26 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. V, No. i 
concentrations ranged from i ,000 parts of anhydrous salt for each 
1,000,000 parts of water up to 10,000 p. p. m. of salt. The seedlings 
were allowed to grow 21 days before being harvested. At harvest the 
following determinations were made of the plants in each glass: (1) 
Plants still alive, (2) average height of plants, (3) average length of roots, 
(4) average number of leaves per plant, (5) dry weight of tops, (6) dry 
weight of roots, (7) ratio of length of tops to length of roots, (8) ratio of 
weight of tops to weight of roots. 
In the first test sodium chlorid, sodium carbonate, and sodium sulphate, 
were used; in the second, potassium chlorid, calcium chlorid, and mag¬ 
nesium chlorid; and in the third, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and 
magnesium nitrate. Figures 23, 24, and 25 show in detail the number of 
SaCl 
N*t s0 4 ioooppm, N ** c0 s zpooppm. z.oooppm. d.oooppm. s,oooppm. 
ChecK^) NoSalt 
4M0ppm. 1000 ppm. 0.000 ppm. 9 .oooppm. to.oooppm. 
• = One plant — = 0.1 gm. dry matter; tops f — 0.1 gm. dry matter; roots . 
Fig. 23.—Diagram showing the number of seedlings alive and dry matter produced in tops and roots in 
21 days with solutions of sodium chlorid, sodium sulphate, and sodium carbonate in different combina¬ 
tions and concentrations. 
plants alive at the end of three weeks, as well as the weight of tops and 
roots in each glass. 
An examination of the figures shows a gradual decrease in growth 
as the concentration of salts increased. Plants were able to endure 
much stronger chlorids and nitrates in solution culture than in the 
soil, while the carbonate retarded growth more in the solution than in 
the loam, but not as much as in the sand. The plants growing in the 
distilled water without any salts had no food except that stored in the 
seed and that dissolved from the glass, and, as a result, they produced 
less growth than plants growing in the dilute solutions. 
The results showing the effect of concentration of the various salts 
are summarized in Table XI. Each figure represents the average of 
nine different salts of a given concentration. An examination of the 
table shows that the number of plants alive at the end of three weeks 
