What Makes Your Garden
Grow?
A feature in keeping with
this year's conservation project
of Variety Garden Club of Firestone
Do you get a lot of satisfaction from seeing your lawn
grow healthy and green and your flowers produce “show
case” blossoms? Easy, now, on taking most of the credit
yourself!
Most of the credit rightfully
belongs to millions of Nature’s
creatures, hard at work in your
lawn and garden around the sea
sons.
The topsoil, for example, is
literally alive with tiny crea
tures whose activity aerates the
soil, and whose wastes enrich it.
A mere thimbleful of topsoil
contains millions of microscopic
plants and animals, each con
tributing to the soil's fertility
and well-being. Many break
down humus and free the min
erals needed to support new
garden growth.
THERE'S the lowly earth
worm. He spends his whole life
cultivating the land. Earth
worms can turn over as much as
18 tons of soil per acre in one
year. Imagine all that work at
the end of your shovel handle!
If crabgrass and ragweed are
troublemakers, do you know the
natural way of controlling them?
The full-page ads inviting you
to solve all your gardening prob
lems with expensive chemicals
may be tempting. But remember
ETSU Graduate
Jerry, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Sparrow of Union Road,
is employed with Commercial
Credit Company at Asheville,
after having received his BS de
gree at East Tennessee State
University May 31.
His father works at grounds
maintenance at Firestone.
Jerry attended Warren Wilson
Junior College at Swannanoa
for two years, then transferred
to ETSU at Johnson City.
that if such materials really did
produce permanent cures, the
manufacturers would soon sup
ply all the demand.
Some of these poisons which
won’t harm worms, may kill the
birds that eat the worms. These
birds are the same fellows that
thrive on the plant-killing in
sects in your garden. So it pays
to keep the birds healthy.
The outdoors is marvelously
intricate once you learn to un
derstand some of it. Knowing
more about the natural prin
ciples of land use will make
gardening more profitable and
more fun. It can even help you
wake up and live more meaning
fully, aware of the fascination of
nature’s processes and the beau
ty of some of her creatures
you’ve never even noticed be
fore.
The earth is an island in time.
Living on it is a challenge in
cooperation.
What makes your garden
grow? Your own intelligent
work backed by the activities of
millions of unseen helpers you
may have ignored too long. It is
especially important not to be
heavy-handed with those help
mates.
They include the hawks, owls,
toads, skunks, ladybugs, praying
Calvin Coolidge, 29th Presi
dent of the United States, was
bom July 4, 1872. These words
of his are fitting on this anni
versary month of his birth and
the month of American Inde
pendence.
“The Government of the Unit
ed States is a device for main
taining in perpetuity the rights
of the people."
a
The butterfly prefers the life of the daytime,
unlike his moth kin which likes the night. Butter
flies are good gardening partners because of their
work as pollinators.
Birds are man's best friend in many ways*
Their consumption of enemy worms and insecis
is one of the most helpful controls to a
garden.
Mr. Toad likes the land more than his rela
tive the frog. He usually lives in moist, cool
places, devouring unwanted insects.
The praying mantis, found in most warm coui''
tries, does a good job toward controlling insec^®
that are enemies of plant life.
mantis and a host of others
that help protect the garden
crops and flowers by devouring
the plant eaters. They also in
clude the pollinators—bees, but
terflies and moths — the crea
tures that reduce dead plant and
animal material to soil nutrients,
the soil aerators, and many
others.
Johnson Noon Optimist President
☆
Pholos from National Audubon So
ciety: Butterfly — Lynwood Chace;
Birds—Allan C. Cruickshcink; Toad—
Robert Hermes; Praying Mantis —
John Gerard.
Ralph Johnson, manager of
employee relations, was install
ed president of the Gastonia
Noon Optimist Club July 2. In
stallation was at a dinner meet
ing at the clubhouse on West
Second Ave.
The club is assured of honor
status for the fourth successive
year, having reached every goal
and having established itself as
No. 3 club in North Carolina in
total points achieved.
“I know it will be hard
make five in a row, but that^
what we will try to do,’*’"JohnS‘J^
said upon his election to the of'
fice.
Other club officers are
Rhyne, first vice president;
Jim Houser, second vice pre®^”
dent; Albert Davis, third vie®
president; Bill McCrary, sei"
geant - at - arms; and G 1 e n
Stroup, Joe Beiam and Jol^^
Peden, directors.
40th Win On Firestone Tires
AT INDIANAPOlli
500 RAl‘
WINNING TRIO — Parnelli
Jones and J. C. Agajanian (with
hat), owner of the winning Wil
lard Bsttery Special, after win
ning the 500-mile marathon.
“Fantastic” said Parnelli Jones
of the performance of his Fire
stone tires, upon setting a new
record of 143.137 mph during the
1963 Memorial Day Indianapolis
500-mile race before a crowd of
some 300,000.
It was Jones’ first 500 victory
and the 40th consecutive win on
Firestone tires.
The driver, 29, from Torrance,
Calif., predicted before the race
that the new 15-inch tires would
enhance the winning car’s speed
by three miles per hour. Jones
surpassed the record set by
Roger Ward in 1962, by 2.845
mph.
Jim Clark of Duns, Scotland,
who finished 30 seconds behind
Jones, was clocked at 142.752
while making just one pit stop.
Clark, like Jones, also used the
new 15-inch tires.
A. J. Foyt, Houston, Texas
Roger Ward, Indianapolis, Ind.
Don Branson, Champaign, 111.
and Jim McElreath, Arlington
Texas, finished 3rd, 4th, 5th and
6th respectively. All six men
broke the average speed of 140.-
292 mph set last year by Ward.
Jones’ victory may well be at
tributed to the fast action of his
pit crew. Although Clark m
ad®
de
just one 32.3-sesonds pit stop
the 95th lap, Jones—who
three stops — had an excellei’
elapsed time in the pits of
minute, 12.15 seconds.
Other drivers who finished
the top 10: Dan Gurney,
Costa Mesa, Calif.; Chuck
8th, Downey, Calif.; A1
9th, Roseville, Mich.; and
Rathmann, 10th, Roselle, lH-
July, 1963
page
Explorers Swap Keys To Two Cities
Eleven boys and post advisor
Jesse Liles of Firestone-sponsor
ed Explorer Post 328 traveled
afoot the first 49 miles, rode a
bus 90 miles and hiked the re
maining 11 miles from Gastonia
to Columbia, S. C. in June.
Boys making the trip were
Randy Lewis, John Brown, Jim
Rice, Glen Wiley, Rickey Liles,
Jerry Buchanan, Ronnie Buch
anan, Perry Barker, Charles
Turner, Gary Rowland and Billy
Warren.
The group camped the first
two nights on the hiking portion
of the trip and the third night
on the last 11 miles into Colum
bia. In the Palmetto Capital,
they were welcomed by Mayor
Leslie Bates, who received from
them a key to the city of Gas
tonia, sent along by Gastonia
Mayor Vic Phillips. Then the
Explorers received a key to the
City of Columbia.
The hikers were interviewed
on radio and television and pub
licized in Columbia newspapers.
At Fort Jackson they were
guests of the army post, just be
fore leaving by auto on the
home trip.
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
POST OFFICE BOX 551
GASTONIA. N. C.
Return Requested
BULK RATE
U. S. POSTAGE PAIP
PERMIT NUMBER 29
GASTONIA, N. C.
THE LIBRARY OF UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N. C*