276 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



enable the wood to get thoroughly ripened ; and that with con- 

 siderably less trouble then when under cover. Of course the trees 

 must have protection from frost when in flower, and I am supposing 

 walls to be in existence for training the trees to. 



Orchard-houses are valuable when put to their proper use, which 

 I take to be the advancement of the crops to enable the cultivator 

 to gather a month or so before the same kinds are ready out of doors. 

 Unless the expense of putting down a service of hot- water pipes, 

 or a flue can be spared, I should certainly say leave orchard-house 

 building alone. Early in March or the last week in Febuary, when 

 the trees are in flower, we frequently get dull cloudy weather, and 

 without a little artificial warmth to disperse the damp stagnant 

 atmosphere, and dry the flowers, it is impossible for the pollen to 

 perform its allotted functions, and the flowers fall off, and the trees 

 are barren in consequence. A small boiler and a flow and return 

 four-inch pipe are quite sufficient for all ordinary sized houses. 

 Apart from their ugliness and the space they take up, I would quite 

 as soon have flues for this work as the most costly hot-water appa- 

 ratus, although I have no desire to witness the return of the good 

 old times we hear the representatives of the last century talk about. 

 A span roof about fourteen feet in width is the best form that 

 can be devised, and the length is a mere matter of taste. A house 

 built with sashes and rafters is more expensive than one with a 

 fixed roof, but it is double the value. Trees under glass require an 

 immense amount of labour to keep them clean ; but if the lights are 

 moveable and can be taken off in the early part of June, so as to 

 expose the trees to the rains and evening dews, the labour of 

 syringing and watering is considerably reduced. The fruit is also 

 better flavoured. It would perhaps make a week or two's difference 

 in the fruit reaching maturity, but even then it would be ripe before 

 the outdoor crop. The help from the artificial heat in the spring 

 would make a month or six weeks' difference at the beginning of 

 June, and of course the trees would keep that much ahead through- 

 out the remaining part of the season, besides, when ripening, having 

 the advantage of the warm weather of the end of July and the 

 beginning of August, instead of the cool and damp weather of 

 September, and the early part of October. 



Allowing three feet for the path and the space consumed by the 

 heating apparatus, room will be left for a five-feet border on each side. 

 This will give ample room for one row of good trees in each. More 

 could be squeezed in but it is not desirable. Remove the old soil 

 to a depth of four feet, and place in the bottom a foot depth of 

 brickbats for drainage, and, unless the subsoil is gravelly, lay down 

 a drain of ordinary pipes to carry off the water after it has soaked 

 through the topsoil, or the brickbats will be of little or no use. If 

 good turfy loam can be obtained for the border, no manure must 

 be added, but, if it happens to be poor or sandy, add one load of 

 well-rotted manure to every six loads of soil. Tread the soil in 

 linn, and after it has had time to settle, plant the trees at a distance 

 of four feet apart. Plant early in October to give the trees time 

 to get established before they are quite dormant. 



