Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-02-07
Is Soil incubation Neee.,arxi

The many inquiries which come "a
the Station about bacteria inoculz
ting material for clover and Other
legumes indicates that there exisd
amongst our farmers a widespread but
erroneous notion as to what may he
expected to result from the appiHa.
ton OF such materials.
Many highly extravagant claims for
incubation are being made by nm
scrupulous concerns advertising the
materials for sale and the farmer a
led to believe that inoculating the
seeds of legumes, or the soil upor
which they are to be grown, with Ger.
tain forms OF bacteria, is all, that Il
required to make them produce enor
nous crops, besides wonderfully en-
riching the soil. These claims are In
nearly all cases very far beyond the
truth, and many farmers are being
induced to spend money for something
which will not produce what is claimed
for 1t.
II is quite true that leguminous
plants. Of which the clovers are IA
msliar examples, require large guam
titles of nitrogen for their proper de,
vciopment. 1t is also true that through
the agency of certain forms of bac.
teria, which live on their roots, these
iegumes can secure their needed nj.
trogen from the air in the soil. The
bacteria live upon the fine rootlets
Of the plants and produce small tu-
tercies or nodules in which the nitro
gen of the air is elaborated into forms
in which it Is available to the plants.
Each legume has form of bacteria
peculiar to itself. Whether or not
this is present can be easily ascertained
by examining the very fine rootlets
for the nodules.
The introduction of the bacteria Is
called incubation. Such inoculation,
however, is necessary only in local.
ties where the legume to be grown
is new to the soil. It may be AFFECT
ed either by the use Of pure cultures.
such as are advertised (if they are
genuine), or by scattering over the
field small quantity "a hundred
pounds or more per acrel of soil from
a field where the particular legume. TO
be grown has been successfully pro-
duced. When incubation has once
been effected, whether by nature or
by artificial means, that soil will al
ways produce the crop SO long as
other conditions are right, even
though the crop may be absent for
years at time, and furthermore.
that soil can be used to inoculate
other fields.
In Indiana, alfalfa, for instance, is
a comparatively new crop, and the
soil in most cases does not contain
the necessary bacteria. incubation
is, therefore, necessary wherever the
crop Is to be grown for the first time.
In the case of clover, however. the
crop has been SO long and so widely
produced in the State that the bac-
terra must be everywhere, and fresh
incubation is not necessary. Many
farmers who. find clover failing on
their farms are grasping at this idea
of incubation as remedy. They
are spending good money for nothing.
Wherever clover has been success
fully grown and now fails, or does
not produce profitable crops, the fail
ure is most likely due to lack OF
plant foods in available
forms, or an imperfect physical con-
dition Of the soil, or both. This has
been brought about by long contin-i
ued systems of injudicious cropping,
by the removal of all crops from the
soil without making any returns IN
the way Of manures or fertilizers. and
by poor or improper tillage. The
remedy must be sought for, not In
but in the use Of manures
or fertilizers. better crop rotations
and better tillage.
Whenever in doubt as to what TO
do, farmers should write to the State
Experiment Station, describe the con-
ditions, and ask for advice, which WIN
always be freely and cheerfully given.
"A. T. Wiancko. Associate Asricui-
turist at Agricultural Experiment
Station.