180 BOAKD OF AGlllCULTUKE. [Pub. Doc. 



are properly made and .sold at a moderate price. Unfortu- 

 nately, as discus.sed later in this paper, the cultures thus 

 prepared cannot always be depended upon. 



When is Soil Inoculation necessary or desirable? 



Whether the farmer needs to inoculate his soil depends 

 upon many things. According to the dei)artment publica- 

 tions above referred to, these may be summed up as follows. 

 Inoculation is necessary when the land has previously borne 

 no legumes, or when the legumes have not borne root nod- 

 ules. It is desirable, and may be necessary, when legumes 

 of another group are to be grown. Alfalfa ma}^ fail to de- 

 velop root nodules when grown on land that i)roduces clover 

 root nodules in abundance. It is also desirable to inoculate 

 the soil when legumes make a sickly growth, even though 

 their roots bear nodules. On the other hand, inoculation 

 is unnecessary where the leguminous crops give good aver- 

 age yields and are well supplied with root nodules. There 

 would also be no use in using cultures on soils that carry 

 large amounts of availalde nitrogen, for on such soils leg- 

 umes use the combined nitrogen, even though they are 

 provided with root nodules. Inoculation is worthy of trial 

 wherever the crop of legumes is not producing the best of 

 yields. 



According to the department publications, soil inoculation 

 will fail when the directions for the prei)aration of the solu- 

 tions are not followed; Avhen the ground is* already inocu- 

 lated ; when the soil is too rich in nitrogen, or when it is 

 too acid or too alkaline, and when it is deficient in mineral 

 plant food. In order to obtain benefits from soil inocula- 

 tion, the farmer nuist inform himself upon the general cul- 

 ture of the crop that is to be grown. To do (otherwise is to 

 invite failure. 



There is nothing magical about soil inoculation. It will 

 not produce a crop unless other conditions are strictly com- 

 plied with. Thorough prei)aration of land, j^ropcr mineral 

 fertilizers, thorough ])reparation of the seed bed, clean cul- 

 ture and all other things that attend successful agriculture 

 are as essential when cultures are used as when they are 



