870 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



December 31, 1898, 



normal conditions, rather than on others which will keep in ordinary fruk CHEMICAL MANURES IN VEGETABLE CULTURE. 



At a recent meeting of the Isle of Wight Horticultural Association Mr. F. W. 

 Shrivell, F.L-S., of Tonbridge, gave a lecture on the use of chemical manures in 



Records of these experiments are being carefully kept, and will be published in 

 due course, together with tables of observations, temperatures, and losses by 

 evaporation, and suggestions for the practical general application of cold storage 



arising: from the Dartford experience. * 



Contributions of fruit are acknowledged with grateful thanks from Mr. W. 

 Chambers, of Southfleet, and Mr. R. Mercer, of Rodmersham, members of the 

 Kent County Council ; from Messrs. Bunyard and Co., the well-known Maidstone 

 nomologists; Messrs. Cheal and Sons, the famous Crawley nurserymen; and 

 Messrs. Rivers and Son, of Sawbridgeworth, who have done so much to improve 

 the varieties of fruit ; likewise from Mr. A. J. Thomas, an able and much respected 

 grower in the Sittingbourne district. . 



In conclusion, I am sincerely glad, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, to be able 

 to record some noteworthy initial successes. Your efforts to assist British fruit- 

 growers in a new branch of an old industry already have a reward, and on the 

 valuable practical basis now established a really useful store of knowledge may, I 

 believe, be built up. 



DlSQUAL 



at Flower Shows 



The frequent recurrence at exhibitions of this unpleasant feature (you have men- 

 tioned an apparent bad case at page 692) shows that there is much that is radically 

 wrong in the acts of executives in respect of schedule wording, of exhibitors in 

 mistakes, and in judges in being far too ready to act harshly on misapprehension. 

 The committee appointed by the Royal Horticultural Society some time since to 

 prepare a code of rules for judges' guidance endeavoured, in the large edition 

 issued and now sold out, to deal with this matter. But, whilst their conclusions 

 were that even where trifling errors were committed by an exhibitor who had not 

 the least intention to do wrong the judges must disqualify, there was a saving, 

 though not a very consistent, clause added to the effect that when such disqualified 

 exhibits were meritorious a special prize may be recommended to be awarded to 

 them. A further clause repeated the instruction to the judges to rigidly dis- 

 qualify. At the meeting of the committee held to prepare a second edition strong 

 opinions were expressed that the regulation referred to was unduly harsh in its 

 operation in many cases, especially where the error ia the exhibit likely to produce 

 disqualification was produced by mere inadvertence, failure to read the schedule 

 correctly, accident, or wilful act on the part of some other person. It was also 

 thought that judges, on whose shoulders were placed the entire responsibility of 

 determining disqualification, were placed in a position of undue an d even painful 

 responsibility. 



The new regulation, as recommended to the Council, now takes the form of 

 providing a court of appeal, but without the intervention of the exhibitor. Whilst 

 the burthen of the act of disqualification still remains with the judges, these 

 persons are advised to require the presence of the secretary or manager of the 

 show, who shall first decide whether the case is one that calls for disqualification. 

 If he determines not so, then the award will be made as if no question had been 

 raised ; if he determines the other way, then the disqualification ensues. It is 

 very much a case in which the bona fides of the exhibitor have to be considered, as 

 also other matters, and the responsi bility of determination one way or another more 

 properly rests with the executive, the actual framers of the schedule, than with 

 the judges, whose duties properly are to decide merits and not technical interpre- 

 tations. Of course, there are some cases in which the exhibitor has put himself 

 absolutely out of court, but, after all, these are very few relatively,^ whilst by far 

 the great majority of cases arise from purely technical errors, that it is so obvious 

 are absolutely unintentional, for no exhibitor would be so unwise as to deliberately 

 court disqualification to his own great personal loss and disrepute. Many state- 

 ments were made to the committee of facts relating to exhibits leading to dis- 

 qualification quite outside the exhibitor's control, and little suspected, yet for 

 which the unfortunate competitor has been made unjustly to suffer. Flower show 

 justice should invariably be tempered with equity and mercy. A. D. 



Obituary 



Mr. W. G. Pragnell, who for upwards of forty years occupied the position of 

 head gardener at Sherborne Castle, died suddenly a short time since in his sixty- 

 first year. Mr. Pragnell, who was well known as a successful cultivator and 

 exhibitor of fruits and vegetables, was highly esteemed by a wide circle of 

 friends. 



John TuRNEk Payne, the youngest son of Mr. C. 



regret to announce, quite unexpectedly on the 20th 

 operation. 



Har 

 inst., 



an Payne, died, we 

 after undergoing an 



Fruits as Foods.— The Vegetarian Society, headed by no less a dis- 

 tinguished leader than Mr. Arnold F Hills, has, through the agency of a Christ- 

 mas issue of its ordinary publication, sought to present object lessons in relation to 

 the diverse diets of fruits and meat. Judging by what has of late been seen on 

 every hand, the effort is an heroic one, for certainly Christmas is the great sacri- 

 ficial season of flesh, fish, and fowl, and courage is indeed needed on the part 

 of those who at such a time would contend for the fruit as against the flesh. But, 

 if there has been a wonderful flesh array, there has been not a less striking one of 

 fruits and vegetables. If we bring meat and fowl from the uttermost ends of the 

 earth, so we do fruits, and in the variety presented, as well as in tempting form, 

 there is far more than enough to satisfy the most exacting of vegetarian appetites. 

 Certainly Christmas is the high festival of the stomach, and it is in one way or 

 another filled to repletion. Even our vegetarian friends find it hard to be ascetic, 

 when tempted by grapes, pines, oranges, pears, apples, bananas, raisins, and all 

 sorts of dried and candied fruits, as well as vegetables in exceeding abundance. If 

 anyone is disposed to be vegetarian, there is no lack of needful food, no end hardly 

 to the variety. If the butcher and the poulterer seem for the time to be " uni- 

 versal providers H for man's flesh needs, the fruiterer and grocer run them very 

 hard as caterers, and with no little success. Apart from all food contentions, 

 however, there can be no doubt that a vastly increased demand for all sorts of 

 garden products would be greatly to the benefit of horticulture, therefore 

 gardeners can look with sympathy upon vegetarian efforts.— A. D. 



THE MESSAGE OF PEACE is always aprreciated and respected by all true men, for 

 many of us hope the time is not far distant when it may be universally adopted by all nations. 

 When this comes to pass, happiness and prosperity will be the rule and not the exception. In the 

 meantime, Holloway s 1 ills and Ointment have largely helped to make foreign nations understand 

 tbat hnglihhmen delight in alienating pain and suffering. These wonderful remedies have been 

 blessed m many lands for the reaef they have afforded and the cures effected. They are specially 

 adapted for all complaints affecting the liver, stomach and kidneys, and at this season no family 

 should be without a supply.— [A dvt.] 



the cultivation of vegetable culture. 

 Mr. Shrivell, in his opening 



remarks, stated that they were at Golden 



Green, testing the economical value of chemical or artificial manures as com 

 pared 'with dung. They wanted to know really if it was possible to grow market 

 produce more cheaply by the aid of small quantities of chemicals and dung than 

 with large quantities of dung alone. The past season, again, had been a terrible 

 one for want of rain, the rainfall having fallen far below that of last year, while the 

 rainfall of last year was far below the usual average. On their dry soil they had 

 consequently found it difficult to raise anything, but nevertheless their crops 

 looked remarkably well, everything appertaining to the cabbage tribe especially. 

 This was their fifth year of experimental work, and with the advance of each year 

 the reports became* more interesting. He hoped to show that by the judicious 

 use of chemicals they not only increased their crops, but kept the ground in 

 marvellously good heart ; in fact, their ground was producing more this year than 

 it had ever done before, even through the past exceptionally dry summer. Their 

 system had been to add chemicals to the land to as far as possible take the place of 

 dung. The chief value of dung consisted in the potash, phosphoric acid, ammonia, 

 and lime it contained. They were therefore putting these four chemicals into the 

 ground in suitable proportions, and with a judicious use of that mixture they were 

 obtaining marvellous crops, and at a much cheaper rate than could be produced 

 by the aid of dung alone. Mr. Shirvell then proceeded to show by diagrams the 

 progress which had been made on experimental plots during the last four years, 

 and the approximate cost of the fertilisers used. The diagrams included the 



following : 



A 



25 LOADS DUNG 



I cwt. Nitrate of Soda 

 6 cwt. Basic Slag, or 

 4 cwt. Superphosphate of Lime 

 Cost £6 1 os. per acre. 



C 



CHEMICALS ONLY 



4 cwt. Nitrate of Soda 

 f 6 cwt. Basic Slag, or 

 14 cwt. Superphosphate of Lime 



Cost £3 per acre. 



E 



B , 



25 LOADS DUNG 



2 cwt. Nitrate of Soda 

 f 6 cwt. Basic Slag, or 

 \4 cwt. Superphosphate of Lime 



Cost £7 per acre. 



D 



25 LOADS DUNG 



4 cwt. Nitrate of Soda 



{6 cwt. Basic Slag, or 

 4 cwt. Superphosphate of Lime 

 Cost £8 per acre* 



F 



50 LOADS DUNG 



Cost £10 per acre. 



25 LOADS DUNG 



Cost £$ per acre. 



Dealing by the aid of his large diagram (in which all the results were calcu 

 lated upon a per acre basis) with some of the most interesting crops, the lecturer 

 first took 



• • • 



• • • 



F Plot 

 E Plot 



D Ploti(Salt)... 

 D Plot (Kainit) 

 C Plot (Salt)... 

 C Plot (Kainit) 



Asparagus (First Year's Cutting). 



Bundles per acre 

 (50 sticks). 

 603 

 687 

 804 



1,158 

 622 



• • • 



• • ft 



ft • • 



■ ft ft 



ft • ft 



1 a 



ft ■ « 



ft • ■ 



• • • 



ft ft ft 



ft t « 



• ft)* 



ft • ■ 



» ft • 



• ft • 



• • ft 



806 



• ft ft 



• ft ft 



Weight per 

 Bundle. 

 17 oz. 

 17% oz. 



21% oz. 



2Q l /i OZ. 



17% oz. 



21 OZ. 



It would be seen, he said, from the above figures that they had grown an 

 enormous crop by the use of chemicals. Where they reduced their heavy dung 

 from 50 (F) to 25 (E) loads per acre, they grew, singularly enough, a few more 

 bundles, and heavier in weight. But where they added chemicals to the dung 

 the crop and weight were much larger and heavier. Thus it had been proved that 

 by giving a light coating of dung to the beds in the winter, and a moderate dose of 

 chemicals in the summer, they increased their crop to a very marvellous extent, 

 in reality they had nearly doubled it. 



t • • 



F Plot 

 E Plot 



D Plot (Salt)... 

 D Plot (Potash) 

 C Plot (Salt)... 

 C Plot (Potash) 



Second Year's Cutting. 



Bundles per acre 

 (50 sticks). 



• • • 



• I ft 



ft • ft 



• ft 



• • ft 



ft ft ft 



• ft ft 



• • • 



• ft ft 



Weight pe 

 Bundle. 

 18 oz. 



• • « 



■ « • 



1,109 

 1, in 



1,132 

 1,351 

 990 ... 19 oz 



• ft ft 



a • • 



17 OZ. 



19K oz. 

 2 1 l A oz. 



1,029 ... 21 OZ. 



In this second year, again, by the substitution of potash for salt, the crop was 

 largely increased. On the sea coast asparagus beds were manured with sea-weed, 

 the idea being that it was the salt which did the good. But these experiments had 

 shown it to be the potash of the weed, and not the salt, which was most beneficial, 

 and the best plan was to leave the salt out entirely, for it did very little good 

 at all. 



Tripoli Onions (two years' average).— F plot, 9 tons ; E plot, 7 tons ; A 

 plot, 9 tons 7 cwt. ; B plot, 9 tons 5 cwt. ; D plot, 10 tons 15 cwt. With this 

 crop the heavy dressing of dung produced two tons more than the light dressing, 

 but a light dressing of chemicals, in addition to the light dressing of dung, pro- 

 duced a slightly better crop, while a heavy addition of chemicals raised the crop 

 to 13^ tons per acre. This year they had a still more enormous crop, as follows : 

 F plot, 12 tons 12)4 cwt, ; E plot, 14 tons 11^ cwt. ; A plot, 15 tons ; B plot 

 (potash), 19 tons 1 cwt. ; D plot, 17 tons 14^ cwt. 



Those weights were all marketable onions, but the most interesting feature 

 was the proportion of unmarketable onions— those which had gone to seed or were 

 rotten— to each plot. On the F plot there were five tons of unmarketable onions 

 per acre, but on the E plot only 13^ cwt., and on the B 2 tons 13^ cwt. The 

 inference was that the dung being put in the ground before the seed was sown the 

 onions were brought along too rapidly ; whereas the chemicals being put in later 

 had done their work quietly and well, and there were not nearly so many rotten 

 onions. A large number of the bulbs were over one pound in weight, and it 

 should be remembered that they were grown on an open corn field and on a very 

 poor " M 



Strawberries (three years' average). 



12 cwt. ; B plot (no Kainit), 1 ton 19^ 

 t. Fourth year's cron_F Dlot. 2 tons 12 < 



1% 



tons 7 cwt. ; C plot, 2 tons 9% cwt. A comparison of those figures 

 1 a wonderful increase in the fourth year's crop. There was a limit to tnc 

 ng of strawberries, and they found the best method was to give the piams 

 dressing of dung and chemicals every year. They dug in the dung during 



