Evening star., 1941-12-02
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
During the past two or three years
there have taken shape the vague out
lines Of revolution in agriculture whose
end no man can foresee.
BY the use of two chemicals there have
been wrought such miracles as a so per
cent increase in production of cotton per
acre. double yields of corn, tomatoes,
peas and beans and triple yields of grass
but only under special conditions.
Also, 1t is possible to ripen oranges or
the trees two weeks earlier and cabbages
IN the field three weeks earlier than nor
NAL. This strange development was ex-
planned before the American Chemical
Society, meeting in Atlantic City a few
weeks ago.
Needless to say, there has been no
general application of the new methods
for the most part they are confined to
experimental plots, and such factors as
costs and results under general agri-
cultural conditions remain highly theo-
retical.
The chemicals are plant hormones,
now made synthetically but similar to
substances contained in minute amounts
in the plants themselves The most
striking Of these for general use. the
society was told by Dr. Franklin D.
Jones, Amber, Pa, chemical manufac-
tLrer, is liquid known as napthalene
acetamide, of which plants can stand
strong doses and which does not deterio-
rate, as do most Of the hormone prepa-
rations, when produced in bulk and
allowed to stand.
Up to the present the gardening public
has been familiar with plant hormones
chiefly because some of them will make
roots grow faster on cuttings. They also
are being used in large quantities for
spraying fruit trees. They keep the fruit
on trees so that 1t can ripen naturally in
the sun. Hitherto most fruits, such as
apples, have been picked before they are
FULLY ripe.
These sprays" DR.. Jones said, "mean
much TO the average consumer because
tree-ripened fruit is larger and better
favored. and a better quality reaches
the market. 1t is believed that nearly
half OF all the commercial apples reach
ing the market this year will have been
hormon-sprayed.
'Napthalene acetamide on oranges
produces earlier ripening of the fruit,
so that We can expect TO see Florida
oranges on the Northern market two
weeks earlier than usual this year. BY
the use Of very strong sprays of this
chemical in April premature bud devel-
opment of peaches can be stopped. thus
reducing the risk of damage from late
frosts.
But the use Of this chemical is not
restricted to fruit. Sprays on the fow-
ers Of greenhouse tomatoes produce
much jucier vegetables. Varieties of
flowers which, like the petunia, hitherto
have been thought self-sterile can be
made to produce seed. which enlarges
the possible number of varieties tre-
mendously.
I'm Oklahoma last year this spray pro-
duced a so per cent increase in cotton
yield per acre. Where will the program
Of crop reduction be when cotton farmers
in general start its use. The spray takes
all the uncertainty out of growing alfalfa
and clover. increasing yields tremen-
oously. Research work on potato and
onion storage shows that hormone treat
ment will stop sprouting.
The most controversial application of
plant hormones is on seeds where the
stimulating effect depends on the nature
Of the soil. Where the soil is neutral or
acid hormone treatment of seed has
produced three times as much grass
twice as much corn, and twice as many
peas and beans"
The last great aboriginal invasion OF
North America probably preceded the
Christian era only short time
This contention is advanced by Dr.
scum of Canada in a paper which forms
part of the annual report of the Smith
sonian Institution.
These latest invaders were the Atha-
pascans They brought with them, it is
probable, the bow and arrow, the snow
shoe and the toboggan, prominent ele-
ments of Indian culture in historic
times. They crossed from Asia into
Alaska and slowly moved southwark
along two routes-one west Of the
Rockies and one down the valley of the
Mackenzie River. Only about thousand
years ago their advance columns reached
the southwestern portion of the United
States where they caused a major dis
ruption in the settled ways Of life of the
agricultural Pueblo Indians. The de-
scendants of this vanguard constitute
the Navajos Of today.
Although much of this reconstruction
from, scattered archeolouicol rap,oips