Show inoculating ALFALFA SEED sole cole duty of bactoria Is IB in lathering gathering tal nitrogen trogen prom from air and turning over to plants by jorin F Til CHOLSON idaho experiment peri ment station tho correspondence recently re calved by tho the idaho experiment sta eta tion would indicate that some farmers farmer s have a wrong idea as to the use of inoculation material for alfalfa and other legumes these bacteria applied to the seed have no power tc assist in the germination of the seed in increasing the stand or in correcting detrimental influences influence a that may be operating in tho the soil their sole duty is in gathering nitrogen from the air and turning it over to the plants on choso whoso roots they grow it the soil la is deficient in nitrogenous fertilizers therefore they will enable tho the legume to make ma ke a good growth and yield it if the soil on the other hand la Is sour or contains alkali then these bacteria will be of oc little use again it poor seed Is used or too much or of too little seed is sown tho bacteria will not remedy thead troubles these bacteria need not be used it the legumes already growing in any particular soil show the tha nodules on the roots this can be determined by careful examination of the roots for the nodules on them new ground la Is frequently deficient in these bacteria and they should be applied artificially fici ally the idaho experiment sta tion will furnish any farmer of idaho the proper bacteria at five cents per der acre which represents presenta re about the cost of production |