34 



The Reader: 

 information 



Service will give 

 about automobiles 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1912 



Poultry, Kennel and Live Stock Directory l^ZTZ^T^ 



dogs, poultry and live stock will be gladly given. Address INFORMATION DEPARTMENT, 



The Garden Magazine, 11-13 West 32d Street, New York. 



Hammond's 



Sold by Seedsmen and Merchants 



Hammond's Cattle Comfort 



Trade Mark 



Keeps Cows, Horses or Mules free from Flies, 

 Gnats and other pests. It is cheap and effective. For 

 pamphlet on " Bugs and Blights " write to 



Cattle Comfort " Hammond's slug shot, Fishkiii-on-Hudson, n. y. 



Money mS quabs <£ 



Learn this immensely rich business; 



we teach you; easy work at home; 



everybody succeeds. Start with cur 

 Jumbo Homer Pigeons and your success is assured. 

 Send for large Illustrated matter. Providence 

 Squab Company, Providence, Rhode Island. 



Vvindholme's Bounder No. 2174 



IF YOU WANT PIGS BUY TAMWORTHS 



THE HOG OF THE FUTURE 



We have a lot of nice ones on hand al reasonable prices. 

 WINDHOLME FARM, Islip. N. Y.. W. C. McCollom, Supt. 



Large Berkshires 



at Highwood 



Summer offering of brood °o;vs 

 and young stock. Every animal 

 registered and if not satisfactory 

 may be returned and your 

 money refunded. 



H. C. & H. B. Harpending 

 Dundee, N. Y. 



r ■■ 



■ 





A SHETLAND PONY 



is an unceasing source of pleasure. A safe 

 and ideal playmate. Makes the child 

 strong and of robust health. Highest 

 type — complete outfits — hero. 

 Inexpensive. Satisfaction guar- 

 anteed. Write for illustrated 

 ' catalog. 



BELLE MEADE FARM 



* Dept. IS MarkSam.Va. 



BULLETIN 33 



How to Conquer Lice 



In poultry houses. How to double ihe life of your wnr»d, like fence 

 post*, shingles, silos ar.d porches, through ihe moj-t simple Preservative 

 methods Low in cost; availab.e auy time and place. Write to-day. 



Carbolineum Wood Preserving Co. 



101 Franklin Street, NEW YORK 



NEW YORK STATE FARMS 



We will sell you better farm and orchard properties (improved), and 

 at lower prices, in New York than can be Ind elsewhere. More money is 

 made in diversified farming, dairying, poultry raising and fruit growing 

 in New York than in other States. We know, because we are farmers. 

 Call on ns, or send for our specimen list of New York farms. B. F. 

 McBURNEY & CO.. Room 309. Bastable Block. Svracuse, N. Y., or 7-J3 

 Fisher Building, Chicago, 111. 



AIREDALE FARM KENNELS 



Spring Valley, N. Y. 



Mr. Howard Keeler, Owner. 

 The largest and most complete home for Registered 

 AiredaleTerriers in America. 



The Best Chum for Children 



and the only reliable guardian for the 

 Stock of all ages for discriminating buyers. 

 can't please you nobody can. 



BEST DOQ FOR YOU ! 



What must he be ? Ask the Readers' Service 

 where to get him, and other questions about dogs. 



$1 or $2 per Acre per Month 



Buys a Sanford celery farm. Flowing artesian well 

 guaranteed. Sub-irrigation, fine drainage, good sub- 

 soil, proven district, no interest; water and rail transpor- 

 tation. Our liberal contract allows six years to pay out. 

 TITLE BOND & GUARANTEE CO., Sanford, Fla. 



My stock of pigs and hogs was 

 never better. If you want the 

 best all-around breed raise 



Jersey Reds 



Fatten easily and quickly, small 

 boned, long bodied, vigorous, 

 prolific. Meat unsurpassed: 

 Choice offerings now. Write tof 

 day for free catalog. 



Arthur J. Collins, Box T, Moorestown, N. J. 



Poultry Amateurs — What breed should your 

 new yard produce for the best results ? Get free 

 advice from the Readers' Service. 



Would Not Part With This Cosy Home 

 But For Business Reasons 



Location — 150 Harrison Ave, Westfield, N. J. This is an 

 exceptional opportunity for a New "iork business man to pur- 

 chase a charming little home in the residential section of West- 

 field. The present owner is obliged to sell because of the 

 removal of his business to another State. The house contains 

 10 rooms viz: living room, dining room, pantry and kitchen, 4 

 bedrooms, bath room and attic room. House is thoroughly 

 equipped and modern in every particular. Write for details. 



Very interesting price for immediate sale 

 Address Box 312. care of Country Life in America. Garden City, L. I. 



Fertilizing with Bacteria 



TT HAS come to be pretty well known that 

 -*■ leguminous plants have the power to assimilate 

 the free nitrogen of the atmosphere. The practical 

 questions arise: How can we make use of this 

 fact? By applying cultures to our gardens? 



If, by the introduction of leguminous crops in a 

 system of rotation, the gardener can supply to the 

 soil the needed nitrogen, without the necessity of 

 purchasing it in the shape of commercial fertilizers, 

 he may gain a distinct advantage. On the other 

 hand, this may not be desirable or economical. 



It is of course recognized that a legume has in 

 itself no power to utilize the free nitrogen of the 

 atmosphere; but that through the agency of 

 bacteria residing within the nodules on the roots 

 it can gather free nitrogen. Equally we must 

 recognize that the bacterium is potent only in 

 conjunction with a legume — i. e., peas, beans, 

 clovers, etc. 



A legume whose roots are entirely devoid of 

 nodules must, like other plants, depend exclusively 

 on the nitrogen in the soil, so that if a portion 

 of a crop is removed the soil becomes poorer in 

 nitrogen than before, or even if the entire crop 

 be plowed under no nitrogen is thereby added to 

 the soil. 



It is therefore evident that if leguminous crops 

 are to be of real benefit in enlarging the store of 

 nitrogen in the soil their roots must be supplied 

 with nodules, and the more abundant the nodules 

 the greater the nitrogen gathering power of the 

 plant. 



The roots of these legumes become inoculated 

 with nodule producing bacteria, which are com- 

 monly present in most soils. 



Soils which have successfully grown a certain 

 legume are usually well supplied with the special 

 bacteria, but there are cases where these bacteria 

 originally present have either perished or so lost 

 their virulence as to be no longer active. 



This is particularly true of soil which has be- 

 come acid. Such a condition not only becomes 

 unfavorable to the nodule bacterium but to the 

 plant as well. In these cases the soil must be first 

 brought into condition, by liming and otherwise. 

 After the normal condition has been restored the 

 introduction into the soil of the necessary bacter- 

 ium is likely to be beneficial. But in all cases 

 it is absolutely futile to apply the bacteria unless 

 they are to find in the soil a favorable medium for 

 their development. Failure to recognize this 

 fundamental principle is responsible for many 

 negative results. 



There are two methods of introducing bacteria 

 into the soil — one is by the use of soil taken from 

 a field which has produced the given legume, and 

 on whose roots abundant tubercles are present; 

 and the other is by the use of "cultures," or 

 colonies of the proper bacterium propagated on 

 or in some favorable medium under laboratory 

 conditions. 



The method of inoculating soil with soil was 

 practiced with marked success in the early days, 

 and even at present, considering the uncertainties 

 of (some at least of the) commercial cultures it 

 still appears to be the most reliable method. The 

 objection to it is that it is not always practicable, 

 is at best cumbersome, and there is the further 

 danger of carrying weed seeds and disease germs 

 into new land. 



These objections being recognized, various efforts 

 have been made to propagate the necessary bac- 

 teria, and to distribute them in the form of cultures 

 — so-called "nitro-cultures." 



In the early days Nobbe and Hiltner prepared 

 these cultures on gelatin media, on which the germ 

 soon lost its virulence or otherwise perished. Sold 

 commercially under the name of Nitragin they 

 were found to be a failure and were eventually 

 withdrawn from the market. 



Later the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture undertook to dry the bacteria on cotton 

 wool and to distribute them in this form, along 

 with certain salts for making a solution in which 

 to grow them. But it was subsequently found 

 that the bacteria perished rather quickly when 

 dried on cotton, and that many of these bits of 

 cotton contained no living germs. It was further 

 found that cultures made from these bits of cotton 

 became in many cases grossly contaminated witb 



