of Edinburgh, Session 1879-80. v 



2. Dr Paterson exhibited a iine copy of " Pomona, or the Fruit 

 Garden/' by Batty Langiey, Twickenham, and dated 1729, copi- 

 ously illustrated, and containing an account of the cider fruits of 

 Devonshire, by the Hon. Hugh Stafford of Pynes, near Exeter, an 

 ancestor of the present ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer. 



Thursday, \2th February 1880. — Mr William Gorrie, 

 President, in the Chair. 



Mr T. B. Sprague, M.A., C.A,, was appointed Auditor 

 for 1880. 



The following Candidate was elected a Resident Fellow : — 



Alexander Hat, 16 Duke Street. 

 The following Communications were read : — 



I. On the Ripening of Hardy Fruits 150 years ago. By Mr 

 Malcolm Dunn, of Dalkeith Palace Gardens, Vice- 

 President. 



The paper was based ou the old book exhibited at the last meet- 

 ing, entitled "Pomona," by Batty Langiey, of Twickenham, 1729, 

 and its object was to inquire how far the dates when hardy fruits 

 ripened, given by it, when compared with such dates for 1879, and 

 generally for the past three years, bore on the vexed question of the 

 deterioration of oiu' climate in these later times. Mr Dunn had 

 besides, when composing his paper, accepted and compared the 

 evidence on the subject given in Miller's " Gardeners' Dictionary," 

 1768; Martyn's "Gardeners' and Botanists' Dictionary," 1807; 

 Lindley's "Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden," 1831; 

 Hogg's "Fruit Manual," 1860 to 1875; and the "Herefordshire 

 Pomona," just being issued. 



The " Pomona" discusses the growth of open-air plants, giving 

 the exact date when their fruits ripened at Twickenham and in the 

 south of England. Thus, Langiey describes nineteen sorts of grapes 

 then produced in England. From his very accurate accompanying 

 engravings we recognise many also now grown, though under 

 different names, A few of the hardier sorts, such as Burgundy 

 and claret grapes, appear then to have been cultivated after a 

 limited fashion in the open vineyard — a system, by the way, which 



