Abstract
MB. F. A. SECRETT lectured before the Royal Society of Arts on November 27, the subject of the discourse being “Modern Methods of Vegetable Production and Marketing”. Mr. Secrett, as the owner of Holly Lodge Farm, Walton-on-Thames, is well qualified to speak on this topic (see NATURE, May 25, p. 866). Mr. Secrett's outlook combines the enthusiasm of the amateur with business acumen and scientific discrimination. One of the problems of intensive culture is to obtain sufficient humus for the soil. Sewage waste and. town refuse may possibly fill the need, but Mr. Secrett insisted that fresh or green manure has a denitrifying effect on the soil. The technique of irrigation by overhead sprays, and of heating the soil by hot water pipes laid in troughs of water below the soil, were described in detail, for Mr. Secrett is an authoritative exponent and pioneer in the application of these practices. Particular attention was given to methods of aerating the irrigation water, and of incorporating soluble fertilisers. The section on marketing dealt with the use of non-returnable packages, the reorganisation of commission sales, and the revision of railway rates. Much criticism of the work of marketing boards was given, and Mr. Secrett showed, by reasoned argument and without caustic remark, that the unvaried edict of bureaucratic control is often opposed to the best interests of a dynamic and changeable industry such as vegetable growing.
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Science and Vegetable Production. Nature 136, 948 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136948a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136948a0