48 REPORT OF THE BACTERIOLOGIST OF THE 
~ germs have undergone.® It is conceivable that the proper organ- 
ism might be present in large numbers and still be of little 
value in bringing about the desired fixation of nitrogen in con- 
nection with legumes. Accordingly it was our purpose first to 
study the commercial cotton, and later to test the Ps. radicicola 
found there upon legumes as time and opportunity would permit. 
APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURES AND METHODS. 
To make the test upon legumes fair, it was necessary that 
germs from the cotton should be so handled during the interval 
between their isolation and the test as not to decrease their 
ability to fix nitrogen. Since the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington had improved the previous methods of cultivating 
Ps. radicicola so as to accomplish this end, we naturally turned 
to them for information. 
In determining the identity of a new culture in the laboratory, 
it is of great assistance to have an authentic culture for direct 
comparison with the suspected organism. Accordingly, we 
included in our application a request for an authentic culture of 
Ps. radicicola. The following correspondence is self-explana- 
tory: 
GENEVA, N. Y., March 18, 1905. 
Mr. Georce T. Moors, 
Bureau of Plant Industry, 
Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir :—As you are probably well aware, recent publica- 
tions have created a marked interest on the part of the agricul- 
tural public, in the subject of soil inoculation. Requests for 
information and for cultures are coming to the Station daily. 
In the past we have referred those interested in the sub- 
ject to your Department with the suggestion that they might be 
furnished with sufficient cultures to test the matter on their own 
land. Prof. Stone of Ithaca recently informed me that you had 
suspended distribution of such material. Under the present cir- 
cumstances it seems that the people must either drop the matter 
or purchase material of a commercial firm at what seems an 
exorbitant price. | 
‘Summary of Bul. 71, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. Agr. 
