Jan, 1907.] 



85 



Horticulture. 



the " Elephant's foot," Elephantopus scabei — which should be dag up by a spud or 

 " daisy fork"; or the plants may be killed by dropping poison into their centre. 

 Worm-casts in lawns are particularly objectionable. Yet their presence might be 

 regarded as more useful than otherwise, for they are the means by which nature 

 manures the grass and drains the surface ; moreover, their presence is a sign of 

 good soil, as their food consists of decaying vegetable matter, which after being 

 digested by them is ejected in the form well-known as worm-castings. Watering 

 the soil with a weak solution of ammonia or lime water will cause the worms to 

 come to the surface, when they should be collected, and destroyed in salt water 

 or other strong solution. 



ROOTS: THEIR GROWTH AND FORMATION. 



Vegetable physiology has no more attractive phase of its complex pheno- 

 mena than that pertaining to roots, for here, whilst there is much that is under- 

 stood, and a little, possibly, that is misunderstood, there is something, in spite of 

 deep research, which still borders on the mysterious. The importance of this 

 subject to the cultivator is generally admitted, and although it is not intended here 

 to follow the scientist far in his fascinating studies, there are a few subtle points, 

 as well as simple facts, so intimately interwoven with successful cultivation as to 

 deserve, or even demand, attention. 



Respecting the growth of roots, it has been proved by experiment that 

 roots growing in a more or less resisting medium increase only by their extremities 

 — viz. , elongation is entirely due to the formation of new matter at the advancing 

 point. In the case of aerial roots, however, this does not appear to exclusively 

 obtain, as evidenced by various orchids having the inherrent power of extension 

 in the already developed root fibre ; the same probably occurring in more or less 

 degree with roots enveloped in a moisture-holding medium, yet offering but little 

 or no resistance. This phenomena, nevertheless, does not affect the question 

 relative to cultivation, which is that not only is it the constant endeavour of 

 roots under normal conditions to seek fresh feeding ground, but to escape from 

 their old quarters, of which anon. 



Root-pruning may be said to hold the same position in relation to the 

 subject as branch pruning does to top growth, inasmuch as the abrupt curtailment 

 and deprivation induces a bud-like formation on the matured woody fibre, 

 eventually developing into active feeding roots more directly under control of the 

 cultivator's hand ; and here it is very necessary not only that fresh soil should 

 be given, but that as much of the exhausted medium should be removed as can be 

 done with safety ; and where unsatisfactory trees can be safely transferred to fresh 

 sites it is often of distinct advantage to do so. 



In relation to the above phase of our subject we now have to briefly consider 

 phenomena which are not only intensely interesting, but, in a way, present points 

 of similarity to functions of life in the animal kingdom. This is that roots perform 

 dual functions, and are not only organs by which nutriment is conveyed to the 

 body and its ramifications, but excrete fsecal matter which, although highly 

 deleterious to the subject producing it, as well as its near relations, may, besides 

 being harmless to members of a distinct general, be of positive benefit, and, as 

 Dr. Lindley says, the necessity for rotation of cropping depends less upon the 

 exhaustion of certain constituents in the soil than upon the presence of this 

 evacuated matter. In the case of some evergreens, notably Laurels, which have 

 monopolised the one position for many years, and renovation is attempted without 

 due regard being given to this matter, the figurative conclusion, " poisoned ground," 

 may, as a rule, be taken in its most literal sense. With [some trees, that of the, 



