Mtj ;, 136S. ] 



JOUB^AL OP HOanCULTDBB ANJ> COTTAGE GABDENJEB. 



33i 



PEACH CORDONS. 



H^VNKS to Mr. Pavers and to Mr. Fish, vre 

 have some reliable data as to the periods of j 

 blooming and the setting of the fruit in un- 

 healed orchard houses, whether span-roofed i 

 or lean-to. 



The trees in our houses here were at their ^ 

 fullest bloom early in March — not by any i 

 means a very early dat«, especially after so 

 mild a winter — and so they were about a ; 

 fortnight in advance of those in the house at Luton, and I 

 in that at Sawbrid^eworth. The first-mentioned is a lean- 

 to, and the second is an elegant span-roofed house, glazed 

 to the ground. Thus a lean-to at Luton is a fortnight later 

 than a similar house in Guernsey, and a span-roofed 

 house at Sawbridgeworth is about equal in point of bloom- 

 ing with a lean-to at Luton. This confirms our former 

 experience that Guernsey is from eight to ten days earlier 

 in Peach-ripening than Sawbridgeworth. We want further 

 data respecting the blooming in other unhealed orchard 

 houses still further north, and some from the extreme 

 south of England. We also need information as to the 

 approximate limit of successful out -door cultivation of the 

 Peach I any sort r northward of London, likewise how far 

 beyond this limit a solid lean-to will enable Peaches to be 

 ripened. For all tliese purposes of comparison there is in 

 every way no fruit equal to the Peach. I do not think 

 that these matters, so useful to the intending builder of 

 orchard houses, are at all sufficiently established. In- 

 formation can be had, and very excellent it is, neverthe- 

 less it cannot be so common as it might be, nor can it be 

 filial. 



With respect to partially -heated orchard houses — that 

 is, where fire heat is used only to keep out frost and to 

 aid the setting of the fruit — it would be most interesting 

 to know clearly how little would effect this in diflerent 

 localities. 



An orchard house of the modem style, with abundance 

 of cheap glass, filled with cordons of a htindred v.arieties 

 of Peaches and Nectarines giving a length of season un- 

 dreamt of formerly, and with rows of closely-pinched 

 potted trees in the front, if it have a flue or a row of pipes 

 as aa adjunct merely, is a very diiferent matter from the 

 forcing Peach house pur et simpU. as the French say. One 

 great and distinctive feature of the orchard house of the 

 present and of the future is the adoption of the cordon 

 system of training in its several forms. Nothing can equal 

 this style for simplicity and for productiveness. On these 

 two important points even its detractors are agreed. Those 

 who, like myself, have practised it for some fifteen years 

 on the open wall and under glass care for nothing so much, 

 but it is for trees in a good-sized orchard house that it is 

 specially suited. 



I have just finished the second thinning of my trees, and 

 being unable to trust this delicate matter out of my own 

 hands, it has been rather a toil in the heated atmosphere 

 H«w could this be left to others, when half a dozen large 

 and established trees in full bearing were destroyed by the 

 No. 371.— Vol. Xrv, Kew Sebies. 



violent application of tobacco smoke ? So this fatiguing 

 process of thinning was a personal matter. The bloom,-as 

 said previously, was profuse, and was at its maximum 

 about the 1st of March, lasting, say, for three days in its 

 fullest beauty. Ceilainly the rows of cordons on the wall, 

 regularly defined, were very lovely. The large flowers of 

 Riverss Orange and Stan wick Nectarines were eminently 

 attractive, while those of deeper hue. like the Hon^ 

 Peach, were readily distinguished. Perhaps as beauti- 

 ful as any was the large, very pale-petalled Noce Bianco, 

 a new clingstone Nectarine of doubtful merit. An un- 

 named seedling Nectarine from Mr. Rivers was equally 

 remarkable. The bloom in a large orchard house is always 

 a sight. 



Our Peaches rapidly set. By the middle of March eack 

 little fruit was clearly discernible. By the equinoi the 

 tender shoots were several inches long, and by the end cf 

 the month were crowding, but I never disbud. 



As April went on thinning became necessary, and few 



matters in orchard-house culture are so important or ae 



difiicult. In the first place, as nothing exhausts the vitality 



1 of trees so much as profuse blooming, it is obvious that 



thinning this bloom would b%a relief to the tree ; but it ie 



not always easy to decide, and should the weather prove 



unfavourable it would be perilous. We must, therefore, 



I abandon the thinning of the bloom of Peaches to theorists. 



Better to wait a little longer, and commence soon after the 



setting. Even thi^ is a vei'y hazardous operation if dons 



too early ; the unskilled should wait a week longer, or tm 



the fruit is as large as a bean. Then comes Uie trial of- 



one s knowledge : we must weigh so many things. What 



; crop did the tree bear last season? What is its age and 



I vitality this season ? What sort is it"? What do we require - 



j for our own purposes ? Nay. even what shall we impose on 



' the free to satisfy the unlimited demands of ignorant 



j visitors '? And so we should never commence till we have 



[ given a careful glance all over the tree. If we find all 



j the best fmit crowded near to the summit we know that. 



something is wrong with our culture, but we must, neyer- 



I theless, apportion this irregular crop according to some of 



, the reasons just mentioned. A strong reluctance to thii)i. 



! at all seizes most of us at this moment : indeed, manj; 



j succumb to its influence altogether. 



' My own diagonal cordons — of which readers (rf this 



I .Jomial have often heard I fear, but they are most worthy 



of note just now — were in general regularly covered with 



fruit from top to bottom. Often a dozen finely-grown froit 



clustered on each spur and its group of shoots ; but as 



these are now like miniature frees in 8-inch pots this was 



not remarkable, only the whole free could not be*r such 



crops as one potted free might. But what matters a potted 



tree ? it is easily replaced, and may exhaust itself if needed ; 



I but not so these magnificent cordons destined to last for 



I years. These have now reached the roof, and are at 



, least 20 feet long, and as each alternate cordon is advanced 



■ I."* inches fcom the back wall, is about the same distance 



from ita neighbour, and has shoots all round the low« 



1 part of the free ( which lowest shoots are kept very strong), 



j one can easily see how such a cordon occupies an tmosiia] 



Ko. I«3.— T«i« SXXrS- Old Sbmxs. 



