diff --git a/docs/config.html b/docs/config.html
index c6fb04e..abb3f19 100644
--- a/docs/config.html
+++ b/docs/config.html
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ use for logging output.  Note: this configuration value is processed
 <a href="http://docs.python.org/lib/ConfigParser-objects.html">raw</a></dd>
 <dt>feed_timeout</dt>
 <dd>Number of seconds to wait for any given feed</dd>
-<dt><del>new_feed_items</del></dt>
-<dd>Number of items to take from new feeds</dd>
+<dt>new_feed_items</dt>
+<dd>Maximum number of items to include in the output from any one feed</dd>
 <dt><ins>spider_threads</ins></dt>
 <dd>The number of threads to use when spidering. When set to 0, the default, 
 no threads are used and spidering follows the traditional algorithm.</dd>
diff --git a/planet/config.py b/planet/config.py
index afae785..53195c4 100644
--- a/planet/config.py
+++ b/planet/config.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ def __init__():
     define_planet('output_dir', 'output')
     define_planet('spider_threads', 0) 
 
+    define_planet_int('new_feed_items', 0) 
     define_planet_int('feed_timeout', 20)
     define_planet_int('cache_keep_entries', 10)
 
diff --git a/planet/splice.py b/planet/splice.py
index 2c23b09..ed2a856 100644
--- a/planet/splice.py
+++ b/planet/splice.py
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ def splice():
 
     # insert entry information
     items = 0
+    count = {}
+    new_feed_items = config.new_feed_items()
     for mtime,file in dir:
         if index != None:
             base = os.path.basename(file)
@@ -75,15 +77,23 @@ def splice():
         try:
             entry=minidom.parse(file)
 
-            # verify that this entry is currently subscribed to
+            # verify that this entry is currently subscribed to and that the
+            # number of entries contributed by this feed does not exceed
+            # config.new_feed_items
             entry.normalize()
             sources = entry.getElementsByTagName('source')
             if sources:
                 ids = sources[0].getElementsByTagName('id')
-                if ids and ids[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue not in sub_ids:
-                    ids = sources[0].getElementsByTagName('planet:id')
-                    if not ids: continue
-                    if ids[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue not in sub_ids: continue
+                if ids:
+                    id = ids[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue
+                    count[id] = count.get(id,0) + 1
+                    if new_feed_items and count[id] > new_feed_items: continue
+
+                    if id not in sub_ids:
+                        ids = sources[0].getElementsByTagName('planet:id')
+                        if not ids: continue
+                        id = ids[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue
+                        if id not in sub_ids: continue
 
             # add entry to feed
             feed.appendChild(entry.documentElement)
diff --git a/tests/test_splice.py b/tests/test_splice.py
index 317faeb..66da44f 100644
--- a/tests/test_splice.py
+++ b/tests/test_splice.py
@@ -24,3 +24,11 @@ class SpliceTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(8,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('entry')))
         self.assertEqual(3,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('planet:source')))
         self.assertEqual(11,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('planet:name')))
+
+    def test_splice_new_feed_items(self):
+        config.load(configfile)
+        config.parser.set('Planet','new_feed_items','3')
+        doc = splice()
+        self.assertEqual(9,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('entry')))
+        self.assertEqual(4,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('planet:source')))
+        self.assertEqual(13,len(doc.getElementsByTagName('planet:name')))