October 10, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF nORTICULTDBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



271 



it was then 3 inches long and .Sj inches round. As it has 

 grown the bloom has Rot half way up the fruit, and the half 

 nearest tlio base is covered with white Rpinft.i, while tho end 

 nearest tlie point is perfectly smooth. I iMiiy add that it has 

 been growing for more than two months. Tho pliint is quite 

 healthy, and has been so all the time, and at tho present time 

 there are live good fruits on it besides this curiosity. 



If any of your correspondents have met with anything similar 

 to this I should bo glad to liear of it, or if they can give any 

 reason for it. Mr. Hunt would readily answer imiuiries any 

 one may wish to make respecting it. — H. I'ebki.ns, Dcuhy 

 Gardem, Derbyshire. 



ORCHARD-HOUSE CUITURE. 



Some weeks, or perhaps months ago, one of your correspon- 

 dents, in writing on the above subject, said that ho had great 

 success from deviating every season more and more from the 

 directions given by Mr. Rivers in his book. Since then I have 

 hinted in your columns, that I hoped ho would favour your 

 readers with a detailed account of his method of mnnaging 

 orchard-house trees. Allow me kindly to remind him, that as 

 he mentioned my name it is a duty which ho owes to me, as 

 well as to your numerous readers, to give a full explanation. 



The system followed hero is so perfect, judging by its results, 

 as to lead me to think it cannot be improved ; yet I well know 

 that in gardening it is never too late to learn. 



My Peach and Nectarine trees, in an orchard-house 100 feet 

 by 24, are in the most perfect state, not only those in pots, but 

 some fine standards growing in the hard unstirred borders. 

 They have not been syringed since the last week in July, yet 

 every leaf is green and glossy with Iiealth, and they have borne 

 fruit as line or finer than in any previous season. Not a trace 

 of red spider or mildew is to be seen. The house has no roof 

 yentilation, but merely a triangular aperture, always open, at 

 each end, under tho gables. The ventilating shutters on each 

 side are near the ground, and "JH inches deep. This is not by 

 any means a complicated structure, yet it has never failed for 

 seven conseeitive years in giving a healthy growth to the trees 

 and abundan-o of Peaches, Nectarines, and .\pricots. 



Tho management of the trees has been simple enough. 

 They have had no water from November till Marcli ; they have 

 been syringed regularly in early summer ; have had a portion 

 of the compost taken from the pots in October, and replaced 

 with fresh ; and have had surface-dressings of my usual rich 

 mixture three times during the summer. The pots stand on 

 a hard floor, and the roots come up to feed on the surface- 

 dressing, not attempting to make their way through the bottoms 

 of the pots, seeming instinctively to know where their food is. 

 This method I well know difTers from that recommended in the 

 early days of orchard-house culture, but I have made it known 

 in later editions of tho " Orchard-House," and in your columns. 



Since writing the above I have been much interested in 

 reading my friend Pearson's short article. The " mistake " 

 he BO amusingly alludes to has been annually made here for 

 seventeen consecutive yearg with Peacb and Nectarine trees 

 in pots, and, as I have said above, the top-dressing alTiuded 

 the trees in October has given them health and fertility during 

 the whole of that time. In an article headed " .\pricot Cul- 

 ture" I have stated, that observing somo trees which had not 

 been top-dressed in autumn bearing more abundantly than 

 those that had been, I took advantage of the hint, and, with 

 some exceptions, I do not top-dress my .\pricots in autumn, 

 but wait till the fruit is well set, and then merely scrape off 

 the exhausted surface-mould, and give the trees abundance of 

 a rich surface-dressing; this has answered admirably. The 

 exceptions to this mode of treatment are som" finfl old Apricot 

 bushes, which were top-dressed last autumn in the usual way. 

 Two or three of these dropped their blossoms, and i/ave but 

 slight crops of fruit: but tho remainder, smne eight or ten in 

 number, produced most, beautiful crops of the finest fruit I 

 ever saw. This fact did not, however, alter my conviction 

 that the best method of growing Apricots in pots under glass 

 is that I have given in tho article above referred to, because it 

 is more simple. 



Observing the success of my new mode of Apricot culture, 

 I have more than once tliis summer thought of applying it to 

 my Peach and Nectarine trees, more particularly those in 

 15 and l.S inch pots, as they give a large surface for summer 

 surface-dressings; but my trees in deep 12 inch pots have 



thrown np such masses of fibrous roots into the surface-dress- 

 ing, that till they are removed there is no room for fresh com- 

 post, and pieces of slate must be stuck in round the edge «f 

 the pot to support this summer surfa-'c-dressing. This method 

 we practise here when a tree has a large crop, so that the con- 

 fined area of surface will not allow of sufficient food being 

 given to it; for, after all, fruitgrowing is a question of food 

 and water, without which neither animul nor tree life can 

 flourish. I have, therefore, come to the conclusion, that Poaeh 

 and Nectarine as well as Apricot trees in large pots, need not 

 bo top-dressed— 1. c, have fresh compost in October, but that 

 the soil may remain hard and dry all winter. It will bo seen 

 by those who read the commencement of this article, that tho 

 " mistake " of top-dressing in October has given me fine healthy 

 trees and fine crops of fruit ; yet I am quite inclined to give it 

 up with trees in large pots, as it will save trouble and tend to 

 simplify orchi,rd-houso culture. 



Moreover, I am inclined to think that pots with a large area 

 of surface should bo employed in preference to deep pots, so 

 that an 18'inch pot should not, as at present, be 18 inches 

 deep, but rather 12 inches or so deep, and 24 inches over at 

 top, so as to hold a goodly quantity of summer surface food. 

 At any rate, the experiment can be so easily carried out as to 

 bo quite worthy of notice. Tho misfortune is that we may be 

 deceived, and that trees that have flourished for some years 

 under the present system of renewing the soil in October may 

 not like the "mistake" to be rectified, and in revenge pay 

 court to our enemies red spider and mildew. I repeat, how- 

 ever, that this simple mode of culture, which has done so 

 much for Apricots, is quite worth extending to the culture of 

 Peach, Nectarine, and otlier orchard-house trees. 



This season has been favourable to the ripening of Peaches 

 under glass; they have ripened slowly and well. There is, 

 however, a mystery in the ripening of Peaches and Nectarines 

 in orchard-houses which I have never been able to solve. It is 

 this : in some seasons Nectarines are in the ascendant, and 

 are richer in flavour than Pencdies, and then a change comes, 

 and Peaches are richer than Nectarines ; yet the trees are the 

 same, and stand in the same positions, in the same house, and 

 under the same treatment. Tliese curious variations in flavour 

 have occurred here for many years, so that we have often 

 designated one season as a " Nectarine year," and another as 

 a " Peach year." They do not occur with alternating regu- 

 larity, but they happen occasionally. These changes in the 

 flavour of fruits are, doubtless, owing to atmos|i!ieric causes 

 not perceptible to our feelings. How sensitive is the organi- 

 sation of the vegetable kingdom ! This season of 1807 has 

 been hero a Peach year par cicelli'ttci;. The fruit of many kinds 

 of Nectarines shrivelled and dropped oil when on the point of 

 ripening, and if I Lad not known well tlie Pine .\pple and 

 Victoria Nectarines I ^h(■uld liave rushed into an opinion that 

 they were new and worthless kinds, as their fruit, so fine with 

 my friends, was here covered with russet and poor in flavour, 

 although the trees are in grand health. Several other kinds of 

 Nectarines also failed in flavour and goodness. 



With resriccl to Peaches, the season has been most favour- 

 able to the Grosse Mignonne and tho Early Grosse Mignonne. 

 They ripened more slowly than usual, and were piquant— a 

 flavour they often lack, and delicious. The Noblesse Peaches 

 were not so racy as usual, and the English Galande (Violette 

 Hative), a fine tree, fifteen years old, gave a good crop of fruit, 

 which ripened a fortnight later than usual, and were ver.v in- 

 ferior in flavour. It was the same with the French Galande, a 

 near relation ; the fruit produced were very inferior to those 

 usually borne by the same tree. These trees are growing in 

 the same house, and stand in the same positions they have 

 occupied for years. How subtle, then, must the atmospheric 

 change be to bring such results ! The Early Albert Peach, the 

 seedling tree, gave ft fine crop of large beautiful fruit, but they 

 were not rich as usual, but dull in flavour. The Early York 

 Peaches were not so rich as usual, but the glandular varieties 

 raised from seed gave fruit which my old friend, M. P. Wilder, 

 of Boston, U.S., declared to be !lie finest Peach he ever tatted. 

 As a late Peach, the Princess of Wales was most beautiful 

 with its cream-coloured skin and pink cheek, and was rich and 

 delicious, while the Early Silver Peach, sode!i<ate and racy in 

 a warm season, was too acrid. 



In noticing these matters, I wish to guard orcbard-honso 

 cultivators against rushine into an opinion about the quality 

 of any particular fruit. I have occasionally gathered a fine 

 fruit from some old good kind, such as Grosse Mignonne, and 

 have thrown it away iusteai of eating it. Why? It bad re- 



