Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

Dr Hubbard, the 'nuclear scientist', on the steps of Saint Hill, the Georgian manor
house he bought out of the proceeds of Dianetics. (Photo Source Limited)
It was, perhaps, inevitable that Hubbard would become an expert gardener the instant he moved
into the English countryside and the fact that Saint Hill Manor had well-stocked greenhouses
undoubtedly helped fire his interest. But his horticultural experiments also helped divert attention
from the real reason he had bought the estate: his intention was that it should become the worldwide
headquarters of Scientology. Hubbard surmised, no doubt correctly, that the people of East
Grinstead were not quite ready for this piece of information.
In August, the Courier reported that the experiments being conducted at Saint Hill by the 'nuclear
scientist, Dr Hubbard' promised to revolutionize gardening. By treating seeds with 'radioactive rays'
he was growing tomato plants 16 feet high, with an average of 15 trusses and 45 tomatoes on
each truss. He had also discovered that an 'infra-red ray lamp' provided complete protection
against mildew, a discovery that was likely to save market gardeners 'thousands of pounds'.
The reporter, again, was Alan Larcombe: 'He showed us some very big tomatoes and I remember
thinking at the time that anyone could have grown them that size with fertilizers, but he was very
keen we should take a photograph of them, so we did.'[1] The picture the newspaper used was of
little Quentin, five years old, standing on duckboards in his father's greenhouse, staring solemnly at
the camera through a forest of tomato and maize plants.
Dr Hubbard's experiments soon came to the attention of Garden News, to which publication he