v.] THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT. 155 



but finding them to be as excellent in quality as de- 

 scribed, I saved seed from those first ripe; and by con- 

 tinuing that practice four or five years, they became as 

 early water melons as I ever had." 



With this digression, made for the purpose of intro- 

 ducing a worthy and unappreciated compatriot, and to 

 still further illustrate the early development of the ideas 

 associated with the amelioration of plants, we shall now 

 return to the main course of our narrative. 



Knight. 



Whilst Van Mons was experimenting in Belgium, 

 another bold and prophetic spirit was pursuing similar 

 studies in England. This was Thomas Andrew Knight, 

 who, in the variety, accuracy, significance and candor of 

 his experiments, stands to the present day without a 

 rival amongst horticulturists. Knight was born in 1759, 

 and died in 1838. He completed his academic studies 

 at Oxford, and soon removed into the countrj^ where, as 

 he had intended, he spent the remainder of his days. He 

 established himself at Elton, near the paternal home of 

 Downton. He seems to have been brought into agri- 

 cultural studies chiefly through the efforts of Sir Joseph 

 Banks, who recommended him to the Board of Agricul- 

 ture as a fit person to answer correspondents' inquiries. 

 He soon became deeply interested in matters relating to 

 the physiology and amelioration of plants, and entered 

 upon investigations which have now come to be con- 

 sidered amongst the classics of botany. These experi- 

 ments were concerned with the reasons for the upward 

 growth of stems and the downward growth of roots, the 

 motions of the fluids in plants, the physiology of the 



