Fertilizer Is Not a Major Factor in Chesapeake Bay Pollution,
Termination of all commercial
fertilizer application to farmland
would not measurably improve
water quality in the Chesapeake
Bay area, according to Dr Fred
P Miller, University of Maryland
Extension soil and water
resources specialist.
Dr Miller made his statement
during a panel discussion at the
third annual meeting of the
Delaware-Maryland Plant Food
Association recently in
Baltimore
In an earlier speech titled
“Agriculture and the En
vironment,” the Maryland
specialist cited a run-off pollution
study conducted in a
nonagricultural, nonurbamzed
100-acre tract in northern
Baltimore County
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The study showed that the
annual runoff of soluble salts
attributable solely to Mother
Nature— termed background
erosion—amounted to 17 tons per
square mile
Looking at the Potomac River,
Dr Miller pointed out that in
dependent studies shq,w 48 per
cent of the river’s nitiogen runoff
into the Chesapeake Bay is
contributed by the metropolitan
area of Washington, D C
This 48 per cent contribution
from the urbanized arda com
pares with a 52 per cent nitrogen
contribution from the entire
12,000-square-mile watershed
area upriver And this upriver
area includes several towns and
small cities, in addition to far
mland, he emphasized.
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Beside this, he noted, about 88
per cent of the Potomac River’s
pollution due to phosphorus
runoff is chargeable to the
metropolitan area of Washington,
D C
Like Mark Twin’s reaction to
reports of his death, the charges
concerning agricultural fer
tilizer’s contribution to the total
water pollution problem have
often been greatly exaggerated,
the Maryland soils specialist
charged
For example, he noted that
various authorities estimate
agriculture’s share of the total
nitrogen pollution problem all the
way from 25 to 90 per cent And
agriculture’s share of phosphorus
pollution is placed in a wide
range from 8 to 70 per cent
“Obviously, somebody’s
estimates are wrong,” he
commented
One problem, he declared, is
that too many would-be
authorities conduct a small study
in one geographical location and
try to draw nationwide im
plications from this
As an example, he noted one
study conducted in the Sangamon
Fifteen members of the Pequea Valley FFA Chapter who
received their greenhand degrees at a recent chapter
meeting are: left to right, kneeling, Tim Martin, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Henry Martin, Honeybrook RD2; Barry Diem, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey Diem, New Holland RD2; and Mike
Dalmas, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Dalmas, Gap RD2.
Standing, left to right, Richard Garver, son of Mrs. Dorothy
Carver, Paradise RDI; John Beyer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark
Beyer, Kinzer RDI; Roland Barker, son of Mr. and Mrs.
William Barker, Gap RD2; Nelson Martin, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Wilmur Martin, Honey Brook RDI; Carlton Gregg, son of Mr.
and Mrs. George Gregg, Gordonville RDI; Tom Denlinger,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Denlinger, Gap RDI; Sam
Allgyer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Allgyer, Kinzers RDI;
Mike Weir, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Weir, Gap~RDl :
Dennis Sandoe, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sandoe, Narvon
RD2; Glenn Clark, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Clark, Paradise
RDI; Gordon Hoover, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hoover,
Gap RDI; and Joe Stringer, son of Mrs. and Mrs. Joseph
Stringer, Gap RD2.
At Kissel Hill - Lititz - 626-2091
River and the Lake Decatur area
of central Illinois in the midst of
an intensive cropping area
Results of this study have been
used to make sensational charges
on a nationwide basis against
pollution attributable to fertilizer
and other agricultural cropping
practices
Dr Miller declared that many
reputable scientists doubt the
validity of the study itself, let
alone its indictment of
agriculture on a nationwide
basis
“We have to admit, however,
that agriculture is a major
contributor of nutrients which
WASHINGTON REPORT
Congressman Edwin D. Eshleman fIHI
14th DUfrlet-Pannsylvanl* fISHH
Despite many questions about
it and criticisms of it, the wage
price freeze has proved effective
Congress did not make it work,
the President alone did not make
it work, but the American people
did Their cooperative efforts
made the difference in stabilizing
prices, restoring consumer
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cause deterioration of water
quality through the process of
eutrophication The other major
contributors of such nutrients are
Mother Nature, domestic
sewage, urban runoff and in
dustrial wastes
“But the sources of nutrient
pollution within agriculture are
complex and extremly
variable Fertilizer is not the only
culprit, by far
Animal waste is also a big
factor, along with naturally
occunng nutrients which erode
and leach from cultivated soils,”
the Maryland specialist said
confidence and strengthening the
economy
Evidence of this effectiveness
has begun to come in and should
be of interest to everyone The
evidence shows that everyone’s
sacrifices have resulted in
everyone benefiting from an
upturn in prosperity and a
downturn in inflation
In the area of prices the trend
was definitely toward less in
flation The Wholesale Price
Index, which is one of the prime
devices for measuring the in
flationary picture, dropped in
both September and October and
preliminary estimates are that
November figures are down, too
Of 3,885 prices covered in a
special Department of Com
merce survey of the wage-price
freeze, 87 per cent showed no
change in price from August to
September And the rate of in
flation as measured through use
of the Gross National Product
(the sum total of all the Nation s
wealth) has been dropping
steadily
In the meantime consumer
confidence was on the rise The
Smdlinger Consumer Confidence
Index has been going up ever
since the freeze got underway
There was a 10-point jump bet
ween the start of the freeze and
mid-November In addition a
survey of plant and equipment
spending plans showed an an
ticipated«*increase in capital
spending of seven per cent which
is the first real increase in this
area since 1969
One of the bleakest outlooks,
according to some reports, is in
the employment field Yet, the
statistics show some encouraging
trends Even though the unem
ployment rate has been too high,
total employment has been in
creasing In other words, there
are more people in jobs than ever
before in our history even with
the six per cent unemployment
rate
Most important, the people in
the jobs tend to be married men
with families to support Only
three per cent of these men were
unemployed as of last month
the lowest figure in a year
Other bright signs on the
economic front are the expansion
of retail sales, the increase of
housing starts and the big jump
in automobile sales.
Retail sales for October this
year ran close to 12 per cent
above October, 1970.
The rate of housing starts in the
first 10 months of 1971 is higher
than the annual rate of any year
in history, and that also means
more sales of consumer goods
like furniture and appliances.
Automobile purchases reached
an all-time high in October with
more than a million new'cars
sold
This is the record of a suc
cessful program in which we
have all played a part It suggests
that we are on the road toward
the goal of prosperity with peace,
11