﻿EFFECT OF BOEAX ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CROPS. 



final yield of each crop matured. The necords of these experiments, 

 together with the data obtained in some of the experiments Located in 

 the States mentioned, are given in detail in this bulletin. Other tests 

 were made cooperatively with the Maine and New Jersey Agricultural 

 Experiment Stations, potatoes being grown on Caribou loam at 

 Presque Isle, Me., and potatoes and corn on Sassafras loam at New 

 Brunswick, N. J. 



The experiments at Arlington, Presque Isle, New Brunswick, and 

 Muscle Shoals were of the same general plan and afforded an oppor- 

 tunity of studying the effects of borax on five soil types and five crops 

 under different climatic conditions. Borax in all of these experi- 

 ments was mixed with a fertilizer analyzing 4 per cent NH 3 , 8 per 

 cent P 2 5 , and 4 per cent K 2 and the fertilizer applied at a standard 

 rate for each crop, namely, 400 pounds per acre to corn, 1,000 pounds 

 to cotton and to beans, 1,500 to 2,000 pounds to potatoes. Fertilizer 

 free from borax was used as a control. Sufficient borax was added 

 and mixed with the fertilizer so that when applied at the rates just 

 named 1 to 400 pounds of anhydrous borax per acre would be added. 



In addition to the experiments made on this general plan at these 

 four locations, other experiments were made at Arlington, Va., with 

 corn and cotton and at Muscle Shoals, Ala., with cotton, using a no- 

 borax fertilizer, one which supplied 5 pounds, another 10 pounds, 

 and a third 20 pounds of borax per acre. These experiments were 

 inaugurated at intervals of about 10 days, to study the influence of 

 weather conditions on the action of borax upon these crops growing 

 on the same type of soil. 



The experiments in each location involved applying the fertilizer 

 in three ways: (1) In the seed drill and planting after an interval of a 

 week or 10 days, (2) in the seed drill and planting immediately after 

 applying the fertilizer, (3) broadcasting the fertilizer and planting 

 immediately. 



Other experiments with potatoes were made in order to compare 

 the effectiveness of commercial Searles Lake potash, designated 

 1920 grade, which contained no borax with Searles Lake potash 

 containing borax as it occurred in the trade prior to that year. The 

 latter salt is called the 1919 grade. These experiments were made 

 cooperatively with growers in the potato-producing regions of Vir- 

 ginia, New Jersey, and Maine. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH BORAX AT ARLINGTON, VA. 



The soil on which the experiments at Arlington were conducted is 

 a silty clay loam, well suited to the growing of vegetables and general 

 farm crops. The land in question was filled with river-bottom mate- 

 rial from the Potomac River some ten years ago. It has been tile- 

 drained and in wet seasons does not suffer from an excess of water. 

 In dry seasons it has a sufficient water-holding capacity to support 

 good crop growth. The land was cultivated to corn for several 

 years preceding the inauguration of the borax experiment. 



The area used for the experiment was 132 by 400 feet. Each row 

 132 feet long was divided into three equal sections, providing plats 

 one two-hundred-and-seventieth of an acre in extent. In section 1 

 the fertilizer was put in the drill, covered and mixed with soil to a 

 depth of about 2 inches and the planting of seed delayed for 7 days. 



