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Show Serial Crop-Control Is Booming Industry 25,000,000 Acres Were Treated in U.S. in '51 A midwest wheat tract was so overrun with weeds that the farmer was about to plow it under. He decided, de-cided, hoever, to try treating it with 2,4-D and hired an aerial crop-control specialist to apply the chemical at a cost of $2 an acre. The result: a yield of 20 bushels of grain per acre. Other instances: Aerial spraying of weed-killing chemicals enabled a southern cotton planter to cut hoeing hoe-ing costs from $14 to $6.50 an acre while a California citrus grower improved im-proved his lemon crop by spraying his orchards from the air. Agricultural aviation is a booming boom-ing new industry that is enabling the farmer to substantially increase The above photograph shows aerial dusting of an orchard. This method of insect control is becoming more popular with farmers throughout the country. crop acreage, I. J. Becnel, agricultural agri-cultural research director for the Freeport Sulphur Company, repor'-r. Becnel pointed out that more than 25,000,000 acres of U.S. crop, range and forest land were treated last year with chemicals sprayed or dusted by airplane. Some 6.OQ0 pilots are engaged in the aerial battle against insect pests, weeds and plant diseases. And they are doing the job faster, more efficiently effi-ciently and in many instances at lower cost than ground distribution of insecticides, fungicides and herbi. cides. |