122 
JOUBNAL  OF  IIOBTTCULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDEXER. 
August  6,  1903. 
Back  to  the  Land. 
Although  I  aiu  convinced  that  this  subject  has  a  peculiar  fasci¬ 
nation  tor  hosts  of  Journal  readers,  I  should  not  have  ventured 
to  enter  the  arena  again  but  for  the  recent  remarks  of  “  D  C  ” 
who  not  only  asserts  that  small  holdings  do  not  nay,  but  is  also 
trying  hard  to  convince  us  that  it  is  extremely  undesirable  to 
attempt  to  increase  their  numbers.  “  D.  C.’s”  methods  of  argu¬ 
ment  are,  however,  not  likely  to  appeal  very  strongly  to  practical 
men,  because  they  savour  too  much  of  the  “  dream'v  academical 
faddist  instead  of  being  based  on  actual  facts  as  we  see  them 
before  us  to-day.  “  D.  C.”  has  been  asked  to  explain  why  the 
nationalisation  of  the  land  “would,  if  practicallv  applied,  lead 
to  national  suicide.”  At  the  outset  he  is  obliged  to  admit  that 
he  cannot  do  so,  but  instead  advances  visionary  forebodings  con- 
jured  np  ill  his  inventive  brain.  I  shall  certainly  not  attempt  to 
copy  D.  C.”  in  this  respect,  but  will  endeavour,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  write  of  facts  as  they  appear  before  us  all,  and  from 
winch  fair  deduction  may  be  made. 
4-1,  Small  Holdings  Pay.P  The  emphatic  answer  to  give  to 
that  is  that  in  districts  whore  they  have  been  given  a-  fair 
trial,  it  is  found  that  they  do,  and  the  demand  for  them  increases 
each  year.  “  Owner  and  Tenant  ”  has  already  shown  us  how  they 
are  increasing  in  the  Evesham  district,  and  how  the  rental  value 
of  the  land  has  also  increased.  In  Lincolnshire  the  demand  for 
small  holdings  is  so  great  that  the  county  council  is  taking  up  a 
large  area  of  land  to  supply  the  demand.  In  some  districts  where 
such  holdings  have  been  a  failure,  the  cause  may  be  traced  to  a 
lack  ot  ready  money  to  tide  over  a  difficult  time;  but  when 
co-opeiati\e  credit  banks  have  been  formed  in  connection  with 
them,  success  has  been  almost,  if  not  quite,  universal. 
D.  C.  next  raises  the  cjnestion  as  to  whether  or  not  we  are 
more  prosperous  as  a  nation,  while  ive  allow  a  large  portion  of  the 
land  to  remain  derelict,  than  we  should  be  if  it  were  fully  culti¬ 
vated,  and  less  labour  was  therefore  available  for  manufacturing 
purposes.  Well,  for  the  sake  of  argument  I  will  admit  that  the 
aggi’Cgatc  wealth  of  the  nation  has  been  more  largely  increased 
by  neglecting  the  land,  and  paying  great  attention  to  manu- 
mctures,  than  it  could  have  been  by  foltowing  the  opposite  course. 
-Bitf— and  an  important  hut  it  is— the  increase  of  wealth  has  gone 
principally  to  the  capitalist,  the  workers  have  not  benefited  to  the 
ptent  they  should  have  done,  as  the  higher  wages  of  towns  have 
been  absorbed  in  the  extra  cost  of  living  and  keeping  up  ajipear- 
ances.  This  is,  however,  not  the  worst  phase  of  the  question. 
Ine  miserable  conditions  under  which  many  of  theworkers  in  laro-e 
towns  exist,  are  such  as  to  make  the  lot  of  small  holders  in  the 
country  infinitely  better  by  comparison.  Hitherto,  we  have  been 
drawing  upon  the  country  to  supply  the  workers  of  the  towns, 
but  'ttdieii  the  .supply  fails — and  it  is  already  failing  fast — what 
will  be  the  condition  of  Britons  .P  Why,  we  shall  be  a  nation  of 
degenerates,  then  good-bye  to  our  country’s  supremacy.  That 
^the  .serious  problem  ivhich  confronts  us  at  the  present  time. 
VVe  do  not  want  to  become  a  nation  of  small  holders — in  fact  if 
we  did  there  is  not  enougli  land  to  “  go  round  ’’—but  we  do  want 
a  fair  percentage  of  the  people  to  follow  rural  pursuits,  if  for 
nothing  else  than  to  maintain  the  stamina  of  the  nation,  and 
tliere  are  hosts  of  silent,  uncomplaining  plodders  in  large  cities, 
wiiq,  to-day,  would  be  leading  far  happier,  healthier  lives  if  in 
their  younger  days  they  had  not  left  the  country — or  their  parents 
bad  not  done  so.  Easy  facilities  for  acquiring  land,  backed  up 
by  co-operation  among  small  holders  will  do  more  than  aiiythine 
^  impetus  to  country  life.  It  is  a  matter  which 
vitally  aftects  our  continued  prosperity  as  a  nation,  and  the 
nation  ought  to  be  prepared  to  make  some,  and  if  necessary,  a 
great  sacrifice  to  deal  with  it  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 
When  comparing  the  wages — or  profits— obtained  from  country 
pursuits  we  are  too  much  inclined  to  consider  the  amount  of 
income  alone,  instead  of  in  conjunction  with  the  really 
necessary  expenditure.  It  is  not  so  much  what  an  in- 
dividual  earns  as  what  he  or  she  spends  which  determines 
their  condition  in  regard  to  prosperity.  In  towns  the 
necessary  expenses  are  great,  then  there  are  others  which 
miglit  be  termed  luxuries ;  but  which  are  really  necessaries, 
because  everybody  indulges  in  them  for  the  .sake  of  appearances. 
In  the  country  such  useless  luxuries  are  as  a  rule  dispensed  with 
and  therefore  the  majon'ty  are  happy  and  contented  w'ithout 
them.  If  then,  by  cultivating  a  larger  portion  of  our  land  we 
reduced  the  quantities  of  manufactured  goods  sold  to  other 
:Mtions,  we  should  also  greatly  lessen  the  amount  we  now  pay  them 
for  useless  luxuries.  Those  who  are  fairly  prosperous  while  lead¬ 
ing  a  country  life  are  generally  so  much  attached  to  their  par¬ 
ticular  calling  that  they  would  scarcely  care  to  change  with  any¬ 
one,  certainly  not  with  those  having  a  princely  income  if  com¬ 
pelled  to  reside  in  town  to  obtain  it.  The  prosperous  countryman 
realises  that  in  rural  life  rest  and  ever  changing  sources  of 
happiness  are  open  to  him,  and  that  the  intelligent  individual  can 
enjoy  each  day  to  the  full,  much  more  so  than  can  the  town 
dweller  whose  one  great  and  devouring  passion  is  to  amass  wealth, 
and  infinitely  more  so  than  the  city  toiler  can,  whose  home  appears 
still  more  dismal  by  comparison  with  the  splendours  around. — 
H.  D. 
Gold  Medallist  in  Horliculture. 
I  filiink  that  “  Inquirer,”  not  having  received  an  answer  to  his 
inquiries  as  to  the  horticultural  qualifications  of  the  advertiser 
who  advertises  himself  as  a  gold  medallist  in  horticulture  on 
advertisement  boards  at  Snow  Hill,  Birmingham,  and  other 
.stations  on  the  Great  Western  Railway,  may  safely  take  it  for 
granted  that  he  has  no  qualifications  whatever,  at  least  not  of 
that  quantity  and  quality  gold  medallists  in  horticulture  are 
generally  supposed  to  possess.  A  gold  medallist  in  horticulture, 
as  understood  by  horticulturists  in  general,  is  a  person  who  ha.s 
successfully  passed  a  severe  examination  in  botany,  chemistry, 
or  horticulture,  or  otherwise  in  practice  has  proved  himself  to  be 
an  expert  in  the  art  and  practice  of  horticulture  in  general.  To 
be  the  recipient  of  a  small  gold  medal  for  an  honorary  exhibit 
of  easily  grown  common  hardy  herbaceou-s  flowers,  and  then  tO' 
annonuce  oneself  as  a  gold  medallist  in  horticulture  is  certainly 
a  very  flowerj"  and  exaggerated  way  of  proclaiming  it  to  the 
public.  It  is  astonishing  lioiv  some  men  can  float  on  puff  and 
blubber ;  how  they  announce  themselves  as  lecturers  in  horti¬ 
culture,  and  even  assume  and  offer  themselves  as  judges  at 
horticultural  exhibitions,  when  at  the  same  time  they  have  never 
grown  fruit,  vegetables,  or  greenhouse  flowers  in  their  lives; 
but  if  practical  gardeners,  especially  near  the  Midland  metro¬ 
polis,  would  only  decline  to  act  with  such  men,  and  exhibitors 
would  decline  to  accept  their  decision,  we  should  soon  see  an  end 
of  bogus  judges  and  lecturers.  However,  I  do  hope  that  after 
this  correspondence  the  individual  referred  to  by  “  Inquirer  ” 
will  have  the  courage  to  qualify  his  claim  as  a  gold  medallist, 
otherwise  I  think  the  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  ra&y 
safely  conclude  that,  as  generally  understood,  he  has  no  claim 
at  all.  If  he  has  not  the  courage  or  the  material  wherewith  to 
defend  himself,  perhaps  someone  amongst  liis  friends  will  iin- 
shcath  the  .sword  in  his  defence. — One  Who  Would  Like  to  Know. 
Germination  of  Seeds. 
On  looking  over  some  old  newspaper  cuttings  I  came  across 
the  following  article,  written  before  my  time,  and  if  there  are 
readers  of  the  Journal  who  can  remember  it,  or  others  who  can 
express  their  opinions  on  the  subject,  I  feel  sure  their  statements 
would  be  received  with  a  great  amount  of  pleasure. 
Some  curious  and  all  but  forgotten  experiments  of  much 
interest  to  agriculture  and  gardening  have  lately  been  revived 
by  a  German  savant.  Very  many  years  ago  it  was  discovered, 
and  recorded  that  water  saturated  with  camphor  had  a  remark¬ 
able  influence  upon  the  germination  of  seeds.  Like  nia-ny  another 
useful  hint,  the  stupid  world  took  no  notice  of  tliis  intimation, 
but  a  Berlin  professor  came  across  the  record  of  it,  and  he 
appears  to  have  established  the  fact  that  a  solution  of  camphor 
stimulates  vegetables  as  alcohol  does  animals.  He  took  seeds  in 
various  sorts  of  pulse,  some  of  the  samples  being  three  or  four 
years  old,  and  therefore  possessing  a  very  slight  degree  of 
vitality.  He  divided  these  parcels,  placing  one  moiety  of  them 
between  sheets  of  blotting  paper  simply  wetted,  and  the  other 
under  .strictly  similar  conditions  between  sheets  soaked  in  the 
camphorated  water.  In  many  cases  the  seeds  did  not  swell  at 
all  under  the  influence  of  the  simple  moisture,  but  in  every  case 
they  germinated  where  they  were  subjected  to  the  camphor 
solution.  The  experiment  was  extended  to  different  kinds  of 
garden  seeds,  old  and  new,  and  always  with  the  same  result  of 
showing  a  singular  awakening  of  dormant  idtalism  and  a  won¬ 
derful  quickening  of  growdh.  It  also  appears  from  the  professor’s 
researches  that  the  young  plants  thus  set  shooting  continued 
to  increase  with  a  vigour  and  vivacity  much  beyond  that  of  those 
which  were  not  so  treated.  On  the  other  hand,  when  pounded 
camphor  was  mixed  with  the  soil  it  appeared  to  exercise  rather 
a  bad  effect  upon  seeds.  The  dose  in  this  latter  case  was  possibly 
too  strong. 
At  all  events  there  is  here  a  line  of  inquiry  well  worth  follow¬ 
ing  up  by  seedsmen  and  gardeners,  and  even  farmers  might  try 
how  far  Wheat  and  Barley  would  profit  from  the  strange  property, 
which  seems  to  be  possessed  by  this  drug  over  the  latent  life  of 
vegetable  germs. — R.  P.  R. 
