Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1911-12-22
"soIL BAcTERlA-THE FARMERS
FRIEND"
By Theodore Day Beckwith, Professor of
Bacteriology o. A. c.

by certain authorities that the soil is
great workshop, and this statement
is we'll founded on fact because re-
cent development, during the last
twenty years particularly, have shown
definitely that every farmer who tills
his land properly is raising a great
crop which he cannot see, the magni-
tude of which he little understands,
and the volume of which, numerically
speaking, is far beyond his possible
conception. Likewise, another author
ity recently has told us that the
farmer who follows the older meth
DDS, and many of them still do follow
them, is simply miner who is delv-
ing into the soil, removing from it
the fertility and it's wealth without re-
placing it properly. Thus a man may
be raising this great crop which he
knows little about, and at the same
time may be undoing it's work as
rapidly as he can.
1t will surprise many to know that
soil is filled, in its upper layers, with
small growing plants, altogether too
minute to be seen with the naked eye.
These plants are called germs, or
bacteria, and upon their successful
and well-regulated activities depends
much of the fertility of the soil. In
fact, although a farmer naturally
thinks that by his plowing, harrow.
ing, under drainage, etc., he is work
ing directly toward bettering his
crops, in reality the benefit is OBJ
tanned indirectly, for he is bettering
the conditions for the growth of these
bacteria upon which depends much
of the fertility of the soil.
1t has been found that in the layer
of soil which is most densely filled
with these germs, or microbes, there
are approximately three hundred mil
lion germs per ounce Of dry fertile
soil. When one considers the fac
that the first six inches of soil PEE
acre will weigh nine hundred tons
one can, if he feels mathematicall,
inclined, arrive at some idea of the
extent of this crop which he is cul
tivating but which he never sees.
These bacteria are, as has beer
stated, exceedingly small. They are
so microscopic that approximately
twelve thousand of them might bt
placed together, just touching eacf
other end to end, and the line woult
be about one inch long. Most OF
them are little rods, possibly twice as
long as they are wide, consequently
one may also arrive at some possible
conclusion as to how many would be
necessary to make pile large enough
to be seen with the naked eye, re
membering that an average human
eye does not distinguish anything
readily which is smaller than .005 of
an inch.
Also it must be borne in mind that
each single germ is a living organism
having its own processes of life, per
forming it's own duty, subject to gen.
eral changes in its life history just as
the higher animals and plants under.
go change.
People generally have a misconcep.
tion concerning bacteria; they asso.
ciate germs with diseases, when as a
matter of fact very small proper.
ton of the entire number of bacteria
ever produce diseases. Just as there
are thousands of kinds of plants, so
there are many kinds of germs, which
indeed are but very low plants,
speaking now from the standpoint of
classification. Because there are a
few poisonous herbs like poison ivy
we do not consider that all shrubs
are harmful to health and produce
diseases, and there is no more reason
for considering that bacteria produce
diseases simply because there are. a
few transgressors in this respect in
the total number known. On the
other hand, germs produce a great
deal of good in the world; they ret
our flax so that we are able to pro-
duce fine linen; they cause our milk
to sour instead of undergoing other
changes which sometimes take place
instead Of ordinary souring and which
make such milk poisonous; they cause
garbage and other offal, thrown on
the soil so carelessly in most rural
communities, to disappear, and there.
by they are preserving health; in
fact, our very life depends upon them
because occurring in such immense
quantities in the intestines as they
do they are very beneficial helpers in
the processes Of digestion of food.
Likewise it is through their action
that soil is rendered fertile, that 1t
becomes enriched in nitrogen, car.
Donates, sulfates and humus.
Speaking now more particularly of
bacteria in relation to the soil itself,
we may see that they are governed
by certain physical conditions and
laws, and upon these points depends
the success of the ordinary farmers
methods of tilling and cultivating. In
the first place, the ordinary bacteria
which produce humus require air.
Some kinds of bacteria there are
which grow better without the pres
ence Of free air, but almost all of
those which work to the best advan.
tage in soil depend upon an open
texture, consequently we find that a
hard and comnact coil doac NOT turn