526 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
June  17,  1897. 
ECCENTRICITIES  OF  PLANTS. 
There  are  some  curious  things  that  come  across  anyone  who 
takes  a  pleasure  in  growing  plants  of  an  herbaceous  character  for 
which  they  cannot  always  find  explanations,  and  in  which  they 
seem  to  depart  from  the  normal  condition  of  their  kind.  I  have 
asked  several  persons  about  the  cases  that  have  come  under  my 
own  observation,  but  they  still  remain  a  puzzle. 
One  of  these  plants  is  Ornithogalum  arabicum.  I  have  more 
than  once  found  the  bulbs  lying  dormant  for  a  season  and  then 
starting  up  into  growth  ;  but  this  year  I  have  had  a  still  more 
remarkable  experience  of  its  eccentricity.  Three  years  ago  I 
potted  some  bulbs  of  it  in  32’s,  four  in  a  pot,  but  for  two  years 
they  made  not  the  slightest  attempt  to  move.  Nothing  has  been 
done  to  them  ;  they  have  not  been  potted  or  top-dressed,  or  inter¬ 
fered  with  in  any  way.  They  have  been  in  a  back  part  of  my 
greenhouse,  and  this  year  they  are  all  blooming  grandly  ;  every 
bulb  has  flowered,  and  the  number  of  blooms  on  a  spike  or  truss 
varies  from  eleven  to  fourteen.  They  are  a  large  size,  and  in  every 
way  perfect.  We  are  so  often  told  that  when  a  plant  has  remained 
a  long  time  in  a  pot  it  exhausts  the  soil.  I  should  like  very  much 
to  know  when  and  how  these  bulbs  accumulated  strength  to  send 
up  such  strong  trusses  of  blooms,  and  when  were  these  formed  in 
the  bulbs.  I  am  no  botanist,  and  probably  will  be  set  down  as  an 
ignoramus,  which  I  honestly  confess  that  I  am  ;  yet,  withal,  I 
should  be  glad  if  anyone  would  solve  this  riddle  for  me. 
Another  plant  which  has  been  a  considerable  puzzle  to  me  is 
one  that  I  have  of  that  grand  showy  biennial  Verbascum  olympi- 
cum.  As  far  as  one  of  my  plants  is  concerned  it  is  entirely  false 
to  its  character.  I  have  had  it  now  for  nine  years,  and  this  year  it 
is  throwing  up  some  grand  spikes  of  blooms.  In  one  respect  it 
preserves  its  character,  for  it  flowers  only  every  second  year, 
although,  as  I  have  said,  the  plant  has  a  continuous  growth.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  shoot  comes  up  from  the  base  of  the  plant, 
and  acts  as  if  it  were  a  seedling,  not  flowering  the  first  year,  but 
preserving  its  strength  for  the  following  one.  I  have  seen  many 
plants  of  it  elsewhere,  but  they  have  always  been  true  to  their 
character  of  being  biennial,  and  what  has  led  this  one  plant  to 
adopt  this  abnormal  course  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive. 
I  have  more  than  once  alluded  to  the  disappointment  that  that 
pretty  little  Calla,  “Little  Gem,”  has  caused  me.  I  had  it  six  or 
seven  years  ago,  when  it  flowered,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to 
get  it  to  flower  again  ;  it  grew  well  enough,  but  refused  to  flower. 
Last  autumn,  however,  I  thought  I  would  adopt  a  new  course  of 
proceeding  with  it.  I  dried  the  plant  off  completely,  which  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  doing  with  many  of  my  bulbs,  and  on  repotting  I 
took  away  all  the  slender  growths,  and  only  potted  the  stronger  ones. 
This  plan  was  entirely  successful,  and  I  have  had  some  nice  flowers 
of  it  this  spring.  This  was  the  more  gratifying  to  me,  because  when 
I  wrote  to  the  firm  who  kindly  supplied  me  with  the  plant  I  told 
them  I  could  not  get  it  to  flower  ;  they  told  me  they  were  surprised 
at  it,  for  they  had  no  difficulty,  and  that  they  would  send  me  a 
plant  to  show  how  free  it  was.  This  was  very  kind  of  them,  but, 
alas  !  when  the  plant  arrived  it  was  not  “  Little  Gem,”  but  a  form 
that  I  have  had  from  Another  firm,  and  which,  I  believe,  is  called 
“  Compacta  Nana,”  which  is  midway  between  Little  Gem  and  the 
ordinary  form.  Of  course,  I  thought  then  that  all  Little  Gems 
would  in  process  of  time  alter  into  this  intermediate  form,  and  I 
was,  therefore,  the  more  glad  to  find  that  I  was  mistaken,  and  that 
Little  Gem  remains  Little  Gem  still.  The  beautiful  yellow  forms 
of  the  common  Calla  Pentlandi  and  Elliotiapa  are,  I  fear,  beyond 
me.  I  had  a  plant  of  the  former,  but  learned  too  late  that  it 
required  more  heat  than  I  can  give  it,  and  consequently  it  rotted 
away,  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  abandon  the  attempt  to  cultivate 
it. — D.,  Deal. 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MICROBIC  LIFE  IN  THE 
NUTRITION  OF  PLANTS. 
Among-  the  results  of  the  evolution  of  the  microscope  and  the 
perfecting  its  higher  powers  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  the 
most  interesting  and  far  reaching  have  been  the  discovery  and  investiga¬ 
tion  of  the  infinitely  minute  vegetable  organisms  known  as  microbe, 
and  bacillus,  and  bacterium,  which  are  found  to  play  such  an  important 
part  in  the  economy  of  Nature,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  operations  of 
which  have  solved  for  us  so  many  of  its  problems. 
Yiewed  broadly,  these  infinitessimal  bodies  are  of  two  kinds — those 
which  grow  in  the  presence  of  oxygen,  and  those  which  grow  in  the 
absence  of  oxygen.  The  former  die  if  oxygen  be  withheld,  the  latter  die 
if  oxygen  be  applied,  ^peaking  generally,  the  influence  of  the  former 
is  beneficent,  the  influence  of  the  latter  is  maleficent. 
It  is  not  my  intention  to  glance  at,  much  less  to  review,  the  informa¬ 
tion  we  at  present  possess  about  microbic.  life,  but  I  will  refer  to  a 
subject  which  concerns  us  all  no  less  seriously  than  that  of  which  I  have 
just  been  speakiDg — the  presence  of  maleficent  microbes  in  water.  The 
great  aim  of  the  community  is  to  have  water  supplied  for  drinking  of 
unimpeachable  purity.  I  wish  the  community  would  insist  upon  their 
aim  being  carried  out,  and  to  this  end  the  water  is  caught  as  it  issues- 
from  the  rock,  and  deep  wells  are  sunk  in  the  rock,  from  which  the 
water  is  led  to  every  house.  So  pure  is  this  water  in  most  instances 
that  it  contains  only  ten  micro-organisms  to  the  cubic  centimetre.  River 
water,  on  the  other  hand,  teems  with  microbic  life,  there  being  often 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  beneficent  micro-organisms  to  the  cubic 
centimetre. 
Doubtless  maleficent  microbes  are  constantly  passing  into  river 
water,  rendering  it  dangerous  to  diink.  But  if  by  chance  maleficent 
micro-organisms  should  find  access  to  pure  supplies  of  drinking  water 
the  consequences  are  far  more  serious  than  is  generally  supposed,  and 
the  risk  of  drinking  it  is  even  greater  than  the  risk  of  drinking  from  an 
ordinary  river  in  bright  sunny  weather,  when  the  life  of  beneficent 
organisms  is  most  active. 
If,  for  example,  the  microbe  of  enteric  fever  pass  into  pure  deep 
well  water  it  will  live  for  five  weeks,  but  if  it  pass  into  river  water  it 
will  live  only  five  days.  The  reason  is  this  :  the  substances  produced  by 
the  growth  of  beneficent  organisms,  which  are  so  abundant  in  river 
water,  destroy  the  maleficent  organisms,  whereas  in  pure  deep  well 
water  the  beneficent  organisms  are  so  few  they  do  not  produce  sufficient 
microbic  poison  to  interfere  with  the  growth  of  the  maleficent  microbes. 
Perhaps  no  more  forcible  illustration  of  the  practical  application  of 
the  knowledge  obtained  in  the  discovery  of  the  existence  of  these  minute 
organisms  could  be  found  than  in  the  modern  treatment  of  wounds. 
Before  this  time  wounds  healed  slowly,  and  the  healing  process  was 
associated  with  the  formation  of  pus,  or  “  matter,”  as  it  is  popularly 
called.  Poisons  passed  into  the  blood  from  these  wounds,  not  infre¬ 
quently  giving  rise  to  what  is  known  as  septic  fever,  and  which  often  caused 
the  death  of  the  patient.  It  was  discovered  that  the  process  of  formation 
of  matter — "  suppuration  ”  as  it  is  called — was  associated  with  the 
presence  of  large  numbers  of  minute  organisms  which,  it  was  found, 
were  destroyed  by  certain  substances,  such  as  carbolic  acid.  If  these 
were  excluded  pus  was  not  formed,  and  the  healing  process  was  not 
interfered  with.  And  now  operations  are  done  with  comparative 
impunity  which  would  not  have  been  attempted  twenty-five  years  ago, 
and  other  operations  which  then  resulted  in  a  mortality  of  75  per  cent, 
are  now  done  with  a  mortality  of  3  or  4  per  cent.  only. 
Although  the  existence  of  these  minute  forms  of  life  in  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  and  the  soil  was  known,  and  that  some  soils  teemed  with  them, 
and  while  their  relation  to  animal  life  was  being  rapidly  marked  out, 
their  influence  upon  the  life  of  plants  was  apparently  little  thought  of 
or  even  suspected  until  recently,  and  certainly  no  practical  application 
of  any  discovery  which  investigation  had  made  was  arrived  at.  As  yet 
comparatively  little  is  known  ;  but  already  the  application  of  the  know¬ 
ledge  gained  is  so  valuable  that  we  may  hope  for  such  further  develop¬ 
ment  as  may  advance  materially  both  horticulture  and  agriculture. 
The  chemical  analysis  of  plants  shows  they  are  made  up  of  certain 
elements — oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  carbon,  together  with  lime, 
potash,  phosphorus,  and  other  mineral  substances  in  the  form  of  salts, 
and  that  these  elements  are  in  proportions  which  vary  with  the  kind 
of  plant.  Now  where  do  these  substances  come  from  ?  They  must  come 
obviously  from  the  atmosphere  or  the  soil  in  which  the  plants  grow. 
The  atmosphere  contains  oxygen  and  nitrogen  as  its  principal  consti¬ 
tuents,  in  the  proportion  of  four-fifths  nitrogen  and  one-fifth  oxygen, 
together  with  hydrogen  in  the  form  of  water  (which  is  a  fiompound  of 
oxygen  and  hydrogen),  carbon  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  (which  is  a 
compound  of  oxygen  and  carbon),  and  ammonia  (which  is  a  compound 
of  nitrogen  and  hydrogen).  Plants  breathe  through  their  leaves,  throw¬ 
ing  off  water  and  carbonic  acid  gas  ;  but  during  bright  sunshine  the 
leaves  absorb  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  their  green  colouring  matter  has  the 
power  of  splitting  this  compound  into  its  elements,  retaining  the  carbon 
and  giving  off  the  oxygen. 
The  other  constituents  of  the  plant. must  be  derived  from  the  soil. 
If  we  grow  crops  of  the  same  plant  season  after  season  in  the  same 
soil  they  presently  become  very  poor,  but  by  growing  crops  of  different 
plants  in  rotation  we  are  able  to  secure  good  crops.  In  order  to  main¬ 
tain  vigorous  growth,  and  particularly  in  certain  soils,  and  especially  if 
we  have  to  repeat  frequently  the  same  kind  of  plant,  we  manure 
heavily — that  is  to  say,  we  enrich  the  soil  with  the  elements  which  con¬ 
stitute  the  plant.  Among  these  elements  is  nitrogen,  and  we  apply  it 
often  in  the  form  of  nitrate  of  soda  and  sulphide  of  ammonium.  But  it 
has  been  found  that  upon  analysing  plants  and  the  soil  in  which  they 
are  grown,  they  contain  more  nitrogen  than  could  have  been  derived 
from  the  soil,  and  particularly  in  certain  soils,  and  this  is  especially  the 
case  with  papilionaceous  or  leguminous  plants  which  produce  a  pod  or 
legume  as  their  fruit.  This  excess  of  nitrogen  can  only  have  come 
from  the  atmosphere,  as  there  is  no  other  possible  source  of  it. 
When  plants  are  in  active  growth  the  microbes  in  the  soil  about 
their  roots,  and  within  them,  are  also  in  active  growth.  Without  their 
aid  plants  could  not  live,  for  they  prepare  the  food  on  which  they  live. 
In  a  drachm — a  little  old  fashioned  teaspoonful — of  soil  there  are  from 
1000  to  75,000,000  of  micro-organisms,  which  are  found  in  greatest 
abundance  within  8  inches  of  the  surface,  and  are  not  present  below 
2  feet  of  it.  It  is  by  their  aid  the  green  colouring  matter  splits  up  the 
carbonic  acid,  and  renders  the  carbon  fit  to  be  appropriated  for  the 
nutrition  of  the  plant.  It  is  they  which  abstract  the  nitrogen  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  render  it  fit  for  plant  food,  thus  accounting  for  the 
excess  of  nitrogen.  How  this  is  done  is  not  yet  known,  but  it  may  be 
that  hydrogen;  which  is  particularly  active  in  forming  combination  in 
its  free  state,  is  set  free,  and  combining  with  nitrogen,  forms  ammonia, 
which  is  acted  upon  by  the  microbe. 
