Indoor Vegetable Patches

CAPE ARGUS - 1951, November 3

Scientists, growing a variety of flowers, fruit and vegetables under artificial light in a Dutch laboratory, are convinced that the world food shortage can be ended by the general introduction of this indoor all-the-year-round cultivation.

The ‘Daily Herald’ reports that experiments are going on at Eindhoven on the rapid growth at all seasons of many plants. They are grown under a battery of fluorescent lamps with a small amount of ultra-violet light added to kill bacteria. The scientists have produced tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries at all seasons and have developed petunias – normally an annual plant – that flower continuously for six years.

These scientists believe that in 10 years this system could feed Holland’s 10 000 000 population. It has been established that many plants require not more than 9 to 10 hours of light in every 24 and that by controlling the amount of light they receive they can be brought to ripeness at any time of the year.

Interesting to see a modern view of this principle at https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-you-should-know-about-vertical-farming-4144786

OZONE – Used to Purify Drinking Water

CAPE TIMES - 1933, 17 August

It was very interesting to read this article about tests done in 1933 on the benefits of OZONE. 
About 30 miles above the surface of the earth there is a layer of OZONE, an atmospheric stratum of utmost importance to mankind. Ozone absorbs the ultra-violet rays of light. If it were not for the layer of ozone, everybody would be obliged to wear blue or amber-coloured spectacles to protect the eyes. 

The word “ozone” is commonly used by many people to mean simply “fresh air” as when they are talking of “breathing in the life-giving ozone” of a cold, bright winter morning. Yet, ozone is a well-known, perfectly definite modification of oxygen, and its value as an antiseptic appears undoubted, according to the British Medical Journal. Ozone is a form of Oxygen. A molecule of oxygen contains 2 atoms, but there are 3 atoms in a molecule of ozone.

An observing station in Spitzbergen, Norway, studied the ozone layer with a spectroscope to find out what is the amount of ozone per atmospheric volume. The thickness of the ozone layer was purely a matter of guess, but the supposition was that it thinned off gradually towards outer space. 

Ozone, that variant of oxygen which appears over the sea or in the air of the open country, and which had previously been surmised by meteorologists to exist in the high atmosphere in sufficient amount to affect the temperature of its limiting layers, possesses a strong oxidizing action, in virtue of which it attacks metallic silver, and may, in suitable conditions, inhibit or destroy bacteria. Ozone can be formed from air by means of the silent electric discharge, and it is available in working quantities to industry and hygiene.

According to Dr. L. Hugounenq, ozone was a potent agent in the vulcanization of rubber, bleaching of textile, preparation of drying oils, maturation of odorous essences and it had been used successfully in brewing beer, as it can act vigorously against the germs which impair the qualities of beer.

The use of ozone in the purification of drinking water was first commended as a result of experiments carried out in Holland on the water of the Old Rhine. In France, water supplies were ozonized in many communities in France, Monte Carlo and many schools and private houses. Sir AC Houston applied ozone to water and obtained results which he described as bacteriologically perfect.

You can read more about OZONE THERAPY on https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320759.php