The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1908-02-13
BACTERIA AS RELATED TO SOIL FERTILITY
Prof D. Beckw, of the A. c., Advances Some Valuable
Ideas in Regard to Preserving Productive
Power of the Soil.

to be given of. Ammonia is merely
a gaseous compound of nitrogen. By
this action then, the germs of the soil
cause nitrogen and heterogeneous com.
pounds to be given of with the soil.
This change is what is known as den.
itrification.
These products of this action of
germs or manure, however, are still
not available as plant food. Crops
can not use them, and IL they contin.
tinued to exist this way no good what.
ever would come from them. The
plants would starve for nitrogen food
| and these gases would merely pass of
into air. Still other changes are nee.
essary before we obtain proper plant
food. So another set of operations
takes place. The nitrogen and am.
monia given off is seized upon by
still other bacteria which changes 1t
again, building 1t up as we mentioned
above. until 1t becomes a nitrate and
as such is available for crops to use.
This chemical change, due to bacteria,
Is known as nitrification, and goes
hand In hand with the previous one.
ration we spoke of as identification
IDENTIFICATION and nitrification then
are both necessary in order that ma
nure may become so changed that
plants and crops can use it. If it were
not for this, the use of manure would
be merely mechanical and no nitro.
gen food material would be made
available from it for our wheat, oats.
etc. 1t becomes evident then how
much the farmer is indebted to these
friendly germs of the soil whose pres.
ence in healthy condition he must
have in order to obtain good results
from his farm.
Let us consider these germs as to
their position for short time. 1t is
known that about two-thirds of the to-
tai number of bacteria present in soil
are found in the upper foot and of the
remaining one-third, by far the great
er part are found in the next foot. In
other words, below two feet in depth
comparatively few soil bacteria are
found. The reasons for this position
are obvious. These soil germs require
oxygen to live just as higher forms
do. The greatest amount of oxygen
as the air circulates through the soil
is found in the upper portions, and in
those parts, therefore, is the greatest
growth of bacteria. The various meth
DDS of treating soil affect the upper six
or ten inches and thus have greater in.
fluence on the bacteria. 1t is a com.
mon practice for North Dakota farm.
ers to burn quantities of straw
throughout the state. This is an enor-
nous waste of good fertilizer, for when
you burn all the straw you allow to
escape into air quantities of the in.
gradients that are necessary to plant
growth. 1t causes an enormous waste
of nitrogen, potash. phosphoric acid,
etc.. and 1t is waste which North Da-
kota, rich as its soil may be, can i'll af-
ford. But this is not all. The heat
from this great fire acts as any steril-
izer would naturally-it kills all these
bacteria that are in that soil where
the fire is. In other words it sterilizes
the soil, and so the farmer is deprived
of his friends, the bacteria in that To-
cality. True they will grow in again
for they will spread from the edges of
that burned area toward the center of
the plot, but that takes time and de.
ponds on moisture conditions, etc. So
in addition to losing lots of fertilizer,
the farmer who burns his straw, unwit-
tingly kills out his most valuable allies
in that spot on his farm.
But in case you do burn your straw
and SO undergo all this loss merely be.
cause it saves time and energy, don't
let the ashes lie in one spot. Dis.
tribute them else you have too much
ash at one place and the wheat shows
too much straw and not sufficiently
filled out in the heads. This is due to
the great amount of potash left in that
place. But best of all, turn this straw
under and so put back into the soil
part of what you have taken out. The
bacteria will rot the straw, change It
over into good plant food and your
crops can use the food over again.
These bacteria we have said need
air and some moisture. Too much
moisture retards them. Therefore.
constantly tilling and turning over the
surface of the ground is vitality impor-
tant to their best growth. Also in
this connection the underdrainage
must be considered, for by such means
you do away with excess of water and
thus give the soil bacteria better grow
ing conditions. Right here let me
speak of the manure question. Re-
member it has been stated that air and
the right quantity of moisture must be
obtained in order to have soil bacteria
thrive. Let lis apply that reasoning
right here. While the manure is on
the pile, you do not want it to decom.
pose and change. If you leave it loose
and dry, you know how that sort of
sharp odor of ammonia is given off.
That is just SO much plant food being
given off into the air and lost. That
loss is caused by the bacteria working.
But you want to stop their action at
that time. The lesson to draw is this.
Compact the manure-pack it down,
let hogs run on it, and in addition oc.