388 Wesi London Gardeners^ Association. 



filled with honey. The honey hermetically excludes the air ; and cuttings 

 so preserved will vegetate many months after they have been packed. (^News- 

 paper.) [Melons,and various fruits, are preserved in this way in Italy. — Cond.] 



Art. II. The West London Gardeners' Association for mutual 

 Instruction. 



The Principles of Forcing. Nov. 13. — The subject of the evening, which 

 was a discussion on the principles of forcing, was opened by a series of 

 remarks made by Mr. Caie, showing the necessity of the gardener possessing 

 a physiological knowledge of the plants to be forced, of the climate and alti- 

 tude in which they naturally flourish, and the circumstances under which they 

 chiefly luxuriate. 



Mr. Fish took a rapid view of several of the simplest modes of forcing, by 

 exposure to the sun, shelter, &c. He detailed an instance of vines, planted 

 against a black wall, ripening their bunches well the present season, nearly 

 half-way up the wall; and attributed their superior appearance to those farther 

 up the wall to a row of dahlias, about 4 or 3 feet from it, which prevented, to 

 a certain extent, the radiation of heat from the wall at night. From this he 

 drew an inference, that black-coloured walls would be of advantage when 

 they could be covered in spring and autumn. He then dwelt on the impor- 

 tance of giving a proper previous preparation to plants intended to be forced ; 

 and adverted to the influence of light upon vegetation ; the importance of a 

 covering medium that would transmit the greatest number of rays ; and the 

 having the slope of the roof at such an angle as to command the greatest 

 number of perpendicular rays, when most heat and light were wanted. He 

 farther adverted to the importance of conducting all the operations of forcing 

 gradually; and dwelt at some length on the importance of proportioning heat 

 to the presence of light ; showing that the keeping up of an equally high 

 temperature by night and by day, and the same in dull as in bright weather, 

 prematurely exhausted the irritability of the plant; and, independently, often, of 

 the miserable appearance of the fruit, it was not procured even so early as by 

 following a more natural system, leaving out of view the difference in expense 

 and trouble. He then insisted upon the necessity of forcing the whole plant; 

 and, on this account, contended against deep borders; showing that, by shallow 

 borders, not only would a tendency to fruitfulness be produced, but, by 

 judicious covering, the roots might be forced simultaneously with the top. 

 — Mr. Russel corroborated the leading ideas of Mr. Fish, and contended 

 against the absurdity of forcing the branches while the roots might as well 

 have been in Siberia. He contended that fruit seldom coloured when a high 

 temperature was kept up at night, and the house allowed to rise proportion- 

 ally high during the day ; and adverted to a case in a public establishment, 

 where, after forcing hard night and day, from February to July, the fire was 

 taken away ; when the Hamburg grapes, instead of being black, were not 

 even red. He disapproved of stripping off leaves, as it prevented grapes 

 from colouring. — Mr. Adams admitted, to a certain extent, the strictures of 

 Mr. Fish upon journeymen talking so much out of doors, and saying so little 

 in the room; but consoled himself with the thought that man was a progressive 

 being, and hoped his brother journeymen would come forward, as it was quite 

 preposterous that, out of so large a Society, so few should take an active part 

 in its deliberations. He considered the angle of 43° the best for the slope of 

 the roofs of hot-houses ; and added, that he had seen finer fruit upon a black 

 wall than any other. He did not agree with Mr. Fish in his ideas of propor- 

 tioning heat to light, as, if fully carried out, the plants would be checked in 

 their growth in dull weather ; nor yet did he coincide in his opinion, that 

 little fresh matter was added to the plant at night, though it became elongated; 

 as, if merely elongation took place, the plant would become more attenuated, 

 which was not the case. He then stated that plants were never completely in 



