!•-* '*. ^■^'- '. > ..ww: 



A potato farm built on the apartment house principle. 

 Each floor is six inches high and contains one layer 



668 



Growing Thirty-Five Bushels of Po- 

 tatoes in a Six-Storied Box 



TALK about growing potatoes in your 

 back yard! Here is a method by 



which you can 



grow thirty- 

 five bushels of 



tubers in a six- 



by - eight - foot 



packing-box. 



It looks like a 



big pen, but it 



is a very old 



thing in the 



way of potato 



farms. The 



western 



miners have 



known about 



it for many 



years. Now 



they are pas- 

 sing it on to 



the eastern folk 

 The pens 



are built of 



heavy timbers 



and open spaces are left on all 



sides to permit the plants to 



force their way through. The 



"soil" consists of rich earth and 



manure with a mixture of hay 

 or excelsior, and each bed is 

 about six inches deep. Potato 

 plants are placed in the first 

 layer of soil and in each layer 

 until the top is reached. The 

 farm is built on the principle 

 of the apartment house, potatoes 

 growing on each floor. 



When growing, the plants 

 reach out in all directions, in- 

 cluding straight up. When they 

 are fully grown the pen is taken 

 apart and the potatoes are rolled 

 out of their thin covering of soil 

 with a rake, so that they are 

 not bruised and cut. One bushel 

 of potatoes is sufficient for plan- 

 ting. A yield of thirty-five 

 bushels to each pen is the rule 

 rather than the (-xception. This 

 idea might very well be adoi)ted 

 by city-dwellers h«'re in the East, 

 for the large supply would make 

 potato famines non-existent. 



Popular Science Monthly 



Sun for Ripening Bananas? Cer- 

 tainly Not — Just Cool Them 



SUNSHINE is not in the least neces- 

 sary for ripening bananas. All that 

 is necessary is 

 to subject 

 them to a heat 

 of about seven- 

 ty-eight de- 

 grees for about 

 eight or ten 

 hours, and then 

 gradually cool 

 them to a stea- 

 dy temperature 

 of about sixty 

 degrees. This 

 quickly pro- 

 duces a pleas- 

 ing golden color, 

 and renders the 

 fruit firm and of 

 very desirable 

 appearance for 

 sending to 

 market. 



The swinging 

 "Stop" signal 

 will catch your 

 eye readily 

 and stop you 



Swinging "Stop" Signal At- 

 tracts Your Eye 



ALL the fundamental princi- 

 ples of safety first are em- 

 bodied in a signal system for use 

 at grade crossings which has 

 been perfected by a Pennsylvania 

 company. It has three different 

 aspects shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration. Under normal 

 conditions the "Stop" signal is 

 concealed behind the "Look! 

 Listen!" sign. When a train ap- 

 proaches, however, the "Stop" 

 signal is released and swings back 

 and forth so as to attract the 

 attention. It is a well-known 

 psychological fact that a moving 

 signal is invariably more effective 

 in attracting the attention than a 

 signal which remains stationary. 

 If, for any reason, the signal 

 mechanism is out of order and 

 fails to work properly, the "Stop" 

 signal drops down vertically and 

 remains in that position, as a 

 constant warning to all persons 

 ai)proaching the crossing. 



