144 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



country, letters of acknowledgment were addresed 

 by that gentleman to the vice-secretary, from which 

 the following very interesting extracts have been 

 made : — 



I beg leave to make the Society my humble 

 acknowledgments for the honor which they have 

 been pleased to confer on me, and which I regard 

 as an earnest of the distinguished favor I presume 

 to hope to receive at their hands, when I shall 

 have introduced into England twenty varieties of 



1. A new species called " The Sweet-kernelled 

 Peach," among which are six varieties of the nee- 

 tarine, all of equal, and some of superior value to 

 the ''Stanwick Nectarine." 



2. A new species of the apricot with a sweet 

 kernel, called ^' Sheker Para" (bit of sugar) of Is- 

 pahan. 



3. " The large sweet White Mulberry of Iran," 

 from which a syrup is extracted, hardly to be dis- 

 tinguished from syrup made from sugar. It is 

 highly extolled by Sir Alexander Burnes in his 

 '' Travels in Bokhara." 



4. A plum, with a sweet kernel, called '' Aloo 

 Bokhara," which is also celebrated by the same 

 traveller. When ripe, its stone is in view through 

 its skin. 



5. The famous " Pomegranate of Tabriz," with- 

 out seed, weighing from 50 to 60 ounces. 



6. The still more renowned " Quince" of most 

 parts of Persia of the same size ; which ripens on 

 the tree or in the store, losing all its austerity, and 

 eaten at the dessert like a soft ripe pear. 



This wonderful production of nature, and the 

 " Pomegranate of Tabriz " are yearly forwarded 

 in presents by caravan to Bagdad. 



The Pomegranate is not eaten as are the common 

 sorts, but is squeezed into a goblet, and drunk off 

 like a draught of sherbet ; and the highly perfumed 

 odor of the " Quince" is such, in oriental exaggera- 

 tion, as that, when there is a single ripe specimen 

 of the fruit in a caravan, every one who accompa- 

 nies it is conscious of its presence. 



In bringing under the notice of the Horticultural 

 Society the foregoing statement, be pleased, sir, to 

 say that I have now in Persia, on his travels, my 

 eldest son. Mr. Wm. Burckhardt Barker, who is 

 using his best endeavors to enable me to procure 

 scions of such of the celebrated fruits of Iran as I 

 have failed in obtaining ; and who, should his father 

 perish before they are introduced into England, 

 will certainly carry out such of my plans as may 

 be then incomplete. 



I am to-day packing, to be forwarded to my son- 

 in-law, Mr. Warmington, 100 small Seedling Mul- 

 berries, budded with " The large White Sweet Mul- 

 berry of Ispahan." 



At the same time will be forwarded to that gen- 

 tleman 500 specimens of " The Dwarf Apple of 

 Armenia." They are all much past the age of 

 puberty, though only 18 inches high. I received 

 them two years ago from Armenia, and they do not 

 appear to have grown at all. They increase slowly 

 in thickness. I have often seen them planted in 

 pots and cases on the terraces in the city of Alep- 

 po, of 40 and 50 years' growth, never exceeding 2 

 feet in height, nor in the thickness of their stems 

 that of your forefinger, without their even having 



been pruned. To test the fact that their dimiHav 

 tiveness was not caused by their being always kepC 

 in pots and boxes, I planted out three of full 15* 

 years' growth, and after keeping them 18 years in 

 the open ground, found they had made no perceptt' 

 ble progress. I remarked that they bear best when 

 their roots are cramped. They are very easily 

 propagated, as they make abundant of&ets, and 

 take remarkably well from cuttings. Among the 

 trees now sent, there are 17 which were made 

 from ciUtings two years ago ; and 10, budded, at 

 the same time with the Riljston Pippin, and other 

 sorts. John Barker. Journal Lond. Hort. Soc 



Black Prince Hamburgh Gkape.-^I have 

 desired my gardener to send you a bunch of a 

 seedling vine, I raised from a berry of what is 

 usually called the Black Hamburgh Grape, but I 

 believe it really to be what Speechley describes as 

 the Red Hamburgh, or Warner Grape, the berry 

 of which is black when properly ripened. The 

 cross was obtained by impregnation with the pol- 

 len of the " Black Prince," which I consider, after 

 more than forty years' experience, to be one of the 

 best grapes we have — not of the perfumed kind. 

 The only defect I find in the Black prince is that 

 the berries grow too much crowded, and require 

 so much thinning. 



I therefore wedded it to the Hamburgh, with a 

 view of obtaining a more loose open bunch, with 

 the vinous acidity and richness of the Black Prince. 

 This double object, I think, I have obtained. The 

 seedling plants, for I raised several of the same 

 cross, grew the first year in pots, with artificial 

 heat, but were then turned out into the open 

 ground v/ithout being trained to a wall. Here 

 they remained, and the annual shoots cut down to 

 one of two eyes, till I found the end of the sum- 

 mer shoots and the cultivated appearance of the 

 leaves began to throw out tendrils with a few 

 flowers. Cuttings were then taken from the flow- 

 ering end of the shoots, and planted against a 

 south wall. They came into bearing soon after 

 this, and one or two of the most promising were 

 two years ago planted in my vinery. But the 

 wood produced, till this year, was small ; now it 

 is become more vigorous and strong. It ripens 

 earlier than the Hamburgh, and colours with less 

 heat and light. The plant from which I gathered 

 the bunch you will receive was planted at the east 

 end of a lean-to-roofed house, and only got a little 

 morning sun, and that but for a short period, 

 owing to the shade of a large willow tree. It 

 had no top sun light from the roof glass, being 

 under the shade of a rafter vine. You can there- 

 fore not judge what the flavor will be under these 

 disadvantages. I expect the bunch and berry will 

 be double its present size when trained under the 

 roof glass, and the wood becomes strong. 



We have had the coldest and most cloudy sea- 

 son I ever remember for the vines on the open 

 walls. Still I think my new seedling varieties 

 will ripen, if we have no severe frosts before the 



