Word: layering
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...black topsoil" has almost mystical value; once lost, it can never be restored. The fact is, explains Dr. Kellogg, that many virgin soils, especially in the forested eastern U.S., were not productive originally; they had to be nursed to fertility. Some highly productive soils never had a dark upper layer...
Plowless Folly. Nor does Dr. Kellogg think much of "plowless farming," a fad promoted by Edward Faulkner's Plowman's Folly. Sometimes, Kellogg says, it is a good idea to avoid plowing, so as to leave a layer of litter on the surface, but the plowless method works only in special cases. "Some farmers and gardeners," says he, "in the eastern part of the U.S.-especially city gardeners-took the doctrine literally and planted corn in fields of Bermuda grass-corn that got a few inches high, turned yellow, and finally perished...
Bulletproofed? The first tubeless, puncture-sealing automobile tire was put on the market. The tire, made by B. F. Goodrich Co., fits tightly enough to the rim to hold air. A gummy layer under the tread, similar to the material in bulletproof aircraft fuel tanks, instantly seals up punctures. Price: $21.95 for a standard-size (6.00 by 16) tire, slightly more than an ordinary tire & tube...
Hair Oil & Aluminum. The polished surface of the mirror was transparent glass, still to be covered with a reflecting film of aluminum. Before this could be done, the glass had to be cleaned perfectly. The trick was to cover the surface with a "monomolecular layer" (one molecule thick) of a fatty acid to keep dust off the glass. This process sounds formidably scientific, but in practice the glass was covered with a well-advertised brand of hair oil (essentially an emulsion of lanolin), and the excess wiped off carefully with special wool flannel...
...harem, their patron is the conscience-stricken emperor, who pays his subjects to go the convent, and the nuns are a group of mortals, frightened by the strange place but determined to fulfill their duties and to care for the people. The lascivious atmosphere works steadily to erode their layer of self-imposed piety until their passions come to the surface. In the strong it fails, and in the weak it succeeds; will power alone determines...