FRUIT committee's REPORT. 77 



adapted for forcing' ; this is certainly a fine grape, although somewhat de- 

 ficient in size, which at present seems to be considered all important. The 

 vine Mr. A. states to be very hardy, but it is believed that it has never until 

 this year produced fruit in the open air. In quantity and quality the straw- 

 berries, nectarines, figs, &c., were on an average with previous years. 



Strawberries in small quantities were first shown on the 2nd of April, and 

 in larger on the 9th ; peaches on the 28th May ; and grapes the 9th of 

 April. 



The amount of ?kill required to produce forced fruits in perfection, and 

 the expense attending the erection of suitable structures and of the various 

 operations requisite for this cultivation, necessarily limits it to some extent, 

 particularly as the demand for such fruits, except it may be of grapes, at re- 

 munerating prices, is too restricted to offer much inducement for the attempt 

 as a matter of pecuniary profit — yet there is a gradual advance made in this 

 kind of culture, perhaps, corresponding to that made in other branches of 

 horticulture. Being in all its species objects of ornament and beauty ex- 

 ceedingly attractive by their rarity at the usually cheerless season of the 

 year, and constituting, also, for those who can afford their enjoyment, a 

 healthy and innocent luxury, the cultivation of forced fruits is as worthy 

 of encouragement as any other object of art, and is deserving of the foster- 

 ing care of the Society. 



A species of cultivation somewhat analogous to that of forced fruits is, it 

 is understood, becoming quite general in England, from whence it is being 

 gradually introduced into this part of the United States — that of the cul- 

 ture of fruit of almost every" species in pots in houses erected for the 

 purpose, designated as Orchard Houses. This mode of cultivation seems to 

 have originated with Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, Herts., and is now 

 practised on an extensive scale in many parts of Great Britain, where it 

 promises to become quite general. 



Mr. Rivers' object was to contrive means, at a moderate cost, to neutralize 

 the uncertainty of the English climate, and to create an artificial one ap- 

 proximating to that of the most temperate districts of France, and this he 

 thinks to have effected by means of structures, cheaply built of boards, 

 with glass roofs, either lean-to or span, not requiring much skill or attention 

 to manage, and that, as they are adapted to many fruits, he says, may prop- 

 erly be called Orchard Houses. In these houses no fire heat is used, the 

 climate being merely assisted by- glass; and, in such, apples, peaches, 

 pears, grapes, and other fruits, are grown on dwarf bushes, with a certainty 

 of a crop. It was not until 1849 that Mr. Rivers commenced his experi- 

 ments in relation to this mode of cultivation, that, according to his own 

 statements, he seems to have brought to a quite perfect state. 



Mr. Rivers gives a preference to boards over brick in the construction of 

 these houses ; because, he says, that he found them fiercely hot during the 

 day in moderate sunshine, the evil effects of which were easily controlled 

 by abundant ventilation, and agreeably cool at night without that stifling 

 atmosphere peculiar to houses with brick walls, and in this rapid cooling 

 down he thinks to make an approximation to the climate of the east — the 



