118 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920. 



pearance of the plant itself on January I is shown in Fig. 22. 

 The record states that at that time the margins of all leaves 

 were badly affected, the two lowest leaves had fallen and the 

 next two were about ready to fall. 



It should be remembered that tests with fertilizer mixed 

 with the soil were confined to No. 5549, or with applications of 

 17.6 pounds of anhydrous borax per acre. Undoubtedly great- 

 er root injury from mixing fertilizer with the soil would have 

 been obtained if the samples carrying higher percentages of 

 boron had been used in this way. 



WORK WITH OTHER CROPS. 



The work of testing the effects produced upon crops other 

 than potatoes by fertilizers containing borax was only inciden- 

 tal, was planned simply as preliminary tests, and was conducted 

 upon too small a scale to be of much value. The results ob- 

 tained with beans in comparison with those obtained with other 

 crops were of such a striking character that it is desirable to 

 record them in detail. No. 5549 was the only fertilizer used, 

 and regular greenhouse potting soil was employed. 



Beans. Three different varieties of beans were used. The 

 seed of two of them was produced in 19 18 and the other in 1919. 

 Three eight-inch pots were used for each variety. Fertilizer 

 5549 was applied to two of these and nothing added to the third 

 pot which served as a check in each instance. The potting soil 

 contained an abundance of natural fertilizer. 



The fertilizer was applied at the rate of 500 pounds per 

 acre in the drill, making an application of anhydrous borax 

 equivalent to only 4.4 pounds per acre. This fertilizer was dis- 

 tributed in a strip 3 inches wide across the soil in a nearly filled 

 pot, and covered with a thin layer of soil. In each pot 6 seeds 

 were evenly spaced in two lines directly over the strip of fertil- 

 izer, and then covered with an inch of soil. 



All of the beans in the check pots germinated and produced 

 normal, vigorous plants, although those from the variety grown 

 in 1919 came more slowly. The behavior of the beans in the 

 pots containing fertilizer contrasted very strikingly with that 

 of those in the check pots. This was shown by a much delayed 



