38 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



the trees too much crowded, so as to 

 shade each other. Iii tliese small span- 

 roofed houses the trees, placed as above, 

 form a charming avenue, and are looked 

 down upon by the cultivator, so that every 

 leaf and fruit is seen. It will add some 

 trifle to the expense of building, if tlie 

 sides, 1 foot or 18 inches from the eaves, 

 are of glass, the wooden ventilating shut- 

 ter being beneath the glazed part. The 

 doors and ends may be partially glazed ; 

 the extra expense is fully repaid by the 

 light and agreeable appearance given by 

 this mode of building. 



"Size of Pots. — In potting trees for this 

 description of culture, pots of different 

 sizes may be used, according to the taste 

 of the cultivator. If large trees for large 

 houses are required, 15-inch pots (15 

 inches in diaiueter and 15 inches deep) 

 will be necessary ; for moderate-sized 

 ti'ces, 13-inch pots ; this, on the whole, is 

 the most eligible size. For smaller com- 

 jjact bushes 11-inch pots are convenient, 

 as they are not unwieldy, and the trees 

 may be made ornaments of the side-board 

 in the dining-room ; and beautiful ob- 

 jects they are when full of fruit. Minia- 

 ture yet fruitful peach and nectarine trees 

 may be grown in very small pots, for I 

 have some not more than nine inches high, 

 in 8-inch pots, full of blossom-buds. Trees 

 of this size must not be allowed to bear 

 more than four or five fruit. They are 

 most interesting, and I have no doubt will, 

 ere long, be extensively cultivated by the 

 curious. These very small fruitful trees 

 are grafted, which seems to make them 

 pi'ccociously fruitful ; peaches and necta- 

 rines are generally budded. 



" I know of no compost better for stone- 

 fruits than two-thirds tui-fy loam and one- 

 third decomposed manure, to which some 

 road or pit sand may be added. The loam 

 should not be sifted ; if it contains a large 

 proportion of lumps as big as an egg, so 

 much the better. If you examine an 11- 

 incli pot, you will find it eight inclies 

 across at the bottom, and the aperture 

 from one inch to one and a-half in dia- 



j meter. Take a light hammer, and enlarge 

 this aperture to five inches in diameter ; * 

 then place four or five large pieces of 

 broken pots or tiles across, so that they 

 rest on the inside ledge left by the ham- 

 mer, leaving interstices for the free emis- 

 sion of roots ; on these place some of the 

 most lumpy part of your compost ; then 

 your tree, not too deeply, but so that the 

 upper part of its roots are a little below 

 the rim of the pot ; if it has a ball of 

 earth, loosen it ; fill up with compost ; 

 ram the earth down firmly as you fill, 

 with a stout blunt-poiuted stick ; place it 

 on the border where it is to grow during 

 the summer ; give it two or three gallons 

 of water, and a top-dressing of some ma- 

 nure to lie loosely ou the surface, and the 

 operation is finished." 



The fruits specially recommended by 

 Mr. Rivers for orchard-house culture are 

 apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, cher- 

 ries, figs, pears, grapes, apples, mulberries, 

 strawberries (on the back border), and al- 

 monds ; and a separate section is devoted 

 to the potting, pruning, and general treat- 

 ment of each ; these supplemented with 

 lists of' the sorts best suited for pot cul- 

 ture, both as to their relative beauty and 

 productiveness. Another section is ap- 

 propriated to a description of the forcing 

 orchard-house for early grapes, peaches, nec- 

 tarines, apricots, figs, cherries, etc., and to 

 heat which Mr. Rivers recommends thebriek 

 Arnott's stove, or Arnott's stove boiler, 

 which are severally engraved and described. 



Another modilication of the original idea 

 is the hedge orchard-house for retarding 

 trees in fruit, or wintering tea-roses, mag- 

 nolias, and other shrubs liable to injury 

 from our severe winters ; the principle of 

 which consists in the sides being formed 

 of yew, beech, or Siberian arbor-vitoe, 

 clipped to line, and so forming a screen 

 sufficient to break the force of sharp winds 

 and yet provide for the fullest ventilation. 

 A classified list of fruits adapted for or- 

 chard-house cultiu-e, and a good index, 

 are the remaining contents of this valuable 

 contribution to horticultural literature. 





WALTONIAN CASES. 



BT SHIIILET HIBBEED. 



I HOPE now to meet the wishes of hun- j month's Number ; but the hurry in which 

 dreds of subscribers who are asking for I was involved from the 1st to the 20th 

 information about Waltonian cases, their 

 construction, their uses, and their manage- 

 ment. I should have had the engravings 



made, and the descriptions ready, for last | holes may be used, 



* I now have my pots made with five holes, each 

 an inch and a-hali' in diameter. In remote places, 

 where these cannot be procured, the enlarged 



