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Science Fiction, Jr., v. 1, issue 1, June-July 1942

Page 5

SCIENCE FICTION JR.

POISONED SOIL
By
Willy Ley

(Through Permiss. of W.L. Hamling)

In 1867 tho commander of Fort Randall of the United States army mentioned in his reports a severe pathological disturbance among the cavalry horses of his post. The horses have every possible reason for complaint, they grew weak, began to look dull, did not grow satisfactorily and did not reproduce. Moreover they lost the hairs on their tails and manes and their hoofs developed into monstrosities that made it quite impossible for them to walk, not to speak about cavalry service.

     The best of care and plenty of rest did not help, neither could a cure be found. Commander Madison was not in a very enviable position.   His post was situated in the
Northern parts of the great plains and their was still much to be complained about in these times The white man called himself master of the country but his claim was not
fully true; the Indians had an opinion of their own about this mastery. They were peaceful today and warlike tomorrow, just as they believed it more advantageous to them; and the white people that came in covered wagons were not to be trusted too much either.   Most of them were honest settlers, willing to work hard in the new country, but many were criminals of all  descriptions that had taken quick and silent leaves in their respective native countries.   Soldiers and police forces (---They were practically the same—) had to be constantly on the watch, moreso than anyone
else in the world.
     Horses, good healthy horses were essential for their watch,—airplanes were yet
to be invented—but the horses grew ill soon as they were transferred to Fort Randall.
When brought to other points of the country they recovered after a short while, and then, they became ill again as soon as they came back to Fort Randall. It was very strange, and moreso since no other soldier showed symptoms of the disease.
     Soon afterwards farmers began to complain, their livestock was attacked by the
same, occult disease. Not only horses, but also cattle and swine, even chickens. There was many a farm that could not produce livestock. The animals showed unsatisfactory growth and no reproduction.    Chickens did not lay eggs, and if they did ever, little monsters were hatched from them, if the eggs were hatched at all.
     The farmers did some crude experimentation of their own to find the cause of Alkali disease, as they call it. (It was a misnomer as has been discovered later.) The farmers also discovered that diseased animals if transferred to other farms, grew healthy again without much special treatment and they even found out that animals were not attacked by the disease if fed with grain and hay from other farms. This
of course was too expensive to find much practical application.
     The disease which was obviousiy to be sought in the soil did not attack men and it also did not interfere with the production of grain, no matter what type. Everything from com (maize) to wheat grew perfectly and chemical analyses such as were made in later years could not detect a difference.
     The theory was that the soil contained a poison of some type which was not harmful to the plants themselves, but was absorbed by them and attacked later the animals feeding on these plants. That it did not attack men was easily explained, no man lives exclusively on the products of his own fields and thus no man swallowed a sufficient amount of the poison (whatever it might be) to show the symptoms of Alkali disease.
The search for the poison was delayed for a long time by a very interesting error. In 1904 Dr. A. T. Peters reported "Alkali" Disease from a location in northern Nebraska.   Looking for the cause of the disease he discovered a fungus disease of corn caused by a species of Pusarium which was simultaneously described by J. L. Sheldon under the name Fasarium moliniforme. It was obvious that the fungus growth was accused to cause not only the disease of the corn but that of livestock and other cattle too.   To obtain proof Peters fed cultures of fungus growth on

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SCIENCE FICTION JR. POISONED SOIL By Willy Ley (Through Permiss. of W.L. Hamling) In 1867 tho commander of Fort Randall of the United States army mentioned in his reports a severe pathological disturbance among the cavalry horses of his post. The horses have every possible reason for complaint, they grew weak, began to look dull, did not grow satisfactorily and did not reproduce. Moreover they lost the hairs on their tails and manes and their hoofs developed into monstrosities that made it quite impossible for them to walk, not to speak about cavalry service. The best of care and plenty of rest did not help, neither could a cure be found. Commander Madison was not in a very enviable position. His post was situated in the Northern parts of the great plains and their was still much to be complained about in these times The white man called himself master of the country but his claim was not fully true; the Indians had an opinion of their own about this mastery. They were peaceful today and warlike tomorrow, just as they believed it more advantageous to them; and the white people that came in covered wagons were not to be trusted too much either. Most of them were honest settlers, willing to work hard in the new country, but many were criminals of all descriptions that had taken quick and silent leaves in their respective native countries. Soldiers and police forces (---They were practically the same—) had to be constantly on the watch, moreso than anyone else in the world. Horses, good healthy horses were essential for their watch,—airplanes were yet to be invented—but the horses grew ill soon as they were transferred to Fort Randall. When brought to other points of the country they recovered after a short while, and then, they became ill again as soon as they came back to Fort Randall. It was very strange, and moreso since no other soldier showed symptoms of the disease. Soon afterwards farmers began to complain, their livestock was attacked by the same, occult disease. Not only horses, but also cattle and swine, even chickens. There was many a farm that could not produce livestock. The animals showed unsatisfactory growth and no reproduction. Chickens did not lay eggs, and if they did ever, little monsters were hatched from them, if the eggs were hatched at all. The farmers did some crude experimentation of their own to find the cause of Alkali disease, as they call it. (It was a misnomer as has been discovered later.) The farmers also discovered that diseased animals if transferred to other farms, grew healthy again without much special treatment and they even found out that animals were not attacked by the disease if fed with grain and hay from other farms. This of course was too expensive to find much practical application. The disease which was obviousiy to be sought in the soil did not attack men and it also did not interfere with the production of grain, no matter what type. Everything from com (maize) to wheat grew perfectly and chemical analyses such as were made in later years could not detect a difference. The theory was that the soil contained a poison of some type which was not harmful to the plants themselves, but was absorbed by them and attacked later the animals feeding on these plants. That it did not attack men was easily explained, no man lives exclusively on the products of his own fields and thus no man swallowed a sufficient amount of the poison (whatever it might be) to show the symptoms of Alkali disease. The search for the poison was delayed for a long time by a very interesting error. In 1904 Dr. A. T. Peters reported "Alkali" Disease from a location in northern Nebraska. Looking for the cause of the disease he discovered a fungus disease of corn caused by a species of Pusarium which was simultaneously described by J. L. Sheldon under the name Fasarium moliniforme. It was obvious that the fungus growth was accused to cause not only the disease of the corn but that of livestock and other cattle too. To obtain proof Peters fed cultures of fungus growth on