28 BULLETIN 1126, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
or diffuse into the soil mass, thereby enabling plants to withs and 
eater applications of it than in other sections where less rainfall 
ad occurred and where only light applications were necessary to 
produce injury. 
The way in which the fertilizer was applied exerted considerable 
influence, and in practically every case the fertilizer-borax mixtures 
drilled in the furrow, followed by immediate planting, produced much 
worse injury and with lower concentrations than by applying the 
fertilizer-borax mixtures some time before planting or by broadcasting 
and planting immediately. 
The effect of borax on the germination and yield of Lima beans at 
Arlington, Va., was most noticed where the fertilizer-borax mixtures 
were applied in the furrow and planting done at once. Less than 
50 per cent germinated with an application of 10 pounds of borax 
per acre, and with even less quantities the effect was marked. The 
10-pound application of borax caused marked depression in the final 
yield of both vines and beans. In the section where the mixtures 
were sown broadcast, it required 20 pounds to produce injury, while 
in the section where the fertiline® Boba mixtures were applied in 
the drill some time before planting, 20 pounds also were required to 
produce injury. 
The effect of borax on snap beans at Arlington, Va., was quite 
marked, injury being noticeable with small quantities of borax, and 
the yield was curtailed with an application of 5 pounds of borax per 
acre, and with quantities below 5 pounds the vines showed a color 
lighter than the no-borax plats. | 
The effect of borax on potatoes at Arlington, Va., when used in 
quantities less than 5 pounds per acre was one of stimulation. Where 
the borax application immediately preceded planting, 20 pounds of 
borax produced injury and a depression in yield. With the other 
methods of applying the borax mixtures the potato withstood greater 
concentration of borax. 
Corn displayed a marked reaction to borax. In the case of 
immediate planting, where the fertilizer was drilled in the furrow, 
only 2 or 3 pounds of borax were required to produce lighter colored 
lants, and with 5 pounds marked discoloration ensued. When the 
ertilizer was sown broadcast no discoloration took place until 10 
pounds or more of borax per acre had been applied. 
Four pounds of borax in the drill depressed the yield of both 
stover and corn. When sown broadcast, 20 pounds were required 
to depress the yield. Practically no plant growth took place where 
the application exceeded 50 pounds of borax per acre. 
The effect of borax on cotton in experiments conducted at Arling- 
ton, Va., and Muscle Shoals, Ala., was to severely injure the plants 
with 20 pounds of borax per acre and to slightly injure the plants 
with 10 pounds per acre. With high rainfall the degree of injury 
was slight, and with low rainfall the injury was more severe. 
In experimental work in Virginia, New Jersey, and Maine the 
effect of borax was more marked on sandy soils than on the heavier 
soil types, and the effect of the borax was modified by rainfall. 
Experimental work conducted at New Brunswick, N. J., with 
corn and potatoes on Sassafras loam showed strikingly the mfluence 
of rainfall, for it required comparatively high initial applications of 
borax to produce the degree of injury noted elsewhere. : 
