Domestic Notices : — England. 571 



in many distant countries, as well as in his own neighbourhood. — T. W. 

 Tlie Bantcs, near Barnsley, June 1837. 



Bad Effect of growing Peaches and Grapes in tJie same House. — On my 

 coming here I found a small vinery for early forcing, a small peach-house also 

 for early forcing ; a greenhouse, two pine-pits, frames, &c. ; and two houses 

 about 50 ft. long each, 13 ft. high at the back, and 14 ft. wide ; and in each 

 were trained against the back wall peacli and nectarine trees, and also on a 

 table trellis occupying all the centre of the house (except the walk at 

 back, and the flue in front), and all the length but the space taken up by the 

 end flues. Up each rafter in both houses were trained vines ; a practice 

 which every experienced gardener knows is attended with a great deal of 

 trouble and anxiety, and generally with very bad success. Bad as the prac- 

 tice is, I have no doubt but you have often seen it in use ; and where there 

 is but one house for the purpose, some excuse might be made for it, although 

 it often happens that by trying for too many things in one house, we often 

 spoil all, or get nothing in perfection ; to do which, crops ought to be attended 

 to in the best possible manner, and all the intruders made subordinate to it. 

 But here I had two houses applied to the selfsame thing, and the crops in- 

 juring each other in many instances ; the vines shading the peaches; and by 

 giving air to accommodate the peaches at the setting and stoning season, the 

 vines became chilled, and the bunches in a great measure ran away to tendrils. 

 At the ripening season the peaches had neither colour nor flavour, and what 

 few grapes did remain were not ripe before the autumnal rains set in, which 

 caused them to damp and rot. 



The rains here are quite different from what you have near London ; falling 

 at times as fine as vapour, and searching through every lap in the glass, and 

 every crack and crevice in the sides and roof of plant structures, and at the 

 same time causing a very great depression in the temperature, often as much 

 as 20° in a very few hours. I have often seen grapes, by means of these 

 fine rains penetrating the house, as wet as though they had been dipped in 

 water. 



It is true that, owing to the chilly moist state of the atmosphere, we are 

 not troubled with many wasps or flies ; and as to earwigs, which are so 

 abundant in some places, I have not seen one during my stay here. How- 

 ever, I thought I would separate the peach trees and the vines, so that I 

 should be able, in a greater degree, to give each its proper treatment. This I 

 did by converting one house into a vinery, and the other into a peach-house, 

 in the following manner. I took away the table trellis altogether from the 

 centre of the houses, and put a cross trellis under every other rafter, previously 

 taking down the vines from both houses. Then I made good the back wall 

 of one house with the best of the peach and nectarine trees, and the remainder 

 of these trees I planted back to back against the cross trellises, just as trained 

 trees are planted in a nursery. By this means I have a great deal more room 

 in one house than I had in both before, and the fruit is very much improved 

 both in colour and flavour, as the one side gets the sun in the morning, the 

 other in the afternoon, and there is no place shaded all the day. The back 

 wall is exposed to the full influence of the sun all day, and it ripens the fruit 

 considerably earlier than the cross trellises, thus prolonging the fruit season 

 as well as if I had two common houses. 



In the other house I bent down the vines which previously occupied the 

 rafters, and made layers of them on each side of the cross trellises (by which 

 means I had a crop the first year), and cut them down in the autumn. At 

 the back wall I planted young vines, which made wonderful growth the first 

 year, and bore a few bunches the next, which, like the peaches, ripened more 

 early than those on the cross trellises : both were much improved in flavour, 

 owing to the full influence of the sun. — J. Nasli. Arlington Court, Dorset- 

 s/iire, April 26. 1838. 



Effects of the Winter of 1837-8. — I do not perceive that you have from our 

 quarter here received any return of the killed and wounded in the severe 



