110 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r August 8, 1865. 



a plethora of novelties as I met ■with at M. Linden's at Brussels, 

 of which more hereafter, but in all the details of the nursery 

 there was a great deal to entertain and instruct. — D., Deal. 



MINIATURE ORCHARD-HOUSE. 



i CintiintPtl from pafic 93.) 

 As regards the earliness of crops grown under my glass 

 ridges as compared with those produced in the open air, I may 

 mention that I'rince Imperial Strawberries ripened under my 

 ridges seventeen days before their neighbours of the same sort 

 on the same plot without protection. In an ordinary season we 

 should have gained fully twenty-one days. It was no little treat 

 to have Strawberries to brealvfast when Covent (Jarden quota, 

 tions were Is. per oz. In Peas we gained fully a fortnight, though 

 not sown till late in March. In Potatoes, planted at the same 

 time as the I'eas, we gained about a fortnight. In Turnips, 

 April sown, a fortnight ; and in Radishes, likewise April 

 sown, ten days. As the glasses were disused for Strawberries, 

 they were re-erected over Cucumbers. Tomatoes, Pears, Apples, 

 and young Vines whicli have not yet fruited. Louise Bonne 

 and Jargonelle Pears are a long way a-head of their like in the 

 open ground. Tomatoes, too, which rarely ripen with us here, 

 I am ti-j-ing to succeed with. 



I wiU now add a very short supplement to my last letter. Take 

 three triangles of glass of any convenient 

 size, as in the accompan^'ing figure, and 

 which I shall call a, b, and c. Drive in an 

 upright wire ; lay A against it ; complete a 

 triangular pyramid with b and c, and to c, 

 the last (ixed of the three triangles, attach 

 a ridge wire. No ridge wire is necessarj' 

 in sheltered gardens. 



The cost of this substitute for a hand-glass, represented 

 beneath, is very slight — from id. 

 per one-foot slope, up to %d. for a 

 very large size, fit to grow a Cauli- 

 flower under. For cottage gar- 

 dens, for Cauliflowers, half-hardy 

 annuals, Vegetable Marrows, Cu- 

 cumbers, protecting Fuchsias 

 from damp in winter in the open 

 ground, and fifty other things it 

 may do. It has answered well 

 with me for some of them. 

 Putting one up is only the work of tlurty seconds. 



Reverting to my glass ridges I omitted to mention, that the 

 precaution should be taken to have the ridge 

 wires bent before sending them to be gal- 

 vanised, and to take care that the galvaniser 

 does not return them too brittle. Bending 

 the wires when galvanised peels the zinc off, 

 and when too brittle the wire snaps at the 

 bend. 



I find a little annoyance in wet weather from 

 bu-ds entering to dust themselves with the dry 

 earth ; also, that some of my largest sheets of 

 glass are troublesome from being not quite flat, 

 and so leaving a slight gap in the top of the 

 ridge, which will not do for frosty weather. 

 Gidney's Prussian hoe is most effective in the 

 removal of weeds from under the angle of the 

 ridge, and is, indeed, the only tool I know 

 that can reach them without ha\ing to remove 

 the glass. 



30 inches by 24 is not too large a size for the 

 sheets of glass, and a little practice makes them 

 very easily managed. With 30 as the slope 

 of the roof, ventilation for Pears, at least, is 

 ample when every fourth sheet on both sides 

 is reversed, so that 24 inches of the upper part 

 of the slope are covered with glass, and the 

 remaining six left exposed for ventilation. Sup- 

 pose the following to be a perspective view of a 

 ridge : — 



For short ridges no ventilation seems neces- 

 sary except open ends, but this will vary ac- 

 cording to the shelter or exposure of the 

 ground. 



With every care plates of glass will now and 

 then be broken, and this more particularly in transport from 



the dealer or manufacturer to the garden. With large sheets 

 this is a serious drawback, but not so much so as at first 

 sight it would appear. In by far the majority of cases the 

 sheet is broken only into two parts, and usually right across. 

 Now, such broken sheets may be used just as they are with- 

 out any trimming with the diamond. Supposing a sheet to 

 be broken as under, all that is necessary is to use the two 

 parts for that side of the glass ridge where the glasses lean 

 on the edges of the others, and not against the upright wires, 

 making one half overlap the other, as in the dotted hne. 



Sometimes an additional ridge wire is required, sometimes 

 not. 



For a long time I have not broken a single sheet, except when, 

 from a constitutional absence of mind, I forget that it is glass 

 I am working with, and such an occurrence as breaking a 

 sheet of 20 by 12, or less, I cannot recollect since discarding 

 IG-oz. for 21-oz. glass. With 16-oz. glass the ridge wires re- 

 quire to he very weak in their tension. With glass of 30 by 

 24 inches, I am troubled with some sheets being not quite flat. 



When uprights, more particularly if not galvanised, remain 

 some months in the ground, they become so firmly embedded 

 as to occasion considerable difficulty in their removal ; hut if 

 caused to revolve on their axis by the use of a monkey-wrench, 

 or a pair of strong pincers, they may be withdi-awn from the 

 soil by the hand with the slightest eifort. 



I have found it a sa%ing of labour to have a store both for 

 wires and glass in the portion of the garden where the glass is 

 used. This need not be covered. Supjjose you want to store 

 glass of 24 by 20 inches after taking down a house till wanted 

 for another, take a three-quarter-inch board 25 inches by 12 or 

 so, drill holes in this as under, at 2 inches from each other. 



Lay the board flat on the soil, and into each hole drive one of 

 your upright wires. Slip your sheets edgewise between the 

 uprights and no wind will harm them. 



'\^'hen wanted for a new house the glass is benefited by a 

 co.arse brush, such as is used for blacking, being passed over 

 both sides to remove the soil, which in clay lands adheres 

 in lumps where the edges have rested on the gi-ound. This 

 should be done before storing. The rain outside and internal 

 dew will remove what remains, though in di\v dusty weather a 

 hearth-brush passed over the outside of the ridges is good. 



I cut all my broken bits of glass into the longest sheet 

 I can make, measuring 6, 9, 12, or 15 inches one way. This 

 fits them ready for use in houses with that breadth of ridge. 

 1.') inches is quite large enough for Cucumbers, though 

 12 inches may do with both ends open. The 9 and 6 inches 

 are useful chiefly in spring for protecting Peas, Radishes, 

 Turnips, &c., and annuals or cuttings. The six-inch ridge ia 

 a very cheap protection from birds for newly-sown Peas, or 

 Cabbage seed. 



As regards gables, you may save cutting up large sheets 

 by having the triangle of two pieces, and making one overlap 

 the other. The upper one is kept in its place by the pressure 



