86 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The chief objection which is sure to be raised against results obtained 

 at an experimental station, whenever such results clash with any pre- 

 conceived notions, is that they are peculiar to the soil and conditions of 

 the station itself. As a criticism, this is quite safe ; for the station must 

 obviously be situated in one particular position, and no two positions can be 

 exactly alike. It would be childish, however, to argue that horticultural 

 and agricultural investigations should not be made because, being of 

 necessity made at one spot, the results can rarely be such as would not 

 be modified in some way under different conditions. The head of an 

 experimental station is not likely to overlook the possible effect of differ- 

 ences in circumstances, or to be backward in seeking to ascertain such an 

 effect, in cases where it is likely to exist. 



The three results of which I have given a brief outline afford examples 

 of classes of results of which confirmation in other soils is necessary in 

 very different degrees. As to manures, it is obvious that the requirements 

 of different soils are, or may be, very different, and we do not dream of 

 drawing the conclusion that the effect which manures have in our soil 

 will be necessarily the same everywhere else. One conclusion of a 

 general character can, however, be drawn even from our manurial experi- 

 ments in the one soil : namely, that the requirements of different kinds of 

 fruit trees are very different ; that while apples, for instance, may not feel 

 the want of manure for many years, gooseberries and other bushes, under 

 the same circumstances, will die for the want of it. This, indeed, we 

 have verified in the case of a soil very different from that at Ridgmont — 

 namely, at Harpenden — where we have a chalk formation with several feet 

 of " clay-with-flints " above it. There we have an acre of mixed plantation 

 to which no manure of any sort has been applied for the last eight or ten 

 years, and yet the trees in it are doing as well in every respect as trees 

 could possibly do, though at the same time, the gooseberry bushes have 

 been practically killed off by the absence of manure. To afford a more 

 precise conception of these results, it may be mentioned that when a row 

 of gooseberries in this ground, 450 feet long, were found to be dying six 

 years ago, some young bush trees of Cox's Orange Pippin were planted 

 within four feet of them, to take their place. The growth of these trees 

 can be estimated by the fact that in one case where measurements were 

 made, it was found that the tree had formed 1,650 feet run of new wood 

 during the present season, besides having borne fairly well. This rampant 

 growth of apples has been taking place on practically the identical spot 

 where gooseberries were dying of hunger. 



As to the effect of grass on trees we can have no certain reasons for 

 holding that this effect will or will not differ in different soils, until we 

 have discovered the true mechanism of the action ; so our minds must be 

 kept open on the subject, and further investigations should be made. But 

 casual observations elsewhere, and definite experiments at Harpenden, 

 argue strongly that, so far as the grassing-over of young trees immediately 

 after transplanting is concerned, the action is the same in most soils. As 

 regards older trees, the results may vary owing to causes which have 

 already been specified. 



With such results as those on careless planting it is difficult, however, 

 to see how they could be influenced by the character of the soil, except to 



