September IS, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



207 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



M'ntb 



Day 

 of 



Week 



Tu 

 W 

 Th 



F 



S 

 Son 



M 



SEPTE5IBER.13— 19, 1S64. 



Golden Spurwort flowers. 

 Horse-Chestnut leaves change. 

 Foxtail Oat Grass ripe. 

 Lime-tree leaves turn yellow. 

 Sycamore leaves fall. 

 17 Sunday after Trinity. 

 Goldfinches congregate. 



Average Temperature 



Rain in 



last 

 37 years. 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 

 alter 

 Sun. 



Day of 



near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Year. 



Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 





m. s. 





67.8 



45.9 



56 5 



17 



34 af 5 



18 af 6 



44 4 



10 2 



12 



4 19 



257 



66.8 



46.3 



56 5 



19 



35 5 



16 6 



16 5 



32 3 



13 



4 40 



258 



67.2 



46.5 



56 9 



19 



37 5 



13 6 



44 5 



57 4 



3 



5 1 



259 



68.2 



47.9 



58.0 



15 



39 5 



11 6 



13 6 



20 6 



15 



5 22 



260 



69.9 



46.8 



57.5 



14 



40 5 



9 6 



41 6 



43 7 



16 



5 41 



261 



66.7 



47.1 



56.9 



17 



42 5 



6 6 



14 7 



4 9 



17 



6 5 



262 



66.3 



45.4 



56.1 



18 



43 5 



4 6 



52 7 



20 10 



18 



6 26 



263 



From observations taken near London during the last thirty-seven years, the average day temperature of the week is 67.5°, and its night 

 temperature 46.4°. The greatest heat was S4°on the 17th, 1843 ; and the lowest cold, 29°, on the 17th, 1S40. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.90 inch. 



mm 



- 



■ . 



mm 



11 



%;:■ 



MY OECHAED-HOTJSE.— No. 9. 



EXPEESSED in a 

 former paper my 

 conviction that a 

 statement of the 

 dates of fruit ri- 

 pening in orchard 

 nouses would be 

 of great value to 

 amateurs as well 

 as to gardeners, 

 by enabling them to compare their own 

 crops with those of others. As it is 

 not quite so easy, as is generally sup- 

 posed, to write lucidly, and at the 

 same time pleasantly, on horticultural matters, I shall 

 confine myself, in this paper, chiefly to these important 

 details of orchard-house culture. The point I wish to 

 bring to notice is, that orchard-houses — judging, however, 

 chiefly from my own (one of the oldest in England) — have 

 the desirable quality of advancing, steadily and gradually, 

 the date of fruit-ripening. I have already, in the com- 

 munication above referred to, stated this date in the case 

 of several of the fruits which I cultivate, but I will now 

 enter upon the subject at greater detail. 



To begin with the earliest Peaches. The Eed Nutmeg, 

 a perfectly valueless fruit, in four years only advanced 

 five days, ripening on July 5 ; Petite Mignonne, a de- 

 licious little Peach, but not worth cultivating, ripened on 

 the 17th of July, gaining eleven days in four years ; Early 

 York, the queen of early Peaches, has advanced from 

 August 1, in 1861, to July 4, in this year ; Canary, Ame- 

 rican, from Georgia, has gained twelve days in three 

 years, ripening July 11th ; Golden Purple, also an Ame- 

 rican Peach, has advanced fifteen days, ripening on the 

 20th of July ; Alice is nearly stationary ; Acton Scott 

 much the same, both being worthless for special use ; 

 Vineuse de Fromentin had gained thirteen days in three 

 years, and again lost them by being changed to the late 

 house (this fruit is unworthy of notice) ; Stump the 

 World, a grand American, has only progressed three 

 days in as many years, ripening August 15th ; Honey, 

 ripe August 10th, 1862, was ripe on July 21st of this 

 year. Brugnon Imperial Nectarine, five days gain, ripe 

 August 7th ; Eivers's Orange has gained eighteen days, 

 ripe July 28th ; Du Tellier's, seven days, ripe August 9th ; 

 Duchess of Oldenburg, seven days, ripe August 9th; 

 Chauviere, seventeen days since 1862, ripe August 11th. 

 These are all fine fruits, and worthy of cultivation. Chau- 

 viere is especially good — large, well coloured, flavour aro- 

 matic, and bears abundantly. These dates are gathered, 

 not from solitary specimens, for of some kinds we have 

 ten or twelve in various forms of training. Stanwick 

 Nectarine and Stanwick Seedling have advanced some- 

 what also,^ but not so as to form any opinion. Stanwick 

 Seedling is a magnificent Nectarine, of the same flavour 

 as the parent, and colours well ; ripe, this year, August 

 No. 181.— Tol. VII., New Series. 



17th. A most valueless Peach is the Chancellor: that 

 has advanced ten days, but it is to be condemned. Wal- 

 burton Admirable is nearly stationary ; ripe August 30th. 

 A handsome Peach, but too pale generally to please the 

 dealers' fancy. Early Crawford was ripe July 30th. This 

 very fine Peach is also out of favour with dealers. These 

 pretend that only high-coloured fruit, like Eoyal George 

 and Grosse Mignonne, are saleable. It is well that my 

 brother victims should be aware of this, and also that 

 all yellow Peaches are said to be at a discount. It is 

 also "passing strange" that whenever any particularly 

 valuable baskets are sent up the markets are at once 

 " flooded with small fruit, or Peaches from the South of 

 France ;" so that we become public benefactors without 

 intending it, even by means of these houses. 



I come now to a point on which I feel somewhat per- 

 plexed. It is, that however agreeable and profitable it 

 may be to have nice saleable July Peaches by reason of 

 the house advancing their maturity, the same cannot be 

 said when Peaches intended by Nature to succeed the 

 out-door ones are forwarded so far as to become ripe at 

 the same time. This is most disagreeable, and I have 

 immense trouble to retard the ripening of the fruits. We 

 have never extensively practised removing Peaches to a 

 colder atmosphere so as to check them, because this re- 

 quires care and time, so that I cannot speak of this plan. 

 I find, however, the regular October Peaches gradually 

 becoming mid-September ones. Pavie de Tonneux, for 

 instance, ripe October 1st in 1861, October 4th in 1862, 

 October 1st in 1863, is now ripe ! It is a splendid cling- 

 stone of grand shape and colour, reckoned second-rate in 

 flavour in the best French catalogues, but very good by 

 those who, like me, prefer clingstones. Thomas's Late, a 

 very great acquisition, sentmebyMr.Eivers,has advanced 

 from October 8th in 1862, to October _ 1st in 1863. At 

 this rate it may ripen by the equinox in a year or %wo. 

 I place great dependance on Tardive d'Espagne for late- 

 ness, due October 10th ; but even this has been removed 

 to a cold corner. Baldwin's Late, another American 

 from Mr. Eivers, ripened on November 2nd in 1862; 

 but, alas ! on October the 20th last year. I fear we shall 

 never have good November Peaches. The October ones 

 are, however, really good, and among the new varieties 

 soon to be introduced there may be more such. 



From the foregoing rough sketch, from which many 

 are omitted, it will be seen that the period of the fruit's 

 ripening has really been accelerated, and this gradually, 

 as could also be shown. No doubt, however, having a 

 second house with a different aspect would remedy much 

 of this evil ; for it cannot be too often insisted on that it 

 is in the succession of fruit that orchard-houses especially 

 shine. All our out-door Peaches were gathered in three 

 weeks. During that period there was much waste. A 

 great many Peaches also fell in the houses from the 

 violent winds, and the overcrowding of the trees render- 

 ing pruning very hazardous. Much wider houses would 

 have been better in our case. A path round by the front 

 is very useful. — T. Collings Brehatjt, Richmond Souse, 

 Guernsey. 



No. 833.— Tot. XXXII., Old Series. 



