LIVING SOIL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 18, 27 October 1942, Page 5

LIVING SOIL

UNSEEN WORKERS BY THE MILLION (By I. D. Blairs, M.Sc., Ph.D.) Millions of microscopic Avorkers whose presence is" unsuspected by the average person, are toiling in the top layers of garden soils. They are busy converting organic matter into plant food, oxidising minerals so that plants can use them, and, by complicated chemical action within their own bodies, manufacturing growth promoting substances which enhance tlie fertility of the soil. In this, the latest release from the New Zealand Association of Scientific Workers, Dr. Blair, reviews some of the activities of. these unseen workers. The soil is not a dead, lifeless mass of rode constituents-—it is in a true sense a liA T ing system. Home gardeners should, understand that tile success of their efforts to cultivate so-called "higher plants" largely depend on aeti\*ities of numerous groups of microbial organisms inhabiting s«il to the extent of hundreds of millions in a single sail particle. These constitute the soil "micro-population" and are largely responsible for chemical changes. Avhicli must occur before plant growth can proceed successfully.

It is the gardener's aim to ensure that cultivated plants -\viJl thrive and to this end disease-pro-ducing organisms must be combated by methods of soil treatment, including (1) rotation of crops, since soil pathogens accumulate as a result of continuous growth of disease-susceptible species or varieties. (2) Use of crop varieties possessing a natural or generic resistance to disease. (,'}) Use of ehemi-> cnls in the form of protectant seed dusts, foliage sp raj's or soil I'll migants. (-1) Encouragement of a soil micro-climate conducive to beneficial organisms at the expense of harmful. To this important end our techniques of thorough cultivation, draining, manufacturing and weeddestruction all contribute.