1910s Timeline - John Innes Centre

southwest of Hertford. The
Trustees agree to purchase the
mansion, farm buildings, stables
and cottages and most of the
land (together including 372
acres) and the purchase is
completed on 12 December
1945. The new setting for the
Institution is rather grand: the
80-room mansion, framed by
magnificent cedars, was built in
1759 by William Baker and is set
in a mature park designed by
John Claudius Loudon. In recent
years (until September 1945)
the estate has been let to Dr
Barnardo’s Homes.
1945 Experiments on
glasshouse design
As ‘Curator of the gardens’, W J
C Lawrence is charged with the
task of designing the new
glasshouses at Bayfordbury. He
has to begin ‘with not a single
piece of scientifically derived
information on glasshouse
design’. He starts to
systematically monitor the
effects of orientation,
ventilation and heating systems.
Model glasshouses are
constructed at Merton to test
orientation effects. This data
helps Lawrence to formulate
plans for the Bayfordbury
glasshouses; these are prepared
‘to make the whole new
construction into a large
experiment’. Topics for
investigation include the
behaviour and durability of
glasshouse materials; efficiency
of natural light and heat loss
under different designs;
variables affecting glasshouse
climatology; efficiency of
ventilation, and the effect of
humidity.The Bayfordbury
glasshouses are erected 1948-
1950 and cover nearly an acre
with glass. Two innovations,
new to Britain, are included in
them: forced ventilation with
humidification, and automatic
ventilators.
The end of six years of blackout
restrictions means that
Lawrence is also free to
experiment on artificial
illumination (something he had
tried unsuccessfully in 1936); he
begins with a purchase of seven
fluorescent lamps in December
1946, the first purchase he has
ever made for pure
experimental work. These lamps
increase the yield of the early
crop of tomatoes by 55 per cent.
Between 1947 and 1953 tests on
fluorescent, mercury, neon and
sodium light sources proceed.
The practical results are
published in 1952 and the full
scientific results in 1954.
See also:
W. J. C. Lawrence, Catch the
tide: adventures in horticultural
research, London: Grower
Books, 1980.
W. J. C. Lawrence, Science and
the Glasshouse, Edinburgh:
Oliver and Boyd. 1948, 1950.
W. J. C. Lawrence and A.
Calvert, Artificial illumination of
seedlings, J. I. Leaflet No. 11,
Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd,
1952.
W. J. C. Lawrence and A.
Calvert, ‘The artificial
illumination of seedlings’,
Journal of Horticultural Science,
29 (July 1954): 157-74.
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