1010 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 5, 1903. 
frost. These atmospheric agencies, however, have the effect 
of crumbling down even very hard stone in course of time, as 
may be seen by the action of tliei weather upon ancient stone 
buildings, which crumble away in the course of centuries. We 
think it more likely that this is brought about more by the 
inanimate agencies of Nature than by microbes which are of 
the nature of vegetable organisms and require organic matter 
on which to subsist. 
The ridging up of the soil and repeated tillage, according 
to the lecturer, merely has the effect of shifting the micro¬ 
organisms into fresh pasture's so that they could multiply and 
increase the amount of soluble matter in the soil; but rocks 
themselves, even in the foam of stones, it must be admitted, 
contain mineral matter on which plants draw for their sub¬ 
sistence, and this initial disintegration, of rocks, we fear, has 
to be brought about by .some other agency than vegetable 
organisms in the soil. Nevertheless, this ridging and tillage 
he explains ini lijs own peculiar way as 1 a fragment of the new 
science. 
The new science, according to that gentleman, teaches that 
it is as necessary to maintain a sufficiency of available lime and 
magnesia in the soil as to use nitrogen and phosphorus and 
potash. These latter three, he' says, are invariably and stupidly 
referred to as the plant essentials. We are not sure from what 
source he derives his information, but we have access to 1 books 
that name at least ten, elements that are essential to plant, 
life, and some books name more which may be necessary in 
some cases, while in others it may largely be a, matter of 
opinion. There' are plenty of good books' available' which teach 
that the above three elements are those most likely to be 
deficient in soils, and therefore require to be. frequently rei- 
newed in order to maintain the fertility of land from which 
heavy crops are taken. These books also admit the utility of 
lime, and mention more uses for it than have been indicated 
in this instance. All the other elements are just as essential 
as the three above named, but they are more likely to be' 
present in, any good soil in sufficient quantity, and not de¬ 
ficient unless that soil is uncommonly barren. 
Nitrate of soda as a, fertiliser he heartily abuses, because, it 
is the means' of carrying comparatively useless soda into the 
plant,. While wei agree that soda, is unessential as an element 
of plant food, we must' also admit that many other things; are 
carried into plants that are of no service to them, and some¬ 
times even injurious. On the other hand, he makes a, won¬ 
derful discovery with regard to the use of oxalate of lime in 
the leaves of plants'. When it is exposed to sunlight, the 
oxalate in, the' leaves is; decomposed and oxygen given off. He 
can therefore, easily account for the elaboration of carbo¬ 
hydrates from this: oxygen, water, and the inhaled carbonic 
acid. With regard to this matter, we can say that, both, de¬ 
ciduous and evergreen leaves', including those of tropical coun¬ 
tries, store up oxalate of lime as a, waste product in their 
tissues, and which falls to the ground with the leaves', and thus 
the plants are able to' get rid of useless matter. If the oxalate 
of lime is not all decomposed in tropical countries, how cam 
it, be any more so in temperate countries like Britain? Further¬ 
more, there are more nitrates than the two which he mentions!. 
For instance, there are' nitrates of potash, magnesia, and 
ammonia,, and most plants are able to use these; whereas car¬ 
bonate of ammonia is believed to a,ct, injuriously on, account of 
its alkalinity. 
Another point taken up was light soils which decompose 
farmyard manure more rapidly than heavy ones. The ex¬ 
planation that used to be put forth, according to the speaker, 
was that light, soils were hungry. We regard that merely asi 
a bit of metaphor in the' use of which the doctor himself is a 
very strong hand, seeing that lie used such terms to lecturers 
as men of straw, rotten, science, corrupt views, ble-t-h ©ration, 
unpardonable ravings, etc. We do not regard the term hungry 
soils as an, explanation of a, fact, but merely a way of expressing 
it, so that unscientific workers may have some means of re¬ 
cognising a phenomenon by some common expression. 
In light soils slowly decomposing matter containing nitrogen 
may be applied with advantage, because their nitrogen is 
readily converted into ammonia by certain organisms, and this 
again into nitrates by another group of organisms. We see 
nothing new in such as a science, becau.se we have been in¬ 
structed by the great masters at the experiment stations- and 
by scientific men in, the laboratory for many year’s. It is 
nothing new, either, that there is such a clas^ of organisms that 
fix the free nitrogen of the atmosphere in the nodules on the 
roots of leguminous plants. Neither is it new to state that 
there are various micro-organisms in the soil that bring about 
varied changes according to their kind, but these must ne¬ 
cessarily act upon vegetable or other organic matter in the soils 
so that they are not the sole agents in bringing about the 
manifold change's that do- take place in soils. Science would 
soon be a very simple matter if it could be reduced merely to 
the question of microbes, in the soil and a small quantity of 
lime. 
In heavier soils he states that germ activity is not so great, 
and therefore natural guanos and sulphate of ammonia may be 
employed. Here again the question is too much simplified 
and not strictly in line with the science of the subject. Germ 
part of the season in these heavy soils, for the simple reason 
activity may not be and probably is not veiy active in the early 
that the temperature is too low for the nitrifying agents to 
become active, and such -soils take longer time to become 
warmed up than do’light soils. In the latter part of the- season, 
when these heavy soils do acquire the necessary temperature, 
germ activity then becomes sufficiently active, judging from 
the amount, of growth produced. In other words, these heavy 
-soils are really fertile and contain a large amount of plant 
food, but the necessary ingredients are not available until our 
summer -season is advanced sufficiently to give the necessary 
temperature to enable the soil organisms to grow and 
multiply. 
Chrysanthemum Merstham Yellow. 
(See Supplement.) 
The above, under ordinary treatment, may be regarded as 
an early flowering Japanese variety of Chrysanthemum, which 
is in season, during October, and would therefore be very useful 
on, the show board for Chrysanthemum exhibitions held during 
that month. 
The florets are of great length, drooping, more or less inter¬ 
laced with one another, or twisted, and clear yellow. These 
are very numerous, and fill up- the centre of the flower, which 
would measure about 7 in,, wide and 5 in. deep, without taking 
into- account the loo-s-e ends of long or stray florets. Our 
illustration of this fine variety was prepared from a photograph 
sent us by Messrs, W. Wells and Co., Limited, Earlswood 
Nursery, Redhill, Surrey, and we suppose it is meant to com¬ 
memorate the acquisition, of their n,ew nursery at Marstham. 
The plants from which the illustration, was prepared com¬ 
menced to bloom on September 31st last, and continued to the 
first week of November. This is. our reason for regarding it 
a si an October variety, although undey- different conditions 
another year it may be made to bloom, later. The blooms of 
it we saw were- of typical Japanese form, large and handsome. 
Fine Gnonrs at Beleast Show. —The special decorative pieces 
were much admired, and in this connection it should be men¬ 
tioned that a special Award of Merit has been given to Mr. Hugh 
Dickson, of the Royal Nurseries, Belmont, for the beautiful 
group which adorned the centre of the market. The Award 
states—“ The judges wish to express their appreciation and ad¬ 
miration of this excellent group, also of the quality of the plants 
exhibited, and of the artistic taste displayed in the grouping. 
In dealing with Mr. Hugh Dickson’s fine collection of- Conifeiae 
and other plants, they describe it as “ a very tastefully arranged 
and instructive group- worthy of special commendation. Mr. 
C. W. M'Kimm’s beautifully-arranged design at the northern 
end of the building was again much admired ; and the same 
remark applies to the floral designs shown by Messrs. Alex. 
Dickson and Sons, Limited, Royal Avenue, Belfast, and ISew- 
townards, and Messrs. Frank E. Smith and Co., High Street. 
