INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 
Many once deep, dark mysteries are now cleared 
up so that we smile at what once made men despair. 
Alfalfa growing was once as deep a mystery as any 
one could name. Sown in Colorado, Utah or Cali- 
fornia alfalfa thrived from the start almost. Sown 
in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky or New York it often 
failed. When it lived it was for some months or a 
year or more a feeble, unhappy, sickly plant. After a 
time perhaps it recovered and made wonderful 
growth. 
Why This Difference?—Why should it behave so 
differently in different regions? Of course there 
are several answers to this query. One is that some 
soils are filled with lime and phosphorus, are dry 
and filled with air. Alfalfa loves such soils. But 
the other and more hidden and mysterious reason 
is that of the nitrifying bacteria that help alfalfa 
grow. These bacferia are naturally present in some 
soils. They live on more species of legumes than 
alfalfa alone. Burr clover (Medicago arabica or 
Medicago denticulata) carries the same inoculation, 
uses the same bacteria. So does sweet clover or 
melilotus. Doubtless there are other wild legumes 
growing in western arid soils that use the same bac- 
teria. On the other hand, in eastern soils these bac- 
teria were absent almost altogether. 
One of the best illustrations of the lack of inoculat- 
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