The Effect of Borax in Fertilizers. 103 



would apply. Finally he ran out of fertilizer and finished the 

 piece without any. 



It was impossible to locate with any degree of accuracy 

 where all of these changes in the amounts of the fertilizer ap- 

 plication were made on this field, but one had no difficulty in 

 locating the exact point where he began to plant with no fer- 

 tilizer at all. The plants where no fertilizer was used were 

 more vigorous and uniform than those on any other portion of 

 the field. The contrast between the appearance of the plants 

 where no fertilizer whatever was used and those next to them 

 that received only a small amount of fertilizer is shown in Fig. 



17- 



Fig. 1 8 is a fairly representative illustration of the condi- 

 tions observed on this field and numerous others during the lat- 

 ter part of July, 19 19. 



Where the larger amounts of fertilizer were used there 

 were many missing hills. The plants averaged small and weak 

 with yellowing of the margins of the lower leaves. The smaller 

 leaves at the tops of the more stunted plants were folded to- 

 gether. Not much stem injury was noted at the time of obser- 

 vation, but frequently the stems were found to be those which 

 had branched up from below where the original stems had been 

 killed below ground and had entirely disappeared. 



The injury appeared in different degrees on all parts of 

 the field to which the fertilizer was applied, but with each de- 

 crease in the amount of application it was evident that there 

 was a corresponding decrease in the amount of injury produced. 

 In a few instances the differences between adjoining sections of 

 the field were sufficiently marked to indicate the probable point 

 where the changes were made on the planter to reduce the 

 amount of fertilizer application. 



Greenhouse Experiments with Fertilizers Containing 



Borax. 



The close relation between the presence of borax in the 

 fertilizers used and the injury which occurred on many potato 

 fields, as shown by the observations made during the summer 

 of 1919, led to the planning of certain greenhouse experiments 

 with fertilizers, with and without borax, using potatoes, beans, 



