Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/684

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��A potato farm built on the apartment house principle. Each floor is six inches high and contains one layer

��668

Growing Thirty-Five Bushels of Po- tatoes in a Six-Storied Box

TALK about growing potatoes in your back yard! Here is a method by

which you can

grow thirty- five bushels of

tubers in a six-

by - eight - foot

packing-box.

It looks like a

big pen, but it

is a very old

thing in the

way of potato

farms. The

western

miners have

known about

it for many

years. Now

they are pas- sing it on to

the eastern folk The pens

are built of

heavy timbers

and open spaces are left on all

sides to permit the plants to

force their way through. The

"soil" consists of rich earth and

manure with a mixture of hay or excelsior, and each bed is about six inches deep. Potato plants are placed in the first layer of soil and in each layer until the top is reached. The farm is built on the principle of the apartment house, potatoes growing on each floor.

When growing, the plants reach out in all directions, in- cluding straight up. When they are fully grown the pen is taken apart and the potatoes are rolled out of their thin covering of soil with a rake, so that they are not bruised and cut. One bushel of potatoes is sufficient for plan- ting. A yield of thirty-five bushels to each pen is the rule rather than the (-xception. This idea might very well be adoi)ted by city-dwellers h«'re in the East, for the large supply would make potato famines non-existent.

��Popular Science Monthly

��Sun for Ripening Bananas? Cer- tainly Not — Just Cool Them

SUNSHINE is not in the least neces- sary for ripening bananas. All that is necessary is to subject them to a heat of about seven- ty-eight de- grees for about eight or ten hours, and then gradually cool them to a stea- dy temperature of about sixty degrees. This quickly pro- duces a pleas- ing golden color, and renders the fruit firm and of very desirable appearance for sending to market.

���The swinging "Stop" signal will catch your eye readily and stop you

��Swinging "Stop" Signal At- tracts Your Eye

ALL the fundamental princi- ples of safety first are em- bodied in a signal system for use at grade crossings which has been perfected by a Pennsylvania company. It has three different aspects shown in the accompany- ing illustration. Under normal conditions the "Stop" signal is concealed behind the "Look! Listen!" sign. When a train ap- proaches, however, the "Stop" signal is released and swings back and forth so as to attract the attention. It is a well-known psychological fact that a moving signal is invariably more effective in attracting the attention than a signal which remains stationary. If, for any reason, the signal mechanism is out of order and fails to work properly, the "Stop" signal drops down vertically and remains in that position, as a constant warning to all persons ai)proaching the crossing.

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