August 9, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



107 



" In dry weather a much larger quantity of this acid may 

 be present in the air without doing any injury to plants. It 

 is in wet weather that air containing only traces of sul- 

 phurous acid is injurious to vegetation. In localities where 

 much coal of inferior quality — generally rich in iron pyrites 

 — is burned, the injury done to vegetation by the sulphurous 

 acid proceeding from such coal may often be seen at a 

 distance of from one to two miles from the place where the 

 smoke is generated. 



" Farmers residing in a neighbourhood where brick-kilns 

 and potteries abound frequently sustain much more injury 

 than they are themselves aware. The quantity of sulphurous 

 acid emanating from open brick-kilns is very considerable, 

 and there cannot be any doubt that in certain localities the 

 air is poisoned with sulphurous acid gas to an extent which 

 prevents the healthy growth of Wheat, Barley, or Oats— so 

 that good crops are rarely seen in such localities, and blighted 

 ones are quite the rule. 



" By a recent Act of Parliament provision is made for the 

 effectual condensation of muriatic acid gas in alkali works ; 

 but, as far as I know, there is no law which prevents brick- 

 makers throwing into the air any quantity of sulphurous 

 acid which they choose, although it is more pernicious to 

 vegetation than even muriatic acid gas. I have had many 

 opportunities of becoming practically acquainted with the 

 injurious effects which a smoky atmosphere produces on our 

 cereal crops, and regard a strong deposition of soot on Wheat 

 and other crops quite a sufficient evidence of the more or 

 less complete injury which the crops must have suffered by 

 the sulphurous acid always present in the air in districts 

 where such sooty deposits are seen on plants. The disad- 

 vantages of carrying on agricultural pursuits in the potteries, 

 or in districts where volumes of black smoke discharge enor- 

 mous quantities of sulphurous acid into the air, are well 

 known amongst the more intelligent and enterprising farmers. 

 This fact explains to a certain extent the backward condition 

 of agriculture in such localities, and loudly calls for a miti- 

 gation of the evils to which farmers are exposed who have 

 the misfortune to occupy land in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of large manufacturing towns, or in localities where 

 immense quantities of inferior coal are consumed by brick 

 and tile makers, and manufacturers of earthen and stone 

 ware, &c. Again, in districts where copper ore, consisting 

 for the greater part of the sulphurets of copper or iron, are 

 the raw materials from which copper-smelters extract the 

 metal, enormous quantities of sulphurous acid are discharged 

 into the atmosphere. 



"The injury done to vegetation by the smoke from copper 

 works has been traced beyond a distance of four miles. It 

 is true that smoke from copper works generally contains 

 appreciable quantities of arsenic, which, of course, is inimical 

 to the health of plants ; but as the arsenical fumes are in- 

 significant in quantity in relation to the large amount of 

 sulphurous acid which is produced in roasting copper ores, 

 and as air containing 1 -40,000th or even l-80,000th part of 

 sulphurous acid gas is decidedly injurious to vegetation in 

 wet weather, I think the sulphurous acid of copper smoke 

 does more mischief to the crops in the neighbourhood of the 

 works than the arsenical compounds of the smoke. Just as 

 little as alkali-makers are permitted to discharge muriatic 

 acid into the air, copper-smelters should be allowed to dis- 

 charge into the air the enormous quantities of sulphurous 

 acid which is produced in roasting certain copper ores. It 

 may, perhaps, not be possible to condense sulphurous acid 

 so perfectly or as readily as muriatic acid gas, and probably 

 the arrangements for the condensation of the former will be 

 found altogether inappropriate to effect the condensation of 

 the latter, but attempts to mitigate the evil resulting to 

 vegetation by sulphurous acid fumes should be seriously 

 undertaken. 



" It has occurred to me that the sulphurous acid fumes of 

 copper works might, perhaps, be converted economically into 

 sulphuric acid, or be used for the production of sulphite or 

 hyposulphite of soda; and I do not consider it improbable 

 that one of these days this highly injurious product will 

 cease to be a nuisance to the inhabitants of the country 

 round about the works, and be turned to good economical 

 account. 



" As regards the actual quantities of sulphurous acid gas 

 ■contained in the smoke of brick-kilns, we possess no data 



for out guidance. The quality of the coal used, the con- 

 struction of the kiln, and the composition of the clay of 

 which the bricks are made, must affect to a great extent the 

 proportion of sulphurous acid in the smoke. Thus a coal 

 with a high per-centage of sulphur, but containing also much 

 mineral matter, on burning may produce less sulphurous 

 acid than another kind of coal, poorer in sulphur and in 

 mineral matter, inasmuch as the greater portion of the 

 sulphur is fixed by the mineral portion of some coals. Again, 

 if the clay contains magnesia or lime, or is purposely mixed 

 with chalk, most of the sulphur of the coal »vill be fixed by 

 the magnesia or lime. 



" The brick-makers in the neighbourhood of London, who 

 use with the clay a considerable proportion of chalk, there- 

 fore produce a smoke which contains but very little sul- 

 phurous acid ; whilst in districts where fire-bricks, tiles, &c, 

 are largely manufactured from clay that does not contain 

 lime or magnesia, or merely insignificant quantities, the air 

 becomes charged with sulphurous acid to an extent which 

 iniuriously affects the vegetation for miles round the brick 

 clamps or kilns." 



EOYAL PAEKS AND PLEASURE GAEDENS. 



An estimate of the amount that will be required to defray 

 the charges which will come in the course of payment during 

 the year ending 31st of March, 1865, for maintaining and 

 keeping in repair the walls, keepers' lodges, and other build- 

 ings, the fences, roads, rides, drives, footpaths, plantations, 

 &c, in the several Boyal Parks, Pleasure Gardens, Ac, 

 under the management of the Commissioners of Her Ma- 

 jesty's Works and Public Buildings. 



This estimate is limited to such expenses in the several 

 royal parks and gardens as are requisite to maintain them 

 for the public use. Expenses not connected with the ap- 

 propriation of the parks and gardens to strictly public pur- 

 poses, are provided for in the estimate for " Palaces." 



S s. d. 



Albert Road, Regent's Park 1219 14 6 



Battersea Park 6846 2 6 



Bushy Park 2760 8 5 



Chelsea Hospital Grounds 1657 10 2 



Chelsea Military Asylum Grounds 128 17 9 



Greenwich Park 1977 15 2 



Ditto (Department of the Rangerl 408 4 



Hampton Court Park '. 980 19 



Ditto Pleasure Gardens 1803 10 1 



Ditto Roads 953 



HolyroodPark 2074 19 6 



Kennington Park - 1584 13 2 



Kensington Gardens 4076 5 1 



Kew Botanic Gardens — 15339 16 8 



Kew Pleasure Gardens 4642 11 8 



Longford River 1051 



Regent's Park , 9964 7 4 



Richmond Park 3209 2 9 



Ditto (Department of the Ranger) ., 2835 3 



Richmond and Kew Roads 1241 IS 8 



St. James's, Green, and Hyde Parks 25506 12 5 



Ditto (Department of the Kanger) 1798 9 5 



Victoria Park 5934 7 2 



97993 6 5 

 Amount voted for the year ending 31st March, 1864, £97,952. 

 Note.— The income derived from the Royal Parks and Gardens is paid 

 into the Consolidated Fund. The amount so paid in for last year was 

 £3527 15s. 



SIR W. J. HOOKER'S REPORT ON KEW GARDENS. 



Royal Gardens, Kew, 'W., 1st January, 1864. 

 As was to be expected, the number of visitors to the Eoyal 

 Gardens during the past year was below that of 1S62, the 

 year of the International Exhibition, and is as follows : — 



Number on Sundays' o^'oof 



Number on week-days 'q 3 ~ 



Greatest monthly attendance (July) 98,315 



Smallest monthly attendance (January) 1,768 



Greatest week-day attendance (25th of May) 11,631 



Smallest week-day attendance (24th of November) 2 



Greatest Sunday attendance (21st of June) 12,441 



Smallest Sunday attendance (11th of January) „ 28 



Good Friday (3rd of April) 9 . 798 



Total 401,061 



The number of intelligent visitors of all classes who fre- 

 quent the museum and plant-houses for purposes of in- 

 struction have increased; and this has been even more the 

 case with scientific visitors. 



