JOURNAL OF HORTICULTXTRE AND COTTAGE GARDEXER. 



[ Angnst 1, 18CC 



MINIATURE ORCHARD-HOUSE. 



My primary object in the erection 

 houses on the plan I have described, being the production of 

 early crops of Strawberries, and the protection of Pear blos- 

 soms from spring frosts, most of my ventilation experiments 

 have been in these two directions. The plans I have followed 

 win, when explained, give the key-note of the system, and 

 enable variations suitable for Vines, Peaches, Tomatoes, or 

 other crops, to be made. 



^Vith Strawberries, up to the time at which the flower-scape 

 appears, I have hitherto, perhaps improperly, given no ventila- 

 tion whatever ; but after that period I have arranged the sheets 

 of glass somewhat as in plan 1, which is a lazy way of work- 



(Continued from page 73.) 

 of miniature orchard- ; way and leaves a gap in the ridge between, the air entering 

 below in the direction of the bent arrows. At night the sheet 

 B is pushed up to its place closicg up both top and bottom 

 ventilation. The ridge-wires will hold the sheet B quite tight 

 whether closed or open, even if inserted iu the ground several 



Plan 1. 



Plans. 



/ 



^ A 



Plan 3. — ^Vertical section- 



ing, though suitable for Strawberries not wanted very early. 



For the two years I have tried it I seem to have lost nothing 



by frost. I have shown neither the ridge-wires nor the up- 

 light supports, but it will be seen that as there is an interval 



of an inch or two between each sheet, all the sheets on the first 



side erected require each two supports, instead of each alternate 



sheet being supported by its neighbours as in my description 



last week. The dotted lines represent the sheets of glass 



forming the other side of the house, and it will be seen that 



the interstices are placed not opposite those on the other side. 



This prevents too great a draught and distributes it when the 



wind blows. This is a plan contrived to save any alteration 



after once re-arranging the house when the blossom begins to ' with the same ridge 



show bud, and also as facilitating the gathering of the ripe fruit, wires that keep the 



which with Strawberries is a daily operation. This is done of 



course by shifting the sheets which overlap at the top, leaving 



the other side fixed as at first, till the end of the fruit season. 

 Watering in this and all other plans I have found best 



effected by the hydropult, with extra delivery hose, inserting 



the rose at the gables, or in very long houses through the 



interstices. A dry hearth-brush in dusty weather is of service 



in keeping the glass clear. 



Plan 2 is a modification of plan 1, adapted to protect Pear 



blossoms from spring 

 frosts. Fig. 2 repre- 

 sents it in its closed 

 state, the sheet b rest- 

 ing upon and overlap- 

 ping A and c. In fig. 1 

 it will be seen that bv 



inches in front of the bottom of the sheet when closed. If the 

 sheet exceed 24 inches either way, it will be necessary, or at 

 least safer, to place two uprights behind the sheet b, as the 

 points E and r are too slight for support without breakage. 

 These uprights are so yielding that if properly placed they will 

 not be in the way when the glass is closed. 



Plan 4 I would like to commend to very special attention 

 and experiment. It 



literally costs less 

 than a house with- 

 out ventilation. The 

 double lines represent 

 the ridge-irires. Fig. 1 



is for permanent ventilation, as in Mr. Kivers's ground vineries. 

 On experiment it is surprising how easily and firmly the small 

 sheet of glass c is 

 held in its place 



others in position. 



The ventilation may ^^^^ -t— Kg. i- 

 be varied according to the size of the sheet c. Fig. 2 is the 

 arrangement of wires I adopt so long as frost may be appre- 

 hended. The wires are so 



placed in order to allow a / / 



sheet of glass (d fig. 3) to 



rest (without any wire to 



fix it) against the opening 



below c. This shuts the house up almost as effectually as any 



other method I have tried, and a htmdred sheets like d may 



be removed each morning and replaced each evening in " no 



time." During the dav, as thev do not much obstruct the 



/=^ 



Plan 4.— Pig. 3. 



driving an upright wire into the ground so that its top n shall 



press against the sheet 



mitting of free 

 there is the means ' ventilation both 



light, they rest conveniently against the slope of the ridge 

 near the opening they cover at night. 



Plan 5 is a modification of plan 4, adapted for the ripening 

 period and ad- 



Plan 2.— Fig. 2. 



of using the sheet b 

 as a sliding shutter, 

 which may be com- 

 pletely closed during 

 the night and opened 

 daring the day as wide as may be desired. To slide without 



difficulty it is neces- 

 sarv to slip aside the 

 ridge-wires, replacing 

 them when the slide 

 is in the required posi- 

 tion. Of course it will 

 be understood that it 

 is by no means neces- 

 sary in moving the 

 ridge-wires that they 

 should be drawn out 

 of the ground. They 

 revolve on their angle veiy readily, as in the accompanying 

 diagram. In moving the ridge-wires gragp them firmly. I 

 have broken glass and injured my fingers from incautious 

 handling. 



Plan 3 is verj stiitable for small houses of ridges not exceed- 

 ing 24 inches. The ridge- wires opposite the sheet b must be 

 inserted in the ground at such a distance from the straight line 

 A to c as the ventilation required renders necessary. By draw- 

 ing the bottom of sheet b outwards, the ;top of eourse gives 



above and below 



the sheet c,which 



may be elevated 



or depressed as „ 



'^ 1 - Plan o. 



more or less free 



escape at the top is desired. The double lines represent the 

 ridge-wires which, unless the sheet c be very narrow, answer 

 verv well as placed in the engraving. 



Plan 6 is for gables only, and answers very weD as the only 

 ventilation given 

 short houses of 

 a few feet for 

 propagating, or 

 forwarding an- 

 nuals, Eadishes, 

 &€., before their 

 out-door season. 



dosed. Plan 6. Open. 



The gable by proper arrangement may be 

 raised or lowered without slipping the wire, by simply holding 

 the wire with the one hand and moving the glass with the other. 



Plan 7 is for the ends of Pear 

 tree miniature orchard-houses. 

 During frosty weather the 

 sheet c should be gently pulled 

 back each evening and the 

 triangle » inserted between 

 it and the other glasses. The 

 pressure is sufficient to retain it in its place. It might be 



