232 NOTICE OF A VISIT TO PITMA8T0N. 



from Armenia by the late Lord Mountnorris ; and the following 

 is an extract of a letter from Mr. Williams respecting it, dated 

 August 6, 1844 : — " I mentioned a very early and excellent 

 apricot which I had against a south-east wall, the fruit melting 

 and most excellent, very like in flavour to the Moor Park, but 

 with an agreeable acid mixed with its saccharine quality. With 

 me it has often ripened as early as the 10th of July. It is small 

 in size, but greatly superior to the Early Masculine. The ori- 

 ginal tree was growing as a standai'd in Lord Mountnorris's 

 garden, but had not borne fruit when I took buds from it, I 

 think in the year 1821, and budded it against a wall. In the last 

 four or five years large branches have died in succession, and 

 I fear I shall lose the tree. However, I have budded some 

 young plants." 



In the same garden an experiment was tried with two Glout 

 Morceau pear-trees grafted on the quince, and allowed to run 

 up with long weak stems, with only a few leaves at top, far too 

 few in proportion to the length of stem. After transplanting 

 against a warm aspect, the roots of both were similarly circum- 

 stanced ; but the stem of one was for a time frequently syringed, 

 and it lived : the other was not syringed, and it died. 



A standard Jargonelle had been grafted on the common white 

 thorn : the latter died, but previously the Jargonelle, having 

 been worked a little under the soil, struck root, and is still ex- 

 isting on its own roots ; but the shoots canker, as is usually the 

 case with this sort grown as a standard. 



Several green gage plums, worked on stocks raised from apri- 

 cot stones, appear healthy, and bear well. This being the case, 

 there seems to be no reason why the apricot should not answer 

 well as a stock for its own varieties, in some soils at least. 



The Golden Pippin on the Siberian Crab stock was observed 

 to be more healthy than is the case with that variety worked on 

 freer stocks. 



Amongst various seedlings, a handsome pear-tree was pointed out 

 which was raised from the Gansel'sBergamot. The leaves were 

 heart-shaped and woolly, resembling those of the parent tree in 

 these respects ; but they were not quite so round. The fruit 

 also ripens later than Gansel's; and the tree bears well as a 

 standard. A seedling plum, from the Prune d'Espagne, proves 

 hardy and a good bearer. The stone from which it was raised 

 was brought from Paris by Mr. Williams in 1815. Many varie- 

 ties of strawberries have been raised at Pitmaston. The Pitmas- 

 ton Black, described in the ' Horticultural Transactions,' vol. vi. 

 p. 183, fruited for the first time in 1808 ; but it proved too ten- 

 der for general cultivation, like all those raised from the Old 

 Black Strawberry, with the exception of the Downton, which 



