1912.1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 35 



TOBACCO INJURY DUE TO MALNUTRITION 

 OR OVERFERTILIZATION. 



BY H. D. HASKINS. 



During the past four or five years the experiment station 

 has received occasional inquiries from tobacco growers concern- 

 ing certain peculiar conditions which affect the young tobacco 

 plant, and which usually manifest themselves soon after trans- 

 planting. The young plants may make a small growth in the 

 field during the first week, after which differences in growth 

 are observed. The plants growing on low places or hollows, 

 which receive drainage from the surrounding soil, seem to 

 be more affected and show a more stunted growth than do those 

 on the more elevated portions of the field. It was thought at 

 first that the trouble was due to some fungus disease, but a 

 careful microscopical examination failed to reveal the presence 

 of fungi w^hich could be held accountable for the trouble. An 

 examination of the roots showed that the tap root had been 

 destroyed ; that the plant, in its endeavor to recover from the 

 injury, had thrown new secondary roots, which in turn had 

 become injured or destroyed so that it was unable to make' 

 any appreciable growth. It was the opinion of Dr. G. E. 

 Stone, the vegetable pathologist, that the trouble w^as due to 

 overfertilization, the roots having all of the characteristic 

 symptoms of fertilizer burning. The absence of fungi also 

 indicated that some abnormal soil condition was responsible 

 for the trouble. 



Samples of the surface soil were, therefore, carefully taken 

 from a field where the trouble was noticed. !N"umbers 1, 2 and 

 3 were taken from portions of the field where the trouble was 

 most conspicuous, number 4 from an elevated portion of the 

 field, showing practically a fairly normal growth, and number 



