The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 72

TTTE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE OCTOnFJTl 195fl ftA Scientific Tobacco Growing May Save Connecticut Valley Farmers Millions 1ST 'TQJSW? 14 1 4 DD 'S-iff mn HI hi i iifejE By RUSSELL COLLINS WINDSOR, Oct. 7 V.IU9 in the heart of Tobacco Valley, men of science am applying their labora- SIZES TO llAAAA TO Sim IO'j-II, $1 tn Cps Konitw tvninis Burt's Fashion Shoe Salon E. W. DURT CO. 2nd Floor 17 WEST ST.

By installing plastic tubing throughout the barns, reaching into otherwise inaccessible points, the research men can take readings of temperature, humidity and air movement in both barns. Thus they determine exactly what is happening in the barn heated by "bottled gas" and the barn heated by charcoal during the process. In still 'another tobacco containing open-field tobacco, exhaustive tests are being made to determine weather and air factors under actual barn conditions. Located near the experiment station, this barn is a maze of tubes and scientific instruments installed between tobacco stalks curing in the traditional manner. Giant Fans Here the scientists can measure, in all parts of the barn including the upper reaches near the roof, such factors as relative humidity, temperature, evaporation rate, the weight loss of an individual leaf as it cures, the temperatures inside and around a tobacco plant air movement velocity inside the shed, direction of the air flow and many other technical factors.

These will be studied to give a clear cross-sectional view of what goes on inside a tobacco shed while tobacco is' curing. Across the Connecticut River on the modern, well-kept farm of Mr. Barton, further experiments involving air movement are under way. Here Walter. Ackerman of the Connecticut Light and Power Company has joined in the experimental work.

Here again the researchers are making history. For the first time ever (except one abortive amateur experiment with wind generated by an airplane) giant electric fans have been installed in two of the tobacco sheds on Mr. Barton's farm. In a third barn, tobacco from the same crop is being cured without air movement, in the traditional manner. Weather Chambers These sheds are also equipped with instruments that can' relative humidity, tempera- -V ft 3 I hmi i II 1 LOCALE of the tobacco research is the experimental station at Windsor, Conn.

Left to right, Dr. A. B. Pack, curing specialist; Prof. M.

S. Klinck of the University of Connecticut; William A. Junnila, engineer of the United States Department of CONTROLLED POLLINATION of tobacco plants is part of the study of the bio-chemistry of the tobacco leaf under the direction of Dr. A. B.

Pack, curing specialist. 1 ture and air movement. Purpose of the fans is to keep the air moving so that the broad leaves of the tobacco plant stir gently. It is felt this will be an important step 'toward preventing "pole rot" and getting a better-cured tobacco. The air circulates in One fan-installed barn in one direction Why That Forest Fire Dimmed Us Out TELEVISION i technicians and scientists, Mr.

Barton has welcomed them. "There's been so darned much we don't know about tobacco, even though we've been growing; it for years, that scientific study is certain to be helpful to growers," Mr. Barton explained. "Perhaps tobacco production can made a more exact science. Meanwhile, in the laboratory at the experiment station in Windsor, a complicated series of chambers is being built in which any combination of weather conditions involving humidity, temperature and air movement can be established.

Air-Conditioned Sheds The chambers, controlled by complicated air-conditioning unit, will be large enough so that tobacco may be grown and cured in them. Thus the effects of all threw weather factors can be accurately measured. At present there are three chambers under construction, but eventually there will be nine, giving the scientists the opportunity to create any combination of weather conditions involving th three main factors under study. Plants can also be grown or seeds germinated in the chambers under similar varying weather conditions. Here also.

Dr. Pack will continue his studies of the influence of atmospheric conditions upon tobacco pigments and will conduct further research into the little-understood biochemistry of the tobacco plant. Tobaccomen visualize. after these experiments have been completed, the application of the results toward the problem of tobacco growth as well as curing. They see the possibility of giant air-conditioned tobacco sheds in which the tobacco will processed into a better cure, with finer qualities and no ever-expanding market- If this is so.

the arrival of tfc men of science in Tobacco Valley may presage a new era in tobacco growing in which the industry may make great financial gains and bring new prosperity to- Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. nothing through the pall-visibility was zero. For several days the wat blacked out as the smoke lingered on and on unable to leave. More than 2000 miles away the firef were still burning. As the smoke held on.

temperatures that normally would have been in the were registering 70 instead. The sun could not get through to warm up the earth. Trapped at ground level and unable to rise was local city smoke which added to the lower layers of smoke. Moisture in the morning created heavy ground fog that the sun could not burn off. Nothing could clear up the situation but increasing winds.

Finally, toward the end of last week, Canada, which sent us the smoke, did an about face and from the Pacific northwest rain, wind and cooler weather had their effect here. The tempest lifted and a wind moved in. The smoke began to move until it cleared up completely. In England, Too Not only was the eastern seaboard affected by Canada's fires, but as far away as Great Britain the sun disppeared and actually turned blue. In this case, the same northwest winds from the Hudson Bay storm caused very strong westerly winds to blow much of the smoke- to Labrador and Newfoundland, across the polar regiona to England.

For days the haze hung in the air and as the sun tried to shine through its rays took on a bluish appearance, causing the Blue Sun which frightened many people in that section of Europe. As was the case here, when the winds increased, the smoke moved on and dissipated. There has been some rain in Canada and many of the fires are out. but in the heavily wooded areas just north of Edmonton, Alberta, fires are still blazing and the smoke is still rising. However conditions are not right and Nature's air-conditioning system is successfully keeping the smoke from reaching here again.

Branch Office forces lenow their jobs better than we do. We are not supermen or a super detective force. Our detectives are engaged chiefly in tying together persons and sums of money in large figures in operations that are illegal if not criminal. Former Football Star A one-time University of Tennessee football star and All-America track man, Kefauver (pronounced key-forver, with the accent on the key) is the man who upset Boss Crump and currently is the most televised man in Washington. The committee's chief investigator, Harold G.

Robinson, looks like Edward G. of the movies. He made quite a name for himself as an FBI agent during the war trapping German spies. One of his cases became the basis for the movie "The House on 52nd Street." even though Robinson couldn't see much resemblance between the case and the movie when he viewed it. He served as chief investigator on the Stale of California Special Crime Study Commission on organized crime.

His progress reports are classics as his final one on that commission. He did a like job in Chicago and was drafted by the Kefauver Commission to do the same kind of job nationally. "All that we are interested in. he told me. "is indusputable proof of connection between various groups in the country engaged in crimes or illegal rackets, we follow -all leads wherever they take us.

If they take us into New England, we will go there. An ideal system of suppressing national and syndicated crime would be to have crime commissions every state examining state or local crime only as it bears upon national crime. We can only guess at what the result of such cooperation would be. and hope that some day it may eome about," tory skill to a project that may revolutionize the curing of tobacco a crop that annually grosses more than $45,000,000 in the Connecticut Valley. Without fanfare, the deliberate, careful work of the science lab, the program Is a unique example of co-operation between trained scientists and veteran tobacco men.

Out of this work may come a new concept of growing and curing tobacco without the rick that has accompained its production ever since the Indians first learned of the pleasures of inhaling the smoke of the tobacco weed. If the project is the actual success it is expected to be, after another year or two of experiment-inn it may bring millions of dollars more annually to the pockets of growers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It may eliminate much of the danger of loss through the dread "pole rot" and it may improve the flavor, and aroma of Coh-necticut Valley There are two general types of tobacco grown in the Connecticut Valley. One is the shade-grown type that grdws under the familiar cotton netting designed to stimulate tropical weather conditions under" the tent. The other is open-field tobacco, comprising the broadleaf and Havana seed types.

Connecticut valley tobaccos are used chiefly as outside wrappers or as binders. (the second layer of wrapping that envelops the filler tobacco) for cigars. To meet the rigid qualifications for wrappers and binders, tobacco must be prop-erlv cured and aged. The curing process, which begins as soon as the tobacco is cut. is perhaps the most important phase of the whole business, for an, excellent crop of tobacco can be ruined by improper curing or by the funcus growth known as "pole rot" that often occurs during excessively humid and cold weather.

It was just such an attack of "pole rot" in 1947 that motivated the present experiments. Tobacco men remember 1947 as a disastrous ONLY KEENAN OFFERS YOU ALL THESE ADVANTAGES Free Delivery Free Installation Free Inspection Service 10 Days Exchange Trial Expert Kccnan Service Expert Roof Aerial Installation Ftee Parts Guarantee Easiest Terms in Boston All Depts. Under One Roof 179.93 209.95 249.95 279.95 329.50 359.50' 459.50 425.00 Doors HU 2-0637 (Near Trcmont) from the "MET" Theatre. FrI. Nites 'Til 9 P.

M. mmm msm iii J.ITf) is "THE FOG COMES ON LITTLE CAT Carl Sandburg, and it creeps quietly around this ship, making it look like a ghost vessel. I station. Prof. M.

S. Klinck of the University of Connecticut, William A. Junnila. research engineer of the United States Department of Agriculture, and Allen H. Green, Imperial representative, who probably knows as much about Connecticut Valley tobacco as any man alive.

Thus far the exDeriments have shown that Curing tobacco involves three main factors: Temperature, humidity and air movement. "We know there is some relation between these factors, but just what that relation is still puzzles us," Prof. Klinck explained. Many things happen to tobacco during the four to 10 weeks it cures and a study of the biochemical changes it undergoes is an important part of the experiment. One of the first projects the group has undertaken has been the installation of "bottled gas" burners in tobacco sheds to provide heat to help cure the tobacco during periods of cold weather and, high humidity.

Up to now, tobacco men have always used the hit-or-miss method of lighting charcoal fires, known as "firing." With "bottled gas," the experimenters have already found that better control of heat can be maintained and they are pretty sure "bottled gas," surprisingly, is cheaper to use than charcoal. If "bottled gas" is cheaper and provides a better cure for tobacco, one important step will have been taken toward resolving the problem. To make certain their experiments are properly conducted, the men have installed charcoal burners in one barn and "bottled gas" in another. The barns are the same size, were filled with tobacco from the same field and was cut the same day. WALL to WALL Get yours custom made direct from the factory now Jungle Green Chartreuse Oyster Aqua Gold Almond Green Tile Blue Cherry Wine Many Others up to SO" wide ItSiOE By LEONARD LERNER It was the morning of Friday, May 19, 1780.

The Connecticut State Legislature was in session at Hartford. Soon the sky began to darken and the rooms of the State House grew dim. Legislators could see neither to read nor write. The sun began to disappear. Frantic lawmakers made a move at 11 a.

m. to adjourn until 2 in the afternoon. "It is a prophecy of doom!" someone exclaimed. "It is the Lord's great day. Let us adjourn," said another.

All eyes turned to Abraham, Davenport of Stamford, who rose from his peat, and in the murky darkness, said, "Either the Day of Adjudgment is at hand or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I wish to be found in the line of my duty. I wish candles to be brought." Candles were brought in and the legislature continued in session by candlelight. Later in the afternoon the sun had reappeared.

Black Friday, as it is now known, was experienced at that time throughout all of New England, but it was not known then, that raging forest fires at Lake Champlain the first of the month had caused the phenomenon. The worst fog recorded in the United States killed 20 persons, sickened more than 6000 and touched off an investigation by the United States Public Health Service which employed 35 workers and lasted nearly a year. That disaster-carrying fog occurred in Donor, a small town in Pennsylvania, in October, 1948. Investigators were never able to say specifically why the six-day fog caused death by suffocation; the best they could do was A. 9 -y .1 Mil TAT 5 If1 fj and in another circulatory direction in the second fan-installed bain.

What the results will be cannot be determined until after the tobacco is cured and aged. Far from having the skeptical eye of tne seasoned tobacco farmer toward intervention into his business by the laboratory ous areas where men could not get in to fight them. Heavy clouds of were sent up. At the same time a storm developed over the Hudson Bay area, producing strong northwest winds at altitudes of from six to 14,000 feet blowing counter-clockwise from Hudson Bay to New England. The strong winds collected the smoke and brought it down directly over this area, going by the way of the Great Lakes and blacking out a baseball game in Cleveland en With conditions still perfect for the phenomenon, the strong winds began to diminish as the smoke arrived here and the storm disappeared.

Light winds dropped to variable winds, then to weak winds and to practically no winds at all. There was nothing left to blow the 2000-foot layer of smoke away, so it just hung on. Sun Blocked Off Pilots flying through the smoke reported that they could see HAROLD G. ROBINSON Ex-F. B.

I. man whose job is crime-busting. Kefauver's eyes twinkled as he discussed common and popular misconceptions of the duties of his committee. "We are not authorized, empowered, and were not created to solve everybody's crime problems. Ours is a definite mission.

It's first a question of accurately defining the problem, and solving it not with G-men and drawn guns, but with mathematical business and computing machines with brains and not bullets. The connecting links in this kind of investigation are hidden in balace sheets, bank statements, checks, slips and the transmission of large sums of money from place to place. It is largely a job for slide rule detectives. "The crime problem in the states and cities must be solved at the state and city levels. We are not devising a handbook on how to suppress crime and crime waves.

Police executive and V- 1 i i '3 xtf "0- 2 4 4 year when crops valued at more than $2,000,000 were lost in hundreds of tobacco sheds up and down the valley. There was little they could do because they didn't understand the basic bio-chemistry of curing tobacco. Tobacco growing, curing and aging has always been' an inexact art rather than a precise science. The tobacco grower learned how to handle his crops from his father before him. He did many things during the curing process that he didn't quite understand, but he knew they were necessary.

And just to complicate things, nature every few years produced a Summer and Fall that were bad, weather-wise, for curing tobacco. That meant serious crop losses and there wasn't much the grower could do about it. Perhaps the disastrous "pole rot" losses in 1947 were a good thing. They brought to the attention of the men of science the need for precise study of tobacco. They pointed up the need for a scientific approach to the business of growing tobacco.

Obviously, if tobacco men knew everything there was to know about tobacco and the conditions under, which it cures best, they could' improve crops. Pooling their knowledge and resources in the present study are the specialties at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station at Windsor and Storrs. the University of Connecticut, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Imperial Agricultural Corporation, the Connecticut Light and Power Company, W. E. Barton, a veteran tobacco grower in South Windsor and many others.

Heat Cure Among the forefront workers on the project are Dr. A. B. Pack, curing specialist at the Windsor Come Now, Shop in Comfort, Sty; Money, Time and Troublm High Quality Rayon Faille Choon From Largtst Assortment of Colors In Boston Hunter Green A-h Rose Brown Rose Yellow Chinese Red Raspberry Blue Beige (Jrey For Window a '-'4 (I M' i i i i i 4 4 2 ft 3 NEW 1951 E10A 16-inch BUCK-GLASS PICTURE TUBE 145 Sq. Inch Picture THIS NEW SENSATIONAL; PRICE IS $70 LESS THAN FORMER RCA VICTOR 16" SET NOW CNIT INSTALLED! UICT0S 'V 3s- siH When It Comes to Grime, Boston Is Just a i i 1 i i 1 1 Ml to suggest that a combination of gas and ash from the stacks of three large mills in the town, joined with the breathless heaviness of the fog, caused sickness and death.

No Superstition Today Today modern weather observations and scientific explanations prevent any recurrence of Black Friday For nearly all of last week Bos-tonians and New did not see the sun but they all knew that raging forest fires in the wilds of northern Alberta and the District of Mackenzie more than 2000 miles away were responsible for the pall of smoke that hung over this area as far south as Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. How do forest fires so far away have any effect on New England? Conditions must be perfect for the rarity to occur as it did. Conditions Perfect To begin with, the smouldering fires were mostly located in inaccessible territory and-mountain MARTIN F. FAY He close to Chief Kafauver. by an immediate visit of the committee gambling shops close down, public enemies leave town; crime takes a holiday.

The man who waves the "wand" is tall, handsome, athletic, and radiates a competence to take care of himself in almost any kind of tussle, mental or physical. He speaks with a shade of Tennessee drawl and gives the impression that he knows exactly what he is about. I had dinner with him the other night at the National Airport. He is always on the go and was on his way to Chicago. Accompanying him to the airport was attorney Martin Fay of Dover, formerly with the Boston Bar Association surveying the courts, the court system Bnd the alleged unethical practices of some members of the bar in the conduct of criminal cases.

Fay is now special counsel to the Senate Committee investigating wire tapping. He soon may be assigned to the Kefauver Committee. j. W--, 5 i I 1 1 I i -'rfr TAKE 18 MONTHS TO PAY STILL ONLY 15 DOWN PAYMENT! NO CHARGE FOR CREDIT ON OUR ORIGINAL "LIMITED-BUDGET" PLAN OTHER NEW IS5I RCA VICTOR VALUES 12a" TABLE MODELS 12 i CONSOLE 16" 16" 16" 16" 16" CONSOLETTE Ensemble CONSOLE CONSOLE With Half Doers CONSOLEWith FULL LENGTH Doors COMBINATION Radio Phono TV CRIME Continued From the First Page Kefauver protests that his com-mittee is not a group of galloping Paul Reveres going from city to city and town to town to probe and pry into local crime. "Almost every mail brings a request from some city asking us to come there.

Sometimes it is an invitation from a reform group. "If it is clear to us that the city is not involved in any way (even though it may be later) the correspondence takes a different di- rection. When we refuse to visit a city, the response invariably is: "You don't dare to." Subpoena. Anybody "We will go into any city," he said, "and we will subpoena anybody. We've been told that racketeers in various cities, including Boston, have boasted that they never will appear before us.

That they have protection, and so forth. If we do come into a city, the probability is that the first persons subpoenaed will be those who bragged that they would not be, and that goes for Boston as well as for any other place." Kefauver's name works a magic of reform in any place threatened Tunnel-Digging Fish An eel-like fish with whiskers, not much bigger than a cigar, is one of the arch enemies of Far Eastern rice paddi.es. When- it burrows tunnels through the bunds earthern dikes which sep- arate the rice fields the higher fields are drained of their water and the rice crop is severely damaged. The deeds of the 'fish, called gobioides anguillaria by scientists, were told by a representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Bangkok. Gobioides causes a great deal of trouble in Viet Nam, F.

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