vi Proceedings of the Botanical Society 



Langley strongly advocates, though he concludes his dissertation 

 on the vine by saying that " a full south aspect on a wall is the 

 best for all kinds of grapes," clearly showing that then, as now, a 

 crop of well-ripened grapes was with difhculty obtained from vines 

 growing in an open vineyard, even Avith a southern aspect, in an 

 unpropitious season ; indeed, some kinds were found so uncertain 

 in ripening in any season, that he recommends them to be grown 

 as excellent fruit for baking when they failed for dessert purposes. 

 Two-thirds of the sorts of grapes enumerated by Langley are now 

 grown ; and we know that they will now also ripen their fruit as 

 early and certainly when they meet with the same favourable 

 cultural and climatic conditions. The white sweetwater is men- 

 tioned to have ripened by August 21, as it now does in southern 

 England in ordinary seasons ; so, too, our author notes November 

 10 when the white raisin should be ripe, if, as he naively remarks, 

 " the seasons are kind enough to allow it." So far, then, the dates 

 of the ripening of grapes given at Twickenham and around London 

 15G years ago are without change from those known in this latter 

 half of the 1 9th century. 



The records of the ripening of fruit trees, such as peaches and 

 nectarines, bear also in this direction. Langley enumerates forty 

 sorts of both, a majority of which are still in cultivation, and ripen 

 about the same dates as he indicates. And so, too, with regard to 

 apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, and other fruits. They 

 ripen now about the time given by Langley, and no change is indi- 

 cated in the works already indicated as having been consulted, 

 whose dates of publication nearly were intervals of thirty years — 

 from 1768 to 1879. 



Mr Dunn attributed the decadence of outdoor cultivation of 

 hardy fruits to the great extension of cultivation under glass, not 

 to deteriorated seasons. 



In the course of the discussion following this paper, it was 

 maintained that when proper care and culture is given, good orchard 

 crops could be obtained even in such far northern spots, when 

 naturally protected by tree or hill shade, as the vicinity of Cape 

 Wrath, the Carse of Gowrie, or Cupar. The more extensive plant- 

 ing of hedgerows with fruit trees was advocated. Mr A. Buchan, 

 of the Scottish Meteorological Society, said that he had consulted 

 other records, which showed the cycle of years from 1720 to 1730, 

 referred to in the " Pomona," was a succession of bad seasons • 



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