Abstract
The progress in and enlargement of the science of microbiology of soils before and after the 1920s is reviewed with mention made of the part that this journal had played in this field. The taxonomy of the soil flora and fauna and population studies were among the early preoccupations of soil microbiologist, followed by work on the crucial role microbes play in the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and mineral elements and in the production and dissipation of pollutants. The great value of Rhizobium- legume associations in tropical soils was recognised early and continues to need intensive study to help decreased the demand for nitrogenous fertilizers, the manufacture and use of which calls for large inputs of energy.