Aogast 13, isee. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOKTlCUIiTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



im 



dry weather, and only supplied with a minimum of rain and 

 dew, their success may bo doubtful ; but even in casrs like 

 these, when care in watering and shadinj; thoir roots lias boon 

 aocorded, as in the example mentioned above, the loss lias not 

 been bo great^imleed the plants present a fair appcaran'^e. 

 As the operation of transplanting is a purely artificial one, 

 urtifioial means must be adopted for a time to give the plant 

 a fair start. In such cases, therefore, judicious watering may 

 be of service. — J. Eoeson. 



MR. PEARSON'S NURSERIES, ClilLWELL. 

 Hebe are to be seen orchard houses worth}' of the name ; 

 orchard houses at once grand, commodious, substantial, simple, 

 and useful: orchard house trees — Peaolius, Nectarines, Apri- 

 cots, &o., in pots and planted out in the borders, young trees 

 and old trees (some are in their "teens "), all growing in the 

 greatest luxuriance and lailen, yea, heavily laden, with really 

 handsome and delicious fruit. Never was I more delighted than 

 I was with my visit to this fine nursery. Wo have most of us 

 read Mr. Pearson's treatise and writings on orchard houses. Well 

 and ably written as they are, however, they convey but a poor 

 idea of the really magnificent results achieved at Chilwell. I 

 would advise any who are at all sceptical about the practicability 

 of orchard-house culture, to go and see Mr. Pearson's, and to 

 go at once. The Peaches and ether fruits are now ripe and 

 ripening ; seeing is believing, and if any one after seeing do 

 not believe in orchard houses, then I pity him. 



As orchard houses are becoming more and more popular 

 every year, and are now forming an important feature in the 

 horticulture of the country, I think we ought all to tender 

 our hearty thanks to the able leaders and staunch advocates 

 of this system, Messrs. Rivers, Pearson, and Wilson, who by 

 excellent examples of cultivation in their own grounds, and 

 their able writings and instructions through the horticultural 

 press, have done so much to explode antiquated prejudices, 

 and diffuse genuine information amongst us. 



That orchard houses will be more and more wanted now 

 that their construction and the cultivation of the trees are 

 becoming so well understood, is certain ; also, that the finest, 

 and best, and cheapest, taking lasting qualities into consider- 

 ation, that have yet been erected in this country are those of 

 Mr. Pearson, '^ equally a fact which no one can gainsay who 

 has ever seen them. They were, I was informed, erected by 

 Mr. Foster, of Beeston. The largest house is 100 feet long by 

 30 feet v;ide. It is filled with beautiful healthy trees — Peaches, 

 Nectarines, and Apricots chiefly. Some are planted out, and 

 some are in pots, but all are doing equally well. There are 

 numbers of houses, however, and all are full — full yet not 

 crowded, a thing which is too often done, and nothing can be 

 worsa than this overcrowding of fruit trees. There is also 

 another feature in these houses to which I wish to direct at- 

 tention. In some places there is a practice (indeed many 

 places get the credit) of " making-up a house " of fine fruit- 

 ing plants culled from all the others, which is shown to visitors 

 as successful in everyway. Now, this is just a mild way of 

 deceiving the public. Mr. Pearson adopts none of these false 

 tactics, all the trees are left in the houses whether bearing fruit 

 •or not, to be seen by uU. and everyone can judge for himself of 

 the true and actual results. 



In one oT Mr. Pearson's oldest houses are some really re- 

 markable Peach trees, that have been planted out fifteen or 

 sixteen years. They are grown as standards, the stems some 

 4 feet in height ; the heads are enormous, and in such health ! 

 loaded with scores of fine large fruit — indeed, finer could not 

 be desired. I tried, but failed to count the number on one of 

 these trees. These are orchard-house trees in reality. The 

 Boil in which they are planted is a rather light yellow loam ; 

 the border, Mr. Pearson stated, was never stirred or forked up, 

 only well watered when watering was Becessary. This solidi- 

 fying of the soil about the roots of Peach trees is an important 

 matter ; the soil caneet well be made too firm. Mr. Pearson 

 does not adopt a very close system of pinching the shoots ; 

 they are allowed to grow rather freely, and are stopped when 

 about 6 or 8 inches in length. That this is the correct system 

 the results themselves best affirm. 



In the culture of Apricots Mr. Pearson is especially success- 

 ful. The variety which he grows most extensively is called the 

 Peach Apricot (or Gros Peche), an eld sort, the stock of which 

 has been kept true in this nursery for many years. The 

 Moorpark is a aeadling raised from this sort, oud cltbongh 



larger and a recognised favourite, is in Mr. Pearson's opinion 

 inferior to the old one in flavour and general good (|nalitie«. 

 The Peach Apricot ripens better ; it ripens all round alike, and 

 is just one ball of melting syrnp. It may have been observed 

 that in the Moorpark there is very frequently a portion of the 

 back of the fruit quite hard and fleshy, while the other is 

 rotten ripe. Mr. Pearson works the Peach Apricot on the 

 Brussels stock, which, no doubt, has something to do with the 

 superior melting qualities of tho fruit, the Muscle Plum being 

 the stock most commonly used. However or whatever may be 

 the cause, I have never tasted Apricots, excepting from some 

 open standard trees in a garden at Noisiel, near Paris, at all 

 comparable in melting luscioueness to those Peach Apriootg 

 grown in pots in Mr. Pearson's orchard houses. I counted the 

 crop on several of the trees (they are but small trees — standards 

 in 10-iuch pots), and found an average of about thirty fruit 

 per plant, and all quite first-rate. 



Grapes are not grown to such a great extent. There are, 

 however, some very remarkable examples of high cultivation. 

 In one of the houses there are some halt a dozen Vines trained 

 to the rafters over the tops of the Peach trees ; one of these, a 

 Muscat Hamburgh, is very fine. There are about twenty 

 hunches on the Vines ; some of them will weigh quite 4 lbs. I 

 should think ; the average weight of the whole will exceed 

 3 lbs. — i.e., GO lbs. to the Vine. The berries are large, even- 

 sized, jet black, with a perfect bloom, and not a symptom of 

 shanking amongst them. What a noble Grape this is, grown in 

 this way ! For flavour it is well known to be unrivalled, yet 

 how very seldom is it to be seen in presentable condition ! 

 The Muscat Hamburgh is of a somewhat weakly constitution, 

 and has been proved by Mr. Thomson, of Dalkeith, and others, 

 to be much improved by being grafted on the Black Hamburgh ; 

 yet here Mr. Pearson has it finer than it has ever been seen 

 anywhere, not grafted, but growing on its own roots. It is 

 planted in an outside border, if border it can be called, for any- 

 thing — any material I mean — more wretched can scarcely be 

 conceived for a Vine to grow in. Yet it does grow, and that in 

 .splendid style ; and in allowing it to grow as Mr. Pearson does, 

 I believe lies the whole secret of his success. It is but a com- 

 mon-sense practice, yet how very seldom is it followed ! Bear- 

 ing in mind that the leaves are of equal importance to the 

 roots themselves, that through them all the colouring, sweeten- 

 ing, and other matters which go to the formation of the fruit 

 have to pass, Mr. Pearson tries to get as much healthy foliage 

 as possible without overcrowding. The bearing shoots are first 

 stopped at two eyes beyond tho bunch until that is fairly set ; 

 then the laterals are encouraged to grow, and as geeat a deye- 

 lopment of healthy foliage obtained from them as possible. 

 These Vines, to our trim rule-of-thumb gardeners, have a 

 rather untidy appearance ; but that is more than counter- 

 balanced by the splendid fruit obtained. I believe that if more 

 attention were paid to the cultivation of leaves, there would be 

 far fewer complaints of bad borders. In the same house there 

 is grafted on the Sarbelle Frontignan another Muscat Hamburgh, 

 which is very inferior. It is scarcely recognisable, so much ie 

 it altered ; the berries are much smaller, which is evidently 

 inherited from the stock. Buckland Sweetwater looked well 

 here, bearing some beautiful finely-grown bunches weighing 

 from 3 to 4 lbs. each. 



Mr. Pearson has some curious and interesting crosses from 

 the Strawberry Grape, a variety almost worthless in itself for 

 eating, although some profess to like it. It is, however, pos- 

 sessed of a .strong perfume, resembling that of ripe Straw- 

 berries. To communicate this perfume to some of our fine 

 Grapes is a desideratum, and Mr. Pearson has succeeded so far. 

 One, a black Grape, is certainly scented ; another, a white one, 

 is of the same peculiar taste as the Strawberry. They require 

 much further trial, however. I shall be curious to watch the 

 result. 



One of the largest houses, 100 feet by 30 feet, contains some 

 hundreds — thousands, perhaps — of the finest young Vines for 

 fruiting in pots which I have ever met with. They are a sight 

 worth seeing, well-grown, plump, full-eyed, round canes, many of 

 them as thick as one's fingers. Canes like these cannot but 

 bear fruit. It has often struck me as something wonderful 

 where aU the thousands of Vines go to that are raised by the 

 various nurserymen every year. Very few do I ever see that 

 are purchased in the many gardens I visit every year; yet they 

 are Ijought, and that greedily, the supply of good canes being 

 scarcely equal to the demand. 



I observed in one house a number of the Muscat Hambnrgh 

 grafted on the Black Hamburgh in pots. Fine plants they are. 



