By Mr. Peter Lindegaard. 323 



be calculated to happen about the middle of April,) we then 

 begin again to admit air, and to lessen the coverings, as we 

 have at that period milder weather. 



The Peaches require about five weeks to form the stone ; 

 this is well known to every experienced gardener : a mo- 

 derate temperature during that period must be preserved ; 

 but I have often seen gardeners keep their houses almost 

 equally warm at every period : this is a great error, particu- 

 larly when the fruit is stationary for stoning ; it causes many 

 of the Peaches to fall off unripe. 



When the Peaches begin again to swell (which I perceived 

 this year, 1 821, in my first Peach-house about the 11th of May), 

 much air is admitted, and as soon as they acquire colour, the 

 lights are not shut up close in the night, that the trees may 

 be inured to the open air. A fortnight before the fruit ripens 

 we remove the lights, as I have always observed that Peaches 

 in the open air, without the intervention of lights, will attain 

 a much finer colour, as well as flavour, and the trees likewise 

 gain much in strength and vigour.* 



As the roots in these narrow houses are much confined, 

 watering at certain times is necessary, and particularly when 

 the fruit begins to swell. To keep off the red spider, the 

 trees are sprinkled with water by means of a syringe, which 



* An old gardener in Holland told me the origin of the first Peach-house in that 

 country; it happened in a bad season (such as the present 1821,) that the Peaches 

 on the walls would not ripen; the gardener contrived to put the lights of the hot- 

 bed against the trees, and by that means got the Peaches ripe : after that time forc- 

 ing-houses were constructed. The place where this accidental discovery was made 

 was Waaterfleed, between Haarlem and Beverwyck, near the little village Velsen ; 

 how long it is since, I did not learn. 



