INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF RICH GARDEN SOIL. 



17 



the roots though long were slender and otherwise weak and bore no 

 tubercles. 



In the case of the blueberry plants the relative growth in the two 

 soils took exactly the opposite course. At the end of the first week new 

 root growth had begun in all the pots containing blueberry soil, while 

 in those containing garden soil new root growth was apparent in only 

 one. At the end of forty-four days vigorous root growth had taken 

 place in the blueberry soil pots, and stem growth, which had been 

 interrupted at the time of transplanting, was well under way again. 

 In the garden soil, however, almost no root growth Avas discernible, 

 the old leaves were strongly purpled and stem and leaf growth had 

 not been resumed. Little attention was paid to these cultures during 

 the summer of 1909, but the relative condition of the two is fairly 



Fig. 3. — Alfalfa seedlinjrs in rich garden soil. 

 (Oue-lialf natural size.) 



Fig. 4. 



-Alfalfa seedlings in peat mixture. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



illustrated in figures 5 and G, from photographs taken November 22, 

 1909, after the leaves had fallen. The garden-soil pot contained only 

 a few stray roots, and the slender stems were only 2 inches high. 

 The pot containing blueberry soil was filled with a dense mass of 

 roots, and although the plant had not been repotted when it needed 

 repotting, the largest stem was nevertheless 11 inches long and the 

 weight of that part of the plant above ground was fifty-one times 

 that of the corresponding part of the garden-soil plant. 



(2) The swamp blueberry does not thrive in a heavily manured soil. 



In May, 1909, two healthy and vigorous blueberry seedlings were 



sent for trial to one of the agricultural experiment stations. They 



were set out in a soil that was known to be suitable for these plants, 



for old blueberry bushes had been growing there for several years. 



54708°— Bull. 193—10 2 



