The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-05-21
FARMING WITH BACTERIA.

TOW inc SohS way BE AFFECTED by
the Various L aborine Glasses Among
the Bacteria-The Farmers Share In
tho Profits of These industrious Or
sanisms.
BY HOWARD s. REED, PHI. D.
To the minds of many persons, bac-
terra are germs, germs are microbes,
and in microbes they recognize the
sworn enemies of mankind. The bac-
terra are usually welcome to somewhat
more than their share of the road, if
they will only let us pass unmolested.
They are regarded by many as the Ish-
maelites of micro organic life. Their
name is of-times associated with la
grippe, or diphtheria and the doctors
visits. 1t is not the size of these dread
ed creatures that makes them feared;
far from it, for they are exceedingly
small, but it is their prodigious activ-
ity; an activity which is entirely dis
proportionate to their size.
Not all bacteria, however, are thus to
be regarded as Ishmaelites. IN fact we
malign the entire race when we Judge
them by the depredations of few
which acquire a lodging and produce
disturbances in our bodies. Although
bacteria have been as good as unknown
to us until about twenty-five years ago,
we are now forced to recognize the
beneficial role which they play in agri.
culture. Indeed, it is highly improb-
able whether any animal or plant life
could exist upon the earth were it not
for the activity of the bacteria in the
soil.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BACTERIA.
Of all the varied activities of bacteria
in their relation to agriculture none
compares in Importance with the work
of the soil bacteria. They not only in
fuence the fertility of the soil, but
they serve as the connecting link be-
tween the world of the living and the
world of the dead. They are the great
scavenging agents which tear down
the dead bodies of animals and plants
and restore the carbon, nitrogen, sui
phur and other elements of the tissues
to the round of nature. The processes
of nature are such that the same ma
terial is repeatedly used, passing in
endless cycle from plant to
plant or from plant to animal
and back again to plant, but al
ways with the Intervention of bacteria.
Without their action dead bodies would
accumulate and cover the surface of
the earth; the kingdom of the living
would be replaced by the kingdom of
the dead, and the worlds supply of car
bon and nitrogen would be locked up
in form useless to most forms of life.
Not all the soil bacteria, however, are
mere destroyers, for there are among
them species that do reconstructive
work.
ABUNDANCE OF BACTERIA IN SOIL.
A square yard of soil may support
several thousand moss plants or blades
of grass, and in addition contain
enough seed to produce several more
thousands. The number of higher
plants in the soil is, however, almost in.
finitesimal in proportion to the number
of bacteria which it may support. A
poor soil may contain mere bagatelle
of some 100000 bacteria per ounce,
while good soil will contain at least
30, 00O 600 per ounce. A soil to which
stable manure has recently been adj
ded may contain from 50O,00O,O0O to
2, 900, 600, 900 bacteria per ounce.
These comparatively enormous num-
bers of organisms in the soil are far
from idle. They must have food, and |
at times must have it abundantly. To
get this food material they lay hold up
on various constituents of the soil.
How rapidly and successfully they are
able to lay hold upon organic matter
may be shown by the rspidity with
which piece of animal or vegetable
matter disappears when buried in the
soil.
The actual number of bacteria in the
soil is not a matter of especially great
but the functions of these
bacteria and the work which they &C.
complish are of great importance.
Most of the bacteria are confined to the
surface layers of the, soil. i. g., to that
portion which is titled by the farmer.
At a depth of three or four feet the
number of bacteria is small, and at six |
feet they are mostly absent.