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Show ATOMS AND AGRICULTURE Isotope To Help Farm Income Not only did the atomic bomb explosions ex-plosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki reveal the presence of a new and terrible war weapon, but they also may have ushered in an era of greater progress and prosperity for the American farmer. Researchers at Oregon State college col-lege in Corvallis currently are conducting con-ducting experiments which they believe be-lieve may add millions of dollars worth of produce to the nation', yield in agricultural products. Key to that expanded production 1. the radioactive isotope, a by-product of nuclear fission, which is being be-ing used in experiments that reach into every field of natural science. But a Oregon State college and Washington State college at Pullman, Pull-man, major experimental emphasis is placed on agriculture. Investigation of the application of the atom to agriculture has been given impetus by the estimate of William W. Waymack, member of the atomic energy commission and Des Moines, Iowa, newspaper publisher, pub-lisher, that radioactive Isotopes may be instrumental in increasing farm production in the U. S. by 240 million mil-lion dollars in one year. Over a period pe-riod of 10 years, such an increase would pay for the two billion dollars dol-lars spent on developing atomic energy during the war. Value of the isotope to agricultural agricul-tural research i. similar to that in other fields of research. Its radioactivity radio-activity permits its use as a tracer through the organisms of plants and animals. Applied in fertilizers to the ! soil, its progress can be traced in the living plant, providing a me- j dium for the understanding of plant i life and nutrition nevei before available. avail-able. Several isotopes are being used to study soil chemistry of potash in the hope of finding more effective effec-tive ways of furnishing nutrition to crops. Another is being utilized to study the effects of application of lime to the soil. Still other areas of research may yield Important knowledge on absorption by grain of phosphate and chlorine from the earth. |