124 Practical Farming 



peculiar work of getting nitrogen, which is a free gas 



in the air, and locating it in the form of organic matter, 



is always done through the agency of the bacteria that 



live on their roots, and these do their work best in a soil 



where there is not an over-abundance of nitrogen, which 



as one has said, makes them lazy, and interferes with the 



work of the bacteria. Therefore it has been found that, 



for the best results with the legumes, the soil must have 



in it an abundance of these parasitic bacteria. They are 



apt to be absent from a soil in which the particular legume 



sown has not before been contained. In such case it has 



been found necessary to inoculate the soil with the specific 



bacteria which live on the plant to be grown. 



There has been much talk recently about 



Methods of ^j^g wonderful ''discovery" made in the De- 

 Inoculating r » . i - , . . , 



the Soil partment of Agriculture, of cultivatmg the 



bacteria in nutrient solutions, and drying 

 them for distribution to farmers. There is nothing new 

 in the artificial culture of bacteria in the laboratory, for 

 it has been done for generations. The only new thing 

 about the discovery is the method of distribution. It is 

 well-known that these minute plants can be dried and 

 retain their vitaHty for a long time; and, when placed in 

 nutrient solutions, they may again become active and in- 

 crease enormously and rapidly. The new cultures soon 

 became known commercially under the name of "Nitro- 

 cultures," and have been sold to farmers at $2 per culture, 

 which cost perhaps three cents. These bacteria are sent 

 out in dry cotton wool and with them some nutrient mate- 

 rials, for the purpose of making a solution in which the 

 bacteria are placed, and in which they at once thrive. 



