Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/913

 Popular Science Monthly

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��A Flowery Conception of the Western Hemisphere

AN inmate of the Soldiers' Home, l\ at Atchison, Kans., has con- ceived a plan which makes the lawn in front of the Home the most conspicuous and admired object for miles around.

A huge framework of closely woven galvanized wire in the form of a -phere has been placed in the center of a ter- raced flower bed. This sphere is filled with rich soil in which are embedded hundreds of tiny plants, which are trained to grow out through the mesh. A perforated pipe runs up through the center of the sphere and keeps the flowers watered.

The design is changed with the seasons to prevent monotony. At present the Western Hemisphere is out- lined in red, white and blue. The land spaces are filled in with red and white flowers and the oceans with blue. The Stars and Stripes, also in red, white and blue, furnish a popular variation. No doubt airplanes and bursting bombs will find a place on the flower>- globe sometime before this year is out, for the gardener is bent upon depicting in flowers the patriotic sentiment of the moment.

���The fruit is cut off and dropped through a long cloth sleeve into a pail

��Picking Fruit from Tall Trees While Standing on the Ground

NSTEAD of wasting time in climbing trees to pick fruit, George J. Fallkin, of San Jose, Illinois, gathers his fruit while stand- ing on the ground. He simply uses a long cutter- pole having a metal cup mounted on its end. A set of knife blades are arranged near the top of the cup. The pole is brought up to the fruit in the tree until the fruit is well inside the cup. A string is then pulled. This causes the sharp cutting blades to sever the stem of the fruit. The fruit falls in- to the cup, the bottom of which opens out under the weight of the fruit and allows it to drop down through an opening and in- to a long cloth sleeve. When the sleeve is filled up, the fruit is dumped into a pail or basket. By this method there is no danger of bursting choice fruit and thus decreasing its mar- ket value and keeping quality.

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���The spherical garden at Soldiers' Home, Atchison, Kansas. The land is designated by red and white and the oceans by blue flowers

��What the War Has Cost the Fight- ing Nations Thus Far

ON February i, last, the various govern- ments at war had spent something like sevent>'-one billion, seven hundred and forty million dollars. How much money is this? Can we comprehend it? If it were distributed equally among all the inhabi- tants of the globe, from the Eskimo in his frozen igloo, to the African bush- man in his grass hovel, there would be forty-four dollars to give to every man, woman and child. The world's pop- ulation is estimated at more than a billion and a half souls. Or, a man could ride in a taxi to the sun and back, paying fifty cents a mile for the trip, and have about six- teen million dollars left.

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