No. VI. IN consequence of an Address of the House of Commons to His Majesty, and of an examination made by THE MARQUIS OF ABERCORN, SIR GEORGE YONGE, BART. ROBERT BARCLAY, ESQ. JOHN ROLLE, ESQ., AND WILLIAM MAIN WARING, ESQ. and their report to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, respecting the efficacy of a Composition discovered by Mr. William Forsyth, for curing injuries and defects in trees; His Majesty has been pleased to grant a reward to Mr. Forsyth, for disclosing the method of making and using that Composition; and the following directions for that purpose are published accordingly : Royal Gardens, Kensington, May 11, 1791. Directions for making a Composition for curing Diseases, Defects, and Injuries, in all Kinds of Fruit and Forest Trees, and the Method of preparing the Trees and laying on the Composition, by WILLIAM FORSYTH. TAKE one bushel of fresh cow-dung, half a bushel of lime-rubbish of old buildings (that from the ceilings of rooms is preferable), half a bushel of woodashes, and a sixteenth part of a bushel of pit or river sand: the three last articles are to be sifted fine before they are mixed; then work them well together with a spade, and afterwards with a wooden beater, until the stuff is very smooth, like fine plaster used for the ceilings of rooms. The Composition being thus made, care must be taken to prepare the tree properly for its application, by cutting away all the dead, decayed, and injured part, till you come to the fresh sound wood, leaving the surface of the wood very smooth, and rounding off the edges of the bark with a drawknife, or other instrument, perfectly smooth, which must be particularly attended to; then lay on the plaster about one-eighth of an inch thick, all over the part where the wood or bark has been so cut away, finishing off the edges as thin as possible: then take a quantity of dry powder of wood-ashes mixed with a sixth part of the same quantity of the ashes of burnt bones; put it into a tin box, with holes in the top, and shake the powder on the surface of the plaster, till the whole is covered over with it, letting it remain for half an hour, to absorb the moisture; then apply more powder, rubbing it on gently with the hand, and repeating the application of the powder till the whole plaster becomes a dry smooth surface. All trees cut down near the ground should have the surface made quite smooth, rounding it off in a small degree, as before mentioned; and the dry powder directed to be used afterwards should have an equal quantity of powder of alabaster mixed with it, in order the better to resist the dripping of trees and heavy rains. If any of the Composition be left for a future occasion, it should be kept in a tub, or other vessel, and urine of any kind poured on it, so as to cover the surface; otherwise the atmosphere will greatly hurt the efficacy of the application. Where lime-rubbish of old buildings cannot be easily got, take pounded chalk, or common lime, after having been slaked, a month at least. As the growth of the tree will gradually affect the plaster, by raising up its edges next the bark, care should be taken, where that happens, to rub it over with the finger when occasion may require (which is best done when moistened by rain), that the plaster may be kept whole, to prevent the air and wet from penetrating into the wound. WILLIAM FORSYTH. William Forsyth, of Kensington, in the county of Middlesex, Gardener, maketh oath, and saith, that the foregoing is a true account of the method of making and using the Composition discovered by him for curing diseases, defects, and injuries, in fruit and forest trees and which Composition was applied by him to the trees in His Majesty's Gardens at Kensington, shewn to the noblemen and gentlemen to whom it was referred to examine the efficacy of the said Composition. WILLIAM FORSYTH. Sworn at the Land Revenue Office, in Scotland Yard, the CHARLES MIDDleton, JOHN CALL, JOHN FORDYCE. No. VII. Additional Directions for making and using the Composition. To the foregoing directions for making and applying the Composition, it is necessary to add the following: As the best way of using the Composition is found, by experience, to be in a liquid state; it must, therefore, be reduced to the consistence of a pretty thick paint, by mixing it up with a sufficient quantity of urine and soap-suds, and laid on with a painter's brush. The powder of woodashes and burnt bones is to be applied as before directed, patting it down with the hand. When trees are become hollow, you must scoop out all the rotten, loose, and dead parts of the trunk till you come to the solid wood, leaving the surface smooth; then cover the hollow, and every part where the canker has been cut out, or branches lopped off, with the Composition; and, as the edges grow, take care not to let the new wood come in contact with the dead, part of which it may be sometimes necessary to leave; but cut out the old dead wood as the new advances, keeping a hollow between them, to allow the new wood room to extend itself, and thereby fill up the |