Wesi London Gardeners^ Association. 537 



it to 60° when stoned, and 70° and 75° sun heat. He advised syringing, 

 unless when the trees were in bloom, or the fruit ripening, when he would 

 take off the lights to give the fruit the full benefit of sun antl air to flavour 

 them ; and, finally, he stated that he had seen an apricot tree taken from 

 the open wall and planted in a peach-house, after it had been forced six weeks, 

 which bore four dozen of fruit the first season, and twelve dozen the second. — 

 Mr. Fish said that, however correct Mr. Ayres might be in his routine of 

 Culture, he considered there was a discrepancy between that antl the instance he 

 Concluded with mentioning; an instance which would seem to controvert all his 

 former propositions, and establish a new fact; namely, that the apricot was 

 easily forced. — Mr. Russel thought that the stoning would be the most diffi- 

 cult period, and recommended shading the house from the sun at that time. 

 He corroborated this practice by referring to the open wall, stating that the 

 fruit often dropped upon a south aspect, when it stood upon an east and 

 west ; and then he endeavoured to show that it delighted in a humid atmo- 

 sphere, resting this conclusion on the evidence of individuals who had seen it 

 flourish in several parts of Africa. — Mr. Thompson would prefer forcing on 

 the apricot chiefly after it was securelj' stoned. — Mr. Adams had seen apricot 

 trees introduced into a peach-house, and the result was only one or two 

 apricots for two years. He also showed that fruit forced were sweetest, as they 

 came to jierfection when the sun was most vertical. It was computed that 

 half the rays were lost at 45° degrees from the equator; and that, there- 

 fore, fruit ripened in June were sweetest, possessing more saccharine matter. 

 — Mr. Fish approved of Mr. Russel's ideas respecting shading, and thought 

 it might be advantageously extended to the open wall. As mention had 

 been made of the apricot flourishing in a humid atmosphere, he wished to 

 know if it had been noticed to flourish in a wet retentive soil. He then 

 entered at some length upon Mr. Adams's statements, the purport of which 

 was, that the want of saccharine matter in our forced fruits was as much 

 owing to our modes of cultivation, as to the absence of a more vertical sun ; 

 that the sweetness of fruit was owing to the changing of its acid into sugar, 

 effected chiefly by the agency of the sunbeams ; and that, therefore, the 

 practice of keeping the plants in an atmosphere saturated with moisture, 

 though favourable to the production of large fruit, was not equally favour- 

 able to the presence of saccharine matter in it ; as the sun was not powerful 

 enough to evaporate its watery, and change its acid, constituents. — Mr. 

 Russel was confident an excess of moisture at the roots would be very preju- 

 dicial to the apricot. — Mr. Caie never saw the apricot properly matured in 

 Scotland on the open wall, and understood it would not ripen any better in 

 some parts of England. He had seen it forced with great success in Scotland, 

 with the assistance of glass only, when the fruit ripened in June. The house 

 was of large dimensions ; the roof sloped at an angle of 45°. The trees were 

 standards, planted in the centre of the house; their boles were 4 in. in 

 diameter; the diameter of the head. Oft. through; and height of the tree, 

 13 ft. The soil was brought fresh from a meadow, and no dung added. The 

 blossoms were thinned out, so as to leave those most exposed to the light. 

 The head of the tree was about 4 ft. from the glass. Caterpillars were 

 troublesome, but were destroyed by hand-picking. The crops were uniformly 

 good ; and, though he had tasted apricots from walls in England, they bore 

 no comparison in flavour, or size. There was also another house, formed 

 bv placing sashes about Gin. from the top of the wall, and 7 ft. from the 

 bottom, and having the trees planted against the wall. — Mr. Stormont had 

 seen the apricot flourish in a place in Forfarshire, where it was very damp, 

 beini- surrounded with meadows ; and the fruit ripen well. — In relation 

 to damp borders, Mr. Ayres stated that he had seen a beautiful wall of 

 apricot trees, at the back of which ran a rivulet, 4 ft. below the level of the 

 border ; but that, owing to some alterations, the water was raised 2 ft. ; and 

 the consequence was, tliat the trees gradually decayed, and young oncis 

 planted in their stead shared the same fate. — R. F. 



