Show ERRORS IN MANAGING sold SOILS sol soil acidity Is responsible 1 in u min instances for failure of of alfalfa and clover 1 ifo to be careless in the treatment the soil ts as fatal to profitable aw mi culture as to bo be indifferent erent in th the ca of live stock upon the farm writes write 0 k i it whitson chief of the state labor labon tory established by the last degl leuigi le gl ture to aid wisconsin farmers we seem content to stop with tin the knowledge that there Is something A wrong with our fields IV TO know that at one time they yielded much better crops crops but we willi willing rest with the conclusion that tha t th they eyare fm wearing out large areas of 0 soil oven even in this state are acid and a aa a consequence will not yield as aa plena fully as they should wo we have to de d dormine tormine by means of a very simple test te whether our fields are add acid and if so BO apply a known and dependable depend remedy when a farmer finds that he cannot get a good stand of thrifty clover ott on his land when ho he sees that certain weeds such as corn and sorrel grow readily in his fields he could by obtaining a small quantity 0 of blue litmus paper at his drug store easily test his own soil to find it it ja 1 add acid soil acidity Is responsible ta in many instances for the failure ot of seed ing of alfalfa and clover growing in soils well supplied with lime those these plants are able to obtain the th nitrogen essential for their growth through the work of certain kinds 0 of bacteria or germs which penetrate thi the smaller roots forming lumps or swell ings inge called nodules E each ach of these nodules Is a tiny chemical laboratory in which nitrogen gas Is built up into compounds for use by the plant |