The
Win4ow
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BY
ftfcNDALL DE TRIMS
There is hardly a plant
enthusiast today who is not
aware of the beauty and
versatility of the common
geranium. Though these
plants are frequently an in
tegral part of many house
plant collections, what is not
usually known is that the
common geranium is not a
true geranium at all. It is
correctly a Pelargonium.
The Pelargoniums are a
genus within the Geranium
family. True geraniums are
rarely grown today. The
Pelargonium genus contains
approximately three hundred
species and at least six
thousand cultivars (hubrids).
The most common
geraniums (correctly,
Pelargoniums) are usually
referred to as the Zonale
geraniums. Scientifically,
they are known as
Pelargonium x hortorum or
more simply the Hortorums.
Within this large group of
plants are the geraniums
which are commonly grown
outdoors as bedding plants
and winter potted plants.
Since they are well known to
every gardener, there is little
need to describe them here
though mention of one class is
indicated because of its
superior characteristics. This
is the new Carefree geranium.
These plants, developed
recently, are the most
satisfactory outdoor-indoor
geranium yet created. The
plants, in an ever growing
variety of colors, are more
robust than other common
geraniums, come true to type
from seed, flower profusely,
and are self-branching.
Try some of these this
summer. You’ll not go wrong.
And, of course, make cuttings
for indoor winter bloom.
Within the Hortorum group
is another class of geranium
which is not widely known or
grown. This is the fancy
leaved type. These superb
plants may be grown indoors
or outdoors and are most
satisfactory in either en
vironment. They deserve a
more prominent place in
every indoor-outdoor gar
den.
The fancy-leaved
geraniums are grown
primarily for their leaves
though they flower as readily
as the common geranium and
the flowers are as showy.
Perhaps the most beautiful of
the fancy-leaved are the
tricolors.
The leaves of this type have
clearly defined zoned makings
usually of green, yellow, and
brown, bronze, red, or rust.
The best of these are ‘Skies of
Italy,’ ‘Mrs. Pollock,’ and
‘Mrs. Cox.’
A third type within the
Hortorum group can only be
classified as ‘unusual.’ In this
class are the rosebud, cactus
flowered, and sweet william
types. These unusuals must be
seen to be appreciated though
their names do indicate the
types of flowers produced by
each.
The indoor culture of the
Hortorum class is readily
undertaken by any indoor
green thumb. The primary
prerequisite is sunlight.
Without sun geraniums will
fail to bloom and will grow
leggy. It is best to choose a
sunny window in a cool room
optimum temperature 50-70
F.).
Do not crowd geraniums on
the windowsill since they
appreciate good air
movement. Most of the
Hortorium types grow and
bloom throughout the year
and water should be applied
when the soil has dried out
somewhat. Avoid wetting the
foliage when watering and
never let the plants go through
the night with wet leaves.
Do not feed indoor
geraniums unless they have
stopped growing and the
leaves look pale. If you do
have to feed, use any good
fertilizer in small quanities.
Geraniums are not heavy
feeders.
Plants which you have
enjoyed indoors during the
winter may be placed outside
for the summer, Rather than
bringing them back in the next
winter, it is always better to
make cuttings of your original
plants each summer for
winter bloom indoors.
This is easily accomplished
by taking a three to five inch
cutting from a strong branch.
Strip the lower leaves (leaving
at least three), dip the cut end
in a rooting hormone (not
absolutely necessary), insert
into a light potting soil, coarse
sand, or perlite, and keep
moderately moist and shaded
for about three weeks.
By then the cuttings will
have rooted, can be potted,
and moved into sunlight. It is
best to keep geraniums in the
smallest pots possible since
they bloom better when pot
bound. Start your newly
rooted cuttings in three inch
pots and gradually move them
up to five inch.
Once you have a geranium
you particularly like, you can
usually enjoy it indefinitely by
following the procedure just
mentioned.
NEXT WEEK: Lady
Washington, scented, and ivy
geraniums.
The Coal is There
Some 200 billion tons of coal
are presently recoverable, ac
cording to Secretary of the In
terior Rogers C. B. Morton.
He estimates that this is enough
to last 350 years at the pres
ent rate of consumption. More
over, he says, another trillion
tons of coal are potentially
recoverable after that.
^Hoppy faster!
Get a jump on spring with colorful Hallmark cards,
party sets and gifts for Easter, Sunday, March 30.
VARNER'S DRUG STORE
DIAL 884-4165 CORNER OF BROAD ft JORDAN
BREVARD. N. C.
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l|riMvnn,UL
Vegetable Origins Traced
Irish Potato Isn’t Irish; It’s From South America
BY GLORIA T. JONES
The “Irish” potato is not
Irish at all, but a native of
South America, and while
apple pie is an American
favorite, apples first grew in
the area between the Black
and Caspian Seas.
Only a few of the vegetables
and fruits that Americans
enjoy today are native to the
Americas, say horticultural
scientists at North Carolina
State University.
Dr. Conrad H. Miller,
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U. S. Senator |
Robert Morgan
I I
There is a great deal of talk
and argument in Washington
these days about a tax cut to
help spur the economy and
help bring the nation out of its
current economic troubles.
The President is calling for
a reduction in income taxes.
Some members of Congress
want a larger cut in taxes than
the President has asked for.
That’s a good indication of
how things can change here in
Washington, because at
Christmas time the President
didn’t want a tax cut. What he
was asking for then was a tax
increase.
From the way things look
now, the Congress and the
President are going to have
not only a tax cut but also a
rebate of some sort on the
taxes now due for 1974.
I simply can’t support the
President and his financial
advisors for the tax cut they
have proposed. Under their
plan, only 17 per cent of the
people would get any benefits
from 43 per cent of the
reduction and people who now
make $40,000 a year would
have their taxes cut.
The tax program which is
evolving in the Congress
seems more equitable and
fair. Under the plans that have
been discussed, the benefits
would not go to people with
large incomes, but rather
would aid those in the lower
brackets and give some relief
to the middle income families
who now bear far too much of
the tax burden.
The Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr. Simon, feels
that affluent families would be
more likely to spend their
extra money for such things as
appliances, cars and even
housing. But I imagine the
lower income taxpayers won’t
exactly hoard the money,
because it is taking every
nickel most of them can get
their hands on just for day to
day living.
But I am seriously troubled
by all this.
If the government runs up a
deficit of $50 billion next year
— and many financial experts
say that is a conservative
figure — then the government
is going to bffforced into the
money markets to borrow as
never before. And this com
petition for money will cause
interest rates to rise again and
we’ll again be in a position
where people won’t be able to
buy houses or borrow money
at decent rates and will be
back on the treadmill of in
flation.
Before we rush to cut taxes
or give rebates, I want to know
how we can adjust our tax
program to keep from being
inundated with red ink.
I want to see some loopholes
closed — loopholes that allow
wealthy persons and big
corporations to avoid paying
their fair share of govern
ment.
Furthermore, I want to
explore ways to cut spending
and eliminate waste that
everyone knows exists which
has grown entirely too big and
too expensive.
If a tax cut to stimulate the
economy can be coupled with
a program to adjust taxes
more fairly, reduce spending
and eliminate waste, then it
will serve a highly useful
purpose and I could gladly
support such a program.
But I never have been one
who likes the look of red ink.
professor of horticulture, says
that corn, tomatoes, snap
beans, lima beans, peppers,
potatoes, squash and pumpkin
are vegetables which
originated in the Americas —
most in the Andes Mountains
regions of South American
and in Central America.
Dr. Gene Galletta of the
Department of Horticulture
notes that native American
fruits include some berries
and grapes — the most widely
grown fruit in the world.
Pineapples and cashew nuts
came from Brazil and
Paraquay, the papaya from
Peru and Mexico fathered the
guava.
PEACH FROM CHINA
The peach, which has been
so successfully developed in
North Carolina, originated in
China where three wild
species are still found.
Afghanistan was the original
home of the pear and the
walnut.
The apricot, orange and
mulberry first came from
China. Persia gave the world
the cherry, plum, almond, fig,
date, persimmon,
pomegranate and pistachio
nuts.
Scientists determine the
probable origin of fruits and
vegetables by observing
where the largest numbers of
plant forms occur in the world
state, Miller says.
The only plant commonly
used as food that is of un
determined origin is maize, or
corn. Scientists surmise that
either its wild parent has
vanished, or it is isolated in
South American lowlands
where man has never been.
How did the vegetables and
fruits which Americans and
most of the world’s peoples
now enjoy come into
cultivation so far from their
native homes? Dr Miller says
man took his plants and seeds
to new places on prehistoric
migrations. By the time the
oldest records were either
carved or written, many
plants were known over large
areas of the earth, par
ticularly in Eurasia and
Africa.
The lands at the eastern end
of the Mediterranean Sea
and Asia Minor are believed to
be the original home of the
most of the vegetables now
grown in America. From
these regions come
asparagus, beets, broccoli,
cabbage, cauliflower, celery,
endive, kale, lettuce, parsley
and parships.
TURNIP VERY OLD
The turnip is older than
history and was consumed in
western Asia and the eastern
Mediterranean lands. Kale
and cabbage originated in this
region and were harvested as
foods long before the Romans
cultivated them as crops.
The Romans also ate beets
and Swiss chard. They used
parsley as a food to ward off
drunkenness. Celery was
consumed for medicinal
purposes by the ancient
Greeks.
China provided more
“cultivated” plants of all
kinds than any other place in
the world. Mid and eastern
India, which gave the world
blackeyed peas, eggplant and
cucumber, was also a large
center for cultivated plants.
Persian kings ate lettuce in
the 6th Century B.C. Carrots,
which originated in
Afghanistan and nearby
areas, were grown by ancients
in the near East. Onion, a
member of the lily family,
came from mid-Asia and
China.
Onions were eaten by the
ancient Egyptians, and
biblical references were made
to the fact that during their
wanderings the Israelites
longed for the onions of Egypt.
Okra, related to cotton, is
native to the Abyssian
Plateau. Africa also gave the
world the watermelon.
Dr. Miller notes that
asparagus was introduced into
the U.S. during early Colonial
times. Rhubarb, a native of
Asia, was brought to Europe
in the early 1600’s and to
America in the late 1700’s.
Spinach was eaten in China in
ancient times and was in
troduced to Europe in the mid
1300’s.
Ancient man noticed that
some wild plants were better
suited to his use than others.
He chose to grow these cen
tury after century, developing
a primitive form of plant
selection, Dr. Miller says.
After thousands of years of
propagating the most
desirable types, cultivated
plants were developed.
Today, horticulturists, crop
and soil scientists, plant
pathologists, geneticists and
statiscians at Land-Grant
universities work under
Agricultural Experiment
Station funding to develop
strong, resistant and high
yielding varieties of
vegetables and fruits for the
world’s people. The results of
Land-Grant research are
taken to the farmer through
the Agricultural Extension
Service.
42 NEW VARIETIES
North Carolina Agriculture
Experiment Station scientists
have been responsible for
developing 42 different new
and improved varieties of
fruits and vegetables.
Dr. James W. Strobel, head
of the Department of Hor
ticultural Science, points to
the outstanding contributions
of Franklin E. Correll, NCSU
professor of horticultural
science for 20 years until his
death on February 20.
Dr. Strobel says that as a
scientist with the N. C.
Agricultural Experiment
Station, Prof. Correll worked
with Dr. Carlyle Clayton of the
Department of Plant
Pathology to develop nine new
varieties of peaches, plus
several new varieties of
blueberries, strawberries and
apples.
“Correll’s and Clayton’s
work in peaches provided the
backbone for North Carolina’s
peach industry,” Strobel says.
NCSU horticultural
scientist Richard Lower is
leader of N.C. agricultural
Experiment Station research
that has contributed better
pickling varieties of
cucumbers. Dr. Daniel Pope,
recognized as the nation’s
outstanding swe** potato
breeder, has led the project
which developed the popular
Jewel variety of sweet potato.
Strawberry and blueberry
development is led hv Dr.
Galletta; improved tomato
watermelon varieties were
contributed under the
leadership of Dr. Warren H.
Henderson.
Dr. D. Mason Pharr has
worked with cucumbers and
tomatoes; Dr. Frank Haynes
has led in development of
three improved Irish potato
varieties, and in cooperation
with Peruvian scientists is
evaluating and searching for
new types of potatoes to in
crease production of this
valuable food source world
wide.
Studies on apples are
conducted by Dr. Larry
Hammett and Dr. C. Richard
Unrath. Dr. William B.
Nesbitt works with grapes and
Dr. Watler E. Ballinger works
on post harvest physiology of
blueberries.
While developing new and
improved varieties, NCSU
scientists working together as
interdisciplinary teams must
go further, Dr. Strobel says.
They are also concerned with
physiology and biochemistry
of the crops, nutritional
requirements, and the im
portant genetic resistance to
pests.
“These efforts,” Strobel
concludes, “result in
maximum production of
palatable and nutritious food
for the ultimate beneficiary,
the consumer.”
Houston’s
AMERICAN DREW
here’s the real thing
at a bargain price
no substitutes... if it looks like wood, it is
these are of solid oak and oak veneers
Y)u don’t have tobuyanew
house tohave anewhome.
You can buy Mediterranean pieces at about this price, or maybe
a little less — but the drawer panels are stamped out of cheap
plastic. Our drawer panels, and those heavy turnings, too, are
carved of solid oak. There are no substitutes. If it looks like
wood, it is either solid oak or oak veneer. And just look at those
massive, brass plated drawer pulls ... this is quality, and at this
low price, it’s a beautiful bargain.
‘SERVING WNC FOR OVER 50 YEARS”
HOUSTON FURNITURE CO.
SS-BS EAST MAIN STREET DIAL M3-S400 BREVARD. N. C