independent regions, each with its own currency. She admits that such a solution is not likely to be popular politically, given the nationalistic tendencies throughout the world, but it is the only solution she has to offer. Indeed, Jacobs offer little prescriptive advice for the 1nc~ny problems she deCorny ear acupuncture: An ancient Chinese gardening method for ripening corn faster and sweeter does work. An experiment was conducted by acupuncturing every other row of Ashworth corn. All four rows received the same basic care at the same time, but the acupuntured rows matured a full week ahead of the others, and their flavor was markedly sweeter. The procedure is simple. While the silk is still green, drive a round toothpick through the base of th~ ear stem and into the main stalk just above the joint. When the second flush of ears is showing silk, repeat the whole procedure. The logic is also simple. In essence, you are creating a wound in the plant, which forces it to send healing sugars to the area affected. By acupuncturing the ear stem, the sugars are forced into the ear. The result: sweeter sweet corn. (From: ,\1ariti111e Nortln~1 est Gardenas Journal) Purple animal?-The only known purple animal on earth is the blesbok, a small South African antelope. November/December 1984 RAIN Page 25 scribes throughout the book, which is why I said that the book was not very hopeful. Other than her suggestion regarding the development of independenf_currencies, she offers the bulk of her advice in the final chapter, where she describes th~ economic strategy she calls TOUCH&GO Trees talking to one another? The Vancouver Province reported that Ian Baldwin and Jack Schultz of Dartmouth College have found evidence that leaf damage to , poplar and sugar maple trees prompted nearby undamaged trees to change the chemical makeup of their leaves, with chemical changes that were sufficient enough and quick eno.ugh ~o discourage insect attacks. Baldwin a11d Schultz said it appeared that an airborne gas (possibly ethylene, which is produced by wounded plant tissue) from the damaged trees stimulated the defensive chemical changes in neighboring frees. (From: The Smallholder) Silver-haired cyclists for conservation! Georges.Krassovsky, a Frenchman and a seasoned "eco-cyclist," has organized competitive bicycle rides since 1975 for ·senior citizens concerned with the damage inflicted on the planet by the technical and industrial revolution. The only entry _ requirements: an interest in conservation and a minimum age of 55. During their ride around the perimeter of France this sum1'ner, the cyclists hoped to focus media attention on "the destruction of 1 nature, on.pollution, and on the proliferation of weapons which could bring an end to all life on earth." Krassovsky, at BP 16, Paris 75664, would be happy to provide additional information. (From: World Developme11t Foru111) Goldwater sees the light: "We have the sun up there and are still doing far too little with solar energy," was the comment from Senator Barry Goldwater (RAZ) on August 9. During a Senate debate over the fate of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation, Goldwater argued that more needs to be done with solar energy and alternate fuel sources. (FROM: Solar Energy Intellige11ce Report) Spider egg sac silk stockings? A French inventor in the early 18th century made some gloves and stockings out of spider egg-sac silk. The Academy of Sciences of Paris considered the technique and concluded it would take 663,522 spiders to prod.uce a pound of silk and thus was infeasible. (From: Scic11ce News) "drift." "In its very nature, economic development has to be open-ended rather than goal-oriented, and has to make itself up expediently and empirically as it goes along." Imprbvisation is the key to success. Let the reader take it from there. -FLS Bug bait: Frances Sheridan Goulart says insects are more likely to bug a gardener who has eaten a banana! Apparently, they are attracted by the smell of a banana eater's skin. According to Goulart, insects will avotd.you if you eat onions, garlic, or vinegar before gardening. (From: Acres, U.S.A.) Coca-Cola: Natural and organic? The Federal Trade Commission and James Miller, its Reaganite chairman, have been criticized by Nu tritio11 Action for refusing to issue a staff-developed food rule that would define terms such as natural food. A Seattle Post-lntellige11cer reporter interviewed :vliller: "When asked if the terms· 'natural' and 'organic' could be applied to Coca-Cola, for example, :vrmer replied, 'probably so.' The words have no legal meaning." (From: Nutrition Action) Let them eat sludge: The earthworm is nature's marvelous effluent control machine, as it eats practically almost any matter except'rubber, plastic, glass, and metal. According to a Taiwanese university report, 20 million worms could handle 80 metric tons of pulp sludge daily or abouffive grams of sludge per worm per day. And whatever a worm eats is transformed into organic fertilizer. The worms' excretions are rich in nitrates, phosphates, and potash. A mature earthworm reaches about 12 to 15 centimeters in length. No one knows how long they live, although some have been estimated to.live 15 years. Breeding earthworms is not difficult because of the worms' ability to double their population in a month while eating nothing but waste. (From: Science for Villages)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz