Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient
Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient
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Ramón Hervás
Sungyoung Lee
Chris Nugent
José Bravo (Eds.)
Ubiquitous Computing
and Ambient Intelligence
LNCS 8867
Personalisation
and User Adapted Services
8th International Conference, UCAmI 2014
Belfast, UK, December 2–5, 2014
Proceedings
123
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 8867
Commenced Publication in 1973
Founding and Former Series Editors:
Gerhard Goos, Juris Hartmanis, and Jan van Leeuwen
Editorial Board
David Hutchison
Lancaster University, UK
Takeo Kanade
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Josef Kittler
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Jon M. Kleinberg
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Friedemann Mattern
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
John C. Mitchell
Stanford University, CA, USA
Moni Naor
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
C. Pandu Rangan
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
Bernhard Steffen
TU Dortmund University, Germany
Demetri Terzopoulos
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Doug Tygar
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Gerhard Weikum
Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbruecken, Germany
Ramón Hervás Sungyoung Lee
Chris Nugent José Bravo (Eds.)
Ubiquitous Computing
andAmbient Intelligence
Personalisation
and User Adapted Services
13
Volume Editors
Ramón Hervás
Castilla-La Mancha University, Escuela Superior de Informática
Paseo de la Universidad 4, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
E-mail: [email protected]
Sungyoung Lee
Kyung Hee University, Department of Computer Engineering
446-701, Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]
Chris Nugent
University of Ulster, Computer Science Research Institute
School of Computing and Mathematics, Jordanstown Campus
Shore Road, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, UK
E-mail: [email protected]
José Bravo
Castilla-La Mancha University, Escuela Superior de Informática
Paseo de la Universidad 4, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
E-mail: [email protected]
University of Ulster and Professor Jose Bravo from Castilla-La Mancha Univer-
sity. We would also like to thank all the Program Committee members for their
time and contributions.
General Chairs
José Bravo Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain
Chris Nugent University of Ulster, UK
UCAmI PC Chairs
Ramón Hervás Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain
Sungyoung Lee Kyung Hee University, Korea
EUSPAI PC Chairs
Ramón Alcarria Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Augusto Morales Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Tomás Robles Valladares Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
IoT PC Chairs
Antonio Skarmeta University of Murcia, Spain
Antonio J. Jara University of Applied Sciences Western
Switzerland, Switzerland
AmIUA PC Chairs
Nelson Baloian University of Chile, Chile
Hiroaki Ogata Kyushu University, Japan
Benjamin Weyers RWTH Aachen University, Germany
AmIUA PC Chairs
Hui Wang University of Ulster, UK
Publicity Chairs
Vladimir Villarreal Technological University of Panama, Panama
Jesús Fontecha Diezma Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain
VIII Organization
Organizing Committee
Jesús Fontecha, Spain Mark Beattie, UK
Tania Mondéjar, Spain Colin Shewell, UK
Vladimir Villarreal, Panama Joseph Rafferty, UK
Gabriel Urzáiz, Mexico Philip Hartin, UK
Iván González, Spain Andrew Ennis, UK
Web Masters
Kyle Boyd University of Ulster, UK
Mark Beattie University of Ulster, UK
Program Committee
Unai Aguilera Deusto Institute of Technology - DeustoTech,
University of Deusto, Spain
Xavier Alamán Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Ramón Pablo Alcarria Garrido Technical University of Madrid, Spain
Jan Alexandersson DFKI GmbH, Germany
Mohamed Bakhouya University of Technology of Belfort
Montbeliard, France
Mert Bal Miami University, USA
Madeline Balaam Newcastle University, UK
Nelson Baloian University of Chile, Chile
Denilson Barbosa University of Alberta, Canada
Jean-Paul Barthes UTC, USA
Hector Bedon Technical University of Madrid, Spain
Paolo Bellavista University of Bologna, Italy
Daniel Biella University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Francisco Javier Blaya
Gonzálvez University of Murcia, Spain
Andrés Lorenzo Bleda Technical Centre of Furniture and Wood
(CETEM), Spain
Stephane Bouchard Université du Québec en Outaouais-UQO,
Canada
Fatima Boujarwah Kuwait University, Kuwait
Robin Braun University of Technology, Sydney
Jose Bravo Castilla La Mancha University, Spain
Organization IX
Additional Reviewers
Rachel Gawley, UK Michael Craven, UK
Jonathan Synnott, UK Giuseppe Fico, Spain
Timothy Patterson, UK Giorgio Carpino, Italy
Alberto Calzada, UK Jseús Fontecha, Spain
Ian Cleland, UK Iván González, Spain
Phillip Hartin, UK
Table of Contents
The Role of Assistive Technologies for Older Adults in Urban Areas . . . . 376
Anna Kötteritzsch and Benjamin Weyers
Alfonso Bahillo, Ander Arambarri, Ignacio Angulo, Enrique Onieva, Pilar Elejoste,
and Asier Perallos
1 Introduction
The use of location data to control normal day features are being more popular in re-
cent years not only for security applications, but also for mass market applications.
Applications of location data include Location-Based Services (LBS) such as pedes-
trian navigation in complex indoor buildings, inclusion of elders or disabled citizens
in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) scenarios, support to first-aid responders such as
firemen or policemen in risky situations, the proactive supply of information at specific
locations for museum visitors, or the customized advertising in shopping malls, among
others [1]. Outdoors, most of the positioning applications rely on global navigation
satellite systems (GNSS). However, satellite signals get severely degraded in indoor
environments such as inside buildings, urban canyons or tunnels. For these indoor en-
vironments, many local positioning systems (LPS) have been developed during the past
two decades based on different technologies, and utilizing many physical signals (see
[2] for a LPS survey). After all this research effort, it is becoming a fact that none of
these technologies clearly outperforms the others. Thus, a current trend in addressing
indoor localization is to fuse already deployed technologies.
An increasing popular indoor positioning solution combines pedestrian dead-
reckoning (PDR), using foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs), with already
R. Hervás et al. (Eds.): UCAmI 2014, LNCS 8867, pp. 1–8, 2014.
c Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
2 A. Bahillo et al.
Velcro straps
Fig. 1. Pedestrian tracker. (a) Low-cost Bluetooth IMU into the enclosure, and (b) attached to the
right foot.
directions defined by the orientation of their corridors and, a person walks most of
the time along straight-line paths parallel to these dominant directions. Therefore,
assuming the person walks in indoor buildings we can implement the so-called
heuristic drif elimination (HDE) proposed by Borenstein and Ojeda or a more re-
cently work by A. Jimenez et al. improving the previous one (iHDE) [20] and [21],
respectively.
4 Evaluation
The pedestrian tracker using low-cost Bluetooth inertial sensors has been developed
on Android, a mobile operating platform which nowadays controls most of the smart-
phones. As a way to verify its behaviour under a real environment it has been tested
using a commercial smartphone which processes the raw IMU data in real time.
For the experimental evaluation we conducted real trials at the building of the Faculty
of Engineering (Deusto University) in the city of Bilbao, whose floor map is shown in
Figure 2. This five floor building is approximately 112 m long and 62 m wide. The ap-
proximately 800 m long path followed goes by three floors, starting in the 5th floor (at
16 m height), going down to the 3rd floor (at 8 m height) by the stairs, once more going
down to the 2nd floor (at 4 m height), and finally returning to the starting point going
up to the 5th floor. In the experiments the target is a person who walks more or less at
constant speed, and carries the foot-mounted IMU detailed in section 2 and the Galaxy
Nexus GT-i9250 smartphone. This smartphone incorporates the Broadcom BCM4330
single chip device providing with Bluetooth 4.0+HS connectivity among others hand-
held wireless systems, and a 1.5 GHz dual core ARM-based processor which imple-
ments the pedestrian tracker algorithm in real time.
4.2 Results
We do not aim to give a precise comparison of different PDR heuristics with their
optimal parameters. Rather, we want to evaluate the performance of a custom-built foot-
mounted pedestrian tracker based on commercially available low-cost inertial sensors
connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone which processed the raw IMU data in real
time. All position estimates are relative to the initial position and heading, therefore a
small error early in the path would have a significant effect later on.
Figure 2 shows the horizontal and altitude plots from our three implementations:
ZUPT heuristic, ZUPT and going up/down heuristics, and ZUPT, going up/down and
iHDE heuristics. All of them share the same framework, the standard inertial PDR
method described in [6], using the initial transformation matrix provided by the gath-
ered initial accelerometers data, and removing the gyro bias computed at the beginning
of the trial. Acceleration and gyro data rate at 200 Hz and 100 Hz, respectively, gave the
best results. Lower data rates degraded the performance, but higher rates did not bring
6 A. Bahillo et al.
26
24
70 22
Start
60 End
20
50
z (m)
18
40
y (m)
30 16
20
14
10
12
0
10 10
20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
x (m) Distance travelled (m)
(a) KF ZUPT
18
16
70 14
Start
60 End
12
50
z (m)
10
40
y (m)
30 8
20
6
10
4
0
10 2
20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
x (m) Distance travelled (m)
16
70 14
Start
60 End
12
50
z (m)
10
40
y (m)
30 8
20
6
10
4
0
10 2
20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
x (m) Distance travelled (m)
Fig. 2. Plots for a 800 m long walk through the Faculty of Engineering at the University of
Deusto. Each pair of plots shows the horizontal position (left) and altitude (right) for (a) KF
with ZUPT heuristic, (b) KF with ZUPT and going up/down heuristics, and (c) KF with ZUPT,
going up/down and iHDE heuristics.
Implementing a Pedestrian Tracker Using Low-Cost Bluetooth Inertial Sensors 7
any noticeable improvement. The KF implementation with heading drift and altitude
error elimination always provide the best results. As a way to compute the accuracy of
the pedestrian tracker, the route started and finished at the same point. Therefore, the
accumulated positioning error is computed as the 3D Euclidean distance between the
starting and finishing positions with respect to the total traveled distance. Thus, apply-
ing iHDE and going up/down heuristics, the total accumulated error is 2 m, i.e. 0.25%
of the total traveled distance. The results were reasonable (accumulated error lower than
1%) but would improve by testing different environments with different users, which
probably need better tuning the KF and the parameters of the implemented heuristics.
5 Conclusions
The discussion in this paper has given an overview of the possibilities of smartphones
to be used as the target of a wirelessly IMU-based positioning system. Firstly, we have
described a custom-built foot-mounted IMU based on commercially available low-cost
inertial sensors to be connected wirelessly to a smartphone. Secondly, we have demon-
strated the capability of smartphones to process raw IMU data in real time which are
received wirelessly up to 200 Hz data rate. Finally, we have tested the pedestrian tracker
with commercial devices in a five floor building achieving an accumulated error lower
than 1%. As future work we are going to fuse the raw IMU data with the smartphone
sensors data such as WiFi and GPS trying to provide accurate and long-time navigation.
References
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[3] Zampella, F., Bahillo, A., Prieto, J., Jimenez, A.R., Seco, F.: Pedestrian navigation fusing
inertial and rss/tof measurements with adaptive movement/measurement models: Experi-
mental evaluation and theoretical limits. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 203, 249–260
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[6] Fischer, C., Sukumar, P.T., Hazas, M.: Tutorial: Implementing a pedestrian tracker using
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Another random document with
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THE LOTTERY OF DEATH.
AN EPISODE IN GUERRILLA WARFARE.
While on a trip to Europe last summer, I noticed in the smoking-
room of the good steamer Servia a rather portly, middle-aged
gentleman, with a mild expression of countenance, and certainly no
trace of the soldier in his bearing; and yet he was the hero of a
thrilling adventure. I was introduced to him by one of the officers of
the steamer, and found him to be an insurance agent in a large way,
going abroad for needed rest—Mr Balcom by name. In the course of
a conversation on personal courage, one evening, over our after-
dinner cigars, my new-found friend related the following interesting
adventure:
You know, in the late war between the North and South, nearly all
our able-bodied men on both sides of the line were more or less
soldiers of some sort. I was myself a Captain and ‘Commissary of
Subsistence’ in the United States Volunteers, and was attached to a
cavalry brigade in the army of the Potomac. In the Fall of 1864, my
brigade was located in camp for the winter about four or five miles to
the south of Winchester, Virginia. As a ‘commissary,’ I had constantly
to pass with my train of wagons from the town to camp; but so
confident was I that no danger could possibly befall me on that short
jaunt, actually all within our own lines, that I carried neither sword nor
pistol. Well, one pleasant afternoon in the latter part of November, as
I was riding with my orderly, a good soldier, by the name of Leonard,
at the head of the wagon-train, wearying of the slow progress made
by the mule-teams, I placed the train in charge of the commissary
sergeant, and rode on ahead, followed by my orderly only. I had
gone little more than half-way to camp—the road we followed
became wooded by young timber and underbrush—when, as I
turned a bend in the road, I saw four or five mounted men about a
quarter of a mile in advance of us. Calling my orderly to my side, I
asked him what he thought of them.
‘I guess they are some of our boys, sir. They have our uniform on,
and are too far inside of our lines to be “Johnnies”’ (a term applied to
the Southerners).
This was my own idea; but still, I seemed intuitively to feel that all
was not right. These men evidently saw or heard us, for, turning their
horses’ heads toward camp, they marched slowly onward. This at
once disarmed me of all doubt, for I knew camp was near, and if they
were not ‘all right,’ they would hardly venture that way; so I resumed
my canter, and soon overtook my fellow-travellers. When I
approached, they filed to each side of the road, as if to let me pass,
and I kept on. But no sooner was my orderly and myself past their
last file of men, than in an instant we found ourselves confronted by
half-a-dozen pistols and the sharp command, ‘Halt!’ (A sixth man
had come out of the bush.)
‘Now, you Yanks want to keep your mouths shut, and do as you are
told, or it will be all up with you,’ said the commander. ‘Forward—trot
—march!’ and away we swept at a swinging trot, Leonard and I
completely surrounded by this unwelcome bodyguard, and well
covered by their pistols.
About a thousand yards we trotted on, and then swept into a narrow
road, more bridle-path than road, along which we kept for a mile or
so, when the command ‘Halt!’ was again given. Leonard and I were
ordered to dismount and give up our arms. I had none; but my
orderly was soon deprived of his. We were again put upon our
horses and strapped to the saddles in not too gentle a manner. I
ventured to ask where we were going to and who my captors were;
and was told we were being taken to Mosby’s camp by some of his
men; and furthermore, I was ordered to keep absolute silence on
pain of death. From this I inferred that we had to pass very near
some portion of our own camp or pickets, and for a moment I hoped
some chance might yet arise for escape. But during the march we
saw no soldier, or even camp-fire, and this road seemed specially
devised to allow free passage from the front to the rear of our lines
by any person who knew it. In about an hour or so we came once
more upon the highway. Night had fallen, but a young moon partially
illuminated the road.
The commander, a lieutenant of these free riders, reined his horse to
my side, and said we had passed the Yankee lines, and I could now
speak if I chose. I merely said the straps hurt me which bound me to
the saddle. We halted, and Leonard and I were untied, with a caution
that any attempt to escape would only end in our death. Two of the
guerrillas still led our horses, and the commander gave the order to
gallop. We moved rapidly, until about eight p.m. For some time we
had been ascending, and then slackening our pace a little. Suddenly,
before and below us, upon a plain of no great extent, I saw a camp
of from five to six hundred men. ‘Here we are,’ said the lieutenant;
and in a very short time Leonard and I found ourselves under strong
guard in the headquarters of Colonel Mosby at Rectortown. Under
the same guard were some score more of ‘Yankee’ prisoners.
Supper being over, we were given a little cold ‘hoe’-cake and the run
of a pail of water for our share.
I found that some of these my fellow-prisoners were infantry-men;
and one lad of about fourteen was a drummer of infantry. The
majority, however, were cavalry-men caught wandering too far from
their commands. Apparently, I was the only commissioned officer;
but as I wore a private’s overcoat, my rank was not known to my
fellow-prisoners for some time.
The sentinels about us paced their beats; some of the men were
asleep, and I was sitting on a log smoking, when, by the dim light of
the fire, I saw a mounted figure approach. The figure halted at the
guard; and presently the sergeant in charge called out: ‘Fall in—fall
in, you Yankees. Hurry up. Get into line there.’ Finally, all being
awake and placed to suit him, he turned, and saluting the horseman,
said: ‘The prisoners are paraded, sir.’
‘How many have you?’ asked the rider.—‘Twenty-two in all, sir.’ And
then I felt we were in the presence of that terror of the valley, Colonel
John S. Mosby, the best provost-marshal Sheridan had in the
Shenandoah.
As Mosby advanced nearer to the camp-fire, I was struck with the
lack of daring in his face and manner; but I knew he had it, from his
past career. His manner was not ferocious or tyrannical, and he
quietly turned upon us his eye, which seemed to see the whole of us
at a glance. He spoke as follows: ‘Men, your commander has seen fit
to refuse all quarter to my soldiers when captured, and hangs or
shoots them on the spot. I do not approve of this kind of warfare; but
I must retaliate; and as I capture two of your army to every one you
get of my command, that is not difficult. Just now, the balance is
against you, and five of you twenty-two prisoners must die.’
You may imagine all were wide awake at this announcement.
‘It is not for me to order out any five of you to execution, so the
fairest way will be for you to draw for your lives.’ Turning to the
sergeant, he continued: ‘Get twenty-two pieces of paper prepared—
five numbered from one to five. Let the other seventeen be blank,
and have each man draw a ticket; and you supervise the drawing.’
The sergeant hastened away for the paper and a lantern. Hitherto, I
had said nothing to any one of my rank; but now, throwing aside my
overcoat, I stepped forward, and addressing the mounted officer,
asked him if he was Colonel Mosby. The reply came: ‘That is my
name, sir.’
I was boiling over with indignation at this bloody action of the
guerrilla, and I said: ‘I am an officer and a gentleman; these men are
regularly enlisted soldiers of the United States army; surely you are
not going to treat them as spies or dogs, because they have fallen
into your hands through the fortune of war. What you propose, sir, is
not justice; it is assassination.’
I shall never forget the look on Mosby’s face as he turned toward
me, and said: ‘What justice would I get if I fell into the hands of your
soldiers? I tell you, sir, I value the life of the poorest of my comrades
far more than that of twenty Yankees. But I shall only retaliate in kind
—man for man, and that I will have. I was not aware, sir, that you
were an officer; but surely you can ask no better treatment from me
than I give your men?’
I said I wanted nothing more than he would grant to all, and stepped
back into my place in the ranks.
The sergeant returned just then, and the awful ‘Lottery of Death,’ as I
have ever since called it, began. When my turn came, I drew from
the hat a piece of paper; but I could not look at it—my heart stood
still, my knees trembled, my hand faltered; but suddenly, as from a
horrible dream, I was awakened by the word ‘Blank!—Fall back, sir.’
I was not to die by rope or bullet, at anyrate for a time. I cannot
describe to you my terror, my abject fear; nor do I know how I
appeared to others; but I do know I shall never suffer the fear of
death again so keenly.
The drawing was completed; the five victims separated from us;
when, suddenly, a boy’s voice was heard piteously asking for
pardon, mercy, anything but death. Colonel Mosby looked toward the
little drummer-boy, for he it was, and said: ‘Sergeant, is that boy one
of the condemned?’
‘Yes, colonel,’ replied the sergeant.
‘Send him back in the ranks again; he is too young to die yet.’—And,
‘Captain,’ turning to me, ‘since you are so much afraid to die, we will
give you another chance.—Sergeant, place two papers—one
numbered, the other blank—in your hat, and let the captain and the
man next him draw again.’
At this second drawing, although I had only one chance in two of
escaping, I did not feel that abject fear that first overcame me, and I
stepped forward when ordered and drew another blank piece of
paper. My feeling was one of intense pity for the poor fellow who
drew the fatal number, and I hardly heard Mosby say: ‘Well, you are
a lucky fellow, captain.’
We were removed from the condemned that night. After two or three
days, with the aid of some friendly negroes and some burnt cork, I
made my escape, reaching our own lines in nine days.
Of the five condemned, two escaped, one by feigning death after
being shot, and the other was rescued by a friendly negro before
death ensued. These two men reached our army later on, and
corroborated my strange story of the ‘Lottery of Death.’ I think you
will agree with me that I had cause for showing fear at least once in
my life.
ABOUT WEEDS.
Somebody once characterised ‘dirt’ as matter in a wrong place.
Now, a weed is a plant in the wrong place. It has a place in the
economy of nature, no doubt, unprofitable or even noxious as it may
appear to the farmer or gardener. It must not be forgotten, moreover,
that even the humblest weed is worthy of patient examination, and is
a marvel of physiological structure. Then, again, some of our
hedgerow wildings vie in beauty of form and elegance of habit with
the cherished garden plants. What have we more charming, for
instance, than traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba), bryony, dogrose, or
the large white bindweed? And as to some other weeds, which of our
garden plants figure so largely in pictures as the foxglove, purple
loosestrife (Lithrum salicaria), the teasel, or the dock? Nevertheless,
they are weeds, and as such, are entirely out of place on the garden
or farm. Robbers and usurpers are they, to be ignominiously
decapitated or uprooted, and consigned to the rubbish-heap or the
flames.
Nature, it must be remembered, never sleeps; she either rewards the
hand of the diligent with abundant harvests, or she scatters
broadcast her thorns and thistles, as a punishment for man’s
neglect. The seeds of many species of plants have wonderful vitality.
We are not about to quote the ‘mummy wheat’ as an example; but
well-authenticated instances are recorded of seeds that have
preserved their vitality for upwards of half a century. The seeds of
the charlock and others of the Cruciferous tribe are of an oily nature,
and therefore capable of withstanding the effects of moisture, and
will germinate after being buried for years. But the process of ‘soiling’
the banks of new railways affords evidence of the long-continued
vitality of seeds. The surface soil which has been laid aside in heaps
for the purpose, is thrown back and spread upon the banks; and
among the multitude of grasses and weeds which spring up and form
a dense emerald carpet, there are invariably species seldom if ever
found in the immediate neighbourhood. In the case of forest fires in
the Far West, almost an entire new vegetation succeeds.
Occasionally, the extensive moorlands in the neighbourhood of
Liphook, Hants, take fire, and burn for days. The heather is dotted
over with seedlings of Scotch fir, which is indigenous in the locality.
Many of these trees are consumed with the heather, and with them
some inches in depth of the dried surface. Seeds from the fir-cones,
dropped years ago, are partially relieved from the superincumbent
pressure, germinate, and in a few years supply the places of those
that are destroyed. But every summer breeze wafts the winged
seeds of the thistle, dandelion, the coltsfoot, groundsel, and many
others, far and wide. Borne aloft on their tiny parachutes, they sail
along until a summer shower bears them down to a moist, warm,
resting-place in the field or wild.
The great weed-army which infests farms and gardens in the British
Islands numbers about one hundred and thirty species, and consists
mainly of two great classes, namely, annuals (fruitful only once) and
perennials (capable of producing flowers and fruit time after time).
About a dozen, however, are biennials; four of these are thistles; and
the most familiar of the remainder are the foxglove and the hemlock.
Some of the most troublesome farm and garden pests are
perennials, and among these, the most mischievous in their rapidity
of growth and tenacity of life are the greater and lesser bindweeds
(Convolvulacea) and the couch-grass (Triticum repens). Unless the
soil be well dug and pulverised and thoroughly sifted, the attempt to
eradicate either of these will be useless; every half-inch of the white
crinkled roots of the bindweed or bit of couch-grass to which roots
are attached will grow. The greater bindweed, perhaps, is the most
difficult to get rid of, and is especially troublesome among
evergreens. The tender, semi-transparent shoots stand quite erect
under evergreens until they touch the lower branches; they then
make rapid growth, and quickly cover the whole head of a laurel,
bay, laurustinus, or rhododendron with a thick mantle of light-green
leaves, twisted stems, and snow-white trumpet-shaped flowers.
Beautiful in its way, no doubt; but what of the handsome shrubs it
has stifled in its fatal caresses, and what of the weeks of hard labour
that must be expended in the attempt to eradicate the pest?
In Italy, however, the white, underground stems of couch-grass are
carefully gathered by the peasantry, taken to market in bundles, and
sold as food for cattle and horses. They contain a considerable
amount of starch. A variety of couch called matt grass is extensively
used in Holland for binding together the sandy dunes and flats by the
sea. Coltsfoot is a very troublesome weed; a variegated form of it,
with handsome, bold, cream-edged leaf, is wonderfully persistent in
forcing its way to other feeding-grounds. In one case under our own
observation, its roots, which are tender and brittle, found their way
from a bed, beneath a four feet margin of turf and an eight feet wide
gravel path. The only place where one is not likely to find the root is
where it was planted! In the case of the weeds hitherto
particularised, it is useless to remove the part appearing above
ground; and it is also so with several of the thistles; unless cut
beneath the crown or collar, the result is simply to force the plant to
make a fresh effort by throwing out numerous side-shoots.
A year or two ago, we were reminded by the Prime Minister, in one
of his thoughtful and suggestive speeches at Hawarden, that ‘one
year’s seeding is seven years’ weeding.’ One can appreciate the
repetition of the adage when reflecting on the enormous increase of
the common groundsel, or the still more extraordinary multiplication
of the common poppy. All the year round, even when the
temperature is below the freezing-point, the small yellow blossoms of
the groundsel may be noticed, each with its bundle of winged seeds,
while round the parent plant are a host of young seedlings. But such
is the prodigious fertility of the common poppy, that a single plant will
during its year of life produce forty thousand seeds! a rate of
increase that would, it is computed, in the course of seven years
cover the area of Great Britain; and furnish, we may further reckon,
enough opium to lull the whole population into a last long sleep. The
small seed escapes when ripe through the apertures at the base of
the capsule.
Next to the poppy and groundsel we may place the charlock,
chickweed, and corn marigold, all annuals, and to be easily got rid of
before flowering by hoeing. Some years ago, I was told by an
intelligent head-gardener in the island of Colonsay, in the west of
Scotland, that seeds of the oxeye daisy arrived in some packages
from London. In the course of a few years, oxeye had taken entire
possession of the island. It is a perennial, and also seeds plentifully,
and is therefore more difficult to destroy. Both the latter and the
yellow corn marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum) are now affected by
the æsthetic world, and are assuming importance as articles of
commerce, thousands of bunches being disposed of on market-days
at Covent Garden.
Americans inform us that about two hundred and twenty species of
weeds have been imported into their country, mostly from the British
Islands. In 1837, there were said to be only one hundred and thirty-
seven. The common plantain is known among the Indians as the
‘Englishman’s foot,’ as though following the steps of the white
settlers. The common yellow toadflax was, it is said, introduced by a
Mr Ranstead as a garden flower, and is now known as the Ranstead
weed. In 1788 it had overrun the pastures in the inhabited parts of
Pennsylvania, and was the cause of bitter complaints. Chickweed is
said to have been introduced as bird-seed, and the Scotch thistle
arrived in a bedtick filled with thistle-down. Feathers being cheap,
the bed of down was replaced by feathers, and the former thrown by
the wayside. The seed soon found a congenial home. There is a
troublesome American water-weed, however (Anacharis
alsinastrum), which has avenged our transatlantic cousins threefold
by choking our ponds, rivers, and canals. Another little intruder from
the Cape (Azolla pinnata) may be troublesome. It is a charming little
aquatic, and most interesting under the microscope. Some one had
thrown a handful of it on a pond we wot of, where the common
duckweed (Lemna) flourished; but azolla quickly monopolised the
whole surface and crowded out the duckweed.
With regard to weeds generally, it must always be borne in mind by
the farmer and gardener that they not only deprive the growing crops
of the food intended for them only, but their presence robs the young
plant of the air, light, moisture, and heat essential for its healthy
development. It is quite possible, however, that some of the plants
we now condemn as weeds will some day be utilised as green crops
and ploughed in. The entire constituents of the crop are in such case
returned to the soil. It is unnecessary to allude here to another
aspect of the weed question further than to remark, that a garden
owes much of its charm and neatness to its order, cleanliness, and
entire absence of weeds.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT
GORDON’S COLLEGE, ABERDEEN.
A little over two years ago (March 22, 1884), under the title of ‘A
Practical Science and Art School,’ we gave an account of the
transformation that had taken place at Gordon’s College, Aberdeen,
the old ‘hospital’ having been converted into a day and evening
school, both possessing sections specially devoted to technical
instruction. The first independent examination of the College (day-
school) has just been made, the examiners being Professor Birrell of
St Andrews, and Professor Kennedy of University College, London,
who report highly on the appearance made and the work done by the
pupils, and on the general condition of the College. They mention
that the College has so prospered under its new constitution, that
whereas the pupils in attendance previous to 1881 at no time
exceeded two hundred, the number on the register for this session
(1885-86) exceeds eight hundred. Of these, one hundred and twenty
are foundationers, who are entitled to free education, books, and an
allowance of £15, 12s. per annum for maintenance and clothing, &c.;
and this is all that remains of the ‘hospital’ system. We excerpt the
portion of the Report bearing on ‘Handicraft,’ as being of general
interest:
‘A certain number of the most promising boys in the third division are
allowed to receive workshop instruction for from one and a half to
two hours a week; while in the fourth and fifth divisions of the
Commercial School it forms a regular subject of instruction, to which
about four hours a week are allotted. Some boys have only one year
of this work, some (occasionally) over two years. A year and a half
seems to be about the average. The work done by individual pupils
depends upon their ability and probable future employment, each
having free choice so far as it is practicable. All boys occupy
themselves with simple woodwork for about a year after entering.
Later on, they obtain practice in fitter’s work (filing, chipping,
scraping, &c.), and in work at simple machine tools (simple and
screw-cutting lathes and planing-machines), also in forging and
greensand moulding. Those who require it are also taught something
of tinplate and plumber’s work. From twenty to twenty-five lads work
in the workshop at one time—there is not room for more. At present,
about eighty lads in all are receiving practical instruction in four
detachments. Earlier in the session (a large number of the more
advanced boys having left for situations in the early spring), the total
number was about one hundred and twenty-five, receiving instruction
in five divisions.
‘For the purposes of inspection, we requested that boys at all the
different stages might be put in the workshop simultaneously, in
order that both elementary and advanced work might be examined.
The younger boys were making wooden joints, half-lap, scarf,
dovetail, &c.; and from this, various grades of work were represented
up to the different parts of a slide-rest lathe which was in process of
construction. There seemed no tendency to take the work as play; it
was carried on as seriously and in the same spirit as every other part
of the educational course. The results were correspondingly
satisfactory. It is not intended or supposed that work of this kind will
supersede the necessity of apprenticeship in practical work; but it is
believed that it will send the boys to their apprenticeship much better
prepared than they would otherwise be to take advantage of the
opportunities they then have of learning, and much more likely to be
soon useful to their employers. Carried on in the spirit in which the
workshop at Gordon’s College is carried on, these results are
certainly achieved, and can only be spoken of in terms of thorough
commendation. The work turned out by the boys was not, of course,
equal to that of journeymen; but judged from its own point of view, as
the work of boys having had at most very little training, it was as
satisfactory in execution as in intention.’
It may not be out of place to mention that Mr F. Grant Ogilvie, the
Science teacher at Gordon’s College, has recently been appointed
Principal of the Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh; while Mr T. A. Clark,
Superintendent of the workshop at Gordon’s College, has been
appointed to the corresponding post at Heriot’s Hospital School.
AN EXPERIMENT IN CO-OPERATIVE FARMING.
We learn from a contemporary that the experiment in co-operative
farming now being made by the Duke of Portland on his Gringley
estate is exciting considerable attention in the country amongst all
classes. The farm referred to, consisting of about four hundred and
eighty-five acres, has been let, together with all the stock, horses,
and implements upon it, and with all the rights of the tenant, to an
association of six agricultural labourers. It is chiefly arable, there
being only thirty-six acres of grass; and the soil is a deep peat,
growing good wheat, and also oats, but not barley. The terms upon
which the farm is let or leased are, it is said, a fixed rent, payable
half-yearly. The tenant-right has been valued by parties mutually
chosen, and three per cent. is to be charged on the amount, to be
paid half-yearly with the rent. The horses, stock, and implements left
upon the farm have also been valued by the same valuers, and three
per cent. is to be charged thereon. The tenant-right, the stock, and
implements are at all times to be kept up after a style of good
husbandry, and the landlord, his agent, or servants are to have every
facility shown them to ascertain that the capital is being in no way
deteriorated. The shooting is not let with the farm. The agreement is
the one usually in force on the Duke’s estate, but it has been found
necessary, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to enter
into a subsidiary agreement giving power to resume possession at
any time, and this document will necessarily come under the Bills of
Sale Act. The amount of the valuation is said to be £2431, 10s. The
farm buildings are in good order, and sufficient for the requirements
of the farm. The live-stock on the farm has been valued, as also the
farming implements and general stock, including sufficient seed-
corn. There are four houses on the farm; but in order to meet the
requirements of the six men and their families, two of the houses
have been divided, and other alterations may also be made. A deed
of partnership is being drawn up amongst the men, which shall be in
force for seven years. Each man is to receive a wage of four pounds
a month; accounts are to be balanced yearly; and after the rent,
interest, and all other charges are deducted, the remainder is to be
paid over towards reducing the amount of the valuation.
W. D. F.