EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN 167 



10. Another research of great interest was undertaken at 

 the instance of the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. It was the testing of the limit of the vitality of 

 the seeds of various plants. This was sought to be done by 

 sowing a few of each sort at intervals of five years, and noting 

 whether or not any of them vegetated. A list of the seeds 

 tried was published in the Reports of the British Association 

 for 1848, p. 32, and some of the seeds then collected should 

 still be upon the premises of the Botanic Garden. 



For the purposes of this investigation the seeds were kept 

 buried under an inch of dry sand, in porous pots, the mouths 

 of which were then covered with strong paper dipped in 

 corrosive sublimate. 



When in 1852 new glass-houses were erected on the Ex- 

 perimental Ground, Dr. Daubeny, aware of the importance 

 of continuing field-work, purchased, for ,140, i acre 3 roods 

 1 1 poles * near the IfHey Road from Magdalen College, which 

 he subsequently made over to the University, in trust for the 

 Professor of Rural Economy for the time being, in order 

 that he might have the means of carrying on inquiries con- 

 nected with scientific agriculture which from time to time 

 suggest themselves. 



The Iffley Road plot was perhaps not so good a piece of 

 land as it might have been, for the surface was not level and 

 its condition was somewhat uneven, but, as the Experimental 

 Notebooks show, useful observations were made there, and 

 among the published results was the paper : 



" That roots select the ingredients presented to their 

 absorbing surfaces which are fitted for assimilation, but reject 

 those which are either useless or noxious." -Journ. Chemical 

 Society, 1862. 



We believe that in all this work Daubeny had come under 



* A plan of the ground, with results of experiments, is contained in 

 Daubeny MS. Experimental and Day Books, 1848-66, in Magdalen College 

 Library. 



