NITRO-BACTERINE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 434, 17 February 1909, Page 5

NITRO-BACTERINE.

IS INOCULATION A FALLACY? . Soil inoculation with the germ that causes tho nitrogen-gathering ; nodule... to,, grow, 'on - the -roots of legumineus plants, J is. regarded f'askance 'iu 'England; A recent/correspondent; . • of "The - Feild", wrote- as , follows.:—NitroCulture.— The eilicacy or otherwise of this ; .new departure 'in horticultural < practice ■ /'should;;sur6lyi;be'/easy/of; judgment, /but/the concerning: it/continue/to .. be so absolutely conflicting; as to leave the seeker after truth in a.state of bewilderment. On the. one hand wo havo an interview with ; the originator of the most talked of-of theso .; preparation.-;■reported "in" one of the reviews^. whore not only is it claimed, .that tho original specific has '/ done great , but; that; a- solution-'has been discov-; . ,ered tho. eflicaoy of which is. not limited to ; . leguminous plants, .but which seems to bene-. ' \ all'plants';from: wheat/to'onions,- , and from cabbages to:strawberries. -'Wo are told that tho yield of a bed of onions has been' increased .37' pel- "cent; by its use ;,that . strawberries have yielded two crops of fruit ; a.year, pd it has accomplished great things ' 'when tried/upon' . ' is made that such results//are/ only apparent when the. soil is "poor''enough," and I am . ' not aware that 'any official/statement has beenmado comparing . the. gain in increase said to / bo obtainable'.- by. the use of. nitro-bacterino-■/with' that';.undoubtedly. ] obtainable .: from the moro famUiar":expedieht 'of. feeding with farmyard manure. ; Is : it not a somewhat ominous : fact -that tho better class 'farming ,to' f : contain * ljiit , It must have had an extensivo trial "during tho last summer, and had the results oh- ; ' tained been satisfactory, I should have -' thought that they would, havo been'recorded beforeviiow. A' grower, - who after a . small ' initial .trial expeoted;great - things from nitro- ' t culture,' writes:'' "Re nitro-bacterinc, your ;'6cepticism;:,.is.y;certainly;;-'partly;iustifie3.\;; r ; I . inoculated my peas, beans,, etc.-,-and got' good .'. .T^lts,;:b'ut;iwhere;l ; left v 1 I could .not see much-difference. I'shall try. the thing 'again, (but; results':have; , not': come up;to :my : ; expectation,vwhich -I now; pnt^altp'gethef' topihigh.'V;. It' will; ; ,bei.' remembered i.thatiavfewVyears; ago'; some ■' preparatiohs^^.';hadiwhat'inay;.be; termed an offipial . trial;' and tho .'results were ' any''impartial.'and"ieallyi'-carefully conducted trial tins year P—lnquirer. , •' --Tho answer.;-was "furnished-by. the 'follow-- . -iiig hews;para^|)li;.m;the:-sime ;issue; of the. paper' Soil• Inoculation;—Nitro-bacterihe has; at-last been subjected, to a test the out- • Vsome of which is/not' likely to"'be. objected to .b^;^ anyone desirous;;ofigetting'at ;th'e;;truth : . < .with-regard :to .this .much-advertised:.-, nos-. .trum.:- Tho -Royal.:, Horticultural Society .'cb- , itained irf Marchjast -from Professor • Bottom':ley„;a-, soil-inoculating^-material,:' and appliod it in tlieir gardeii iit TVisley 'to.an' ; experimental' culture of peas. The soil at . ! ; Wisley 'is' describM; as; a ; naturally.poor,- j huiir. 1 gry one,- but half of : tho experiment was tried ; oh soil that had been cropped with celery the ' - previous year, tho other' half being! on soil that had' beon fallowed: for- a year.' ; Each half was divided into twelve equal plots,-, each measuring 36ft. , by j 15fti, the plots, being sep-: .arated. from,":one ;--another -,-byi.-paths ; a-' foot , wide. : The soilyin some.of the plots was.inoculated ■ cs .directed .by vProfessor. Bottom- . ley ,v others wore manured with" dung; others received a dressing of lime; others "with superphosphate and kainit, and others with • ;mtrbgen;' rows^■■■of 'fpeas.,were .sbwn; on eafch plot., 'Half; of the :seeds were 'inocu- • •lated,. tho..other half -were- not.": -The. total ■ length -.of . the rows of jpeas 'in! the, trial was ' ; over ,;a, quarter .of 'a niilo. . Peas.'and beans' , ■;;havo not. as rulo produced high• yields at ' ;■ Wisley,{and neither;bad.:bMh.'grown.'^ j yews iito: : mado;,- All.the conditions were-therefore fav- « rouriible for a 'tliorougli.test of the'manurial 1 value -of •nitrp'-bacterinp. ' . ■ •' '■ .• * ./ The .results of. this interesting : experiment are recorded. in .the-VJournal" of tfio-Royal .Horticultural Society, vol. part 2 ; . : r.L.5.,, who conduct-ed ;'tho, '/operations i: from ■ :start.to finish. The peas.used wero Ne Plus vUltraVDukebf ;Alb'any;'TelegrapH;and:Ma'in-; ' crop.,- They were sown on-March. 10, arid they germinated very.; regularly:.; The. produce: of ';each of :the;nihety-'six ; ately when tho pods worb of marketable size and carefully /.weighed, : tho - total weight of 1 ; tho : efop;when; ; shefled;;beuig;74dwt;h;;;r 'O&iZ-x , . ; ;'Mr. . Chittenden gives particulars of tho ; '.OTops,/.obtainedirom^the : yarious'f,plotsi'-and:' shows ;t-Ke differences,"'which ■ in ;some';'ca'ses' ; ■ ' between the; yield by tho various manures'as ■ compared with that, of nitro-bacterine.' - The .'totals., aro:'';,'W.eiglit; of 1 pea;s: from'.irioculated ; ;:'seeds,-.46011)::; -'.fromV^hbiiinoculated'seeds,; 5151b. ; 1 a difFerence in favour of rion-inoculation/ aihountmg, to -14' per :.'berit'. : ;;pn'; i the;earlmM'Sj.bf./th'e. ; :;;'thatFsimilarKr^sUlts:';tp'rtho'so^ , have been:- ohtained by. others who- have ■ experiihented; with;:nitrOTbacterin6 ' this year. -We wero recently infprmed. at ICew that ex/'periments":made:. there,>prdyed': : thaji.;ffi ha'd ; no ' effect r whatever.; on tho growth' of.-various - plants,leguminous ': and S nbn-legumihbusi'for. which;:it. : had.been tried.. /There, may,^^bf^course,vjbo-some-other; .means'. ■; than|that % devised {■ by ?Mr>;Bettemley ; for'en-' abling plants-.;to utilise, the enormous sup-: i there can bo.littlo;doubt'now ; that the nodule ■ producing bacillus/ pseudomonas radicicola, is : ; not amenable, tb^'artificial-'/treatmeht-that : will make it in any. sense a substitute :for man- : ures. , , ' • The following issuo of "The Field"- -. contained;. thefolio wing,- letter i;ine on Farm; Land i^-rSir/r^Witli, reference to. ; letter^'and: your footnote; inV.'Gardeh* ;;ori . your/.last / issuej.'/ybu /'may; care to experience. / ! farm ;23Q : ■acres'.of/Jiglit/land; in ;Nbrfolki;.whicK 'Jhas. proved '.to be deficient Xin - nitrogen. : I procured last spring niti'o-bactonno cultures' from ;Mr. W. T., Stead,; arid',inoculated;'red P n d ;wbito, iclover and/- trefoil., seeds' for -; 13 acres, 'which were: sown on - half, of two different; fields. ;. I' also watered .with' culture : solutioii-ari: aero; across tK©' rbiddlo of tlireo .separate /ficlds - sown with • seeds - the :;.'pre-;yious-.spring*blijo.experiments'' were care-- . fully carried.outj to irißtructions, :under my personal, supervision,' and I- am unable-to: trace .the Slightest;benefit from 'any of thi-m.—R. Ernest Horsfall." 7 ,';■ : .' Eenlying to paragraphs in tho London "Field'' throwing, doubt upon the. value of with ; the; nitrbgen-gatheririg' 'bacteria which make tho. nodules on tho roots of leguminous plants, a correspondent H. . Baring; of; Alresford, Hants, has ihe following defence in the issuo just to ha®3d: —" I should like ,to, suggest that tho fre-. , . quept : faiilurbs. of; hitrp-;bacterine to: give "any; inctease. are due' to the; fact that v garden soil which has been receiving manure on and off / for years is toot well provided already with / - bacteria;; This- is; ,a.r condition against 'which Mr. lioHomlej; warns users' most empliati- : cally. . 'Experiments .which I have watched \made. with' beans/; peas,- and tomatoes would . seem to bear out this theory. I have bought and distributed inoculated seed , (bpans, and' ';peas),.':ahd 'have -watcheS the results in gar- ;-.:■ deri, soil;' /In no case could I. see the smallest ; difference.--. On".''the/other' 1 hand, tomatoes (a non-logumirious • crop, by tho way) grown ■;under - glass ! on down loaiin. always'-respond :,to' ; 'soil inoculation in the most wonderful, degree.' /;- only are they a-fbrtnight or three weoks ;;;'-"earlier,-'"but;they'''.fruit'/better. ■ Tho winter ■ ;,crop, fruits ;practically as freely as tho summer.. 7t would appear that' tho difficulty is .. to get; soil in tho, garden sufficiently impoverished to respond to inoculation, and for : this reason ! cannot help thinking that -Mr. y Bo'tt'omley's discovery will be of. greater, value' 011 the farm'than in tho garden." . ;; - ; V : sthis'the. "Field"(.replies —'"ilie description of tho'soil employed for ; . the; experiment at Wisley 'is;'naturally poor and-. hungry. . It overlies the . Bagshot, sand and is of ft very sandy nature, poor in or- '; > ganio : mattbr;.:and /' containing : a very, small v;amount'of lime.. Indeed, a.soil moro suitable for „tho experiment, so far as its natural

poverty goes, would have been difficult to find.' It has not yqt been' proved that nitrobacterine has any .influence .whatever ou the growth of toniatoos' or :on any other, nonleguminous plant, but there is abundant evidence' to the / contrary.'« Our correspondent's statement/that ' tomatoes always respond to soil inoculation in the most wonderful gree'.'therefore required •confirmation. •' His belief that'soil inoculation will be of : greater value■ in tho faim, than' in the garden' is, we fear,!hypothetical." 7' :" ./•/'"..