Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1906-03-15
Concerning Land lnOculatiOn.

During the year 1904 the Depart {
'ment of Agriculture developed, tested, :
and patented process by whichs
nitrogen gathering germs may be-
transferred from one part OF the
country to another, and supplied toa
soils in which they may be deficient. s
ISince that time numerous incubation I
enquiries have reached the Expert !
1ment Station, and it is in the hopes
THAT farmers may gain clearer un-
Iderstanding of this phase OF soilb
bacteria situation. that a short expl- I
sanation is offeaed at this time.
Soil incubation. or the addition of \
I nitrogen gathering germs to the soil
lis practised only when a leguminouss
4 crop is to be grown. These legumini 4
Gus crops, such as clover alfalfa, peas,
] etc. require large amount Of nitrogen
! for growth. Since this element does
Enot exist naturally in the soil, but has
Ito be added from the atmosphere, they
Hlegumes experience difficulty in gettingl
ea sufficient supply for growth. Tos
2overcome this disadvantage they have;
Xassociated with them certain organ.
Risms having homes on their roots.
&These organisms or germs build up theirI
$bod;es from the atmospheric nitrogen,
\ and as they multiply and decay rapid !
Ely much nitrogen is added to the soil
Efor use by the growing plants.
y Investigations reveal the fact that
Snitrogen gathering germs are not pre-
Esent in all soil. When absent, legum-
Nes are deprived of the nitrogen supply
(which comes from the decaying germ
Ebodies and usually succumb for lack
Eof this food element. 1t is in such
Msoil that incubation may prove of
kvalue.
M Since bacteria are small plants
(which multiply when placed under
&favorable conditions, the method OF
Wpreparing the incubation material is
Ito secure the desired bacteria from
~the roots of legumes where they are
Hgrowing, and grow them under con-
Editions where they may be fully con.
Etrolled. From these growths OF "cul.
Mture' solutions of water and nitrogen
Efree chemicals are then started. After
,;Sstwo or three days the liquid which
Whas milky appearance from the rapio
Standardization of the germs, which is
Wto saturate absorbent cotton and the
Wcotton is rapidly dried. This cottor
Mis then done up in packages. These
swith certain packages of chemicals
Mare sent to the "inoculation materia
Eapplicant. In following the direc
sKtions he simply restores the dorman
sMbacteria to active growth allows then
lEto multiply, and gets them into hi
lksoil by soaking the seed before SOW
lXing. If the soil conditions are favor
sRable, the germs multiply rapidly ant
zMspread over an entire field.
NM After having demons trated the feas
stability of this method of distributing
the Department of Agricul
SHture discontinued sending out tn
z#number of companies were oragnize
e. for the purpose of supplying the farm
A& Ter with this great aid to agriculture
a@Of these, the National Nitro -Cultur
III Company is the largest firm doin
>s&business at the present time. Thi
S& company advertises to supply inoculs
Milton material for the different legume
lNat price not exceeding 81. co per ac1
A8 in each, csc.
e. The New York Experiment State
r. has recently published bullentin
81 which is reported the results of tes
yH Hconducted to determine the value
N soil incubation packages as sold du
lEing 1905. The results are from tes
AEcarried on in the laboratories of fl
ARdifferent experiment stations and a
81 consequently quite reliable. The
SEshOw that many of the packages so
81 during 1905 gave no results even wht
Sdirections were followed most Car
Sffully. This is not necessarily due
as.dishonesty on the part of the man
. 5facturer, as the same difficulty W
knoted in the packages prepared by t
EDepartment of Agriculture.
| The trouble seems to lie in +
method of preparing the material al
Eputting up the packages. AS put
at present, they are not protect
D L., -