MSU Research Roundup
Montana State University Research News
February 9, 2006
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits that just came out from Montana State University’s Research Roundup:
Apple boom
Montana has had gold rushes and oil booms, but apples had their day, too. Western Montana once had nearly one million apples trees, most of them in Ravalli County. McIntosh apples were predominant, said Mal Westcott, department head of MSU's Agricultural Research Centers. The Western Agricultural Research Center was established 100 years ago during the apple boom, and its early research focused on apples, Westcott said. Montana's apple boom began around 1906 with most of the trees planted in 1911, 1912 and 1913. The number of trees started declining after 1920, however, because of unsuitable varieties, poor soils and economic factors. Western now concentrates on nutrient management systems, culinary and essential oil crops, and knapweed-fighting insects.
Guinea pigs for terrorists
Montanans and Wyoming residents may think they're safe from terrorists, but they shouldn't be complacent, says Patricia L. Meinhardt, executive medical director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine in New York. Terrorists who want to contaminate water systems in large cities may use rural communities to practice their techniques, Meinhardt said during a recent Cafe Scientifique in Bozeman. The community forum for discussing scientific issues is co-sponsored by MSU's College of Letters and Science and Montana's INBRE program. Meinhardt has trained 10,000 people in 44 states on water safety issues and said evidence indicates that terrorists may test their methods in small, rural communities. Water systems can be contaminated both intentionally and unintentionally, she said.
Excerpted from Montana State University Research Roundup (#257)
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