Soils and subsoils from a sanitary point of view : with especial reference to London and its neighbourhood / by Horace B. Woodward.

  • Horace Bolingbroke Woodward
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Soils and subsoils from a sanitary point of view : with especial reference to London and its neighbourhood / by Horace B. Woodward. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    GARDENS. provent tho uprising of nioisl,uro. Such moisture might otherwise ascend through porous bricks to a considerable height above ground, and cause much dampness to the living-rooms.' Dr. Poore remarks that an evergreen creeper, such as ivy, does more to keep the fomidations and walls of a house dry and pure than do any of the patent impermeable applications.^ Not only are bad bricks sometimes used, but worse mortar, which readily crumbles and is washed away. For outside work it is desirable that blue lias lime (or other strong lime) be used for the mortar. Good work is cheaper in the long run, when houses are not merely built for immediate sale. Gardens. Those who desire especially to devote attention to the cultiva- tion of a flower-garden will unfortunately find many drawbacks in London. They must remember that the smoky atmosphere has a poisonous effect on vegetation, and hence even if the soil be fertile their horticulture may be hindered or even ruined by the dust, smoke, and noxious gases of the great city. In many parts of London the stifl' V)rown London Clay is so near the surface that lumps of it are dug up when the soil is turned over, and this heavy clay-soil becomes caked in dry weather and is very tenacious in wet weather. Much good soil—flight loam and mould—^needs to be provided in such situations, and the garden requires to be well drained. Generally speaking the gravel areas are more suitable for floriculture in London itself, and still more fiivourable are the loams, and the mixed soils of the Woolwich and Reading Beds, where two or three feet of good top-soil may be expected. .Reference has been made (pp. 12,22) to the Market Gardens in the Thames Valley to the west and south of London, situated on a loamy sub-soil or on a loamy soil overlying sand and gravel. Reference has also been made to the thin Chalk soils (p. 26). With regard to Nursery Grounds a large area which will provide a diversity of sub-soil is of course desirable, and it is needful also in selectmg suitable sites both for Nursery Grounds and Orchards, to consider the aspect, and the shelter that may be afforded from northerly and easterly winds by higher grounds or belts of trees. The loamy areas in the Bagshot Beds to the south-west of Chertsey may be mentioned as affording good soils. 1 See K. D. Youug, Trans. Sanit. Inst.,' vol. xv., pp. 40-42.
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