1869. ] ORCHAKD-HOUSE TREES IN POTS. 17 



find both amusement and employment amongst them, from the time the flowers 

 expand in the spring, until the fruit is gathered in the autumn. I have grown 

 fruit in this way — Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Pears, and Apples — of better 

 quality and larger than by any other means ; for instance, an Early Murrey 

 Nectarine had, for its size, a good crop of fruit, which weighed, on an average, 

 5oz., and measured Sin. in circumference ; two Walburton Admirable Peaches 

 weighed 19oz. ; a Royal George Peach-tree in a 13in. pot carried 30 fruit, the 

 united weight of which was 101b. Goz. ; a Bellegarde in the same sized pot had 

 29 fruit, which weighed 101b. 13^oz. ; and 1 have had the Salway Peach 10^ in. 

 in circumference. Of Pears, I have had two fruit of Beurre Diel which weighed 

 SGoOz. ; of General Todtleben, which was turned out of doors to ripen, one fruit 

 weighed 18oz. Williams' Bonchretien and Louise Bonne of Jersey are also ex- 

 cellent Pears from pot-trees. Plums are very fine grown in this way ; and Apples, 

 which will not bear fruit until the trees are large in our light soil, at two years 

 old, bear abundantly in pots. It will, therefore, be seen that Orchard-house 

 Trees in pots may be cultivated with an eye to profit as well as pleasure ; and a 

 continued supply of the best fruit may be obtained in this way. I know that 

 practical gardeners are slow to admit the truth of this. Thus, in a weekly con- 

 temporary, " F.," writing of Shrubland Park, says: "Mr. Blair's estimate is that 

 of most practical men : pot plants are most useful to fill up with, but I would 

 not like to depend on them for the supply of a family." I depend on them 

 entirely ; and in a house 54ft. by 24ft. I manage to grow over fifty varieties of 

 fruit trees in pots ; so that there are two sides to this question. Not the least 

 advantage to be derived from the system, is the facility with which an inferior 

 sort may be removed, and a better variety Substituted, or a good new one intro- 

 duced ; and there is always a great amount of interest in watching the develop- 

 ment of new varieties of fruit. 



The form of house which I prefer is the span-roofed, and it ought to be wide 

 enough to contain three rows of trees down the centre, and one row all round 

 the sides. The path should be at least 3ft. wide. Shelves may also be fixed 

 all round, near the bottom of the rafters, and these may be filled with Straw- 

 berries, which will just go out of bearing as the out-door crops come in. The 

 Orchard-house here is 54ft. by 24ft., the sides 6ft. high, partly of glass and 

 partly of wooden shutters, fixed on centres, and moved all at once by a rod 

 and level-, which latter moves in a quadrant at the middle of the long rod. The 

 fixing of this rod is rather expensive at first, but it soon pays for itself. The top 

 lights are also opened by a rod and chain, and open all at once in the samo 

 manner. Three pillars on each side support the roof ; one pot-vine is taken up 

 each, and trained to arch over the Peaches and Nectarines, and from these pot- 

 vines I have cut bunches of Black Hamburgh grapes weighing 21b. each. To an 

 ardent lover of fruit culture such a house is always full of interest. 



I may add that I cultivate two rows of Strawberries on the shelves previously 



