1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



M 



best possible condition for forcing next season. 

 The above mode of treatment -will apply to the 

 trees started at any subsequent period ; and to 

 have a succession of fruit, a fresh batch should be 

 started every three or four weeks.' 



If trees are started the last of January, instead 

 of December, in this climate, the average tempera- 

 ture, from sun heat, will increase after the first 

 month, in something like the proportion required. 



When under this system of pot-culture in or- 

 chard-houses in this country, it is recommended to 

 remove the trees to the open grounds, we remove 

 the sash from the house, and use the shutters if oc- 

 casion requires. 



The advantages of planting directly in the bor- 

 der, are aimed to be contrasted with pot-culture, 

 in the following quotation from the above authori- 

 ty, in 1862 : 



"Glass Houses for Fruits. — ^I am sure that all 

 gardeners must bear testimony to the great stimu- 

 lus which 'T. R.' has given to his particular bianch 

 of horticulture, and to the indomitable persever- 

 ance with which he has continued to fight for a 

 number of years for his 'orchard houses,' and for 

 his peaches and nectarines 'in pots.' 'A look into 

 their roots,' he says, 'is like a look into the book 

 of Nature, most valuable to a reflective mind.' I 

 accept the cultivation of fruit trees in pots exactly 

 in this sense. JJut as a matter of pounds, shillings 

 and pence, and of supply, I must leave my potted 

 pets to keep company with my geraniums and or- 

 ange trees, where, as objects of beauty, they shall 

 have my attention still. That fruits of all kinds 

 can be grown in pots there can be no doubt ; but 

 when a constant and substantial supply is required 

 for table or for market, of the finest qualitits and in 

 the greatest quantity, then there is no question 

 that you must decidedly plant out. If my opinion 

 is worth anything, I recommend glass houses of 

 the lightest possible construction, and trees plant- 

 ed out for supply. In this way there will be no 

 disappointment, and if yon wish to grow in pots, let 

 it be understood that it is for the pleasure which 

 such a fancy conveys, and not for profit." 



That the peach and all other choice fruits can 

 be grown on trellises, trained^on espaliers, to great 

 advantage in many respects, and in substantial 

 quantities for market purposes, there can be no 

 doubt, and it is believed the product of espalier- 

 trees will pay good interest on the investment re- 

 quired, embracing the cost of shutters for prevent- 

 ing injury to the trees or their blossoms, from au- 

 tumn, winter, or spring frosts, even in seasons 

 when it has to compete with local crops in the 

 open ground — the early varieties being thus care- 

 fully grown and sheltered may be easily marketed, 

 say ten days before the product of open-culture, 

 and in seasons of failure, from any of the common 

 casualties, a reimbursement of the whole capital 

 invested may soon be realized ; and when we add 

 the advantage of the practicability of forcing these 

 fruits, and bringing to market full crops, at a sea- 



son when they always command very high prices, 

 with but little more than the simple cost of a glaz- 

 ed covering, the system appears worthy of the cap- 

 ital of commercial fruit-growers, and the enthusi- 

 asm of amateurs. ■; . 



We have just passed through another scathing 

 winter ordeal. The record stands thus : 



DATE. 



TEMPEEATUBE 

 OUTSIDE. I INSIDE. 



e'mk's 



a . 



c 

 o 

 o 



60 



□ 



o 



T3 3 



b =° 



.. o 

 S > 



^ <s 

 on '~' 



2 5 



„ -♦a 



1864.Feb.l5 

 16 

 17 

 . 18 

 19 

 20 



Mild. 

 Windy 



n 

 II 



Mild. 

 Clo' dy 



This trial confirms my confidence in the eflScacy 

 of shutters for the purpose they are designed to 

 answer. 



This cold period, from its commencement 

 throughout, was attended with a high, piercing 

 wind, and the shutters filled with sawdust were 

 found, on examination, to be empty about one foot 

 down from the top, and also from the middle par- 

 tition which runs horizontally, leaving the joints 

 open between the boards on both sides ; conse- 

 quently admitting considerable circulation of air 

 through the enclosure, which was prevented in 

 the side shutters by the snow, in the former cold 

 period ; but the doors closing the ends, which were 

 constructed in the same manner, had the joints 

 open as far as the sawdust had settled down, dur- 

 ing the severe trial early in January. 



The single board structure, the snow being all 

 off, and the joints being more or less open, was 

 unnecessarily ventilated. The leaf frames showed 

 more efficiency than we expected, considering their 

 imperfect construction, and the effect of the late 

 dry weather in shrinking their contents, and their 

 imperfect packing, still more loose. It will be no 

 ticed that the temperature in this house rose from 

 six degrees below zero on the morning of the ITth 

 to two degrees above on the morning of the 1 8th, 

 the outside temperature being still two degrees be- 

 low, not having been above in the day previous, 

 showing plainly the effect of the internal radiation 

 from the earth, even when its surface is frozen. 



The buds of the plum, and of the Richmond and 

 Morello cherry, which were all perfect and unin- 

 jured after the severe and protracted cold of the 

 fore part of January, are badly damaged by thir- 

 teen degrees below zero in the late trial. In the 

 plum we cannot find a live bud, and the cherries 



ilMth, 



