536 JVesi London Gardeners' Association. 



■with nothing but a profusion of new ideas, and contended that, while the gain- 

 ing fresh facts was one great object of the Society, it was none of the least of 

 its aims to bring into operation, and generalise, facts already known. He then 

 argued that there were excellent points in the essay, such as spur-pruning for 

 the north, and the system pursued in ripening the wood in houses. — Mr. 

 Russel entered upon the different methods of protecting peach walls, spoke of 

 certain substances as being more attractive of frost than others, and, finally, 

 gave his preference to bunting, placed upon rollers, so as to draw up during 

 the day.— Mr. Fish entered into the principles of protection;, and showed how 

 the radiation of heat from the wall was radiated back again by the protecting 

 agent.— Mr. Caie dwelt upon the importance of properly fecundating the blos- 

 soms ; that, for this purpose, care should be taken to proportion the branches 

 to the strength of the roots, and to thin out the blossoms accordingly, exposing 

 them fully to the sun, and then thinning out the fruit before stoning. — Mr. 

 Ayres saw that Mr. Temple approved of fan training, and was surprised that 

 Mr. Fish had not disapproved of such a system, as he was so anxious to work 

 upon fixed principles. He highly extolled Seymour's system, and wondered 

 that one so simple, so beautiful, and so worthy of consideration, was not more 

 prevalent. He considered the soil recommended by Mr. Temple was fit only 

 for high airy situations ; thought that the borders ought never to be more than 

 18 in. deep j and stated that Hayward grew fine peaches on a border that 

 had not more than 6 in. of soil. He contended that spur-pruning was not 

 applicable in-doors and out of doors alike, and that errors in pruning often took 

 place from the state of the tree being overlooked ; and that it was a good plan 

 to disbud weak trees before the buds expanded. — Mr. Fish considered that 

 Seymour's system was merely fan training reduced to a system ; but, notwith- 

 standing its great beauty, he was doubtful if attention to first principles were 

 exhibited in the one case more than in the other. It was of importance, in a 

 fruit-bearing tree, to have all the branches as nearly alike in vigour as possible ; 

 and, to effect this, a weak shoot should be elevated, and a strong one depressed. 

 In making additional remarks upon pruning, he dwelt upon the importance of 

 disbudding, instead of cutting with the knife. — Mr, Caie had seen the largest 

 peaches grown upon standards in a house, and pruned when in blossom. 

 When the fruit was safely stoned, the borders were well watered with manured 

 water, and the greatest attention paid to giving air. He also stated that, having 

 been beyond the Spey last autumn, he was surprised to find such beautiful 

 fruit, and so full of saccharine matter. — Mr. Adamson stated that, at a place 

 where he lived in Fifeshire, the hot walls were heated by burning faggots for 

 an hour or two, which heated the wall quickly and equally; and then a coal 

 fire was put on to prevent the heat lowering ; and that, without any covering, 

 they had splendid crops ; and he recollected measuring a fruit 1 1^ in. in 

 circumference. — Mr. Thorburn approved of spur-pruning in cold or wet situ- 

 ations, but it was a bad system if generally adopted. — Mr. Adams approved of 

 shallow borders, autumn planting, and hot walls ; and entered into the import- 

 ance of studying the principles of phytology, confident that the more we 

 studied the nature of plants, the more would we become united in opinion. 



Jan. 22. 1838. Forcing the Apricot. — The forcing of the apricot was in- 

 troduced by Mr. Ayres, who stated that he was only aware of one house for 

 the cultivation of the apricot, and that was at Mr. Labouchere's ; but that 

 he had seen them grown in a peach-house. He approved of a house pretty 

 wide, with a circular terrace in front, and trees upon the back wall. The 

 slope of the roof to have an angle of 45°, or less; and the front wall, and 

 also the flues, to be built on arches, so that the borders might be both inside 

 and outside the house. He advised using fermenting dung and leaves inside 

 the house, to save the application of much fire heat. The trees being pre- 

 pared four years, he would commence forcing in February. He would disbud 

 according to circumstances ; and, in pruning and training, keep as closely to 

 Seymour's system as possible. He would keep the temperature the first fort- 

 night at 40°, increasing it to 45°, 50°, and 55°, until the fruit was set ; raising 



