SOIL INOCULATION

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1746, 23 August 1905, Page 59

SOIL INOCULATION

Cultivators of the land who are desirous of trying the effects of applications of soil bacteria will be interested in the conclusions arrived at in the course of investigations conducted at the well-equipped agricultural experiment stations of New Jersey. It is contended that our knowledge of the bacteria 1 conditions in the coil is still so limited that a general l and successful inoculation with bacteria of any kind—-nitrogen-fixing, nitrifying, and others- — is entirely out of the question for the present. The only direction in which soil inoculation has been rendered more or less practicable is that effected with cultures of various tubercle (or nodule) bacteria, like those which are found upon the roots of leguminous plants. Such inoculation can accordingly be applied to leguminous plants, but to these only. In this way is rendered possible the formation of tubercles (or no-dules), and consequently the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by leguminous crops in soils where the proper bacteria are naturally absent.. But it is also necessary to remember that in most soils the failure of leguminous crops to grow satisfactorily is due. not to the absence of the proper soil bacteria, but to generally unfavourable soil conditions —to the absence of a sufficient quantity of lime, of a sufficiency of humus, or of sufficient aeration. The inoculation of such soils without previous amelioration would be a waste of effort and money. Hence there is ample warrant- to utter a warning against misconception and unjustifiable expectation. Ignorance in this direction will he exploited, as ignorance in other directions has been exploited, by attempts to sell to farmers who do not happen to be well informed cultures of soil bacteria advertised as the panacea for all soil ills. It is necesBary for the cultivator who desires to inoculate his soil to remember that it is not yet practicable to- inoculate it for wheat, or potatoes, or cucumbers; and, while it is practicable to inoculate it for clover, lucerne, beans, or other leguminous crops, he would be well advised to possess himself of the real facts concerning the soil to be treated before proceeding with the inoculation.—“ The Times.”