< 
1415 
Yfe RURAL. NEW.YORKER 
Inoculated Sulphur 
Its Value and Uses for Agricultural Purposes 
Part V 
Sulphur Is Treated to Insure Good 
Results 
Since sulphur itself will not accomplish 
the results described in the foregoing 
pages, and since the transformation of 
sulphur into sulphuric acid is accom¬ 
plished by definite species of bacteria, it 
is obvious that the use of sulphur in itself 
does not assure us of the desired changes. 
It is essential that the sulphur-oxidizing 
bacteria be present in sufficient numbers. 
It has been demonstrated at the New 
Jersey Experiment Station that the sul¬ 
phur-oxidizing bacteria of the right sort 
are not usually present and that the 
inoculating of soil with such bacteria is 
of great practical value wherever sulphur 
is used for the control of potato scab, the 
transformation of insoluble into soluble 
phosphates, the reclaiming of black alkali 
soil, etc. A method has been developed 
not only for the preparation of pure cul¬ 
tures of efficient sulphur-oxidizing bac¬ 
teria, but also of inoculating sulphur 
with them in such a way as to permit 
the production on a large scale of inocu¬ 
lated sulphur for the various uses de¬ 
scribed above. Inoculated sulphur has 
been employed in comparison with equal 
quantities of uninoculated sulphur both 
for the production of soluble phosphates 
and for the control of potato scab. Table 
VIII show’s the value of inoculation in 
the production of soluble phosphates. 
Table VIII. 
Influence of Aeration and Inoculation of Available Phosphoric Acid. 
Ammonium Citrate 
Soluble P 2 0 3 
A 
Depth 
Increase 
Treatment 
of Compost 
Average 
Over Check 
Inches 
mgm. 
mgm. 
Per Cent 
At End of 15 Weeks 
150.10 
Inoculated . 
U 
1145.00 
988.90 
633.5 
Uninoculated . 
707.75 
551.65 
353.0 
Inoculated . 
. . . . 4 
707.50 
611.40 
391.7 
Uninoculated . 
. . . . 4 
621.25 
465.15 
298. 
Inoculated . 
o 
990.50 
S40.40 
538.37 
Uninoculated . 
o 
575.00 
418.90 
268.35 
Inoculated and stirred*. 
2 
1688.13 
1532.03 
981.4 
Uninoculated and stirred.... 
o 
710.50 
560.40 
359. 
* Stirred thoroughly every two weeks throughout period of experiment. 
* Soluble phosphate is deteimined by amount soluble in ammonium citrate. 
IN CONCLUSION 
1. Plant growth is impossible without 
the element sulphur, and sulphur is one 
of the so-called essentials or indispensable 
ingredients necessary to grow any crop. 
2. Ground commercial sulphur is made 
available or oxidized in the soil by bac¬ 
teria known as sulfofying bacteria, and 
without these specific organisms ordinary 
sulphur applied to the soil is of no prac¬ 
tical value for any purpose. 
3. These sulfofying bacteria are seldom 
found in any soil in sufficient numbers to 
give the best results. In many soils these 
bacteria are lacking. 
4. In order always to be sure of good 
results only sulphur which has been 
treated or inoculated with these specific 
bacteria should be used. 
5. Sulphur is found in all soils in vary¬ 
ing amounts, at times in insufficient quan¬ 
tities to insure good crops. 
6. Although most fertilizers contain 
more phosphorus than any other plant 
food, some crops require more sulphur 
than phosphorus. Legumes, such as clover 
and Alfalfa, and the cruciferse. such as 
cabbage and rape, are especially heavy 
consumers of sulphur. 
7. Roils under ordinary cultivation 
methods lose more sulphur than phos¬ 
phorus. 
8. Although sulphur is brought down 
in varying amounts by rainfall and snow, 
in most cases the loss of drainage more 
than offsets the supply from these sources. 
House Sewage System 
We want to put in a drainage system 
to take care of the following: 1. Bath 
room, toilet, kitchen sink. etc., in farm¬ 
house where there are usually nine or 10 
adults. 2. Wash water, etc-., from dairy 
building where we are bottling a high 
grade of baby milk, use plenty of water 
and have steam boiler. Bottling now 250 
or 300 quarts, but want to plan for 1.000 
quarts. 3. Surface water drain from 
barnyard, which takes a large amount of 
water in rainy weather, and occasionally 
a small surplus from barn mangers. 4. 
Another surface drain, which has a good 
deal of water in storms. This does not 
now go in with the others, but we should 
like to have it do so, as otherwise we 
must dig a special ditch for it. The 
others are now going into a concrete tank, 
which I think was made for a burial 
vault, and is about the size of a casket. 
I have had various bulletins on farm 
drainage, tile fields, double chamber 
vaults, etc., but the difficulty with them 
is that they do not provide for the large 
amount of water which we have, and I 
cannot work out a system which will 
allow the solid matter to settle without 
flooding it out. I do not want to put in 
a tile field, as the drains now run across 
a fairly level space to the tank, but the 
ground drops off 30 feet or more soon 
after leaving the tank. E. D. c. 
Connecticut. 
You have a rather difficult situation to 
meet, the handling of creamery sewage, 
because the curd, oil and sour milk 
carried in suspension breaks up very 
slowly and requires a much larger set¬ 
tling or putrefaction tank than does the 
ordinary house sewage. Because of this 
slow action a septic tank designed for 
creamery use should have a capacity of 
at least three days’ sewage. In addi¬ 
tion, the cooling water and wash water 
from the test bottles carryirg acid should 
not be allowed to discharge into the tank, 
as the cold water and acids will lessen 
bacterial action in the tank. 
0. The better the cultivation and the 
larger the crop the more sulphur is taken 
from the soil. 
10. There are immense acreages of 
alkaline soils which are now non-produc¬ 
tive, or nearly so, which could be made 
highly productive by reducing the alka¬ 
linity ; nothing is more practical or more 
economical for this purpose than sulphur. 
11. Sulphur when properly applied to 
the soil will control and check potato 
scab, sugar beet scab, sweet potato scurf, 
eel worm and many other enemies and 
diseases of plants which now cause enor¬ 
mous losses. 
12. Sulphur when mixed with the soil 
and phosphate rock makes the phosphate 
soluble. This offers, therefore, a method 
for making acid phosphate economically 
on the farm. 
13. Sulphur when applied to the soil 
liberates other plant foods often abundant 
in the soil, but in such form as to be 
inaccessible or very slowly accessible to 
the plant. 
14. Sulphur when properly applied will 
kill or control harmful weeds, and when 
used in large amounts on roads, paths, 
tennis courts, etc., will keep them free of 
any plant growth. 
15. Sulphur when properly used in pas¬ 
tures, paddocks, and animals runs, barns 
and stables, wil prevent the spreading of 
harmful animal diseases and insect pests. 
J. G. LIPMAN. 
It will be necessary for you to provide 
a separate drain for the waste water from 
the yards and other surface water. Roof 
water and other surface water should 
never be allowed to discharge into a sep¬ 
tic tank as the great flow of water dur¬ 
ing a rain dilutes the sewage, breaks up 
the scum and washes the bacterial growth 
from the tank. 
In regard to the final disposal of the 
sewage after passing the tank, it might 
be possible to lay your pipes somewhat 
crosswise of the slope in order to secure 
a line without too great a grade, or again 
it might be possible to discharge the sew- 
age over a “trickling” filter made from 
crushed stone. While not familiar with 
the location, it is probable that a sand 
and gravel filter bed could be arranged 
along the slope in the form of a terrace 
and the pipe laid as first suggested. 
If you do not already have them, get 
Bulletin No. 245, “The Disposal of 
Creamery Sewage,” obtainable from the 
University of Wisconsin, at Madison, 
Wis.; Extension Bulletin No. 212. “Rep- 
tic Tanks and Absorption Rystems.” from 
Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, 
Ore., as well as any information that 
Cornell University may have on hand. 
R. n. s. 
A Precocious Pullet 
On page 1190 is an item about early 
laying. I have a Ringle Comb Ancona 
pullet that laid her first egg August 4 
at the age of three months and 18 days. 
Rhe laid 17 eggs in August, and laid six 
eggs, the first seven days of Reptember. 
Three years ago I had a pullet of the 
same breed that laid 23 eggs in the month 
of November. 0 . A. 
Susquehanna, Pa. 
“You don't hear of these fools going 
over Niagara Falls in a barrel any more, 
do you?” “No; it is now’ considered more 
dramatic but just as silly to get killed 
trying to beat a train over the crossing.” 
-Cincinnati Enquirer. 
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What About Your School 
Library? 
A professor at one of our great universities 
writes this about the new book 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
“I do not believe that I have sent you a word about your ‘Hope 
Farm Notes.’ I have gone through the book the second time, aud 
each time I find a new meaning. I have, this year, asked my students 
to read the book because of its influence on character and our attitude 
to the soil. This book should be in every rural school in our country, 
and, I dare say, many of out- city schools would be benefited if the 
students were required to read true stories from life, such as you have 
given us. I am truly delighted with the book, and I nuist tell you 
that it has helped me in more than one way.” 
The Rt. Louis Globe-Democrat calls this book “a life-like record 
of a phase and period of farming now rapidly passing away.” 
We all want our children to grow up with memory and vision 
of the best that belonged to “the good old times.” This book is to 
become a classic which all who love the best in country life should read. 
Is it in your school library? 
Why not make yourself responsible for putting it there? That 
is one way in which you can help the district. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 West 30th St., New York 
Gentlemen—Enclosed find remittance for $1.50, for which send 
me. postpaid, a copy of “Hope Farm Notes.” 
Name. 
Town. 
State.R. F. D. or Street No.. 
