Show cht ali cal fanning fr prom promises aises i to stage a postwar comeback hir i air heroes training to become leaders in hydroponics farm farming 11 after the llie war ends 1 I that new science wing wi with h water hydro and dabor labor is soonduk soo ndue due for a t revival vival the war put an end to the operations in joany ny of hydroponics or chemical farming include e a project in our island posses jons captured or destroyed by the eiche the increased supply of chemicals will soon be avail available alile together with necessary tank material indicates annn 1 that the t newer ewer form lorm annn 1 t ewer lorm rial of farming fanning or gardening will soon replace replace many of the present victory gardens and be further utilized in greenhouses greenho attics basements and outer ter buildings air force men convalescing from wounds at the coral gables fla hospital are being taught the art of chemical forming farming and will soon be aready to lead the movement back to h hydroponics while chemical e ical farming will never replace our present res L nt methods of I 1 Sj armin r I 1 it ha has definite advantages which can be utilized in greenhouses and for the home garden as ell as proving a paying hobby for many returned service men as well is as others who have little available soil space there is no magic entailed in the i growing of plants without soil sand sand gravel cinders sawdust shavings or 01 just water may be used instead of soil plant nutrients tire are added to whatever medium is chosen and le ae plant gets its balanced diet just as it would from soil because the diet can be controlled it is possible to grow better quality fruit and vegetables by the hydroponics method than by soil farming sonic some years ago dr W F gericke lof of the university of california dug up an idea of dr knop a german agricultural chemist who in 1859 decided that he would add to the water the chemicals that plants needed and grow plants dr ger icke named this system hydroponics and started the movement in america As early as 1935 a number of I 1 large arge growers of certain vegetables t and flowers began to cultivate crops without soil the next few years until pearl harbor they competed corn with dirt farmers in tile the middle west a number of greenhouses were converted into chemical farms with success the advantage of chemical farming isthan is that tile the particular kinds of chemicals that each definite plant needs can be determined d et by the test tube and supplied in amounts and at times needed it is also possible to control temperature and sunlight ither either artificial or natural which is not always possible in open fields encouraging results have been obtained tests have been checked in comparison with the some same plants grown simultaneously in soil under ideal conditions of temperature and moisture and the results were surprising As a rule the garden plots gave gava more rapid growth larger plants and produced from 25 to 75 per cent more fruit or vegetable as well as maturing earlier experiments are being conducted to determine if certain earthworms are arc essential to plant life in chemical solutions as well as in the ground during the present year a large farm has been purchased at white mountains N H to be devoted entirely to chemical horticulture dozens of beds of sand cultured flowers will be raised and experiments in all forms of chemical culture will be carried out in cooperation with the society of chemical horticulture at howard university seeds were planted at the top edges of sloping sheets of glass backed by an absorbent material which brings them |