-7- 



equivalent of over 300 pounds of nitrate of soda, the old reliable crop stimu- 

 lator now used in powder making. 



V/.\RTIME USES OF CERTAIN CIIE I;IICAL ELEIvEMTS MEEDED IN A,GRICULTURE 



Three chemical symbols, N, P, and K, signify for the farmer, three of 

 the fertilizer elements necessary for plant grovrth. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and 

 Potassium. Four others, S, Cu, Pb, As, signify elements essential in the con- 

 trol of diseases and insects. Sulfur, copper, lead and arsenic play a vital 

 role in the fight against plant pests. Fortunately, all of these r.even ele- 

 ments are still available in one form or another for agricultural uses, in 

 spitf; of the fact that all of them are tremendously important in our war pro- 

 gram. The manufacture of thousands of items needed in fighting a war are ab- 

 solutely dependent upon unfailing supplies of theso elements. 



To meet the demands of both industry and agriculture will require care- 

 ful planning. If deli/eries to fanners are not as prompt as they might be or 

 if certain materials are entirely off the market in 1943, the enormous demands 

 of the v;ar program must be taken into consideration. D. H. Sieling and R. W. 

 Fessenden of the Department of Chemistry have prepared the following partial 

 list of wartime necessities in which the above mentioned chemical elements are 

 roquiredj 



Nitrogen - Explosives, plastics, lacquers, vmr gases, signal flares. 

 Phosphorus - "Calling card incendiaries," oil well drilling, baking 



pov/der, smoke scroens, making gasoline from natural gases, 

 tracer bullets. 

 Potas sium - Potassiuni cyanide for case hardening steel, optical glass, 

 metal used as a core in motor valve stems, signal flares 

 and shells. 

 Sulfur - Sulphuric acid for use in explosives, pickling steel, refining 

 "^ oils, manufacturing dyestuffs, mustard gas, plastics, copper 

 refining. 

 Copper - Signal flares, alloys, conducting v/ires, plating of certain 



metals for resistance to erosion. 

 Lead - "^Inti- knock" compounds, storage batteries (most important), 



bearings, solder, pigments, dieathing cables. 

 A.rsenic - Signal flares, manufacture of shot, bearing metals, war gases, 

 special alloys. 



HERE 'S .^.IDEA 



Tifith apple leaves showing magnesium deficiency symptoms in a nuraber 

 of Massachusetts orchards this season, it is interesting to note the soil con- 

 ditions under v.-vriiich these symptoms sometimes occur. In one Connecticut Valley 

 orchard v/here Mcintosh and Astrachan trees show definite signs of magnesium 

 deficiency, ruts 8 or 10 inches deep made by the sprayer wheels last spring 

 are apparent. This part of the orchard is poorly drained and the trees are 

 shalloiv rooted. Under these conditions trees are unable to take in enough 

 of certain mineral elements, including magnesixmi, to maintain normal foliage. 

 A water logged soil vrith resulting lack of aeration sots the stage for faulty 



