AGRICULTURAL DISCOVERY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 12 July 1924, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL DISCOVERY.

While heretofore Uurbank, the Californian plant wizard', could boast of having made two potatoes grow where only one grew before, now an innovation in agriculture is supnlying the way for any man, woman, or child who has a garden to do likewise. And the factor which supplies this possibility is known technically as Pabco Thernio-Geli. It is an asphalt-treated felt used for covering the soil and serving to increase the growth of plants. It is laid in rows on the soil, and causes the retention of heat and moisture in the ground. And it is doing something which is causing farmers of the PacificCoast to watch the experimental work being conducted with ’ interest; it is killing Morning Glory, the bane to the farmer’s existence. The invention was evolved bv C. F. Eekeart, of'Hawaii, after years of toil and . experimenting. Itj_ the islands the new idea was first used to stimulate the growth of pineapples. It stimulated them, to the extent- of 40 per cent., and became such an important adjunct to the cultivation of these delicacies that to-day virtually every grower uses it. Scopes of tests have proved successful; others are still in their experimental stage, with indications pointing toward eventual success. At, the University of California’s experimental station at Davis the new moisture retainer was used with great success in cultivating tho growth of raspberries.—The New York American.