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The Brussels Post, 1955-10-12, Page 7:A8LE TALKS ,,d,..A,apow,,, • Fashion Hints er• • rr• Growing Flowering Bulbs Indoors Writing a column such as this, which runs in a large number of papers circulated, over a vast area, has its problems, If I pub, iish recipes calling for a refrig- trator, letters are sure to come in saying ,-- in effect — "all very fine hut where do you get the refrigerator." On the other hand, recipes calling for 'plenty of room, plenty of eggs and butter, and plenty of mouths to do the eat- ing, elicit the query of how to use them in a two room fiat, * * So today you urban folks with all the conveniences needn't read any further, be- cause the next few paragraphs describe how to make a practi- cal basement vegetable room. And if you should want detailed plans for its construction they may be had — free -- by writ- ing to the Dominion Experi- mental Farm, Swift Current, Sask. Information on temperatures and general conditions for, stor- ing vegetables, jams, jellies and fruits are available in bulletins and pamphlet form. But fre- quently the problem remains of providing the recommended conditions for proper storage. This is especially true in the average household basement, Too often the temperature is much too -high and the condi- tions genearlly much too dry. To provide the proper storage conditions it is often necessary to build a special insulated and ventilated storage room in one, corner of the basement. Insula, tion of the walls and ceiling of this room is necessary for the proper Control of temperature. In planning the location it is best to include a basenient win- dow. If one of the panes of glass is removed, the opening can be used as an outlet ventillator. A sheet of plywood in which is cut a four inch square opening can be used to replace the win- are 100,000 million eiroilar org., terns in the Universe. This colas. sal figure takes no account of the systems that must exist beyond the range of our most powerful telescopes. What ere the chances of •life in these other planetary sys. terns? ‘1'41ving creatures must be rather common in the Universe,"' comments Hoyle. He disagrees with the theory that life on Earth is all a fabu- lous accident. The formation of our planetary system around the Sun was due to a series of natu- ral and explainable events: "Nor," he says, "do the compo- sitions of the planets seem in the least to be ,a matter of chance, Rather do. I think it would be somewhat surprising if anything very different had occurred hi any of the other planetary systems." Since those other 100,000 mil lion planetary systems were, formed in much the same way and under similar conditions as our own Solar system there must, logically, be life as we know it in the Universe other than on Earth. Can this theory ever be con- firmed? Space travel seems to be a certainty of the future. Men will cruise in space 'around our own Solar system, But, en' pre- sent calculations, it ,seems probable that they ^Will ever meet there living creatures such as themselves, If, however, recketeers could venture into others of those 100,- 000 million planetary systems, -the chances of finding men in a familiar human form are- high indeed. The inevitable stumbling block is a man's own life span. It has been estimated that, with exist• - .ing or potential forms of 'fuel and power, the journey to the Moon will occupy five days. Venus, a distance of 26 million miles from 'Earth, could be reached in about 150 days. But contemplation of farther distances fades into dreams. The nearest planetary system to our own is called Proxima Centauri. It has been estimated that to reach it would require a journey la st in g 70,00Q years.' (One writer's estimate is 130,000 years.) The question, then, is unan- swerable. go man, would ever want to live that long. And the fiction writers can proceed, se- cure in the knowledge that they can never be -disproved, if not in a million years, in at least 70,000. Many people who enjoy grOW- ifig and tending house planta of- ten overlook the winter floWer- ing bulbs. The plants are easily grown and May be arranged to bloom continuously from No- vember to May, At the litelfort Experimental Farm the bulbs are usually planted during the month of October, The soil consists of two parts good garden loam, one part of well-rotted manure and one part of sand, City and urban householders can gener- ally buy suitable mixed soil from seed dealers and multiple stores. Pieces of broken crockery, small flat stones, or small pieces of coal are placed in the bottom, of the pots for drainage. Suffi- cient soil is then placed in the . pot to- allow a thin covering on the bulb, after planting, depen- ding on' its size. The bulb is pressed firmly in, the soil with the base down. A thorough wat- ering is given and the pots con- taining the planted bulbs are placed in a cool basement room —darkness is not essential. The bulbs remain in cool stor- age (38 degrees F. to 45 degrees F. is desirable) for at least 10 weeks. At no time' is the soil in the pots allowed 'to become dry but- it is watered only as often" as necessary to keep the soil reasonably moist. The bulbs are kept in cool storage in or- der to develop a strong root sys- ten. As soon as the roots are well developed• the bulbs are placed in a part of the basement that is a little warmer than the storage. By the time the shoots have reached a height of four inches, they can be placed in windows. ,The soil is kept, moist at all times. Often it is necessary to water daily when the plants have heavy foliage or the room is warm. Some of the better varieties tested at the Experimental Farm are; Hyacinths-,-King of Blues, Pink Pearl, La Victoire and. L'In-, nocence; Narcissus—Actea, In- - sulinde and Twink; Daffodils-- ' Golden- Harvest; King Alfred, Spring Glory and , Fortune; Ear- . ly Tulips--Bellona, Miss Ellen Moore, Couleur Cardinal, Elec- tra and Murillo; DarWin Tulips —Cordell Hull, InsurpasSable and Wm. Pitt; Double Late Tu- .-lips—Eros; Mendel .Tulips—Her Grace and Krelag's Triumph; Parrot Tulips—Allard Pierson and Red Champion. Light Bulb Found-' In Eagle's Neit NOT DESIGNED FOR SPEED: Members of the Association of Canadian Couturiers are constantly proving that a little ingen- uity goes a long way! Here, two of the group, Germaine and Rene, have chosen a Fortisan drapery fabric to fashion this voluminous ballgown. As Venus and Mars Look Toward Earth dow Pane. This should be pro- vided with a Slide control on the inside. * * An ideal location for the rn,, take ventilator is at, basement floor level. This involves cut- ting a hole through the base- ment wall. The intake shaft should lead down the outside of the basement wall and enter the storage room at floor level, This type of intake insures that the air entering the room will be cooled by passing through sev- eral feet of soil before entering the room. It is not always pos- sible to provide this type of in- take. A less satisfactory, ,but, nevertheless serviceable intake, can be provided by making use of an additidnal pane of the basement window, In this case the shaft should enter the base- ment window and then turn downwards at 90 degress and be extended almost to floor level. It is essential that this shaft, which is wholly within the storage room, should be in- sulated if it is to function prop- erly as an intake. Insulation can be provided by boxing the shaft in with three-quarter inch in- sulation board, Here again a silde control is necessary at the bottom of the shaft, , * In addition to the insulation of both walls and ceiling of the storage room, better results will be attained if an insulated door is used. This can be made by using two sheets of five-six- teenths inch plywood nailed to a frame. Insulation batts• can be used to insulate this door. Another method of making the door is to nail three-quarters inch insulation board to a one- half or three-quarters inch ply- wood panel. The necessary stor- age bins and shelves can be built around the walls. The storage room described above can provide reasonably cool temperatures- even in hot weather, provided it is on the north north-east corner of the basement. In many cases it will still be necessary in addition to provide such storage aids' as ver- miculite, peat moss or fine sand. These can be kept, slightly dampened to prevent, vegetables from drying up and shrivelling. A further suggestion is that vegetables can be thoroughly washed and placed 'in the mod- ern plastic bags which are read- fry available today. The use of glazed crocks for the same pur- pose is also very satisfactory. * * Now, to Windup, here's' a highly recommended way of making your own tomato juice. If it reaches you too late to be of use in 1955 — well, in spite of all the prophets of doom — another year should be coming this way before long, So clip it out and save it for the 1956 tomato crop. POP-EYED—No, that's not what gives Sandy Pendrey such a peculiar look. The photogra- pher lust, managed to capture the reflection of a beach urn- brella on her sunglasses. Is, Space Travel On Your Doorstep? 4 few years ago space travel was considered to be little more than .a good subject ,for fiction. Writers. Not many serious people could be found who regarded it as a real possibility. Now the Picture has changed. Heinz Haber, a leading space travel authority, has written. re- cently: "To-day we have reach- ed, a point where we can look forward to an early realisation of space flight." Why has there been this change of outlipk? Much of the credit must go to the Germans who developed rocket missiles during the last war, In a few short — and grim — years they showed the possibilities of rocket propulsion. The Americans went on from there, and have de, snatched since a rocket 250 miles up into the atmosphere at a speed of 5,000 m,p.h. This achievement especially whetted the world's appetite for more information. The result is that to-day scientific writers— Arthur Clarke, von Braun, and Willy Ley among others — are becoming as familiar as the men who once wrote on aviation be- fore that, too, was regarded as ,a reasonable possibility. Alongside these developments, the astronomers have been pro- viding us with more and n-tore information. The astronomer occupies a privileged place in these specu- lative days of space travel. He is the man who alone can give potential, space• voyagers some idea of what will be found when their rockets soar out and away beyond the Earth's atmosphere into the limitless expanses of the Universe. Much of this information in- evitably is little more than cal- culated guesswork, since it is based on observation alone. The astronomer now waits for the rocketeer of the future to bring him back confirmation of his present-day theories. Among the astronomers, the name of Fred Hoyle is probably the most widely known by the Many people. Hoyle will be remembered as the man who gave a startling series of broadcasts some years ago entitled "The Nature of the Universe." They struck a chord of interest throughout' Great Britain and overseas. Now comes his latest book, "Frontiers of Astronomy. In it 'he gives some idea of the im- mense scope awaiting explora- tion of rocket pioneers. Consider first our more imme- diate neighbours. Around our Sun revolve nine planets: Mer- cury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupi- ter. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Together they make up what is known as the Solar planetary system. Of these, Earth apart, only Mars seems likely from present observations to have life of some sort on its surface. Although no animal life can be ascertained, most astronomers, agree that plant life exists there, and that, in appearance, many parts of Mars would be much like Earth. Revolving around six of these nine planets are statellites. In the case of Earth there is just one, the Mooh. Jupiter has twelve such moons and Saturn nine. What lies beyond this, our planetary system? Fred Hoyle states that, in his belief, there How Can I ? COZY — Mrs. Lorna Hodgson gets a real bear hug, but she's not afraid. For the Alaskan bear is stuffed, mounted and 'ct gift to Peabody museum. Mrs.'', Hodgson, executive sec- retary of the museum, shoWs the comparative size of the eight-foot, 10-inch bear, which, when alive, weighed an esti- mated, 1000 pounds. It was killed on 'Unimak Island in the Aleutians. Q. Row should corduroys be washed? A. Wash them carefully, then rinse until the water is clear. Do not squeeze out the water at last rinsing, but throw the garment over the line in a shady place 'while dripping wet. This keeps the material soft and fluffy, Q. How can I make a good liquid floor wax? A, By shaving I/4 pound of beeswax into a pan containing 3/4 pint, of turpentine. Rub vigorously into the floor and polish With a dry woolen pad. Q. How can I keep the skins of baked apples from breaking? A. When baking apples, prick the skins with a fork and they will not burst. Q. Row can I make, a cleaner for nickel? A. Use equal parts of liquid ammonia and alcohol and stir in whiting to the consistency of "st paste, Apply with a soft cloth and leave covered until the cream dries, When dry, polish with a clean cloth, Q. What is the best ivay of dampening clothes before iron. ing? A, The longer the Clothes lay damp before ironing,, the better is the result. Sprinkle starched glothea with hot water, half an imur before ironing. Q. How can lC clean velvet flowers? A, By using dry bran. Rub on the soiled parts, then brush off. Repeat if necessary, Q• Ito* I make a good remedy Or softening hands? A, BY moistening a little In, dian meal with lemon juice and then rubbing the hands thor- oughly. Wash the hands With hot water and before dry, bathe theiti With a glycerine lotion. Q. Ito* owl I make attractive covers for 'netted tiants1" A, They can be made ?by vet- ting covers fOr the pots *OM left-over wall paper', "to Match the walls. Fasten together,With pins arid change when soiled. Q. Ito* can'remove 'rust spots that haVe kediettiateti the stove dirthig the 'etiniintif A. They Cam, be removed WV * rubbing linseed oil on them. If the spots are Obstinate, sand- paper' then). Earth is the densest of all the planets, .only Venus approaching it in this respect. But Venus has no satellite, and the Earth- Moon system forms a double world of a type found nowhere else among the planets. Its mode of formation is a, mystery still, but it is known tat when Earth was molten the Moon cir- cled at only a fraction of its present distance, and' raised gi- gantic tides in the plastic sub- stance of its companion. • As a result of these internal tides, the crust of the Earth is rich in heavy Metals—far richer than that of any other of the planets: They hoard their wealth far down within their unreach- able cores, protected by pres- sures and temperatures that guard them from man's„ depre- dations. So as human civiliza- tion spread outward from Earth, the drain on the mother world's dwindling resources steadily increased'. The light elements existed on the other planets in' unlimited amounts, but such essential me- tals as mercury, lead, uranium, platinum, thorium and tungsten were almost unobtainable, For many no substitutes existed; their large-scale synthesis was impractical, . . modern teeh- nology could not survive With- out them. It was an unfortunate situa- tion, and a Very galling one for the independent republics on Mars, Venus and the larger sat- ellites, which had now united to forme the Federation, It kept them dependent open Earth, and prevented their expansiOn toward the frontiers of the so= lar sistem. Though` they had. searched among the asteroida and 'moons, among the rubble left over When. the worlds were formed,, they had fetInd little but worthless reek and, ice. They mug gO 'Op in hand td the mother planet for alintist every gram of a dozen metals that were More preciottS than gold. Frain 'Earthlight,,' by Atin th- C. Clarke. Charles L. Broley checked his equipment; coils of rope, three rope ladders, lead sinkers, stout fisnline, a broom handle with a teaspoon attached to one end, a sling shot,, a pair of rubber- soled shoeS'and Other odds and ends. - ' • No, you, won't have guessed his line. Charles Broley rings eagies on the. Kissimee Prairie, Florida. Seventyish, this retired banker overcomes . hair-raising haiards in pursuit of his hobby„ writes naturalist Edwin Way Teale, in "North with the Spring". Teale watched Broley place a lead sinker attached to the fish- line' in the spoon and, with a deft sweep of the broom handle, flip it over a dead pine's lowest stub of a limb, twenty feet up. To the fishline. he attached a rope, pulling it over the limb and attaching it, in turn, to a forty-foot rope ladder. • Standing on the first limb;. Broley threw sinker and fishline over the highest branch and re- peated the process of pulling up rope and ladder. He reached the edge of the eagle nest on the summit of 'the rickety tree. "Waving a pair of shiny pliers in his left hand," writes Teale, "he holds the attention of the' eaglet. 'He reaches quicitly with his right hand from the back and pulls one leg up behind the wing, thus preventing the eaglet from turning and using its other talon While he attaches the numbered Metal band on' the leg in his hanci Broley had a collection of ob- jects he _had found in eagles' nests. "they included a gunny sack, a rubber shoe, a cornceb, an electric light bulb, a hand- kerchief, a bottle,' a elotheSpin, a loaf Of bread„ arid -a candle. dnce, at the end pf h. 'dna); he found a Sunday newspaper in an, eagle neat. He Sat: bri the edge of the nest, With an eaglet on either side of him, and reed it." Rattlesnakes often lurk below eagles' nests, possibly to pick UP scraps of food that. fall. After Broley had descended a tree, Wearing rubber soled climbing boots, he stepped On one but' Itickily his foot Was on the fore- part' of the 'Body; pinning the venomous head to the ground: Teale tried his hand at catching a rattler iti a 134 during his 000 mile ititirney through the United States. He' has Writteii:e frieSt reti6tit and infOrthative • book. TOMATO JUICE • I bushel tomatoes I large bunch celery 4 large onions 8 biy leaves 2 cloves garlic 1/2 cup sugar cup salt 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce Boil celery and onions in wa- ter to cover until tender. Wash and quarter tomatoes, but do not peel; add celery-onion mix- ture. Add bay leaves, garlic, sugar, and salt; boil until tender. Run through a sieve. Add 1 tea- spoon Tabasco sauce and bring to boil. Pour at once into steri- lized jars. tAFETY'OUTLOOIC BRIGHTENS.-These PiCidret of the Seine traf Tie 'island; taken in daylight and at night, illustrate the effeo. tiVenest of a new ref active liquid. Intended for Uie are ,traffie`Obstructions; is said to he about 50 times brighter than White paint. The, liquid IS, itiPpoSed to be 'oeity apply on any porous surface with breth 0 ,CotiVentibeeil Spray equip= talent. It will last one year, indriufoctoreei ttatin, srport 4urfcite and "meatier coeclifiatit, SWINE SHOW ERROR HOG TIES- JUDGES Face's of the fudges and fait officials at the Coority tole Were some .what red when this picture them was thappeci:, It happened at the swine show. The tall Went out for produce of dam in the' Spotted Poland chino'S everal' exhibitors entered the rind with their animals, As judging Welt about to begin, lit Bradford walked ift with an armful of 11-day,old piglets,, set them down and *effect for Ike judges to declare him tke Winner: Spectators' aughed and the ledges looked Concerriect. When they 06014:Med Bradford's right to bring in the little' Pigs, he told them to 'look' in the rule beak. They- looked at the rule for 'produce of darn and found someone had eiionebuity, added a date providing that animals ehteied sin that class must have been farrowed "on Or after Aug. 1, 1955.n So teekniii telly, Bradford's 'piglets were the Only OneS eligible for the tletS, AIWA, letue.shf..tit, BracIfoid removed his- animal& arid fudging pteCtedeil tn' "ini.tht,"` not the "toffee of the fdtski,i Mere- SehOoll .nagt Output of: Idatlier-SelieOI bage increased to, 341,581 in 1953: froth` '83 and feetery Valtie read S $643,671 froth $40,016.•