Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) was an agricultural and
horticultural
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
government-funded research centre located in the village of
Long Ashton
Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset and is one of a number of large villages just outside the boundary of city of Bristol urban area. The parish has a population ...
near
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, UK. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
industry and became part of the
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
in 1912. Later, it expanded into fruit research (particularly
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
s,
pear
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...
s,
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
s,
strawberries
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
and
blackcurrant
The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
s) and in the 1980s was redirected to work on
arable crops and aspects of
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
. It closed in 2003. The Research Station is commonly known for developing
Ribena
Ribena ( ) is a brand of blackcurrant-based soft drink (both uncarbonated and carbonated), and fruit drink concentrate designed to be mixed with water. It is available in bottles, cans and multi-packs. Originally of British origin, it was pro ...
a still popular vitamin C-rich drink that was widely distributed in the UK during the Second World War, and the
Long Ashton Nutrient Solution (LANS).
History of LARS
Research on
cider making began privately in 1893 at Robert Neville-Grenville's farm near
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
. This led to the formation of the
National Fruit and Cider Institute
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
in 1903 in fields south of the main road through Long Ashton. Frederick Lloyd was appointed Director.
In 1912 the Institute became the
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
's Department of Agricultural and Horticultural Research and its name was changed to Long Ashton Research Station.
Indeed, the Universities of Bath and Bristol ran Master of Science (MSc) courses at the research station for many years. The first purpose built laboratory, the Barker Laboratory, was ready for use in 1914.
Fenswood Farm on the north side of the road was bought by the University in 1920 to extend the space available for experiments, and in 1921 the Campden Research Station was taken under Long Ashton's management.
The British Government formed the
Agricultural Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture.
History
The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...
(ARC) in 1931 and this body was given a direct role in managing LARS. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
a home grown source of
Vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
was needed and the
blackcurrant
The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
drink
Ribena
Ribena ( ) is a brand of blackcurrant-based soft drink (both uncarbonated and carbonated), and fruit drink concentrate designed to be mixed with water. It is available in bottles, cans and multi-packs. Originally of British origin, it was pro ...
was developed at Long Ashton.
[ A new Biology Laboratory was completed in 1948 and in 1952, although links with Campden Research Station ended, the ARC Unit of Plant Nutrition was set up at Long Ashton.
The Station's 50th year was celebrated by the publication of a book, ''Science and Fruit''. The 1950s were a time of rapid expansion for Long Ashton with the opening of the Kearns and Hewitt Laboratories (1956) and the Wallace Laboratory, Refectory and Conference Room (1959). The first Long Ashton International Symposium was held in 1967.
1981 saw the disbandment of two of Long Ashton's major research divisions, the ''Pomology and Plant Breeding Division'' and the ''Food and Beverage Division''. This action by the ARC was a severe blow to the Research Station and began a long period of structural change. The Hirst Laboratory was built in 1983 as part of the reorganisation process, and work on arable crops substantially replaced Long Ashton's long history of work on fruit and cider.
The ]Agricultural and Food Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture.
History
The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...
(AFRC, previously ARC) closed other research sites including the Letcombe Laboratory The Letcombe Laboratory was located at Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire, UK and began life in 1957 as the Agricultural Research Council Radiobiological Laboratory investigating contamination of land and food by radioactive substances, especially stronti ...
(1985) and the Weed Research Organisation
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
(1986) and their staff and programmes were moved to Long Ashton. With Rothamsted it became part of the Institute of Arable Crops Research
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Har ...
(IACR) in 1986. Although the new Treharne Library and Fryer Laboratory were built in 1987, as a junior partner in IACR, Long Ashton was now vulnerable in the event of further restructuring.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific rese ...
(BBSRC, formed from the previous AFRC in 1994) announced in 1999 that Long Ashton was to be closed. The seventeenth and final Long Ashton International Symposium took place in 2002 and the Research Station was duly closed in 2003 having served agriculture and horticulture for exactly 100 years. Some of the remaining staff were moved to Rothamsted during Long Ashton's final years, providing some continuity with the programmes of work under way prior to closure. The site was sold and subsequently redeveloped for housing, employment space, community uses and playing fields.
Nutrient solution
The Long Ashton Nutrient Solution (LANS) was derived from nutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
solutions used at Long Ashton to grow fruit tree
A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, ...
s. It was first published in 1952 by Eric John Hewitt. The LANS concentrations in ppm for almost all essential elements and sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
in a full solution of the nitrate
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion
A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...
-type are shown below:
*N 168 ppm
*K 156 ppm
*Ca 160 ppm
*P 41 ppm
*S 48 ppm
*Na 31 ppm
*Mg 36 ppm
*B 0.54 ppm
*Mn 0.55 ppm
*Zn 0.065 ppm
*Cu 0.064 ppm
*Mo 0.048 ppm
*Fe 5.6 ppm or 2.8 ppm
In particular, the composition and concentration of the micronutrient
Micronutrients are nutrient, essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for exam ...
s ( B, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Mo) is still commonly used in plant science
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
today (cf. Table (1)).
Micronutrients
Table (1) to prepare the stock solution
In chemistry, a solution is a special type of homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. If the attractive forces between the solvent ...
s of micronutrients and a full micronutrient solution of LANS
Micronutrient salts
In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively cha ...
such as MnSO4•4H2O can be substituted with an equivalent amount of MnCl2•4H2O because chloride
The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...
is one of the elements essential for plant growth (cf. Table (1)). For optimal plant growth, the LANS micronutrients can be combined with the macronutrients
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
of the Hoagland solution
The Hoagland solution is a hydroponic nutrient solution that was newly developed by Hoagland and Snyder in 1933, modified by Hoagland and Arnon in 1938, and revised by Arnon in 1950. It is one of the most popular artificial solution compositions ...
. According to Hewitt iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
is available as ferric citrate
Ferric citrate or iron(III) citrate describes any of several complexes formed upon binding any of the several conjugate bases derived from citric acid with ferric ions. Most of these complexes are orange or red-brown. They contain two or more Fe ...
or it may be prepared as ferric EDTA complex according to Jacobsen.[Hewitt E. J. (1966). Sand and Water Culture Methods Used in the Study of Plant Nutrition. Farnham Royal, England: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, pp. 547. Technical Communication No. 22 (Revised 2nd Edition) of the Commonwealth Bureau of Horticulture and Plantation Crops.]
The Long Ashton or Hewitt solution is widely used and is considered to be suitable for supporting normal growth of a range of different plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
species. Hewitt's and Hoagland's solution formulations led to increased growth of nursery fig trees
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...
in high-tunnel and open-field conditions, respectively. Numerous current research papers on plant nutrition use these standard feeding recipes to grow plants, and frequently without explicit description of the recipes.
Long Ashton International Symposia
This series of international conferences was well respected and attended by scientists from every continent.
* 1967 – Recent aspects of nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
metabolism
Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
in plants
* 1969 – Physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
of tree crops
* 1971 – Fungal
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
pathogenicity
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a ge ...
* 1973 – Lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natu ...
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
in beverages and food
* 1975 – Environmental effects on crop physiology
* 1977 – Nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
assimilation of plants
* 1979 – Quality in stored and processed vegetables and fruit
* 1982 – Improving vegetatively propagated crops
* 1984 – Rational pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
use
* 1986 – Hormone
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...
action in plant development — a critical appraisal
* 1989 – Herbicide resistance
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
in weeds and crops
* 1991 – Transport and receptor protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
s of plant membrane
A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. B ...
s: molecular structure and function
* 1993 – Ecology and integrated farming systems
* 1995 – Plant root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
s — from cells to systems
* 1997 – Understanding pathosystems: a focus on ''Septoria
''Septoria'' are ascomycete pycnidia-producing fungi that cause numerous leaf spot diseases on field crops, forages and many vegetables including tomatoes which are known to contract '' Septoria musiva'' from nearby cottonwood trees, and is res ...
''
* 1999 – Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
of cereals: tools, targets and triumphs
* 2002 – New frontiers in plant development: from gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
s to phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
Notable former staff
* John Pilkington Hudson
John Pilkington Hudson, (24 July 1910 – 6 December 2007) was an English horticultural scientist who did pioneer work on long-distance transportability of what became known as the kiwifruit. He was also a celebrated bomb disposal expert.
Backgr ...
– director, horticultural scientist
* H. G. H. Kearns – deputy director
* Lawrence Ogilvie
Lawrence Ogilvie (5 July 1898 – 16 April 1980) was a Scottish plant pathologist.
From 1923, in his first job and aged only 25, when agriculture was Bermuda's major industry, Ogilvie identified the virus that had devastated the islands' high-v ...
– plant pathologist
* A. F. Parker-Rhodes – plant pathologist
* Ralph Louis Wain
Ralph Louis Wain CBE FRS (29 May 1911 Hyde, Cheshire – 14 December 2000 Canterbury) was a British agricultural chemist.
He read Chemistry at the University of Sheffield on scholarship, and with first class honours degree, and a Master of Scie ...
– agricultural chemist
* Eric John Hewitt – plant physiologist
See also
*Murashige and Skoog medium
Murashige and Skoog medium (or ''MSO ''or '' MS0'' ''(MS-zero)'') is a plant growth medium used in the laboratories for cultivation of plant cell culture. MS0 was invented by plant scientists Toshio Murashige and Folke K. Skoog in 1962 during Mura ...
*Hoagland solution
The Hoagland solution is a hydroponic nutrient solution that was newly developed by Hoagland and Snyder in 1933, modified by Hoagland and Arnon in 1938, and revised by Arnon in 1950. It is one of the most popular artificial solution compositions ...
References
* Ed. HM Anderson, JR Lenton, PR Shewry (2003). ''Long Ashton Research Station: One Hundred Years of Science in Support of Agriculture'', University of Bristol.
External links
LARS Reunited
association for former employees and associates
{{authority control
1912 establishments in England
2003 disestablishments in England
Agricultural research institutes in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in North Somerset
Cider
Government research
Science and technology in Somerset
Agricultural organisations based in England