128 MANAGEMENT OF WALL TREES. 



in their mode of construction, and as for durability, they admit 

 of no comparison with the ordinary lights used in glass house- 

 building. I had a quantity cast from a model made at Alton 

 for some pits there, and they answered admirably for the purpose 

 intended ; but the glazier, having only half emerged from tlie 

 dear glass-glazing, could not be prevailed upon to put the pane 

 in of one piece ; consequently, there was one lap still, and that 

 tied us to the steep-roof system. The same model is now 

 supplied here by the same person (Mr. Mellard, ironmonger, 

 Uttoxeter, Staffordshire), and the quarries are beautifully glazed 

 in one length panes without a lap ; consequently the roof has 

 only just as much rise as will comfortably clear it of wet, as 

 may be seen by the following statement. A house, 12 feet wide 

 inside, is roofed beautifully with 12 feet of glass in its cross- 

 section: a feat which, I believe, has not been attempted before; 

 and in regard to light, the space where the plants are is as well 

 lighted as it possibly can be. The climate is more regular and 

 more under control than it could be in any up-and-down house ; 

 and the cost, as has been shown above, as compared with glass 

 houses upon other plans, is just one half. 



XII. — Some Suggestions for the Better Management of Wall 

 Trees. By George Lovell, Bagshot, Surrey. 



(Communicated Feb. 1, 1851.) 



A WELL covered wall of fruit trees is an exception rather than 

 the rule. Visit twenty gardens, and the chances are that two- 

 thirds will exhibit lamentable deficiencies in this respect. In 

 accounting for the occurrence various causes are supposed to 

 operate. The soil is " cold," the subsoil " hard," the climate 

 " not genial," the trees " old and worn out," or some other un- 

 toward influences are concerned in producing the debility and 

 decay of the trees. It cannot be age, for an old peach, nectarine, 

 or apricot would be a horticultural novelty worth travelling a 

 few miles to see. As to what the real cause is, I should be loth 

 to offer a decided opinion ; but, after giving the subject some 

 degree of attention, there appears to be sufficient reason for 

 calling in question certain time-honoured practices which writers 

 on this subject do not seem to have recognised, or if recognised, 

 have dismissed briefly, and without due comment. 



I confidently believe that to the disagreement between the 

 scion and the stock, and to the early and ruthless application of 

 the knife, may be attributed in the majority of cases the diseases 

 and early death of the Peach and its allies. In this opinion I 

 am supported by no less an authority than tlie greatest of all 



