12 RELATION OF LIME AND MAGNESIA TO PLANT GROWTH. 
change in the mechanical conditions of the soil. Ad. Mayer? mentions 
sterility in a soil rich in magnesia. On the other hand Heiden® states 
some instances where magnesite and even magnesium sulphate exerted 
a beneficial effect. Kellner* reports a beneficial effect from magnesian 
limestone,’ and Larbaletrier and Malpeaux® describe a case in which 
magnesium sulphate proved very efficient. 
Just as contradictory are the reports on the effects of the applica- 
tion of kainit and carnallit, both of which contain salts of potassium 
and magnesium. The former, however, contains more potassium sul- 
phate than the latter. The effects were frequently found to be inju- 
rious when these salts were applied in the spring, while the application 
in the autumn proved beneficial. Thus Fleischer’ observed that 
kainit yielded a 5 per cent larger crop of potatoes when applied in 
the autumn than when applied in the spring. Other observers® 
reported a decrease in the percentage of starch in potatoes when kainit 
was applied in the late spring and also claimed that the quality was 
impaired. Liebenberg’ finally reports a decrease in the yield of 
meadows when kainit was applied even in the autumn. In the latter 
case the perennial roots of the grasses came directly in contact with 
the fresh fertilizer, while in the previous cases the rains of winter had 
a chance to wash out or-modify the injurious magnesium salt before 
the crops were planted or seeds were sown. Other authors’ also 
report an injurious effect from kainit on meadows, no matter whether 
applied alone or in conjunction with other fertilizers. However, very 
many favorable results from the use of kainit on other soils and other 
crops have been published. Schultz-Lupitz has observed that the 
injurious effects of the crude potassium salts of Stassfurt (kainit, car- 
nallit, ete.) can be counteracted by liming the soils, but he gave no 
explanation for this interesting fact. That the application of lime 
would be in such cases the proper remedy was inferred by the writer” 
from his theory before he knew of the successful experiments of the 
author just mentioned. It was claimed at that time that the occasional 
injury caused by the Stassfurt salts was due to their chlorid content, 
'Centralbl. f. Agriculturchemie, 1870. 
* Vorlesungen, 3d ed., Vol. I, p.111. Dejardin reports that an increase of the mag- 
nesia content in the soil favors the resistance of the vine to Phylloxera, but this 
remedy applied to a soil poor in lime may prove dangerous to the plants. On the 
other hand Wheeler reports that liming the soil promotes the scab of the potato. 
See also Bul. No. 18, U.S. Dept. Agr., Div. Veg. Phys. and Path. 
> Landw. Vers. Stat., 1869; also Pincus, ibid. , 1868, p. 402. 
*Sichsische Landw. Zeitsch., 1895, No. 24. 
*Similar results were reported by Volker in England (Griffiths, Treatise on Manure, 
1889, p. 235), and Muntz and Girard in France (Les Engrais, 1891, p. 333), and 
finally by Patterson in Maryland (Bul. No. 66, of the Md. Agr. Ex. Sta., p. 130). 
*Centralbl. f. Agriculturehemie, 1896, p. 454. 
"Bot. Jahresber. f. 1886. - 5 Jahresber. f. Agriculturchemie, 1896, p. 222. 
Nab one Beja. 20) PO Modern pa 26: NLandw. Vers. Stat., 1892. 
