European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Etc the most popular vegetables have appealing color and shape As Well As a Good taste. A amps fee scientists working on better Veggie by the associated press. He government wants to put a better Pepper in every pot. And better peas and Sweet potatoes too. The . Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston s.c., was established 57 years ago to develop vegetables resistant to insects weeds and disease. But that s not Why the mail started pouring in. No the mail started streaming in due to the Charleston hot Pepper. Earlier this year the lab released seeds for the Pep a Raj which Are resistant to Worms that eat Plant roots. The resistance part was Nice sure but people flocked to it because it was spicy hot. After the government issued a news release the lab was inundated with orders and ran out after mailing 10,000 Charleston hot seed packets to everyone from backyard gardeners to seed companies. Then it mailed 8,000 More packets of Carolina Cayenne a similar but larger Pepper developed seven years ago with Little fanfare. Usually the lab gets about 100 requests a year for newly developed seeds mostly from seed companies that want to develop their own hybrids. Why was Charleston hot  a hot item even though other peppers Are hotter Quot there is so much interest in hot sauces we just did t fathom How much there would be Quot said Philip Dukes one of two scientists who worked 12 years developing the Pepper. The lab the government s largest vegetable research Center sprawls. Disease resistant Watermelon is one of the Tab s biggest successes across 440 acres of Fields Pine stands and Marsh just West of Charleston. Fifty scientists toil in the labs greenhouses and test plots to grow hybrids of 26 different vegetables. The Fields Are some of the oldest in cultivation in the nation dating to a colonial Plantation. Other successes Over the years. Include the Homestead Tomato developed during the 1960s. Since the Strain won t easily spoil that allowed tomatoes to be shipped Long distances for the first time. And the lab came up with the Charleston Gray Watermelon too. Most world Watermelon production was. Charleston Cray until a few years ago. Now More hybrids Are used but Many draw on the disease resistant Cray said Claude Thomas the lab s director. In the 19,70s, when people were waiting in Gas lines the lab developed a Sweet potato called Hindry which is about 40 percent starch for use in gasohol and other Industrial products. The names of new varieties generally Are based on traits of the vegetables a Charleston Cray for instance has a Gray Green tint on the outside. Any name for a new hybrid must be unique. Lab scientists propagate vegetables the old fashioned Way crossing strains and then growing offspring. New varieties take eight to 10 years of develop and the lab releases three or four a year. The work has taken on new importance As Farmers move away from using pesticides on their crops but the development of a disease resistant vegetable does t mean you la always find them at the greengrocer. Scientists also must consider flavor appearance shape sprouting ability and about 20 other characteristics Dukes said. And what people want in vegetables in one part of the country May not be what they re used to in other areas. Scientists already know of a Hardy Sweet potato that is native to Central America for example but would grow Well in the South. The problem is that the inside is purple no one will eat a purple Sweet potato Dukes said. Once the la developed a new Strain of Sweet potato that was Hardy and resistant to disease and bugs but local buyers shied away because it did t have the right shape and the Copper color customers look for. Quot sometimes the consumer never gets the Choice Quot Thomas said. Quot it s the vegetable broker and buyer who  on the family be in a guessing that in your professional capacity you have observed Many who get involved in extramarital affairs. What happens to them to f have carefully watched  people who have left the world of responsibility a the Quot straight and narrow life Quot a and have observed a virtual inevitability. These individuals eventually establish another Quot straight  the grass is Greener on the other Side but it Stilt has to be mowed. Sooner or later the pleasure of an illicit affair has to come to an end. Polks have to get Back to work. And the fantastic romantic feelings Don t last forever. In fact the Jrew Lover soon becomes rather commonplace just like the old husband or wife. His or her flaws come into focus and the couple has their first fight. That takes the Edge off the thrill. Furthermore the sexual relationship gradually loses its breathtaking Quality. Because it s no longer new. But More significantly the Man and woman eventually turn their thoughts to earning a living and cooking and cleaning and paying taxes again permitting ego needs to accumulate As before. I am acquainted with men and women and so Are you who have ripped from one relationship to another in vain search of prolonged pleasure and sex and ego gratification. In so doing they leave in their Wake former husbands and wives who feel rejected and bitter and unloved. They produce children who crave the affection of a father or Mother but never find it. All that is left on the March toward old age is a series of broken relationships shattered lives and hostile children. Q. T a a a i am Hurt because my teen Ager seems to be ashamed to be seen with me. I gave birth to him and have nourished and devoted my life to him. Now he s embarrassed to be seen with me especially around his friends. Is this Normal to you should understand that teenagers Are engulfed by a tremendous desire to be adults and they resent anything which implies that they Are children. When they Are seen with their a a Mommy or Quot daddy Quot on a Friday night for example their humiliation is almost unbearable. They Are not really ashamed of their parents they Are embarrassed by the adult baby role that was More appropriate in prior years. Though it is difficult you would do Well to accept this healthy aspect of growing up without becoming defensive about it. Your love relationship with your child will be reestablished in a few years although it will never be a Parent child phenomenon again. A or. James c. Dobson is president o focus on the family an organization dedicated 10 preserving me Home. Correspondence should be sent to him at focus pm the family . Box 444, Colorado Springs Colo. 30303. I itto a saturday november 6, 1993 the stars and strips 15