The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1905-05-19

'1"'' "ooo'u 1HS 10 the present rate
VI consumption, it can last no longer
than fifty years; after which, accord.
ing to science, scarcity of CROPS and
Famine.
AND now, in the nick of time. along
comes a tiny, invisible, friendly germ,
Offering to work for us free of charge
and to supply nitrogen as quickly as
our crops can use it up, if only we
will treat him halfway decently.
How the Discovery Was Made.
From earliest times it has been re.
cognlzed that most exhausted soils,
II permitted to rest for a few seasons,
would regain their fertility. Only com.
paratlVely recently, however, was it
learned that what enriches these soils
is form Of soil bacteria which has
the faculty of drawing nitrogen from
the surrounding air and, by storing
1t up, rendering it aVailible for plant
food. Also, ever since the time of
Pliny it has been known that the legu-
minous, or pod ,hcaring plants, like
peas, beans, clover. etc. did not re-
quire the same amount of fertilizer
necessary for other plants More,
these plants, instead Of drawing from
the soil, actually enriched it by taking
an excess Of nitrogen from the air and
storing it up in the ground for the
benefit of other kinds of crops. This
is what gave rise to the modern meth
Cd of rotating crops. although why the
legumniOus and not the other plants
should have this faculty. was a mys.
terry. 1t was never suspected that
these pod-bearing plants had a par
ticular attraction for the soil bacteria,
and that here they congregated in
such numbers that they might readily
be procured. 1t had been noticed thai
| the roots Of these legumes grew num-
bers Of nodules, varying in size from a
pin-head to a potato, but these were
supposed to be due to bites from
worms and insects. Not until the
German Professor Noble brought tn,
bercles under the microscope was ii
found that they were literally alive
with soil bacteria.
To isolate, to breed and to colonize
| these nitrogen-f1xing germs so that
| they might be shipped to all quarters
of the globe was the problem, and the
Professor succeeded in part He pro-
! duced what he called "Nitragin, "
which was widely advertised and sold
enormously. But, although there were
| instances of phenomenal success, on
the whole Nitragin was a deplorable
failure
! 1t was at this point that DR.. George
| T. Moore, in charge of the Labora-
tory OF Plant Physiology. Department
Of Agriculture, took up the invention
and made it practicable. To these
minute, invisible organisms he applied
rule which holds for the higher ami
mails. He decided that the German
Professor had gone too far by being
too good to his germs. At the out
sot, the professor had given his bac
terra too much nitrogen and they new
er learned to gather it for themselves
but died no sooner their original por
ton was exhausted.
DR.. Moore treated his germs just
as a wise father treats his son. He
did not surfeit them with the good
things of life. He gave them jus1
enough nitrogen to make them wan
more, and gradually they learned tt
hunt it for themselves and to hunt
I'D enough for themselves and tt
spare. In fact, so active were these
bacteria when turned out OF the labor
atory that seeds soaked in the germ
solution sprouted and grew luxuriantlJ
in quartz sand which had been heatet
red previously in order to drive OF
the last traces of nitrates.
With this success phenomenally es
tablished, it remained merely to en-
able the cultures to be distributed
in sufficient quantity to become o
practical use. 1t was found that whel
these bacteria were grown Oh nitro
gen-free medica they retained thel
high activity, providing they were
carefully dried out and revived in.
LIQUID at the end Of varying lengtn
of time. By using an absorbent, iik'
cotton, which will absorb millions o
Understanding bacteria these coul;
be shipped to any part of the Unlte'
States and arrive in perfect condition