Gardener looks for explanation

To the editor:I have a neighbor I call Farmer Glen, who is the neighborhood's foremost authority on all things that grow. Last April I took the sage advice of this green thumb in the planting of my tomatoes.

First, he had me prepare the soil by covering the entire patch with about a quarter-inch of newspapers. For the first half, I used past issues of the Southeast Missourian. For the remaining half I used old copies of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Then the entire area was covered with eight inches of mulch. The shoots were planted at the appropriate intervals.

The result was startling. The section of the patch prepared with old copies of the Missourian produced a far greater harvest. The tomatoes were larger, redder and infinitely more flavorful than those that came from the section prepared with the Post-Dispatch.

Is there any scientific explanation for this phenomenon?

DENNIS M. BYRNE, Webster Groves, Mo.