Soil Testing Laboratory

A large company manufacturing fertilizers expands its production capacity to produce new types of fertilizers. To market the products and to popularize them it offers several new facilities .It has a research and development wing. It sets up a soil testing laboratory to conduct tests in rural areas with a mobile testing service. Wide publicity is given in many villages. A mobile van operates under the direction and supervision of a Technical Officer. During one of the visits the company staff enters into a dialogue with the villagers. The conversation between one of the technical officers and a villager gives an interesting piece of information and provokes laughter. This story with an element of fiction is narrated below.

Officer: We are introducing a new service to our valuable customers by making available a mobile soil testing facility in the villages. Hereafter our vehicle with technical personnel and equipments will visit the villages every week assigning a date for a cluster of villages. Farmers are requested to make use of this facility.
Farmer: We would like to know the details of your services.

Officer: Our technical staff will collect a sample of soil from your field and analyse the ingredients by testing in the mobile laboratory. They will identify the deficiencies to determine which nutrients are lacking. Based on the test results we will recommend the type of fertilizer which will compensate for the deficiency. In course of time your field will show remarkable improvements in terms of yield of crops.

Customer: What type of soils will you test?

Officer: All types of soil.

Now another farmer who has no information of the introduction of the facility and the arrangements walks in. He sees the vehicle, the staff and the crowd. His curiosity increases. He asks:

Sir. We have a problem.

Officer: What is it? We are here to solve your problems

Farmer: Do you test night soil. If so we will be interested in using the testing facility.

Officer: My answer to your problem is that our officials do not test soil at night.
The dialogue ends there.