The Toxic Action of Organic Compounds as Modified by Fertilizer Salts

Abstract

In a former paper2 the results obtained with dihydroxystearic acid, a crystalline organic compound isolated from a number of unproductive soils, was presented. The results obtained with this organic soil constituent, showing its effect on growth and absorption of plant nutrients from the various culture solutions containing a wide range of fertilizer composition, showed the desirability of obtaining further information concerning the behavior of other organic bodies known to be harmful to plants. In the present paper some of the results obtained in experiments with toxic organic substances and the restraining influence on their toxicity by fertilizer mixtures of different composition will be given. The compounds studied, though not actually isolated from soil, are common constituents of plant debris, or result from this through changes, and so become, at least temporarily, components of the soil. The effects of a large number of such compounds on plant growth was given in an earlier paper. Of these compounds, cumarin was selected for the continuation of these researches because it was quite harmful even in minute amounts, a few parts per million of solution having a noticeable effect on plant growth, and because it was a common constituent of a number of plants the remains of which get into the soil. The earlier results were obtained in solutions of the cumarin in distilled water. The present investigation concerns itself with the effect of cumarin in the presence of nutrient salts as well, the