The Rural Voice, 1980-07, Page 27Do you
really need
limestone?
Farmers who apply limestone without
soil testing first may be throwing more
than their money away, according to Russ
Johnston of the Ridgetown College of
Agricultural Technology. Unnecessary
applications of limestone, or applications of
the wrong type, can cause micronutrient
deficiencies in healthy soils.
"Too many farmers apply limestone just
because they think it is a good idea," he
says. "They may not need it, and if they
do, one good application can last for up to
10 years."
Limestone is required to correct the
increase in acidity that naturally occurs in
soils. Intensive cropping speeds this
natural process.
"There are many reasons for increasing
acidity in soils, but the most common ares
leaching and the use of nitrogen fertilizers,
explains Mr. Johnston.
Soil tests conducted at the University of
Guelph express soil acidity on a scale from
0 to 14 pH. Seven is neutral. When the pH
of the soil drops below 6.0, limestone is
required for most crops. To keep records of
your soil pH, and to find out whether you
need limestone, soil tests should be
conducted every three years. Soil analysis
will tell you what rate of limestone to
apply. Rates vary depending on crops
grown.
Prevent cluster
flies invading
Cluster flies are a nuisance to rural and
suburban dwellers, but they can be
prevented.
Cluster flies are parasites of the
earthworm. They are usually larger than
houseflies and are dark gray, but their
most prominent characteristic is their
dazed movement against windowpanes.
They emerge from their hosts and seek
protection in buildings in the fall. They do
not appear as a result of farm operations,
manure piles, or garbage.
Although these pests do not transmit
disease, their buzzing and clustering in
windows is annoying. Dead flies may
accumulate between windows, providing
food for a scavenger pest called the larder
beetle.
"The best control of both pests is to keep
ADVICE ON FARMING
them out of the home," says Rick
Wukasch, Pest Diagnostic and Advisory
Clinic, University of Guelph. He suggests
that "in cottages and newer homes, caulk
or mortar all cracks and crevices. Tape
loosely fitting window screens to the frame
on the inside to close the gaps, and screen
all attic and appliance vents."
Caulking is not always effective in older
homes but sprays outside the house may be
helpful. Protective insecticides such as
malathion, diazinon, dichlorvos, or ronnel
may be applied around windows, doors,
eaves and gables.
One pint of 40 per cent chlordane
emulsion mixed in two and a half gallons of
water is also effective. If other insecticides
are applied, make sure they are meant for
home use.
For indoors, collect dead flies from
windowsills, attic, and cold air registers
with a vacuum cleaner. Aerosol sprays can
be used between the storm and inner
window to kill remaining flies and to repel
others.
Insect strips should be placed in the attic
near the chimney, or where most of the
flies congregate. Always follow the manu-
facturer's directions when handling any
insecticide.
Beyond
the T -Bone
Only 53% of the beef animal is used for
human consumption, pointing out the
value of beef by-products to the cattle
producer.
For the feed industry, cattle provide
abou t 75% of the meat and bone meal and
tallow used in animal feeds.
The most well-known nonfood beef
byproduct is leather made from the cattle's
hide. The value of the hide to producers
was made clear this year when shoe and
leather manufacturers tried unsuccessfully
to convince Congress to curtail exports of
U.S. hides overseas. According to a USDA
study, stopping exports would have cost
cattlemen $23 per head or $800 million in
1979.
Other industrial uses of the cattle
carcass include camel hair brushes, uphol-
stery, felt pens, binders for plaster and
asphalt paving, insulation and textiles from
the beef's hair; buttons, bone china and
gelatin from the horns; high-grade steel
ball bearings, shoe cleats and razors from
bone char, and temporary bone replace-
ments for human facial reconstruction.
Fats from beef are used to make oleo oil,
soaps, leather dressing, candles, fertilizer,
tallow for tanning, glycerines for explos-
ives and cosmetics. Chewing gum and the
acid which keeps automobile tires cool are
produced from fatty acids.
Cattle blood is used for cancer research,
shoe polish, culture media and the foam
used on runways when an airplane force.
lands. (This foam is edible and Navy
personnel are told consuming it will keep
them alive after a plane crash.)
PHARMACEUTICALS
Beef byproducts are the source of
numerous pharmaceuticals. Insulin from
the pancreas is used to treat diabetes.
Other pancreatic byproducts include
chymotrypsin, used to cleanse wounds and
promote healing; glucagon, used to count-
eract insulin shock; trypsin for wounds and
parathroid hormone, used to compensate
for the human body's inability to naturally
produce the hormone.
Epinephrine from adrenal glands is used
to relieve symptoms of hayfever and
asthma and to stimulate the heart. Throm-
bin and fibrinolysin from the blood are
used to treat wounds and clot blood. Liver
extract is used to treat anemia.
Other byproducts found on the doctor's
shelf are heparin from the lungs to use as
an anti -coagulant for blood; cephalin from
the brain to check bleeding and treat
oozing sores; rennet from the stomach for
use in baby formulas and to curdle milk to
make cheeses, and cholesterol from the
nervous system to make synthetic hor-
mones.
Gasahol stills
may be dangerous
Gasahol stills may be more dangerous
than the farmers know. according to
energy specialist Helmut Spicscr of the
Ridge town College of Agricultural
T._ chnolgy.
According to Spicscr, there are ha/arils
in distilling such farm crops as corn and
potatoes into a fuel for farm machin•ry and
these could include fire. poison gas and
cancer.
He said he only recently learncd about
the potential haiards from a draft federal
paper on the distilling process and that
ethers produced in distilling arc highly
flammable and ingested in large amounts
cam be 1, that. In lesser amounts. it could be
contribute to loss of appetite, thirst and
fatigue, he said.
Spicscr also argued that the farm•
operated stills wouldn't have the safe-
guards that commercial alcohol enterprises
(1o.
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY MO PO. 25