Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 152, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1915 — IS VALUABLE PLANT NUTRIENT [ARTICLE]

IS VALUABLE PLANT NUTRIENT

Carbonic Acid Gas One of the Best, According to Man Who Has Experimented. The value of carbonic acid gas as a plant nutrient has bean the subject of considerable redent literature, including an interesting jiaper by H. Fischer, describing experiments in Germany. The author found that the development of both foliage and flowof

carbonic acid in the air, while the yield of tomatoes was doubled and that of cucumbers increased 12.5 per cent by carbonic acid treatment. It has .generally been held that .03 per cent of carbonic dioxide in the air is sufficient for plant growth, but Mr. Fischer thinks that more than this can be utilized, provided there is ample light, and that experiments in this direction might have valuable results. On the other hand, L F. Kidd, an English investigator,- finds that an ex-

cess of carbon dioxide In the atmosphere retards or inhibits the germination of seeds, but without injuring them. He suggests that the production of carbon dioxide in nature by the decay of vegetable matter may play a part analogous to that , noted in his experiments.