FRUIT-TKEES IN POTS. 



G25 



FRUIT-TREES IN POTS. 



By T. Alfred H. Rivers, F.R.H.S. 



[A Paper read before the Horticultural Club.] 



The Secretary has asked me to read a ten minutes' paper on pot fruit- 

 trees for amateurs. It is rather a large subject to condense within these 

 limits, but I will do my best under the conditions imposed. 



To begin with, "amateurs" is a wide term, including the man with 

 one or two greenhouses and perhaps a rough gardener, and also the man 

 with a large range of houses, a head gardener, and complete staff. I 

 propose to deal with the smaller establishment. The love of flowers is in- 

 grained in most of us ; the love of fruit is, I think, natural to all. With 

 pot fruit-trees we combine the two, and have the double enjoyment of the 

 flowers, which are really beautiful, in the spring, and the fruit, equally 

 pleasing to the eye and palate, later on. The amateur who intends to 

 grow them must bear in mind that to do a few trees well is far more 

 satisfactory than attempting a greater number than one can manage 

 properly. He must guard against overcrowding, an error easily perpetrated 

 in the wish to have many sorts of fruit ripening over a long season. 



It is desirable to grow the different fruits each in a house to them- 

 selves if it can be managed ; if, however, one wishes to have a mixed 

 houseful of, say, Peaches and Nectarines and Plums, the latter should be 

 kept together at one end. One can then minister properly to the require- 

 ments of each in the matter of ventilation, &c. If a greenhouse, already 

 built, is to be utilised as an orchard-house, efficient ventilation, especially 

 top ventilation, must be provided, if not already there. The best form of 

 orchard-house is a span roof. If a new house is built, it should be not 

 less than 18 feet wide, 4 feet 6 inches to the eaves, and 10 feet to the 

 ridge ; the length of such a house may conveniently be from 20 to 50 feet 

 or more. Ventilators, 18 inches wide, hinged at the bottom, run along 

 each side of the house, 1 foot below the eaves, and top ventilators, 2 feet 

 by 3 feet wide, are at intervals of 5 feet alternately on either side of the 

 ridge. Troughing should be provided to catch the rainwater from the 

 roof and store it in a tank, in the house if possible ; rainwater is most 

 valuable for syringing. The inside of the house must be kept clean, 

 rafters and glass being thoroughly washed before the trees are set out in 

 the spring. Glass, especially cheap glass, often has little air bubbles in 

 it ; these focus the sun's rays like a burning-glass, and burn spots on the 

 tender young leaves beneath, spoiling them utterly or making them 

 unsightly. The effect is most noticeable when the sun blazes out after 

 rain. A dab of paint on the bubbles, inside the house, neutralises their 

 effect. They are often a long way from the seat of injury and difficult to 

 locate. Fruit-trees should be stood on, cr as near as possible to, the floor 

 of the house. If a greenhouse, to be converted into an orchard house, 

 has permanent staging which cannot be entirely done away with, it should 

 be lowered to near the floor level. The pots must not be stood directly 



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