1 102 AGRICULTUKAI, BOTANY, CHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOI.OGY OF PLANTS 



855 - The Influence of Strontium Salts on Wheat (iiie Wnbum ivxperinuntai vStation 



of the K-oyal Agricultural Society of England, I'ot-Culture Experiments, iyi5, I. The 

 Hill's Experiments, a). — Voelcker J. A. in The Journal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Sociclv of Eii'^lund, Vol. I^XXVI, pp. 344-3.16 + pi. 1-2. I.,on(lon, ifji.s. 



lyittle being known about the action of strontium on plants, duplicate 

 pot-experiments were made with sulphate, nitrate, hydrate, chloride, and 

 carbonate of strontium ; the salts were applied in quantities supplying 

 the element of strontium in two different amounts, namely, 0.05 per cent 

 and o.io per cent, reckoned on the whole of the soil used. The soil was 

 of light and by no means rich character, and twelve seeds of wheat were 

 sown in each pot on November, 1914 ; the crops were cut in August, 1915. 



The results are summarised as follows : 



1. Strontium in the form of the sulphate, hydrate, and carbonate, 

 is, when given up to o.io per cent., practically without effect either on 

 the germination of the seed or the increase of the crop. 



2. Strontium useed as strontium nitrate produces an increase of 

 crop, but this cannot be attributed to the presence of strontium. 



3. Strontium applied as strontium chloride has a retarding effect on 

 germination, and when used in quantity approaching o.io per cent, of 

 strontium, has a distinctly toxic effect. 



856 - Experiments in connection with the Assimilation of Potassium and Sodium 



Ions by the Sugar Beet. — Stoklasa Julius, in Uiochanischc Zeitschrift, Vol. 73, Nos. 3 

 and 4, pp. 260-313. Berlin, March 24, 191 6. 



A discussion of the experiments of other scientists is followed by a 

 description of those of the writer ; the object of the latter was to determine : 



a) The value of potassium chloride and sodium chloride in the pro- 

 duction of substance in the root of the beet ; 



b) Why calcareous soils promote assimilation of potash by the beet 

 and increase the weight and sugar content of the root ; 



c) The behaviour of calcium chloride in the presence of potassimn 

 chloride and sodium chloride ; 



d) The influence of sodium and potassium chlorides on the develop- 

 ment of the sugar beet in the diffeient periods of growth. 



For this purpose sugar beets " Wohantas Zuckerreiche " (Wohanta 

 variety rich in sugar) were planted, one in each pot containing 18 kg of a 

 earth manitred with different doses of salts. During these experiments, 

 divided into 5 series, the following facts were observed : 



i) potassium chloride and sodium chloride increase both the weight 

 of the root and its content of sugar if used separately in a decinormal so- 

 lution. The potassium ion produces a greater increase than the sodium ion, 

 so that it is really possible to attribute a specific action to it. 



2) A stronger concentration of the sodium chloride (^/jq N.) results in 

 a reduction of weight and sugar content in the root. In this concentration, 

 potassium chloride also fails to promote the growth of the plant. A still 

 stronger concentration of potassium chloride ('^lo N.) reduces the percentage 

 of dry matter in the root, and consequently the total quantity of sugar form- 



