442 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXIII, No. 6 
Even with this heavy rainfall there was unquestionable injury from 
the borax with 30 pounds per acre. With 50 pounds per acre germina¬ 
tion was low when the fertilizer was put in the drill and seed planted 
immediately, and many of the plants died after germinating. When 
the fertilizer was sown broadcast the plants were stunted. With 100 
pounds and over per acre there was practically no germination. The 
section of the field where 100, 200, and 400 pounds of borax per acre 
were used is shown in Plate 2, B. 
SUMMARY 
Experiments were made to test the effect of borax in fertilizers on 
cotton at Arlington Farm, Va., and at Muscle Shoals, Ala. The soil at 
Arlington Farm is a productive silt loam suitable for truck and general 
farm crops. The soils on which the experiments were located at Muscle 
Shoals were the Clarkville loam and the Colbert silt loam. Borax was 
mixed with fertilizers and applied so as to add 5, 10, and 20 pounds of 
anhydrous borax per acre in two of the experiments. In a third test the 
quantities varied from 1 to 400 pounds per acre. 
At Arlington Farm and Muscle Shoals borax in small quantities was 
injurious to the young plants. 
On the silt loam at Arlington Farm, when the fertilizer was applied 
broadcast, 5 pounds of borax per acre were not always injurious, 10 
pounds were slightly injurious, and 20 pounds were distinctly so. Appli¬ 
cation of 20 pounds reduced the weight of the green plants in the various 
experiments from 15 to 35 per cent. When the fertilizer was applied 
in the drill and seed planted immediately, 5 pounds was slightly harmful, 
10 pounds was distinctly injurious, and 20 pounds caused severe injury, 
especially on germination and early growth. When the fertilizer was 
applied and allowed to stand until after a rain before the seed were planted, 
the effect was less severe. 
On the Clarksville loam at Muscle Shoals a somewhat similar result 
was obtained. In one of the experiments, 5 pounds of borax applied 
in the drill with the fertilizer decreased the green weight of the plants 
5.7 per cent, 10 pounds decreased the weight 12 per cent, and 20 pounds 
decreased it 39 per cent. The injuries to early growth were much more 
marked than these figures would indicate. 
The influence of rainfall was noted. While the season was a normal 
one from June, the rainfall materially influenced the effect of the borax. 
Wherever a light rainfall occurred soon after planting and was followed 
by a dry period the effect was severest. If heavy showers followed 
periodically after planting the effect was less severe. 
In an experiment started in the early spring on the Colbert loam at 
Muscle Shoals where the rainfall was very heavy for 10 days after plant¬ 
ing, germination was materially affected where the fertilizers were 
applied broadcast by 100 pounds of borax per acre, and no germination 
took place with 200 pounds per acre. Where the fertilizers were put in 
the row, germination was materially affected by 50 pounds per acre and 
was prevented entirely by 100 pounds. 
