32 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



ELEVATION 



a very important item, not only in the production oi. 

 firm, short- jointed wood, but also in laying on 

 colour when the Peaches are taking their last swell- 

 ing. In shape and construction, a range of lean-to 

 houses need not differ from good Vineries, provided 

 the pitch is sharp enough to carry off water freely, 

 and prevent the lodgment of snow ; hut in order to 

 rest the easily - excited occupants, and give the 

 foliage, wood, and roots the full benefit of summer 

 rains and refreshing dew, 

 all early and mid-season 

 houses should be built with 

 sash and rafter, or portable 

 roofs. It is now a very 

 common practice to place 

 closely - glazed, skeleton- 

 looking, fixed roofs over 

 Peaches from which ripe 

 fruit is expected in May, or 

 it may be June, and what is 

 still less likely to happen, 

 the foliage during the two 

 succeeding months, which 

 are generally very hot, is 

 expected to resist the attacks 

 of spider under bad syring- 

 ing, or perhaps 

 no syringing 

 at all, and go [ 

 through that [ 

 period not 

 only without 

 injury, but ab- 

 solutely per- 

 forming its 

 functions. To 

 -steer clear of 

 the evils which 

 follow roast- 

 ing, when the 

 trees, whose 

 season has been 

 reversed, ought 



to be resting, every light on early houses should 

 slide up and down freely, and be easily removed 

 when removal is considered necessary. Mid-season 

 and late houses do not positively require stripping, 

 consequently the cheaper fixed roof may be placed 

 over the trees ; but all forced Peach-trees are bene- 

 fited by exposure to fine late summer and autumn 

 rains, while very many are ruined by having the 

 glass roofs kept over them, when they ought to be 

 thrown open to the heavens. 



The horticulturist, be he amateur or professional, 

 will not assume that trees under all circumstances 

 require stripping, even for a short period, as late 



houses have to be fired to get the wood ripe ; but 

 every man who is expected to produce a steady sup- 

 ply of fruit, five months in succession, should have 

 every advantage placed at his disposal. 



Size of House. — The size must, as a matter of 

 course, be regulated by the demand for fruit, the 

 number of varieties it may be thought desirable to 

 grow, and the mode of training, as Peach-trees may 

 be fruited in ten-inch pots, 

 or they may be trained upon 

 the extension principle to 

 cover several hundred feet 

 of trellis. For general pur- 

 poses houses from thirty-six 

 to forty feet in length, and 

 fourteen to eighteen in 

 width, are quite large 

 enough ; and where this size 

 is not considered adequate 

 to the demand, a longer 

 structure, divided into sec- 

 tions, and separately heated, 

 will be found preferable for 

 giving a steady succession 

 of fruit, as Peaches can be 

 prevented from 

 flowering un- 

 til the end of 

 | March, but 

 the fruit can- 

 not be kept for 

 any length of 

 time after it is 

 ripe. "Where 

 perhaps only 

 one house is 

 devoted to 

 Peaches, the 

 season may be 

 greatly ex- 

 tended by the 

 introduction of 



early, mid-season, and late sorts ; but this is not an 

 economical arrangement where very early fruit is 

 wanted, as the late kinds have to be forced with the 

 others, when they would come on and do better in 

 what is termed a mid-season house. Therefore, to 

 keep up a constant supply and avoid a glut, several 

 compartments, planted with suitable varieties, will 

 be found the best. 



The front walls of all Peach-houses should be 

 built upon arches, or better still, upon piers, to allow 

 the roots the run of internal and external borders, 

 although the latter are not often thought the best 

 for early work. The trellises for training the trees 



Fig. 2.— Lean-to House, with Curved Trellis. 

 Border; b, drainage; oo, pipes; a, b, c, d, e, trees. 



