BACTERIZED PEAT 83 



of being very bulky to handle if it was purchased 

 raw, and of being very costly and difficult to obtain 

 in bulk if it was to be delivered already rotted. In 

 peat there was a substance rich in humus-forming 

 material, available in indefinitely large quantities, 

 cheap, pleasant to handle, highly concentrated as a 

 result of natural processes continued over immense 

 periods of time, varying in composition over a wide 

 range, and for practical purposes sterile. 



In its raw state peat contains practically no soluble 

 humus. The nature of its deposition has been such 

 that free access of air has been prevented, and its 

 Carbon compounds (the carbohydrate, protein, etc.) 

 have only slowly and partially decomposed. In- 

 stead of the neutral or alkaline humus required as 

 food both by plants and bacteria, acids have been 

 formed, and the peat is unable to support the life 

 either of ordinary plants or of nitrogen-fixing 

 organisms. If the peat, however, is left exposed for 

 a considerable period, such as two years, for instance, 

 the long-delayed change that occurs in the case 

 of vegetable matter to which there is free access 

 of air readily takes place Carbon dioxide and 

 Ammonia are formed freely as a result of the action 

 of aerobic bacteria, and the peat slowly loses its acid 

 character. Soluble humus accumulates to a con- 

 siderable extent in the form of Ammonium humate, 

 and the peat which was valueless as a plant food now 

 contains available nitrogen compounds As with 

 most other natural changes, so with this, it is possible 

 in the laboratory, as in the factory, greatly to 

 accelerate it. Despite the ill-informed attitude 



