PROCEEDINGS OF THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
167 
ston or Moorfowl Egg, 8; William’s Bon Chretien, ?; Craig’s 
Favourite, 7; Beurre d’ Amanlis, 6; Jargonelle. 6; Marie Louise, 
5; Benvie, 5; Beurre Diel, 5; Beurre Easter, 4; Beurre de Capiau- 
mont, 3 ; Autumn Bergamot, 3 ; Dutch Bergamot, 3 ; Flemish 
Beauty, 3; Grey Honey, 3; Josephine de Malines, 3; Citron des 
Cannes, 2 ; Croft Castle, 2 ; Black Achan, 2 ; Beurre Ranee, 2; 
Broom Bark, 2; Green Chisel, 3; Hacon’s Incomparable, 2; Louise 
Bonne of Jersey, 2; Longueville, 2; Souvenir du Congress, 2; Passe 
Colmar, 2; Napoleon, 2; Nondescript, 2; Beurre Bachelier, Ber¬ 
gamot d’Esperin, Bishop’s Thumb, Beurre White, Black Pear, 
Catillac, Colmar, Ete, Cripple Fiddler, Beurre d’Aremberg, 
Beurre d’Assumption, Clapp’s Favourite, DuGhesse d’Angou- 
leme, Drummond, Duncan, Summer, Doyenne d’Ete, Glout Mor- 
ceau. General Todleben, Green Yair, Jersey Gratioli, Huntingdon 
Early, Madame Trey ve, Marechal de la Cour, Pitmaston Duchess, 
Suffolk Thorn, Thomson's Pear, Winter Nellis, Yat, Aston, 
Town, and Uvedale’s St Gemain, all 1 each. 
The last named has been known to grow 31b. in weight. 
While still speaking about pears, let me give you a list of 
some I had the pleasure of seeing growing in pots this last 
season, and their weight when taken off:—Doyennd de 
Comrie, 17oz.; Beurre Baoheleir, 14 oz.; B. Diel, 15oz.; 
Fondante d’Automne, lib.; General Todleben, l3oz,; Glout 
Morceau, 12oz.; and Nouvelle Fulvie, 14oz. All the above 
were in one little glasshouse, but with no artificial heat. 
Thefollowing'is a listfrom another garden, alsogrown under 
glass:—Lieutenant Potiven, 16-J-oz.; Duchesse d’Angoleme, 
12^oz.; Pitmaston Duchess, 13oz.; Madame Treyve, lOJoz.; 
General Todleben, 14oz.; Marechal de la Cour, laloz.; and 
Soldat d’Esperin, 12£oz. This will give you some 
idea of the size of pears that can be raised in pots, under 
favourable circumstances, and when well attended to. 
You must not go away with the idea that because 
these fruits were grown under the shelter of a glass¬ 
house, they cannot be grown almost as well outside. 
If grown in pots, and liberally treated and placed in a 
sheltered situation, they will grow to an immense size. 
You will perhaps be surprised when I tell you that I saw 
some of the same pears I have already named grown in 
another garden under glass, but with no artificial heat, 
some of them in 9-inch pots, with from 6 to 18 large 
pears, from 12oz. to a pound in weight. The finest 
coloured and largest King Pippin apples I met with 
last season were grown in a pot at the front - door 
of Mr Wilson’s house, Cuba Terrace, in the village of 
Errol. I had the pleasure of exhibiting them at a lecture 
I delivered in Kinnaird in February last on cottage¬ 
gardening ; and they were so highly coloured that some of 
the audience took them for oranges. Through the kind¬ 
ness of Mr Tait, builder, Errol, I am able to show you 
some of the same as exhibited on that occasion. 
I will now give some hints on fruit-growing for the 
benefit of my fellow - amateurs. A good deal depends 
on pruning. Don’t have too many branches on your 
trees, and have them as open in the centre as possible 
to allow sun and air to all the fruit, as this is the 
secret of colour and flavour. Root-pruning is also some¬ 
times as necessary as branch or spur pruning. I know 
some gardeners in the Carse, noted for their success in 
fruit-growing, who lift their trees, when not too large, 
every third or fourth year. When they get too healthy, 
and grow all to leaves and branches, this checks the 
growth, and makes them grow fruit-buds instead. For 
the benefit of those who may have some old trees in their 
gardens or orchards that are somewhat barren, let me 
give the following instance of what root - pruning 
does. When but a very young lad, I recollect hearing my 
father, who was a keen amateur-gardener like myself, 
talking with a working-man who had a small orchard 
attached to his garden, which bore no fruit. He, there¬ 
fore, implored his landlord, who was a farmer, to allow 
him to dig the trees ouc, as potatoes and cabbages would 
be better than no fruit ; but, as the farmer was only a 
tenant, this leave he could not grant. He then dug 
deeply round the roots of all the trees, breaking all the 
long bare thongs—the tent-poles, as some call them—and 
felt perfectly sure that, so soon as the leaves were 
out, the first good breeze would blow every tree 
down. What was the result? Next autumn they 
were so laden with fruit, that all the ropes, and 
props, and sticks that could be had were in requisition 
to keep them from being split up with the weight. Now 
this was the result of root-pruuing, although the man at 
the time did not know the good he was doing; neither did 
I when I heard the story first, but I know it now, and tell 
it for the benefit of others. 
I now pass on to another process in fruit-culture, and 
this, perhaps, the most important of all, viz., manur¬ 
ing. In fact, this is the secret of large gooseberries, 
large apples, large pears, and large fruit of all kinds. Let 
me give you a case in point. A few months ago my 
attention was arrested by an enormous cauliflower in a 
seed-shop window; and to my astonishment I found it 
was grown by a friend of my own in the teaching 
profession. A few weeks after this I happened to 
call on my suburban friend when his day’s work was over> 
and found him carrying from a barrel sunk outside his 
pigstye the liquid manure to his cauliflower. This was the 
secret of his big cauliflower. Let me advise you also not 
to lose a drop of your soap suds, as they are excellent 
manure. In our washing-house at Errol they are all 
