December 8, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTTJKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



4A6 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



M'nth 



Day 



ot 



Week. 



9 

 10 

 11 

 12 

 13 

 14 



Td 

 W 

 Th 



F 



8 

 Son 

 M 



DECE.VBEU 8— H, 1863. 



D. Donn died, 1841. Bot. 

 Rrvinu3 born, 1652. Bot. [ends. 

 Grouse and Blackcock shootiag 

 Micheljua bom, 1697. Bot. 

 Dr. Darwin born, 1732. Bot. 

 3 SUNOAT IN Adve.nt. 

 3. C. Loudon died, 1643. Gar. 



Moon 

 liises. 



Moon 

 Seta. 



50 

 9 

 19 

 22 

 14 

 54 

 28 10 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day of 

 Year. 



27 

 28 



• 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 4 



342 

 343 

 344 

 345 

 346 

 347 

 348 



From obserrations taken near London during the last thirty-six years, the average day temperature of the week is 46.0°, and its night 

 temperature 33.7°. The greatest heat was 61', on the 13th, 1842: and the lowest cold, 11°, on the 13lh, 1846. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.62 inch. 



POT-CULTUEE OF PEACHES AND OTHEE 

 FEUITS, VEEstjs THE PLAJSfTING-OUT SYSTEM. 



LTHOUGH the culti- 

 vation of Peackes 

 and other fruits 

 in pots is not by 

 any means an 

 idea of recent 

 origin, it is only 

 n ithin the last 

 I ,, twelve orfourteen 

 ' "f years that it has 

 been extensively 

 practised ; and to 

 some extentit has 

 become popular 

 by the erection of 

 houses on a some- 

 what extensive 

 scale for the ex- 

 press purpose of 

 growing such fruits in pots. To Mr. Elvers, the iatel- 

 ligent nurseryman of Sawbridgeworth, more than to any 

 other man, the public are indebted for whatever amount 

 of pleasure or profit that has arisen from the system. All 

 who have watched, for the last eight or ten years, Mr. 

 Elvers' almost incessant and rational advocacy of the 

 system, and the dexterous energy with which he has 

 appeared on almost every field to shield it from attack, 

 must have been deeply impressed with the idea that the 

 culture of fruit trees in pots is a system the desirability 

 of which he most earnestly believes, while his own suc- 

 cess has been proof sufficient that good fniits can be so 

 produced in abundance. This may be accepted as a fact 

 not to be controverted. 



I have never had the pleasure of an ocular demonstra- 

 tion of Mr. Elvers' great success ia this particular depart- 

 ment, but I have met with gentlemen who have been to 

 the nurseries at Sawbridgeworth, and who have corrobo- 

 rated Mr. Elvers' own statements of Ills successes. That 

 such fruit can be so produced is a fact which requires 

 neither demonstration nor proof. It is only necessary' 

 to go to Sawbridgeworth and several other places where 

 the inspection of the system is kindly permitted to all 

 who are interested in the matter. This is, Iiowever, a 

 very different thing from recommending the pot-system 

 in preference to any other. This has generally been 

 careftdly avoided, as far as I am aware of, by its most 

 ardent advocates, no doubt because they are convinced 

 that such a one-sided view of the matter woidd only have 

 provoked the ridicule of all who understand by what means 

 the production of the greatest quantity of first-rate fruit 

 with the least possible outlay of time and expense can be 

 obtaiued. 



The controversial skirmishes on this subject which 

 have come off in the various periodicals have no doubt 

 been productive of much good. They have at the same 

 No. 141.— Vol. v., New Sekies. 



time thrown the inexperienced on the horns of a dilemma 

 as to which of the two systems is to be prefered, be- 

 cause no rebable comparisons have been drawn by per- 

 sons well conversant with both sides of the question. I 

 have sometimes had to advise in this matter, and always 

 in favour of planting out and training to a flat surface in 

 the usual way. There is, however, no particular fault to 

 find with any one who chooses to recommend the pot- 

 system, for I would like to see the plant or fruit that an 

 English gardener could not make productive and interest- 

 ing in a pot ; and those who gi'ow their own fruit, and 

 are not responsible for the best possible supply, may 

 gi-ow it as they choose. But the strenuous advocacy 

 of the pot-system as the ideal of perfection by those wh© 

 probably date their gai'dening experience from some time 

 between this and the period when orchard-houses have 

 been inaugurated, and who probably have never tried 

 any other system, is amusing enough. Let every system 

 have its full share of merit allowed it, and however 

 desirable the pot-cuUui-e of fruit may be considered, the 

 great majority of good gardeners who have to supply the 

 fruit market or tlieir employers' tables with the very 

 best fruit and on the most economical principles, are 

 thoroughly satisfied that their task must be performed 

 with trees planted out in borders and not grown in pots, 

 however well managed the latter may be. 



A very interesting article in this -Journal, November 

 24th, from the pen of " T. E.," sets this matter completely 

 at rest, if any doubt ever existed. He balances care- 

 fully the comparative merits of the two systems ; and the 

 .sum total of his deductions is that a fourth more ia 

 quantity, and fruit of superior quality, can be produced 

 from trees planted out and trained to treUises. Surely 

 this is a most powerful argument in favoui' of any system, 

 especially as it will be suspected that it comes from the 

 most powerful advocate of a rival system. The principal 

 argument in favour of trees in pots is that it affords more 

 pleasure than when grown and trained otherwise. Many 

 wdl venture to suppose that this argument wiU weigh 

 only with a very small niunber of growers. JSTo doubt a 

 houseful of trees in pots must be interesting and pretty, 

 yea, lovely ; but in most cases the proof of the pudding 

 will be considered to lie in something else. 



It would be veiy interesting to make a comparison of 

 the expense of furnishing an orchard-house in the two 

 different ways, and of the time and labour that are re- 

 quired to bring a crop to maturity, the chances of success 

 or failure, as well as the different other purposes for 

 which, under the two methods, such structures are 

 available. 



If the expense of furnishing be first taken into con- 

 sideration I wiU refer, for the sake of illustration, to a 

 long lean-to orchard-house which was erected here last 

 year. It is 135 feet long, 11 feet wide, 12 feet high at 

 the back, with a two-feet" front light. There were a few 

 very fair Peach trees on the wall before the house was 

 built. The rest of the space has been furnished with 

 dwarf-trained and rider Peaches and Nectarines. But 

 suppose the whole had to be newly furnished with trees, 

 No. 793.— Vol. XXX., Old t-hKitt 



