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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1952-6-11, Page 3Green Fingers By c. ANTON REEDS Outside the windows- of Kerry Productions a murky drizzle shrouded the outlines of Herald Square and twisted and distorted the street sounds from below, Alone In the comfortable inner`of- fice Patrick Kerry tried not to no- tice the autumn drizzle beyond the Windows, I -Ie thought of the plans for 'the country place tucked away some- where in one of the drawers of his desk. Yes, he was getting well along now—so well along that at last he conk' admit that the coon - try place of his would never be built, Of course, he thought quietly, life has been good—nighty good— and he glanced from one to an- other of the scores of autographed photos that Tined the four walls of the office. Friends in plenty he bad, He had watched a thing that was misnamed Broadway discard its gaudy minstrel garments and take its first halting steps in a strange. new world of quiet understatement. But on rainy days he, got to thinking of the moist, soft earth and the little rivulets trickling like blind, hesitant pujpies among the clods of plowed fields—and his green fingers began to itch, Old Michael told him he had green fingers. What a proud day that had been. Eleven years old he had been then. That would have been—well, never mind, Patrick Kerry wasn't in any hurry about opening the envelope his secretary had just brought in. His thoughts were not in his office today, and he had difficulty in bring- ing them back from his dreams to present realities. Finally Patrick's old fingers snak- ed open the brown flap and rapped the envelope sharply so that the con- tents slipped outon to the desk. He riffled through then, picked up the precisely filled-in card that was one of talent scout Burp Mullen's cryp- tic reports. Ile forced his tired old eyes to the dossier: "This boy is the ane you want. No doubt about it. He's got a freshness that's the real ar- ticle." Miss Wintersten was hovering in- side the door again. ".Mr. Compton ishere," she said. Patrick Kerry had just time to glance at the photos of a sensative but rugged countryman's face before the face itself was there before him. There were several things Pat- rick Kelly had meant to say; in- stead he found himself asking: "Just what sort of place is this that you have outside of Mill Med- ford, Compton?" "It's a nursery, Mr, Kerry. That is, it will be. They take time get- ting started, you know,". Maybe it was the rain. Anyway Patrick Kerry found himself asking a good many questions, about privet hedge and fall plantings and apple graftings. "Look here," Patrick Kerry said abruptly, "What about this place of, yours? Say you get this part, what would heconte of it?" The young men answered slowly, "We talked about that, Ellen and 1." he said. "Ifigure that if f make 'good with you, a few years—even five or six years — on Broadway would give as the working capital for a real go at it later on. 'Ne could always go back and start over. l suppose we'd want to eny- wav, some day," Patrick Kerry rose and went over to the window. "Of course I'll be coating back in a few years, Maybe we can get a place of our own then by Peck's Villa or down at Irvington." A young Irishman had stood in the rain on an ;autumn day in 1896 on the wooded station platform at Irarindale and said that to a girl whose blue eyes were rimmed with tears. Funny how you believe every- thing verything you said when you were young. Blame it on the gain, he thought. If it weren't for the rain I might not have had to do this. He was very business -like as he sat down again. "I'm afraid we've been very nn. hind, Compton, and I'm sorry. But the fact is our Mr, Mullen was just a little impetuous, You gee, 'Conte - Ion, we're going to need a proles.. siottal for that part." Animals on the Farm It is early sunuler on my hill- side, The lielda are variegated strips of green to many shades, interspersed with the yellow of ripened grain and of mustard, and the brown of ploughed earth. The harvest has begun. Orderly stacks of mown wheat dot some of the Gelds, sharply etched in high -lights and shadows under the July sun. The hay is rolling in from the meadows piled high in long, creak- ing, two -wheeled carts, some drawn by strawberry roan horses with blond manes, hitched tandem, sante by yoked pairs of cream colored Charollais oxen, Cuekbos arc' still . calling back and forth. from the hedges but they will not be heard, so local wisdom has it, after the 14th of July. Quantities of bees are dip- ping into tits honeysuckle and the roses. Every now and then one gets in the drainpipe by mistake: its infuriated buzzing ,against the metallic sides of the pipe sounds like boogie-woogie. Underlying my terrace is a long field planted in potatoes. The far- ' mer is cultivating between the rows with a hand plough pulled by a donkey, the latter in tuns pulled by the fanmer's young son. The farmer talks loudly and continually to his donkey, while the solemn - faced animal carries on its task -with .an expression of sad resig- tiation. . In another strip alongside my walled garden, this one being in pasture, Madame Hen -parrot (Per- ruche) of Asquins. Village, brings her three cows each morning to graze, One of them has red and white markings, one grey and white, one mauve and white. Ma- dame Hen -parrot is more than three score years' front- the early flush of youth, She walks slowiy. up the hill in her wooden shoes at a cow's pace, with her knitting, a folding milking stool with four slats for a seat, a long stick, and an umbrella. She has a blue or sometimes a white- kerchief over her head, and wearsa faded and much patched blue apron upon I know not how many faded and patched skirts and petticoats. A black dog accompanies the pro- cession. Madame Hen -parrot unfolds her milking stool, unfurls Ater umbrel- la if there is rain or a strong wind, takes to her knitting and talks continually in a shrill -pitched voice to the cows and the dog. Unlike the farmer talking to his Largess aver: The Empress of Scotland, 26,3D0 -ton. flagship of the Canadian Pacific fleet is shown here, passing under the Jacques Cartier Bridge al the entrance to Montreal harbor to make history as' the largest vessel ever to arrive in the world's largest inland port. The big luxury liner and cruise ship, which had to have her masts shortened by almost 45 feet toclear under the bridges and power lines on the way up -river from Quebec, will make Montreal her Canadian terminal for the remain- der of the 1952 St. Lawrence navigation season. The 666 -foot long vessel carries 663 passengers, and will make one trip every three weeks between Liverpool, England, Greenock, Scotland, and Montreal. The inset shows Capt. C, E. Duggan (in uniform), master of the largest and fastest vessel on the St. Lawrence route, being welcomed to Montreal by Capt. J. P. Dufour, (second from right) Montreal harbormaster, while looking on are A. C. MacDonald (left), managing director of C.P,S., and Andre Ga.uthrier, river pilot, who was abcard the vessel for 139 -mile run up river from Quebec. oxen or his donkey, there is no cajolentent in her directives, but she gives the reasons underlying' them. "Now chase that cofnplete-. ly idiotic animal out of that cor- ner"—this to the dog -"because she has been there too long and should know that the grass is bet- ter belowf" My hillside is quiet; save for the nightingales in the springtime and the voices of the cultivators and cattle tenders conversing ivith their beasts. — From "Bird of Time," by Melvin Hall. TAEFARM FRON According to the scientists, the lowly corncob is good for some- thing beside burning—or making pipes. Not long ago they found in ita good'source of an important chenidel which can be uesd-in the manufacture of nylon. Today it is being considered as a first class stock feed which puts more weight an beef cattle at less cost. * * * On a farm near Coon Rapids, Iowa, 4,000 head of cattle were fattened for the market last winter with a diet consisting 'of 75 per cent corncobs. The cobs, which were always a disposal problem, were ground up and ,nixed with small amounts of shelled corn, molasses, urea, soybean oil and fish oil. The urea provides the nitro- gen which helps in the digestion by cattle and fish oil is for vita- min A. * * * Weight gains were estimated at two pounds per day at a cost of 15 to 16 cents per pound compared to a gain of one pound per day costing 28 cents when shelled corn, hay and protein were fed, * * * The old "forty -acre" farm kit - New -Add ,Fad?—Approximately the size of a pack of clgarets, this finger -operated ntidget'add- ing machine can add, subtract, multiply, divide and square fig- ures, Manufactured by a Berlin, Germany, firm, it will sell for about $94, then is going modern. In the cur-. rent 'transformation of Canadian farm hones, the kitchen seems to be the room getting the most at- tention, writes Ethel Chapman, who was for many years woman's editor of Farmer's Magazine. * * * Miss Chapman has fatted that within the last few years big farm kitchens have been divided to provide a modern kitchen - dining room with a separate utility roost where the men can wash-up, where the laundry can be done, or a little pig warned and fed in an emergency. * * * Running water was only a dream of most Canadian farm women 30 years ago. Today, farm water sys- tems are being installed at an amazing rate. Electricity is rapidly reaching even the farthest of the back concessions. Houses built 30 years ago without a clothes closet from ground floor to attic are get- ting new storage space. Kitchen cupboards are being installed with such enthusiasm there's scarcely a spot left to hang a calendar. * * * Central 'heating is transforming farm home architecture, according to Miss Chapman. It is no longer necessary to keep a room closed for warmth, so partitions ate being taken out to throw two rooms into one or to make wide archways joining halls and living -rooms. Windows are being enlarged and new windows added. The picture- window is finding real popularity, Over the past 50 years farm operations. in Canada have pro- gressed'front hand and horse labor to an occupation that is • highly mechanized and scientific, The farmer himself has changed from a hewer of wood leading an iso- lated life to a citizen of the world —a logical development of produc- ing food for export. * * This • great revolution on the. farm, writes Dr. G. E, Realms in the current issue of C -I -L Oval, ANSWERS TO INTELLIGENCE TEST 1 ---Napoleon. 2---s lei g It, 3— Aegean Sea. 4-2000 miles. 5— ants, 6—a rock, 7--(A)—Indiana; (•B) Oklahoma; (C� Ohio; (D) North Carolina. MERRY MENAGERIE X571 4/Ydil 44. "Check your son, Sister.?" actually began when the mechan- ical reaper displaced the sickle and scythe more than 100 years ago. But it wasn't until 1900 that real. progress was made 'in mechaniz- ation of the gasoline engine. By this means the farmer achieved power in a controlled quantity that enable film to free himself from horse -produced power. * * * Dr. Beaman, who is head of the Department of English at the On- tario Agricultural College, review- ed the scientific developments in the last 50 years. When the laws of genetics came to be understood, it was possible to breed dairy cows which gave more milk. Much ex- perimentation has taken place in both breeding and feeding poultry so that today any fowl which does not product satisfactorily is elfin- inated from the flock. The discov- ery of antibiotics has meant a great deal in fighting and overcoming diseases in animals as well 9.s humans. * * "' In the field of pesticides, DDT was probably the first wonder- working insecticide. Many others followed soon after. Newfungi- cides, rodenticides and weedkillers have been developed. Other new chemicals cause the leaves to fall off ripened crops to facilitate hand and machine harvesting. * * * No longer does the farmer point a finger of scorn at "fancy fann- ing" carried on by scientists. He 1 ow realizes they are working for him. THE MILITARY MIND A sergeant was asking some re - recruits why walnut was used for the butt of a rifle. "Because it has more resistance," volunteered one man, "Wrong l" ".Because it is more elastic," "Wrong!" "Perhaps it's becadse it looks nicer than any other kind," volun- teered another, timidly, "Don't be an ass," snapped the sergeant. "It's simply because it was laid down in Regulations.". (14 UNDAY SCHOOL LESSON By Rev. R B Warren. B.A., B.D. The Obligation to be Trustful Exodus 20;16; John 18:15-27 Memory Selection: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Exodus 20:16. A careful survey of 10,000 men and women in an eastern Ameri- can city revealed that 98% of them, upon their own confession, were "in the habit of telling lies." Re- cently it was revealed that a state- ment concerning gems warfare at- tributed to a government official and which led to serious misunder- standing had only been inserted by a newspaperman to "brighten up the story." Some doctors lie to make an operation appear neces- sary and sometimes to buoy up a patient on false hopes. Parents lie to their children and children early learn from their example. \Ve ridicule the Communists but we have lies a plenty apart from Communism. Jesus Christ said concerning the devil, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8:44. His first lie was to Mother Eve in his successful effort to de- ceive her. He said, "Ye shall not surely die." Gen. 3:4. He was sug- gesting as he does constantly to men to -day, that "God doesn't mean what He says." Millions of mor- tals believe him. A story in an old Public Reader told of tate boy who cried "Wolf, wolf," when there was no wolf. One day the wolf really came. The boy cried loudly but in vain. The sten thought he was lying again. The sheep were destroyed. When one earns a reputation for lying, often he will not be believed when he is telling the troth. "Ly- ing lips are abomination to the Lord." Prov. 12:22. "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- stone." Rev. 21:8. Jesus is the Truth. Those who love 'tint have been delivered from their deceitful heart and endeavour at all times to speak the truth. STtr toI MILD WEATHER TO REMAIN Can't Remlelmber Ex-WRVe's Name: Bruce Steele is just a seventy. two-year-old Texan plumber, a handy man with his spanner, but he has just established a new rec- ord in wives. When he married forty -seven-year-old Estelle at El Paso recently he signed the mar- riage lines for the seventeenth time, Bruce has now had four- teen wives, but one of them he married twice and one three times, making seventeen marriages in all, "Can I help it if I appeal to women?" Bruce askes his critics. "It's the plumber in mel" Women send for the plumber half the time, he claims, just to tell him their troubles while he works. But Bruce was a boxer with a travel- ling show when he married his first wife, Mary, back in 1911. When lie moved on, she got a di- vorce and he wooed and won girls in other towns. "Just give the women what they want and give them a divorce every little while," he sums up. Yet to-day—although he never forgets his tools on a plumbing job—he cannot even re- member all his wives' names. Fanny Went to Court` There was Nellie whom he mar- ried twice, two girls named Rose, and Fanny whom he has cause to remember because she nearly fool- ed hien with her third divorce. Af- ter being married to Bruce twice before, Fanny didn't want the di- vorce and contested it in court but variety prevailed) "Find their weaknesses and play it up—that's the way to be a good Romeo," Bruce declares, But his theory is contested by forty -seven- year-old Francesco Julian of Bra- zil, who says that marriage has many complications. And Julian— a successful white farmer—should know. He has twelve wives living with him all at once in bus home- stead near Rio de Janeiro. Two recently presented him with sons to add to his total of twenty- three children. Legally speaking, more than one wife is against Bra zillian law, but so far the authori- ties have smiled upon this happy dozen. Platinum blonde, Betty Cala- muss, too, has set all America gos- siping with her twelve marriages in fifteen years. Two men she re- married for a second try, making ten husbands in all, and at thirty- nine she has no regrets. "Perfect marriages aren't rare," she as- serts. "My marriages were so per- fect they were just too good to last. Mother says she just can't understand what I'mn looking for!" Betty has married G-men, .Air Force heroes (two), an undertaker and a full-blooded Cherokee In- dian. Most of her ex-husbands still send her birthday and Christmas cards and some even remember her at wedding anniversaries. "But no children!" Betty sighs. "I just never planned for any." MISSED HIM A little old lady in her seventies went to a doctor. She detailed all her ailments, real and imaginary, but seemed most concerned about a recurring dream in which she was diligently pursued by a personable young man who wanted to flirt with her. The doctor advised her how she might sleep more soundly. In a few days she returned. "Don't tell me you aren't sleeping better nowadays," said the doctor. "Olt, I'm sleeping fine," the old lady replied, "but to tell the truth I certainly miss that young manl" tj191 ' HUMB .F z iy 0'00.0451;0c 511;0h' Give Them Room Thinning flowers and vegetables, especially those that conte from fine seed, is a bother but it will he well worthwhile in sturdier and 'better plants. With flowers this will Pleas earlier and bigger blooms and less.' loss from winds and heavy rains. With vegetables like carrots, beets, lettuce, etc., it will be finer flavor and more tenderness. Properly spac- ed, properly thinned vegetables are much easier to cultivate, too, If at all possible one should leave enough room between each plant so that a small hoe or a special long -handled cultivator can be used, These int- plements will save hours of hand weeding drudgery. Staked Tomatoes For most gardens it is advisable to stake tomatoes. At the time of planting good stout stakes at least six feet high are driven well into the ground and within a few inches of each plant. To these the main stem of the tomato plant is loosely but securely tied, every foot or so as it grows. All side shoots are nipped off just at 5000 as they develop, but one must be careful not to remove the fruit or flower clusters. This is a weekly job during the growing season. Eventually the main stem of the tomato plant wi11 reach the height of the stake and then it, too, is nipped off to encourage fruit to set into top flowers. When staked, to- matoes can be grown about 18 inches apart and in small gardens, around the edge of the plot. Grow Manure As soon as one part of the vegetable patch is used up (peas, spinach, radish, etc., will soon be out of the way and the ground clear), experienced gardeners make a practice of sowing some green crop like rye, oats, buckwheat, etc. This covers the ground, checks weed growth and when dug or plowed in late in the fall makes an excellent fertilizer. In addition to enriching the soil such growth also adds essential humus. Cutting Gardens Home grown flowers in season are certainly not luxuries when one remembers that cue can grow liter- ally armfuls of blooms at a cost of only a few cents. And there is no reason why the average person should not grow them by the arm- ful and use them liberally as in Britain to decorate living rooms, verandahs, etc. Where large quanti- ties are wanted for such purposes many people make it a practice to grow them in rows with the vege- tables. It is much simpler to grow them in this way and there is no disfigurement to the decorative flower beds when bouquets are required. This particularly applies to such flowers as sweet peas, gladioli, marigolds, zinnias and other either trailing or straight growing things that lend them- selves to row cultivation. "Several of my friends in my old home town want me to go and live there again." "Did they tell you that?" "Oh yes. They said they want Inc to come back and settle," TEST YOUR INTELLIGENCE Score 10 points for each correct answer in the first six questions: 1. Waterloo saw the dof: —the Spanish Armada —Napoleon —Kaiser Wilhelm —Czar Nicholas IS 2. Which of the following is misspelled: —chief—slieghefeat —believe —receive 3. The Dodecanese Islands are in the: —Dardanelles '—Atlantic ocean —Pacific Ocean —Aegean Sea 4. The length of the Mexican -U. S. boundary is about: —500 utiles —2000 miles —3000 utiles —800 miles 5. Aardvarks are fond of: —shrimp —oysters —ants —legumes 6. In the Bible, what did Moses strike to get water: —a rock —sand —a tree — stone tablets 7. Listed below are nicknames and opposite tltcnt tine states to which they are applied. Match them, scoring 10 points for each Correct answer. (A) Hoosier (13) Sooner (C) Buckeye (D) Tar Heel —Indiana • Total your points. A store of 0-20 is poor: 30-60, average; 70-80, superior; 90-100, very superior. —Ohio —Oklahoma —North Carolina JITTER • . TNl NEW MILKMAN Ranter male Ce -LNG OUR EMPTY $O7TLi5,..WSU. 'iibti PUT THEM WHERE HE'LL Bt' WIRE TO5IrYNEM By Arthur Pointer