EFFECT OF BORAX ON POTATOES. 6 



mixed with the soil, and allowed to remain until June 5 ; on June 5 

 the normal fertilizer and fertilizer-borax mixtures were applied to 

 sections 2 and 3; in section 2, the mixtures were applied as in sec- 

 tion 1 ; while in section 3 they were sown broadcast and well raked 

 into the soil before planting. All three sections were then planted 

 on June 5. 



RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 



On July 5, one month after planting, notes on the experiments 

 were taken by Dr. Donald Folsom, of the Maine Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. The notes and observations made by him dis- 

 close the following: (1) The average number of plants above ground 

 in the control plats in all sections was 343. These rows received 

 fertilizer at the rate of 1 ton per acre, but no borax. (2) The 

 average number of plants above ground in all sections of the 12 fer- 

 tilizer-borax plats was only 216. These 12 plats received borax vary- 

 ing from 1 to 400 pounds per acre. (3) As the quantity of borax 

 increased there was a marked falling off in the number of plants 

 above ground, until with an application rate of 400 pounds per acre 

 only 12 plants appeared. The application of borax at the rate of 

 10 pounds per acre materially reduced the number of plants above 

 ground, there being 284 plants as compared with the 343 of the con- 

 trol plats. The plats receiving borax at the rate of 5 pounds per 

 acre had 306 plants. The 20-pound application showed 205 plants ; 

 the 30-pound application, 139 plants; the 50-pound application, 116 

 plants; the 100-pound application, 38 plants; the 200-pound appli- 

 cation, 18 plants; and, as previously stated, the 400-pound applica- 

 tion only 12 plants. 



On August 5 the writer inspected the borax experiments for the 

 purpose of taking notes, obtaining photographic records, etc. At 

 this time the stand, differences in growth, appearance of vines, etc., 

 were definitely established. The main fact disclosed was that sec- 

 tion 2, where the fertilizer-borax mixtures were applied in the fur- 

 row at the time of planting, looked much more seriously affected 

 than section 1, where the fertilizer-borax mixtures were applied in 

 the furrow and stood awhile before planting. Section 3, however, in 

 which the fertilizer-borax mixtures were sown broadcast, showed 

 injury, not so marked as in section 2, but the plants were uniformly 

 below the standard established by the plants in section 1. Appar- 

 ently broadcasting was effective in curtailing the injury by borax 

 to a considerable extent, but this good effect was offset by the fact 

 that the fertilizer itself was not as available to the plants, especially 

 where small quantities of borax were applied, as it would have been 

 if applied in the furrow, which is the usual custom. 



Applying the fertilizer in the furrow, followed by immediate plant- 

 ing, as in section 2, is the usual practice in Aroostook County, so that 



