The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-17

The theory of inoculating the soil
crops is a German discovery, and so
far as tests have been made, success
has attended the experiments, says a
writer in the Epitomist. Very soon
there will be opportunities for farmers
to experiment without depending on the
agricultural stations, and as the cost
is very small every farmer should be-
come interested in making discoveries
with the use of Commercial bacteria"
Already many dairy men have ac-
cepted these minute agents i'm the pro-
duction of choice butter and scientists
have discovered that bacteria perform
special functions into the growth of all
plants If the employment of bacteria
becomes general, and there seems to
be no reason why it should not, and
such agencies are sold by the bottle,
we may yet witness the extraordinary
spectacle of the farmer going to the
drug store for his bacteria instead of
to the dealer for his fertilizer, as bot
ties of bacteria are already shipped to
all portions of the world for use on
soils, each crop having it's own special
kind. Once esta blished in his soil, the
farmer retains the bacteria every year
thereafter, provided he does not allow
they will cease to exist if prevented
from performing the functions for
which they are fitted; but by inoculat-
ing the soil with bacteria from another
they may be thus carried from one
point to another and made to do duty
wherever desired. The micro-organ-
isms which assist in plant nutrition are
known as nitro bacteria" some form
ing ammonia or carbonate of ammonia
from organic compounds Gas bumi-
r1otdD, some Transforming ammonia
into nitric acids while others transform
nitrous acid into nitric acid, each kind
being necessary for it's own particular
work. In cultivated soils which have
"a neutral or alkaline reaction, bacteria
are almost the sole ammonia makers,
while in vegetable soils of marked
acid reaction, as in swamps and for
ests, the molds are the chief producers
of ammonia. The nitrous ferments are
by far the largest and most vigorous
of the nitrifying organisms, the further
progress being the oxidation of nitrous
into nitric acid, which is performed by
the nitric ferments, which are smaller
than nitrous There is another class of
organisms which absorb free nitrogen
from the air and present 1t in available
form to plants. These several kinds of
bacteria, which have been fully de-
scribed and their action explained by
IN.
of chemistry at Washington, are actual
realities in agriculture, and he verifies
the claim that the bottled bacteria"
known as nitrogen" permits of max
ing the micro-organisms a commercial
product, and that in few years it will
be Indispensable on farms-a fact which
is already apparent from the results of
recent experiments. One of the easiest
modes of experiment with bacteria is
for farmers to procure soil from other
farms. On a field where one farmer
endeavored for years to grow clover
without success, was applied four BUSH
els of top soil from a field which had
grown luXuriant crop of clover. The
result was almost miraculous, as the
field which had beeen used without
success produced a magnificent crop.
1t had all the elements of fertility for
clover, and was capable of giving a
large yield, but was lacking in the
micro-organisms necessary for con-
verting the plant food of the soil into
forms best adapted to the desired crop.
1t may safely be claimed that when
there is a failure of any particular
crop, provided the conditions were
favorable otherwise, the addition of
soil from a location upon which a crop
was luxuriant, will effect change. The
rule applies to nearly all crops, but one
cannot secure a large yield by using
the bacteria Of red clover on crimson
clover, as each plant has it's special
agents in that respect. The clover
bacteria will exist three years on a
plot if only one crop of clover is re-
moved therefrom, and on leguminous
soils, warmth, shade and an alkaline
condition should be the object. II is
because the conditions are made favor
able to the minute organisms, that
lime and potash gives beneficial results;
hence chemical changes are fastened
by their presence. There is more to be
discovered in this direction, and 1t is
possible that in a few years the farmers
will be able to draw directly upon the
atmosphere for nitrogen instead OF
purchasing II as sulphate of ammonia.
nitrate Of soda and in other chemical
| forms.
The Scrap Hook.