The relations of Bacillus mycoides with ammonification, nitrification, and soil fertility. (With seven text-figures.)

Abstract

Summary1. B. mycoides is an organism which energetically decomposes organic nitrogenous matter forming large amounts of ammonia. When soil was inoculated with a culture of this organism, active ammonification took place and the rate of nitrification was raised.2. The first effects of the inoculation of soil by B. mycoides were a parallel development of ammonification and nitrification; later the rate of ammonification fell off, but nitrifying organisms continued to transform ammonia into nitrate.3. The degree of nitrification in chernosiom soils is a function of the activity of B. mycoides. By creating conditions appropriate to these bacteria, both ammonifying and nitrifying processes are likewise intensified.4. Fertilisation with dung is beneficial not solely on account of the nutrients supplied ad hoc, but also because it leads to an increase in the numbers of B. mycoides. Farmyard manure is a source of B. mycoides, and acts similarly to an inoculation with those bacteria.