346 



FRUIT-HOUSES. 



pipes fixed in the angle formed by the 

 partitions and back wall, are placed under 

 the pine beds. The waste water from 

 the cisterns is conveyed through under 

 the back wall, and discharged into the 

 main drain under the floor of the cellars. 

 The ornamental cast-iron arches, of which 

 there are three in each house, are in- 

 tended to support the ridge ventilators 

 r, and the inverted arch ties the roof to- 

 gether, and supports it where connected 

 with the straining-bars s s, and to these 

 bars the astragals are also secured; 1 1 1 

 show the cast-iron gutters and the way 

 the houses are connected together. At- 

 mospheric air is admitted into the vaults 

 under the beds, by which a constant air 

 motion is maintained day and night. 

 The cisterns are 6 feet long by 3 feet 

 deep, and 4 feet in breadth ; and should 

 at any time the rain water be found in- 

 sufficient, provision is made to bring it' 

 in pipes from the reservoir marked 31 in 

 ground-plan of garden ; ornamental cast- 

 iron gratings extend across the floor, and 

 are each 6 inches wide, to admit the air 

 into the house from the air-drain pipes o o; 

 v a neat ornamental iron grating extending 

 the whole length of the roof, as a security 

 against snow falling upon the lower part of 

 the adjoining house, which is much lower, 

 and in which succession plants are grown. 



§ 3. — PEACH-HOUSES. 



In general construction the peach-house 

 differs little from the vinery, save in the 

 mode of arranging the trellises for training 

 the trees to. If we except the application 

 of the span-roofed and curvilinear forms, 

 the peach-house has undergone much less 

 alteration than any other plant structure. 



Kyle, of Moredun, the earliest authority 

 in Scotland as a cultivator of this fruit, 

 and also Speechly, of Welbeck, who may 

 be regarded as the father of English 

 forcing, both adopted the Dutch mode of 

 building houses for this purpose. The 

 houses built by Speechly do not now exist, 

 but those of Kyle still remain. The 

 annexed diagram, fig. 465, will show 

 their principle. The trees are trained 

 against the back wall only, as a security 

 against frost, or cold draughts blowing 

 upon them through the laps of the glass; 

 they are heated by smoke-flues along the 



front, and making two or more turns in 

 the back wall. Where the houses are not 

 carried to too great 

 Fig. 465. a length, say not 



more than 30 or 40 

 feet, these back-wall 

 flues are useful; and 

 as the trees are usu- 

 ally trained to a 

 trellis from 6 to 12 

 inchesfrom the wall, 

 they derive great 

 benefit from the 

 mild heat given out 

 by them, and cannot be injured, as they 

 might be, if planted in front over the front 

 flue, which, of course, will always be much 

 the warmest. The great fault of these houses 

 is imperfect ventilation, as no other means 

 are employed but that of drawing down the 

 top lights, or by having a few panes of glass 

 made to open and shut near the top. 



Such houses are extremely economical 

 in erection, and well fitted for early forcing, 

 being 6 feet wide at the bottom, and 9 feet 

 high; and were they heated and ventilated 

 upon modern principles, they would be 

 all that could be desired for the purpose 

 of early forcing. Were it not that some 

 cultivators insist on stripping the early 

 peach-house of the glass sashes, after the 

 crop is gathered, and some also while it 

 is ripening, the whole of the roof might 

 be in one piece, dispensing with the ex- 

 pense of rafters and framed sashes alto- 

 gether. On this subject we find that the 

 opinion of Knight was quite in accordance 

 with those of many of the most eminent 

 peach forcers of the early part of the pre- 

 sent century, who removed the top lights 

 in fine days, to colour and improve the 

 flavour of the fruit ; and again, in autumn, 

 took them away altogether, for the pur- 

 pose of exposing the wood to the full 

 action of the weather. The imperfect 

 state of ventilation, and the dark houses 

 crowded with large rafters, and often 

 glazed with bad glass, perhaps inclined 

 them to adopt this plan. With all these 

 defects remedied, we do not now find this 

 practice much attended to. We know 

 that this system is still followed on the 

 Continent; but we should consider the 

 difference between a Continental autumn 

 and those of our own country. Admitting 

 that the practice is good, the lights may 

 be made movable, without altering the 



