932 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 7, 1903. 
from tli© far ends of the county, as the latter is divided into 
convenient districts, so that two or more parties may assemble 
in different parts of the county on tire same day, each being 
furnished with a guide to the locality and some of the staff 
instructors. 
No fees are charged for the short-term courses above men¬ 
tioned, provided the students belong to the county of Essex. 
Outside students are, however, admitted to the school at the 
rat© of £1 per week. In the case of ordinary school courses, 
Essex county students: are'admitted for £15 a year, while out¬ 
side students are charged £20 a. year 1 . For the short-term 
courses an examination is held every year in April, arid at this 
examination two' senior horticultural scholarships are offered. 
For the present, the students gaining these scholarships' must 
graduate at the county school of horticulture, the maximum 
value of tli© scholarships being £45 a year, but this depends 
upon tlie discretion of the committee and the circumstances of 
the case. Two scholarships are also awarded entitling the 
holders to free tuition at the school. The chief conditions are 
that, the competitors must be resident in Essex, and be past 
or present pupils at tire county school. 
There is also- a .senior scholarship examination, also held 
in April, and all students who have attended an advanced- 
course of instruction may sit for it. Four senior scholarships, 
together with certificates of proficiency, are awarded on the 
results' of this examination. The council of tire Royal Hor¬ 
ticultural -Society also- -holds an examination, on the principles 
and practice of horticulture, in which the students of Essex 
School of Horticulture usually take a high position. At the 
end of July there is an, examination for the ordinary one-year 
student, and senior certificates, are granted by the committee- 
oa the results. Certificates of proficiency in, horticulture, are 
granted to students upon certain, conditions laid down by the 
Education Committee. 
On Friday, 30th ult., these new laboratories were opened 
by the Right Hon. the Earl of Onslow, G.C.M.G., in the Shire 
Hall, in. the presence of a, large' concourse of people, having 
previously inspected the new buildings, which are close by. 
The chair was taken by E. North Buxton, Esq., one of the 
county councillors, and chairman of the Education Committee-. 
In rising to introduce Lord Onslow, he stated t-ha-t the technical 
laboratories just completed had been built, to meet the wants 
of agricultural science. During the past few years an admirable 
staff of instructors had been got together, and lie wanted to 
ask the agriculturists while the iron, was hot to send their sons 
and daughters to the classes. The Education Committee, 
wanted the institution to- be a, centre of inquiry for the whole 
county. They had made provision for the analysis of soils, 
and they expected much would lie done in that direction. They 
also intended to deal with artificial manures. He- hoped that 
from that day the, laboratories would be the centre for getting 
together knowledge of all sorts relating to the science of agri¬ 
culture. 
Lord Onslow said lie had great pleasure, in coming to Chelms¬ 
ford, and had inspected the new laboratories, which were well 
built and well fitted up for agricultural and horticultural pur¬ 
poses. The farming in Essex was not so prosperous as it 
might be, nor as it was in some other counties, but- he believed 
that when, they undertook the building of a laboratory 
something good would come of it. A large area, of the county 
consisted of .agricultural land, but for many years past the 
farmers had been suffering like o-thers, owing to the depression 
of the times'. What -they wanted now was to attend to the 
education of the young. They wished to bring home to the 
fanners the fact that they must attend to- the science of the 
subject. Whatever difficulties they had, they would be well 
attended to by referring them to Chelmsford. Agriculture and 
horticulture will never be satisfactory until the cultivators are 
thoroughly acquainted with the scientific principles' as well a-s 
the practical aspect of their profession. Opportunities' will 
be afforded to inquirers-, and this he considered was an ex¬ 
cellent and practical way to develop education, amongst, the 
cultivators in the county. He thought, that the farmers, must 
study the system of co-operation, as it was conducted in foreign 
countries where that was well carried on. They hoped to carry 
out the agricultural salvation of the country on our own lines, 
and certainly we shall have to do that ourselves by finding out 
where our system is deficient and applying the remedy. He 
assured them that there were vast opportunities for the grow¬ 
ing of fruits and agricultural and horticultural products, seeing 
that they were in the neighbourhood of London, and by adapt¬ 
ing means: to an end, the question of these products could be 
settled on lines suitable for tliis country. He declared tlie 
laboratory open. 
The large audience was addressed by several other speakers, 
including Sir Carne Rasch, Bart., M.P. for mid-Essex ; Andrew 
Johnston, Esq., chairman of the Essex County Council; by the 
Bishop of Colchester ; by W. W. Glenny, Esq., vice-chairman 
of the Education Committee, and belonging to a family that 
has carried on market gardening for the past century ; bv 
Dr. Hill, of the Cambridge University; by Admiral Luard, 
and the Countess of Warwick. The Bishop of Colchester, in 
proposing a vote of thanks to the chairman, said that the 
latter had done excellent service for the agricultural education 
in Essex. The hope of Essex and England rested in the rising 
generation. What was being inaugurated now in the matter 
of education would make itself felt by the children and grand¬ 
children of the present generation. 
The Countess of Warwick spoke of being a practical agri¬ 
culturist a,S' well as an educator, and her hope lay in the rising 
generation. We adults, site, continued, have our ideas fixed, 
but there is some hope of the young getting out of the old 
beaten track. She had a. school at Bigods, near Dunmow, con¬ 
sisting of a,n old country house adapted as a secondarv and 
agricultural school. This she hoped to make a feeding school 
for the, central school at Chelmsford, after the students were 
well grounded in the elements. This school, we may state, is 
entirely different from the Lady Warwick Hostel,' Reading, 
which lias now been transferred to the Lady Warwick Colleen-, 
Studley Castle, W rwickshire, owing to the lease at Reading 
having fallen in. 
Polygonum compactum. 
(See Supplement.) 
Upon close inspection the leaves of this plant bear a close 
similarity to, P. cuspidatum, better known in gardens, per¬ 
haps, as P. Sieboldii. In most, other respects, however, the 
two plants are different. P. cuspidatum forms a, tall, much- 
bran,died herb, 4 ft. to 10 ft, high, according to, the soil in 
which it, is grown and the space accorded it for its proper 
development. This' is admired from early spring, when the 
red shoots are rapidly pushing through the ground, and on¬ 
wards till the huge bush becomes cohered with its snowy 
masses of small white flowers. Although it lias, found many 
admirers even, in the far North, the chief difficulty with it is 
its tendency to spread over large areas of ground by its under¬ 
ground stems, and to come up-, it, may be, in the midst of any 
other plants. -, Another difficulty arises when planted in small 
gardens. Vigorous plants soon overshade their neighbours, 
and in a, short time monopolise more space- than can be spared 
for them. Its proper place, therefore, is- in the- wild garden, 
or as a, bed or clump on the grass, where its huge size and 
sub-tropical appearance are worthy of all admiration. Few 
plants are- more accommodating in the way of rapid gro-wth, 
producing a, sub-tropical effect- while at the same time it is 
perfectly hardy, and therefore requires no- care in its keeping 
during winter. 
I\ compact-um is much more easily kept within reasonable 
bounds than the better-known plant, and lias a, beauty of its 
own that -cannot readily be supplied by many other -plants. 
Like its tail congener, it is merely a brandling and deciduous 
herb, which was- introduced from Japan previous- to 1875, hut 
seems, for a, time to have been confused with tli© older plant, 
which reached this country in 1825. This perennial forms 
a comp-act bush varying from 1 ft. to 2-1 ft. high, but the latter 
proportions are only attained after the plant has been esta-b- 
