Experience has shown: plant health and growth is positively influenced by Willard Water. In fact, the results are usually quite dramatic, because they are visually evident in greater growth, more and larger fruit, or more lush foliage.

Despite the fact that most of the people who use Willard Water do so because of the personal benefits they have experienced, and animals in general seem to profit from its use, Dr. Willard felt that the plant applications for his discovery are among the most important, rather than the human, animal, and industrial uses. Because he lived in a state whose prime industry is farming, he was well aware of the plight of the farmer, and wanted to do something to ease their problems.

To begin any examination of plant health, it makes sense to lay a foundation by examining the role played by soil. "The soil is the mother of all life," said Doc. It is the soil that uses water, air and energy from the sun to nourish the 'seeds' of life.

"There is ample evidence that our soil has become depleted in many trace elements and as a result plants, animals and humans do not possess the qualities that are needed for the good life. 'We are what we eat' applies to all living things."

Now, his Catalyst Altered Water, and especially Catalyst Altered Water XXX, provides all the goodies present in lignite coal in a form the plants can readily utilize and in the small amounts needed by plants. For example, research has shown that when humic acids (which are found in lignite) are present in concentrations of 2.5 to 5 parts per million, there is a significant increase in plant growth. Greater concentrations do not have as much effect, which goes against the "if some is good, more is better" philosophy held by many.

The benefits plants receive from Willard Water go beyond simply providing a source of valuable trace nutrients, as important as they are. The water itself, due to the addition of the CAW micelle catalyst, has become a more "energized" and active form of water. This activated water lends an increased vigor to an organism, due to more efficient which is better able to assimilate and utilize the nutrients and water (which is actually a nutrient) already available in the soil.

The result is healthier, more vital plant growth, achieved not through artificial stimulation of the plant with conventional synthetic fertilizers, but by working with nature, providing the plant with what it needs, in a form it can utilize.

Not only is the plant healthier and stronger, but CAW treated soils seem to have generally better texture and tilth, again leading to better plant health. Willard Water seems to penetrate and loosen hard-to-farm soils such as clay, gumbo and hardpan, making it easier for the plant to develop a good root system and absorb the nutrients in the soil.

One of the most notable benefits is that treated plants seem to withstand stressful conditions much better than untreated plants. Because most agriculture takes place under less than ideal circumstances, this should be of interest to many farmers.

In one case hundreds of tree seedlings were planted as a shelter-belt along a highway. Part of the seedlings were treated with Willard Water XXX and the rest were untreated. Shortly after planting, drought conditions set in and killed 100% of the untreated seedlings while 92% of the treated seedlings survived.

Many farmers are using Willard Water with unheard-of results. Dr. Willard told of one example: "A friend in Indiana has been using the water for six years. He has been able to cut down on all chemicals, but basically still uses conventional practices, not organic.* The water helps. He treats seed, side-dresses, sprays foliage too. One year, in drought, he got 120 bushels of corn per acre when neighbors got 20."

Dr. Willard achieved results that are almost as astounding under very strictly controlled conditions, not just in the field, where conditions are very difficult to regulate. In one instance, lettuce seeds were treated by spraying them with a very dilute CAW XXX solution. T hey were then sprouted and placed in a hydroponic greenhouse, where the temperature and light were carefully monitored. The solution was computer controlled, so the treated plants were subjected to the same conditions as a group of untreated plants.

In spite of the fact that the roots of all the plants were in contact with the same nutrient solution, and the only difference was a light misting of the seeds with Willard Water, prior to planting, the root system of the treated plants was three times more massive than the untreated control plants.

Similar results were noted when crops are sprayed when they are six to twenty inches high. Root systems three to four times the mass of untreated plants is not an uncommon result.

Seeds also seem to germinate faster when treated with Catalyst Altered Water. Dean Sime, a greenhouse operator in the Rapid City area says he has had petunias germinate in 72 hours, when usually it takes from ten to twelve days. Lobelia, which normally requires twenty days to germinate, has sprouted in less than four days in Sime's home-made germination cabinet. He stated that the plants seem to survive better, and are sturdier when transplanted.

Sime also had excellent results with his poinsettias, one of the hardest plants to grow. "I'd never grown a lot of bad poinsettias, Sime said, "just never what I felt to be the quality I was striving for." In the past, his poinsettias were usually 8 to 10 inches tall, with four or five blooms. That changed, however, when he started using the water on them.

"The vast percentage of my plants this year were unbelievable," he said. "They averaged 18 inches with up to as many as 11 or 12 blossoms. I don't believe you could have put a bushel basket over them." Sime stated that the quality of his plants has been noted by buyers from all over the country. He uses an injector system to mix Willard Water XXX with the water in his greenhouses at the rate of 2 ounces of the concentrate in each 2000 gallons of water.

A Minnesota newspaper once published a picture of an 18 inch sunflower head, a 163 pound pumpkin and a 207 pound pumpkin grown in the garden of Jean and Charles Churchill, of rural Waseca, Minnesota. Entered in a giant fruit and vegetable contest, the larger of the two pumpkins outweighed its closest competition by 130 pounds. Mr. Churchill stated that he had used Willard Water on his garden for the first time that year, and he had never before gotten anything that large.

Churchill is still an enthusiastic Willard Water user. Although the heat during a recent season was hard on his squash and pumpkins, he said that his tomatoes were "unbelievable. I made wire cages for them to grow in, and they're over your head now. I'm getting bushels of tomatoes."

Viewers of the "60 Minutes" segment on Willard Water may recall Harry Reasoner's visit to the Sisters of St. Mark's Academy near Rapid City. The Sisters were showing off the giant squash they had grown in their CAW treated garden, despite the dry conditions that year. They bragged that they had even bigger ones the previous year.

Doc Willard's interest in agriculture stemmed in part from his view that the real energy crisis is the lack of food. He said, "Of what value would it be to have the fuel to run the machines if man was deprived of the food which he needs to provide the energy so that he can use the machines?" Dr. Willard felt that his discovery, Catalyst Altered Water, although not the solution to every problem mankind faces, can make a significant contribution to making our agricultural system more sustainable. And perhaps agriculture is the best place to begin to harness the potential of Willard Water.