The glass box, designed during the 1930s as a clever invention that keeps plants alive during long journeys, revolutionized botany. Many years later, that glass box could have huge consequences for the entire living world of the planet Earth. The so-called "ward boxes" were invented by Nathaniel Begshaw Ward, a doctor from the East End in London, during the previous decade, ie during the 1930s. He was interested in ferns, but he did not manage to grow them in the polluted city air. Ward's invention was simple, and from today's perspective, obvious. Glass, wood, putty and paint - in fact, it was a sealed miniature greenhouse. Light could enter it, while soot and smoke did not. Also, moisture remained in it, so watering the plants was not necessary.
His fern thrived great. Ward soon realized that he had found a possible solution to a problem that had long plagued plant collectors - how to keep plants alive during long sea voyages. Ward did an experiment and organized the shipment of two boxes of plants to Australia.
A few months later, he received a letter from the captain of the ship in which he "heartily congratulated" him.
The fern was mostly "alive and lush," while the grass "tried to push the lid off the box."
When the ship returned, Ward's chests were full of Australian plants, which were also perfectly healthy. He thought that it would be good for people, like ferns, to get away from the polluted London air. He imagined large sealed greenhouses in which people could recover from smallpox or eczema. He did not foresee that his chests would bring great changes in agriculture, politics and trade on a global scale.
The Cavendish banana variety has spread around the world thanks to Word boxes, a banana variety sold in stores today. In addition, Word boxes have destroyed the rubber industry in Brazil. Due to high prices, the UK Foreign Office has sent an enterprising amateur botanist to the Amazon to smuggle a small amount of rubber seeds.They germinated in the garden of Kyu gardens and the young were sent to East Asia.This resulted in colonial plantations with which Brazil could not compete.
Word boxes have also helped stop China's dominance in the tea market. Thanks to Word boxes, quinine wood has been transported from South America to India and Sri Lanka. Its bark is used to make quinine, a medicine against malaria.
Due to the discovery of quinine, Europeans were less afraid to travel to the tropics.
Some historians believe that Africa would not have been colonized if it had not happened.
Have you ever found yourself in a greenhouse or greenhouse? If so, you have probably noticed that the temperature in one such object is several degrees higher than outside. Do you know why this is so?
The energy that the Earth receives from the Sun mostly consists of visible and ultra-violet radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum. The waves of this type of radiation are able to penetrate unhindered through the walls of the greenhouse all the way to the ground. There, the conversion of the matured energy is performed and it is calculated from the ground in the form of long-wave infra-red radiation, ie thermal energy.
Greenhouse gases are most responsible for the favorable temperature characteristics of our planet. However, from the beginning of the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century until today's modern age, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has multiplied. This, of course, means that thermal energy stays in the Earth's atmosphere for much longer.
The global temperature of the planet is elevated, with a tendency for further growth, which is slowly creating conditions that will not affect most living beings on Earth.
Source and photos
Google.com
I would love to have a greenhouse. I think it's great that the plants are better preserved in those bubbles. Maybe I will do that experiment at some point.