Science: Soil Saver

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For Specialists. Krilium has been tested by many agricultural experiment stations, truck farmers and greenhouse operators. The results are still preliminary, but look good. Crop yields have been increased by 20% to 100%. No Krilium is for sale at present. When it does go on the market, in a year or so, it will cost "something under $2 per Ib." At this price only highly specialized farmers will be able to afford it. If applied to the top three inches of soil at the lowest claimed concentration (.02%), about 200 Ibs. will be needed to treat one acre. Monsanto believes that Krilium will be used first by truck farmers, home gardeners, etc., who can afford to apply it to limited areas. Later, the company hopes, the price will fall to a point where large-scale farmers will be interested.

In the meantime, Krilium may prove the answer to many erosion problems. When it is sprayed or dusted on bare soil, but not mixed in, it binds the surface particles into a porous, crumbly crust. Even on steep slopes, rain has little effect on it. The Krilium-bound soil holds firm; the run-off water is clear. Another use: when dusted on baseball diamonds and tennis courts, it allows them to be used much sooner after a rain.