TIIP] NATIONAL NURSERY.AFAN 
like to liear troiii liiin tliroiigli the eoiiveiitioii as 1 ex¬ 
pect to be there if alive and well eiioiii>’ii. 
d. M. (}. 
A\^e 
— 0 —• 
ire particularly interested in the snhjects 
“ Pi'evention of snrjihis and low ])rices, ” “Cri'ation 
ot wider markets” and “How to olitain more skilled 
help?” A\ e also think “The new exjiress rates vs. 
the ])arcel ])ost rates” would he a good subject. A 
subject ot vital interest to all nurserymen is a “Uni¬ 
form Ins])ection Law” which is being agitated now. 
No doubt the (kmmiittee will give a rejiort on that 
subject. AVe ho])e the ])rogi-ani will be of great in¬ 
terest and that the meeting will be largely attended. 
SOIL AERATION. 
Ill his third lecture on “Soil Fertility,” at the 
College of Science and Technology, Dr. Russell con¬ 
sidered, principally, tlie aeration of the soil. lie 
])ointed out that to obtain a clear conceihion of how 
the soil satisfies the reiinirements of plants, it is ne¬ 
cessary to understand the action of “colloids.” A 
colloid is a substance, such as glue or silicic acid, 
which, when in solution, will not pass through such 
membranes as bladder and vegetable parchment. The 
soil is not a jumbled-u]) mass of particles, but the 
minerals are coated Avith colloidal substances, and 
may be compared with a number of nnirbles, each 
di])i)ed in a nutrient jelly. The ]iarticles of soil do 
not form a solid mass, but lun^e between them a cer¬ 
tain amount of space, knoAvn as “iiore sjiace,” and 
the Avater capacity of the soil largely depends u])on 
this. The water held by the soil is of tAvo kinds— 
aAuiilable and unavuiilable. It has been found liy ex- 
lieriments that loam contains about 10 ])er cent, of 
moisture even when the wilting of plants commences. 
This unavailable, or hygroscopic, moisture caniiot, 
therefore, be of any service to ])lants. Analysis of 
the atmosiihere of the jiores and the atmosphere ab¬ 
sorbed by the colloids, sIioav a deal of difference. 'The 
atmosiihere of the pores does not differ miu'h in coni- 
])osition from air, AAdiereas that absorbed by the col¬ 
loids contains a large amount of carbon-dioxide, and 
an exceedingly small (luantity of oxygen. It is thus 
jiossible for organisms ])resent in the soil to get 
anaerobic or aerobic conditions, according as to 
Avhether they are present in the air of the ])ore or in 
that of the colloid. ^Vn absence of lime in the soil is 
detrimental to many ])lants. Lime has the ])roperty 
of making clay fiocculent, and correlated Avith this is 
its ]K)Aver of “sAveetening” the soil, the air taken 
from the ])ores of a soil dehcient in lime being very 
])oor in oxygen, and rich in carbon-dioxide. When 
lime is not ])resent in the soil, toxins of an acid na¬ 
ture are belieA-ed to be formed, which are injurious 
to iilants and micro-organisms. Schreiner isolated 
ISP 
one ot these toxins, and wlu'n it Avas added to culture 
solutions tli(‘ ])lants sufl(M'(*d. (Jreat care must be 
exercised be!ore a definite (*on(*lusion can lie arrived 
at as 1 ‘egards th(‘ ehect of these* jxiisons on the jilant. 
Soil AAdii(*h AAais ti'eated Avith .01 ])(>]* cent, solution of 
co])per sul])hate gave a (*i' 0 ]) (piite* as good as a soil 
Avhich did not receive the ixiison. Dr. Rnssell also 
dealt Avith the entrance of food substances into the 
jilaiit, and it Avas estimated from an analysis of the 
soil that, if the lood jiresent Avere aAuiilable, it Avould 
last a cro]) tor hundreds ot A^ears. '^Idie lecture con¬ 
cluded AAuth remai'ks on the chai'acteristic A^egetatiou 
on various soil types. In considering this, not only 
should the relations of the soil to AAUiter and its chem¬ 
ical constitution lie taken into ('onsideration, Init also 
the climatic and competitive factors.— The (UinJrn 
.l/u_7a,c7hc. 
INDIANA APPLE SHOW. 
There is going to be another Indiana Apjile SIioaa’ 
the coming fall. It is planned to hold it the same 
as usual at ''romlinsou Hall, Indiampiolis, Ind. The 
date is November 18th to iDtli. It is a little later 
this year and Avill give the groAvei's a chance to get 
their crop haiwested and get their fall AAmrk cleaned 
up before the sIioav starts. 
The fqlloAving are on the commission and aauU be 
glad to give any information concerning the show to 
those interested. Dr. H. E. Bayarrd, President, In- 
diana|)olis; R. A. Simjison, \dce Ih'esident, \hncen- 
nes; AValter ^T)nnegut, Secretary, Culver; 1). B. John¬ 
son, Treasurer, Mooresville; Benjamin \V. Douglass, 
^Manager, Trevlac. 
THE ARRANGEMENT OF TREES AND SHRUBS 
IN THE NURSERY. 
Nearly all nurseries are laid out so that the ground 
is diAuded into blocks for convenience of handling, 
some of the blocks being de\a)ted entirely to cA'er- 
greens, others to trees and again others to shrubs. 
Of course in large wholesale nurseries, Avhere large 
(piantities of one kind are groAvn the arrangement of 
the plants is rather a simple matter as stock is ])lant- 
ed in the blocks or positions Avhere the ground may 
be most suitable or it is thought they Avill give the 
best results, but in a small nursery Avhere a great 
Auiriety is groAvn and room is at a })reminm it is a 
greater problem and all kinds of schemes Avill lie 
practiced to iind room. 
It has often been a custom Avhen setting out trees 
in roAvs 4- to 5 feet apart and .‘I or 4 feet in the roAV, to 
plant shrubs in betAveen them, AA'ith the idea of tak¬ 
ing out the shrubs befoi’e the trees overshadoAv them, 
but this practice is not a good one. The shrubs rob 
the ground and it is seldom thev are all cleaned out 
