No. 9. Forsj/th's Composition.— .Ipi Petit ; or American Lady Apple. 273 



Forsyth's Composition. 



The name of Forsyth is so well known 

 to fruit growers, and his composition, his 

 pruning, trainino;, and mode of renovatin^^ 

 fruit trees, so frequently referred to, with- 

 out muci) knovvledo^c of their merit, tiiat it 

 may be gratifying to our readers to know 

 Bomething more of the man; and also useful 

 to be made acquainted with the leading fea- 

 tures of his practice. 



Forsyth was a Scotchman, employed for 

 several years by Miller, in the Chelsea Bo- 

 tanic Garden, whom he intimately succeed- 

 ed as curator. This situation he held about 

 fourteen years, and was then chosen to su- 

 perintend the Royal Gardens of Kensington 

 and St. James's. Whilst so engaged he re- 

 ceived a pecuniary grant from Parliament, 

 for his improved mode of renovating fruit 

 trees, by the excision of diseased parts, 

 heading down weak and decrepit trees, and 

 the application of his composition to all 

 wounds thereby occasioned. Much of For- 

 syth's practice has been approved by his 

 successors ; and every one that is interested 

 in the growth of fruit should be acquainted 

 with his composition, the preparation of 

 which, for several years, was not disclosed 

 to the public. This composition may truly 

 be said to have been, at tli« time it was 

 made known, as much esteemed for curing 

 the cuts and bruises of maimed trees, as 

 Marshall's Cerate ever was for its healing 

 virtues on the human body. It having been 

 considered by the Commissioners of the 

 Land Revenue, that Forsyth's composition 

 could be advantageously applied to broken 

 trees in the Royal Forests, a representation 

 to that effect was made to the House of 

 Commons, and twelve gentlemen, headed 

 by the Marquis of Abercorn, were appointed 

 as commissioners to make inquiry whether 

 the composition in question was efficacious 

 for the purpose of restoring the bark to in- 

 jured oak trees; and preventing or curing 

 injuries and defects in timber, arising from 

 the cutting or breaking off' of limbs or 

 branches. Forsyth had, for several years, 

 employed it in the Royal Gardens at Ken- 

 sington, where its effects were shown to the 

 commissioners; this proved satisfactory; and 

 a recompense was granted by Parliament to 

 Forsyth, for making known the preparation 

 and mode of application of his celebrated 

 composition. The document which unfolded 

 Forsyth's secret was dated from Kensington 

 Gardens, May 11th, 1791; and having been 

 esteemed of so much importance, we give it 

 verbatim, as follows : 



" Take one bushel of fresh cow-dung, 

 half a bushel of lime-rubbish of old build- 



ings—that from the ceilings of rooms is pre- 

 ferable—half a busiiel of wood ashes, ami a 

 si.xteenth part of a bushel of pit or river 

 sand; the three b.st articles are to be sifted 

 tine before they are mixed; tlien work them 

 well together with a spade, and atlervvards 

 with a wooden beater, until the stuff" is very 

 smooth, like fine plaster used for the ceilimrs 

 of rooms. ° 



"The Composition being thus made, care 

 must be taken to prepare "the tree properly 

 for its application, by cutting away all the 

 dead, decayed, and injured part, till you 

 come to the fresh sound wood, leavinfr the 

 surface of the wood very smooth, and round- 

 ing off" the edges of the bark with a draw- 

 knife, or other instrument, perfectly smooth, 

 which must be particularly attended to; then 

 lay on the plaster about one-eighth of an 

 inch thick, all over the part where the wood 

 or bark has been so cut away, finishing off 

 the edges as thin as possible: then taJse a 

 quantity of powder of dry wood ashes, mixed 

 with a sixth part of the same quantity of the 

 ashes of burnt bones; put it into a tin box, 

 with lioles in the top, and shake the powder 

 on the surface of the plaster, till the whole 

 is covered over with it, letting it remain for 

 half an hour, to absorb the moisture; then 

 apply more powder, rubbing it on gently 

 with the hand, and repeating the application 

 of the powder, till the whole plaster becomes 

 a dry smooth surface. 



"All trees cut down near the ground 

 should have the surface made quite smooth, 

 rounding it off" in a small degree, as before 

 mentioned ; and the dry powder directed to 

 be used afterwards should have an equal 

 quantity of powder of alabaster mixed with 

 it, in order the better to resist the dripping 

 of trees and heavy rains. 



"If any of the Composition be left for a 

 future occasion, it should be kept in a tub, 

 or other vessel, and urine of any kind poured 

 on it, so as to cover the surface ; otherwise 

 the atmosphere will greatly hurt the efficacy 

 of the application." — Maund's Botanic Gar- 

 den. 



Api Petit; or American Lady Apple. 



Of all the apples that grace the dessert, 

 this is confessedly the most beautiful ; and 

 its tiny dimensions rather increase than di- 

 minish its attractions. It is not its glossy 

 brilliant crimson alone that induces the eye 

 to rest on it with pleasure, but it is the melt= 

 ing of this into ivory tints — sometimes as 

 gradual as daybreak — sometimes with bright- 

 er abruptness, just as the ruddy cloud bounds 

 the softened light of the setting sun. Resi- 

 dents of London, during the last winter, 



