Researches on Glasshouse Plants

Abstract

THE nineteenth annual report (1933) of the Experiment and Research Station established by the Nursery and Market Garden Industries Development Society, Ltd., at Turner s Hill, Cheshunt, Herts, shows a gratifying co-operation between the glasshouse grower and the scientific worker. The director of the Station, Dr. W. F. Bewley, reports that manurial and variety trials of tomatoes have been prosecuted for some time, and various items of practice, such as planting in trenches, digging in spent hops, chrysanthemum roots and clean straw, have been investigated. A very important experiment relates to heating the soil. This was done by means of hot-water pipes buried in the ground. Circulation of water in the pipes was maintained by means of an electric pump controlled by a soil thermostat. The results show a considerable increase in yield due to the higher temperature of the soil. The use of oil fuel-has been investigated through two seasons, and an increased financial return of more than £210 per acre was obtained as against the use of anthracite fuel. This was due to the uniformity of temperature which was maintained throughout the whole of the day and night. Experiments on cucumbers and lettuce find a place in the report, which also contains, within its 115 pages, detailed results of mycological, entomological and physiological investigations by members of the Station staff.