SOIL SANITATION 293 



It is a fatty acid, as its name implies, and has 

 been found, almost without exception, in all 

 samples of infertile soil that have come under 

 the examination of the Bureau of Soils. Shall 

 we say that here we have isolated the "germ 

 of sterility"? That would scarcely be justi- 

 fied, except in a journalistic sense; yet it has 

 now been established that an injection of this 

 compound in any soil will render that soil un- 

 productive. 



This acid has been known to science for a 

 long time, but merely as a laboratory product. 

 That it was being produced in soils and caused 

 them to be infertile was a distinct addition to 

 knowledge. Again here, as with the toxins 

 isolated from the cow-pea and wheat soils, 

 sterilizing or sanitary agents are found to re- 

 store the soil to productivity. Furthermore, 

 the addition of mineral fertilizer salts to solu- 

 tions rendered sterile by this compound is 

 found to have the same effect. 



Not all salts act equally well in restoring 

 this "sick" soil to condition. Potash and 

 phosphoric acid seem to have little, if any, 

 effect. But nitrogen, in the form of nitrate of 

 soda, which costs the farmer about 18 cents 

 a pound, seemed to neutralize the effects of the 



