ORCHARD-HOUSES. 2D9 



sashes, so arranged with lean-tos against the walls as to form an extensive 

 promenade, several hundred feet in length, terminating in a similar range of 

 iean-tos placed against the outside of the south wall. Groves of fruit-trees 

 planted near the side of the walks of the span roofs fill up all the available 

 space ; grapes hang overhead, and vines and other fruits in ppts occupy differ- 

 ent parts : late and early vegetables are to form an important feature during 

 the winter and early spring. The walks are made of neat j)aving-tiles, form- 

 ing at once a cheap and beautiful tesselated pavement ; the whole range of 

 winter gardens, when in blossom or fruit, forming, as may well be imagined, 

 a most enchanting scene when contrasted with the cold and biting atmosphei-e 

 outside, while the centre of the quadrangle is treated as an ordinaiy out-of- 

 door garden. 



824. Let us here explain that the reference to fig. 6, in paragraph 674, 

 should have been fig, 7, that being the 8-foot sash house referred to. 



S25. The engraving at the head of this chapter represents another range 

 of orchard-houses, proposed by IVIr. Russel), gardener to Col. Aimes, of the 

 Hyde, near St. Albans. 



826. "The houses," Mi*. Russell tells us, in a communication to the Gardener''s 

 Chronicle, ''might be of any size required ; but I think for peaches, nectarines, 

 apricots, cherries, &c. , 12 feet in breadth would be sufficient, with 12 feet between 

 the rows of houses : this would allow about six feet inside on each side, and six 

 feet outside for the roots of the trees, which I consider ample for any sort of fruit- 

 tree. The houses should be just sufiiciently high in the middle to allow a tall 

 gentleman to walk through upright ; thus the trees would be convenient for 

 training without the aid of steps ; there would also be every convenience for 

 regulating the roots as well as the branches. The water from the roofs of 

 the houses and the drains might (if there was no other supply) be conveyed 

 into a tank, which might be made largo enough to supply the gai'dens." 

 Another correspondent of the Gardener's Chronicle, rejoicing in the name of 

 Iota, sends his own experience in cheap orchard-house building. "I venture," 

 he says, ** to send you an account of one I raised last autumn, which has cer- 

 tainly the merit of economy ; I think also of effective appearance, so far at least 

 as that is necessai'y in such a structure ; and, thirdly, I hope of efficiency in the 

 fruitful work for which it is designed. Being rather crowded with trees, 

 I looked about for a few whose absence would be rather a benefit than other- 

 wise, I soon found an oak, a lime, and sundry Scotch and larch firs. My own 

 men dug a pit in a very short time in a back part of the garden, and three 

 trees were sawed out at an expense of about £2 : they served for posts, 

 plates, rafters, purlins, boarding, &c. I purchased and used foreign deal to the 

 value of another £2 ; nails and screws, 145. ; carpenter's labour, £2. 175. ; 

 glass, 400 feet, allowing for breakages, carriage, &c., £4; putty and paint, 

 say £2 ; but this last is with me a difficult item to reckon, as so much is 

 always being used on the premises. I can make no further charges, for my own 

 gai'dener and his assistant, with very little hired aid, did the glazing and 



