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March 6, 2000 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I wanted to title this article "Loosen Up and Garden Au Naturel," but my editor wouldn't let me because the phrase implies naked and no one gardens that way. I had already cast a blight on the University with a previous article about Naked Ladies, a.k.a. spider lilies.

February 28, 2000 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

2000 has been declared the year of the zinnia, but we beat the National Garden Bureau to the punch. Zinnias were the queen of the show at the Fall Flower and Garden Fest held last October at the Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs.

February 28, 2000 - Filed Under: Waste Management

By Laura Martin

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's vast amounts of wood waste and poultry manure are serious disposal problems in a state where these two industries generate the most agricultural income.

In 1999, Mississippi's poultry industry reached a record $1.55 billion in estimated farm gate value. Each year it produces an estimated 600,000 tons of litter.

February 28, 2000 - Filed Under: Community

MISSISSIPPI STATE - In a time when everything appears to be changing, community colleges in the South have undergone a transformation to become key players in economic development.

February 21, 2000 - Filed Under: Community

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A team of nine Mississippi State University students is taking a research experiment to weightlessness as part of a NASA outreach program.

NASA's Reduced Gravity Project is making it possible for the animal and dairy science team to test the action of a firefly enzyme in a weightless environment. The team and their advisor will be in Houston at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center March 6 to 18 for preparation and two flights.

February 21, 2000 - Filed Under: Children and Parenting

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Victims of child abuse may not show physical evidence of their experiences, but other signs often are visible when positive parenting skills are lacking.

"Providing children with a warm, loving environment is one of the best ways to avoid certain inappropriate behaviors," said Dr. Louise Davis, child and family development specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service. "While children need structure and boundaries, overreacting to their misbehavior or being overcritical can result in low self esteem, insecurity and other problems."

February 21, 2000 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

One of my favorite plants that has been harder to find than a four-leaf clover has been blessed recently by other Southern horticulturists. Now that horticulturists whose words carry more weight than mine are pronouncing Persian Shield a great plant, nurseries everywhere will propagate it.

February 14, 2000 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A couple of years ago a grower in Kosciusko was very excited about a plant that I thought looked sick. Now, I am prepared to eat crow because I want that plant and I think you will, too! It is known botanically as Stenotaphrum secundatum variegatum; in short, it is variegated St. Augustine grass.

February 14, 2000 - Filed Under: Catfish

MISSISSIPPI STATE - Biologists are encouraging Mississippi catfish producers to control snails in ponds to combat a parasite that caused some severe fingerling losses last year.

1999 was the first year this internal parasite, a trematode tentatively identified as Bolbophorus confusus, was found in Mississippi Delta channel catfish. It is rarely fatal to large catfish, but it can kill young catfish, or fingerlings.

February 14, 2000 - Filed Under: Youth Livestock, 4-H Livestock Program

JACKSON -- Young people in 4-H and FFA recently concluded their 1999-2000 season with the No. 1 youth livestock sale east of the Mississippi River.

The Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions has paid more than $2 million to young livestock exhibitors over the 31 years since the sale was organized. This year, buyers paid $165,828 for 34 market hogs, lambs and steers. In addition to the sale of animals, the Dixie National Sales Committee was able to sponsor scholarships worth $1,000 each for 19 high school seniors to attend Mississippi colleges.

February 14, 2000 - Filed Under: Wildlife

By Laura Martin

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Thousands of people of various ages will enter the forests or fields of Mississippi to bag a prize turkey when turkey season opens on March 20.

A new generation of hunters is being introduced to turkey hunting through the Mississippi State University Extension Service's 4-H Field and Stream Program. This natural resources education program teaches youth and adult leaders essential life skills through shooting sports and managing resources for wildlife and fisheries.

February 7, 2000 - Filed Under: Wildlife, White-Tailed Deer

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Because property lines mean nothing to deer, management of deer populations must cross those lines as well if the herd is to have quality bucks available for harvest.

Mississippi has an estimated 2 million deer, giving it the highest concentration of deer of any other state in the country. This figure is generated from hunter harvest reports.

February 7, 2000 - Filed Under: Animal Health

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A delegation from Poland recently visited Mississippi to get ideas for a new veterinary facility at the Warsaw Agricultural University.

Mississippi State University hosted the president, vice president, head of administration, two veterinarians and an architect who studied the physical structure and general philosophy of the College of Veterinary Medicine in Starkville.

Drs. Randy and Karyl Buddington, professors of biological sciences at MSU, were two of the hosts for the delegation.

February 7, 2000 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Every once in awhile a plant comes along in which I wish I could buy stock. It would be investing in a plant like you do the Blue Chip stocks. A new plant this spring that is almost guaranteed to make big bucks is called Million Bells Terra Cotta.

February 7, 2000 - Filed Under: Seafood Harvesting and Processing

By Rebekah Ray

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The harvesting and processing of seafood delicacies such as oysters is a major industry along the Gulf Coast, and research is underway to improve Mississippi's competitive edge by speeding up the processes and increase food safety.

Mississippi State University seafood scientist Dr. Custy Fernandes has received more than $250,000 in grants from the Gulf Coast Industry Initiative to evaluate food safety methods and mechanize oyster harvesting and processing.

January 31, 2000 - Filed Under: Farming

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Farming has always been risky business and current economic pressures mean more is at stake with each decision farmers make, but Mississippi farmers can get additional assistance through a new Extension Service effort.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service has always worked with the state's farmers in whatever conditions exist. Today, that emphasis is turning to managing the risks associated with farming.

January 31, 2000 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

2000 will prove to be a banner year for the world of verbenas with new series such as the Babylon, new colors such as the Tortuga Peach and new growth habits like those in the Temari Patio series. Each one deserves a place at your home.

Verbenas have come so far in recent years that gardeners consider them a staple in the mixed-flower garden. Specifically, I am referring to the perennial, vegetatively propagated verbenas, not their annual cousins.

January 31, 2000 - Filed Under: Animal Health

By Suzanne Berry

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Job-related stress can affect a working dog's health much like it does humans, but diagnosing problems in an animal that cannot communicate feelings can make treatment a challenge.

Hurricane Bob, an 8-year-old labrador retriever worked as an arson-sniffing dog for the Jackson Fire Department until an unknown illness began to take a serious toll on his health last fall.

January 31, 2000 - Filed Under: Wildlife, White-Tailed Deer

By Laura Martin

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi's white-tailed deer face hard times during the winter and early spring, but planting food plots during this time of year can provide the nutrition they need.

Dean Stewart, wildlife specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service said the spring and summer are critical times for white-tailed deer when protein is needed for antler growth for bucks and reproduction of fawns. Planting food plots in late winter or early spring can play a critical role in providing the nutrition they need.

January 24, 2000 - Filed Under: Pests

By Rebekah Ray

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A new species of termites is munching its way across the coastal South and Mississippi State University scientists have joined forces with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service and several other coastal states to take aim at this intruder.

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