28 



MJSC. PUBLICATION 3 69, U. 



DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



difference in composition between the two samples is negligible, which 

 illustrates the possibility of misjudging the composition of a plant 

 when it is calculated as percentage of the ash. 



Headden {256) in 1921 determined titanium, barium, strontium, 

 and lithium in alfalfa grown in several soils of Colorado. He found 

 over 20 times as much titanium in plants grown in one soil as in those 

 grown in another, and variations of 200 to 1,000 percent in strontium 

 were found. The barium contents were more uniform, and, except 

 in one case, only traces of lithium were found. 



In 1923, Neidig, McDole, and Magnuson (430) determined the 

 sulfur and nitrogen contents of alfalfa grown in greenhouse tests in 

 six different soils from localities in Idaho. The sulfur contents varied 

 from 0.140 to 0.300 percent. 



In some unpublished work done on fertility problems at the New 

 York State (Cornell) Agricultural Experiment Station (2x), samples 

 of three soils — Dunkirk silty clay loam, Volusia silt loam, and Petoskey 

 gritty sandy loam — were placed in lysimeter tanks. Corn, oats, 

 barley, wheat, and timothy were grown in the soils, and the crops 

 were analyzed for potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and 

 sulfur. The data obtained for 3 years on corn stover grown in two 

 of these soils are presented in table 9. The data indicate little or 

 no difference in the potassium and phosphorus contents of the two 

 crops, but there is a significant difference in the magnesium contents 

 of the stovers grown in the unfertilized soils. Furthermore, the addi- 

 tion of manure modified the magnesium content of the stover grown 

 in the Dunkirk silty clay loam to a greater degree than it did that 

 of the crop grown in the other soil. It is equally possible, however, 

 that these relative differences in the crop composition are due to 

 differences in the climatic effects on the soil, for the various fertilizer 

 treatments were studied in different years. 



Table 9. — Mineral corn-position of corn stover l grown in New York soils in lysi- 

 meter tanks (2x) 





Fertilizer 



composition of stover grown in— 



Year 



Dunkirk silty clay loam 



Volusia silt loam 





K 



Ca 



Mg 



P 



K 



Ca 



Mg 



P 



1915 





Percent 

 1.39 

 1.39 



.77 



Percent 



0.20 



.30 



.21 



Percent 



0.01 



.21 



.16 



Percent 

 0.27 



.28 

 .37 



Percent 

 1.19 

 1.76 

 .82 



Percent 



0.15 



.10 



.24 



Percent 



0.08 



.12 



.22 



Percent 

 0.22 



1920 



1925 



Manure 



Manure and Na2HP De- 



.42 

 .32 



Moisture-free basis. 



Neller, investigating the influence of sulfur on the yield and com- 

 position of legumes {Jfi2) , used two Washington soils in his greenhouse 

 tests in 1925. His analyses of alfalfa cut in the early blossoming 

 period are given in table 10. The sulfur content of the Ritzville soil 



