228 GARDEN PROFITS 



condition of affairs. It is now believed that while 

 there are many millions of the beneficial bacteria 

 in the soil, yet their numbers are kept in check by 

 another group of animal microorganisms, which feed 

 upon them. By sterilizing the soil (by heating or 

 fumigating), it has been possible to kill these con- 

 suming organisms, and to permit a great increase 

 in the numbers of the bacteria, this in turn resulting 

 in a greatly increased plant growth. The simple 

 act of keeping soil at the temperature of boiling 

 water for twenty minutes, resulted in a growth of 

 plants exactly twice as great as that in untreated soil! 



KILLING THE SOIL-ROBBERS 



Our grandmothers did just this when they baked 

 the soil for their geraniums. They didn't know 

 about the bacteria perhaps, but the result was the 

 same. Whether we can make use of this knowl- 

 edge in a wholesale way has yet to be learned. 

 But you can bake your hotbed soil easily, and if 

 you do, I can promise you better, stronger, healthier 

 seedlings than you ever raised before. Try it 

 and do a little scientific investigating for yourself. 



And finally, do you now realize how simple this 

 is for you, while yet so wonderful? Nature, with 

 her bacteria, her wonderful chemical and physical 

 transformations is at work all the time. Leave her 

 alone and she will grow plants, weeds, trees, render 



