SOME EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT, THE B VITAMIN CONTENT, AND THE INORGANIC COMPOSITION OF OATS

Abstract

ganic ions on the content of plant tissue. The principal constituents which have been studied to date include carotene, ascorbic acid, and the inorganic ions. Of the work done on the effects of major elements, the main emphasis has been on the study of plant tissue grown in nutrient solutions completely devoid of one element with very little work done on the effect of high and low concentrations of specific inorganic ions. Recently a number of articles have been published suggesting a relationship between the fertility of soils and human and animal nutrition. Before any positive conclusions are justified as to the mechanism of this relation, a comprehensive study of the effect of varying concentrations of inorganic ions (available to the plant) on the nutritive content of plants will be necessary. The work described in the present paper was designed to study the effect of high and low concentrations of phosphorus on the folie acid, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, and inorganic content of oats. Experimental procedure Wintok Oats no. CI-3424 from the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station were the plants used in this study. The seeds were germinated in flats containing pure quartz sand which had been previously leached with hydorchloric acid and washed with distilled water. The seeds were planted in flats, then watered with distilled water. When 11 days old the seedlings were transplanted into pure quartz sand in four-inch glazed soil jars, and the different treatments were watered with their respective nutrient solutions. The following watering systems was used: Approximately 100 ml. of nutrient solution was introduced into each pot every day. Every fourth day the pots were flushed with distilled water to prevent undue salt accumulation. There were ten pots to each treatment with two plants per pot. The compositions of the nutrient solutions were based on Solution 1, Method B, of Hoagland and Arnon (6) and are listed in table I. The nutrient solu