May 7, lfc74. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



363 



is not easily Burpassod. For button-holes it is also peculiarly 

 well adapted and often preferred. A single Rose bloom set in 

 a ring of N. poeticus is a unique and pleasing combination of 

 colour and fragrance, particularly in winter or spring, when 

 flowers are not plentiful. 



When grown in pots, the best bulbs should be selected and 

 potted thickly, say 8 or 12 iu a 9-inch pot. These will give a 

 good group of flowers either for cutting or vase work. We 

 planted a largo quautity of roots out last November in the 

 iierbaceous border, which are now just coming through the 

 soil, and will be in time to succeed the latest-forced batch. 

 Any ordinary light rich soil suits it, and the bulbs should be 

 planted 3 or 4 inches below the surface of the soil. — J. T. W. 

 <in The Gardcmr). 



THE ORCHARD HOUSE AT BLENHEIM. 



I OBSERVE that Mr. Fountaiue has not passed over my re- 

 marks on the orchard house here ; and as the matter is taken 

 up in detail, I will in turn notice llr. Fountaiue's remarks in 

 detail and very briefly. 



Well, then, I think that no one will blame me for planting 

 the trees out, even if I should have no better results than from 

 the pot system, as there is no object in view to cause the trees 

 io be taken out, seeing that I am not allowed to plant Vines or 

 anything else over the roof. If I had to build a house for the 

 purpose of growing stone fruit only, probably I would have 

 portable lights which could be taken o£f in summer to allow 

 rains to wash the trees and water them, or adopt the principle 

 Mr. Thomson bo satisfactorily carried out at Dalkeith — viz., 

 having the ventilating sash at top so fixed that in a few seconds 

 rain could be admitted to drench the trees. If Vines are 

 planted, and the trees to remain under them permanently (I 

 never have recommended such a practice, though it has in 

 many places been successfully carried out), they may stand 

 4 to 5 feet apart, and then an open space of glass — 2 feet to 3 feet 

 — be left between the Vines for light to the trees. The continued 

 breeze of fresh air passing through the house when the fruit 

 begins to ripen gives high flavour, and such Grapes as Ham- 

 burghs grown under this treatment are of excellent quality, 

 though they take longer to ripen. I have often had heavy 

 crops of this Grape in a narrow Peach house, with berries 

 4J inches iu circumference, hammered, and as black as Sloes. 

 But what one has done, and is often obliged to do, to meet 

 the requirements of employers may be foreign to what his 

 practice would be had he things all his own way. My idea 

 is in this respect conlined to the old rut — viz., a good vinery 

 full of foliage, with fine Grapes all over the roof, and a separate 

 house tor stone fruits, partially filled with trained trees and 

 the other part with cordons for succession, leaving no part of 

 the back wall or front training wires uncovered. This I prefer 

 to mixing the crops of Vines and stone fruits under any system. 



I repeat that Mr. Thomson, like many other skilful culti- 

 vators, grew excellent Peaches and Grapes in the same house, 

 but whether from choice or not is another matter. 



I am aware that Mr. Fountaine's system of fruit-growing 

 was submitted to Mr. Thomson when he was gardener at Dal- 

 'keith ; however, it was not put into practice there, no doubt 

 ■for the reason that there was excellent convenience iu other 

 structures for growing what was required, and it is well known 

 that Peaches and Apricots of the best quality were grown iu 

 abundance there under glass fixtures, and they often kept 

 -some of us minor exhibitors on the look-out. The Peach and 

 Apricot houses which Mr. Thomson had put up at Dalkeith 

 are, for elegance and utility, perhaps not equalled anywhere. 

 They cover a wall 400 feet long, and I have seen fine potfuls of 

 other fruits along the fronts of these structures. I have no 

 ■doubt but Mr. Dunn, the present intelligent gardener at Dal- 

 keith, is rewarded with fine crops from these structures. I 

 have never said that Mr. Thomson, or any other cultivator in 

 bis senses, advocates growing fruit in the shade. 



I went to Chiswick with a number of friends early last 

 August, and did admire the Madresfield Court Grapes on one 

 healthy Vine, and this was all at the time of my visit there 

 was under the structure. Mr. Barron called my attention to 

 the trucks loaded with fine healthy trees outside, and I ex- 

 amined them, and was impressed that they had been well 

 attended to, but admired no fruit, as there was only healthy 

 foliage. Matters may be quite different this year, and I would 

 not denounce any system although a " slip had been between 

 the cup and the lip " one season. While hinting at the £ s. d. 

 point of view, it was to save labour, aud I hope, by reducing 



that item to a sixth, to have returns equal to the produce on 

 the trucks. 



In regard to the remarks on market men and market systems, 

 they must get quality as well as quantity, otherwise their 

 labours would be thrown away without profits — inferior pro- 

 duce is profitless. 



In orchard houses early and late kinds could be grown under 

 the same roof. Market men would differ here, as they would 

 prefer having the one structure divided into compartments for 

 succession, just in the same way as they do their Grapes, 

 flowering plants, and other things. By using trucks market 

 men could not afford to lose so much space as the trucks 

 occupy outside. Rents, where market gardens are most profit- 

 able, are very high, and it is astonishing how every corner is 

 turned to account. Few amateurs could afford the space which 

 truck rails occupy remaining idle such a great portion of the 

 year. In such broad lands as there are at Blenheim, of course, 

 such space unoccupied is of little moment. Where private 

 gardeners know market-growing well they do not find it dis- 

 advantageous to apply the principle in private gardens. As 

 examples, the ex-champion, Mr. TurnbuU (late of Blenheim), 

 did not consider market knowledge useless at Blenheim ; and 

 the present champion, Mr. Gilbert, at Burghley, whom I visited 

 lately, finds it does not require a " totally different process 

 from that required for a gentleman's table " to grow for market. 

 The regulating of the supply is the only difference, as the 

 quicker the sale the more profitable are the returns. But 

 market growers keep men to do their work thoroughly ; they 

 have means, however simple, efficient to carry on their trade, 

 and they attempt only what they can do properly. In private 

 gardens generally extra work or extra demands are seldom met 

 by an allowance of extra labour power ; therefore we avoid as 

 much as possible the work which gives the least tangible return. 



Regarding my purpose of abandoning the idea of growing 

 Vines in the orchard house here, I thought it absurd to carry 

 out any system which my experienced predecessors had to 

 relinquish by order of their employers. It must be remem- 

 bered that after all I am only an employe, and cannot do as I 

 choose, but meet the wishes of my employers ; and of course 

 my predecessors had to act on the same principle : so things 

 remain as they were. The only objection I have to orchard 

 houses on the pot system is the vast amount of labour they 

 give compared with trees planted out as a plot of Gooseberries. 

 Then little more labour is required, especially if the orchard- 

 house lights are portable and can be drawn off to allow free 

 access to rain during the warmest part of summer, replacing 

 the canopy when the niphts become colder and the atmosphere 

 too damp to ensure high flarour. Trees can be arranged when 

 planted out to give an early and late supply as well as on trucks 

 with the pots hanging iu mid-air. 



If Mr. Founlaine can bring his fruits on under glass to give 

 earlier supplies the Vines will be there still ; then what about 

 shade, which alarms him so much in the earlier part of his 

 paper ? This suggestion floors Mr. Fountaine's argument of 

 keeping the fruits entirely out of doors to secure flavour. 

 When I say Mr. Fountaine's system can be adopted with success 

 I am again pointing to the £ s. d. view. My returns of Grapes 

 would have to be much larger than those at Chiswick, even 

 were all these Vines at 8 feet apart loaded with fruit. 



Reference is made to Mr. Barron's paper on the gardens at 

 Blenheim, and his remarks on the orchard house a la Foun*aiue, 

 itc. It so happened that Mr. Barron, when speaking of his 

 non-success with the house at Chiswick last season, made 

 mention of the fine trees at Blenheim when he visited the 

 gardens a few years ago. They were then sew to the place, 

 but offering to do well, and I have no doubt but they did weU 

 under the able management of the then gardener, Mr. Lee. 

 Of course a vinery could not have then been established, but 

 I am told the Vines which were planted offered to be a success, 

 but they were hurriedly rooted out. If Vines had been in the 

 structure when I came I would certainly have retained them, 

 and treated the whole system as recommended, and endea- 

 voured to do a la Fountaine justice. 



I do not know if Mr. Fountaine hints ironically at my 

 having " created great improvement." I answer. No; as many 

 things are left undone which ought to have been performed, 

 and things have been done which, if they had not to answer 

 a purpose, should have remained undone. My " Ac ," which 

 Mr. Fountaine notes, may mean the same thing as the " iSic." 

 after " a la Fountaiue." 



Those who are interested in fruit culture should by all means 

 accept Mr. Fouutaiue'e advice and go to Chiswick, see the 



