April 12, 19 17] 



NATURE 



127 



be pursued in these compulsory classes would 

 have reference to preparation for the duties of life, 

 to the rig-ht and profitable use of leisure, to in- 

 struction in the principles and practice of the 

 occupation into which the young- person had 

 entered, and to the care and preservation of bodily 

 health and vigour. To achieve this aim is a 

 national duty of tremendous — of paramount — im- 

 portance, and, having- regard to the vast depletion 

 of our young virile life by the operations of the 

 fierce struggle in which we are engaged, of stern, 

 unyielding necessity, no matter how great the 

 cost, if the future of the nation is to be assured as 

 one of the great civilising and freedom-inspiring 

 forces of mankind. The task of the nation is 

 enormous. It can only be accomplished by a spirit 

 of stern self-sacrifice. 



Readers of Nature will not need to be reminded 

 that the findings of this — it is to be hoped, epoch- 

 making — report are consistent with its constant 

 advocacy through many years of the policy of 

 raising the school age, and of requiring regular 



' attendance until the compulsory period of ele- 

 mentary-school training is completed, of due pro- 

 vision in the curriculum for satisfactory- training 

 in the facts and principles of science, and of con- 



? tinued compulsory education until eighteen years 

 of age is reached of all young people entering 

 employment at fourteen years of age It is also 

 not out of place to remark that so long ago as 

 1914, before the advent of the war, the Education 

 and Technical Education Committees of the 

 British Science Guild had prepared a report em- 

 bodying the main points of the report now under 

 review, and this has since been presented to the 

 Prime Minister's Reconstruction Committee for 

 consideration in connection with schemes of educa- 

 tional reconstruction. The Departmental Com- 

 mittee on Juvenile Education has had the advan- 

 tage of interviewing witnesses representative of 

 many varied industries, including both employers 

 and employed, together with persons representing 

 the opinions of various educational bodies, and 

 has found, sp)eaking generally, a practical unani- 

 mity of opinion in the reforms set forth in the 

 report ; it is satisfactory also to find that the report 

 and its recommendations are signed by all the 

 members of the committee. It is to be hoped 

 that the principal recommendations may quickly 

 be given legislative effect. 



SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF GLASSHOUSE 

 CULTIVATION.^ 



THE valley of the River Lea is the seat of some 

 of the most intensive cultivation in the 

 British Isles. The traveller along the Great 

 Eastern Railway line to Cambridge, which tra- 

 verses this district, begins to see great numbers 

 of glasshouses soon after leaving Enfield, and 

 still more near Enfield Lock, Waltham Cross, and 

 Cheshunt. It is estimated that in this district 

 there are no fewer than 1000 acres occupied by 



1 Experimental and Research Station, Nursery and Market Gwden 

 Industries Development Society, Turner's Hill,- Cheshunt, Herts, becond 

 Annual Report, 1916. 



glasshouses, each acre representing a capital of 

 approximately looo/. The chief crops grown are 

 cucumbers and tomatoes, but peaches, grapes, 

 roses, palms, and other plants are also produced. 

 The growers, as might be expected, are extra- 

 ordinarily skilful : one sends peaches to New 

 York in the projjer season at fancy prices ; 

 another has even sent palms to Africa ; but the 

 great bulk of the produce is grown for the 

 English consumer, and is put on the market at 

 such prices as are within the reach of all. 



As might be expected, glasshouse cultivation 

 presents special features marking it off sharply 

 from outdoor work. The temperature and water 

 supply, perhaps the commonest limiting factors 

 on good farms, are under almost complete con- 

 trol, and can therefore be eliminated as limiting 

 factors ; but the light supply is often an important 

 factor, while questions of manuring, the adjust- 

 ment of temperature, and water supply are of 

 enormous technical importance and great scientific 

 interest. In addition, the special conditions lead 

 to some remarkable soil relationships. 



Some of these problems were first studied three 

 or four years ago at the Rothamsted Experi- 

 mental Station, but it soon became clear that the 

 only proper way of dealing with them was to 

 found an experimental station ad hoc and to 

 place it in the centre of the district. This was 

 done, the money being found partly by the 

 growers and the county councils, and partly by 

 the Development Commission. The second 

 annual report of the new station is now issued. 



It is pointed out in the report that the investiga- 

 tions at the Experimental and Research Station 

 must not follow too closely the lines adopted at 

 the agricultural experiment stations, but must 

 differ from them in taking more account of the 

 qualitative factors which might affect the fruiting, 

 and in recognising light, temperature, and water 

 as factors influencing the growth and habit of the 

 plants. For convenience of investigation the 

 plant-growth is divided into three stages : the 

 earlv stage, as seedlings and in small jxvts ; the 

 later stages in large pots or borders ; and the 

 fruiting stage. This division is justified not only 

 on technical, but also on scientific, grounds. 



In the first stage — the seedling stage — probably 

 the most important feature is the type of growth. 

 Growers recognise a " hard " growth and a 

 " soft " sappy growth, the latter being commonly 

 considered of less value for fruit production. The 

 conditions under which each can be got are well 

 known to the grower, but it is very desirable that 

 they should be better characterised than they are 

 at present, and that the relationship between 

 habit and conditions oT growth should be 

 studied. The habit of growth owes its import- 

 ance to the two circumstances that " soft " growth 

 appears to be more susceptible to disease than 

 "hard" growth, and that under certain conditions 

 it is less conducive to fruiting. There are certain 

 discrepancies in the observations so far, arising 

 from the variations in the type of "softness," and 

 these are being studied. 



NO. 2476, VOL. 99] 



