April 13, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
517 
expressed his opinion that nothing had progressed 
at a greater pace than horticulture in England 
during the past quarter of a century. 
Mr. A. W. G. Weeks gave the “ Health of the 
Chairman,” which was drunk with musical honours, 
and suitably acknowledged by Mr. Veitch. Mr. 
Harry Turner proposed the concluding toast, “ The 
Press,” which was acknowledged by Mr. George 
Gordon, editor of The Gardeners' Magazine. 
During the evening the following subscription list 
was announced :—Harry J. Veitch, Esq., £52 10s.; 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, £26 5s.; Mrs. H. J. Veitch, 
£10 10s. ; J. H. Veitch, Esq., £10 103.; J. G. Veitch, 
Esq., £10 ios., (total, £no 5s.); Mr. H. J. Jones, 
Lewisham (collected in half-crowns), £55 is. 6d.; 
Covent Garden Friends, per Mr. J. Assbee, £52 ios ; 
Messrs. Wills & Segar, £40 ; Mr. J. Reynolds, Gun- 
nersbury (including Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., 
£20. and Alfred de Rothschild, Esq , £10 ios.), £37 
ns.; N. N. Sherwood, Esq., £35 ios. ; Members of 
the Hortus Lodge of Freemasons, £35 9s.; Baron 
Schroeder, /30; Lord Rothschild, £25; Messrs. 
N. M. Rothschild & Co., £23] Mr. E. Hill (Tring), 
£20 ; Sir Julian Goldsmid, Bt., M.P., £21 ; W. 
Robinson, Esq., The Garden, £13 15 ; Arnold 
Moss, Esq. (Messrs. Jacob Wrench & Sons), /15 
15s ; Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bt., £10 ios. ; Baron 
Ferdinand de Rothschild, M.P., £10 ; T. B. Hay¬ 
wood, Esq., Treasurer, £10 ios.; Mrs. W. G. Head, 
£10 \ Mr. J. R. Stirling, Buckingham Palace, 
£8 16s. 6d. ; Mr. T. C. Ward, £7 2s. 6d. ; Mr. J. 
Willard, Highgate, £6 13s. 6d. ; Mr. R. P. Glen- 
dinning, Holloway, £3 15s. 6d. ; Messrs. J. Laing & 
Sons, Forest Hill, £3 ios.; Mr. E. Gilbert, £3 14s.; 
Martin J. Sutton, Esq., Reading, £3 5s. : Anthony 
Waterer, Jun., Esq., £3 5s. ; Mr. W. G. Head, 
Crystal Palace, £3 5s ; H. Hartley, Esq., £5 5s. ; 
A. W. G. Weeks, Esq., £3 5s. ; H. J. Wimsett, Esq., 
£3 5s.; A. W. Sutton, Esq., Reading, £3 ; Sir Donald 
Currie, £3', T. Statter, Esq., Stand Hall, £5 ; Pro¬ 
prietors of The Gardeners' Magazine £3 ; G. A. Dick¬ 
son, Esq., Chester, £ 5; H. Hicks, Esq., £3 5s.; 
A. H. Smee, Esq., £3 5s.,; and smaller amounts, 
making altogether a total of a little over £800. 
THE CHARLES COLLINS’ FUND. 
A meeting of the committee of the above fund was 
held in the Horticultural Club Room, Hotel 
Windsor, Victoria S reet, S W., on Monday, April 
8ih, Mr. George Gordon (the treasurer) occupying 
the chair in the unavoidable absence of Dr. Maxwell 
T. Masters, F.R.S. The Treasurer reported that 
the total amount subscribed amounted to £66 2s. 9d., 
but included in this amount were two subscriptions 
of a guinea and five shillings respectively not yet 
received, but as they were practically sure to come 
in the above sum might be regarded as the cash 
available for disbursement by the committee. The 
Honorary Secretary then read a letter from Mrs. 
Collins stating that she had an opportunity cf 
acquiring an old established and flourishing baby 
linen and fancy business for £83, this sum including 
cost of fixtures, goodwill, and stock. She mentioned 
that prior to her marriage she had been apprenticed 
and had had some years’ experience in a similar 
business, and felt sure from the thorough investiga¬ 
tion which had been made into the one offered to 
her that it would afford a good opportunity of 
acquiring a comfortable livelihood for herself and 
children. Mrs. Collins, therefore, appealed to the 
committee to let her have the proceeds of the fund 
for acquiring the business. Alter some discussion 
it was unanimously agreed (especially as Mrs. 
Collins’ application was supported by another 
latter giving full details of the business) on 
the proposition of Mr. R. Hooper Pearson, seconded 
by Mr. G. Hillingworth, that the sum of 
£66 2s. gd. be paid to Mrs. Collins for the pur¬ 
pose, and the treasurer was acccrdingly authorized 
to draw and forward a cheque for that amount. It 
was generally felt by those present that the money 
could not be devoted to a better purpose. The fund 
being disposed of, votes of thanks were unanimously 
passed to the editors of the various journals for the 
able assistance they had rendered in publishing the 
subscription lists, etc., to the committee of the 
Horticultural Club for kindly allowing the use of the 
room for the meetings, to the treasurer for the great 
kindness he had shown in initiating the fund, taking 
charge of it and securing so many substantial sub¬ 
scriptions ; and to the honorary secretary for his 
services. The committee also desire to warmly thank 
all those friends who so generously responded to 
their appeals, and especially to Mr. H. J. Jones of 
Lewisham, who gave a second donation ot £2 18s., 
making £3 in all to the fund.— T. IV. Sanders, Hon. 
Secretary 
DO PLANTS EAT SOIL? 
The discussion which has resulted in reply to the 
above query, although not so ample and decisive as 
I could have wished, has yet met with a gocd deal 
of notice and consideration in The Gardening 
World, for which I beg to express my cordial 
thanks. That the question itself should be con¬ 
sidered of sufficient importance to warrant an 
editorial reply, is, I think, proof positive either that 
the Editor desires to meet the aspirations of all his 
readers, or is anxious to demonstrate for the benefit 
of those readers the physiological facts which are 
insolubly bound up therewith. " G.,” last week, in 
his usual lucid and vigorous style, follows the same 
line of thought, and gives freely of his knowledge ; 
and although he advances nothing new, he reiterates 
some important facts which must always be borne 
in mind when the functions of the roots of plants 
are under consideration. 
But as this is "rather a dubious question,” I sup¬ 
pose we cannot expect to obtain full and complete 
satisfaction to all our cravings. I was, however, 
pleased to observe that no quarter was given to the 
so-called work of the spongioles, for they not only 
do notact as a medium for conveying nutriment to 
the plant, but are " practically impervious to water.” 
The term “ spongiole ” is derived from the Latin 
spongia, a sponge, and was so designated from the 
belief that it was the growing and absorbing point 
of the root. That definition is still current in the 
dictionaries, for I find on reference to Nuttall’s 
"Standard Dictionary ” that the spongiole is "in 
botany the lax cellular tissue at the extremities of 
roots for absorbing the nutriment of plants.” Alas ! 
how much one has to unlearn as the cycle revolves 
and science grows apace. The old dogmas are no 
more good against the demonstrations of scientific 
research than the armour of mediaeval times against 
the awful modern weapons of war. 
But do plants eat soil ? That is the question. 
Has this been answered in the affirmative, or must 
we still remain in philosophic doubt ? The phrase 
itself is not elegant, as you have poin'ed out; but 
it has at least the merit of brevity. Our Anglo-Saxon 
forefathers would have substituted "earth” for "soil” 
—a distinction with a difference, for earths are the 
result of disintegration of the primitive rocks, where¬ 
as soils (Latin solea, solidus ) are earths mixed with 
decomposed organic matter. But perhaps the crux 
of the whole subject turns on the word "eat.” 
Herein lies the difficulty. To eat, literally, is to chew 
in the mouth and swallow as food. Figuratively, 
it is to consume or devour. " Time's office is to eat 
up errors.” In this sense, then, may not plants be 
said to eat soil ? I hope this is a sufficient answer 
to the other question, namely, " What do you 
mean ? ” 
As to the root-hairs, I find it stated that " there 
are no apertures ” in them; and " G.” also writes, 
” as all kinds of plant food must be dissolved in 
water before it is possible for them to pass through 
the closed membrane of the cell-wall of the root- 
hair, it cannot be allowed that plants are capable of 
assimilating particles of solid matter.” But there 
are some who assert the contrary. Professor Boulger, 
in a contemporary, says that Mr. Thomas Jamieson’s 
experiments, which extended over fifteen years, re¬ 
sulted not only in the discovery of apertures but of 
solid particles of matter within those apertures ! In 
his Agricultural Report for 1891, "he figures aper¬ 
tures in the root-hairs of Turnip, Pea, Lupine, Carrot, 
Tobacco, Mangel, Beet, Barley, and Grass.” He 
further adds, " in the case of no plant that I have 
examined have I failed to find the aperture.” This 
is, indeed, a bomb thrown into the camp of ortho¬ 
doxy ! When doctors differ what is to become of 
poor amateurs and gardeners who seek to solve the 
higher problems of animal and vegetable existence ? 
If the above be true, the question is answered ; but 
if, on the other hand, vegetable physiologists still 
contend for the liquefaction theory of plant food, 
then I am afraid it will not be admitted that plants 
eat soil. 
I trust that you will not regard these queries as 
idly or captiously put, since error is liable to creep 
into all our investigations; and, as our knowledge of 
nature in every department is very limited, it follows 
that the truth is only discerned after much labour, 
for it is almost certain that the “ facts ” of to-day 
will, in all probability turn out the superstitions of 
to-morrow.—C. B. G., Acton, W. 
CULTURE ' OF POTATOS. 
Bearing in mind the disastrous effects of the 
weather last May, and the havoc it played not only 
with early, but mid-season varieties of Potatos, it 
will naturally make gardeners very loth to plant too 
early this season ; but the time has now arrived for 
getting in the earliest crop, if not already accom¬ 
plished, but if the " sets” are properly looked after 
and managed to the best advantage through the 
winter I fail to see the benefits to be derived from 
committing them to the ground too early in the 
season, especially on wet and cold land in unfavour¬ 
able climatic localities. 
Early planting on south borders can best be 
practised where a good walled garden possessing a 
nice, dry, friable soil exists, digging the ground and 
planting as the work proceeds; even then I have 
had the mortification of seeing the tops blackened in 
May in a fine old garden situated in one of the 
southern counties not many miles from the coast; 
probably, if the precaution had been taken to lightly 
cover the haulm with straw, or, better still, bracken, 
the mischief might have been avoided ; but usually 
those biting frosts come on one unawares, and where 
neatness and order is the aim of the gardener it is 
with reluctance that he gives his kitchen garden the 
appearance of a farmyard by protecting Potatos with 
straw or other material, very probably to be blown 
in all directions by the wind ; but where tidiness is 
not appreciated it is wise to "go in ” for production, 
especially where you have to cope with the great 
requirements of the chef, who, having probably come 
from "town,” expects everything, as though ordering 
from Fortnum & Mason. 
In country gardens, where a good supply of stable 
litter is obtainable and leaves abound, and ranges of 
the old-fashioned brick pits that can be furnished 
with linings exist, a good supply of early Potatos can 
be produced. We have had good results from such 
structures. The fermenting material, composed of 
stable litter and a good proportion of leaves, prefer¬ 
ably Oak, Beech, or Spanish Chestnut—as they last 
longest—was thrown into a heap and frequently 
turned over to get rid of any rank steam and to 
sweeten ; when sufficiently so the pits were filled 
evenly and well up to the top, treading down well as 
the work proceeded to prevent too much sicking 
later on, whereby the haulm would become too far 
from the glass, and consequently weak and drawn. 
On the top of the litter and leaves we placed a layer 
of rough leaf mould, and then about 1 ft. of fibrous 
loam and leaf soil in equal proportions. 
The variety we grew was Ashleaf. Sharpe's 
Victor was not out in those days, but that is the 
variety we prefer now for early work, on account of 
the dwarfness of its haulm, and its rapidity in 
coming to maturity. The sets were selected and 
placed closely on end in shallow trays, standing them 
in a cool and light store-room, where__warmth could 
be applied during severe weather to prevent frost 
penetrating. In such a position they sprouted nice 
and strong, and in looking them over occasionally 
the shoots were rubbed off, only two or three on the 
” crown ” being left. About the quantity we required 
for our pits were potted singly in 54-size pots, usmg 
a light and friable soil, we placed them in the early 
vinery on a bed of fermenting material, there being 
a brick pit for such inside, the heat from which—- 
assisting the Vines and producing bottom heat for 
any plants that were stood thereon—proved itself a 
great boon. 
As soon as the Potatos had fairly started they were 
placed near the glass to promote stocky growth, and 
when nicely rooted they were transferred to the pits 
and planted in the soil, which by that time had got 
nicely warmed through; we gave them a soakiDg of 
tepid water previous to turning them out of the pots. 
The soil in the pits being moist they did not require 
a further supply for some ti ne. We covered them 
up at night with mats, and kept the linings going. 
They received all possible light and ventilation 
when it could be safely given. After the crop was 
cleared the pits came in handy for pricking out and 
hardening off bedding plants, and for the growing of 
Cucumbers. 
Some months ago I was pleased to notice a 
suggestion from Mr. A. Dean to revive the Inter¬ 
national Potato Show. I can well remember the 
interest that we felt in the first competition which 
was held at the Alexandra Palace twenty years ago 
this coming autumn, and how gratified we were with 
