Fertilizers and Soil Inoculation.
Uitor* Indiana  Farmer:
The recent general discussion of soil inoculation,    by ill-informed writers in many
literary and news periodicals, has result-
niiKli mis. .inception that a brief
presentation of  the aetua  facts involved
,ailed   for. Were  these  current
journalistic assertions taken at their face
value, we would be made to believe that
the agricultural    milleuium    had    finally
dawned,  that  fanning  was henceforth  to
.*  ,.f merely inoculating tlie soil with
the minute genus of fertility, and then a
|. ug rest in the shape till the spontaneously nourished crop was ready for easy har-
ln   coutrast   with   this   visionary
--..lion, the real facts must seem prosaic.
The first point to be recognized is the
limited number of crops subject to the advantages of inoculation. The application
of the method is confined to a single class
of plants—the legumes. Only the clover,
pea and Lean family is benefited by inoculation.
It is the peculiar character of these
plants in serve as the home, or host, for
certain mlrro nrftiniama bacteria These
live in or on the roots of leguminous
plants. Their presence is showu by the
wartlike excrescences or nodules usually
found on these roots. Legumes will not
thrive without the presence of these bacteria in the soil in which they attempt to
grow. This fact explains the reason why
clover, and others of this class of plants.
will not grow In many sections apparently
well adapted to their cultivation.
It is the special function of these bacteria to extract nitrogen from the air and
consume it as food. It becomes a part
of their make-up, as much as the nitrogen
obtained from a nitrogenous fertilizer becomes a part of the plant. The legume
secrets an enzeme, or solvent, which, as a
constituent of the sap of the plant, dissolves the nitrogenous bacteria. They
then become assimilated, in the same way
that other food materials are assimilated,
and enter the composition of plants. The
bacteria in any soil. It is not a substi-
nitrogen, taken from the inexhaustible
supply of the atmosphere. By this means
one class of crops is provided with a part
of one of its several food requirements.
Soil inoculation is simply an artificial
means for assuring the presence of these
bacteria in any soil. It is not a substitute for fertilization. It is a means for
accompanying at will what nature has
heretofore done equally well within more
narrow limits. It provides a few crops
with one of the three essential foods, on
the adequate supply of all of which fertility depends. It procures nitrogen under certain conditions. The utility of
this nitrogen is dependent on equally definite conditions. One of these insurmountable conditions is that two other es-
ala to plant srrowth be furnished by
other means. Potash and phosphoric
acid must be provided in the quantity required by the crop to use the nitrogen, or
the latter is entirely useless, since the crop
cannot use it without the necessary proportions of the other two materials re-
I to complete its composition.
Those who have so persistently heralded the introduction of practical inoculation
as the extinction of fertilization wonld
do well to give particular attention to this
matter of the utter futility of all methods
of increasing the supply of nitrogen, without adequate provision fcir the potash and
phosphoric acid, equally indispensable.
Not only must these two plant foods be
supplied, that the self-acting nitrogeu-
tm-ling function of the bacteria may continue, but this very demand inevitably
tens to exhaust the natural soil supply
of these two essentials. Iu other words.
the very process of inoculation, which increases the available store of nitrogeu, often increases the necessity for fertilizing,
since more potash and phosphoric a. id
must take its place; fertilizers must be re-
render utilizahle, the nitrogen secured as
a result of inoculation. These two requirements tor plant growth do Dot exist
in the air; they are not developed by auy
bacterial action. They exist in moderate
quantities in the soil. The increased use
of nitrogen, resulting from Inoculation,
makes increase,] draft on this limited soil
supply. When  this becomes exhausted,
though even teni|M,rarily. artificial supply
must luge ils place; fertilizers must be resulted to, to meet the demand created l.y
iuocculation.
These facts must be apparent to anyone seeking truth. It does not follow,
however, that inoculation is not desirable,
nor that the nitrogen secured from the
air by this means, practically without cost,
is  less  valuable. The  reverse   is  true.
Tho real relation of inoculation to the
economy of crop fertilizing may be illustrated by a simple comparison.
Oood paint consists of three ftinterials;
oil. lead and drier. Suppose the painter
was offered an inexhaustible supply of
free oil. Would  he  be justified  in  de
clining the offer because it would result in
the necessary purchase of more lead and
drier? All crops must have three materials, usually supplied in fertilizers; nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. Inoculation makes free nitrogen possible.
This is not the most costly ingredient of
fertilizers. Is the farmer to decline this
offer of free nitrogen for fear of the necessity of buying more, relatively cheap, phosphoric acid and potash?
There can be no question that the intelligent farmer will inoculate his soil, and
buy a much more*mineral fertilizers as his
increased supply of nitrogen may make
expedient.
In the practice of inoculation, a pie. aotion, directly related to the nse of fertilizers, is needed. Farmers have learned the danger of allowing seed to come in
contact with concentrated fertilizers.
They should remember that the inoculating bacteria are even more susceptible to
injury. Inoculated seed should not be
sown in a fertilizer distributor till it has
been thoroughly cleaned of all adhering
fertilizer. H. E. Stockbridge.
CROWING POTATOES SUCCESS-
FTT.I.Y.
Kdltnr* Indiana Fanner
1 (lo not consider myself a large grower
of potatoes, or an expert. East year I
had .'iO acres planted. I grew mostly
Rurals, used a Planter and Cutter for
seed cuttings; sprayed three times with
Bordeaux and Paris Green, and used four-
row sprayer. The land was not such land
as one would choose for potato growing,
not on account of natural qualities, but
uecaiise of the depredations of tWJ> genera-
t ions of soil robbers, who had for 50
years been constantly taking all they could
each year, and returning nothing. When
I came into possession every attempt at
crop getting for some years had been a
failure, except on twelve acres where a
poor crop of clover had frozen out and
been replaced with blue grass. On. the
other 18 acres there was some sorrel, milk
weeds apd dewberries: an honest, reputable weed would not grow, the robbers had
left   so   little. I  bad   it   plowed  B  or 0
inches deep, thoroughly cultivated, sowed
...ki pounds per acre of fertilizer (potash
10, acid phos 7, nitrogen '.!> planted -4 to C,
inches deep; cultivated part four times
and part live times. From the part
where the blue grass sod was I marketed |
over IOO bushels per* aire, from the part
where there was nothing to turn under I
marketed (id I.usheis per acre. Now this
was not a large crop if the land had been
as potato land should be, but it was a
success financially, in so much thai I
received from the crop ein.nj.-h to pay for
all expenses of all kinds, including planter, cutter, crates, fertilizer, teams, $.'! to
18.50 per day, men, .$1.50, seen!, etc., and
0 per cent interest on the value of the
land, and now have what I started out to
get viz.. tt seed lied for clover and alfalfa,
to try ami give bach to tin* land a part
Of   what   the  robbers  took.       It   was   als..
au experimental garden, and a few of the
things I think 1 have learned I am trying
to put into practice; one of the first of
which is that to raise any crop sin
fully we must begin Ioiil' enough before
to get the proper foundation; and so I
um now- this winter spreading 10 tons
of good barn yard manure to tlie acre on
an old timothy an.l clover sod. which will
go Into corn in 1906, and into potatoes in
11*07. Vou see I am getting ready n year
ahead, and have other lands that are gO-
Ing into clover and alfalfa that will come
on two years and three years from now.
Thomas J. Haines.
Dr. Tliomas .1. Haines.
so that tbey can obtain books to read
l.y calling {or or sending for them, by paying the postage both ways and having a
responsible parly sign a card as security.
Now what we want is a lower rate of
postage, SO thai tne transportation will
not  be  more than  the  worth of the book.
What is the matter with the parcel poet
bill? I think this should become a law,
for it is to the farmer's interest. It is all
line that the retail merchants are against
such a measure, as they think the mail
order houses would run them out of busi-
l.ut at any rate I consider it the
funnel's'  business and   not   the merchants',
to look after the welfare ..r good laws f..r
onr rustic  friends,  and   I lake this  means
Of expressing my  views, and helping the
.-niise   along, J.   II.   Cory.
Henry <'...
Contractor With a Tennant.
Fdltora Indiana Farmer
A fair contract is based on conditions
surrounding each particular contract, to
which only a very few specific things can
!.e always fair and just. However rent,
in our community runs very much the
same, viz., tenant furnishes sen-d. .Iocs
llie work and delivers one-half of all grain
ill the market to the landlord's credit. The
tenant gets house, wood and such pasture
as he can get after crops are removed,
without tramping ground when wet. (and
of course one-half of the other half of all
grain) the tenant is expected to keep
fences in repair, owner to furnish material
and when new* femes are to be luiilt to
pay for work, tenant to mow weeds along
fences and roads.
When a farm is a fair farm and kept
in good condition with comfortable buildings the above is fair on general principles, bat as there are always a great
number of extras, such as sowing clover,
pasturing or cutting the same and thresh
ing the seed, woods pastures, fruit, limiting number of poultry and a number of
other minor things, it remains to tbe generosity and fair mindedness of the landlord and a like fairness iu the tenant, with
industry and good judgment to make
things even up justly.
Geo.   S.   Murphy.
Shelbyville,  R. F. D.  No.  10.
rHH    AUTOMOBILE     AMI    OTHER
MATTERS.
Edltnnra  Indiana  F*Brm«nr
A great deal has been said about the
automobile, some good and some not so
good, but I think that some of the latest,
lions are all right. Especially that
for placing the number on the front of
the machine, and the one calling for a
bond to be given l.v tin* owner. There
are also other things in which wc are interested.
I   understand   that    there   was   a   law
!    in    1903   allowing   all   citizens   of
tbis state free access  t<.  Ihe state library
Analysis of Soils.
Kditor*  Indiana  Fanner
It is not infrequent that slate experiment stations receive the fn.llowing re-
qaeet: "What will be the charge for
malting a chemical analysis of my soil?
I desire to know what is the element of
fertility most needed." And the answer
invariably given is. that such analysis
wi.ukl  W v- -ivt*.  aud as a gufaiU
in the DM Of fertilizing materials, would
be of little value, for there is no solvent
known to any chemist which possesses the
power ..r extracting plain foods from the
■-..il. as do the living tissues of the plants
themselves.
V il may l.e formed of the sand from
granite rock, of which potash is often a
characteristic constituent, and the chemist may find such a soil comparatively rich
in potash; yet if this is still in the form
of granite sand, it will be of small value
to growing plants, for tin* reason that
their power of absorption is too feeble to
extract a sunlcient amount for their nee.N.
Therefore, such a soil would be deficient in
"available" potash.
So it is with the "Phosphate Rooks."
found in several of the Southern S
which contain large amounts of phoaphoric
a.-i.l; for untold ages these rocks have resisted the action of tlie Sf.il waters, and
remained in an insoluble condition; were
they only ground and incorporated with
the soil, they would continue to lie insoluble, and of little or no use to plants. For
Ihis reason it is necessary to treat these
rocks witri sulphuric acid, in order to
make the  phosphoric acid  .avaiable.
A piece of marsh land is believed quite
generally to be exceptionally rich in nitro
gen, and so it is, but not always in avail
able condition, ns required by cultivated
(Tops. For  centuries   the  semi-aquatic
vegetation has accumulated, and perhaps
decayed very slowly, and the nitrogen is
not supplied lo the cultivated crops as
rapidly as they require it. and consequently they do not thrive. In such cases the
application of barn manure improves the
soil physically, an,) causes a fermentation
90 that some of the nitrogen will be liberated, and made available; bnt this is
useless unless the land is properly drained
and supplied with a sufficient amount nf
available potash, the one element actually
deficient  in   muck   soils. I.ime  will  be
found  beneficial  to  sm li  soils.
It will therefore be easily understood
that in order to determine what elements
are needed to build up an infertile soil,
the only practical way is to experiment
with   the  plant   foods. Not   in   a  hap
hazard way. but bv a systematic method. E. A. S.