HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1955-02-18, Page 2y
E TWO
HURON EXPOSITOR
Established 1860
Published at Seaforth, Ontario,
��Thursday morning by McLean
A. Y. McLean, Editor
Subscription rates, $2.50 a year in
advance; foreign $3.50 a year. Single
copies, 5 cents each.
Member of Canadian
Weekly Newspapers
Association.
Advertising rates on application.
PHONE 41
Authorized as Second Class Mail
Post Office Department. Ottawa
SEAFORTH, Friday, February 18
The Future of Fall Fairs
Reports of annual meetings of dis-
trict Fairs have, on several occasions,
stressed references to a trend to-
wards fewer fall fairs
Members attending the annual
meeting of the Seaforth AgricuIturaI
Society were told that the difficulty
that exists in financing fairs flows in
the main from the fact that there
are too many fairs. At the meeting
of the Exeter Agricultural Society,
a speaker went further and was re-
ported to have said that Huron Coun-
ty . could be adequately served by
three fairs.
All this seems to point to the fact
that the Ontario Department of
Agriculture, the department respon-
sible for Ontario fairs, has concluded
that steps should be taken to con-
centrate on the larger and better
fairs in each county. The test to be
applied to district fairs to determine'
their potential role might well be the
extent to which a particular fair ap-
proaches
CIass 'B' qualifications.
At the moment, no county fair has
met Class 'B' standards, but Exeter
and Brussels are well on the road to
obtain the higher classification. Sea -
forth, the oldest fair in the county,
and from the standpoint of location,
a logical choice for a continuing fair,
has talked about Class 'B', but has
taken no positive action to achieve
such a rating.
Fairs today are big business. And
if a particular fair is to properly
serve the district in which it is Iocat-
ed, it must be operated as a business.
That means that not only must the
entire community—and that includes
the town as well as the country—be
behind the project, but at the same
time the organization must take
steps to ensure that it has availed
itself of the best ideas and -assistance
the district has to offer. It is not en-
ough to do each year what was done
the previous year. New ideas must
be introduced, new people interested,
and a consistent program of improve-
ment arrived at.
Those fair organizations that don't
bother to look at themselves objec-
tively may find in the not too distant
future that that there no Ionger is a
place for them, and that their very
existence is threatened.
Fall Fair History
Reference has been made to the
fact that Seaforth Agricultural So-
ciety this year will observe the 110th
.anniversary of its founding. The
Seaforth Society began its career as
the Harpurhey branch, which was
formed in 1845.
References to the early history of
agricultural societies in Huron are
contained in "The Transactions of
the Board of Agriculture of Upper
Canada, 1857," which has this to
'say:
"There are at present six Branch
Societies in the County, viz. Clinton,
Harpurhey, Stanley, Hay, Exeter
and Brucefield: one in Osborne and
one in McGillivrary, which last year
were in a flourishing condition, have
not been reported this year.
"The oldest of these branches is
Harpurhey, which was established in
1845, and includes the northeast side
of Tuckersmith, part of Hullett and
the Township of McKillop. It has
about 100 members and is prosper-
ing.
`Clinton branch is comparatively
young, but it is much larger than
the,rent society; it is composed of
the Townships of Goderich,
Tuckersmith and Stanley.
iuee id branch, established in
54, ertlbraces the east side of Stan-
and the West side of Tuckersmith
�►i has about 90 members.
I branch, established last
January, has 60 members; its meet-
ings are held in the village of Bay-
field, and its members are from parts
of Goderich and Stanley.
"Hay branch is three years in ex-
istence, and has 112 members; it is
composed of the Township of Hay
and part of Usborne; it has a good
annual show, at which some very
_ superior animals, both horses, sheep
and cattle, are exhibited.
"Exeter branch, in the Townships
of Usborne and Stephen, was estab-
lished in January, 1854, or rather,
including Hay, it embraces what was
formerly the "London Road Branch"
established in 1845, and which for
several years was noted for its pros-
perity and the number of fine ani-
mals annually brought out. In 1846
the present society made a present
of a fine Devon bull to the London
Road Branch, and his stock for some
years was a credit to the Devonshire
settlement but it is now worn out.
The present Exeter branch has 87
members, and exhibits at its annual
shows, some good sheep and grade
cows and the best hogs in the coun-
ty."
Good English
We continue to be surprised by the
fact that so many otherwise highly
capable people are at a loss to ex-
press themselves in the English
language.
And so were interested in advice
which the St. Catharines Standard
offers to those who would improve
their knowledge of English: "There
is only one way to know good Eng-
lish," the Standard says, "and this
is to study it with religious fervor
and tenacity. It provides that great
capacity for an individual to enjoy
one's self by one's self in good read-
ing. There is nothing that pays a
better or greater dividend for life
than facility in the language of
Shakespeare."
WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY:
NOTHING BUT OIL
(Pueblo, Madrid)
The overstatement of the year—
disgruntlement department — was
uttered by Sheikh Abdullah As-salim
As-subah of Kuweit, who currently
gets an income of 180 million dollars
a year from British and American
oil companies.
"We keep boring for water,"
Abdullah said. "And all we get is
oil."
EDUCATION FOLLOWS
(New York Times)
A well-trained printer can scarce-
ly escape becoming an educated man.
If, in addition to his skill in handling
type and the other ingredients of
book -making, he can contrive to
cultivate judicious use of what he
and other printers are constantly
producing, no true disciple of Ben
Franklin's respected. galling need
blush in the presence of the most
learned faculty. Rather it is for the
members of the learned and literary
professions to look with due respect
to the printer, upon whose skill and
taste they will be dependent when-
ever they produce a manuscript for
printing.
A LICENSED AUTO
(Peterborough Examiner)
We thought we had seen them all:
Cars on the highway with one tail-
light or none, one headlight or none;
without brakes; car -drivers who give
no signal or the wrong one; drivers
who apparently have not the slight-
est idea what white lines on the road
mean, or who are blind in both eyes.
But an arrested district man in Pet-
erborough magistrate's court gets
the booby trap prize, according to
evidence presented (he also got a $50
fine for not reporting an accident
and another of $10 for not having
brakes in working order).
The police testified that the car
which the guilty man was driving
had no emergency brake, the foot -
brake was useless, the steering gear
was loose, the front seat was not pro-
perly fixed, and the gas tank was on
the rear seat.
But, by cracky, the car did have a
license—license to operate on the
streets and . highways of Ontario. So
did the driver. And both, it seems,
are still licensed.
THE HURON EXPOSITOR
SEEN IN THE COUNTY PAPERS
Home From Hospital
Mr. Bruce Smith,- who has been
a patient in Westminster Hospital,
London, for the past several weeks
where he underwent treatment for
a . back ailment, has returned to
his home and we trust that his
condition will continue to improve.
—Blyth Standard.
Accident Occurs m Snowstorm
Provincial Constable H. Snell,
Seaforth, said an accident e.arly
last week was due to blinding
snowstorms. Damage was esti-
mated at $90 when the cars driven
by Joe Quigley, Clinton, and Mor-
ris Vollick, Mildmay, were in col-
lision on Highway 4, north of Clin-
ton.—Clinton News -Record.
Improving After Illness
We are glad to report on the im-
proved condition of Mrs. Walter
Buttell, who for the past couple of
weeks has been confined to her
bed through illness. She is now
improving nicely and definitely on
the road to complete recovery.—
Blyth Standard.
Takes Heat At Dufferin Races
Peter G. Grattan, the only Clin-
town owned horse currently active
on the winter circuit came through
Wednesday at Dufferin 'Raceway
in Toronto. This horse owned by
Lorne Brown and Dick Jacob took
the second heat of the secondary
feature of the Class AA pace.—
Clinton News -Record.
Nurses Receive Caps
A capping ceremony took place
at South Huron Hospital Monday
evening, when Miss Jane Dyke -
man, Winchelsea, and Miss Olen
Godkin, Walton, nurses -in -train-
ing, received their caps and pins.
A Valentine party with the hospi-
tal staff was enjoyed after the
ceremony. — Exeter Times -Advo-
cate.
Celebrate Anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Flaxbard,
of town, celebrated their 40th wed-
ding anniversary quietly on Thurs-
day, Feb. 10. They have resided
in this community all their life.
We take pleasure to extend con-
gratulations to them and hope
they will be blessed with many
more happy years and occasions
of this kind together. — Zurich
Herald.
Unemployed Totals Over 780
There was a total of 688 appli-
cants seeking employment as of
Thursday,of Iast week in the area
served by the Goderich National
Employment office. This area is
all of Huron County with the ex-
ception of the Townships of Mc-
Killop, Howick, Grey and Usborne.
In addition there were 96 people•
who are employed off and on tem-
porarily. Of the 688 people refer-
red to above the majority of them
are in the age bracket from 20 to
44 years. In this bracket there
were 325 males and 44 females. In.
the group under 20 there were 72
males and 12 females. Thew were
141 males in the group from age
45 to 64 .and 17 females. In the
bracket 65 years and over there
were 74 males and three females.
Effective as of February 9, those
people reporting in person to the
Goderich office will receive un-
employment insurance cheques
every two weeks, the same as
those who report by mail.—Gode-
rich Signal -Star.
Finds Leg Broken Week After Hurt
A Goderich man is in Alexandra
Marine and General Hospital with
a broken leg after thinking for a
whole week that -he had simply in-
jured a muscle in the limb. Wil-
liam McTaggart, of Mary St., was
unloading logs at Petersburg, near
Kitchener, a week ago Monday.
While working at the job, a truck
backed into him and his leg was
caught between the rear dual
wheels. He went to a doctor in
Petersburg and" it was thought it
might have been a muscle injury
and could see no apparent sign
of any break. Returning home, he
waited for a few days and then
went to see a doctor here. Ile was
told to stay ' oft his feet when it
was stall thought a muscle had
been hurt. When the leg didn't
get any better, he was taken on
Monday to the hospital for an X-
ray and a fracture was discover-
ed just above the knee. Also in
hospital with a broken leg is Ken-
neth Hartman, 11, of Nelson St.,
who suffered the injury while
sliding at a gravel pit.—Goderich
Signal -Star.
Survives Temperature of 109
Cool water applied with a
sponge is credited with saving the
life of a nine -month-old Blyth girl
"burning up" with a fever which
raised her temperature to 109 de-
grees. Sheila Blake is "still ser-
ious, but no longer in critical con-
dition" in Clinton Public Hospital,
attending physician Dr. W. Street
said Tuesday. Her temperature
had dropped to 102. Dr. Street
worked over the infant from 8 a.m.
Saturday to 4 p.m. Monday, spong-
ing cool water over her body, ad-
ministering oxygen, antibiotics
and giving intravenous injections
of glucose. She was brbught to
hospital by her parents, Mr. and
Mrs./ Jack $1.kc, suffering from
bronchial pneumonia. "It is the
first time I have seen a child with
so high a tempereture," Dr. Street
said. A temperature of 105 is con-
sidered dangerous and few survive
a temperature of 108, he added.
Sheila is the most recent -of sev-
eral similar cases reported in the
district. Dr. Street hopes, if all
goes well, that Sheila will be able
to return home in a week or ten
days.—Clinton News -Record.
Break -In At Museum
Goderich police said Wednesday
that no trace had been found of
firearms stolen late last week
from the Huron County Pioneer
Museum in Goderich_ The fire-
arms were stolen when thieves
broke into the museum building
on North St. and smashed open a
.display case. Museum Curator J.
H. Neill and Harry McCreath, a
director of the museum, discover-
ed the break last Saturday morn-
ing. They said it must have oc-
curred sometime within three days
prior to the discovery. Police re-
ported that seven antique revol-
vers and pistols, one air pistol and
I5-20 ball caps had been taken,
along with an old bull whip. The
thieves gained entrance to the
budding through a first -floor win-
dow on the north side. They made
their way to the hallway where
the case containing the pistols was
standing and 'smashed the glass in
it. To steal the bull whip, the
thieves went into another room in
the building and smashed wood-
work on doors of another display
case_ A wooden jewel box was re-
moved from the case and damag-
ed also. Included in the loot Mr.
Neill said, were two Colt pistols,
one of which he had donated to
the museum himself; one pistol
brought here from Ireland over
100 years ago and donated by a
Gorrie woman, a flintlock pistol
of unknown age and a two-barrel-
Ied pistol donated by a Wroxeter
man. "The air pistol was dated
1875," the curator said, "and was
the only one of that age and type
that I had ever seen. I doubt if
there's another one like it any-
where." Mr. Neill said the loss
was a definite blow to the mus-
eum. He pointed out that hours
of work had gone into collecting
and preparing the firearms for
exhibition. Goderich Signal -Star.
Mary had a little lamb. It drank
some gasoline. Then it wandered
near a fire and since has not
benzine.
CROSSROADS
(By JAMES SCOTT)
IDLE LAND
The other day I was reading in
the paper about a young fellow
called Boynton, who was • talking
to some Junior Farmers down in
Toronto. This lad Boynton was
saying something which I have
often heard before. He said that
it was a shame that city people
with a lot of money came out in-
to the country and bought up good
farms and then just used them
like playthings they were tired of
and let them stand idle.
Mr. Boynton said that this was
the reason a lot of boys born on
the farm were going to the cities
and that if those rich city slickers
would only leave the good land
alone so the young farm fellows
had a chance at it, there would
be no problem about keeping the
lads down on the farm.
1 hate to argue with anybody
who seems so sure of himself- as
Mr. Boynton, but, if I may, am I
allowed to make a timid com-
ment?
If I am, then I say: Nonsense!
I don't know how old Mr. Boyn-
ton is, but he'll be somewhere be-
tween sixteen and twenty-six. To
these old eyes that's a real young
age. My guess is that after he
bas been around a little longer he
is going to come to realize that
just as long as boys are boys there
are always going to be a lot of
them attracted to the bright lights
of a big city.
As far as I can see, you could
offer every boy raised on the farm
a hundred acres of good land,
complete with buildings and stock
and there would still be some who
would rather take a sample • of
what the world is like on the oth-
er side of the fence.
If anybody is to blame you can
say the culprit is human nature,
hot a bunch of rich gents from
the city., This human nature, Bo-
eing what it is, has a way of mak-
ing young fellows restless, It
makes a lad feel that he would a
lot sooner be on his own, dtiU*
dred miles away from the old man
than he Would cultivating a good
YEARS AGONE
Interesting Items Pinked
from The Huron Expositor of
25 and 50 Years Ago.
From The Huron Expositor
February 21, 1930
Mr. Jim McCrea, of London,
spent the weekend with his par-
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McCrea,
Londesboro.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Widcombe
and daughter, Mary, of Bayfield,
left on Saturday to visit - their
daughter, Mrs. Allen Pye, at Wind-
sor.
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Jowett, . of
Bayfield, had for weekend guests
Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Radar, of War -
road, Minnesota. They motored
all the way and found more snow
from London to Bayfield than any
other part of the trip. Mr. Radar
is manager of a large mine and
mill at Warroad. They left Bay-
field for Toronto, and then to
North Carolina.
Mr. Walter McBeth, of Saskat-
chewan, was the guest of Mr. and
Mrs. William Henry, Brucefield,
and was also renewing acquaint-
ances with many of his old friends.
Mrs. R. Pearson, of Goderich
Township, visited at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. William Rattenbury,
Brucefield, last week.
farm right next door to papa who
is going to tell him how to run
it.
And there is another point too.
The number of acres in this
province which are actually stand-
ing idle because some wealthy
playboy owns them is very, very
.small indeed. Most rich men are
of the breed which insists that ev-
erything they own show a profit
and any farm I have ever seen
owned by a millionaire was a good
one, with the best of equipment,
running to show a black balance
in the books.
When you get right down to it,
there is still lots and lots of good
land available if a young chap
wants to work for it. I can • go ten
miles in any direction from this
town and chow Mr. Boynton land
that is waiting to be used. And 1
can show him a Iot more real good
farms which stood idle for years
and years until some enterprising
Dutch emigrant came into the
country and started making it pro-
ductive again.
Oh the land is there and avail-
able, all right. But as 1 said,
there is a little catch which goes
along with it—"you have to work
if you want toget it.
I don't know what kind of re-
ception Mr. Boynton's talk got
from the Junior Farmers, but if
there were any Huron County lads
there I'll bet they didn't give him
much of a hand.
The felIows I know around here
are the kind who aren't afraid of
scratching for what they get. Just
because they see some broker with
a Cadillac put white -painted fences
all around his farm they aren't
going away to sulk because no-
body gave them a hundred acres
clear. The lads I now aren't go-
ing to go around blaming anybody
else. They may wish they were
getting on a bit faster and that
they had a few more sheckies in
their jeans, but they're not going
to just sit down and talk about it.
They're going to go out and
work for If, and they re going to
he better metot fit too.
Miss Marjorie Pearce, Exeter,
spent the weekend with her par-
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Will Chapman,
near Hensall.
The new post office in Exeter is
nearing completion. jt is expect-
ed it will be completed and ready
for occupancy about the middle of
March. When fnished it will be an
asset to the community, as the
town was in need of such a com-
plete office. Beaver Bros., Credi-
ton, are the contractors.
Miss S. Blachford, of Toronto,
spent the weekend with friends in
Bluevale.
Mr. Frank McClinchey, who is
attending O.A.C., at Guelph, spent
Sunday at his home in Stanley.
Mr. James Delgaty, of Gilbert
Plains, Manitoba, has sold his
farm on the Bronson Line, Stan-
ley, to Mr. Sam Holmes, who has
had it leased for a number of
years.
Congratulations are extended to
Mr .and Mrs. Nicholas Krauskopf,
of McKillop, on the arrival of a
son, Phillip Joseph, at -St, Joseph's
Hospital, London.
Mr. Wilson Carlile has sold his
fine 100 -acre farm on the Parr
Line, Stanley, near Hillsgreen, to
Mr. John B. Forrest, of Hay Town-
ship, who gets possession March
1. Mr. Forrest already owns a
good farm on the Parr Line and
when he takes over Mr. Carlile's
farm be will have two fine farms
on that line.
Mr. George Stephenson, Walker-
ton, spent the weekend with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. • Robert
Stephenson, Hillsgreen.
Mr. Joe Speare and daughter,
Ada, of Cromarty, are at present
spending a few days at Vineland
and St. Catharines visiting friends.
Miss Carolyn Hglmes, R.N., of
Boston, is visiting at the home of
her father, Mr. S. T. Holmes, in
Seaforth. '
•
From The Huron Expositor
February 17, 1905
Mr. Alexander Dow, of Exeter,
has disposed of his dairy and milk
business to Mr. William Rivers, of
Hay, who starts in on the 1st of
April.
On Sunday, Jan. 29, •Mr. and
Mrs. George Hawkins, who are
spending the winter with their
son, J. B. Hadkins, Goderich, cele-
brated the golden anniversary of
their wedding day. ^
Mr. J. Sparrow, of Stanley, re-
cently purchased a handsome driv-
er from Mr. Casper Waiper, of the
Bronson Line. near Zurich, for
which he paid the high figure of
$190. The animal is sorrel in col-
or and is as pretty as a picture.
Surely it pays to raise high-class
horses.
Mr. and Mrs. Jonah White, of
Manitoba, are visiting relatives in
Tuckersmith.
Mr. James Ballantyne disposed
of three fine horses last week for
which he received the handsome
sum of $625. Mr. Ballantyne al-
ways keeps good horses.
Miss Maud Campbell, Tucker -
smith, is visiting her sister, Mrs.
D. M. Hackney..
Mr. Win. Borland, after spend-
ing a few weeks visiting his par-
ents in Tuckersmith, returned to
the West to resume his position as
operator.
Mr. John Sparrow, Varna, ship-
ped a carload of good horses from
Clinton for the Northwest on Wed-
nesday. Mr. Sparrow is getting in
early and we hope he will do well
with his horses, as he deserves to
do.
Mr. R. Murray, of Toronto;
Thomas, of Owen Sound; John, of
Dundas; James, of Exeter, and
George, of Iowa, were in Hensall
this week, attending the funeral of
their sister, Mrs, W. C. Moir, on
Monday. .
Mr. Dalrymple, Jr., Hensall, has
purchased the dwelling of the late
Duncan Robertson, together with
several lots.
Miss King, of Kincardine, was
in Hensel] this week visiting her
brother, Mr. A. King, G.T.R. ag-
ent.
Mr. Wesley Dickson, of Winni-
peg, and Mr. Andrew Johnston, of
Alberta, are visiting this week at
Mr. A. Johnstah's, Walton.
Mr. William Hoy, Walton, has
disposed of his house and property
in the village to Lipdsay Bros., of
Grey, who propose starting a
hardware store.
Mrs. S. Brownell and family left
Seaforth this week for Detroit,
where they will in future reside,
and where Mrs. Brownell has two
sons. Mrs. Brownell has been a
resident of Seaforth for a great
many years and her numerous
friends will unite with The Exposi-
tor in wishing herself and her
estimable family health and hap-
piness in their new home.
Mr. Jas. Wilson has purchased
the new residence of Mr. Harry
Edge on John St., -paying for it
'ANA It is one of the nicest real-
dences in Seaforth,i„_
101,
itqt
FEBRUARY 18, 1,956
TO THE EDITOR:
Box 100, Seaforth,
February 12, 1955.
Editor, The Huron Expositor:
Dear Sir: On behalf of the Hur-
on County Tuberculosis Associa-
tion,- I should be much obliged to
you if you would publish in your
paper our thanks to all who have
helped to make our 1954 Christ-
mas Seal Campaign a success.
We appreciate the generosity of
those, who by their contributions,
are assisting in making possible
the control of- the dread disease in
our county. Free chest clinics are
held monthly in five centres, and
the recent donations are providing
for a continuance of this service
and also for an increase in the
attempts to educate our public in
the importance of these regular
chest examinations. The present.
campaign will close February 28,
and the Association hope that
those who have not yet sent he
their contributions will do so be-
fore that date in order that the
service to our county need not be
curtailed.
We would also thank all volun-
teers who helped in preparing the
seals for distribution, and the .
Postmasters and their assistants
for thei1p in delivering them.
Tharffla§ you for the publicity
which you have freely given to•
this important cause, I am.
Yours sincerely,
F. J. SNOW,
President Huron
Co. TB Association
MAN WITH A SHOVEL
(From The New York Times)
The Winter's prpblem of snow
removal must be one of the oldest
known to man.
It is all too easy to imagine the
expression of the first householder
as he emerged from his cave one
morning to find before • him ten
inches of newly fallen snow. His
expression seems a little puzzled?
No doubt. But his puzzlement is
not about the texture of snow,
which on the whole is rather soft
and pleasant; but about how to
get rid of the miserable stuff.
It may be assumed that the first
householder is the same one who
the day before invented the wheel,
and so intellectually is a bit above
his neighbors. Yet he is puzzled.
What can be ❑sed to remove
snow? He- can be imagined as
scratching his head, trying out
various on -the -spot inventions to
get it out of there, and then pick-
ing up his shovel. That imple-
ment he had invented a fortnight.
before the wheel.
It is too dreadfully easy to im-
agine his expression as he stoop-
ed over and up, over and up, as
he removed the snow from his
path. And then to dissolve, as the
movies say, to 1955, it also is too
dreadfully easy to see the same
expression on the face of any
householder faced with snow.
The expression still is of puz-
zlement, just as the implement.
still is a shovel.
THE PIONEER'S RED FLANNELS
(From The Calgary Herald)
A suggestion has been made that
the wearing of red flannel under-
wear by the pioneers is sufficient
justification for the wearing of
pastel -colored underwear by the
modern male. This is nonsense;
Now the effect of television on
society is something that the
sociologists will ponder for many
years, and it may be reasoned by
some that one of the great ad-
vances brought about by television
will be more colorful clothing
worn by males.
According to Lorain Fawcett,
New York color consultant, TV
types have had to wear pastel -
colored shirts because straight
white shirts do not show up clear-
ly on television screens.
The performers wore their tele-
vision shirts of pink, yellow and
lavender outside of the studios and
according to Miss Fawcett, the
man -on -the -street thought they
weren't bad. We will not discuss
here the probability that the men -
on -the -street outside Radio City
might not be representative of
men on moist streets.
That Miss Fawcett regards the
clothing world with a different per-
spective than a man's is perfectly
obvious fromher comment that
"T -V did for men what Dior and
Dache do for women". If men re-
act to this the way they have to
the news of what Dior's H -line is
going to do for women, television
will soon be replaced by radio.
But the former Vancouver girl,
whose love for color may reflect
her upbringing under the grey
skies of the coast city, is making
a mistake that cannot go uncor-
rected when she asks "Pioneers
wore red flannels so why shouldn't
the modern male wear pastel
shorts?"
Let it be understood that the
man who wore red flannels was a
man. The Blizzard Busters of
yester-year were worn not to
please cameras (and certainly lad-
ies did not discuss them) but to
protect the wearer from the raw-
ness of a Winter that came in No-
vember and stayed until April.
Bachelor types put 'em on in
the Fall, and took 'em off in the
Spring, and in the interim they
served as pyjamas, bathrobes, in-
formal shirts, and indoor work
-clothes. When they were put on
with first real frost, they itched,
in red ,not pastel, shades. Maybe
some ladies wore them too, when
they were going out inthe weath-
er, but the color was not for beau-
ty; the red flannels were strictly a
garment for utility.
Pastel shorts may be a sign that
men will soon be wearing "vivid
colors for suiting material", as
Miss Fawcett hopes, but let's have
none of this nonsense about the
pia eer's underwear being really
the same thing.
R d flannels were men's wear
and, Miss Fawcett, it talk men
with -ed blood to wear them. May-
be
aybe t modern pastels are just a
pale eflection of the days when
men 'ere men, and when color
TV be owes general men will in-
sist on solid greys and navy blues.
Individuality of Seed Samples
To people not• experienced in
dealing ikith seeds, any two lots
of seed from the same crop usual-
ly seem very much alike. After
some experience has been gained,
the superficial appearance of •the
seed indicates its variety and to
some extent the conditions under
which it has been produced. In
wheat, for instance, the shape of
the kernel, its color, the promin-
ence of the germ and brush, are
characters which indicate the var-
iety, while abnormality of color,
degree of plumpness, the smooth-
ness of the seed coat, the amount
of cracking, and the amount and
type of material collected on the
brush indicate the conditions un-
der which the seed was produced.
For instance, dullness and darken-
ing of color indicate that the seed
was exposed to wet weather; whit-
ish patches,within the kernel (pie-
baldness) indicate that it was pro-
duced on soil deficient in- nitrogen.
The presence of "bronzy" kernels
shows that the crop ripened very
quickly. Blistering of the seed
coat shows that the maturing crop
was exposed to frost. Cracking
of the kernels is associated with
threshing during very dry weath-
er. A high percentage of shrunk-
en kernels indicates damage from
droug1 or rust—the presence of
many rust spores on the kernel
brush indicates rust and their ab-
sence drought.
If one germinates a sample of
seed in soil, one may observe that
some of the shoots may be reddish
while others are not. This indi-
cates that the sample, although
true to variety, is a mixture of
strains, A mixture of strains is
indicated also by a variation in
the roughness of the leaf blades.
If one places the seed on moist
paper and incubates it in a moist
atmosphere, one may, with the
aid of a strong magnifying glass,
tell a great deal about the amount
and kind of surface contamination
by fungi, especially when such a
test is supplemented by microsco-
pic examination of the material
washed off with water from the
seed surface. Finally, if one dis-
infects the seed surface and then
incubates the seed on a nutrient
jelly, one can determine the kinds
of fungi within the seed,
made
during tests, at observations
Science Ser-
vice Plant i'athology Laboratory,
;Il'
Winnipeg, on several thousands of
samples of cereal seed. Investiga-
tion showed that each lot of seed
has its own particular character-
istics which serve to identify the
sample with considerable certain-
ty. Difference in the development
of certain characteristics is often
greater between samples of seed
of the same variety than between
samples of different varieties, and
the degree of development of
these characteristics may be_ a
clue as to how the seed will germ-
inate when- sown under farm con-
ditions and what ought to be done
to help assure a good crop.
• Testing Barley Seed For Smut
In the past it has been custom-
ary to inspect all barley fields in-
tended for production of registered
seed and, among other things, pre-
sence or absence of smut in the
standing crop was recorded, states
R. C. Russell, Plant Pathology
Laboratory, Saskatoon, Sask. If
the percentage of smutted heads
was too high, seed from such crops
could not be sold as registered
seed. Since the percentage infec-
tion in the new crop of seed does
not always correspond with the
amount present in the parent crop
this method sometimes gave very
unsatisfactory results.
In recent years a method has
been developed for determining
the percentage of infected em-
bryos (germ cells) present in any
sample of barley seed. A repre-
sentative sample of seed is ob-
tained and the embryos removed
from the kernels by chemical
treatment. Then they are render-
ed transparent by soaking them in
other chemicals. Finally they are
examined with a mic,aeosco e. The
mycelium of the smut can be seen
in infected embroys and the per-
centage infection determined. Ex-
tensive field experiments have
shown that the percentage, as de-
termined by the embryo test, cor-
responds closelj%- with the percent-
age of infected plants that will ap-
pear in the crop if seed is sown.
without treatment for loose smut.
The embryo. test not only tells
the grower whether or not treat-
ment is necessary. It also en-
ables him to select smut -free seed
lots and this avoid the high cost
of the treatments that will control
this disease and the weakening
effects of such treatment on seed
germination.
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