OCR Text |
Show 'Police Force J -fn i Plenty of organic matter is a good "police force" for ridding soil of bacteria that cause diseases of growing crops. R. C. Thomas, associate asso-ciate pathologist of the Ohio agricultural agri-cultural experiment station, estimates esti-mates that 50 million bacteria live In a single ounce of soil. Some of these are beneficial. Others sro harmful to crops. The good kind rot the organic matter and release plant nutrients to build a fertile soil The harmful kind cause plant disease. Adding organic matter to soil will help Increase the good kind and at the same time cut down the harmful bacteria population. Adding organic organ-ic matter makes the soil a better home for the good kind so they flourish snd grow. Extracts from organic matter contain viruses that make disease causing bacteria harmless to plants. A good soil management program will Increase the soil's organic matter mat-ter supply snd help free the land of disease-causing bacteria. |