Oct. 4, 1915 
Effect of Alkali Salts in Soils on Crops 
29 
even more so than with sodium carbonate. This affirms the well-known 
toxicity of magnesium salts to roots when used alone. The various salts 
in solution cultures did not act at all in the same manner as in soils, 
which shows the inadvisability of applying too widely to the soil the 
results obtained with solution cultures of alkali. 
RESULTS OF STUDIES 
NUMBER OF SEEDS GERMINATED 
In the five graphs which follow (fig. 26-30) the effects of various 
factors on the number of seeds germinating in each glass are given. 
These are all summaries and each one represents a great many figures. 
It will be remembered that 10 seeds were planted in each glass. 
10 
9 
8 
7 
6 
5 
4 
s 3 
2 
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mm , ■■■■ tzcemue loam 
——’ • C 0 U£ 6 £ LOAM 
— — — CQARSE SAND 
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Fig. 
O 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000 
Concentration of salts in p. p. m. 
26.*—Curve showing the number of wheat plants germinating in College loam, Greenville loam, and 
sand with different concentrations. Average of 13 salts. 
Figure 26 shows the effect of the concentration of salts in sand, Green¬ 
ville loam, and College loam on the number of seeds germinating. Each 
curve represents the average of 13 salts in various combinations. In all 
of the soils there was an average of about 8}4 plants coming up in each 
glass to which no salt was added. In sand the germination rapidly 
decreased with the concentration of salt, especially above 3,000 p. p. m. 
In College loam and Greenville loam there was but little falling off in 
germination until a concentration of over 4,000 p. p. m. had been 
reached. 
Figure 27 shows the effect of the various salts on the germination of 
wheat in the three kinds of soil. Each salt represents the average of 10 
concentrations ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 p. p. m. In sand there 
