234 Rerort oN Crop PRODUCTION OF THE 
tion, complete with the exception of potash, the plants grew no 
better than in pure water. There was no assimilation and no 
actual growth, because without the action of potash no starch is 
formed in the chlorophyl bodies. 
Potassium chloride was found to be the best form of potash 
for buckwheat, the nitrate being next in usefulness. . If all the 
potash is given in form of sulphate or phosphate, there will 
develop sooner or later a disease, due to the “ passive accumu- 
lation ” of starch; which is not transported so that it may be 
of use to the plant. 
Sodium and lithium could not replace potash. While the 
sodium was simply useless for the plant, the lithium in the cell 
sap had an injurious action on the plant tissues. 
M. Mercadante* grew oxalis and rumex without potash. The 
plants did not bear fruit or flowers. The sap contained about one- 
eighth the free acid found in a normal plant. Besides the oxalic 
acid the sap also contained tartaric acid, both being in combina- 
tion with lime. Only small amounts of sugar and starch were 
found in the sap. . 
A. Pagnoul® reached the conclusion that ash of potatoes, fer- 
tilized with both soda and potash salts, did not contain even a 
trace of soda. The roots assimilated the potash but none of the 
soda. , 
M. Georges Ville® studying the action of salts in quartz sand, 
says in regard to potash: “As soon as this alkali is lacking in 
the soil, the plant suffers greatly; the stalk, instead of growing 
vertically, bends as if it wanted solidity. It does not die, how- 
ever, but the yield scarcely reaches 92 grains.” The complete 
fertilizer gave 337-400 grains. 
“From a chemical point of view the closest resemblance exists 
between potash and soda, * * * but to the plant there is 
a vast difference, for in the experiment in which the potash was 
suppressed, and where vegetation suffered so much, the soil was 

‘Jahro. f. Agr. Chem., 18 : 257. 
*Comptes rendus, 80: 1010, abstracted Jahrb. f. Agr. Chem., 18 : 259. 
* Artificial Manures, p. 154. 
