IIo REPORT OF DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY OF THE 
which this subject was brought to the public notice at a time when 
farmers were beginning to realize the importance of legumes in 
soil enrichment and to know what substantial results had been ob- 
tained by the use of naturally inoculated soils. That this interest 
was due to the manner of presentation rather than to the newness 
of the subject matter is seen from the following facts: Practically 
identical culture media! had been employed in growing these germs 
for many years, the idea that. the activity of the cultures could be 
increased by controlling their environment has long been held, 
especially by Hiltner,? and the method of shipment on absorbent 
material has been considerably used with yeast cultures. The main 
value of this presentation lay in the fact that it succeeded in bring- 
ing these scientific facts to the attention of the agricultural public. 
Coincident with this public interest in the subject of artificial 
inoculation there appeared commercial companies which offered 
cultures for this purpose. Inquiries concerning the value of these 
commercial cultures began to pour in at the various Agricultural 
Experiment Stations and in order to obtain data upon which to 
answer these inquiries the Experiment Stations made tests of these 
cultures. 
INVESTIGATIONS. 
RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS, EXAMINATIONS. 
The tests by the various Agricultural Experiment Stations were 
made under a wide range of conditions and in practically all possible 
ways. They included extensive examinations in the laboratory as 
well as trials by pot experiments and field tests. 
In the tests by sixteen Stations*, the results from which are now 
available, there was a striking similarity in one particular; they 
THe cultivation of legume bacteria in nitrogen-free media has long been 
a common practice. Laurent (Recherches sur les nodisites radicales des 
Legumineuses. Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 5:105. 1891) used the following med- 
ium: Distilled water 1000 c.c., potassium phosphate I gram, magnesium 
sulphate, 1 gram, and saccharose. 
* Cent. Bakt. [etc.], Il, 10: 660., 1902. 
® Okla. Agr. Exp. Station Bul. 68. 1905. 
New York Agr. Exp. Station Bull. 270. 1905. 
W. Va. Agr. Exp. Station Bul. 105. 1906. 
Ga. Agr. Exp. Station Bul. 71. 1905. 
