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Home canning has changed greatly in the 180 years since it was introduced as a way to preserve food. Scientists have found ways to produce safer, higher quality products. The irst part of this publication explains the scientiic principles on which canning techniques are based, discusses canning equipment, and describes the proper use of jars and lids. It describes basic canning ingredients and procedures and how to use them to achieve safe, high-quality canned products. Finally, it helps you decide whether or not and how much to can. The second part of this publication is a series of canning guides for speciic foods. These guides ofer detailed directions for making sugar syrups; and for canning fruits and fruit products, tomatoes and tomato products, vegetables, red meats, poultry, seafoods, and pickles and relishes. Handy guidelines for choosing the right quantities and quality of raw foods accompany each set of directions for fruits, tomatoes, and vegetables.

Agricultural Statistics is published each year to meet the diverse need for a reliable reference book on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns.

Fifty years ago, riparian habitats were not recognized for their extensive and critical contributions to wildlife and the ecosystem function of watersheds. This changed as riparian values were identified and documented, and the science of riparian ecology developed steadily. Papers in this volume range from the more mesic northwestern United States to the arid Southwest and Mexico. More than two dozen authors?most with decades of experience?review the origins of riparian science in the western United States, document what is currently known about riparian ecosystems, and project future needs. Topics are widespread and include: interactions with fire, climate change, and declining water; impacts from exotic species; unintended consequences of biological control; the role of small mammals; watershed response to beavers; watershed and riparian changes; changes below large dams; water birds of the Colorado River Delta; and terrestrial vertebrates of mesquite bosques.

Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States has been developed by soil scientists of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); various regional, state, and local agencies; universities; and the private sector. The editors recognize that this guide could not have been developed without the efforts of many individuals. Included in this publication are the hydric soil indicators approved by the NRCS and the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTCHS) for use in identifying, delineating, and verifying hydric soils in the field. Also included are indicators designated as test indicators, which are not approved for use but are to be tested so that their utility can be determined.

The Soil Survey Manual, USDA Handbook No. 18, provides the major principles and practices needed for making and using soil surveys and for assembling and using related data. The term ?soil survey? is used here to encompass the process of mapping, describing, classifying, and interpreting natural three-dimensional bodies of soil on the landscape. This work is performed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey in the United States and by other similar organizations worldwide. The Manual provides guidance, methodology, and terminology for conducting a soil survey but does not necessarily convey policies and protocols required to administer soil survey operations. The soil bodies contain a sequence of identifiable horizons and layers that occur in repeating patterns in the landscape as a result of the factors of soil formation as described by Dokuchaev (1883) and Jenny (1941).

Many soil properties have changed and can change as a result of management, historical land use, or even natural factors, such as drought, interacting with land use. National soil survey databases currently include soil property information for the relatively static soil properties, such as texture, and also for properties affected by management, such as soil organic matter. The databases do not, however, distinguish the values of dynamic soil properties (e.g., organic matter, bulk density, infiltration rate) according to their land use, management system, ecological state, or plant community. ?Dynamic soil properties? as defined in this Guide are soil properties that change within the human time scale. Differences that may exist in these properties can affect the performance of the soil. Furthermore, some dynamic soil properties change very little in response to management and disturbances.

Identification of soils as ?hydric? is critical to the protection of wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA) (Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 2008). According to the ?Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual? (hereafter referred to as the ?Delineation Manual?) (Environmental Laboratory, 1987), the presence of a hydric soil is one of three factors that must be met in order for an area to meet the definition of a jurisdictional wetland. The other two are the presence of hydrophytic vegetation and wetland hydrology. The use of the Delineation Manual and Regional Supplements (U.S. Army, COE, 2010) is required for all Federal agencies involved in identification of wetlands that may be jurisdictional, as well as most states that have environmental programs to protect wetlands. The Delineation Manual generally is used on all lands not classified as agricultural lands. The National Food Security Act Manual (USDA, NRCS, 2008) is used on agricultural lands.

Field and laboratory data are critical to the understanding of the properties and genesis of a single pedon, as well as to the understanding of fundamental soil relationships based on many observations of a large number of soils. Key to the advancement of this body of knowledge has been the cumulative effort of several generations of scientists in developing methods, designing and developing analytical databases, and investigating soil relationships based on these data. Methods development result from a broad knowledge of soils, encompassing topical areas of pedology, geomorphology, micromorphology, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, biology, and field and laboratory sample collection and preparation. The purpose of this manual, the ?Soil Survey Field and Laboratory Methods Manual, Soil Survey Investigations Report (SSIR) No. 51,? is to (1) serve as a standard reference in the description of site and soils sampling strategies and assessment techniques and (2) provide...

This technical note provides general guidance on how to install and use piezometers and water-table wells to investigate soil water regimes under conditions commonly encountered in Soil Survey and hydropedology studies. Piezometers and water-table wells installed using these procedures act as lined and unlined bore holes, respectively (Soil Survey Division Staff 1993, page 93), usually at depths that desaturate seasonally. Standard guidelines (Sections 3 and 5) are presented for use in soils where hand augering is practical and saturated hydraulic conductivities are moderate or higher. Alternative methods (Section 6) are provided for problem soils where the standard procedures are impractical or problematic. Limitations: Procedures described here are appropriate only to monitor changes in water level and hydraulic head. They are not intended for water quality sampling, water supply, or determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat).

Soil quality is the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries to: ? sustain plant and animal productivity ? maintain or enhance water and air quality ? support human health and habitation Soil function describes what the soil does. Soil functions are: (1) sustaining biological activity, diversity, and productivity; (2) regulating and partitioning water and solute flow; (3) filtering and buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials, including industrial and municipal by-products and atmospheric deposition; (4) storing and cycling nutrients and other elements within the earth

This Guide provides assistance to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff and its conservation partners to collaboratively develop Soil Quality Cards with local farmers. Partners such as Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), Cooperative Extension Service, state conservation agencies, and local groups assist in producing Cards that farmers and other land managers can use to assess soil quality on their land and implement management practices that ensure long-term soil productivity. To develop a process that enables NRCS and its conservation partners to design locally adapted Soil Quality Cards, the Soil Quality Institute worked with several university extension and research departments and enlisted the expertise of NRCS state and field staff across the country. The outcome is a participatory process through which farmers and conservationists learn together about soil quality and collaboratively develop assessment tools customized to local needs.

This publication, Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014, coincides with the 20th World Congress of Soil Science, to be held on Jeju Island, Korea in June 2014. The Keys to Soil Taxonomy serves two purposes. It provides the taxonomic keys necessary for the classification of soils in a form that can be used easily in the field. It also acquaints users of soil taxonomy with recent changes in the classification system. The twelfth edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy incorporates all changes approved since the publication in 1999 of the second edition of Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys. The authors of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy are identified as the ?Soil Survey Staff.? This term is meant to include all of the soil classifiers in the National Cooperative Soil Survey program and in the international community who have made significant contributions to the improvement of the taxonomic system.

Apiary inspectors and beekeepers must be able to recognize bee diseases and parasites and to differentiate the serious diseases from the less important ones. This handbook describes laboratory techniques used to diagnose diseases and other abnormalities of the honey bee and to identify parasites and pests. Emphasis is placed on the techniques used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bee Research Laboratory. Included are directions for submitting, through APHIS-PPQ or state regulators, samples of suspected Africanized honey bees for identification of subspecies. Also included are directions for sending diseased brood and adult honey bees for diagnosis of bee disease.

This technical guide, originally published in 2007, provides guidance for implementing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service national ground water policy. It describes hydrological, geological, and ecological concepts, as well as the managerial responsibilities that must be considered to ensure the wise and sustainable use of ground water resources on NFS lands. 64 figures. 11 tables.