232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [J^n.^ 



were to place the culture in a certain amount of rainwater, or 

 distilled water, adding the nutrient salts, and then to set it in 

 a warm place for a period of twenty-four hours. I did not 

 know what would be considered a warm place. It was, how- 

 ever, the month of May, and the weather was getting warm, 

 so I thought I would set it on the piazza of the house and see 

 what would happen. I left it there for twenty-four hours, but 

 at the end of that period the milky color which the directions 

 said would show did not manifest itself. I said to myself 

 there must be something that is not quite right, I will leave it 

 by the stove. I did so, and the next day the milky condition 

 was very apparent. Now suppose that condition was placed 

 before the average farmer. What would he have done about 

 following directions ? I left it in a warm place for twenty- four 

 hours. I knew, however, it was not in condition to use, and 

 I waited for another twenty-four hours. I then soaked the 

 seed in the culture solution, dried it by spreading it on some 

 sheets, and then went ahead and sowed the seed in the usual 

 manner. 



I found, in the early part of July, that the nodules were be- 

 ginning to appear on the roots. I looked over the field, and 

 here and there were plants which had a different appearance 

 from others, and I found, when I dug down carefully, that the 

 nodules were present on the roots. I soon found that I could 

 tell by the appearance of the foliage the plants that would have 

 the nodules, and I could pick out those that would not. Not 

 more than a quarter of the plants showed the presence of 

 nodules, even though I had been reasonably careful in follow- 

 ing the prescribed method of seed inoculation. We had a very 

 fine growth which we cut off when about a foot high, about 

 the 15th of July. For the next two weeks the weather was 

 dry, and the weeds came on very rapidly. They choked the 

 alfalfa back and it seemed likely to go into the winter in rather 

 poor condition, so I plowed it up. 



