EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN. 551 



by running in a sharp spade round them, an operation requiring only a few 

 minutes to each tree. 



Any kind of fruit tree may be successfully cultivated under glass. Peaches, 

 nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots, gooseberries, and even pears and apples, 

 have been produced in great perfection in orchard houses. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE HOUSE. 



The most important point is ample ventilation ; a closely pent, damp atmo- 

 sphere is fatal. A free circulation of air should constantly prevail, even if fire- 

 heat is applied in spring. To force early fruit the ventilators should not be tightly 

 closed, except during severe frosts. No heat should, by any means, be applied 

 further than to keep the temperature above the freezing point. A heating ap- 

 paratus will be found very valuable, enabling the cultivator to take advantage 

 of warm weather in February without fear of losing the crop by March frosts. 

 A simple furnace and flue will answer every purpose. 



The greatest watchfulness should be given to keep the plants free of insects. 

 Syringing with water daily will assist wonderfully in warding them off". The 

 most troublesome are the aphides and the red spider. Fumigating with tobacco 

 will destroy the former, and dusting with sulphur the latter. 



GROWING FRUIT TREES IN WOODEN TROUGHS. 



Very prolific dwarf trees may be produced in wooden troughs in the open air. 

 These are made with twelve-inch wide boards for sides and bottom, nailing the 

 sides firmly to the bottom to guard against roots px'otrudiug into the soil be- 

 neath. These may be of any length ; the trees set about three feet apart. As 

 in pot culture, so in these troughs the roots are restricted, and an early fruitful 

 condition secured. 



Those who have acres of peach orchards will not be likely to adopt this mode 

 of culture ; but there are many city yards where fifty feet in length of such 

 trees could be introduced, and would not only prove an agreeable recreation to 

 the owner, but would also furnish an amount of fruit which would astonish those 

 who have not taken lessons from nature in fruit-growing. 



In northern latitudes, where peaches, apricots, and nectarines will not thrive 

 in ordinary orchard culture, an arrangement of this kind on the sheltered side 

 of a garden fence may be introduced with profit. The facility of protection 

 during winter will readily occur, even to those not particularly gifted with in- 

 ventive faculties; and where other modes of protection will not sufiice, the 

 boxes may be made in lengths of eight or ten feet, and the whole affair carried 

 into a barn, cellar, or under a protecting shed, covering the roots with straw, 

 to prevent injury from severe frosts. 



LEAF BLISTER ON THE PEACH, ETC. 



The curl or blistered appearance so frequent on the leaves of peaches in early 

 summer is one of those questions annually canvassed by rural writers. The 

 prevailing opinion still inclines to the belief that it is the result of insects. The 

 fact that the aphis is frequently observed on these diseased leaves keeps up the 

 lingering probability that they are the cause, notwithstanding that they are as 

 ften absent as present on the curled leaves. 



So many instances have been noted where portions only of a tree have been 

 attacked (the rest of the tree being protected) that it seems almost unnecessary 

 to make any further effort to prove its atmospheric origin. Early in April, 

 1863, two peach trees were selected from a collection then in full leaf in the 

 orchard house, and placed in the open air. In a few days there was scarcely 

 a healthy uncurled leaf on the trees, and no aphis visible. 



