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XVI. On a Method of forcing Cherries. In a Letter to the 

 Secretary. By Mr. Benjamin Law. 



Read June 1, 1830. 



Sir, 



A s my method of forcing Cherries is attended with greater suc- 

 cess than any other with which I am acquainted, I take the liberty 

 of submitting the following account of it to the Society. 



I put the Cherry-trees into my houses, giving them but very 

 little water at the close of the year, by which I find them better 

 prepared for blooming strongly in the spring. Their pots have a 

 capacity of from two quarts to two gallons, according to the size 

 of the plants ; but the soil in which they are planted is by no 

 means rich, for I have observed that highly manured soil is apt to 

 make the shoots too luxuriant, and to cause them to gum. When 

 I begin to force I continue to water but sparingly, and take care to 

 admit, both by night as well as by day, as much air as the weather 

 will permit; this is particularly necessary, for there is nothing 

 which is so much calculated to render the Cherry impatient of 

 forcing, as alternate ventilation in the day and confinement at 

 night. I open my back lights in almost any weather close to the 

 trees. In frosty weather I increase my fire as much as may be 

 necessary to enable me to continue to give air without actually 

 allowing the temperature to fall to 32°. In this manner I proceed 

 very slowly, until the blossoms are all set ; at which time if the 

 forcing has been well conducted, the foliage should be a deep 

 green, firm and perfectly well formed. I subsequently raise the 

 temperature at first to 65°, and afterwards gradually to 70°, in- 

 creasing the moisture of the atmosphere at the same time, and 



