ANNUAL REPORT, 1942 7 



magnesium sulfate and lime; one-fourth, lime alone; and the other fourth, neither 

 lime nor magnesium. 



The demonstrations have developed to a significant degree — to show what 

 plants need this element. However, the obvious chlorosis seems not to be the 

 whole stor}-; for we have found plants regarded as weeds which do not grow at 

 all where no magnesium is added, and one cultivated plant which does not chlo- 

 rose but does much better if magnesium is added, and there are plants which 

 have symptoms of potassium deficiency where no magnesium is added, as in the 

 case of the apple tree. 



Soil Conservation Research Projects. (Karol J. Kucinski and Walter S. Eisen- 

 menger.) 



A Study of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Wind-Blown Soils. Wind 

 erosion in the Connecticut Valley occurs mostly on onion and vegetable fields 

 when previously frozen soils thaw, then dry, and are swept ofif by drying, north- 

 westerly winds. In general, these wind-blown soils are coarser than the soils 

 least affected. It is important from both the practical and academic viewpoints 

 to find out just what physical-chemical properties determine the degree of 

 erodibility of a soil, which of these properties are controllable, and what takes 

 place in the soil complex when one or more of these properties are changed. 



During the past year, in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, the 

 problem of wind erosion has been studied. Soils from wind-eroded and uneroded 

 areas are being examined by the use of a wind tunnel 32 feet long by 3 feet by 

 3 feet, especially designed for local conditions. Wind velocities as high as 50 

 miles an hour can be generated and instruments are used to record the wind 

 velocities and amounts of erosion. Preliminary trials with the tunnel have given 

 interesting results, and it is expected that the information finally obtained will 

 help greatly in understanding why certain soils erode more than others and 

 possibly in establishing means for their stabilization. 



A Survey of Erosion Problems Arising from Changes in Land Use. The growing 

 of potatoes on a large scale is a relatively new venture on some of the farms in 

 Massachusetts, especially in the western foothills and plateau. Many acres of 

 old sod have been plowed under on the sloping hillsides — in some cases, fields 

 which have not been in open cultivation for the past thirty years. The potato 

 yields from such fields have been very encouraging and in most cases, therefore, 

 the operators have not been interested in soil conservation practices. As yet, 

 only slight sheet erosion is noticed, probably because of the presence of large 

 amounts of organic matter. Great concern has been felt by some who think that 

 after a few years of open cultivation, the organic matter originally present in 

 these new potato fields will decompose and the soil will readily erode, since cover 

 cropping has not been practiced. 



Determinations of carbon and loss on ignition indicate that a large decrease in 

 the organic matter content of some of these soils has already taken place. There 

 was an average decrease of 9.5 percent of soil carbon in 194C compared with 1939 

 and a 21 percent decrease in 1942 compared with 1939. The "loss on ignition" 

 of this same soil, which is a measure of organic matter, showed an average de- 

 crease of over 10 percent. It is deemed advisable, therefore, to encourage potato 

 growers to practice soil conservation methods such as winter cover cropping and 

 terrace and contour farming of their hillsides. 



Sunflowers and their Possibilities. (Karol J. Kucinski and Walter S. Eisen- 

 menger.) For the past four or five years, sunflowers have been grown in the hope 

 of finding out whether the crop is adapted to our soil and climate. Results show 

 that sunflowers can be grown here and produce seed abundantly. Howexer, to 



