SOIL INOCULATION 



trogen in the air and with the bacteria ready 

 at hand to take it up and feed it to the plants, 

 man has a service without cost as significant 

 in value as it is wonderful in character. The 

 work done in Illinois has been remarkably suc- 

 cessful. It has been a practical demonstration 

 of the value of this new discovery in the realm 

 of the New Earth. These conclusions, among 

 many others, have been reached in Illinois ; 

 they illustrate the comprehensiveness of the 

 work which is being carried on : 



Soil nitrogen cannot be used by plants 

 until it is changed to the form of nitrate nitro- 

 gen by the nitrifying bacteria. 



Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be used by 

 any agricultural plants, excepting legumes, 

 and even leguminous plants have no power 

 to obtain nitrogen from the air unless they 

 are provided with the proper nitrogen-gathering 

 bacteria. 



As a rule, each important agricultural 

 legume must have its own particular species 

 of bacteria. 



In general agriculture in Illinois, whether 

 it be grain-farming or ordinary live-stock farm- 

 ing, the growing of legumes is absolutely 



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