REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
BACTERIOLOGY. 
THE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL CULTURES FOR 
LB ULM Jes, § 
—- ——_—. 
H. A. Harping AND M. J. PRUCHA. 

SUMMARY. 
I. During the past two years much interest has been shown 
in the inoculation of legumes with bacteria to enable the legumes 
to obtain nitrogen from the air. 
II. ‘These bacteria have been distributed in a dried condition 
upon cotton. Before being applied to the seeds the cotton is put 
into a solution of chemicals and the bacteria allowed to multiply. 
III. These packages of treated cotton have had a wide sale 
at a high price—two dollars for a package sufficient to treat an 
acre—while the cost of production was less than ten cents. 
IV. This bulletin gives the results of a bacteriological examin- 
ation of 18 such packages of cotton. 
VY. These examinations made it very evident that the Steines 
were worthless for practical purposes. 
VI. Substantially identical results upon six of these packages 
were obtained in five separate laboratories. 
VIl. It was shown that the failure of these cultures was 
inherent in the method of their preparation rather than in any 
knavery of their producers. 
VIII. While these results will explain the many failures from 
the use of cotton cultures they should not be understood as being 
opposed to the idea of treating the seed of legumes with living 
bacteria. | 
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*A reprint of Bulletin No. 270. 
