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Zurich Herald, 1954-06-17, Page 3TIE FARM FRONTW "From Rags to Rhubarb" is the intriguing title of an article by Pearl P. Puckett in a recent issue of "The American Farm Youth". It tells the story of Verner Bass of Chaldron, Neb- raska and -- well - I'll let Miss Puckett take on from here , Back in 1929, Bass was fire- man and locomotive , engineer icor the C.&.N.W. Railroad, then the depression laid him off. At that time Bass had a family of four small children and a wife, and just couldn't afford to be out of work. At the very last resort, he turned to truck farm- ing on a small rented place. .In spite of his frugal management, the going was plenty tough, for the severe drought, grasshoppers and hail took most of his garden stuff year after year, * * M At the end of two years, his entire savings of $200.00 was used to buy the one -acre tract, and Bass labored early and late to erect a make -shift basement- type house for his family. Then, he hit upon the scheme of add- ing a little nursery stock, peren- nials and house 'plants, more or less as a sideline to supplement his lagging income. * * a Bass didn't even know at the time he unwrapped the gera- nium plants, which he had re- ceived from an Omaha green- house, that the old newspaper wrapping would figure in his riches. The reason he noticed it all was because it had been pub- lished in Lousville, Kentucky, then because he loved rhubarb pie, he went on to read an ar- ticle in the paper about an all- t'ed variety of rhubarb which had been imported from Canada through a leading nurseryman, who had already secured'a per- mit to import through the De- partment 0 f Agriculture a t Washington, D.C. The rhubarb was seedless, everbearing in na- ture, and 'Sweeter than any vari- ety ever.iSroduceol. By the time he had finished t`he article, his mouth was fairly watering for rhubarb pie, and he sat down and wrote to the paper, inquir- Mg where he might purchase liuch a plant. In a few days, he received one small root and a Por A Giant -This king-size ring probably fitted the legendary Paul Bunyan well, but it looks like more of a millstone around the neck of Millie McKirdy. The ring is part of the Bunyan exhi- bit at the University of Minne- sota. "swell" letter from the news- paper. ✓ 1 * Bass took the small root and cut it into seven divisions, After • months of pampering the small rhubarb cuts, five of them lived to start the mother bed which has figured in his riches. The rhubarb was propogated as rap- idly as possible, for Bass could see the vast possibilities. Con- sidering the fact that it was seedless and that it would al- ways have to be increased from root divisions which would take a lot of time to increase it in ,sufficient large portions to sup- ply the deinand, he used to look at the mother plants and study them for a long long time be- fore making a cdt so as to be sure . to get all the divisions pos- sible from' the plant. Even with a fairly large stock of young rhubarb and an expen- sive new green house, 1934 was a rugged year. Bass had two mortgages on his acreage and equipment and a bumper crop which looked promising until August 15- then it began to look like Bass' were finished; for a hail storm not only laid his garden low, but entirely demol- ished his glass greenhouse a, a, * • Instead of quitting, Bass pull- ed his belt in a couple of notches and took his trouble to the F.S.A. After a few hours wait- ing he was granted an •inter- view; but when he told them he was building up a stock of new rhubarb which would make him rich, and that he really had no assests, other than his pre- cious rhubarb plants, the fellow be hind the desk pumped his shoulders up and down and stared wildly: "Mr. Bass," he said, and it sounded painfully contrived to a guy with his dreams geared on 80 acres of all red rhubarb, "You remind me of the fellow who went into the frog business to get rich quick - and he had his frogs all coun- ted before they hatched, too. Al- most everyone likes the stuff, has .a few stalks of rhubarb growing in his own yard. I'm afraid we can't do much for you." * „ • a� Bass had weathered six years of pretty tough times a n d wouldn't take "no" for an an- swer, so the guy behind the desk promised to investigate the possibilities of making a fortune in rhubarb, and finally, after much urging and high-pressure sales talks, made Bass a small loan that carried him through until he . could market some of the root crop. That fall, Bass sold all the roots he could spare to a National Mail Order House that paid him 60 each for the roots. The next year the National Mail Order House could not use all his available root crop so he mailed ' a few roots to a large Philadel- phia seed house offering them at 60 each, however, the Phila- delphia house wired back ask- ing him how many roots he could furnish at 350 each, then in order to get a portion of his root crop, the National Mail Or- der House started paying hien 350 each for roots. By 1946, Bass had 45 acres of the finest rhubarb ever grown. He sold pretty close to 200,000 CROSSWCRD PUZZLE ACROSS DOWN 1. Pouch 2. Bustle 3. Last Indian perfume 4. DIsdain 5. Melody 0. Metric land measures 1, Weaken 4. Stop unintentionally 0 Wire measurement 2, Mountain in Alaska 13, This killed a oat 15, Fabric.. 17. Ciphers 18. Central part 19. Domestic fowl 20. 'Deadly white 22, Vie 26, rompositicns for two 27. Mass of floating lea 28. Negative 29. slrossword puzzle bird 40. t'ommerce 31. Small cubs 32. hong fish 33, Demolish 34, Carry 35, Secluded 37, Small ornamental balls 28. Three -toed sloths $9. Northern tluropean 40, Forgive 43, fi'olders of Ilene 46, Make amends 46. l{nd of cloth 49. Spot on a playing card s . P g1)00 red e1. 7. Long Island (ab,) 6. Coggh drop 9. Russian villa. community 10. Sapanese statesman 11. river in France 14. Dispatched 16, Drives at an angle 19. Crowd 20, Deeply 21, Division of ancient .Babylonia 22. Stop 7 23. Tries 24, Water nymph 25, Stainers gr 27. Unruly chiktren 30. Untrue person 84. Vegetable 36, American inventor 37, Lose life fluid 39. Magnitude 40. I1.noClc 41, Slender finial 42, Swab 47. Leave 43, Fifty -tour 44, Steep 45,.Diseover 's ,7 20 z L } � y ti• r r Answer elsewhere on this page. apNA'Mrry!.MMNtWMkM^'iMMwIMIMl.ii� t'il... Having Woflderful Time -- Wish YouWore Hair It seems that hairdos ought.` nowadays to be more than merely decorative. They ought to have mundane significance and be functional and what not, To give you an idea of what we mean, we present these examples, graciously posed by Mrs. James Umbehr, a student nurse at Grace Hospital. BANGKOK INSPIRES this off -the - ear creation. Can be worn closer if girl doesn't have time to wash ears before a date. Not for areas where mountain goat hunting is permitted.. OVER -THE -TOP coiffure is latest thing for girl who loses left ear- ring of her favorite pair. Can be reversed for lost right earring. Also nice for girl with one cauli- flowered ear. HYDROGEN AGE hairdo, featur- es awe-inspiring , mushroom cloud, ideal for women who acre inclined to blow their tops. Style harmonizes with a prayerful at- titude. PONY TAILS fore and aft are appropriate for gals who go to horse races or watch 'em on TV. Also suits personality of miss who can't figure out whether she is coming or going. roots at 350 each,and still could not supply the demand. In ad- dition to the roots sold, he re- tained 250,000 choice roots to set out the balance of his 80 acres, and was heralded as the Rhubarb King of the World. 0 • * Here is Mr. Bass' secret for rhubarb success: "The plants are set either in the fall or early spring. We plant it in check rows thirty-five inches each way, this takes about 5,000 plants per acre. The plants are cultivated with tractor until the foliage gets so large that we have to use horses, as they do not break up the rhubarb as much as the tractor. We usually cultivate from 11 to 14 times during the season, and hand hoe the plants around each hill of rhubarb about three times per season. Rhubarb is a plant that Is not troubled by insects, ex- cepting grasshoppers, and no diseases of the foliage or roots have so far made their appear- ance, so spraying is not neces- sary which is a big help in growing the crop. The plants set out in early spring are har- vested the next fall. This gives us young roots which are full of energy and vitality and some- thing extra that older growth roots do not have. So far, we have not sold any of the stalks for , table use because removing the stalks would also weaken the vitality, especially if pulled the first season, and as a mat- ter of fact, pulling the stalks the first season usually proves • fatal to the plant, Digging is done with a plow and tractor, plowing at least a foot deep. We have tried many kinds of dig- gers but find the walking plow the best. After plowing out the roots and removing the soil from them, they are placed in storage pits where they can be stored over the winter if neces- sary, or they can be removed to our cutting room for cutting up into marketable size No, I divisions any time we wish. They are packed in Bruce boxes 100 divisions to 'the box and ready to start their journey to a nursery, seed house or to a large grower. We use lots of fertilizer, also the commercial types of Sulphate of Ammonia and Sodium Nitrate have been found to be especially good, as rhubarb is a heavy nitrogen feeder. Of course, it takes good cultivation, too, Rhubarb will not do good if left to grow un- cultivated, or in grass land un- less the soil is very fertile, and there is lots of rainfall, My rhu- barb has been shipped to many of .America's leading seed hooses and nurserymen and some has already been shipped to Europe and South America, but it be- gins to look like the biggest out- let will be right here in the U.S.A. - to the growers who raise hrubarb for canneries or for the quick freezing industries, as the beautiful deep red of this rhubarb when processed gives it a top sale appeal." �+ * 0 Yes, indeed, 'Verner Bass has gone a long, long ways ; up the ladder of success - from rags to rhubarb king, with a neat pay-off of close to $200,000 an- nually. That's clever parlaying a `lot'; of debts, one small rhu- barab plant, a ton of courage, brains and brawn, Bats Fly By Sound It is an eerie experience to sit outside a cave, in the dusk of early evening, and watch the bats come out, flying swiftly and silently, like moving shadows. They have a marvelous way of missing• obstacles; and unless they are badly frieghtened, they nev- er collide with each other. Though we hear not even a whis- per of sound, the bats ate actu- ally making a series of sharp squeaks, so high-pitched that the human ear can not detect them. However, extremely sensitive machines have recorded t h e squeaks. Scientists call such high-pitched sounds "ultrasonic." "Ultra" means beyond, and "son- ic" refers to sound. The science that studies this type of sound is called "ultrasonics." The ultrasonic squeaks of the bat help it to avoid obstacles be- cause the sounds - are reflected back to the anima] as echoes from anything solid with which it might collide. Bats have beefi masked so that they could not see at all, then turned loose in a room where piano wires were strung a foot apart. The bats flew without any difficulty But when their ears were plugged or their mouths were gagged, they could be made to fly only if they were thrown into the air; and then they collided with the wires and even with the walls of the room, 'or a long time people thought that bats were guided by special senses in their wings, but when the wings were covered with nail polish the bats flew as well as usual, We know now that their system for avoiding bump- ing into things depends on their ability .to hear these ultrasonic e'hoes, a sort of -natural radar. Smoking Marathons Twenty-nine men and four women took part In a novel smoking contest at Burghausen, Bavaria, the other day. Standing in line, they each lit up a four- and -a -half-inch cigar. The idea? To smoke it as long as possible. At the end of two hours seven minutes -when the old German cigar smoking record had been beaten -three men and two wom- en were still puffing away gently. Then one woman's cigar went Out, One by one the men smok- ers dropped out, Yes, the winner was a woman, Frau Niederbuch- ner. She had achieved a new record of two hour twenty-six minutes. Judged by our standards, her achievement is not impressive, The winner of a pipe -smoking "marathon" some years ago in Britain started with an eighth of an ounce of tobacco in a briar and kept his pipe alight for two hours fifty-one minutes. One of the oddest smoking contests heed in this country took place in Derbyshire. A veteran smoker undertook to smoke a pound of tobaccoat one sitting. A china teapot was the "pipe" and he smoked through the spout. He did it and won $150. Best Four Coats Come From Bachelors Any day now a coastguard cutter will leave a western har- bour to keep the world's strang- est appointment. At a certain - spot an old bull seal will appear close to the ship. Soon , the waters all *around will become alive with seals, all heading northward for the Bering Sea. Every year the animals keep their appointment without fail. Escorting their furry convoy, the coastguardmen keep a watch- ful eye out forseal poachers, until the herds safely reach the mist -shrouded Pribiloff Islands in the Arctic Circle. For this desolate region is the seals' home and breeding ground. Ever y spring they leave the warm southern waters in which they have spent the winter to trek back to their birthplace where thousands of baby seals will be born, But first each bull seal endea- vours to collect the biggest harem, and savage fights break out when the younger males try to steal a "wife" for thei'nselves. 'It is the unsuccessful bachelors with unscarred pelts who are destined to become fur coats for women. Soon after the new pups have been born, the mothers leave thein in creches, called "pods," while they waddle into the sea to forage for food. When they return each mother unerringly picks out her own offspring from the mass of mewing, whimpering babies. But if one of the baby seals is orphaned it is callously neglected and eventually starves to death. When the pups are about six weeks old they are taken to the water by their parents and taught to swim. As soon as they are proficient they are left to look after themselves. The seals remain in the Pribi- loffs until early autumn. Then, guided by their old leader, they plunge into the sea and head south. One lady to another: "I must hurry. It's ten to three and I have got an appointment with my psychiatrist. You see, if I'm late he starts without me," Rev. R. Barclay Warren, B.1., B.D. Ainos Denounces intemperance Amos 2;11.12; 4:1-2; 6;1:7 Memory Selection: het us walk honestly, as in the day; not ha rioting and drunkenness. Romans 13:13. In the last lesson we noted tb.4 charges of the prophet Amoy against the social injustices cur- rent in Israel. In today's lesson Amos denounces Israel for its drinking. Even the Nazarites, men who had vowed not to par- take of the fruit of the vine, were being served wine. At the same time it was being said to the prophets, "Prophecy not. Perhaps there is more of a con- nection than we at first realize. As a nation turns more and more to the drinking of liquor there is less desire to .hear the word of God. A Sunday finds more people nursing the aftermath of the drinking parties than in the house of God singing His praises. Apparently the women of Is- rael, called "kine of Bashan", joined in urging their husbands to bring on the drinks. What would Amos say if he entered a ladies' beverage r oom or a modern cocktail lounge today? He would find women of every social strata with glassy eye and flushed cheek, reeking with alco- hol. Their loud talk indicates that the drugged brain has relaxed the inhibitions. They are not themselves. This "drinking wine in bowls" was one of the major evils which led Amos to predict the down- fall of 'the nation, "Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed." Was Israel worse than Can- ada? We doubt it. Canada is spending far more on liquor than on religion and education com- bined. And the end is not yet. The railways are petitioning for the right to sell liquor in the dining cars. A campaign is on to have grocers sell wine and beer: Just where is the satura- tion point? 11 God punished Israel will Canada escape? There is only one sure remedy: a turning to God. People who have surrendered to Jesus Christ don't need and don't want the temporary stimulus of intoxicat- ing beverages. OVERDONE TREATMENT An old man heard about a treatment that would restore his youth. The medicine was a cer- tain extract made up in pills. He bought a box. But instead of taking one every day he swallowed the boxful one night. Next morning the family had great difficulty in waking the old man. At last he rolled over and rubbed his eyes. "All right all right," he grumbled. "I'll get up, but I won't go to school." (Upside down to prevent peeking) J. 3 5 S a 0I AV z A 0 0] .1. (1 Q 11 Sea Of Matrimony - It'll take more than floods to stop this couple, as they ride in an ox -drawn cart after a wedding cere- mony in Sires, France. A swollen river inundated the community, but hip -booted guests forgot about the flood to toast Gabrielle Hourquet and Edouard Lalane at a party on the second floor, where all was safe.