HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1958-04-16, Page 3Gardening Over
The Centuries
We are apt to think that the
lave of new and rare plants is a
thing of modern growth, and it
comes as something of a shock
to find, that the first recorded
plant-hunting expedition was or-
ganized more than 3,000 years
ago. It was inspired by Queen
Hatshepset of Egypt when she
built a fine new temple at Luxor
about 1570 B.C, A. fleet of ships
and a company of gardeners went
to the Land of Punt, now known
as British Somaliland, a n d
brought back plants, seeds and
living trees,
The main purpose Of the ex-
pedition was to find incense-
'hearing trees for the temple gar-
dens and in due course the
Queen's sculptors recorded that
thirty-one living trees had been
established there. Those trees
have been identified with the
Boswellia, that still grows in the
land of Punt, whose characteris-
tic brittle resin is still put to the
same old uses as in the days
when Pharaohs ruled supreme,
In the dry state it is known as
"frankincense" and is used in re-
ligious ceremonies, and when
softened by boiling in oil is used
as pitch for caulking ships.
About one hundred and fifty
years later. another Egyptian
monarch left a record that am-
ong the treasures of ebony and
ivory, gold and precious stones,
brought back from a successful
foray against the Assyrians, were
many new and rare plants, in-
cluding a variety of Vine, a
Pomegranate, and a Water-Lily.
There is an old tradition that
the Double Yellow Persian Rose
and the tree, that we know as
Lombardy Poplar were brought
back by the soldiers of Alexan-
der the Great on their return
from the Persian Wars.
Even in the days of chivalry,
when culture was at its lowest
ebb, knights returning from the
Crusades did not forget their,
ladies who tended tiny gardens
within the walls of lonely cas-
tles. -Many of the gaily coloured
fieldflowers of southern Europe
and the Levant came to sus about
that time. One of the first is the
great scarlet Ranunculus of Pal-
estine, the familiar R. asiaticus,
of our spring gardens, said to
have been brought back by Louis
IX of France to his mother
SQUASHERWOMAN - Although
presses have taken over almost
everywhere in Italy, grapes are.
still crushed by foot in this
Frascati winery, near Rome.
Atop a barrel, the Womeh steps
through the ancient method,
removing stems later.
FEELING SHEEPISH-Just a few friends and relatives of this ewe
stood around after it got its head stuck in a bucket on a ranch
and frightened off the rest of the herd of 2,000. Owner Rod
Johnston soon rescued the "monster" from the unhappy pre-
dicament.
TYPIST THOUGHT
SHE WAS TOUCHED
Recently Miss Margaret Light-
foot, a shorthand typist employ-
ed by a bank at Ladysmith,
Natal, pulled the dust cover
from her typewriter and pre-
pared for work. Her eyes pop-
ped; some of the typewriter
keys were moving by them-
selves,
Miss Lightfoot pushed her
chair back, firmly believing that
some ghostly typist was at the
machine-then she saw trying
to rear its head under the type-
writer keys a dangerous yellow
snake! One of the bank staff
coaxed the snake out,, and dis-
patched it.
Blanche of Castile, who had
famous garden about the middle
of the thirteenth eentelry.,
As with the gardeners of to-
day the medieval monks were
always willing to pass On, seed,
lings, slips, grafts or pungent
roots to friends and to fellow en-
tbusiests. Varieties of special yir,
tue 'or of religious significance
such es Madonna Lilies, the gaily.
„coloured Anemones' from the
Land of the Boly Cross, or Snow-
drops were carried far and
wide over the whole of Christen-
dom in the wallets of painters
and wandering friars, to be given
as an appreciation of the hospi,
tality that was always so freely
given_ , .
So it has been down through
the changing centuries,, our gar-
dens have been enriched by men
of every walk of life, wanderers
and stay-at-homes, parsons and
piratee, all have worked together
to increase the variety of our
cultivated plants and the beauty
of our gardens. - From "The
Coming of the Flowers," by A.
W, Anderson,
Careless Stork
Hatched Gosling
Few actresses become bird-
watchers, but that is Miss Nancy
Price's hobby around her Sus-
sex home and when she travels
abroad.
In Norway she studied the
stork's habits, and found that,
in wooing, he first bows elabor-
ately, then proposes by placing
his long bill over his back and
giving a raucous cry,
He is also very polite and
courteous after marriage, but
has strictly moral ideas on how
a wife should conduct herself.
She quotes two astonishing
stories of this morality, related
by Bishop Stanley in -a fascinat-
ing account of her hobby, "I
Watch and Listen".
All the eggs from a stork's nest
were stolen and replaced by
Len's eggs. When the chicks were
hatched the male vanished for
two or three days returning with
a number of other storks, who
gathered in a circle round the
female, evidently discussing her
case. She was then torn to pieces
and the nest destroyed.
In the second case, near Berlin,
two storks tesres. e;seei. seesee
the chimney of a house, the
owner exchanged eggs when the
mother stork was careless
enough to let him do so, and a
gosling was hatched. After in-
specting it, the male flew around
the nest with loud cries, then
disappeared.
On the fourth day the inmates
of the house, disturbed by loud
cries coming from a field front-
ing it, saw nearly 500 storks
standing close, together, appar-
ently listening to one facing the
mass meeting.
When he'd finished, another
came forward to address the as-
sembly. This proceeding con-
tinued with a succession of birds,
then the whole court rose into
the air uttering cries and flew
towards the female in her nest.
Finally, one bird - evidently
the disgruntled mate - struck
her thr,ee or four times, knock-
ing her out of it. She, the gosling
and the nest were then des-
troyed.
By Bey. R. B. Warren, .R4,,
The Church's Assurance
of 'Victory
John 20;2649; Ephesians 1:154$
Memory Selectien; Now unto
him that is able to do exceed-
limb, abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to
the power that worketh in tie,
unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen,
Ephesians 3;20-21.
How many blessings we miss
if we do not meet with the be-
lievers on. the Lord's Dayl What
a long week of torturing doubt
it must have been until Thomas
was with the disciples on the
following Lord's Day when the
Lord appeared to them again..
The best we can say for
Thomas is that his was the scien-
tific attitude when he eaid, "Ex-
cept I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails
and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe." No hearsay
for him, But Jesus did not com-
mend his attitude. There was
more than caution in Thomas;
there was unbelief. There is Se
note Of reproof in the words of
Jesus, "Be not faithless, but be-
lieving" and "Because thou heat
seen me, thou ,hast believed;
blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed."
The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the greatest of all
miracles, This was not just re-
suscitation. Before Jesus took
his body again, he glorified it.
It was no longer a natuhal body
but a spiritual body. Jesus had
borne the image of the earthly;
He now bore the image of the
heavenly. It is an amazing
demonstration of the exceeding
greatness of the power of God,.
The same God, through the sac-
rifice of Jesus Christ, is able to
forgive our sins and give us
victory over sin in this present
life.
The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the assurance of our
rising from the dead. We confi-
dently sing:
"In the resurrection morning
When the prison bars are broken
We shall rise, Hallelujah,
We shall rise."
clog that contributed most to
founding the yield trial English
setter in America was Count
Noble. This famous deg was
mounted at Its death and is now
in the Carnegie Museum at Pitts-
burgh,
English setters have a fine
disposition, as well as. beauty,
intelligence and an aristocratic
appearance,
The Irish red setter, by far the
most popular of the three setters
in America today, was originally
red and white, but Only hscoet-
sPlcuQus white markings are now
permitted,
This solid red setter, as distin-
guished from the red and white,
first appeared in Ireland early
in the nineteenth century, and
one of the first to come to Amer.'.
ca was a dog named Eleho, im-
ported in 1875.
Irish setters were brought here
for hunting game and, in spite
of the fact that our ruffed
grouse, quail and prairie chicken
were new and strange to them
they made good immediately,
Gordon setters got their name
because of their long association
with the Dukes of Gordon, dat-
ing back to 1743. Cordons are
black with mahogany tan mark-
ings.
They were first brought to
America by George Blunt and
Daniel Webster in 1842. Eager
workers, with an inbred hunting
ability, they have a keen intel-
ligence.
The setters are one of the
most reliable sporting dogs and
rarely make a mistake in the
field. As much as $3,000 has been
paid for the champions of the
breed, - From The Police Ga-
zette.
FINE FLOWERS
The tulip was first developed
from a wild flower into a garden
beauty by ancient Turkish gar-
deners.
Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking
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deft!' 2a Ahen suffered` minor Injuries.
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There are' more desolate areas
than Israel's Negev territory,
but not many, The more re,.
markable, then, is the transfor-
mation being effected in this
hot wedge of sand and rock that
forms the .north edge of the
Arabian desert. e
The Negev is tiny Israel's only
undeveloped area. The Israeli
are moving rapidly to develop
and populate it.
Beersheba, a sleepy town of
250 a few years ago, now has
35,000 inhabitants, a ceramics
factory, a chemical insecticide
plant, a fire brick factory and a
grain elevator and mill. North
of Beersheba, around a new
town of Kirkat Gan, 58 co-oper-
ative agricultural settlements
have been formed. This is roll-
ing short grass country and,
with water piped from the Jor-
dan river, the settlers are rais-
ing 'cotton, peanuts, sugar beets,
corn and small grains.
Between Beersheba and
Egypt's. Sinal peninsula another
75 farm settlements with 20,000
inhabitants have been estab-
lished. They are experimenting
with dry land farming. Near the
Mediterranean new citrus groves
have been planted.
Israel's only mineral wealth
is in the Negev. At S'dom on the
Dead Sea a new bromine plant
is in production. A phosphate
mine at Oron doubled produc-
tion in 1957. A new copper pro-
cessing plant was completed at
Timna. Geologists have discov-
ered rich deposits of flint clays
and small fields of gypsum and
marble.
A new 147-mile road from
Beersheba to Eilat, port on the
Gulf of Aqaba, 'was opened re-
cently.
The Negev development is
forced, of course. It results from
Israel's isolation, its population
needs and its fears, It is only
possible because of funds con-
tributed by world Jewry.
Nevertheless, what is being ,
done in the Negev is proof of
what could be done throughout
the middle east, in areas much
less desolate and more favored
than the Negev. Plans in that
direction have been advanced,
and assistance from the outside
free world offered. But the
quarrel between Arabs and Is-
raelis, and the refusal of Arab
leaders to put the welfare of
their people first, have so far
blocked progress. - Milwaukee
Journal.
IMAM FRONT
11,1\12=ell
They're Making
The Desert Bloom
Bird Spotters
From Spain
In the days before shotguns,
when game was caught in nets
or brought down by hawks, the
birds were first located by dogs
known as "sitting" or "setting"
spaniels.
These spaniels, which came
from Spain, were the ancestors of
our present day setters.
There are three varieties of
the breed, English setters, Irish
setters and Gordon setters. It is
not known which variety is the
oldest, although they all came
originally from the same spaniel
tock.
Setters were mentioned by
name as long ago as 1570. The
name comes from the word set,
which means to stand rigidly
and point on scenting game.
The general formation of all
three setters is the same, the dif-
ferences in size and weight be-
ing due originally to the type Of
ground over which they were
worked.
The English setter, working
over grassland, did not need the
length of leg that was required
for working over Irish bogs or
Scottish heather, so it is the
lowest of the three.
Its colors are either black and
white, lemon and white, liver
and white, or black, white and
tan,
The first English setters were
imported to America in 1874. The
COLD COP IN COLD WAR. - guilt' by West Berlin children,
this snoWrnan represents an icy-faced customs officer checking,
motorists crossing the border into Communist East Berlin. The
word "loll" 'around the figure% neck Means "customs." The
German sign reads:„!'Attentionl You leave' West Berlin in 70
meters!! In right .background, within the 'Eastern Seetore is the
Brandenburg Gate.
$ 12. Unit of re- 37, Obtain
'CROSSWORD 18. Always' 29. Hebrew
month 20.Lessen 42. Passenger -
PUZZLE -,i. Forgive steamer 22. Bouquet 14, Send out '' 24. Hindu demon 40. Norseback 25, Barrier in a gains 6. Eedenttle Roman' circus 17. 107cistenee
p ace 26.. Doer hart 46, Slake lace 7. Shun 27, Rims 49. Luzon hat Iva 8,11eorroeVer 29, Peer Cytit's 50. Wornt 9. Constellation blether 52, immerse 10, T 'Mt-trial 00:Reverence 50. Turn right
11.' Tlnocli 24, SVrtgers 'I I 'I' ,nrii ;Wile r , v , 1 .
ACROSS "
Cures
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bean
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fabric
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More and more the phrase
"self-help" is bobbing up in
meetings where the economic
troubles of agriculture are un-
der discussion, Farmers them-
selves are using it. The 'big goV-
ernment programs have been
tried and found wanting. Sur-
pluses grow.
Now when farmers and their
economic advisers gather in
meetings like one held recently
by the National Farm Institute
of the Des Moines Chamber of
Commerce they consider new
approaches, They ask questions:
Can farmers, by banding to-
gether in strong commodity or-
ganizations, such as those of
wheat growers or swine pro-
ducers, bring the earnings of
agriculture in line with those
of business and labor?
Can thdy enlarge their domes-
tic and foreign markets by im-
proving the quality of their pro-
ducts and adapting them to the
tastes of their consumers?
Should government programs
be redirected to encourage self-
help?
Many farmers and farm lead-
ers, of course, are still ardent
advocates of parity price sup-
ports. Even the self-help people
think government farm pro-
grams should be maintained for
the present. But with greater
frequency now you hear a dif-
ferent note. Here, for example,
is Marion Steddom, an Iowa hog
farmer, speaking at the Des
Moines Institute:
"There has been a drastic
change in the thinking of farm
people in the past few years.
The change is from an attitude
that government farm programs
would eventually solve our
problems to a conviction that
we must solve our own prob-
lems sooner or later.
"We are seeing commodity
groups being formed for the sole
purpose of developing aeelf-
help programfor a particular
industry. Future government
programs should be devised to
assist activity of this kind, with
a goal of making these pro-
grams self-supporting." C *
As noted before, this does not
mean that advocates of self-help
programs want to scrap price
supports and other forms of
government aid immediately.
Even -conservative economists
think this would be extremely,
unwise.
One speaker in the Des Moines•
group who called himself a "free
enterpriser" went so far as to
say that anyone who would ad-
%Tecate ending these government
programs 'before adjustments
were made was either "naive or
deceitful." .
While the present heavy sur-
pluses hang over the market,
the government must continue
to support farm prices and help
agriculture make adjustments,
it was generally agreed.
"Use the preSent programs to
buy time in Order to get a 'tore
ftitidateentel solution to the
fart'-income problem," advised
joint 1-t, Davisi o director of pro
gram in business and agrieut,.
Wee, Harvard ,Oteettiate School
of Business Administration, and
a former president of the Cote-
fluidity Credit Corporation..
Mr. Davis is One of those who
believe that agriculture arid the
nation as a Whole lieVe much
to, gain lithe stronger peoditeer
orgenieetibtie, says that the
inarkethig structure Of ageicul-
titre hes for many years been
lagging behind the production.
etetiethee Which made giant
StrideS, Parinera, liaise been Peoe
-chiding more Coen and Wheat pet
acre, More liege ter giVen
amount of feed, More Milk tier
cows •
OA the seine farmers
have lost control of marketing,
as Mr. Davis sees it. This has
been taken over more and more
by large business organizations
not connected with the farm, The
two functions, production and
marketing, have become pro-
gressively more and more out
of gear. The result has been to
weaken the farm economy,
writes Dorothy Kahn Jaffe in
The Christian Science Monitor.
Now it appears that big
changes are under way. Tech-
nology is. forcing a closer link-
age of on-farm production and
off-farm marketing, with off-
farm capital often financing the
operation and calling the tune.
(This is known as vertical inte-
gration.) The farmer may lose
his right to make decisions.
What to 'do about this trend?
"The proper course is for far-
mers to band together so that
'they can take the lead in mar-
ket improvements, develop-
ments, and expansion, even
when this involves integration,"
says Mr. Davis,
Farmers have already done a
great deal for themselves
through their big cooperative
marketing associations and com-
modity organizations. But ac-
cording to Mr. Davis, they have
not done as much as is needed,
They must invest more in
their organizations, he says.
They should dig down and pay
salaries for top management
competitive with those offered
by the big industrial corpora-
tions. They need to spend freely
for research and promotion of
their products. They must fi-
nance "verticle integration." It
will pay in the long run.
While not many commodity
Organizations are as yet doing
the job Mr. Davis envisions,
some are really pointing the
way. Speakers at the Des
Moines Institute reported cases.
One was that of the vigorous
young soybean industry. It has
increased production 2% times
from its already expanded out-
put of World War II days, yet
it has been able to develop
markets to absorb the output.
• * •
George M. Strayer of Hud-
son, Iowa, executive vice-pres-
ident of the American Soybean
Association, told how it was
done. The soybean people pro-
moted the use of protein feeds
for livestock, a feed which has
a soybean meal base, and great-
ly increased its use. Then Mr.
Strayer went to various Euro-
pean countries and Japan and
set up industrywide promotion
offices in those areas.
Result: The industry export-
ed 90,000,000 bushels of soybeans
last year and enough soybean
oil to use up another 175,000,000
bushels, or 'More than the Indus-
try's, production during
World War IL
*
Other commodity groups have
Made export markets for them-
selves, Mr. Strayer said that
Oregon has no wheat surplus to-
day because the Oregon Wheat
League sold the rice-eating Jap-
anese on wheat as a food,
Of course, the government has
helped these commodity groups
with Public Law 480, Wilki:per-
Mils acceptance of foreign ctn.-
tericiee in payment for exports
This ls, in fact, the kind of gov-
ernment aid the self-help schlep'
favors,
Farmers who took part hi
these discussions' at Des Moines
left with' plenty Of information
to take home to their farm or-
gatilietiOne., They dotild use it,
teetettse a great 'Many farniers
appear to be still hopeful that
parity Piece etiepotet solve
agriculture's' PrObletriS,