Nemec: Opening Address 



as fertilizers is often surprising. It is thus easily understood why 

 such trace elements are now added to synthetic fertilizers or directly 

 to the soil. In Czechoslovakia, e.g., boron and manganese are 

 added to superphosphates. 



In small countries, where we find a variety of geological 

 formations, as in Bohemia, the soil generally contains all essen- 

 tial trace elements, except in some special localities. In some 

 areas of Bohemia a corky growth in apples occurs and in Mora- 

 via and Slovakia apricot trees suffer from 'apoplexy' (sudden 

 death). To prevent this the soil around the tree must be mixed 

 with powdered copper sulphate or moistened with a solution of it 

 at an early stage. Very good results have been obtained when, in 

 planting young trees, the soil has been mixed with small quantities 

 of powdered copper sulphate, zinc sulphate and boron. 



I will not discuss the question of the role of micro-elements in 

 the living plant. There are many problems and I hope they will 

 be discussed during our meeting. I hope that our discussions will 

 provide many valuable contributions to the manifold problems of 

 micro-elements, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. 



