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Rt Troubles Of A Houseplant Sitter! My wife has a green thumb, It is the greenest thumb imagin- @ble and its pigmentation is a year-round thing. The instant the frost 4 §stoots the pumpkins, her base of operations moves indoors and the season starts anew with a frightening variety of house plants. Recently, a family matter made. it necessary for my wife to be absent from our green mansions for a few weeks. Long in advance, I was adjured as to the tending of the pot-bound jungle that sprouts in such ver- dant profusion in virtually every square foot of space we have. I can now state with authority that the care and feeding of house plants is no job for a man, least of all this one. In the art of gardening, I am all thumbs -- none of them green. Picture my plight 'when I was summar- ily put in charge of the green- house-with-furniture where we dwell. Suddenly I became aware that not only do plants need: water; they need food as well. "Don't forget to feed the Af- rican violets," my darling flung at me as she boarded her plane. "You'll. find the bottle on the herb shelf." That gave me something to think about on the gloomy drive home. It also opened a dark pas- sageway in my mind that awuk- ened the long-dormant memory of a man-eating orchid I had read about in the dim and care- free past, As soon as I got home, I made an uneasy inspection of the premises, just to be sure, but found, to my relief, that nothing that bloomed or threatened to do so looked even remotely like the carnivorous 'orchid washed up by the waves of memory. Next morning I went over my list of do's and don't's. When my wife had compiled it and then recited it, like a Memorial Day threnody, days in advance of her leave-taking "I had listened with what could, by no stretch of the imagination, be described as rapt attention, As I recall, I- had grumbled that it doesn't take much intelligence to douse a lit- tle water on house plants once in a while. That remark was made Jfrom the citadel of my ignorance, a citadel now under frontal as- sault by the enormous list I held in my hands. . I ran over the list for that part about meals for African violets. Sure enough, it was there. And there on the herb shelf was an ominous little vial labeled "Af- rican violet food." The list gave special instruc- tions for watering the Amaryllis, which heretofore I had imagined to be not a plant but a harmless little waltz dashed off by a French King during a lull in a stag hunt. Now I learned that not only was it a plant with long swordlike spears that drooped disconsolately but threatened to turn a sickly brown if they were not copiously . watered every other day. And, every other day arrived with amazing frequency. What's more, 1 discovered that those pesky African violets must be watered from the bot- tom up. I took these instructions literally, turning the first pot upside down in ..the bottom. When I did, the whole thing (an Azure Beauty, I later learned), plummeted in a soggy green mass to the floor. I concluded that this technique was faulty and thereafter abandoned it. I watered them from the top like any decent plant should be wat- ISSUE 24 -- 1960 A ered and it didn't seem to do them a bit of harm. Fearful of other casualties like the first African violet disaster, I decided to consult one of the books in the vast collection on gardening that has gradually edged my Zane Grey set into the attic. This served only to con- fuse me further, A little learn- ing is not only dangerous, it's downright discouraging. The do's and don't's I found listed in the book I chose were even more involved that the list my wife had saddled me. with, It was from the book that I culled the unnerving information that Af- rican violets can suffer from wet . feet, writes J. Norman McKenzie in the Christian Science Monitor. I didn't even know they had feet. I do know, however, that, wet feet or not, they bear little resemblance to the image of things African that I had gotten from reading "The Snows of Kili- manjaro." My impression of the dark continent is that it spawns only a spartan breed that would disown any namby-pamby. off- spring that made a fuss about wet feet. ¢ Annoying 'as were the African violets with their delicate con- stitution, 'they were hardy as ragweed when stacked up against These were the hanging kind and the slightest movement in leaves to quaking like an aspen spout of my watering can jostled a blossom ever so gently, it as if, by that agonizingly heroic gesture, to punish my clumsiness. The gesture worked. From that moment on, I approached all the begonias (and we have roomsful of the things) on tip- toe. : Somehow, I bumbled through and Homecoming Day finally ar- rived. Until this Golgotha, I never realized how dear my wile is to me. Indeed, to show my gratitude, I planned a little sur- prise for her, I bought her a house plant. It's rather nice i! I do say so myself. The man in the florist anese garden. It's in one of those candy-dish affairs with colored "gravel and a solemn little man- darinlike figure loafing under a tiny umbrella -shaped silvery tree. The nice thing about it is it's artificial -- genuinely arti- ficial. You don't have to water it, you don't 'have to feed it, and you don't have to tiptoe by it. You just sit around and look at it. ' My wife says she likes it. As for me, I love it. Cobras Instead Of Teddy Bears It's a striking fact that al- though millions of women have a horror of snakes they are fascinated by them. Perhaps it's not surprising that comparatively few women and girls except in India, earn a living by practising the slow- ly dying art of snake-charming. But those who do, love it and tend to take greater risks than male snake-charmers. There's a French girl whose amazing influence over snakes has become a byword in various parts of Europe where she does her "charming" act for fascinated audiences. Every night she sleeps with her pet python on her bed. She says she feels safer with him than she would with a house dog. Two snakes owned by an Eng- lish girl snake-charmer coil themselves affectionately round her slim figure every time she CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 54. Maken Roof of the journey 1 74 66. Favorable '1 an of [1] ilention 1t "XN A nged fru Montana 59. Gradatlons 18. Click beetle of color 14 Football team DOWN 18 Cover the 1. Coatof a inside mammal 16. Italian day 2 Excuses «breeze 3. Path 18 Fling about 4. Goddess of 19 Man's infatuation nickname 6. Tellurium 20. Actor's stage symbol whisper 22 Gr long E 23. Enlisted soldier ! (colloa.) 24. Exhibit 26. In football, left tackle 217. A on the Rhine [29- Past tense ending jo President of Korea 32. Luzon native 33. ---- Tae-tung Chinese Com- munist leader . Restrain the . Forward . Harvesting machines 48. Sound expressing inquiry 46. Time of 1ife 8. Positive pole 9. Fourth caliph 0. Kind of 4 33. 38. Mimics 41 2 nd o biscuit Small fish '88 53, Peraia 8. Shaves 3 34. Brags : aped llke a 35 Kind of wool cabbage 36. Capital of 8. No Syrian Philippines deity 37. Footleas 9. Permit animal 10. Bacchanallan 39. Intertwist ery again 11. Cuddle 0. Sparkles 12 Shaped Itka a 3 Babvlonian handle od of healing 17. Increase In i Happy places prices 7 Cheese 20. Wild buffalo 9. Without of India moisture 21. Type measure 51 Topaz 24 One of the hummingbird Apostles 53 Philippine 256 Drums negrito cymbals. ete 55 Syllable ot 28, Perched hesitation 31. Garden tool 67 Exclamation 33 Female horse of enrprise Answer elsewhere on this page. the begonias left in my care. (Lucerna, the book called them): their vicinity set their finicky in a high wind. Once, when the' drifted " suicidally to the floor shop called it a miniature Jap-- NYJINIWOa Jllandy Two yeors of drought and fomine have left thousands emaciated. Haiti is one of the world's poorest, most overpopulated ond underedu- cated areos. The 3,700,000 people have an aver: age income of $75 a year, poorest in the western hemisphere. The shaky government of President Francoise Duvalier is bankrupt, 3] Twin military threat is posed by Cuba and the Dominican Republic. "THE SUNBURNED CRAB" -- Hail has been likened to a sunburned crab, its claws reach out for Cuba. However many think it's the other way round with Cuba reaching menac- ingly toward the hard-up little French-speaking republic which shares a Caribbean island with ferocious Dominican Republic. Things are bad In Halll and the future appears worse as its people look toward Cuban and Dominican Republic strongmen, ON A STRING -- A model of" the Minuteman ICBM roars into the air but it's not going far, A heavy nylon cable, seen to the right of the test missile, brings it to a stop in.a few hundred yards. appears on the stage. She some- times. plays to them on a queer, bowl-shaped musical instrument which causes them to "sit up." Another girl snake-charmer revealed recently that she lost _ her pet snake one day. It turned up next day in the gas-heater at her flat just as she was about to take a bath. - Miss Sheba Delhi said that be- fore she started snake-charming she collected a number of rep- tiles simply because she found them irresistibly attractive. Her favourite snake, a boa-constric- tor named Miska, was so fond of her that it accompanied her on a snake-charming tour of France, Switzerland and Spain. One of her snakes was some- times bathed in fifteen pints of milk and generally drank about five pints of it. Theres an Indian village called Molar Bund where the children play with cobras instead of teddy bears. Before some of these children have learned to walk properly, they begin to learn the ancient art of charming snakes. In their early teens they are given a bag of snakes and musi- cal instruments by their parents and told to go into the cities and earn their living. Snake-charming is sometimes faked. From ancient times there have been Egyptians and Indians who professed to be able to charm snakes, but their real powers lie chiefly in the direc- tion of clever trickery One man who undertook tor a fee to "charm a snake from its hole," produced by sleight of hand another snake from the folds of his gown. Other men, who for payment allow so-called poisonous snakes to bite them, . usually 'work with snakes whoge poison fangs have been pre- viously removed. According to Dr. Lucius Nicholls, a former director of the Lucius Pasteur Institute, Colom- bo, Ceylon, the long-held belief that snake-charmers can cause snakes to leave their jungle haunts at the sound of music is a myth. A new railway line was being made, and the {rack was to cut across a small farm, so an offi- cial of the line paid a visit to the owner, an old lady. "Madam," he said, "I under- stand that you own this farm and it is my duty to inform you that our new railway will run through your barn." © "Oh, will it?" said the old lady. "Well, let me tell you that the last train will not have to be later than nine o'clock, because you'll not catch me sitting up after that to open the doors for it or anything else!" THE FARM FRONT Obstacles to the use of insecti- cides may be swept aside by a new type, introduced in Canada last year. The new insecticide is rot a chemical -- it is a bacter- ium, PY * . The problem has been that insecticides leave residues on the foliage and fruit, which are (1) frequently toxic to man and animals, and (2) harmful to beneficial insects as well as to pests. Moreover, insects can develop resistance to many insecticides commonly in use. LJ LJ * Produced commercially, the new insecticide preparations con- - tain spores of the bacterium Bac- illus thuringiensis, which has long been known to kill insects in nature, This insect-killing pathogen is unique since it may kill hy infection or by a toxin contain- ed in the bacterial spores. This toxin, first studied by Canadian scientists, paralyzes the insect within a few hours after it has eaten a moderate dose of bacter- jal spores. Feeding is stopped and death follows. J * * At the Canada Department of Agriculture's research station at Kentville, Nova Scotia, two pounds of the spore preparation in 100 gallons of water applied to apple trees with ordinary orchard spray equipment killed over 90 per cent of winter moth larvae and about 75 per cent of canker-worms on apple.. Heavier applications gave about 50 per cent control of grey-banded leat roller, a less important pest of apple, Tests against these and other apple insects will be continued this year. , » . Trials conducted in Canada and the United States in 1959 in- dicated that the new insecticide is quite specific for leaf and fruit-eating insects and probably has little or no effect on parasites or predators. Extensive tests have shown that the higher animals and hu- man being are susceptible nei- ther to infection by the bacteria nor to the toxic action of the spores, and hence residues on "fruit or foliage are of little or no concern. . Furthermore, there has been no indication of insects develop- ing resistance to this new type of insecticide. Since this bacterium is one of many microorganisms which have potential as insecticides, this discovery may open a whole new approach to insect control. * L] * Agricultural production in Canada would only be half what it is today were it not for chemi- cal protection against insects and other pests, says J. R, W. Miles, Canada Department of Agricul- ture entomologist. Pesticides put in the soil be- fore planting control soil insects or weeds, sprays and dusts pro- test crops from insect damage throughout the growing season, and fumigants destroy pests that threaten stored food. * * * Many experiments are conduct- ed to determine the safest and best insecticides and the proper time for application. Chemists determine the amount necessary for insect control, how long it is ecifective under different weather conditions, and the safe intervals between the last ap- plication and harvest, 1] 1] * Some insects, such as the European corn borer, require long-lasting insecticides. Crops such as aspafagus, which are harvested every two or three days, need an insecticide that acts quickly and leaves no residue. Studies at Chatham show that DDT and DDD may be used safe- ly against the tomato fruit-worm cn ripe tomatoes that are to be processed into juice. The insectl- cide stays on the skins and does not appear in the juice. No resi- dues have been found on kernels of corn from plants treated by the insecticide for control of the European corn borer. LJ LJ Ld Results of experiments are on control calendars, available to growers for choosing the best and safest materials. Treatments aim at eflective control without the risk of residue remaining on the ¥dible portions of the crops at harvest. The farmer has the responsi- bility of choosing the best mat- erials and applying them accord- ing to recommendations outlined for him. By this co-operation of manu- facturer, scientist and grower, the public is assured of clean, wholesome food. Well Digging An Ancient Art The art of digging wells Is ancient. At Chanpudaro in the Indus Valley is a well that dates from the third millennium be- fore Christ. The Babylonians and Egyptians dug many wells, some of which reached to depths ot over 200 feet. The Romans, too, were skillful well diggers. The digging of these ancient wells must have been difficult even as recently as Roman times; for at- best the chief tools that were used were the pickax and the sledgehammer, and they were made of relatively soft iron rather than steel. The modern well digger drives his truck up to the appropriate spot, rigs a drill, turns on the motor, and then stands by only to regulate the rate cf spin or to change bits or add cxtension rods as required. Otcasionally a modern well is dug by hand, but only if it is shallow and does not involve piercing a rock for- mation, Deep wells and hardrock ones are drilled. With well digging such a dif- Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking 3|0|V|H|sEV|d|v(w|V|5 1 2] ajo v|a | N v == ficult and often vital task in early times, it was inevitable that techniques would be devel- oped for locating underground water supplies. Pliny, the Roman naturalist and writer of the first century, recommended that to locate underground water one should go out just before sun- rise, and lie face downward on the ground with chin resting on the eath. "If vapor is seen to rise, dig; for that will not hap- pen in places without water." When a well is sunk to tap an aquifer of sediments or solid rock, the water may have to be pumped upward or it may rise of its own accord. In the Artols region of France, the wells flow freely, making pumping unneces- sary. From the name of this dis- trict has come the adjective ar- tesian, which is applied to a well that yields such free-flow- ing water, The conditions necessary for artesian wells seem to have been understéod by Leonardo da Vin- ci 500 years ago. What is re- quired is that there be water in an aquifer that slopes down- ward and is overlaid by an im- pervious stratum, The aquifer is analogous to a hose that draws its water from a water tower high aloft. The impervious layer is the cover for the hose. When the hose is pierced, the water spurts upward and emerges in the well without pumping or otherwise being lifted. Among the famous artesian water basins of the wonld are those in Australia, in northern Illinois, and in the Santa Clara Valley of California, -- From "The Ocean of Air," by David J. Blumenstock. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF Even the law can make mis- takes. The other day a retired lawyer recalled two very amus- ing cases. Shortly before a case was due to be tried before the famous judge, Mr. Justice Han- nen, a grave-faced, sombrely- dressed juryman stood up and asked to be excused duty. Asked on what grounds, the man replied: "I am deeply inter- ested in a funeral which takes place to-day and I am most anxious to be present, sir." The judge, impressed, said, 'Your plea is just. You are ex- cused." The judge learned later that the juryman was an undertaker! Stranger still was an incident that occurred in another court when, after his opening speech, counsel for the plaintiff called on the latter to give evidence. To everyone's surprise, a mem- ber of the jury rose, left the jury-box, and walked over -to the witness-box. "What are you doing?" he was asked. "I am the plaintiff," he replied. "Then what are you doing on bs) the jury?" demanded the judge. "I was summoned to sit on the jury," was the reply. "But you surely know that you cannot help to try your own NDAY SCHOO] Fy LESSON By Rev. R. Barclay Warren B.A, B.D, The Two Ways Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 15:11-24 Memory Selection: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6. The first verse of today's les- son recalls an incident of 3% years ago, A school-mate of the former years and then attend- ing Teachers' College. (It was called Normal School at thas time) asked me to write in her autograph book. I wrote, "Strive to enter In at the strait gate" Luke 13:24. She read it and a serious expression passed over her countenance, That evening I had the opportunity to explain to her the way of salvation. She went to her room and there alone, confessed her sins to God. She proved the promise of 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive - us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Lous Isa Baulke became a missionary in Egypt. Later she married Tore rance Alexander and together they are presenting the Gospel In the land of the Pharaohs. The Spirit of God spoke to her through the Word and a life was changed. We often hear the expression, "We're all going the same way. But Jesus said there were two ways. He exhorted, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thercat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few * there be that find it." We nced more preaching of awakening truth. All's not well with the world. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun and the multitude is travelling the downward way. There are many pressures bearing upon us that make it appear to be the prover thing to swing along with the crowd. "There is a way which seeketh right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death," Proverbs 14:12. The story of the returning prediant illustrates the way back o God who loves us. We must realize our need. This is convic- tlon. The Holy Spirit convinces of sin, righteousness and judg- ment. With His help we must turn our back on sin and look to Jesus Christ who died for us. By grace through faith we shall enter into fellowship with God. In Him we find rest, peace and Joy. It is the happy way to live. case?" pursued the judge. "Well," admitted the juryman- plaintiff. "I did think it was a big of luck!" % * " " A dB RB prs a ab i RG nd RE is SWIMMING LESSON -- Bob Sewell had to teach this beaver to paddle. (It's a mechanical one at Disneyland.) SO PEACEFUL? -- It wd £ EL 3 pai lisa i, REL Is wintertime In International relations and blossomtime In West Berlle, From the looks of this quiet street In a suburb who'd know that the Cold War had grows ley? b fo ge Tes. vgs Wig io 4 3