HaRTIGULTURE. \33 



No permanent Improvement has therefore ever been derivecl, Grafting does 



or can be expected, from the art of the grafter, or the "^^ ','"Jj™^^ 



choice of stocks of different species, or varieties ; for to use sredlina: pl;int,<; 



the phrase of Lord Bacon, the graft in all cases oierru/eth ai"<'.»"''eSnitely 

 ^ ^ , . , . . vaiious. 



t/ie stock, from which it receives aliment, but no motion. 



Seedling plants, on the contrary, of every cultivated species, 

 sport in endless variety. By selection from these therefore 

 we can only hope for success in our pursuit of new and im- 

 proved varieties of each species of plant or fruit; and to 

 promote experiments of this kind the Horticultural Society 

 propose to give some honorary premiums to those who shall 

 produce before them, or such persoi s a> they shall appoint, 

 valuable new varieties of fruit, which having been raised 

 from seeds, have come into existence since the establishment 

 of the institution. 



In the culture of many fruits, without reference to the in- Improvements 

 troduction of new varieties, the Society hope to be able to ^^.^j°j^g' J^ 

 point out some important improvements. Several sorts, the 

 walnut and mulberry for instance, aie not produced till the 

 trees have acquired a very considerable age, and therefore, 

 though the latter fruit is highly valued, it is at present very 

 little cultivated. But experiments have lately been made, 

 which prove that both walnut and mulberry trees may be 

 readily made to produce fruit at three years old j and there 

 appears every reason to believe that the same mode of cul- 

 ture would be equally successful in all similar cases. 



In training wall trees there is much in the modern prac- Training wall 

 tice which appears defective and irrational: no attention '^^*' 

 whatever is paid to the form which the species or variety 

 naturally assumes ; and be its growth upright, or pendent, 

 it is constrained to take precisely the same form on the 

 wall. 



The construction of forcing houses appears also to be ge- Constmction of 

 nerally very defective, and tu-o are rarely constructed alike ^°'^*" > liouscs. 

 though intended for the same purposes ; probably not a 

 single building of this kind has yet been erected, in which 

 the greatest possible quantity of space has been obtained, and 

 of light and heat admitted, proportionate to the capital ex- 

 pended. It may even be questioned, whether a single hot 

 bed has ever been made in the most ailvantageous form ; 

 Vol. XIV.— Ju^'E. 1806\ X and 



