Effect of Certain Compounds of Barium and Strontium on the Growth of Plants

Although it has been known for more than a century that plants are able to extract appreciable amounts of the relatively insoluble compounds of barium contained in soils, very little scientific investigation has been made to determine whether or not the compounds of this element have any specific function in the vegetable economy. Because compounds of barium are poisonous when taken into the animal body, there appears to be a general impression that these compounds would exert a similar influence upon plants. In a former investigation 1 the writer has shown that small amounts of barium can be readily detected and determined quantitatively in the ash of tobacco, corn, potatoes, and a number of other plants grown under normal conditions in the field. Since soils contain only very small amounts of barium, necessarily in the form of relatively insoluble compounds, it is a question of considerable scientific interest how and why it is that notable amounts of this element are absorbed and apparently assimilated by plants, under normal conditions of growth. The object of the present investigation was to determine the effect of some of the well-known compounds of barium and of the closely related metal, strontium, upon the growth of plants.