Mr. Wilmofs Fruit Garden. 325 



readers, from their well known seedling strawberries, for a 

 long time the only large kinds worthy of cultivation. Mr. 

 Wilmot's grounds are only six or seven miles from the city, 

 but they contain, in the different lots, upwards of 100 acres 

 of land wholly occupied with fruit. Immense quantities of 

 fruit are forced, and we think Mr. Wilmot informed us that 

 his crop of grapes alone was several tons. Pine apples are 

 also cultivated to a great extent, and we saw large quanti- 

 ties now just swelling off their fruit. 



The principal forcing houses are situated in a walled en- 

 closure of about half an acre, and seven ranges of glass 90 

 feet each are heated from one large boiler, measuring eight 

 feet long ; a main flow and return pipe leads from this along 

 one end of the houses, and from it branch off six smaller 

 pipes into each. They may all be heated at once, or only a 

 single one ; by means of stop-cocks at the junction of the 

 branches with the main pipes, the water can be turned off or 

 on at pleasure. Mr. Wilmot thinks this by far the most eco- 

 nomical mode that can be adopted for heating such an extent 

 of glass. 



The grapes are forced early, and they were now all cut, 

 the wood fully ripe, and the earliest houses would soon be 

 set in operation again. Mr. Wilmot pointed out to us a new 

 mode of planting vines for very early forcing. The usual 

 mode is to plant them at the front wall, either inside or out- 

 side ; the objections to this are, that the roots are exposed to 

 a temperature many degrees lower than the branches, and, 

 consequently, the grapes are inferior flavored, and often do 

 not color well. Mr. Wilmot's plan is to plant them in the 

 middle of the house, one vine under the middle of each sash, 

 and not under the rafter ; a main stem is taken up to the 

 glass, where it is allowed to branch off in all directions. In 

 this way, the roots receive the benefit of the heat imparted 

 to the soil by the flues, and the vines receive all the light, 

 which, in this climate, is more important than with us. For 

 very early forcing, we think the plan worthy of imitation. 

 One house was devoted wholly to Muscats, and we found 

 here the Muscat of Alexandria; the Tottenham Park Muscat, 

 which, Mr. Wilmot says, is quite distinct ; the Portugal Mus- 

 cat, similar to the Muscat of Alexandria, but a free bearer, 



