Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-08-13

Orono, Me- Aug. 1.-THE following
statement concerning the potato and
fertilizer situation in Aroostook county
was issued today from the office Of
Charles D. Woods, director of the Maine
Agricultural Experiment Station at tn.
University of Maine:
About the middle of July both the Ex-
pertinent Station and the State Depart
ment of agriculture began to receive
complaints from Aroostook county rel
alive to che condition of the potato
crop in certain fields. These came from
both the users and the makers of fertil-
izers. In consequence of these reports
the director and the plant pathologist
of the Maine Agricultural Experiment
Station and the chief of the bureau Of
inspections and the chief Of the seei
Improvement bureau of the State de-
partment, together with several other
people. mad a 10 days tour OF Aroos-
took county studying the condition Of
the potato fields While the major nor.
ton of the crop was in very salts
factory condition, especially considering
/ the unusually dry weather Of June,
large acreages where certain makes Of
. fertilizer had been used were found to
! be in bad shape. On some fields the
| stand was almost a complete failure.
ransing from this US to a fairly good
stand of fairly good-sized plants. Nat
uralIy no definite experiments had been
planned with these particular fertilizers
but in getting at the history OF the OPP
- n1Ccfhlo 70
fairly good series. practically as good
as though an experiment had been def
nitely planned. That the loss was due
to the fertilizer was clearly established
on several farms where the same fer
tilizer was used in varying proportions,
ranging from 200 POUNDS per acre down
to no application whatever. For ex-
ampl one man began by applying
tone to the acre. but later when he still
had 10 acres to plant discovered that
the fertilizer was running short. and
shut down the amount that the planter
would deliver. The final two acres were
p,anted without fertilizer. Where one
ton per acre was used there was prac-
ticaiIy no stand. When he began re-
ducing the amount applied the stand
began to improve until on the final part
where no fertilizer was used a perfect
stand was had. Incidents similar to this
were found on various other farms.
The company whose goods seem to be
giving the largest and most uniform
amount Of trouble Of any in the COUNT
put out three formulas. one without
any potash, one with 1 per cent, ana
another with per cent. OF potash.
Wherever the fertilizer which contained
no potash was used practically per-
feet stand was had. Where the 4 per
cent. goods was used in small amounts
there was a reasonably good stand, but
when the application reached up TO
ton per acre the stand was poor. WITH
the goods carrying 6 per cent. OF pot
ash, far more injury was observed
when 1900 or 1900 pounds per acre was
used than in the case of the per cent.
goods. The deductions from the notes
taken on large numbers of fields mol.
cate very clearly that it was the pot
ash that was responsible for the trouble
and not the nitrogen or the pnosphoric
acid.
Because of war conditions. practf-
cally all of the potash which was
used in American goods the present
season were Of American origin, al
though some Alsacian potash was
available later in the season and went
into some mixtures that were used
in Maine. OF the American potashes
quite large part were OBTAINED from
Searle's Lake, the waters OF which
carry considerable quantities OF pot
ash together with some borax.
Seafle's Lake potash was used ex-
clusively by the company whose
goods were most largely at fault and
to some extent by the four other COM
panies where trouble with the potato
crop was found.
Naturally not large amount Of
work has been done to determine the
poisonous effect of boron which is
the mineral that enters into borax.
In 1915 the Indiana Experiment Sta
ton found poisonous results from the