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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 27, 1864. 



get plenty of fruit the nest spring. If your plants, now full 

 of foliage in these tremendous pots, have been kept partly 

 or wholly in a shady place, then we would expeet to have 

 more fruit from our little compact plants in what are called 

 40-sized pots — that is, between 48's and 32's. There is a 

 great fallacy in supposing that mere size of pots and luxuri- 

 ance of foliage will yield so much fruit in forcing.] 



OECHAEE-HOTTSES yebstts WALES. 



Sometimes at a friend's house I get a look at your in- 

 teresting paper, and during the last few months I ob- 

 served that a controversy was going on respecting orchard- 

 houses, and it appeared to me that the defenders of the 

 orchard-house system, from some cause or other, did not 

 make a very good defence. I felt very much inclined to 

 enter into the battle, but I was much engaged, and in ad- 

 dition to this, I wished to have the results of another year's 

 trial to strengthen me in my opinions. What those opinions 

 are I will state presently. 



I think I gathered from some of the letters which I read, 

 that walls were far preferable to orchard-houses, and that 

 better fruit could be obtained from a wall than from an 

 orchard-house. My own experience is directly opposed to 

 this, and I now have the results of two horticultural shows 

 to back up my own previously-formed opinion. Remember, 

 I do not say that good fruit cannot be grown on a wall, I 

 know it can ; but I maintain that, as a rule, an orchard- 

 house will produce handsomer and better-flavoured Peaches 

 and Nectarines than a wall. 



Mr. Rivers has been a great benefactor to the public, and 

 speaking for myself I can candidly confess that he has 

 opened out to me a most delightful amusement. The only 

 thing I blame him for, is for not strictly limiting the fruit 

 to be grown on the trees in 11 or 13-inch pots to a dozen 

 and a half at the very utmost. I consider that the following 

 sentence has done more harm to the system than anything 

 that ever was written by an opponent : *' The third year a 

 tree, if it has prospered, will be able to bring three dozen to 

 maturity ; it is, however, better to have a few finely-grown 

 fruit than many that are small." "What errors have those 

 few words led me into ! How I have overcropped ! and there 

 are hundreds of other persons still doing the same, and 

 growing a lot of small, trumpery fruit, far inferior to wall 

 fruit, and scarcely fit to eat, and it is no wonder that it 

 should be boldly stated that walls will beat orchard-houses. 



I do not like being egotistical, but to make my letter say 

 what I want it to say, I must speak chiefly of my own ex- 

 perience. Six or seven years ago I knew nothing of fruit 

 trees, I did not even understand that a Peach tree always 

 bore on the new wood. I was ignorant of everything. I 

 bought Mr. Rivers's book ; I built a small orchard-house ; I 

 potted, pruned, syringed, and watered my own trees, and 

 this year I have ended my season by taking five out of eight 

 prizes at a horticultural show held in a town justly cele- 

 brated for its fruit. Half the first prizes went to the wall 

 fruit, the other half to orchard-house fruit ; all the second 

 prizes to orchard-house fruit. 



Again, I attended another show a few weeks ago, and 

 there out of the four prizes for Peaches and Nectarines, only 

 one went to out-door fruit, the other three to orchard-house 

 fruit. Going back to last year, all the prizes at a show at 

 which I was present went to orchard-house fruit, with the 

 exception of one which was taken by a dish grown on a 

 trellis in a regular Peach-house. Thus you see that my own 

 experience and observation convince me that better fruit 

 can be grown in an orchard-house than on a wall. I mean 

 speaking generally. Of course, wall fruit will sometimes be 

 very fine and good, bnt with proper cultivation, orchard- 

 house fruit must be good. 



I will just relate what happened to me at the show to 

 which I first alluded. I was placing my fruit on the table, 

 and a gentleman near me asked me where I had grown it. 

 I said in a rough-boarded orchard-house. " Well, then," he 

 replied, " they are of no use. I tried to grow some, but could 

 get nothing worth having." "Well," I said, "if you did 

 not, it must have been your own fault." Holding up a dish 

 of beautiful Peaches the gentleman said, "These will beat 

 yours ; " but, he added, " They will all be tasted, and the best 



will win." Returning to the show in the afternoon, I found 

 that I had beaten my friend, but I was in turn beaten by a 

 splendid dish of out-door fruit. Still I took one first prize 

 for Nectarines, and all the second prizes. In fact, no leas 

 than five out of eight prizes went to fruit grown in my 

 little, rough, twenty-feet orchard-house. 



The simple reason why people do not succeed with orchard- 

 houses is that they overcrop, and do not give enough air 

 and water. Let it be plainly stated, that a small tree three 

 or four years old ought not to have more than ten fruit on 

 it, and never more than two dozen, and we shall hear no 

 more about orchard-house fruit being inferior to wall fruit. 

 I will admit that a tree will grow three or even four dozen 

 fruit, but it must be of inferior flavour, and the tree will 

 refuse to do anyt hin g during the next year. I could write 

 a good deal more on the subject, but I must not take up 

 any more of your valuable space. — A Pooe Gentleman. 



EXHEBITLNG- GLADIOLI. 



An observation made by your reporter concerning the 

 stands of Gladioli exhibited by Mr; Kelway at the Crystal 

 Palace induces me to say a few words on this mooted ques- 

 tion, which resolves itself into these points— Are they to be 

 exhibited with any foliage ? and if so, with what kind ? 



I have seen them shown with their own leaves, with 

 fronds of Fern, with Canna leaves, and with Tucca leaves. 

 Of all these I think their own leaves the most effective; 

 but then it is objected that this gives an unnatural idea of 

 the habit of the plant, as if its flower were produced amongst 

 the leaves instead of being thrown well above them, as we 

 know them to be. 



This is true enough ; but still, as everybody knows how 

 they do grow it is not a very valid objection. 



Fern leaves and Canna leaves with Gladioli flowers are 

 failures, and Yucca leaves worse still. They are unfair, and 

 for this reason : There are, it is well known, two distinct 

 strains of Gladioli — those which, having more of the Ganda- 

 vensis blood in them, show the spike on one face ; and those 

 of the oppositiflorus type, an inferior class, where blooms 

 are produced on either side of the stalk. Now the Tucca 

 leaves, being very strong and slightly concave, have the 

 effect, especially when they are placed in pots and thereby 

 made staffer still, of throwing this latter class of flowers 

 forward, consequently of giving them the appearance of also 

 being grown with one face. Especially is this the case 

 when the spikes are stitched in to the Tucca leaves, and so 

 kept in their place. 



I am not sure, after all, whether it would not be well to 

 adopt the rule with regard to other florists' flowers, and let 

 them be shown as they are grown, without the addition of 

 any foliage. 



I heard some one say, looking at Mr. Standish's noble 

 collection, " There's the disease and no mistake ! " whereas 

 the foliage was all cut from one sort, Fanny Eouget, in 

 which there is this shade of yellow. 



Here let me say for the encouragement of those who are 

 afraid to venture on them, that I have had no disease 

 amongst mine, and that I attribute this in a great measure 

 to thoroughly drying the bulbs. I shall shortly cut down 

 all the stalks to about a foot, and then cover the bed with 

 old Cucumber-lights, and when I get it tolerably dry take 

 up the bulbs and then thoroughly dry them. This I believe 

 to be the secret. — D., Deal. 



The Vine in Canada. — The partial failure of the Wheat 

 cron, recurring every year, is beginning to produce a con- 

 viction that we have been too much in the habit of depending 

 upon this crop. Many farmers are betaking themselves to 

 the resource of Flax cultivation, for which, beyond all doubt, 

 our soil and climate are well adapted. Grape culture has 

 not hitherto been looked upon as a pursuit which could be 

 followed in Canada with advantage. But if we may trust 

 the evidence produced before a select Committee of the House, 

 appointed last Session, to inquire into the subject of Vine 

 cultivation in Canada, we must revise our former notions in 

 regard to it. The Committee bring out the fact that there 

 was an application from M. de Courtenay to the Govern- 



