Republican farmer., 1920-01-16
BEWARE OF BORAX

Borax has many valuable uses but fertilization of the soil, apparently, is not one of them. The injurious effects of borax in fertilizers came strongly to the attention Of the gov ernment and state authorities the past summer when certain potato far mers in Maine suffered a serious set back to their crops that seemed trace able to the fertilizers used.
 Investigation revealed that injury was due to an excess of borax in com mercial fertilizers Scarcity of pot ash during the war led to the devel- opment of American sources to re- place the German potash formerly imported in great quantities. Two of these American sources have been found to carry boraX in sufficient am- ount to endanger plant life.
 Little, if any, of this difficulty was reported from Connecticut during the past year but Maine, especially, and some other states, suffered consider ably. The United States Department of Agriculture Is now out with a warning to farmers against this dan | ger The Extension Service of Con- l necticut Agricultural College is talk ing steps to acquaint the farmers of l the state of the potash situation. The U. s. Department of Agricul- | ture makes the following statement of | interest to all farmers who use com | mercial fertilizers carrying a consid- erable quantity of potash:
 In order to protect the people o1 l the United States and to conserve the food supply, the departfent, on Oct l ober "A, 1919, addressed a letter to all l brokers, fertilizer manufacturers, and dry mixers, who are under license un- l rt If 1917, stating that the department
 would not permit more than two
 pounds per ton of anhydrous bora1
 in mixed fertilizers, unless the pres
 ence of an excess of this amount i:
 plainly indicated on the container. I
 was further stated that the purpose
 of this regulation was to insure tha
 no fertilizer application which would
 add more than two pounds of boras
 to the acre would be made by far
 mers without their knowledge.
 Tse Secretary of Agriculture, or December 6, 1919, issued a forma order prohibiting the sale of mixed fertilizer containing borax in excess of one-tenth of one per cent. unles ths oontainers are labeled as to shov the percentage of borax present
 This action was designed to protec the farmer in the use of as much a a ton of fertilizer per acre, applied fl
 the drill, or to give him notice tha
 the material contained boeAx. If tn fertilizer contains more than tw, pounds of borax per ton, it is though l that it may safely be used, provided proper attention is given to the meth l cd of application and the amount ap : piled per acre. If it contains 0.2 pc , cent of borax, 1000 pounds per acr } may be used in the drill withou
 exceeding the 9 pounds per acre, tn
 indicated limit of tolerance. If 1t con , tains 0.4 per cent, 500 pounds in tn drill would not exceed the apparen } limit of safety.
 If on the other hand, the fertiIike = is broadcasted and contains 0.5 pc - cent. borax, then ton may be appIe, , without exceeding the limit Of 10 lbs
 per acre of anhydrous borax, the in dicated limit of safety for this mod of application. If it contains 10 De
 cent of borax, then an application o 5 1000 lbs. per acre broadcast coul } be made without exceeding the indi ]. | cated safety limit for this method.