16 JUNE 1950, Page 19

John Innes

A beautiful country house, in a setting of singularly beautiful trees, has just been opened as the home of the John Innes Horticultural Institution. The name is familiar to most gardeners through the wide popularity of the John Innes compost which has made growth from seed a much surer business. What interests me in its methods is the interaction of pure and applied science. The research workers discovered by practice which apples are congenial neighbours. A Cox bears better near a James Grieve or Worcester Pearmain or several other fond com- panions, Such practical work in orchards lead on to the study of the inwardness of fertility and heredity, and all manner of useful practical results are likely to issue. So• -it becomes a question, often begged, whether theory more fruitfully benefits practice or practice theory;