120 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920. 



or partial failure to germinate and a pronounced lack of green 

 in the leaves of all plants that did grow. In the case of the 

 variety where the seed was grown in 1919, only one plant in 

 each pot containing fertilizer appeared above ground and these 

 plants died almost immediately. In the case of the two varie- 

 ties from the 1918 seed one finally gave 100 per cent germination 

 in the presence of the fertilizer but the plants grew very slowly. 

 the leaves were stiff and of a pale, waxy color, entirely lacking 

 in chlorophyll. Their appearance as compared with the check, 

 pot 3. is well shown in Fig. 27. This is from a photograph 

 taken about 6 weeks after planting. Eventually all but one 

 plant in each of pots 1 and 2 of this series died. These two 

 plants slowly, but not wholly, developed a normal green color 

 and remained weak and stunted, although they were kept under 

 observation up to the time when the plants in the check pot 

 were practically mature. The series in which the third variety 

 of beans was used showed only 50 per cent germination in the 

 presence of the fertilizer and the history of the injured plants 

 was similar to that given above. 



Oats, wheat and buckwheat. Series of pots similar to 

 those described for beans were used for planting oats, wheat, 

 India wheat, old-fashioned buckwheat and Japanese buckwheat. 

 Here the applications of fertilizer 5549 were made at the rate 

 of 1000 pounds per acre, broadcasted, or mixed with the upper 

 inch of soil in the pots. This would make the applications of 

 anhydrous borax 8.8 pounds per acre. No consistent differ- 

 ences could be noted either in germination of the seeds or in 

 the health of the plants growing in the pots which did or did not 

 contain the borax. 



