So I finally found the guide that I read all those years ago. While reading through the AGSeedCO site "about" page, they reference
The Cultivators Handbook of Marijuana,1969, by Bill Drake. The age of the grow guide (1st edition) was inline with what I remember reading back in the early 80's, so I did a search. I found it online and I'm almost certain that that was the guide my friend loaned me for a few days back then. I found the table of contents and low and behold there is nothing about the tech that I reference in my op. Again, I'm almost positive that that was the guide that I read, although my recollection is that it was only about 50 pages versus the 100 pages of the actual guide. What I recall (somewhat) now is that the notes that I took back then (which I've long since lost/misplaced), were actually notes that were
IN the guide, not part of the guide. Were they my friends notes? Who knows. This was a good 3 decades ago, so I guess I can chalk it all up to my old brain. Nevertheless, my quest for the origins and validity of this info will remain ongoing, as old-school tech is my passion