News From 2000

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The Internet is revolutionizing commerce in much the same way mail-order catalogs did a century ago, as last year 17 million shoppers spent more than $20 billion online.

Jan Lukens, personal finance specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, urged consumers to not overlook security in their quest for greater convenience and better prices.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Hundreds of bright, brilliantly colored flowers are popping out all across the state. These are flowers that make other states with alkaline soil weep with jealousy. You know what I am referring to, the azalea, one of the most loved, revered and sought after shrubs anywhere.

By Rebekah Ray

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Soybeans have been called a miniature miracle because of their versatility.

Soybeans and soy derivatives are being used in a variety of places - coffee creamers, salad and cooking oils, diesel fuels, pesticides, paints, pharmaceuticals, linoleum backings, vinyl plastics, shampoos, chocolate and candy coatings, mayonnaise, cosmetics and bakery products. There are also soy foods like miso, soymilk, soy sauce, tofu and tempeh.

This is great news for Mississippi's soybean producers.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Online auctions are one of the more popular Internet uses, but they do present a risk to those who take part.

In an online auction with major, reputable services, potential sellers complete the process necessary to register as a user and then post items for sale. Each sale has a description of the product, often with a photo, a closing date and usually a minimum required bid. Potential buyers also must register with the site and then can bid on the item. The highest bid wins.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Spring has arrived with all of its glorious colors -- purples, pinks, yellows and reds, but the color guaranteed to catch your eye every time is white. We all need to use white more often.

White reflects light to offer ideal landscape use. Notice what Mother Nature does in the forest. The dogwoods are just now starting to bloom, attracting our attention to the glistening, reflective bracts in an otherwise dull forest.

By Bonnie Coblentz

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Marketing at a profit in farming is especially difficult when markets are down, but Mississippi farmers have some assistance in this tricky field through the efforts of the Marketing Club Network.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The Internet offers millions of educational opportunities, but parents need to monitor its use to protect young minds from inappropriate sites and from people who would victimize children.

Dr. Louise Davis, child and family development specialist with Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said a relatively new opportunity for child abuse is entering households in the form of the Internet. Davis encouraged parents and children to enjoy all the learning and entertainment benefits of the Internet, but remember the risk of any unsupervised activity.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- High school students at two Mississippi schools play the role of third grade teachers for a while as they participate in a pilot youth leadership program.

Junior and senior high students from South Panola and Saltillo high schools are taking part in the first year of the School Youth Leadership Program. This effort puts them in the classroom with third graders for one period two or three times a week where they assist teachers and mentor students.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.