THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN aUIDE. 



35 



is matter of history, for he is not only the 

 inventor of orchard-houses, but the most 

 experienced in their management of any 

 horticulturist of the present day, as those 

 ■who visit Sawbridgeworth, when peaches 

 and nectarines are ripening, know to their 

 gratification. The first edition of the 

 " Orchard-House" was published with no 

 intention to create a stir, but to aid in 

 the restoration of the parish church of 

 Sawbridgeworth, which at that time was 

 in a fearfully dilapidated state. "A hint 

 from one warmly interested in its restora- 

 tion induced me to dedicate the profits 

 resulting from this little publication to- 

 wards such a sacred, and I trust praise- 

 worthy, object." That object was realized, 

 and with it another, the establishment of 

 a new system of fruit-culture, which ra- 

 pidly came into favour, so much so that 

 the orchard-house is now considered as 

 essential as the greenhouse and the cold 

 pit in the list of structures requisite to a 

 garden. The sale of four editions of Mr. 

 Rivers's book is a sufiicient proof that it 

 was not written in vain, and we heartily 

 welcome the new edition now before us as 

 another greeting from the father of mo- 

 dern practical horticulture.* 



As this is the first opportunity we have 

 yet had to bring this subject before our 

 readers, we will transcribe from Mr. Ri- 

 vers's pages sufficient instruction to enable 

 any one to make a fair start in the culture 

 of fruit-trees in pots under glass, and there- 

 after leave him to seek from the work itself 

 such other particulars as to the minutise 

 of management as may arise out of the 

 putting into practice of the first elemen- 

 tary pi'inciples : — 



" It was, I think, in the year 1849, 

 that, being vei-y fond of figs, I attempted 

 to grow them in pots in one of my vine- 

 ries ; but finding they required more room 

 than I could spare, I sought for some 

 method by which I could overcome the 

 difficulty. The pots I used, I ought to 

 state, were not placed on benches, but on 

 raised borders, for I had adopted the 

 sunken paths and raised borders for many 

 years, to avoid the expense of the usual 

 benches of wood. The roots made their 

 way through the aperture at the bottom 

 of the pots, and the plants thus, even in 

 comparatively small pots, obtained enough 

 of vigour to support a crop of fruit. After 

 the crop was gathered, the pots were 

 gently turned up on one side, and the 

 roots cut off with a knife, water was with- 



* "The Orchard-House; or, the Cultivation 

 of i> ruit -Trees in Pots under Glass." By Thomas 

 Kivers, of the Nurseries, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, 

 iilth Edition. Longmans and Co. 



held, and the plants were soon at rest 

 with well-ripened shoots. The following 

 spring they were top-dressed with manure, 

 and again placed on the border ; but an 

 idea occurred to mc to give more room 

 for the emission of roots by enlarging the 

 aperture at the bottom of the pots : this 

 I at once put in practice, with the most 

 favourable results. I then reasoned, if 

 figs in pots can be made to bear a crop of 

 fruit by thus giving them extra nourish- 

 ment during the summer, why should not 

 peaches, nectarines, apricots, vines, plums, 

 cherries, and pears be managed in the 

 same way ? They can be ; and I have 

 now much pleasure in giving the simple 

 method by which all these choice fruits 

 can be grown on dwarf bushes in pots, 

 with a certainty of a crop every season. 

 I hope to see the day when hundreds and 

 thousands of our small gardens will be 

 furnished with cheap fruit-tree houses. 



" Glass, timber, and bricks are now com- 

 paratively cheap ; for sheet-glass that, 

 when first brought into notice, cost 2* 

 per foot, can now be bought at 2d. per 

 foot ; so we can build cheap houses, which, 

 without the assistance of artificial heat, 

 will give us, in average seasons, the cli- 

 mate of the south-west of France, with- 

 out the liability to injury from spring 

 frosts, from which all temperate climates, 

 both in Europe and America, at times 

 suffer so severely. 



" I believe that I have more than once 

 described my 'glass-roofed shed,' for I 

 have not ventured to give it too high- 

 somiding a name ; still, as it must come 

 into extensive use, a better name may be 

 found expressive of this peculiar structure, 

 which is not a vinery, or pinery, or peach- 

 house — these all belong to great and grand 

 gardens — but a place for many fruits ; it 

 may, therefore, I think, without affecta- 

 tion, be called an Orchard-house, a place 

 requiring but little expense to erect, but 

 little experience and attention to manage, 

 and yet giving most agreeable results. To 

 the suburban gardener, who has but a small 

 gai'den, which must be a multum in parvo 

 — to the amateur with plenty of gardening 

 taste and but a limited income ; in short, 

 to a numerous class fully capable of en- 

 joying hoi'ticultural pleasures, but, with 

 purses not bountifullysupplied,the orchard- 

 house will, I feel assured, be a most agree- 

 able boon. I will, therefore, proceed to 

 give such directions as will, I trust, enable 

 any carpenter to build one. There are 

 two descriptions of houses calculated for 

 this mode of fruit-culture, the lean-to and 

 the span-roofed. I shall commence with 

 the former, which is, perhaps, the most 



