by Tom McCoag
Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 22 April 1991
Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia - A plant pathologist at the Nova Scotia Agriculture College thinks the origins of a 30-foot-wide ring which appeared in a field here will remain a mystery.
Bruce Gray, an associate professor at the college, made the comment after examining the 30-foot-wide ring in Reg Painter's field late Tuesday afternoon.
He immediately eliminated the idea the circle was caused by a herbicide or pesticide spill. When such spills occur "you usually get a blotch as if someone spilled paint," Mr. Gray said.
He said he is also certain a plant disease is not responsible for the ring, which made its appearance around Easter and has piqued the interest of hundreds of people since it became known last week.
"It's just too regular a circle. Not many (plant) diseases leave a piece of turf healthy on the inside and dead in a ring like that. The only one would be Ferry Ring*, but I've never seen a Ferry Ring that big or that regular."
Mr. Gray took soil and plant samples from the ring and the surrounding turf and plans to test the grass for fungi, bacteria, pathogens (an organism which causes plant disease), nematodes and the presence of known combustibles like gasoline.
He said he is checking for nematodes -- a microscopic organism known as an eel worm which can affect plants -- because they were "associated" with the rings found in English cereal fields. Large numbers of nematodes were found inside those circles, he said.
However, nematodes do not usually cause the kind of damage found in the Fort Lawrence field, he said.
Test result will not be available before the end of the week, Mr. Gray said.
While the ring is "the most interesting thing I've seen in ages," Mr. Gray said he doubts the tests will provide any concrete answers.
A psychic "might be able to give you as many answers as I can," he said.
