New-York tribune., 1910-10-30
CO., Wc VIII VaccinQte the Earth to Increase Its FernHy
Benef ficenf Changes obof sVm o"0e0 md
fne of Anfidofe for PIeur0fr'c"o
xyar Weapon .SuSSeSfed Also.

A,ofhAr way Was TO dissolve srtiiciR
ni.ro-cultures in water. with which qUsn-
titles Of barren soil are sprinkled- Tho
.veast cake idea" appeals strongly 20 tas
noDuIar Imagination and the most absurd
claims have been made for preparations
which sell for high price. very uncsr-
tain results have attended the use OF nitro
cultures. which have. however Drought
fortunes to many quacNs- Inc shhpissc
method OF fertilizing the soil - 70 a0a 20 Il
tbo nitrate il needs. but this process is
necessarily very costly anu III Do4 iaius
absolutely prOhi5itiye-
Then. the worlds supply OF tne two
eo,,rces OF nitrogen. guano and sa.-5etre, il
,,,,;l,,I,, bscornfpg exhausted Guano has
practically disappeared. and while 1t IS diff
-, 90 obtain estimates as 70 t--e avaiabls
ornornt Of saItpetre, II is commonly admit
tod that at the present rate Of It's consnmD-
go, ore hilton tons a year, II cannot pos
sibIv last over fifty years
Neither will the recently proposed process
for manufacturing nitrogen salts BY means
OF electricity help the farmer very nueh-l
On the other side leguninous plants add
from 1C0 10 2oO pounds Of nitrogen an acre
10 the soil in which they grow
When Il Is remembered that hish
GRADE Of nitrate costing as much as "a
cents a pound contains only 10 per cene
OF nitrogen. it will readily be seen thsf, al
conditions being perfect, crop OF Ies1nes
g en1aI 10 500 or I 900 pounds OF nitrate
an acre. only when the conditions are sucil
that the soil building bacteria cannot tnF44 u
| leguminous crops are useless
Fortunately the experiments MADE % Dr.
RUSSELL and Dr. HutchisOn have reV eale0
/ the gratifying fact that while the useful
bacteria are pOwerless when attacked oy
the PIerrotricha, the Pieurotricha sUccunos
,.ar,, readily To antiseptics or 20 beat, vhlciE
| ,nnicts little harm to its victims Ihs
two scientists operated as follows
4 quantity Of garden soil was put in pots,
some OF which we're placed in a steam chaih-
her for three hours. The two series or pols
co,,ai,fna heated and unheated soil Vers
n1anted with seeds and kept N a greenhouse
With proper watering and exposure 20 Asi11'
The WELD from the heated soil amounted ~
| do,,bls that from the soil that had not oeera
| treated. other experiments were mace Win
\ sterfIized soil. The growth OF plants from
soil which had been sterilized by means
/ oF chIoroforrn, carbon disulphide or otheF
! volatile antiseptics exceeded oy 90 PEI csHs
/ the Weld from untreated SOIL
! rben II was discovered that while tbs
r,oiorit,- Of useful bacteria had been killed
| &, tho Drocess. all the Pleurotrtcha had died.
allowing the remaining bacteria 20 develop
| Nth incredible rapidity. gram or IN
treated soil contained originally I'Ooo'ooo
\ bacteria. ChIoroforn or heat killed all ous
400 These 400, however, no longer nam
pered by Pleurotrichse. multiplied so fase
+ba+ IN nine days their number had arisen
TO 40, 200. 600.
| These facts permit US 70 understanl
| readily why some scientists have hailed t;s
discovery OF the soil destroying germs as
the greatest discovery ever made IN asTl'
o,-I,,ra ANDRE TR1DON.