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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1924-10-09, Page 7WINDOW DISP Although winter and spring flpw.er- lag bulbous plants, such as hyacinths, tulips and daffodils, are so ,easily grown in rots, yet their culture by the home gardener is not taken up to the extent they deserve. The flowers are in the dry bulb when purchased, and all that is necessary is to place thew in Boil in pots and put away in a cool place until they are well rooted; then on bringing hem into . a heated room, preferably a sunny win - OW, every bulb will in duo course • send faith its buds, Neither greenhouse nor garden is required to assist us in growing these beautiful flowers in pots or bowls, and there is little risk of failure, provided that a few simple rules are observed. To get the best out of our winter- flowering bulbs it is well to make an early start and • so obtain abundant root formation before attempting to force them into bloom. It cannot, in- deed, be too strongly impressed' upon the grower that to pot them up and then place the pots in a warm room is simply courting failure. The pots =set be stored where it is dark and cool, thus following the bulbs' natural habit of growth as when planting thesis deep- ly in the open ground. The hyacinth is the favorite and most dependable of our winter-flower- ing interflowering bulbous plants when grown in the house. The most suitable compost for potting is mode by using two-thirds of good turfy loom, very old dry manure that can be rubbed through a fine sieve and a little sande To this may be add- ed charcoal broken up quite small. In- stead of manure, leaf mold may be substituted, or good garden soil may be used instead. The soil should, be used in a some- what dry state to make the work of potting pleasant, and herein lies the advantage of preparing the compost wine time before it is required. If old pots are to be used, they should be washed, scrubbed quite clean and al- lowed to dry before potting begins. The size most suitable for a single hyacinth bulb is a pot five inches in • The bowls and vases used inust be non -porous and without holes in the bottom, so that they may be arranged: in the homewithout fear of damage to tables or other furniture, The most suitable sizes are from four and one- half to twelve inches in diameter and from three to Ave incites deep. The peat or moss fibre to use in the bowls is a mixture . of_ fibre, charcoal and finely, broken shell. No drainage is required, but place several pieces of charcoal at the bottom of each bowl to absorb excessive moisture, and also to sweeten the mixture, Over the charcoal spread two or three inches of the fibre. Moisten it if it is at all dry, but it must not be soaked. The bulbs are now placed in position •, on the fibre, and more of the fibre is worked in between the bulbs with the fingers; it must be gently pressed, but beware of making it too firm, Small bulbs, such as crocuses, 'scillasand snowdrops', should be covered with the fibre, whereas hyacinths; tulips and daffodils are not quite covered; allow' the tips of the bulbs to show above the -surface" The bowl is filled to within, half an inch of the top with fibre, thus allowing amble space for watering. The bowls w s are first stored in a dark but perfectly cool place, . but from which frost is excluded. Here they re- niain'for from six to eight or even ten weeks, depending upon the growth and also the kind of bulb. Examine the bowls once a week; if the fibre ap- pears dry water must he supplied, but excessive moisture at this stage may lead to. decay. If the fibre appears to bo too dry tilt the bowl to drain off the superfluous moisture. When growth is well advanced and the bulbs are brought to the light, water will be given more abundantly. •AN1 THE WORST it PT TO COME ill! 1 Q1'' alp.-.--�- tiu,uer.,, We laugh heartily to see a whole flock of sheep jump because one did so. Might not one imagine that sup- erior beings do the same, and for exactly the same reason?—Greville. Hercule Lununis of Wyebridge, Ontario, is the envy of the other boys of his town, because of his pet red deer, which he has tamed and tared for since the animal was very young. diameter. .e 1, six-inch size will hold three bulbs. Plantingthe Bulbs. Place a good piece of crock broken flower pot --over the hole at the bot- tom of the pot, then fill the same with the compost loosely. A hole is then made for tbo bulb, scooping it out with the fingers, but not so deep that the bulb is entirely Covered. The top is left above the soil. When in position press the soil down, but not too firmly. When potting is completed give them. a thorough soaking with water before placing in the dark. If the com- post was very dry, it may be necessary to repeat the watering two or three times to make sure that the soil is thoroughly wet in the bottom of the pot. The pots are now put away in the dark for six or eight weeks, when they are gone over and those in a forward state of growth are removed to a cool room and placed In subdued light. As the pots are thoroughly watered when stored, no further moisture is needed until they are removed, when care :mist be taken that the soli never become..dry, When 'in the warm liv- ing• ooin it may be necessary to water them at least once a day, " With two or three dozen pots of hyacinths to draw upon and by bringing two or more. pots tothe light at intervals of seven days the season of bloom rna:v be ex- tended for several week's. Daffodils or narcissuses are hidis- pens•able to our colieetiorl of spring - flowering window plants; their bright yelloar, white or lemon -colored dainty blossoms are unrivaled by all other stating blossoms. The bulbs must be well rooted before attempting to force them, for if introduced to Heat before fe`strong root system,' has been com- pleted blind flowers, will be the result. A Sasrinating Way ,of fgrr;wring. A roost fasdnating way of growing bulbs is to plant thesis in fibre. All that is required is a dark cool room, a supply of good bulbs, fibre and some bowls in which to grow them, and liter a light ;Window. The Kremlin. Peter the Great hated Moscow. and above all, that stroughold of intrigue and crime, the Kremlin. He was raised -there e,3 a child, but he never lived there in his mature years. When l the great Napoleon captured Mos•cow-_ in 1812, or rather when the desperate Russians fired the-eity and left him to t camp among its ruin,', the Kremlin t still •stood, and the emperor, always a b trifle theatrical, insisted on sleeping in the bed of Peter the Great. It was a boy's bed, in a ,small and stuffy room and very damp, but Napolelon curled up in it, looking anything but digni- fled, The next morning he was asked f how he slept and what he dreamed. "I did not dream," he replied, gruffly, "but I caught a confounded cold." 0°4>•;,,,n ;, ^� Q it .111 1 3,5130 MII.F.S IN THE ARCTIC Three thousand five hundred miles on foot across frozen land and frozen sea, the discovery of two new lands, i meals of boiled sealskin and ox -hide, 1 wading for miles through icy lakes of water above a solid sea -top, and finally to be "marooned" on an Arctic island and dramatically rescued—with the thermometer sometimes down to 50 below zero, and blizzards blowing— such are some of the features of Har old Noise's "With Stefansson in the Arctic." Noice jeined Stefansson, and this relief expedition to Wrangel Island last year, was nineteen when he went in the.. whaier that discovered the "lost" Stefansson on Banks Island in 1915—Stefansson, the head of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, who, when his ship was crushed in the ice, calmly set off northward hop with two companions across the frozen Beaufort Sea, intending to live on what he could find! Sleeping•in Snow Huts. The world ,gave him up for dead, while he was in fact discovering Bor- den Island. Noise joined Stefansson, tand this book isthe record of two Rears' ex- ploration with Stefansson hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle, liv- ing mainly on seal and caribou,' and sleeping in snow huts. By the time he was •twenty-one Noice had done more than 2,200 miles by sledge and dog -team. He had been the first man to set foot on Meighen Island ---away north of where Frank- lin and his crew perished. Stefansson took possession of this land in the name of the King on be- half of the Dominion of Canada. This was on June 15th, 1916. There were three men on the trip. The return from Meighen Island took them across an area previously reported as land, but this supposed land they found "buried under some hundredfathoms of salt water." They found themselves "out at sea •on near• y impassable ice." Next year-1917—Voice went with Stefansson still farther north across he frozen sea about level with the op of Greenland—and the little party arely escaped disaster. Encased In Ice for Seventy Years. Later a wonderful thing happened. I They oaine to Dealy Island, off Mel- ville Island, and sawa pole sticking up' rom a pyramid of rocks. Near it was the depot left in 1858 by Captain Kel- lett, of the Franklin Search' Expedi- tion! "Great;; oaken barrels., three tiers deep. stopd cased in snow and ice. We opened` some of the barrels. Some contained heavy wool sweaters; others fine brass -buttoned, scarlet - colored; and satin lined broadcloth peayackets; others had brightly -color- ed, fancifully -designed mittens. There were barrels of long leather sea -boots, felt shoes, knitted underwear." Why is Lightning Forked? Science recognizes several kinds of lightning, although authorities differ as to whether some types are not iden- tical and merely appear different be- cause of the peculiarities of. human vision.: Forked lightning is the most common type. The irregular . path of the»,dis- charge, is believed to be clue to the pressure of solid particles and electri- cal charges that make a jagged course along the path of least resistance. Sheet`.;' lightning, which illuminates large areas of the sky, is, believed to be merely the reflection of forked light- ning froth a°distance.' The `majorityof victims of lightning are not killed instantly. They are merely stunned,, and can be revived by the"a Plication ofartificial respire- tion and the, other first-aid' measures commonly employed in eases of drown- ing and asphyxiation. Most of the exceptionally tall struc- tures of the world have been struck by lightning > more than once, but have escaped damage because the lightning has been carried harmlessly to the ground by ''lightning -rods, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, has been struck many tines without daniage, despite the be- lief that •lightning never strikes twice in the sante, place, I A single flash of lightning concen- trates many times more energy than could` be produced at one instant by all the power. plants in the world. In Line Wlth Her Wish. Pussy Patient—"I felt so 111 that I wanted to die, doctor." Doctor—"Ah,, then you were per- fectly right to -;send for me." • l,1any people claim that their corns warn them of weather changes. But probably the corn is merely register- ing change in the shoe leather. This varies with the amount of moisture in the air. A 2 per cent. change from normal either way is all the average foot can stand without discomfort. • Gold was probablythe first metal to be used by man. Metallic gold was fouird•in the beds of streams. It was used for ornaments before any other metal was discovered. The first metal' put to practical use was copper, made into knives and other implement's at least 6,000 years ago. 1 Stories About: WeH1 nown People The Home -Maker. "The greatest, week it the world," is how Mise 1Viargaret Bondfleld, M.P,, describes• houreenaking. "Some woman," she sand recently, seem to think that it is better to be an architect pr a doctor than a home- maker, I hold ,entirely the contrary view. It is the duty of women to build up the life of the family around them. I have no patience with women who leave their husbands and children more or less to themselves' while they seek outside work because it is more intellectual. Home and children need the greatest intellectual effort in the world." Miss Bendfleld' is one of the most in- teresting women of the day, As Sec- retary to the Ministry of Labor she is the first woman to hold a Ministerial post in Britain, She was once a shop - assistant. Painleve and His Trunk. Paul Painleve, president of the French Chamber of Deputies, has a reputation for being absent-minded which would seem to be justified by a recent incident at the looal railroad station. ' M. Painleve eanee to Haz-ve to attend' the Franco-Belgian ceninzemore,tive ceremonies. Ho was on the train, 1 ready to return to Paris, when he an - pounced that his. .trunk was missing. He had his several valises, but no trunk. The train was held fifteen minutes, while all the station crew searched Per { the missing luggage. Then M. 'Pains leve called the station -;master aside: "Don't wait any longer; I have just remembered that I did not bring trunk." Comparing Notes, 1VIr, T. P, O'Connor, the famous journalist and parliamentarian, anoe wadered away from his native haunts, and, finding himself in a golfing coun- try, looked up the local club secretary and asked for a game. The seoretary obligingly discovered and introduced hint to an old gentleman, and a. game was arranged. As they drew near the first tee the visitor remarked: "I'm a four man. What are you?" ! "I'm a grocer," replied the old, gentle- man. Lying Down to Fly. To lie luxuriously on soft cushions and thus pilot your own small air ma- chine is the latest possibility in aerial flight. Tiny air -cans are being designed and are to be tented in flight, in which the narrow body, with wings on either side, accommodates just one occupant, lying.. prone. This will enable the tiny engine to drive the machine more' swiftly through the air than would bet possible with th air -resistance set up if a body was provided big enough for the pilot to_ assume the ordinary sit -1 ting position. Perfect comfort will, it is claimed,! be 'assured by •a sofa -like reclining ' frame. On this the pilot, enclosed in his miniature machine, will tie face - downward, looking outwards through a front window or sideways and down- ' wards through other little windows, Not What He Meant. A man complained bitterly of the conduot of his sen. He related at length to an old friend all the young :nap's escapades. "You should speak to him with firm- ness and recall him to his duty," said the friend. "But he pays not the least attention to what I say. He listens only to the advice of fools. I wish you would talk to him." • The window is shown in the church at York Factory which was present. ed by Lady Franklin as a memorial to iter husband and a token of gratitude to those who took part in the .search for him after hie last fateful voyage. Modest Mouth -Organ of Physical Benefit. The little harmonica—or mouth -or - gen as it is known to most people in Canada—has been adding to its laurels of late. Newspaper dispatches and il- lustrations appearing in our papers have been telling of numerous celebri- ties who have recently fallen prey to the alluring tonal beauty of this modest little musical instrument. But the reason for such popularity is not hard to seek. It can be summed up in fourteen words—"The mouth -or- gan is simple to play and is capable of giving forth wondrous mush." Those who are skeptical of the place played by the mouth -organ in health, need only read what Paul V. Winslow, M.D., the famous ear, nose and throat specialist, of Brooklyn, N.Y., has to say. i "Since my conversion to the cause of the harmonica," he states, "I have experimented very extensively with this instrument to establish its value as a therapeutic agent. I have aseer- tained that the harmonica is a most ' effective agent in developing the chest and respiratory organs, and in anae,uic 1 children and adults a programme of I regular practice with the mouth organ, which develops breathing, results in aeration of the blood and tones the 1 sy;stem generally. The development of the breathing power, which can be obtained most effectively through the harmonica, is an important factor in building up the body. In practically every form of exercise deep inhaling ' and exhaling are striven for, and this is exactly what you got in playing the harmonica. Therefore the hygienic results are meet satisfactory, - I `Another important point is that the patient does it along the lines sof least resistance. He is interested in learn- ing to play the harmonica. He is greatly encouraged in his playing be- cause anyone can master this tiny in. struznent and become a proficient art', -t after just a few lessons." Great Sportsmanship. A sportsman. with a wonderful power of imagination was telling how at one shot he ,hind bagged two part- ridges and a rabbit, His explanation was that„ though lie had hit only one partridge, the bird in falling had clutched at another partridge and lircught that to earth in its claws., "tut how ubcut the rabbit?" he was asked. "Oh,' was the (mini reply, "my gun kicked and knocked me over, and I fell on the rabbit as it ran past," They Had a Road Map. "1 haven't got much faith in these newfangled doctors," said Jinn Bliv- vers., the blacksmith. "Why 'hot?" asked the neighbor whose horse was being shod. "Well, to -day," said Jim, "nie (looter told me to take pills ter me hoapt, tablets fee me stomach, eaesulea for 1ne kelneee and pellets ler nab liver -- an' whit litizzles rue is, how do these darn things, know where to; go when they get inside." 'l'iie great herring season, with it a day harvesting their tainouis sea crop. wealth of picturesque risorii, has opened in England and 'the tishtftg rawiers aro working twenty-four heave