Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/220

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��Popular Science Monthly

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�� ���seeds over it. In the steam-heated rooms his crops grew in double quick time. But the janitor stopped him.

"In England one big firm has manu- factured umbrellas of a soft, absorbent ma- terial, so that seeds may be planted on them. Thus people walking along in the rain with their umbrellas covered with short, edible grass, present a refreshing appearance as of moving fields of living green, or floating emerald isles." The professor says this — not the editor of Popular Science Monthly. Is he jesting or is he merely practical?

Professor Jeggles is on his way to

the Fiji Islands to study the

flora and fauna there. He

did not leave his address.

��Above : Grass growing on the wall paper of a New York city apart- ment. At right: How the salad is grown on a rug on the housetop

��Growing Mustard and Water Cress on Blankets

PROFESSOR JASPER JEGGLES, an English botanist, advocates some quick methods of salad raising. "Mustard and cress," he says, "can be grown anywhere. All that is required is an old blanket hung over a line and well soaked with water. Sprinkle the mustard seed on one half of the blanket and the cress on the other and in two weeks time you will have a crop ready for the table."

In addition to grow- ing salads on his blan- kets and flannels, Pro- fessor Jeggles is report- ed to have engaged in near-mortal combat with the janitor of the apartment house in which he lived. The professor was given to planting seeds on his wallpaper. He damp- ened the walls until the paper was pulpy and then sprinkled the

���With a finish that makes them wash- able, the walls of the nursery may be used like ordinary blackboards

��Children May Write On These Walls With- out Fear of Punish- ment

WHY would children rather write on im- maculate walls than on writ- ing paper? Because, first, their mothers caution them not to do it, and, second, because the walls are whiter and the writing looks better on them than it does on paper. But the time has come when the mother need fear for the white nursery walls no longer. They can, in- deed, be changed from a source of irrita- tion to educational purposes by means of a finish which makes them washable. In other words, all pencil, crayon and pen marks may be washed away. Consequently, the wall surface is as good a place for drawing pictures or working examples as the ordi- dinary blackboard.

Although the finish is intended primarily for the walls of the nursery, it may be used in the kitchen, living room, or other part of the house where chil- dren are wont to try out their artistic ability on the walls. The fin- ish may be in any one of a number of differ- ent shades.

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