North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

> ...stories about how other labs might just make up numbers
based on where you live rather than actually run the tests.

If I remember correctly, Neil's book has a chapter on how CEC testing 
compares to other soil tests.  He does tell a few stories about some other 
labs, including someone who told him how the lab techs saved themselves the 
trouble of actually doing the tests by assuming that all the soils from a 
certain area would have the same results, which explained why a farmer who 
was adding 2 tons of lime per acre per year per recommendations kept finding 
the same recommendation every year anyway.  He wound up with his fields way 
over limed.  It also negates the trouble some farmers go through of taking a 
sample from each field to see what each one needs.  It would be grounds for 
being fired if they got caught.    Donna