April 2S, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



309 



limited character), and who knows aa much about fruit (I will 

 not say as "B., of S.," for I stand in bodily fear of him), as 

 any one, I believe, in the three kingdoms, always excepting 

 "T. R.," and his word to me was, " You are quite right ;" and 

 then we had a little talk as to the native habitat of the Peach, 

 and the scorching baking weather it has to endure when it is 

 ripening, and how impossible it seemed to be to obtain in an 

 orchard-honse such a temperature. But whatever may be the 

 theory of the matter, I never yet saw an orchard-house pur et 

 simple — i. e., with tbe trees in pots without heat, aud I have 

 seen a good many, where the fruit was worth a "dump." I 

 only have been uufortunate, but such is the fact ; and I can 

 only say -that if I had it in my power to erect one 40 feet long 

 to-morrow, I would prefer to have a house half the size and heat 

 it, so as to get a few really good and palatable fruit. But all 

 these are assertions pro and con., and I think it would be very 

 desirable to have something decisive on the point. 



I am not a fruit-grower, nor do I pretend to know much 

 about the subject ; and so perhaps " R., ofS," will say, " Ne 

 stitor ultra crepidam" and let me stick to my last. I have, 

 however, an interest in the matter, and would willingly see 

 something more than mere assertions. To gain this end I would 

 propose that a prize be offered for the best six Peaches and six 

 Nectarines ; and that size be not considered a material point, 

 but the merits to be entirely in the matter of flavour ; that 

 " R., of S. t " send his very best, and let them be put into com- 

 petition with the same numbers of fruit grown in a Peach-house ; 

 and that five members of the Eruit Committee be requested to 

 adjudicate at some period, if possible, when the fruit can be 

 procured from both sources. If those who are interested in the 

 matter think this is a proper way of deciding, I shall be very glad 

 to contribute my quota towards making up the amount of the prize. 



Mr. Eeane has so well put the matter in last week's Jouenal 

 OP HoKTlcuxitTEE, that I do not think it necessary to add more 

 than this — that had the advocates of orchard-houses been con- 

 tent with moderate assertions we might well have borne with 

 them ; but it is the extravagance of their statements that has 

 made practical men — I again use the term, though " R. of S.," 

 savs " soi disaiit practical men " — so strong in their statements. 

 — D., Heal. 



FEUIT-GEOWING— ORCHARDS OE OECHAED 

 HOUSES ? 



BErs'ft one of the parties of whom the advocates of orchard- 

 houses have made particular mention as being opposed to their 

 views, I should not have again entered on the subject had I 

 not found that some of my views were imperfectly understood ; 

 while the courtesy of Mr. Pearson and the gentlemanly tone of 

 his letter alike call for a reply. Although we may still differ in 

 opinion on the subject of fruit-growing, the manner in which 

 Mr. Pearson has put forth his views disarms opposition of every- 

 thing personal or hostile ; and although I fear I cannot promise 

 myself the pleasure of partaking of his hospitality at the time 

 his orchard-house fruit is ripe, nevertheless I am willing to 

 believe it is good. But supposing I admit that orchard-house 

 fruit often is good, and 1 have no doubt that it is, can any 

 impartial judge say that better fruit has been grown in pots than 

 has been grown in the ordinary way? 



My argument hitherto has been that the system is very 

 " expensive and uncertain," not that fruit cannot be so grown; 

 for, as I said in my former letter, I believe that good Wheat 

 and Barley could be grown in pots as well as Pears and Peaches. 

 But is it expedient to do so when other and better ways exist, 

 whereby corn and fruits can be had in greater abundance and at 

 infinitely less cost ? 



Mr. Pearson's letter, however, calls for further remarks bearing 

 on the subject of trees in pots ; and although I have no doubt 

 but the very able writer in The Joubuai; oe Hoeticuliuue, 

 '• D.," of Deal, will reply to those who have found so much fault 

 with him and the worthy gardener at Winchester, I will explain 

 a few of the reasons which have led me to take the view I now 

 do on the subject of growing fruit trees in pots. 



I believe I have, in a former article in this periodical, stated 

 that my first acquaintance with Peach trees in pots was made 

 upwards of thirty years ago. A gentleman, extremely fond of 

 gardening pursuits, and one of the first to introduce the curvi- 

 linear iron- barred hothouse into general use, took a fancy to try 

 Peach trees in pots, and being ably seconded by his energetic 

 gardener, they produced and ripened their fruit in exactly the 



same manner as they ripen now — sometimes plentifully and 

 moderately good, and sometimes a failure would occur. I am 

 unable to say how many years this had been done before the 

 time I speak of, but it was not new by any means in 1832. 

 This was, however, the first successful attempt that I had seen 

 at growing fruit trees in pots, and ripening the produce. 



Some few years after that, an intimate friend of mine came as 

 gardener to a gentleman fond of such novelties, and, amongst 

 other features, there was a glass house set apart for a certain 

 purpose in August ; and, to make the most of that house during 

 the early summer months, Peach and Nectarine trees in pots 

 were introduced, and crops of fruit obtained in greater or less 

 abundance, as the season and other circumstances determined. 

 These trees, be it remembered, were all in pots, and were of 

 different shapes and sizes ; some of them were trained flat to fix 

 against the back wall as dwarfs, and others as riders or standards 

 at the same place, while some were simply kept in bush-fashion 

 to occupy the floor or body of the house. Here, then, more than 

 twenty-five years ago, was an " orchard-house " in the sense 

 in which that term is now applied; but at that time a less 

 ambiguous name was given to it. 



Continuing the narrative, I may say that when the time came 

 for removing these treeB out of doors, which for other reasons it 

 was necessary to do immediately after the fruit was gathered, 

 they were placed in a sheltered but sunny corner, and tbe pots 

 were carefully wrapped round with hay or straw bands somewhat 

 after the fashion of the foreign liqueur spirit-bottles. This wrap- 

 ping-up prevented the sun from heating the pots and injuring 

 the roots, and the pots were sometimes so wrapped round before 

 taking them out of the house, as it was found that plunging 

 them always encouraged rooting-through, and was hurtful when 

 the trees had to be removed. 



Having had an opportunity of seeing these trees almost weekly, 

 and sometimes oftener than that for two or three years, I could 

 speak as to the result ; I had, however, lost sight of them since 

 1841, when I accidentally met my old friend last summer, under 

 whose care the trees in pots had continued some ten years or 

 more, ending, I think, in 1847. When the subject of the trees 

 in pots was mentioned, " Ah," he said, " they were a great deal 

 of trouble to me ; they were the worst things I had to manage, 

 but I often had fair crops, considering the trees were cramped 

 up in pots." "But," I asked, "how did the produce bear com- 

 parison with that of an ordinary Peach-house?" My friend 

 shook his head, and replied that he would much rather manage 

 four Peach-houses having the trees planted and trained in the 

 usual way, than the oue with the potted trees in it ; and the pro- 

 duce of the latter in the best season he ever had fell far short 

 of what ordinary-trained trees ought to have borne in the same 

 sized houses, while in general the crop, taking quantity and 

 quality together, was less than one-fourth what a good Peach- 

 house would have been. 



This is the practical experience of one who had tried the 

 matter fairly for a number of years before the high-sounding 

 title of " orchard-house " was bestowed on structures intended 

 for this class of horticultural produce. I should much like my 

 friend to have given to the world his views on the subject, but 

 the above are the main particulars. It thus appears that Peach 

 trees in pots are not by any means a recent introduction, while 

 the plan of growing such trees in bush-fashion under glass, but 

 planted in the ground, is much older still. The first Peach- 

 house I ever remember having anything to do with in this way 

 was some thirty-five years ago, and the trees were then old ones ; 

 they were much less manageable in every point of view than 

 trained trees, and the fruit were no better. 



I believe that I related much of the above in a former dis- 

 cussion on the merits of the orchard-house system of growing 

 fruit trees in pots ; I also mentioned having at some time of my 

 life had a few trees in potB myself. The last of these, however, 

 was some fifteen years ago, and finding they did not produce 

 anything like the quantity of good useful fruit that could be had 

 by planting them out, I adopted the latter plan. I have, how- 

 ever, not been an indifferent spectator of what has been going 

 on in that way; but like our able and accomplished writer "D.," 

 the usual tale in July or August when the fruit ought to have been 

 ripening was that some awkward apology had to be made for its 

 "falling-off" some time before ; the trees had bloomed beauti- 

 fully, and set well, and all went on well until " somehow or 

 other the fruit took to falling-off, and nearly all are gone." Such 

 is the story one often hears, and I ask Messrs. Rivers and Pearson 

 if they haye not often received similar complaints ? 



