The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-08-02
NAY START WAR On PRICE on
SEED GERMS

planting TO have bacteria 10 make the
seed gcrminat. successfully liut tn"
complaint that Clemson n. ~ make
is that the manufacturers Of CONNER
cial fertilizers who put this bacteria
on the market arc charging about
'wicc what il is worth.
1t requires AT the present time So
per acr" 10 inoculate the soil. where.
as the bacteria could be sold for 81
per ton and even then IL good profit
made. The manufacturers have rcf,,s-
ed to cut the price. SO We are informed
and Mr.. Long. the governments rem
resentative AT Clemson. says that he
VIII fr? to get the college to start Il
plant for the manufacture Of this sub
itance for the farmers, and 10 sell II
at cost. If there are 10000 acres i'm
this state inoculated. as there are.
the saving to the farmers would be
81 per acre. or $4,000. bnt the prin-
ciplc thing Is the fact that by reducing
the price tlie commodity could be pui
on the market in such a way as To
stimulate the advancement OF grain
sowing.
The demonstration agents in The
state report now that twice AZ much
small grain ls harvested rs there was
"a lew years ago. an'l the farmers
should be encouraged yet more to en-
gage In the production OF grain.
The present war scare Is proof OF
the need for more grai,, to he plant
ell. and The approach of the boil wee
vii Is another. II is not cxpedient 10
neglect the planting of cotton. but
the need of food is stronger than the
demand for clothing. and the object OF
the government is TO teach every
farmer to produce at least enough
FOOD stuiis for man and beast and per-
haps enough TO sell little.
The old way OF inoculating the
SOIL for planting leguminous crops
was to send away to get the soil and
to spread this over the area 10 be
planted. The new way Is to appIy
the bacteria to the seed and the bac-
teria come up in the form of gela-
tine and at first the farmers looked
upon 1t with suspicion. A travelling
salesman told the writer an amusing
incident In u Pee Dee county.
This progressive farmer ordered
some of the incubation for the seed
and when he heard that it had come
up he drove over to the station with
a four horse team TO get It. There
was nothing for him at the freight
depot.
Finally he went by the postofIice on
his way home to get the mail and
there he was handed package which
he found to be his incubation. 1t
was merely u phial that contained
something that looked like gelatine.
Well, bgosh. I'm stung again." was
the farmers comment, 's9 for that
duTnaa thing"
But he took It on home with him
and followed directions, inoculating
the seed by using the gelatine in u
solution rs he was advised to do.
Then to see whether or not he had
been faxed. he planted some seed on
the same kind Of soil without using
he found that the inoculated seed
had done about 8 to 1 as much good
as the other.
The bacteria for vetch must be us
ed for vetch alone, and the bacteria
for clover for clover alone. 1t will
do no good to put vatch bacteria ON
alfalfa. The bacteria take I'D the
nitrogen which the plants get from
tho air and deposit the nitrogen in
nodules just as ants deposit food for
winter In cells in the ground. The
nodules decay when the plant Is cut
down and in decaying release the nj
trogen. The nitrogen stays in the
ground as fertilizer for the next
years crop and It is better for the
farmer to follow loguminous crop.
such as cowpeas or vetch. with cot
ION or oats, or some crop which needs
the nitrogen that has been stored IN,
the ground. ri
Many farmers In South Carolina
are learning scientific ways of farm
Ing and are rotating their crops 80
rs to use. one Of the soil one year
that which has been put there artifi-
cially the year before. Farming ha,
become q profession and n high grade.
science. 1t Is not merely a matter Of
plowing and sowing and cultivating
and harvesting. but 1t is the science Of,
applying knowledge to the soil to get