Science: Hydroponics to Wake

In greenhouses on the eucalyptus-shaded campus of the University of California, Dr. William Frederick Gericke has worked out a technique for growing flowers and vegetables in shallow tanks of water, containing in solution the minerals that plants must have. Dr. Gericke calls this kind of crop-growing "hydroponics" (Greek, hydro, water; ponos, labor). His tanks have yielded some remarkable results (TIME, March 1, 1937, et seq.), but there has been much argument over whether hydroponics has any commercial value. Nevertheless, several commercial growers are using the Gericke system, foreign governments have asked questions, and the National Resources Committee has spot lighted...