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JOURNAL OF HOETICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. [ necember 29, 1863. 



the house is supplied with a three-inch flow and return pipe. 

 I believe that ten out of every twelve Peaeh and Nectarine 

 trees set ninety-nine o\it of every hundred blossoms ; two 

 trees out of the twelve did not set so well, which I attriliuted 

 afterwai'ds to a defect in the drainage. The first ii-uit from 

 Hunt's Tawny Nectarine was ripe on the 10th of August, 

 and the tree kept in bearing until August 31st. when the 

 last fruit was gathered. It produced about four dozen, and 

 most of theui were qiute equal to wliat are gener.illy seen on 

 walls. On referring to uij- memorandum-book, I find the 

 first time I saw tliis beautiful Nectarine was at the Iloyal 

 Botanic Society's Exhibition, Eegenfs Park, in July, 1861, 

 when I considered it the prettiest Nectarine I had ever seen. 

 Next comes Acton Scot Peach, a variety so well known that 

 it requires no comment. The first fruit was ripe August 11th, 

 and the tree was in bearing until September 1st: we gathered 

 about four and a half dozen from this tree. Early York 

 Peach was ripe August 12th, and the hist fruit was gathered 

 on August 21st. It is a fine early Peach, but growing by the 

 side of Acton Scot it was one day later than th.at variety. 

 The first ft-uit of Eoyal George was gathered on August 15th, 

 and the last on August 31 st. It was a small tree, but bore a 

 hea\'y crop, twoand three Peaches on one small shoot where 

 only one onglit to have been left. The fruit weighed about 

 5 ounces each. The next in succession was a small Elruge 

 Nectarine with only a medium crop, it supplied fruit lor 

 eleven days. Duchess of Oldenburg Nectarine ripened its 

 fii-st fruit August 21st, and the last was gathered Sep- 

 tember -ith. Many of the i'ruit were extremely fine, and tlie 

 tree carried about two and a half dozen. A larger tree of 

 Eh'uge Nectarine, but only in a 13-inch pot, was allowed by 

 way of experiment to carry six dozen, which it ripened and 

 coloured satisfactorily. It was in bearing three weeks ; thus 

 one pot tree alone supplied two dozen of fruit each week for 

 tliree weeks. Violette Hiitive Nectarine kept up a supply 

 for ten days, the crop was medium, but the fi-uit good. 'The 

 same remarks apply to Pitmaston Orange Neet;u-ine, only 

 the fruit was still finer ; no collection should be witliout it. 

 The Angers Late Purple Peach is a later variety, it is a beau- 

 tiful laige Peach, and was the admiration of every one who 

 saw it, Ijut the fruit is liable to fall before it is perfectly ripe. 

 My employer speaks of it as being fine for tarts, as some 

 of the unripe fruit were used for that purpose. I have no 

 doubt they would make excellent computes as described l\y 

 Mr. Elvers in his book on orchard-houses. It was in use 

 from August 20th uutU September 15th. Two other Peaches, 

 Noblesse and Vineuse de Fromentin, did not set very freely 

 for the reasons aliove stated, and not looking equal to the 

 rest I pulled the fruit off. Having made the defective 

 drainage good, the trees are in equal liealth with their neigh- 

 liours, and judging from tlie round plump buds with which 

 aU the trees are covered "from stem to stern," there is the 

 promise of a better crop of fiuit next year. 



With regard to growing Pears in orchard-houses, some 

 people seem to sneer at the idea. It is all very well for 

 those who are situated in the southern and western counties 

 of England : but here in this cold and cloudy district, where 

 we only have, i:ierhaps, two tolerably good Pear seasons 

 out of seven, orchard-house Peiu-s are invaluable. I had 

 this season a Louise Bonne of Jersey Pear in a 12-inch pot 

 in the orchard-house, which bore fine fruit, while one of the 

 same variety planted outside, with space for the roots to 

 ramble at large, was not one-cpiarter so tine. There was, in 

 fact, as much difference between tliem as there is between 

 the best Grapes I have ever seen at the metropolitan exhi- 

 bitions and tlie rubbishy little bunches on the cottage walls 

 near London. The same may be said with regard to other 

 Peai's. Last year I grew Soldat Esperen Pear in a 12-ineh 

 pot in the orchard-house ; but not being able to find it 

 accommodation tliis season it was planted outside, and has 

 produced a nice sprinkling of fruit. I believe that one Pear 

 of last year, when grown in a pot under glass, would weigh 

 as heavy as six produced this season out of doors. I might 

 multiply instances, but forbear to trespass on your valuable 

 space. 



I will now briefly advert to the management of orchard- 

 house trees, confining my remarks chiefiy to Peaches and 

 Nectarines, and I shall state what I have practised myself. 

 We will suppose that the trees are in 13-inch pots, and that 

 it is autumn. The trees, if in a healthy condition, wdl now 



be losing their leaves, and the wood -will be fully ripe. The 

 principal point now to be attended to is the top-dressing. 

 I top-dressed my trees about the end of October ; the com- 

 post for the purpose, consisting of about two-thirds decayed 

 turf, an<l one-thii'd rotten manure and sifted bones, was well 

 chopped and mixed together, leaving a good portion in 

 lumps as large as an egg. It was placed in the orchard- 

 house about ten days before it was requu'ed for use, and 

 when that time arrived it was dry and in a workable con- 

 dition when wanted, and also of the same temperature as 

 the house in which the Peaches and Nectarines were growing. 

 The first wet day we had towards the end of the month was 

 taken advantage of to supply the trees with their fresh food. 

 I remove a quantity of the old soli from the surface of the 

 pots, and one-third or nearly halfway down between the 

 sides of the pot and the ball, and several inches in width, 

 according to tlie size of the pot. This space is filled up 

 with the fresh compost, taking care to ram it firmly as the 

 operation proceeds, for the more firmly the soU is rammed 

 the more food wOl there be for the plant. I then give a 

 soaking of water to settle the fresh soil about the roots, and 

 the trees are placed close together, as they will do with half 

 the space in winter that they require during theu' season of 

 growth. This U one great advantage in liaWng the trees 

 in pots, and it leaves plenty of space for the protection of 

 Strawlierries i'or forcing. Late Cauliflowers not having 

 perfected their heads in the kitchen garden can be taken up 

 and laid in by the heels, as also early winter Broccoli ; and 

 if the weather proves very severe these will give a sujjply 

 of nice small heads in winter, and be found extremely 

 nseful. 



It has been recommended that the trees should have 

 no water, or but very little, from October to February. 

 This I consider, with all due deference to the opinions of my 

 sujieriors, a mistake, and I believe that following this advice 

 to the letter is the source of endless failures. The ball be- 

 comes perfectly dry, and the roots confined within the limits 

 of a i3ot cannot ramble away from home in search of food 

 and moisture. The consequence is the buds shi'ivel, and 

 either fall off or expand very weakly. It is necessary to 

 make some allowance for the difference in the houses in 

 which the trees are cultivated. In houses heated by hot- 

 water pipes, or supplied w^ith any other ai-tificial heat, when 

 those means are brought into use during seasons of extreme 

 frost, unless the pots are covered with a good thickness of 

 litter the soil will become extremely dry ; and, therefore, 

 more water will be requi' ed than when the trees ai'e in a 

 house without such artificial api>liances, and where they are 

 covered with litter from the time they are top-cb'essed. I 

 would by no means satiu-ate the balls in winter ; but I 

 believe one very important step to success is to avoid 

 extreme dryness. 



About tlie beginning of February, or should the weather 

 prove mild and sunny even by the end of January, the buds 

 will begin to swell, so that the uninitiated may be able to 

 distinguish without much difficulty the fruit-buds from the 

 wood-buds. The young shoots sliould be shortened to 

 within eight or ten buds of their base for bush trees, always 

 cutting to a wood-bud, and keeping in mind the symmetrical 

 shape of the tree designed to be formed. When some of 

 the side shoots ore allowed to grow 15 or 18 inches long 

 without stopping in the summer, I have frequently observed 

 that they will be set with single fruit-buds nearly from their 

 base to tlieir terminal point without any wood-buds. In 

 such cases I would not shorten the shoot, as aU the buds 

 would ultimately fall off; but to prevent the tree from 

 acquiring a straggling habit by encouraging such lanky 

 branches, I would allow the shoot to break at its point, keep 

 it pinched-in during the succeeding summer, and encourage 

 a fresh shoot from its base, as tlieni will often be two or 

 three leaf-buds at the base of such shoots, pjid then at the 

 following winter's pruning the old shoot must be removed 

 close to the base of the newh'-made shoot, and the new 

 one .allowed to take its place. 



When the pruning is finished, the trees should be painlied 

 all over witli sulphur and solt soap, about a quai'ter of a 

 pound of soft soap to two or three quarts of water, with as 

 much sulphur as will give it the consistenej' of paint, and a 

 little clay must be .added to cause it to adhere to the trees. 

 This mixtiu-e must be well applied to every pai't of the tree 



