febraary 10, 1871. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



115 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



Day 











Sun 











Clock 



Day 



Month 



Week. 



FEBRUARY 16—22, 1371. 





ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Seta. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



Year. 











Day. 



Night. 





Days. 



m. h. 1 m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





16 



Ta 



Meeting of Roval and Linnean Societies. 





47.0 



S0.6 



38.8 



11 



14af7 



14af5 



33af 5 



26 af 1 



26 



14 19 



47 



17 



F 







46.6 



30.6 



S8.6 



17 



12 7 



16 5 



23 6 



36 2 



27 



14 15 



48 



18 



S 







45.2 



31.1 



38.2 



17 



11 7 



18 6 



4 7 



51 3 



28 



14 10 



49 



19 



SCN 



QUINQCAGESIMA SUNDAT. 





44.9 



31.0 



37.9 



15 



9 7 19 6 



38 7 



8 5 



® 



14 5 



50 



20 



M 



Meeting of Entomological Society, 7 P.^. 





45.5 



30.7 



38.1 



14 



7 7 21 5 



59 7 



24 6 



1 



18 59 



51 



21 



Tn 



IMceting of Zoological Society, 9 p.m. 





46.7 



32.3 



39.5 



20 



5 7 1 23 5 



21 8 



37 7 



2 



IS 52 



62 



22 



W 



Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.m. 





46.8 



31.9 



39.3 



19 



S 7 25 5 



39 8 



48 8 



8 



IS 45 



53 



From observations taken near London during for 



ty-three years, the average day teraperature of the weeic is 46.1°, and its night tempera- 



ture 31.2'. The greatest he,-it was 59=, on the lath. 



1S17 ; and the lowest cold 2°, on the 17th, 1855. The greatest faU c 



t rain was 0.51 inch. 



ORCHARD HOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



HERE is no garden structure so easily ma- 

 naged, and yet so full of interest, as the 

 orchard house. It has this advantage also— it 

 can be erected at less expense than most 

 other glazed structures. Let it not he im- 

 plied from this that a cheap structure is the 

 best, or even the cheapest in the end. If the 

 work is svibstantial it will require a very 

 small outlay to keep it in repair during the 

 first twenty-five years ; whereas a house 

 built of inferior materials and ill-constructed will perhaps 

 require considerable outlay after the first eight or ten 

 years. 



The original idea of an orchard house was a glass 

 erection of the most primitive construction, to protect 

 Peaches, Nectarines, Pears, and other fruit trees from 

 spring frosts while in blossom, and to ripen the fruit 

 better and at a less cost than can be done on walls. 

 Whether fruit can be grown in an orchard house at a less 

 cost I cannot say, but I am inclined to think that it can ; 

 that it can be grown of better quality in most oases there 

 can be little doubt. Another obvious advantage is, that 

 a crop of fruit can be obtained the second season after 

 the house is built, with a small expenditure for trees. I 

 have purchased Peach and Nectarine trees one year from 

 the bud, and after growing them one season in pots, they 

 have borne a crop of from one to two dozen of fine fruit. 

 The trees must be carefully attended to during the grow- 

 ing period, but it is interesting work, and after a few 

 lessons can be performed by unskilled hands as well as 

 by the properly-trained gardener. Most gardeners are 

 aware that to have a wall of Peach and Nectarine trees 

 in good health and fertility, much care and attention are 

 required; and after sufiicient experience of a practical 

 nature with both systems I can safely say that working 

 in the orchard house is a much more agreeable occupation 

 than attending to the requirements of wall trees. 



The orchard house, to be eff'ectual, should be heated in 

 some way ; hot- water pipes are the best means of applying 

 artificial lieat. The house here is a span-roofed structure, 

 24 feet wide by 12 high, and four rows of -1-inch pipes are 

 required to keep out the frost during the time the blossoms 

 are expanding. About the first week in January we 

 manage to give the glass and woodwork a thorough wash- 

 ing ; four hundred pots of Strawberries are then brought 

 m and placed on a shelf, which extends all round the 

 house near to the glass. Peaches and Nectarines are also 

 brought in, and arranged more closely than they will 

 ultimately be during the growing period. Some of the 

 varieties do not set their fruit freely ; these, with some of 

 the others, will be removed out of doors to ripen the fruit 

 after all danger from frost is over, and it is well not to 

 risk the trees out of doors until the end of May or the 

 beginning of June. I placed a number of pot trees of 

 Peaches and Nectarines out of doors in a somewhat sliel- 

 tered position in the first week of May last year, when the 

 fruit were as large as horse beans ; frosty nights set in, and 

 No. 516.— Voi,. XX., New Seribs. 



0° of frost on the 0th of May blackened and destroyed all 

 the young fruit. The heating medium is not only required 

 on frosty nights, but is equally useful in cold dull weather, 

 as the circulation of air which it creates facilitates the 

 setting of the fruit. As soon as this is faii-ly set ply the 

 syringe vigorously amongst the trees night and morning, 

 and on the first appearance of aphides give the house a 

 good "dressing" with tobacco smoke, and continue to do 

 so until they are destroyed. 



Water the trees with clear water until the end of May, 

 when occasional waterings with weak liquid manure will 

 be beneficial. The trees ought also to be fed by surface- 

 dressings applied for the first time in June. A good mix- 

 ture for this purpose consists of half-decayed horse drop- 

 pings, cow manure, and loam in equal proportions : a couple 

 of handsful of this spread over the surface of each pot, 

 and lightly pressed down, will soon bring the roots to the 

 surface. This surface-dressing may be applied two or 

 three times at intervals of three weeks. Prom the middle 

 of May until the fruit is gathered all fruit trees in pots 

 require abundant supplies of water at the roots, as if they 

 suffer from want of that most necessary element at this 

 time there will be no fine fruit. The same remark applies 

 to Strawberries in pots ; as soon as their trusses of flowers 

 are thrown up it is not easy to overwater them. Some 

 growers stand the pots in saucers which are kept full 

 of water ; this saves labour in watering, but I fancy the 

 fruit is not so good. 



Only the best sorts of Strawberries are grown in the 

 orchard house, and quality is preferred to quantity. There 

 are appliances here for forcing, but those who have no 

 other glass structure should grow a few of Black Prince 

 in the earliest corner, and Frogmore Late Pine as the 

 best late sort. Numerous varieties have been tried here, 

 but the best as yet are President, La Constante, Sir Harry, 

 British Queen, Mr. Radclyffe, Dr. Hogg, and Frogmore 

 Late Pine. I think highly of Lucas and Souvenir de ICiefi' ; 

 they were both first-rate out of doors last year, and will 

 be tried in pots in the orchard house this season. 



It is advisable to take the Strawberry plants out of the 

 orchard house as fast as the fruit is picked, as no method 

 of cultivation which I am aware of will prevent their being 

 infested with red spider. 



Ply the syringe vigorously on the fruit trees when the 

 Strawberry pots are removed, as very shortly the earliest 

 Peaches -will be taking the second swelling, and as the 

 fruit shows signs of ripening syringing must be discon- 

 tinued, otherwise the flavour will not be good. The first 

 Peaches to ripen are Early Beatrice and Early Rivers ; 

 the fruit is small, but valuable from coming in three weeks 

 before Early York. Early Grosse Mignonne is a very 

 fine second early Peach, but the trees are not so robust as 

 the Early York. The last to ripen are Lady Palmerston, 

 Comet, and Salway, all yellow-fleshed. Desse Tardive, 

 an excellent late sort, fruited last year for the first time ; 

 this is worthy of extensive cultivation. I proved many 

 new sorts last year, but owing to the exceptional season it 

 was not possible to report on them. 



The Nectarine season does not extend so long as that 



No. 1168.— Vol. XLV., Old Sdbies. 



