872 
Supplement to the '' Troirical Agriculturist" 
(June 1' 190^ 
rich in nitrates, the first will prorUice abuudQiit 
tubercles, while the latter will be ab.soUitely worth 
less and fail to produce a single nodule. 
Having secured an organism which was able 
to fix such a large amount of nitrogen, it was 
jiecessary to devise some means of preventing 
this property from being lost, as well as to enable 
the cultures to be distribi^ted in sulEcieat quantity 
to be of some practical' use. It is now known that 
the bacteria,'"' when grown upon nitrogen-free 
media, will retain their high activity if they are 
carefully dried out and then revived in a liquid 
medium at the end of varying lengths of time. 
By using some absorbent which will soak up mil- 
lions of the tubercle-forming organisms and then 
by allowing these cnlturss to become dry the bac- 
teiia can be sent to any part of the United States, 
or the world for that matter, and yet arrive i.i 
perfect condition. Of course, it is necessary to 
revive the dry germs by immersion in water, and 
with the addition of certain nutrient salts the ori- 
ginal nnmber of bacteria is greatly increased if 
allowed to stand for a short time. Frequently 
twenty-four hours are sufficient to cause the water 
in a pail to turn railkj' white with the number of 
organisms formed in that time. Thus, by sending 
out a dry culture, similar to a yeast cake and no 
larger in size, the original number of nitrogen- 
fixing bacteria may be multiplied sufficiently to 
inoculate at least an acre of land. The amount of 
material thus obtained is limited only by the 
quantity of the nutrient water solution sued in 
increasing the germs. It is evident, therefore, 
that the cost of inoculating land is very small. 
The principal cost is in obtaining the organisms, 
but the methods perfected by the Department of 
Agriculture now make il possible to produce these 
at a comparatively small cost. Special fii-cilities 
for increasing the culture on a large scale are being 
provided. . .1,,:^ . . . - 
The way in which this liquid culture may be 
introduced into the soil varies somewhat with 
the character of the seed to be used and the area 
of the field to be treated. With large seeds it is 
often more convenient to simply sonk them in the 
fluid and then after they are sufficiently dry to 
sow them in the ordinary way. In other cases it 
is frequently cnore feasible to introduce the liquid 
culture.,dir^ctly ii!to..the soil,. This .may.be. done 
by spraying, or. perbiips .a; simpler .methsd is to 
mix the culture thoroughly with a wagoiiload of 
earth and then to distribute and harrow this in 
just as a fertilizer would beliandled. Inoculations 
of this character have been tried on a large scale 
in practical field experiments, and the results have 
been so satisfactory that the Department of Agri- 
culture will probably soon be able to begin the in- 
troduction of cultures into such localities as are 
now deficient in tubercle-forming germs. It 
should be borne in mind that such inoculations are 
usually not necessary in soil that is already pro- 
ducing tubercles. "While the introduction of fresh 
organisms will generally considerably increase the 
number of nodules, the effect upon the crop is not 
appreciable, and it is hardly worth the expenditure 
of time and labor necessary to make the inocula- 
tion. Wherever legumes that f ail t.o produce tuber 
cles are being grown, however, or .it).ttiose local- 
ities where the soil is so poor that legunjes, will 
not grow and because of the lack of the propter 
organisms they cannot make a start, every effort 
should be made to get the bacteria into the soil. — 
[Yea)' Boolz of U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
190S]. 
GENEKAL ITEMS. 
Says the Indian Agriculturist v/'ith reference to 
the topic of the hour : Two things are necessa,ry 
for the pi oduction of raw cotton— suitable climate 
and a suitable labou- supply. Both exist to per- 
fection in the Southern States of the North 
American Union, and no where else have equally 
fa vourable conditions yet bee i rliscovereil on such 
a large scale. The other preat fields of cotton sup- 
ply are Egypt and India. The Eifyp'ian supply i«, 
however, limited in quantity, and the- ludian sup- 
ply is poor in quality. 
The remedy recommended so far as India is 
concerried, is improvement in the niefchof!s of cul- 
tivation and the introduction of a mote up-to date 
system in all details, this to be brought about 
through model plantations. In short, what is desi- 
derated for India is improved and selected seed 
(not the introduction of exotic varieties) and some 
modern machinery. 
Reference is made to the Soudan where experi- 
ment" are said to be hopeful, as well as to the West 
Indies- whieh -are -reported to haveiiiftde a good deal 
of real progress ■ iu cotton culture, buttlferiels no 
mentb»n of little Ceylon, wlrieli. in spite of its' insig- 
nificance in the cotiion world at the present moment), 
may yet piove that its produce is as important 
a factor in the cotton as it has been in the tea, 
cocoa and rubber markets. 
Pi of. Dunstan, who has been very much before 
the public eye of late in connection with his reports 
ma>lefor the Imperial Institute, and has lately l;ei>n 
writing on cotton growing in Egypt and. the Brit- 
ish Empire, was for soihe i,ime in India suidying 
the Coal Supply and other technical questions. He 
was previously lecturer on Chemi-'y at Oxford 
and Professor of Chemistry to tlie Pharmaceutical 
Society. 
It is gratifying to hear of a prosperous year 
for India. Tiie Indian Agriculturist in its issire 
for May reports ihit "the a.trricul' ural ouilook 
throughout India has setdom bsen more favour- 
able than at present, There is not a single indivi- 
dual in receipt of fa niue rcli6f, and ihe late'st croj) 
telegrams from all tiie provinces are almost 'unaui- 
uioas in recording a prosperous outlook." ' 
Mr. Bernard Coventry lias been appointed Piree- 
tor of the Agricultural Reseaich Institute, and 
Principal of the Agricultural College at Pusa. 
