The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-08-04

vest ana midwest. mere tllc
len rescued hundreds Of wild
'esh water.
ure from the procedure of past
experiments which had as their
objective the control Of the nu-
TRENT clements in plants, and
took into consideration, as he puts
it, ''the art and the law of farm
ing" Whereas only the single
factor had served as control in
the past, he took into cOnsldera-
ton the additional factors of eli
mate and light on crop produc-
ton. He applied his practical
knowledge of crop production
gained as a boy on a Nebraska
farm, and was thus able to bring
into being a new technique.
Farmers" he told this writer,
"are inclined to be superstitious.
"They follow set of laws which
have been handed down for CEN
turtles. Many of their beliefs in
the light OF science may seem
somewhat far-fetched, to say the
least. But if one looks into them
one will find they are usually
based on sound precepts. There
may even be-" and he smiled
broadly, something to the light
of the moon. That is" he added,
1.-THE radiation Of light waves"
His first experiments were
launched at his home in Berkeley
and in the greenhouse on the
university campus. That was in
1927. In these tests he was as
sisted by the California committee
on the relation Of electricity to
agriculture.
From the beginning his theories
met with gratifying success, even
though the literature on water
culture in no way indicated that
LIQUID media could be used as
substitute in a practical way for
growing crops. AS the expert
ments were extended to include a
variety of fruits and vegetables
and the culture technique for
these perfected, it was decided to
branch out into other localities in
the state, in order hat large-scale
production might be tested under
varying conditions and climates.
Thus today a variety of food
stuffs is being grown by this pro-
cess in commercial plants. The
largest of these are located near
Los Angeles and Santa Cruz.
Smaller ones are in Richmond,
Sacramento, San Jose, and in a
number of other places. They are
under the personal supervision OF
Dr.. Gericke.
The results achieved at these
establishments indicate that DR..
Gericke's process can operate sue
cessfully in any locality as long as
the proper technique is employed.
But the technique must be adjust.
ed to the character of the crop.
and to the climate of the region.
A technique appropriate for
crop in one place may not be sat
isfactory in another. Thus before
the process can be released for
general use, it needs to be tested
over a wide geographical area.
These tests, DR.. Gericke said, will
be made in actualNcommercial es-
Establishments" as the problems to
be solved cannot be worked out in
small-scale experiments, such as
have been conducted on the uni
versity campus. ' -i i
The commercial plants already
in existence in California repre-
sent the first step in this proposed
widespread testing of the process.
1t is hoped to establish others
within the near future. Until such
time as this has been done and
the process is ready for release to
the public, it is DR.. Gericke's wish
that interested persons refrain
from querying him. Such queries
detract him from his work and ac
complish little, because the nature
of the process is such that it can
not be passed on to the layman in
it's present stage of development. |
At present, he is engaged in at
tempting to work out a proper
succession of crops which may be.
grown by his method. AS an illus
tration of what may be achieved
in this respect, he says it would |
be possible to start in January,I
with the planting of onions or po-I
tatoes--crops that can stand the
cold. Then at the end of May or
early in June, when this crop has
matured, the beds could be plant
ed with corn, beans, tomatoes, or
another crop of potatoes.
In September or October, when
this second crop has come to frui-
ton, cabbage, cauliflower = any
type of water crop, for that mat
ter, or root crops, such as carrots
and beets, could be planted. In
this way series of crops could
be raised outdoors in localities in
which the climate is favorable. In