Magnesium levels of Tennessee soils in relation to crop growth

Within the past few years reports of magnesium deficiency in various crops have been received from several sections of the state. As early as 1946 chlorotic striping of corn had been observed on the Cumberland Plateau. In the summers of 1948 and 1949 reports of magnesium deficiencies in corn were received from the Highland Rim and the Central Basin areas of the state. Also magnesium deficiencies in cotton were reported in Lincoln County, Tennessee in the summer of 1949.

Field observations in the affected areas revealed that typical deficiency symptoms were rather widespread on the Cumberland Plateau, appearing in corn, tobacco, cauliflower and some other crops grown in that area. In the other sections of the state the symptoms appeared in widely scattered fields and were noticed primarily in corn.

A study of the nature and extent of the trouble was begun in the summer of 1948. This paper is a report of that study to date.