114 



Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920. 



believed that these greenhouse experiments may serve as a fairly 

 accurate index of the relative amounts of the various forms of 

 injury which may be expected from the application of like 

 amounts of borax to potatoes in the field. 



ROOT INJURY IN POTS. 



The potato plants were all removed from the pots early in 

 January and an examination was made of the root systems. 

 While care was exercised to remove them in- as nearly a natural 

 condition as possible it was extremely difficult to separate them 

 from the soil without breaking off many of the finer rootlets. 

 Hence the illustrations show the relative and not the absolute 

 conditions. 



The plants which were grown upon fertilizer No. 5409, 

 free from borax, had long fibrous roots running to the bottom 

 and penetrating to all parts of the pots. Fig. 23 shows the root 

 system of one of these plants. 



Fig. 23. Root system where borax-free fertilizer, No. 5409, was 

 used in pots in the greenhouse. 



