325 



FEUIT PROSPECTS. 



iA.VJXG- contributed our share to the active discussions 

 on Iruit culture, which have occupied so largely the 

 attention of the horticultural public, it would be im- 

 politic, and, perhaps, unjust, to allow the present 

 phase of the discussion to pass by without offering 

 our readers some remarks of a practical nature likely to benefit 

 them. At this time of year a certain number of persons are 

 engaged in the purchase and planting of fruit-trees, and they are of 

 necessity interested in the respective merits of different varieties of 

 fruits, and different methods of growing them. AVe have lately 

 given our opinion on the proposal to introduce the cordon system of 

 training into English gardens, and on the respective merits of the 

 extension and restriction systems of grape-vine culture. We now 

 address ourselves to some cognate topics, hoping earnestly that what 

 we have to say may prove truthful and usel'ul. 



Let us first speak of orchard-houses. These do not increase at 

 the rate they did formerly, and there are many sound, practical 

 men still who are sceptical as to their value. The fact is, the 

 judicious employment of glass, whether with or without the aid of 

 artificial heat, is of immense value in the cultivation of choice fruits 

 in this uncertain clime : but orchard-houses have been much abused, 

 and they are still in a great measure misunderstood. The proper 

 use of an orchard-house is for such fruits as cannot be grown with 

 certainty in the open air of the same district, or to hasten the 

 maturity of fruits that do thrive in the open air of the same dis- 

 trict, and of which earlier supplies are required than can be 

 obtained by trusting to the natural course of the seasons. When 

 some of the best varieties of peaches, nectarines, and plums are 

 planted out in a roomy orchard- house, we say that glass is well 

 employed and will afford an ample return on all the money expended 

 in the construction. But when we find a similar structure occupied 

 with little apple, pear, and cherry-trees, in pots, we regard the house 

 and the trees as toys, and as no one expects toys to pay, so we 

 never ask if the fruits obtained from the potted trees are in quantity 

 and quality any wa}^ commensurate to the cost of obtaining them. 

 Pot culture may be a profitable system in some cases, but as a rule 

 it is a delusion. In January, 18(32, we directed the attention of our 

 readers to the advantages to be derived from the culture of fruit 

 under glass, by means of trees planted out, and we have never for- 

 gotten that potted trees may be so well managed as to be annually 

 smothered with good fruit, though the value of such fruit can never 

 be a full equivalent for the time bestowed in its production. Where 

 an amateur pursues this system of fruit-culture as an amusement, 

 the result is all profit, and we have nothing more to say ! But if 

 we are asked to speak of the most profitable use of glass for fruit 

 production, we must advocate the construction of large. Tight houses 

 with inside borders, and the trees planted in them as in the old- 

 fashioned peach-houses. Having provided glass, the cultivator 



