249 



MR. PEAESON ON OECHARD-HOrSES. 



There are but few gardens of any preten- 

 sions in which these structures liave not 

 now acquired a permanent place. But 

 many changes have taken place in the 

 system of orchard-house construction and 

 management, as first proposed by Mr. 

 Rivers, of Sawbridgewoi-th. Indeed, the 

 visitor to the extensive and interesting 

 nurseries of Mr. Rivers, is sure to suffer 

 disappointment in his first inspection of tlie 

 structures of wliich he has heard so much. 

 From the various incidental remarks of 

 Mr. Rivers, in his excellent and amusing 

 book about the charming spectacle of trees 

 arching over the central walks, and form- 

 ing avenues of branches laden with flowers 

 or fruit, and *he delightful recreation to be 

 found in the culture of potted trees, the 

 visitor anticipates an induction to fairy- 

 land, and is rather startled on lirst finding 

 liimself amidst a number of rough sheds, 

 with glass roofs, and his preconceived no- 

 tions of the elegance of Mr. Rivers's ar- 

 rangements are dissipated for ever. Tlie 

 very first modification of Mr. Rivers's plan 

 ■was the construction of more substantial 

 houses than he recommended. If a lady 

 or gentleman is to follow the recommenda- 

 tion of Mr. Rivers for purposes of recrea- 

 tion, the end can scarcely be attained with 

 <,he sort of structures that look as if a smart 

 gale would blow them to pieces, and hence 

 the rougli boarding and larch poles have 

 given place to substantial walls to re- 

 ceive the sills, and to ventilators more 

 thoroughly controllable than cracks in the 

 wood-work caused by the heat of the sun. 

 But how do these rougli slied-like houses 

 serve their intended purpose ? We must 

 answer, very inefficiently'. They are as 

 bad for use as they are ugly in appearance, 

 and the many complaints that amateurs 

 and gardeners make of the failure of their 

 crops are due, in a great measure, to the 

 very rough nature of the constructions 

 ■which have been erected by thousands on 

 the cheap plan proposed by Mr. Rivers, 

 ■who is himself unable to succeed with cer- 

 tain of the more tender varieties of peaches 

 and apricots. Mr. Rivers is, in fact, too 

 much enamoured of our east winds. Ho 

 knows, as we all do, that in the native 

 countries of the peach the winters ai-e 

 severe, and at the? season when tlie trees 

 are in bloom, they are subject to the in- 

 fluence of dry cold winds. Hence, Mr. 

 Rivers proceeds on the supposition that 

 the more the wind whistles through an 

 ■orchard-house during March and April 

 Ihe better, forgetting that the peaches and 



apricots we cultivate are mostly garden 

 varieties, superior to the original species 

 size, flavour, and texture, and possibly 

 some degrees more tender in constitution. 

 But even if it be proved that our most 

 esteemed peaches and nectarines are not a 

 whit more tender than the species from 

 which they have originated, it does not 

 follow that our cruel and remorseless cast 

 winds are identical In character with those 

 .tluit blow over the sands of Persia and 

 ■through the flowery valleys of Armenia, 

 Tliat point, indeed, is not worth determin- 

 ing. Experience at home will be our best 

 teacher, and when Mr. Rivers gives a list 

 of peaches that have fixiled with him, we 

 do not hesitate to attribute the failure to 

 the falsity of his theory, and fur this rea- 

 son, that In well-built houses we have seen 

 the same varieties loaded witli the finest 

 possible fruit. We are deeply indebted to 

 this father of British pomology /or his 

 eminent services as a propounder of plans 

 and a raiser of new varieties, but we must 

 take exceptions to his cheap boarded shan- 

 ties as unfit for a respectable garden, as 

 too cold and draughty for the trees they 

 are intended to shelter, and as, upon his 

 own showing, having failed to fulfil their 

 intended purpose even in his own hands. 



But we are no longer shut up to Mr. 

 Rivers and his book. Mr. Pearson of 

 Chilwell, has become a formidable compe- 

 titor by the publication of his work " On 

 the Construction and Management of Or- 

 chard-houses " (Virtue), and his first pro- 

 position is to substitute for the orio-inal 

 structures of shrinking boards, side walls 

 of brick, as better adapted to the comfort 

 of the trees, and the gardener who attends 

 to them. Mr. Rivers proposes to expend 

 on covering 2400 square feet of ground 

 the sum of £140, and the result wiU be aii 

 unsightly structure that a lady will not 

 care to own, and a gentleman avIU always 

 be half ashamed of ; besides that, the trees 

 in it will be aired a vast deal too much 

 while the nipping east wind is in full force 

 for weeks together. For an outlay of ^230 

 Mr. Pearson proposes to cover 2700 square 

 feet on eighteen inches ofbrick-work above 

 the surface, the walks paved witli black 

 and buff quarries, the bricks laid in Port- 

 land cement, and the whole finished in a 

 style fit for any garden. 



We are only at the beginning of or- 

 chard-houses yet. The wonders that have 

 been accomplished by their means already 

 suggest how much more will be done 

 hereafter. Instead of occasional crops of 

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