Journal of Agriculttiral Research 



resistant. He found that 0.50 per cent of either carbonate or chlorid 

 was fatal to germination in almost all cases. 

 Hicks (9) found that — 



Muriate of potash and sodium nitrate used as fertilizers in strengths of i per cent 

 or more are very detrimental to the germination of seeds, whether applied directly 

 or mixed with the soil; that the chief injury to germination from chemical fertilizers 

 is inflicted upon the young sprouts after they leave the seed coat and before they 

 emerge from the soil, while the seeds themselves are injiued only slightly or not at all. 



Shaw (22) after a great many tests was led to the conclusion that 

 wherever the chlorid content of soil approached 0.2 per cent beet culture 

 was unsuccessful. 



Kearney (12) listed crops most likely to succeed in alkali of various 

 concentrations, as follows: Excessive alkali (above 1.5 per cent), native 

 and foreign saltbush and salt grasses; very strong alkali (i.o to 1.5 per 

 cent), date palm and pomegranate bushes; strong alkali (0.8 to i per cent), 

 sugar beets, western wheat-grass, awnless brome-grass, and tall meadow 

 oat-grass; medium strong alkali (0.6 to 0.8 per cent), meadow fescue, 

 Italian rye-grass, slender wheat-grass, foxtail millet, rape, kale, sorgo, 

 and barley for hay; medium alkali (0.4 to 0.6 per cent), redtop, timothy, 

 orchard grass, cotton, asparagus, wheat for hay, oats for hay, rye, and 

 barley; weak alkali (0.0 to 0.4 per cent), wheat for grain, emmer for 

 grain, oats for grain, kafir, milo, proso millet, alfalfa, field peas, vetches, 

 horse beans, and sweet clover. 



Miyake (19), working on the eflFect of the chlorids, nitrates, sulphates, 

 and carbonates of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium on rice, 

 found that the antagonistic action of individual salts was in part overcome 

 when the salts were combined. 



PRELIMINARY STUDIES 



RESULTS IN 1 91 2 



The study of soil alkali in its relation to the growth of plants was 

 begun by the Utah Experiment Station in 191 2. The first tests were 

 made in glass tumblers which held about 200 gm. of soil. The soil 

 used was loam from the Greenville (Utah) Experimental Farm. The 

 chemical and physical analyses of this soil are given in Tables VHI 

 and IX. 



The crops were New Zealand wheat (Triiicum aestivum) and sugar 

 beets {Beta vulgaris), 10 seeds being planted in each glass. Each sugar- 

 beet seed, or ball, contains more than one germ; hence, more plants 

 were usually obtained than the number of seeds planted. 



The salts were added from stock solutions and were thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil two or three days before the seeds were planted, July 28. 

 The sugar beets were harvested on August 5, and the wheat on August 10. 

 The plants that had come up were counted and their height and dry 

 weight determined. The results are given in Tables I, II, and III. 



