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April, 1954
Volume X X X V I
Number 4
WtTH GREEN THUMBS
use of chemicals on the farm has culminated in an agricultural
JL revolution of grand dimensions. Chemicals have helped solve two ageold problems of the farm. Supplying basic plant nutrients has required
the supplementing of earlier methods with chemical fertilizers. Crop in
sects, diseases, and weeds were attacked with chemicals long ago, but the
'miracle ' pesticides have been a recent development.
Chemicals are important to Eighth District crops, especially cotton.
Cotton farmers use great quantities of fertilizers, herbicides, and insecti
cides. Defoliants facilitate both hand and machine picking. And post
harvest use of chemicals strengthens the competitive position of the great
natural Aber. These innovations add to the efficiency of district agriculture.
The entire story is not told alone in terms of the impact of chemistry
on district agriculture. Industry is likewise affected as manufacturers de
velop new products, venture capital to produce them, and promote their
acceptance by the farmer.
Further use of chemicals on the farm will increase crop production,
free farm labor for other employment, and stimulate industrial develop
ment, with benefit to the economy of the district.
!<e B a n k
Louts
The nse o / chem icals on the /arm has cn^minated
En an agricn itn ra/ revo/ntion o / gran d
dim ension s.
A F A IR S U M M E R D A Y early-m orning
\ ^ 7 drivers through the M ississippi D elta may see
small planes skim m ing the ground to spray a
pungent m ist over the cotton fields. T h is spectacle
is one of the more dram atic signs of the com ing
of the chemical age to agriculture. W hile w atching
the air circus one may think that the use of chemi
cals is mainly confined to a few large farm s which
can afYord to use planes or to a few narrow appli
cations such as the control of certain insects. T his
w ould be far from the tru th ; actually, chemicals
are used in nearly every type of farm ing, for
MHo n
hundreds of different purp o s e s , in continuance of
processes begun at least
sixty-five years ago.
T o nourish United S tates
crops, to protect them from
diseases, insects, and weeds,
and to improve production
efficiency, farm ers are ex
pending annually about $1.2
billion on commercial ferti
lizers, $35 million on lime,
$300 million on pesticides,
and $10 million on chemical
defoliants. Som e 7,000 airplafies and many thousands
of earthbound machines are
used to apply these chemi
cals. Evidently the agricul
t u r a l chemical revolution
has grand dim ensions. H ow
did it come about, and what does-it m ean?
The restoration of nutrients by rotation of crops
and use of m anures was begun early. From gram
mar school days we are fam iliar with the story of
how the Indians taught the P ilgrim s to put a fish
under each hill of corn. Subsequently a more
extensive practice has been thf* use of legum es for
supplying nitrogen.
. . . has req n ired the su pplem en tin g o / earn er
m ethods with chem ical /erti%izers.
The use of chemical fertilizers began about 1840,
when German agricultural chem ists scientifically
dem onstrated the value of enriching the soil wit?
nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and lime. In America
these chem icals were a p p l i e d in considerat
CHEMtCAL FERTtUZER CONSUMPTION
Chem icals have he%ped so%ve two age-o%d
prob lem s o / the /arm .
From the time the first crude furrow w as
scratched with a pointed stick, man has struggled
to coax more food and fiber from the earth. In
this struggle he has alw ays faced two basic prob
lem s—how to increase the supply of available plant
nutrients, and how to protect crops from insects,
disease, and weeds. In m eeting these problems
chem icals have become a powerful aid, supplem ent
ing or replacing methods developed long ago.
Supplying basic p%ant nutrients . . .
E arly settlers in this country had little immediate
cause for concern about nutrients removed from
the soil by plants. A s population increased, farm ing
took more basic plant food elements from the soil
and replenishing these elem ents became necessary.
Page 38
am ounts even before the turn of the century. In
1900 over two million tons of fertilizer were being
applied annually. In 1951, for every 100 pounds of
nitrogen removed from the soil by crops, 17 pounds
were added in the form of chemical fertilizers. The
ratios for phosphorus and potash were much higher
—99 and 33, respectively. Thus, nearly one-half as
much nutrient value is each year placed in the soil
in the form of fertilizers as the harvested crops take
from the soil. In 1953, about 23 million tons of
commercial fertilizer and 20 million tons of lime
were applied to United States farm s.
C rop insects, diseases, an d weeds . . .
The undoing of m an's work by insects has been
recorded in legend and literature. One of the w orst
of a series of plagu es visited upon Pharaoh w as
a plague of locusts which left behind
. . not
any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of
the field, through all the land of E g y p t/' Plant d is
eases, too, have had considerable infiuence on the
history of the world's people. One outstanding ex
ample was the potato blight in Ireland in the 1840's
which caused famine and mass emigration.
. . . were attached with cTtemicafs /ortg ag o , . . .
The employment of chemicals in the fight against
insects and plant diseases has a long history,
ranging back to the early use of pest-averting
sulphur, which Homer mentioned (circa 1000 B.C.).
About 900 A.D. the Chinese were using arsenic
mixed with wine against garden pests. Paris Green,
originally a coloring agent containing arsenic, be
came popular as an insecticide in this country
about 1850.
In general, practically anything with an acrid
or bitter taste and a pungent odor has been tried
as an insecticide at some time or other. In addi
tion to the mineral-based poisons mentioned above,
several derived from plants are still in use. Am ong
these are nicotine, which came into use about 1690,
and pyrethrum, developed about 1851.
One of the earliest fungicides, and also one of
the most interesting examples of accidental dis
covery, was Bordeaux Mixture, hrst applied to
grapevines growing along the roadsides in France to
discourage children and travelers from stealing
the grapes. About 1880 Bordeaux Mixture became a
staple remedy when it was discovered that vines
treated with it resisted the downy mildew.
. . . &Mt (he " m ir a c le " pesticid es hace 5een a
recent (Zeue%op?nent.
nated hydrocarbons, organic phosphorus com
pounds, and others, to give the farmer a better
choice of insecticides than he has ever had before.
Am ong the newest weapons are the systemic insec
ticides which are absorbed by plants, making the
plants poisonous to insects for a considerable time.
Chemical weed killers and fungicides also date
primarily from the war and post-war period. Newly
developed selective weed killers make it possible
to destroy grasses am ong broad-leaf plants and
to kill broad-leaf weeds in g rasses or grains. F un gi
cides are useful in seed treatment and for the pro
tection of grains in storage.
T oday farmers buy over a billion pounds of
pesticides annually, including 600 million pounds
of fungicides, 500 million pounds of insecticides,
and 120 million pounds of weed killers and de
foliants. Hundreds of new compounds are presently
in the laboratory or experimental stage, and we
have just touched the surface of potential appli
cation. Agricultural chemicals during the last dec
ade showed faster production and consumption
increases than any other group in the fast-growing
chemical products held.
ChewticaZs a re im po rtan t to E igh th D istrict crops^
especiaHy cotton.
The use of farm chemicals has a special signifi
cance in this district. Agriculture is a major source
of income. In addition, the climate, soils and crops
in this area are such that chemical requirements
are high, especially in the growing of cotton.
At the onset of World
W ar II there was in com
mon use a wide variety of
e le ctiv e insecticides, includ
ing such inorganic materials
as calcium arsenate, lead ar
senate, sulphur, cryolite, var
ious copper compounds, and
several organic poisons de
rived from plants, such as
nicotine, rotenone, and py
rethrum. During the war
D D T burst upon the world
as a miracle insecticide. This
extremely effective product
is not the cure-all it at first
appeared to be, but its suc
cess launched chemists into
the exploration of thousands
of related o r g a n i c com
pounds. From the acceler
ated war and postwar search
has come an array of chlori
i934
Sou rce:
! 95i
"N a tio n a l A gric u ltu ral C h e m ic a ls A s s o c ia t io n N e w s ," M a r .- A p r .,
1952
Three factors make cotton, the big cash crop
of this district, highly dependent upon chem icals.
First, the cotton plant has been lush fare for
hordes of insects, including boll weevils, bollworms, aphids, red spider-m ites, thrips, and Heahoppers. T he boll weevil alone reduces cotton yields
from 5 to 30 per cent annually, and other insects
gnaw, chew, and suck aw ay another 3 to 4 per
cent. Second, mineral requirem ents of the cotton
plant are high, and erosion and leaching have
reduced the natural chemical content of cotton-belt
soils. T hird, weed dam age to cotton necessitated
expensive control by hand chopping before the
introduction of chemical weed killers.
€otton /aryners u se grea t quantities o /
/ertiFizers, . . .
Planning for chemical fertilizer applications be
gins long before sprin g weather brings cotton
planting time. Soil sam ples are tested chemically
to determine nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
requirem ents. L arg ely on the b asis of these tests
and recom m endations of county agents, farm ers
determine what com binations and am ounts of nutri
ents to apply. A pproxim ately $45 million worth of
fertilizer will be applied to district-state cotton
acres this sprin g— and the volume has been increas
ing over the years.
. . . her&iritZes, . . .
Chemical weed control starts before the weeds
have even raised their heads. In 1952 pre-em er
gence spray s such as the carbam ates and dinitro
com pounds were used on 300,000 acres, prim arily
in the M ississippi D elta from Southea? M issouri
to the Gulf of M exico. Y et as late as 1947 only
5,000 acres were so treated. Nor is pre-emergence
chemical treatm ent the whole story of chemical
weed control in cotton. Post-em ergence herbicides
make some weeds literally grow them selves to
death.
. . . an d insecticides.
The chem icals used to control weeds are supple
mented by other chemical weapons in the struggle
against insects and diseases. Insect losses cost district-state cotton farm ers from $40 to $190 million
annually, the prim ary culprit being the boll weevil,
which as late as 1950 reduced district yields by 20
per cent. And even today the plaintive Bo//
can be heard in the South lam enting the
destruction and hardship caused by prolific, per
sistent, tough, and voracious Mr. Boll W eevil.
In form er one-crop days, when cotton grew
right up to the porches of the farm ers' cabins, a
boll weevil invasion w as as much of a disaster
as a plague of locusts. When the cotton w as
lost, all w as lost. D iversification and insect-control
Page 40
m easures have reduced risk, but the sight of Mr.
Boll W eevil in vestigatin g a tender young plant
can still send chills down a planter's spine. And
justifiably so— insect and disease losses in 1950
exceeded 1952 drouth dam age to cotton by 60 per
cent.
F or some notion of the amount of am m unition
used in the battle, consider these figures. In 1951,
the nation's cotton crop, 30 per cent of which w as
grow n in district states, required 20 per cent of
the D D T used in that year, as well as 66 per
cent of the B H C , 69 per cent of the calcium
arsenate, 32 per cent of the parathion, 30 per cent
of the T E P P , and 94 per cent of the combined
use of aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, and
toxaphene.
D e/ofian ts /aci%itate both hand an d m achine
pich ing.
H avin g chemically nurtured his crop to m aturity,
the modern cotton farm er does not yet put aside
the products of the test tube. Before picking cotton
it is desirable to get the leaves out of the way.
Chem icals in the form of defoliation applications,
oiYered by at least a dozen m anufacturers, facili
tate hand-picking and are a practical necessity
for mechanical cotton harvesting. In addition, use
of defoliants reduces infestation by boll weevils,
aphids, and ieafworm s. D efoliation chem icals were
applied to 10 to 15 per cent of the 1953 cotton
acreage.
/4nd post-harvest nse o / chem icals strengthens
the com petitive po sition o / the great
natnra% /iher.
The use of chem icals in the production of the
cotton Aber does not cease even upon harvesting.
E xten sive research is being conducted in the use
of chemical processes for m aking cotton fabrics
rot-proof, Are-proof and more durable, and for
givin g them other qualities which will help cotton
in the competition with synthetic fibers.
T h ese innovations add to the ej$!ciency o /
district agricn%tnre.
Insect and disease control, plus additional ferti
lizer applications, could more than double cotton
yields on individual farm s and do it with less labor.
In our district we thus have an exam ple of a
farm crop, the e ^ c ien t production of which is
highly dependent on the ability of industry and
farm ers to work together in the application of
chem icals to agriculture. T he ability of the two
to work step-by-step together is com plicated by
the rapid grow th in use of chem icals, by the variety
of existin g com pounds presently available, and by
the fact that still other chem icals are com ing out
of laboratories at a stag g erin g rate.
AGRICULTURAL LIME
20
MI L L I ON
TONS
G R I C U L T U R A L 1 i m e is
Z A . essential to efficient crop
production in areas where the
s o i ! i s " s o u r . " The application of
time to farm land has increased
at a rapid rate in the last two
decades. F rom a rate of one
million tons during the low in
come year of 1933, lime con
sumption for agricultural pur
poses increased to three million
tons in 1935. Later, war-time de
mand for increased food produc
tion created pressure for greater
lime outturn. A s a result, pro
duction quadrupled from 1938-39
to 1947. By mid-century 20 mil
lion tons were being applied an
nually to farm land in the United
States.
3
ILLIOM
TONS
!950
1935
Source:
T he en tire story is not toM aion e in term s o /
the im pact o / chem istry on district agricM ^ure.
in d u stry is ?i%cewise aj{?ected . . .
On the industrial side of the agricultural chemi
cals revolution most all of the major chemical com
panies are active, and many of them have facilities
in this district. Petroleum refiners and rubber com
panies too are represented. These manufacturers
combine a relatively small number of basic build
ing blocks, such as air, water, natural gas, sulphur,
salt, and other minerals, to produce part of virtually
every commodity consumed in this country. The
agricultural market for chemicals has influenced
the selection of products offered by the chemical
industry and has been a major inducement for
industry expansion. In turn, the industry has done
much to shape the market by finding new uses
for chemicals on the farm. These cross-efifects
provide a good example of the interdependence of
the sectors of our economy.
. . . as m an u factu rers develop new
prod u cts, . . .
Some idea of the complexity of the job of product
development may be gained from considering one
of the new insecticides, chlordane, a chlorinated
hydrocarbon formed by treating hydrocarbons—
in this case derived from coal tar— with chlorine.
If this process sounds simple, try reading the full
chemical name of the compound, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8—
octachloro— 2, 3, 3a, 4, 7, 7a—hexahydro— 4, 7—
methanoindene. This complicated compound is one
of the few commercially successful products brought
to market out of thousands of similar ones synthe-
CONSUMPTION
USD A , "A g ric u ltu ra l S t a t is t ic s 1 9 3 7 "; ib id ., 1952
sized and tested in the laboratories. A promising
compound is put through years of tests in labora
tory, plant, and field to find out what its properties
are, how it can be produced, and how it should
be used. To bring a single new insecticide to
market may cost a million dollars or more.
. . . venture capita# to pro d u c e them, . . .
The chemical industry has been making large
investments in capacity to produce chemicals for
the farm. The expansion in synthetic ammonia
capacity provides a good illustration. Approxi
mately three-quarters of the ammonia produced is
used in agriculture to supply nitrogen. Ammonia
production in the United States has increased from
480,000 tons in 1939 to an estimated 2,523,000 tons
in 1953, and further expansion is under way.* TAg
/oMrwa/ estimates that construction
of ammonia plants based upon natural ga s or petrol
eum by-product hydrogen will cost about $250
million in 1953-54, of which over $40 million will
be spent in Eighth District states."
. . . an d prom o te their acceptance 6y t/te
/arm er.
Costs of research and promotion, and the large
investment in plants and equipment required for
large-scale production, limit much of the agricul
tural chemicals business to large firms, but there
is a vital place for small firms as formulators. A
formulator buys active ingredients of farm chemi
cals from a large producer and mixes them with
1 " T h e B ig S q u e e z e ."
D ece m b e r 19, 1953.
- J^ h n C. R e id e M 'A L o o k a t R o u n d 2 o f N H 3 E x p a n s io n ," T/tg
P ag e 41
dusts, solvents, or emulsiAers to put them in the
form the farm er needs. Such processing is compli
cated because each of the chemicals can be applied
in a variety of w ays, each suitable under a certain
set of conditions. T he form ulator knows the peculi
arities of the crops and soils of his territory and
can prepare exactly the right combinations. In
practice he becom es a combination manufacturer,
wholesaler, and retailer, providing essential services
for the original m anufacturers and the farmer.
F a rth e r use o /
on the /nrm
in crease cro p p rod u ctio n , . . .
L argely through increased use of chemicals, the
potential growth in agricultural production is tre
mendous. It has been estim ated by a cooperative
com m ittee from L an d Grant Colleges and the United
States D epartm ent of A griculture that, under cer
tain assum ptions, including a parity ratio as favor
able as that of 1951, farm ers would increase total
farm output about 20 per cent within five years.^
A 70 per cent increase in fertilizer application would
play the m ajor role in such a growth. The 40 per
cent increase in U nited States agricultural produc
tion between 1935-39 and 1951 w as brought about
with only slightly more crop acreage, 14 per cent
!ess labor, 70 per cent more power and machinery,
and 230 per cent more fertilizer.
The greatest increase in production would likely
take place in the South, where both recent research
and farm testin g indicate large increases in out
put from such im proved practices as heavy nitro
gen fertilization of corn and pasture improvement
for year-round grazing. T otal farm output in the
South would be more than one-fourth greater,
com pared with a 16 per cent increase in the North
Central states.
Even the production increases ju st suggested
do not indicate m axim um yields that could result
from fuH adoption of known improvement prac
tices. T he per acre yields of m ajor district crops
could be increased two to Rve tim es more than
the twenty per cent estim ated above.
W eed control is a fam iliar problem to anyone
who has been on the business end of a hoe. T oday
weed control can be done chemically with one per
cent as much labor as w as formerly required by
hand m ethods. Pre-em ergence and post-emergence
weed control is being introduced as a replacement
for the tedious, even though mechanized, process
of slow ly and carefully cultivating young corn
plants. Thus, the devastation from weeds which,
together with that of insects and fungi, reduces
corn production from 100 to 400 million bushels
No. 88, U nited States Departm ent of Agriculture, 1952.
Page 42
per year can be largely prevented by the application
of modern chemical practices.
It is thus reasonable to expect a 50 per cent
increase in corn yields by elim ination of losses
caused by weeds, insects, and fungi. ChieHy by
increased use of chemicals, yields of p astu res in
rotation could be nearly doubled, soybean yields
increased 41 per cent, and those of tobacco 24 per
cent, and hay 56 per cent. A s evidence of rapid
progress in farm mechanization over {he past quar
ter century becom es more apparent on district
farm s, "chem icalization/' another phenomenal de
velopm ent in food and Aber production, takes the
spotlight position.
. * , /re e farm Fn&or /o r other empFoyynenf^ , . .
B y reducing the am ount of labor required, mech
anization has been steadily im proving the eHiciency
of cotton production, and it presently appears that
use of chem icals will assure a continuation of the
trend. It has been estim ated that im provem ents
in cotton production practices will reduce United
S tates farm labor requirem ents by 450,000 workers
during the next decade, more than one-fourth of
the estim ated reduction to take place in district
states.* T h u s approxim ately one-third of the total
farm reduction of 1.5 million is expected to occur
in the cotton states and district states m ay expect
to share substantially in the m igration from farm s.
. , . an<%
iMffnstrin? ^e^efopynent*. . , .
The movement of people released from farm
em ploym ent by the increasing use of chem icals
and other changes in farm technology will be at
the sam e time a problem and an opportunity. The
problem will be to ease the transfer of these people
to other occupations with a minimum of unem ploy
ment and under-employment. O pportunity will lie
in expanding district industrial em ploym ent with
the aid of these new hands. The ability to supply
labor for industrial expansion when and where
needed is one of the im portant locational advan tages
of the district.
In addition to increasing the supply of labor for
general industrial growth, the agricultural chemi
cal revolution will have a special im pact on district
chemical m anufacturing. A direct im pact will be
an expansion of farm chemical m anufacturing tc
supply the expanding farm market. An indirect
im pact will be the grow th of other chemical plants
which can supply the agricultural chemical plants
or use som e of their products.
The farm m arket for chem icals is capable of
great growth. Betw een 1940-44 and 1950 the farm
Public W elfare, U nited States Senate, W ashington D. C., 1952.
POTENTIAL DISTRICT CROP YIELD INCREASES
PERCENT
IN CREASE
!00
BY U S E OF KNOWN IMPROVE!)
PROD U C T IO N
PRACTICES
ROTATI ON
PASTURE
CO T T O N
CORN
HAY
OATS
50
SOYBEANS
WHE AT
^gHEsgTOBACCO
1 ^
RICE
0Sou rce:
USD A , " A g r ic u ltu re 's C a p a c ity to Produce, A griculture Inform ation B u lletin N o . 88. " 1952
use of nitrogen in district states quadrupled, phos
phorus use doubled, and the consumption of potash
increased roughly three and one-half times. Since
application of these chem icals is stHl well below
the optimum, it is safe to assum e that their use
should increase sharply in the future. T he attrac
tion of such a m arket is obvious.
Expansion of the m arkets for other farm chemi
cals m ay be expected, too. F o r example, defoliant
chem icals were applied to from 10 to 15 per cent
of the 1953 cotton acreage. A ssu m in g an applica
tion of 25 pounds per acre, there is a potential
m arket for over 100 million pounds of chemical
defoliants for cotton in district states, to say noth
in g of the potential m arket provided by about
8 million soybean acres.
A ny expansion in district production of ag ri
cultural chem icals m ay well attract plants which
m anufacture other chem icals, because chemical
plants have a tendency to link together in complex
networks in order to utilize each other's products.
Am m onia, for exam ple, is prim arily used for ferti
lizer, but it also h as m any non-farm uses. T he 28
per cent of national production in 1953 which w as
not used on farm s went into m ilitary uses, indus
trial explosives, chem icals, plastics, textiles, and
other uses. D istrict-state ammonia producers, who
had about 18 per cent of the nation's capacity in
place or under construction at the end of 1953,
will probably attract som e non-farm custom ers
as they grow or develop some nonagricultural uses
for part of the am m onia them selves.
Chlorine is another exam ple of a chemical with
a great number of agricultural and industrial uses.
Som e district chlorine producers are prim arily
m anufacturers of heavy chem icals who process some
of their chlorine into insecticides, or sell some of
it to insecticide m akers. O thers are prim arily in
secticide m anufacturers who produce chlorine as
a step in m aking their principal product. The
byproducts, hydrogen and caustic soda, How into
industrial use. F o r exam ple, hydrogen is piped by
one M emphis insecticide plant directly to nearby
m anufacturers of shortening products, and caustic
soda is used in alum ina refining, a m ajor industrial
operation near Benton— B auxite, A rkansas, and
E a st St. L ouis, Illinois.
P age 43
]^roduction and use of farm chemicals thus
help to knit together the agricultural and indus
trial sectors of our district economy. Continuation
of the agricultural chemical revolution will further
increase efficiency and productivity in agriculture,
and industrial development will be facilitated by
Page 44
the growth in the market for agricultural chemicals
as well as by the freeing of resources from farms.
Both these avenues of progress will contribute
to the growth and welfare of the Eighth District
and of the nation.
LAW REN CE E . KjREIDER
A . JA M ES M EIG S
@FedFRASER