New Soil Testing Method
For the first time, soils from
most every state in the nation
have been tested for nutrient
needs by a new testing method
determining soil requirements
directly for each element. Such
developments at Pennsylvania
State University were described
November 2 during national
meeting of soil and crop scien
tists in Miami Beach, Florida.
If future experiments prove
successful, the new soil testing
method could replace current soil
testing procedures which use
inventories of some extractable
nutrient elements related to soil
conditions. The new procedure
was described by Dr. Dale E.
Baker, professor of soil
chemistry at Penn State, who
used 90 soil samples from
throughout the U. S. in his ex
perimehts.
He addressed annual meetings
of the American Society of
Agronomy, Crop Science Society
of America, and Soil Science
Society of America.
The new soil test utilizes a
chemical solution which, when
perfected, will contain the
minimum amounts and balance
among elements required by
plans. Removal of ions from the
solution by soil will indicate the
need for fertilizers at a given
time, Dr. Baker explained. The
amount of each ion removed from
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the solution by the soil will show
directly the requirements for a
particular nutrient.
Another first was achieved, Dr.
Baker said, when Penn State
experiments found that results
from solution cultures can be
related to soil culture.
The new approach to soil
testing should enable the farmer
to do a better job of maintaining
the minimum amounts of each
essential element needed for
maximum crop production with
only minimum enrichment of
streams and ground water, he
affirmed. Elements being
analyzed include nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, calcium,
magnesium, manganese, iron,
copper, zinc, and sulfur.
The new procedure will be
helpful in using waste products as
fertilizers. Soils, water, and
crops must be monitored con
stantly to insure that the quality
of each does not decrease. If the
new method proves superior to
present soil analysis methods, it
may be used routinely within a
few years. Dr. Baker predicted.
Currently, it is most valuable in
helping to explain the lack of
agreement among existing
methods.
The chemical solution, as used.
must be perfected to the point
where it will always contain
minimum concentrations of the
■ frf* i*tr&i*SrJrb'trJ
essential nutrient ions found in
soil and needed for maximum
crop production. Consideration
must be given to differing ten
dencies of various ions to be
absorbed or held onto by soil
particles. Once this procedure is
perfected, the new approach will
be ready for calibration.
The new method of analyzing
soils explains some deviations in
other techniques, Dr. Baker
pointed out. This occurs since
the testing method includes more
factors important to plant
nutrition than existing tests. The
experimental procedure com
bines various factors, including
some ignored by existing testing
methods.
Finding by Dr. Baker and
associates have also revealed
that accurate magnesium
recommendation for crop
production and animal health can
not be based on routine ex
periments relating crop response
to magnesium treatments or soil
test levels. Responses of crops to
changes in magnesium levels
depend upon many soil and crop
factors, all of which must be
evaluated for every experiment,
the Penn State scientist affirmed.
Broiler Chicks Report
Placement of broiler chicks
last week were up sharply from a
year ago but down from a week
earlier both in Pennsylvania
and throughout the 22 leading
broiler producihg states, ac
cording to the Pennsylvania Crop
Reporting Service.
In the Commonwealth,
placements sagged to 1,073,000
but this was 16 percent better
than a year ago, despite a drop of
nine percent from the preceding
week?- The U.S. totals show
53,809,000 broiler placements in
the same period, five percent less
than a week earlier but up 10
percent from the same week in
1971.
The setting of eggs for broiler
type hatch is off in Pennsylvania
in all three indicators. 1,531,000
eggs is eight percent behind the
preceding week, 21 percent off
the same report period last year
and the current three-week
average trails 1971 by 10 percent.
The average weight of broilers
fryers slaughtered in Penn
sylvania during the most recent
week was 4.2 pounds.
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MW.WriAWW-!(
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 4,1972
SwineTottoosSoidWorkable
Swine can be indentified from
farm through slaughter by means
of a slap-tattoo identification
system at a cost of less than two
cents per head, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) reports.
Officials of USDA’s Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) said that the cost of
recently completed field trials
varied up to five cents per head,
depending largely on the wages
paid the employee doing the
tattooing. Those wages ranged
from $1.85 to $6.72 an hour.
Of some 150 lots tattooed,
APHIS officials were able to
trace all but one lot back to the
herds of origin. This one untraced
lot resulted from a tattoo being
misread at slaughter.
A total of 52,238 hogs were
tattooed in the field trials, which
were conducted at four terminal
livestock markets--East St.
Louis, HI., Kansas City, Mo., St.
Paul, Minn., and Sioux Falls, S.
Dak.
The tattoo instrument used
contained six digits—three let
ters identifying the market and
three numbers identifying the lot
or consignment. The instrument
New USDA Regulations
Protect Plant Breeders
The U. S. Department of
Agriculture announced this week
that it is adopting regulations and
rules of practice implementing
the Plant Variety Protection Act,
effective Nov. 27.
USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service said the
purpose of the Act is to encourage
the development of novel
varieties of plants which
reproduce through seeds, by
providing exclusive rights of
protection to those who breed,
develop, and discover these novel
varieties To date, more than 250
applications for certificates of
protection for 55 different species
have been filed with USDA. i
The regulations and rules of
practice were proposed in the
April 18 Federal Register. In-
was applied to an ink pad and
then slapped on the hog’s
shoulder, either when it was in
pens or as it moved through
chutes. The trials showed that the
tattoo remained clearly legible
throughout the scalding and
dehairing processes.
The system required that tattoo
identification numbers be en
tered on the dock ticket, scale
ticket, mvoice or other document
retained by the marketing
agency. The number was
recorded again as the carcass
went into the cooler. If inspection
by Federal or State inspectors
turned up tuberculosis lesions, or
if blood samples tested positive
for brucellosis, the diseased hog
was traced quickly to the farm of
origin by checking the recorded
tattoo number.
APHIS officials say that
determining herds of origin of
diseased hogs is important if such
diseases as tuberculosis,
brucellosis, and trichinosis are to
be eradicated. The rapid
movement of animals through
commercial marketing channels
makes it essential to locate and
eradicate sources of infection as
rapidly as possible.
terested persons had 60 days to
submit comments.
The regulations and rules of
practice cover such areas as
applying for a certificate of
protection, marking and labeling
protected seed, fees and charges,
and appeals from decisions of the
" Plant Variety Protection Office,
established under the Act.
The regulations also set time
limits for applicants who file for
certificates, of protection in other
countries to file in this country. A
maximum of four years is per
mitted from the time the ap
plication is first submitted for
approval in a foreign country
until the time it is filed in the U. S
The final regulations and rules
of practice will be published in
the Oct. 28 Federal Register.
Copies of the regulations can be
obtained from the Plant Variety
Protection Office, Grain
Division, Agricultural Marketing
Service, U. S Department of
Agriculture, 6525 Belcrest Road,
Hyattsville, Md. 20782
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