[SHUTT & CHARRON] CANADIAN EXPERIMENTS WITH NITRAGIN 65 
with bacteria of unimpaired vitality that will enable them, under favour- 
able conditions of soil as regards moisture, warmth, and a supply of 
mineral food, to assimilate free nitrogen. 
The vitality of these germs, however, when they are not in their 
natural habitat is precarious. It appears that they are particularly 
susceptible to a temperature above 100° F. and to strong light. Moreover, 
their life in the preparation (Nitragin) cannot be guaranteed for more 
than six weeks from date of preparation, even under the most favourable 
‘conditions as regards light and heat. It isa general character of bacterial 
preparations that they must be fresh to ensure their satisfactory opera- 
tion. For this reason it is extremely doubtful if Nitragin will ever come 
into general use by farmers, and we suppose it is on account of these 
difficulties that, as we have learnt within the past month, the German 
manufacturers have abandoned its preparation. 
But whether the use of Nitragin ever becomes common or not, results 
such as are recorded in this paper will be of value, for they furnish 
evidence of the strongest character that the growth of certain of the 
legumes at least may be materially increased by inoculating the seed or 
soil with these nodule bacteria. If it were found that any district would 
not furnish luxuriant crops of clover by reason of the absence of these 
organisms, the way is now open to overcome the difficulty. Such in- 
stances of failure in obtaining a good crop of clover in the neighbourhood 
of Ottawa, as have come under our notice, appear, however, to have been 
due rather to deficiency of moisture, as in a season of drought, or to an un- 
suitable condition of the soil. The general presence of root nodules in 
this vicinity leads us to believe that these special nitrogen assimilating 
germs are by no means scarce in this district. 
In several of the Western States of America inoculation has been 
practised by taking soil from a field that has previously grown a good 
crop of clover and scattering it broadcast over the area about to be 
sown. Excellent results from such work at several of the Experimental 
Stations have been recorded. The plan is extremely simple for those 
who can procure such soil, and could be easily carried out by farmers, 
Another modification of this method of inoculation would be to pour a 
quantity of cold water over the soil rich in germs, stir well and use the 
supernatant water for inoculating the seed to be sown. 
Experiments conducted on the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, during 
the last five years have shown that clover is one of the most economical 
fertilizers with which impoverished land can be recuperated, even when the 
roots only are allowed to decompose in the soil. We are, therefore, justi- 
fied in considering any method which may be used to encourage its 
growth as one of great importance and value to agriculture. 
