THE SOCIETY"* Ci AliDEN AT WISLEY. 



73 



On the highest part of the grounds, a selection (not a collection) of 

 Apples, Pears, Plums, and bush fruits has been planted, two of each 

 variety. These were generously presented to the Society by various 

 nurserymen, and were planted during the past winter. The sites were 

 all carefully prepared for the trees, and, with the exception of Raspberries, 

 all have done very well. On May 23 we had a very severe frost, already 

 referred to, which killed all the young shoots of the Raspberries, and they 

 are now so weak that it seems unlikely that they will recover. All the 

 varieties of different kinds of fruit are planted in alphabetical order, 

 so that it is easy to find any variety wanted. No one would call it an ideal 

 soil for fruit, as it is so light and sandy, shallow, and resting on sand 

 and gravel ; yet in spite of that, by judicious feeding and keeping a loose 



Fig. 29. — Superixtendent's_House near the Entrance to the Garden. 



surface soil, there is no doubt that we shall be able to grow creditable 

 fruit, and here again is probably an advantage, as it is hoped that we 

 shall be able to show how fruit can be grown on even poor soils without 

 any heavy expenditure. It should, however, be understood that we have 

 not planted any Cherries, as the soil, we think, would be too light, sandy 

 and hot for this fruit. Later on we may plant some lower down the 

 slope of the hill, where the soil is deeper and cooler. 



On the highest part and the most exposed position a very fine 

 Meteorological Station has been established (fig. 30), where the rainfall, 

 the direction and velocity of the wind, the number of hours of sunshine, 

 the temperature in the shade, in the sun and on the grass, and at 1, 2, 

 and 4 feet below the surface of the ground, and the humidity of the air, 

 are recorded daily, and reports sent to the horticultural press and the 



