126 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
in diameter. The colour is delicate, a marbled pink and white, increasing 
in brightness with age. 
The plant is exceedingly hardy as a stove plant, and rapidly propagates 
itself by offsets. Its cultivation is of the simplest description. A soil of 
turfy loam with a good proportion of sand seems to suit it admirably ; and 
as to position, a shady corner in the greenhouse for the three warm months 
of summer and a cool stove for the remainder of the year, fully meet its 
requirements. The plant from which the above description is taken, is in 
the possession of Joseph Pease, Esq., of Darlington. It commenced bloom¬ 
ing towards the end of December, and continued in full vigour of bloom 
for about three weeks in a cool Orchid house. 
Southend , Darlington. John Richardson. 
TRELLISED ERUIT WALLS. 
LATELY heard a discussion on the alleged advantage of wall trees 
being fastened to a trellis instead of being nailed to a w T all. It was 
argued against nailing to the wall, that the side of the fruit next 
the wall did not ripen like that exposed to the sun. Such may be 
the case in bad seasons, especially with Apricots, but the case may 
be worse with those on a trellis, on which the trees are not only deprived 
of the reflected heat by the draught of air between the trellis and the wall, 
but also the warmth from the wall during the night; besides, the shade by 
either plan would be nearly alike, and the ripening of the crop depends 
more on the action of the sun upon the leaves, than upon its hot rays 
impinging on the fruit. The ripest fruit may be found under the leaves, 
in consequence of its having, according to their health, had more nutriment 
from them modified by the rays of light. The unequal ripening of fruits 
depends more on how the stalk ends are situated, which in general being 
next the wall or close upon the shoot; and the sap vessels in those 
parts of the fruit through which the juices flow to nourish it, are the last to 
ripen or decay. Although this may be little thought of, it is nevertheless 
true; and the same may apply to all kinds of fruit, the good qualities of 
which depend much on the health of the leaves, as just noticed. Therefore, 
the too-common plan of picking off the leaves to “ let the sun to the fruit ’ 
should be done with great caution. If possible, none of the fruit-bearing 
shoots should be deprived of their leaves, otherwise, for want of proper 
nourishment, the exposed parts of the fruit may be scorched or ripened pre¬ 
maturely by hot sunshine. This may be the principal cause of fruit ripening 
on one side, and remaining green on the other. 
Connected with this subject, I may mention that the ripening of all 
kinds of fruit is only the beginning of decay in the pulpy matter which 
protects or matures their seed. In general this is situated in the heart o^ 
