Vol. 12, No. 3 
Page 2 
cover was killed by chemicals and then seeded, excellent crop growth in the dead 
sod ensued. it was also possible to establish desirable species of grasses and 
legumes in old pasture sod after using herbicides to kill or inhibit the growth of 
the existing species. The marketing of Paraquat facilitated this process. 
Several qualities of Paraquat make it a good agent for use in establishing 
desired grasses and legumes in roadside sod: (1) The chemical is rapidly absorbed 
by the sprayed plant. This rapid uptake by the foliage minimizes the effect of 
rainfall soon after application. (2) At recommended rates, the chemical leaves no 
harmful residual activity in the soil. Seeding can be done at the same time or 
immediately after spraying. (3) Paraquat exhibits very rapid action on the aerial 
parts of plants. (4) The chemical reduces competition from existing vegetation for 
several weeks after application. Tillage methods that disturb only a minimum 
portion of the seedbed can be employed for seeding grasses and legumes into existing 
sod. (5) Three years of working experimentally with Paraquat demonstrated that 
drift problems were minimal under a fairly wide range of wind conditions. 
A 250-gallon sprayer towed behind a small tractor, driven in the ditch, was 
used to apply Paraquat to nearly 63 miles of roadsides throughout the Ford County 
Management Unit just prior to seeding during August and September, 1968. Spraying 
was carried out over a 7"day period, at times under wind conditions marginal for 
safe spraying, when most other agricultural chemicals could not have been safely 
utilized. There were only two places over the 63 miles where the chemical had any 
noticeable effect on adjacent crops. In both instances damage was slight. 
This experience suggests that, with reasonable caution, Paraquat can be 
effectively and safely applied over substantial acreages of roadsides in a 
reasonably efficient manner. 
3. Factors 1nfluencinq Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson, 
D. R. Vance 
It was reported in a previous research letter (MWRl 12(1) :2) that means of 
total concentrations of the major elements potassium and sodium were less, and those 
of seven trace elements were more, in grit from Neoga (poor pheasant range) than in 
grit from Sibley (good range). These differences were statistically significant. 
Means of total concentrations of the other three major elements (calcium, magnesium, 
and phosphorus) did not differ significantly, Neoga grit compared with Sibley grit. 
Since the writing of that report, the samples of grit have been reanalyzed to 
determine the amounts of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus that 
are biologically available to pheasants. These analyses were performed by exposing 
the samples to conditions that simulated the environment in the gizzard, j_.e. , the 
samples were placed in a solution of HCl maintained at pH 2.1 and temperature 42 C, 
and gently agitated (145 rpm) on a mechanical shaker for 3 hours. Minerals that 
went into solution were considered to be available for physiological functions. 
It was found that mean concentrations of biologically available sodium, 
magnesium, and calcium were less in grit from Neoga than in grit from Sibley. These 
area-to-area differences were not statistically significant, though the differences 
exhibited by sodium and calcium approached significance (P.cO.10). However, the 
percentages of the total calcium that were biologically available were considerably 
