EFFECT OF SALICYLIC ALDEHYDE ON PLANTS IN 

 SOIL AND SOLUTION CULTURES 



J. J. SKINNER 



(Fertility Investigations, Bureau of Soils, U. S, Department of Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C.) 



(WITH PLATES 6-7) 



The presence of salicylic aldehyde in some agricultural soils, to- 

 gether with the rather frequent appearance of aldehyde material in 

 unproductive soils, as demonstrated by work in this laboratory,^ has 

 lent considerable interest to the study of the action of this Compound 

 on plants. 



Salicylic aldehyde was accordingly tested in regard to its action 

 on various plants in Solution cultures and in soil in pots. The Solu- 

 tion culture method comprised the growth of plants in water and in 

 nutrient culture Solutions. The method of procedure was essentially 

 that described in previous publications.^ The paraffined wire pot 

 method was used in making the soil cultures.^ 



The action of the salicylic aldehyde is also being tested with 

 crops in the field, and some of these results with cowpeas, garden 

 peas and stringbeans are published elsewhere.'* It was uniformly 

 toxic. 



SOLUTION CULTURES 



Effect on wheat. Salicylic aldehyde was used in amounts of 

 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 p.p.m.^ dissolved in pure dist. water. A 



1 Shorey, E. C. : Some organic soil constituents, Bul. 88, Bureau of Soils, U. 

 S. Dep't Agri. (1913) ; also, Schreiner, O. and Skinner, J. J. Occurrence of alde- 

 hyde in garden and field soils. Jour. Franklin Inst., 178, 329 (1914). 



2 Schreiner, O., and Skinner, J. J. : Some effects of a harmful organic soil 

 constituent, Bul. 70, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dep't Agri. (1910). 



' Gardner, F. D. : The wire-basket method for determining the manurial 

 requirements of soils, Cir. 18, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dep't Agri. (1905). 



* Schreiner, O. and Skinner, J. J. Field tests with a toxic soil constituent: 

 salicylic aldehyde. Jour. Amcr. Soc. Agron., 6, 108 (1914). 



" " Parts per million " is abbreviated throughout to p.p.m. 



390 



