IRISH GARDENING. 



51 



other substances which are not of so much importance 

 for the life of the plant. 



Nitrog'en, phosphates and potash ai-e all contained in 

 farm_yard manure, but the farmyard manure must lie in 

 the soil some time before they become soluble in water, 

 and, therefore, available as plant food. Nitrogen is also 

 contained in the "artificial manures," nitrate of soda, 

 and sulphate of ammonia, and as these are readily 

 soluble the nitrogen becomes available almost immedi- 

 ately they are added to the soil. These are what we 

 term quick-acting manures. 



Phosphates are contained in bones, but in this form 

 are practically insoluble, and become " available " very 

 slowly. In dissolved bones — /.t'. , bones dissolved in 

 strong sulphuric acid — the phosphates are soluble in 

 water, and become "available " very soon after applica- 

 tion. The phosphatic manure in most general use at 

 present, however, is superphosphate, which is prepared 

 by grinding up rocks known to be rich in phosphates, and 

 dissolving the ground rock in sulphuric acid. In this 

 manure the phosphates are readily soluble. Potash is con- 

 tained to a large extent in wood ashes — 

 indeed it was due to this fact that the 

 substance got its name when it was first 

 separated out b\- chemists. Of late years, 

 however, tiiere have been found mineral 

 substances, resembling rock salt, which 

 contain a large quantity of potash. The 

 principal source of these minerals at present 

 is the Stassfurth mines in Germany, and 

 the mineral most used as a potash maiuu-e 

 in this coimtry goes under the name of 

 kainit. Muriate of potash and sulphate 

 of potash are got by purifying the crude 

 minerals ; they contain a much higher per- 

 centage of potash than does kainit. 



Notes and Abstracts. 



By G. O. SHERRARD. 



SCHOOL GARDENS. —The Report of the English 

 Board of Education (1906-07) gives some 



CHOOL GARDENS. 

 f Education ( 

 ing figures showing the remarkable increase which 

 has taken place in the teaching of gardening in the 

 public elementary schools in England. Special grants 

 are made to encourage the teaching of this subject in 

 the schools, and the number of boys for whom grants 

 were paid was t 1,216 in 1905-06, compared with 8,359 '" 

 1904-05 and 5,695 in 1903-04. The number of schools 

 \vhich applied for this grant in 1906-07 was 900, com- 

 pared with 371 schools which obtained grants in 1903-04. 

 With one or two exceptions, every county in England 

 has school gardens attached to a certain number of its 

 rural elementary schools. If the county has a horticul- 

 tural lecturer, he organises the school gardens in his 

 county and advises the school teachers as to the methods 

 of teaching horticulture. In Staffordshire there are 98 



In conclusion then we have learnt : — 



That plants recjuire food. 



That part of this food is g^ot from 

 the air, and part from the soil. 



That there is no dang-er of the 

 plant running- short oi' the food which 

 it gets from the air, but that there is 

 a great danger of its running short oi' 

 the food supplied by the soil. 



That the food supplied by the soil 

 must be dissolved in water before it 

 can be taken in by the plant. 



That there is generally plenty of 

 plant food in the soil, but that very 

 little of it is available for the use of 

 plants. 



That the food supplied by the soil 

 consists chiefly of nitrogen, phosphates and 

 potash. 



That these substances can exist both in a 

 soluble and an insoluble state, and that if sup- 

 plied in the latter state must become soluble 

 before the plant can make use of them. — A. C. C. 



^^ ^^ e^^ 

 "The poet makes a statement, and lo ! in succeeding 

 years or ages the man of science makes discoveries 

 that prove its truth. The practical gardener is often 

 to some extent a practical poet also, and he actually 

 feels by the higher instincts of his nature what is best 

 under any given set of circumstances for him to do. 

 And then again comes on the chemist or the physiolo- 

 gist, and it is they who prove the gardener's actions to 

 have been right ones." — F. W. Burbridge. 



The Root in relation to the Soil. 



The illustration shows the end of a living root of Pentstemon in situ. The tip is the 

 " growing point." Immediately behind is the " elongating region " that pushes the tip 

 do\ynwards through the soil, and behind that again is the region thickly covered with 

 delicate tubular "hairs." These hairs are the chief organs by which water and dissolved 

 foods are taken in by the plant. Note that the hairs are closely applied to the particles 

 of soil, as it is from these particles that all the moisture is obtained. 



and in Surrey 79 school gardens already established. 

 Evidence continues to be received of the useful effect of 

 gardening on the general work of the school. It is 

 advised that school gardening should be especially 

 dealt with as a branch of nature study. 



A Be.\utiful New Ann'ual Flower. C. Prentice, The 

 Garden, March 14th, 1908. — An annual with theunweildy 

 name of Dimorpliotlicca aurantiaca is strongly recom- 

 mended where a brilliant mass of colour is desired. 

 The plant is described as being neat and bushy in habit 

 and from 12 to 15 inches in height. The flowers, which 

 are orange yellow in colour, somewhat similar to those 

 of the Gazania, are said to be produced in great abun- 

 dance, and the blooming period may be prolonged into 

 the autumn by removing all faded blossoms. The plant 

 was catalogued last spring by Messrs. Barr and Sons, 

 Covent Garden, as a new introduction. 



The Origin of the Potato. Chas. Druery, Th^ 



