September id, 1904. 
THE OA RDENfNO WORL D. 
715 
he 0ardenii^^oiicl. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
Choir Boys as Gardeners. 
A flourishing society of Upper Sydenham, 
and known as the Sunday Schools’ Horti¬ 
cultural Society, lias a, large membership, 
embracing the scholars attending the Sunday 
Schools of the> three Established Churches 
in the district. Qualified men are employed 
to' give these children instruction in garden¬ 
ing, and some of the boys have been preoemted 
with a, plot of land to cultivate. These boys 
are further encouraged by the awarding of 
prizes for those gardens which present the 
best appearance. The competitors are 
awarded the prizes: at the annual show of the 
society, which is held in September. Several 
of the girls attached to the school also' parti¬ 
cipate in the: competitions. 
—o— 
Decline of the Irish Potato 
Crop. 
During the past fifteen years it: ha® been 
calculated that the extent of land under 
Potato® in Ireland has been annually dei- 
creasing*. In 1888 this stood at 801,566 
acres, but by 1903 this had decreased to 
620,393 acres 1 , that is a. decline of 184,173 
acres in fifteen years. The explanation of 
this would be due to various causes. The 
population of Ireland has been greatly re¬ 
duced, and no doubt many whose living 
chiefly depended upon Potato culture have 
emigrated. On the: other hand the diet has: 
probably become more varied, so that less 
Potato® are consumed. The facilities for 
different kinds- of imported food stuffsi have 
enabled the labouring- classes, as: well a® 
those in higher circumstances of life, to 
utilise -many of the various things which are 
now regularly imported to 'this country. 
The experiments in the cultivation of early 
varieties to- meet the requirements of the 
English and Scotch markets: may, however, 
serve 1 , in a measure, to prevent the acreage 
under Potato's from decreasing still further. 
The Forms of Stems. 
During- the sitting of the Botanical Sec¬ 
tion of the British Association at Cambridge 
Lord Avebury read a, paper on the forms of 
the stems of plants. He. enumerated a. num¬ 
ber of different forms, such as square or quad- 
waoagular, triangular 1 , pentagonal, and the 
more- common round form. He- found no 
explanation in botanical works of these 
foams', hut he thought it was as important 
for plants as for architects to- secure the 
greatest strength with the: least expenditure 
of material. Plants if properly built up 
-should be equally liable to rupture or break 
at every point when the strain is equal. If 
the plant or any other pillar was affected by 
pressure', say, from the; wind, -one side would 
be extended -and the: -other compressed, while 
between them would be a neutral zone, so 
that both extension and compression would 
be greatest along the surface, furthest from 
this neutral zone or axis. It. followed, there- 
fore, that, -the 'strongest pillar or plant axis 
would be that in which, the material is built 
up as far as possible away from the neutral 
portion. The two extremes; of the plant 
have, however, to be connected by a bar or 
bar®. This is the equivalent or a. forerunner 
of the well-known glider. If the force® to- be 1 
resisted act in two directions ait right angles 
to one: another, then two girders must be 
combined art right angles to one another. 
If 'the: forces acted in all directions -equally, a 
series of girders would be necessary, so as 
to form a. circle capable of resisting pressure 
on all sides. A goo-d .example of this- was 
the stems of tree's where; the wood is deposited 
in the form of rings. This was the: reason, 
■he: said, for the: prevailing round form of 
stems. The. difference arose, however, when 
this form was not universal, as in the case of 
plants having .square! stems. His Lordship 
pointed out that, when leave® were in. opposite 
and decussate pairs-, a® in the dead Nettle, 
the strain would be mainly, in two; directions, 
and the double girder wo-uld be the most suit¬ 
able form. Should that bei the ca-se, we 
might expect to find square stems associated 
with opposite leaves. He: then proceeded 
do illustrate his ideas by means of British 
plants, and showed that plant® with square 
stems always: had opposite leaves, and that 
plants with opposite leaves had generally 
square: stems, although there were: exceptions 
to the rule. S-ome reasons for the excep¬ 
tions were: next discussed by him. The same 
rules would apply to triangular and pen¬ 
tagonal stems. In, concluding, he remarked 
that plants millions of years ago bad worked 
out f-or themselves the principle® of construc¬ 
tion, so a.s to secure the greatest strength 
with the smallest amount of material. These 
principles have been gradually applied to 
the: construction of buildings of various foams 
by the skill and science of architect® and 
Fossil Botany at South 
Kensington. 
A temporary exhibition h,a.s been .arranged 
in one of the: bays of the Central Hall of the 
Natural History Museum, South Kensington. 
The: object of it is to illustrate recent dis¬ 
coveries in fossil botany, but the: main pur¬ 
pose is to show that 'tone .Seed-bearing plant s 
existed in the coal period in much greater 
abundance than has hitherto been supposed. 
Until quite: recently the opinion prevailed 
that in Paleozoic times the flora, consisted 
of giant. Ferns and Club-mosses, wither few 
Gymnosperms belonging to the extinct class, 
Gordadtes. Certain fossils showed a struc¬ 
ture intermediate between Ferns and 
Cycads, and these were grouped together and 
termed Cycadofiliees. Within the last 
eighteen months it has been ascertained that 
two! of this: group reproduced their kind by 
means, of seeds and not by spores. In our 
issue: for the 3rd inst. we dealt more largely 
with this subject in reviewing tlie book, 
“ The Classification of Flowering Plants.” 
