New-York tribune., 1910-10-30

u-.iro sv,arns of aeroplanes poureu "'o'
.bA chinese cities a shower or tuoes '',,
+otrine, ,-ir11Ient cultures OF deadE DHel''-
.,,d COON after the Middle Kingdom wa
80 cbarneI house. from when heI'"'
,I,e Gordon OF troops nor the ever NlsiiA"'
vessels let one man escape - .ir
C,an 70 rot dream of battles IN the a'
between The military aeropianes oi
,Uarring nations trying TO unIoao OH C
.,s,,v,s wheat fields tube after TUBE hi'eu
lin especiaIIy prepared cultures or pieu-
-otricha? What curious clauses HilsH' "S
INCORPORATED into treaties OF peace. III"
stead of a brutal demand for a war 'nueHi
n,ty the defeated nation would peEhdp p9'
while inocuIatinS her diseased heios WIN
che nroner vaccines. have to buy her food
from the victorious one
Here Of course, speculation borders
closely on dream and fancy: sun men -
comes 70 the question of increasing or de-
Teasing the worlds supply OF food actual
events are sometimes more battling than
coats tucubrations Let US only remember
tba+ n is the food question Whicn was
IN ararnornt in almost every revolution II
90 often food or lack of food that loses Or
utns battles in war But for the devasta-
.ion subseouent TO the Hundred Years war
tha English flag might now float over
paris But for the great hunger that CON
| -ronted Napoleon in the plains OF RusSla
| tho Napoleonic epic would almost certainly
have taken a different turn!
A couDle of years ago. when the germ OF
@.r+,rit,, was discovered, scientists thought
| that the food problem had been solved
| efforts were made to promote the rapid ue-
,oIonr,ent of the nitrogen fixing microbes
! Now our campaign tactics will be entirely
ro,.ersed for We will bend our energies
| toward destroying the enemies OF the soH'
| instead OF helping the benehcent Dactei Id
| which build the soil. Before We knew tAd'
| diseases were caused By bacteria whicn
| DESTROYED the leucOcytes of the biood We
endeavored 70 strengthen the patient NO"
we confns ourselves to declmatlns the u
| mics of invading bacteria BY means OF vac
| cnatiOn.
i Now a word in explanation Of how the
| useful bacteria proceed TO give IlIe 10 the
/ soil Examine the roots OF clover marry
vatcb or alfalfa and in many cases you
rsiu notice on them little warts, or nod-
! uIes Inside OF those warts you VIII iIio
| thousands of minute germs. or DacOeI 4
| The function OF these germs IS 10 game
IN the free nitrogen of the air and 10 put II
into form which the plant can use =
food.
t1aro then. we have the two factors
u-biob nrevent the wearing out OF lanoS
| the air four-ffths Of which is nitro
e,a, fftv miles deep all around tht
earth, and ON the other side the lesumt
nous plants. Not only do the bacteri'
+nanufacture large quantities of nitrogen
on which the plant feeds but aI'er en'
crop is cut, the noduies ueGas' a-G
go the little germs. which live on anf
nroduce other nodules on the next eroi
of clover or vetch-
Starting from that principle. one Oh 'n'
rar,edies tried against barrenness OF tn'
soiI vas inoculation with nitrosen-hHlhs
bacteria. Soil is taken from tract
land where certain leguminous cEOps nA
hoen grown successfully. The SOIL
hr,sdcasted or drilled in, the bacteria
snTead and In many cases the practice 0
sprinkling old soil over new held ha-
given Iuxuriant crops