KEARNEY: PLANT LIFE ON SALINE SOILS 125 



1. Translocation, into and within the plant, of indispensable 

 anions, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. 



2. Maintenance in the cells of a requisite minimum osmotic 

 pressure, upon which depends the turgor necessary for growth. 



3. Antagonistic or protective action, in relation to other ele- 

 ments, by which a balanced solution is maintained. 



4. Neutralization of organic acids formed within the plant. 



5. Stimulation of diastatic activity in the cells. 



In the present national emergency, current notions in regard 

 to fertilizers should be subjected to the most rigorous criticism. 

 A huge superstructure of opinion in regard to our potash re- 

 quirements has been erected by the commercial fertilizer in- 

 terests, domestic and foreign, upon an amazingly small basis of 

 proven fact. 



The enemj' boasts that his control of the great potash deposits 

 makes him the agricultural dictator of the world. Wilhelm 

 Ostwald is quoted as having said that the United States ''went 

 into the war like a man with a rope around his neck, a rope which 

 is in enemy hands." All the resources of an ably-directed propa- 

 ganda have been employed for years in fostering among us the 

 behef that we are helplessly dependent upon Germany in this 

 matter. It would be folly, and worse than folly, to concede 

 such a claim until we have thoroughly examined its foundations. 



For certain soils and certain crops, the addition of potash in 

 readilj^ available form may well be essential to profitable produc- 

 tion. But who knows whether the indispensable minimum is 

 250,000 tons or only one-tenth of that quantity? Cannot the 

 apparent need be lessened by better tillage, by rotation with 

 green manure crops, and by the more extensive use of farm 

 manure? Will not the use of cheaper chemical fertilizers — salts 

 of sodium, calcium, magnesium — alleviate many of the supposed 

 cases of ''pot-ash hunger?" Until these questions have been 

 answered, no one dare say that our absolute requirement of 

 potash fertilizers cannot be met by the development of domestic 

 sources of supply. 



