General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 31, 6 February 1935, Page 6

General News

Prolific Tomato Plant. A tomato plant, which is bearing fruit for the second season, is in the possession of Mrs. F. W. Hutchings, of Fitzroy, New Plymouth. Commencing life as a strong seedling at the beginning of last season, the plant produced 156 good tomatoes. A cutting was taken i n April last, and potted in a mixture of leafmould and sand. After spending the winder in a glassed-in porch it was planted out last spring, and struck immediately. Already 35 fine tomatoes have been picked this year, and the plant is carrying 160 tomatoes in various stages of development. It is quite possible that about 350 will have been picked by the end of the present season. The plant is about nine feet high by eight feet broad. Synthetic Wool. Some interesting <|c\•• • •pments in tho science of physic- were discussed at the recent Melbourne conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, according to Dr. (J. Coleridge Farr, who recently returned to Christchurch. Referring to the development of synthetic wool, Dr. Farr said that he had spoken of the matter to several growers in Australia, all of whom seemed little concerned. He felt, however, that there was quite a probability of the commercial manufacture of this product in European countries such as Germany. Nowadays, whereever there was a likelihood of profit, there was a very quick growth from small beginnings; inventions such as wireless and aeroplanes, which had been laughed at not many years ago, had quickly advanced to positions ol great importance. “We may be growing fore-: - in a few years’ time "here we arc now raising sheep,’’ said Gr. lari, “though in Australia this'

Dogs* War on Ducks. An appreciable shrinking <. f the number of the ducks who make the lake at Victoria Park, Stratford, their home, compared with former years, has drawn the attention of park authorities and public alike .and among the spectators there has perhaps been a little curiosity as to the reason (<avs the Taranaki New.- -. The cause is no secret to the caretaker of the park. Mr. R. Blanchard, however. -Several times recently, he said duck.- have been found dead and mutilated on the bank. Dogs had actually been seen swimming in the lake, obviouslv in pursuit of a fat duck, but little’dam age would have been 'done had it not been the moulting season. Most of the •lucks were almost wingless tempor arily. and a visitor had described to him how he had seen a dog make a running dash into the water and seize a duck before it could escape. The dogs gathered in small packs, all playing together, and ready for any mis •*hief, and the movement of the ducks apparently attracted them. The dogs need not be necessarily hungry, but might take to duck hunting as a sport to wear off ’exuberance. Duck egghad for years been eaten by dogs/he said, and this year onlv one set of a dozen duck eggs had been laid. A short time ago, however, canine poachers had eaten the lot, leaving a mass of eggshell in a scattered nest.

New Cargo Ship. On her maiden voyage the motor ship Imperial Star arrived at Auckland from England over the week-end in ballast, to load there and at southern ports, for London. She is the first of the three motor ships of about 10,670 tons ordered by the Blue Star - Line from Harland and Wolff, Ltd., of Belfast, the other two being the New Zealand Star, due here on April 22, and the Australian Star, due here on May 16. All three are specially constructed for the carriage of refrigerated and chilled cargoes from New Zealand and Australia to Great Britain. Winches on Cargo Vessels. Although the silent electric winches i now common on cargo vessels have their advantages, an. officer on the Querimba, who was in port last week, prefers the old, noisy steam plant. This, he explained, had special flexibility, in addition to which it could invariably stand a shock load, which with the electric winch might mean the burning out of an armature, delay and costly replacement. He added tha’ overseas hydraulic winches, operated with power from water carried in the ship’s ballast tank, were found to be even more silent than electric winches. and capable of hoisting almost any load. Their disadvantage, however, was that in the extremely cold regions the freezing of the water precluded their universal usage.

Crane ’ for Lifting Patients. A small portable “crane’* that will lift a patient weighing up to 20s t. with a force of only 741 b has been invented by the resident engineer of the Auckland Hospital. Mr. F (j. Jacobs. The machine runs on a wheeled : chassis, and can be worked by one nurse. The patient is placed on a can vas sheet attached by six pulleys, and the lifting force is so cleverly devised that the pa'tient can be moved with ‘the minimum of discomfort. It is expected to be a boon both to patients and nurses at the hospital and infirmary. Mr. Jacobs has already invented several devices at the hospital, including a potato-peeler and a “glass slilk” blanket. The latter is formed of >ry fine strands of drawn glass, and is expected to revolutionise methods of sound and heat insulation. (Jiving to the fineness of the glass it is brittle, but very tensile. 1 Over-production, Tariffs and Science. “Does over-production really exist? '' queried Professor If. G. Denham in his presidential address to the New Zealand Institute of Chemists at Hamilton. “Is it. not rather a question of maldistribution, for how else can we explain the fact that in Geneva butter costs 5s per lb. and meat approxi mutely the same, expressed, of course, in New Zealand currency! IDues not this speak of tariff walls and artificial barriers erected at the dictate of uar row nationalism rather than of world over-production? However, even il temporary rest i jr: j«m of our producing power is forced upon us, the applica lion of scientific research to our primary industries is imperative if we are going to meet the COmpeti'tion of our ' I rivals, who are already straining rverv endeavour to secure market.' in the I Home Country.’* i