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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1961-09-28, Page 2it's About Time To Plant Those Bulbs s From September onward in the north is the time to plant spring -flowering bulbs, Daffodils go in first, then hyacinths and the little bulbs, Tulipscan be planted then or later, October on into November — even as late as the holes can be dug for them. In warmer climates, keep bulbs in the refrigerator until Deem- her, then plant. Spring -flowering bulbs are so beautiful anti so easy to raise that with a little care a long season of bloom is practically assured, Daffodils, narcissus, and jonquils, alone, can be planned to spread over many weeks, If one begins with snowdrops, the first harbingers of spring, and ends with the handsome Darwin and Breeder tulips, the bulb - flowering season will stretch from February into May with a constant unfoldment of loveli- ness. Following the snowdrops are the winter aconite, crocus, and chiondoxa, Then come scillas and grape hyacinths. Daffodils are going on at the same time, and the quaint species tulips, Kauf- manniera and fosteriana. By,then, the colorful tulip pera'se starts, with the early singes and doubles, and on into the . arrot and cottage and late doilkiles, ending with the Darwin and Breeder, If you add some of the other "lesser" bulbs like Scilla cam- panulta (wood hyacinth) and Dutch iris, you have an exciting display — all for planting bulbs in the autumn, It is better to get a few first- rate bulbs than many second- rate ones. Even when planting, say, 50 daffodils on the edge of the woodland for naturalizing, it is best to buy good bulbs. some dealers sell them for natur- alizing at quantity rates, speci- fying that they are top-quality but not named. Good root development in autumn is important. Success calls for loose soil that the roots can penetrate, plus enough moisture. If the ground is dry, soak it well before digging, Dig the whole area deeply, then smooth it over and place the bulbs where you are going to plant them. The bulbs are plant- ed pointed end up. If the soil is clayey a soil conditioner should be added. For the first-year blooms the flowers • already are formed in the bulbs, so fertilizer is not essential, al - thought enriched soil is always a good idea. After blooming they should be fed so they can build up for the next season. Good drainage is important. Some shade also is important during the summer after they have bloomed, How deep to plant each kind and how far apart depends to an extent on the size of the bulb, also on the soil. Late planting in sandy loam can be less deep than early in heavier soil. When you plant tulips, daffo- dils, or hyacinths in a perennial border, plan groupings by color, advises The Bulb Growers of Holland. Keep the surrounding plants in mind in ordering, and get complementary shades. Plant five or six of one variety in a small border, a few dozen in a large border. A mass of one color is more dramatic than a spotty mixture. And don't forget the "lesser" bulbs. Grape hyacinth, crocus, chiondoxa, scilla, and the species tulips and tiny fragrant jonquils and narcissus are too exquisite to miss. You will be glad next spring that you added them. DRIVE WITH CARE ! Baptism of Fire for Red Cross Disaster Relief , '" Victims of the Ere ht Michigan's Thumb Country ektirvd floors and stairs of iem iuteked Bad Axe Court House. The fire that swept the Thumb, Country of north- eastern Michigan in September, 1861, brought first operation of what is now the American Red Cross Disaster Services. Artists for Harpers Weekly maga- zine at the time, captured qa best they could details of the disaster. More than 200 died, and some 15,000 persons were made homeless by the fire. The fledging Sup ' les 'at'Cass 'City" is caption on sketch made following iltileh gin Are of X885. Yung Red Cross brought relief. organization, "Clara Barton's Red Cross Society," col• lected supplies from just -formed chapters in Dans- villa, Rochester, and Syracuse, N.Y., for delivery to stricken residents, Red Cross disaster services total some $323 million spent in 7,800 relief operations over the 80 intervening years since the first big test in fire -ravaged farm.and,woodiand areas of Michigan. `STABLE TALKS ifiews One of the biggest U.S. makers of glass jars publishes a leaflet titled "Homemakers Earn $150,- 000,000". It says "20,000,000 or more women get an average of 10 saved pennies for each quart of fruit, vegetables, and relish canned at home. Pennies add up to $150,000,000 a year. And they get them tax free!" * • * Further on in the leaflet was this: "How is it possible to esti- mate the amount saved by can- ning? Start with the assumption that a jar will give service for 10 years," Estimates were then given for cost of jar and fuel, and concluded with: "Add this to cost per quart for produce, sugar, and seasoning. Then com- pare cost of the home -canned food with the purchase price of the same amount factory can- ned." • • The last paragraph in the leaf- let asked: "What other than cash saved are the dividends of home canning?" Answer: "Good -tast- ing meals, well-nourished bodies, freedom from worry over food costs, opportunity to exercise or develop creative ability. But for many it is the fellowship and respect which result -w h en mother, father, and children take an active part in a mutually worthwhile project" • * • Before you begin your can- ning or jelly-making,read these few extra hints: "A teaspoon of sugar added before closing the jar for processing helps the flavor of canned beets, corn, carrots, and peas. If the recipe calls for sugar it will be all the better for a smidgen of salt, Yes, that goes for jam and jelly too. Peaches and pears • for canning are easier to handle if cut into halves, and peaches pitted and pears cored before peeling. For a new, special taste, add a table- ' spoon of corn syrup to each , quart of tomatoes before process- ing." * * * Canned Apples — Hot Pack Make a light or medium syrup. Add 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Wash, drain, core, pare, and slice apples, or cut into halves or quarters. Drop apples CONCRETE CURTAIN — An East Berlin girl (foreground), now living in the western sector, talks to her mother over the con- crete well that divides the city. Later Communist police used tear gas grenades to stop the people from fraternizing over the wall. TUNNEL TOGS — It's the pro- verbial man from Mars again. Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnel guard Samuel Gabler leaves an emergency truck at the Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel. Outfitted in the latest fire fighting gear, Gabler is ready for any incident at one of the pikes eight tunnels. into salt -vinegar water. Rinse apples and then boil them in syrup for 5 minutes. Pack hot fruit into hot jars. Cover with hot syrup. Process 20 minutes in boiling -water bath. Canned Apples for Pies Follow above recipe, but use 1 cup sugar for 4-5 cups of water when making syrup. Canned Applesauce Wash and drain fresh, sound ' apples. Remove stems and blos- som ends, Slice apples; cook un- til soft. (May need a little water to prevent sticking.) Press ap- ples through sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. Sweeten sauce to taste. Reheat to boiling. Pour, boiling hot, into hot jars. Stir to remove air bubbles, Process 20 minutes in boiling -water bath. Note: Duchess and other ap- ples which "sauce" without straining should be pared and cored before cooking. * * * When wintry winds blow and snow covers the ground, there's nothing like a bowl of hot soup to start your meal, Here is a vegetable soup mixture that you may want to can now and use on cold days. Vegetable Soup Mixture 5 quarts chopped tomatoes 2 quarts of slicedokra or 2 quarts green lima beans 2 quarts corn 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons salt Wash and drain vegetables, Chop and measure red -ripe to- matoes. Cook until soft. While tomatoes are cooking, slice okra (or shell beans), cut corn from cob, Measure. Press tomatoes through sieve. Mix tomatoes, vegetables, sugar, and salt. Boil until thick, Pour hot, into hot jars. Process pints 55 minutes, quarts 65 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure. Note: Any mixture of vegetables may be canned for soups, Prepare vegetables for cooking, Mix, Add water or broth to cover, Boil 5 minutes, Pour, hot, into hot jars, Process for the length of time required by the vegetable in the mixture that needs the longest process- ing. Women's Opinions On Modern Packaging If you ever have had to keep peace at the breakfast table by searching around in the cereal carton for a plastic premium, or if you ever have thrown the frozen food wrapper away only to discover that cooking in- structions were on it, or if you ever have tried to select the charmed thread that unlocks the sugar or flour bag—unsuc- cessfully — the packaging in- dustry wants to know you better. Already, the industry has found out a lot about people and packaging through a recent survey in Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, St. -Louis, Cincin- nati, and Kokomo, Ind, If some of the findings seem obvious, they also must be seen as matters of important routine that too many may be taking too' much for granted. The study — sponsored by Chicago Printed String Company which, as a manufacturer of package — opening tapes and strings has a special interest in packaging problems - shows housewives complaining most about packages that are difficult to bpen, those that require use of instruments in opening, that tip or will not fit on shelves, those that cannot be reclosed properly, that give incomplete, inaccurate, or obscure directions, and those that do not stay neat looking. The housewives most like packages with spouts and pull tapes; plastic containers and jars that' can be reused easily; cereals and other packages' with reclosable tops. The women feel packaging has improved in the past 10 years, but 40 per cent of those survey- ed (300 wives and husbands in total) contend that the nation is overpackaged. There is a 'strong but defini- tely minority sentiment , that yearns for the old pickle barrel manner of merchandising. Sixty-one per cent of the survey respondents appealed for rip -tape -type openers which allow a pull of a string to open a container. Consumers like spuots on packages if the spouts are sturdy and won't fall inside the packages when pushed—bona fide perforations which "give" when punched, cellophane tape and adhesive tape and other simple package openers. Complained one housewife: "If you are a married woman and your husband comes homes at night and says: What did you do all day?' and all you can say is 'I opened the sugar bag,' this is hardly stimulating conversation for the dinner table," What about prepackaging foods, meats especially? Most consumers like the convenience and santiary aspects of pre- packaging, but they do not al- ways feel they get as good quality as with hand-picked products. "In prepackaged meats they always have the nice side up and you can never turn it over," one woman commented, writes Robert Colby Nelson in the Christian Science Monitor, One major complaint concern- ing prepackaging has to do with the need for rewrapping such items. Nearly half the consum- ers said they have to rewrap many such izerns, and of those, 03 per dint geld they do not like to do it, As for coupons and premiums on package these rouse mixed reactions, Premiums that come ISSUE 38 1061 with packages are much more popular, it was found, than coupons for discounts or coupons that had to be "sent in" to re- ceive the premium. Some object to premiums placed within the boxes be- cause, it is felt, they short change the buyer by taking up product space. Resentment is greater when the premium included is some- thing that the consumer has no particular need or desire for but must accept because she wants to buy that particular brand. Others feel that if a Manufac- turer can offer a cost-cutting coupon, provide • a "bargain" offer, or give a worthwhile free item, then that same manufac- utrer should be able to lower the price of the product. Complaints or not, 75 per cant of the consumers questioned admitted having at one time purchased an item because of the premium offer involved. Parental Observation: "We're not taking a vacation this year but then we did send the chil- dren to camp." When Mark Twain Lectured in tendon rwor this London campaign ha had an entourage, having hired. Charles Warren Stoddard at $15 a week to serve as so-called sec- retary, companion, and amateur stage manager. The wages were theoretical,,' for Stoddard refused to accept pay for congenial du- ties. They moved into a large cor- ner suite of the Langham Hotel, overlooking spires and hundreds' of smoking chimney -pots, and fell into a pleasant routine, The day began with breakfast occasionally with friends, at twelve -thirty, Then they read the papers and the mail, which usually came up with the first round of toasted muffins, After that they took a walk through a park or Hollywell Street or into Portland Place to see the Horse Guards, Returning to the Langham they mixed afternoon ' talk with music, Mark Twain singing jubilee songs or "Ben Bfiwline" lh his own piano ac- companiment. Sometime dur- ing the day Stoddard brought the scrapbook up to date, scan- ning a dozen 'papers for notices that he carefully clipped and pasted in with such loving care After dinner they donned eve- ning dress, and at 7:50 arrived at the anteroom in Hanover Square. For the next half hour Stoddard stood at the window counting carriages, while Mark Twain strode about the room with such restless impatience that Dolby sometimes had to calm . him down, At eight pre- cisely Stoddard escorted the speaker to the foot of the steps leading to the stage, then retired to' the royal box. Mark Twain's first action was to walk to the footlights, took over the house, and rub his hands like Lady MacBeth. Stoddard no- ted the extreme deliberation of speech and the varying effect of jokes: a pleasantry that brought down the house one night caused only a mild. ripple another. Laughter was sometimes hearty and spontaneous, sometimes sporadic, sometimes an isolated outburst that gradually spread over the whole audience. Once fog, laden with soot, seeped in to becloud the auditorium in such hazy gloom that Mark Twain, a shadowy figure haloed by misty light, reassured his listeners: "Perhaps you can't see me, but I'm here," — From "Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit," by Paul Fatout. Fashion Hint dl Nu„ o pa IQ l