New Ideas

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Crop Drier. To prevent deterioration of newly harvested grain crops from moisture, a mobile drier has been developed by Pennsylvania's New Holland Machine Co. The device consists of a heater-blower unit and a grain bin, each mounted on its own set of wheels; the two are connected at the work site by a canvas sleeve. Price: $3,851 for both units, $1,995 for the heater unit alone.

Wool Competitor. A new wool-like synthetic fiber called Verel was announced by Eastman Chemical Products, Inc. (subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Co.). Soft, strong and nonshrinking, Verel is similar to, and faces stern competition from, Du Font's Orion, Chemstrand's Acrilan and Union Carbide's Dynel. But demand is high, with output of the fibers running at an estimated rate of 75 million Ibs. annually, three times greater than in 1953. Price: $1.10 per Ib. for Verel v. $1.20 for Orion, $1.18 for Acrilan, $1.05 for Dynel.

Wireless Clock. An electric clock with no wire connection was put on sale by General Electric Co. The clock is powered by small batteries, is kept on time by a transistor hookup sensitive to the electrical impulses that emanate at constant intervals from ordinary house wiring. Price: $175.

Glass Phone Poles. To foil woodpeckers, termites, fungi and other enemies of wooden telephone poles, Michigan's Gar Wood Industries and Consumers Power Co. have developed a fibrous glass pole with an estimated life expectancy of 50 to 100 years v. a maximum of 30 for wood. The hollow poles weigh only 150 Ibs. v. as much as 700 Ibs. for Southern yellow pine, hence can be handled more easily. Wooden pole prices start at $18.90; glass poles are expected to cost three to five times as much initially, less as production expands.

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