8 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 441 



laceae families, and other well-developed plants, grow seemingly as well on the 

 magnesium-deficient soil as they do on plots supplied with magnesium. On the 

 other hand, such weeds as purslane {Portulaca oleracea) and the chickweeds grow 

 abundantly where magnesium has been applied but their presence on land not 

 receiving magnesium is negligible. 



Magnesium Deficiency. (Walter S. Eisenmenger and Dale A. Hinkle.) It has 

 been noted that chlorosis of the older leaves and lack of normal growth are symp- 

 toms of magnesium deficiency in plants. An attempt is being made to determine 

 the relative fate of chlorophyll, carotene, and xanthop hyll in the process ot tissue 

 deterioration as well as to determine the comparative supplies of magnesium in 

 the more common agricultural soil? in Massachusetts. The latter involves the 

 base exchange capacit}^ the magnesium involved in the base exchange, and the 

 total magnesium. 



It has also been a part of the project to determine whether or not mass action 

 of large quantities of magnesium when applied to apple orchards would influence 

 magnesium intake as compared with normal applications, which in the past have 

 proved futile. Results to date have not been encouraging. It was found that 

 most of the apple leaves had the same magnesium content although the applica- 

 tions of this ion to the soil areas around different trees varied greatly in amount. 

 This indicates that old apple trees may be adjusted physiologically to the intake 

 of a somewhat definite amount of the magnesium ion so that mass action would 

 be unlikely to have much effect on magnesium intake. 



The relative yields of common vegetable crops are being observed to determine 

 the economic significance of magnesium applications. 



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

 menger.) The Canadian varieties of sunflower, which have considerably shorter 

 stalk and smaller head than the Russian Mammoth, are being tested. This 

 shorter variety will withstand breakage of the stalks due to windstorms, and this 

 merits consideration. At the Experiment Station, acre yields for the Canadian 

 type sunflower ranged from 2,000 to 2,400 pounds; the Russian sunflower 

 averaged 2,^25 pounds per acre; and a black hulled sunflower of medium height, 

 which has been selected at the Station, produced an average of approximately 

 2,800 pounds per acre. 



Long Time Fertility Tests. (Karol J. Kucinski and Walter S. Eisenmenger.) 

 About sixty years ago a series of test plots was established to study the effects 

 on the soil of a long-time fertilizer program. For the last three years, hay has 

 been grown on these plots. As in the two previous years, yields of hay indicate 

 that in the case of plots treated singly with either nitrogen, potash or pnosphorus, 

 the nitrogen plots showed the greatest response. Liming alone produced approx- 

 imately twice as much hay as no treatment. The greatest response to lime 

 occurred on plots treated with both potassium and phosphorus. On the unlimed 

 plots, the heaviest yield was obtained where a complete fertilizer was used. 



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

 menger.) 



Use of Snow Fencing in Controlling Wind Erosion. The heavy' cover of snow 

 during the winter of 1946-47 prevented any drastic dust storms. For several 

 years, snow fencing has been satisfactorily anchored when held with iron pipes 

 4J^ to 5 feet long, driven 18 inches into the ground and spaced about a rod apart. 

 It has been found that where one snow fence is placed only at the head of a 

 "blow-out" area, perpendicular to the prevailing winds, a deposition of soil 

 occurs when the wind blows from the opposite direction. It is suggested there- 



