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Boron in Some Saline and Nonsaline Soils in Southeastern Saskatchewan¹

ABSTRACT

The hot-water soluble B content of salt-affected chernozemic soils of southeastern Saskatchewan, determined colorimetrically with quinalizarin, was found to range from 0.1 to 2.0 ppm. Wheat and alfalfa were grown in the greenhouse on six different soils with three added levels of B. The mean B content of wheat ranged from 1.4 to 30.5 ppm., and that of alfalfa from 49.4 to 69.3 ppm. No toxicity symptoms were observed; on the contrary, the first level of added B tended to increase the dry matter yield of alfalfa on three soils. In a 3⁴ factorial experiment, alfalfa and wheat were grown in the greenhouse on a saline soil with three levels of B, Ca, Mg, and Na. The dry matter yield of both crops decreased linearly with the application of 200 and 400 ppm. of Mg as MgSO₄. Increased Na levels decreased the B content of wheat and the dry matter yield of alfalfa. Added Ca and Mg had no statistically significant effect on the B content of either wheat or alfalfa. The correlation between the B content of wheat and hot-water soluble soil B content was highly significant (r = 0.689), but no such correlation was evident for alfalfa. In the case of wheat, the correlation appeared to be valid only for a specific soil type.

¹ Contribution from the Experimental Farm, Research Branch, Canada Dept. of Agr., Indian Head, Sask. Presented before Div. S-4, Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Denver, Colo., Nov. 19, 1963.

² Research Officer (Soils). Now Lecturer and Assistant Agronomist, Dept. of Agronomy, Univ. of California, Davis.

Received for publication November 8, 1963. Accepted for publication March 25, 1964.