from the ground, and the
legumes easily digest this plant food
and make rapid and luXuriant growth.
All this was taken up quickly by
scientists throughout the world, and
especially in this country. Hundreds
OF experiments were carried forward,
and it is now fundamentally established
that this IS one of the greatest discov-
cries known to scientific and practical
agriculture.
NITROGEN EXPENSIVE
Nitrogen is the most expensive for
tilizcr required in farming. The aver
age price per pound is IL cents, while
phosphorus and potash, the two other
requisite fertilizers, are to be had for
two and three cents II pound. On every
square inch of the Gu. his surface there
rests II column Of air consisting largely
of nitrogen and weighing about four
teen pounds. With this at hand, and
with the means to catch it, the farmer
has most abundant source of the
most important fertilizers he needs.
The way in which the Government
intends to make use of those particular
bacteria is by propagating them under
artificial conditions and sending them
out in small quantities in all parts of
the country for the use Of farmers. A
large laboratory has been provided in
Washington with II competent stan of
psychologists who have already made
nearly all preparations for the work
proposed. I'm Il small paste board box
four inches by six and half inches
deep they will be sent free wherever
the United States mail goes. to the
farmer who desires to introduce u leg
luminous crop hitherto impossible of
culture in his region.
CONTAINED IN BOX.
The box will contain three packages
done up in tin foil. In one is u wad of
cotton on which the cultures of germs
of the bacteria have been dried and in
the other two are nutrient salts which
are usually magnesium sulphate, potas-
sium phosphate or ammonium phos-
phate, with small mixture of sugar
to solidify and hold the cultures. A
sheet of instructions and u franked en-
velope accompany the package.
The Department asks every farmer
who receives cultures in this way to
take notes on the result of his expert
ment and report. The instructions are
simple and practically admit of no fail
urc Package No. 1 of the nutrient
salts is first to be dissolved in hal
gallon of pure water at ordinary tenn
perature. The salts dissolve in u very
minutes. Then the wad of cotton is to be
placed in the solution and left to stand
for twenty-four hour and next the 9TH
er package of nutrient salts is emptied
into the solution. In another twenty
eight hours the cultures are ready for
use. The solution, If no mishap has oc-
CURED, will have turned milky cloudy
white very much like the liquor OF
oysters,
There arc two ways in which the