| FORSYTH, WILLIAM, distinguished in the
science of arboriculture, was born at Old Meldrum, in Aberdeenshire, in
1737. Having been bred to the business of a gardener, he went to London in
1763, and soon after became a pupil of the celebrated Philip Miller,
gardener to the company of apothecaries, at their physic-garden in
Chelsea. In 1771, he succeeded his master in this respectable situation,
in which he remained till 1784, when he was appointed by George III, chief
superintendent of the royal gardens at Kensington and St James’s, which
employments he held till his death.
About the year 1768, Mr Forsyth paid
particular attention to the cultivation of fruit and forest trees, and
turned his thoughts more especially to the discovery of a composition to
remedy the diseases and injuries incident to them. After repeated trials,
he at length succeeded in preparing one which fully answered his
expectations; and in the year 1789, the success of his experiments
attracted the notice of the commissioners of the land revenue, upon whose
recommendation a committee of both houses of parliament was appointed to
report upon the merits of his discovery. The result of their inquiries was
a perfect conviction of its utility, and in consequence, an address was
voted by the house of commons to his majesty, praying that a reward might
be granted to Mr Forsyth, upon his disclosing the secret of his
composition to the public; which was accordingly done: and in 1791, Mr
Forsyth published his "Observations on the diseases, defects, and
injuries of fruit and forest trees," which also contains the
correspondence between the commissioners of the land revenue, the
committee of parliament, and himself. In 1802, he published the final
result of his labours in "A treatise on the culture and management of
fruit trees." In this work, or in Rees’s Cyclopedia, article
"Composition for trees," may be found a complete account of Mr
Forsyth’s discoveries and mode of treating injured wood. It may be
sufficient here to mention, that his composition, or medicament, was
formed according to the following receipt: "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 wood-ashes, 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."
Mr Forsyth, who was a member of the
Antiquarian, Linnaean, and other societies, died July 25, 1804. He enjoyed
the honours paid to him for his useful invention, with an unaffected
modesty, which gave them a higher grace; and his benevolence and private
worth were warmly attested by his friends. A particular genus of plants
has been named Forsythia, in honour of his name.
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