JULY. 199 



can work at them, m the dry, all weathers, should require more labour 

 than trees on the open walls. ]\Iost assuredly a man dry and comfortable 

 could tie in a tree to a trellis, or even nail it to a wall, as expeditiously 

 as if he stood on the wet ground, and exposed to the open weather of 

 winter or early spring. All gardeners know the great labour during 

 summer with wall trees is to keep them clean ; and casks of tobacco 

 water and much labour are each season required to keep down the 

 various aphides which infest wall fruit; whereas, when enclosed by 

 glass, one or two fumigations with tobacco paper will be sufficient to 

 destroy effectually this pest. In fact, on the score of labour, taking into 

 account the facilities for working and training the trees in all weathers, 

 I consider the balance fairly on the side of trees protected by glass. 

 One word more and I have d^ne — Fir-boughs, Fern, and the like, are 

 useful protectors for trees before they bloom, but they should be removed 

 immediately the blooms expand, or they will open weakly ; now, from 

 the period of blooming to a month after is just the time Peaches and 

 Nectarines require protection the most from cutting winds, saying 

 nothing of the alternation between a hot mid-day sun and a fall of the 

 thermometer to below the freezing point by night. Are these coverings, 

 then, to be kept on to the manifest injury of the trees by weakening the 

 blooms and drawing the young shoots, or taken off and put on according 

 to the state of the weather ? — and if so, on which side is the expense 

 and labour incurred? Surely on the side of Fir-branch & Co., canvas 

 or rollers included — although these are a great step in the right direc- 

 tion — but, in my opinion, only a step, glass being the final ground to 

 stand upon. I must apologise for so long a paper, but I have given my 

 reasons for objecting to some of Mr. Saul's statements. 



Dorsetshire, Jane 15, 1854. J. M. 



GOSSIP. 



The observations made in a former number, in reference to establishing 

 a society for classifying and promoting the culture of hardy fruits, have 

 been so far acted upon that the formation of a society to carry out the 

 objects of the promoters is in progress. Sir Joseph Paxton has con- 

 sented to become the President, and Robert Hanbury, Henry Bellen- 

 den Ker, and Thomas Ingram, Esqrs., are, it is understood, to be 

 vice-presidents ; and we entertain no doubt that when the merits and 

 claims of the proposed society become more generally known, a larcre 

 accession of members will take place. Already many of the leading 

 nurserymen in the fruit tree way, and other well known cultivators of 

 fruits, have joined the society, and the list is daily increasing. The 

 object which the society has in view may be considered a national one, 

 inasmuch as encouraging the cultivation of hardy fruits, and the 

 production of new varieties by hybridising, may be justly termed an 

 encouragement to improve the natural resources of the soil. Awide 

 field for the operations of the society is open, and no doubt they will 

 take advantage of it, and in the end bring one of the most important 



