A number of commonly grown plants were chosen for an experiment to determine if certain Alabama soils were deficient in magnesium and the so-called "minor'' elements. The different plants varied so much in growth when the soils were deficient in these elements that a description of the differences appears to be valuable from both the physiologic and agronomic point of view. These differences are not surprising since, within recent years, tobacco and potatoes have been found to respond to magnesium more often than some other crops, while beets, turnips, and celery are more frequently benefited by boron fertilization.