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THE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE. 



[February 3, 1912. 



that a paid secretary, an office, and other pro- 

 gi sivo steps were needed to enable the Asso- 

 ciation to push on. There are nearly 2,000 mem- 

 bers, the funds are about £400, and, more im- 

 portant than either, a resolute earnest spirit 

 appears to have taken possession of the members, 

 which is of good omen. A special general meet- 

 ing was held a few days ago, and whilst I am 

 unable to give a report of the proceedings — the 

 council having decided to do this in the next 

 number of the B.G.A. Journal — I may express 

 the delight I felt at the way the work was done. 

 An earnest business council and about 80 mem- 

 bers, some of them delegates from distant 

 branches, sat down to consider ways and means, 

 and it was soon evident that here was a body of 

 men, most of them on the sunny side of 40, who 

 were capable of doing things well. Of the 

 original members, I mean the organising com- 

 mittee, only three of us were present, and it was 

 very encouraging to discover that the present set 

 of active promoters of the cause have at least as 

 much fire as, and perhaps more wisdom than, 

 the early set had. What a chance there is this 

 year to "increase the membership to 5.000 or even 

 10,000 ! For the great International Horticultural 

 Exhibition will draw all good gardeners London- 

 wards, in heart if not in person (they will not all 

 be able to afford it), and if the B.G.A. could 

 arrange the right kind of camp or headquarters 

 — but I am going too far ; no doubt this band of 

 stalwarts have an eye on what the year promises 

 and will plan accordingly. My object now is to 

 assure distant members of and sympathisers with 

 th ) B.G.A. that it is stronger now than it ever 

 was. and judging the present generation of gar- 

 deners by those that were present at the meeting 

 mentioned above, I am convinced that the effort 

 to form an association of professional gardeners 

 to make the most of their calling and of them- 

 selves is going to succeed. W. \\ . 



The Colouring of Apples. — The other day 

 as I was rushing off to lecture, I stuffed Mr. W. 



Dyke's 8eu nee and Practice of Manuring in my 



pocket, and in the train looked up his remarks 

 on "colour" in fruits. He says (p. 45) : "A 

 potash fertiliser, like muriate or sulphate of 

 potash, will cause the growth to be of a thick, 

 firm texture, and the fruit will be of a better 

 flavour and colour/' He also says (p. 104), on 

 the colouring of Grapes : " Some growers have 

 a difficulty in getting Grapes to properly colour. 

 This is often due to an unbalanced condition of 

 the soil food. A great improvement is found to 

 follow the application of this mixture : One part 

 sulphate of potash, one part sulphate of mag- 

 nesia, 2 ounces to the square yard after the 

 second swelling." At the lecture, which was on 

 "Manures," two or three first-class gardeners 

 confirmed this use of potash to obtain a deeper 

 colour. /. Bernard Hall. 



Carbon-dioxide or Nitrogen. — The old 

 practice, carried out by many experienced gar- 



denerSj of "damping down" vineries with weak 



manure water before closing them for the night 

 suggested to the writer that experiments might be 

 undertaken to find out the reason for the practice. 

 Vines treated in this way resist the ravages of 

 red spider much longer than those which are not 

 treated ; the foliage is of a firmer texture and a 

 better colour. Two theories can be advanced for 

 this : the first, that the vapour from the manure- 

 water contains carbon-dioxide ; and the second, 

 that the vapour contains nitrogen or some com 



pound of nitrogen which is readily absorbed by 

 the plant through the foliage. To test these 

 theories, experiments were carried out during the 

 summer of 1910. The first, a Cucumber house, 

 120 feet by 12 feet, planted with a row on each 

 side at 2 feet 6 inches apart, in made-up borders, 

 wm top-dressed with manure, obtained from a 

 11 cattle court." to a depth of 2 inches; no ven- 

 tilation was allowed, not even on the hottest dav 

 of summer. A temperature of 70° to 75° Fahr. was 

 maintained by fire-heat, and sometimes on the 

 hottest days a temperature of 110° Fahr. was 

 reached. This was only made possible by keep- 

 ing the atmosphere thoroughly saturated with 

 moisture. Had this not been done, the foliage 



would have been scalded. It was realised when 



;ing this experiment that it would not give 

 a certain result, and that it would only show 

 that heat and moisture, combined with manure, 

 would be beneficial or otherwise to the plants. 

 The resulting crop was satisfactory in every way, 

 the absence of misshapen Cucumbers being quite 



remarkable. To find out if it was the heat and 

 moisture or the manure which was supplying the 

 vitality, two more houses were observed at the 

 same time as the first. One was treated in the 

 same way as the first, except that no manure was 

 used. This house did not give anything like such 

 good results, neither as regards the health and 

 vitality of the plants nor the resulting crop ; not 

 even with the top-dressings of soil which it fre- 

 quently received. These two experiments alone 

 would go to prove that it was the manure 

 which was the stimulating cause. But this con- 

 clusion proved to be wrong by the third house of 

 the series, which was top-dressed with manure 

 the same as the first, the only difference being 

 that it was wholly dependent on solar heat. 

 Houses treated in this way require ventilation, 

 as it is so much easier to keep the atmosphere at 

 saturation point, and if ventilation is not prac- 

 tised, many of the embryo Cucumbers " damp 

 off. This house was not different from others 

 which were being given exactly the same treat- 

 ment, except that they were not dressed with 

 manure. From the result of these experiments 

 it would seem that a combination of heat, mois- 

 ture, and manure would give a result which could 

 not be obtained when these three essentials were 

 used separately. In the second experiment it is 

 proved that heat and moisture alone would not 

 provide as good results ; and in the third that 

 manure alone makes little or no difference to the 

 resulting crop, probably because it had not suffi- 

 cient time in a cold house to be converted into 

 plant-food. The question naturally arises : What 

 is the vital force? Is it carbon-dioxide, or is it 

 some product of nitrogen? Another form of cul- 

 ture which the writer uses seems to point to the 

 latter theory. A great difficulty — in fact, the only 

 difficulty — in forcing Tulips for the Christmas 

 and New Year festivitives is the* poor, badly- 

 coloured foliage and the length, or want of it, in 

 the stem. Or, to put it more plainly, a want of 

 vitality. This, to a great extent, can be remedied 

 by the application of sulphate of ammonia con- 

 taining 20 per cent, nitrogen, at the rate of 

 1 ounce to 2 gallons of water. This sprayed on to 

 the hot-water pipes every evening or late after- 

 noon, will work wonders in Tulip-forcing, pro- 

 viding everything else is suitable. The foliage is of 

 a much better colour, the stems longer, and there 

 is an absence of yellow-tipped foliage when they 

 are treated in this way. This naturally leaves the 

 impression that it is the nitrogen w T hich supplies 

 the stimulant. I am not in a position to verify 

 this. I might say it was nitrogen or some pro- 

 duct of nitrogen from the results of the last 

 method of culture, but the doubt arises : Does 

 the sulphate of ammonia change its chemical com- 

 position by vaporisation? //. E. N. 



Apple Trees in Grass Land (see p. 44). — No 



single ret of experiments can render negatory 

 the practice of generations carried out in many 



countries. My own experience is limited, 

 in that only a few Apple trees are grown 



here in grass land, but, such as it is, it is alto- 

 gether favourable to grass culture, the fruit pro- 

 duced being very large and highly coloured. 

 Fruits of King of the Pippins are, in favourable 

 seasons, quite as fine here as in many of the 

 southern counties of England. Last year some 

 of the Apple trees in grass were surface dressed 

 with cow manure, as the trees were lacking in 



Now, had all the grass been dressed 

 I should have believed that the manure had been 

 the cause of giving us the largest and best- 

 finished fruits of Warner's King ever produced 

 here, but, since the fruit was just as good on 

 trees not dressed, the excellence cannot be attri- 

 buted to the manure. Besides, these little 

 orchards, which have been under grass for a 

 great number of years, three years ago the 

 ground through which passes an Apple- 

 covered walk 450 feet in length was laid down 

 in grass. One reason for this was that the trees 

 Codlins — were badly affected with red spider, and 

 I am hopeful that the grass over the roots will 

 enable the trees, with sprayings, to gradually 

 overcome the spider. All our Apricot trees are 

 planted in grass land, also some Pears, and all 

 the trees are in the best condition of health and 

 fertility. With regard to trenching ground, it is 

 not in all cases essential. Some 15 years ago we 

 had a truck load of standard trees from Somer- 

 setshire to plant in a park for effect. Some of 

 these, after a year in the garden to make fibrous 

 roots, were pitted and have done splendidly, 

 though no care was taken to keep the grass from 



vigour. 



growing near to the stems. At the same time, it 

 must be explained that they were large trees, per- 

 haps 8 years to 10 years old. Another experience 

 with Apples in the past winter may be worth 

 recording. A quarter of the kitchen garden, 

 which had not been trenched for several years, 

 say ten, was trenched in the end of 1911* and, 

 though the rows of Apples on each side of the 

 quarter were 75 feet apart, the whole of the 

 under spit was permeated with roots. Now it 

 is clear that Apples which have been established 

 for a number of years, whether the ground was 

 trenched or not, will have very few active feedin 

 roots in the vicinity of the stems, unless they be 

 those of other trees, so that, in applying manure, 

 the whole surface would need to be covered and 

 not merely a portion near the stem of each tree. 

 I quite agree that, until the trees are well esta- 

 blished, Grass has a retarding influence not only 

 on Apples but on woody vegetation in general. 

 Afterwards it seems to do no harm, and perhaps is 

 beneficial. R. P. Brotherston, Tynlnghamt 

 Gardens, East Lothian. 



Acacia Baileyana and Iris stylosa.— In 

 reference to Mr. Morgan's inquiry in the last 

 issue as to Acacia Baileyana flowering out-of- 

 doors, I may state that a specimen has been in 

 flower here for about three weeks. The flowers 

 are very sweet, and form a lovely mass of yel- 

 low. When not in flower, the plant is distinct 

 by reason of its glaucous foliage, but the leaves 

 lose this tint a little at flowering time. There 

 are a few flowers on a tree of A. longifolia flori- 

 bunda in the open here, and Acacia dealbata is 

 beautifully in bloom. The latter tree is about 

 12 feet high and covered with flowers which are 

 not such a deep yellow as those of A. Baileyana. 

 Later on, A. verticillata, A. juniperina, A. 

 armata, A. Riceana, A. hybrida, and A. cultri- 

 formis, on walls and in the open garden, will 

 contribute a share of the beauty which these 

 beautiful and not very tender subjects give 

 during spring and early summer. Plants of Ins 

 stylosa on the rock-garden are flowering pro- 

 fusely, probably because of the hot summer of 

 last year. R. W. Norman, The Gardens, Heh- 

 yan, St. Austell. 



The Value of Limestone as a Fertiliser. 



—The use of lime in the form of limestone is of 

 the greatest importance in practical agriculture 

 and horticulture. It has been employed in 

 various forms in almost every country, and from 

 the most remote period. Lime is found in plants, 

 and in some it exists in large quantities. It 

 occurs sometimes in the form of carbonate on tne 

 surface of plants. Thus many of the Charace* 

 have a calcareous encrustation. The crystals or 

 raphides found in the cells cf plants have lime 

 in their composition. In the roots of Turkey ana 

 East India Rhubarb, the crystals of oxalate oi 

 lime have been estimated at about 25 per > cens. 

 of the dry weight. It has been ascertained that an 

 vegetable life takes up lime, and more largely 

 from the natural lime, viz., limestone m a pro- 

 perly-prepared form as plant-food than tro 

 burnt lime. In olden times and until the periou 

 of about 1850, there was no mechanical means o 

 reducing limestone to a fine and bulky powder, 

 therefore the benefits of burning were enor 

 mous, inasmuch as by slaking the burnt lime *a 

 and can be reduced to a much finer powder. JM> 

 that means are provided for the crushing of um - 

 stone and reducing it to the finest of P owder ' 

 limestone can be applied to the land and the crop 

 in a crude form, and is to be preferred i 

 burnt lime. In the use of ground limestone, 

 which are different forms of the same sub^ance. 

 viz., carbonate of lime, carbonic acid gas is g l 

 off. One cwt. of ground limestone (carbonate 

 lime) is of more value than 2 cwt. of burnt n 

 (calcium oxide). Experiments made anmiai 

 with the use of ground limestone and the add it 

 of half the usual quantity of farmyard manu 

 have produced better yields of crops than ' 

 burnt lime. Whereas burnt lime applied I co ntu 

 ally, has its exhausting effects, and has - 

 noticeable from earlier times, limestone _ 

 naturallv (unburnt), ground to the finest pow ; 

 and applied in this form, has great ad ™ nt * .►. 

 (a) in cleansing any land of nematodes, (bj « 

 ening the soil, (c) assisting in ventilation, WJ^g 

 venting club root, (e) keeping down f an &- 

 diseases. John Smith, County Council Lea* 

 and Instructor, Durham. 



