The Effect of Borax in Fertilizers. 97 



gins of the leaves, particularly the lower ones, came to be looked 

 upon as an important diagnostic character in cases of suspected 

 borax injury, where the effects were not sufficient to produce 

 serious stunting and failures to germinate. In severe cases the 

 leaves themselves were frequently narrowed and in certain in- 

 stances the smaller leaves at the top were noted as folded up- 

 ward on the mid-rib. 



Fig. 14. Two different brands of 4-8-6 fertilizer were used on this 

 field. The portion shown in the background was planted 3 weeks later 

 than that where the weak, scattered plants occur. See foot-note on p. 96. 



On many borax injured fields, for the most part planted 

 during the last two weeks in May, a marked change began to 

 take place about the first of August. The plants which sur- 

 vived started to grow and, as a result, many of the more marked 

 symptoms of the trouble as already described either disappeared 

 or became masked by the growth of the plant. This apparent 

 recovery is explained on p. ioo. The only borax injured potato 

 field that the writer was able to visit at regular intervals 

 throughout the season, indicated that this improvement in the 

 condition of the plants came too late to materially aid in pro- 

 ducing a crop. This seemed to be the general opinion of owners 

 of fields which showed similar conditions. 



