INOCULATION AND NITROGEN. 933 
will get inoculating earth for all the rest of the 
farm. It may perhaps be necessary to ship in 
enough for the first strip, though it is today a rare 
neighborhood that does not have in it either some 
sort of an alfalfa field with inoculated plants or a 
sweet clover patch. Once you have the strip of in- 
oculation on your farm you are independent; you 
ean go on and enlarge as fast as you please. An 
acre of inoculated alfalfa would give soil enough for 
inoculating at least an entire county. 
Searching for Inoculation.—It is astonishing how 
few farmers have ever seen a nodule on a clover 
root. They are easily found, especially on some 
sorts of clovers. One can pull up almost any thrifty 
red clover root and find nodules in place, looking 
like little white seeds. On the red clover they are 
found on the larger roots, as well as on the finer 
root hairs. The little creeping ‘white clover has 
nodules in plenty and they are easily found. Alfalfa 
has nodules only on the smaller finer root hairs. 
Thus they are not to be seen when one pulls vio- 
lently a plant from the soil, especially if the earth 
is hard and clayey. The little nodules remain in 
the earth. They are very easily dislodged from their 
hold on the roots. One must take the roots out with 
some care and perhaps will need to wash the earth 
away to find the nodules the first time. After he 
has seen them once and knows what to look for he 
will find them more easily the next time. 
Appearance Reveals Inoculation—After one 
knows alfalfa well he can tell at a glance whether 
