April IL, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
309 
f P A R™^9o 3 . ® hc Gardening orlcL 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
J Week's Engagements, 
Alnesday, April 15th, Ancient Society of 
florists ; Shropshire Spring Show. " 
Ipday, April 16th, Midland Daffodil 
ltT s Exhibition (two. days). 
Botanic Society. 
-9 t the above society, after conferring 
t lie Education Board of the London 
A Council, established a school of hor- 
Jbe on modern lines in their gardens 
hint’s Park. We were present on that 
s Q > an( h judging from the company 
tiled, recognised the broad lines on 
he society was about to conduct this! 
h Again, on the 1st inst., on the 
i of the spring show, the society sig¬ 
nalised the advance they had made by the 
opening of a new and commodious botanical 
and horticultural laboratory. It was 
formally opened by Alfred James Sheplieard, 
Esq., chairman of the London County Coun¬ 
cil Technical Education Board. The Earl of 
Aberdeen presided on this oecasic i, and saul 
that the society were accused of favouring 
functions of a social character, but that they 
had been doing this to provide the means 
for educational work. 
The Objects of the School- 
Dr. W. Coode Adams, chairman of the 
School Committee, said that it was their in¬ 
tention to train the students, in all branches 
of gardening, under glass a.s well as out of 
doors. We, as Britons, were accustomed to 
holding our own by practical work against 
all other nations, but. the time had come 
when it was necessary to devote our atten¬ 
tion more particularly to the scientific aspects 
of the question. We might do a. little rough 
and tumble work, I ut we knew too little of 
the structure of plants, the relation of plants 
to soil; and we should have tc learn how 
to combat the diseases of plants 1 , how they 
eat and drink, etc., and all these must be 
studied in the laboratory as well as in the 
open. Later on a. conservatory would be 
built to aid in the carrying out of experi¬ 
ments. Addressing the students, he said 
that they were going to lay out a portion of 
the garden in a new design, and when the 
students had once learnt how to do 1 this, 
they could turn the knowledge to profitable 
account afterwards. 
Position of the Education Board. 
Mr. Alfred James Shepheard said that the 
Technical Education Board commenced by 
aiding the practice of the art, but they 
almost invariably afterwards devoted their 
attention to the teaching of the science of 
the same, 
Science and Practice. 
Dr. Kimmins spoke cf the formerly-ex¬ 
pressed idea, about, the respiration of plants 
and animals, as explained in the text books, 
but lie considered that that story was 
altogether antiquated, and not by any means 
correct. We should now have to consider 
the relation of plants to the atmosphere, the 
food of plants, and the source from which 
they obtain it; the classification of plants, 
their diseases, and how to combat them. 
With that object in view, they would have 
to study the composition of washes and 
sprays. The school hitherto had been a 
great success, chiefly because the boys, had 
had careful supervision. 
Supervision of the School. 
The meeting was next addressed by Dr. 
William Garnett, secretary of the Technical 
Education Board, who said that, at home his 
chief recreation had been gardening. He 
would have liked to have been brought up as 
a. gardener, but circumstances led his atten¬ 
tion and duties in another direction. He 
gave some instances of how several schools 
had been looked after, and showed how the 
success of such schools depended upon the 
supervision of the boys, both in the carrying 
out of their studies and in their particular 
kind of work. He also expressed great satis¬ 
faction with the work that had been carried 
out at Regent’s Park, and testified to the 
supervision exercised by the secretary, Mr. 
J. B. Sowerby. At another stage of the 
meeting, we may also here state, refer¬ 
ence was made to Mr. Elderbert F. Hawes, 
F.R.H.S., the horticultural instructor and 
superintendent of the gardens. We also 
understand that the direction of the new 
laboratory is to lie placed under Mr. E. 
Schwartz, B.S.C., at present of the botanical 
department of King’s College. 
Action of Carbon Dioxide in Plants. 
Professor Bottomley, of King's College, 
spoke from the standpoint of a teacher, and 
said that we know that plants take in carbon 
dioxide, and the text, books state that they 
do so, but it is not yet quite clear how oV 
in what manner they do it. He. was in hopes 
that, some experiments would be carried out 
in the laboratory at Regent’s Park, with the 
view of finding out something about how 
this function was performed by plants, and 
what actually took place in the assimilation 
of carbon dioxide by plants. It was true 
that they had the Jodrell Laboratory at 
Kew, but Kew was too . far away, and that 
laboratory was under certain restrictions. 
Nevertheless, by the aid of the new 
laboratory just about to be opened and tire, 
consent of the committee of ,the .Royal 
Botanic Society, he hoped that experiments 
would be carried out at Regent’s Park which 
would set the question at rest. At this 
point the distribution of diplomas to* the 
students took place. At. present., we may 
state, there are twenty-one male students 
and fourteen female students. 
Work of the Society, 
Mr. C. Brinsley Marley, vice-president of 
the society, then rose to propose a vote of 
thanks to the chairman, and said lie was 
glad the society had not receded from its 
position, but intended to carry on its legiti¬ 
mate work. He referred to the amusements 
with which the society was twitted, and 
averred that they were necessary to provide 
funds for the carrying on of “educational 
work. He had been gardening in London 
for the last twenty-five years, and had learnt 
that certain plants, such as the Camellia, 
would thrive in spite 1 of the London smoke 
and filthy atmosphere, but many other pro¬ 
blems of a similar nature had vet to be 
solved. 
