Novombor 28, 18(J5. 1 



JOURNAL OF UORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



437 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



METEOROLOGY AND \nENTrLATION OF 

 ORCHARD-HOUSES. 



LL yom- readers must feel in- 

 terested in tlie observations 

 of your correspondent "G. 

 H. ;" but as lie seems a littlo 

 doubtful of my rceord of the 

 maximum temperature of my i 

 large orchard-bouse in summer, I have looked into my 

 memoranda. 



On August 27th, 1801, I was engaged in watching the 

 ventilation of my large orchard-house, banging pieces of 

 cotton wadduig inside under the apex of the roof, to observe 

 the difl'erent cm-rents of tlio liiglily rarefied air — it was a 

 hot sunny day — wishing to obsen'e at wliat part of the 

 house they divided in tliiir egress, tlie only apertures for 

 which are a triangular space at each end under the gables, 

 the bases of which are about 20 inches in diameter. In 

 doing tliis I took very acciu'ately the maximum temperature 

 in the shade, in the open ah% and in dense shade in the 

 orchaixl-hoiise. I may observe that my thei-mometer out 

 of doors is placed 5 feet from the gi'ofund, on the north 

 side of a Beech hedge, fully exposed to the winds from the 

 N.E. To make tho shade more eftectual, some coarse 

 bags several times tliick are placed as a cap on the top of tho 

 post. I am sometimes incUied to think that it is owing to 

 this densely shaded exposed place, that I find the maximum 

 temperature here lower fi'om .5° to 7° than that given at 

 Chisiivick and oUier places ; yet it must be coiTect as far 

 as this place goes. The maxhmmi temperatiu-e of tlie past 

 summer here was 83° on .Tune 21; at Chiswick, on the same 

 day, it was 80°. Is it that the thermometer at Cliiswick is 

 placed among the waUed enclosures, with large spaces 

 of gi-avel reflecting mucli heat ? To return to my experi- 

 ment on August 27th, IBfil ; the maximum here in tho 

 shade in the open au- was 81° on that day. In my large 

 orchard house in the shade, 5 feet fi-om the ground, it was 

 88 ; at 12 io^x from the ground in the shade, just under 

 the apex of the i-oof, it was 90°. I impute the moderate 

 temperature at r> feet fi-om the groimd to the efficiency of 

 the low side ventilation, the shutters, 20 niches vdde, 

 opening downwards, and the comparatively cool an- nish- 

 ing in so rapidly as to make the au- of the house, although 

 so hot, quite agreeable to breathe. 



It will thus be seen that there were only 7° of lieat 

 difference between the open air and the large orchard- 

 house. I think as a general ndc 10° will bo found the 

 average. I believe I have seen it as higli as 15°, but I 

 suspect that the thermometer in tho house was then under 

 the^shade of tlie foliage only, and not covered with thick 

 bagging, as it was when I made my obseiwations in Angus*, 

 1861. I was then very careful. 

 No, atl.— Vol. DC., Kew Sebies, 



Such, then, have been tlic results of my experiments 

 on the temperature of an orchard-liouso 100 feet long by 

 12 feet high and 21 feet wide. Eor tlie register of the 

 ripening of the fniit I must refer your readers to No. 237.^^ 



To the assertion that narrow houses, wbicli " G. H." 

 refers to, are rotarding-liouses, presuming tliat lie means 

 span-roofed houses 11 feet wide, whicli I have made tho 

 minimum of such houses, I can only give in reply bare 

 facts as to the ripening of Peaches and Nectarines in a 

 house of that width. In that house I have half-standard 

 Peaches and Nectarines planted in the borders. I made 

 it in the past season a Cherry -house for trees in pots ; and I 

 mny, par parentliesc, mention that no fruit culture has ever 

 given mo more pleasure. The Cherries be<^an to ripen in the 

 first week in June. The side shutters, 1 foot wide, opening 

 downwards, were then thrown open, nets placed over the 

 apertures to keep out the birds, and in that state they 

 are to this day, never having been closed all the summer. 

 Well, tliis, according to " G. H,," should have been a 

 retarding-house. and so it was to a small extent. Let us 

 see. Early York and Early Victoria Peaches ripened a 

 week after' those in the large orchard-house. Grosse Mig- 

 nonne and Galando Peaches, and Violette Hiitive and 

 Eh-uge Nectarines, a most abimdant crop of beautiful fi-uit, 

 all ripened by the end of the tliird week in August, and 

 were finer in flavour than any I ever ate. 



For annatem's with moderate means, living in the climatic- 

 ilistrict I have named at page 291, the " small span-roofed 

 liouge " — (in my little book I so named it, because I soon 

 found that in my narrow houses the ckaughts were too 

 shai-p for contmuous summer ventilation ; still, I must 

 candidly admit that Peaches ripen well in my span-roofod 

 houses 12 feet wide) — is a cheap and most useful structure. 

 It should be 10 feet liigh in the centre, 5 feet liigh at sides, 

 and 14 feet wide : the Voof fixed ; rafters 20 inches, or with 

 21-oz, glass, 2i inches asimder ; the side shutters or sashes 

 1 foot -^vide, on hinges opening dowTiwards. A few words 

 as to how a house of tliis size shoidd be planted may be 

 acceptable. The method is adapted to those who do not 

 keep a gardener, and consequently \vish to abridge labour. 

 In a house of this width a central path should be marked 

 out 6 feet wide : on tho edges of tliis path half-standard 

 trees should be jilanted 5 feet apart, so that when finished 

 there wUl be two rows of trees feet apart row fi-oni row, 

 and 5 feet apart in the rows. If the liouse is of any con- 

 siderable lengtSi, say 50 or CO feet, these two rows of trees- 

 will give a good supply of fruit : between tlie rows and- the 

 sides of the house there ^viU. of coiu-se. be a foiu--feet space. 

 This may be appropriated to Apricots, I'lums, &c., as bushes, 

 either in pots or planted out in the borders — the lattei", if 

 water is not abimdant. My house of t'le duuensions I 

 have described is 60 feet long. In this about six or seven 

 years since I planted two rows of trees, half-standards — 

 i. e., stems from 2i to .I feet— on one side twelve Ncota- 

 rmes, on the other twelve Peaches. Although they^ are 

 fine trees and bear large crops — how beautiful was the 

 Violette Hative Nectarme with nearly two hundred fruit 

 on it !— I had plenty of space for a large crop of CheiTies, 

 in pots. 1 liave recently removed a feix of the Peach trees 



No. bSS.-Vot,. XXXIV., Ou> SIEJES. 



