40 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Europe where some kinds and varieties of fruits are grown with 

 great difficulty and where special methods of culture and training 

 have to be adopted to get the fruit to' mature, and where adapta- 

 bility has been a serious question with the people for many years. 



Many English gardens are surrounded by high walls not only 

 for the sake of privacy, but to obtain the climatic conditions which 

 the owner desires to get. To show how important these walls are 

 and the exposures necessary for different kinds of fruits, I quote 

 the following from an English book known as "The Gardener's 

 Assistant" (Thompson). 



"The southern aspect (he writes) being the most important 

 requires to be taken first into consideration. It may according 

 to circumstances face either directly south or it may be inclined to 

 the south-east to face the sun about eleven A. M., or it may incline 

 to the south-west to face the sun about one P. M. In parts of the 

 Kingdom where the climate is sufficient to ripen peaches and nec- 

 tarines perfectly, on a wall facing the sun at eleven A. M., that 

 aspect should be chosen, as in that case the adjoining walls can 

 proceed at right angles and aft'ord two good western aspects on 

 which the sun may commence to shine as early as eleven A. M., 

 so that apricots, plums, cherries, and the finest sorts of pears could 

 be ripened to perfection upon it. But if the heat against an aspect, 

 thus inclined an hour to the east of the meridian, is not sufficiently 

 intense to ripen peaches satisfactorily, the aspect must face the 

 sun at noon and, where the climate is still colder, it will be advisa- 

 ble to turn the aspect directly to the sun at one P. M. The east- 

 ern aspect is recommended for summer and early autumn fruits, 

 for, owing to the ripening period of these being nearly that at 

 which the hottest weather occurs, an indift'erent aspect will ripen 

 them tolerably well." This attention to aspects where a greater 

 or less amount of heat is obtained is based on temperature records 

 which the author describes in these words. "Moreover, the 

 average force of the sun's rays in the three hours before twelve 

 noon is, according to these observations about 44° Fahrenheit and 

 in the three hours after twelve it is 62° Fahr. From this it is 

 evident that a wall with a west aspect must be much warmer than 

 one with an east aspect. The sun shines on a clear day as long on 

 the one as on the other but not with equal intensity. For three 



