44 HOW LEGUMES HELP THE FARMER 



Nitrogen Gatherers Make Rich Land. The farmer 

 should frequently grow clover, or some other nitrogen- 

 gathering crop, on his land. Land from which a crop is 

 harvested at midsummer, and which will not be needed 

 until the following spring, may often better be sown to 

 clover than left idle. As a rule, the farmers that grow 

 and feed the most clover have the most fertile farms. The 

 clover plant should be regarded as a symbol of good luck 

 to the farmer, whether it has three leaves or four. 



Inoculating Soil for Legumes. When introducing some 

 of the legumes into a new field, it is often necessary to 

 inoculate the soil with the proper nitrogen-gathering bac- 

 teria. Soil for alfalfa may be inoculated by taking soil 

 from a successful alfalfa field and scattering it over the 

 new field. Each acre of the field to be inoculated should 

 receive 200 to 300 pounds of soil from the old alfalfa field. 

 After scattering the soil it should be harrowed into the 

 ground immediately to protect the bacteria from injury 

 by exposure to sunlight. The bacteria that form tubercles, 

 or nodules, on sweet clover will also form nodules on alfalfa. 

 Therefore, a field may be inoculated for alfalfa with soil 

 taken from around the roots of sweet clover. 



Another method of inoculation is to spread dampened 

 alfalfa seed upon cloth, paper, or a cement floor and then 

 sift over the seed a small quantity of soil from a thriving 

 alfalfa field. The moistened seeds collect some of the soil 

 containing the proper bacteria. As soon as the seed becomes 

 dry, it should be sown. Inoculation of soil for alfalfa may 

 also be done by using pure cultures of the nitrogen-form- 

 ing bacteria. The alfalfa seed is moistened with the pure 

 culture and then sown. Bottles of pure cultures may be 



