THE USE FOR ADVERSITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 262, 5 November 1930, Page 21

THE USE FOR ADVERSITY.

POSSIBLE TO KILL BY

KINDNESS.

APPLICATION TO PRACTICAL FARMING.

(By "SUNDOWNER.")

t It was, I think, David Harum wlio said that "a i-easonaWo number of fleas ■is good for a da\vg,,as they keepjj him from worryin , about bein' a davvg!" from memory, I am afraid this is a rather loose quotation, but is near enough for my purpose, which is to point ( tljo moral that we can have too much 'of a good thing. Like David Haruni's dog, we 'need a reasonable number of "fleas" or other troubles and adversities to keep us scratching, if we are to survive and develop as we should. Too many "fleas" or too much adversity have a sourihg effect,"and may even kill the chief character in the piece. Too few, again, of obstacles to overcome andtroubles to support, means that strength to resist and survive, is not developed, a'nd at the first difficulty the pampered one "peters out." What applies to men and dogs is true also of every other form of life, and we may get at some matter of practical value if se see how this law of the necessity for a α-eason-able amount of adversity works out in other spheres of life's activity. The Battle of Bacteria. : A little while ago I was 'reading the story—l was almost writing 'the romance—rof a scientist whose job it was to study soil bacteria. Perhaps as we walk about the farm watching the wool and the grass grow, we do not realisethat beneath our feet there is another world, of life in the top few inches of soil. Here countless millions of soil bacteria, so small that only a very powerful magnifying glass will reveal them, are born, complete their life's work, fight their battles, multiply and die, all in the course of a few hours. The scientist studying this lowly life, found that thiese soil bacteria were much hampered in their useful work of preparing the soil constituents for plant food by another species of 'bacteria, known as protozoa. The protozoa did 'not appear to do much other work than hunt, and devour the unfortunate "useful bacteria." With, perfectly _ good' ine'ntions, therefore, the scientist rounded up and killed these raiding protozoa, and left the useful bacteria to carry on their ■ work unmolested. The result that you would hope for, pf course, would be that the bacteria, .freed from all troubles, would thrive and work twice as hard in their job of soil improvement. What actually happened was a very different story. At first the bacteria ' multiplied very rapidly, then they began to get fat and lazy, and finally the whole race of useful bacteria died out; no doubt as the result of the attacks of some still more minute bacteria which sets up disease in bacteria. In other experiments in which the bacteria .were left to defend themselves '.'from the attacks of the protozoa, the former carried on'their good work and enjoyed quite good health. The "Story" in Clover Sickness. We have all of us probably heard of "elover sickness" in land. The farmer starts off with soil that grows clover or other legumes to perfection, and realising .the value of clover as a stock food, he, sows little else. In the course of a few years, however, he finds that, no matter how good the clover seed he sows, or how careful his preparation of the land, he cannot get clover to thrive, and the soil js then said to be "clover sick." What happens to the clover, is very much what happened to the useful soil bacteria-, and it may be of practical interest to follow; this course of events. The Fight to Accumulate Food. Planted in soil deficient in nitrogen, the clover plant gets busy in root and branch gathering this food, which, it needs from the air, and storing it up in the soil about its roots. At last comes the time when there is enough, or more than enough nitrogen stored up, and the plant and the bacteria on its roots cease from their labours and enjoy a well-earned rest. But not for long; for these "easy circumstances" soon spell death to both -bacteria and, plant, and the land is then said to be "clover sick." This abundance of nitrogen, which has spelt death to the clover, is of course most valuable food for other grass plants which will now thrive where once they would have starved. ' The wise farmer, however, instead of planting nothing but clover in his field, would eo arrange, the varieties in his feeed mixture that there would be a number of grasses requiring and utilieing this nitrogen- from the eoil as fast as the clovers were storing it up. Thus; in a balanced pasture, all the grasses, would be kept busy and healthy. Universal Application of the Law. It is a handy thing to remember when farming that all life, from eoil bacteria and grass up to mankind, is subject to exactly the same laws, and 'with each specie* of life it is, quite possible to give them too much of a good thing. I remember a parable" that used to strike me when I was a boy as being most unfair. It was-about a'rich man who remarked that'hie. granaries were' full and his coffers were overflowing with wealth —no doubt after much labour- — and he now intended to thoroughly enjoy himself. The sombre warning, "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee," wae surely only a hint indicating the great natural law to which all life ,is subject, that when useful activity ceases the days of that life are numbered. . > . ■ Strive for Balance. . Reflecting on the truism that in relation to any form of life we can have too much of a good .thing and that a reasonable amount of" adverse circumstance is good, in that it stimulates activity and growth, may help the farmer in the solution of many problems that puzzle him. I was inspecting the property of a highly intelligent and progressive farmer the other day, and was very much interested in a considerable area of lucerne which he was cultivating. Hβ remarked that, among other experiments, he had tried top-dfeseing a part of this area with nitrogen without any perceptible benefit. Did he continue application of this manure for two or three years he would certainly see the. result, but it would be not an improved yield, but the death o£ the lucerne plants. I