Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1905 — Uncle Sam’s “Book Farmers.” [ARTICLE]

Uncle Sam’s “Book Farmers.”

Score Another Point With Nitrogen “Yeast Cakes.” “Them scientific fellers at Washington” have been laughed at for years. They are row beginning to get their inning. AH over the United States farmers last fall received little oakes resembling [yeast, and wrapped in tinfoil. Aooompanying eaoh cake or set of cakes, was a circular instructing the farmer how to U9e them. He shall, he is told, put the oakes in water, when they will dis solve aud within a day multiply until the constituency of them has increased to many times its previous quantity. Then he is to soak his seed in the solution foirued or to spray the solution over the soil on his farm and the crops that result will astonish him in size and qaanity. Indeed, Unole Sam is convinced he his discovered the secret of big crops. By the use of bis specific— and you can obtain it, reoeipt and all, for the asking—worn out soil is made to bear like new. Six,eight or even more stalks of clover.grow where one stalk grew before; peas and beans develope into bushels where even pecks seems impossibilities when the soil or eeed is dosed as]: e direots. Long ago he found that poor soil really needs only nitrogen. But how could nitrogen be obtained aud put into the soil? That was the question that puzzled him. So months and months ago he began to study and experiment. Now the problem is solved. Tuberolo baoteria—millions of little germ 9 that when put into water grow aud multiply with astonishing rapidity, Unoie Sam has found alone qan do the work. So he has set about developing these baoteria aud sending them to the farmer throughout the laud. It was not only to find a remedy for the soil exhausted at present, for comparatively speaking, little suoh is found in America, but to provide against tbe future that the experiment are made. The work has been carried on under the direction of Dr, George T. Moore, plant physiologist of the department of agriculture at Washington. So far has been discovered the efficiency of the baoteria is confined to leguminous or {pod producplants, suoh as beans. p?as, alfalfa and clover. Experiments in other orop°, however, are now or. will before long be made. The importance of nitrogen in fertilization makes it tbe basis of all soil tonic and the question of toe available supply of this oontitnent in the world has come to be looked upon as a prob'em lying at the very foundation of agriculture and demanding the m ist careful consideration at the hand of of experts. Disbelieved the problem has been solved through the employment of the nitrogen bearing baoteria. Experiments in fertilizing the oil with bacteria have been in progress under the direction of the department in all parts of the country since last -lanuary.