The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1904-06-09
.fGRICULTURE.


Tic yrsslcm 81. ~ ,iasu1.ion n ~
farm III he CT RI be Tai e. ever cobtrouis
the farmer. Toe 4 tcene bstSctB fertile
sal asd s.criiS teil Il lha efrsaes be.
tween prosperity ara poverty
Nov come the gaFarumeat felcatlal, Nho
propose to cure WORKOUT spn By isoells-
tlot This SQUADS A. argt 81 v toms oac
bad gone DAT Ia The eaate al ne elusive
mlerobe
Blu. the idea IL rot % cFsRF ~ Il seems Al
frst. All grosiug plants must saFe ni,r
gen; they absorb this By their roots, and
TO replace thi, nlltosea term rrs ars d.
mApded All asou, US 70 81 iatIhaustiblc
supply Of nitrogen 10 the air, bal no ore
can set hold Of ! 'rsess by very ain.
cult aud exp snsiss caemlcil processes. Il
this could be easily secured tbs pcblsm OF
fertll' zion would be simple.
oae class Of plant beans, peas, clover,
alfalA, etc have the pawtr 70 stsotb
nitrogen from the air; farmers have lorg
known hat The roots Of crop OF clover
will so enrich iha ground that a crop OF
wheat following II viii be increased ever
that OF the year before the clover. Why
this was 80 was problem tina. scientists
have solved.
ol tbs roots Of these legu mes are bie'
teris tubereles, aud these bacteria have tbs
power to absorb nitrogen from the air and
apply 1t TO the growth Of the plant.
Il was left to one Of the Cill,srs Of the
department OF agriculture at WasLington
to lesra how 10 grow these bacteria arti
fieially and apply them TO plans; the ie-
suits are nothing short OF marvellous, The
more OF these bacteria there are on a
plsnts roots, the more nitrogen the pant
will extract from the air.
Side by side vera grown experimental
crops Of cl9ver, 10 the natural state aud In
osulsted with these baeteiia; The natural
clover yielded 372 pounds ,iaocus!ed clover
629l pounds, or nearly II Zines as much.
This alone would be a discovery worth
making, even N the new cure could be ap'
piled only to clover, peas, and bans. But
the amount OF nitrogen obtained TO benefit
future crops Ct other kinds, was from the
natural clover 3 pounds, from inoculated
c,oyer l43 pounds or 80 times as much.
Clover and beans treated with these bac.
terra will grow on quartz sand that has
been heated to redness to expel any nitro
gen 1t might hold; such sand would be alb
solutely barren to any ordinary seeds.
The department Of agriculture Is now
busy putting up these bacteria ia yeast
cake form; each cake costs less Than two
cent?, and will treat clover or other seed
enough for from one to four acres. The
farmer who receives one Of these cakes
puts 1t into b,rrel Of wafer, and the
seeds are soaked In In this water; the bac-
terra do the rest
So the dream of inoculating soil il not
crazy dream after all.
Ohe thing to be remembered is this The
poorer the soil the greater the benefit de-
rived from the 'iertility gerns," GA rich
land the benefit Is slight, but on barren,
sandy soil the crops are immensely iLcrefs-
ed. This doea not mean that rich lard will
give Its owner no advantage; but 1t does
mean that the farmer who is Handicapped
by an reproductive farm is not so hope
lessly behind In the struggle for ligeli-
hooi.
There is yet hope for the poor hill dwell.
Ter who is tempted to abandon the home Of
his ancestors ard hsz.id new fortunes In
the west, Of which he has heard so much
and knows so little.