BORON: ITS ABSORPTION AND DISTRIBUTION IN 
PLANTS AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH 
By F. C. Cook, 
Physiological Chemist , Bureau of Chemistry 
INTRODUCTION 
The experiments reported in this paper were made in connection with 
a cooperative study of borax and calcined colemanite as larvicides for 
the house fly conducted by the Bureaus of Entomology, Chemistry, and 
Plant Industry, of the Department of Agriculture. The object of this 
particular study was to determine the effect of boron-treated horse 
manure on plant growth and to study the absorption of boron and its 
distribution in the roots, stems, and fruit of plants grown on soil fer¬ 
tilized with this manure and on soil fertilized with untreated manure. 
The plants were grown in pots in the greenhouses of the Department 
and on open plots at Arlington Experimental Farm, Va.; Dallas, Tex.; 
Orlando, Fla.; and New Orleans, La. Analyses of the soil from several 
treated and untreated plots are included. 1 
Certain deposits of boron have been known for centuries, but the wide 
distribution of this element in mineral and vegetable matter has been 
recognized only during the last few years. Probably the first to record 
the presence of boron in plants were Wittstein and Apoiger (14), 2 who 
found it in the seeds of Maessa picta . Since then many observers have 
found boron in soils, rocks, fruits, and vegetables. 
As soils in many places contain boron, it is not surprising that this 
element is widely distributed in small amounts in plants. It is also 
probable that boron is present in nearly all animal material. Bertrand 
and Agulhon (3) report its presence in the hair, horns, bones, liver, and 
muscles of animals. They detected boron in 27 species of animals, and 
state that it probably exists in all animals, being more common in those 
of marine origin. Boron was also found in human, asses’, and cows’ 
milk and in the eggs of the chicken, turkey, and goose. 
The toxic effect of boron on plants was first shown in 1876 by Peligot 
(12), who noted a yellowing of the leaves of beans and reported that in 
many cases the yellow leaves fell from the plants. The previous year 
Heckel (8) reported that 1.25 per cent solutions of alkali borate retarded 
germination for from one to three days, and that 3 per cent of the alkali 
borate solutions stopped germination entirely. Loew (10, p. 374) states 
1 The writer desires to express his thanks to Mr. W. D. Hunter, of the Bureau of Entomology, for his 
material assistance in arranging for the experiments in the South. 
2 Reference is made by number to “ Literature cited,” pp. 889-890. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
cd 
(877) 
VoL V, No. 19 
Feb. 7,1916 
E— 4 
