dialectics

Solving the Particular Contradiction
of Onions
Our success in preserving tomatoes gave us confidence
and inspiration to tackle the problem of storing other
perishable vegetables. We experimented with onions.
They are a bulb, very nutritious but apt to sprout, become
hollow and rot when stored for a long time.
To prevent sprouting, we first tried the same method
as for preserving tomatoes, that is, by controlling temperature,
humidity and ventilation. It didn't work. The
onions were all right as long as they were in cold storage,
but they sprouted all the quicker when they were taken
out. We studied Chairman Mao's teaching: "Unless we
study the particularity of contradiction, we have no way
of determining the particular essence of a thing which
differentiates it from other things, no way of discovering
the particular cause or particular basis for the movement
or development of a thing, and no way of distinguishing
one thing from another or of demarcating the fields of
science." With this as our guide, we specifically analysed
the characteristics of onions' changes after they were
picked and found that, different from tomatoes, they
sprouted only after undergoing a dormant period. While
a low temperature could prevent them from sprouting
temporarily, it didn't solve the contradictions fundamentally.
They sprouted as soon as they were out of the
cold storage and in a suitable temperature.
We tried something else. Instead of storing at a controlled
temperature in the cellar, we sprayed a chemical
on the shoots in the field before harvest. Onions thus
treated did not sprout, and storage time could be extended.
Our success with experiments on a small scale
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