By Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. 5 



to those who shall produce before them, or such persons as 

 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- 

 troduction of new varieties, the Society hope to be able to 

 point out some important improvements. Several sorts, the 

 Walnut and Mulberry for instance, are 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 ; 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- 

 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- 

 nerally-very defective, and two are rarely constructed alike, 

 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 

 expended. It may even be questioned, whether a single Hot- 

 bed has ever been made in the most advantageous form ; 

 and the proper application of glass, where artificial heat is 

 not employed, is certainly very ill understood. 



