116 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Results of Recent Investigations. 
INOCULATION EXPERIMENTS. 
Though the examination of the roots of clover and other legumes 
collected in various parts of Canada gave evidence of the wide presence 
in our soils of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and therefore that there was no 
general necessity for inoculation, the numerous demands for informa- 
tion on this subject generally and more especially as to the efficiency 
of certain cultures on the market led us to investigate the practical 
value of the more important of these preparations. 
INOCULATION WITH CULTURES. 
Washington Cultures: These were prepared and sent out by the 
Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D.C., and differed mainly from 
those previously experimented with in having been grown in a nitrogen- 
free medium and preserved in a dry state on cotton wool. The method 
of growth it was held, made the bacteria nitrogen hungry and therefore 
the culture more potent; the preservation of the culture in a dry con- 
dition, it was alleged, rendered the bacteria less susceptible to detri- 
mental influences, in other words increased the stability of the culture. 
The cultures experimented with were those for red clover and 
alfalfa and the trials, conducted over two seasons were carried on in 
pots and in the field. The inoculating fluids were prepared in accord- 
ance with instructions received with the cultures. In the case of the 
“seed inoculated,” the seed was immersed in the cultural preparation 
for a few minutes and then allowed to dry by exposure to the air; with 
the “soil inoculated ” the inoculating fluid was used to moisten the soil 
to a depth, approximately, of one inch. The soil was a light sandy loam 
of poor quality. 
The results of the first year’s growth were generally so irregular 
that they were regarded as probably misleading, and therefore dis- 
carded. The data from the second series of trials in pots may be pre- 
sented in the following tabular form. 
