378 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[June 8, 1912. 



advantage of sending their Cucumbers to the 



The Fairchild Lecture.— The Master and 



The Bacterial Flora of the Soil 



Investigations carried out by Mr. D. Rivas, and 



northern markets, as " vegetables packed," at the Court of the Gardeners' Company attended Investigations earned out by r D. Kivas and 

 - exceptional » and certainly much lower rates ; Shoreditch Parish Church on Tuesday, May 28, published m vol. in (No 3, 1911) oi Contritions 



11 exceptional " and certainly much lower rates; 

 though, in point of fact, these exceptional rates 

 apply only to minimum consignments of either 

 one ton or two tons, which allow of the railway 

 company running a through truck to destination. 

 The rail traffic in Cucumbers from the districts 

 in question to the north generally moves in these 

 quantities, while the average consignment from 

 Worthing is between 1 cwt. and 5 cwts. To the 

 Covent Garden Market the growers in the three 

 districts mentioned — situate at distances of from 



12 to 17 miles from London — can forward by road 

 motor, and from Broxbourne, it is understood, no 

 Cucumbers at all are sent to London by goods 

 train. T^e Worthing growers have hitherto been 

 unable to consign direct to the northern markets, 

 and they have had to submit to seeing the advan- 

 tages of those markets gained by growers in the 

 Broxbourne and other districts, by wholesale 

 dealers in London handling the Worthing sup- 

 plies, or by importers of Dutch Cucumbers re- 

 ceived via Hull, and distributed by rail through- 

 out Lancashire and Yorkshire under the designa- 

 tion " not hot-house." Certain material conces- 

 sions were obtained from the London, Brighton, 

 and South Coast Railway Co., but the Worthing 

 growers especially desired that Cucumbers should 

 be placed in Class 2 of the general railway classi- 

 fication (on the same basis as Tomatos in wicker 

 baskets) and thus be charged, on all the railways 

 alike, a lower rate than if they were carried in 

 Class 4. At the request of the Worthing and 

 District Market Growers' Association, the Agri- 

 cultural Organisation Society — to which the 

 Worthing Association is affiliated — took the mat- 

 ter up, while, on the suggestion of the railway 

 goods managers, a deputation representing the 

 two societies mentioned waited upon them at the 



when the Archdeacon of London (Dr. Holmes) 

 delivered the 183rd Fairchild lecture. 



The Corn Crops.— The May number of the 

 Bulletin of Agricultural Statistics has just been 

 issued bv the International Institute of Agricul- 

 ture. The figures published in April with regard 

 to the areas sown to winter cereals in the northern 

 hemisphere are confirmed in the May number, 

 additions having been made in the form of the 

 areas sown in Italy (Wheat, 11,732,000 acres; 

 Rye, 301,000 acres ; Barley, 605,000 acres ; Oats, 

 1,235,000 acres), and the area of Wheat aban- 

 doned in thft United States and Canada (United 



from the Botanical Laboratory of the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania, demonstrate that no less 

 than the plants which grow on the surface, 

 the microscopic organisms which flourish below 

 ground are subject to seasonal change in kind 

 and number. As Poppies spring up after the 

 Corn is cut, so apparently the micro-organisms 

 which lie in the soil succeed one another in 

 ordered rotation. One kind flourishes apace for 

 a while and then gives place to other kinds, 

 which also have their day and cease to be. Mr. 

 Rivas finds that the soil is poorest numerically 

 in bacteria during the winter months, November 



to February. They increase gradually during 

 States 20 per cent. ; Canada 31 per cent). The S p r irig and summer, to reach their greatest uum- 

 weather during April has had a somewhat un- b ers m September and October. 



Proposed New Australian Botanic Gar- 

 den.— A leading article in the West Australian 

 for April 11 last draws timely attention to the 



favourable effect upon vegetation, with the result 

 that development is, in general, rather backward. 

 The condition of the crops, however, on May 1, 

 was, for the greater part good, except in the 



United States, where the condition figure was fact that whilst all the other Australian capitals 



below that of the corresponding period of 1911. 

 (Winter Wheat, 93 on May 1, 1912, as against 100 

 on May 1, 1911; winter Rye, 98 as against 100.) 

 The germination of spring Wheat, Rye, Barley, 

 and Oats has been, on the whole, uniform, except 

 in Austria. In the May Bulletin, Flax has been 

 included for the first time in the list of products 



possess© 



botanic gardens, the metropolis of Western 

 Australia is singular in not being provided with 

 so valuable an institution. Attention is drawn 

 to the university about to be established in the 

 State, and persons interested are reminded that 

 its educational value will be greatly curtailed 



lllL'lUUUU 1UI LI«J X1XOO L1I1IC XII UX±C/ XlOU \JL ^iuuuv-i/o - . - , 



considered, information having been received this if the professors and lecturers in biology and 

 month from Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Hungary, forestry find no conveniences for imparting in- 

 Italy, Roumania, Japan, and India. The general struction in plant life in accordance with modern 

 condition of the Flax crop is good, the area sown ideals which require museums, laboratories and 



plant houses, in addition to growing trees, 

 shrubs and plants, all of which are at present 



being as follows : — Belgium, 32,850 acres ; Italy, 

 19,750 acres; India, 3,463,000 acres as against 

 3,100,000 acres sown last year. Information is 

 also given in regard to vineyards, the vines hav- 

 ing suffered in Austria, France, Hungary, and 

 Italy through damage caused by the late frosts. 



Railway Clearing House, the final outcome of The Bvlle £ n closes with the pub ii cat ion of the 

 the negotiations being the ma kins: of the ,, * ., ,. .„ , i_ _ • a„~~«+;«„ 



the making of the 



desired concession. The fact that this result 

 should have been brought about through the in- 

 strumentality of the Agricultural Organisation 

 Society affords evidence of the useful purpose 

 which that body is able to fulfil, not only in 

 its efforts to improve the general agricultural 

 conditions of the country, but, also, as an inter- 

 mediary between growers and railways companies 

 in the attainment of improved transport facilities 

 on an organised basis. The granting of the con- 

 cession asked for is, also no less evidence of the 

 desire of the railway companies to encourage the 

 efforts which the federated agriculturists are 

 making to better their economic outlook. Under 

 the new arrangement in regard to classification, 



results of the live stock censuses in Argentina, 

 Cuba, United States, and Egypt. In Italy the 

 area sown with winter Wheat is 11,737,000 acres ; 

 winter Rye, 301,000 acres ; winter Barley, 605,000 

 acres; and winter Oats, 1,235,000 acres. In 

 Hungary (including Croatia and Slavonia) the 

 area sown with spring Wheat is 226,000 acres; 

 spring Barley, 2,442,000 acres; and spring Oats, 

 2,782,000 acres. 



Canadian Census. — A special report on the 

 census of Canada taken June 1, 1911, shows that 

 the rural population of the Dominion in 1911 was 

 3,924,083 and the urban population 3,280,444. In 

 1901 the rural population was 3,369,018 and the 

 urban population 2,002,297. The increase of the 



Worthing growers will be able to consign their rural population in 10 years is therefore 550,065 

 Cucumbers to Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and f tne uroa n 1,278,147, which is 16.48 per 

 Leods, Bradford, Nottingham, and Leicester, in- cent# for ^ former and 63.3 for the latter. Ac- 

 stead of having to be content to forward them cor ding to this return the rural population of 



only to London dealers, who themselves would 

 undertake the further distribution ; and in this 



Canada is 55 per cent, of the total population. 

 Industrial expansion has been a marked feature 



way there should be, in addition to a saving in f t h e past decade in Canada, and accounts for 



railway rates, (1) a saving in intermediate profits, t k extraordinary growth of the urban popula- 



(2) decreased risk of gluts in the Covent Garden ^ion. 



Market, and (3) the obtaining of better prices, 



not only on this account, but through the direct Arsenic in Plants. — The distinguished 



dealings with the great centres of population in French chemist, M. Guignard, finds that 



imperfectly represented in Perth. 



Publications Received. — Farm, Carden, 

 and Birds. (London : The Royal Society for the 

 Protection of Birds.) Price Is — The Practical 

 School Garden, by John Weathers. (London: 

 Longmans, Green & Co.) Price Gd.— Dictionary 

 of Botanical Names and Terms, by Geo. F. 

 Zimmer. (London : Geo. Routledge & Sons, Ltd.) 

 Price 2s. 6d. — How to Increase Your Sales: A 

 Useful Summary of Areas, Population, Trade, and 

 Press of the British Empire. (London : Sell's 

 Advertising Agency, Ltd., 168, Fleet Street.)— 

 Plantae Wdsonianae, by Charles Sprague 

 Sargent. Part II. (Arnold Arboretum, Harvard 

 University, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) 



Price $2.50.— Mushroom Cultivation, by J. Bide, 

 (Farnham : S. Bide & Sons, Ltd.) Price 6d.— Sixth 

 Annual Report of the Horticultural Societies 

 of Ontario for the year 1911. (Toronto: Ontario 



Department of Agriculture.) -Hortus Motto- 

 lensis, Alphabetical Catalogue of Plants growing 

 in the garden of Sir Thomas Hanbury, at La 

 Mortola, Ventimiglia, Italy. Compiled by Alwin 

 Berger, Curator. (London: West, Newman &\j0.) 

 Price 4s. paper; 5s. cloth.— The Single-handed 

 Gardener. (London : Temple Press Ltd.) Price 

 Is. net— London and South Western Railway. 

 The Company's Official Illustrated Guide and List 

 of Hotels, Boarding Houses, and Apartments.— 

 A Popular Dictionary of Botanical Names and 

 Terms, by George Frederick Zimmer. (London . 

 George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 



arsenic is present in all fruits and vegetables 

 (C. R. Acad. Sci., April, 1912). Lest this fact 



that 



the feorth. 



Agriculture at Aberdeen University. 

 Mr. James Hendrick, B.Sc, lecturer in 



chemistry at the Aberdeen and North of Scotland plants is extremely small. Thus of Bananas, 

 College of Agriculture, has been appointed to which contain least of all, it would be necessary 



to eat a thousand pounds in order to introduce 

 into the system one grain of arsenic. Even in 



SCOTLAND. 



PRESENTATION OF MEDALS TO 



ROOD PARK KEEPERS. 



HOLY- 



Lord Glencon 



^. «,. Acaa. oci., a P i ii, «rx*,. i^i, «i« t~. Qn the afternoon of M ay 29, Lord wencuu 



should disturb the minds of the timid, we hasten ner? the t^j High Commissioner to the General 



the chair of agriculture in the Aberdeen Univer- 

 sity. Lord Strathcona, an old lord rector of 

 the University, has endowed this new chair of 

 agriculture with a gift of £10,000. The high 

 qualifications and wide experience of the new 

 professor encourage the expectations that agri- 

 cultural education in the area under his juris- 

 diction will be greatly strengthened. 



Assembly, presented, by command of his ** a J e ^Ji 

 King George, in the Throne Room, Holyrooa 

 Palace, Edinburgh, medals to 11 park keepers 

 of Holyrood Park. The medals were struck w 

 commemorate the Coronation and the visit 

 the King and Queen to Edinburgh last year. 



PRESENTATION TO A GARDENER- 

 contain more arsenic than most plants, the actual Mr Jqhn John8to for 43 ™ ars gardener 



amount is so small that no matter how many he at Barjarg Towers, Dumfries, has been V ve ' 

 ate, indigestion and not arsenic poisoning would gented with a sum of money by friends to m aI 

 be his portion. the occasion of his retirement. 



uffl 



himself 



