Show ATOMS AND AY agriculture isotope 1 sio 3 t to he help not only did the atomic bomb explosions plo at hiroshima and nad nagasaki reveal the presence of a new and terrible war weapon but they also may have ushered in an era cm ol of greater progress and prosperity for or the american farmer researcher cher at oregon state college in corvallis Corva Uis currently are conducting experiments which they believe may add millions of dollars worth of produce to tho the nations yield in agricultural products key to io that expanded production li Is the radioactive isotope a by bi product of nuclear fl aslon which Is b being infused used in experiments that reach reach let every field of natural science but at oregon state co college ege and 1 t it 1 alm W i washington state college at pullman major experimental emphasis la Is placed on agriculture investigation ut tho the application of 0 the tha atom to agriculture has been given impetus by the estimate 0 of william W waymack lc member of the atomic energy commission and dos moines iowa newspaper publisher that radioactive isotopes may bo be instrumental in increasing farm production in the tha U S by million dollars in one year over a period of 10 years such an increase would pay tor for tho thi two billion dollars dollar spent on developing atomic energy during the war value of the isotope to agricultural research la Is stra similar ilar to that in hi other fields of research its radioactivity permits its iti huseas use as a tracer through the orani organisms sms of plants and animals applied in fertilizers to the soll soil its progress can bo be traced in the living plant plait providing a medium for or the understanding of plant plant life and nutrition nevet before avail able S several rl isotopes are ar being used to study sou sell chemistry of potash in the tha hope of ft finding riding more effective ways 0 of o fur furnishing nutrition to crops another Is being utilized to study th the effects of application 0 f urn jim to the soll still other area research may yield important knowledge on absorption by grain of phosphate and chlorine from the earth f 4 |