17, 6 Trelease: Salt Requirements of Wheat Plants 531 
considered as beneficial or injurious, depending upon the desir- 
ability or undesirability of the changes produced by their use, 
Tottingham * presents a review of the literature on the effects 
of chlorides on plant growth, and reports experimental studies 
on the influence of chlorides on the growth of a number of 
agricultural plants. He reports that the introduction of potas- 
sium and sodium chlorides into solution cultures had little effect 
on wheat seedlings. Both yield of dry matter and length of 
roots were depressed in buckwheat grown to maturity in similar 
cultures. In soil cultures, radish was affected only slightly by 
chlorides; increased production of dry matter and sugar content 
resulted with carrot, while the reverse was true of parsnip. 
Sugar beet, in soil cultures, produced more watery roots and 
a greater amount of dry matter; the roots contained more 
glucose, but less sucrose. Similar responses followed the ap- 
plication of common salt alone to beets grown in the field. The 
potato produced increased yields of dry matter in the tuber 
when potassium chloride was supplied in place of potassium 
sulphate, in a complete fertilizer ration, to soil cultures in the 
greenhouse. Different varieties responded differently accord- 
ing to the percentage of starch. In field cultures in a dry 
Season the application of potassium chloride in a complete fer- 
tilizer decreased the yield of dry matter in the tubers, but not 
the percentage of marketable tubers, of the Triumph variety. 
In a season that was very humid toward its close, no significant 
differences in composition or cooking qualities were found be- 
tween tubers of the Rural New Yorker variety produced, when 
potassium sulphate and potassium chloride were employed 
Separately in a complete fertilizer ration. Sodium chloride ap- 
plied alone altered the composition of the tubers only slightly, 
but affected their quality seriously. It has, of course, been 
found that growth may be retarded when chlorides are supplied 
in very large amounts."® 
* Tottingham, W. E., A preliminary study of the influence of chlorides 
upon the growth of certain agricultural plants, Journ. Am. Soc. Agron. 11 
(1919) 1-82. 
* Wheeler, H. J., and Hartwell, B. J., Conditions determining the poi- 
Sonous action of chlorides, Rhode Island Exp. Sta. Ann. Rep. 15 
(1901-1902) 287-304. 
