Verge Of Tremendous Discoveries

Northern Advocate, 27 September 1943, Page 2

Verge Of Tremendous Discoveries

Oysters on every table in the country, superquality farm animals, rich nutriment from the waste of the sea, and six to eight times in return from c ur market garden seeds —this is only part of a programme for Britain, the land of plenty, which is being worked out by Scottish scientists. “We are on the verge of tremendous discoveries,” I was told at his Hertfordshire home by Sir John Graham Kerr.' the biologist M.P., whose pioneering mind inspired it ali (says Louise Morgan, in the London "News Chronicle"). Three Directions The main experiments, he said, are being carried out. (1) By Professor Hardy, of Aberdeen. into "plankton,” the floating population of the sea from giant jellyfish to animals too small to see even under the microscope. (2) By Dr. Gross, of Edinburgh, on plaice and other fish in Loch Sween, Argyll. (3) By agricultural experts on killing organisms which destroy the’ life of the soil. Oysters grown above the silt which now smothers them and placed in natural spots favourable for growth have fattened and multiplied exceedingly. Packed With Nutriment "Plankton” has been proved to be packed with rich nutriment for man and beast. It makes a delicious spread for bread, and as meal it is especially successful with protein-loving animals as pigs and hens. A practical scheme for collecting,- packing and distributing it would add substantially to the nation's food supplies. Lady Kerr told me of her experiments in her own garden analogous to those of the scientists, She has goY six ~to eight times the return from seeds by steaming soil. This can be done at home by putting four inches of water in the bottom of a large pot the size of a pail and -filling up with soil, boiling 20 minutes. "This kills dangerous amoebae, but does not harm 7 valuable bacteria,” she said. . ' ‘’ ’' ~ ......