page 6, December 1, 1976 - North Shore News:

Plants and Spanish wives may seem, at first
blush, to be a somewhat incongruous combination
of thoughts. The link between them has to do with
the right to stand up for oneself, and a couple of
recent news items indicate that the plants are in
considerably better shape, in this regard, than the

. Press was putting us on with

Spanish wives. At least for the moment.

First the plants. Plant
shops are blossoming all over
the North Shore, because of
the upsurge of apartment
and condominium living—
where your garden has to be

compressed into your bal- |

cony and your living room.
And people are often known
to talk to their plants.

There are many stories of
amazing things that happen

to plants when you talk to §

them nicely. Now, however,

it need no longer, appar- |
ently, be a one-sided con- §

versation.

DEMANDS A DRINK
One of the outstending

successes of the recent
annual toy and gift fair in
Hong Kong was a new
device, manufactured in that
British Crown Colony, called
the plant communicator.
More than 10,000 of them
have reportedly been or-
dered already by

buyers, chiefly in the United
States.

The instrument audibly
records a plant’s demand fcr
a drink—and its distress
when given too much water
or fertilizer. It is based on
scientific research in various
countries, which has conclu-
ded that plants react phys-
ically to outside stimulus and
emotions as a resuit of
experiments with encephal-
ograms and lie detectors.

The manufacturers insist
that the plant communicator
—a two-pronged fork with a
special microphone—is net a
yimmick. At the trade fair
they displayed letters from
the Royal Botanic Gardens in
Australia and from Wash-
ington State University re-
search centre vouching for
the efficiency of the instru-
ment.

When the plant has all it”
needs, they say, the com-
municator will record it
humming happily to itself.

AGONIZING SCREAM

But when the plant needs
water, the communicator will

give out a muted thumping,
similar to a heart beat, which
fades back to a contented
hum as the plant drinks.

If the plant gets too much
water, however, it begins to
panic, and then a really
agitated thumping begins.
Again, if the plant receives
too much fertilizer, the
thump turns into an agon-
izing scream.

In other words, you know
just where you stand with
your pet poinsettia or African
violet. If you accidentally
overstep the bounds with
your watering can or fertili-

zer, your plant can now talk |

back to you in no uncertain
terms. At that point you
presumably stop doing
whatever you were doing to it
and say ‘‘Sorry, darling’” for
several minutes on end.

Don’t ask me, for the
moment, where you can buy
one of these plant comm-
unicators—I’m still research-
ing the matter and Pll let you
know as soon as I have an
answer. You might get your
local plant shop on to the
trail, too.

SENORAS FAR BEHIND
Meanwhile, there was a

‘newswire item from Madrid

the other day that might have
been dated 1576 instead of
1976—in fact I’m still wond-

“I saw itin the news."

m When you

NE did.

| Spain adultery is a criminal

} advertised in the north shore news,
a say to your local merchant ‘'l saw it
m in the news.”’ He'll be glad you

m display: 980-051 -
iclassified: 980-3431

ering whether Associated
a gentle spoof.

If not, you may be
surprised to learn that the
Senoras lag far behind the
poinsettias when it comes to
taking things lying down.

Last week, said the AP
report, a Spanish lady was
sentenced to seven montis in
jail and ordered to pay her
husband $746 indemnity
after being convicted of...
wait for it...adultery. . In

worth of dry cleaning

It’s acontest!.

Just drop off your dry cleaning. Your receipt stubs qualify
you

offence. For women, at any
rate. —

She got off lightly, too, it
seems. The prosecutor had
asked for the maximum six-
year jail term and damages .
of $30,000 for her old man.

The more stubs you have the greater your chances to win!

Final and only draw Dec. 15th

ONE LOCATION ONLY

Spanish husbands (who
else?) lay the charges, of
course. Maria Angeles
Munoz, 2 28-year-old Bar-
celona wife, is currently
facing a court trial for

(Across from
couse! In Zornes est to Lumberland)
show that Spanish judges are
fair—25-year-old Maria

Inmaculada Benito was ac-
quitted of adultery charges
last month, although her
husband had asked that she
be imprisoned for five years
and fined $750. .

NO FUN AT ALL

19 40/880)

Once a Spanish girl has
taken the vows, apparently,
she plays around with other
men at her peril—Spanish |
prisons being no fun at all. . |
Unlike the plants, Spanish °
wives unhappy with their lot
are firmly discouraged from
taking matters into their own
hands.

However, there’s a faint
glimmer of hope on the
Spanish horizon. These re-
cent cases, it appears, have
Stirred a wave of protests and
demonstrations by Spanish
women, who are now de-
manding the removal of
adultery from the criminal
code and also the right of
divorce (presently illegal in
the land of the toreadors.)

Ah well, we all have our
problems, and it’s consoling
to know that we're not alone.
So talk nicely to your plants
today and—if they insist on
answering back—point out
how lucky they are compared
with some of the flowers of
Spain’s womanhood.

-purchase an item

Ties offer good on our Own labets too! Liew 4qahs per customer

crop 1976

our World —

~ Only the oer is expensive

1887 MarineDr. 980-8567
: JUST EAST OF CAPILANO RD.
voun w. omp Also available at 2025 Lonsdalo 085-6222