23 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 13, 1890. 
that in every sense might be called a palace, 
thoroughly well kept that any prince might he proud 
of it. The front door square covers a very large area, 
and is surrounded with a finely hewn balustrade, 
with a handsome j gate opening into the avenue 
proper. 
Conducted round the house we reached the conservatory, 
which, like many more of those built to correspond with 
the mansion, is sufficiently lighted for general plant 
growing. It is filled for the most part with Palms, 
Dracaenas, Ferns, &e., interspersed with flowering plants ; 
while the roof and columns are draped with Tacsonia 
exoniensis, Hovea celsa, Cantua dependens, Trachelos- 
permum jasminoides, &c. On entering this structure 
our attention was arrested by an Agave Americana 
with a flower spike 21 ft. high, which had grown at the 
rate of 3 ins. daily for the first three weeks of its growth. 
Everything here is in keeping with its vicinity; clean¬ 
liness and order prevailing. The velvety lawns stretch 
away on either side of this, and in front of the door is 
a small flower garden ; but this is only plainly bedded, 
the border referred to above having the preference, and 
that too denotes good taste. We noted here a bank of 
Rhododendrons, which from their appearance are a 
special feature, among them being R. campilocarpum 
(a rare specimen), R. Nulli, R. Thomsoni, R. 
Falconeri, R. Wightii, &c., &c. 
We now leave the grounds proper, and ascending two 
flights of steps, came on a woodland walk leading to the 
gardens, having branches leading in all directions 
miles away. Through the woods many pleasant 
surprises were in store for us, at every turn facing some 
fine specimen of Coniferfe or other choice tree, all 
planted by Mr. Russell. Many of these are noble 
specimens, and others, as Mr. Russell aptly remarked, 
“ will please the rising generation, and some younger, 
man in the profession will be proud of them.” Remark¬ 
able specimens of the following were passed as we 
retraced our steps to the garden, viz. : Picea grandis, 
60 ft. high, Thuja Lobbii, 40 ft., Abies canadensis, 
50 ft., and numerous others; while hundreds of Picea 
nobilis are to be found planted anywhere and every¬ 
where. 
Passing on we came to a nook where many 
varieties of British Ferns are planted ; and on a 
rock at the rear some Druidical carvings appear. 
Thesearechiefiy circles-with an arrowpointing eastwards, 
and in a corner, quite by itself, the then indispensable 
horse-shoe is quite distinct. Here we were shown a 
plant of Aspidistra lurida variegata, which Mr. Russell 
assured us had stood unprotected for several years. It 
is in company with a Chamaerops excelsa planted 
on the grass. The kitchen garden is reached at 
I as t—a walled enclosure of considerable size. 
The walls, which are brick-built, are fitted 
with sliding doors that slide into a cavity in 
the wall, a plan that might be universally adopted for 
safety against wind. The walls are clothed on either 
side with fruit trees : Cherries and Plums occupying 
the greater space. These are bearing heavy crops, and 
among the latter all the leading varieties are grown; 
and Yictoria, Green Gage, Orleans, and Kirk’s 
Seedling were carrying enormous crops. Pears occupy 
positions also here and there, and among those note¬ 
worthy wer e Fondante d’Automne, Louise Bonne of 
Jersey, Beurre Diel, B. d’Amanlis, General Todtleben, 
Prince of Wales, &c., all carrying good crops. Apples 
do not succeed here, neither on walls nor as standards, 
and consequently need not be commented upon. All 
small fruits had been good with the exception of Black 
Currants—disease being prevalent. Vegetables of 
superior quality are grown ; indeed, better could not 
be seen anywhere, and daily supplies are maintained 
all the year round. 
In the gardens and grounds of Poltalloch there is 
plenty of scope for imagination, and with such a liberal¬ 
handed proprietor, this could be carried to excess ; 
but in no department does Mr. Russell exhibit any 
approach to over-elaboration. Everything is in such 
good order inside and outside that it cannot be said any¬ 
thing at all is ignored, that another might be brought 
to perfection. An uniformity of order and neatness is 
maintained that cannot fail to attract the attention 
of the most indifferent observer. After enjoying the 
hospitality of Mr and Mrs. Russell for two days, and 
the latter kindly driving us to Ardrishaig, we wished 
them good-bye, with a gratefulness that exceeded 
ordinary parting; and with such, will ever be able to 
look back upon our visit to Poltalloch, not only as a 
pleasant holiday, but a horticultural red-letter day. 
— Observer. 
THE LIVING EARTH. 
It has long been recognised by agriculturists, that the 
upper stratum of the soil differs from that immediately 
below it in fertility; and in treatises on gardening 
(notably in that admirable work, written by William 
Cobbett, nearly seventy years since) the warning is 
invariably given to be careful, in trenching, not to 
bury the top spit of soil below the lower-spit, because 
the top spit is by far the most fertile. The fertility in 
this case was supposed to be due to prolonged exposure 
to air, and the lower stratum of soil, if brought to the 
surface, would only become fertile after a considerable 
interval. It is interesting to observe, that although 
these early writers were unacquainted with the whole 
truth, they had grasped the most important fact, and 
their practice was sound. This is often the case, and I 
feel sure that we act rashly when we hastily abandon 
the custom of centuries, because some new fact dazzles 
us and distorts our vision. In connection with William 
Cobbett, I will draw attention to a term which he uses 
more than once in the work referred to, viz., the fer¬ 
mentation of the soil. I have not found this expression 
employed by any other writer, but I have made no 
special search, and my knowledge of agricultural 
authors is limited. Cobbett tells us that the earth 
begins to ferment in spring, and that before sowing, a 
thorough tilling and mixing of the upper strata of the 
soil is very necessary, with a view not only to the dis¬ 
integration of the soil, but to a thorough leavening of 
the whole mass with fermentable matter. There is no 
doubt that this term “ fermentation ” as applied to the 
soil is perfectly apt, as we shall find further on. The 
black vegetable mould which lies upon the surface of 
the earth is largely composed of organic matter, which 
is not to be wondered at, seeing that every organised 
thing, whether animal or vegetable, which inhabits 
this globe falls, when dead, upon the earth, and 
becomes incorporated with it. This black vegetable 
mould is largely composed of excrement, for not only 
is the excrement of the larger animals being constantly 
added to it, but this, and the varied organic debris 
which compose it, pass repeatedly, probably, through 
the bodies of animals which inhabit the earth, especially 
earthworms. 
Darwin, in his book on Vegetable Mould and Earth¬ 
worms, has forcibly drawn attention to the enormous 
amount of work which worms perform in the aggregate. 
How they disintegrate the soil. How they riddle it 
with burrows, which admit air to the deeper recesses of 
the soil. How these castings, which are incessantly 
being thrown off, tend to level inequalities, and 
gradually to bury stones or whatever dead organic matter 
is incapable of solution, digestion, or disintegration. 
Earthworms are found almost everywhere, and they 
are probably the most important of the animals which 
live in the soil ; but I need scarcely say that there are 
many others, and everyone who has a garden must 
recognise the fact that gardening is only carried out at 
an enormous sacrifice of animal life, for with every 
thrust of the spade into rich garden mould a death 
blow is dealt to many of its inhabitants. The disin¬ 
tegration and aeration of the soil, which is effected by 
the quiet tillage of the earth dwellers, is of the greatest 
importance to the agriculturist, for it is hardly con¬ 
ceivable that the delicate rootlets of plants could grow 
and extend unless the soil had been softened and 
pounded by the digestive fluids and the gizzards of the 
earthworms and their neighbours. Seeing, therefore, 
that agricultural mould has all passed through the 
bodies of worms, and much of it through the bodies of 
other animals antecedently, we shall not be wrong in 
insisting that this so-called vegetable mould is mainly 
an animal excrement. The peculiar, sticky, glutinous 
quality of rich mould when moistened is probably in 
part due to this fact. 
Although the amount of animal life in the earth is 
considerable, it is as nothing compared with the rich¬ 
ness of the soil in the lower forms of vegetable life. 
The dead and excremental matter becomes the food of 
saprophytic fungi, which abound in the soil to a very 
great extent. This must be the case, for we know that 
saprophytes and their allies abound everywhere, and as 
the surface of the earth is the common reservoir of all 
forms of life, it follows that these low vegetable 
microbes must be more abundant in the earth than 
elsewhere, and more abundant at the surface than 
deeper down. In Watson Cheyne’s editions of F iigge’s 
work on micro-organisms (Hew Sydenham Society, 
1890) this is very clearly stated : “ Enormous numbers 
of bacteria have always been found in the soil by the 
most various observers. Infusions made from manured 
field and garden earth, even though diluted 100 times, 
still contain thousands of bacteria in every drop, and 
the ordinary soil of streets and courts also shows the 
presence of large numbers. Bacilli are present in much 
the largest numbers ; but in the most superficial lavei '3 
and in moist ground there are also nuifierous forms of 
micro-cocci. These micro-organisms of the soil are 
very active in producing changes in organic matter 
added to the soil. These changes are usually in the 
direction of oxidation ; occasionally the change is one 
of reduction. One thing is certain, that if the soil be 
sterilised by heat or other means, it is no longer 
capable of producing any chemical change in organic 
matter. This seems to me to be a fact of prime 
importance to the sanitarian. 
The oxidation and nitrification of organic matter in 
the soil is a biological question, pure and simple. It is 
an effect produced by the living earth ; a process 
analogous to fermentation, which Cobbett seems to 
have appreciated. Whether the nitrifying process 
which takes place in the soil is due to one, or to many 
varieties of microbe is doubtfnl, but the latter supposi¬ 
tion is probably correct, and experiments seem rather 
to point to the conclusion that, given favourable 
conditions—the free admission of air to a soil which is 
not unduly moistened—nitrification will go on. Many 
attempts have been made to isolate a nitrifying organism, 
and one of the latest, by Professor Percy Frankland 
and Grace Frankland, the results of which were 
communicated to the Royal Society in Februarv, 1890, 
appears to have been successful, for these observers 
isolated a “ Bacillo-Coccus,’’ the power of which in 
producing nitrification appears to be most remarkable. 
Whether this Bacillo-coccus is one of many having 
similar power, or whether it stands alone, is not 
known ; but in any case we must regard it for the 
present as the “Hitrate King ” among microbes. 
It has been asserted that fungi of a higher class, 
mould fungi, are also active in producing disintegration 
and oxidation of organic matter in the soil. It is 
possible, however, that the Bacillus mycoides, which 
forms threads closely resembling mycelium, has been 
mistaken for mould fungus. This Bacillus mycoides is 
one of those which is constantly present, we are told, 
in garden soil. It has been conclusively shown by 
Fhigge, Koch and others, that the microbes are most 
abundant in the superficial layers of the soil, and that 
they tend to disappear in the deeper layers. They are 
practically absent in the deeper layers unless the earth 
has been deeply stirred or trenched, or unless sewer or 
cesspool has conducted filth to the deeper layers with¬ 
out touching the superficial ones. Kumerous filtration 
experiments on a large and small scale have shown 
most distinctly that a layer - of earth £ to 1 metre in 
thickness is an excellent filter for bacteria, and hence 
the purification of fluids from bacteria must be still 
more complete in cultivated, and especially in clay soil, 
and where the fluid moves with extreme slowness. 
Further, it has been repeatedly shown that wells which 
are well protected against contamination -with bacteria 
from the surface and from the sides of. the well, furnish 
a water almost entirely free from bacteria; that, 
further, wells of water containing bacteria become the 
purer the more water is pumped out, and the more 
ground water comes in from the deeper layers of the 
soil. 
The vegetable living mould .on the surface of the 
earth is, in short, a filter of the most perfect kind. It 
is very rich in saprophytic bacteria, whereas the subsoil 
at a depth varying from 3 ft. to 6 ft. is barren of 
bacteria, as well as of other kinds of life. The subsoil 
is mineral, inorganic, and dead ; the mould upon the 
surface is organic, and teems with life. Anythin^ 
which is thrown upon the surface of the ground soon 
disappears. This is especially the case with water. 
The absorbing power of soil for water varies according 
to its mineral constitution. Loose sand and chalk 
absorb water very readily, and clay less readily ; but 
the absorbing power of vegetable mould, or humus as 
it has been called, is infinitely greater. Humus is said 
to be able to absorb from 40 to 60 per cent, of water 
and to hold it very tenaciously. This is from two to 
three times as much as the most porous dead mineral 
soil is capable of absorbing. We all know that in 
times of heavy rains it is infinitely rarely that we see 
water lying in pools on the surface of cultivated soil, 
whereas it soon collects on roadways and paths, which 
are made of dead mineral matter. 
The tenacity with which mould retains water is due 
to the fact that the water is absorbed into the interior 
of millions of vegetable cells, and is not merely held 
by capillary attraction in the interstices between small 
mineral particles. It is the swelling of individual 
