*l6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 20,1981
UNIVERSITY PARK - If sick
plants had brains and could walk,
they would most likely head for the
Penn State campus. Penn State,
you see, has a good thing going for
plants a disease clinic that is the
only one of its kind in Penn-
sylvania. And the service is free.
The Penn State Plant Disease
Clinic is equipped to diagnose
problems caused by fungi, bac
teria, nematodes, viruses, and air
pollutants. Available to anyone
with plant problems, the clinic
operates within the Department of
Plant Pathology, College of
Agriculture. It complements the
regular soil and foilage testing
laboratories on the campus.
The staff mcludes all Extension
specialists within the department.
Manager is John D. Peplmski,
senior research aide.
Clinic facilities include a
laboratory for microscopic
examination of diseased plants.
The lab can also isolate and grow
plant pathogens (disease
organisms). Moreover, virus
analysis is carried out using
certain plants called “indicator
USDA suspends Pa.
livestock operators
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Edward E.
Relhck, Indiana, has been
suspended by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and ordered to stop
violating fair trade practice
requirements of the Packers and
Stockyards Act. The suspension,
which began June 1, is for eight
months.
Relhck, registered with USDA as
a market agency to buy livestock
in commerce on a commission
basis, operates in western Penn
sylvania.
Three other Pennsylvania
livestock operators also have been
suspended. Their suspension,
which begins June 3, is for 21 days.
Named in the order are: Robert
B. Stambrook, Patricia E. Loomis
and William G. Doyle. All three are
registered with USDA as a market
agency to sell livestock in com
merce. They do business as
Mercer Livestock Auction, Mer
cer, operating in western Penn
sylvania.
Administrative Law Judge
Victor Palmer ordered the four
operators to cease and desist
from-
Free plant disease clinic aids farmers, gardners
plants” that readily show disease
symptoms. Viruses are also
detected with a technique known
as ELISA, an acronym for the
scientific name of enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay.
If the plant pathology staff finds
that diseases and air pollutants are
not mvolved in a problem, then
Extension specialists are con
sulted- in other departments
entomology, agronomy, hor
ticulture, and forestry.
Many plant specimens are
received from other states,
Pephnski said. The Penn Staters
also cooperate with workers m
several other university clinics of
the Northeast to help understand
and solve plant problems.
About 1800 specimens are
processed by the clinic in a year.
Of these, some 50 percent come
from commercial operations and
the other 50 percent from
homeowners.
“Of all specimens received, 35
percent are referred to us by
county Extension agents,”
Peplmski commented. “The
engaging directly or indirectly
in any practice to obtain money
from buyers or sellers of livestock
under false pretenses;
misrepresenting or helping to
misrepresent the place where a
purchase or sale was made or the
procedures involved in those
transactions; and
making or issuing any sales
documents or collecting on the
basis of those documents when
they are not correct or do not show
the true nature of the transaction.
Judge Palmer also ordered the
operators to maintain accurate
records which show the true nature
of their livestock transactions.
James L. Smith, P&S official,
said they consented to the order,
waived their right to a hearing and
neither admitted nor denied the
charges in USDA’s administrative
complaint.
The P&S Act is a fair trade
practices law administered by
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service. It promotes fair and open
competition in the marketing of
livestock, meat and poultry.
Problems of the growing season are now disse cting microscope, left, to determine if the
coming into the Plant Disease Clinic at Penn problem is caused by fungi. insects, or other
State. Here a twig from a pine tree is examined conditions. This twig had a disease called pine
by John D. Peplinski, clinic manager. t j p b |j ght
Specimens of all sorts are placed under the
remaining 65 percent are either
submitted directly to us by mad,
are brought m personally, or come
m through faculty and staff
members.”
Kits are avadable for submitting
plant specimens and sod samples.
These Plant Disease Clinic kits are
avadable in room 218, Buckhout
Laboratory, University Park, PA
16802 as well as at all county
Extension Service Offices.
Use of the kits is encouraged. A
form in each kit, when filled out,
provides valuable information to
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aid clinic personnel un diagnosing
plant disease problems.
A computer information system
is used to store and retrieve -
records of clinic specimens. All
records for the past five years
have been entered into the system.
“Listing of specimen records
can be produced,” Peplinski said,
“whenever people request in
formation .regarding certain
diseases or crops. For example, if
a listing is needed for all tomato
samples received by the clinic in
1980, we can print this list with our
computer terminal.’ ’
The computer storage system
proved to be a valuable source of
. information for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) m
its investigation of plant problems
reported in the Three Mde bland
(TMI) area. Computer listing of
plant specimens received by the
clinic in 1979 from counties
surrounding TMI - were given to
the NRC. The clinic continues to
cooperate in diagnosing plant
problems referred to the NRC
from the TMI area.