Americana: The Nose Knows

Think your job stinks? Consider the poor students at the University of Illinois College of Agriculture in Champaign. They have no choice but to agree. About 100 scentsitive enrollees are trying to make ends meet by taking part in a study sponsored by the Illinois Pork Producers—one iming to produce a deodorant that will mask the smell of pig manure and make life more bearable for neighbors and livestock workers.

The students have been recruited for their snouts. For $1, they sniff a gauze-covered black jar containing either treated manure or the real thing straight from the pig. The odor is...

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