202 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



March 9, 1912 



ROTHAMSTED EXPERIMENT 



STATION. 



The annual report by Mr. A. D. Hall, 

 F.R.S., on the work accomplished at the 

 Rothamsted Experiment Station during the 

 past year is, as usual, of much interest, es- 

 peeialiy to those who are engaged in agri- 

 culture. It shows that both the director and 

 tlie members have been active, not only in 

 the conduct of experiments on the lines which 

 have made the station famous throughout 

 the civilised world, but in carrying out others 

 of a somewhat d.lferent character that pro- 

 mise to be of far-reaching importance to 

 those concerned with the various branches 



of horticulture. 



There is a full report on the experiments 

 with farm crops, and with reierence to in- 

 vestigations in connection with garden 

 crops it is stated that at the laboiatory the 

 pot experiments on the continuous growth 

 of plants in the same soil have been con- 

 tinued for another season without avs yet 

 any conclusive results, and the same state- 

 ment might be applied to the experiments 

 upon clover sickness. The vegetation house 

 was very largely given up to a new series 

 of experiments ou the treatment of sick 

 greenhouse soils, which have become uuHt 

 for the continued growth of crops after two 

 years' use in the greenhouse, though they 

 are still exceptionally rich in plant food. 

 Methods of treating the soil by heating to 

 various temperatures and by the use of anti- 

 septics were tested with satisfactory results, 



method " ^ ' — -i^i- -^i 



iu the new district. In Bedfordshire, a dis- 

 tinct association was found to exist between 

 some of the species and the soils upon which 

 they grew, but the determining factor proved 

 to be the texture of the soil, except m the 

 one case of the calcareous soils derived from 

 the chalk. 



GARDEN CITY PROBLEMS 



(Concluded from page 161.) 



Types of Garden Cities 



commercial scale has been worked out, which 

 is being extensively tested. It seems likely 

 that at a very small cost the growers oi 

 tomatoes and cucumbers under glass may 

 be saved fvoni what has hitherto been the 

 expensive necessity of frequently renewing 

 their soil. Dr. Russell and Dr. Hutchinson, 

 with Mr. Petherbridge, have been studying 

 in detail the chemical, physical, and bio- 

 logical changes brought about in the soil by 

 the treatment, and the results are almost 

 readv for publication. Dr. Russell has also 

 been' extending his work upon the part 

 played by the protozoa in the production of 

 sewage-sick soils and the effect of partial 

 sterilisation in restoring their activity. This 

 work has been undertaken in connection with 

 Mr. J. Golding on sewage farms at Keg- 

 worth and Kingston, and a very considerable 

 measure of success has been attained by the 

 treatment. 



The experiments on the toxic and stimulat- 

 ing effects of small quantities of various 

 mineral substances were continued, and a 

 series of experiments were begun on the 

 growth of plants in extracts of the soils from 

 the experimental plots. These latter trials 

 have yielded some very striking results, 

 which are to be repeated and extended in 

 the coming year. Another series of experi- 

 ments dealt with the growth of plants in 

 nutritive solutions of various concentrations, 

 either as water cultures or with the 

 nutritive solution added to sand so as to keep 

 the soil moist but not wet. In all cases 

 growth was found to be proportional to the 

 concentration of the solution, even though 

 the solutions were regularly renewed and 

 always provided the plant with an excess of 

 nutrients. It was also found that the solu- 

 ble nutrients could diffu.se with perfect free- 

 dom along the thin water lilms coating the 

 grains of sand, and that there was no re- 

 tardation of growth even when the nutrients 

 were enclosed in porous pots inside the sand, 

 so that they were forced to travel by diffu- 

 sion before they could reach the plant's 

 roots. Further "experiments on this subject 

 are projected for the coming year. 



Dr. Brenchley resumed her study of the 

 weeds of arable land, taking this time a 

 district on the borders of North West W ili- 

 shire and Somerset, which gave her a range 

 of formations including some of those that 

 ■were dealt with in her work of 1911 on 

 the soils of South Bedfordshire. It is in- 

 teresting to find that the association of par- 

 ticular weeds with part'cular soils which 

 prevailed in ^South Bedfordshire did not al- 

 ways hold for the same formations and weeds 



There are three distinct types of Garden 

 City, and as to which of these is the ideal 

 type there may be difference of opinion. A 

 great deal must depend on local and other 

 circumstances. Vie have, first, the older 

 cities and towns, with their centres of civic 

 life, and their outlying garden suburbs; 

 secondly, we have the complete industrial 

 town with its sites for public works, and its 

 oivic buildings, etc., laid out on a complete 

 Garden City plan, such as Letchworth, 

 Bournville, Port ?5unlight, etc. ; and, thirdly, 

 we have the simply garden village, such as 

 New Earswick. ±rom a health po.ntof view, 

 there doesn't seem to be much to be said for 

 the one in preference to the other, provided 

 there is no overcrowding of the dwellings, 

 for the death-rate per 1,0{J0 at Bournville 

 (5 7) is not a great deal lower than that oi: 

 uncrowded Keivinside (7.7.); but when we 

 compare it with crowded Cowcaddens (24.3), 

 the contrast is very striking. But to which- 

 ever of these types the Garden City (belongs, 

 it is essential that it be well planned. There 

 must be economy in everything. There must 

 be no wasteful expenditure on unnecessarily 

 winding streets or roads, 'but at the same 

 time, the lay-out of the streets is a matter 

 of much importance when considered in rela- 

 tion to the prevailing winds. Long, straight 

 streets running in the direction of the pre- 

 vailing winds, especially if the buildings be 

 high, are not favourable to tree growth, and 

 street trees are one of the most essential fea- 

 tures of the Garden City. Many of you, no 

 doubt have heard of, and some of you may 

 have seen, the "ringed" streets of Cologne, 

 Weisbaden, or Frankfort. It is said that the 

 planners of these towns adopted this system 

 of laying out these streets in order to check 

 wind currents, and it certainly must have a 

 considerable effect in this way. 



Another objectionable feature in the Gar- 

 den Citv is the presi'iico m high buildings 

 amongst the cottage dwellings. These form 

 wind blocks, and they do immense mischief 

 to vegetable life in their vicinity. In fact, 

 so well aware are the German town planners 

 of drawbacks of this sort that they alwajs 

 endeavour to place factories and other high 

 buildings in such positions that this will not 

 happen, and that the smoke discharged from 

 them will not he carried over the town. 

 Other things essential to the success of a 

 Garden City are a reasonably good soil, and 

 a fairly pure atmosphere, and, above ail, 

 there must be no crowding of the dwellings, 

 and there must ]>e plenty of open space. 



As to the particular lay-out which should 

 be adopted, this will, of course, vary accord- 

 ing to circumstances; in this, as in the de- 

 signing of the dwellings, and in every- 

 thing else connected with it, the charm of 

 the problem is, as Lord Pentland remarked 

 in his address tlio Town Planning Exhibi- 

 tion in Edinburo-h in :MaiTh last. " its niiuiy- 

 sidedness." But the chief charm of the jiroit- 

 lem, it seems to me, lies in the fact that it 

 is the only possible system o 

 working classes (who, with few exceptions, 

 have nothing to look to at present but a 

 tenement house), which will provide a good, 

 healthy environment, which is absolutely 

 necessary to prevent degeneration of the 



Nowadays, we hear a- great deal about 

 school gardening in connection with the edu- 

 cation of our children, and a very laudable 

 effort is 'being made hy the "Open Spaces 

 Committee of the Outlook Tower " to convert 

 waste spaces in the old town of Edinburgh 

 into gardens for the people; and quite re- 

 cently a proposal was made to establish gar- 

 den allotments in the Gorgie district. There 



can be no doubt about the propriety of in- 

 stilling into every boy and gin by a littk 

 practical demonstration, no matter what 

 walk in life he or she may afterwards tread, 

 a love for gardening, and it can have nothing 

 but an elevating influence^ if nothing else, 

 on the minds of our slum children, to draw 

 them from the streets into these open spaces,, 

 in order to, if [possible, give them a littlo 

 interest in the art; but in our Garden City 

 all this would be part of their existence. 



The allotment idea is all very well in a 

 way. To the town dweller who, perforce, 



has to live in one of these tenements I have 

 been alluding to, the allotment affords a 

 means not only of indulging in a hobby, but 

 of providing healthy recreation for Sbotli 

 mind and body ; but, to my mind, the allot- 

 ment is only a makeshift at the best. The 

 tenant himself may benefit, but as the allot- 

 ment must of necessity, in the majority of 

 cases, at any rate, be at some distance from 

 his home (and the distance will generally 

 be found to he greater or less, according to 

 whether he happens to live in a mere or less 

 densely populated part of the City), it cannot 

 afford much in the way of facilities for ob- 

 taining fresh air and healthy enjoyment to 



his wife and family. . -i 



Given cheap land and cheap and rapid 

 transit, I have said that all the other diffi- 

 culties would vanish. Let me now refer for 

 a moment to some of the advantages we now 

 enjoy in the possession of plant materials of 

 all kinds compared with what our [forefathers 

 had. Never was there a time in our history 

 when the plant materials necessary to pro- 

 duce our ideal Garden City were more plenti- 

 ful or more easily obtained than at present 

 We have now a wealth of hardy flowers and 



shrubs which were unobtainable, and in 



I need 



w^^^ A -— - J 



many cases unknown, 50 years ago. 

 only mention the decorative roses and chry- 

 santhemums, the new types of sweet peas, 

 and the hardy herbaceous plants and bulbs 

 which are now easily oMainable by all, and 

 which can be gro>wn hy the humblest cot- 



It has often been remarked that in Scot- 

 land the working classes are far behind then 

 English brethren in the cultivation oi 

 flowers, fruits, and vegetables, but I believe 

 the reason for this difference is largely due 

 to the different conditions under which tliey 

 are housed, though no doubt there are otlier 

 reasons. But all this will, no doubt, soon 

 be changed when we adopt the Garden luv 

 plan of housing, which, after all, is based 

 in its inception on "the cottage homes o 

 England." I can conceive nothing wiiicu 

 would have such a potent influence in t' ^ 

 bringing about of more temperate habits lu 

 the people, which would lessen vice ana 

 crime so much, which would, I believe, ha « 

 such an i;ifluence in staying that waA^ti^ 

 after sport which seems to have seized our 

 youth, and even some of our elders in 

 large towns, than the cultivation of a Jasre 

 for gardening, and the opportunity to pro«- 

 cute it in one's own ground, for which the 

 Garden City offers such an inducement. 

 that I condemn sport as such, lor in o 

 Garden City we would have cricket and iw 

 ball fields, tennis courts and bowling gre«" ■ 

 and everv facility for healthy recreation p. 

 both old"' and young. But the mode o 

 would certainly have a steadying innu*- 

 on our youth, and in what more aelig""^^ 

 way could the artizan spend his ^^'^^"f^^^^e 

 than in his garden:^ What m«re ^^'ll<>lesoW^ 

 influence could he exert on his chiiareii, 

 say nothing of the benefits which they ^oi^._ 

 derive from it otherwise, than m the c 

 vation of his plants and flowers, f f 

 can we expect to rear healthy, seli-resp^^^ 

 ing, self-reliant citizens in our large w 

 than by such means? , 



We hear much of the cry, Back to x ^ 

 Land." It seems to me now that we nav« 

 an Agricultural Small Holdings Act ^^.^-^^ 

 Garden City question has assumed a 

 of greater importance than ever ; for 

 the outskirts of the Garden Cities, a 

 Letchworth, that these s;mall holdan 

 more likely to prosper than in the mo ^-^^ 

 landish and more ihhos,pitable parts o 

 country. 



