INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 231 



for sowing. Do not let the sun strike it even for 

 a moment; sunlight destroys these bacteria. When 

 you have it fine enough for sowing you can either 

 mix it with the seed and sow both together, say 100 

 pounds of soil and 15 or 20 pounds of seed, sowing 

 them on an acre, or you can sow the seed and soil 

 separately. If you have only a small field or plot to 

 sow, do it late in the day after the sun has ceased 

 to shine, and then harrow it at once. If you must 

 spread it while the sun is shining let the harrow 

 follow immediately behind the soil sower. 



One can put the soil in a fertilizer drill and drill 

 it into the land. That is an excellent way. Anyway 

 will do so that the inoculating soil is not exposed to 

 sunlight, but is covered up in the ground. 



Coating Seed with Earth. The Illinois experi- 

 ment station has developed a very successful way of 

 inoculating alfalfa seed, requiring comparatively 

 little soil for its complete success. Water is heated 

 and enough glue dissolved in it to make the water a 

 trifle sticky. It is then cooled and the seed is well 

 wetted with this water. Earth taken from a good al- 

 falfa field or sweet clover patch is made fine and run 

 through a sieve to take out lumps, roots and stones. 

 It is better if the earth is dry, but it ought to be dried 

 in a dark place, at least not exposed to sunlight. The 

 earth and seed are mixed together till each seed is 

 coated with a film of this dry and inoculated earth. 

 No surplus earth need be used, so each seed is coated. 

 The seed is immediately sown and covered as fast as 

 sown in some manner. Perfect inoculation seems to 



