i8 7 o.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 199 



<£100 a-year, through the liberality of the Duke of Devonshire, who 

 has not proved the stern landlord the Council made him out to be. It 

 is estimated that by these new arrangements the Society will be 

 able to reduce its expenditure by £1000 a-year. That Chiswick is 

 not to be wholly abandoned will be a cause for congratulation among 

 horticulturists; and it is to be hoped that examples of practical 

 horticulture will not be altogether discarded. 



Considerable interest was manifested at the meeting of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society on the 6th ult., about some forced Asters in 

 pots, exhibited by Messrs Standish and Co., Royal Nurseries, Ascot. 

 They were of the dwarf bouquet strain, and were nice, compactly-grown 

 plants, of a branching habit. The seed was sown about the end of 

 August, but by sowing two months earlier Messrs Standish & Co. 

 hope to have forced Asters at Christmas. The Standard Roses in 

 pots, brought to the same meeting, were a somewhat novel and inter- 

 esting feature. Messrs H. Lane & Son had a group of about twenty 

 plants, all with nice heads of bloom averaging from five to ten flowers ; 

 and Messrs Standish & Co. had a standard specimen of H. P. Duke 

 of Edinburgh, in a pot bearing between thirty and forty flowers. 

 Messrs Veitch & Sons made their debut at this exhibition as Rose ex- 

 hibitors, staging a charming group of quarter specimen pyramidal 

 trained Roses that were much admired and highly commended. 



THE CULTIVATION" OF HARDY FRUITS. 



{Continued from page 171.) 

 THE APRICOT. 



The cultivation of this much-prized fruit does not receive the general 

 attention that its value demands. This may in most cases be accounted 

 for by the amount of trouble that is necessary, not only at the time 

 of blossoming, to protect the blooms from frost, and at the ripening 

 season to protect the fruit from the ravages of birds, &c, but also from 

 the fact, that in late, low, and damp localities the fruit seldom attains 

 maturity, or, if it does, it is often small and of inferior flavour. This, 

 in my opinion, ought not to be a barrier to its more general cultiva- 

 tion, but should incite us to endeavour to assist nature by some simple 

 artificial means, whereby the difficulties may in a measure be over- 

 come. That the Apricot will not stand any great amount of forcing, 

 more especially during the early part of its growth, is well known ; 

 yet it has been found that artificial means, judiciously applied, havein 



