Abstract: A floating bed useful for hydroponically germinating seeds of a plant and growing the germinated sprouts thereon. The floating bed is floatable by itself on water and includes a pad formed of a hydrophobic material such as foamed polystyrene and provided with one or more through holes. The through holes have a size so that it can continually retain water therein by capillary attraction during the float of the bed on water. The seeds are placed on the pad and the floating bed is floated on the surface of water to allow the seeds to germinate and the germinated sprouts to grow with the roots thereof passing through the through holes.

Abstract: An electronic engraving system is provided wherein an object, e.g., a person, for a picture to be engraved on a card is picked up by a television camera and converted into corresponding electric signals; the electric signals are stored first and then read out at a lower scanning speed that suits a mechanical scanning system through scanning conversion means, and the picture of the object is engraved on the material in accordance with the read out signals, whereby the picture corresponding to the object can be easily engraved on the material, e.g., a plastic card without using any photographic original picture of the object.