Show powerful allies aid farmer in hi battle against bugs infection and erosion experiment stations county agents t fight b crop destroyers how the farmer fares in his never ending battle against insect pests weather disease erosion and the thousand and one other hazards farm life is he heir ir to will largely determine ine how bow well he be succeeds in meeting undo uncle sams ever increasing call for more mor e production of foods dairy products fibers and fats luckily the farmer has his own army navy marine corps coast guard and air force to battle and vanquish his enemies who comprise these armed forces the agricultural experiment stations and the extension services of his state land grant colleges the way these services help the farmer to combat any production troubles old or new that come his way is described by M N beeler in the current issue of cappers farmer the trouble which meets a man at any dawn or in the dead of night may be as old as bangs disease brought to america by cortez in 1521 or hessian fly introduced into the colonies by german hirelings during the revolution writes mr beeler it may be as new as late potato blight in the red river valley or the attack of european corn borer in illinois trouble may be as persistent as bindweed smut codling moth or boll weevil as complicated as malnutrition originating in and nutritional troubles of crops plants and foods are leg legion ion how the army of scientists from the land grant colleges has fought and won battles for the farmer against these and other adversaries forms a fascinating tale make seed germinate when iowa farmers reported sweet clover see seed d germinate properly the state agricultural experiment station discovered the cause was hard seed and made a tier that corrected the trouble that was 30 years ago and was the forerunner of many more modern modem devices and methods the most recent of which is a process by the fort hays kan station for waking buffalo grass seed then there was that matter of Lary ngot rache itis down in new jersey sounds profess orish it but it has an earthy connotation to any who has lost 20 to 60 per cent of his flock the new jersey station found an inoculation that protects the birds from this disease A shortage of spraying machinery threatened the crop of certain pennsylvania potato growers in 1942 the state college extension service met that threat by organizing 50 spray rings to serve 1500 farms and protect acres an average of 30 farmers used each machine increased production was estimated at bu bushels chels so the story goes one of the troubles that plagues farmers on the plains is poisoning of cattle by wheat pasture the oklahoma station investigated and recommended a remedy which included feeding a little dry roughage the kansas college not only discovered a success ga t WT W 40 ar ky 01 k X 13 4 W y 41 1 tt t p A P MIA ka 1 it 3 91 3 44 04 EROSION though slow and unspectacular lowers land productivity tremendously this kansas field too steep to terrace was planted with corn in 1942 there was no protective covering sown on it wind and rain scraped another layer off the already thin topsoil in the spring of 1943 land like this should be in pasture poor soil as evident as a grasshopper scourge as mysterious as baby pig disease as commonplace comm a as labor shortage as rare as foot and mouth disease as little as ants in the kitchen as big as a complete management and production program assistance Is at hand but whatever the dim difficulty acuity help in ial most cases is no farther away than the county extension agent or the land grant college mr beeler points out potentialities for trouble can be appreciated when su such ch an everyday every day animal agthe as the hog is subject to more than 60 afflictions poultry may succumb to any one or a combination of 89 the indiana experiment peri ment station lists 18 common enemies of corn within that state in the category of diseases and an ohio report credits these same diseases with a bushel yield reduction in a single year this damage is in addition to losses from borers borers chinch bugs ear worms grasshoppers aphids root lice and a host of other insects continuing experimental projects are reported by the arkansas arkans as station in combat with a few enemies enemies of cotton such as wilt boll weevil seed destroying diseases aphids deaf eat worms boll worms red spider ilea flea hopper root rot and just plain soil poverty any says mr beeler can coun count a dozen profit prof it and life taking afflictions of his flock but there are at least 36 miscellaneous diseases and 40 internal p parasites ara besides foot rot sore in mouth auth scab ticks pregnancy and lung diseases furthermore the U S department of agrical agriculture 1 ture year book for 1942 2 devotes to pages dis diseases cases and pests of cattle and explains there are 70 or more species of bovine infesting tapeworms tape worms and round worms books have been written about the ail ailments ets of horses and mules the insect fungous virus ful treatment for blackleg black leg in calves in 1914 but through extension it so increased the use that dosage costs declined from 50 to 10 cents this station likewise cintr introduced copper carbonate treatment of bunt smut ot of wheat sorghums sorg hums and millet when the new england coastal hurricane damaged 10 to 75 per cent of trees in farm orchards the extension service of rhode island connecticut and massachusetts worked out a rehabilitation program that saved thousands of trees control fever tick colorado potato growers were faced with an infestation of bacterial ring in 1938 the station found a remedy cattle fever tick had prevented development of cattle raising in louisiana up to 1936 extension workers and animal husbandry researchers led the fight to stamp it out missouri had inaugurated in 4 1 k V 4 J grasshoppers and locusts are among the worst scourges urges in many farming arming regions 1888 the investigation in cooperation with texas which made control of texas fever tick possible A mysterious livestock disease observed by marco polo in china more more than years ago which afflicted army horses at fort randall neb was as explained only in 1931 the trouble is caused by feed grown on soil containing selenium the south dakota station has announced control and remedies the list of achievements is almost endless substitutes for pyrethrum have been produced by the delaware station beginning in 1900 the west virginia station worked out the fly free date for controlling hessian fly tennessee discovered and introduced trod to replace scarce arseni cals as an insecticide montana instituted the of io dazed salt during pregnancy to prevent goiter losses of newborn new born pigs lambs calves and colts nebraska checked the potency of commercial serums offered in hi control of swine erysipelas with resultant standardization of effective protection by breeding a wilt resistant cotton strain the alabama station sa saved ved the cotton growing industry of the southern part of the state purdue experiment station in indiana has produced a new hessian fly resistant wheat new york has announced a new organic spray which kills late fruit blooms materially teri ally reduces the hand labor of thinning and induces annual bearing in varieties which normally produce fruit every other year develop borer resistant corn the ohio station has demonstrated that milk fever can be greatly reduced by feeding four ounces of irradiated yeast daily to cows for four weeks before and one week after freshening another ohio station project was the develop development men t of borer resistant corn hybrids experiments at pennsylvania and elsewhere disclose that fowl paralysis which caused a loss in 10 poultry states one year can an be controlled by selective breeding bre ding and culling but lest any farmer get the notion that the scientific research job has been completed and that he can get along without it mr beeler suggests that he remember just one menace wheat rust ceres was a stem rust resistant variety distributed by north dakota in 1926 he points out by 1933 it occupied acres but certain physiologic races of rust increased and laid it low then the minnesota station brought out thatcher in 1934 it spread to acres in the united states and canada by 1940 now thatcher is on the way out because of susceptibility to leaf rust but the minnesota station announces new hatch out yielding thatcher by 36 per cent tor for three years to be released in 1944 10 2 1 kl ra I 1 IS V 11 I 1 jl V CHINCH BUGS ruin nun millions of bushels of cutworms cut worms corn every year as UA a army armr worms and other oth to control pests many of which are di fr ae alt |