UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1126 
Washington, Dit: v April 23, 1923 
THE EFFECT OF BORAX ON THE GROWTH AND 
YIELD OF CROPS. 
By J.J. SKINNER and B. E. Brown, Biochemisis, and F. R. Rep, Assistant Biochemist, 
Office of Soil-Fertility Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry. 
CONTENTS. 
1 Field experiments using fertilizers with and 
Review of the literature. .-. 2. ............ 2 Without Doraxsics.¢ SF. ok Wk) tn aa ae 17 
Scope and plan of the investigations in 1920. 4 A comparison of two grades of Searles 
Experiments with borax at Arlington, Va-.. 5 Lake potash in the fleld...........-.. 
Effect of borax on Lima beans.......... 6 Further results with potatoes and corn.. 19 
Effect of borax on snap beans......-..... 7 Effect of borax on cotton at Muscle Shoals, 
Effect of borax on potatoes...-.......-.- 9 Al 
10 
BIBIERGONIGUIOR ate ed oo ae) sees 
i ee ary 
Hiffect Of borax. ONICOrM. «sa 55. Fe | Khe xesidual effect, of boraxs - 4.25 ..2 aoe ces 25 
Influence of rainfall on the effect of borax. 11 | Symptoms of borax-affected plants.......... 26 
Periodic planting of corn and cotton... . 13 Samnmanye shot seEet Pes rE eee ot 27 
Witeraturecitedes - assess eee eee eee 30 
INTRODUCTION. 
The United States Department of Agriculture issued a report (12)! 
early in 1920 on crop injury by borax in fertilizers which was based 
partly on field experiments conducted in 1919 in cooperation with 
armers in the States of Maine, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia and partly on investi- 
gations of the crop injury by borax in commercial fields of potatoes 
and cotton in certain Kastern States. 
_ These investigations were made by the department in 1919, as a 
result of appeals from farmers and fertilizer dealers in many sections 
of the Eastern States which indicated that important crops to which 
certain fertilizers had been applied were very seriously affected. As 
a result of the investigation by the department and by several of the 
State experiment stations, the trouble was traced to the use of a 
potash salt containing borax which came from Searles Lake, Calif. 
The results of the experiments in the States enumerated above 
showed that this potash salt containing borax was injurious to 
potatoes and cotton, but that the degree of injury was dependent 
upon the type of soil and the climatic conditions. In experiments 
1 Serial numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to ‘‘Literature cited” at the end of this bulletin. 
9094—22——1 
