195 



The Injurious Effect of Borax in Fertilizers on Corn. 



S. D. Conner — Purdue University. 



About June 1, 1917, the Experiment Station was notified that in a 

 large number of fields near Francesville the young growing corn had 

 lost its green color and had turned white or had entirely wilted down. 

 Together with Mr. O. S. Roberts of the State Chemist's Department, I 

 visited the cornfields on June 5th. We found a number of fields 

 where the corn was entirely white. The damage was all on land 

 where fertilizer was used, and by far the greatest damage was caused 

 where fertilizer containing 5 per cent of potash and 5 per cent of 

 available phosphoric acid had been used. There appeared to be no 

 question about the fertilizer having caused the damage as in a number 

 of fields one or more rows of unfertilized corn remained good alongside 

 of badly damaged fertilized corn. In some fields several amounts of 

 fertilizer had been used and the damage was greatest where the largest 

 amounts of fertilizer were used. The fertilizer injured the corn by re- 

 tarding germination, also by turning the corn white and holding it 

 back so that insect damage was greater where the corn was fertilized, 

 and in some cases the corn had even been killed. Some of the corn 

 which was not damaged very badly was said by the farmers to be look- 

 ing better than it had a few days before. Later reports indicate that 

 some of the white corn recovered almost entirely while other fields had 

 to be replanted, while still other fields remained more or less dam- 

 aged even to time of harvest. 



On September 24th another visit was made to the damaged fields. 

 Some of the corn had been permanently damaged probably seventy 

 per cent., other fields much less and in some cases there was no ap- 

 parent damage. The damage seemed to vary on different types of soil, 

 some of the worst was on light sandy and some on peaty soils. As a 

 rule there was not so much damage on heavier soils. Corn fertilizer 

 in Indiana is generally drilled along the row where the corn is checked 

 or drilled. Fifty pounds of the 5-5 fertilizer per acre seldom caused 

 much damage, while 200 pounds to the acre nearly always caused great 



