136 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



placed under the same conditions. Now take the soiT in plot A and 

 heat it up to 95 degrees C, leaving plot B alone. Then after that you 

 sow the seeds and let the plants grow. Then the result you would get is 

 this that plot A brings two, sometimes three and four times as much as 

 the crops produced in plot B. This fact was found at the Kothamsted 

 exjK^riment station in England. At the same time this fact was explained 

 by one of the members of the experiment station, Dr. A. D. ^Hall. He 

 explained it from the bacteriological standpoint and it is very inter- 

 esting, indeed. Not only from the standpoint of science, but it is im- 

 portant because it can be applied to the practical work in the green- 

 house. So I took an interest and put a little time for this subject my- 

 self. Nf)w I take this opportunity to present to you the importance of 

 the bacteria regarding the soil fertility and the principle of this heat- 

 ing method. 



As you will know, three things are absolutely necessary for growing 

 plants: First is the temperature, then the' moisture and the plant food. 

 Now supposing you have the suitable conditions regarding the tempera- 

 ture and moisture, then the growth of the plants depends upon the 

 plant food there is in the soil. And no matter how much plant food 

 you have in the soil, if it is not in such a condition that it can be taken 

 up easily by plants, then it won't do any good. As a result of the experi- 

 ments, we found that without decomposing the organic matter in the 

 soil, the plants cannot take it up. Without the aid of bacteria, the de- 

 composition of organic matter does not take place. Therefore, you see 

 clearly that the bacteria is one of the most important factors regarding 

 the soil fertility. 



Next I like to present to you very briefly that principle of this heating- 

 method which gives such enormous results. As I mentioned before, the 

 principle is this: There are 1-20,000,000 of soil bacteria in one gram 

 of soil and several thousands of protozoa. These protozoa live on the 

 bacteria. In other words, the protozoa are destroying our great bene- 

 factors in the soil. If you have a chance to examine under the micro- 

 scope you can see plainly that these protozoa attacking the bacteria 

 like the hungry wolves going after food. If you can prevent these bac- 

 teria from their enemy, the result is we get a good crop. And now by 

 heating the soil to 95 C. all protozoa are killed while the bacteria can 

 stand for the heat of 100 C After the enemies are killed off, the bacte- 

 ria multiply and decompose the organic matter much better and quickly 

 and the result is an increase of fertility and we get such enormous crops. 

 At the conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you get some idea of 

 the importance of the bacteria regarding the soil fertility and the prin- 

 ciple of this heating method and realize the value of the research work. 



