Notes on the Forests of Southern Iowa

In the southernmost tier of counties in Iowa, particularly in Jefferson, Van Buren, Wapello, Davis, Monroe, Appanoose, Lucas and Wayne counties there exist rather extensive natural forests of oak and other hardwood species. These counties lie within an area of considerable loessal soils. This part of the state has been designated in agricultural parlance as the southern Iowa pasture section. The relief of the land in these parts consists of a rather distinct upland plain lying generally about 1000 feet above sea-level. Dissection of this plain by drainage has resulted in numerous fingering and tortuous headwaters creating slopes or terraces, and flat to narrow ridges and bottoms of variable widths and patterns. The plain is composed of a number of soil types in; the Clinton silt loam, the Lindley silt loam, the Edina, the Marion and Grundy silt loams, etc. The Clinton silt loam is one of the most prevalent upland loess soils; it has a light gray yellow and buff color and a loose texture. It over-lies much of the loose and erosive Lindley drift soil which comprises a goodly proportion of the slope land. Some upland sections contain small quantities of the whitish Edina and powdery Marion soils. In the bottoms we find generally deep accumulations of the dark and fertile Wabash silt loam

Professional Concerns

In the contribution which follows, Collett B. Dilworth, Jr., of the English Department at East Carolina University, gets to the very heart of why literature is taught in schools. He broaches the question of how literary study relates to the basic skills, and he ties his rationale in with questions of accountability and its handmaiden, competency testing. Probably the heart of Dilworth\u27s argument is in his statement, The student of literature is not primarily looking for information, s/he is looking for experience

Determination of Soil Moisture Content at Permanent Wilting for Us in Field Studies

In ecological investigations of interactions between plants and soil moisture, whether the aim is to determine fundamental plant-environment relationships or primarily to solve immediate plant production problems, the soil moisture content at permanent wilting, expressed as a percentage of the dry weight, is a basic determination. Although there is evidence that this soil moisture value may not represent the exact non-available moisture content of the soil (4, 8) it is generally agreed that it represents the limit of favorable plant growth conditions and will be considered here as non-available soil moisture

Selection of Australian Root Nodule Bacteria for Broad-Scale Inoculation of Native Legumes

The unique and diverse native Australian perennial legumes are under current investigation for use as pastures in Australian agriculture. Identification of root nodule bacteria (RNB) that can fix nitrogen effectively for the plant is a critical factor for the success of a legume species in agriculture (Howieson et al., 2000). Some legumes under investigation are relatively promiscuous (Lange, 1961). This trait may allow the development of a single, broad-scale inoculant that could allow inoculation of multiple species of agricultural importance, whilst more effective, specific RNB are developed in time. Aimed to identify strains that can form effective symbioses with several native legume species of potential interest to agriculture, this experiment screened putative indigenous RNB on 5 native legumes

Identification of functional apple scab resistance gene promoters

Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) is one of the most damaging diseases affecting commercial apple production. Some wild Malus species possess resistance against apple scab. One gene, HcrVf2, from a cluster of three genes derived from the wild apple Malus floribunda clone 821, has recently been shown to confer resistance to apple scab when transferred into a scab-susceptible apple variety. For this proof-of-function experiment, the use of the 35S promoter from Cauliflower mosaic virus was reliable and appropriate. However, in order to reduce the amount of non-plant DNA in genetically modified apple to a minimum, with the aim of increasing genetically modified organism acceptability, these genes would ideally be regulated by their own promoters. In this study, sequences from the promoter region of the three members of the HcrVf gene family were compared. Promoter constructs containing progressive 5′ deletions were prepared and used for functional analyses. Qualitative assessment confirmed promoter activity in apple. Quantitative promoter comparison was carried out in tobacco (Nicotiana glutinosa) and led to the identification of several promoter regions with different strengths from a basal level to half the strength of the 35S promoter from Cauliflower mosaic viru