VOL. LV.— Xo. 3,aS6 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21. 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK 



*>I (h'v]) oroan, of tlie remains of 



gaiiisms, the mmd becomes 



m 



111 H'I'O.SCOpiC 



paralysed in the attempt to oomput^^ iho 

 time required for the pr<K^s&. Still mor- 

 are we incapable of grasping the extent of 

 the changes involved in 

 necessary foi-. tlu 



most of this ]ua>s from the depths of a 

 sideration of what it really is should be of deep ocean to some hundreds of feet 

 interest. As a rule, its presence is benefi- in the upper air, and to remain there so 

 cialj and in many cases essential^ but there long that probably a considerable part of 



rhododendrons 



Since the absence or ipresence of lime in 

 the soil is often a determining factor as re- 

 gards the succe-ssful growth or faihire of 

 the plants located therein j a little 



and the time 

 subsequent elevation of 



con- 



are many plants, such as 

 and other-Sj on which it practically 

 acts as a poison, the reason of 

 such sympathy and antipathy 

 being quite unknown. Lime oc- 

 curs geologically in several forms 

 and many formations, such as the 

 chalk and limestone, which cover 



enormous areas and are of great 

 thickness, and found to consist 

 almost entirely of lime (calcium) 

 in combination with carbonic acid 

 gaSj thus forming carbonate of 

 lime. In the chalk we find the 

 deposit to consist entirely of the 

 skeletons of mostly microscopic 

 organisms which once lived in 

 deep ocean water^ whence we must 

 assume they derived the lime 

 fl-hich was (built up into 

 shells or skeletons. This belief is 

 justified by the fact thatpure lime 

 is so thoroughly soluhle in water 

 that a considerable quantity may 

 be present in it without any detri- 

 ment to its transparency, though 

 immediately it becomes associated 

 ^'ith carbonic acid gas, equally 

 transparent and equally capahle 



it as- 



it has been again 



ssoh' 



and 



carriea 



their 



■ V 

 t - 



I-'" 



■i - 



permeatin 



sumes a solid form. This we can 

 prove by taking a vessel of clear 

 lime water and blowing into it hy 

 means of a tube, thus intro<lucing 

 the carbonic acid gas which we 

 e^ale with every breath. The 

 ^ater at once becomes turbid and 

 "^ilky, and in a short time a deposit of 

 jarbonate of lime is seen at the bottom, 

 Jn the formation of the chalk this associa- 

 tion of the two elements must have been 

 ettected by the minute organisms aforesaid, 

 the carbonic acid doubtless having 



produced by vital action an ih^ snni. 

 ciple 



ME. €. E. SHEA 



proj>er. The pure Avhite kinds are pure 

 carbonate of lime in a crystalline form, 

 the veined and coloured ones owe their 

 tints to infiltration of iron and otlier oxides. 

 In Asiatic Turkey there are ranges of moun- 

 tains of considerable height of pure white 

 marble from base to summit and of un- 

 known depth, and, altliough a verv varieil 

 and curious vegetation finds a footing in 

 the hollows, to mount them on horseback 

 IS like climbing an enormous mass of pure 



An incomprehensible fact in 

 this connection is that e\-erv here 

 and there in these hills, like'plums 

 in a pudding, pockets 

 thousands of 



loaf sugar. 



of 



tons 



pure 

 cur. 



Co 



some 

 each of 



■undum (emery) 

 as black as ink 

 quite sharply defined 



surrounding white, 

 its 



solubility, lime 



oc- 

 and 

 in the 

 Owing to 



and 



formations 

 exposed to the weather are con- 

 stantly being eaten away, 

 thus, although the general con- 

 tour of a chalk country^ like the 

 Weald of Kent, is superficially 

 one of gentle undulation, immense 

 caves are often farmed bv undpr- 



ground streams, and these 



are 



frequently rendered very beauti- 



stalactites 

 mites formed within 

 1 i me-1 ad en droppi n g s 

 roofs^ the stalactite 

 overhead pendant spil 

 mation, and the stalagmite 



them by 



the 



from 

 being 



the 



the 



CO n i cal pro j ec tio n 



mod be- 



Th 



down 



ocea 



to be used again 



in course of time, connect to- 

 gether, forming columns and cur- 

 tains and other curious associa- 

 tions of great beauty. Limi^- 

 stone formations also arise on the 

 surface where hot springs, lime- 

 laden, emerge, as in New Zealand^ 

 and these also form Aery curious 

 and beautiful accumulations, de- 

 void , 



course, of 



anv organic 



^ , . • ^ traces, and in this way showing us how 



like fashion, lhat it is so re-used is proved ^ther limestone strata may have originate<l 

 'by the tact that new chalk formations on iiulirecth 

 practically precisely similar lines are heing 

 deposited to-day in the 



ed 



depths. The 



ganic limestone ones. 



been other great limestone deposits which crop M 



as with ourselves. 



^iinection 



this 



When, in 

 ^ we consider the thi< kncs.s and 

 extent of the chalk formation ^^'nh which 

 are familiar along our southern coasts 

 b .Kent to Devon, and, 



up all over the world have more 



less trait w e have the pleasure of giving in this 



Jvent to jyevon, ami, passing 

 knT^^^ ,^:^^^don, reappears a long way in- 



diverse origins and composition, but in issue, is so well-known to our readers for 



most of them the evidence of organic origin the splendid ser\nces he has rendered in 



is obvious in tlie shape of shells or skei(- the cause of horticulture that there is no 



tons, microscopic or large, though in many occasion to refer otherwise than brieflv to 



the process of change know^n as metamoi- 



aocom 



, and is hundreds of feet in thickness, 

 we are forced to attribute this immense 

 ^ to the slow deposition, at the bottc 



phosis, due to immense pressu 



and molet'ular action, has obliterate<l a.li 



heat, of the well-directed eflForts 



traces of such. Th 



ancement 



For manv 



cf years Mr. Shea devoted a considerable pro- 



n the marbles, all of which are limest<nn s portion of his leisure to chrysanthemums, 



