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Show BACTERIA IN THE SOIL Farmer Owes Immense Debt to Little Germs. Water-Logged Land Becomes Worthies' Worth-ies' for Many Purposes Because of Inability of Organisms to Develop De-velop Owing to Moisture. (By DR. E. G. PETERSON. Laboratory of Bacteriology, Utah Agricultural Col- ' lege.) The average farmer seldom realizes . to the fullest extent the immense debt he owes to the bacteria of the soil. It is very often a surprise to him to hear that the continued fertility of the ; soli is due almost wholly to these minute organisms which he never . sees, but which are present in astounding astound-ing numbers In every handful of soil v on his farm. A soil exceptionally fertile fer-tile is exceptionally rich in these or- ganisms. A dead, worn out soil is one in which the organisms do not occur, or if they do occur, refuse to grow. Successful farm practice consists con-sists quite largely in" supplying conditions condi-tions in the soil which are favorable for the growth of beneficial organisms and detrimental to the growth of harmful organisms. Cultivation of the soil is a method to supply air to the organisms which demand air. The application of a certain cer-tain amount of moisture to the soil is a benefit in one way because of the fact that the bacteria of the soil demand de-mand a certain amount of moisture for their best growth. A soil which be- comes water-logged becomes worth- less for many purposes because of the inability of the organisms to develop due to the overabundance of moisture moist-ure and other secondary influences. The presence of too much alkali in a soil or of an acid soil is likewise harmful harm-ful to the development of the organ-'sms. organ-'sms. In other words, the bacteria of the soil are an index to its fertility, and every farmer, whether he knows it or not, is a bacteriologist, in that he is continually trying to cultivate these unseen friends of his by ordinary farm methods. Recent advances in soil bacteriology bacteriol-ogy indicate that we are on the eve of a new era regarding our knowledge of soil processes. Chemists have demonstrated dem-onstrated that" certain western soils are immensely fertile due to the presence pres-ence in them of exceptionally large quantities of nitrogen compounds. Whether this nitrogen enrichment is largely the result of the action of bacteria bac-teria is a question now before the bacteriologists for solution. It is known that in Utah soils especially . and similar western soils there is a germ called Azotobacter which thrives with remarkable vigor. This germ has the remarkable power of drawing, directly, di-rectly, plant food from the air and storing it in the soil without the aid of any other plant. The mysteries of Azotobacter are remarkable. It sometimes some-times can be found in large numbers in the soil, and sometimes seems about to disappear. Exactly what this variation is due to is not known, but undoubtedly much of the mystery surrounding sur-rounding soil fertility can be solved by finding out how these wonderful gorms act. It is a part of every farmer's information in-formation that such crops as alfalfa, beans, peas, clover and vetch add remarkably re-markably to the fertility of the soil. The observant agriculturist knows also that on the roots of these plants are small nodules or swellings which it has been found are the breeding places of bacteria which feed the plant, upon which they live, directly di-rectly from the air. If these bacteria are absent from the soil the plant in some cases refuses to develop to its full vigor. This action of the ' bacteria bac-teria places in the farmer's hands a weapon for always keeping his soil at a high point of fertility by the proper rotation of crops in order to utilize these powerful germs to his advantage. ad-vantage. Bacteriologists are attempting to discover the exact number of germs 9 which are important in soil fertility maintenance, and further more what ones are detrimental to the soil. They hope to be able, ultimately, to diagnose diag-nose the soil exactly as we now diagnose diag-nose the human body, by finding what germs are growing in it. They have already al-ready devised methods of enriching the soil by growing in the laboratories laborator-ies bottles full of beneficial organisms, organ-isms, and pouring these on the seed before it is sown. Any visitor to the bacteria laboratory of the agricultural college can see these germs growing in small flasks, each flask containing from three millions to four billions bacteria. Fortunately most inter-mountaln soils contain these germs in abundance, abund-ance, so it may never be necessary to use them from the laboratory on the noil. However, we may be able to de- t velop germs in the laboratory of an exceptionally high power of soil enrichment. en-richment. Even the most conservative conserva-tive scientist realizes that the future of scientific agriculture is very closely associated with the future of soil bacteriology. bac-teriology. Along with probable methods of soil diagnosis may come methods of protection pro-tection of the soil by artificial inoculation inocu-lation with bacteria and methods of soil cure from diseases by bacterial ' inoculation. These statements read like romance, but the development of ! bacteriology as a science within the j last two or three decades has thrown open a field so immense that the bold- ; eet imagination is 6taggered. |
