Effects of Applying Common Salt to a Muck Soil on the Yield, Composition, and Quality of Certain Vegetable Crops and on the Composition of the Soil Producing Them¹

Abstract

Miller, Chemical Section; the assistance of Miss L. I. Butler, Miss H. M. Robinson, H. 0. Allen, and J. R. Lewis, Analytical Staff, Chemical Section, in making the mineral analyses; of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture sugar laboratory a t Michigan State College in making the sugar determinations; and of N. K. Ellis and G. D. Sherman, Soils Department, in the field experiments. Wgures in parenthesis refer to "Literature Cited", p. 979. 4Additional studies made on the more peaty types of soils show that the conclusions drawn in this study are applicable to all organic soils of Michigan.

Growth Responses of Barley Seedlings in Relation to Potassium and Sodium Nutrition

“…The fact that plants could grow perfectly well in a culture miiediumii entirely lacking in sodium doubtless caused the assumption that the plants would not utilize it. Work carried on simultaneously with the present work, however, and published elsewhere (16) …”

Chlorine, Bromine and Sodium As Nutrients for Sugar Beet Plants

“…Direct effects of Na on sugar beet growth in field experiments have been reported for muck soils by Harmer and Benne (9) and Harmer et al (10), for sand cultures by Tullin (32), and for table beets in pot experiments with soils by Larson and Pierre (18). Sodium deficiency symptoms have been reported (32) or described (9) in only a few instances and so far no specific function of Na, not performed by K, has been recorded (17,19). Yet for the beet, "sodium may almost be deemed an indispensable nutrient element, approaching potassium in importance" (19).…”

“…When plants are high in K, Na responses have been observed (12,18,31) but most often these are much reduced or not at all in evidence (4,17,18,22,35). Direct effects of Na on sugar beet growth in field experiments have been reported for muck soils by Harmer and Benne (9) and Harmer et al (10), for sand cultures by Tullin (32), and for table beets in pot experiments with soils by Larson and Pierre (18). Sodium deficiency symptoms have been reported (32) or described (9) in only a few instances and so far no specific function of Na, not performed by K, has been recorded (17,19).…”

“…Of these elements Cl has been found just recently by Broyer et al (2) to correct a severe nutritional deficiency of the tomato plant when grown in low halide culture solutions. Raleigh (28) Much has been written about Na in terms of direct and indirect effects upon plant growth (5,9,10,19,20,23 In view of these reports, often indefinite in their conclusions, it was thought worthwhile to re-examine Na, Si and Cl in relation to the growth of sugar beet plants by adding these elements to otherwise complete culture solutions prepared from "chemically pure" salts. The initial experiment was of a factorial design using two levels of the elements in question.…”

The Sodium Content of Hawaii‐Grown Fruits and Vegetables in Relation to Environmenta

“…Few studies have been made on environmental effects on sodium absorption since sodium is not considered essential for growth, although it has been proven beneficial in some plants (6,7). The Foods and Nutrition Department of the University of Hawaii, as early as 1937, reported that papayas grown in littoral regions not only had a salty taste, but a higher chloride content than those grown some distance from the sea (11).…”