18 THE FRUIT-TREE AND SHRUB PRUNER. 



modification. A span roof of any desired length, but 

 not above 15 feet wide, may be built with a fixed roof, 

 i.e. the glass placed in the rafters, which should be 

 20 inches asunder, and glazed with sheet glass 20 

 by 12. This gives frequent laps, which are essential 

 for ventilation, as the laps will not be perfectly air- 

 tight, nor is it required for this class of fruit-growing. 

 The squares are laid in crossways, i.e. the narrow way 

 of the squares counts up the rafter. The rafters need 

 not be more than 3^ by 1^ inches, and should have a 

 rap nailed on them to form the rebate instead of form- 

 ing it in the rafter. The roof must be supported on 

 larch fir posts, which must be let well into the ground — 

 18 or 24 inches will be sufficient — and stand out of the 

 ground enough to admit of a short man walking round 

 the house inside when a sunken pathway has been dug 

 out a foot or 18 inches deep. This pathway must not 

 be dug out nearer than 18 inches from the posts inside, 

 or they will give way, and an 18-inch pathway will be 

 enough to walk in. It may be necessary to put a row 

 of small drain-pipes 6 inches under the pathway to 

 carry off any superfluous water that may drain in. 



The sides of this Plum-tree orchard-house ma}' - be 

 planted thickly with "common Yew," or Siberian 

 Arbor-vitce, and clipped twice during the growing 

 season, but not too late the last time. A flap-board 

 shutter must be made at the top ridge for ventilation, 

 which may be made to open and shut with cords. This 

 shutter will not require opening before the trees are 

 in flower, nor shutting after the fruit is set, and the 

 hedges will admit an abundance of air without any 

 trouble — a thing of the utmost importance with the 

 Plum. 



The house should run east and west, and the trees 

 planted and trained north and south — i.e. running across 

 the house — 4 feet apart, and trained as single " cordon 

 oblique," then the sun will get at both sides of the 

 trees. They may be trained on coarse wire netting 

 strained on permanent iron stakes, and planted 18 

 inches asunder for single cordons, and should be con- 



