70 WILSON & TOOMER FERTILIZER COMPANY 



turers is good and they are well worth trying. However, 

 they will not increase a crop on land already well 

 "seeded" with that particular bacteria, nor will they act 

 as complete fertilizer. Such claims are exaggerations. 



Drawbacks Every good has its accompanying evil. 

 Cowpeas induce root knot and should not be planted on 

 land to be used for vegetables, peach trees or figs. 

 Velvet beans grow so rapidly they are almost sure to 

 over-run young trees despite the grower's best intentions. 

 Beggar weed must be cut before it gets woody or its stems 

 are extremely slow in decaying and in the meantime are 

 a great annoyance. Beggar weed seems also to be a fa- 

 vorite breeding place of the pumpkin bug, which is most 

 difficult to control, and at times does serious damage in 

 bearing groves. 



Popular Terms Popularly speaking, the ammonifying, 

 nitrifying and nitrogen-fixing bacteria are all called "ni- 

 trifying bacteria." 



Other Bacteria Lyoii and Pippin say: "Certain bac- 

 teria decompose some of the mineral matter of the soil 

 and render it more easily available to the plant." The 

 disintegration of rocks, weathering of soil, changes in 

 sulphur and iron compounds, and the action of various 

 organic acids including carbon dioxide, all are results 

 of bacterial life. Van Slyke mentions the products of 

 bacteria, "carbon dioxide gas, nitrous, nitric, sulphuric, 

 and various organic acids," and their effects upon calcium 

 and other carbonates, phosphates, magnesium, potassium, 

 etc., of the soil, as well as in substances applied in the 



